Tag Archives: Faith

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Lesser Things

Living for Eternity

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Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.  Philippians 3:17-19

I love music and listen to it quite a bit.  Sometimes I use it to calm me or rearrange my thoughts, sometimes I listen to get motivated and at other times it’s for the pure enjoyment of it.  My collection is quite varied in both genres and eras as it ranges from the 1930s to the present.  Recently, I was at the gym and the song “Lady Godiva” by Peter and Gordon started playing.  While some may not appreciate the song, I listen to it occasionally as a reminder to not get caught up in “lesser things”.  In case you’re not familiar or haven’t heard the song in the last five decades, the lyrics tell the story of a young and beautiful woman pursues fame and fortune.  In the process, she compromises and forfeits all of the things that made her beautiful, but never achieves the fame that she desires and becomes so poor that she can’t afford her clothes.  God offers us so much, but too often people get off course with respect to godliness and forfeit their faith for lesser things that are useless and meaningless in light of eternity.  Time and time again we are reminded in scripture to pursue God and His truth in various ways and the reasons are clearly explained to us.  However, some reject the concept, some ignore it, while others struggle with it.  Three reasons why it may be difficult are: hope, pride, and fear.

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Looking Upward

Is God Enough For You?

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And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:19

I was recently included in an invitation to participate in an activity.  For various reasons I declined; any one of them had sufficient merit to opt out, but together, the choice was self-directing.  A few days after the initial invitation, a second was received.  It came on a rather busy day and not wanting to forget to respond, I sent a brief message indicating my choice.  Rather quickly, I received a reply questioning my decision which was followed by a volley of emails that indicated offense for both my choice and my means of communicating it.  The end result was yet another hurt and a broken relationship that increased my desire to withdraw from most people and especially pull away from the Christian community.

One of the difficulties for those dealing with life’s trials and/or the ongoing challenges of chronic illness is the focus.  We all face various circumstances that disappoint and frustrate us giving rise to the need of confidantes to whom we share our thoughts and occasionally vent.  However, when our thoughts become self-absorbed, we lose our perspective and cause damage in our vital relationships.

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Just…

The Proper Estimation of Man and God

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“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:16

Just.  It’s a very small but significant word.   On the one hand it can be used to defend actions as reasonable, proper, righteous, deserved and lawful.  On the other, it can be used to express a lack of certainty, low expectation, or a lesser degree than desired.  As Christians we often use “just” inappropriately in our discussions with others and in our prayers.  The problem is that we often use the stronger version of the word in relationship to ourselves and the weaker version in reference to God.  When we do this, we think of ourselves “more highly than we ought to think” and underestimate God.

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What’s in a Word?

Willful or Persevering?

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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.

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The Winding Road of Faith

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“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  For by it the men of old gained approval.”  Hebrews 11:1-2

 

In my late twenties and early thirties, I had two friends with whom I went camping and hiking twice each year.  As we were trying to avoid insects and snakes, we would go late in the fall and early in the spring.  Sometimes we would experience wonderfully warm weather; sometimes it was cold and rainy; the rest were somewhere in between.  Together we enjoyed great vistas, got lost on poorly marked trails, endured wet sleeping bags and very cold showers (as it was off season in the parks), joking about each other’s quirks, met some nice folks and feared a few; but mostly we grew closer through the shared experiences and evenings by the campfire.  Two of the three of us are probably too infirmed to tolerate those trips now, but they will ever live in our memories and be a bond that draws us together.

The walk of faith is a lot like that.  Sometimes we feel great about our faith and our relationship with God.  Other times we have more questions than answers and feel a distance between ourselves and our Lord.   There are the seasons when the battles are raging around us or temptation seems to be impossible to withstand.  Some stretches of our journey seem so clearly marked and well defined while others just don’t make sense and we find ourselves doubting and lost.  In short the path of sanctification is usually a winding road.  While we may understand that God is moving us closer to Him and leading us to our Heavenly home, it’s often difficult for us to see or feel any sense of progress from our limited vantage point with incomplete information.  To that end, there are some situations and their related promises that we would do well to ponder carefully in order to maintain clarity.

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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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Acceptance – Part Four

On Earth as it is in Heaven

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“Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Matthew 6:9-10

Like this one, the previous three posts have been on acceptance…specifically on acceptance of God’s plan for us as individuals.  When we study the concept of acceptance, our concerned is usually a particular circumstance.  We tend to lean in that direction because it is easier to deal with things separately and the more monumental issues tend to come one at a time.  However, the truth is that we rarely deal with one any trial in a vacuum.

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Praise God!

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Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord while I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.  Psalm 146:1-2

I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.  Psalm 104:33

Waking up on a bright and warm sunny day, I’m reminded of Psalm 19 and feel that the heavens are calling me join them in praise of our God. 

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You Have Been My God

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“Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; You made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.  Upon You I was cast from birth; you have been my God from my mother’s womb. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.”  Psalm 22:9-11 

Healthy relationships are important.  The ones that are most meaningful are the ones that have stood the test of time and have survived the ups and downs of life.  As the relationship grows, the level of intimacy and trust increases. 

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