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Learning to give

When my kids were little, I had an epiphany. There were many moms that I knew who were skeptical of Christmas and over-giving to their children. It is an honest and reasonable concern. Our society is blessed with an abundance of ‘stuff.’ It can feel excessive. Particularly when comparing it to the poverty we see in other parts of the world. Many people I knew were giving gifts of donations to other causes, or even asking others to donate in their child’s name. I didn’t like this and I couldn’t put my finger on the reason why.

We never spent a lot at Christmas. Our financial situation always ensured that we were unable to ‘spoil’ our children. I did, however, get great joy in selecting gifts I thought they would enjoy. I planned ahead to make our small budget go as far as possible. Some years I couldn’t sleep on Christmas eve, I was so excited to see how they would react.

Our children were always excited and happy with their gifts. We shared great joy as a family. It was after one of these mornings that the reason I didn’t like the over reaction to our materialism. We need to learn the joy of receiving before we can learn the joy of giving. If I had not experienced the joy of a perfect gift, then I wouldn’t enjoy the act of giving to my own children. I never felt any guilt in wanting to make my children happy. And I certainly didn’t want them to feel bad because they received something they would enjoy.

Matthew 7: 11 – 12 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,
for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

God goes with me

I had a hard week. It seems the older I get the more I resent the time change. I resent it in the fall, but it’s easier to take. In the spring it tosses my whole world around. This year was the worst. Likely because of the schedule I’m keeping, I felt it more this year.

All week I felt like I was typing with my fingers in the wrong space. oy yitmrd piy ;olr yjod/ – oops, there, now my fingers are in the right spot.

It can also feel like this when I forget that God is close to me. When I feel like I have to fight the battle on my own, I forget God is with me. Something is just not right. Everything is slightly off. Like a hungry tired child I can’t even figure out what is wrong.

Yesterday, I took several naps and had a really good night sleep. That seems to have fixed most of the issue I was having with the time change.

Today, I am reading my Bible – that should help remind me that I am not alone. Not ever!

Joshua 1:9 ” Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Walk humbly

What does it mean to be humble?

I saw a quote today, it went something like (I’m paraphrasing): Being humble is not about being as important as we can be, but trying to change the lives of others.

I have issues with this. First, no one ever at any time has ever described being humble as trying to be as important as you can be. That is the opposite of humility. Why that would factor into the description, is a mystery to me. Perhaps they were using it to explain by showing the opposite? If so, I still don’t get it. Trying to change the lives of others is not exactly the opposite of being important, nor is it humility.

Why do we think we can change others? Why do we think we should change others? Is this not arrogant in its motivation?

Perhaps humility is understanding that we can learn from others. Or maybe that others were also made in the image of God. Or even learning to love our enemies, simply because Jesus said to.

This quotation bothered me. Maybe if we stopped agitating for change and just served simply and honesty. Maybe if we acknowledge God’s supremacy, His holiness, His greatness, we might be struck by our own smallness and insignificance. Once we feel that, then we can grapple with the fact that He still loves us. That is the source of humility. That is the posture where we learn to be humble.

John 3: 16 – 18 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Pursue truth

These are confusing times. Nothing seems right. Families are fractured. Information abounds and so does pure propaganda. As Churchill said, “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”

What we are dealing with is a war of worldview. Issues of a worldly nature have occupied the part of our thinking that was devoted, in the past, to religious thinking. Theology has been supplanted by politics, philosophy, environmental and health concerns. When this happens it doesn’t elevate these issues to the status of the spiritual part of our minds, but rather it removes our measuring stick. We no longer have a moral compass by which to judge all other issues of life.

I see two reactions to this right now; rabid support of the new progressive thinking or violent reaction against. One pushes harder and faster. The other is looking wildly for answers.

We need to be careful. We need to step back from both sides and reclaim our measuring stick. READ YOUR BIBLE. Focus on the bible. Don’t tell the bible what to say. Don’t come to the bible to prove your side or disprove your enemy. Be open. Be humble before God. Recognize that truth lives outside you, that it is owned entirely by God.

Jeremiah 23: 16 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.
They keep saying to those who despise me, ‘The Lord says: You will have peace.’
And to all who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say,
‘No harm will come to you.’
But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word?
See, the storm of the Lord will burst out in wrath, a whirlwind swirling down on the heads of the wicked. The anger of the Lord will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart.
In days to come you will understand it clearly.
I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.
But if they had stood in my council, they would have proclaimed my words to my people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.
“Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away?
Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord.
“Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.

The wilderness

Moses ran to the wilderness. It was in this self-imposed exile that he prepared for his great work. He then led the people of Israel through the wilderness for many years on their journey to their promised land and the work of building a nation.

Elijah also prepared in the dessert for his great mission. After the great triumph over the prophets of Baal he ran back to the wilderness; afraid, alone and seeking comfort from God.

Even Nebuchadnezzar was sent out into the wilderness to live like a beast. Learning in his madness of his place before God.

John the baptist was a man of the fields. Living off of honey and locusts, staying in the wilderness and speaking to all that would seek him out.

Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness where he also prepared for the great work of his life. Fasting, praying and facing temptations, when he emerged he was fully ready to start the great work of returning God’s people to His care.

It feels to me like we are currently in the wilderness. I am not sure how long it will last, I am not sure what will happen next. Even the best guesses are at this point just guesses, time will tell what occurs next. But I do feel deep in my bones that we are being prepared for a great change.

We need to look at this wilderness and remember that we are being prepared for what comes next. Let us spend less time (and I’m looking squarely at myself here) worrying about what is to come, and focus on what we can gain and learn from this period. Accept the wilderness and grow. We need it to face tomorrow.

Holiness of God

It is easy to feel discouraged. The world whispers to us; you don’t have enough, you aren’t enough, you are a failure. We hear the whispers. We see it in the mirror when that pair of pants no longer fits. We see it in the chair we cover with a blanket to hide the rip. We see it in the happiness of others when we are mourning. We are not enough.

When we feel this way its easy to feel unloved and defeated. But, we are seeing ourselves through the eyes of the world. We are making what we could achieve, what we could be, an idol. We are constructing an idea of “success” crafted with the tools of man.

God sees us through His eyes, not the eyes of the world. He values our heart and our soul. He sees what the world cannot. The rip in the chair is invisible to Him. Why? Because it’s truly irrelevant, and He knows that. He alone has the power to say to a mountain ‘move’ and it moves. He alone can breathe the breath of life into a stone.

Why do we satisfy ourselves with a vision created by man? Why do we languish in the goals and fears of men? We have access to the creator of all!

Take a moment, sit and reflect on His greatness. Be still and silent before him.

Habakkuk 2: 18-20 “Of what value is an idol carved by a craftsman? Or an image that teaches lies? For the one who makes it trusts in his own creation; he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give guidance? It is covered with gold and silver; there is no breath in it.” The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.

The light of the world

The sky showing the first signs of the rising sun in the east. The glowing red and orange merging with the dark of the night sky. The first blush of light. The large erect towers of the city aglow in a the gentle orange reflection. Their own internal lights masked and conquered by the vibrant glow of the sun. All this before the sun has even crested the horizon.

The great light of the sun more powerful than any light man can create. In a dark space even a candle will cast a light, like a soft reminder of the great light. But in the middle of the day with the sun blazing in the room the candle goes unnoticed. It’s use simply a waste of materials and energy.

Every morning the light returns. The sun rises. Let this give you courage to face whatever trouble or fear that lays in your way.

Psalm 27: 1 The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?

The last stand

How do we know we are in the middle of a spiritual battle? A battle for the soul of the world?

Jesus explained to His apostles what it would look like for them. He knew what was coming in the first days for His apostles and their ministry.

Matthew 10: 16-23 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

It can feel like this now; Families divided, friends no longer speaking, neighbours distrusting neighbours. This is how we know. This is a battle between good and evil.

For those who don’t know what side to pick, study your Bible. The truth will set you FREE.

The banquet will go on

The great man planned a feast. The food was ordered and prepared. The tables and chairs assembled. The hall rented. The invitations sent. Everything ready to go.

But, the people invited chose not to come. The great feast looked to be failure. Did the banquet get canceled? No.

The reason for the feast was not the people who had been invited. The great man sent his servants out to bring people in. The feast will go on.

God’s plan is supreme. His celebrations will be had, even if those offered invitations refuse. He will go find others. Blessed are those who hear his call and come to his banquet. Be ready. Be willing. Come when God calls you.

Luke 14: 23-24 “Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you,
not one of those who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”

The power of listening

Some times we forget.

When our eyes are drawn up, legitimately, to the bigger problems we focus on the ills of the world. This is good to do, but we also need to take a breath and remember the more personal side. We need to remember not to live our lives only within the scope of the BIG picture. There is a small scale too.

The best way to do this is to shut off the phone. To turn off the TV. To close the laptop.

Go for a walk. Talk to your neighbour. Ask them how they are doing and stay to listen. Connect personally! Call that friend you haven’t talked to in ages. Ask them questions, listen to them.

The personal is important, but it’s less about seeing and knowing and far more about listening.

Listening taps into the divine. When we pray, God listens. When we struggle, God hears. Be the image of God in the world. Listen to others. Don’t judge or expect them to mirror you and your views. Just listen. Learn to be gracious by suspending your thoughts and allowing space for them.

We can bridge the gap if we start to listen.

Psalm 18: 6 In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.