PERSISTING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving only on Thanksgiving Day? I mean I know why the Pilgrims and Indians celebrated Thanksgiving, but why do we? Sure, I know it is to commemorate the first Thanksgiving, but when we’re sitting around this stuffed bird on the table gorging ourselves (I’ll speak for myself), are we thinking about the true meaning of Thanksgiving? I can honestly say I’m not thinking of the lean times when God provided. I’m not thinking about the insecure times God provided. I’m not thinking about the times of sickness God provided. Frankly, I’m thinking about more mashed potatoes with sauerkraut in the middle and who’s going to take the body shot so I can have that last piece of pie? Wrong, I know.

So, this year, I want to be different You too? This year I want to celebrate the real meaning of Thanksgiving — God’s provisions for me, for you. Is it too much to ask (I ask myself) to set aside one day for thanksgiving to a God who provides year round? Better yet, what if I carried that thanksgiving a little bit past Thursday, maybe even a little into Friday? I don’t think it would hurt me. You in? Let’s get started.

Wednesday
During your time with the Lord today, read aloud Psalm 100.

Thursday
Give thanks with a grateful heart, give thanks to the Holy One! Today, praise the Holy One. During your Thanksgiving Celebration, look around the table and whisper a prayer of thanksgiving for each.

Friday
Write down two blessings from your Thanksgiving Day celebration.

Saturday
Write out Psalm 100.

Sunday
Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son. Today, praise the Holy One who gave His Son.

Monday
Memorize Psalm 100:4

Tuesday
And now let the weak say I am strong, let the poor say I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us. Praise the Holy One today for His strength and glorious riches. All good things come from Him.

I am so excited!!!! We’re switching things up a bit for November and December.  It’s the season for rolling out new things and we’re rolling out a new blog format for the next five weeks.  It’s a crazy busy time for folks and we want everyone to connect to the Reason for the Season. So…(drum roll, please) posts will be rolled out only on Wednesdays through December (and the crowd went wild, right?)!!!!  The whole goal is to emerge in January less frazzled, less harried, more like Jesus. Who doesn’t want that?

So, I will see you Wednesday with a week’s worth of ideas on how to stay connected to our Savior during our chaos!

God is not working to make me happy but to fulfill His purpose.

Whack! That statement certainly stands alone, doesn’t it? Just say it a few times out loud, you’ll feel the whack too. We people tend to think that God exists for us, that everything He does is for us or about us, don’t we? We may think that God exists to make us happy. Sorry, not so. But, have our actions ever reflected that? Maybe. God exists for His purposes, not ours. Even we as Christians tend to view circumstances in the light of what God will do for us – send funds, send healing, send protection. Here’s a Biblical truth, God exists for His purposes only.

We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose.
Romans 8:28

But wait, doesn’t that verse say for the good of everyone who loves him? Yep, it does. But, look at the last sentence, for his purpose. We like to stop at the first part of the verse. It sounds like cupcakes and unicorns, doesn’t it? God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. Sounds like if we love God and He’s working for our good, it will be a wonderful life, right? Sorry, not so. We can have a wonderful life if we live for God’s purposes. If we stop existing for ourselves and exist for Him. If we stop living for self and start living for Him. In fulfilling His purposes we are then made whole, made complete. Wholeness, completeness, that would be happiness.

Everything that happens in our life has been designed by God to make us more like Christ. Everything. The good things, the bad things. The happy things, the sad things. The trials, the blessings. Everything that happens in our lives is used by God to make us more like Christ. Who wouldn’t want that? To be more like Jesus?

God is not working to make me happy but to fulfill His purpose.

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.
2 Timothy 1:8-10

Happiness comes from fulfilling God’s purposes in our lives.

And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
Romans 9:5

When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer
To Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

To Thee, my God above,
I cry with glowing love,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The fairest graces spring
In hearts that ever sing,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Does sadness fill my mind?
A solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Or fades my earthly bliss?
My comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When evil thoughts molest,
With this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear,
When this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When sleep her balm denies,
My silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day,
When from the heart we say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, while life is mine,
My canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this th’ eternal song
Through all the ages long,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
1828

I love looking around at nature and feeling the effects of the season changes on my senses. Seasons seem to change so slow-quick. The sun has changed its rise position from north of east to south of east and it sets the same west. Because of our latitudinal position, the prevailing west winds usher in those cooler temperatures and try as he may, the sun cannot significantly encourage that temperature up to those we’ve recently enjoyed. There’s a big contrast in the seasons in our neck of the woods.

So the worst-best and I were walking up the road last weekend. It was beautiful. It was chilly (I had my overalls on) but the sun was shining so bright on the mountain. The sunshine warmed the coolness. So while the worst-best stops for a sniff and to try to eat something that makes you not want to kiss her, I look across the field and notice the frost. Frost, dew drops that freeze when they land on a cooler surface, like the ground, or a fence, or your windshield. These glistening, beautiful little ice crystals really look like snowflakes to me. Simply, frozen dew. Anyway, as I was looking out across the field I noticed something. Where the sun shone the frost was melted and the grass was stretching tall. The parts of the field shielded from the sun were still frozen and brittle and crunchy to the foot. Do you see that?

The contrast in one field was striking to me – the grass in the sun and the grass in the shade. Warm and cold. Melted and frozen. Pliable and hard. Tall and beaten. Life and lifeless. Light and shade. Having the two extremes side-by-side required me to look at both at the same time. I could see the light and I could see the dark. It challenged me to think, honestly, where do I want to be – sun or frost, light or shade? And, I had to ask myself, am I where I want to be? Where am I standing right now? I challenge you as well, sun or frost, light or shade? Where are you standing right now?

I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.
John 12:46

There are decisions to be made. Are we standing in the warmth of His light or frosted in the shade? Are we standing in the shadows or are we standing in the Light? It really is a matter of heart. Do we want hearts radiating the Son or hearts that radiate the cold, brittle, frozen? Have we placed our trust in Him? If so, we will be walking in the Son. If we’re feeling frosted, crunchy to the touch, we may need to rethink where we’re standing.

“While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
John 12:35-36

The big question is — Are we standing in the Light? Today, let’s evaluate where we’re standing – not where we should be standing we all know that answer, but where we actually are standing. Our words and our actions should give us a good clue as to where we stand – Son or frost. Look at the field. Are you standing in the middle or in the shade, out of reach of the Light?

Today is Veteran’s Day. A day we recognize those who sacrificed for all of our freedoms. Many made the ultimate sacrifice. We are grateful. We tend to just tool through life doing our thing without ever thinking about the ones who cleared the path so that we can do our thing. We honor today those who cleared the path.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

That’s the last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Since 1776, and before, scores have been clearing our path so we can do what we do. Cleared the path for independence. Cleared the path of oppression. Cleared the path of tyranny. Cleared the path for safety. Cleared the path for democracy.

There’s been a whole lot of path clearing going on and we’ve all played a part in some way. However, the most important paths aren’t the ones that were cleared “for,” “of,” or “from.” The most important path cleared was “to.” The path “to” the cross. Jesus cleared the way for us for eternal life. It seems odd to say that the ultimate freedom was when Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, doesn’t it? But, isn’t that what Veteran’s do? Sacrifice themselves for others? Earthly Veterans have sacrificed their lives to give us freedom here on earth. Jesus sacrificed His life to give us eternal freedom.

Veteran’s cleared the path from a king who “plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” Jesus cleared the path from the one who plunders, ravages, burns, and destroys the lives of people here on earth.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121:7-8

So, maybe today is the day we should think about the One who walked the path “to” the cross so that we would know The Way for eternity.

Do you see those water drops on the fence? That’s morning dew. You know, when you walk out in an early morning and everything is wet, completely saturated. Heavy dew is usually seen in the warm, moist summer. Those days have moved on. These little drops of water appear on surfaces and in the grass in a morning or evening as a surface cools down. When the surface cools down, the moisture in the atmosphere cools faster than it can evaporate creating dew drops. The best-worst and I are not seeing many dew drops on our walks these days as the weather has turned and our dew drops are now frost flakes. When I see these dew drops, I’m reminded of Gideon. You know, the dew-drop deliverer.

Once again the people of Israel sinned against the LORD, so he let the people of Midian rule them for seven years. The Midianites were stronger than Israel, and the people of Israel hid from them in caves and other safe places in the hills…so Israel was reduced to starvation.
Judges 6:1-6

Israel had once again gotten themselves into a pickle. They were on the down of the obey-disobey teeter-totter and had hit the ground with a thud. It was their modus operandi. It is ours too, isn’t it? Who is ruling us as a people? As a country? We get sideways because of disobedience and then what do we do? Exactly what the Israelites did…

Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help against the Midianites, and he sent them a prophet who brought them this message from the LORD, the God of Israel: “I brought you out of slavery in Egypt. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from the people who fought you here in this land. I drove them out as you advanced, and I gave you their land. I told you that I am the LORD your God and that you should not worship the gods of the Amorites, whose land you are now living in. But you have not listened to me.”
Judges 6:7-10

And what does the Lord do? He sends the most unlikely person to put His plan in motion. He doesn’t call the greatest, the most experienced, the most faithful, the got-it-all-together person, He surprisingly uses the weak – sometimes physically, sometimes mentally, sometimes spiritually. Why is that? Because it’s unexpected, it is unusual. If He used the greatest, most experienced, most faithful, the person who has got-it-all-together, that would be expected and the glory would be misplaced. He uses unexpected people to do unexpected things so that His glory shines through.

Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
The LORD said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”
Judges 6:14-16

Just like the rest of us, Gideon made excuses. Why? Because Gideon was looking through the self lens and not the God lens. Looking through the self lens reveals all our weaknesses our hidings beneath the threshing floor. Gideon just couldn’t see how God would use him. So…

Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the LORD speaking to me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.”
He answered, “I will stay here until you return.”
***
“Oh, Sovereign LORD, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
Judges 6:18, 22

Gideon sought confirmation from the Lord. We can all look at the story and say that Gideon should not have tested the Lord. But, don’t we do the same thing? What I love about this exchange between Gideon and the Lord is just that – the exchange. Gideon was weak in faith, like me, like you, and he voiced that to the Lord – Lord, don’t go away. When Gideon received confirmation from the Lord, he did what the Lord asked of him. Gideon destroyed the altar of the idols that Israel was worshiping. Gideon acknowledged God and then got rid of all other gods. Isn’t that what we’re asked to do too? Recognize the Lord, forsake other idols, get ready to enact God’s plan?

Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon with power.
Judges 6:33-34

You’ve just got to love Gideon! He was made ready for the task at hand, he was clothed with the Spirit of power from the Lord! But…Gideon needed more proof. He was vacillating between that self lens and the God lens, again. See, he is just like me, you! The self lens said, Gideon this is outrageous you can’t do this. The God lens said, you are weak but I Am strong. So, Gideon called on God to do the dew, and God did the dew, not once but TWICE!

“If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.” And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water.
Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.” So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.
Judges 6:36-40

Now I’m not saying that the fleece-test is the best-test, it definitely is not. But there are some amazing lessons and reassurances from God in the story of Gideon. Our strength can only come from God, no other idols can replace the power of God, despite what we think, including self. Gideon conversed with God. He shared his fears. He asked questions. He sought guidance. Gideon called – God answered. He always does. God always does the dew!

So we all come from a long line of complainers. Sorry, but we do. All of us. That’s just what humans do, we act like humans – imagine that! I’ve been grumbling a lot lately – Too hot. Too cold. Stinkbugs! Too busy. Too much. Too little. Too late. Too early. Too tired. Too hyper. Too much fighting. Not enough fighting. Too much politics. I think I’m getting a cold! Too much work. Not enough work. Winters’s a comin. Summer’s a comin. Fruit flies! Those people from the east. Those people from the west. It’s raining. It’s snowing. That driver on the highway. That driver on the backroad. I don’t like… I wanna… They shoulda… I’m gonna…

Those are just a few things I’ve said in the past week. When I put it on paper, it makes me wonder – who would even want to be around me? I don’t even want to be around me! Who wants to be around someone who grumbles and complains all the time? For me, grumbling is a huge sin. Oh sure, I can couch it – make a complaint, followed by a but and a smile…I’m really only fooling myself, not even. We grumblers and complainers are good justifiers – we’re not complaining, just making a statement or an observation, not even. We grumblers and complainers are also looking for allies, aren’t we? It’s really deflating to grumble and complain to someone and be met with joy, isn’t it?

Do all things without grumbling or complaining, that you may be blameless and innocent…
Philippians 2:14

Why is it important? Why does it matter? Because we are to live Christ. Christ never grumbled or complained. In fact “He never said a mumbling word.” Christ spoke life to all. What do we speak? What we speak directly impacts His reputation, you know that, right? How are we doing? Ouch! Sorry!

The thing we have to remember is that God is in control. He is sovereign over all things. Not just some, but all. Every complaint we make calls into question God’s sovereignty. How’d that turn out for Job?

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
Colossians 1:15-17

The workload is the workload, because God allowed it. The season’s are the season’s, because God allowed them. It snowed, because God allowed it. The traffic is heavy, because God allowed it. The President’s the President, because God allowed it. The sun shines because God allowed it. There are fruit flies and stinkbugs, because God allowed. Illness… Death… Absolutely nothing happens without God’s permission. Nothing.

So, if God is Sovereign over all, what does it say when I grumble or complain? What does it say to God? What does it say about God? What does it say about me? What does it say about my faith in God?

Some are saying that those little comments about weather, about busyness, about the line at the store, about the clerk who was having a bad day, about customer service, and so on and so on are just comments made, we don’t mean anything by them. Then why would we say something we don’t mean? What comes out of our lips is straight from our hearts. Our words reflect our heart condition. Ouch! Sorry!

But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God.
Matthew 15:18

Life is hard, no doubt about it. Here’s the thing. We are not living our lives for us, we are living our lives for Christ. If we look at it with that lens, we may be better able to keep our attitudes in check. The message isn’t come to Jesus and we won’t have anything to complain about. That’s not reality. The message is that when we come to Jesus He equips us to handle all those things we so easily grumble and complain about. So, what are we reflecting to the world? Life’s hard and complaining about it means I’m ill equipped to handle it? Or, life’s hard but because Christ lives in me, I chose not to complain about it because I know where my help comes from?

Because of a sweet, sweet heart, our daddy had a dream come true. Now anybody that knows our daddy knows he’s a nut when it comes to baseball. Don’t get me wrong, he can commentate with the best on any sport, but baseball is his thing. He played baseball, coached baseball, and our mom would say ate, drank and slept baseball.

So, daddy got to go see his favorite team (when they’re winning), the Washington Nationals play in Game 4 of the World Series. Absolutely thrilling! The World Series! Oh sure, you may not be a baseball fan, but everyone’s heard of the World Series. You know, the best in the American League and the National League (aren’t all U.S. teams in both? curious) playing for the title of World Champions. Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and… It went to the wire, seven games. A week of angst for baseball fans.

Before going to the game and despite the loss of Game 4, daddy called it the chance of a lifetime. And it was. This chance of a lifetime has had me thinking about the chances of our lifetimes. Now surely we wouldn’t pass up the gift to attend the World Series, or some other cool event. Would we? A vacation? A fishing excursion? A bowl game? A new car? It may not be the World Series, or any sporting event, but we all have what we’d call chances of a lifetime. But there’s another kind of chance of a lifetime that truly is the chance of a lifetime. How about the chance to reach out to those who need Jesus? Those who need salvation? Isn’t that a gift? Do we have that chance? Is there an opportunity for us to give a gift and an opportunity for someone else to receive a gift – a chance of a lifetime? Don’t we have the chance of a lifetime to offer an eternal lifetime to others?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
1 Peter 3:15

We all know the outcome of the World Series, the National’s won! But, we don’t know the outcome of life, unless we know the Savior. We have the chance of a lifetime to reach out to others. Life is short, no matter how long we live. What are we doing with our lifetime of chances? Are we talking about the Gift? Are we giving others the chance of a lifetime?

Can you see that? There are seven stars, dim, I know, but if you look very closely you might be able to see what I see in the mornings. A question mark! It is the strangest thing. Do you remember as a kid laying in the grass and watching the clouds, seeing the shapes they’d make? A funny face, an animal, you know. Well I do that with the stars. I don’t lay in the grass at 5:00 a.m. in the morning, but, as I’ve said in the past, I do take note of the stars.

For the past couple of months, those seven stars (I’m sure there are more I just can’t see), have lined up into a question mark. I first saw them lined up over top of the barn. Hmmm? As Shenandoah and I continue to walk west on the road, those stars are now a question mark over the front field. Stars are funny like that. I’m a person who thinks everything means something, and so I started thinking about that question mark, and how it seems to be everywhere. What does that mean?

Life is all about questions, isn’t it? Asking questions is how we gather information. How we get the full story. How we learn. How we know. Asking questions is the only class I’m way above average in. The first six words journalism majors are taught are Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Let’s check this out for a minute:

Who? It’s so odd. This morning while looking at the question mark, I heard a barred owl calling in the woods. Their call sounds like “who calls for you” to the rhythm of “coo coo ca-choo.” But, I usually only hear the “who” part. Who? Who? I’m looking at that question mark and I hear Who? Who? Hmmm. Jesus has asked us the same question, you know:

Then he asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my father in heaven has revealed this to you.” Matthew 16:15-16

How do we answer the who? Who do we say He is? Do we say Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God?

What? What was Jesus’ mission? What was Jesus’ purpose?

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue stared at him intently. Then he said, “This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!” Luke 4:18-21

Have we answered the what? Have we heard the Good News? We are the poor, you know. The poor in spirit. We are the captives, the downtrodden and the oppressed, you know. Captivated, downtrodden and oppressed to and by our sin. But wait! The Good News in the synagogue is the same Good news we’ve heard today — the time of the Lord’s favor has come!

Where? Where is God? Where does He live? Where do I find Him? Is He really there?

I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. Ephesians 3:17

Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. 2 Corinthians 13:5

Do you know the answer to the where? Is God living in you? Do you see how easy He makes it for us? He will live in us, if we only ask. Experiencing the life of the His Spirit within us as a guide, teacher, intervenor, will change our life. If our lives aren’t changed, Paul says we have failed the test.

When? When did God come? When does God appear?

And that’s the way it was before Christ came. We were salves to the spiritual powers of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us, who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. Galatians 4:3-7

Do you see the when? In the fullness of time. In the nick of time. In His time. We forget that God has a plan and His timing is always perfect. In our impatience, fear, anxiety, we want God at our beck and call. We demand. God always answers. God shows up. His plan has no many moving parts, that sometimes something must happen before something else happens. Trust His timing. After all, He is God.

Why? Why did Jesus come? Why does He pursue me? Why me, Lord? Why trust Jesus?

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. John 3:16-17

So many why’s. The answer to all of them is Love. He has loved us with an everlasting love. A love with such outrageous dimension. A love we can’t fathom, can’t comprehend. No greater love exists beyond Him.

How? How did God show His love for us? How did God redeem us? How were we saved?

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment. For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. Romans 5:8

How…death on a cross….love, written in red.

So, now that you have the whole story, the full story. Now that it has been fully investigated and all the questions have answers, you have decisions to make. How will you answer the questions?