Author: Tom

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It’s Okay, I Know The Author!

It is always nice to have an “in” — a person or connection that gets you special inside advice, treatment, or information.  To be somewhere and realize that you know the person in charge.  You can just walk up, say “hello”, and all of a sudden, you’re “in”. 

My wife has a cousin that used to work at Disney World.  While he was there, he was able to get us in as part of an employee benefit program that they had.  Initially, he would be given so many “special” passes for a year and he could use them however he wanted.  These were great!  They weren’t the normal “one day” passes available at the gate.  These got you in everywhere.  Nowadays you can buy “park-hopper” options, but back then this was the only way to visit all of the parks on a single day pass.  Later, they did away with that system and he was allowed so many “guests” during a years time.  We would arrange to meet him at the entrance to one of the parks and then he could take us through a special line where he would swipe his ID, and state that we were with him — his guests.  Once we were identified as his guests, we received passes that once again allowed us to roam the parks as only someone who was “in” could do.  Wow!  What privilege to know someone on the inside.  We’ve been back a couple of times since he quit working there and it’s not quite the same.

Sometimes it is the special privileges that come with knowing the right person that makes us feel glad we are “in”.  Other times it has more to do with being reassured because of the knowledge that another person has.  This time of year reminds me that I have never liked “haunted houses”, “houses of horror”, or any such “entertainment”.  I do remember going to one that wasn’t really that bad, though.  I was in junior high or high school and my older cousins were going back to one that they had really liked.  They talked me into going with them because they had enjoyed it so much the night before.  The thing that made it tolerable for me was that the people I was with could not quit talking.  They knew what was coming up and would blurt it out before it happened.  They would explain the little tricks that would be played on your senses and how they weren’t fooled by them.  Most of the time, it is the surprise, the unexpected, that brings out the reaction of fear.  When I knew what was coming and how it was being done, it was more funny than fearful.  With that in mind, it is critical that we read and understand how John introduces the book of Revelation if expect to get through it without fear being our overriding response.

John writes this in Revelation 1:4-8,

“John,
 To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
 Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
 To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever!  Amen
 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
     and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
     and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
                                     So shall it be!  Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John takes the time to introduce the real author of Revelation — not only by name, but by character.  John states that this message that he appears to be writing is really the message of He who is this “faithful witness”.  One that is not simply faithful, and not simply a witness, but one who is both faithful and a witness.  Faithful witness to what?  I think we are given that answer in the context of the middle of verse 4 and in verse 8 — a faithful witness to what is, what was, and what is to come. 

Does this “haunted house” called life scare you?  Perhaps something that you are facing right now has you so frightened that you can’t even think straight.  Or it is something from your past — a fear that haunts you as you wonder when it will catch up with you.  Maybe you are afraid of the future.  The unknown of what is ahead.  The uncertainty of life, family, job, relationships, and so many other details out of your control.  You hear reports that sound bad.  The evening news has nothing that encourages you.  The economic forecasts have you in despair.  It is so easy to be frightened by what we don’t know and what we don’t understand because we recognize we have no control in those areas — and we don’t know who does.

The book of Revelation can be similar to that, especially if you skip the first chapter.  We think, “Ah, it’s just the introduction.  Let’s skip ahead to the “good stuff”.  You know, the part with all the excitement and action.”  And so, many people get into Revelation and the story that is told fills them with dread and fear.  They wonder, “Who is this about?”  “What does that mean?”  “When will this happen?”  Question after question, trying to reassure themselves that somehow this makes sense and will work out.  It does!  The author, the faithful witness, Jesus Christ says, “Blessed is the one who read the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it”.  When you are filled with fear while reading words that the author says, “How very happy is the person reading this”, I would have to say you are not reading it as the author intended. 

Jesus is the author of the book.  The subject of the book.  The faithful witness to what was, what is, and what is to come.  As I read Revelation, I am constantly reminded, “It’s okay, I know the author!  He is the faithful witness and He has me covered.”  May you be encouraged by knowing Jesus, the faithful witness, longs for “none to perish but all to come to repentance”.  I pray that you know the author and that he fills you with hope as He is the faithful witness to what was, what is, and what is to come in your life.

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New Mercies I See?

How do you respond to someone who has brought hardship and affliction upon you in every way imaginable?  What if that “someone” is God?

The book of Lamentations is Jeremiah’s response at seeing the hand of God afflict him, and the nation, with intense hardship and suffering.  At times, the book reads like it was written by multiple authors — or at least an author with multiple personalities.  The third chapter is a good example of that.  The actions of God that Jeremiah describes does not prepare you for the reaction of Jeremiah to God that we read.  Think about how you and I would likely respond to even this partial list of what Jeremiah says the Lord is doing to him.

He says the Lord has:

driven me away.
turned his hand against me.
made my skin and flesh grow old.
broken my bones.
besieged me with bitterness and hardship.
made me dwell in darkness, like those long dead.
walled me in.
weighed me down with chains.
shut out my prayers.
barred my way.
made my paths crooked.
dragged me from the path and mangled me.
made me the target for his arrows.
pierced my heart.
filled me with bitter herbs.
broken my teeth.
trampled me in the dust.
deprived me of peace.

Okay, discouraged yet?  Jeremiah sure was.  He says in verse 20, “I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.”  Sounds like he is getting ready to unload.  The unloading that we might do.  Ready to interact with God and let Him know what you think of this kind of treatment.  I think it is my knowledge of my own nature that makes the next few verses come at me so unexpectedly.  In the midst of all this affliction and discouragement, Jeremiah brings something to his mind that gives him hope.  Hope in the midst of that list?  A list he describes as being brought about by “the rod of the Lord’s wrath”.  Is it even possible?  If something can bring hope to that situation, could there be anything that is truly hopeless? 

And so it is with great eagerness to learn the secret of such hope that we read Lamentations 3:22-23, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  The old hymn, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness”, takes inspiration from these verses as the songwriter concludes, “morning by morning new mercies I see.”  Look back at the list above.  His compassions never fail?  New mercies I see?  What planet are they from?  If that list is compassion and mercy, I’m not sure I want any.  But wait.  Compassion and mercy compared to what?  Compared to my image of what a perfect life ought to be and what I think I deserve or compared to God’s knowledge of what I really deserve? 

It is out of a relationship with God that Jeremiah can list the experience of the wrath of God and still say that “because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed.”  While the list mentioned sounds harsh, even brutal at times, it stops short of being the “all-consuming” fire that our God has the right to be.  His mercy, His compassion, says that He will disipline those that He loves, but we will not be destroyed if our trust is in Him to save us.  His faithfulness is great because of His great love. 

In the midst of whatever we experience that feels like the harshness of God’s wrath, we must bring to mind that it is God’s great love that keeps us from being completely consumed.  He is faithful to show His compassion and mercy.  May you and I turn to God when we suffer and thank Him for new mercies we see each day because we are not destroyed as we deserve.

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An Unconditional If/Then

Promises, Promises!  I have a tendency to get frustrated quite quickly with promises and guarantees that are filled with conditions, loopholes, and fine print.  You know what I mean, don’t you?  It’s not that I’m against a conditional if . . . then . . . — if you do this, then this will happen.  I understand those and realize that if I fail to meet the “condition”, then I will also fail to see the desired result.  Consequences, we call it.  If you step off of a roof, you’ll fall and get hurt.  If you stick a metal object in a live electrical outlet, you will get shocked. 

But we’ve been trained to say, “Are you sure?”  We push the limits.  We test the resolve of the person issuing the condition.  Will I really be grounded if I don’t do my homework?  “Click-it or ticket” — How will they know if everyone is wearing their seatbelt?  Surrender to God or else face judgment and condemnation?  He can’t mean that, can He?  I’ll just tag along with good people and still keep control of most of my life.  I think I can get by with it.  I think I can slip by unseen.  I don’t think they are serious.  God’s love couldn’t seriously pass judgment on a person and condemn them to hell, could it?

Paul writes the second chapter of 2 Timothy, encouraging Timothy to remain faithful in passing along the gospel of Jesus.  A gospel message for which Paul is suffering and chained as a criminal.  Timothy is told to keep his relationship with Jesus and the proclamation of the resurrection as his utmost priority.  The battle he is in and the suffering he will face is real but it is not without hope.  The salvation that is in Christ Jesus is worth the single-minded, wholehearted devotion to God.  And it is not all “doom and gloom”.  Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:11-13,

“Here is a trustworthy saying:
  If we died with him,
     we will also live with him;
  if we endure,
     we will also reign with him.
  If we disown him,
     he will also disown us;
  if we are faithless,
     he remains faithful,
     for he cannot disown himself.”

Paul gives us some conditional if/then’s to consider.  In the first, Paul addresses our death to sin.  He uses “died” in the past tense — something he and his readers have already done, not something that may or will happen to them in the future.  Paul uses this language often in his writings.  He wrote in Romans 6:4, “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”  Part of this “trustworthy saying” that Paul is giving to Timothy is that when we died to self and sin in the waters of baptism, we were raised to live with Christ.  If we died, then we will live.

He also goes on to state the condition of continued obedience — of faithfulness on our part.  “If we endure . . .”; if we persevere and continue on in the life of service God has called us to, “we will also reign with him.”  This goes along with Paul’s charge to Timothy a few verses earlier to “join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”  The obedient following of Jesus will not be easy, but our endurance is met with a promise of reigning with Christ.  If we endure, we will reign.

The negative possibility of our reaction is covered as well.  “If we disown him . . .”; if we choose to ignore the example of Jesus in living out the command of God, we can be assured that “he will also disown us”.  As Paul writes to Timothy, and to us, he wants it to be known that we cannot make the cares of the world, the pleasures of life, our primary concern if we want to please the one we have committed to serve.  We must be faithful to both the task at hand and the One who called us to it, if we want to be “claimed” and not “disowned”.  If we disown Him, we will be disowned.

But, thanks be to God!  Paul concludes this “trustworthy saying” with an unconditional if/then.  “If we are faithless, he remains faithful.”  God’s faithfulness doesn’t depend on you or me.  God will not snag you with complicated conditions, loopholes, or fine print.  He won’t say, “Sorry, you are my loophole.  Since you failed, I don’t have to keep my promises.”  We have a God that is faithful by His nature.  A God who gives an unconditional if/then.  If you and I are faithful, fine; God will be faithful as well.  If you and I are faithless, that doesn’t change God; He will still be faithful.

May you and I serve Christ in confidence, knowing that God is not looking for the fine print to let Him out of His promises.  God is faithful yesterday, today, and forever.  May we trust in a faithful God who is faithful beyond imagination because His faithfulness does not depend on my actions or reactions. 

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Writing Songs In A Cave

Have you ever had a time that you hid from someone?  Perhaps something simple, such as a childhood game of hide and seek, with no real danger.  Or maybe something more real — a time where you knew that if you were found, trouble and harm would be the only outcomes.  Sometimes it is life itself that we are hiding from, not wanting to face another day with all of its demands, responsibilities, people, and problems.  In those times, it is easy to slide into this thought process; “I’m all alone.  Everyone is out to get me.  No one cares.  Is there anyone I can trust and turn to?”

I love the introductory text in many of the Psalms.  We are often given information about who wrote a particular Psalm, what tune to use with it, what instruments to use, what style of song it is, and even the background of where and when it was written.  Psalm 57 has one of these introductions and it says it was written by David “when he had fled from Saul into the cave.”  We know that there were at least two times that David hid in a cave, probably more that aren’t recorded.  For our purposes, it really doesn’t matter much which time, or what cave, David is in.  I want to think about the words David wrote while in hiding — while being pursued by the king who was seeking to end David’s life.

What do you do in the darkness of hiding?  David wrote a song.  A song recognizing that he was in trouble and needed help — help that only a faithful God could bring.  Help that he was pretty sure wasn’t always deserved.  We can learn a lesson from David as we look at how he approached God.  David almost always makes a clear acknowledgement of who God is in relation to himself.  David speaks to God very directly, very boldly; but not in a commanding manner — more like in desperation.  He writes like a man confident in God’s love for him, but knowing he doesn’t really deserve it.

Psalm 57 begins with David as a refugee, knowing he deserves no rights and privileges, calling out to God to have mercy on him.  Calling out to a “God Most High” for vindication, knowing that God knows for certain if his cause is just and right.  As David sits in the cave writing this song, he is confident that the God who called him to be the next king is a God of mercy and love.  As he is in hiding, he writes of God sending forth “his love and his faithfulness.”  In the verses that follow, David describes his pursuers with these words:  “I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among man-eating beasts, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.”  As I read verses 3 and 4 of Psalm 57, I think immediately of Daniel and how God sent his love and faithfulness to Daniel in the form of His angels coming to shut the mouths of the lions.  Perhaps those same angels were here, shielding David from capture and destruction by the “hungry lions” that were in constant pursuit of him.

Whatever form it took, David recognized it was God’s love and faithfulness that could make his heart steadfast and provide the protection and purpose he needed to continue.  The same love and faithfulness that God extends to us in the midst of the “dark caves” of our life.  As David writes, his song reminds us that God’s presence can illuminate the darkest of caves in our life.  For me, there has always been something about praising God that would drive the fear and darkness away from my life.  I remember as a young boy doing chores on the farm after dark or early in the morning before dawn.  I would head out to the dark barn with all of its creepy sounds and shadows and who knew what else lurking in the dark corners and hay mow.  As I entered the barn and headed up the ladder to get some hay for the cattle, I would sing praises to God at the top of my lungs.  I’ve added others to it, but my favorite song then, and now, for those “dark caves” of my life is “How Great Thou Art”.  I was convinced that anyone hiding out in the barn would have no choice but to remain hidden or run for their lives when they heard of the greatness of my God.  And so the song that began as a call for protection soon turned into a confident praise of a God who has great love and faithfulness — in my songs in the barn, and in life; and in David’s song in Psalm 57!

May you and I continue to call out to God for the mercy and grace that we need.  May we recognize the great love and faithfulness that He sends our way.  And may we ever praise Him with resounding song as He alone brings light into the “dark caves” of our life.

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I Would Never . . .

Have you ever observed someone in the midst of some activity and say to yourself, “I would never do that!“?  Perhaps it was something that you just thought was ridiculous or silly.  Or maybe it was something wrong, an obvious sin that becomes visible and known in another person’s life and you conclude that there is no way that would ever happen to you.

But things do happen.  Choices are made.  Decisions are reached.  Options are discarded.  Desperation sets in.  And “all of a sudden” a person is in the midst of an affair, stealing from an employer, involved in a drug culture, lying about their activities and work accomplishments, gossiping about others, meddling in the lives of friends and strangers, harboring greed in their thoughts and actions, filled with pride and self-promotion, and on the list could go.  Very few people, if any, set out to do such actions.  Most Christians, when caught in sin that becomes public state, “I never thought it could happen to me.”  But it does.  Time and time again, it does.  But not just in public figures and newspaper headlines, but in you and me and in countless Christian lives in churches around the world.  We are tempted and we sin.  We think, “I never saw that coming.”  We feel blind-sided and wonder why we so easily give in to temptation at times.

If this describes you, as it does me, Paul has some words of warning and encouragement for us in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13:

“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!  No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

God’s warning is clear.  If you think that sin has no appeal to you; look out!  It is when we think that we are untouchable that we drop our guard and relax.  Every job that I have had involved an element that if you became completely comfortable with it, you had better get out.  My first job “away from home” was in my uncle’s sawmill.  You learned quickly to respect the equipment, the stacks of logs and lumber, and the entire work environment if you wanted to avoid serious injury.  My next two jobs involved heights — roofing and TV tower and antenna installation and repair.  While I learned to trust my safety equipment, I also learned to have a respect for each environment that I was in.  To be observant and recognize the potential dangers.  To look for a bowed or sagging roof that might indicate a weakened support structure.  To pay attention to guy wires and tower legs that might be frayed or rusted to the point of weakness or failure.  It was never a given that just because every roof I had been on or every tower I had climbed had supported me so far that this one would as well.  I remember times during both of those jobs where I would hear or read of someone who became comfortable in a similar situation as mine and did not take heed to the potential danger.  Stories of people being seriously injured or even dying because they thought they knew what they were doing and therefore nothing could happen to them.

The same things happen in our spiritual life.  We get comfortable.  We think we know what we are doing.  Our confidence in our self takes us to the very edge.  We are so sure we know our “limit” that we continue to push it — to test it, saying, “I’ll never step over the line.  I’m not that stupid!”  And so we let the seeds of greed, lust, envy, pride, jealously, anger, hatred, etc., into our life and somehow think that we can control it.  Paul says that if you think you can handle this on your own, watch out because you are about to fall.

While the warning is clear, the promise is equally obvious.  God says that there is no temptation that is trying to overthrow you but what has already been tried.  Nothing will catch Him off guard.  Nothing will have Him scratching His head wondering, “What am I going to do now.  I don’t know how to get this person beyond this situation.”  We have a God who says that no temptation has to be given in to.  God knows every temptation that you and I will face and through His Word and His Spirit, He has given us a way out of each one.  A way that He says allows us to “stand up under it”, not necessarily avoid it.  A way that keeps the temptation from “giving birth to sin”, even while the temptation may remain present. 

Are we listening to God closely enough to hear His way out?  Are we spending consistent time in His Word, allowing His Spirit to teach us and to convict us of “sin, righteousness, and judgment”?  Jesus gave us the example of warding off temptation with Scripture.  Do we know the Scriptures well enough to use it as our “way of escape”?  Or do we play with God’s Word, sorting out verses that seem to justify our actions while ignoring the context and the principles that say the path we are headed down is leading to destruction?  I’ve known a number of Christian individuals, some very well known speakers, who have used the creation account as justification for “admiring” a woman’s beauty and even make suggestive comments about her because they are “praising God for His incredible handiwork”.  I’ve also seen some of these same individuals play with the fire of lust and end up burnt because they learned too late that they didn’t have the strength that they thought they did to control the temptation.  Their influence, their character, their witness for God goes down the drain because they were satisfying their desires rather than listening to God’s Word that says that a man who looks lustfully upon a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  The way out — the truth of Scripture — was there all the time.  It just didn’t seem necessary because, “I can handle this!”

I don’t know what areas of life and the temptations of life that you think you are standing firm in.  Whatever it is, God’s warning still holds true for you and me today; “be careful that you don’t fall!”  If you are saying in your mind, “I would never . . . “; look out!  Look to God and He will show you how close to the edge you already are and how you can escape the results of the temptation and stand up under it.

May you and I reject a prideful thinking that says, “I would never . . .”.  May we rely on the faithfulness of God to provide us a way of escape from every temptation through His Word and the power of His Spirit working in us.

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It’s Alive!

Have you ever observed a stationary object for a period of time, perhaps just for a moment, and all of a sudden realized through its movement that it wasn’t stationary — it was alive!  Sometimes, the only reason we were able to even tolerate looking at the object was because we thought there was no life in it.  If we had known it was alive, we would never have even come close enough for a look.  I wonder if that is how Moses felt when God commanded him to throw down his staff and he did.  Did Moses have any idea that his staff would gain life — the life of a snake?  Imagine standing that close.  Imagine picking up that life that you didn’t even expect to be life.  I wonder how quickly after Moses touched the snake that it turned back into his staff.  Did he experience the writhing, squirming snake, even for a moment, and wonder why he was even touching it? 

We often have a similar relationship with an object we become comfortable with because we mistakenly assume it has no life — there is no danger present . . . there is nothing it can do to us because we think it is lifeless.  That object is the Bible, the Word of God.  Hebrews 4:12-13 says:

“For the word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Alive and active!  Sharper than a double-edged sword!  Sounds dangerous.  Sounds like something we would try to hide from.  It is no wonder that God follows up verse 12 with the words in verse 13.  There is no where to hide.  This living, active Word of God will penetrate our life, dividing soul and spirit as it judges the motives and hidden secrets of our heart.  It is a revealing Word that convicts us of “sin, righteousness, and judgment” and becomes the measuring rod of our obedience and/or disobedience. 

The writer of Hebrews gives us these verses in the context of entering God’s rest.  Chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter 4 point out a time of rest that God has promised that has not yet been entered into.  The people of Israel are used as an example of those being promised rest — the “promised land” — yet did not enter into it because of their disobedience.  Verse 11 encourages us to “make every effort to enter that rest”.  The warning is there as well; if we follow the Israelite’s example of disobedience we will perish outside of the rest that could be ours.  And so the warning of verses 12 and 13.  We cannot hide our disobedience.  As much as we try to cover it up before others, it is “uncovered and laid bare” before God.  It is the Word of God that says, “If you love Me, you’ll keep My commands.”  The Word of God becomes the measuring stick that says we do love, or we don’t love, based on His knowledge of our motivation for what we do and don’t do.

How are you handling this living, active, sharp Word of God?  Are you being careful and cautious in your approach, giving it the respect and attention it deserves?  Or are you careless and casual, thinking there is no danger to you — no reason to pay close attention to the separating of soul and spirit that this living Word could bring?

May you and I grow in our respect and appreciation for a living, active, and sharp Word of God.  May we live knowing that God is everywhere and nothing in our life can be hidden from the standard of God’s Word.

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Roofing, Teaching, and Writing

 This is a rather rambling post describing (justifying?) the slowdown in my writing over the last few days.

I am in the midst of several different projects that all need a good amount of my time and energy.  Last week, I (finally) began the last stage of re-roofing my house.  This has been a complete tear-off of two layers of old shingles and then a new OSB roof decking put down to prepare the surface for the new shingle roof.  In the midst of this “home improvement” project, I wrap up a weekend prayer conference tonight that I have been leading at the First Christian Church in Rolling Prairie, Indiana.  I’m also preparing to preach a sermon this weekend for the “What Does God Say” series at the Deer Run Church of Christ in South Bend.  As all of this is going on, one of the things I enjoy — writing — seems to have taken a back seat to the urgent.

But I’ll be back — very soon.  The roof project is rapidly coming under control.  The surface is ready.  The shingles are on the roof and waiting to be nailed down.  Yesterday morning I was 130 pounds short of carrying a ton of shingles up the ladder and onto the roof.  Then it hit me.  Not only did my legs have to carry the weight of the shingles up the ladder each trip, they had to carry my body weight as well.  Multiply that out for each trip I made and the total comes to well over 3 tons of weight my legs carried up that ladder in an hours time.  No wonder my legs were feeling tired.  I now wish I hadn’t done the math.  Yet, this weariness will pass.  The roof will be completed and look great.  I will be pleased with the home God has provided me and with the ability He gives me (and my father-in-law) to maintain it.

As I mentioned earlier, the prayer conference that I am leading wraps up tonight.  Very few, if any, of the sessions have been exactly what I had planned going into the weekend.  God has taken a lot of effort, energy, and preparation on my part and woven it together in ways that I could not have done on my own.  Overall, the responsiveness of people and their willingness to participate in learning and pursuing God has been great.  I love these teaching times because it gives me an opportunity to represent an incredible God who has shown His power by working in and through a man like me.  As I’ve sat on the roof of my housing tearing off shingles, nailing down roof decking, carrying shingles, and finally putting the new shingles on, I have been able to reflect on a God who has had to strip old, worn out layers off of my life and replace them with a new base and a new finish.  The teaching God allows me to do is a constant reminder of the “home improvement” God is doing in me.

The writing that I’ve done on this blog lately has centered around the “What Does God Say” study we’ve been doing at the church I attend.  This coming Sunday, October 7, I will be preaching a message introducing next week’s topic in the “What Does God Say . . . About God?” series.  I have been, and I am, looking forward to that as it is another opportunity for God to draw me closer to  Himself and to use me to help others see Him more clearly.

Anyhow, this ends up being a long post just to say I’m still here.  I still love to write.  And I’ll be back writing regularly very soon.  Thanks for reading and learning with me.

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How Am I Going To Do That?

Have you ever been given, or taken, responsibility for something that you wondered if you could really accomplish it or pull it off?  Perhaps at work, you’ve been assigned a task that seems like it is beyond normal expectations.  Perhaps at church, you’ve “volunteered” to lead a ministry that reaches out to the homeless and hurting of your community and you’ve just been shown the research of how many people are in need.  Perhaps at home, you’ve decided to tackle a home improvement project that seems to grow in size, difficulty, and cost every time you look at it.  Whatever it is, there is probably something each of us can look at and think, “How am I going to do that?”

When I think of big, potentially overwhelming, “are you sure I can do this?”, kind of projects in the Bible, one of the ones at the top of my list is the building of the temple.  As I read the instructions that are given for the building of the temple and look at the material list of this construction project, I have to wonder if there weren’t times that Solomon thought to himself, “How am I going to do that?” 

Perhaps that is on David’s mind as he gives his son the instructions for building the temple of God.  Then, adding to any self-doubt Solomon may have had, David introduces his son to the entire assembly with these words, “My son Solomon, the one God has chosen, is young and inexperienced.  The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for human beings but for the Lord God.”  (1 Chronicles 29:1)  Wow!  What a confidence-building pep talk.  I know, that wasn’t the purpose of the introduction.  David was enlisting help for his son to accomplish the task before him.  The pep talk came earlier in chapter 28 of 1 Chronicles.  It is there that David gives Solomon words of wisdom that will equip him to take the lead on this monumental task.

In verse 6, David declares to Solomon and all the officials of Israel that it was God who had chosen Solomon to lead the nation and to build God’s house.  That is a powerful piece of information.  How many times when we have asked, “How am I going to do that?“, would we have worked harder, looked more intently for a solution, persevered longer under hardship, if we had only been confident that God had chosen us for the task that seemed so big?  I looked several days ago at the scripture Paul wrote, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”  Many times, we don’t get bogged down with the “who can be against us”  part of the question as much as we wonder and doubt “If God is for us?”.  We believe God can accomplish what He wills and desires, but is this it?  David sought to remove that doubt from Solomon’s mind.  He stated clearly, over and over, in front of many witnesses, “God has chosen you for this task”. 

Okay, pep talk is over.  . . . Solomon knows that God has selected him for the task at hand.  . . . Nothing can stop him now, God is on his side.  . . . But wait!  The pep talk isn’t over.  . . . There is something that Solomon needs to understand yet — something that has the power to impact every area of life.  David knows that as important as building this temple is, there are more important things for Solomon to understand, so he says these words:

“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.  If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.  Consider now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary.  Be strong and do the work.”  1 Chronicles 28:9-10

How often do we go from “How am I going to do that?”, to “Wow!  Look what I have done!”?  David is warning his son that he must remain completely devoted to God and constantly allow God to purify his motives, thoughts, and desires.  There is a hidden downside in being chosen by God to accomplish a monumental task — it is so easy to allow pride to creep in and steal credit and honor from God.  David seems to warn Solomon — don’t let this go to your head, this really isn’t about you. 

How often do you and I need that same warning?  Don’t let this go to your head, this really isn’t about you.  In the midst of doing, it is easy to lose focus and begin to have a divided heart.  We can’t live long with a divided heart.  Joshua put it this way, “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, . . . as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  Elijah said it like this, “How long will you waver between two opinions?  If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”  Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”  Throughout scripture we see this call to a wholehearted devotion to God.  God knows if we are following Him grudgingly or passionately.  His desire is for us to continue steadfastly in a single-minded, single-hearted pursuit of Him in the midst of everything we do.

When life has you asking the question, “How am I going to do that?”, trust in an All-Knowing God that knows if you should do “that” and can empower and equip you to accomplish it if you should.  But never forget to do all to the glory of God.  The monumental tasks we accomplish are not about us or our glory, they’re about Him and His glory. 

May you and I be found faithful, doing everything God desires with a willing heart and pure motives.  May we truly love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.