Be There or…?

[reprinted from February 4, 2010]

And YHWH said to Moses, “Go up into the mountain and wait [literally ‘be there’] . . . Exodus 24:12 (HN)

— Henry Neufeld

When I was in the Air Force we frequently heard the saying “Hurry up and wait.” You see, the powers that be, however little more power they had than I had, wanted people to be ready to receive commands. They weren’t too worried if you had to sit around and wait for them. The key thing was that they wouldn’t have to wait for you.

Today I took a scripture fragment that is smaller than I usually use for a devotional. As I read this passage today in the New Revised Standard Version, the word “wait” struck me. It’s literally “be there.” Moses was ordered into the mountain to “be there” for God. Down in the camp the people were ordered to wait.

After Moses waited, God came and spoke to him.

In our modern world we’re always in a hurry. We schedule everything. I’m as guilty of this as anyone else, or even more. I like things to start on time. I like them to end on time. When we’ve taken up the scheduled time, you’ll catch me glancing at the clock, thinking about what I’m going to do next.

But sometimes you have to spend time with God. Sometimes you have to wait. That’s not easy for us to do.

We’re not waiting because God doesn’t have time. He has all the time in the world-literally! So why doesn’t he just hurry up and bring stuff to us? Why doesn’t he answer my questions now? I’d certainly like that!

Unlike my Air Force superiors, God is not impatient. God doesn’t need you to be sitting there on a mountain somewhere so he doesn’t have to wait for you when he gets there. The fact is that no matter how much we like to avoid the issue waiting can be good for us.

So think about your life. Is there a time when you can go before the Lord, whether in your prayer closet, at your desk, on the beach, in the mountains, at your church, or anywhere God might call you to be, and just be there? Can you wait for God without a schedule? For many of us that’s hard, very hard, but we need to look for those times.

It’s likely you’re really waiting to be ready to hear what God says, and when you’re ready – there he’ll be, right where he was all the time. But if you’re watching the clock, instead of waiting for God, it will be very hard for you to be ready for Him.

Posted in Exodus | Comments Off on Be There or…?

I’ve Got Something to Trade

“Those whose lives have had the deepest spiritual impact in the world are those who have suffered. In God’s mysterious providence, the Cross and the crown, suffering and glory, are linked.” – Elisabeth Elliot from The Path of Loneliness

Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.              2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (HCSB)

I don’t like reading the passages (and there are a bunch of them!) that tell me that there will be suffering and pain and sorrow in this world. I’d rather read that because I am God’s child – all will be good, no problems. The testimonies of the writers of the Bible tell me that it will be “good” in spite of the suffering of this world.

Out of suffering comes a refining that brings me holiness. There is comfort in the fellowship of Jesus’ suffering. There is salvation, strength, even endurance.

It is hard while in the middle of the trial to take a step back and see the opportunity to “give up” the trial, giving it to Jesus. Like “broken bread and poured out wine”, we become a message of hope and comfort to a lonely and suffering people. How?

In the trial, I allow God to infuse me, through His Holy Spirit, with words of truth. God is for me. It isn’t a maybe statement. God is for me. He didn’t used to be for me. It is now. Today. At this moment. I don’t have to wait in line and beg.

God is for me. From the moment that I say, “Yes, LORD, I need You!” He is in my life and lives there. He wants me to be better in all ways that are best for me. When I am suffering, He has the strength I need. The peace I need. The comfort I need. The wisdom I need. The shoulder I need, whenever I need it.

See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands.        Isaiah 49:16 (NLT)

God has a tattoo on His hand and it is my name. It cannot be removed. He put it there. If I hear a voice tell me that I am all alone or that God doesn’t care and has left me – THAT IS A LIE! And it is not God speaking to me.

When the trials come, step closer to God. Lean forward and listen closer. Spend more time in worship. Spend more time reading or listening to God’s Word. Spend more time just talking to Him. Write it down in a journal. It’s a great way to go back and see what God has done in your life. Giving the future over to God may be a point of conflict for me because I want to be in control. But the future, like control, was never really mine. It has always belonged to God.

I’m Trading My Sorrows by Darrell Evans


 

Posted in 2 Corinthians, Isaiah | Comments Off on I’ve Got Something to Trade

Kindness: All the Way to the End

[reprinted from 2/1/2010]

– Henry Neufeld

6As for me, I am already being poured out on the altar, and the time of my death has come upon me. 7I have completed the great race. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. 8The crown of righteousness is now waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me in that day, and not to me only, but to all who love (and value) his appearing. — 2 Timothy 4:6-8

It’s easy to read this passage with sadness, and a sense of melancholy. Paul has worked tirelessly and suffered as he worked for Jesus. He has helped so many people. Yet here he is almost alone at the end of his life waiting for the end that is coming soon. He has remained faithful to the end, finished what God called him to do, and now he awaits the crown. It’s easy to skip past that last point. While there is sorrow, there is also joy.

Those who know me may be surprised to know that I used to run fairly long distances. I never ran a marathon, but I would run between 10 and 20 miles in a week, sometimes 3 ½ miles, frequently 5, and even up to 10 miles on rare occasions. Now it will surprise nobody to know that I was never very fast. No speed records were in any danger. But what I could do was finish the course that I had set out for myself. There would be a time during any run that I might feel like turning back. I was too tired. Perhaps I should make today one of my 3 ½ mile days rather than the longer distance I had planned. In order to keep going I would give myself a certain distance to complete before I decided. Another half mile, I’d think, and then I’ll make the call.

As long as I resisted that temptation, things would settle in, and soon I would get into that groove where I was just running along and the particular distance didn’t matter so much. Toward the end I would need some particular will power again. Then I would tell myself that it would be silly to end a five mile run at 4.8 or 4.9 miles. If I intended five miles, I should complete it. Especially if it was one of those rare days, and I was going for 10 miles, I would be very anxious to truly complete every inch of those ten miles, and to make sure that my speed could still be distinguished from a walk!

There was joy and satisfaction in coming to the end of that course. Doing a little bit of running has helped me understand Paul here. Certainly there is sorrow in this passage that so few have stood by him. Yet at the same time there is that “final stretch” energy and joy that says, “I’m practically there.” Paul loved Christ’s appearing. He was anxious for it.

We all have a race of this life, and sometimes it seems long and difficult. But there are two things that can move us forward, and get us to the joy of finishing the race. First is the appearing of Jesus Christ our Savior. That is the final goal, and it is a joyful one. Second, we can remember to look for those moments of joy when we have completed a significant part of the race. “Lord, help me to keep looking up and keep moving forward until I complete my work of the day.” It may be days, weeks, or months at a time, or it may be minutes sometimes.

But in each case there is a goal that you can reach, and there is a reward that you can earn, and there is a Savior who will be right with you.

13Temptation has not grabbed you, except the common human kind. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will make with the temptation a way out, so that you will be able to endure it. — 1 Corinthians 10:13

If you’re feeling that joy of the successful runner today, share it with someone else. Let them know who is with them in their race. If you’re having trouble yourself, look up and ask.

Posted in 1 Corinthians, 2 Timothy | Comments Off on Kindness: All the Way to the End

THAT is Why

Lectionary texts: Isaiah 40:21-31, Psalm 147:1-11, 20, 1 Corinthians 9:16-23, Mark 1:29-39

Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. Later Simon and the others went out to find him. When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

But Jesus replied,“We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.                        Mark 1:35-39 (NLT)

Jesus did not answer the questions put to Him. He did bow to peer pressure or pressure from the local church leadership. He did tell us what we really needed to know.

“For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”             Luke 19:10 (NLT)

Here in Mark and Luke’s gospels I am told why Jesus, God Himself, would come and live 33 years in this sin-filled, corrupt world.

Jesus did not come to build big buildings to be His church (John 4:21-24). He did His ministry out in the streets, in homes, from early in the morning to the middle of the night. His plan was all about relationships since He came as the perfect sacrifice to atone for my sins so I could have a relationship with my Father.

Jesus did come to:

Seek. Jesus did not expect those who were lost to find their way into the synagogues. He went out and made Himself visible, lovingly visible, so people would be drawn in to Him. As His disciple that is the example that I am to follow. That means I have to put myself out there. Paul said in the 1 Corinthian passage that he became a slave in order to win as many as possible. Did that man have a “burn” for souls, or what?

Preach. I often hear this world said with negativity. Jesus did not “preach” with condemnation except to the Pharisees. Jesus preached with authority (Matthew 7:29) that brought conviction of sin so that there would be a turn, a change, in a life. The difference between condemnation and conviction – is love. When I hear Jesus’ words, whether through someone’s teaching or in God’s Word or through the Holy Spirit to my spirit, I feel remorse and then guilt and shame. It is at that moment that God’s love comes in and the guilt and shame is covered with His love.

Save. Jesus’ mission was always about saving us from eternal death. Without Jesus’ sacrifice, we as God’s children had no option to save ourselves. We could not work our way into the perfection required to have a relationship with our Father. Jesus wants us to have a relationship with the Father just like He has.

But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.                  Isaiah 40:31 (NLT)

Oh, the overwhelming love that came when I accepted that I was a sinner that needed a Savior, Jesus. And then before I could catch my breath, there was more. And there has been more every day since.

Posted in Isaiah, Luke, Mark | Comments Off on THAT is Why

God’s Warnings – Blessings

Now these things happened to them as examples, and they were written as a warning to us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.      1 Corinthians 10:11 (HCSB)

Have you received a warning from God lately? Those of us in the medical profession often remark with awe and gratitude how the human body sends out warning signals like pain, shortness of breath, and stomach upset that have brought people to an early diagnosis. With the technology that we have, blood tests can warn us of cancer, high sugar or cholesterol to name a few. If God is the Creator of this body, I praise Him for His mercy to build in an early warning system and the scientific knowledge to warn me that I need to make a change!

Paul is writing to the Corinthian church to encourage them to heed God’s spiritual warnings. He is not speaking just about prophecies but also how God frequently says, “If you do ‘this’, then ‘that’ is the consequence.” And He says it for both negative and positive consequences. If I humble myself and pray and turn away from my sins, God will hear and heal (2 Chronicles 7:14). Deuteronomy 28 is all about the blessings for obedience and the not-so blessings for disobedience.

Too often I look at “bad news” in my life as something that is to be greeted with mourning and wailing. Maybe I’ve just been ‘saved’ from a misstep on a really bad road! Remember that discussion yesterday about choices and crossroads? God maybe using a lifestyle change to keep me from walking a road that leads to severe health issues or company that He doesn’t want me to keep.

Like most children the strong warning and threats of dire consequences from my parents came when I attempted to make the driveway – well, ok, maybe it was actually a bit in the street – my playground. My brother, who was the obedient child in the family, got busted but good according to my mother when he went to play in the driveway and my father came close to putting the car in ‘reverse’ and running over him. I lived that moment the day my own child happily ran down the driveway toward the street as a neighborhood teenager drove down our little street at a rockin’ 50mph. I snatched him up, yelling and screaming, scaring him into screaming in fright at the crazy woman who had hold of him. To this day, I think it was only fair as my hair began turning grey and I wasn’t even 30. The parental warning at the danger that the child is in when playing in a street seems so obvious to those of us who know what happens in streets. But a child does not have that kind of experience. My children were obedient when we were around streets after that because they had learned that Mom would react negatively if they didn’t. Maybe God, too, is trying to make a point so we remember.

Like any great parent, God wants me to obey because I love Him and want to obey. But if I don’t learn through gentle love, He will use more strenuous warnings because He loves so strenuously.

Have you ever ran late for an appointment or took a route to work you did not normally use and found out later there was a horrific accident that you might have been a part? You ranted and raved because you were running late – only to find out it was a good thing. There are many stories that have been told regarding missed alarm clocks, stopping for donuts, a sick child and traffic jams that caused people to arrive late to the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 and so are alive to tell the story.

Join me in taking a deep breath the next time life takes an unexpected turn and ask God if there is something to learn in this situation. We may have to then take a step of faith and tell God “thank you” before we know of any reason for the thanks. But I know that I can also say “thank you” that whatever the turn means and wherever it takes me, Jesus will be there with me for every step. That’s a blessing.

Posted in 1 Corinthians | Comments Off on God’s Warnings – Blessings

The Road Not Taken

– Robert Frost (1916)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

This is a poem that has played like a song in my mind many times in my life since I first read it when I was a sophomore in high school. I did not have the insight into the layers of meaning in this poem when I was 15. As Frost said in the last stanza “Somewhere in the future” I will see what my choices meant.

I think a great use of time on New Year’s Eve is to make an appointment with the Holy Spirit to review the previous year and get His wisdom for the year to come. Maybe that seems simplistic but then I asked myself, “How’s what you’ve been doing – flying by the seat of your pants – been working for you?” And God’s voice has become more clear and distinct since I asked for His wisdom in decisions, big and small.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I do not come to a crossroads with at least two viable options. I look or research both options and their consequences and still may not feel the sure feeling of which way to turn. But if I turn to Jesus and seek His example, ask the Holy Spirit for His wisdom, and look at the character of God and His words, then the road to take becomes more clear. The difficulty is that the road is often one that “no step had trodden” for Jesus says that the road that leads to life is narrow (Matthew 7:13-14) whereas the road to destruction is wide. And that is the biggest reason I need my LORD to help me down the road. I also need His companionship on this road. With Jesus by my side, I am never alone and when the path becomes too steep or rocky, it is then that He carries me.

Which road will you choose to travel this year? I know an excellent Guide!

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Shelter in the Storms

The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. 
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.          Psalm 23:1-2 (HCSB)

Why does God allow thunderclouds and disasters in my life when I am wanting green pastures and quiet waters? It may be a waste of my time and effort to ask “Why?” – but there it is.

I have prayed The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13) since I was a small child. It wasn’t until more recent years that I began to comprehend what it meant that God provided what I needed for today and tells me not to worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:19-34). It is a principle of His way for me that began with the Israelites receiving manna for each day only (Exodus 16). God is teaching me about leaning or trusting in Him, not in my own strength.

Physical exercise builds physical stamina. Exercise is all about “resistance”, one force against another. Spiritual muscles are build much the same way. My spiritual stamina develops in conflict. It is not in pushing against the conflict but in grabbing on with both hands and humbly, even with great courage, submitting to the weight of the conflict and allowing God to have His way and bring me through. It is recognizing that this is part of the story of my life. That acceptance is the place where real peace is found. The peace that Jesus promised (John 16:33).

Behind those thunderclouds, the Father dwells in all His power and in all His glory. Behind the loud, impressive lightening is a day that has no night (Revelation 21:23) because that is where God lives. Behind the loud thunder that attempts to deafen me is the still voice that speaks comfort, encouragement, wisdom, and truth.

There are weather changes in my physical world that I must “adapt” to. When a rainstorm comes, I must close the windows and choose to stay under shelter. I have the same option when a storm comes up in my life. I choose to turn to my Father and bend to enter the shelter of His words of truth and comfort. When the blistering heat beats down on me, I seek the “coolness” of the Holy Spirit’s words of life and encouragement.

Your teachings are sweeter than honey.
They give me understanding and make me hate all lies.
Your word is a lamp that gives light wherever I walk.      Psalm 119:103-105 (CEV)

God’s view of my life is full and complete. I can see only a limited length of the road in front of me. God understands that my human limitations cause me to ask “Why?” stormy disasters happen but He desires to build a relationship with me that reassures me that He knows all and will never allow anything to dislodge me from His hand.

Help me to see that although I am in the wilderness
it is not all briars and barrenness.
I have – bread from heaven, streams from the rock, light by day, fire by night,
thy dwelling place and thy mercy seat.
I am sometimes discouraged by the way,
but though winding and trying,
it is safe and short. — Puritan Prayer from The Valley of Vision 
(ISBN#978-0851518213, Banner of Truth, 2003)

Posted in Psalms | 1 Comment

Hope: Has Arrived!

[reprinted from January 26, 2010]

— Henry Neufeld

And God saw everything he had made, and it was very good! There was evening, there was morning, a sixth day. — Genesis 1:31 (HN)

Sometimes when things are going bad, as they often do in this world, we find ourselves complaining about the way things are. We’re not complaining about God, we tell ourselves (and everyone who will listen). It’s all the devil’s fault that the world is so messed up, so it’s OK to complain. We can complain about the devil all we want!

But God saw everything he made and it was very good! Now someone is certain to be about to e-mail me to remind me that I’m quoting a text that comes before the devil messed it all up. It was good back then, but it’s not all that good now!

This is the day that YHWH made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it! — Psalm 118:24 (HN)

The heavens are making God’s glory known
The dome of heaven declares his deeds! — Psalm 19:1 (HN)

It looks like God thinks there’s still some good in this creation of his. He still thinks we can learn from it, and he still thinks there are things for which we can praise him.

It’s easy to become a pessimist, to be just a survivor in this world, hanging on for dear life until God steps in and cleans up the whole mess. Some Christians face life on this earth like concentration camp inmates, surrounded by a fence, guarded by demons, not quite daring to hope that their deliverance will come within their lifetimes.

But while we should be homesick for heaven, while we should remember that we are strangers and pilgrims here on this earth, we should also remember that we are the King’s children, living in the world that he made, and that he is the one who is in charge.

Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 and applied it to himself (Luke 4:18-19):

The spirit of YHWH God is on me, because YHWH has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind those who are broken, to announce release of the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind.
To announce the year of YHWH’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort those who mourn. (HN)

That’s the day that God has made—the day of deliverance. But it’s also every day, because God has brought you and me deliverance. While we are strangers here, waiting for our homeland, we are free strangers, who have access to the king. We are the ones who know how things really are.

So if you’re seeing the devil’s world out there, filled with nastiness and things to complain or to worry about, how about a little recovery of sight? In God’s world, the one Jesus came to proclaim, those fences that the devil has placed around your life aren’t there. The devil wants you to think they are the reality, that you have to live in sorrow and failure.

Jesus proclaimed release. It has already happened! This is the day that YHWH has made. Not tomorrow, not a decade or a century or a thousand years in the future. This is the day.

If you are living in pessimism, if the devil has you surrounded by barbed wire fences, and has you convinced you have to stay in the mud until some day in the future, will you ask God to open your eyes and let you see the good world, his world, the one where you are free? If you already know that freedom, will you let it fill your face, and spread out over your coworkers today? Will you “proclaim . . . recovery of sight to the blind?”

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God is My All

…yet for us there is one God, the Father. All things are from Him, and we exist for Him. And there is one Lord, Jesus Christ. All things are through Him, and we exist through Him.          1 Corinthians 8:6 (HCSB)

Lectionary texts: Deteronomy 18:15-20, Psalm 111, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Mark 1:21-28

My life often feels like I am moving through a maze. Originally a person would tie a string to the opening and begin their walk through the maze, the string preventing them from becoming lost. The Holy Spirit is my string. He is my guide through those long, dark, winding hallways of my life, because I made the decision that I exist because of God and for God.

God wants me to trust Him. Trust Him to know my way through life much better than I ever could. Trust Him to shine light when I need it. Trust Him to even be there in what seems to be such darkness, because “darkness is like light to Him” (Psalm 139:12).

Teaching me to walk by faith and not by what I can see with my own eyes and reason with my own brain cells is God placing deep down inside of me all that I will need when the darkness comes. But even more, He is forging a faith in me that will make me a light to others in the sadness or confusion of their own journey.

God is there even in my ignorance or when I make “wrong” choices. Even in the “wrong” God can teach and bring me through to a “better”. It is His redemption on the cross that keeps His hand on me and evil always ultimately losing.

Praise the LORD!
I will thank the LORD with all my heart as I meet with his godly people.
How amazing are the deeds of the LORD!
All who delight in him should ponder them.
Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
His righteousness never fails.
He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
How gracious and merciful is our LORD!
He gives food to those who fear him; he always remembers his covenant.
He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the lands of other nations.
All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy.
They are forever true, to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.
He has paid a full ransom for his people.
He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!
Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true wisdom.
All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.

Praise him forever! Psalm 111 (NLT)

My only task is to hold on to the String.

Posted in 1 Corinthians, Psalms | Comments Off on God is My All

No Worry – Choose Trust

Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.     Psalm 37:5 (NLT)

Psalm 37 is full of “do’s” and “don’t’s”. If you haven’t read it this week, take five minutes and read it through.

Verse 5 is a prescription for kicking worry out of my life. Give everything I do to God; trust Him with it and He will handle all the unexpected turns that may happen.

There are many things in my life that it never occurs to me to put in the ‘worry’ column. It wasn’t always that way. I don’t worry whether water will come out of the faucets in my house. There was a time when I struggled to pay electrical and water bills. There are people in many countries who walk a mile or more for water and not always “fresh”. Along the Gulf Coast, hurricanes can make trees falling on your house a worry.

Uncertainty can breed worry. Certainty or “normal” can grow trust. I can be certain and trusting about God’s love, His protection, and provision because He never goes back on His promises. Look at Psalm 37. The writer makes a list about God.

Verse 7. Shhhhh. Be quiet and listen in God’s presence. Wait for Him to act on your behalf.

Verse 8 and 9. Don’t get angry and lose your temper. God will take care of the wicked. And, by the way, He is the only one who gets to judge who is in that category!

Verses 18 and 19. God will look after those who are blameless and they will inherit an eternal reward. When life is hard, they will not suffer disgrace and not go hungry

The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the LORD holds them by the hand.   Vv 23-24 (NLT)

Another great promise from my LORD who never changes. He is faithful.

Jesus showed me by His example how to trust in the Father. He set His eyes on Jerusalem and never wavered. He took up the cross – His choice. No one could take His life. He laid it down.

When I take up my cross it’s different than being “resigned” to my fate. It’s a voluntary “yes” to the conditions on the path that Jesus walks with me and shares with me. Those conditions provide ‘seasons’ for me to learn more trust and more about the character of my Creator and LORD.

Psalm 37. Worth more than gold for the wisdom and truth found there.

Great is Thy Faithfulness by Thomas O. Chisholm (1923) sung by CeCe Winans

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