Driving home on a Saturday, after picking up a 2 x 8 pressure treated board for my fence job, I end up behind a little red Pontiac. Nothing of anything that stood out, except for a bumper sticker.
First thing I think, since I have been studying in the gospels lately, is that verse speaks of the truly anointed One, Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah, the fullest and only completely true expression of the term “Anointed” found in this verse.
As a matter of fact, the verse is found twice in the Scriptures.
1 Chronicles 16:22 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”
Psalm 105:15 saying, “Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!”
And yet when I research the verse a wee bit, and look at other translations, the term “anointed one” is sometimes translated in the plural. A little further research takes me to the context of the verse in 1 Chronicles. The passage is speaking of the protection God provided to Abraham and his immediate family.
They were few in number, of little account and sojourners in the land God promised to them, yet it was only a promise. No wars had been fought, no victories by bloodshed and sword. This promise was given to a man and his immediate family, while in the midst of a land they didn’t originate from, amongst people they were not related to.
Can we as believers in this age claim this promise? Is there anything in the New Testament that might help me see that this promise extends to all believers, or at least to those who claim a calling of God on their lives for ministry?
As many of you may know, I am a Canadian by birth, but we emigrated to Texas in the late 90’s, to a small town in the Panhandle. We were a family that were in a somewhat strange land (when compared with Canada) and amongst those to whom we were not related to or had any background with.
At one point, I remember some teenagers driving by our home, yelling for us to “go back where we came from”. Teenagers! So much energy, and so much desire! No matter, we stayed amongst the townsfolk, found some friends and tried to live the Christian life.
I’m telling the story only to try to understand the situation Abraham found himself in. Amongst strangers, he was vulnerable to the slightest rumor floating through the tribes nearby. Jealous tribal leaders , or power hungry men may see Abraham as one to be taken out, to be dominated over. He truly was a sojourner in a strange land, without any visible support.
How precious it must have been for Abraham to know of the Lord’s protection, of God rebuking kings in his favor. (see Genesis 12:17) How often he must have recalled this promise, and placed his trust in the One who said it, Who gave His word.
And yet the Anointed One was touched. He was not only touched, but whipped, scourged and crucified. This promise was not one that He referred to, for He knew His mission, and it wasn’t to be protected, but to rescue, to save others, to be the One who would be touched (by death) in order that others might escape.
Let’s give Him thanks for His focused love today, for His constant care over His body, for protecting those who were vulnerable, and for providing an example for us to follow.
So one last question for my gentle reader – Do we need the promise given to Abraham, or should we rely on the One who gave it? My friends, there is a difference!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
Sunday school was very good, very challenging for me this week. By the way, as a personal application, if you don’t belong to a small group to study the Word and love each other, I’m telling you that you are missing out on God’s work in your life.
Back to my topic of the Sunday School class, and the topic we were discussing.
You see, we were discussing the court systems Jesus went through prior to His glorification. We landed on a verse that opened up to me after chatting with the class about Jewish leadership performing capital punishment on their own authority.
What did you say Carl? Again, you are greatly mistaken Carl for the Bible speaks of the Jewish leadership not able to execute, that is to perform capital punishment. Read it again Carl!
John 18:31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” The Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death.”
And yet the Jewish population intended to stone Jesus early in His ministry.
Luke 4:29 ESV – 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.
How about when the adulterous woman brought to the Messiah. The Jews mentioned stoning the woman in response to her sin. Granted this was a set up to trap Jesus, but Jesus didn’t respond with the illegality of the sentence, but a personal moral application to each of the judges! (Brilliant!)
John 8:5-7 ESV – 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 6 This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”
If death was what the Jews wanted, they had proven intent in the previous occurrences, but just a few short months after Jesus crucifixion, Stephen was stoned.
Acts 7:57-59 ESV – 57 But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. 58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
Stoning seemed to be allowed by the Roman authorities.
Yet the very next verse speaks of a wrinkle in the narrative, a fine point that I didn’t catch at first.
John 18:32 This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.
You see, it wasn’t that the Jews couldn’t execute, but that they couldn’t crucify. It was the kind of death that Jesus was appointed to experience, to fulfill the prophecies of His passion. Psalm 22 (and other passages) would not be fulfilled if the Messiah was executed by stoning.
No, it had to be crucifixion, and that meant this process of condemnation had to pass through the Roman court system. His condemnation by the Jewish nation was not enough, for He is the Savior of the world and not only the Jews.
Jesus was in control of this fiasco in the courts, and every statement He made throughout both the Jewish and Roman “courts” was to gain the cross, to die for the world, to die for you and I.
Jesus is in control of this fiasco we live in today. Do you believe that?
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
As some may know, I walk in the morning prior to going into the office. During my walk, I try to pray, and ask the Lord for strength for the day, for each of my children, that they would understand the goodness of God, for my wife and her continued blessing to others (primarily thinking selfishly here somewhat), and for friends, siblings and those who come to mind.
Of course during this time, I confess my weakness, my failings, my sin before God and my regrets. Sometimes this becomes a focus of my time alone with Him and it becomes “all about me”. Don’t get me wrong in this, for I recognize that in our fellowship with the Lord, we must address, agree with and confess our failings, weakness and sin before Him, just to reside in truth with Him.
Yet at times I find I dwell on my own experience, my own condition, my own trials. During these times, I also tend to sense something pushing me, something that is motivating me to dwell on my sin, in some way to make up for my failings. A selfishness, even in my confession of being selfish, a sort of penitence to appease my conscience? I can’t say and I refuse to dwell on my dwelling on my failures. (See a rabbit hole starting to open up?)
This is a deadly trap in my opinion, for it can become a downward cycle for the believer. True repentance is absolutely required when sin is in the life. But repentance is a result of godly grief, and the godly grief is not an end of itself. Note that Paul, in speaking to the Corinthians, does not focus on a believer experiencing grief (or sorrow), but that the godly sorrow produces a repentance. Once repentance occurs, the grief is assumedly gone.
2 Corinthians 7:9-10
As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
So in all of my dwelling in confession and contrition, I first off need to realize that the grief is merely a vehicle taking me to a solution, an opportunity to confess sin (or to reject the false guilt!) and repent (change my mind). Upon repentance, I may experience (or I am to receive by faith) the active forgiveness the Lord provides based on His faithfulness and justice!
In all of this discussion, I have somewhat veered from the purpose of the post, for I was intending to ask my reader, as I have recently asked myself during my prayers and confessions.
What motivates me to follow Him? Why?
This question needs to be reviewed in the believers life occasionally and during my walk that one morning it seemed to be crystalized in the following thought.
Am I following Him to stay out of hell, (pushed by fear), or am I following Him to know Him, (pulled by love)?
I confess my Christian life has been primarily fueled by a fear of hell. My testimony is available to read for any who may want to understand my background. The details of hell are not the issue, for as many may know, there are multiple ways to understand hell as described in the Bible, all of which is horrible! But that is not the issue in this post. The issue is what motivates a believer to follow after Him?
Is fear a proper motivator for the mature Christian life? Let me ask a bit better question, for there is a place for the believer to walk in the “fear of the Lord”. I suppose the better, or more focused question would be – Is fear of our destiny a proper motivator for a mature Christian life?
Some corollary questions that rise from this thinking might be suggested as follows
Does fear produce the fruits of the Spirit?
Is a walk of fear described by Paul in his writings as the normal expectation for the believer?
Will fear perfect the believer?
This last question hits the mark for my thinking on the subject, and as “luck” would have it, is directly discussed by the apostle the Lord loved, when he wrote his first letter.
1 John 4:16-18
16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
John begins this portion with two actions on the part of the believer – that is to know and the believe God’s love for us.
To Know
To know is to understand, perceive, to get acquainted with. This is the knowledge of experience, and not of a cold calculated factual head knowledge. This is the same “know” that is used as a Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse. Very experiential. Very relationship based. This knowledge also has the implication of a time element, for experiential knowledge demands time to be developed.
To Believe
To believe is synonymous with commitment. To believe God’s love is to be committed to it, to place confidence in that love, and this is a (hopefully) ongoing result of experientially knowing the love of God in your life, whether it be through blessing or suffering, for the love of God is not limited by either.
Through this experiential knowledge and commitment, through an abiding in love and of love abiding in us, we may find love being perfected in us.
Now what does “perfected” mean or imply? To be perfect in our modern thinking implies something that is absolutely without blemish, error or stain. Irreproachable, impeccable, flawless and indefectible.
Is this John’s message for us? It seems the Greek word John uses has the meaning of “finished” or that which is wanting nothing for completeness. I find it surprising that this term is used to describe some believers within the most morally corrupt church in the New Testament.
1 Corinthians 2:6 Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
The mature (same Gk word as perfect in 1 John) referred to in this verse are still in need of wisdom, which Paul is describing in this passage. This maturity/perfection described here is a relative perfection. Much to be gained yet.
1 Corinthians 14:20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
Paul speaks to the same church, and tells them not to think like children, but like mature adults.
This term also speaks of integrity and virtue. Consider Hebrews 5:14, where the apostle refers to the mature/perfect as having their powers of discernment trained by continual practice.
14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
These believers completeness is in the midst of training, or a period of growth if I understand the passage.
As John speaks of love being perfected in us, I am beginning to see that this is describing the continuing growth process of the believer, leaving behind the self absorbed life and fear driven motivation that typifies someone I know.
I realize this “Let Me Tell You a Story” post has slipped into a bit of a study, but that morning in the garage was one more time when the Lord showed me an aspect of mercy in relating to Him. My focus is not to be on me me me, but to be on Him. As I relate to Him and His absolute perfection in love, holiness and righteousness, the love that resides in my life (due to Him) will be relatively perfected, or matured as He continues to work for His will in and with me.
If you have read this and experience the same understanding, please let me know. If you understand an alternative perspective to this glorious verse, please inform. Your experience may be a blessing to those who read and will be an encouragement to myself.
Thanks again for coming by and sharing in the experience of a pilgrim with the Lord.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
Recently I penned a short post – ECT & Passage 1 – Matthew 5:43-44, 48, in relation to eternal torment. In the post, I asked if a believer may find some condition or circumstance to wreak vengeance on a neighbor. A bit of a foolish question, but bear with me.
Currently, I have superb neighbors, but such was not the case in our past. This story will present to you a neighbor we lived beside years back, and of the mercies (and humor) of the Lord in teaching His children.
I’m going to tell you of a past neighbor, whom I shall call “Frank”, (in order to protect the guilty).
He was a kind fellow at the start, and would refer to my little daughter as a “widdle wabbit”. He kept to himself for the most part, and was without work, being on a disability pension.
I think the descent into madness began when I dug a hole on our property to install a cloths line for my favorite wife. Being in Canada, this hole had to be a minimum of 4 feet deep, to miss the frost line, and the effort was more than I first imagined. After a period of time digging and temporarily placing the excavated material between the hole and the park land to the south. I went in to have supper, letting my wifey know I would set the pole after work on Monday.
Turns out I didn’t get a chance to set the pole, since Monday afternoon I received a call from wifey to come home immediately – the police were in the back yard. Police? On arriving home, I met my wife, two police officers and Frank in the back yard. Frank had filled in the hole with the dirt I had piled to the side, and then called the police to have me charged with trespassing or something silly. Mind you, the pile of dirt was near the public land to the south of our property, but for the life of me, I have no idea why he did this.
In the interest of brevity, what follows is only a few of the highlights of Frank’s acts against our family over the course of three years. He claimed my wife had threatened him and drug her through the court system for a number of months. Please understand, my wife is 5′ 4″ and 110 lbs, dripping wet, while Frank was a 6′ 2″, 240 lb man. He tried multiple methods of intimidating my wife through the courts, though lying about our children, through writing foul letters to our neighbors and signing my name to the letter, through sitting in front of our home with his headlights shining into our bedroom, having the federal police (RCMP) come to our door to question us. You get the idea?
One action that Frank took, though not the most serious, typified his mind set. We had a 4′ hurricane fence between our properties, and he strung barbed wire along the top. He added barbed wire to the little 4′ fir trees on the public land behind his house.
Mind you, we had 5 youngins by this time, and my three oldest boys loved playing in the back yard. What was wrong with this fellow?
During our time in the courts, my wife and I “happened” to be reading the story of David and Saul, and how David would not hurt his king. Out of this reading, we were encouraged greatly to exercise no revenge upon Frank, but to pray for him and to ask the Lord for safety from him.
Don’t misunderstand. We did not consider him to be a chosen king (like Saul), or that he deserved any mercy from anyone. Not at all. What we began to see was our responsibility before God to let God be God and for us to do as He directs His children to do.
A passage that we referred to often through this period is found in Romans 12:17-21.
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Many in the neighborhood told us stories after our ordeal, of Frank threatening young children prior to our moving into the neighborhood. It was a difficult time to say the least. At one point, Frank actually phoned into a radio show to complain of the “foreigners” that lived beside him. He ranted about how we should have stayed in our nation of origin, how we were lazy, destructive and of no use. (Both my wife and I have a minimum of five generations in the land of the Great White North.)
Looking back, it is hard to believe of some of this man’s actions toward us. Truly amazing. But as I started this posting, I mentioned the Lord’s humor in all of this trial.
It turns out that after graduating university with my degree – oh yes, this ordeal was going on while I was back in school, spending 60 – 70 hours a week in my studies, that Frank suddenly put his home up for sale. The rumor had it that he wanted to move to a “childless” neighborhood to the north. I am convinced that God had been working behind the scenes and that Frank simply could not find a better solution for his poor troubled soul. Nevertheless, his home sold within a few months, and he eventually moved, but not before seeing our home on the market also.
You see, after receiving my degree, we found employment in the state of Texas. My wife and I had looked to move south for years and an opportunity came up that allowed us to make the jump to a land of sun and heat!
Frank had lost his position of intimidator within the neighborhood, and the story goes that the neighborhood he moved into actually became a young family centric neighborhood. Oodles of little children!
We saw the hand of the Lord many times during this trial, protecting our family, giving us opportunity to speak of the mercy of the Lord, and experiencing a bit of the humor of the Lord. You got to admit, for Frank to sell his house just before us must have been a great frustration to him.
But, the Lord is on His throne. He is watching over His children. He cares and provides, even to the weakest of His followers.
For us, we are to look to the direction He has provided through His word. His witness while He walked on this earth speaks loudly, if we want to hear it. He exercised massive mercy toward those who lied about Him, made outrageous claims against Him, drug Him through the courts, physically beat Him and eventually murdered Him. All the while seeking forgiveness for His very tormentors.
Consider the high calling we have in Jesus. He is our example.
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion
My favorite and I celebrated our 41st anniversary, heading off to a quiet little cabin, secretly hoping it would rain and force us to stay in, read a good book, and have a tea together.
This type of get away has become increasingly popular for us, and for this particular getaway, we chose a cabin in a tiny town, 15 minutes northeast of Fredericksburg Texas. The cabin appealed to us in that the owner claimed the deer were plentiful in the area. A little (natural) wildlife for my wifey and I is very appealing.
Nevertheless, we stayed for a couple nights, and each morning, I would get up before sunrise and head out to the porch with a coffee and my Bible, and simply experience the quietness of nature. In the quietness of the morning, I could hear the crickets chirping in the distance and a faint “ticking” noise that I didn’t recognize. Obviously it must be the deer, but I would be patient and not turn on the porch light, for fear of scaring them off. I later found out that the noise I heard is the dropping of leaves onto the ground. Yes it was that quiet!
Sitting on the porch in the quiet, allowed my thoughts to slow down, my vision to open up and the skies to speak.
And my mind thought of Psalm 19.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, – Psalm 19:1-4
In the dark, surrounded by stillness, the voice of the heavens shout. Sitting in the quietness, the Lord allowed me to view my first falling star, and with the moon behind some clouds, each star pierced the sky. To try to imagine the distances to the stars always comes far short of reality, and the immenseness of the sky enthralls me. The sky alone speaks of the vastness of our creator, and to sit quietly under His creation brought about a sense of awe and worship I rarely experience. I recently visited Montana, and experienced a similar time with the Lord. See Let Me Tell You a Story – Montana
As the early morning allowed the sun to rise, I found myself able to view a doe in the yard, picking up some of the dry corn the owner spreads for them. To see these graceful animals so close was a blessing and reminded me of Psalm 42, where the psalmist speaks of a deer panting for water. (See Psalms for Psome – Ps 42 – A)
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. – Psalm 42:1
Granted, the deer we viewed were searching for food instead of water, but my thoughts were drawn to the goodness of God in supplying both food and water to His creation. Whether it be through an owner of a cabin or the natural growth the deer depends on, God supplies.
Later that weekend, as my wifey and I were around a firepit, we watched as a dozen or so deer wandered within our view, with four of them antlered bucks. As we sat quietly, we enjoyed a bit of nature up close, for the deer were confident enough to be within 20 – 30 feet of the porch.
It was a wonderful time, and although it didn’t rain, forcing us inside to read a book, we found the Lord’s choice for our weekend to be the better option.
And a bonus add on to the weekend, internet was spotty at best – such a blessing!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
If you have been following my ramblings for the past few months, you may remember that I spend some time in a parking lot, walking to the top and back down, praying for my family and friends, or memorizing a verse that I am trying to master. During my walks, as many of you may remember, I tend to wander in my thinking, ending up in a place in my mind I hadn’t intended. This post is the result of such wandering.
For some unknown reason, I began to consider the concept of courage, and the many commands in the Word of believers told to “fear not”. I have found that the Word actually speaks the words “do not fear” (or some similar phrase) over 100 times. Some of these verses are directed to individuals in specific historic circumstances, but the example provided can be very instructive. Other passages, especially in the gospels or epistles can be applied directly to us as believers. This is incredible, and reveals to me that fear is a huge issue that God often addresses with in His people.
As an aside, it is important to understand that if you are in a dangerous situation, fear is a healthy emotion, and is not to be rejected. Fear in an unsafe condition actually may save your life.
No, this post is about a non-defined, non justified fear that has no basis in truth, paralyzing (or controlling) us without any clear danger defined. Out of this condition of fear, God has a solution. Don’t be afraid. Be courageous.
It seems incredibly obvious to me now that fear is a decision to live in. Now don’t get me wrong, that when I am in the midst of fear, when the panic hits and the terror strikes, making a simple decision to be courageous, and reject fear is not my first consideration. I usually fall into the fear trap, get wrapped up in it’s tentacles and tremble. Usually, I actually feed the fear monster, by thinking of or listening to fear mongering. This is very easy to do in this society of social networking. Bad news sells!
But Good News heals. Only after I spend some quiet with the Lord, do I regain my sense of control over this emotion.
Let’s consider the emotion of anger. In the past I have grown in my rejection of unjustified anger. How is it that fear is any different in the way the Word addresses a solution for believers. The Word tells us to not be angry.
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. – Col 3:8 ESV
It seems to be a straight forward command. A decision that one can make to humbly admit our weakness and depend on Him. And yet, in the midst of the sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, there appears to be no escape, no other way. (Consider Gal 5:19-21 for this list of sins)
A walking with the Lord rescues us from these debilitating choices, these temptations that are overpowering for the one who is seemingly alone!
But let us return to the topic at hand.
When I finally recover from an “attack of the fearries”, I usually think of the time I went back to college in my mid 30’s, when I once again fell into fear. Paralyzed by fear if my memory serves me right.
I was a latecomer in the class, starting the semester a week late, one of the older students, with the peer clicks firmly established and the pecking order obvious. I don’t recall any reason fear crept up my spine and nestled in my mind, but it settled in for a long stay. For weeks, I was quiet, not looking at anyone, or entering into any conversations with other students. It seemed hopeless.
The fear that had controlled my actions for weeks was literally shattered while I was in the hallway next to my soils class, and I read the following Scripture.
“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” – Isa 12:2
All I could hear was that my fear was revealing my lack of faith. There were two attitudes the prophet spoke of. Either trust or be afraid. Trust resulted in not being afraid. I will trust, and not be afraid. This was a seminal moment for me and I have often thought of this time in future periods or fear.
Is there a time in your life when you could state you exercised faith and experienced fear at the same time. The Bible tells us that fear is something we can reject through trust in the Living God.
Can it be that believers want it to be more complicated? Let me know of your experiences with fear and how the Lord has provided deliverance for His child.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
My favorite and I flew to Montana a few weeks back to spend some time with our eldest son and his lovely family. While we were there, we camped out at a KOA camp, sat by the fire at night, ate hotdogs and burgers off the grill and played a bunch of rummy.
I was able to teach my grandson the game and he took to it, to the point he wanted to play and play and play. He won a few times, which only fueled his confidence, but that is another story.
This story is about my son and I trying our hand at fly fishing.
We purchased the rods, flies, licenses and even some boots to wade into the river with. Our first day out was a Monday, and we had no cell service – which was glorious in it’s own way. Our trek took us upstream to a sand bar on the Boulder River, where we could get some practice in our casting skills, which admittedly were pre-beginner status.
A bit of testing and trying, and pretty soon I felt like I knew what I was doing. Note that it is a feeling – I didn’t know what I was doing, but as my momma used to say “Ignorance is bliss”. We fished for a few hours, pulled our flies out of the trees, untangled our line numerous time and generally appeared completely out of our realm.
By 2 pm, we were ready to head home, realizing the fish were not gonna cooperate. Dang fish!
The point of this story is not to describe the frustration with our efforts, or to whine about our lack of success, or to complain about the heat of the day.
No, there was absolutely no reason to be negative. I was in the middle of some of the pertiest nature I had ever experienced.
As I was trekking away from the Boulder River, looking back at the clear blue pristine river, the bright green hillside, with a rustic brown escarpment, up against a crystal clear sky, that just for a moment, a fleeting moment, I was flooded with praise to the One who created such beauty and grandeur. (I would describe my reaction with greater detail, but I fear I would be giving up my man-card.)
Of course, as a city dweller, I never experience this in the concrete jungle. Grey concrete structures and steel pan bridges do not ignite the inner wonder of God’s creation I experienced that afternoon. For many, if I were to paste a photo of this area, would simply bypass it, thinking it was a “dime a dozen” view, nothing to get excited about, and well it may be.
But that afternoon, under the sun and with God, I experienced something that will not escape my memory for many many years. It was indescribable, and I will quit trying to do the impossible.
My point is – Get out of the city and experience nature as soon as you have opportunity. Thankfully, God is with us always and everywhere, that is the gospel truth. Yet, it may be that out in a wide open field, with a cold bubbling river beside you, (and uncooperative fish teasing you) you may get a new perspective that will light you up!
God is good.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
My wife and I got up at 3:30 a.m. (in the morning!) to head to Billings Montana for a long awaited vacation. We were quite excited to see our son and his family during our camping trip. It was going to be great.
But alas, life interrupted our plans! Arriving at the airport at 5 am, we hit a giant, colossal, insurmountable hurdle. For some reason, the flight was booked and no seats were available for us. We used a third party provider to set up the flight, and the night before, received verification that the flight would be departing as scheduled.
The flight was fully booked! What a catastrophe! A complete meltdown of all that was important in life!
We were told the flight had no seats available, even though the documents said they had been reserved! I couldn’t help thinking of the Seinfeld bit about reservations!
Of course, I didn’t have the foresight to use some of those classic lines he used at the car rental desk, since I was more disappointed in not seeing my son, daughter in law and my widdle grandbabies that afternoon. But alas, my wife and I resolved the problem and flew out the following day
My point isn’t to compare my experience with Seinfeld, although I find some of it to be similar with the clip. No, the issue that came to mind was that this was more of a “first world” problem, and that it shouldn’t shake me, irritate me, or cause me to fall into a frustrated ball of nerves.
I suppose as we walk this life, it is easy to accept minor inconveniences as major disruptions in our lives. Kinda like calling a paper cut a life threating open wound. Call it what you want, but in all honesty, it is only a paper cut. And complaining about a paper cut (or even a life threatening open wound), seems to be at odds with Paul’s admonition to think on positive things. Let’s take a minute to consider that passage.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8
Notice there is nothing in the verse speaking of thinking on disappointments such as cancelled airplanes, reservation losses or ticketing issues. Although it is true that these things occurred, they do not fall under the “lovely” or “commendable” descriptors. Considering that, I’m thinking Paul is defining an attitude that includes all the descriptors for us to settle our minds upon.
Maybe a much bigger challenge than what I first considered.
What think ye?
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I was chatting with my daughter concerning her “helpful child”, and that she can never meet her efficiency expectations she likes to maintain in her life since the child wants to help, wants to be involved.
What a problem to have eh? I think I understand her desire for efficiency, since she acquired this “slave driving” attitude from one of her parents. (She got it from her mother I tell you, it was her mother!!!)
Suffice it to say, after chatting with her, I found myself wandering through some old thoughts, and considered my frustration when the little two year old asks to help bring in a small luggage from the car, or to help set the table, or try to clean the counter. The child loves to be involved!
But this brought to mind on how to solve this tension I am experiencing when with the child. My expectations need to be aligned with reality. Once I accept this, and understand the importance of his involvement not only in the present but also in the future, I have learned to slow down internally, encourage his willingness to help and drop the “get it done now” attitude. (I tell you, efficiency can be a monster!!)
And then the concept of expectations was twisted to a different subject, and that is how the Word addresses this concept. Granted this will NOT be an exhaustive review, so don’t expect it, but a couple verses did come to mind that I would like to share with you.
Luke 21:26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Men fainting from fear and expectations of things coming upon the world. These poor souls are whipped into a frenzy of fear, and are expecting bad things, really bad things. Expectations can produce physical responses in your body, for these men were fainting from it. As a youngster, I actually suffered from a bleeding ulcer due to expecting dire happenings in my young life! What an existence!
As a believer, during my time in an alternate end times theology, I spent years focusing on a possible evil that may happen, reacting to a sniff of potential danger here or a hint of some serious catastrophe about to surely fall upon me and my family. I was unstable, making decisions based on hearsay or a possible interpretation, without considering alternate possibilities.
To be honest, I am a naturally fearful fella, but this theology fed that fear to the point where I didn’t see the Lord on the throne, in control and reigning over all things. By golly, at times I feared He was struggling to maintain control, whereas if I’m reading the Word correctly, He isn’t even breaking a sweat!
Where are your expectations as a believer? Are you expecting a victory or a defeat?
Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.
When I do good to my enemy, (not if Carl, but when) it is a common refrain in my thinking that they will completely repent, turn around and give me a big ol’ hug, provide me with accolades of greatness – you get my point.
But the Lord said not to expect anything! Expect nothing in return. Get your head in the game Carl, for the purpose of loving my enemy is to be like Jesus, not to get applause, or a cake on the doorstep from that neighbor I helped a few days back! (Did I tell him I liked pineapple upside down cake?)
Anyways, this verse impacted me years ago in my relation to friends and their request for financial help. Of course the verse speaks of enemies, but very few enemies ask me for financial help.
If a friend asks for help, my wife and I discuss, and if agreed upon, will provide the funds. In our accounting, the funds are gone forever. No payment plan is initiated on our part, referred to or considered when chatting with our friend. He or she is a friend, not a commodity or investment! Often they will initiate the discussion, which we tend to shy away from.
On a completely different topic, we are currently without access to any funds.
A couple thoughts on expectations for your consideration.
By the way, I have an expectation that some may comment on this two year old and his dragging a suitcase in from a car. If so, use the comment box below.
It truly was a sight to behold!
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Let me tell you a story about a man who told me a story.
Norman and his wife came to our home Bible study for years, and I always looked forward to his company. I still remember him with the long glowing white beard and the jovial smile, and his quiet bearing. Not that he was quiet, but he did have a soft voice.
He wasn’t quiet, at least for me, since he told a story of his family that twisted my head on right and helped me find healing with my children.
We were in the midst of a study, I think in the book of Matthew, and the topic of forgiveness came up. Most in the study were making comments, and I was trying to stir the pot by asking difficult questions, to get people thinking, when Norman cut to the heart.
He spoke of an only daughter, the one child whom he had not seen for years. He spoke of her breaking relationship with him and his desire to repair the connection. Someone asked of the wrong that he had done, and he spoke of a clear conscience towards his daughter. The young lady had imagined Norman had wronged her and dwelled on it until it became a weeping sore in her thoughts. A poisonous pill that killed a relationship.
Many were stumped of this unfixable state of affairs and promised we would pray. Some of us actually confessed we had similar struggles with our children, that we had differences of opinion and attitudes toward the children that barred a close relationship due to some of their decisions.
Norman challenged us to forgive them of their actions as this is the primary duty of the child of God, and many were brought to face about our dereliction of love toward our own loved ones. It bothered me that I had been carrying attitudes and feelings that were sinful towards my children.
But Norman didn’t stop there. He told us of his trying to connect with his daughter and of asking forgiveness from her. But Norman – You said you had a clear conscience towards her. Surely you meant after you asked her for forgiveness, correct? “No”, said Norman, “I had a clear conscience prior to asking for forgiveness.”
Always the anal one, I shot back – “How could you ask for forgiveness if you have not sinned against her? That is not just!”
Love does not keep count of wrongdoings Carl. If my daughter thinks I have done her wrong, I will accept that, and ask her for forgiveness. A relationship with her is more important than my pride or my understanding of justice!
That blew my mind. My children may have something against me (either perceived or in reality) that I need to clear the air of. I needed to ask for forgiveness, not only exercise forgiveness toward them.
As I met with my children, especially my sons, I admitted my failings and asked for forgiveness. This was one of the major turning points in my mind as to a great healing in our family.
If you have a barrier between you and a loved one – Go seek them out, sit them down and confess your wrongdoings against them, ask for forgiveness and wait.
Do not demand anything from them, do not bring up any defense for your previous actions, do not play a blame game in attributing some of the fault on them. Take responsibly for your wrongdoings (real or perceived), humbly ask for forgiveness and wait. God loves to be in the forgiveness business and He will be in the middle of it!
If this seems foreign to you, you may need to go the the Father and do the same.
Do not demand anything from God, do not bring up any defense for your previous actions, do not play a blame game in attributing some of the fault to God. Take responsibly for your wrongdoings, humbly ask for forgiveness from the Father in heaven. Begin to know the Father through His Son, who provided the forgiveness that you will be granted.
This simple honest action will change your life. And follow the One who forgave.
For He is good!
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My son became a rock star. Not a soft rock, or that gentle “poppish” type of rock star. No no no – He wrote and performed heavy rock. The stuff that includes the screaming, and some pretty complex stuff. Rough life, long nights, rejection, living on a wish.
Myself – I was a very conservative, religious, authoritarian fellow. As my children grew, I read them Bible stories at night, took them to church every time the doors opened, opened our home to believers for studies and sought to give our children exposure to a quiet, unassuming life.
How could I have a son who is so different, so of “another way”, of such a different lifestyle and belief?
I missed him so much but there was so much rebellion, so much sin, so much confusion!
In the midst of this struggle, a fella told his story of his father. He was a preacher, a respected man in the community, a servant of a prison ministry. But he was a musician, a young man who played an acoustic guitar and sang in bars. And every chance he played, dad would end up in a backstreet gin joint, watching, applauding, being there.
So much rebellion, so much sin, so much confusion!
In seeking to be with his son, the preacher man lost status in the community. He noticed the whispers in the church. It was obvious his actions were drawing some attention, that he had acquired a stain. He was associating with others that were not in a protected cloister, were not prim and proper, were not of the moral high ground.
So much rebellion, so much sin, so much confusion!
God’s son came into a messy, foul, vile environment to love His creation. He experienced a seeming loss of dignity, a respect and honor He had spent his life building, and that he rightly deserved. The Son of God walked into bars and “gin joints”, associated with hookers and sinners. He touched lepers and healed blind beggars.
So much rebellion, so much sin, so much confusion!
The Lord rebuked me. I read the gospels one more time, seeing Him rub shoulders with “dirty sinners”. My self righteous attitude of standing aloof from my son, of erecting some sort of religious high ground to look down on him, was my rebellion, sin and confusion.
I remember going to his shows, wearing ear plugs in order to hear the music – yes I wrote that right. Of late nights with his band members, and being with my son. Of seeing my son pour his life into a goal I never would have imagined.
He is my son. I love him.
My image, reputation and standing in the religious community I belonged to became unimportant, less of a burden that I needed to protect. It is interesting that as I sought to love my son, and to be with him, a certain drifting from the religious high ground I had erected for myself began to occur in my thinking. Judgement of others became more apparent in my life and an affront to my thinking. Protecting my image became less important.
Preserving a reputation may not be God’s will for you. As believers, we may need to release our status, empty ourselves of our reputation in the community in order to love someone.
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: – Philippians 2:7
We may need to reconsider what righteousness is in God’s eyes. Holding onto self righteous attitudes may not be God’s will for you
So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. – Mat 23:28 ESV
We may need to remember that the kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom, totally reversed to the world we live in, that priorities and attitudes that please God are not reflected in our culture. If your neighbor is a “dirty sinner”, consider Paul’s admonition.
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. – Rom 15:1-2 ESV
It is so interesting (challenging) that Paul tacked on the “and not to please ourselves” phrase. Can you hear the implication?
Where does forgiveness and love fit on your “list of duties” before God? If church attendance, sermon notes, tithing, public prayer and such activities are priorities over relationships, consider your ways.
So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. – Mat 5:23-24 ESV
Notice the Lord did not say that “you remember that you wronged your brother”. His teaching is describing a brother having something against you, possibly a perceived wrong. Jesus is giving us instruction about relationship maintenance, to the point of asking forgiveness of an imagined act. This is a high bar, and Jesus prioritized this duty of maintaining relationship with a fellow over a religious act.
The act can be done later – LOVE NOW.
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I have been sitting in John 4 & 5 for the past few days, simply taking in the tremendous grace the Lord Jesus exercised to the Samaritan woman at the well, the disciples who were a bit slow at catching the identity of the Lord (like myself!) and the healing of the cripple.
You know, the cripple who had been a cripple for thirty eight years. Thirty eight years of living a life of inability!
One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. – John 5:5
Take a few moments to consider this man’s situation. Was he thirty eight years old when he met the Master, born a cripple, having never walked? A permanent condition he had always experienced? Or had he been struck down early in life, suffering his disability for thirty eight years, with memories of walking, running, and pursuing a “normal” life.
Try to relate to this mans expectations. Are you experiencing a day in, day out disappointment in life, a continual drip drip drip of frustration, inability, hopelessness? Have you endured a hopeless state for decades like this poor fella? My point is that after thirty eight years of this disability, the man was in a settled condition, a “permanent” situation, a settled state.
And yet this man was at the pool, a pool that supposedly provided hope, for the story goes that the pool provided healing to whoever touched it first when it stirred.
When it was stirred, that is. Was the pool stirred every Sunday at 11? What about monthly, or maybe quarterly? No such schedule is provided, and so it goes, when the pool stirred, I imagine the ruckus to get there was immense. Did a miracle occur every time the water stirred? Had the stirring ever performed a miraculous healing in the sight of this cripple, or was it just a sterile flickering hope from stories of days past?
Yet this man was at the pool. He lay at the pool day in and day out, waiting for the pool to move, to stir, to offer hope. At this point, I imagine it had the taste of hopeless, but we also have an added problem!
He had competition! A lot of competition.
In these lay a multitude of invalids–blind, lame, and paralyzed. – John 5:3
So this crippled man, this permanently crippled man who was seeking healing at this pool, which he may never have seen stirred, and if he had seen stirred, was unable to get the healing supposedly offered, was approached by Jesus.
Stage set. Okay, so what did Jesus ask?
When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” – John 5:6
Of course he wanted to be healed! But lets consider this question. Had the cripple man fallen into a life of settled disappointment, going through a habit of being delivered to the pool by a loved one, but understanding it was of no use, that his condition was forever?
The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” – John 5:7
Yes, he was in a hopeless condition and understood his place in life. Oh, he still attended the pool faithfully, at least for the chance of seeing it stirred, but realized it wasn’t for him, that his state in life was set, and the best he had was to accept it and exist.
Do you want to be healed?
This question allowed for a one word answer, yet the man dribbled on with a twenty seven word response. Jesus asked of the cripple mans desire. He responded with his obvious present condition. Oh, he may have meant to answer directly, but looking at the response, he provided Jesus reasons why he couldn’t get healed.
Don’t get me wrong – I get it. He had certainly experienced his limitations (for thirty eight years!), and understood his lack of hope. He answered the question best he knew how. But he didn’t answer directly.
Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” – John 5:8
Jesus cut to the chase, and told him to get up. Just get up and walk!
Jesus didn’t speak of the duration of his paralysis, his continual hopeless, or of the current barriers to his “best life now”! I almost get the impression the man may have continued on with his response if it had not been for the Lord’s command to get up.
Jesus completed interrupted this man’s life.
Get up and walk, oh and by the way carry the bed you relied on all these years. The fallout from this miracle was multitudinous, for now this cripple had to reorient his entire life as a fully functioning man, able to provide for himself and for others. He went from being a burden to those who loved him, to a blessing for his loved ones and potentially a witness for years to come.
Do you remember the time you were healed? Have you been healed?
I was healed over 40 years ago from a life of blindness. One night, back in 1981, the Lord told me to walk, to get up and carry my bed. (See Testimony) He interrupted my life, and I am forever thankful for His interruption. I was sliding into a pit of destruction that would eventually consume me if not for Him. I had no hope and to be honest, no desire for a healing. This crippled man at least exhibited an façade of hope.
If you have experienced the Lord’s interruption, you will agree with me that the interruption includes a redirection, a life change due to the healing. Jesus did not tell the man to get up, be healed and to lay back down again.
When Jesus interrupts your life, things change. If things haven’t changed, and you are still “attending the pool”, consider the crippled man. His meeting with the Lord brought about a complete life change.
No change from when you claim to have met Him? For sure, you may have met Him early in life, when your “crippledness” wasn’t as apparent, but the command to walk is applicable to all. Jesus, in interrupting your life, means you no longer need to attend the pool, be carried by others, define your life by limitations, or look for hope where there is none.
The hope is in Jesus, and the result of meeting Him is a changed life. The crippled man had been completely convinced of his hopelessness when Jesus approached him, but Jesus interrupted his life.
Has He interrupted yours?
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Recently I spoke of meeting a young lady, who almost immediately was one I found trustworthy. Now of course, as you may expect, I am biased in this judgement since she has been by mate for over 40 years, But that wee fact should not take away from the bigger picture of this post.
Let me ask you a question.
Think of one whom you trust. Is it a friend, a brother, a spouse, a co worker?
Now that you have thought about that trustworthy person, define the character traits you recognize in that person that allows you to trust him or her.
Take your time. Let me help with a further question.
Are they judgmental, condemning, condescending, self righteous, a tale bearer, impatient, self centered, dishonest,….
Granted, when you meet a person of these characteristics, they may be fun to hang with, may be the life of the party, and may be great for business connections. But if you had a choice, would you find them trustworthy? Sure, some that are in your circle of acquaintances are in positions that make it so you have to trust them (reluctantly). But that niggling worm in you mind is that they will prioritize their own interest over yours. In my thinking, this is a “forced trust” I don’t want to focus on a “forced trust” in this blog post.
For this post, I would like to consider trust from a purer motive, based only on a person’s character and not on profitability, fear or peer pressure. But first lets consider what it means to trust someone, at least from my understanding.
To Trust Someone
For many, including myself, to trust someone includes an element of fear. A fear of repercussions if I don’t trust. A fear of lost opportunities if I don’t trust someone. Now some may say that to trust someone removes the fear of that person, and to that I heartily agree, if we have known that person for a period of time, went through difficult times trusting that person, and developed an abiding relationship throughout both blessings and trials with that person.
But to trust someone initially carries with it an element of fear, a fear of the unknown. I proposed to my favorite lady after knowing her for only a few weeks, and I should have experienced some fear. I can’t remember any, but I am an ol’ coot and may have forgotten a fleeting fear or two. It would only be natural to have some fear of making a mistake, of trusting another person with your life decisions, of committing to one person. After only a few weeks? Yikes.
But as I look back over the 40 years I have known my lady, the fears have melted away, and the trust remains, the commitment continues and I know she has a heart for me. (Amazing if you knew who I truly was!)
So, is a trust born out of fear a healthy thing? Is it trust at all? Can trust coexist with fear?
It seems a couple verses may suggest otherwise
But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” – Mar 5:36 ESV
But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” – Luk 8:50 ESV
And yet, the fear of the Lord is often combined with trust.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD. – Psalm 40:3 ESV
You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. – Psalm 115:11 ESV
Given this quick study, it seems apparent that a proper fear is a catalyst for trust, an initial (and enduring) condition of one who has met the One.
As many may know from my testimony, I felt the judgement of God in my life in various degrees for well nigh 15 yrs before I heard the good news. I sometimes wonder if my conversion was based mainly out if fear, (I am 52.4% convinced it was) and was simply a way of finding a fire escape from hell.
Yet to trust is to know someone, to experience their character and to be drawn to them out of respect, or better yet, out of love.
We are to be drawn to the one who is trustworthy in His character, not pushed to Him due to fear of reprisal.
Believers, as we journey our pilgrim path walking (imperfectly at best) with the One who sacrificed Himself for us, we will naturally will grow into a greater and greater trust because of His character, His ways, His mercy towards us.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. – 1 John 4:18 ESV
Unless of course you have experienced Him as judgmental, condemning, condescending, self righteous, a tale bearer, impatient, self centered, dishonest,….
But that is not the way you learned Christ!– – Eph 4:20 ESV
Consider the character of the One you trust, and it may become evident why your trust is difficult to exercise.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
My wife and I are entering our retirement years and we are looking at moving out of the city. With that goal, we have been looking for a patch of land to build a cabin on, add a porch (to learn how to whittle) and throw a tire swing in the back yard for when the grandkids come to visit.
We have been searching for about a year, with land being rarer than hens teeth. Eventually we found a patch we put an offer on.
Of course, during the waiting period, I reached out to well drillers, septic installers, builders and finally earth movers. You see, we wanted to install a pond on site, for numerous reasons, and in my research “tripped” over Dan.
Dan is a local contractor that provides excavation and grading services for raw land, and in my discussions, found a man who had turned to Jesus. We chatted for quite a while, and he spoke of a two yr anniversary of a diagnosis. You see he had been given 2 to 6 months to live, having both brain and lung cancer.
His story was amazing, and through brain surgery and prayer, he is now back to work.
The point he drove home is that the cancer was the test that proved his faith. He said he believed in the Savior before the diagnosis, but the trial of his life was the vehicle to show him his faith. No self deception, no hypocrisy, no false hope. He knew the Master and Jesus healed him. And he wouldn’t trade that experience for a ton of gold.
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4
He had served Satan for most of his life, until bout 5 yrs ago, when he turned to the Messiah. Since then, he has experienced multiple trials, cancer being “the big one”! The trial not only provided a confidence in his relationship with the One who is kind, but pulled him back from the precipice of the grave.
Only Jesus, the God-man can take a trial and make it worth more than a ton of gold. My mistake – He provides the trial and the blessing – How limited I am in my view of Him!
He is good!
One additional praise, in that my current supervisor, who has battled cancer for the last 18 months recently was given an “all clear” from his doctor this week. Although he suffered through horrendous pain, he attributed his success to God. He has often mentioned the peace he experienced, and became vocal of his faith amongst his peers.
God truly is good. Tell others of His kindness through your own acts of mercy, and by the story’s of His working in your life
By the way, in meeting with Dan, we were introduced to another fellow that provided information about the property that only a local might have know. Critical information that helped our decision making process.
We are now on the search for a different patch of land and we are thankful for the hand of God giving us direction through one of his servants I was blessed to meet.
God is good.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
I suppose it has been a few months since I have told y’all a story so I’m about to tell you an old one.
It turns out, all long time ago, in a country far to the north, a young hippie drug pusher got saved and got excited about the Savior, Jesus Christ. Rescued from a life of wandering in darkness, full of fear and surrounded by a desperation to have some purpose, this youngin was willing to do anything to try to please the Savior.
He happened to be attending a small Baptist church, having been delivered from a wasted life for well nigh onto 2 months, when the Pastor fellow came up to him and asked him if he wanted to serve the Lord. Obviously, this youngin’ jumped at an opportunity, especially if a pastor was asking.
“What can I do for the Lord pastor?”
Pastor set his hook and pulled – “Well we are having choir practice on Wednesday night – Come on over and join in, you may be surprised at the joy you find in singing for the Lord!”
Youngin didn’t understand his place in the kingdom, and his fervor to serve overtook his obligation to love others, for you see this youngin couldn’t sing his way out of a paper bag – dang – not even a wet paper bag!
And this story reminds me of a passage from the ol’ Book, that seems to relate in my mind to this youngin’s experieince.
21 … test everything; hold fast what is good.
1 Thessalonians 5:21
This youngin’ was willing to test this opportunity, to prove that he either had it or didn’t, to see if he could sing for the Lord, or “be better used elsewhere”. (Many saints are surely blessed by the fact this youngin did not pursue a singing ministry!!!)
It is interesting that Paul told his children to test everything. Now I wouldn’t go so far as to say this youngin’s singing is sinful, (if might seem like that to those who heard it!) but Paul seems to want Christians to get out there, test or prove aspects of life, opportunities to serve, in order to see, to explore and to find their place in the kingdom.
Many times, opportunities will be provided but due to religious or cultural bias’s, these opportunities may be abandoned or even rejected.
A case in point. A bright sunny Sunday and you on on your way to church when you see a person that is suffering, that may be without food or shelter, that may have fallen down, and you sense the Lord’s leading to stop and at least offer some assistance in this souls plight. But Sunday School starts in ten minutes and you don’t wanna be late, or maybe your boss lives close by and the association may hurt your standing in the office. So your drive by.
Opportunities are out there and we are to test them, and many of these opportunities may test out to be of no success, not of your station in life, and that is fair. As a matter of fact, you should expect it, for Paul anticipates this situation when he continues in the next verse, informing believers to ….
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:22
Some opportunities may turn out to be evil in a believers life. As you may have guessed by now, choir ain’t for me. I don’t sing within 50 feet of anyone that I love. (Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not stating singing in a choir is evil, but my being in a choir may come close to it for the hearers!)
Anyway you slice it, we are provided opportunities throughout our day. Test them out – they may be the back door to some great adventure for you. (Or you may have to abandon them as evil, but your understadning of the Lord’s will will have expanded!)
Either way, your intent is that of a believer that desires to please the Lord, and I think that counts.
I look forward to comments or questions – Use the box below, and thanks for reading!
What I do speaks volumes. To others that is. Can I learn from my own actions during the day? I can convince myself of glorious intentions and many sacrificial acts of love I have performed, (that no one knows about!) and feel pretty good about myself. But is that wise?
Self deception is rampant is this day and age, where we are encouraged to abandon long held cultural standards, and to tell ourselves anything that is pleasing to our heart and mind. Our culture will tag along and actually force others to comply with our delusion, to reinforce our self styled righteousness, that may be utterly against not only the eternal Word of God, and age long ethical norms, but even recently accepted societal standards.
Let’s Consider the Bible and a short passage in the book of Acts that may provide some guidance, but first some background. The church has been preaching in the nation of Israel for a few years now, and the political masters were stepping in. King Herod actually jailed James, and martyred him, with a reaction that may have surprised him, but I am getting ahead of myself.
Let me introduce “the Jews”. “The Jews” (a term often used for the political/religious ruling body of Israel) were the purveyor of all things God to the people, supposedly mirroring God’s actions on earth. They knew the Scripture and the key message of who God is, and of our proper response to Him of love to Him and our neighbor.
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. – Mar 12:28-34 ESV
“The Jews” were the icons of righteousness, the religious leaders of all Israel, those who held the keys and had the knowledge. They often got together and reinforced this thought amongst themselves during their meetings and social affairs.
Now this has been a bit of an introduction, but suffice it to say, the Jews during the first century, and some religious groups in our current time, were self deluded. And as I have been listening to the Book of Acts in my morning drive to work, a passage popped out that helped me to recognize this and look at my own heart.
About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. Act 12:1-3
What? This passage has nothing to do with self delusion Carl.
Hang with me for a moment. Note the phrase .. When he (King Herod) saw that it please the Jews… What pleased the Jews? The killing of James, an Israelite man who followed Jesus. This killing pleased the Jews. “The Jews” knew of their responsibility to love their neighbor. But the killing “pleased the Jews”
They spoke of their love of God. They spoke of their dedication to God. They spoke of their faithfulness to God. They showed their heart in the death of a fellow Israelite.
Where was their heart? This is simply a continuation and reoccurrence of the religious heart that crucified our Savior. Religious hearts have been killing for God for millennium.
If you haven’t heard the phrase “religion kills”, take a few minutes and consider what that means. How that phrase may apply to you.
Are you religious? If you claim you are a believer, and yet reveal a pleasure in something that is against God and His commandment to love Him and your neighbor, check your thoughts at the door. That pleasure meter may actually be the equivalent of a flashing red alarm to help you know where you stand.
Don’t be self deluded.
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
I love the smell of gardenias, and living in the south as we do, we have the climate to grow those bad boys. A few years ago, my wife recognized my hankering for the smell of gardenias and bought four or five plants for our back yard.
A few years passed and this year, the “hills were alive” with the essence of gardenia. It was glorious. For approx. 2 weeks, the plants exploded in blooms, and the yard was awash in the most glorious aroma. I ended up sitting on the grass for periods of time, just downwind from one particular plant that produced more flowers than leaves. It was truly unbelievable. One of those times when the goodness of God was experienced in a very unexpected way.
Since then, my wife and I have been busy with a number of tasks that have drawn us away from the back yard, but yesterday I had a reprieve and entered our gardens out back. Our nectarine trees are full of fruit, so much so that we have had to brace the branches from snapping off – our peach tree lost the central trunk three years ago from too much fruit on it! The plums are actually producing fruit this year – a first!
God is good, and the fruits of our labor in the back yard is a reflection on the work of God in nature.
But as I mentioned earlier, the gardenia bushes were my first target, hoping to smell that smell again, but alas, the bush had browned out. The bush was still plenty healthy, with vibrant green leaves, and plenty of life, but the flower had browned. out.
Sad day to say the least, but I decided I wanted to smell that smell again, so I got my pruning shears and started “hacking” (pruning for those of you who are knowledgeable of horticulture!).
As I mentioned above, this particular bush had been thick with flowers, so the hacking was fairly extensive. As I hacked and hacked, I thought of the next crop of gardenias and the joy it would bring, and also of the last crop of gardenias and the surprise and delight we experienced with the flowers.
And then I thought of Psalm 1, where the saint is described as having seasons of fruit bearing, but that the leaves were evergreen (See Psalms for Psome – Psalm 1). This gardenia produced such an abundant harvest of flowers, and in such an unexpected time, but the season of the flower had passed. After all, it was but for a season. The leaves continued, showing life, but the fruit / flower was but for a time.
And as soon as that thought settled in my mind, John 15 also nudged it’s way into my thinking, especially when I considered that my hacking was fairly aggressive.
If my wife had been there, she may have asked my to take a little less “off the sides”, if you know what I mean. No, this bush, to produce again, needed to be aggressively hacked, reduced in size so the root stock could support vigorous growth in the future.
As God may be “hacking” at your life consider two take aways from my day in the back yard.
First – Occasional Fruit Bearing
Psalm 1 speaks of seasonal fruit bearing, and yet consistent green growth. A consistent growth based on a plants roots near to the source of water, and yet fruit bearing in its season.
Secondly – Maximum Fruit Bearing
John 15 speaks of the Master gardener “hacking” at our lives for the purpose of greater fruit bearing, whatever that fruit bearing may consist of. He may be aggressive in His “hacking” at times, but His purpose is to get rid of the brown flower – it has served its purpose – and for the bush to produce fresh flowers that will please the gardener and visitors of the garden. As the hacking hits home, remember that the hacking doesn’t hurt the root, simply the branches. Not the invisible, only the visible. Not the life, but the evidence of life at one time.
Remember the importance of the root. And hack away!
In my pilgrimage through this Christian life, I have attended a number of denominational churches, some of which adherer to the practice of a head covering of the ladies heads.
The passage referred to by my brethren friends is found in 1 Corinthians 11:13-15.
Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him, but if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For her hair is given to her for a covering. – 1Co 11:13-15 ESV
Many times I discussed this topic with a good friend who believed it’s modern application, and though I never fully understood both sides of the argument, I did seek to come to a settled conscience.
Of course, their were distractions, such as the couple who strictly followed this practice, but when out of the church meeting, it was obvious who was the head! Or when a fellow believer could not worship since I was not leading my wife into submission by forcing her to wear a covering.
But as I said, these were distractions, and not a basis upon which to understand the text. Eventually we moved from the town we were in, settled in Texas, and the issue faded away since we no longer attended this type of church.
Fast forward over 20 years, and as I was driving home from work on a Tuesday afternoon, lo and behold, I tripped over a podcast call “The Naked Bible” by Dr. Micheal Heiser. The podcast intrigued me since I understand our modern thinking is not what the prophets and apostles were speaking to, and if I can understand the audience the Bible writers were speaking to, I might find better understanding for myself. This is Dr. Heisers intent. And this is where the podcast on 1 Corinthians 11:13-15 gave me some clarity.
Dr. Heiser’s message speaks of the 1st century’s Greco-Roman’s understanding of a persons hair in relation to reproductive activity. It is an amazing study of which I am thankful to have found. Note that the material in this podcast is sexual in content and it may be wise to restrict it to times when no children are present.
How often have you heard of the importance of balance in life? We all need balance. Equality. Fairness.
Another thought that is commonly referred to in our day to day lives is the Newtonian principal of “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”.
In other words, ya git what you deserve. Really? We are to apply a law on physics to our moral universe?
Not to sure of that logic.
So….. Let me tell you a story.
A few nights back, I was reading a book on the couch (my favorite couch!) and got a text from one of my kiddos. My grandchild sent me a little video, saying “Hello gampa, I wov you!” Now this little one is not even two years old, and he was merely repeating what someone told him to say, but ol’ blubberpuss Carl – well he well nigh just about fell apart. The little video hit me right in the tear ducts and I watched it over and over again. And I thought about it, (after I wiped myself up and blew my nose). Yes I thought about it, considered it, analyzed it and came to a conclusion.
An action does not produce an equal and opposite reaction!
This little one merely repeated some noise, made vibrations from the throat and mouth, and went off to play. Probably went to play with a toy or to cause some havoc somewhere. A minor effort on the youngin’s part, a soon forgotten happening.
As for me, it will be one of many times my grandchildren have touched my heart, and made me a bit more of a softy.
It all started with my little ones, and watching each of them growing, connecting with each of them, at different times and in different ways. The memories are priceless. And my chillun didn’t understand their effect on their parents until they joined the club. The parenting club.
Now, I can see it in their eyes, when my chillun are around their chillun. The give and take is NOT equal. A little smile, nod of the head, a first step and the parent goes wild with pride, swells up with love and would give anything, do anything for the sake of the child.
No it is NOT equal.
The child’s efforts are many times small and seemingly insignificant. The receiving of a negligible act on the part of the child, causes emotional meltdowns for the parent, a recommitment of the parent to the child’s good, a sacrificial attitude that no one saw coming prior to the little ones arrival.
No it is NOT equal.
That love, that commitment, that connection never leaves a parents heart. At times, that love can crush a parent’s heart, the sorrow of seeing a child suffer. It can be excruciating.
But the effect is the same. A yearning for the best for the child, a desperate desire to guide the child into right living.
But then it hit me.
I am looking at this so horizontally.
Yes the impact of a minor effort on the child’s part can have major impact on the parent. No denying it! But isn’t that a reflection, a minor picture of the Lord’s fatherhood to usward? When we reach out to Him, is it not as a child, reaching out to their Father. Is not this truth much of the message Jesus would seek us to think on every time he calls the God of the Universe, the Holy One of Israel, the Almighty One, every time He calls Him Father?
Our relationship with God is based on familial standards. Family! Not a business. The family of God is not to be considered an LLC, or a Sole Proprietorship, with God as the CEO. That is not the picture the New Testament paints for us.
Consider the impact of your simple desire to please Him, how that must effect Him. Does your child’s obedience and affection for you not make your life rich beyond description? To think that our insignificant, bumbling efforts could impact the Living God is mind numbing. The fact that He would sacrifice His own Son in order to bring us into His Family is beyond the pale.
We were his enemies. His love brought us into His Family, and our connection with Him not only greatly benefits us, but also effects Him. This is a wonder I spend much too little time on. My efforts to please Him are insignificant, but the fact that I am His child, makes all the difference.
A brother in the Lord has recently been experiencing tremendous trials, especially from family members. His entire world is being shaken to the core with experiences I would wish on no one. He and his wife are struggling with the pain of hateful actions and hurtful words from “loved ones”.
My wife and I pray for them, and often speak of their trials. We are at a loss of what we can do to fix the conditions they are in the middle of, and other than prayer, seek to listen to their concerns, helping them by giving them a sounding board.
In a recent reading, wifey and I came across 1 Peter 3:9.
Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Challenging words to read, but to apply in my friends situation is beyond my imagination. To bless those who hate me, revile against me and do evil towards me is otherworldly.
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. – Luke 6:27-28 ESV
Personally, I have been challenged in areas of forgiveness in my faith, and have found release as I release others from my bitterness and anger toward them. But I must confess, it is a struggle. To forgive, to bless those who revile against me, is the character of our Lord and a fruit of His Spirit.
In the past week or so since this concept in the Word began to have a greater influence in my thinking, and I have been reminded of the story of Dirk Willems, an Anabaptist who lived in Holland during the 1500’s. The following story is repeated throughout the internet, but I am referencing a copy of the story from “Christianity.com” for your reading convenience
One of the Anabaptists who died in flames was Dirk Willem. His story is particularly touching, because he forfeited a real chance to escape when he turned back to help one of his pursuers. Dirk was captured and imprisoned in his home town of Asperen in the Netherlands. Knowing that his fate would be death if he remained in prison, Dirk made a rope of strips of cloth and slid down it over the prison wall. A guard chased him. Frost had covered a nearby pond with a thin layer of ice. Dirk risked a dash across it. He made it to safety, but the ice broke under his pursuer who cried for help. Dirk believed the Scripture that a man should help his enemies. He immediately turned back and pulled the floundering man from the frigid water. In gratitude for his life, the man would have let Dirk escape, but a Burgomaster (chief magistrate) standing on the shore sternly ordered him to arrest Dirk and bring him back, reminding him of the oath he had sworn as an officer of the peace. Back to prison went Dirk. He was condemned to death for being re-baptized, allowing secret church services in his home and letting others be baptized there....
Dirk was burned to death on this day, May 16, 1569.
My friends, much of my Christianity is merely theoretical in nature, and when I am challenged in my faith, find it easy to argue against the truth. It seems Dirk Willems blessed his enemy, and was rewarded with a torturous death. It may be easy to say I would do the same, that I would love my enemy, but the power of my reasoning spirit sometimes dominates my thinking.
Was Dirk a family man?
How could he abandon his wife and family by returning to his captor? Was he not tasked with the command to love his wife as the Lord loved the church. Is this return to the captor elevating love of enemy above love of wife? Is the example that Dirk provided of greater worth to his family than self preservation? This is a very difficult discussion for me, as I would naturally run, not looking back, not concerned about the welfare of those who would do me and my family harm.
Was the escape from prison and apparent success of his avoiding recapture the will of God?
It seems obvious that God had provided Dirk’s escape, much like many believers have escaped from the clutches of the enemy. Peter was delivered from prison, with his guards eventually put to death. Paul escaped using a basket out of a window.
Could Dirk have continued with his escape, considering the pursuer as receiving his just recompense for his evil life? I could easily justify this type of thinking, especially after studying through Psalm 35, specifically Psalms for Psome – Ps 35 – B. And yet in the background, I hear the verses of loving our enemy, of blessing those who revile against us.
I am in no way taking away from Dirk Willems and his tremendous exercise of forgiveness and blessing to his enemy. This is definitely not my intent in this post. I am simply admitting that at this time in my Christian walk, I am confessing my lack of understanding (willingness?) on how to bless those who revile me.
Dirk’s story is an ultimate example of a man obeying the Lord’s command to love his enemy.
Surely, our daily lives have opportunities to mimic the Lord’s example of loving our enemies. Think of a recent time when someone may have said something against you, or insulted you or gossiped about you. How have you responded? Have you returned a blessing to those who curse you? Or like I, justified my reactions, ignoring the leading of the Spirit of God.
May God give us wisdom and power in loving our enemies.
Just got home from church and the message was on Deuteronomy 5:18, the seventh command in the Decalogue. It goes like this
“Don’t commit adultery”
It was a great message, speaking of the fact that marriage is a covenant, a binding oath of faithfulness that is defined by God and represents the ultimate wedding marriage of the Son with His Bride, the church.
His teaching was refreshing in the midst of a culture that wants to redefine the concept of marriage, or reject the practice of commitment. As I was listening to the message, I thought back over 40 years ago, when my future bride and I were considering our own vows, and the best way to approach the wedding that would honor God. One of the options my sweetie and I opted for was the practice of announcing “our banns”.
Banns is a method of publicizing a wedding within a church’s regular service, verbally speaking of the intention of marriage for the couple. Our particular church, a fellowship baptist church in Bracebridge Ontario, offered this opportunity for us and we felt it was honoring to the Lord and the people of God we fellowshipped with. After all, they knew us better than most and we trusted their opinions.
Of course no one brought forward any reason why this marriage should not happen, (whew) and we recently celebrated our 40th year together.
Why do I bring this up?
My wife and I took vows in front of God, and not in front of the state. I understand that for the great majority of folks who may not have had the opportunity to wed in the similar manner, this may sound pious and self righteous. This is not my intent. This manner of marriage emphasized in my future bride and my thoughts the authority of God without the State being an active player. We wanted to focus on His authority in our lives only and our commitment to each other. We were promising our selves to each other, and not simply satisfying a governmental legality to conform to societies norms.
He is good and we are simply thankful for His many mercies as we have stumbled through this pilgrimage. He provided me a wonderful wife, that I boast on both at work and in church.
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD. – Pro 18:22
He is kind. I have obtained favor from the LORD and she is my bestest friend! What a great life!
Recently I was chatting with a friend who was in the middle, even during the discussion, of seeing her funds being taken from her general banking account. Turns out the electronic theft amounted to close to $2,000. Understandably, she was perty upset. At one point, she called the thief a scumbag and it surprised me, since she sought to live a life that honors God. Of course, I think she regretted it as she spoke it, but it made me think!
To call someone a scumbag, I fear, sends off alarms.
Let me explain.
What separates me from this thief? Is it a matter of nature? Are Christians of a better nature, or inherently better? Without the Lord, would I not succumb to the desire of taking something someone else owns? I can’t say I would. Even as a believer, I find that desire welling up in me at times.
The human heart has a darkness to it that is constantly fighting to control the owner. Societal, cultural and familial pressures keep that darkness at bay for some of us, but it does not eradicate this tendency of self love. Even the believer, one who seeks God and desires a close walk with God will admit to a deep sense of sinfulness as they walk closer with the Lord.
…a judging spirit toward those who hurt me may signal a loss of sight of my own sinfulness.
Sensing this darkness, this willingness to wander is the issue. We are all thieves, but for the grace of God. My point today is that a judging spirit toward those who hurt me may signal a loss of sight of my own sinfulness.
For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. – 2Pe 1:9
Please don’t assume that I am justifying this thief’s actions! He should be caught, tried and given a just punishment by the proper authorities. Society is dependent on the rule of law.
Of course, judgment is defeated by mercy, and this is freely offered to each of us! We need to live in this sphere of mercy over judgment in order to live the life we are called to.
For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. – Jas 2:13
My point is that we need to realize our dependency on the Lord for rescuing us from this dark desire, from this love of self that manifest itself in thievery, adultery, idolatry, murder and all such things that do not honor the God we serve.
And we need to remember who we are.
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. – 2Corinthians 3:18
Who are we, that claim to trust the Living Savior? Sinners being saved by the Lord. Our holy God, sacrificed His perfect life for our wretched lives, in order to bring about souls transformed into a state of glory. And this glory, this transformation of the Lord consists of a humility of heart, of a realization of our weakness, and dependence on our God.
We were having lunch in the conference room when my boss asked us if we had ever gotten popped while in elementary school. I know I know – a strange subject, but we are a strange group of fella’s – engineers you know!
Anyway, a couple of the guys responded and I mentioned the dreaded horsehair incident and my shaking fear of being called to the principles office.
It all started in grade 4, when my best friend (Randy) and I were out during lunch break, tossing a few stones into the farmers field and running around. When I tell you this, you should be amazed that Randy and I thought we could get away with an utter disregard for rules, that we would presume that the teachers would not see our flagrant rebellion in tossing a bit of gravel into the fields next door.
But for some reason they didn’t see us act out our rebellion, for if they had we would’ve been dragged down to the principals office and given a good “pop”. In our school, according to Randy, our principal would, on first offence strap the open palm in order to get his point across.
Now, please understand, I had never been to the principals office like my friend Randy had, so as we ran around that day, he mentioned his trips to the office. The one thing he warned me of, (after we tossed the stones!) was that if the principal ever called me to his office, to hope and pray he doesn’t bring out “the horsehair”. Randy explained that Principal Rainey would lay a single horsehair across the palm just prior to the strapping. Upon striking the palm, this horsehair would slice open the skin, and the blood would flow.
Remember now, Randy and I were 9 yrs old at the time and I was what many might call a goody two shoes. Randy was a new friend, and a rebel. The rumor was that he knew the principal on a first name basis.
So I believed him about the horsehair and started considering the wisdom of my rebellion, of my stone throwing act of defiance. But no one saw me, and I went back in to the class room after lunch break with mixed feelings. Thankful I didn’t get caught, but I sure had conscious that kept nagging at me.
Doesn’t the proverbs tell us….
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
I’ll tell you for the next few days, my flagrant rejection of the rules haunted me. Fear started welling up in my heart, and eventually, I became a ball of nerves. Until the dreaded day came, when only two students were called to the principals office. You guessed it. One of those students was the rebel who is writing this story. But the other one wasn’t Randy.
It was Susan.
Nevertheless, this wrinkle in the story didn’t relive me of my fear. I remember looking down at my palms as we were escorted to the office. Of course Susan went in first, with the principal closing the door. Why would he spank her? What did she do? She was an almost perfect student, always getting great marks and was super polite. Well it turns out she was in their for about 10 minutes, and then came out and went back to class. I tried to sneak a peak at her hands, but I didn’t see any blood dripping from them. Of course I hadn’t heard the expected wailing either, so I was even more confused.
Principal Rainey called me in and I looked at my virgin palms one last time.
Now, as I tell you this story, I want you to enter into my experience of the fear I felt. A little boy, expecting blood to be splattered on the walls due to this strange method of strapping. I might lose the ability to write, and the pain – oh the pain!
All of this fear was based on two “facts”
Fact 1 – I had broke the school yard policy
Fact 2 – Randy knew what he was talking about
Fear, as it turns out is based on the knowledge we have, and not necessarily on facts. My tossing stones created a self perception as a rebel. My belief in Randy’s experience drove the fear of someone finding out into hyperdrive.
Technically, I deserved some discipline. Looking back, I suppose I needed a stern talking to. But for some reason I jumped over logic, and headed to the worst situation, that is of having blood spurting out of my palm, dripping on the floor and writhing in pain.
How ridiculous!
The principal had called me to his office for the same reason he had called Susan to the office. No discipline. Simply an effort to help us with a speech impediment we both suffered from at the time.
Friend. that fear I lived through was self inflicted due to two “facts”. One fact, that of my stone throwing was true. The other fact, that of the dreaded horsehair, was a story, a gag, a joke, a lie (?) that I believed as true and suffered under the fear of it.
There was no “horsehair” discipline in the school, and I never did get a “pop” in any of my schooling years. But I did learn that believing a lie is very detrimental to your mental health. Those few words out of Randy’s mouth consumed my thinking for days.
What do you believe about God? How do you “see Him”? Does He have a horsehair hidden somewhere, just waiting to wail on your palm?
My fear of Principal Rainey, had turned from the proper respect to be given to an adult and authority in the school, to a life crippling fear and terror.
Consider Jesus of Nazareth. The truth. Worthy of belief? How does the expression of God through His Son, in His sacrificial death for sinners fit into this story? Where does fear fit in? What type of fear do you live in? Fear based on your assumptions, stories others have told you, rumors or out and out lies? Do you have a debilitating fear of the Most High? A fear that paralyzes you, that keeps you from asking of His will, of trying to find out what He is like?
My friends, although He is the Most High God, the Almighty, the All knowing and ever present One, He came to the earth in humility, to die a hideous death in order to display His great love for us.
Do not fear. Fear not, as the Bible constantly tells us. Seek Him, for He is rich in mercy and full of grace towards those who seek Him.
I have a friend who is battling cancer and occasionally I will text him, letting him know we are praying for him and his family. He has been battling this death for over a year and his spirit has been exemplary, to the point that I enjoy hearing from him, and the encouragement he gives.
In one of our back and forth texting, he asked me if I had been watching “The Chosen” I had told him that I hadn’t heard of it and he encouraged me to check it out. He stated that the show emphasizes the humanity of the disciples and of the Lord Himself.
I find it extremely refreshing and somewhat challenging.
Just last might we watched the episode of Him healing a man with a withered hand, and the following confrontation with the synagogue leaders over the healing and of His claiming to be “Lord of the Sabbath”. The tension of these moments and the strife amongst the disciples seems much more relatable to me.
Another episode had the Messiah heal a leper on a path, and in response to the healed lepers astonishment, Jesus rhetorically answered. “Not to shabby!”
One more episode, and Jesus told His disciples “Get used to different”. He didn’t come to refurbish religion, but to provide life and that more abundantly.
Please do not go into this series hoping for King James English, and a simple recitation of the gospels as they were written word for word. The creators openly admit artistic license. So be it. Read the Bible for accuracy and study, and watch “The Chosen” for an interpretation of the lives of the One and His disciples. They were men with passions like as we, and had failings, weakness, prejudice and religion in their lives. This depiction of the Lord reveals One who loves people, has time for others, and suffers silently.
I have finished the second season, and anxiously (in a good sense!) waiting for the third to come out. I understand the producers are anticipating 7 seasons!
It is a crowd funded production and I am happy to support this effort to bring great light into the deep darkness that we are in.
Considering the Bible 