::Leading With A Limp::

Enemies

This morning I prayed for my enemies, and I also asked God to deliver me from them.  I have enemies.  Real people.  Living, breathing people.  It's pretty unpopular for Christians to say that, eh?  Aren't we supposed to love everybody?  Aren't we supposed to turn the other cheek?  Can't we all just get along, man? Thank you, hippies...pass the granola.

I agree that those things are true, but I for one read the entire Bible, and so I recognize the fact that I will have enemies.  So will you.  It's written throughout scripture, and the authors are not always talking about internal enemies like greed, lust and despair.  No, we are talking about actual human beings.  There are bad people out there that wish bad things for you.  It sucks to realize that, doesn't it?

Yet they are there.  The Bible tells me so.  I've seen it.  I know these people.

So this morning I prayed that the hearts of my enemies would be turned.  I prayed for protection for my family and me.  I prayed for deliverance from my enemies. I asked God to allow me to love my enemies, without expecting anything in return from them. I know God is faithful, and He will keep His word to me.

We Want A King!

In my morning reading I am in 1 Samuel 8. At this point Samuel is growing old, and even though he has two sons, Israel is asking for a "real" king.  Samuel's sons are losers and are completely corrupt.  Samuel is frustrated that the people keep asking for a king, because he knows that the LORD is their king.  But they don't want to hear that.  They want somebody to wear purple robes and gives them orders.

So Samuel has a talk with God, and God tells him to give the people fair warning.  So he does.  Essentially Sam tells the people that their lives will be absolutely miserable with a king in place, that instead they should honor God and follow Him. 

"But we want to be like everybody else, give us a king," whine the people. "Give us a king!"

Although this is the telling of something that happened a long time ago, it is still very common these days.   Not with a king that sits on a throne and gives orders to his servants, but with things that take control of our lives.  How often has God asked us to put Him first?  Yet we put other things before Him, other 'kings'...money, power, plasma TVs, time on Facebook.  How many times has God told me through prayer, the Bible and other people that I need Him to be #1 in my life?  I don't know the number, but I do know that I have rejected it an equal amount. 

My prayer for today is that I won't let the other things get in the way.  I don't need another king, I need The King.  Father, today I will follow you.

There Will Not Be An Old Man In Your Family Line...

In my morning Bible reading I am in 1 Samuel.  I read the first couple of chapters, and what jumped out at me probably isn't what would catch your eye.  In the second chapter there is a prophecy against the house of Eli.  God was displeased with what his sons were doing, and you don't want to cross the LORD.  In verse 31 He says, "The time is coming when I will cut short your strength and the strength of your father's house, so that there will not be an old man in your family line."  He continues in verse 32 with, "Although good will be done to Israel, in your family line there will never be an old man."

This made me stop, because I have recently had a conversation or two about this.  In my own family there are no old men.  At 35 I am the third oldest male.  Blood related, the old man is my cousin at the ripe old age of 41.  What the heck?  I have been joking that it all started with the "Curse of the Cooper Skull" that was in a picture yesterday on this blog.  I think I need to find the cursed skulled and throw it in a volcano, or something like that.  Isn't that what people do?  Throw family skulls into volcanoes to break the line of the bad blood?

I do not live in fear though.  Perhaps my time will come earlier than some, perhaps not.  It doesn't matter, I exist to serve the LORD and I will strain toward what is ahead.

Are You Too Busy Taking Care of Your Own House?

In my Bible reading this morning I found myself in the tiny book of Haggai.  Over the years I come back to this book again and again, I think it is profound in its direction from God.

"You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little.  What you brought home, I blew away.  Why?" declares the LORD Almight. "Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house." -Haggai 1:9

The people had been asking for favor from God, but had essentially turned their back to Him.  You see, they spent so much time trying to build their own homes, trying to make themselves comfortable, trying to get ahead in life, that they quit pursuing God and giving him glory. Then, when things aren't going well for them, they ask for a blessing.

This ninth verse of the first chapter summarizes things well for me.  God calls us to bring honor and glory to Him alone, not to ourselves.  Is it any surprise that when we ask for God's blessing, that we first must look at our motivation and our own lifestyle?

I confess to being apt to focus too much on myself, on my own well-being, on my own direction.  Within these things of course I include the pursuit of happiness for my family, the welfare of the church, the well-being of my friends.  All of those are noble pursuits!  But I must remember to first pursue God in all that I do.  I'm not always so good at this, but I'm getting better.

Romans 14

1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters.  2 One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?  To his own master he stands or falls.  And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

I get so tired of petty fights inside the church.  It is no wonder to me that Ghandi said, “I like your Christ, I don’t like your Christians”.  I hear about arguments about what kind of bread to serve at communion.  I observe people looking down their noses at others for what they wear, how they do their hair,  for the tattoos they have on their body.  I hear younger people condemning old people for wanting to sing hymns.  I read blogs about people splitting hairs about matter of “the law”.  I just get so tired of it.

Paul is addressing the same issue in this passage, I think.  I’m sure that instead of focusing on the saving grace of Christ there were those around him that wanted to argue over which food was clean and which wasn’t.   He tells us that neither group (the cloven hoofers vs. the non-clovened hoofers) is right over the other, even though both wanted to gain moral high ground I’m sure.  “Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?” he asks us.

Who am I to judge another man or woman?  Who am I to condemn somebody because they choose to worship in a more traditional manner?  Who am I to judge those that are judging me?  They must be accountable to our master,  and so do I.

I’m guilty of this.  I’m guilty of being the meat eater that looks at the purist of the law and think, “he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, he has no idea about grace”.  I am as guilty of judgment and condemnation as those that are bound by the law and cannot break free of its rigidity!  Father, help me to be less judgmental.  My only pure desire is to serve you, even when it means serving those that would rather throw stones at me than talk to me.  Help me to be pure of heart. 

22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God.  Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

Take Courage!

I haven't shared a journal entry for some time, so I thought I would do so today. I hope your Wednesday goes well! Take courage!

Acts 23:11

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me I Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome"

Out of the frying pan and into the fire! The Lord is faithful and the Lord is consistent. I can only imagine what Paul felt like after almost being torn to pieces and then being told that he was to do it all over again. I don't have to try too hard to understand, I feel this all of the time. It seems that after I get through some trial, something that taxes me like crazy, the Lord appears to me (although maybe not in the same way that He appeared to Paul). It seems like my trials are continuations of previous trials, as if to say, "that was a nice warm-up, now for the show to begin". I take comfort in this though, knowing that my trials are designed to produce joy in me…joy, perseverance, faith and hope.

As I am writing this I think about my wife on the other side of the country with my children, I won't see them for two weeks. I just went through a weekend of being away from them. Although it was a nice weekend, I did miss Jen and the kids. Now after seeing them briefly they are gone for not two days but two weeks. *sigh*

Father, as I do your work and testify to the hope that you have put in me, help me to not be discouraged, even after I go through some sort of a difficult time. I know that there may be very little rest until you stand near me again and say, "Take courage! The work you have done has been challenging but good. Now get ready for something REALLY exciting…"

Journal: Mark 3:7,20

Sunset Presbyterian Church  has a great read through the bible in a year program. I went through it with everybody last year, but this year I'm slowing down a little.  Okay, a lot.  I found myself rushing through the reading sometimes, just so I could check it off of my list.  Do you ever find yourself doing that?  So I have resolved to read only three books in the bible this year: Mark, John and James. I will still be bouncing around as the mood strikes (it's hard to stay out of the Psalms), but these are the three that I will be concentrating on. I will start sharing some of the passages here, writing what I put into my written journal.

[Written February 14, 2006] Mark 3:7,20, "⁷Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed...²⁰then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat".  When somebody is enduring a lot, we always say "you have the patience of Job".  That's fine with trials, but what about a constant demand from other people? "You have the patience of Christ" is more appropriate. Everywhere he went Jesus was in high demand. He couldn't just hop into a car and drive away, he was on foot! You cannot exactly escape from a crowd when you're walking.

Yet...Jesus took the time to spend with these people.  I'm sure he was hungry, but this passage gives no hint of frustration. Even when his mother and brothers show up and he has an easy out, he stays, calling the crowd around him his family (v35). I haven't had much energy lately, and I think that I can mostly attribute that to my various health conditions.  It is tempting sometimes to pull away from the people that I am in charge of. I could skip a Tuesday morning men's prayer breakfast and nobody would fault me. I could ask my co-leader to instruct the high school boys during Thursday morning Bible study. I could opt for an early bedtime instead of praying with my wife. Sometimes I do these things, but I don't want to.

God, I know the value of rest and I pursue it, but what do I do when I never feel rested? What do I do when I have very little energy for weeks at a time? Dear Lord, I want to spend time with those that you have put in my care. Especially the senior boys, they will graduate this year and I won't see many of them again.  Father, give me strength! Help me to persevere, at least through the end of the school year. Father, give me my daily bread. Amen.