Just Imagine

 History tells us that Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Can you picture this? As flames approached his palace, did he feel immune from harm, with smoke circling around his head?

Imagine with me a sunlit community where one lovely house, bigger than the rest, crowned the neighborhood in its brilliant white splendor, envied by many,  and perfect in every way--except for a wisp of smoke rising into the summer sky from its chimney.

Alarmed, a neighbor called the fire department and soon they arrived in their big red truck, axes in hand, and knocked on the door. The cloud of smoke was now bigger and much darker, but the lady who opened her door seemed unaware and questioned the firemen, refusing to let him in to check. "With those boots. on my lovely carpet? You are NOT going to swarm all over my clean house, breaking things with that huge axe!  Goo away! Leave me alone."

They tried to reason with her, but she refused to listen, so they sadly left her to her delusion and retreated to the street to wait, in case the fire spread beyond her house and endangered others.

Now, imagine two people from a local church, Bible in hand, knocking on your door. You weigh your options: let them in and listen to them tell you all the things you must change in your life in the hope of some reward later? Or send them away--you're happy and enjoying your life, doing as you please?    

Still, isn't it possible they know something you don't know? Isn't it worth checking out--just in case?

Behold I stand and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

         I will come in  to him and will dine with him , and he with me.

                                                                              Revelations 3:20

Digging for Gold

 Wisdom can come from various places, sometimes surprising places. Take gold miners for example. There are a few TV shows featuring their frenzied efforts to get rich quick. One thing they learn quickly is that it doesn’t promise riches quickly (or ever); it requires a hunger, hard work, team work, perseverance, and the ability to learn from experience. 

He learns to “read” the ground, to negotiate with owners for permission to mine, bring in his faithful crew and work hard to find the treasure he seeks. Now, I can look at a green hillside beside a river and see a lovely place created by God—he visualizes a future based on successfully probing the earth for the riches below. 

I have evaluated the Bible and believe there are riches beyond measure deep inside, which I can own if I am willing to search. (Actually, my name is in the Title Book, so they belong to me whether I ever find them and hold them); Since age and infirmity limit my reach, I have enlisted a team of ministers like Dr. Jeremiah, Dr. Jeffress, and others  I meet with weekly or daily via television to direct my search for gold nuggets inside, which cannot be consumed by fire, blown away by the wind, or stolen. 

Many people live their lives, never considering any attempt to mine for gold—they believe the gold story is a fable, the work is too hard, don’t know how, don’t want to learn. There are those who believe they can succeed quickly, but fail and walk away disappointed, a few who find a few grains or a gold nugget and walk away, satisfied. 

But a hunger consumes a true treasure hunter, keeping him searching for more, knowing in his heart he will find the mother load--Father load?) of shining promises from his Creator and Savior, who loves and rewards his faithfulness.  

 

 

Rose-colored Glasses: F A I T H

 

Sometimes I wonder if what we’re teaching our children isn’t upside down. What I remember of the superhuman accomplishments I read about in my Bible formed in my eyes a picture of super men unlike us, men who seemed to know God and follow His path in perfect knowledge of our Lord, secure in their success, infallible—expecting  a perfect outcome in all they did. Children fear the unfamiliar; why aren't we teaching them how to deal with fear?

Growing up with that picture relieved me of any responsibility that God would ever expect anything even vaguely similar from me. There were “comic book-like heroes” who walked with God, who seemed so sure of what God wanted them to do and had the capability to do exactly that, and there was me: paralyzed by fear, surrounded by giants in my life. I never dreamed My Lord expected me to face His enemy as did those “perfect” heroes! Even more impossible to consider: His faith in ME was greater than my faith in HIM!

And I began to see those following verses telling how they lived AFTER their heroic deed and wondered how they could lose that sureness of step, how they could become fearful, doubting God’s continual presence and protection, after their eyes had seen real miracles God used them to perform? How could they be heroic one day and unfaithful or fearful the next?  

Talking about falling on your face--look at King David who killed a giant, then killed a friend to steal his wife and ended up running for his life from his own son who wanted his crown! Was it possible after all, that these heroes were unsure of success, doubtful or fearful of the outcome or that when they stood tall, that I had failed to see their faith had propelled them forward in spite of the paralyzing fear they brought with them to the battleground?

 Before Moses died, God told Joshua, Moses' 2nd in charge, that He chose Joshua, because of his faithfulness, to lead His people, as Moses had done. I'm sure Joshua felt shock and  awe and unprepared to replace the mighty Moses, who had met God face to -- shadow at least--on the mountain and returned with God's law for His people. But Joshua was assured God would lead him, just as he had led Moses, the miracle Hebrew boy, to battle against the Pharaoh who held God's chosen ones captive. 

Perhaps we shouldn’t keep our daily struggles completely to ourselves. Perhaps knowing that we have had a problem and dealt with it through the wisdom of God can encourage a friend struggling secretly, drowning in debt or doubt, to look to God for strength and wisdom, which He joyfully will provide.

 God doesn’t change. He’s not with us one day, someone else another day and then lose His train of thought, to wander away! NO, it’s me who looks away—at the looming giant facing me today, forgetting yesterday's crisis won, forgetting in the heat of today's battle, that my Father can beat   any giant,   any day,   every day!

It's Not REALLY What You Know--

 It's WHO you know, WHO you trust.  Here's WHY.

I heard of an older preacher who asked his young friend, "Which is better, 200 inches of faith and 2 inches of ice under your feet when you cross a lake? or 2 inches of faith and 200 inches of ice? Is the size of your faith more important than the trustworthiness of the object of your trust?" Not a trick question,

His answer: "The object of your faith has to be trustworthy--if it's not, no amount of faith can save you from falling through the thin, fragile ice."

In this 21st century, there's an app for almost everything, limited only by someone's imagination and all these new gadgets cost big money (my phone even has an app to program my hearing aids, but that's another story). You've been hearing about a map app and it's worth a try--getting lost is a pain and gas is big money too! Try it out on a little road trip!  Sweet, soothing voice--nice!

Then "exit freeway turn right onto small local road" and you look suspiciously at the rough two-lane road leading into the woods and hesitate--you're making good time on the freeway, why follow that sketchy little road? You speed right past the turn until suddenly flashing lights ahead call your attention to a big sign ahead "BRIDGE OUT".  Ohhhh! That's why the detour! How did the voice from your phone know? Because it constantly "reads" highway info on road conditions and highway traffic volume--information you didn't have until you've hit the problem spot. Follow last year's map or today's up-to-date warning?

You can ignore expert advice, tune out the little voice of your map app--but sooner or later you will certainly regret it. Another very important fact: until you listen and take the new revised route as told, you may receive no more info. Wisely, the app gives you instructions one step at a time--you could never memorize the whole route. You need to respond to each instruction before you will hear another step.

You probably have a Bible. Probably a dusty one. Remember, the Author has information you don't have. If you're choosing your own path instead of following your Creator's Manufacturer's Guide  on how to negotiate twists and turns along your dangerous road to Heaven, you have forfeited your right to complain about your problems you chose to handle for yourself! 

If you take a detour, you're stuck--until you return to the spot where you left God's path for you, before He will give you further instructions. His instructions are not "multiple choice" You don't get to pick your preference! He will sit quietly, waiting for your response before He speaks again. You don't get to ask "WHY" (Well, actually,  you can complain but He's patient and will outwait you)

We accept the map app's infallibility, why do we insist God should open his map for our success for the next five years before we take that next step forward? ---and we all do it!  The book of Proverbs lists many suggested steps which can lead to the outcome He planned for each of us. God asked King Solomon, said to be the richest man ever, what one gift he desired from God, and he asked for wisdom, above all else--he shared the wealth of his wisdom from God with the world in this book.

His ways are not our ways. In Matthew 7, we learn that difference clearly:

        24“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27“The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”      Matthew 7:24-27

           

How Do You Build a House

Just like you build your life. Basically, you consult an expert builder and acquire information, options and perhaps tools to design how you want to live, to be sure not to make mistakes. But first you need to make a list of features you want to include, decide where you are willing to compromise to reach your goal faster and get the most from your efforts. 

There are some places you cannot compromise—on safety issues, some that require expertise and exact dimensions or your house will never be a safe haven. The measurements throughout must be precise to fit together and survive the storms you know it must face. Everybody on the project must use the same ruler to measure bits that must fit together! It will not survive if everyone brings his own favorite measuring tool, personally acquired from his own tool belt. 

For our build to stand against fire and flood, there are certain decisions that cannot be based on whim or personal preferences. There truly are absolute rules, or truths, which cannot be ignored or avoided, where “my truth” or “your truth cannot stand. 

Jesus explained the difference in a house built on sand instead of a rock: It simply cannot survive, and any builder learns this or he won’t be around very long.  Yet even after several failed tries, many of us insist on relying on our imperfect preferences. We keep doing the same things again and expect different results rather than going to the Master Designer,    who built this universe from stars to starfish to us (on His very first try), out of nothingness  in the excellence of  Hs technical/moral standards. 

He has the blueprint to your life; you have only your mirror to go by—you don’t have all the facts. Where is your best chance of building a successful life? Not happy with His decisions? Tough! His Universe, His rules! 

You probably have a narrow-minded friend who keeps telling you there’s only one road headed where you want to end up. And you think he’s just bragging that he/s got something you can't hope for—and you’re offended! But if he knocked on your door tonight to yell “YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE. WAKE UP! Are you offended? No, unless he had set the fire (and of course he did not) You’d listen and then call out to your sleeping family. 

If your doctor gave you a terrible diagnosis, even though you are shocked and dismayed, you wouldn’t blame him.. On that day, he’s your best friend. He doesn’t carry bacteria or viruses in his black bag, but he recognizes them on sight.. 

Next time someone loves you enough to warn you that you’re on the wrong road and the bridge just ahead is out, he is your best friend; he is giving you the option (your free choice) to be rescued from your faulty view of life. You have the same choice to make as he did—and that offer expires on the day you die.

 Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.                                                                        '"just as life begins from union between a man and woman,, so spiritual life comes only through Jesus.                                 Romans 3:24 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God                                                                                             Isaiah 53:6     We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all..    

Matthew 7:13-14  Enter through the narrow gate. for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and                 there are  many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few               who find it.                                                                                                                                                                                           John 14:6 Jesus answered,  "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  

Romans 2:12 Those people who don't know about God's Law will be punished for what they do wrong. And the Law will be used to judge everyone who knows what it says.  Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Even nature points to a loving Creator.     Psalm 19   The Heavens declare the Glory of God and the firmament shows His handywork, day unto ay uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

 

Answer to the Unasked Question

 A couple of generations ago, summer evenings were often punctuated by tent revivals, springing up around town in the odd vacant lot. The faithful flocked to the spot, often bringing friends or neighbors who they believed needed to hear the dire warnings of a horrific future the Bible predicts for all the unchurched unbelievers. Looking back, it seemed that sinners recognized two main categories of folks: Christians and sinners. Sinners didn’t expect the other tribe to accept their behavior as acceptable; they acknowledged their sin whether or not they ever repented and changed their lives and fate.

Some of Jesus’s followers today seem reluctant to bring up the subject, whether from fear of offending, wanting to “blend in” with today’s prevalent (missing) moral code, or from lack of knowledge, inability to share their faith. No wonder we’re accused of arrogance, ignorance, intolerance, superiority complex for insisting on absolute truth and deploring the current widespread depravity and degradation of principles. We stay too busy defending ourselves from charges of prejudice and hatred to exercise our wits and do what we were left in this world to do. 

The Bible tells us we are citizens of God’s heaven, ambassadors to a needy world, which resents our efforts to share our future kingdom. We are told to be ready, when asked, to answer and explain our faith. But seldom does anyone ask! Expecting the world to look at our imperfect, though devout, lives and become curious as to the source of our strength seems fruitless—they can always catch one of us doing something that allows them to call us hypocrites. Or they assume, if they even notice a holy blameless life, that person is very strong or very lucky in life and not subject to the problems most people encounter.  

 A preacher once described our responsibility as followers of Jesus thus: He and his wife were driving home one night and noticed smoke rising from a house and immediately stopped and ran to knock on the door to wake someone inside. A disgruntled, tousle-haired man yanked the door open, was amazed to hear of his danger and grateful his sleep had been disturbed. We are God’s volunteer fire department, trying to awaken those asleep in their sins.

This story spoke to me because my family had a similar situation, but in our case, where there was smoke, there was not fire.  We moved into our house one bitterly cold New Year’s Eve, and fell into bed, exhausted, about 11:45 p.m. About ten minutes later there was a knock on the door and we found a woman on our porch; she was driving by and saw smoke billowing high above our house. Thinking quickly my mate asked her to call the fire department because our phone wasn’t connected yet. She declined; she lived too far away. He then sent her next door to use their phone, while I bundled up two toddlers and got them out on the porch.

 By this time, to the background of firecrackers ushering the new year in, our front yard was suddenly filled with several tuxedoed strangers from next door’s party, carrying a garden hose. And then the firemen came. Instead of fire, they found the plumber had left our water heater on the highest setting; the safety valve had popped off, sending clouds of steam rising in the night sky. Relieved, but still alert for other unknown risks we faced a new year in a strange house, on guard to keep safe.      

We’re not promised easy work, just that our Lord is with us through it all and He provides on-the-job training. Dr. Jeffress, FBC Dallas, listed a few facts to remember when called to defend our faith, lest we be unprepared for being accused an exclusive group, intolerant of other philosophies:       

1. Nature of truth is absolute, not relative (different strokes for different folks is Satan’s deceit) 1 Corinthians 3:9

2. The Bible. Satan attacks God’s Word in Eden and it’s still his main weapon. John 8:41. John 9:32 

3. Deity of Christ denies universalism, pluralism, exclusivist- regardless of faith.    Matthew 7:14 John 4:6  

4. Necessity of atonement   Luke 22:41   Matthew 14:43    Matthew 7:13-14  

5. Evangelistic missions our work–1 Corinthians 3:9, Matthew 28:19

Life and death of Jesus a fact, based on His being seen for 40 days after resurrection by at least 500 witnesses who testified this fact to others. Jesus said He and the Father are one. He said He was there when the world began, He affirmed He is the way, the truth and life, the narrow road. If not Deity, he would have been a liar or insane. His birth, life and death were predicted many times beginning 700 years before. 

When Adam and Eve sinned and tried unsuccessfully to over their shame by covering themselves with leaves, God sacrificed an animal to cover them.  When He tested Abraham’s faith telling him to sacrifice his son, who was previously promised the first of a nation, God provided an animal for sacrifice. In the nation Israel, priests offered sacrifices for the family and nation, for atonement and Jesus as sacrifice for atonement of the world, available to any who ask.

 

Busy Signal

            Most of us are used to being busy, right? A fact of life is that many things are                                 engineered, it seems, specifically to interrupt our train of thought or slow down our                       response to someone else’s emergency in a long line of matters already on our To-Do list.             Right? 

To maximize our effort output, often we must juggle several things at once and always have a couple of crises simmering on the back burner, needing to be addressed before they erupt into open flames. Sound familiar? Often in self-defense, we tend to categorize calls on our time, 

So, we mentally list these occurrences according to our own judgment of priority. The risk is that a common result is that we tend to the urgent before the important. 

Often, we feel pressured when someone else’s emergency pops up, just as we made our plan for today. I know; you want to tell them to take a number, but crisis has to jump to the top of our list, right? 

Whether returning phone calls, or balancing our checkbook, if we don’t follow our schedule, those come with an implicit threat of complications if pushed aside for the urgent. But the interruption may be both urgent and important—investigate the circumstances, evaluate, and respond, postpone, or put your own agenda on hold and answer this new situation if warranted. 

Where is prayer’s place in this dilemma? We’re prayer warriors, right? What if an interruption comes while we’re praying? We’re certainly not irreverent enough to interrupt our time with the Lord. But what if the person on the phone is desperate—and what if they are praying too--for our help? Inasmuch as God gives us discernment, we must respond as God leads us—when we’re ready to resume that interrupted prayer, He won’t hang up He’ll be waiting. 

Even if all we can do to help that caller is to encourage him, calm him and go with him to God’s throne for grace, we have invested those few minutes with our God. We must guard against worshipping our routine instead of our God. 

At the same time, we must include in our day’s most important things  a scheduled time with Him—by prayer, reading His Book, worship, feeding His flock—remember we are Jesus’s  hands in this world. 

When that phone rings, we don’t want to put God on hold.