Month: September 2021

“Danger, Will Robinson!!!”  Remember that?  Robot, on Lost in Space alerted the Robinsons by saying “Danger, danger!” and “Warning, warning!”  What was Robot doing?  He was alerting them to disaster.  Robot was telling them that there was danger around.  What do you do when you see a destructive path up the road and others are heading right for it?   Just like Robot, we give a warning, we give a signal, we wave a flag.  Just like God did for the people he loved.  Just like Jeremiah did for the people he loved.  Just like Paul did for the people he loved.  Just like countless other examples in the Bible did for the people they loved.  Shouldn’t we do the same?    “Danger, danger!”  “Warning, warning!”  Wouldn’t you want to know if you were the one on the path to destruction?

“Your own wickedness will punish you.  You will see what an evil, bitter thing it is to forsake the Lord your God, having no fear of him.  I, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, have spoken!”  Jeremiah 2:19

You’re probably thinking holy mackerel, that’s a scary verse, that can’t really be in the Bible.  But, it is.  From one of the greatest flag wavers of all time, Jeremiah.

The prevailing theme of the Book of Jeremiah is that of national sinfulness and imminent judgment.  It’s a book of warnings.  The messages of Jeremiah were to convince God’s people to turn from their sin back to Him.   Know anyone else with that same message?  Jeremiah was written to Israel, specifically, the southern kingdom of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem.  Ah, he’s talking to the folks of The Holy City.  The same Holy City that Jesus rode through on a colt on Palm Sunday while the crowds sang Hosanna!  Hosanna!  We’re a little bit like Israel too, aren’t we?  Disobedient to God one minute, singing His praises the next.

Anyway, Jerusalem was destroyed, the Temple was destroyed, and the Israelites were captured and taken off to Babylon.  All because of sin.  Sin has serious consequences.  We don’t like to think about that too much.  Jeremiah is a book of messages from the Lord.  Jeremiah the Prophet gives the messages from the Lord, issues warnings, and then weeps in anguish for their disobedience because he knows they are working out their own destruction.

Blow the ram’s horn throughout the land.  Cry out loudly…Lift up a signal flag toward Zion.  Run for cover!  Don’t stand still!  Jeremiah 4:5-6

Lift up a signal flag.  It’s the Flag-Factor.  Why would you wave a flag?  To signal.  To advise.  To warn.  To alert.  Jeremiah was one flag waving dude.  Change your ways, be obedient to God, because there are consequences.  The alarm was sounded because the message was alarming.

But God also gave Jeremiah a message of hope for the captives:

“The truth is that you will be in Babylon for seventy years.  But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again.  For I know the plans I have for you,”  says the Lord.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me.  I will be found by you”, says the Lord.  “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes.  I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and bring you home again to your land.”  Jeremiah 29:10

Here’s the beauty of the message – God rescues his people – to give them a future and a hope.

So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.  For if you keep following it, you will perish.  But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live.  Romans 8:12-13

Same message.  It sounds much more palatable from Brother Paul though, doesn’t it?  More gentile, more lovey, less harsh.  Nevertheless, the message is the same.  Sin has consequences.  Here’s the beauty in the message, God gave us a way out, the only way out.  God sent His Son, they call Him Jesus.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23

Don’t you just love the buts…the free gift of God is eternal life, a future and a hope, through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Here’s the question I asked myself – if we as Christians are to build each other up, we are to encourage each other in the faith, we are to help each other stay on the path to the narrow gate, shouldn’t we also be flag wavers?  Shouldn’t we be sounding the alarm?  Would we let our children walk into the street if we saw a car coming?  No, we would tell them to stop, look both ways, decide whether you have time to cross before the oncoming danger.  Stop.  Look.  Listen.  Why would we do that?  Because we love them and they could die.  Jeremiah loved his people enough to wave the flag.  Paul loved his people enough to wave the flag.  John loved his people enough to wave the flag.  Peter loved his people enough to wave the flag.  Jesus loved his people enough to wave the flag, in the form of the cross.  Shouldn’t we too love our people enough to wave the flag?  To alert.  To warn.  To signal.  To advise. To sound the alarm.  Isn’t that what we’re called to do?

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.  Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.”  Jeremiah 1:5

Look what the Lord said to Jeremiah.  There are so many messages packed into that one verse.  We’ll leave all that unpacking for another time.  It says what it says.  Look at Jeremiah’s response to the Lord:

“O Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I can’t speak for you!  I’m too young!”  Jeremiah 1:6

Jeremiah’s saying “Send Aaron!”  We too have many excuses, don’t we?  But look what the Lord says to Jeremiah:

“Don’t say that, for you must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you.  And don’t be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and take care of you.  I, the Lord, have spoken!”  Jeremiah 1:7-8

So, are you willing to wave the flag?  To warn?  To alert?  To advise?  Do you love someone enough to do that for them?  To save them from the consequences?  Are we afraid to do that?  Sure we are.  But didn’t He say He would be with us?  Didn’t He say He’d take care of us?  He, the Lord, has spoken. It is our job to take care of each other.  After all, wouldn’t you want someone to signal the flag for you if you were headed in the wrong direction?   Me too.  If we truly love each other we will signal the flag and we will appreciate it when the flag has been waved our way.  That’s what true love is.

See my poor girl, it’s kind of hard to tell from the picture, but she’s molting. Again, it’s that time of year. She’s shedding feathers to make way for new feathers. Molting occurs to replace worn out or damaged feathers.

As you can kind of see, after being nearly bald, she has new downy feathers growing in to replace the old.

It made me think about what I needed to molt, drop, get rid of in my life that is worn out, useless, no longer needed. You now, what attitudes, actions, sins do I need to shed? What needs to go to be replaced by new attitudes, actions or habits? It’s certainly worth thinking on.

Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17

Are you wrestling too, or is it just me?  Am I the only one feeling like this?  You know, overwhelmed and exhausted trying to make sense of the world we live in?  You know, desperately trying to keep up and conquer each new day and all its new compounding challenges?  You know, feeling angry and frustrated about everything and absolutely nothing?  You know, searching for meaning or explanation in the last couple of years of our lives?   You know, looking at our lives and our world and wondering what in the world is going on?  You know, desperately trying to stop the speeding ferris wheel before you fly out of the top car (buckle up!)?  You know, desperately trying to gain control of all that’s uncontrollable?  Our lives, others’ lives, our world…If you think you’re the only one wrestling, look around.  Everywhere we go, home, work, school, grocery store, craft store, restaurant, church, folks are wrestling.

“I do believe, but help me not to doubt!”

Mark 9:24

I think most of us can say we know exactly how the father of the demon-possessed boy felt.  I think most of us can say regardless of what is going on around us and the challenges we all face daily, we do believe, we may even be a little defensive about it, but…

See what I mean?  Believers know, that God is sovereign, that He is in complete control at all times, that nothing happens without passing through Him, without being checked within His plan.  This father had faith, He did believe, but his humanness made him doubt.  He looked at his son’s situation through an earthly lens and not a Heavenly lens.  When the circumstances of life are right in front of our faces, we say but too, don’t we?

As a soul realizes Me and My Power, and knows Me as Helper and Savior, that soul believes in Me more and more.  At the same time it is more conscious than before of its falling short of absolute trust in Me.

The soul’s progress, an increased belief – then a cry for more faith – a plea to conquer all unbelief, all lack of trust.

That cry heard.  That prayer answered.  More faith, and at the same time more power to see where trust is lacking.

My children seek to go up this path, leading by each stage, nearer to Me.

God Calling, Two Listeners

When I look at this sweet prayer it gives me such hope and encouragement with my buts. It gives me encouragement to cry out for more faith in those you knows of life, courage to trust our Sovereign God.  It gives me courage, like Jacob, to take all my unbeliefs, all my doubts, all those things I’m wrestling with to God.  And to stay on that mat, through prayer and petition, until he blesses me with more believes and less buts.  Upon wrestling, Jacob lost the physical battle, but in the spiritual  battle he was absolutely victorious.

The sun rose as he left Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Genesis 32:31

What a  beautiful verse.  Peniel, face of God.  The Light comes out and we see the face of God.    Don’t we all want to see the face of God?  Then, like Jacob, we must keep wrestling, keep persevering, only with God’s help can we get through the you knows to get to the believes with a few less buts.

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble…

The Lord Almighty is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress.

Psalm 46:1, 11

We’re taking a little break from the grind.  We’ve headed south for a few days and this is our view. The feel of the surf winds, the wave sounds, and the magnificent scenery all remind me of how incredibly good our God is.  Paul put it best:

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. Ephesians 3:14-15

As I’m thinking about the Creator and His creation, I’m distracted by a voice I hear in between the crash of the waves.  A beautiful, sweet voice praising our Lord on the beach.  The voice sings one word over and over, Amen, and that really just says it all.  As I watch, the voice lifts her arms and her face toward Heaven and continues the Amen praise.  I find myself joining in this impromptu praise from my balcony perch.  It’s Sunday and a little later we’re headed to Church, but I feel  I’m already there.

The view from my seat is a little different than in years past, not quite as high.  This view is slightly obstructed by a palm tree.  Now, I have nothing against palm trees, but this one happens to be in my way.  As you can see, it is obstructing the sunrise.  Despite the obstruction, I’m still reminded of the length and breadth of God’s love.

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.  Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.

Ephesians 3:16-18

I read about Charles Inglis, a ship’s captain, who once had a passenger, a German, 19^th century evangelist, George Muller.  Mr. Muller had a speaking engagement at a certain place and time.  Because of the dense fog, which had kept Captain Inglis on watch for 24 hours, that engagement was in jeopardy.  Mr. Muller suggested to the Captain that they head to the chart-room for prayer.  Captain Inglis says:

I looked at that man of God and thought to myself, What lunatic asylum could that man have come from.  I never heard of such a thing as this.  “Mr. Muller, do you know how dense this fog is?”   Mr. Muller replied, “No, my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life.”

He knelt down and prayed one of those simple prayers, and when he had finished I was going to pray; but, he put his hand on my shoulder and told me not to pray.  “firstly,” he said, “because you do not believe God will, and secondly, I believe God has, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it.”

George Muller said, “Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King.  Get up and open the door, and you will find the fog has gone.”

I Will Life Up Mine Eyes, Glenn Clark

Our view of the Son may sometimes be obstructed, but our faith and our praise can bring it fully into sight.  Our prayers and our praise will cause the fog to dissipate and give us a clear view.

Interestingly enough, as the songstress concludes her praise, the sun comes into full view on the horizon.  The view that was once obstructed is now fully visible.  Some would say it is the tilt of the earth, I say it is an answer to prayer.

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:19-20

…The praise being offered at the beach was the exact same praise we sang that morning at a Church we attend when we’re this way.  Further confirmation that prayer and praise, focusing on the God who controls everything versus the obstruction hiding our view, always clears the way ahead to see the Son.  He is just that good.

Sometimes we just need to reflect.  Take time to think about the deeper meaning.  You know, peel the onion.  We know an onion is an onion by its appearance, but we must always peel away the outer skin to get to the onion, to get to the rings of flesh.  You know, break off the papery skin that protects the meat inside.  Most times, the peeling process brings with it a few tears as well.  To get to the good stuff, the outer barrier must be removed.  The useable sweet stuff is well below the papery outer surface.

Our walk with Jesus is much like an onion.  We may attend Church, hang out with His people, put some money in His plate, all the surface stuff that can be done (seen) without peeling back the layers, without getting to the meat.   Why am I rambling on about onions, you ask?  I’m not quite sure.  Here’s my thought process…

I was studying on a few verses in 2 Timothy.  When I read the Bible, I try to think about it as more than just words on a page.  I try to think about the words and check myself against them.  I try to apply, sometimes over-apply and end up in a rabbit hole (as I did with the onion).  I try to think below the surface and actually to the sweet relationship with Jesus.  So, when I read, I’m asking myself questions about The Word, trying to peel away the outer skin.  Often, these questions bring tears, but I know of no other way to get to where I need to be with Jesus than to peel back the layers. 

An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

2 Timothy 2:5

As I read this verse and studied on it, the do I’s or did I’s, come to mind.  I end up with more questions then answers, sometimes.  It’s a probing, a prickling.  In the case of this verse, I started thinking about me being an athlete in a competition.  When I ran track in high school (not well, I might add), there were certain rules to follow in the race.  I ran the 1600 meter (1 mile — I know, why would anyone do that to themselves?).  That’s four times around a football field.  You might think you just get out there and run, but not so.  You’re assigned a lane, that’s a rule. For the first full lap you must stay in your lane, that’s a rule.  You must not impede other runners, interfere, trip them or knock them down, that’s a rule.  You must complete all 1600 meters of the race, not three laps and you’re done (that’d be the only way I could win, maybe), that’s a rule.  You must cross the finish line in order to complete the race, that’s a rule.  There are many other technical rules to running a race, but those are the obvious ones.

In the context of running a race, here are some of the questions that I wrote down about this verse:

1.         How did I run the race, how did I compete?

2.         Did I false start, take off out of the blocks but was DQ’d?

3.         Did I finish the race?

4.         Did I follow the rules?

5.         Did I give my all in the race or slip slap along, running some, walking some, resting some?

6.         Did I train properly for the race, was I conditioned?

7.         Did I talk to my coach, my trainer, to get the guidance, instruction needed for the race?

8.         Did I follow the training guide, did I even read it?

9.         Did I put forth my best effort or did I do just enough to slink over the finish line?

10.       Did I cut the course and hop over the fence instead of running straight through the  gate to the finish line?

12.       Did I pull others along with me or were they left in my wake?

13.       Did I encourage others throughout those grueling laps?

14.       Did I offer to train with any of the other runners?

15.       Did I share my training materials with them?

16.       Did I introduce them to my coach, my trainer?

17.       Did I make sure the other runners were hydrated with Living Water?

18.       Did I point them to the protein, the nourishment that would give them the strength needed  to begin the race and the endurance needed throughout the race to the finish?

19.       Did I see to it that they had the proper footwear?  Gospel shoes – a pair of Air Jesus’s?

All of these questions for just a 12 word verse.  So many layers, so much to think about, so many questions to answer.  But, this is how you build relationship with Jesus by getting below the skin and to the meat.  Not just being content with the words on the page, but being willing to strip away the outer covering to get to the heart of the verses or to get the verses to your heart.  By probing the scriptures and peeling back, our lives and the lives of others should be changed like Paul’s.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful.  And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:7-8

Make no mistake, it is me that needs the peeling not The Word.  The Word has no covering, no skin, it is flesh, it is alive, it is not hidden.  We need only spend time in The Word and on our knees in order to be changed by It.  We need only to humble ourselves and peel back those things which would keep us from the meat.