A smooth Mountain?

Proverbs 25:20

Like one who takes away a garment on a cold day, is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

I was reminded of this lately by an individual who meant well but he had forgotten his journey and where he had arrived from. He began relating and speaking only from the mountaintop while people were struggling to climb out of their valley. He made the climb appear smooth but remember, if the mountains were smooth then we could not climb them.

We need our valley experience because living in a fallen world requires that we climb in order to learn how to live at both extremes.

Not all but some

I recently returned from a visit where people reluctantly embraced calling themselves Christians. In fact it was clear that for them to be identified with Christianity was a negative reflection on them as a person. They were quick to establish that they were spiritual but not religious. Their understanding of Jesus was rules, regulations and separation. Their understanding of Him was based on a poor reflection of who He is by the words and deeds of those who professed to know Him.. Lord, we can only be a shadow of who you are; a mere reflection. Help us to reflect positively your grace and truth to others. We would do well to remember the words of Gandhi, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”



End of Time

What is the fascination with the end of times? Why are some so obsessed with trying to know the unknowable? Jesus clearly said that only God knows when life as we know it will come to an end and when it does, it will come as a thief in the night. We are all on our own journey called life and to focus on the end reminds me of children who are traveling to some destination and constantly wanting to know “when do we get there.”

God, truth or fairy tales?

It seems that the media is once again focused on reporting news of those that do not believe in God and for those that do our belief is portrayed as “fairy tales.”

I will use the wisdom of Albert Camus, who said, “I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is.

Words unspoken

Luke 23:50-54 (The Message)

50-54There was a man by the name of Joseph, a member of the Jewish High Council, a man of good heart and good character. He had not gone along with the plans and actions of the council. His hometown was the Jewish village of Arimathea. He lived in alert expectation of the kingdom of God. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

There is a tragedy in the story of Joseph of Arimathea. He did not agree with the decision of the council of which he was a member but there is no mention that he raised his voice in support of Jesus during the trial. Joseph waited until He was dead to honor Him with a tomb. William Barclay wrote it is one of the tragedies of life that we place flowers on people’s graves the flowers we might have given them when they were alive. We pay tributes at memorial services and give praise and thanks that we should have given when they lived. Often, we are haunted because we never spoke.

Lord help me, that from this day forth, I will acknowledge to my family and friends the true measure of their worth and may I never feel haunted by words unspoken.

Oswald Chambers on Prayer

We use prayer as a last resort; Jesus wants it to be our first line of defense. We pray when there’s nothing else we can do; Jesus wants us to pray before we do anything at all. We are to pray during times of joy as well as sorrow. Jesus wants us to talk to Him, not so much about Him. He wants us to talk to Him about unbelievers before we talk to unbelievers about Him.
Oswald Chambers

Did you stay or walk away?

LUKE 17:11-19

In Luke 17, Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem and ten men who had leprosy met Him. He healed them all and yet only one came back and praised God that he was healed. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?

When you had felt His touch, were you the one that returned or did you walk away? Sadly, there was a time in my life that I was one of the nine. When my daughter was born, she had a hole in one of her lungs and she was having trouble breathing. I remember the moment as if it was yesterday. It was raining outside and as my tears began to match the rain, I prayed, asking God to heal my daughter and I made so many promises to Him that I never kept.

He answered my prayers already knowing that my promises would fade once the danger had passed. Even though I walked away He never gave up on me because He already knew there would come a day when I would feel His touch again but this time I returned forever.

Guard your heart

Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)

23 Guard your heart above all else,for it determines the course of your life.

Guard your heart from becoming “hard”. The first time you do a wrong thing there is uneasiness within your soul. The more you repeat the wrong choice the less you feel uneasy. A hardened heart is whatever hurts God no longer hurts you.

Guard your heart from becoming “dull”. You become deaden to emotions. An example, next week is Easter and the story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus will once again be told in our churches. Have you heard it so many times that it longer moves your emotions? God help us to never lose the power to feel the agony of the cross and the joy of the resurrection.

Guard your heart from becoming “rebellious”. It is possible to know right yet deliberately take the wrong way.

God save us from the darkened heart.

Image among the trees

I noticed in the leaves of a tree the formation that looked like a horse’s head. The wind blew forcefully and the image was gone. The limbs did not break and when the leaves gathered themselves again, the horse was now formed from the head to the shoulders. We are like the leaves that at times are blown and we lose our image, but if we bend and do not break we come back even stronger, even more complete.

Truth..Who do you listen to?

Genesis 3:10-11 NIV

"I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." 11 And He said, "Who told you that you were naked?

I believe that God is saying to us, “it was not I that gave you a message of fear.” “I never taught you shame.” “Who has told you that you are less than?” “Who made you think that you could hide and more important that hiding could solve your problems?” Those voices you hear are not Mine and if you believe I taught you shame, fear and unworthiness then your truth is not my truth.

Seeking the miracle

Luke 5:15 (New American Standard Bible)

15But the news about Him was spreading even farther, and large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sicknesses.

Large crowds came because they had heard of His miracles. They sought Him for what He could do for them. They wanted the miracle that He offered but not the miracle of Himself. There is nothing more dishonorable than to seek the gifts but not the Giver.

I have been like those people but I have learned that the greatest miracle is the change of heart. The conditions may not change but God can change the heart to meet the conditions. I still seek the gifts but I find more value today in knowing the Giver.

Coat and a cup of soup

I was reminded this past week-end that my actions don’t always match my talk. Knowledge gained without application transforms no one. Lord, it is clear there is need for You but help us to also provide the coat and the cup of soup.

James 2:14-17

14-17Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? (The Message)

Gone but not Forgotten

I love music and I have an extensive collection of all types. The songs have an effect on me when played; they take me back. I don’t live in the past but my past is part of a collection that has made the man that I am today. I sometimes forget the songs but they all have a place in my heart. I do not collect every song I hear only the ones that speak to me.

People in my life are like the songs. They come and go but the ones that touch me hold their place in my collection. A friend recently passed away and for the past 30+ years I did not play their song but my friend was in my collection just the same. So, from time to time I will play the song until one day my friend and I will sing it together.

NOISE

I was waiting for a therapist that I was going to train. While in the lobby, there was an elderly man with a mental disorder between the ages of 75-80. He was constantly shaking a baby rattler while holding it very close to his ear and the noise was becoming irritating to everyone in the room. I was not able to hear myself think and I thought that is exactly why he shakes the rattler, to drown out the voices of thought. What were those voices that brought such pain?


A thought came to me that we are not so far removed from our own rattlers. We may not be using an instrument so obvious but escaping our pain just the same. The method he used seem to work for him but reality is that he will be tied to the rattler for the rest of his life unless he seeks help or someone seeks help for him. If nothing changes then he will continue to shake his rattler and annoy everyone around him. Sound familiar?

IN HONOR TO A FRIEND

Proverbs 18:24 (NIV)

there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

I recently reconnected with a friend that I spend less than 7 months with. Over 42 years ago, we were both young men from different states, with different backgrounds but many common bonds. We were away from home in a war we really did not understand missing those that loved us. During that brief time we bonded as brothers and today I still feel as close as that day many years ago when we first met. Although 42 years have passed and I have changed from that young 19 year old that brief encounter will remain important for the remainder of my life.

Believe more Deeply

“Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the Light, even though for the moment you do not see.”
                                                                      Bill W.

Pure in Heart

Matthew 5:8 (NIV)

Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they will see God.

Pure is from the Greek word “katharos” which means “unmixed, unadulterated.” This verse could be translated to, “Blessed are those whose motives are unmixed.” This beatitude demands from us the most exacting self-examination. What is our motive for the things we do? Do we teach, for others to gain knowledge or do we instruct to show others what we know? Are our prayers asking for His will to be done or our own? Do we study the Bible because of our need for God in our hearts or do we study to lord over others.

There is a line easily crossed if we are not aware that it exists. The line that everything we do is for self-satisfaction. I feel a purpose and a lifting of my spirits every time I counsel. I pray that it will never become more about what I receive than what I am giving. To examine one’s motives is a daunting thing, for there are few things in this world that even the best of us do with completely unmixed motives. So in our hearts we keep striving for purity, with success and failure.

In the Revised Standard Version of 1 Kings 8:18, there were things that David wanted to accomplish, but he would fall short and God told David as He tells us, “you did well that it was in your heart.”

Christianity, moderately important?

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

C. S. Lewis

Mountains

Sometimes the mountains seem too steep to climb. They seem unconquerable and we find our self paralyzed at its foot. Lord, help us to remember, Impossibilities vanish when a man and his God confront a mountain.

 

….but with God all things are possible.

                     Matthew 19:26

 

A LIFE

A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters.

Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.

                                                Thomas Merton

Seeing and hearing

A blind man who sees is better than a seeing man who is blind.

Lord, guide us to always see and hear, even though at times we are not looking or listening.

But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, they hear.

Matthew 13:16

The Trouble with God?

C. S. Lewis wrote, before his spiritual conversion, to a friend. “The trouble with God, is that He is like a person who never acknowledges your letters and so, in time, you come to the conclusion either that He does not exist or that you have got His address wrong.”

After his conversion, he wrote, “What if God has already answered our letters and telegrams in His own love-letter written 2000 years ago, but we have not bothered to check our mailbox and discover it?”

MYCHAL PRAYER

Lord take me where You want me to go; Let me meet who You want me to meet; Tell me what You want me to say; 
AND
Keep me out of Your way.

Father Mychal Judge, NYC Fire Dept. Chaplain
Killed Sept. 11, 2001

When counsel is given

Advice or words of warning must be spoken with a consciousness of our own common guilt. It is not to judge others or set ourselves up as moral judges of anyone; however, it is our duty to speak the warning words when they need to be spoken. We must never regard anyone as hopeless because of the changing power of Christ.