Hey Look What I Found!

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he problem with basements is that they become the repositories for all the things we no longer use but don’t have the heart to discard.  Does this sound familiar to any of you?  How many of you out there have waded through the sea of endless boxes and containers in your basements looking for something you just had to have?  How many of you vowed never to “junk up” your basements only to break that promise within a week after making it?  How many of you have stored items in your basement, fully intending to throw them out within a couple of days and then never got around to that task?

Of course, there is another side to this story.  There are those times when you find a hidden treasure buried in your basement.  You might be looking for something else when you come across one of your long-lost possessions that you had totally forgotten.  When you find it, you forget your original reason for visiting the basement and focus all your attention on your new-found treasure.  It might be a piece of clothing, an old toy, a card, or a piece of jewelry discarded many years ago.  However, when you locate it, wonderful memories flood your mind and a sense of excitement and happiness fills your heart.

I remember having such an experience in the fall of 1990.  My brother and I purchased an old office building in town and we spent 18 months renovating it.  Finally, the day came for us to move from our parents’ home over to our house.  We were only four or five blocks away from them but it seemed to be much further.  After moving the essential items and installing them in our new home, we had to address the matter of the basement.  It took several trips but finally, we moved all our important stuff from mom and dad’s and stored it in our own basement.

One afternoon, I was in the basement looking for something when I spied a small, black ring box.  I picked it up and recognized it as the box that held my college ring when it arrived.  I hadn’t seen that box in years and never thought it would end up in my basement.  When I opened it, however, I received a wonderful surprise. There, inside that box, was my high school class ring.  Several years earlier, I had misplaced that ring and had given up all hope of finding it.  Now, there it was, in beautiful condition, looking just like it did the last time I saw it.

I put the ring on my finger, dropped the box, ran upstairs, and made several phone calls.  I called my mom, I called my grandmother, I called one of my aunts, and I even called my dad at work to tell him I had found my ring.  They probably thought I had lost my mind, but I was so happy and I wanted everyone to know I found that ring.  I was so ecstatic and I wanted to share that exuberance with everyone around me.  Although it was just a ring, it was very important and precious to me.  Finding it again was one of the most wonderful things in the world.

Jesus told several stories that stressed the happiness that accompanies finding something that was lost.  However, Jesus’s stories weren’t concerned with material things.  Instead, they were concerned men’s souls and the happiness that accompanies someone accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior.  Three of these stories can be found in Luke 15 and involve the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. 

It is the second parable, the parable of the lost coin that is the focus of our attention today.  The story is very short and matter-of-fact but its implication and truth have far-reaching ramifications for us today.  The story is recorded in Luke 15:8-9, "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.”

Please take notice of that last line in the verse.  Jesus said the woman called her friends and neighbors and invited them to a celebration all because she found her lost coin. She was happy and she wanted those around her, her family and friends, to share in her happiness. Her excitement and joy was such that she couldn’t contain it and she shared it with those around her.  This is the same thing that happens when someone accepts Jesus as the savior and the Lord of their lives.  Just after this passage of scripture, Jesus says that there is more excitement over one soul who is saved than over all those who do not need to repent.  The angels in Heaven shout and are happy that another one of God’s children has been found and has come home.  They just can’t keep quiet about it.

I remember that day in my basement like it was yesterday.  That ring is now sitting on my dresser as a constant reminder of how wonderful it is to find the things that were lost and to restore them to their proper place.  This is exactly God’s perspective when someone accepts Jesus and is saved from their sins.  God fills Heaven with shouting, and laughter, and joy because another one has found the way home.  God knows what it’s like to find something that has been lost for many years.  He felt the same about me when I accepted Jesus and he felt the same about you when you became a Christian.  The portals of Heaven rang with the laughter of angels as you accepted Jesus.

Today, the sounds of rejoicing still echo through the streets of Heaven.  Have the angels shouted and rejoiced over you?  Have you experienced the true joy that comes with accepting Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord?  If not or if you know someone who hasn’t, won’t you share the good news of God’s redeeming love and salvation with them today?  The party is just beginning!

Instant Mashed Potatoes

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unday afternoons were always a wonderful time at our house.  After church we would rush home, change clothes, and assemble in the kitchen for Sunday dinner.  Since I grew up in the southern part of the United States, dinner was always the twelve o’clock meal while the evening meal was, and still is, referred to as supper.  Some Sundays, instead of going home for dinner, we would go to grandma and grandpa’s and eat with them.  Our whole family would go and I enjoyed the food, the conversation, and the laughter. 

I always loved going to grandma’s house for Sunday dinner.  Usually, she would have steak and gravy, green beans, corn, fresh biscuits, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, and mashed potatoes.  No matter what else she served, there was always a bowl of mashed potatoes on her menu.  My brother loved grandma’s potatoes and would usually eat more than his share.  Every time we would go, he would expect her to have mashed potatoes and he was never disappointed.

Grandma had a secret recipe for her mashed potatoes; they were an instant brand.  Instead of having to wrestle with cooking the potatoes, peeling them, and mashing them, all she had to do was boil water and add the potato flakes.  In a few short moments, we had mashed potatoes and if we ran out, it took only a few moments to replenish the supply.  My brother often referred to her as instant grandma!  He thought it was neat the way she could just whip up potatoes on demand, even if we dropped in unexpectedly.

I have often thought about those potatoes and the wonderful times we had as a family around the dinner table.  Of all the wonderful things to eat, the potatoes stand out in my mind as I write this Tidbit.  They represent the fashion in which most of us live our lives today.  We have grown accustomed to instant gratification in our society.  We want to eat, so, instead of preparing a meal, we order out or get fast food. We get impatient with our computers or with the fax machine if they take more than one minute to download our information and when we ask a question we expect an immediate response.

It should come as no surprise, then, that we live our spiritual lives with the same expectations.  We have a Polaroid mentality when it comes to our Heavenly Father.  We put in a request and, in sixty seconds, we expect to have a fully developed plan of action with nothing negative thrown in.  Our prayer life resembles very closely the process of making instant mashed potatoes.  We pray real hard for a few minutes, bringing the spiritual water to the boiling point, and then we expect God to throw in a pre-measured answer, ready for consumption in five minutes.

However, the Scriptures don’t reveal this to be the normal way that God’s people relate to him.  Yes, God does answer prayer instantaneously, but God is far more interested in relating to us, in talking to us, in communicating with us, than he is with just handing us a quick answer.  The prophet Habakkuk, had learned this lesson.  After praying to God, asking him some very straightforward and difficult questions, Habakkuk waited on God’s answer.  Look at his words as recorded in Habakkuk, 2:1: “I will climb up into my watchtower now and wait to see what the Lord will say to me and how he will answer my complaint.”

After praying to God, Habakkuk didn’t expect overnight delivery of God’s answer to his prayer.  Instead, after praying, after doing all he could do, after making his request known, Habakkuk climbed up into the watchtower to wait for an answer.  It is very interesting that he went to the tower.  The watchtower was the place for standing guard, for being on the lookout for an attack or for a messenger delivering a dispatch.  Habakkuk’s visit to the watchtower was an indication of his faith that God would answer his request.  He went to the tower to watch!

So often, we bring our requests to God and expect Him to open heaven and parachute an answer right to us.  We need to understand that the purpose of prayer is not to constantly bring our wish lists to God and tell him what we want.  Instead, it is the means by which we talk to him and he talks to us.  It is in prayer that we can tell God what’s on our minds and our hearts.  It is in prayer that he can communicate his word to us and teach us the things we need to know in order to deepen our relationship with him.  In the watchtower, there is time to think, to reflect, to read God’s word, to be still and to know that he is God.  So, are you in the watchtower today or are you in the kitchen waiting for the water to boil?

Sow What?

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rom September of 1983 through June of 1984, I lived and studied in the city of Montpellier, located in southern France about three hours east of the Spanish border.  My college strongly encouraged its language majors to study abroad in order to master the language and to understand better the culture and the customs of the people in other countries.  

My time abroad provided many opportunities to see things I might not other wise have seen and to experience life in a completely different way.  I also learned many lessons from the people I encountered on a day-to-day basis in Montpellier.  I became well acquainted with several pastry shop owners as well as with the man who delivered the mail and the proprietors of several small cafes in the neighborhood.  All of these people played an integral role in my understanding of French culture and daily living.

However, one of the best experiences I had throughout the year was my weekly visit to the open air market.  Although France is a modern country, some customs still linger.  Visiting the market on a daily basis is one of them.  Due to my study schedule, I could only visit the market on Saturday mornings.  In order to have the best selection of items, I had to arrive early, just as the market opened.  The same vendors faithfully opened their booths and sold everything from fresh flowers to fresh spices.  Everywhere, you could hear merchants calling out prices and advertisements for their goods.  The marketplace filled with people shopping for the perfect ingredients to prepare a scrumptious meal.

In the middle of the market place, occupying a strategic corner, was a lady dressed completely in black.  Every day she came to market, and every day she stood in the same place.  Instead of a variety of items, this woman sold only one thing, garlic!  Each morning, she opened her stand and instantly began calling out to the crowd to come buy her garlic.  "My garlic is fresh and beautiful," she would cry out.  Her voice would carry over the entire place and could be heard by everyone.  It would not have been market without her.  Who knows how many people were touched by this woman's garlic?  How many meals was she part of?  Just how far did her influence go?  All she did was sell garlic, not very important by the world's standards but very important if you are preparing a French meal.

The book of Mark records a similar story.  In one of his most famous parables, Jesus talks about the importance of being faithful to our calling.  In Mark 4:3, Jesus says, “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow."  Most of us will recognize this as the opening line of the parable of the soils.  In this parable Jesus describes the different kinds of soil on which seed falls.  According to the kind of soil, the seed either survives, is carried away, starts to grow but withers, or never takes root.  Indeed, the thrust of the parable addresses the responsibility of the individual believer to prepare his or her heart to receive the seed of God's word.

But there is also something else in this parable, I believe, which merits attention.  Notice how Jesus begins his parable.  The sower went out to sow!  That is all he did.  His job was to sow the seed, to make sure it had every opportunity to take root and produce a crop.  This farmer would have broadcast the seed, throwing it by the handful in every direction to ensure a crop. He would sow a large amount of seed, knowing that some of it would never produce.  However, because he believed that a crop would be produced, he sowed his seed.

This farmer didn't have the latest technological marvel to ensure all his seed would yield a harvest.  He just sowed his seed.  He had no guarantee that any of the seed would mature; but he sowed his seed.  He did not count the number of seeds he had and calculate an exact amount of return for his labor.  He just sowed his seed.  This farmer had no assurance of financial gain from this crop.  He just sowed his seed.  Lastly, he could not know how many people, if any, would benefit from his actions that day.  Still, he sowed his seed.

Is there a better picture of faithfulness than this farmer?  Without exact figures, without an economic forecast, without any soil analysis, without any guarantee of success, this farmer just did what he knew to do, sow seed.  When Jesus calls us to work along side him, he calls us to sow seed.  Like this farmer, we are to sow the seed of God's word in every direction.  We are to use all our strength and industry to plant his word in the fields around us, trusting and believing it will produce a harvest, even though we may never see it. 

As Jesus told this parable, I believe he observed a farmer in the distance.  He used that example to teach a simple but all important truth to those listening to him.  The farmer is not responsible for making the seed grow, that is God's responsibility.  When the farmer does his job of sowing, there is every possibility the seed will take root and grow.  However, if the farmer shirks his responsibility, the chances of a successful crop are zero.  The only action required of the farmer in this process is to sow his seed, trusting God to produce the harvest.  Are you sowing your seed today?  Are you trusting God to produce a harvest? Are you being faithful in the place where God has called you?  

When Time Stands Still, God Doesn't

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n July, 2013, I spent the vast majority of a day at 35,000 feet, returning to the United States from France where I had spent the previous six weeks working for our university’s study abroad program.  After boarding the aircraft, buckling my seat belt, and arranging my carry-on underneath my seat, I turned my attention to the viewing screen to watch the information about what to do in the event of a crash landing.  Honestly, this is my least favorite part of travelling.

A few moments after the video, the captain greeted us and informed us that we would be in the air for the next ten and a half hours as we made our way across the Atlantic to eventually land at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport.  I briefly glanced at my watch, took a deep breath, let the reality of what I was about to endure settle in, and then enjoyed the ride.

Every time I travel abroad, I am intrigued most by the difference in time between one place and another.  We all live in the same moment but how we measure it is different.  In France, the clock is 7 hours ahead of the time here, Fort Worth.  Going to France I lose time; coming from France, I gain it.  Gaining time is the most difficult for me because it seems that time just stands still.

This is the way, I believe, Joseph felt when the chief cupbearer forgot him in prison.  Joseph had done nothing to deserve the circumstances in which he found himself.  His brothers betrayed him because they were jealous, he was imprisoned because Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him, and, after promising Joseph he would remember him, the cupbearer forgot his promise to speak to Pharaoh about freeing Joseph from prison.

Genesis 41:1 records in a few words Joseph’s plight, “When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream…”  The first six words tell it all, don’t they?  Joseph remained in prison for two years after the cupbearer was freed.  For Joseph, time stood still. In fact, he had been sold into slavery by his brothers when he was 17 years old and when we find him here, he is 30 years old.  For 13 years this man’s life was put on hold.  He had no news of his family, of his homeland, and did not know whether he would ever see them again.

But although the cupbearer forgot Joseph, God didn’t. God did not stop caring for Joseph. He didn’t stop listening to him, he didn’t stop loving him, and he didn’t stop working in his life.  In fact, unknown to Joseph, God was at work for 13 years preparing both Pharaoh and Joseph for the purpose that brought him to Egypt.  God’s purpose in doing so was to fulfill the promise made to Abraham before the birth of Isaac that Abraham’s descendants would be strangers for 400 years and would then come into the Promised Land at the appointed time.  Although time appeared to stand still, God was moving forward!

The same is true for us today.  You may be in a holding pattern today.  You don’t know where God is and you wonder if, like the cupbearer, he has forgotten you.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  God is working so far ahead of you, preparing the way ahead, and making sure you are ready for what he has in store for you.  Remember, when time stands still, our God doesn’t!

Left Lane Closed

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he construction crews continued to work next door to my apartment complex. For the past year, they had been building a new community of townhouses that would be available to the public.  The progress of this team had been staggering.  Almost overnight, the vacant lot adjacent to our complex had grown into a beautiful, vibrant community filled with beautiful new homes.

At times, it had been a challenge negotiating around heavy equipment including graders, bulldozers, steam shovels, and the scores of workers charged with the responsibility of constructing these homes.  For the most part, everything had gone smoothly with very few interruptions to the flow of traffic on our street.  But one day, that changed just a little bit.

As the crew completed the construction, they had been busy reshaping the road outside my complex.  This was no small task as t here were six lanes of traffic which constantly used this road.  The project involved creating a turning lane so that westbound traffic could make a left-hand turn into the complex.  In order to do this, the island separating the westbound traffic from the eastbound traffic had been isolated and was being reconfigured.  This meant that the left-hand lane on the westbound side was closed.  Signs in the road gave ample warning that the left lane was closed but traffic still piled up.  I had to make a left-hand turn myself just after the construction site so you can imagine how fun it was to maneuver from left to right and back to left just to get home.  I was ready for the Indy 500.

The project was completed by the following week and things once again returned to their normal, hectic pace.  But the sign indicating the left lane was closed had given me great cause for reflection about the road signs we often encounter along life’s highway and the changes we have to make in order to arrive safely home.  The Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, understood road construction; but he also knew it wouldn’t last forever.

In Isaiah 40:4 we read these words, “Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and will made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.” As is usually the case in Israel’s history, she found herself in the middle of a construction zone.  The direct lane of traffic had been cut off, barriers had been erected, and the long process of road construction had begun.  Although God had promised a Messiah would come, there was much construction necessary to prepare the way for his arrival.  Isaiah was in the middle of this construction but he knew it wouldn’t last forever.

Notice that his words look forward to the coming of God’s chosen Messiah, Jesus Christ. His speech is full of optimism and expectation.  The difficulties Isaiah encountered could not deter him from looking ahead to the day when the road work would be completed and God’s promise would be fulfilled.  Every pot hole, every dip in the road, and every low place would be raised and filled and all the rough places would be smoothed over.  In God’s perfect timing, Isaiah knew the road would be completed and traffic would flow unhindered.

Are you in a similar place as Isaiah?  Do you see signs telling you that the left lane is closed, forcing you to alter your course and switch lanes?  Does it seem the construction will never end and that the road conditions grow worse and worse instead of improving?  Take heart, trust the Lord, and know that the road construction is necessary so your journey can continue unhindered at a later time.  The work God does today will be invaluable to you in the future.  New construction always requires some demolition but in the end the new additions are vastly superior to the current situation.  If the left lane is closed, just change lanes and keep going.  The project will be finished and much sooner than you think!

A Talk In The Garden

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 remember my dad telling me on more than one occasion that you are nearer to God in a garden than in any other place on earth.  It is in a garden that you really understand how patient God has to be with us.  Look how long it takes plants to grow and the constant care they require in order to mature and produce fruit.  If plants require that much attention and care from the farmer, just imagine how much more love, care, and attention God lavishes on us as he grow us toward spiritual maturity.

There is another lesson, a much harder one, the garden also teaches us.  That is learning to accept and pray for God’s will.  Anyone who has ever worked a garden knows the frustration and the disappointment of receiving too little rain.  I have seen my dad work in a garden—staking tomato plants, pulling weeds, plowing around plants—all the while waiting for and praying for rain with no results.  It almost seems God shuts his ears to our requests and our circumstances grow worse instead of better.  Then, one day, the heavens open up and send down rain, just in the nick of time. 

This sounds familiar in our spiritual walk as well doesn’t it?  We go to our knees before God and pour out our hearts to him.  We bring our concerns for our families, our friends, our co-workers, our pastors, our churches, and ourselves before his throne.  We wet the bed with our tears and we pray with all our might for God to act and move in our behalf.  We then close the prayer by asking that God’s will be done. But do we really mean that?  Do we fully understand all that this entails?

Jesus, himself, prayed this very kind of prayer.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, he had a talk with God.  Jesus poured out his heart and was so full of agony that drops of blood fell from his forehead.  In unspeakable and incomprehensible agony, he asked God for some other way to fulfill the plan of salvation.  Look at his request as recorded in Matthew 26:39, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."  Jesus prayed this prayer, not once, but twice that evening in the garden.  Jesus knew the difficulty of praying and accepting God’s will and in this prayer we find great encouragement to do the same.

In life’s garden there are many opportunities to talk to our Heavenly Father.  Sometimes we speak to him of the goodness of his blessings on our lives.  Sometimes we bring requests to him on behalf of other people and at other times we bring heavy hearts and kneel before him in silence.  But every time we come to him, we must ask that his will be done.  This is difficult when we are facing unknown and trying circumstances.  When there seems to be no way out of a trial but to go through it, we still need to pray for his will.  God promised to be with us through every part of life; he never promised to remove all the obstacles so that life’s road would be easy.

In the garden that evening, Jesus prayed for God’s will to be done.  This is the acid test of faith.  We must be earnest in our request for God’s will to be done, even when we don’t understand all that this entails.  We must believe that God is in complete control and that he knows what is best for us because it is certain that we don’t know what is best for ourselves.  So, the next time you are in prayer, don’t be afraid to pray that God’s will be done in your life.  He will be with you in every situation, working to bring you to full maturity in Christ.  When was the last time you had a heart-to-heart with God?  When was the last time you had a talk in the garden with him?  How about having one today!

Trash Bin Or Recycle Bin?

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riday is the scheduled pick-up day for trash in our neighborhood.  On Thursday evenings, everyone on the block obediently places trash receptacles on the curb so the trash truck can properly collect all the garbage produced by all the households since the last pickup day.  Most people put their trashcans on the curbside by early evening, but someone always forgets to put the trash out the night before pickup.  As the truck comes rumbling down the road, this person makes a mad dash for the curbside, barreling down the driveway in pajamas, robes, slippers, or whatever was handy, arriving at the curb just in time to hand the trash off to the attendant.  All of us at some point or another play this part; personally, I’ve only played it once—I don’t relish the thought of a repeat performance.

For those people who choose to recycle, they get to do double duty.  A second receptacle for recyclable materials must also be placed at the curbside to be picked up by a different company.  Fortunately, the pickup day is the same but the containers are not.  The recycle container is blue while the trash receptacle is brown.  Items intended to be disposed of and never seen again must be placed in the trash bin (that’s the brown one) while glass, plastics, paper products, etc. are put into the recycle bin (that’s the blue one). This means people must choose between what to throw away completely and what needs to be recycled again.

As Christians, we must make the same choices about the way we view God’s forgiveness of sin in our lives.  The Scriptures clearly teach that God forgives and forgets our sin.  Psalm 103:8-12 states, “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.”

When it comes to forgiveness, God does not recycle!!  He does not bring up repeatedly the sins we have committed.  He places them into the garbage bin and disposes of them completely.  Does this mean God completely forgets that we sin on a daily basis?  The answer to that question is no.  However, when we ask for his forgiveness, he blots those transgressions out and remembers them no more.  Although it is true God is omniscient, meaning, all-knowing, he remembers to forget the sins he has forgiven.  He does not hold past sins against us, and this gives us full and unbridled access to our Heavenly Father.

Why is it then we insist on dumping our sin into the recycle bin?  Every time we come to the Lord in prayer, we drag up past sins, we remind God of all that we’ve done in the past twenty years, and ask for his forgiveness over and over again.  The problem is this:  in God’s economy, he has no idea what we are speaking of.  There is simply no record of our former sins on his books.

It would be the same as arguing with a credit card company that has no record of you owing them any money at all.  At some point the account was paid by someone else and no matter how much you argue and insist you owe them $10, they simply have no record of an outstanding balance in your name.  You can recycle that $10 any number of ways but the end result is the same, there simply is no outstanding balance in that account; it is paid in full. 

This is exactly the way it is with God.  He throws our sins away, he separates them as far as the east is from the west, he refuses to remember them and he certainly doesn’t want to discuss them.  What he wants is for us to remove them from the recycling bin and toss them into the garbage where he can be disposed of them.  When we finally see and grasp this perspective on God’s forgiveness, we are humbled and grow closer and more appreciative of all that God has done for us through his son, Jesus Christ. 

The real question for us today is this: are we using the recycle bin or the trash bin today as a commentary on the permanence of God’s forgiveness of our sin?  The choice is up to us and demonstrates what we really believe about the power of Christ’s sacrifice for sin!

Made From Scratch

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lour, a sifter, a mixing bowl, milk, shortening, a rolling pin, and a dough cutter indicated mom was making homemade biscuits for supper.  No matter what else we were having, those biscuits made the meal all the more special and delicious.  I loved to stand in the kitchen and watch her make fresh biscuits.  First she would combine the ingredients in the mixing bowl and make her dough.  She would place flour on the cabinet top and turn the dough out on to it.  With her hands, she would knead and punch the dough until it was shaped in to a firm ball.  Her hands always amazed me and I loved watching as they skillfully worked to prepare the dough for the oven.

The only step now was to cut the dough into the round pieces that would become biscuits.  Mom took her rolling pin and began preparing the dough for the cutter.  She would roll the dough, first one way, and then another, until it reached a uniform shape and the desired thickness.  She then took the cutter and began cutting out round portions and placing them into a greased pan.  Every time she made a cut, she would hold the biscuit and shape it, making sure each one was the right shape and size she wanted.  When she could no longer get more biscuits out of the remaining dough, she would take the scraps and form a smaller biscuit in her hand—she wasted nothing.

Although the biscuits looked the same, each one was different.  All of them had come from the same batch of dough but, after cutting them out, mom had shaped and formed each one.  Each biscuit was unique and had a character all its own.  When they were done, she carefully took them out of the oven and placed them into a breadbasket.  Once they arrived at the table, it didn’t take us long to devour them.  It was my self-appointed task to make sure the biscuits were distributed evenly with each member of our family receiving an equal amount of bread. 

Would it surprise you to learn that God went through the same process when he decided to make man?  Did you ever stop to consider that when God made man, he did so with very special care and planning?  My mom could have used brown and serve rolls with her meal; but she wanted to make the meal special by putting something of herself into it.  That’s why she went to such great pains to make homemade biscuits.  Store-bought bread just wouldn’t do.

Genesis 2:7 gives us a good glimpse into God’s creation of man. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. There are two very small but important words in this passage that tell us volumes about God’s plan and design for mankind.  The first is the word “formed.”  Heretofore in the creation story, God spoke things into being.  However, when it came time to create man, God formed him.  In order to do this, God had to measure out the ingredients, mix them together, and roll them out.  In order to make us, God got his hands dirty.  He rolled the clay into a firm ball and then, using his hands, God formed, molded, and fashioned his masterpiece.

After he created a man, God put something of himself into his creation.  The second word is “breathed.”  God filled Adam’s lungs with his own breath and brought him to life.  What an intimate relationship this was.  Just imagine the moment before Adam breathed his first breath.  The planet was complete, the air was pure, and no human had ever breathed it.  However, instead of air, Adam inhaled God’s very breath and took into himself the source of all life!!!  Wow!!  You want to talk about a breath of fresh air, I’d say this qualified!!!!

After God breathed into Adam, he became a living being.  Without God in our lives we do not live; we merely exist.  All the other things God created just existed.  Man was the only thing God imparted life to by placing something of himself inside.  When Adam received God’s breath, he received life.  Just before his departure, Jesus appeared to his disciples, breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).  God’s breath always imparts life to those who receive it.

I still enjoy watching mom make fresh biscuits.  Although the process is always the same, each batch is different from all the rest.  Her hands always know when the dough is ready and they always form each biscuit into just the right shape and size she wants.  God is the same way with us.  He knows when the dough is ready, he knows just how much we need to be rolled, stretched, and cut in order to become what he wants us to be.  He takes us in his hands and molds us and shapes us until we are just the right size and shape for his purpose.  In order for God to shape us, he uses his hands to roll, pinch, push, and shape us into the very image of Christ. The process may not always be easy but it is worth it.  After all, would you rather have homemade biscuits or brown and serve rolls?  In my opinion, there’s no contest!!

Let's Go Shopping

Saturday morning, I embarked on that great American adventure known as a visit to the local supermarket!  Yep!  I went in with all the prowess of a professional hunter, determined not to come out until I had a kill!  With my list in one hand and my checkbook in the other, I moved quickly forward, confident in my ability to return with a successful catch.

Now, a visit to the grocery store isn't this romantic.  Very few of us anticipate entering the store with the expectations of a big game hunter. It requires very little knowledge or skill to approach the meat aisle and simply select meat that has already been killed, dressed, and packaged.  It isn't very challenging to reach up on the shelf to find a can of soup.  The real problem is in choosing which can of soup you want.  Every aisle is simply chock full of items from which we may choose.  The supply of foods is endless it seems and every row holds something new for us to consider.

As I perused each aisle, I was able to find all the items on my list.  My cart slowly filled with the items I needed and soon it was time to leave the store.  Before I left home, my list looked incredibly long.  I wasn't sure if I could find all the items nor if there would be enough room at home to accommodate them all.  But in the checkout lane, the number of items I selected paled in comparison to the entire stock of the grocery store.  My worries about not finding certain items were simply unwarranted.  Even if I had wanted to, it would have been impossible for me to exhaust the supply of groceries housed in this store.  There was simply more there than I could ever hope to use.

The Apostle Paul would have understood my amazement at the enormous supply of the grocery store compared with my small needs.  In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses the sufficiency and overabundance of God's provision for his people.  In the New Living Translation of 2 Corinthians 9:8, Paul writes, "And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others."  Today in the grocery store, Paul's point hit home.  The items in my cart were as nothing compared with the overall inventory of the store.  I purchased one can of soup, and I left several hundred there.  I purchased one loaf of bread, leaving countless others on the shelf.  In no way did my small purchase drastically diminish the store's supply.

This is what God is like!  No, I'm not suggesting that God is a great big grocery store where we shop at our leisure.  But I am stating that God does supply all our needs and our needs in no way even remotely begin to tap his resources.  When we come to him in prayer and present him with the list of our needs, he never says "Let me check to see if I have that in stock!"  His supply of love is endless, his grace is boundless, his mercy cannot be measured, and his understanding cannot be fathomed.  He is ever ready to hear our requests and he openly invites us to come to him and boldly make our desires known. 

When we obey him, he opens to us all his riches, and his riches are in Jesus Christ.  At anytime, day or night, in any location, we may come to God and present our lists. We can get our carts filled, confident in the knowledge that when we our needs arise once more, he will be more than able to fulfill them over and over and over again.  So, today if you are in need of experiencing more of God's love, if you feel the need for more of God's grace, if you are longing for a deeper relationship with him, or if you desire a more profound knowledge of your Heavenly Father, all you have to do is go shopping! Everything is always in stock!

In A Holding Pattern

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nyone who has ever flown is familiar with the concept of the holding pattern.  This is always the fun part of the flight.  You are sitting on the tarmac waiting to take off, or you are in the air circling waiting to land.  Either way, you are making no progress toward your destination; you are merely waiting.  And, if you’re like most people, you hate waiting.

The worst case of “holding patternitis” I ever had was in June of 1984.  After spending 10 months living in France, the day had finally arrived for my return to the United States.  The flight left Brussels on time and was very uneventful as we made our way over the Atlantic Ocean.  The day was spectacularly gorgeous and there were practically no pockets of turbulence anywhere along our flight path.  Everything went smoothly until we got to Atlanta.

As we approached the airport, the captain informed us the control tower had placed us into a holding pattern. It seemed that a large number of planes were waiting to take off, ferrying people away from Atlanta in record numbers.  Why everyone wanted to exodus Atlanta in such mass numbers was beyond me. There hadn’t been an evacuation like this since General Sherman visited the city during the civil war!

We were in the holding pattern for over 30 minutes.  It was the most disheartening and cruel thing I’ve every experienced.  I mean home was a few hundred feet below us.  We could see cars, houses, trees, McDonald’s signs, everything we had missed.  It was right below us and we couldn’t get there.  My friend, Roland, was having conniptions.  He couldn’t believe that after surviving Europe for almost a year, he couldn’t even get back home!

But the holding pattern did have its purpose.  Although we didn’t like it, circling the Atlanta area was far better than risking a head-on collision with an airplane that was taking off while we tried to land.  The people in the control tower made the appropriate call but none of us in the airplane liked it at the time. 

The Bible is filled with stories of men and women who experienced holding patterns in their lives.  Abraham was promised a son.  He was 75 years old when he received the promise and 100 years old when Isaac was born.  You want to talk about a holding pattern! But the holding pattern we want to consider today is found in Luke’s gospel.

Just before his ascension, Jesus speaks with his disciples.  In the course of his final instructions he makes this statement found in Luke 24:49, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."  This statement comes after Jesus has already told his disciples to go into the whole world and share the good news.  You know they were excited about sharing the good news of Jesus with those around them, yet Jesus’ command was clear, “.,,,but stay in the city…” 

What could he mean?  There was so much to do, so much to say, so many people to reach.  How could they do that by staying put?  It just didn’t make any sense.  But they did what they were told.  I can imagine they returned home, becoming jittery and perhaps somewhat impatient.  Someone probably drew a calendar on the wall and counted down the days until they could leave, marking each day off as the sun was setting.

But the holding pattern did have its purpose.  They weren’t yet ready and the Holy Spirit had not yet come to them.  So as they waited, they gathered together and prayed.  What seemed to be no progress was in fact time for preparation.  Trying to accomplish the work Jesus gave them without the Spirit, would have been disastrous and they would have failed.  They could not go forward in their own strength because they would never have been strong enough.  But when the time was right, the Holy Spirit came, they were filled with his presence and 3000 people were added to the church the first day.

Let us draw great encouragement from this passage today.  If you are in a holding pattern, take heart.  God knows exactly where you are.  He has not forgotten you and he has not forsaken you. He is preparing you for the road ahead, the road which he always sees but which you cannot.  Use this time to rest and gather your strength because the day is coming when the holding pattern is over and the work begins.  Will you be ready for that day? 

A Little Something Extra

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acaroni and cheese is one of my all time favorite things to eat, especially if it’s homemade.  It’s not that the store-bought brands aren’t good, they are just lacking that little something extra that makes homemade food taste so much better.

A few years ago, during my annual pilgrimage to North Carolina to spend the Christmas holidays with my family, I had the most wonderful experience.  Now all of you know what a trip home for the holidays means, right?  You guessed it, mom’s homemade cooking and plenty of it!  Of course, I am under considerable pressure to eat everything that is set before me!  I wouldn’t want mom to be disappointed now, would I?

My first home-cooked meal was a wonderful lunch that included homemade macaroni and cheese. I watched as mom prepared the ingredients for the macaroni. She made the pasta, drained it, and then placed all of the ingredients into a casserole dish.  The recipe required a certain amount of liquid before being placed into the oven to bake.  After adding the correct measure of milk, mom made the following statement, “I’m going to add just a little more milk.  It gives it a better texture and a better flavor!”

She was right.  When the dish came out of the oven, piping hot and ready for our table, the taste surpassed anything I could have made or purchased off the shelf.  So what was the difference?  It wasn’t the pasta, it wasn’t the cheese, and it wasn’t the milk.  All of these I could have measured and added myself.  What made the dish unique and beyond compare was that little extra something mom added to the dish.  That little extra something represented all the experience and knowledge that years of preparing meals had given her.  It was a part of her, a part of who she was that she placed into the dish that set it apart from any other.

The same can be said about those of us who are Christians.  What is it that sets us apart from the rest of the world?  What is it within us that causes us, or should cause us, to be different and to live lives that are distinct from those around us?  I would like to suggest it is a little extra something, namely the presence of God’s son, Jesus Christ, living within us that distinguishes his followers from those who are not believers in Christ.

The extra measure of milk mother added to her casserole was not in the recipe.  It wasn’t written in the instructions; it wasn’t suggested in footnote at the bottom of the page. In fact, nothing about the recipe even hinted that something extra needed to be added.  However, without that little extra something, the casserole would have been just that, a casserole and not one of mom’s great homemade dishes.  It would have been just like every other casserole made from that recipe!

Now, think about that for just a second and apply it to your life today.  As a believer in Jesus Christ, God has placed within us a little extra something.  He has placed a part of himself within us, a part not on the recipe, a part we were not looking for, but a part that makes all the difference in the world.  Without Christ, we are just like store-bought items off the shelf. We look alike, we sound alike, and we taste alike.  But there is something missing!  We need that little extra measure in our lives to make us what God knows we can be.  God has the necessary ingredient and he knows how much to add.

In Ephesians 3:20, Paul tells us about God’s measurements, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” Did you catch that?  Did you see how large God’s mixing bowl and his measuring cup are?  They are immeasurable!  That little extra something isn’t so little.  It represents the full extent of God’s love and grace toward us.  When God gave his son to die for our sins, he opened up the storehouse of his love, mercy, and grace and dumped the whole thing in!!!  So great is his love for us that he is not content to leave us as we are. Instead, when we become his followers and his children, God places in us that little something extra that makes our lives wonderful and unique.  That little extra something is the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, his son and our Lord.

Does your life have wonderful flavor and texture?  Is your life different from those around you?  Does your life have a different aroma and taste from those who are not believers in Jesus Christ?  Do you have that little something extra in your life today?

Calling Home

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ne Saturday morning around 6:30 a.m. Texas time, I picked up my cell phone and dialed my parents’ number.  My mom answered the phone on the second ring she wanted to know if everything was all right with me.  You see, it had at least two days since we’d spoken and when that happens it usually means I’m too busy.  Not to be outdone, my dad picked up one of the extensions and chimed in with a cheery good morning. 

As I balanced the phone in one hand, I attempted to fry sausage patties with the other.  This proved to be much more difficult than I anticipated but the sausage survived with no burns or blemishes to speak of.  We continued to speak for a few minutes and after catching up on all the news, we said our goodbyes and I finished cooking breakfast.

As I lay the phone on the counter, I couldn’t help but thinking how fortunate I am to be able to speak with my parents on almost a daily basis.  I say almost, because sometimes I get too busy and the call just doesn’t get made!  Now, I don’t call because I have to and I don’t call because I can’t make my own decisions or live my own life.  I call because I want to and because I know that keeping in touch with home is always a good idea.  Always!

David knew the importance of calling on the Lord and he understood that we need to have constant and consistent contact with Him.  Without this contact, we are left wandering in the dark and wondering what God is doing in our lives.  That’s why David penned the following words inPsalm 145:18: “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth”

Who better than David, a man after God’s own heart, to remind us of how near God is to those who love Him, to those who have accepted His gift of salvation, and to those who know Him as their Heavenly Father.  Two words stand out from this passage today.  The first word is near.  God is near to us, He is as close as our thoughts, as close as our pulse, and He watches over us and cares for us from second to second.  It was David who also wrote in Psalm 139 that there is nowhere we can go to escape God’s presence. Yes, God is very close.

The second word from this verse also happens to be the last one in the sentence.  Notice that David says we must call upon the Lord in truth, meaning with all sincerity, with all we are, from the depths of our hearts.  Only when we seek God in this manner, only when we worship Him in spirit and in truth, only when we earnestly seek His face, will He answer us.  This does not mean God plays games with us; on the contrary, it means we must not play games with Him.  We must be earnest and determined in our desire to call upon the Lord and we must realize that it is no small thing to call upon His name.  It is the most important thing we can do!

On that Saturday morning, my parents spoke to me because I am their son.  The relationship we share is special and cannot be erased or altered by time or distance.  The only thing that can change it is if I don’t pick up the phone and call home.  When I refuse to do that, our relationship suffers because there is no sharing between us.  Is it any different with the Lord?  I think not.  If it is important to maintain contact with our families, how much more important is it to maintain contact with our Heavenly Father?  How long has it been since you called home and talked with your Heavenly Father?  Don’t you think you should make that call today?

Do You Know Who This Is?

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ne morning I returned home to find a message on my answering machine.  After putting my books down and arranging a few items on my desk, I turned my full attention to the blinking light of the answering machine.  There were a few new messages left for me while I was in class.  I listened to each message, discarding the ones from car salesmen, credit card companies offering me new cards with outlandish limits at obscene interest rates, and one from a company wanting to sell me vinyl replacement windows.  Since I lived in the men's dormitory at Southwestern Seminary, I didn't figure they'd appreciate me authorizing the replacement of the dorm's windows with vinyl ones, no matter how energy efficient they were.  Finally, I came to the last message.  It only took one initial sound to tell me that my father left the message.  The message began, "Blake, this is daddy..." He always begins his messages this way, although I know the sound of his voice from the first utterance.

It is amazing how we recognize the voices of those dear to us.  We can differentiate the sound of their particular voices even when we are surrounded other people.  Who hasn't received a phone call and known within seconds the person on the other end of the line just by the sound of his or her voice? 

Jesus taught this same lesson to his disciples.  John's gospel paints different pictures of Jesus but none so loving and endearing as the portrait of the Good Shepherd.  Jesus referred to himself as the Good Shepherd in John 10 and spoke of his relationship with his sheep.  In John 10:2-5, Jesus describes this relationship in the following manner: "For a shepherd enters through the gate. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they recognize his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t recognize his voice.”

This scripture shows just how intimately Jesus knows his own.  It is well known that sheep respond only to the voice of their shepherd.  He is the one who feeds them, who guides them, who protects them, who cares for them, and who loves them.  They will not respond to a stranger, but will only do the bidding of their shepherd.  We, as God's children and followers of Jesus Christ, are like sheep.  We hear his voice and we must follow him.  It is Jesus who cares for us, who protects us, who guides us, and who loves us. 

Not only do we know him but he knows us.  The shepherd knows every intimate detail about each of his sheep.  He understands, loves, accepts, and nurtures each individual sheep.  His voice is distinct, clearly discernible above the noise of the world.  He calls us to quiet pastures, to still waters, and to rest.  He never sends us out on our own, but always goes ahead of us, so that every situation we experience, he has encountered before us and is with us in every trial and joy.  The prophet Isaiah expressed this beautifully when he wrote, "And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left" (Isaiah 30:21).

How is your relationship; with God today? If he speaks and asks the question, "Do you know who this is?” will you be able to immediately recognize his voice?  I trust you can!