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Finding God will be going on an indefinite hiatus as I prepare for spinal fusion surgery. I hope to return later this winter or early in the spring with new posts here. In the meantime, I pray that you will continue to press on toward the prize for which God has called you heavenward.
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2 Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
James 3:1Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. These two texts seem to say it all. Very simply, teaching is a calling and there are not many who really would qualify. Now, while those who stand in at lecterns of academia today may have demonstrated certain abilities in a narrow field, that does not necessarily qualify them to hold forth on matters of religion, spirituality, or sociology.
A recent Google article cited an unsent letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to C.S. Lewis on the subject of marriage and divorce, mist likely written in post WWII England, circa 195Because it was Google, not surprisingly the background of this all was the current debate over the Defense of Marriage Act recently passed by congress. The thing is, without the filter of a relationship with Jesus the Messiah of God to His creation there is no true understanding to be gained from any debate over this issue.
To be sure there is a real conundrum over the issue of divorce and marriage. It is also true that in our misreading of scripture we have failed to look at the redemptive valuations that Jesus brought to the Old Testament laws and how He would have them enacted in a pluralistic world that was equally given over to wholesale sin and rejection of God’s holiness.
So what? Just this. When we appoint and anoint teachers and leaders we should pray earnestly for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not only that we must be ready to have our eyes opened to our need for those leaders and to humble ourselves before God.
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Matthew 18:3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Change is frightening for many people. I have been reminded recently of the passage from Ecclesiastes chapter 3 about times and seasons. As a pastor I faced a total of five “resignation” moments as God led me from one place to another. It was never easy, but I also recognized that I was not moving for the sake of opportunity, although that did occur, rather I moved because God impressed upon me that it was time to go. I have seen the same thing happen a couple of times since I retired and although it is frequently painful I realize that these comings and goings are God’s opportunity to share our hearts with someone new and to seek God’s new high places.
For that to happen we need to learn to understand the resilience and eagerness of a child whose mind is ready, and whose heart is open to the next thing. To one degree or another this is a matter of will, or choice. On the other hand, it is a spiritual victory to be gained in “putting off the old man” like a dirty old overcoat and putting on the clean fresh garment of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 1:18“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Colossians 3: 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
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Mark 9:24 Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”
The word “overcome” (Greek nikao) is found in may verses of scripture. It is an important word that can when fully meditated upon and prayed through can bring hope and determination and healing through the power and mercy of Jesus our Christ. He has provided the great foundation, the cornerstone of all overcoming possible to those who love Him. When our will meets and is subsumed in His will anything is possible. These are easy words to write this day, but for those of you who doubt I would ask that you take a moment to scan the scriptures using a concordance or a website with that function built in and see the various occurrences of the word “overcome”. You will find that those who chose to follow God can overcome depression, danger, fear, and like the loving father of the young boy in the text above. The man asks for help. Jesus explains and obliges. How perfect, and how holy a moment could you imagine.
Today, I would urge you to place all your hope in Jesus. Ask Him for faith to overcome whatever your circumstances are. You will not be overcome, but you will overcome “by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of your testimony” (Revelation 12:11)
There are many watershed moments in a person’s life. One of the most poignant and worrisome is coming to the place where even walking or standing requires more strength than you have.
The psaage above reminds me of the image in my mind of Paul in chains in the Mamertine prison. Chained between two guards, night and day. What must I do to “strengthen” everything I’m struggling with right now? Jesus, help me.
Yet, on those nights when I can sleep, I awaken with hope because I trust Him
The verse above should become for all intercessors a foundational prayer to Jesus the He might reveal through His now present Holy Spirit the great need of the individual person, (those for whom we pray) that God through Jesus, by His Holy Spirit would reveal that person’s need and further lead them by that same Spirit and through the agency of the intercessor (and this entirely at His choosing) to the place of decision and to the point of healing and restoration.
Too complex? Not really. But we must pray with wisdom, understanding, perseverance and hope in all things, remembering that God “can do more than we can ask or imagine” through Christ who gives us strength. Philippians 4:13
Ephesians 3:19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
031402 Finding God in the Mystery of every day Your comments or questions are welcome. Post them on the website, or email me at larrymlawrence@larrymlawrence.com. Find this blog also on Twitter @Larryla27767062, Facebook, search Larry Lawrence Mysteries, LinkedIn, and Tumblr
“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’” – Leviticus 23:22 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus23:22&version=NIV
The fields are white to the harvest
In the Old Testament book of Ruth, (Chapter 2) we are introduced to the practical application of this particular commandment. If we listen to the heart of God behind this thought, we must necessarily come to understand that this heart, this thought is to be found in every single one of the followers of Jesus, our Christ. A heart of compassion, a heart of generosity, a heart of sympathy and empathy. The problem is that we have so institutionalized what passes for compassion that we have lost the sense of direct contact and engagement with the vast need of people. Churches decide that the type and manner of generosity must take a backseat to the ongoing costs of maintaining and keeping the institution. It was never intended to bean either or situation. Jesus said, “I will build my Church.” (Matthew 16:18 et al) I truly believe that what Jesus saw in His mind was something far more fluid and dynamic than most Church organizations I have encountered. When we become so stultified that we debate whether or not to follow this clear example and its necessary extrapolation in our particular circumstances we become as one of the Seven Churches of the Revelation whom each in one way or another lost touch with their identity.
Leviticus 26:3-5 “‘If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands,I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit.Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land. – Leviticus 26:3-5 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus26:3-5&version=NIV
Whenever I read the text above, I have to wonder why so many people in the world go hungry every day. By now, one would think that through technological advances and expedited shipping, there would be no shortage of food or potable water anywhere in the world. But, I am brought up short in my hope when I consider the caveat found in verse 3. The “if” of our “if, then” conditional statement. Consider what would happen if SIN had not corrupted humankind. Now, consider the global effect of sin in the world today. It is then quite easy to understand and be horrified by the stark reality of our sin and indifference. God, even at so late a time, holds out the olive branch of His love with a promise. Why are we “yet so dull”? (Matthew 15:16)
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Hebrews 12:7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
There seems to be a regularly recurring cycle of prosperity and hard times, easily observable over the course of the last several years. Just as Jesus talked abut “wars and rumors of wars,” (Matthew 24:6) so too there have been times of well-being, and times when it seems we are beset on every side. I think Paul, or whomever you believe was the writer of the letter to the Hebrews may have been (although stylistically and grammatically the evidence seem to point to Paul as the author) had experienced the hardship and difficulty of living in those times.
What the author is trying to convey seems a seismic shift from an attitude of complaining and resisting to accepting and coping, making the best of whatever circumstances we find ourselves in. Certainly, this seems to be what Jesus was trying to communicate to the disciples. Don’t lose sight of the mission when things get difficult. Look for creative and innovative ways to go forward rather than complaining or retreating altogether. In the coming economic “hard times” there is an opportunity to share the love of Jesus and to tell of His wonderful grace to forgive.
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2 Chronicles 5: 12 and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets— 13 indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying:
“For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,”
that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not]continue ministering
When I began this journey of praise many years ago I had no idea how controversial the matter and manner of worship would become. Everything from snide comments to outright boardroom warfare has convinced me that like King David, dancing in the street, (2 Samuel 6:21 David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord.22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”)
When called upon to worship the manner of the song is far less important than the heart behind it. If we praise the Lord with all of our heart, He hears us and dances with us. No era has cornered the “market” for church music. In no century has there been a moment free from the whiners and complainers. Over the years I have worshipped freely to the strains of every kind of music imaginable. So, what have I learned?
Simply this. Worship is a matter of the heart. When we let Jesus into our heats through the music, He is right there with us healing our every trouble.
This coming Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent (11/27/2022). Why not plan on making time to be in Church this week and each week until Christmas? If you do, you might just be surprised how much more Christmas will mean to you.
Larry M Lawrence- Mysteries 