A getting day

I was listening to a young man pray today and this phrase caught my attention:

"... and thank you that it has been such a getting day."

Hmm. My first reaction was that it was a rather self-centered sort of gratitude. I mean, it's not supposed to be all about what we get, right?

And then he continued. He was thankful that his dad was getting better, that he was getting an education, that we were getting to go to church, that someone was getting recognition for their work ... and I realized he was right.

It has been a getting day.

Faith is a funny thing

"Faith" has become a pretty generic term. When I refer to my faith, I'm referring to my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. But faith can be in anyone or anything. I might have faith that my favorite football team will turn around their losing streak. The stock market has lost faith with their investors (or the faith OF their investors). My faith in the odds of air travel might keep me getting on airplanes to travel (although that faith has been shaken a little lately). President Obama refers to himself as "a man of faith" but it would seem that no one's quite sure what faith that might be. Faith has been reduced to a personal proclivity or opinion.

But when those "faiths" have nothing behind them, it's very difficult to be "faithful" to them. Ravi Zacharias, in his book Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message, makes this statement:

None of us live comfortably with a vacuous faith. There ought to be both substance to our faith and an object of our faith.

I want a substance to my faith. If God is not big enough to place my faith in, then He's simply not big enough. Here's some definitions of faith that I like:

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1

"...a secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will."
-dictionary.com

"Faith is a confidence in the person of Jesus Christ and in His power, so that even when His power does not serve my end, my confidence in Him remains because of who He is."
-Ravi Zacharias

The "In" Crowd

A pastor I was listening to recently made this statement:

"Religion, by its very nature, attempts to define who's in...and who's out."

I once lived in a neighborhood that was quite new. We were the first owners of our house, as were most of our neighbors. It was a very small community but rapidly expanding and our neighborhood had been the first in the start of what would become quite a housing boom. And what I found interesting was the attitude that many of the homeowners in our neighborhood (not the long time residents of the town, though) regarding the status or requirements of the even newer homes being built and what those people should be able to do or not to do. There was much talk of preserving the rural nature of the town and not overburdening certain systems but what it boiled down to was a simple (and un-neighborly) message. The attitude was very much "We're here; now close the door."

It reminded me of junior high. There was the "in" crowd. And there was everyone else, left to form the friendships they could among the misfits (at least that seemed to be the attitude of the "in" crowd.) The "in" crowd was very confident in their position but definitely placed a line that few could cross before joining their ranks. It was a position of privilege, and the only way to maintain the status was to limit the number of people allowed.

That's not an encouraging thought. Do religions make it that hard for people to find God when they are looking for Him? Unfortunately, yes, often they do. And it seems that for centuries Christians have been doing the same thing. Jesus was very harsh in his statements to the religious rulers of his day:

"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in." Matthew 23:13 (ESV)

Does this mean that we can't tell people about God's plan for their life and the need to accept Christ's payment for the enormous debt of sin that each of us carries? Do we need to be preaching an "everybody's in regardless" message? I don't think so. But sometimes it might mean that we need to remember that in the end each person will stand before God, not us, to give account.

Instead of trying to be the judge, we need to remember we are the former convict that can offer guidance to the person facing a life of imprisonment. Instead of a nose in the air, we could be offering a hand of help. As the pastor summed up, we who have been rescued should be the first to join the search and rescue team. Not just to say "I told you so!" and leave them in their situation but to offer to bring them home to the love of a Father who is waiting for them. The grace and mercy that saved us are available to everyone.

None of us deserves to be there but rest assured, there's plenty of room in the "in" crowd. Let's make sure that we make that clear.

A thought for today

"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him."
2 Chronicles 16:9

It never ceases to amaze me that God comes looking for us. He seeks us out before we know Him. He prompts us to come aside and be with Him. He looks for us to provide the strength we need when we commit to His way. Do you need strength today? I do.

Eve's choice

I received an interesting devotional today by Mary Southerland. She was talking about temptation. I obviously don't want to copy her devotional but it raised a couple of interesting side notes.

The two biggest temptation stories of the Bible are Eve's in the Garden of Eden and Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness. They present two different outcomes to temptation. Eve gave in; Jesus didn't. The difference? I think it's the way they understood and used God's Word, and the way they communicated with God.

Eve knew God had said something about the fruit of one tree but when the crunch came, she didn't know exactly what.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' " Genesis 3:1-3

Is that really what God had said? Not quite.

"And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."Genesis 2:16

She had the general message right - it was a tree in the middle of the garden, and death was on the line. But she added to it too. Suddenly, the focus was not on the variety and abundance of what was available to her but on the one thing that was not.

Kind of like dieting makes that donut look more appealing just because we know we shouldn't eat it.

Or the way tithing is hard because we look at the amount in the 10 percent column instead of the 90 percent available to us.

Jesus, by comparison, also knew what God had said, but he didn't add to it or try to rationalize it. When Satan came to him, Jesus answered him with God's Word and nothing else.

After fasting forty days and forty nights, he [Jesus] was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "Matthew 4:2-4

Had God really said that? Yes. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' " Matthew 4:5-7

Is that was God's Word said? Yes. (Psalm 91:11, 12; Deuteronomy 6:16)

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' " Matthew 4:8-10

Really? Yes. (Deuteronomy 6:13)

The other thing to notice is that both Eve and Jesus talked with God regularly. Eve got to commune with God in the beautiful setting of the garden every day. But Eve didn't take time to talk to God about Satan's temptation. Do you suppose she might have made a different choice if she had? We can't say for sure, but we do see that Jesus, even after spending 40 days fasting, was much better prepared for Satan's insidious suggestions.

Eve ate when she wasn't hungry. Jesus didn't eat when he was.

Unfortunately for Eve, giving in to the temptation didn't get rid of the temptor. He was still there when God came later to the garden to talk with Adam and Eve. But notice what happened when Jesus relied on God's Word when tempted:

Then the devil left him and angels came and attended him (Matthew 4:11)

Let both Eve and Jesus be a reminder. Temptations will always be available to us but we can be prepared to face it. By knowing God's word and talking with Him both before and during a time of temptation, we can be much better prepared to avoid the pitfalls.

A green light on miracles

Sometimes I think we miss miracles because we're not looking. Sometimes I think we miss miracles because they are small (in scope or in size, not in importance). But sometimes we see them and that changes our whole day.

Today my day started with a miracle. I got up on time (okay, that was a miracle but not the one I'm thinking of) but somehow ended up running a bit late. So I was driving to work and a little concerned that I'd cut it too close. I'm the teacher this week so it's not like they could start without me.

As I drove towards the first set of traffic lights I would encounter, I looked ahead and saw that the green left-turn arrow was already on and there was only one truck proceeding to turn. "Nuts," I thought, knowing I'd miss the light and have to wait for a rather long interval to catch the next one.

Now, understand - I've been driving through this traffic light for a month now. I know the pattern it takes in the morning. And so I sighed and resigned myself to a longish wait at that intersection.

But then the miracle happened. As I drove towards the light, it didn't change. And it didn't change. I even started to slow down, expecting it to change. I mean, I know the pattern of this light, right? And there was no way I was going to make it.

And then the lights on the through lanes changed to yellow - but still the arrow stayed green. I was now at decision time - do I stop or not? Will it change before I hit the moment of decision? As my foot hesitated over the brake pedal, still the arrow stayed green and the through lanes were about to flick to red. And still the arrow was green.

So I turned. And just as I completed the turn, the arrow changed to yellow, then red.

Now I know angels didn't appear (or did they?), and trumpets didn't sound but it was unexplainable and it was a particularly encouraging blessing to me.

That's a miracle.

Building cathedrals