Category Archives: Obedience

Posted on

Misdirection

by

Let your eyes look directly ahead and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.  Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established.  Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.  Proverbs 4:25-27

I’ve been on the road the last couple of days.  While I basically know my route, I haven’t driven it enough nor have I driven the area my mother-in-law lives in often enough to navigate without a bit of effort.  Heading home, I needed to take route 95 south to the toll road.  The last time I left, I went north to toward the beach instead of south toward our home.  This time I had a series of wrong turns that cost me some time and took me into the heart of Boston which is not a particularly easy drive.  Even though I knew where to go, in the moment that I should have turned, I only saw half of the signage that reported the northern part of the route and chose not to turn as I didn’t want to repeat my last mistake.  I wasn’t terribly worried as the next road would take me to route 1 south which was the reverse of how I had come on the trip north.  What I didn’t know was that getting from route 1 south to 95 south was not as easy as going north.  Consequently, I missed another opportunity to take the correct path.  I had another chance to get back on track, but because I was totally ignorant of the path, the signage and the lane changes, I missed it as well despite using GPS.  Finally, by following the instructions that GPS was providing and being able to see on the map what I was to do, I got back on track.  I lost about 45 minutes in time, but I was finally where I needed to be.  As I reflected on my errors, I couldn’t help but see the parallel in our spiritual lives.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Hide and Seek

by

They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  Genesis 3:8

Sometimes when our grandsons come to our house, they like to play hide and seek.  It is such a different game than when I was a kid.  As children, they have not yet learned how many clues they may give away in the process of hiding nor have they learned to listen for clues that I may offer.  As an adult, I’ve learned to listen for those clues.  Fairly certain of their hiding places, I usually take extra the time to “search” rather than going directly to them which allows for more enjoyment of the game on their part.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, I believe that we often try to hide from God.  Three common reasons we do this are: like Adam and Eve, it may be due to sin; there may be trials in our lives that cause us to doubt God’s goodness and love for us; or it may be as simple as lack of engagement in our spiritual life.  Pulling away from God is exactly where Satan wants us as it leaves us open to temptation.  Through his lies, he seeks to either turn us from God or at least immobilize us and lose our passion for God and engaging in the work that Lord may have planned for us.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Dying With Dignity

by

For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.  However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.   Romans 8:5-9

When I was in college, I took a chapel class that discussed controversial social issues.  Two of those were suicide and euthanasia.   Since my time in college and in the context of chronic illness, both of these choices have been gaining acceptance in our culture.  The basic premise in their justification is that the person dying is ending their life with greater dignity and grace.   To be sure, the aging process and health concerns such as dementia, ALS, Parkinson’s disease, strokes, cancer, etc. often bring on many indignities before finally ending life.  However, to take matters into our own hands rather than relying on God’s timing is willful and contrary to God’s precepts.  Rather than providing dignified death, it is either giving up or a defiant act in that it denies God’s goodness, wisdom, love and purposes.  A death that is truly dignified is much more graceful and determined than suicide or euthanasia.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Children of Light

Called with Hope

by

“For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light.”  Ephesians 5:8

When I’m up to it and the weather is nice, I like to ride my bike to the gym.  Today was one of those days.  I didn’t expect it to be warm enough, but the sun was shining which made the air pleasant.  I had dressed for cooler weather, so I became a little warm as I rode.  While at the gym, I was concerned that I might get too warm on the way home.  However, while I was there, a heavy cloud cover rolled in and the ride home was actually a little cooler than I like.  What a difference a little sunshine can make and what a difference various forms of light make in our lives.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Image Control

Becoming Transparent

by

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  John 13:34-35

I grew up in a household that was greatly concerned about what people thought.  I don’t know whether it was driven by my parents’ upbringing, the culture of the era, the fact that my father was a minister or some combination of these factors.  In any event, I was keenly aware of three things at an early age:  as a pastor’s family, we were being watched, scrutinized and held to a different standard; people will quickly judge others without necessarily having all of the facts; and information is power.  As a result, I quickly learned how to be open and welcoming without providing any information about myself that was not “a matter of public record”.  In short, I quickly learned how to manage how I was perceived.  Whether or not we are willing to admit it, we all do a fair amount of image control to be accepted by others.  And there’s the problem: the fear of not being accepted or understood because of some real or perceived flaw in our body, personality, or soul.  Other concerns arise due to our history or circumstances.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

What’s in a Word?

Willful or Persevering?

by

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:1-2

A couple of weeks ago I was traveling and stopped to get gas.  The screens on the gas pumps not only provided instructions, but also weather, news and entertainment.  As I pumped gas, the screen showed “the word of the day” and displayed the word “pertinacious”.  The definition that it provided was “willful” and the example of usage that it gave was “He became pertinacious in his old age.”  As I thought about this, I immediately thought about Solomon, Joash and Amaziah.  The connection came from a chart of the kings of Judah that I’ve been using to keep them straight.  These three are all listed as having done right in their youth and evil in their old age.  They started strong but their resolve waned as they aged.  As I investigated the meaning of the word further, I found that there are two very different meanings to the word.   The one that commonly comes up first is determination or perseverance.  However, it is the secondary definition that reflects willfulness.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Pure Delight

by

“I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  Psalm 40:8

Sunday morning I was reading Psalm 40 and verse eight jumped out at me.  It says:  “I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  I had to ask myself if doing God’s will was truly my delight or if I have allowed distractions to keep me from true joy.  Not only that, but the word delight has been on my mind since then.  It’s not a word that I hear a lot these days.  When I looked up the definition, the definitions of both the verb and the known had a modifier.  It doesn’t mean to please or pleasure, but it said “to please greatly” or “great pleasure”.  Merriam-Webster adds that an archaic definition is “the power of affording pleasure”.

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Green With Envy

by

“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.”  James 3:14-16

For the first few years of our marriage, my wife and I lived on Lookout Mountain.  I loved the view that the mountain provided and the drive off of it was always beautiful.  When storms rolled in, they might be above you, below you or surrounding you.  The occasional snow storm added winter beauty, but ice storms made the mountain sparkle.  My absolute favorite was the fog.  I have never figured out the attraction, but I always loved it when the fog rolled in.  Since we “lived in the clouds” it was rather frequent.  However, one of the down sides of living there was the way it hampered contentment. 

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Looking Beyond Our Own Interests

by

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  Philippians 2:3-4

I love our church body, our pastors and staff.  There is a genuine desire to faithfully teach the word of God and to encourage godly living.   That said, I do find holiday services to be a bit frustrating.  As a Christian, I come to church to meet God through worship and instruction and feel short changed when a significant portion of the service is spent on special numbers by the choir, solos, and dramatic performances.  I prefer to interact with God rather be entertained.  This past Sunday I was really struggling with this as we celebrated Easter.  Thankfully, God did not allow me to wallow long before He started to convict me to look at the broader picture. 

Continue Reading »

Posted on

Savior And Lord

by

Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.  It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.  Colossians 3:23-24

Ever since I was a child, I have hated conflict of any kind.  Even though I know that it is not real, conflict in a movie or TV drama can cause me to pace or stress eat.  Even a useful debate causes stress.  That does not mean that I do not engage when I perceive the need, but even when I am firm in my conviction, I do not enjoy the process.  However, there are two conflicts in which I engage on a daily basis.  The first battlefield is my health.  While I do my best to appease my health issues and mitigate my symptoms, there are times when they interfere with my life on some level or severely hamper my ability to function for a period of time.  When I find I can’t win the battle, I am forced to retreat and let the symptoms run their course allowing Christ’s grace to be sufficient.  As godly as that may sound it’s not easily achieved because the other war that I’m fighting is my nature to sin. 

Continue Reading »