Dear Lord...

1 Timothy 2:1-2 (NIV) ¹  I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone-- ²  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Dear Lord,

Today is an eventful day in the history of our country. Your Word says that Your eyes are everywhere, beholding both the evil and the good. Nothing has happened in this election campaign apart from Your knowledge. There is no candidate anywhere, at any level, who is unknown to You. There is no ballot initiative that is a secret from You. You know every voter… how s/he thinks and feels. Your knowledge is wonderful, yet it is also awe-ful, for we are accountable to You.

I ask for wisdom as I vote today. Help me to see and think clearly. I seek Your glory and I welcome Your will in my life and in my state and in my nation. Your Word says that You know the end from the beginning. Ours is a divided nation in so many ways. It is not unusual that we have differences, but our differences have reached the point of hostility, resentment, entrenchment, closed-mindedness, incivility, judgmentalism, condescension, hatred, intolerance, impatience, utter selfishness, blatant dishonesty, moral corruption, indifference to feelings, murderous thought, abandonment of You…

We have much to repent of. I repent of my own attitudes – those that are self-glorifying, self-serving, and not honoring to You. I repent of my harshness and cynicism. I care for my country and I do not want to lose hope for it. But ultimately my hope is in You alone. My government cannot save me. But I pray for my leaders and all those in authority. I pray that they will seek You, and that they will govern according to Your will and purposes in the world. I ask You to show mercy on them, for if they/we were to receive what they deserve, we would lose everything. Let them give up self and be truly disposed to serving, to listening, to compassion and grace, to peace, to kindness and gentleness, to forbearance, to goodness, and most of all, to humility. No matter who wins. No matter what office.

Let those who are not elected be gracious and humble. Let me respond to the election with confidence in You and the knowledge that Your sovereignty covers election days. Give me grace to set my eyes on things above, and not on earthly things. Earthly things are not ultimate. Only You are. Therefore I know I can trust You regardless of any of today’s outcomes. Therefore I will not fear. I will not be anxious or nervous or worried. The peace You have given me keeps my heart from being troubled.

As I vote today, O Lord, be glorified. Amen.

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

Isaiah 46:10 (NIV)  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

Philippians 4:4-8 (NIV) ⁴  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

PRAYER:  Lord, may the words of my mouth and in my tweets and on my Facebook page and any other means through which I communicate, and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord my Rock and my Redeemer. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Unceasing Prayer

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV) ¹⁶  Be joyful always; ¹⁷  pray continually; ¹⁸  give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

About a year ago CNN (link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/10/28/man-cashes-pennies-hes-been-saving-45-years/74727160/  ) reported a story about Mr. Otha Anders, of Ruston, Louisiana. Mr. Anders spent 45 years bending down and collecting something most of us ignore—pennies. In October of 2015, the 73-year-old Anders, a supervisor for in-school suspended children, took them to his local bank—in 15 five-gallon jugs—and deposited a grand total of $5,136.14 worth of pennies into his account. The bank's coin machines took five hours to count the over 500,000 pennies.

But what's truly moving about this story isn't Anders' thriftiness; it's his thankfulness. Each new penny on the ground served as a prompt to give thanks to God. As Anders told reporters: “I became convinced that spotting a lost or dropped penny was an additional God-given incentive reminding me to always be thankful. There have been days where I failed to pray and more often than not, a lost or dropped penny would show up to remind me.”

Just think about that. Over a half a million prayers of thanksgiving to God in a lifetime. What a great idea to use a simple, small reminder to pray! I know what it’s like to go through a day so busily that I forget to pray or neglect time with the Lord. Making it a discipline helps. But having something in your life that you encounter frequently serve as a reminder to pray is such a creative and useful way think about the Lord and remember to pray. Yesterday, while on a walk, I started to pass over a penny on the street. I thought about Mr. Anders’ story and decided to make it a moment for giving thanks. A penny doesn’t make me much richer financially, but the reminder to give thanks to the Lord was of great value.

What is something you encounter regularly – even daily – that could serve you as a reminder to pray?

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (TLB) ¹  Here are my directions: Pray much for others; plead for God’s mercy upon them; give thanks for all he is going to do for them. ²  Pray in this way for kings and all others who are in authority over us, or are in places of high responsibility, so that we can live in peace and quietness, spending our time in godly living and thinking much about the Lord. ³  This is good and pleases God our Savior, ⁴  for he longs for all to be saved and to understand this truth:

2 Timothy 1:3 (NIV)  I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.

1 Thessalonians 3:9-10 (NIV) ⁹  How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? ¹⁰  Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

Isaiah 62:6-7 (NIV) ⁶  I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, ⁷  and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.

PRAYER:  Lord, it is a good thing to give thanks to you. Thank you for prayer. Thank you that you are a listening God, who lets us pray and who responds to our prayers. Let your Holy Spirit aid me and lead me to prayer that is earnest and true and unceasing. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

A Simple Wire

1 Corinthians 3:5,7 (NIV)  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task… So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

I’ve had to do a lot of transferring of information lately using my computer and phone. This takes three pieces of equipment: The computer, which is the real brains of the operation… the cord that connects to the computer and to my phone… and my phone. My phone is able to receive and process the information that comes from the computer via the cord.

As I think about that very simple picture, I thought about how God graciously uses believers – including me – to be the “conduit” of the Gospel. The least important part of the above arrangement is the cord. And that is true also when God uses me to communicate His love in Christ to people. All the information is with Him, including all that Jesus is and all that He has done in the Incarnation – His first coming to be one of us. God was in flesh in Christ. He was the perfect expression of the love of God – sent to die for sinners so that they might know God, enjoy fellowship with Him, and receive His gift of eternal life. The Gospel is glorious news and is the perfect thing to “connect” with (“send” to) lost sinners. In my simplistic illustration the sinner is like the disconnected phone. It needs a connection to the computer. I know as technology advances there are wireless ways that information can get to phones, so the illustration isn’t perfect. But what is important is that the information needs to get to the phone. It is not built into it. In the older way of using a cord, power comes to the phone, as well as information that can radically change the phone.

The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation that the sinner needs. The Gospel is the message the sinner needs to hear. The Gospel is what transforms lives. The cord is not the power. The cord is not the message. The cord does not transform lives. It is simply a transmitter of information. Believers in Christ are like that cord. We have no power within ourselves. The message of the Gospel does not originate with us. We did not think it up. And we do not have the power to transform lives. All these things are from God through Christ. And God has chosen to use us in His plan and His work to transmit the Gospel and to change lives. What an act of grace on His part. Why should He need or want to use me? But He does, and it is a blessed privilege. The Church exists for the sake of the Gospel. Without the Gospel there is no reason for the Church to exist. It is the most important thing we “transmit”, and is of eternal value.

May the Lord use us freely and fully, and may we rejoice to be used in something that is ultimately not about us. It’s all about Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:9-11 (NIV) ⁹  For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹  Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.

Galatians 2:20 (KJV)  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Romans 15:17-18 (NIV) ¹⁷  Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. ¹⁸  I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done—

2 Timothy 4:17 (NIV)  But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth.

PRAYER:  Lord, let me be a conduit totally at your disposal. May your Spirit use me to speak and to demonstrate the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, your Son. Thank you for the person(s) you used to transmit the Good News to me. You have changed, and you are changing my life and I rejoice to be your child – and to know that by your grace I am the object of your love. Praise you! In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

A Change of Habit

1 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV) ⁷  Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. ⁸  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

A habit is a repeated practice that becomes ingrained in one’s lifestyle. It is a way of doing something that is consistent, regular, and often unchanging. I have owned an iPhone 5 for several years. And for several years I have accessed it by swiping the screen. But the latest version of iOS changed the way of accessing the features of the phone to clicking the start button again instead of swiping. I am still weeks into the change and have not yet gotten the swing of it yet. It’s a little bit like having to write the correct date (year) on my checks in early January. After “swiping” for years it’s taking a while to get used to pushing a button. A simple and trite example, yet a good description of how habits work in our lives. We get very comfortable with our habitual way of doing things and discover that change is not always easy, and often not even wanted.

Habits, as we all know, can be negative or positive. We may regret them – even hate them - or we may experience blessing and better things in life because of them. The habit of taking a shower every day helps my relationships to prosper. Flossing and brushing my teeth helps me to enjoy eating and speaking… and smiling. Drinking or eating the wrong things habitually may add inches to my waistline or harm my organs. Some habits have a way of trapping us – even enslaving us - into actions that can be dangerously harmful to us physically or emotionally. Some are not dangerous – just annoying (usually to others). We brush off some of our habits with “I can’t help it!” or “What’s the big deal? It’s not hurting anybody.” New Year’s resolutions are all about habits: usually stopping bad ones and/or starting new ones. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we struggle. And sometimes we fail to change in ways we would like.

When you think about it, you realize that there was a time in your life when you did NOT have every habit you have now. Every habit starts with a first “encounter” or experience. If it brought pleasure, or some good result (such as health, peer approval/social acceptance, confidence, feeling good, or an improved self-image), it was likely repeated. And when it was repeated enough (some people suggest 21 days of doing something will establish it) it became a natural, ingrained part of our life. This can be an encouraging thought, because there are things NOT in our lives now that we wish were. And just like our current habits didn’t exist at one point, so these things are rare or non-existent now. But that can change. If it changed before for things we do now, it can change again for things we want to do. Habits start in the heart and are willed into our being.

The spiritual disciplines (such as prayer, the reading of the Word, memorizing Scripture, fasting, service, silence, solitude, submission, abstinence,…) are a kind of habit, designed to strengthen the soul in service to Christ. These practices promote spiritual growth in any person who believes in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are habits of devotion that have been practiced by Christians since biblical times. Dallas Willard, in The Spirit of the Disciplines wrote…

“Discipline works by indirection. A discipline is something we can do that enables us to do what we haven’t yet been able to do by our own direct effort. Trying is not enough. (“Don’t try — train!” is a way to paraphrase 1 Tim. 4:7.) Our training is connecting us with a power much greater than our own — the Spirit of God that raised Jesus Christ from the dead!

So if you can’t break the power of an addiction to alcohol or pornography one step to get free (in addition to obvious measures like 12 Step Recovery and psychotherapy) might be to fast from food. With practice you can experience the reality that fasting is feasting: even though you’re not eating you’re sustained in the joy and peace of God by meditating on Scripture and praying. If you can get past headaches and grumpiness when fasting and learn to be sweet and strong without getting the food you need then you can apply this to resisting your compulsive behavior.

The other way discipline works is because we’re developing new and healthy habits. You can’t be good at golf without developing a number of specific habits in your body — there are seemingly a hundred aspects to a good golf swing! We can’t even drive our cars safely without habits. Without thinking about it we notice conditions on the road and break when needed.

The spiritual life works the same way. We need bodily habits that engage our mind and heart with God. We want to get into a position in our daily lives where we find ourselves meditating on Scripture, praying, or blessing the one who curses us without even having intended to do so. Using an intelligently designed course of disciplines over time will do that.”

            Why try? Well, that’s the wrong question. The question is, “Why train?” Habits change, or are added, through training, which feels hard at the time. But the goal is always worth it. Just ask any athlete, musician, artist, carpenter, or anyone who develops a skill. What they do looks so natural and easy… until you try it yourself. Then you appreciate all the hard work of training that has led them to the joy of practicing or performing that skill which they make look so effortless. But just ask them if they got to that point or place without effort. Many desirable ends come through the means of discipline and habit.

            May the Lord help us to know the joy of change and of seeing habits that honor Him become the joys of our lives and one of the ways He forms us into the likeness of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) ¹  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. ²  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

PRAYER:  Lord, when I face the next “I can’t” in my life, I will wait upon you and trust in you. You will help me and will seek you. Thank you.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

A Re-Molded Heart and Mind

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) ¹  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. ²  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

            On October 29, 2014, CNN reported… http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/29/us/pumpkinstein-scary-pumpkins/... - There are heads growing on Tony Dighera's farm, and they're not made of lettuce. They're called "pumpkinsteins," and they look a lot like the Frankenstein creature that actor Boris Karloff made famous more than 80 years ago.

            "Nobody's ever seen anything like it, ever," said Dighera of his creepy creations.

            "It's so new, and it's so unique that demand has been off the charts," Dighera said.

Dighera, who opened his Cinagro Farms eight years ago, says he was inspired after seeing cube-shaped watermelons grown in Japan. He was successful in creating not only edible, box-shaped watermelons at his Fillmore, California, organic farm, but heart-shaped melons as well. He then made the leap to try to create a unique-looking pumpkin -- a four-year process that is only proving fruitful this year. The pumpkinstein was the result of four years of trial and error.

            "A lot of people thought I was nuts. When I first started doing this I think every farmer in the world looked at me like I was a complete lunatic."

Dighera carefully builds a strong mold that encases the pumpkin yet permits air to reach the growing gourd inside. The pumpkin variety has to be just right. They can't be too big or they'll burst from the molds. Too small and the pumpkins won't fill the molds. Dighera still recalls the first time they squeezed that pumpkin into the mold and it worked. Out came a re-formed (or should we say "de-formed") pumpkin that looked like Frankenstein's head.

Dighera doesn't know whether he has a thriving pumpkinstein until he removes the nuts and bolts from the mold and successfully removes the pumpkin. But don't expect pumpkinsteins to boot jack-o'-lanterns off the porch completely. They're not cheap. It costs 100 bucks to squeeze those pumpkins into a mold and reshape them into a monster.

In Romans 12:2 the Apostle Paul tells the followers of Jesus to “not conform any longer to the pattern of this world”. J.B. Phillips’ paraphrase (The New Testament in Modern English) of this phrase is vivid: “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold”. The world around us relentlessly puts pressure on us. It doesn’t make distinctions between the pagan and the Christian – the unbeliever and the believer. It just seeks to shape our thinking, our choices, our words, and our actions, whoever we are. It wants to run the show. And the closer a man is to Christ, the more sharply he feels the clamps of worldly thinking and ways as they try to latch on to him. The world cries steadily, “Take my shape. Fit yourself to me. Do what I do. Be like me. That will bring you happiness and contentment.” But nothing could be further from the truth.

            There is only one thing that can protect the follower of Jesus from such pressure from without to conform: a greater pressure within that refuses to be shaped. Where can a Christian find this? The next thing Paul says is, “but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.” Or, as the NIV puts it, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” The mind is renewed, or re-molded, by the Word of God. It has power to not only withstand the pressure from the world, but to overcome it. The Holy Spirit – God Himself with us – takes the Word of God and applies it to our lives, shielding and protecting us from the world’s onslaught to make us conform. God’s Word has power to conform us to Jesus Himself. Through the Word and by His grace Jesus is shaping us into a new creation that reflects His love and grace. Christlikeness is a great gift and joy of our salvation and new life in Christ. How has Christ been shaping you lately, and in what ways has He been using His Word in the process?

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.

Hebrews 4:12 (NLT)  For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.

PRAYER:  Lord, let me find in your Word all my sufficiency for life that honors and pleases you, and overcomes the world.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

The Apple of Your Eye

Psalm 17:6-8 (NIV) ⁶  I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer. ⁷  Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. ⁸  Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

            My dad took me with him one day to pick apples. I was probably 10-12 years old and loved doing things like this with him. I don’t remember the name or location of the orchard, but it was September in Maine and the trees would be full of beautiful apples just waiting to be snatched and put in our baskets. I’ve always loved apples and was careful to find only the biggest ones I could. On this particular day I came across a tree and saw it in the branches: the largest apple I had ever laid my eyes upon. I thought it must be the biggest apple that had ever grown in the history of the world. Compared to it all other apples were just feeble imitations. The problem was – it was out of my reach. Did I dare to leave the tree to get something to help me get to it? No way. If I did that some clown who didn’t really appreciate it would come and steal “my” apple, as it quickly came to be thought of. I couldn’t reach it from the ground. There was only one thing to do: climb the tree and venture out far enough on the branch to get a hand on it and capture the trophy. So I climbed into the tree. So far, so good. I began my way out the branch. So far, so good. But the branch began to get a little thin. Did I dare keep going? The branch might break and send me tumbling down to the ground. But the worst possibility was that my special apple might be bruised and damaged. We couldn’t have that. J..u..s..t.. a little further. One more little stretch. Finally I got my hand underneath it. It was such a big apple that all it needed was a little wiggle and it broke free. It was mine forever. Boy, was I proud. I couldn’t wait to show it off to all my family and friends – the biggest apple ever. During the ride home in the back seat I couldn’t keep my eyes off of it – sitting on the top of a basket of apples surrounded by several other bushel baskets of apples. Then I began to feel hungry. And – of the hundreds of apples in the back of the station wagon – I could have eaten any one (or two) of them. Instead – and you know I know you know what happened. I ate the prize. I devoured the “evidence”. So it became little more than a fish story about the “big one” that got away. Words don’t do justice, and only seeing is believing. Now there was nothing left to be seen and my words just weren’t convincing enough to get anyone to believe that this was the biggest apple ever in the whole wide world.

            The psalmist asks the Lord to keep him as “the apple of your eye”. What does this common phrase even mean? I feel like my grandson is the apple of my eye. But what does that really mean? In a Wikipedia article this phrase is described as meaning “something or someone that one cherishes above all”. Its meaning derives from an expression signifying the pupil of the eye, one of the most sensitive parts of the body. For example, one can tolerate an eyelash on the white of his eye, but let it barely touch the pupil, and everything else is of secondary importance. God’s people, Israel, are described as being the apple of His eye: found, shielded, cared for and guarded by Him (Deuteronomy 32:10). Young men are called to make their parents’ teachings and guidance the apple of their eye (Proverbs 7:1-2).

            The word “pupil” – for the aperture of the eye – comes from the Latin pupilla, meaning “little doll”. It refers to the tiny reflection one sees of oneself when looking into another person’s eyes. If you can see this reflection, then you know that you are the focus of the other. They have you “in their sights”. As an apple might be the treasured sight of a little boy, you and I are the treasured sight of the Lord. His eyes are upon us and we are the objects of His love and grace. If we could look into His eyes, we would see our reflection as the “apple” of His eye. To be the apple of God’s eye is an amazing thought to consider. That He would have even the time or inclination to pay any attention to me is a great wonder. But to be treasured by Him in my creatureliness and sinfulness speaks volumes about what Christ has done for me and the difference the Gospel makes – Jesus’ righteousness in me in exchange for my sin on Him. The children of Abraham longed for the blessing of God turning His face toward them and looking upon them. This was a sure sign of His favor. In Christ every believer has the assurance of God’s favor and blessing. Thank You, Lord Jesus.

Deuteronomy 32:9-10 (NIV) ⁹  For the LORD's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. ¹⁰  In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye,

Proverbs 7:1-2 (NIV) ¹  My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you. ²  Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV) ²⁴  "' "The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵  the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶  the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."'

PRAYER:  Father, what a notion that I – or my family or church – are the apple of your eye. Who are we that you are even mindful of us? Yet in Christ you turn your face toward us and bless us so abundantly. Thank you for such favor. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Change Please?

Romans 12:1-2 (NIV) ¹  Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. ²  Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.

            Change is happening all around, and change is happening in me. Change is inevitable and change is constant. We resist it, fear it, try to ignore it, and let it annoy us, but it does not go away. In many ways change is very good. I like using a flush toilet and a hot shower as much as the next person. But change is not necessarily always good. We fear it will ruin things in our lives… our happiness, and sometimes it does. Not all change is welcome. The pace of change can be hard on us. The explosion of knowledge and technology in the last 100 years has brought many exciting things into everyday life, but they often come with a cost (impacting the environment, relationships, lifestyles, culture, etc. in negative ways). The upcoming graduating high school class of 2017 will, for the most part, have been born just before the new millennium began (around 1999). They do not have personal knowledge of a pre-smartphone, pre-bluetooth, pre-iPad, pre-YouTube, pre-Facebook, pre-Wi-Fi, pre-thumb drive, pre-Amazon.com, pre-flat screen HDMI TV, pre-Google, pre-911, pre-success-of-the-Boston-Red-Sox, pre-texting, pre-reality TV, pre-Starbucks, pre-Twitter, pre-Netflix, pre-Taylor Swift/Kardashian/The Avengers, pre-easy-access-to-pornography, pre-same-sex-marriage, pre-selfie, pre-_____ world. I’m sure you can fill in the blank with many other trends and changes. Some of these may have affected you little, while others have deeply impacted how you live and think.

            That’s what change does: It impacts how you live and think. It moves you either to come out of your pre-conceptions and “change with the times” or to reaffirm your convictions while other consider you outdated or a relic from days gone by. One thing is sure: when it comes to change you cannot remain neutral. This is also true spiritually. God has given us His Word, among other reasons, to change us… in the deepest places of our lives. The Holy Spirit is at work in us when we come to the Scriptures to convict and convince us into thinking and action that is continually being shaped into the ways of God and the mind of Christ. While this often brings us through hard change, God’s work in us – including in the realm of change – is always good.

            Having become 60 years old in 2016, I find myself wanting and needing to sort through the unchanging purposes, plans, precepts, and principles that come from God and the cultural and societal changes that confront (and sometimes assault) me daily. How can I be relevant without compromise? How do I communicate the absolute, unchanging truth of the things of God to younger generations (in my family, church, and community) without losing sight of love and grace or without alienating my audience? It’s a good thing that the Spirit of God has great power to do in people’s hearts and minds what I cannot do. Now, I am not naïve, nor do I want to be self-centered. The position I am in, and the questions I am asking, and the changes I am facing are not unique in any way. Every generation of the followers of Christ has had to live and minister through times of change. Perhaps we could say that that is one thing that hasn’t changed. And the Word of God still stands. The Gospel of Jesus Christ still saves. The Church still has the Holy Spirit to fill her and help her. People still want (and need) to know God. God’s ways still work. And the future – tomorrow or ten-thousand years from now – is still secure in the hands of our Lord. What an exciting time it is to be a Christian and to be a part of God’s kingdom work!

At our recent sunrise service I encouraged people to add up their lives by the number of days they have lived. If God’s mercies are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3), then every day of my life has brought a change – for the good – in God’s hands-on loving care of me. Every reason for a new mercy has a changing dimension to it. So, in my case, I have had (as of this writing) 22,132 days of new mercies in my life. And tomorrow will add more. God is so amazingly good.

Whatever the change is… however it impacts our lives… let’s give it to God and watch what He is doing with praise and even thanksgiving. When we know He is in charge, we can boldly say, “Bring it on!” Amen!

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.

Isaiah 46:9-10 (NIV) ⁹  Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. ¹⁰  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.

Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV) ²²  Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. ²³  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Revelation 1:8 (NIV)  "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

PRAYER:  Father, with you there is no change. There is nothing new in all your creation. Jesus, you are Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I place my experience of change in this world into your strong hand and I make it subject to your will and purpose for me. May I always trust you. Then I will know that no change can bring me harm. I walk confidently with you. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Making Plans

James 4:13-16 (NIV)   ¹³  Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." ¹⁴  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵  Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." ¹⁶  As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

            One of the things we will be doing at our upcoming Leader Retreat is looking forward at the future. We will do this in the short term (the 2016-17 school year) and the long term (next 2-5 years). We will be fairly detailed in the short term plan and a bit broader in the long term as we think and pray about the direction(s) the Lord wants our church to go. Organizationally, we will be doing things that many organizations do as they evaluate their health and future. Spiritually we will be placing it all in the hands of the Lord.

            As individuals we often set goals for life. We have dreams. We have hopes. We make plans. The further we are from the future we are considering, the “looser” grip we can have on plans. So many things can change in life, and the plans we do make need continual adjustment. Making plans for a nearer future (usually measured in weeks and months) helps to sharpen goals for any number of things we would like to accomplish. And then there are day-to-day plans that guide our lives. Although I have lots of technology in my life, a simple, small yellow pad works best for me. On this pad I make lists, especially related to work matters that need my attention. These lists are quite helpful in reminding me of what I need to remember. I know this method isn’t for everyone, but it works well for me.

            All of these things – the stuff and the methods we use to organize our lives and (in the case of our church) our common ministry and life together – are all well and good. They help us get things done, hopefully efficiently and effectively. Yet I always try to keep in mind that all of my plans, from the smallest to the greatest, are always 100% in the Lord’s hands. Throughout history men and women have had many great intentions and grand plans for their lives, families, and even nations… only to see them go completely awry… or, sadly, never to see them at all due to arrival of the end of their lives. The proud man believes his future is in his own hands. The humble man rests in the Lord and places his future in His hands. The Scriptures are full of occasions when man’s way and the Lord’s way were very different. Unregenerate man is oblivious to the Lord. His great failure is to not recognize even the existence of God, let alone submit his future to the will of a personal God who is Lord of all. But God’s people must also use care… that we do not presume upon the will of our Lord. I believe it is wise to make plans, but unwise to not take the Lord into consideration when making them. Do our plans in life take us out of God’s will (not allowing for time with the Lord, study of the Word, or gathering with our fellow believers, for example)? Should we not question such plans and be careful to be discerning about leaving the Lord out of our plans? Do we make plans without prayer or an attitude of submitting ourselves and our plans to God’s gracious will? Should we not give more care to avoid presumption? James reminds us that we don’t actually know what tomorrow will bring. All the plans in the world won’t change God’s will for tomorrow. He graciously gives wisdom to help us prepare for the future, but His wisdom reminds us that that future is not in our control. It is in His.

            May God be gracious to us, and teach and lead us to always make our plans with hearts that are fully surrendered to Him. Amen!

Luke 12:16-21 (NIV) ¹⁶  And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷  He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' ¹⁸  "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹  And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' ²⁰  "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' ²¹  "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)  Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.

Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)  Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV) ⁵  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶  in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

PRAYER:  Father, tomorrow belongs to you alone. Everything I plan, I make subject to your will, your wisdom, and your glory. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Built by the Master

John 14:1-3 (NIV) ¹  "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. ²  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

            It would be an understatement to say that Rio de Janeiro was unprepared for the Summer Olympics to begin. Consider this July 28^th report in the Washington Post…

      “The Summer Olympics are just days from opening, and organizers have been forced to mount a ‘massive operation’ to fix a deluge of plumbing and electricity problems at the Athletes' Village in Rio.

It was the latest upset for an Olympics taking place amid a severe economic recession, a Zika epidemic, the impeachment process of suspended president Dilma Rousseff and a spike in crime in Rio state — which is so broke it needed a government bailout to pay police salaries in arrears.

      The latest crisis began on Sunday, when the Australian team said its building in the Athletes' Village was uninhabitable because of problems with plumbing and electricity… Ilha Pura supplied technical teams to help finish the work, the spokeswoman said, and its priority was to offer athletes ‘the best hospitality infrastructure.’ That was not what the Australian team found when it conducted a “stress test” of the apartments on Saturday — turning on toilets and taps on several floors at the same time. ‘The system failed. Water came down walls, there was a strong smell of gas in some apartments and there was 'shorting' in the electrical wiring,’ delegation chief Kitty Chiller said in a statement. ‘In our mind, our building is not habitable,’ she later told reporters.

      Now, with those issues resolved, the Australians have moved in. But other teams have complained about conditions in many of their apartments. The Argentine committee said that two of the five floors of its building were uninhabitable, and it had to rent apartments nearby for some of its technical staff. The Belarus Olympic committee published photos of dirty windows and blocked drains on its official page. Egyptian athletes had no hot water and their toilets did not flush, while a Kenyan wrote "Please fix my toilet" on a notice board in the Olympic Village.

      A squad of 600 plumbers and electricians has been scrambling to repair everything.”

            What do you suppose “conditions” will be like in the place that Jesus is preparing for those who love Him? Paul, when writing about Gospel hope, tells us (1 Corinthians 2:9 - KJV)  “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

            Though what the Scriptures tell us of heaven is somewhat limited, there is enough to encourage us of its beauty, glory, and perfection. It will be greater than the greatest of human imaginings. But even so, heaven is not – in itself – the object of our desires and the hope of our hearts. In all of its resplendence and magnificence, it will be as nothing in comparison to the presence of Jesus Himself. Whatever Jesus is making our eternal abode to be, we do not have to worry or be troubled about it. As Fanny Crosby’s All the Way My Savior Leads Me says, “Jesus doeth all things well.” I always found it interesting that Jesus, who grew up the son of a carpenter, is the one preparing a place for us in heaven. I think no matter what “materials” will be in use in heaven, I will trust in the skills and wisdom of my Lord to prepare something truly wonderful. And when I think, “Why should He do so for me?”… I rejoice in the glorious Gospel of grace and say, “Thank You, Lord!”

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NIV)  Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

Hebrews 11:8-10 (NIV) ⁸  By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. ⁹  By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰  For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

1 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV) ³  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴  and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you,

Revelation 21:1-4 (NIV) ¹  Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

PRAYER:  Father, thank you that Jesus does all things well, including preparing eternity for me. In His mighty name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott