Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Friday, August 4, 2017
When You Don't Know What to Do
The situation caught me by surprise. It took my breath away. I could taste the cold, metallic taste of fear. I felt small and vulnerable. All reason fled from my mind leaving me with only one thought. I. Don't. Know. What. To. Do!
My eyes were wide with fear but I could see nothing. My heart was racing. I was barely able to breathe. Again my mind screamed, "I don't know what to do!" Suddenly there was a knock at the door. When I reached to open the door I found that the handles of the bolt were dripping with myrrh. I breathed in the dark rich aroma as the smell of the perfume filled my senses. My breathing and the beat of my heart began to slow. My panic was replaced by peace. That is when I saw him.
The situation that I faced was overwhelming. The reality was that I truly didn't know what to do. But when he knocked I opened the door. I breathed in the fragrance of his presence and looked deeply into his eyes and heard him ask, "May I come in?" I was no longer alone. The weight that had almost crushed me was lifted from my shoulders. The taste of fear was replaced by the taste of bread and the taste of wine.
When he entered through the door I had opened, he invited me to have communion with him. Time seemed to stand still. I still didn't know what to do, but my eyes were fixed on him. I accepted his invitation and found before me a banqueting table. Above my seat was a banner of love.
These were thoughts that I had as I woke this morning. I lay in bed letting these truths bathe my mind. The truth is that there are times in life when the battles that I face overwhelm me. There have been many times when I have cried out in desperation, "I don't know what to do!" But these times have been followed by a simple prayer, "My eyes are on you." I have opened the door of faith so that I can look into the eyes of Jesus. I breathe in the fragrance of the Prince of Peace and I know that the battle belongs to the Lord. In sweet communion with him I taste and see that the Lord is good.
.https://youtu.be/czxd5oa-gi0
My eyes were wide with fear but I could see nothing. My heart was racing. I was barely able to breathe. Again my mind screamed, "I don't know what to do!" Suddenly there was a knock at the door. When I reached to open the door I found that the handles of the bolt were dripping with myrrh. I breathed in the dark rich aroma as the smell of the perfume filled my senses. My breathing and the beat of my heart began to slow. My panic was replaced by peace. That is when I saw him.
The situation that I faced was overwhelming. The reality was that I truly didn't know what to do. But when he knocked I opened the door. I breathed in the fragrance of his presence and looked deeply into his eyes and heard him ask, "May I come in?" I was no longer alone. The weight that had almost crushed me was lifted from my shoulders. The taste of fear was replaced by the taste of bread and the taste of wine.
When he entered through the door I had opened, he invited me to have communion with him. Time seemed to stand still. I still didn't know what to do, but my eyes were fixed on him. I accepted his invitation and found before me a banqueting table. Above my seat was a banner of love.
These were thoughts that I had as I woke this morning. I lay in bed letting these truths bathe my mind. The truth is that there are times in life when the battles that I face overwhelm me. There have been many times when I have cried out in desperation, "I don't know what to do!" But these times have been followed by a simple prayer, "My eyes are on you." I have opened the door of faith so that I can look into the eyes of Jesus. I breathe in the fragrance of the Prince of Peace and I know that the battle belongs to the Lord. In sweet communion with him I taste and see that the Lord is good.
.https://youtu.be/czxd5oa-gi0
Thursday, August 3, 2017
A Lamp Not A Candle
Though they both give light there is a difference between a candle and a lamp.
From the instant a candle is lit it begins to consume itself. The darkness is expelled, yes; the light is given, yes; but it is only a matter of time before the candle wax begins to drip and the candle becomes less and less. As long as there is candle to burn there will be light. But the time will come when the candle is consumed. When that time comes there will be one last flicker, one last gasp of light, and then darkness will reign.
When a lamp is lit the light it produces does not come from the lamp itself, but from the oil that it is filled with. As long as the lamp is being filled with oil the lamp will give light. The lamp is not consumed by the flame, because the purpose of the lamp is to hold the oil.
As a Christian I am called to be a light in a dark world. I have tried to produce that light in my own strength. In my desire to reach out to hurting people I have known what is like to be a candle. I wanted to give light, and for a time I was successful. But after a while my strength was spent. The light was gone, and both I and the one I wanted to help were plunged into darkness.
However, I have also known what is like to be a lamp. When I humble myself and recognize that I am not the source of the light but simply the vessel that contains the oil, then the light comes. The light that comes from the lamp truly illuminates the darkness. This light takes you beyond what mortal eyes can see. The light shine as long as the lamp is filled with oil. The One who provides the oil is always willing to fill the lamp.
He Giveth More Grace
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father's full giving is only begun.
Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
Annie J. Flint
https://youtu.be/93D1S0BztJ8
From the instant a candle is lit it begins to consume itself. The darkness is expelled, yes; the light is given, yes; but it is only a matter of time before the candle wax begins to drip and the candle becomes less and less. As long as there is candle to burn there will be light. But the time will come when the candle is consumed. When that time comes there will be one last flicker, one last gasp of light, and then darkness will reign.
When a lamp is lit the light it produces does not come from the lamp itself, but from the oil that it is filled with. As long as the lamp is being filled with oil the lamp will give light. The lamp is not consumed by the flame, because the purpose of the lamp is to hold the oil.
As a Christian I am called to be a light in a dark world. I have tried to produce that light in my own strength. In my desire to reach out to hurting people I have known what is like to be a candle. I wanted to give light, and for a time I was successful. But after a while my strength was spent. The light was gone, and both I and the one I wanted to help were plunged into darkness.
However, I have also known what is like to be a lamp. When I humble myself and recognize that I am not the source of the light but simply the vessel that contains the oil, then the light comes. The light that comes from the lamp truly illuminates the darkness. This light takes you beyond what mortal eyes can see. The light shine as long as the lamp is filled with oil. The One who provides the oil is always willing to fill the lamp.
He Giveth More Grace
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father's full giving is only begun.
Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.
Annie J. Flint
https://youtu.be/93D1S0BztJ8
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Mental Health
When I saw him fear rose up in me and it was as if the light of the sun had been blotted out by a dark cloud. Suddenly a fearful storm was raging all around me. I found it difficult to breathe, much less think. Standing before me was someone I loved almost as much as I loved life itself, but he was so altered, so changed, that if had I seen him in a crowd I doubt I would have known him.
My first thought was, "Dear Jesus! He looks like the Gadarene demoniac!" That was when I began to let grace, mercy and peace wash away the paralyzing anxiety that had thrust me into darkness. I took a deep cleansing breath and repeated, "He looks like the Gadarene demoniac." I prayerfully put on the helmet of salvation.
I thought about how Jesus had told His disciples that they needed to cross over to the other side of the lake. Why? Why did they need to cross to the other side of the lake? It was because someone was waiting for them; someone who was living hopelessly among the tombs. A man bent on self-destruction who no human could tame. So, Jesus needed to get to where the demon-possessed man was because He had come into the world to seek and to save the lost.
I recognize that there are times when I find myself suddenly facing a raging storm and my gut feeling is that I'm going to drown. Isn't it interesting that when Jesus told His disciples that they needed to cross the lake He was sleeping in the boat when the terrifying storm hit? When they woke Him with the question,"Don't you care that we're going to die?" He responded by rebuking the wind and the sea, "Silence! Be still!" That was all it took for the wind to cease and the great calm to come. Then He turned to His disciples and said, "Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?"
I would be lying if I said that I am not afraid when I find myself in an unexpected storm. I often find myself terrified when I see those I love living among the tombs, crying out and hurting themselves. I, like the disciples in the boat, would perish in the storm if I put my faith in myself alone. And I and those I love would live haunted lives among the tombs if Jesus had not come to seek and save the lost. But He did come. And so I put my trust in Him. By faith I take the helmet of salvation and place it on my head. I choose to take every thought captive. I choose to exchange my fear for faith. In doing this I choose mental health.
My first thought was, "Dear Jesus! He looks like the Gadarene demoniac!" That was when I began to let grace, mercy and peace wash away the paralyzing anxiety that had thrust me into darkness. I took a deep cleansing breath and repeated, "He looks like the Gadarene demoniac." I prayerfully put on the helmet of salvation.
I thought about how Jesus had told His disciples that they needed to cross over to the other side of the lake. Why? Why did they need to cross to the other side of the lake? It was because someone was waiting for them; someone who was living hopelessly among the tombs. A man bent on self-destruction who no human could tame. So, Jesus needed to get to where the demon-possessed man was because He had come into the world to seek and to save the lost.
I recognize that there are times when I find myself suddenly facing a raging storm and my gut feeling is that I'm going to drown. Isn't it interesting that when Jesus told His disciples that they needed to cross the lake He was sleeping in the boat when the terrifying storm hit? When they woke Him with the question,"Don't you care that we're going to die?" He responded by rebuking the wind and the sea, "Silence! Be still!" That was all it took for the wind to cease and the great calm to come. Then He turned to His disciples and said, "Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?"
I would be lying if I said that I am not afraid when I find myself in an unexpected storm. I often find myself terrified when I see those I love living among the tombs, crying out and hurting themselves. I, like the disciples in the boat, would perish in the storm if I put my faith in myself alone. And I and those I love would live haunted lives among the tombs if Jesus had not come to seek and save the lost. But He did come. And so I put my trust in Him. By faith I take the helmet of salvation and place it on my head. I choose to take every thought captive. I choose to exchange my fear for faith. In doing this I choose mental health.
Tuesday, August 1, 2017
Show Up!
The sermon was the regular length for a sermon, however, I can only remember two words of it, "Show up." I think these two words spoke so loudly to me because of an illustration that preacher didn't verbalize.
I didn't have my brain surgery in my home town, so in order to come to the hospital to see me it meant a two hour drive. The day after my surgery, Tom May, my pastor, showed up. I confess I was pretty sick and unable to communicate. But the fact that he had taken the time to show up at the hospital communicated to me that he cared. I felt valued.
My great aunt came to my high school graduation. She didn't speak to me before or after the ceremony. You might wonder how I knew that she showed up. Well, I'll tell you. Aunt Sit always wore a hat. In fact, I think she always wore the same hat because as I sit here writing this I can see it in my mind's eye. I remember that when I walked into the auditorium and saw my great Aunt Sit's hat, the only person wearing a hat in the auditorium, I felt honored. I felt like I had value. My Aunt Sit cared enough to show up.
Now I know without a doubt that I have opened up a wound for some who are reading this. I have awakened the memory or when you were alone in the hospital and no one showed up. I have touched a memory from your childhood when your eyes searched for a familiar face in the audience but found none. The memory is a wound. In time the wound becomes a scar, a hard place in your heart where life cannot flow.
I understand. I have those wounds too. But what I have found is that I can take them to the God who did show up. I can stand in His presence with my wounded heart exposed and I ask Him to touch those hard, cold, lifeless places. He not only heals the hurt but He also redeems the pain by giving me the assignment to relay to others that they have value and that I care enough to show up.
I didn't have my brain surgery in my home town, so in order to come to the hospital to see me it meant a two hour drive. The day after my surgery, Tom May, my pastor, showed up. I confess I was pretty sick and unable to communicate. But the fact that he had taken the time to show up at the hospital communicated to me that he cared. I felt valued.
My great aunt came to my high school graduation. She didn't speak to me before or after the ceremony. You might wonder how I knew that she showed up. Well, I'll tell you. Aunt Sit always wore a hat. In fact, I think she always wore the same hat because as I sit here writing this I can see it in my mind's eye. I remember that when I walked into the auditorium and saw my great Aunt Sit's hat, the only person wearing a hat in the auditorium, I felt honored. I felt like I had value. My Aunt Sit cared enough to show up.
Now I know without a doubt that I have opened up a wound for some who are reading this. I have awakened the memory or when you were alone in the hospital and no one showed up. I have touched a memory from your childhood when your eyes searched for a familiar face in the audience but found none. The memory is a wound. In time the wound becomes a scar, a hard place in your heart where life cannot flow.
I understand. I have those wounds too. But what I have found is that I can take them to the God who did show up. I can stand in His presence with my wounded heart exposed and I ask Him to touch those hard, cold, lifeless places. He not only heals the hurt but He also redeems the pain by giving me the assignment to relay to others that they have value and that I care enough to show up.
I Wish We'd All Been Ready
"The days grew dark, the sun grew cold. A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold. I wish we'd all been ready." I hear in my mind the haunting echo of this song as I open the eyes of my spirit and gaze into the Revelation. "The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his slaves what must quickly take place" (Revelation 1:1).
"Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced him. And all the families of the earth will mourn over him. This is certain. Amen" (Revelation 1:7). I lift my eyes to the clouds and my heart skips a beat. It will be soon, I know this. But why does He delay?
Even as I ask the question I know the reason. I know that it is God's kindness that is intended to lead us to repentance. It was God's kindness, His love, that caused Him to send His son. He didn't come with condemnation but instead Jesus came with an invitation to all who believe. An invitation to have eternal life, an invitation to enter the kingdom of God, an invitation to repent.
Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn the world, but there will be judgment and He is the judge. He is the light that came into the world exposing the deeds of darkness. He is the truth that came into the world revealing the lie. He is the way, the only way, that leads to life. But there is both judgment and condemnation to those who love the darkness, reject the way, and embrace the lie.
Soon the prophetic words of Jesus will be fulfilled, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the celestial powers will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other" (Matthew 24:29,30).
He is coming. "The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). I think of all those I love and I hope we will all be ready.
"Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced him. And all the families of the earth will mourn over him. This is certain. Amen" (Revelation 1:7). I lift my eyes to the clouds and my heart skips a beat. It will be soon, I know this. But why does He delay?
Even as I ask the question I know the reason. I know that it is God's kindness that is intended to lead us to repentance. It was God's kindness, His love, that caused Him to send His son. He didn't come with condemnation but instead Jesus came with an invitation to all who believe. An invitation to have eternal life, an invitation to enter the kingdom of God, an invitation to repent.
Jesus didn't come into the world to condemn the world, but there will be judgment and He is the judge. He is the light that came into the world exposing the deeds of darkness. He is the truth that came into the world revealing the lie. He is the way, the only way, that leads to life. But there is both judgment and condemnation to those who love the darkness, reject the way, and embrace the lie.
Soon the prophetic words of Jesus will be fulfilled, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the celestial powers will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn; and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds from one end of the sky to the other" (Matthew 24:29,30).
He is coming. "The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). I think of all those I love and I hope we will all be ready.
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