The little prophetic book of Zechariah has some fantastic visions in it. We lose a lot of the meaning in the present day because so much of it is symbolic. Zechariah lived during a time of economic and political upheaval for the promise land. The Jewish people were coming back from captivity from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem and their country. Much like Iraq has been the last couple of years, the nation was vulnerable to attack and corruption.
Zechariah has a vision in the night in Zechariah one and he says, "During the night I had a vision-ahd there before me was a man riding a red horse! He ws standing amongh the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown, and white horses." Zech 1:8 I believe this is significant that the rider was down in a ravine. It represents the low place that Israel finds itself in this period. The rider is Jesus Himself, a preincarnate vision of the Son of God. The fact that he is down in the ravine suggests that God is there with them, fighting their baIttles for them and with them. The angel who speaks with Zechariah will clarify this in verse 14-17 of this chapter.
This is meaningful to me because it tells me that though I may go through valleys of my own as a believer, God has not forsaken me. God is willing to get down in that ravine with me and help me to fight my battles. The important thing for me to remember is to stay faithful to him. God tells them this in verse 3 when he tells them "Return to me, declares the Lord Almighty, and I will return to you." Our trouble really begin and ends when we try to do things our own way, in our own timing, without relying on the Lord.
I get frustrated because I cannot see the big picture of what God wants or what direction that he is leading me. He sees it and even in the delays and problems can bear fruit if I allow him to. I must not try to put my hands back on the steering wheel of my life and force the issue. I must allow his perfect timing to have its result. Because it is often in the waiting that he is growing in me the faith, the perseverance, the maturity that I will need to accomplish his will. It needs to be enough to know that God has not abandoned me and is there with me.
Want another encouraging word? Try Beth Moore's a Quick Word at
http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/a-quick-word-with-beth-moore/
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
No more condemnation
"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" Romans 8:1
It seems that Christians are more often known for what they are against than what they are for. They seem to be thought of by many people as rigid and judgmental. Maybe that is because we sometimes are and sometimes fight over things that seem petty to others outside the church, like whether or not to have a softball team or an Easter Egg Hunt. But, it seems to me that christians should be a most forgiving lot since we have been forgiven so much.
If I ever do come across as judgmental, I would say that the person I have the least amount of grace towards is myself. I tend to dwell on past mistakes and sins long after I have asked for forgiveness. So, these words in Romans 8 (in fact the whole chapter is beautiful) reminds me that God no longer condemns me. Those sins have been placed on and nailed to the cross. It is great if I want to learn from my mistakes, but I don't have to keep beating myself up over things that God has washed away.
The thing of it is, that if I could have earned my own way to heaven in the first place than the cross would seem like a horrible, cruel thing to do to the Son of God. If it could have been avoided at all. That is in fact what Jesus asked the Father in Gethsemane when he asked that if possible that that cup be taken from him. But, God revealed that there actually was no other way. No other way to attain our rescue than through the hell on the cross.
So, in recalling that I did not earn that forgiveness and it was in fact paid for me by Jesus, then I am to walk in that forgiveness. I am to work hard at forgiving others. That doesn't mean to make light of it or to act as though it did not matter. It doesn't mean to minimize what happened. It means to follow the example of Jesus.
"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13
"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Mk 11:25
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32
It seems that Christians are more often known for what they are against than what they are for. They seem to be thought of by many people as rigid and judgmental. Maybe that is because we sometimes are and sometimes fight over things that seem petty to others outside the church, like whether or not to have a softball team or an Easter Egg Hunt. But, it seems to me that christians should be a most forgiving lot since we have been forgiven so much.
The thing of it is, that if I could have earned my own way to heaven in the first place than the cross would seem like a horrible, cruel thing to do to the Son of God. If it could have been avoided at all. That is in fact what Jesus asked the Father in Gethsemane when he asked that if possible that that cup be taken from him. But, God revealed that there actually was no other way. No other way to attain our rescue than through the hell on the cross.
So, in recalling that I did not earn that forgiveness and it was in fact paid for me by Jesus, then I am to walk in that forgiveness. I am to work hard at forgiving others. That doesn't mean to make light of it or to act as though it did not matter. It doesn't mean to minimize what happened. It means to follow the example of Jesus.
"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." Colossians 3:13
"And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Mk 11:25
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32
Saturday, June 19, 2010
The Power of Our Words
The New Life Daily Devotional quotes James 3:5-10 regarding the power of our words.
http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/NewLife/11633477/
In the book of James, James reminds us that the words that we use can do great damage. Among other things, James calls it a "flame of fire". We would do well to remember the damage that it can do. I heard about a woman who came up to Dwight Moody and told him that "I don't have problems with my tongue. I just go off and then it is done." Dwight replied, "Yes, and so does a shotgun and look at the damage that it does."
Many people grow up hearing only how stupid or ugly they are from parents or other people who should be loving them and not tearing them down. Other people might not hear anything at all, but are treated like dirt and abused. In the absence of encouraging words, a person will start to believe negative hurtful comments even if they are not true. Where I work in the mental health field, we see people who have problems with self-esteem and are abusive to themselves because of messages they were told for years by parents and siblings.
James is reminding us all, to be careful with the words that we say. We are all accountable to God for each thing that we say, both good and bad. We should use our words to encourage and lift up others.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up others according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Eph 4:20
Other related Scriptures: Ps 34:13; Pr 13:3; Pr 21:23; 1 Peter 3:10; 1 Peter 2:1.
http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/NewLife/11633477/
In the book of James, James reminds us that the words that we use can do great damage. Among other things, James calls it a "flame of fire". We would do well to remember the damage that it can do. I heard about a woman who came up to Dwight Moody and told him that "I don't have problems with my tongue. I just go off and then it is done." Dwight replied, "Yes, and so does a shotgun and look at the damage that it does."
Many people grow up hearing only how stupid or ugly they are from parents or other people who should be loving them and not tearing them down. Other people might not hear anything at all, but are treated like dirt and abused. In the absence of encouraging words, a person will start to believe negative hurtful comments even if they are not true. Where I work in the mental health field, we see people who have problems with self-esteem and are abusive to themselves because of messages they were told for years by parents and siblings.
James is reminding us all, to be careful with the words that we say. We are all accountable to God for each thing that we say, both good and bad. We should use our words to encourage and lift up others.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up others according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Eph 4:20
Other related Scriptures: Ps 34:13; Pr 13:3; Pr 21:23; 1 Peter 3:10; 1 Peter 2:1.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Jesus Statute Burns Down
This week we heard about a statute in Ohio of Jesus that literally burned down from lightning strike. A article I found stated:
"The "King of Kings" statue, one of Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.
The 62ft tall 40ft wide sculpture, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown in a game of football."
see rest of article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7831077/60ft-Jesus-statue-burns-to-ground.html
When I first saw this article, I thought about it and wondered to myself when is it expressing reverence and when it is it a graven image? In Exodus 20:4 it says, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,. . . ." God warned them not to make images because of the tendency of people to worship things rather than God. We make idols out of all sorts of things whether or not we realize it. Could it be that God allowed this statute to be struck down because it was becoming too important to the people of this church? Could it be that it was becoming a source of spiritual pride to these people? Maybe
I was also struck by the phrase that God used in this passage I quoted that God is a "jealous" God. This word is also used in Exodus 34:14 the original Hebrew word is "annq". God is saying that He desires with a passion our allegiance. It is right for God to be jealous of this because He deserves it, as our creator and sustainer. In fact, when we don't allow Him to be the priority of our lives as He should be it is sin. Normally we think of jealousy in negative terms, but in its proper context, it is appropriate.
Apparently, the co-pastor doesn't think that there is anything wrong with the statute because they want to build another one, this time to be fireproof. Quote from the pastor “I think he (Jesus) couldn’t have gotten this much advertising if we had paid a billion dollars,” she said Tuesday. Wow! It is just me or is there something terribly wrong with that statement. See the article about the rebuilding:
http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20100615/NEWS01/306160001/-Touchdown-Jesus-statue-fire-not-a-sign-from-God-Solid-Rock-Church-leader-says
"The "King of Kings" statue, one of Ohio's most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.
The 62ft tall 40ft wide sculpture, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown in a game of football."
see rest of article here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/7831077/60ft-Jesus-statue-burns-to-ground.html
When I first saw this article, I thought about it and wondered to myself when is it expressing reverence and when it is it a graven image? In Exodus 20:4 it says, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,. . . ." God warned them not to make images because of the tendency of people to worship things rather than God. We make idols out of all sorts of things whether or not we realize it. Could it be that God allowed this statute to be struck down because it was becoming too important to the people of this church? Could it be that it was becoming a source of spiritual pride to these people? Maybe
I was also struck by the phrase that God used in this passage I quoted that God is a "jealous" God. This word is also used in Exodus 34:14 the original Hebrew word is "annq". God is saying that He desires with a passion our allegiance. It is right for God to be jealous of this because He deserves it, as our creator and sustainer. In fact, when we don't allow Him to be the priority of our lives as He should be it is sin. Normally we think of jealousy in negative terms, but in its proper context, it is appropriate.
Apparently, the co-pastor doesn't think that there is anything wrong with the statute because they want to build another one, this time to be fireproof. Quote from the pastor “I think he (Jesus) couldn’t have gotten this much advertising if we had paid a billion dollars,” she said Tuesday. Wow! It is just me or is there something terribly wrong with that statement. See the article about the rebuilding:
http://communitypress.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20100615/NEWS01/306160001/-Touchdown-Jesus-statue-fire-not-a-sign-from-God-Solid-Rock-Church-leader-says
Saturday, June 12, 2010
You do not ask
"you want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives." James 4:2-3
This week I had some prayers of mine answered. It was a great encouragement for me to keep praying for those things that I want to happen that have not yet. In thinking about the situation, I realized that I went for a long time hoping, but not praying about my concerns. James was telling his readers that there were two main reasons they were not getting what they wanted. One they were asking with wrong motives. But, also there were times when they were not asking at all. They preferred to do things their own way rather than humble themselves and pray.
Over and over again, the Bible encourages us to lift up our hearts concerns to God. In Philippians 4:6 it says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." You notice there that it says, "in everything", meaning that there is nothing that should be excluded. It should be brought to the Lord. It should be examined in the light of His presence.
There have been times in bringing things to God that God would change my heart and I would stop praying for whatever I had thought was important. There was also times when I would realize as I was praying that what I was asking for was not appropriate or was being asked for for selfish reasons. By bringing that to God, I am saying to God that He has the right to change, to answer or to reject my request. Since I am a child of His, then He has the right to do this. He is the one who I am ultimately answering to at the end of my life the same as everyone else. So, he searches our minds and hearts in prayer and has a chance to show us His will.
One of my friends in college, who is now a pastor use to quote these verses to me, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Sometimes there is a delay in answered prayer because God is examining our hearts "Do you really trust me?" God asks. Are you leaning on your own understanding, your own timetable, your own dreams and goals or are you willing to give them to me? Are you willing to surrender them knowing that I know what is best for you? Or are you stil in the drivers seat?
Related Luke 11:9-10; John 14:14; John 15:7; John 16:24; James 1:5-7; Romans 8:26-27; Luke 18:1; Eph 6:18; Is 65:24; Psalm 91:15;
www.crosswalk.com/prayer/
www.upperroom.org/prayer_center/
www.prayer.org/
This week I had some prayers of mine answered. It was a great encouragement for me to keep praying for those things that I want to happen that have not yet. In thinking about the situation, I realized that I went for a long time hoping, but not praying about my concerns. James was telling his readers that there were two main reasons they were not getting what they wanted. One they were asking with wrong motives. But, also there were times when they were not asking at all. They preferred to do things their own way rather than humble themselves and pray.
Over and over again, the Bible encourages us to lift up our hearts concerns to God. In Philippians 4:6 it says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." You notice there that it says, "in everything", meaning that there is nothing that should be excluded. It should be brought to the Lord. It should be examined in the light of His presence.
There have been times in bringing things to God that God would change my heart and I would stop praying for whatever I had thought was important. There was also times when I would realize as I was praying that what I was asking for was not appropriate or was being asked for for selfish reasons. By bringing that to God, I am saying to God that He has the right to change, to answer or to reject my request. Since I am a child of His, then He has the right to do this. He is the one who I am ultimately answering to at the end of my life the same as everyone else. So, he searches our minds and hearts in prayer and has a chance to show us His will.
One of my friends in college, who is now a pastor use to quote these verses to me, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Sometimes there is a delay in answered prayer because God is examining our hearts "Do you really trust me?" God asks. Are you leaning on your own understanding, your own timetable, your own dreams and goals or are you willing to give them to me? Are you willing to surrender them knowing that I know what is best for you? Or are you stil in the drivers seat?
Related Luke 11:9-10; John 14:14; John 15:7; John 16:24; James 1:5-7; Romans 8:26-27; Luke 18:1; Eph 6:18; Is 65:24; Psalm 91:15;
www.crosswalk.com/prayer/
www.upperroom.org/prayer_center/
www.prayer.org/
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Rescued
Today was one of those days where I just wanted to stay in bed and pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep. I am not sure why I felt that way. Nothing actually bad happened all day. I actually felt okay and my blood sugar was normal all day. In fact, it was 86 when I came home from work which is right in the middle of normal.
So, after seeing one of my clients and feeling pretty good about the visit, I came home and mowed my lawn. I hate mowing my lawn because it has a lot of hilly spots on it. In fact, the backyard has a huge hill that is great for sledding down if it snows, but otherwise is not a good thing. After mowing, I notice that my cat Tootsie had a baby rabbit (brown) in her mouth. She was going across the street with it presumably to eat it. Of our three cats, Tootsie is the only female and the hunter of the group.
Anyway, I stopped Tootsie and took the rabbit out of her mouth and let it go. I took Tootsie inside to get her away from it and then came back to the rabbit. It looked to be in shock, but when I walked toward it it ran off across the street. I know some would say that I should have left it alone, but it felt pretty good to save the little guy.
It made me think about the verses in Colossians, one of my favorite letters, where Paul stated that God rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His son. The emphasis is not on what we do, but on what God does. God does the rescuing, which we are helpless, undeserving and condemned. Don't think that when you get to heaven your going to be able to claim what a great person you are because you are not. You and I stand condemned without the cross, plain and simple. As helpless and hopeless as that rabbit was about an hour ago. But, despite the fact that we did not deserve it (grace) God had mercy on us and saved us. I think that is pretty cool.
Maybe not a lot of people cared today whether or not I got out of bed and went to work and did my thing. But, I know one little rabbit in this neighborhood that is very grateful I was there. I know too, that I don't say to God how grateful I am that He saved me, when I was helpless to do it myself.
So, after seeing one of my clients and feeling pretty good about the visit, I came home and mowed my lawn. I hate mowing my lawn because it has a lot of hilly spots on it. In fact, the backyard has a huge hill that is great for sledding down if it snows, but otherwise is not a good thing. After mowing, I notice that my cat Tootsie had a baby rabbit (brown) in her mouth. She was going across the street with it presumably to eat it. Of our three cats, Tootsie is the only female and the hunter of the group.
Anyway, I stopped Tootsie and took the rabbit out of her mouth and let it go. I took Tootsie inside to get her away from it and then came back to the rabbit. It looked to be in shock, but when I walked toward it it ran off across the street. I know some would say that I should have left it alone, but it felt pretty good to save the little guy.
It made me think about the verses in Colossians, one of my favorite letters, where Paul stated that God rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His son. The emphasis is not on what we do, but on what God does. God does the rescuing, which we are helpless, undeserving and condemned. Don't think that when you get to heaven your going to be able to claim what a great person you are because you are not. You and I stand condemned without the cross, plain and simple. As helpless and hopeless as that rabbit was about an hour ago. But, despite the fact that we did not deserve it (grace) God had mercy on us and saved us. I think that is pretty cool.
Maybe not a lot of people cared today whether or not I got out of bed and went to work and did my thing. But, I know one little rabbit in this neighborhood that is very grateful I was there. I know too, that I don't say to God how grateful I am that He saved me, when I was helpless to do it myself.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
God Knows
"If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." Psalm 139:8, NIV
In Psalm 139, the psalmist writes about how God is all powerful and all knowing. He tells us that there is nowhere that we can go to escape the attention of God. There is nothing that we can think of or know that God has not seen. There is no secrets with God, no unknowns.
A coach at Sam Houston State University for the football team came and spoke at our BSU and referred to this chapter. It was the first time that I had had any exposure to this chapter that I can recall. That was also the first year that I realized that I had problems with fatigue and possible blood sugar problems. To me, when I look at this chapter, I think of those times. It tells me that there is nothing that I am going through that God doesn't see, know about and know the answer for.
Some times when you hear people pray it sounds like they are informing God of what happened. Almost like making a police report. They tell their side of the story to God. But, the thing is, is that God knows the story already. He doesn't need to be informed. But, at the same time sometimes we need to get it off our chest. I don't need to worry though about being misunderstood by God. God sees the problem and already understands the solution. That is really good news because there are times when I do not know what to do.
"You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar, You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord." Psalm 139:3
When I was a chaplain in the nursing home, the administrator and nursing director were roommates. They called me into a meeting one time and said that the director had overheard a phone conversation that I had. She said she picked up another line and heard me make some negative comments about the facility to a activity director who was no longer with the company. The fact of the matter is, that I don't know who she heard talking, but it wasn't me. Not that I didn't have some negative feelings about the nursing home, but I was not guilty of making that phone call. Truth is, I didn't even have that ladies phone number. But, they continued to accuse me of it nevertheless. Until the day when the corporate people came and fired the administrator a few weeks later for falsifying documents.
I could confess my innocence all day long to those two ladies and they didn't hear what I had to say. They didn't believe me because they had already made up their minds about what to do and say. But, I decided to leave the situation in God's hands and went home and prayed for the whole situation. Some time after that both of them were gone. The nursing director walked out the door and I never saw her again. Whatever they wanted to believe about me, God knew the truth. He saw my heart and where it was. He saw what really happened. Sometimes you just have to leave it at his throne and let him deal with things. God may not respond in the quick way he did with my situation, but God will have the final word.
In Psalm 139, the psalmist writes about how God is all powerful and all knowing. He tells us that there is nowhere that we can go to escape the attention of God. There is nothing that we can think of or know that God has not seen. There is no secrets with God, no unknowns.
A coach at Sam Houston State University for the football team came and spoke at our BSU and referred to this chapter. It was the first time that I had had any exposure to this chapter that I can recall. That was also the first year that I realized that I had problems with fatigue and possible blood sugar problems. To me, when I look at this chapter, I think of those times. It tells me that there is nothing that I am going through that God doesn't see, know about and know the answer for.
Some times when you hear people pray it sounds like they are informing God of what happened. Almost like making a police report. They tell their side of the story to God. But, the thing is, is that God knows the story already. He doesn't need to be informed. But, at the same time sometimes we need to get it off our chest. I don't need to worry though about being misunderstood by God. God sees the problem and already understands the solution. That is really good news because there are times when I do not know what to do.
"You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar, You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord." Psalm 139:3
When I was a chaplain in the nursing home, the administrator and nursing director were roommates. They called me into a meeting one time and said that the director had overheard a phone conversation that I had. She said she picked up another line and heard me make some negative comments about the facility to a activity director who was no longer with the company. The fact of the matter is, that I don't know who she heard talking, but it wasn't me. Not that I didn't have some negative feelings about the nursing home, but I was not guilty of making that phone call. Truth is, I didn't even have that ladies phone number. But, they continued to accuse me of it nevertheless. Until the day when the corporate people came and fired the administrator a few weeks later for falsifying documents.
I could confess my innocence all day long to those two ladies and they didn't hear what I had to say. They didn't believe me because they had already made up their minds about what to do and say. But, I decided to leave the situation in God's hands and went home and prayed for the whole situation. Some time after that both of them were gone. The nursing director walked out the door and I never saw her again. Whatever they wanted to believe about me, God knew the truth. He saw my heart and where it was. He saw what really happened. Sometimes you just have to leave it at his throne and let him deal with things. God may not respond in the quick way he did with my situation, but God will have the final word.
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