A Prayer for the Path

Just As I Am

Just as I am, I come.

And how is that?

Wounded, weary, worn, wondering, wandering, weak?

Groping, gasping, groaning, grinding, gripped with fear, guilt-ridden?

Suffering and succumbing to and from the consequences of bad choices?

I come.

“Nothing in my hands, I bring. Simply to Thy cross I cling.” (Augustus Toplady, Rock of Ages)

You have heard and said, “They made their bed; let them lie in it.”

“It’s his own doing and undoing.”

“It serves her right.”

“What goes around comes around.”

“You will answer to God for that.”

“You got what was coming to you.”

“I hope you do not sleep too well tonight.”

“Just as I am, I come.”

Billy Graham committed his life to Christ in 1934 in a revival meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, led by evangelist Mordecai Ham hearing the altar call song “Just as I Am”.

It is a great summary of the psalmist’s prayer in Psalm 38.

All of these sentiments are at the heart of the psalm. Whether it is the hand of God directly or his own sense of guilt, the singer is suffering on the inside and the outside for his own foolishness and is facing the consequences of his own decisions.

Yet, in all of this, he knows that God will hear him and so, he prays.

It is in grace that we find the wide place …

… a place where God’s hand still graciously guides us. It is a place where we follow, sometimes tumbling, sometimes straying, sometimes staggering, but always, though faltering, aware and committed to returning to the way … the way of gracious guidance.

At the time when offerings are poured out, the psalmist pours out his soul.

When the grain came to the temple as an offering, a tenth of it was burned on the altar as a memorial offering. The rest was consumed by the priests. This was a song to be sung for the memorial offering.

I am confused, I must say, not by the offering and not by the sentiments of the psalm, but by the point of connection.

Of these words and emotions, Matthew Henry comments, “Nothing will disquiet the heart of a good man so much as the sense of God’s anger. The way to keep the heart quiet, is to keep ourselves in the love of God. But a sense of guilt is too heavy to bear; and would sink men into despair and ruin, unless removed by the pardoning mercy of God.”

So, what is a good man or woman to do?

He or she runs to God in worship — whatever outlet of worship is available and thrusts the guilt and all the accompanying insecurity, despair, depression, feelings and reality of persecutions, and anything connected or perceived to be connected to sin before God.

The direction of the psalmist’s life was toward God. The path was crooked and broken, but the direction was consistent.

He dealt honestly with his failures and his guilt and never grew callous or insensitive toward his flaws. Nor did he take God’s mercy for granted or ever think, for a moment, that he could live without it.

How dare I ask for such mercy?
How dare I be so audacious as to suggest that I be spared?
How dare I come as an errant child to a forgiving dad?
How dare He so graciously lavish mercy upon me?

The grand dare.
The grace of God.

Read it slowly.

Meditate as you pray the psalmist’s words as your own.

“O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me.’’

‘’There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.’’

‘’My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I go about mourning.
For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart.’’

‘’O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes — it also has gone from me.
My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off.’’

‘’Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.’’

‘’But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes.’’

‘’But for you, O LORD, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”’’

‘’For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
Those who render me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good.’’

‘’Do not forsake me, O LORD!
O my God, be not far from me!
Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!’’

(Psalm 38 ESV)

Just as I am, I come.

The human condition, with its full range of emotions, is neither taboo nor unspoken in ancient scripture. It is acknowledged and given voice in song — song that is available as prayer — prayer that is not just religious platitude nor insincere piety, but yearning, longing, agonizing, expressive, authentic, real, raw, and hopeful.

All of this is part of the powerful mix that becomes prayer and worship, not because we have perfected the right emotions, but because we have directed them God-ward.

Just as I am, I come!

Charlotte Elliot offers us the sentiments of her hymn to accompany our heart prayers.

Born in 1789, she was weak and feeble in body.

However, according to her biography in Hymnary.org, “she possessed a strong imagination, and a well-cultured and intellectual mind. Her love of poetry and music was great and is reflected in her verse. Her hymns number about 150, a large percentage of which are in common use.”

We remember her most for that hymn that was sung in thousands of Billy Graham evangelistic meetings at the time of invitation, “Just As I Am.”

It was at a time of self-doubt and spiritual crisis when she was unsure whether or not God really accepted her. It was out of the conversations with Jesus that was prompted by that moment, that she wrote the text of the hymn.

Hymnologist, Kenneth Osbeck wrote that Just As I Am had “touched more hearts and influenced more people for Christ than any other song ever written.”

Just as I am — without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am — and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am — though toss’d about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am — poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am — Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am — Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

Just as I am — of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
-O Lamb of God, I come!

• Charlotte Elliot

 

From Profound to Mundane and Back Again and Round and Round on May 28

Quotes from Myself and Others

Wrong tentative answers? No problem as long as we keep asking the right questions of the right source,

God grant me the humility today to be walked on as long as those who are walking are climbing closer to you and your purposes.

I want to be a stepladder today that others can climb to higher heights.

"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars." -- Og Mandino

We pray today for a reawakening of righteousness, a realignment of our thinking, rebirth of passionate love of God and people, reaffirmation of truth seeking, rededication to faith, and recommitment to the One who called us to follow and swim against the tide. In His Name. Amen

I am excited this morning about going out & find some people to cheer on to greatness & grace!

You have no higher calling today than to be a cheerleader for others on God's team!

Lose jealousy! Cheer for the success of someone else today. Sense how you soar as you watch another fly above you!

In lifting others above our heads, we lose no ground. When competition is no issue, we grow & rejoice & rejoice in their progress.

Today, we can either lift someone above our heads or yank them down to our level. To encourage or discourage. Our choice!

I join E. Stanley Jones (from "The Divine Yes") in his sentiment & prayer today. May I BE a sermon of God's love and grace.

"Perhaps I can write this book by faith. If it is now hard for me to preach a sermon; why not be one?" - E. Stanley Jones

The Mob, the Message, and the Main Attraction

Jesus, having moved from synagogue to house in his teaching ministry, now moves toward the sea in the open air. The crowd is so large, that he must move onto the boat to be seen and heard by the people on the shore.

They are described as a mob in one meaning of the word, "crowd" in Mark 4:1-3. They are the rabble and the masses.

He begins to teach them. Mark uses a word that means to instruct so that the people will understand.

He, more than his teaching, is the main attraction. There are no bells and smells, no technology, no formality, no songs, no opening act. All those things are fine when they point to him, but he was and is the main attraction.

He begins his teaching with the admonition, "Listen."

The word means, listen well enough that you can actually put what I am saying to use.

Then, he begins to tell a story. Those who listen intently, recognize it as their own story.

Will you?

Art Credit ; James Smetham - Christie's, LotFinder: entry 5807504 (sale 1545, lot 22, 17 June 2014, London, King Street)

People Treated Differently. How Do We Live Justly in an Unjust World?

There is a difference in how people are treated no matter how much respect they offer. There is also a difference in how people with some power perceive the reactions they receive.

It is filtered through experience, preconceptions, and invisible biases that have been taught and ingrained in our minds.

Whether we are on the defensive or offensive is due, in part, to our programming. It colors our hearing and our seeing.

The reason I brought this up today is because, I found this among my memories from three years ago when I journaled this thought:

For 5 years in the 90s, I taught close to 15,000 traffic school students, mostly middle class, not sure of the racial demographics, perhaps more Caucasian than any other single group.

Many told of being belligerent, uncooperative, and rude with the officer giving them a ticket.

They were proud of it.

Half had a bad attitude.

Some were physically intimidating. I might have felt at bit fearful with them. None were choked to death as they were immobilized and pleading for their lives.
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They felt in charge and empowered and safe.

Imagine growing up in an environment where you never felt that way about anyone in authority.

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"A study at New York's Stony Brook University found people who are scared do indeed give off “fear pheromones” in their sweat. These hormones trigger parts of your brain that are subconsciously associated with fear. ... The fear pheromone can trigger similar emotions in others who happen to catch a whiff. - "Sep 15, 2014

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4344325/

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It is an unjust world in many ways, but that does not precent us from striving to live justly in it.

Living Justly in an Unjust World

It is not a concept, but a thrust to be just.

In a word it is to love that which is above us, surrounds us, envelops us, has created and is creating us and to love those who also are created and are being created.

But it is an unjust world, you cry, protest, and flail.

We can try, resist, and ultimately fail to live justly in such a world. Why try?

If it were not possible to swim against the tide, there would be no more salmon on the planet.

Grant it, it is hard and our charred, scarred, burned and battered selves must energize, prioritize, and optimize, but we can live justly in an unjust world.

In the end, -and at the beginning- it is all we can do

And it is what we cannot be stopped from doing.

Posts Along the Shores of My Life

Photo by Derick Daily on Unsplash

I post daily. 

I also read daily.

Often, I read what I have posted on a certain day over the years.

Here is a digest of 15 years worth of quotes and observations from May 25.

“The renewal of the church will come from a new type of monasticism which only has in common with the old an uncompromising allegiance to the Sermon on the Mount.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"You are not able to keep a thought from occurring in you, but you don't have to entertain it either." - Timothy Keller

“The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture around us.”  ― Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination

"People do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to." - Malcolm Muggeridge

You do not just have a right to speak your mind; you have an obligation.

No one else has your point of view, namely your vantage. That is your advantage. It defines your responsibility to participate in the democratic process.

Without your point of view, we have a blind spot.

You did not come by your convictions lightly and you likely will not walk away from them lightly.

If they are misinformed, that can be fixed, but not by hiding or denying them.

This is not comfortable and it makes you vulnerable, but it is necessary. I do not enjoy disagreement at all, but it challenges me and sometimes, sharpens me. Sometimes, it even helps me change my perspective.-

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A great flaw in preachers, like me, if that we always feel compelled to solve all the open-ended questions with three short points and an illustration in 30 or 40 minutes. We measure success by handing out easy answers that people can apply with simplicity in their lives and little thought.

Yet, Jesus often left people scratching their heads.

Matthew 22:41-46

Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: "What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?"

They said to him, "The son of David."

He said to them, "How is it then that David by the Spirit calls him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet" 

If David thus calls him Lord, how can he be his son?" No one was able to give him an answer, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.

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"It is easy to turn our religious life into a cathedral for beautiful memories, but there are feet to be washed, hard flints to be walked over, people to be fed. Very few of us go there, but that is the way the Son of God went."—Run Today’s Race =-Oswald Chambers

“Sabbath, in the first instance, is not about worship. It is about work stoppage. It is about withdrawal from the anxiety system of Pharaoh, the refusal to let one’s life be defined by production and consumption and the endless pursuit of private well-being.” ― Walter Brueggemann

“In normal life, we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As a child, my family's menu consisted of two choices: take it or leave it. - Buddy Hackett
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Born this day in 1803 – Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet and philosopher (d. 1882).

"There are two classes of poets — the poets by education and practice, these we respect; and poets by nature, these we love."

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have yet to be discovered."
"The cup of life is not so shallow
That we have drained the best
That all the wine at once we swallow
And lees make all the rest."

"The imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity. The inventor did it because it was natural to him, and so in him it has a charm. In the imitator something else is natural, and he bereaves himself of his own beauty, to come short of another man's."

"He who is in love is wise and is becoming wiser, sees newly every time he looks at the object beloved, drawing from it with his eyes and his mind those virtues which it possesses."

"If the colleges were better, if they … had the power of imparting valuable thought, creative principles, truths which become powers, thoughts which become talents, — if they could cause that a mind not profound should become profound, — we should all rush to their gates: instead of contriving inducements to draw students, you would need to set police at the gates to keep order in the in-rushing multitude."

"Poetry teaches the enormous force of a few words, and, in proportion to the inspiration, checks loquacity."
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On this day in 1521 – The Diet of Worms ends when Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, issues the Edict of Worms, declaring Martin Luther an outlaw.

What would you expect of people who only ate worms?

Bad joke, but I have always wanted to make it.

"... I am persuaded that your love is established for ever;
you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens. " - Psalm 89:1

May your days be filled with the joy and expectancy
that playfully wrap the gift of purpose.

May your wheels never spin

except to take you deeper into the grounding of truth.

May grace supply you with every need.

And may your dream always be greater than your present reality.

"We have to bear witness to moral principles which the world owned yesterday and has begun to turn its back on today...So we must know what are the unalterable principles we hold, and why we hold them; we must see straight in a world that is full of moral fog." - Father Ronald Knox

"The more I studied and learned, the less I needed 'answers' to every possible question." - Pastor @Mario_A_Russo

“Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.” ~@ANNELAMOTT

"Pain is not eternal, but praise is. Ashes will be replaced with hymn sings. The Spirit redeems and restores..." @LukeAPowery

"In Christ's body, every body is a somebody. Any church will be known by how they treat the most vulnerable in their midst." @LukeAPowery

"Those who are despised are destined to make their home in God." @LukeAPowery

"God never intended people to be the church's projects." @LukeAPowery

"A true prayer is an inventory of needs, a catalog of necessities, an exposure of secret wounds, a revelation of hidden poverty." - Charles Spurgeon

“Compassion constitutes a radical form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken seriously, that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humanness.”
― Walter Brueggemann

Flip the Greatness Switch

When you dream great, worthy dreams,
you connect to a place in your heart
where you flip the switch
that turns on an attitude of expectancy
and wonder,
thus activating imagination
and motivation.
When this happens,
you engage your mind and
your feet
and your hands in the pursuit of your goals.
You rally all of your resources and,
if you will, by faith,
God's.
Greatness is yours for the believing,
receiving,
and achieving
when dreams partner with
thoughts, deeds, and
prayer.
You are ready for an explosion of
possibilities
and I am
your cheerleader!

"It is easy to turn our religious life into a cathedral for beautiful memories, but there are feet to be washed, hard flints to be walked over, people to be fed. Very few of us go there, but that is the way the Son of God went.—Run Today’s Race" - Oswald Chambers

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The flaw here is that having the knowledge of how to be a safe driver does not insure that I actually AM a safe driver. Knowledge + Skills + Attitude will do it - or as we used to teach at National Traffic Safety Institute: Values + Attitudes = Behavior.

Pondering Possibilities

I am prayerfully wondering and wonderfully praying as I mull over multitudinous opportune obstacles and consider a universe of options the Creator of options has imagined. That is how my morning devotions have progressed this day as I pray about the needs and possibilities of our congregation, our coalition of congregations, our various ministries, and our sphere of influence over the internet. God grant me wisdom, direction, and courage to move forward.

Perhaps I could bounce some ideas off of some of you here and bring you into the experience of seeking God's will in a kingdom we daily pray will come on earth as it is in Heaven.

It has been my practice and spiritual discipline for several years to read a chapter of Proverbs each day that corresponds to the day of the month. That landed me in Proverbs 23 today.

It is also become a discipline to apply some of what I have read to the realm of business and incorporate these truths into my coaching. Let me briefly touch on several today that seem to fall under the category of things that impede our success. What they all seem to have in common is the avoidance of the lure of instant gratification and all of it's manifestations: gluttony, drunkenness, envy, and the like. These are enemies of success.

Read it here:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/enemies-success-tom-sims-3zrlc

Out on a Limb of Controversy

Download controversy.png (111.5K)

Only the fear of the Lord begins a process of wisdom.

There is no wisdom in any other sort of fear, only poor choices that seem right in the moment. All other fears are cast out by that awe-some, jaw-dropping, knee-popping, head-bending, body-trembling unveiling experience of His power, holiness, and love. Then, in that love, all fear is cast out.

So, fear of anything or anyone else produces bad decisions whether personal or policy driven. We live by the liberating law of love.

Fear and love cannot coexist equally in our attitudes toward others. Fear imprisons us and constricts us.

Love sets us free. God’s love intervenes when we are inclined to retreat from Him and the hand of Jesus draws us toward Him. His Spirit fills us and we come. And we come that we may go, fearless into the world.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — -

Several years ago, I posted, in social media, some provocative comments about a controversial topic. I used the term, “dominant narrative.”

Even that was controversial as a concept.

The next day, I wrote the following response:

I find myself getting a few comments on my provocative observations from last night’s forum — Good! Some reflect an honest belief in what we are calling a “dominant narrative” of reality. We generally believe the story in widest circulation among people who share our common experience. Then, some exposure or new information from sources outside our own experience challenges our embrace of that narrative and creates new conversation.

Most narratives are based upon some truth, but none, by human limitation, on all the truth or necessarily the most determinate truth. As the old cliche speaks to me about my assumptions of reality, “Follow the money …” whatever “money” means in a specific context.

Who benefits and how?

Do we get the results we really want for what we really want and do we really want what we should be wanting?

What if we are getting neither what we want or ought to be wanting? What many good people are working for something that we think is getting what is not being delivered and there is enough temporary reinforcement to train our thinking and behaviors to keep things as they are?

Well, then, we have described the human condition at any given time in history.

So, we must dialogue, seek, challenge our thinking, and create a new story for a future reality. For those who walk in the light of the Kingdom of God as proclaimed by Jesus Christ, this is always an imperative because He always challenged the narrative with a completely new, yet old way of looking at everything.

I’ll probably comment on the comments at some point, but the specifics, while important, are secondary to the principle. All were given with honest conviction and all hold or reflect at least some part of the reality we must consider as we move forward. All have to be considered, respected, addressed, challenged, and/or/and examined beyond the first layer of reality.

Jesus told us to seek first the Kingdom and its righteousness which a entirely different from the kingdoms of the world which are systems that can usually boil down to self interest and perpetuation of someone’s sense of need to preserve wealth, power, or a false sense of security and safety.

In like manner, it is a different sort of righteousness that is based upon a paradigm flipped over to draw a new picture of laws and principles that all must hang upon our call to vertical and horizontal love of God and neighbor.

Who is my neighbor?

That becomes the question with which we must wrestle in all of our personal and social ethics as they touch our relationships with people and communities.

So, it is no small consideration to ask the right questions and continuing to stir the pots.

I have often wrestled with the difficult consequences of not stirring the pots on my stove adequately.

Stirring is hard work, but scraping the bottom of a burned pan is sheer torture!

Reflections on the Prison Industry

Photo by Matthew Ansley on Unsplash

We Start with Questions; We Move to Ideas — A Problem-Solving Pattern

And — We keeps that cycle going. Here is one arena and the questions can apply to other problems in society as well.

Some problems are more emotional, personal, and loaded with “other agenda” than other problems.

However, if we can learn to do problem-solving in one arena, we can practice the art in others

“He regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer.” — Psalm 102:17

On the evening of May 22, 2014, I attended a forum in our community on race, incarceration, and the California penal system.

One of the panelists, was The Rev. Michael McBride who reminded us that it is OUR system. We all drive it if I hear this right and we all have some voice in fixing it. We are also all prisoners of it. Local officer just spoke of how he is also a “prisoner” of the system which seems to run its own fuel and assumptions. No one us can change it alone, but together we can make a difference. People of faith can and must act in some sort of concert. More questions than answers so far, but that is ok.

McBride gave us a choice, “…fear and retreat or love and lean in.”

I made a lot of notes in the course of the panel discussion. I did not quote them all exactly or attribute all. Some were just impressions. Here they are in a disorganized report:

Disproportionate effects of system being were cited by former Fresno City Councilman and former police officer, Oliver Baines who observed this from life and law enforcement experience.

What do we have in common for creating the common good ? This question is being probed.

What is the role of fear in perception and the role of perception in fear? It can be a vicious cycle.

What if we changed labels as often as clothes just to keep things off balance enough to create balance?

Challenge our own perceptions as well as those of others. I am always feeding mine and yours. How do we change dominant narrative?

Personal versus systemic biases must be examined. What are their intersection? Personal experience can drive us to solve systemic problems, but we need systemic solutions.

Is the prison industry perpetuating prison gangs by insisting on categories and segregation by regional and ethnic gangs and assumptions? It is common “knowledge” that gang “headquarters” are behind bars. This is counter intuitive to the message of reconciliation in the gospel.

What if prison paid inmate labor fair wage and taxed for rent, child support, restitution, and left some for life rebuilding? What if the business of incarceration applied some of the legitimate rules of the free market within its walls in a well-regulated manner rather than operating as a monopoly? What if?

Those were my questions. My assumption is that it is an industry with lobbying power, labor unions, private businesses, contractors, and others vested in its growth and prosperity, but fixing prices for those caught up in the system.

It is OUR system. We all drive it and we all have some voice in fixing it.

We are also all prisoners of it.

A local officer spoke of how he is also a “prisoner” of the system which seems to run its own fuel and assumptions.

No one us can change it alone, but together we can make a difference.

People of faith can and must act in some sort of concert.

While alternatives to incarceration exist, are there not more that would make the system more effective, redemptive, restorative to victims, efficient, cost-effective, and safe while acting as a deterrent to crime? Is this really the best we can do?

Would not our own lives improve, along with our communities, if we did better?

What do we really want to accomplish when we stop and think clearly about it?

More questions were asked than answers given, but that is ok.

Thoughts on Ideas

You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. Shirley Chisholm

A library is the delivery room for the birth of ideas, a place where history comes to life. Norman Cousins

If I have a thousand ideas and only one turns out to be good, I am satisfied. Alfred Nobel
Synergy is what happens when one plus one equals ten or a hundred or even a thousand! It's the profound result when two or more respectful human beings determine to go beyond their preconceived ideas to meet a great challenge. Stephen Covey

If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves. Howard Zinn

The scientific man does not aim at an immediate result. He does not expect that his advanced ideas will be readily taken up. His work is like that of the planter - for the future. His duty is to lay the foundation for those who are to come, and point the way. Nikola Tesla

Men of lofty genius sometimes accomplish the most when they work least, for their minds are occupied with their ideas and the perfection of their conceptions, to which they afterwards give form. Leonardo da Vinci

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen. John Steinbeck

To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. Thomas Jefferson

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people. Eleanor Roosevelt
The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. F. Scott Fitzgerald

No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world. Robin Williams

We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion. Max de Pree

Cabbage Soup and Meatless Meatloaf

I humbly offer you my recipe for Cabbage Soup and Meatless Meatloaf.

This can even provide the basis for a stock for other soups. I like to slow cook it with onions, garlic, peppers, a few carrots, a little veggie bullion, and whatever other veggies are hanging around.

Then, if you like, you can pour off the broth to drink, leaving some or all solids.

Set some solids aside and use a hand blender to pulverize them. In a bowl, add any combination of these (or all) - cooked black beans, lentils, or other seeds/grains/crushed nuts, sunflower seeds, cumin, salt, pepper, Italian herbs, oats, bread crumbs, molasses, tomato paste, vegan cheese, mushrooms (preferably browned, olive oil, and a little corn.

Mash some of the black beans.

(NOTE - Seeds, nuts, and Corn will help the mix have more lightness and air).

Aim for the consistency of hamburger. Then form it either into burgers or into a loaf.

If a loaf, bake it at 400 degrees until it is solid and browned on the top when you can sprinkle some croutons or vegan cheese on top. I like to add some tomato sauce or homemade catsup for the last few minutes. Adjust the temperature if you prefer.

It makes a great meatless meatloaf --- or, cooked on the grill, makes great burgers.

Don't trust me, try it yourself.

This works with any sort of vegetable pulp as well.

A Confident Life

Photo by Miguel Bruna on Unsplash

Living a Life of Confidence

Excerpts and Paraphrases from “The Confidence Factor” by Thomas B. Sims

We so often stagger through life encumbered by the pressures of everyday problems and phantom concerns. We are sensitive to slightest slight and the subtlest gesture. We are quick to take offense and slow to receive healing when offended, much less to extend forgiveness. 

We step gingerly into new experiences and tremble at the very suggestion of risk or danger. We take our cues about our self-concepts from other people’s words and evaluations. We speak our minds and hearts with question marks. We timidly go where many have gone before and wouldn’t think of venturing where none have trod.

I decided the write a book about confidence because I sensed a great deal of timid living around me. It seemed to me that many people were stumbling cautiously through life and missing daily opportunities by avoiding challenges.

Through the years, I have fleshed out concepts and principles through stories. Many of those stories take place in a town that exists in a realm resembling a valley in the High Sierra near the intersection of my experience and imagination, Polecat Hollow. In Polecat Hollow, through twists and turns of history, people have become accustomed to the sweet smell of skunk.

In Polecat Hollow, people tend to be a tad timid. They’ve lived around western “skunkery” for so long that they have adopted some of their shy demeanor. Some call it cautious, but others see it for what it is, lack of confidence. Take Mayor Byron T. Simpleton, for instance. Every word he speaks outside his home, and some within, is calculated to be just ambiguous enough that none can take offense. Sometimes at the end of the day he feels absolutely exhausted and disgusted with himself. How he wishes he could find a balance between being rude and being a wet rag.

His sister, Billie Blueblood and her husband, Billy Bud Blueblood are equally guarded in their speech and their actions. When asked an opinion, Billy always answers with what might be a strong statement if it did not have a question mark intoned at the end. For years, the Bluebloods have dreamed of expanding their restaurant and branching out into new ventures, but their timidity is so overwhelming that they agonize over simple changes in the menu.

That’s just the way folks are all across Doubleback County. It must be something in the air.

Of course, there are some among the townsfolk who are not so timid. Miss Prudence P. Love, can be seen on any day boldly prancing about town, tapping her cane with each step as if on a mission. Looking only a fraction of her ninety plus years, she speaks her mind and exercises her autonomy with a gracious flair.

Uncle Hinkey always kindly, yet truthfully speaks his mind, whatever the subject. If the coffee at Mable’s Teacup is cold, he diplomatically declares, “I declare Mabel, you served me a fine hot cup of coffee yesterday. I appreciate that. Do you suppose you could warm this one up a bit the same way? I sure enjoyed that one.”

He has always lived that way, sure of who he was, confident in his deeds and speech, assured that he was loved by a God who never fails, fearless in the face of danger, and gentle in his quiet strength. Over 100 now, Hinkey exudes confidence.

Some have it; some don’t — at least in Polecat Hollow.

I wrote the book while doing a sermon series of the New Testament book of Philippians.

Philippians is a book that oozes with confidence in God. It is the Epistle of Joy and that joy is rooted in deep faith in an unshakeable God. From confidence that “He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus” to the ringing confidence that “I can do all things through Christ,” there is not a hint of vacillation or wavering in the Apostle’s resolve to trust in God and act on faith.

Out of the study came three grand affirmations:

• I can through Him!

• You can through Him!

• We can through Him!

When we speak the word, “can,” we are making a declaration.

“Can” is a powerful word because it is affirmative. It is strong and hearty. It is robust and proactive. It is a dreamer’s word, but even more so, a doer’s word. It is so often taken for granted that even its pronunciation is often shortened so that it does not stand out. When we say, “I can,” we are making a commitment. We are going out on a limb. When we say “we can,” we are agreeing to work together in cooperation with other people who share a common vision and hope.

When we say, “You can,” we are also saying, “I believe in you and I will support you all the way.” We are investing ourselves in the progress of another person and implying an investment of soul energy to help her accomplish her goals. I can. We can. You can. It grounds our resolve. It announces our belief. It colors us and marks us. Can becomes a badge of honor in that it signifies a person of integrity and conviction who is willing to take a stand and believe in something beyond the realm of sight and proof. It identifies an individual willing to march alone to the beat of a distant drummer and keep in step with the heartbeat of God (despite expected outcomes).

In the long run, confidence is a matter of the heart. Without heart engagement, we are not fully human. Unless we open our hearts to others, we grow cold, brittle, and timid in our faith. We must become vulnerable if we are to grow confident.

Many of us have control issues. We are most confident when we call all the shots. Moving confidently through life requires letting go of some things we cannot control — including other people and their choices. However, we cannot do it all without them. Success is something we do in community. It is not just about “I can,” but also, “we can.”

I have a dream; you have a dream; we have dreams together. Dreams are long term, but the decisions we make about our dreams are daily and moment by moment.

There is always an urgency to confident living. Without a sense of timeliness, we miss opportunities that are for now and for no other moment.

The consequences of not acting in the moment are grave; the dream could die — or at least slip into a coma. Can it live again? Of course, but it will take new inspiration — i.e.… the Spirit breathing new life into it — and He can! Remember: Do it now because …

• Delay — Delay of a dream that has come to the birthing point is not prudence, but foolishness.

• Overcomes — Anything overcoming our initiative to act in faith is toxic to our spiritual health.

• Initiative — Initiative is that quality that gets our engines started. Exercise it!

• Till — The clock is ticking, but not forever. “Till” is a sure destination.

• Never — It is a tragic thing to say of a God-inspired notion, “I just never was,” or “It never will be.”

• Overwhelms — There comes a moment when we give up because we feel overwhelmed.

• Will — Don’t let it happen to your dreams. 
 
The inspiration to act is renewable, but it requires an immediate response. Do it now!

Toward the end of the book, I offer an acronym for Confidence.

A New Spelling for CONFIDENCE

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

C = Courage

You have it in some degree or another, but you’ll lose it if you don’t spend it. Have the courage to move forward and God will give you more.

O = Overcoming 

You are not called to be a victim, but a victor. If you must whine, set an alarm clock to go off after fifteen minutes and follow it with thirty minutes of praise and affirmation. You cannot afford the luxury of thinking of yourself as a loser. You are a winner and over comer!

N = Neutrality

I am not talking about becoming a moral wimp in a sea of ethical ambiguity. I am declaring to you that all events are neutral as far as your confidence factor is concerned. Circumstances are powerless to rob you of your confident joy if they are rooted in the right attitude — the attitude of Christ.

F = Faith

That’s the point. That is the “fidence” in “confidence.” Never abandon faith. Nurture it, exercise it, live it.

I = Independence

Take personal responsibility for your life, your attitude, and your choices. There are some things that no other human being can do for you and God will not do. The main one is choose. You must make your own choices.

D = Dependence

In the Christian life, opposites can be true at the same time because truth so often lies in the tension between poles. While we must have a fair dose of independence in our decision making and personal responsibility, we must also consider that the course of life is a concourse. We are neither alone in the journey, nor are we equipped to go it alone. We must develop a relationship of dependence upon God and interdependence with our brothers and sisters.

E = Eagerness

Confidence is, in part, about enthusiastically embracing the challenges of life because they lead us to the goals which are mileposts along the way to the realizations of our dreams which are but steps toward the big prize before us. Why wouldn’t we be eager? That eagerness will become manifest as confidence.

N = Nationality

Christians, according to Philippians hold a citizenship in the Kingdom of God which means all the power of God’s Kingdom is behind us and within us. We can hold our heads up high because we know that we belong to something greater than ourselves. Whether you are a Christian or not, you can embrace a higher purpose for your life that is beyond you and your time.

C = Consistency

Starting and stopping in the process of discipleship and success-building will not aid in the development of confident living. We must keep on keeping on. We cannot, must not, will not quit. We may need to stop to reflect, redirect, or reconnect, but never to defect. Consistency of commitment and effort will make us stronger.

E = Elimination

Some things have to go. And house cleaning in our lives can never be a onetime process because spiritual and emotional dust tends to accumulate. Acknowledgement of our frailties and willingness to change are life time disciplines and joyful ones at that. Make regular self-evaluation a part of your life and readily let go of whatever is holding you back, whether that is a sinful practice or a sinful attitude.

The bottom line is that you are going to make it because there is a God who believes in you who has begun and will complete a good work in you and you can do all things through the one who gives you strength.

---------------------------------

The Confidence Factor: A Journey through Philippians
Confidence is about living with and by faith. It influences everything. The Apostle Paul taught a posture of confidence…www.amazon.com

Or Read it on Kindle:

The Confidence Factor: A Journey through Philippians
Confidence is about living with and by faith. It influences everything. The Apostle Paul taught a posture of confidence…www.amazon.com

Deborah, Mother of Israel

Happy Mother’s Day

Photo by Sidney Pearce on Unsplash

I recorded a 25 minute sermon from the notes below, but … somehow, there was no sound.

It was silent.

I replaced it with a shorter version.

Here is the text of the sermon I first recorded — Rough Notes.

Mother’s Day, not Mothers’ Day is an American tradition started by a daughter, Anna Marie Jarvis, who felt one day needed to be set aside for children to honor their own mothers.

Paul reminds us that we are part of a larger family as well and that the call to honor is even broader.

“[Treat] the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.” -1 Timothy 5:2

Just who is your mother?

Timothy had his own mother and grandmother, but as a pastor, he was to set an example to all the church to treat all the elder women as mothers. They were to be respected, honored, and treated with care and affection.

Who is your mother? Who do you honor on Mother’s Day?

First, it would be the woman who gave you birth. While giving birth to a baby may not make you a mother in every sense, it is a pretty amazing contribution to life. She carried you for nine months, twenty four hours a day. Every bit of nutrition and all of your protection came from her.

She gave a big chunk of her life to give you all of your life.

Then, it is the woman or the women who raised you or helped to raise you — natural mothers, foster mothers, big sisters, aunts, babysitters, teachers, Sunday School teachers and, in some cases, your friends’ mothers or your neighbors. It may have been grandmothers.

We honor them today.

We honor the mothers we had.

We honor the mothers we wished we had as well, those perfect mothers that we dreamed about. We honor the ideal that no one ever realizes because everyone is human and imperfect.

That ideal is found only in God whose Fatherliness also includes the qualities of motherhood that can be reflected in our earthly mothers.

We honor the mothers (and fathers) we want to be. We honor the aspiration and the ideal and hold it high.

We honor the mothers of the future that we are training our girls to be.

We honor motherhood and all of the women of the church who have been, might have been, never were, or will be mothers — especially the older ones. The younger, we honor as sisters and mothers-to-be.

Happy Mother’s Day!

When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” — John 19:26–27

Jesus was living through the darkest moment of His life. Lesser men would have thought only of their pain. One of the men being crucified with Him could only curse and fix blame on others. Jesus could only love for love had taken Him to that cross.

He looked down from Him place of suffering and saw His mother. He remembered how she had exercised faith in welcoming the Holy Spirit’s work in her life as she had conceived Him. He remembered how she had traveled so many miles with Joseph to Bethlehem for His birth and how they had fled to Egypt, far away from home and family, to protect His life from Herod. He remembered how she and Joseph had despaired when they misplaced Him in the Temple when He was a boy. He remembered her sacrificial love and the warm home she had made for Him and His brothers. He reflected on her grace and humble service. She had cherished the memories of His birth and life in her heart all these years. She had raised her children, taught them the things of God. She had buried a husband and she had left all to follow Her son, the Son of God as one of His disciples.

She was His mother and He loved her from the cross. And so, in one of His last earthly human deeds, He presided over an adoption,

“Behold your thy son … Behold thy mother.” — Jesus from the cross

“… despise not thy mother when she is old.” -Proverbs 23:22b

Your Mother When She Is Old

We need as many “old mothers” as we can get in the church and in our lives. We need to honor the older mothers among us and change our thinking about the word, “old.”

For some reason, we have attached a stigma to old age such that people do not like to be called, “old.” Yet, in the scriptures, it is a badge of honor and a sign of God’s blessing.

Perhaps some thought ought to be given to reviving the old custom of honoring the eldest mother in the church on Mother’s Day. In the New testament, older women were all considered mothers of the church. That had something to give and the church was tuned to receive it.

One can think of three reasons why we might learn from and honor the eldest among us and they spell O-L-D.

O — Older mothers have gotten OVER some things.

There is no substitute for experience. The most important and valuable advantage of experience is that it teaches us that wherever we are in our journey, we are stuck. We might be going through some difficulties, but we can and will get through them. We might be laboring under some burdens, but we can and will get over them. We can know this because our elders could and did get over theirs.

L — Older mothers have LEARNED some things.

Life has taught them some lessons and most are willing to share those lessons. We all know more today than we did yesterday. The longer we go, the more we potentially learn. We can honor our mothers by listening to their perspectives. They know some things we do not know because they have had time to learn them.

D — Older mothers have DONE some things.

They have had time to accomplish some goals, to have a few failures, and to enjoy some victories. When we look at their lives, we take courage in knowing that we can also accomplish some things. In fact, they sometimes did what seemed impossible, but with God’s help, they did them anyway. We need them as role models.

These are three reasons to honor our older mothers and to strive to someday be old mothers and old fathers.

“Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories.” ~John Wilmot

Any parent, worth his or her salt, will readily admit to ignorance on any number of subjects — especially parenting. It can be frightening when we consider the consequence for our children and the perpetual admonition to them to pay attention to us. We step back from overhearing them being told to do so and remember how many parental lessons we missed, ignored, or discarded along the way. How much easier would life have been if we had been mentally and emotionally present in the parental school of wisdom?

Homer doesn’t make things easier when he remarks, “It behooves a father to be blameless if he expects his child to be.”

Perfection eludes us and the quest for perfection haunts, us, but grace equips us to take the risks involved in doing our best and letting go of the rest. We are hard put to find all the right words or address all the important issues in parenting. Robert Fulghum landed squarely on the truth when he said:

“Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.”

Our children are always watching. It is up to them whether or not they will listen. That is their responsibility and capacity, especially as they grow old. It is also ours, who have grown older, not to forsake the wisdom of the past as no longer relevant. Solomon wisely said:

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. “ -Proverbs 1:8–9 NIV

He then enters into an extended teaching about the dangers or rejecting that teaching and pursuing a life of riotous activity without regard to ethics and morality. The bottom line is that you are more attractive, effective, and fulfilled if you take the time to learn what is being taught. And our children have a better shot at life if we take the time to teach them. Furthermore, we have a better chance of teaching them well if we revisit what we have been taught and take it to heart.

As a rock song from the 60s put it, “and the beat goes on.”

A Joyful Mother!

“He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.” — Psalm 113:9

On Mother’s Day, we are first grateful for our mothers, but deep within the heart of every mother for whom we show our love and appreciation is an even deeper gratitude. She is grateful to be a mother. She is blessed and joyful for what she considers to be the greatest gift and privilege of her life. Mothers cherish their children. So do fathers, but mothers do so with a special kind of flair. 
 
Your mother knows that you are a gift from God. Your life is something that emerged out of barrenness and you are very special. Your life has brought her joy. She sees the light of God’s love and grace in your eyes. She praises the Lord for you and you praise the Lord for her.

She taught you about love. She taught you life skills. She taught you to be responsible. She taught you the difference between right and wrong. She taught you that a person needs something to do and that there is no value in just sitting around and doing nothing. he taught you that there are consequences to bad behavior and rewards for good behavior. She taught you to love and reverence God and most likely taught you your first prayers.

She taught you so much and she taught it all to you because she loves you and because she knew that you were God’s gift to her. She did it with joy. Now take that same joy and show her your appreciation.

And today, we praise the Lord for her.

We love her because she first loved us. In fact, we most likely first learned the love of God from her and we love God because He took the initiative to love us fist. In that way, mothers point us to the Father.

We appreciate our mothers because they first appreciated us. We brought no special skills to our families when we arrived. We could not do our fair share or pull our weight, but our parents thanked God for us. That is amazing!

Our mothers valued us, affirmed us, and let us know that we were special. They prayed for us and taught us to pray. They managed our homes and let us watch and learn. They taught us how to perform basic skills, how to resolve conflict, and how to care for our own personal needs.

Best of all they were present for us and we are present for them today as well.

Mothers of the Church

“… the elder women as mothers; the younger as sisters, with all purity.”– I Timothy 5:2

Our brother Paul alludes to a tender and respectful relationship that Timothy and his brothers can easily understand. It is the relationship between a son and his mother or his sister. It is a relationship of affection and honor. It is the picture of the relationship that ought to exist in the church between the body and the precious women we call mother and sister.

On this Mother’s Day, let us pause to honor all of those who have been the mothers of the church whether or not they have biological children. They, whether right or wrong, have set our tables, cleaned our dishes, tended our babies in the nursery, and given us hugs and encouragement in times of sorrow, grief, or discouragement.

They have sent out the cards on special occasions, made the phone calls to the sick and absent. More often than not, they have taken the lead in matters of prayer and communication. They have kept us aware of our missionaries and have challenged us to be more mission minded.

They have taken far more seats in the choir than our men, been far more faithful in church attendance, and have brought pies and soups to the elderly and infirmed. And one might be reminded that the early disciples actually gave that job to six men.

It has been nineteen hundred years since men actually did as much as the mothers of the church for widows and orphans. These women have taught us in Sunday School and may have been the first to tell us about Jesus. They have organized our files, decorated our sanctuaries, arranged our flowers, cleaned our bathrooms, and made most of our visits. They deserve the title of mother and they deserve great honor this day.

Besides everything else, the mothers and sisters of our church have brought a sense of beauty and warmth into our presence. They have reflected the love of God into our lives in a unique way. Here’s to you, Mother. Here’s to you sister. We love you very much. Happy Mother’s Day!

God Is a Family

“At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. “-John 14:20

Family is a vital connection to what it means to be connected with God. God expresses the divine mystery of God’s very essence in terms of family.

The Father, the Son, and the Spirit exist as one, but three, all sharing the same nature, but also relating to each other in community and in love. God is in fellowship with God and God invites human beings to join the family.

Some of God’s qualities are mothering; some are fathering. Some of what the Spirit does in the world is what mothers do in families. The only point is this; it is not about gender or roles; it is about fellowship, love, relationship, bonding, loyalty, and joy.

God wants our company and God chooses human families to point us toward the reality of eternal and heavenly relationships.

Jesus says that his disciples are his mothers and brothers and sisters.

It is so appropriate to recognize and honor these earthly relationships on days such as Mother’s Day.

Mothers are responsible, in Judaism, for the perpetuation of the faith in the early stages of every child’s life. In fact, the primary definition of a Jew is a person with a Jewish mother.

Lois and Eunice, Timothy’s mother and grandmother, were cited by Paul as his earliest and most primary faith influences. The faith first dwelt in them and then, in him.

We are taught to regard the women in our congregations with the respect and love that we would afford our mothers and sisters.

The role of motherhood is profound in the scriptures. The writer of the last portion of Proverbs, King Lemuel, credits his mother with the wise teachings that have guided his life.

We thank God for our mothers today. Not only do they give us life and guidance, but they also help us understand the Holy Trinity as a family of God where we are invited to the table.

Calling Her Blessed

“Her children arise up, and call her blessed …” — Proverbs 31:28

King Lemuel had an amazing mom. She was like a super woman, great household manager, loving mother, loyal wife, sharp business person, and woman of righteous integrity. She was the ideal wife and mother.

To her children, she was Mom. MOM — Model for living, Organizer of our lives, and Magnifier of the truth.

She was all of those things. She provided a model for how to live. She brought order, organization, and direction to the household. She exemplified, magnified, and taught what it meant to live a godly life in this world.

Her children called her blessed.

Mary, when learning that she would become the mother of the Messiah proclaimed that all generations would call her blessed. In fact, the angel told her that she was blessed among women.

Mothers are a blessing to us, but the bible says that motherhood, in itself, is a blessing.

Today, we honor mothers for their motherhood. We rise with Lemuel and his siblings to call our mothers, “blessed” and to bless them for their gifts to us. It is trite but true to say that without them we would not be here and would not have become the people that we are today.

“God, give us Christian homes! 
Homes where the mother, in queenly quest,
Strives to show others Thy way is best, 
Homes where the Lord is an honored guest.
God, give us Christian homes; 
God, give us Christian homes!”
- B.B. McKinney

God bless our mothers!

The Love of God

“The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose, that I arose a mother in Israel.” — Judges 5"7

Deborah was no stereotypical mother. But a mother, she was.

She was a leader in Israel. She was a wife. She was as tough as nails and yet, sensitive to the things of God. Her prayer and song of praise tell her story and God’s story.

God raised her up for His purposes and used her mightily. She did what Barak would not do and received honor that he might have received.

She was a woman of courage, a woman of faith, a woman of praise, and a woman of wisdom — a lot like many of our mothers.

We need mothers with courage today because times are hard and the attacks on our families are profound. Sometimes, it is only the mother who will stand up for her families. Some fathers have defaulted in their responsibility. All fathers need her by their sides.

We need mothers of faith today because our children need to learn it. What better place to be introduced to faith than at a mother’s knee?

We need mothers of praise today who fill our homes with songs of praise, objects of praise, and occasions to praise the Lord. We need mothers who will turn off the televisions and radios and turn on the gospel.

We need mothers of wisdom today who will take the time to teach their children. Parents are the best wisdom teachers that God made. That is why we are told throughout the book of Proverbs to listen to them so carefully.

Buried in the sometimes dark stories of Judges is an example of a mother who can point us to some qualities of motherhood that we need to encourage in our young women today. Our pews are full today of exemplary models of motherhood. Let us honor them today.

Happy Mother’s Day!

If My People Pray

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Dou_Old_woman_in_prayer.jpg

If My People 

I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. – I Timothy 2:1  

I am as put off as any by the empty words, “thoughts and prayers” whenever those words are empty and used to dismiss one’s own responsibility to act with justice, mercy, and resolve.  

Thought, however, is a very good thing, especially compassionate thoughts about others. Likewise, prayer is good, especially when one opens one’s life to being used by God to help others.  

With echoes of II Chronicles 7:13-14 in the background, Paul is not calling for extraordinary prayer, but for daily, ongoing, consistent, persistent, passionate prayer for the lives of men and women and the welfare of society.  

This call to prayer is for all people first. Then Paul becomes specific in commanding us to pray for people in civil authority that the church might enjoy, with the larger community, quiet, peace, godliness, and honesty.  

 Furthermore, we are adjured to pray because it is God’s will to bring all men to salvation and truth. God invites our cooperation, participation, and conversation in task and mission of rescuing the world.  

It is sad that we need special days to remind us that we ought to be praying all the time.  

I have some pills that I must take every day by prescription. I try to minimize these with good nutrition and vitamins, but because of the wear and tear of the years, my body needs these medicines to function properly – at least for now.   

If I forget to take a pill for a particular malady, I can get by with it for a few hours, but at least by the second day, I will be hurting, and the reminders will be evident.   

If I forget my blood pressure pill, however, I will have no symptoms whatsoever. In fact, I might be able to take my blood pressure that day and notice extraordinarily little difference. I will have no symptoms over time, but my blood pressure will begin to creep up and I will place myself in danger of a sudden heart attack or stroke down the road.  

God has prescribed prayer for our own well-being, for others, and for our society. If we live in sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, we will most likely notice it if we miss a day of prayer. But the larger implications may show no symptoms at first.   

We will lull ourselves into complacency and false comfort. In the meantime, our spiritual lives, and the spiritual climate around us will erode until there is some great catastrophe as the natural result of the absence of supernatural intervention.   

God’s message to us on this matter is that prayer matters.  

 It makes a difference.   

Pray.  

1 Timothy 2:1-6 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all-- this was attested at the right time. 

The Ask

"Ask and it will be given you." (Matthew 7:7a, NKJV)

At the risk of seeming obvious, have you asked God for anything lately? Have you with some heart for a pure motive and unselfish desire asked for Him to supply your needs, lead you according to His purposes, given you strength and wisdom to become all He wants you to be, and to help you delight in Him so that He may give you the desires of your heart? "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. – Psalm 37:4 - NIV)" That being in place, perhaps the word in James 4:2 is operative; "You do not have, because you do not ask God. (NIV). As a community of believers, as individual members of the church, and as individuals before God, it behooves us to learn to ask.

 "Seek and you will find." (Matthew 7:7b, NKJV)

Emily Daniels, my high school Sunday school teacher used to remind us to put legs on our prayers. I always wondered if that was a bit unspiritual until I realized it was very true. God expects us to seek after what He is supplying for us. He hides treasures in odd places. He invites us to participate in His provision. He calls us into a mystical and practical partnership. Where are you seeking for God's best? What are you seeking? How are you seeking? Are you limited what Good can provide for you and do through you by refusing to seek diligently and turn over all the rocks? Embrace the promise of more today and find God's best.

"Knock and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7c, NKJV)

All of the imperatives in this verse describe continuous action: Keep on asking. Keep on receiving. Keep on knocking. By the time we get to knocking, it is obvious without even knowing the verb structure that persistence is the key to laying hold of the promises of God. We cannot stop short of our goals. We dare not quit before the finish line. To do so would be to diminish the meaning of all past efforts, prayers, and discipline. Our quest is a lifetime process, not a quick and easy fix. We are called to step up and to keep stepping up. My wife once hired a young man, not because his resume was impressive or because he was an outstanding candidate for the job, but because he proved his desire to do that particular job by coming in several times a week to inquire about it. God wants us to deeply desire His best and to demonstrate that desire with persistence.

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matthew 7:11)

God is good. That is a theological fact. We are sinners, broken by the fall. That is also a fact. But even as sinners, we know how to give good gifts to our children. How much more will a God who is 100% good give good gifts to His children whom He loves? We are His children. He loves us. He wants to give His best to us. He is waiting for our to do our part for own good so that we will not just be receptacles of blessings, but participants in His purpose. It is about the character of God and the love He has for us.

 "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

If God were a man, this is how He would treat us. It is how He treats us. It is also how He mandates that we treat each other. It is a positive command to be proactive, not a caution of restraint. It is the essence of all He has ever sought to reveal through the scriptures. It is what makes God's people salt and light. It is the secret of true prosperity and fulfillment. It is the Golden Rule. How will you go out of your way today to observe it?

 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." (Matthew 7:13, NIV)

Destruction is easy. It is the path of least resistance. The call to step up to call of God is a call to reject the easy path, to shun the downhill slide, and to despise call to mediocrity. God has no interest in our earthly comfort zones or addiction to convenience. He values those qualities little in our lives or churches where we often value them much. Whether Jesus is speaking of the destruction of our eternal souls, of our dreams, or our earthly lives, the principle holds. It is easy to get shipwrecked by esteeming ease about all other values. Could we decide today to be suspicious of every broad path and path to which the masses flock? If we see the crowds gathering, let us look further for a path of life.

"But small is the gate and narrows the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:14, NIV)

You will be in a distinct minority to the extent to which you choose the path of life. It is a gate you may have to squeeze and contort yourself to get through. You will not shape it. It will shape you. Most people are intimidated by the potential of being odd or out of step with the crowd. But when we step up to God's plate, we often stand alone. Life, in all its dimensions, fullness, and implications is experienced only by a few who are willing to be different and to fit into some pretty tight places for God. But once through the gate, it is the path of greatest freedom and joy. We wonder why we didn't choose it all along.

The Fallen Blue Jay and God's Care

Photo by Patrice Bouchard on Unsplash

 

There was a little blue jay lying lifeless on the ground when I went out to feed my chickens this morning. While I could not tell him apart from the other jays that I feed and enjoy watching, I was reminded that my Heavenly Father knew him personally. 

 

My dog sniffed him curiously and I was sad. 

 

That blue jay had not spent one moment of his life worrying about anything. He probably had not seen death coming. He was pretty much always in the moment. 

 

I like to think I know my own motives and that worry, and the cares of life do not occupy too much of my mind’s real estate. 

 

The truth is, I need some growth. 

 

Jesus’ teaching on the mount continues with the discourse where he connects our worries to our ultimate values. He challenges us to be more connected to value than fear of loss and to examine our motives.  

Matthew 6:25-34 (NRSV)

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-- you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.

 

What motivates you?   

 

What energizes your imagination and activates your soul?   

 

Are you paralyzed by the fear that you will not be able to provide the necessities of life for yourself and your family?   

 

Are you enslaved by the need to move forward economically or to build earthly security? 

 

God cares for His own, for birds and lilies, and people who seek Him.  His kingdom and His righteousness are of such great value that nothing else compares with them. 

 

Our task is to check in with what motivates us as we make important decisions and view the realities of life.   

 

By keeping first things first, we can eliminate the need to juggle multiple priorities or to fret over things that ultimately perish.