Faithfulness

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Fulfillment

Most people in life
      have something they want.
So stay out of their way
      when they start to hunt.
Sometimes we do struggle
      for we do not know.
Just quite what it is
      that we really want so.
Something is missing,
      of that there’s no doubt.
If only we knew how
      to figure it out.

We fill our life full
      of this and of that.
A piece is still missing
      and our joy does fall flat.
We may not know fully
      what we’re looking for.
It is so elusive,
      we think it’s just lore.
But when we do find it
      and we’re in the right place.
We won’t ever hide it,
      for it’s seen in our face.

God’s given me talents
      and gifts I can use.
How will I use them,
      I do get to choose.
Will I remain faithful
      in lifting His name.
Will I be serious
      or pretend it’s a game?
The more I do use,
      the gifts God does give.
I reach a fulfillment,
      each day that I live.

Sometimes we feel empty,
      for we’ve not figured out.
How God wants to use us,
      what our life is about.
Sometimes we know it,
      but we can’t figure how.
To use what God gave us
      to help people now.
When God calls you forward,
      the path may not be clear.
Take care of today,
      and walk with no fear.

There’s no greater joy
      than a life that does please.
To learn from my Savior
      as I pray on my knees.
To be lifted up
      and valued each day.
Loved by the creator,
      with something to say.
God gives me a venue,
      to share what’s in me.
To do it the right way,
      so it’s Him people see.

So, how can you help me;
      how can I help you?
Let’s encourage each other
      in what we need to do.
Commend acts of faith,
      without keeping count.
Keep taking steps forward,
      whatever the amount.
Trust God to finish
      what He has begun.
Hold on to your hat,
      make this journey fun.
©

It has been a fun 9 months of being back as part of the Deer Run staff and experiencing great fulfillment as I am encouraged to use all of the gifts that God puts into my life to serve others — even the unexpected gifts are valued with great encouragement to use them.  As I was praising God for His goodness, specifically in giving me these poems, He responded with this poem.  I pray that it encourages you to value God’s gifting in your life and in the lives of others.

In prayer,
Tom

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The Prize

The Olympics are here
      and so we are told.
It’s only the winners
      who will receive gold.
The athletes have trained
      and worked for so long.
To prove they’re the fastest,
      the best, and the strong.
But in such a group
      where the best surely rise.
In each competition,
      only one gets top prize.

So what can we say
      about all the rest?
Who have no gold medal
      though they did their best.
Someone did better
      or something went wrong.
The world looks at them
      as if they don’t belong.
As hard as they work
      and as much as they try.
Sometimes they’re left sitting
      and wondering why.

To the strong goes the prize,
      at least that we say.
But what if they’re strong
      in a much different way?
To be faithful in small things,
      God calls us to be.
The little things matter,
      though no one may see.
The true test of strength
      is what will you do,
When no one is watching
      or looking at you?

You may be able
      to hide from all men.
But God will still notice,
      what will you do then?
To give Him your all
      is all that He asks.
To put Him before
      all your other tasks.
To train your mind daily
      to look all around.
With all your heart seek God
      and He will be found.

The prize will be given
      when you finish this race.
Not because you’re fastest,
      rather you’ve sought His face.
So the training continues
      as this life you live.
You reflect Jesus
      when to others you give.
To give yourself fully
      like God’s only Son.
To finish the race
      and He says, “Well done.”
©

I spent some time with God this morning and thought about the Olympics as they began last night.  God gave me this poem as a reminder that in His view, it is the faithful who win the prize.  I am thankful for God’s faithfulness, mercy, and grace so that a performance mistake on the world’s stage doesn’t disqualify me nor negate all of my training.  I pray that this poem brings glory to God and accomplishes the purposes for which He gave it.

In prayer,
Tom

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God Cares

The squirrels are all playing
      in the midst of the trees.
The birds’ song is carried
      along in the breeze.
As I sit and ponder
      all that’s out there.
I’m always reminded
      that my God, He does care.
 
Sometimes I wonder
      if a difference I make.
As I seek to serve others
      all for His great name’s sake.
As I’m using my talents
      and attempting some good,
it’s so very easy
      to be misunderstood.

That shouldn’t matter
      if this is my aim.
God calls me to faithfulness
      not world-wide fame!
And so I get busy
      in doing some good.
In sharing of Jesus
      as He says I should!

I pray that you find some encouragement in these words.  As I was noticing the squirrels and birds outside my office window today it was a great reminder of the care God has for His children.  It was also quite amazing how quickly these words found their way out of my head and through the keyboard to my computer screen.

In prayer

Tom Lemler

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Why Job?

Why Job?  For the purpose of this article that would be the Bible character, not the work.  Although, the answers could be surprisingly similar. 🙂

I’ve been teaching from the Old Testament for a Wednesday night Bible class for a couple of years now.  We began with the book of Joshua and have worked our way through Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and now, 1 Samuel.  It has been interesting, and sad, to hear participants who have been Christians and involved in church for many years comment that they had never before been in a Bible study that had gone through an entire Old Testament book. They’ve been taught the highlights — the quotable moments — but not usually much context around it.  We may well say that we believe God when He says all scripture is profitable, but do we practice that?  God included each book for a purpose.  Not only is the information in each meant to be transformational, it also helps provide context and greater understanding of other passages and the Bible as a whole.  I know for me, our study of 1 Samuel this past year has really brought greater depth and meaning to my daily reading in the Psalms.

As I thought about these comments, I wondered what gets overlooked the most.  I know there are verses and teachings that we avoid or skip over because we find them too controversial, divisive, hard, convicting, difficult to  understand, challenging, old-fashioned, restricting, . . . you get the idea; but I’m thinking from a Bible book perspective, what would make the bottom of the list in books studied in their entirety?  Unfortunately, I’m sure there are several that would be in the running for that bottom spot.  I think Job would be one of the books on that list.  I know I don’t recall ever teaching through the book of Job or being involved in a study through the book that someone else was leading.

It made me think, “Why not Job?”  As I’ve pondered this question, the answer that keeps coming up is interesting.  Could it be that we avoid the book of Job, other than a few quotable verses, because the answer to another question is “too controversial, divisive, hard, convicting, difficult to  understand, challenging, old-fashioned, restricting, . . . you get the idea”?  We’re not sure what to do with the question, or the answer to the question, “Why Job?”.

But is that really the question that catches us?  If you’ve read the book, or at least started to read the book, you know the answer — God!  And that’s the answer I think we struggle with.  Not so much the answer to “Why Job?”, I don’t think most of us really care that much about Job, rather the majority of the time someone is asking, “Why Job?”, they are really asking, “Why me?”!  We focus on the loss and suffering we face while being misunderstood by everyone around us and we go to the book of Job for answers — after all, he lost much, suffered greatly, and was misunderstood by those closest to him.  Yet to go to the book of Job searching for an answer to the question, “Why me?”, forces us to at least consider the answer may be the same as the one Job received — “None of your business!”  Yes, you read that right!  We have the opening commentary that gives some explanation to what was going on but there is no indication that Job was ever let in on any of that.  To boil it down, the answer God finally gives to Job at the end of the book sounds a lot like, “I’m God.  I know what I’m doing.  Trust me.”

So, what do you do when the foremost question in your mind is “Why me?”.  Do you hear God say, “I’m God.  I know what I’m doing.  Trust me.”?  Do you believe it?  Can you look at the book of Job differently than perhaps you ever have before?  You see, I’m not convinced that the primary theme of Job is the loss and suffering that we often connect with the book — I think the primary theme is faithfulness!

Jesus said in Matthew 19:29-30, “And everyone who has left [lost] houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”  Isn’t that the heart of the story of Job?  He lost nearly everything for the sake of God’s name yet through faithfulness it was restored many times over.

Why Job?  Because no matter what happens and no matter how little or much you understand, being faithful is the only way to live!  It is not the swift who receive the prize, but only those who remain faithful to the end.  “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!'”  (Matthew 25:21)

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I Confess!

I love crime investigation shows.  Cue up some old re-runs of Columbo, Perry Mason, Murder She Wrote, or some of the newer shows like CSI, Cold Case, or Without A Trace, and I am in another world trying to keep up with — or get ahead of — the ongoing investigation and figure out “who did it”.  Most of these shows wrap up with a tidy “confession” of some sort by the guilty party.  A confession that does not necessarily shed new light on the case, but a confession that is an agreement that what they are being accused of is true.  An out of the blue “confession” to a crime by a person who is not a suspect does happen occasionally, both on the shows and in real life, but that is not the usual case or practice of confession in our legal society.  More often than not, it is an attempt to clear the conscience after the facts have been laid out so well that there is no doubt the suspect will be proven guilty. 

That is really the way confession works between us and God — and between us and our fellow man.  It is a matter of taking responsibility for our actions.  Admitting to our self what God already knows.  It is agreeing with an offended person that we have offended them.  It is acknowledging the sin in our life that God has been convicting us of and He has made it obvious to us so that we would agree with Him about our sinful state.

Our text yesterday in the “God Is Faithful” part of “The View From The Top: What Does God Say?” study I am doing, was 1 John 1:9.  Picking up the context with verse 8, it says this:

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.”

What a powerful passage!  Verses 8 and 10 pack the punch that makes it clear we are not exempt from the need for verse 9.  If we read verse 9 and immediately come up with a list of people who ought to confess their sins, we miss the point of this scripture.  John writes that any claim to have no sin to confess is simply us deceiving our self.  Not only that, but if we wish to continue in that claim, we make God out to be a liar.  Throughout scripture, and through His Holy Spirit, God has laid out the proof that He has that you and I have sinned.  As He lays out His proof, His request is for us to confess this sin — agree with Him that He is right and the sin that He has called us on is, or has been, present in our life.

And what a wonderful promise!  If we do that — if we confess our sins — He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us.  Wow!  To throw myself on the mercy of this court is a sure solution to what is otherwise a very bad verdict.  As judge, God’s desire is to have the lowest “incarceration” rate ever.  As judge, God says, “If you agree with me about your sin, I can take care of it.”  God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance.  God knows that agreeing with Him about our sin is a critical step in our turning from that sin.  As we begin that process of repentance by confessing our sin, we can have confidence in a God who is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us.

May you and I choose to not walk in denial before God.  May we confess our sins to Him and count on His faithfulness to forgive us and cleanse us — transforming us into the new creations He has called us to be. 

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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.