In And Behind Your Ears

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oap and water are the sworn enemies of all children!  There’s just something about the words “bath time” that strikes fear into the heart of any kid, no matter how big, brave, or dirty he or she may be!

I remember how much I hated taking a bath.  I would always find some excuse to avoid the dreaded march to the bathroom. I argued that I wasn’t that dirty, that I had just had a bath the night before, or that, following up on a conversation I overheard between my parents, our water bill was just too high and that by not taking a bath, I was actually “helping” keep costs down.  I had no idea what that meant but it sure sounded good!

None of these arguments, however, swayed or even phased my mom!  When she said, “bath time,” that is exactly what she meant--no negotiations, no appeals to dad, just the obedient death march to the bathroom.  Once in the tub, I had to make sure all the dirt, grime, and filth was completed washed away.  

Just about the time I finished this “burdensome task,” mom would call from the kitchen and remind me to “make sure you wash in and behind your ears!” On more than one occasion she had informed me that we could probably produce a good crop of potatoes from the dirt in my ears!

Washing behind my ears, I could understand, but washing in them was beyond me. Who, besides mom and the doctor, was going to be looking in my ear canal?  Who wanted to?  But, in order to avoid any confrontation, I took the washcloth and dutifully washed both in and behind my ears.  Who would have thought that a little dirt would be such a big deal?  But mom knew that keeping my ears clean, especially the inside, would avoid infections and all kinds of not-so-fun stuff.

The idea of keeping the outside and the inside clean and protected can be found in the story of Noah and his ark!  Don’t believe me?  Then just take a look at this brief, but very important passage found in Genesis 6:14, “So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.”

God’s instructions were clear, Noah was to use cypress wood to build the ark and he was to make sure it was coated, both inside and out, with a substance called pitch. Why would God make this demand of Noah?  Let’s find out!

Pitch was a resin that could be made from any of a number of substances, such as coal tar, plants, etc. It was used as caulk to waterproof sea-going vessels.  Putting pitch, both on the inside and the outside of a ship ensured the vessel would be waterproof and stay afloat.  Noah, had to make sure that pitch covered every joint and seam of the ark, whether they were inside or outside.  The outside pitch prevented water from seeping in and the inside pitch was used to stop any water that might get past the outside resin.  The inside pitch, although unseen from the exterior, guaranteed the security of the ark.

The application to the Christian life is clear.  Jesus, in Matthew 23:27 warned the Pharisees of having cleaned behind their ears, so to speak, but having neglected to clean them on the inside,“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”

Our Lord knows the hearts of men.  He knows that outward appearances are no indication of the inward condition.  The outside may appear clean but the inside is dirty, dark, and sinful.  Only the saving blood of Christ can pitch and seal the human heart both inside and out.  So, how clean are your spiritual ears today?

Daddy, Carry Me!

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s a little boy, it was sometimes hard to get around, especially if it required walking!  Somehow, my little footsteps were never able to keep up with daddy’s. For every step he took, I had to take at least four so, as you can imagine, our progress was a bit slow.  But daddy was patient. He held my hand and waited for me to take four steps to his one and then we would do it all over again.  We slowly, but surely, ambled up Main Street toward his place of business or to buy something at Nell Beam’s store.

But when I grew tired or when he just wanted to have fun, daddy would pick me up and carry me.  He would hold me high over his head or put me on his shoulders and away we would go at, what was to me, break-neck speed!  I was no burden to carry and daddy drew as much delight from this as I did.

But daddy didn’t always carry me into places that were fun.  Sometimes he carried me into hospital wards for an extended stay while doctors operated to repair my kidneys, my heart, or my leg.  At these particular times, the ride in daddy’s arms wasn’t always pleasant and I didn’t fully understand why he would carry me into certain places.  I didn’t realize until I was much older just how difficult these carries were for him.

The Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, understood the idea of being carried away to an unpleasant place.  The Children of Israel were carried off to Babylon for seventy years of captivity.  The Babylonian army took them from their homeland and resettled them in a place that was foreign, hostile, and completely unfamiliar to them.  Yet, God was there and his instructions through Jeremiah were meant to bring comfort and encouragement to his people.

In Jeremiah 29:7 we find these words, “Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” There are several important lessons packed into this small passage from Jeremiah.  Please notice that God has carried his children into exile.  Although they are not at home, although the circumstances in which they find themselves are unpleasant, challenging, and confusing, he has led them there.  It is impossible to carry someone without touching them.  Even in exile, God’s hand is there.

The Children of Israel are also told to pray for the city where they are held captive.  This seems almost impossible to believe but notice the end of the passage.  If the city prospers, God’s people will prosper.  It is the difficult circumstances of life that God uses to grow us and teach us more about himself.

Wherever you are today in your walk with God, please know that he is there with you.  He has not forgotten you, he has not abandoned you; he has carried you.  He is aware of your present circumstances and his promise is that every situation you face, no matter how unpleasant, challenging, or difficult it may be, will be used for his glory.  Won’t you let God carry you today?

Wind Advisory

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ne morning I awoke to the sound of wind whipping outside my bedroom window.  The wind was not constant but came in gusts, sending a wooshing sound across the shingles, along the windows, and around the walls.  The forecasters had been correct in their prediction that gale-force winds would visit the Dallas-Fort Worth area during the evening and would most likely remain with us throughout the day.

The morning’s newscast confirmed those predictions.  Our entire area was under a wind advisory until 6:00 the evening and all ready the news anchors had warned everyone to drive very cautiously and to take extra care, making sure to keep both hands on the wheel.  I could just imagine how interesting my morning commute was going to be!  I decided I’d better leave a little earlier than usual.

Anyway, back to that wind.  The tree in my front yard continued to take great bows as if it were being applauded for a stellar performance.  My bushes were joining in the act as well and the flags at the entrance to our community were fully extended.  The effects of the wind could be seen everywhere and I heard it as it whippe around the corner of my house and over my rooftop.

But inside, it was safe, warm, and cozy.  The lights were on, the coffee maker worked, the toaster was operating at peak performance, and the heating system ensured that I would not get cold.  All this is happened on the inside because the house had a good foundation and was built very well.

All this brought back the parable Jesus told of two men who built very nice houses.  But when a storm came with wind and rain, the end result of those structures was very different. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 7:25, “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”

There are a few things we need to glean from this small verse of scripture.  First we need to notice, that even though this house was built on the rock, the storms still beat against it.  There will be storms in life, especially the Christian life, as we live according to God’s commands and not the world’s whims.  Second, even though the storms beat against the house, it stood firm, protecting those who lived within.  It performed as a house should and it did so because its foundation was firm, solid, and sure.

As I learned several years ago, the most important part of any house is its foundation.  The carpet, paint, wallpaper, flooring, bricks, etc. are nothing if the foundation isn’t secure.  No matter how lovely or ornate the structure, unless it has a firm and sure foundation, the building has been constructed in vain.

And how about us today?  Are we standing firm?  Does the foundation of our lives hold us securely when the storms of life come?  Is the wind howling around you today?  Are the rains beating against you with seemingly merciless force?  Take courage!  Your house will withstand the rains, and the winds, and anything else life can dish out if your foundation is Jesus Christ.  This does not mean we will be free from pain or difficulty but it does mean we have a strong underpinning, a firm foundation which cannot be shaken.  So, how’s the weather where you are today?  Are you under a wind advisory?

A Trip to the Bakery

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rom time to time I reminisce about the opportunities I have had to live in France.  I remember places I’ve visited, friends I’ve made, and conversations I’ve had. However, my daily surroundings remind me that I am no longer in Paris.  Yet, it’s not the fact that I can’t visit the Eiffel Tower; it’s not the fact that everyone around me is speaking English, and it’s not the fact that I can drive a car instead of taking a metro.  None of these facts, while true, are as poignant a reminder as the fact that I cannot run down to the local bakery and buy a freshly baked French bread!   I guess you could say I am addicted to the stuff.

Every morning in Paris, I ran down to one of several bakeshops in the neighborhood and bought fresh bread and fresh croissants!  It was the best part of the day and one I eagerly anticipated!  You might say, I became a regular customer of the small bakery located just at the end of the street.  In fact, I referred to it as my boulangerie (bakery)!

A trip to this bakery was always an ordeal because it always involved somewhat of a dilemma.  The place was always busy. People from the neighborhood were busy buying their breads, desserts, and sandwiches for the day ahead.  For me, the bread selection was easy; it was the pastries that posed the problem.  Would it be a croissant, an apple turnover, a flan, a small quiche, etc.?  The possibilities were endless! Thank goodness, the patience of the lady behind the counter was not!  Finally, I would decide and hurry out of the place before deciding to purchase something else.  But no matter what else I had in my hand, I always had bread with me.

Bread, it seems, is the quintessential staple of life.  No matter the culture, no matter the language, no matter the country, bread is simply one thing we all have in common.  Perhaps this is why Jesus spoke so often of bread.  The word bread appears 63 times in the NIV version of the New Testament.  But the most well-known reference is found in Matthew 6:11 where Jesus teaches his followers to pray.  In this verse, Jesus simply says, “Give us today our daily bread.”

Two important ideas are presented to us in this small passage from Matthew’s gospel.  First, we see Jesus asking God to supply our bread.  This means we do not provide it for ourselves!  Far too often in the Christian life we try to be self-sufficient, trying to discover ways and means to provide for our needs.  We say we trust God yet we attempt to do everything for ourselves.  Jesus simply asked God to supply the bread, the very staple and the most basic need of life.  After all, that is God’s promise, isn’t it?  He promised to meet the needs we have in life and He is faithful to that promise.

The second lesson we need to grasp is the frequency with which this bread is delivered.  Jesus did not pray for weekly bread, monthly bread, or for a bread truck that would delivery on a pre-determined schedule.  No, he prayed for daily bread!  He wanted his followers to understand that we need God every day, not once a week, once a month, or just when we get into trouble.  We need Him every moment of every day and Jesus used the picture of daily bread to teach this every elementary but most important point about God.  We must partake of Him daily as the most basic and quintessential part of our lives.

Early every morning, I went in search of fresh bread and every morning I was rewarded for my efforts of getting up, getting dressed, and walking to the bakery.  The same principle is true for us today.  We must get up, open God’s word, plumb into its depths, partake of it, and make it the most integral and central part of our lives each day.  God stands ready each morning to provide your daily needs so trust Him and take Him at His word.  Have you made a trip God’s bakery today?

Good News Bad News

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ne Tuesday morning, I received a phone call which began, “Blake, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.  Which do you want first?”  Not exactly a swell way to begin the day, is it?  The voice on the other end of the line was my doctor.  It seems the results of a blood test who had come in and the report was less than stellar. 

When offered the choice of good news or bad news first, I opted for the bad news.  I figured it could only get better from that point! Ah, the eternal optimist in me came shining through!  The blood test showed that a family of unwanted bacteria had set up housekeeping in my stomach.  For the past two months, I had felt their effect in the form of strong heartburn.  Medications weren’t helping so we, my doctor and I, decided to delve further into the mystery.

He had given me the good news first!  The infection was not really what concerned him; it was the treatment.  In order to evict these unwanted and uninvited guests, a two-week regimen of eight pills per day would be required.  The medicine could also cause a little bit of an upset tummy but the outcome would be worth the coming forced march through the bacterial desert!

So, I went straight to the pharmacy, filled the prescription and started the long 14-day trek back to health.  I did some quick math and deduced that over the next two weeks I would consume 112 pills.  Man, I just love that!  But the medicine is necessary if I am feel better and get back to eating pizza, ribs, pie, cake, cookies, well, you get the picture.

Would it surprise you to learn that there is a message in the New Testament book of Romans that closely resembles the conversation I had with my doctor?  If the Apostle Paul had had access to modern-day technology, he could have called, faxed, or e-mailed his message to the church in Rome, telling them he had good news and bad news.  Instead, he wrote it in his letter to them and we still read his words today and draw strength and assurance from them.

Romans 6:23 is Paul’s good news, bad news conversation with us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”   Notice here that Paul gives us the bad news first.  Sin equals death.  This truth echoes all the way back to Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve at the forbidden fruit and fell from relationship with God.  Adam had been warned that if he ate of this fruit, he would surely die.  While Adam and Eve physically died, they did not do so until many, many years later.  However, the death of their relationship with God came with the first bite!  From that point on mankind has lived in a fallen state, incapable of saving himself, unable to have a right relationship with God.

But now for the good news in Paul’s letter.  Notice the last half of this passage.  Paul tells us that eternal life is God’s free gift to us if we place our faith in Jesus Christ and accept him as Lord and Savior.  This is the good news of the New Testament and it doesn’t require a two-week regimen of 112 things you must do.  No, it is instantaneous!  Once we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior, then we regain the right relationship God intended for us to have all along.  We then can and should spend every day in His presence, reading His word, talking to Him, learning from Him, praising, and worshipping Him.

Tuesday morning, I would have indeed been disheartened had my physician stopped with the bad news.  There would have been no cure, no hope, no chance of regaining my health.  Paul offers us the same notion.  He states categorically that sin leads to death, but he does not leave us there.  He tells us that God has the remedy for our disease and He offers it to us free of charge.  It is His gift to us.  So, are you in the mood for some good news today? 

No Borders

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he border between Italy and Austria is well known for its customs checks. Trains crossing the border in either direction are stopped for several minutes while guards from both countries conduct a thorough search of all compartments and verify the passports and official documents of the passengers on board. I had the pleasure of experiencing this phenomenon first-hand in the spring of 1988.

I was studying in southern France and during spring break, I had a little over two weeks to travel. Most of my friends visited a small island off the coast of Spain; but I decided to do some travelling on the continent. My travels took me to Spain, Italy, Austria, and Germany. It was during these travels that the Austrian border guard taught me a valuable lesson about crossing over from one country into another.

I took the train from Rome, Italy to Salzburg, Austria. Because there were so many people travelling at the same time I was, the train was completely full. There were no empty seats to be found on the train and I stood for several hours before space became available. At last, a compartment opened and I could use one of the benches as a cot with my backpack serving as a pillow.

At four o'clock in the morning, a blinding light awakened me as the border guard turned on the compartment's light. There, in my face, was a German shepherd police dog sniffing for drugs. The guard asked to see my passport, took one look at the cover, saw I was from the United States, and let me go back to sleep. I was able to cross over into Austria with no difficulty. However, there were a few passengers who were detained for questioning. Eventually, the trains crossed into Austria but those detained by the border guard were not permitted entry into the country.

This is a stark contrast from the freedom I experienced over the past two days as I drove from Texas to North Carolina to spend the holidays with my family. As I crossed from one state to the next, there were no questions to answer, no papers to show, and no border guards to confront. Instead, I could come and go as I pleased. The entire country, every part of it, was opened to me with no obstacles to prevent me from arriving at home.

The relationship we have with God is directly comparable to my experience on the border between Rome and Austria. Before we become Christians, we have no legal basis permitting us access to God. Try as we may, we simply cannot cross over to where he is because we don't have the proper papers. We get stopped at several places on life's border and when we try to enter God's kingdom, we are refused. Our "spiritual passports" do not bear the seal of God and are not recognized by Him.

Neither our good works, nor our good intentions, nor our reputations, nor our verbally claiming to know God will permit us to enter his kingdom. The only way we are able to cross the border separating us from God is to change our citizenship and become a part of his kingdom. We do this by willfully renouncing our former allegiance to sin and willfully accepting Jesus Christ as our personal savior. This gives us a new passport, one that is instantly recognized by God and that grants us immediate entry into his kingdom.

Once we change our citizenship, we have free access to all of God's promises and resources. We are free to travel the road of life without fear of border crossings, interrogations, or customs officials. We may travel with confidence and assurance that we belong to God's family and that he welcomes us whenever we call on him and wherever we are on life's road. Our passport, our legal claim as citizens of God's kingdom, is the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

Jesus, himself, said in John 10:9 "I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.” Jesus is the border guard. It is only through him and by him that we gain access to God. There is no other way to cross over except through Christ. Once we accept him, once we obtain new citizenship and new passports, we are welcome in his kingdom and can travel unhindered. Once we belong to him, there are no borders between us!  We belong and have direct access to God. When was the last time God asked to see your passport? Are you free to travel life's road or are you hindered by border crossings?

Six Hours Ahead

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 have always been a clock-watcher.  No matter where I am, no matter the circumstance, at least once during a conversation, a class, or a presentation of some kind, I will look at the clock just to get my chronological bearings.  My students are very used to this by now.  The first thing I do in class is place my watch on the table where I can see it and the last thing I do is check it before dismissing them.  In between, I glance at it several times just to make sure I’m on track and on the pace I’ve set for the class.

When I lived and studied in France for the first time, I became even more sensitive to the time both in France and back home in the United States.  I had a digital watch that displayed two different time zones so I always knew what everyone was doing back home.  While I was eating breakfast, they were sleeping.  When lunchtime came, they were just getting out of bed and as I lay down to sleep, they were sitting down to the dinner table.  We lived in the same moment of time, but we measured it differently.  No matter the day or the situation, while in France I was always 6 hours ahead of my family and friends at home.

This proved to be particularly important because my mom and dad would call on Saturdays around lunchtime.  For them, it was 6 a.m. but for me it was high noon.  It took me a while to grow accustomed to my parents telling me good morning when it was clearly afternoon where I was.  Eventually, however, I adjusted to the change and could go about my business without worrying too much as to what time it was half a world away.  I knew that if I needed my parents, I could call them, I just had to be sensitive to their time zone.

The writer of Psalm 46, however, didn’t worry about time zones.  He understood that God doesn’t carry a watch and that time is meaningless from his perspective.  We live in time, God lives outside of it.  For us the clock is always moving forward and for our Heavenly Father it is always now.  This idea is reflected in the opening verse of this psalm.  In Psalm 46:1, the writer tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Two words in this verse leap off the page at me, “trouble” and “ever-present.”  First, let’s consider this notion of trouble.  We usually understand this word to mean something bad has happened in our lives.  However, trouble can also mean we are in a difficult place, facing challenging circumstances.  For example, we may experience a difficult illness, we may find ourselves with an emotional crisis we didn’t see coming, or we may be backed into a corner where we must learn to trust God with our situation.  None of these situations is a result of something we did; it’s just that life happens while we are living it.

This is where the word, “ever-present” comes into play.  God is always with us.  He constantly knows all that we are facing.  His eyes and ears are always attentive, always alert to his children, always aware of their situations and needs.  While the Scriptures tell us God knows the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning and that he is all-knowing, they reassure us that God does not leave us and is not six hours away from us.  No, he is very near, as close as our heartbeat.  Whatever the circumstances are, whatever the situation, God is always present, ready to help us in our time of need, caring for us and doing for us those things we cannot do for ourselves.

What time is it where you are today?  Rest assured that no matter what the clock on the wall or the watch on your wrist says, God’s clock always reads right now!

Because I Said So!

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he teenage years are anything but a joy-ride for parents.  The darling little children who used to be so cute and sweet suddenly metamorphose into people hardly recognizable by their parents.  Their tastes in clothes begins to change, their tastes in music becomes more interesting, and the time they spend on the phone seems to increase daily.  In fact, the only people who receive phone calls are the kids and they call each other about everything, at any time of the day or night.

I remember these years very well.  They were challenging for both my parents and me.  The one thing I wanted most was to be independent, to do my own thing, to be my own person, and to make my own decisions.  This led, at times, to a contest between my mom and me.  She always won, by the way.  When she would tell me to do something, I would question it, wondering why I had to do what she told me.  The response I often got and liked the least was, “Because I said so!”  Although I didn’t know it then, she was teaching me a very important lesson.  That lesson was listening to and obeying those in authority.

That was a hard lesson for me to learn, not because my mom wasn’t a good teacher, but because I wasn’t a good student.  I wanted to believe I knew what was best for me when all along my parents were far wiser and more insightful than I.  If I had learned this lesson earlier, I could have saved myself a lot of heartache and difficulty.  But part of learning is discipline and discipline is never fun or easy.

This is a lesson that spills over into our Christian lives as well.  We often find ourselves holding conversations with God about things happening around us.  We want an explanation for our situations or we want to know exactly why God requires us to face a certain trial or to do a certain task.  We also believe that we know what is best for us and we do our best to be independent, to exert our will above our Heavenly Father’s.  But we learn, through much heartache and difficulty, that he is much wiser and more insightful than we.  He is the parent, we are the teenagers. 

In Deuteronomy 6, God addresses the Children of Israel before they cross over into the Promised Land.  He impresses upon them the importance of keeping his commands and teaching them to their children.  The commandments he gives serve to protect them, to preserve them, and to give them the means to live a life pleasing to God.  Deuteronomy 6:24 provides the reason behind God’s instructions.  This verse reads, “The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.”

Notice Moses’ words here.  God gave them commands for them to obey!!!!  That’s the rub.  We are to listen to God’s voice and obey his leading because he says so, and for no other reason.  He knows what is best for us, he knows the road ahead, and he alone knows what we need to face all of life’s circumstances.  However, Moses continues by giving the result of following God’s commandments.  God’s decrees always give life.  Notice the closing part of this verse.  Obeying God’s commands ensures prosperity and keeps us alive. Prosperity here does not mean hitting the jackpot.  Instead, it means the ability to continue living and to continue in the relationship we have with God.

So, the next time a teenager challenges your authority by asking why, simply say to them in all love, “Because I say so!”  Then, when you are alone with God, practice what you preach!  

A Good Soaking

The meal was over, the table was cleared, the leftovers were placed into containers and stored in the refrigerator, the dishes were washed, and the only things left to clean were the baking dishes used to prepare the evening meal.  These had seen the worst of the action and displayed the heaviest battle damage.  A heavy, baked-on crust covered most of the dishes and there was a residue from the food that had been placed in them.  Getting these dishes cleaned was going to be no easy task and to that end, they had been filled with water and allowed to soak.

The water had slightly loosened the baked on stains but no progress had been made in actually making the dishes cleaner.  So they were placed into the hot dishwater for a good soaking before they were washed.  While in the dishwater, an interesting process occurred.  The stubborn, baked-on mess began to pull loose from the dishes so they could be cleaned.  The longer they remained in the dishwater, the more stuff came off and the easier they were to clean.

By the time a dishrag was applied to the surface of the baking dishes, the grease and the stains simply came off with minimal effort.  It would have taken so much muscle, so much sweat, and so much time to clean the dishes had it not been for soaking them in the hot dishwater.  In fact, had it not been for the soaking, no amount of rubbing, scrubbing, or buffing would have thoroughly cleaned the dishes.  What they needed was something that could remove and eliminate the stains, not simply remove only a part of them.

If we look very closely today, we will find a wonderful analogy of salvation and the cleansing power of Christ’s blood in the life of the believer.  Before we become Christians, our lives resemble these baking dishes.  Life has coated us and stained us with so much sin that it is impossible for us to become clean on our own.  All attempts to remove the stain ourselves end in failure and we end up no better off for all our efforts.  We need something that will remove and completely eradicate these stains from our lives and that something is the blood of Jesus Christ.

In 1 John 1:7 we read the following words, “But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin.”  If we read very closely we will see that John is inviting us to experience a good soaking in the Lord on a daily basis.  The blood of Jesus Christ saves us and it is powerful enough to remove every stain sin has placed on our lives no matter how baked-on or caked-on it happens to be.  After we are clean, however, we need to remain in contact with our Lord and that is where the truth of this verse comes to light.

Notice that John says that if we are living in the light of God’s presence, we will have fellowship with each other and that Jesus’ blood cleanses us.  In fact, this verse is actually rendered that the blood of Jesus Christ goes on saving us.  In other words, Jesus blood not only works to remove the sin from our past but it continues to work to remove all future sins as well.  As we live daily for him we continually remain in God’s presence and “soak up” all the wonderful things he has planned for those who love him.

Where are you in this story? Are you in the oven being baked, are you on the counter top with the other dishes waiting to get into the water?  Are you trying to remove all the gunk in your life by yourself?  If you are in any of these places, I invite you to make your way to the sink and enter the dishwater.  Only there will you be cleaned and only there will you be made useful for God’s purposes.  How about a good soaking in the Lord today?  Come on in, the water’s just fine!

Maintenance Required

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ou know how it is.  You’re driving down the road, listening to good music, enjoying the scenery, taking advantage of light traffic, and thinking pleasant thoughts, and then it happens.  The little light on the dashboard suddenly comes on and your focus shifts from a lovely drive through the park to the gripping reality that something may be terribly wrong with your car!  Ain’t life grand?

This happened to me just a few years ago.  I was enjoying a leisurely drive when suddenly the little light on the dashboard sputtered and came to life.  At first, I was very alarmed.  The car was not even a year old so I couldn’t imagine anything major could be wrong, but being the mechanic that I am—and believe me I’m no mechanic—I assumed the worst.  The light read, Maintenance Required!

I arrived home, picked up the phone, and called the dealership where I purchased my vehicle.  The lady in the service department told me I had nothing to fear and no cause for worry. The car is programmed to remind me to have scheduled maintenance every 5000 miles.  I was approaching 10,000 miles on the car so the light was there simply as a friendly reminder to make sure I scheduled maintenance.

What a relief this was and what a wonderful lesson about my spiritual life.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a built-in Maintenance Required light?  Then we would know when to go to the doctor, when to visit the dentist, when to get groceries, etc.  Life would be so much easier, wouldn’t it?  Well there are certain things built into our systems.  We get hungry and we search food.  We get sick and we see a doctor.  We have a toothache and we go to the dentist.

But what about our spiritual lives?  Does the Bible say anything about maintaining our relationship with God?  What type of maintenance schedule do the Scriptures speak of?  In Hosea 12:6 we find these words, “But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always”.  Can you find the Maintenance Required light in this passage?  It is right there, glaring out at us.  Notice that Hosea encourages his readers to do three things.  First, we must return to God.  What a punch these few words pack!   On a daily basis, we run the risk of distancing ourselves from the Lord and when we do, we are in need of returning so we can maintain the close relationship he longs to have with us.

Second, in our lives we must maintain love and justice.  Neither of these comes naturally to the human heart.  Love, real love for others, not just for those who love us in return, is only possible when we allow God to love others through us.  Without him, we cannot possible fulfill Christ’s command to love each other in the same was as he loved us.  Moreover, justice is almost a lost concept today.  We talk about fairness but God’s standard is justice.   The two are not synonymous.  Yet, Hosea instructs us to maintain justice and to do this we must have a consistent relationship with God.

Third, and this is the most difficult, we are told to wait for God always.  Waiting is never easy and it is never fun but it is always necessary!  In fact, the word “always” is the equivalent of the Maintenance Required light on our cars.  In the Christian walk, we are always in need of maintenance.  Daily, we must spend time alone with God and have ourselves checked over, adjusted, and tuned up by our Master Mechanic.  Only he can effect repairs and make adjustments that equip us to do his will daily.

What does the dashboard of your life look like today?  Are you paying attention to the little light that tells you maintenance is required?  Are you maintaining your contact with God?  Is everything in the proper working order today?  If not, how about going into the shop for a little required maintenance!

Hold That Line

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riday evenings were sacred in my hometown, especially from August to November.  This small slice of the calendar was affectionately known as football season and our entire community arranged its activities around the local high school football schedule.  No matter what occurred during the week, if the ballgame was being played at our stadium, chances were that the vast majority of the community would be in attendance

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My dad used to take us to the ballgames when we were small.  I loved going to the stadium, seeing the game, listening to the band, eating hot dogs, and playing on the sidelines.  It was an experience I cherish to this day.  Even now, when the autumn winds begin to blow, I think about my days in high school and the football games we used to watch.  If you were to visit Cherryville today, you would find that this tradition hasn’t changed.  Friday nights still find the stands filled with local fans and the traffic around the high school stadium is still frustrating, challenging, and sometimes impossible to navigate.

In addition to the players on the field, there are other participants who contribute to the atmosphere at a high school ballgame.  The band performs on the field during the halftime festivities.  They also provide music during the game, especially if the team scores a touchdown!  The hometown fight song is played with each successful drive and the fans stand to their feet, clap their hands, and become rather boisterous.  The band also provides snappy tunes to entertain the crowd and to spur the team on to victory!

Lastly, there are the cheerleaders who stand in front of the crowd in all kinds of weather, leading them in cheers, raising their spirits, and maintaining positive momentum, even when the team is losing.  That’s the real test of a fan isn’t it?  It is easy to support a team when it’s winning but it takes real dedication to remain positive when defeat is certain.  The crowd usually joins in, following the cheerleaders example, repeating and participating in the various cheers the girls are performing.  New cheers are introduced each year but there are some old, traditional standbys that are always popular.

One of these is a cheer written to encourage the defensive team.  It is very simple and is composed of only three words: Hold That Line! This is repeated over and over again with the crowd joining in.  It is especially effective when the home team is trying to prevent the opposite team from scoring.  The cheerleaders begin that cheer, starting off with gusto and the crowd takes up the chant and the sound becomes deafening.  Hold that line!  Hold that line! Hold that line!  Clearly, the cheerleaders and the fans don’t intend for the defensive players to allow the opposing team to gain one inch of ground.  Thus, the pressure falls on the defensive team to make sure that the line holds firm and is not broken.

            The Apostle Paul was not thinking of high school football when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians.  However, there is a striking parallel between the defensive line on a football team and Paul’s admonition to Christians.  At the end of Ephesians 6, Paul writes his often quoted commands to his fellow Christians to put on the whole armor of God.  He describes each piece of the armor, explaining its purpose and use.  However, he then makes an interesting and somewhat startling statement.  Paul simple writes in Ephesians 6:14 “Stand firm, then…”

Yes, you read correctly, “Stand firm, then…”  This seems to be contradictory, doesn’t it?  Why would a soldier put on his armor, prepare himself for battle, and take up his position only to stand?  It doesn’t seem logical, and standing still seems to guarantee that the soldier will become injured in the battle.  But remember that defensive line.  Its job is just to “Hold that line!”  The coach on the sidelines calls the plays, he has the master plan in mind, and he knows exactly how the line should be formed in order to stop the opposing team.  It is not up to the individual players to decide how the game should be played.  Instead, they are to follow their training, put all their effort into standing firm, and they are to present a united front so that the line will not break and the opposing team will not gain ground.

This is exactly what our Heavenly Father tells us today.  In Paul’s words, we find God’s admonition to us to stand our ground, to remain faithful in the fray, to lock our feet and our shields into position, and to “Hold that line.”  It may seem a difficult task.  We want to run ahead, to get into the thick of battle, and to participate in the campaign.  However, the place God has given you may be one of the most important areas of the battle line.  The enemy must not gain ground, he must not be allowed to move forward, and he must never be given the chance to do an end run and come up from behind.  Holding that line is important, it is essential, and it is vital to your walk with God.

We do have an enemy.  He is relentless and would like nothing better than to cut you off from the ranks and break your line of communication with God.  Don’t you dare give him that opportunity!  Stand firm!  God knows where you are, he is familiar with your position in the line of battle, and he knows that the enemy is coming against you.  Moreover, he knows you are able to hold your position or he would not have placed you in your present situation. 

Today, take a moment and listen!  God is sending in orders from the sidelines of life.  He has all the confidence and faith in you and your ability to stand firm for him in life’s battle.  Over the bustle of battle, over the clanking of spiritual swords, over the drumming sound of the enemy’s approaching march, you can hear his command to you.  “Hold That Line!”

Balancing Your Statement

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t is one of the most unpleasant but oh so necessary tasks I have to perform on a monthly basis.  Once a month, the bank notifies me via e-mail that it is time to reconcile my statement.  In essence, the bank calls me to account for my spending during the previous month to see if my records match theirs.  Their records are the standard and, with very few instances, their records are accurate.

Time was when this process took several hours, if not days!  The ritual included pencils, paper, coffee, calculators, more coffee, erasers, alarm clock, and another pot of coffee.  The process was tedious because at some point, you had failed to enter a transaction and that meant spending the majority of the night chasing down a few dollars or pennies. 

On more than one occasion, I have witnessed my mother chase a penny for days as she balanced the books at my dad’s business.  To my mind, all that was necessary was to add the penny back in, but not mom! She wanted the books to balance and she worked at it until they did!

The jump from balancing a bank statement to balancing a life is not a large one.  The same principle that applies to keeping abreast of the funds in a bank account also applies to the Christian life. Let’s take a quick look at what the Scriptures teach us about living a life in balance with God.

In the Old Testament book of Daniel we meet a king whose life was out of balance.  The people of Israel were living in captivity in Babylon.  Daniel, who was a wise and godly man, was called to stand before the king and explain a mysterious message he had received.  During a great banquet King Belshazzar had thrown, in which he drank from the gold and silver goblets stolen from the Temple in Jerusalem, the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote a message on the wall of the banquet hall.  Belshazzar summoned Daniel to interpret the message and Daniel did so.

Daniel 5:27 is the heart of God’s message to Belshazzar.  It is a message we all need to hear and to consider as we bring our lives into balance with God’s word and His expectations for all those who bear His name.  This passage says, “You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.”  What a sobering statement for Belshazzar to hear. In fact, the Scriptures tell us the king grew pale when he saw the handwriting on the wall and this is understandable.  The message, however, tells us that there is a standard against which the king was measured and that standard was God’s standard and this standard is always accurate!

As Christians, we need to take heed and consider this statement from the book of Daniel.  God’s standards for holiness, his standards that we are to be like Christ, and his standards for maintaining our relationship with him have not and will not change.  Every day we are to take account of our lives and to compare them with the accurate statement found in God’s word.  Do our transactions, the things we do in life, square and balance with God’s word?  Are we living in a manner consistent with God’s statement or are our lives woefully out of balance with God’s will?

Today, as you go about your routine, stop and consider your actions, your thoughts, your words, and your motives.  Are they in line with God’s requirements?  Are we stewarding our lives wisely or are we writing checks haphazardly, expecting God to cover us when they are presented for payment?  Are our lives in balance today or are we, like Belshazzar, weighed in the balance and found wanting?  Have you balanced your spiritual statement today?

A Few Bumps and Bruises

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he Lord’s lessons never stop and His classroom is anywhere you happen to be at any given moment.  On January 12, 2005 the lesson was faith.  My location was in the middle seat in aisle 17 of a jam-packed airplane, thirty minutes out from Chicago’s O’Hare airport and approximately 27,000 feet above the ground.  It was a memorable lesson but I was not a model student.

I was making my way back to Fort Worth after spending the Christmas holidays with my family in North Carolina.  The day started off very well.  My dad took me to the airport for the first leg of my journey, from Charlotte to Chicago.  The flight was very smooth and I actually slept most of the way to Chicago.  As we approached the airport, however, the captain’s voice came over the speaker system to inform us that weather conditions in the middle of the country and in the northeast meant that some connecting flights would be delayed but we would arrive at our gate on time.

We landed with just a few bumps on the way down.  There was very little snow on the ground and practically no fog in the area.  Heavy clouds, however, indicated that some sort of weather was brewing somewhere but I thought little of it and concentrated on finding the gate for the last part of my journey to DFW Airport. 

I located the gate and began munching on one of the apples my mom had shoved into a plastic sack a few hours before.  About three bites into the apple, someone noticed that our flight had been cancelled.  We all sprang to our feet but were assured we had been placed on another flight leaving in mid-afternoon.  So, I grabbed some lunch, found the gate, and waited.

Finally, at 3:30 we took off and around 4:00 the festivities began.  A strong weather system was approaching from the west and the plane began to bounce and shake because of the turbulence it was encountering.  The captain asked the flight crew to be seated—never a good thing—and they resumed their duties 25 minutes later.  During that time, the plane was jostled and shaken several times and all the while my nails dug deeper and deeper in to the plush upholstery covering the armrest of my seat.  Needless to say, I don’t like turbulence.

In my mind’s eye, I could see the plane falling to the ground, thanks to the turbulent winds blowing against it.  But the turbulence only proved that there was air underneath the plane, holding it up.  Although the winds were against it, the plane continued to make forward progress and it continued on its course because the pilot knew where he was going. He was experienced, and he knew how to get to our final destination.  The fact that I could not see him and that I had absolutely no control made me nervous but it didn’t affect the outcome of our flight.  For all my worry and concern, we arrived at DFW Airport safe and sound, ready to greet family and friends and head for our homes.

I learned a great lesson in the skies over the mid-west.  Flights are not always smooth.  Sometimes, they are choppy, bumpy, and a bit scary.  There are no guarantees that an airplane won’t encounter any turbulence and in point of fact that expectation is very unrealistic.  No, turbulence is part of flying and sometimes you just have to fly right through it.

Jesus wanted his disciples to understand that the same principle is true in the Christian life.  It has become very popular today to hear sermons and read books that paint a very rosy picture of the Christian life.  Indeed, there are those who believe that once a person becomes a Christian all life’s problems are over.  There will be no turbulence, nothing but smooth sailing ahead.  It’s a nice thought, but it is dead wrong.  Nowhere in the Bible do we find any such promise or guarantee.  In fact, Jesus promises us just the opposite will be true in the Christian life.

In John 16:33 we read, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  Notice very carefully that Jesus tells us plainly that in this world, in life, we will have trouble.  There will be times when life doesn't make sense; there will be times when we experience unexpected sadness, pain, or rejection.  But Jesus also tells us that we will have peace in him.  Peace in Jesus means trouble in the world because the peace that Jesus offers us the world cannot give.

  

The bumps and bruises of life are not fun but they do not hinder us from making forward progress.  They just make that progress a little more difficult and a little more challenging.  But the Lord has promised to be with us through the bumps and bruises of life and to make sure we land safely at home.  If it is turbulent where you are today, just dig your hand a little deeper into God’s and cling a little more tightly to him.  The bumps and bruises will only last for a while; we have his word on that.