Little Things

            On our drive home from South Carolina last week, we listened to Bill O’Reilly’s Killing Lincoln. I learned some things I did not know about the events surrounding President Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. History is full of mysteries, and there are many things unknown to us… things that we will likely never know. I asked Joanne… “I wonder if the Lord will bother to let us know the answers to all the questions surrounding historical lives and events or if, in His presence, we will care nothing about the things that are behind us?”

            One of the things that struck me about the circumstances around Lincoln’s death is how just minor things – going/happening a different way – would have made a great impact. For example, President and Mrs. Lincoln could have chosen a different play to attend in a different theater (he deferred to her preference). This would have made things more difficult for Booth and protected the President better. “If only” the President’s bodyguard had been at his station, history may have been very different. Instead he was having a drink in a nearby saloon. Many of these things are always clearer in hindsight than in foresight. All the assumptions made come into question and under critical scrutiny.

            It is another reminder to us that small things mean a lot. The encounters and conversations of each day are much more than mundane exercises in social intercourse. Words and attitudes can change lives – for good or for ill. That’s a helpful reminder to me, because so often my life revolves around an invisible “bubble” of self-interest and awareness. I am not always thinking about the impact of my words and actions on the people around me. They can build up and be helpful, or they can tear down and be hurtful. Someone’s life can actually be changed. This can happen in spite of me (because I don’t realize the impact) or because of me (when I’m being intentional). At the other end of the spectrum is an attitude and approach that lets me think I can control everything by doing and saying the right things at the right time in the right way. This kind of thinking will just drive you crazy, though, because – as good as your intentions may be – your words and actions can never control everything to a good and happy end or result. There will always be many things beyond our control.

            My thought in this devotional is to be reminded that my words and actions – even when they are small – might make a significant difference in another person’s life and well-being. Therefore, it behooves me to pay attention a little more carefully to what I say and do so that it may positively impact people’s lives and circumstances. There’s an old saying, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” But I also think we should use caution not to overlook the “small stuff”. We have the opportunity to introduce Christ’s love into conversations and social interactions. May the Lord use what we say and do for His glory. All of it.

Colossians 4:6 (NIV) ⁶  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) ²⁹  Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

PRAYER:  Father, guard my lips and my actions. Let them build others up, and thus make a difference for eternity. Help me to be faithful in small things. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!  

Scott

Delighting in Grace

            Recently I had to have a small health issue taken care of. I was hesitant because I didn’t want to spend the money but it was something I didn’t feel I could overlook. I joke with people that one of the best ways to feel better is to make an appointment, because by the time I see a doctor my symptoms have usually disappeared. So I am a little slow to make appointments. Anyway, I followed through on this one had it looked at. Fortunately, no serious problem was found and I was advised to be careful in the future. When I went to the front desk to pay, my provider said, “No charge!”

            I said, “What… no charge… Are you sure?” The answer came back, “Yes, definitely sure.” I was a little speechless and stammered out, “Well,… why is that?”… to which the response came back, “Because you’re special.” Now, I know better than that. This was an uncalled for, unasked for, unlooked for, undeserved gift that caught me off guard and surprised me. This same thing has happened to me several times in the years I have lived in Bar Harbor – from other providers. The other people around me must have wondered, “Why does he get the special treatment?

            This was a vivid display of grace. It’s similar to the way God’s grace works… unlooked for, unasked for, and undeserved favor given by God… just because He wants to and because it brings Him delight to do so.

            It was easy for me to delight in the words, “No charge… it’s free today!”, in that office. And I couldn’t wait to tell people: first Joanne and then just about anyone else I could find. I wanted to let them know about this great experience I had had earlier in the day. And being able to tell about it increased my delight in it.

            I’ve asked myself since that day, “Shouldn’t you have at least the same kind of delight in God’s grace to you in His Son?” And, “Do you have the same intense desire to tell people about God’s grace to you that you had to tell about the blessing of that day?” Those are really good questions for all of us who have received grace from the Lord. I think it is meant to be delighted in and described with joy to others. After all, how much more has the grace of God worked in my life as my sin debt has been paid in full by Jesus on the cross? Way more than I can even begin to describe! I begin to understand Paul’s exclamation, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

            May His grace be your greatest delight! Amen!

2 Corinthians 9:14-15 (NIV) ¹⁴  And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Ephesians 1:4-8 (NIV) ⁴  For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵  he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- ⁶  to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace ⁸  that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Ephesians 2:4-8 (NIV) ⁴  But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷  in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for your amazing and wonderful grace to me in Jesus, your Son. Thank you that he paid the debt on the cross that I could not pay, and gave me the free gift of eternal life through his death. Lead me to delight in such grace, that its joys will be freely expressed from my lips. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!  

Scott

Attitude Check

           I noticed yesterday that Mickey Rooney died on Sunday at the age of 93. As a kid he was one of my favorite movie stars. The characters he played were often fully of energy and usually had an attitude. My favorite two characters were Whitey Marsh, the tough kid in Boys Town and Mi Taylor, the reluctantly supportive trainer in National Velvet.

            To say someone (real or fictitious) has an “attitude” usually suggests s/he is walking around with a chip on the shoulder daring others to knock it off, or something along those lines. It’s as if the person is pushing for an argument or some kind of conflict. Has anyone ever said “s/he’s got an attitude” about you? Usually if we have an attitude we are trying to communicate it. We want people to know we’re angry or annoyed or impatient. Kids want their parents to know when they’re unhappy, so they “cop an attitude” that shows in their body language and in their tone of voice. Many of us who have been parents have had the phrase “Don’t give me that attitude, young man (or young woman)” on our lips more than once.

            This week I have decided to spend some time thinking on the state of my attitude. I once observed a mission team leader use a phrase regularly with the teenage members of the team who were in the midst of a tour. Extended travel time together for any group of young people can be stressful, and every now and then he would call out loudly, “Attitude Check!” It would serve as a reminder to team members to remember their commitment to the Lord, to one another, and to the mission. In doing so, the call to serve like Christ would be brought to mind and serve as an encouragement to adjust any attitudes that were not in line with Christ.

            Our attitude is a powerful force in our lives. The World English Dictionary describes attitude in this way: “the way a person views something or tends to behave towards it, often in an evaluative way”. Another definition is: “manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind”. Both of these definitions are describing a thing that I have control over. In other words, my attitude is always subject to my will. Though outside factors may influence it, the state of my attitude in any given situation is fully under my control. One of the external factors which seek to impact my attitude the most is other people: how they act, how they speak, what their own attitudes are, etc. But I can never blame another person for my attitude. My attitude is my own, and it is subject to my will. If I want it to be positive, encouraging, and constructive, it will be. If I want it to be negative, critical, and destructive, it will be. I choose what my attitude will be.

            Throughout this week, as I think on the state of my attitude, I aim to meditate on Philippians 2, verse 5: “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”. Throughout each waking hour… thinking about that call the Holy Spirit gave through Paul… realizing that only the presence of the Holy Spirit can show me that attitude of Jesus and shape me to it. In the car… my attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. With my family… on my job… with my brothers and sisters in Christ… with my neighbors… toward the politicians who serve me… in all these things, what will it take for my attitude to be the same as Jesus’? I must surrender my attitude to His kingship: no ifs, ands, or buts. I must let it go, so that Christ’s attitude is on display in me.

            In the verses before and after verse 5 Paul reminds me about some of the characteristics of the attitude of Jesus: tenderness and compassion (v.1), no selfish ambition or vain conceit (v.3), humility (v.3), considering others better than myself (v.3), looking to (caring about) the interests of others (v.4), taking the nature of a servant (v.7), full obedience to the Father (v.8). In the scope of the New Testament we can find many more. So each day there will be good times and opportunities for me to conduct an attitude check in answer to the question: “Is my attitude the same as that of Christ Jesus?” Doing this prayerfully will, no doubt, have a transforming impact in me as the Holy Spirit “forms” Christ in me.

            If you would like to join me, I encourage you to write out Philippians 2:5 on a small card, carry it with you and take it out often, so that you might end up memorizing it. In doing so, it will become part of God’s Word hidden in our hearts, helping us to avoid sinning against God.

Philippians 2:1-8 (NIV) ¹  If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ²  then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. ³  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. ⁴  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: ⁶  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷  but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross!

Psalm 119:9-11 (NIV) ⁹  How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. ¹⁰  I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. ¹¹  I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

PRAYER:  Father, lead me to be a “doer of Your Word” with regard to Philippians 2:5, that I might consciously, intentionally, and obediently conform my attitude to the truly and fully humble attitude of your Son, Jesus Christ. In His name I pray, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!  

Scott

The Eyes of the Lord

            Sometimes parents feel like they have two different sets of kids: the kids they know at home, and the kids who make an impression on others. Many times as our kids were growing up and going through their teen years we would receive compliments about them and would ask something like, “Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?” I’m sure Joanne and I were the same way when we were young. We would behave a little differently around others because we knew (felt like) we were being watched. We wanted to make a good impression.

Have you ever changed your behavior when you thought someone was watching you? I read about two recent studies that suggest that people begin to act more honestly when they felt like they were being watched. A 2006 study at a university faculty lounge offered coffee and tea to professors that for years had used an unsupervised honor system. The rules were clear: serve yourself and then put the money you owed into a box. For ten weeks, though, the experimenters put a hard-to-miss poster near the box. One version of the poster featured pretty flowers; the other version had a pair of eyes glaring out at the viewer. The image alternated between flowers and eyes each week. People paid almost three times more on "eyes" weeks than on "flowers" weeks.

In an April 29, 2013 article in The Atlantic (“Posters of Angry Eyes Actually Scare off Bike Thieves”), a 2012 study was reported to have found the same results—only this time watching eyes changed the behavior of potential bicycle thieves. Researchers put signs with a large pair of menacing eyes and the message "Cycle thieves: we are watching you" by the bike racks at Newcastle University in England. They then monitored bike thefts for two years and found a 62 percent drop in thefts at locations with the signs. But there was an interesting twist to this experiment. While theft rates went down 62 percent in the "we are watching you" racks, in other places in the university it shot up by 65 percent—an almost perfect offset. In other words, the thieves kept stealing bikes; they just went down the street to get away from those eyeballs of judgment and accountability.

            Even just the idea of being watched has an impact on behavior. Most of us would probably admit we feel freer to do things – things we wouldn’t want others to know about – when we are alone and unobserved. The problem with this thinking is that, in truth, we are always being observed. There is nothing hidden from the Lord. He sees and knows both our outward actions and our inner thoughts and motivations. Our hearts can keep no secrets from the Lord. But I don’t really think God has a desire to be some cosmic cop or some benevolent form of “Big Brother”. Because He is God, He is omniscient. His knowledge of us should comfort and encourage us, not scare and intimidate us. His desire is that we live before His face moment by moment motivated by love, gratitude, and desire for His glory, not by fearfulness.

            May the Lord help us to live with a greater sense of His presence, and may that produce a deep joy within us, and a life that pleases Him. Amen.

Psalm 139:1-13 (NIV) ¹  O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. ²  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. ⁵  You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. ⁶  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. ⁷  Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? ⁸  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. ⁹  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, ¹⁰  even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. ¹¹  If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," ¹²  even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. ¹³  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Proverbs 15:3 (NIV) ³  The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

1 Peter 3:12 (NIV) ¹²  For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

PRAYER:  Lord, may the thought of your knowledge of me lead me to joy, and may I live for you out of love in my heart, and may I be true, so that what I am before others and what I am before you are the same. And may my life bring you praise. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!  

Scott