Monthly Archives: January 2019

EXCEPT WHEN . . .

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’   And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:8).

I smiled when I read the following Help Wanted ad for a local restaurant. It stated: “Scattered hours. Every Monday 4:00-9:30, every Friday and every other Saturday 4:00-9 or 11:00 except every 5TH Fri. and Sat. 12:00-5:00.” My first thought wondered if there was any individual who would be interested in applying for a job with such irregular hours. Then I recalled being on the other end of similar conversations when I would conduct interviews for my former employer. I’d usually tell applicants that we had openings on a certain shift at a facility which operated round-the clock, seven days a week. In response to my questions regarding their availability, I would frequently hear replies beginning with the words, “except when.” It didn’t always make them very useful to the employer, and more often than not – they didn’t get the job. Our busy lives, which only grow more complex and diverse with time, present a major obstacle to our availability and resulting usefulness. We are so caught up with personal schedules that our readiness for the important things in life often suffers.  If we consider that we have a relationship with Christ, we must step back and honestly examine our openness to serving Him.

God’s availability stands at the heart of Scripture. He is present to guide and protect and, when necessary, to correct. But most of all, we expect Him to be our listening ear when we face the adversities of life as we often do. If we base our emotional security on close friends or family members, we become vulnerable in assuming they will always be there for us. On the contrary – God never hides from us; He is never absent or consumed by something more important. He is available, as contemporary phrasing would state, 24/7. God’s ever-present availability challenges us to ask how accessible are we to Him? What part of our day can God claim? Do we give Him significant time, or do we struggle to give Him even five minutes? What do we first have to take care of before we can give God our attention?  Jesus struggled with the readiness of those who stated they would commit to Him. “As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus replied, ‘Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.’ He said to another man, ‘Follow me.’ But he replied, ‘Lord, first let me go and bury my father.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.’ Still another said, ‘I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.’ Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:57-62).

God is looking for humble people who are totally dependent upon Him. He seeks those followers who are willing to make themselves available whenever He calls and for whatever reason . . . those who, without any form of hesitation, would say, “Here I am Lord – send me.” In the words of the Apostle Paul: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). God does not expect that each of us will be called into full-time ministry or commit our lives to be missionaries in a foreign land.  While it is exceptional when one dedicates to attend in this way, each of us can serve Him if we just look around, sometimes not very far away. There is the widow down the street who is lonely, the colleague at work who is searching for encouragement, the homeless shelter or foodbank who needs a volunteer, or maybe someone in your own family who is being overlooked. The words of the prophet give us clear direction: “Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help” (Isaiah 58:7). In light of the promise we have from God to be “always available”  (John 14:18) – it is vital that we reflect that same love to others. His expectation is that those who claim to be His followers will never look back saying that we are available to Him . . . except when we’re not!

REFLECTION: Honestly ask the question: Am I paying attention to my call to grow in love, humility and living for the glory of God? How can you make yourself more available to someone who has a need you may have ignored? In what ways can you reshuffle your priorities in order to consistently serve God?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., FEBRUARY 2, 2019. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.

BECOMING UNOFFENDABLE

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.”   (Colossians 3:13)

A fast-speaking TV weatherman with several decades of experience was talking over a visual of a local park named after Martin Luther King, Jr. while presenting the then-current weather conditions. As he rushed over the named location of the outdoor scene, he inserted what sounded like an all-too-familiar racial slur.  Not pausing to acknowledge his ‘on-air’ flub, he proceeded to give his forecast.  Following a backlash on social media, station management acted to discharge the veteran broadcaster in what many deemed as a rush to judgement. The unemployed weatherman insisted that he has always tried to maintain high professional standards. He stated that he accidentally jumbled his words with no intent of malice in any form. The apology was met with skepticism from those who reasoned that he only apologized because he got caught. However, Dr. Bernice King, daughter of the famous civil rights leader, said she can’t question someone’s intent and insisted the broadcaster should be given a chance to redeem himself. As the nation prepares to celebrate the holiday that bears the King name, one might wonder how the former Nobel Peace Prize recipient would have himself responded?

In situations like these, perhaps we need to learn to become unoffendable. We can allow an assumed offense to be an opportunity to become more Christ-like by showing that we value joy, peace, and inner freedom more than clinging to our perceived rights.  Being unoffendable is not about being victimized or even being weak. It is about taking the high ground, having self-restraint and not letting someone else’s behavior, however intentional it may seem, determine ours. Jesus warned that, as we near the end of the age, a majority of people will be offended to such a degree that they fall away from the faith. Listen carefully to His warning: “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:10-12). When we become easily offended, it is contrary to basic Christian teachings. We allow ourselves to be judgmental (Matthew 7:1), we stand at risk of suppressing truth (1 John 3:18), we block opportunities for forgiveness (Matthew 6:14-15), and we fail to allow for a path to redemption (Ephesians 1:7). The God of second chances would remind us that His very own Son said, “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone” (John 8:7).

Members of our society need to grow to be less reactionary and work toward consideration and reasonableness. Most people aren’t aiming to insult or offend you – they are likely unaware of the fact that what they have said has hurt or disrespected you. When you consider how many times you have unintentionally said things that may have offended others and were not rebuked, you can most certainly extend that same grace and forgiveness. James put it this way: “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires . . . But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless” (James 1:19-20, 25-26). What it really comes down to is a personal choice. Nobody can offend you without your permission. I am reminded of a story about a man who constantly harassed and insulted the Buddha, throwing all sorts of verbal abuse at him. He did everything he could to offend Buddha.  Unmoved, he simply turned to the man and said, “May I ask you a question?” The man responded, “Well, what?”  Buddha said, “If someone offers you a gift and you decline to accept it, to whom then does it belong?”  The man said, “Then it belongs to the person who offered it.” Buddha smiled stating, “That is correct.  So if I decline to accept your abuse, does it not then still belong to you?”  The man was speechless and walked away.  Friend, when you encounter someone who offends you, consider that it might not have been their intent at all. Even if it was . . . know that you don’t have to make their insensitivities your own. It’s what Christ would have you do!

REFLECTION: Have you become offended by someone recently? What is one area of your life where you are likely to take offense? How can you move from being offended to becoming unoffendable?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., JANUARY  26, 2019. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.

EVERLASTING

“And this is what he promised us–eternal life.” (1 John 2:25)

The story is told that there was once a boy who found himself in trouble for a silly childish mistake. Ashamed, he went to the park and began to cry beneath a tree when a Good Fairy appeared asking him why he was weeping. When he explained, she offered him a solution in the form of a spool of thread which represented the remainder of his life. If he ever found himself in a similar situation to his current one, he would only have to snip a tiny bit of the thread to bypass the discomfort. The Fairy cautioned him, however, that he must use the spool wisely. Overjoyed, the boy returned home with the spool. The next day, his teacher handed back an assignment on which he had received a poor grade. Embarrassed, he took out his spool, snipped off a tiny bit of the thread, and was instantly transported from the classroom to the end of the school day. The boy immediately understood the usefulness of the contraption: skipping the hard moments. As more incidents of childish dilemmas passed – each time the boy snipped away the moment on his spool of life and escaped it. The pattern continued as he passed through adulthood. Soon enough, he finds himself to be an old man. Reminiscing on his life, he realizes that he has passed too many moments without fully experiencing them and has lost too much time by not living it. Sorrowfully, he returns to the tree where he found himself during childhood, weeping once more on what his life has become.  To his surprise, the Good Fairy reappears. Seeing that he is now an old man, she inquires as to why he is crying. As he explains to her his regret, she reminds him that she had warned him against using the spool excessively. Then she waves her magic wand and promises him a chance at a new life. She leaves and he falls asleep, waking as a boy once more to relive his life.

Wishing away our lives, worried about what comes next, and wondering when it all comes to an end what will happen. This is all very typical of the human condition.  Recently I heard the thoughts of two different individuals. The first came in the words of a friend who had recently lost her husband after fifty-plus years of marriage. She summarized his death as “very sad, but good.”  Sad in the fact that she would now face life without him, but ‘good’ because he had now escaped his debilitating illness of many years.  She was grateful that when the end came, she was with him as he passed from this life to the next.  The second individual was a relative newcomer to Christianity. One day as he was discussing the concept of death with members of the church he attended, he emphatically stated that he believed that when you die – that was it!  It was over, and you ceased to exist. Somewhere along the line, he missed the point of the life of Jesus and the greatest promise He gave us – that of everlasting life. Perhaps one of the most memorized of all Christian scriptures is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Everlasting or eternal life is the gracious promise every believer holds onto with joy and gratitude. Yet, we somehow develop the notion that it only represents our future . . . that we have to first endure our earthly existence and then one day receive eternal life as our ultimate reward. However, God actually desires that we grow into that promise here on earth. Learning to cope with and getting through the difficult moments in our lives validates our faith. The problem is that we get so bogged down with the challenges, problems, and responsibilities of our lives that we miss the incredible truth that we are empowered to live spiritually in the present as we come to believe and develop a connection with God’s very own Son. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). While each of us must face the limitations of our earthly existence, we have access to God’s throne of grace and can this very day know the intimacy of a deep relationship with Him. When we don’t live as if we are displaying the confidence of everlasting life here and now, we limit what He is able to do through us as we interact with others. Jesus taught, “I tell you the truth, anyone who obeys my teaching will never die” (John 8:51). We don’t need to snip away at the difficult portions of our life, concerned about that day when we will find ourselves holding the end of an empty spool. Jesus promises eternity which guarantees that our life thread is indeed everlasting.

REFLECTION: Do you give more thought to the securities of this life than you do to all of eternity? How can you position your current life differently by realizing that what is everlasting begins this very day?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., JANUARY  19, 2019. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.

RUNNING ON EMPTY

 “And the believers were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 13:52)

One of our family members received an interesting Christmas gift recently.  Weeks before the big day, my mother and I went shopping at a major department store. While walking through the housewares department, she saw a condiment caddy which had been reduced to half-price. She remarked that it would be useful to have for picnics on the deck next summer. We paid for the item, and I saved it as one of her Christmas gifts. Since it was rather insignificant, I decided to have her open it first on Christmas. As I handed it to her – I became a little suspicious, because the package was very light. Sure enough, when she opened the box – there wasn’t anything inside. If nothing else, it did provide us with a few hearty laughs. The event reminded me of another incident that happened to me many years ago when I purchased a new car.  A day or so after the acquisition, I decided to take a long-distance drive to get a feel for how the car handled.  I chose a familiar destination within an hour from home. When I arrived there – all of a sudden, the car began to chug, sputter, and came to a halt. As anyone would do, I glanced down at the gas gauge to check the obvious. According to the indicator, I still had plenty of fuel. I then proceeded to phone the dealership where I purchased the car.  They willingly sent out a tow truck for the car, and it took us back home.  The next day they notified me that the reason for the shutdown was that there was, in fact, no gas in the tank.  Apparently the new car came fully-equipped with a faulty gas gauge. And there I was . . . trying to run on empty.

Emptiness comes in many forms. Sometimes when we go too long without eating, we might say that we are “getting a little empty.”  If the person at work who is responsible for supplies allows the inventory to be depleted, that emptiness can become problematic for the production staff.  If both our wallet and our bank account are empty, we are going to have to make some temporary lifestyle changes. And when we feel a sense of emptiness in our soul, then loneliness and despair can quickly lead to depression. At times, Christians may also feel spiritually empty if they have not maintained a vibrant connection with God. Each of us has no doubt experienced seasons where we have felt spiritually dry; we lack joy, and our faith is no longer infectious. The key to overcoming spiritual emptiness is to “fill up.” As a child of God, you possess that capability, because you have the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised inside of you (John 14:16-17). The great evangelist D. L. Moody understood this. When asked why he placed so much emphasis upon being filled with the Holy Spirit, he wisely said, ‘Because I leak.’

Spiritual emptiness is often caused by our own sinfulness or sluggishness in sustaining regular contact with God in our daily lives. We cannot expect much peace if we are always trying to run spiritually empty. Without a continuously-filled spiritual tank – our days are doomed to stress, anxiety, and frustration. When we ‘fill up’ by spending some quality time with Him, we will become revitalized and discover our faith is renewed. Jesus warned that it is dangerous to allow ourselves to become empty: “When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation” (Matthew 12:43-45). So, dare to be different than your peers. Those who endeavor to maintain a full spiritual tank strive to be grounded in God’s Word and sustain a solid prayer life. If you are entering this new year or any transition in your life, you will want to make sure that you are well-fueled for whatever lies ahead. It’s downright misguided to think that just because one year ends and another begins you will permanently change your course. But when you find yourself presented with an empty box, there’s only one way to go. It’s only common sense to conclude that you won’t get very far when you are trying to face the journey ahead by running on empty. So why not fill up today?

REFLECTION: Do you recognize times when you your spiritual life just doesn’t seem as full as it once was? Do you have any signs of spiritual dryness in your life at the moment? How long have you felt this way? Think of times in the past when you have experienced a fulfilled life? What are some very practical things you can do this week to personally reconnect with God?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., JANUARY  12, 2019. COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.