UNCONDITIONAL--THERE'S SECURITY

Just to know that there's nothing we can do to earn God's love is satisfying. To think of His powerful love for us is reassuring. To imagine His love as a liquid filled to the top of the glass that cannot be added to, that cannot be filled to anymore, well, it's unimaginable. Yet that's exactly the kind of love God has for us. And it's all told in song, "Jesus loves me this I know".

Yet our Lord is holy. That means He's above reproach. That means He cannot tolerate, He cannot be around sin. He and sin simply cannot co-exist on the same plane.

So how that works is like this. God loves us unmeasurably. But if we have unconfessed sin in our lives, we can't be in His presence. We are separated from Him. A quote, actually one that is misquoted often is "all things work for the good." What many forget is the part that adds "for those who love Him." It comes from Romans 8:28 and also adds"who have been called according to His purpose."

There are conditions to be met for unconditional love. Huh? That's right. If you want God to be for you, then you have to be for Him. And when you are, then He is. And that condition makes all the difference."

IT IS WHAT IT ISN'T

Not the picture of the mirage we saw in Namibia. Our mirage had no trees around. But it clearly looked like glassy water. Till we got closer. Then we saw nothing but desert.

I still don't understand how that played tricks on our eyes. But it must often times be there, because our guide pointed out the mirage to us and announced it as such. As if it's always there.

Scripture is a lot like golf. Oh, no, here he goes again. If you want to hit the ball a long way, then swing easy. If you want to hit the ball in the air, then hit down on it. Ok? Now what about scripture?

If you want to live forever, you have to die. (Matt 16:25)

"By His wounds we are healed."

We are cleansed by Jesus' blood.

We have another mirage in thinking that we are following the Great Commission in Matt 28:19. And why do I say that is a mirage? Well, first of all I don't want to offend missionaries, evangelists, Christians with a heart for leading the lost to the Lord. But when at a recent business meeting when John 3:16 was mentioned, a large majority of those in attendance had no idea what the verse says.

It seems that In-N-Out restaurants has written John 3:16 on the bottom of their soft drink cups. I'm also very surprised that I never knew that. But I'm more astounded that in today's society, people don't know the verse.

We've lost the guy who wore an Afro multi-colored wig and held up a sign proclaiming the verse. He would appear at nationally televised sporting events and hold up his sign. I don't know where he went, but I miss him.

So, we simply have to pick up the slack. In-N-Out is helping. But they can't do it Solo. (Get it? Solo cups, solo--by themselves; soul low) Ok, I apologize. We've had a laugh, or a groan; now it's time to get back to the business--no mirages--of winning souls.

MAYBE QUIET TIME WITH GOD WOULD HELP; OR MAYBE THAT'S WHAT AN ADULT TIME OUT IS
When I first saw this photo of Old Faithful spouting off at sunrise, or at least early morning, I thought, "You know, people aren't like that. It takes the build up of frustrastions over the course of the day before most of us explode." When circumstances haven't met our expectations or desires. When plans we've made have not worked out. When events have muddled our schedules. When the unexpected is not advantageous to us.

But then I thought again. One of the first things I do every morning when I arise is get on the scale. Gingerly I step on to the digital scale which measures to a tenth of a pound. I try not to step too hard. I don't want the scale to reveal even one tenth of a pound more than I carry. Kinda like sneaking up on my shadow, but hey, that's the routine I follow every day.

Some days, I'm pleased. "Yes," I'll announce to myself congratulating me for a good day's inactivity into the world of gluttony. Other days, my response is "Oh, man." But it doesn't stop there. My mood is altered, maybe for the entire day. Especially when I think I've been good and deserve a loss and the scale tells me otherwise.

So what's wrong? Why do we need to blow off steam? Because we're too full of ourselves. If you noticed in the preceeding paragraphs, it was all about us and our desires, our wants, our needs.

Had we spent some quiet time with God earlier in the day, then maybe things would have been different. Had I prayed in bed or dropped to my knees before approaching that scale, I'd probably have a different reaction. I'd probably not carry the frustration through the day. I might just get my priorities in order.

Time outs for children change their behavior. I wouldn't equate quiet time with God the same way. It's so much more valuable than a time out. And it's what God desires for us. To Him Old Faithful has a deeper meaning.

IS THIS LIKE YOUR HEART?

It doesn't take a bible scholar to know who had a heart for God, or who was a man after God's own heart. As I get behinder and behinder, as a former player for me in YMCA baseball used to say--well, actually he asked me if he could be the behinder, meaning the catcher--but that's for another blog on another day, I recall our pastor saying, "God doesn't necesssarily want you in another bible study; He wants your heart".

So David was after God's own heart, and He's after all our hearts. But I'm afraid He won't much like what He finds in some of them, including my own far too many times.

He wants us to help the downtrodden. We have no problem for rooting for the underdog in a basketball or football game. But in the game of life, we want to run with the Big Dogs. And that was the same problem with the disciples in Matthew when they argue over who will be the greatest in God's kingdom.

Since I gave $20 to a mother with two small children who told me she and they had not eaten for two days, I bought $25 worth of McDonald's gift cards in $5 increments. I've carried two of them in my car for over a year. In San Diego this past weekend I gave them both away in a matter of minutes. I was somewhat disappointed because I hadn't gotten around to attaching the plan for salvation on the cover of the coupon booklet.

I did have a chance to tell Jeffrey that I would pray for him. He seemed to appreciate it and the coupons, adding that he also had some for Soup Plantation and Green Tomatoes. So I know he won't be hungry for awhile.

So what's the application, what's the point of this entry? Refer to scripture. Pray. It's really all that simple. If you want to die to yourself, as we're told to do, if you want to give up your way of life and serve others, as we're told to do, then get started. It will feel good when that icy heart starts to melt.

Whether to give to the needy or help a neighbor, you'll be blessed by the deed. And you will be pleasing God the Father.

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

Peter had to be told to shut up. Different times, the first of the disciples to recognize that Jesus was the Son of God, reacted before he thought. Whenever he equated Elijah and Moses with Jesus at the transfiguration (Matt 17), God had heard enough. He simply couldn't allow that.

As respected, as representative of the OT prophets, Moses (law) and Elijah (prophet) were included. But they weren't deity.

Today, in order to hear God, we have to shut up as well. It is that still, small voice that we listen for. Yet it was a loud voice that Peter, John and James heard at Mt. Hermon. And when we are surrounded by noise, it's difficult to hear God.

Yet, sometimes, in fact most times, most of us don't wait. Henry Blackaby in Experiencing God hammers that home to us in Chapter 6 of our Bible Study on Tuesday mornings. We petition, we give God a list of wants, and then close in Jesus' name. But we don't wait for what God has to say. As Mr. Blackaby says, "what God says in answer to our prayers is more important than what we say to Him in our prayers."

I feel so blessed by our group at 6:30 AM. I feel the same way about our Small Group on Thursday evening. I wish others could join us. I feel as if I'm getting all the blessings. But I still have to learn to be quiet. God may not be speaking in an audible voice, but I'm hearing Him through the Holy Spirit.

BIBLICAL THORNS

Pictured is a beautiful rose from our daughter's house. She has only about four rose bushes, but they're mature and thrive in the San Diego climate. They are some of the largest I've seen. They beautify her yard. That's what roses are supposed to do. I didn't purchase any for Valentine's Day this year, but the last time I checked, they were going for $75 a dozen. I'm not sure what a dozen of her roses could fetch, but they certainly would make the recepient happy to receive them.

As with many things, though, appearances aren't always a good indicator of the whole story. The whole reality. For roses also possess thorns. The most famous in scripture is of course Jesus' crown of thorns. I suffer every time I think of the soldier putting the crown of thorns on His head in mock blasphemy for "the King of the Jews". I also have heard religious leaders talk about how we as Christians want our crown, but we don't want the pain and the disgrace of our own crown of thorns. Yet we must if we are to be crucified with Christ and shed our old way of life, our former sinful nature,for we have to take on a servant's heart, we have to spread the gospel message, and we have to accept our crown of thorns, too.

Paul's thorn in his flesh is another biblical example. Many times Paul prayed for God to remove it. Whatever it was. Some have thought it was his poor eyesight, but it's one of those questions that we'll have to wait to learn its answer in Heaven. Like so many questions that we have no answer to now, I have a feeling that it won't matter very much to us when we get to Heaven. We'll have a lot to keep us occupied without worrying about minutia.

But again, as Christians we seem to focus too much on the thorn in our side instead of what the Lord has done for us. Our focus is again on the minutia, although at the time, it certainly does seem important. The English poet Lord Byron, quite a ladies' man in his day rued his club foot, his thorn. It didn't seem to slow his writing nor his lifestyle, but it spawned another writer to lament "we all have our own club foot". Whether a club foot or a thorn, or a thorn as a club foot, we all have difficulites and imperfections. And, likewise, we all focus on the wrong things at times.

In one instance we reject the thorns and the pain they bring; in the other we can't de-emphasize the thorn in our life. We embrace desensitivity in either case, and that's no way to respond to the Lord. "Give me roses, yes Lord, but I'm strengthened by their thorns. May I embrace Your will for my life."

GOD'S COUNTRY

If, as Jesus said, one cannot be a prophet in his own land, then one cannot love his/her hometown until he/she leaves it. Such was the case of high school students who wanted to flee the nest and go to other climes. Any clime. Just so as to leave their hometown.

One student that comes to mind was Billy. Oh, how he thought himself too cosmopolitan for a little rural town in Southern Illinois near St. Louis. He had such disdain for his hometown that I tried to help him cope.

I'd simply call MTV God's country. At first he'd get angry with me. Then it became laughable as I carefully worked it into conversations once a month or so. Then he became convinced that I was completely out of it.

We never got to have a spiritual conversation about why God puts us certain places for certain reasons, and only God's timing is perfect. And how God expects us to bloom where we're planted. And how God sees time both in the past and the future as well as the present. In fact, we might have had a good discusssion about whether God really knows anything about time since it's all the same to Him.

That's not to say that He doesn't know all. It just might not have the same effect on Him, Bill might argue. But His timing is always perfect, I'd respond. He knows just when to tug at our hearts, just when to inflict a conflict in our lives that would strengthen us, just when to reward us with His many blessings.

Blackaby gives an illustration about a parent buying a blue Schwinn bike for his son and putting in the garage until Christmas. When he asks his son what he'd like to get for Christmas, the young boy had much lower expectations. It was up to the father to convince the son that he wanted the blue Schwinn. And that's the way with the Holy Spirit who tries to get us to want what's best for us, what's all ready in the garage for us.

So don't tell me that God doesn't know about time. And place. He put us in God's country, wherever that may be. If you see Billy, please tell him for me.

SO HOW YA DOIN'?

Don't disappoint. Valentine's Day is approaching. Fast. Flowers, chocolate, balloons, dinner? Are those in the works? If so, you're off to a good start--read on for a better start and finish. Except if you're female. Please don't ever buy your guy flowers.

We may like them. We may not be able to distinguish a hybiscus from heliotrope, but we may see some growing in a field while we're hunting or golfing and think to ourselves, "those are kinda nice", but we don't want any inside. Not for us. So please, forget the flowers.

Chocolate? Very tasty, but face it; most of us guys already have a little donelop (where the belly done lop over our belts) so again, please spare us. Save your money and our expanding waistlines.

Balloons? Not since we were ten. So again, if you insist, we won't complain. Until trash day, when we have to stuff the partially deflated orb into a can to be picked up. Save us the hassle.

Cards? Yes, we still like them. But that's not enough. Even the great homemade or computer generated ones with special pictures created by our high tech wives. So what's left?

A trip to your local Christian bookstore. I'm wanting a small, but not microscopic Bible to carry while traveling. But there are realms of possibilites. You simply won't be able to leave the store without something for your sweetie.

And how ya doin' on your reading the Bible from cover to cover for 2008? If you're lagging, you can still get started or you can suggest your honey to begin by purchasing a Read the Bible in one year book. So what if it's not in the 2008 calendar year. Or buy the one for 90 days. You won't be sorry. And even if you don't finish, you'll have had an opportunity to be with God for a certain amount of time, and that's valuable.

One final suggestion; don't buy the Christian book at Wal-Mart. Please support a Christian bookstore. You may spend a little more, but you're backing a sure winner. And notice when you walk in to the store what a different, warm feeling you have. Almost like going into church.

Happy Valentine's Day!

WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE?

Just a few short years ago, I would never have put Ecclesiates as one of my favorite books of the Bible. In fact, I would have put it at the other end. I thought it a pessimistic book, but after a great study in our Adult Bible Fellowship (well, it's still Sunday School to me), I've had a change of heart.

Certainly the book looks at things differently than the rest of the Bible, but that's the beauty of the book: the stark realism. If there were no God, if there were no loving Lord who desires a love realtionship with us, then "life under the sun" would be all vanity, all meaningless, all absurd.

But with God there is enjoyment of the things God as provider has given. God created man, God created the universe, God created things for man to enjoy. Knowing these things is essential, because it's not in our accumulation, but in God's provisions. (Ecc 3:12)

God's provisions as gifts to us. Open them, enjoy them, and don't bother saving the wrapping paper. Go for the gusto. Love life passionately, but know that the only lasting fulfillment comes from knowing, loving, obeying and following God. That's why we were created, and that's why God chose us to be heirs to His kingdom and reside in Heaven for eternity. Enjoy today, but keep your focus on tomorrow.

Or as Solomon so aptly summarizes in Ecclesiates 12:3 "Fear God and keep His commandements.

HAPPY RODENT DAY !!

I'm not even sure if a groundhog qualifies as a rodent. I'm not sure of much. We used to call it Groundhog's Day, so what do I know?

And how am I going to celebrate this great event? Well, first of all, it is great. Anything that looks forward to Spring is to be celebrated by me. Even if the hog says 6 more weeks, Spring Training is just around the corner.

Well, I could go to all the Super Bowl hoopla that's going around our town. I could go to the Phoenix Open Golf Tourney just 3 miles away. I could exercise, work in the yard ( I still haven't picked up some sucker branches I trimmed from an orange tree over a week ago).

But I think I'll spend some quality time with the Lord. Experiencing God has been a great bible study and we learned that if you love God, you want to spend time with Him. I used to think that prayer and meditation were the only ways. And I've never meditated much, though I learned a good method courtesy of friend Pastor Jason. But I'm finding out that working on bible study homework (that's not right), spending time in the Word, is spending time with God. I love doing that, so I'm hanging out with God, spending that quality time.

The best thing I learned last week from BSF, ABF, BOB (Band of Brothers), and SG (Small Group) and reading the Bible through in one year was that if someone had planted land mines in a field and knew where they were, would you still want to go it alone; would you still reject their advice, thinking you knew better? Of course, not. Yet that's what we do so many times. We ignore God, thinking we know better how to run our lives, when He has the perspective, He has the knowledge, He has the love for us, He has the answers.

This hanging out with Him is pretty special.