Category Archives: Glorifying God

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The Art of Sacrifice

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“But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.  For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,  who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”   1 Peter 2:20-25

This past weekend I served at a Christian event.  I knew that I would need to give up some of the normal comforts of life, that I would need to push my body beyond what I would consider a wise pace for my health concerns and  that my diet would also be compromised.  However, I was not prepared for what I would consider unnecessary risks for myself and others due to disregard and lack of effort.  I’m not talking about malicious acts by evil people, but rather inadvertent decisions and actions by genuine godly people whom I have come to appreciate over the last few days.  The perceived lack of safety put me in a mode of questioning my decision to serve, counting down the hours until I could leave and started a running discussion in my head regarding what is “reasonable sacrifice”.  Thankfully, God quickly took me to the example of Christ which caused my issues to pale in comparison and allowed me to serve to the best of my ability and develop new friendships.

With respect to sacrifice, consider the following elements: preparation, opportunity, people, sacrifice, and reward.

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Avoiding the Darker Side of Kindness

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“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”  Colossians 3:12

Some of the definitions or synonyms of kindness are:  benevolence, humanity, generosity, charity, sympathy, compassion, and tenderness.  As indicated above, scripture calls us to be kind and engage in charitable acts.  However, there are times when our best intentions may not be charitable at all.  For example, the Sunday after I was released from my last major hospitalization, very well intentioned people, who truly cared about my well-being, greeted me with a hug…many of which were quite firm.  The problem was that I had just had a PICC line inserted and every hug involving my left arm was painful…so much so that I had to start doing body checks to protect myself.  Another example was while I was caring for my father.  In the last months of his life, visits from people became difficult for him and anything more than about five minutes would cause stress to the extent that he would beg me to send them away.  Some people graciously accepted the request, but others insisted on staying which created an awkward situation leaving me no choice but to demand that they leave.  My point is that there is a darker side to charitable acts that can, in fact, harm rather than help or encourage.  As in all things concerning godliness, we must be intentional about in our compassion to avoid having a negative impact. 

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God in His Mercy

Part 1 Forgiveness

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“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ”  Ephesians 2:4-5

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”  Ephesians 4:31-32

This series of posts is dedicated to my mother Ruth as she is the inspiration.   She was not a perfect person and certainly did not have an easy life, but she loved well, loved her Lord and clung to His promises.

Sometime around 1945-1946 while my parents were dating, my mother stopped by her home to pick up some belongings.  Due to a previous altercation, she attempted to do this while her father was not at home.  Sadly, he was.  After a loud argument and in a drunken rage he pushed her down the steep flight of stairs between their apartment and the outside entrance.  My father, hearing the argument, ran into the house and up the stairs in time to catch my mother from behind while her mother grabbed her skirt from the landing above.  Roughly eight to ten years later, my grandmother filed for a legal separation and her attorney made this incident the basis of his case.  Having to relive this event would upset my mother and haunt her for years.   But in the midst of that pain, God in His mercy caused my grandfather to be so horrified by the details of this event that he stopped drinking and asked my mother for forgiveness.  God in His mercy gave my mother the ability to forgive him and allowed the relationship to be restored.  It paved the way for my siblings and I to know our grandfather.

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Pregnant Words Pt. 2

The Message

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“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  And she cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.’  And Mary said:  ‘My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.  For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.  For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.  And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.  He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble.  He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed.  He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.’”  Luke 1:41-5

As one might guess, the title for these two posts carries a double meaning.  The words exchanged above are between pregnant women but they also carry much weight.  That weight comes in the character of the women as discussed in part one as well as the content, which is belief, God, and the acts of God.

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Pregnant Words Part 1

Character

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“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  And she cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me?  For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.  And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.’  And Mary said:  ‘My soul exalts the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.  For He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave; for behold, from this time on all generations will count me blessed.  For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name.  And His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him.  He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble.  He has filled the hungry with good things; and sent away the rich empty-handed.  He has given help to Israel His servant, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.’”  Luke 1:41-55

I have a wife, two daughters, a mother, a mother-in-law, five sisters-in-law, seven nieces, and three great nieces.  Add to that friends’ wives and daughters and the fact that the majority of the people that I have supervised were women, I have heard my fair share of conversations between and about pregnant women.  First it’s the joy (or surprise) of pregnancy, then the trials of pregnancy, than all of the things that are needed for the baby, then the labor symptoms and finally upon the baby’s arrival comes the vital information i.e. sex, name, weight and length (and pity the poor guy that doesn’t get all of the pertinent information).  However, never have I ever heard a conversation even remotely similar to the one between Elizabeth and Mary recorded for us in Luke 1.  While they may have gotten around to the details of pregnancy later in their visit, their first priority was to acknowledge the works of the Lord.

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Adoring Our Lord

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“My heart is steadfast, O God; I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul.  Awake, harp and lyre; I will awaken the dawn!  I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to You among the nations.  For Your lovingkindness is great above the heavens, and Your truth reaches to the skies.  Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and Your glory above all the earth.”  Psalm 108:1-5

In the United States, we have officially entered the “Christmas Season”.  My wife prefers a clear delineation between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  From her perspective, one doesn’t play Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving.  As I come from a different perspective, I’ve been known to bend and break that rule much to her consternation.  I have no problem playing “Christmas music” occasionally throughout the year.

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Honor and Respect

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Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.  Romans 13:7

I had some medical tests done today by men and women I had never met before.  They exhibited concern for me as patient and I trusted them for their knowledge.  These were brief exchanges, but despite the fact that these medical professionals were literally inflicting various levels of stress and pain on my body, they passed pleasantly and with rapport.

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The Words That We Speak

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Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.  Psalm 19:14

I just returned home from a week in New England visiting my mother-in-law and doing some work for her.  I took Monday afternoon to visit Rockport…a place that my wife and I have enjoyed for many years.  It was a beautiful day and, because it was mid-week during the off season, it was not overcrowded.

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Reminders

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“Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’  then you shall say to them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”  Joshua 4:5-7

God knows us and how forgetful we can be.

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Bond-Servant of God

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“Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, ‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.’”  Mark 10:42-45

I find it interesting that Philippians, Titus, James, 2 Peter, Jude and Revelation all begin with a description of the writer as a bond-servant of God.  Culturally, the concept of servitude is undesirable.  We are told that independence, self-service and personal comfort should rule our perspective.  Yet this is not God’s design for civilization.

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