I think I’ve always been a little jealous of people who have never really experienced sickness. I grew up with allergies and asthma so strong that I missed a grading period at a time in school and was under constant medical care. Medicines and doctors have been a way of life all my life. Actually, I’m pretty fortunate that the additions of doctors and medicines haven’t caused me to miss much of life. I have been blessed, but I have learned the value of taking my medicine.

Every so often I will receive a Bible verse or two,which I take like daily medicine. I recommend the following verse for your consideration.  “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV  I consider this verse as standard treatment, not excluding medical treatment, for the most common types of mental and heart strife common to man.

I have been a person prone to depression, self doubt, and other forms of negative thinking and self talk. I can truly say that Harry gets on Harry’s nerves. As a matter of fact, it is not that uncommon for me to pray for the Lord’s intervention because the twins are fighting (Harry and Harry) typically over some doubt, put off decision, procrastination, embarrassing moment or other like things and sometimes more. The Lord is an amazing mediator and often comes into these thoughts and prayers, reording and resyncing my priorities above the level of self-preoccupation in which I am usually dwelling at that time. 

In the verse I mentioned above, I highly stress the part which says “in all circumstances (everything).” I had a particularly difficult time with that. “All circumstances?” Getting fired from a job? Being too sick to take care of the things which must be done? Rejection by friends and/or family? The verse says “in,” not “for.” You can be thankful in a circumstance in which you get fired from a job, but not necessarily for getting fired. However, I could also make a case of being thankful for all things. The worse things in my life have become some of the best things in my life because the Lord got involved in redeeming them. 

I remember the Lord showing me things about thankfulness as I tried to learn about this verse. One time, I was encouraged to think of an extremely sad or unthankful moment in my life. I thought about the birth of my second child. He was born and went immediately into neonatal intensive care because his lungs weren’t completely developed. I was standing in the hospital hallway, alone, looking through two sets of windows, watching the doctors work to save my son’s life while other doctors and nurses were rushing into the recovery because my wife was hemorrhaging from the surgery. I was in a complete state of terror. I was alone. I thought I might lose one or both of them. I was young and didn’t know what to do or how to face all the problems in and related to this emergency. I was totally overwhelmed. I was not grateful. I have other examples of times when I was not a model of thankful virtue.

I stood beside my image in the memories at the hospital, going back into the feelings of despair, when the Lord suggested that I step back from my experience and consider my surroundings. I was so consumed with the feelings of the moment that I completely failed to take in the rest of the story. I had many people in the waiting room praying for my family, among them were wise people who could counsel me through this time. Beyond them were several churches who were praying for my family. There were also people who were making food and making sure that we had meals for the week. The doctors were expert and doing all they could and brought both my wife and child into good health and recovery. They are both doing quite well all these 30 – odd years later.

The image of being alone was a lie. The image of being helpless was a lie. The image of being overwhelmed was an image of my short comings, not the Lord’s or His ability through all the ones with whom He had around me. My feelings represented the size of my faith in the moment, but not the level of help and support I was receiving and had all around me at the time. It took me time to get past the moment to look back and see how big God was and how much He was doing. 

Moments like that one have taught me, in looking back and seeing the Lord, how to trust and look forward. Giving thanks can become an expression of that trust. I am thankful because, as He has always been faithful, He will continue and always will be faithful. I am thankful because the Lord’s character is one of true faithfulness and reliability. I am grateful because I am never alone and never without help. I take my medicine daily and realize more and more that there is no end to the amount of things for which I am grateful and no end to the Lord’s provision, seen and unseen.

Have you ever wondered why the obvious isn’t obvious to everyone? I recently spoke to a group of students and asked them the following questions. “Where did you get the first cigarette, snuff, chewing tobacco, vape materials, or the like? Where and with whom did you try any of those things? Where did you get a taste or interest in anything related to any type of drug or alcohol?” The answer was generally, “from friends.” I reply that people who introduce you to obviously harmful substances aren’t friends. They are enemies. But — it is not obvious to them. It is to me. I’m healed alcoholic who did a lot of extreme drinking while I was in high school. 

There are lots of things like that. It is a standard joke that all you have to do to get someone to do something, especially something bad, is to tell them not to do it. Why is that? Is it an inner rebellion which defies logic? Don’t touch the wet paint becomes an urge to see and, possibly, add a new stain on good clothes. “Warning, hot” can easily translate into blisters.

Consider all the warnings put on many of the things you buy, like irons, which warn you not to iron your clothes while wearing them. (Someone must have done that for the warning to be on the label to protect from lawsuits.) A temptation taken turns into an excuse, or series of excuses, (a lie to cover a fail) to promote the argument that the temptation was too powerful to resist, irrisistable. The excuse only works on the person telling the lie. Obvious? — not when you are the one lying.

I avoided Christianity because it was the religion of “don’ts.” Don’t drink. I did and became an alcoholic. Don’t cheat in school. I did, got caught, and faced the punishment. Don’t go to certain places where trouble rules. I did and found trouble waiting for me. It was glad to see me arrive and provided all the hardship I never wanted. The list goes on and on and on and ….. Somewhere in this list you might come across the obvious fact that the “don’ts” I hated would have kept me out of a lot of trouble, hurt, pain, and suffering. 

My parents were full of “don’ts.” Now I look back and see that they offered wisdom and an easy way out. I would have avoided trouble and found success. I would have gone straight through high school and college, started my career at twenty-three instead of thirty-four, and you can calculate the obvious benefits. Instead, I spent the intervening years wandering between troubles. Then the day arrived.

 I was focused on the “don’ts” even in the early years of my Christian faith. I had made so many mistakes that I put all my energy into stopping doing what I knew best, failure. It was stressful to say the least. It was like holding your hand a quarter inch from the wet paint and not going the last distance. It is so difficult to do the right thing when all your feelings are aimed in the wrong direction. My habits and inclinations were wrong and aimed in the wrong direction. My knowledge had accepted the obvious. “Don’ts” rescue from harm.

The great awakening began to arrive sometime (I don’t know when) from “don’t” to “do.” What I was leaving was not nearly as important as where I was going. You can’t plow a straight furrow while looking over your shoulder. “ Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Looking forward provides hope. Looking back provides discouragement.

Instead of “Don’t drink to excess,” I began to focus my eyes on building real friends as opposed to those who just wanted company in the direction of sorrow. “Do” build a life of giving, which creates joyful memories and accomplishments you can enjoy without cringing. All the “don’ts” had a corresponding “do.” I realized that the Lord had saved me from the “don’ts” so that I could walk, with His help, in the “do’s” that satisfy, comfort, encourage, strengthen, and so much more. The more I walk forward in the direction that Jesus leads, the less sorrow and the more help I find along the way. 

I am amazed at how long it took me to realize that walking in the “do’s” with Jesus is travel toward and with Joy, the exact opposite of the distress I imagined as an outsider. My Christian friends shrug and say, Obviously.” It wasn’t then, but it is now. Salvation and walking with Jesus is the joy that continues giving without end.  

Murder equal to lying?

-C.S. Lewis from _The Screwtape Letters_: “It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one–the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

– Solomon 2:15

– 15 Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.”

How do little foxes equal bears? How do cards equal murder? The key is that the basic function of life is not as humans see it. In the human view, murder is obviously worse than cards or a lie. The real key to understand the seeming discrepancy is the connection to Jesus is a critical necessity, an eternal necessity. A lie can separate us from Jesus because it is a step out of heaven and away from Jesus. The lie is getting on the pathway to murder because it is choosing the path to death. “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” James‬ ‭1:13-15‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/bible/59/jas.1.13-15.esv

Lying, in the human view of small sins, is the complete plant, including death, in seed form. It is the choice which kills because it comes from the heart and equal to the sin of murder which was within the seed when it was chosen. We know that we are growing corn when we plant a corn seed, an olive tree when we plant an olive seed. The physical is an image of the spiritual. The seed we choose/plant, is the one we will grow, physically or spiritually.

Choices toward the Lord or away from Him are complete seeds. They will bear fruit in our lives. That fruit will be good or evil according to the seed. A good plant will not bear bad fruit and vice versa. “From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.” James‬ ‭3:10-12‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/bible/59/jas.3.10-12.esv

Marriages often die because of a cumulative effect of small choices, the little foxes. As Lewis says, “the safest road to Hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” Marriages require an active work ethic, a constant effort to make it healthy and viable. Marriage is a concrete example of a living relationship with Jesus. “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?” John‬ ‭3:12‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/bible/59/jhn.3.12.esv Marriage is an example to teach us about our heavenly relationship.

The above can sound pretty hopeless to anyone who is self aware and understands how many bad choices he or she makes on a regular basis. For me, the number of bad choices (bad seed) by the end of breakfast can be daunting/intimidating. We are growing good crops and bad crops at the same time. It may be impossible to measure the seeds we’ve sown or the amounts. However, we have been given the greatest gift of all, mercy from heaven and the gift of repentance. Any bad seed in our lives can become good through repentance and forgiveness in Christ. Just like our own souls, destined for hell without the salvation of Christ, we find that all our seed are the same. As we are redeemed, our seed can be redeemed. The joy of maintaining a healthy and viable relationship with Jesus is total redemption, our selves and our seed.

The greatest testimonies I’ve ever heard or shared were horrible people turned to heavenly emissaries and terrible choices turned to producing heavenly fruit. The true joy of salvation is that it operates every day in every way because Jesus never fails and His love is beyond measure.

Do things ever just strike you and make you wonder?

I regularly run into former students. This particularly relates to former high school girls. I remember them chasing boys and being chased. Covered in the trends of the day, wallowing in the culture of their youth, warring with all the awarenesses that are coming of age. Everything relating to hair, style, looks, relationships, and occasionally school were important.

Now I’m retired. I see them out in the world beyond high school, no longer the children they were and not quite the adults they will be. They are now paying rent, some married, many with children, holding on to life with drive and commitment. They are existing in a different world than the one which surrounded them in school.

I ask. “Do you remember who you were in high school, your priorities, your dating, what crushed your heart and what lifted it to the heights?” They remember because they are not that far from it. A teacher, a class, an assignment, getting a phone, the right kind of pants and clothes, and so much more crowded their thoughts. Friends, the drama of teen life, boys and holding hands – emotions crowding out and being pushed around by various responsibilities, which were dominated by others pushing them into the responsibilities. (I accept that some of this is overgeneralized and not accurate for all.)

I ask, “Now you are the MOM (to the girls who have become parents). How do you feel about that?” The cascading waterfall of comments fall out of them. They love their baby. All that brought them joy in high school is no longer important. The health and well-being of their child is the center of their attention. They are moved and motivated by their caring position of responsibility. Their hearts are dictated by the needs of another and the other’s well being. They are searching for answers and ways to protect and train. In many ways, they are no longer the person I knew at all. They are not the center, but pushed out to the side, no longer pushed into responsibility, but chasing it.

I ask, “So what do you think about your mother, now?” The view of their own mom has changed radically, but some parts remain similar. Their mother knew more than they understood in high school, yet they still believe they know more and can do better even now. They have a plan to be something to their child and overcome the difficulties their child faces, recognizing only faintly and not realizing completely that they are retracing the exact footsteps of their mom at that point of life. The circumstances may be different as the world changes over time, but the overlapping similarities are hard to miss.

Then I ask, “Do you say to your child some of the same things your mom said to you?” “Yes” is the most common answer. Mom’s care and protect. They say caring, protecting, and correcting things like they have heard because that kind of relationship is common to all ages. You must do —-, and must not do —-, and so much more. 

Here is the fascinating thing. Though they have completely changed their outlook, perspective, and priorities, they continue to see themselves as the same person. They do not loose their core identity as they transform into the next phase of self and the next. They see themselves as always identifiably the same soul even though all things within and without have changed. How is that?

Somehow this relates to salvation in my mind. Jesus saves and enters the core of a person’s life. All the time circumstances, feelings and experience come out of that core, the “unique me” they see, the “unique me” I see. Jesus enters all phases of our life and life’s timeline from that core identity position. He is able to go into any area of our lives and heal and redeem and restore. Our entire life timeline is open. I have seen Him redeem things long in my past and destructive and turn them into productive in my present. I can see Him then and now because He accepted all of me, the total package connected to the “unique me” when I accepted Him one day in my life timeline. Jesus is God of all.

I am fighting being overwhelmed. I need to write and publish blogs and fulfill other commitments I have made. I find distraction after distraction to keep me from doing those things. I have tons to do around the house which would be fun and productive and give me satisfaction. Yet, every day goes by, and these things aren’t getting done. Frustration increases.

Frustration leads to overeating and irritability. Irritability leads to unloving interactions between myself and others. The spiral goes down from there. Blame sets in for everything. Shame and discouragement become evident. Everything becomes too much, even fixing something simple to eat. Shutting down becomes a stronger impulse, as is finding non-productive things to do instead of fulfilling my desired responsibilities.

The simple answer – just do it. The direct simple approach is just to step out and do one thing, allowing that to lead to the next and the next until some improvement becomes visible. It is not necessary to go any deeper in the pit or to go all the way into the bottom of the pit, to the point of strangulation on self defeat, before allowing the Lord to say, “Just do it,” and hearing it. He doesn’t just say, “Just do it.” He also says, “I will walk and do it with you.”

.Jeremiah said in one of his prophecies, “Thus says the Lord: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless?” Jeremiah 2:5 ESV. I find this verse startlingly real for me today. Putting eyes directly on the Lord will void the distractions.

I also find the verses by Paul so true, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Romans 7:15-19 ESV.

I turn to seek the Lord in this moment as I have in times past when this system of operating has shown up. I spoke with a brother in Christ recently about our friendship. I do not avoid him when I fail or fall short. I will celebrate any victory, no matter how small with him. I am unembarrassed when I’m around him, even though my shortcomings are evident to him and to me. I am always glad when he is around and feel encouraged to take on anything.

During the conversation, I began to realize that Jesus is more precious than this brother, and I have not been treating Him that way. Jesus loves me far better than my brother, and I am less trusting. He is far more knowledgeable about my shortcomings, yet I am far more self-conscious, despite the fact that He has covered all my failings with His own life. My conversation with the brother uncovered the fact that I am giving Jesus, who deserves more, less than I give my brother in the Lord.

The conversation has become a drawing call. Jesus offers more than I know and has to continually reveal to me that He wants me closer and safer. He teaches me my mistakes, even giving me examples in my own life, so that I can be free of them and live in the joy He provides. Jesus showed me in my own life that I am able to have a relationship like He wants. He just wants me to have it with Him without cutting my brother out.

I am not likely to become perfect this side of heaven. Actually, I know I won’t. However, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24 ESV. Today, every day, I have help getting past my human boondoggles. I am not alone. I have a friend in Jesus.

*** A man in our church an a strong image of standing in a fog so thick that he was unable to see beyond a foot in distance. Yet, in this fog, the face of the Lord was plain and clear. There is no darkness or confusion that the Lord can’t pierce.
* We humans have built a trash ring around the earth of discarded missiles and other tech waste while reaching out to the stars. We also seem to build a ring of trash around our minds and hearts, which we put between ourselves and God as we look up toward Him.
*** A builder explained about many buildings he has built. He built them for expansion. He put structure in place in which a wall or piece of wall could be easily removed and the next part of the building added. A single home could easily become a duplex, and a church auditorium could easily expand to offices and classes. The buildings looked and were finished, but not really. He saw them as a work in progress. We are created to be expanded, to continue to be a work in progress, to add-on as need and growth demands.
*** During church prayer time, the praying persons expressed the love they have for the church. Because the people of God have opened their hearts to Him, He inhabits His people, making the atmosphere one of His presence. Even when talking casually, the Lord infuses His loving presence into the relationships among individuals, making them take on the effect of encouragement and healing. The love they expressed was a natural response to the presence of the Lord in those around them.
*** Walking within my thought life, learning and hearing from the Lord, is like walking onto a job site. There are so many possibilities, things to do, things to consider, ways to spend time, productive and unproductive. Now I spend my time wondering what to do with the inner job site and how to use it. People are like the Tardis on Dr. Who. They are bigger inside than outside.
*** I mowed a church lawn for about three years with a push mower and felt I was well for doing a service project. I realized that mowing doesn’t count for anything, no bonus or quality points, no cover your failings advantage with God or anyone else. Only the things we do with the Lord count. Therefore, fantasy football or any other activity can become an active opportunity for God to work in and/or through us because He is there and involved in who we truly are as individuals. It is all about the relationship. That’s what counts. Don’t exclude the Lord from anything you do, ever.
*** We see a construction site as being an extremely raw and messy place. Left over pieces of board and concrete lie around. There are props to walls and other structures not yet established in place. Saw horses and other work implements are out. Tools are available and sometimes scattered. Raw materials are stacked and slowly being worked into the build. There are truck tracks and ruts instead of landscaping. Yet, in time, the build finished and landscaping done, it will be a sight of delight. How are we different in God’s process of taking us from a plan to completion?
*** Dorian was built into a terrific storm from a small start over the ocean. It grew to devastating size, landing and destroying the Bahama’s and missing other areas all together. The storms in our lives are often birthed in a back memory, experience, and/or desire. It can build into a powerful force, destroying some areas of our lives and skipping over others. It is a call to prayer and action.

I know that many people in the church struggle. They have been told all their lives that the Holy Spirit dwells in them and they have gifts. Yet there are so many inactive in the church who would love to be active but don’t know their gifts. It is so easy to identify the musicians, the preachers, the testifiers, the prayer people. So what happens to you if you feel like your relationship with the Lord is important to you, but you don’t see those gifts in you?

One of the places I start is where I find my heroes by identifying those who meet my needs. I need people to listen to me, comfort me, correct or push me in the right direction, encourage me, remind me who I am in the Lord, keep to my commitments, walk with me during good and bad times, and so many other relationship connections. This is the base level area where the Holy Spirit flows, uses you, uses others for you, and confirms His life in you. We all need it, and we all need to give it.

This base line is often where we begin to identify our other gifts and begin to grow in the encouragement that God is using us. We find ourselves in Devine appointments in which we run across someone right at the time they really need a friend or a God connection, and there you are. Step in to it. You are God’s ambassador to give and receive love. You might be surprised, as I have been, that hurting people need to share love as they need to receive love and help. God is amazing in those moments. You will find yourself encouraged by encouraging others and find yourself loved by the person you are loving. God works in every direction to benefit His people.

Get involved with things you like and/or people you like. Your talent and identifiable gifts aren’t necessary. I started volunteering at the museum through a friend, Jeanie, a fellow teacher, who gets me into all kinds of things. We joke about it, but I’m profoundly grateful. I volunteered at the museum to give my drama students a place to perform and because I like history (no talent in that area and very self serving). Before long I became involved in the museum as my interest grew, still acting as a liaison for the students. I ended up stepping in to roles and jobs that I wasn’t qualified to perform, but no one qualified was available. I’m learning to be qualified as I serve.

I believe the museum is important to the health and well being of the community and fulfills my faith goals of serving the community in a health giving way in addition to it being a (growing) stronger interest for me. I am also growing in being less self serving and more servant minded. It is a process of growth. Sometimes I think we Americans have the weird notion that we start at excellent and get better from there.

The museum, and my service there, puts me in contact with other people and organizations. It provides me with a way to learn and expand, discovering unknown gifts along the way and polishing the ones which have already bubbled up to the surface. My example of the museum works in the church and any other interest area you may have. Many gifts bubble to the surface when you are put in a position where you have to dig through, what you might think is, junk drawers in your internal mental/emotional/talent house to find the one little thing you remember being somewhere. Sometimes you will simply begin to find or develop a talent you never realized was in you.

Scripture often tells us that by giving we receive. I believe it is that way with finding our gifts. You give away what you have, and you give away what others need. In the process you discover the living Jesus in you, ready to amplify your efforts to accomplish His goals of loving and rescuing the world. It is no surprise that He used the story of the mustard seed as an example. We often feel that we have nothing, or so little that it isn’t worth considering (the mustard seed). We later become amazed when the Lord turns that “nothing” into something.

When I was young, foolish, and destructive, the Lord sent many people to push me in the right direction and keep me alive until the change God planned for me could happen. Most of them were not around to see God change my life. However, they became my instant heroes when I got saved. I wanted, and still want, to be like them. Just like the scripture that talks about the little foxes spoiling the vine, it is all the little things God is doing along the way, which turn in to the giant miracles we all talk about.

We see the actors on stage or in the movies and think it is all about them. Check out the credits. It is amazing to see how many people, how many talents – large and small, it takes to give those actors their fame and moment in the spotlight. Each of those persons have powerful gifts that are critical to the success of the venture, even if they are not acclaimed or noticed by the crowd.

Sometimes the best gift to have is to be the light or camera person who helps another to see their gift or value. God is that way. He is continually spotlighting our value to Him and His desire for our relationship with Him. He steps back to put us on stage so we can see how important we are to Him. It is our hands and heart that He uses as His body to accomplish His goals. You are more gifted that you can imagine. It is okay to trip and fall along the path of discovery. Don’t fail to walk the path of discovery. God wants you, and the rest of us need you.

I recently re-watched the first John Wick movie. It is a movie about a retired assassin who is brought back into unrestrained killing because of a simple act of a thoughtless person who killed his dog. The unconscionable act put an insurmountable force into action, causing death: a personal comparison based on the movie, John Wick #1

Sinners don’t consider their sins as important because they feel good, satisfy some selfish desire, or simply do not seem that big a deal, like killing a dog in the movie or insulting/degrading another person we esteem lightly in our normal world: gossip, criticism, verbal cruelty, blaming, etc. I don’t think I have enough time or courage to list my unloving thoughts, ideas, and/or actions. I have a bad case of humanity, which I’ve had since birth.

Yet, those seemingly inconsequential acts set in motion the violence between the kingdom of earth and the kingdom of heaven. Heavenly laws have been put in place throughout all of creation. Broken laws put the law’s punishment/outcome into operation. The laws and resulting outcomes are the insurmountable forces built into all of creation. They will not be denied. Punishment is already assigned. It is just a matter of time until the sinner (the dog killer) meets the full force of the law, the juggernaut John Wick. It is all in motion since the beginning of time.

Our interactions with life and others, choices, place us where we are. Our nature, broken as it is, breaks the law, no matter how unimportant it may seem to us. Our opinion of importance or value is broken because of human selfishness, which is the largest breach of the law possible (Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.” Proverbs 18:1 ESV). Until we learn to love, we will break the law written by the God of love who created all things. The law points to our brokenness and warns of the punishment which stalks us as it works to fulfill all the law of creation until all things are settled and finished.

Punishment must be fulfilled. It is the only way to quench the fire started by the broken law. It is the balance of creation. God doesn’t have to be a punisher. If we jump off the cliff, the rocks are waiting at the bottom – our choice, our outcome. God is in fact the rescuer, constantly trying to talk us out of our bad choices and working to keep us from creating inevitable outcomes. Reading scripture proves that God has given chance after chance and way after way for humanity to learn the cause and effect of decisions, and He has given so many chances for humanity to recover from the lawlessness it chooses.

God went the ultimate distance for us, allowing his perfect Son to fulfill all punishment for all creation. This leaves us in a perfect place to make one choice which will turn away the punishment, which is due, death. John Wick can be stopped despite the movie’s contention.

The movie makes it hard to believe that anything could stop death/John Wick from coming. Life can be just as convincing. However, we do have an alternative. At the end, the dog killer screamed, just before he died, “It was just a dog.” No repentance. No regret for his decision. We can repent. It is an alternative. A change of heart for the harm of the bad decision(s) is/are absolutely possible. It is the choice that Jesus was right in what He said and did, paired to the willingness to allow Jesus to be God of life instead of the self.

I spent so much of my life running from Jesus, which resulted in increasing sorrows. Now I am learning to run to Him. I am constantly surprised that life is so much easier and better when I face issues, let Jesus guide me through them instead of taking the solutions on myself. Avoiding Jesus provides fertile soil for the sorrows to grow in size. Taking the easy way our really means facing the issue and coming to Jesus. The hard way is the way around, the way which avoids accountability to Jesus. I have cause more suffering to myself than Jesus would have ever allowed if I had only put myself in His care.

“But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8: 10-17 ESV

Recently my wife and I traveled to Cocoa Beach for a four day, three night vacation. The hotel bill was paid for by the company who wanted us to come see their timeshare program. Exciting sun and fun. I should have seen the shark fin cutting the surface of the water regarding the Timeshare meeting.

I’m sure timeshare is good for someone because so many people buy them, and some people even have multiple timeshares. The timeshare program doesn’t work for me. The first hour and a half was interesting, touring the resort, learning about the company, and all the places we could visit. Beyond that, it was an uphill struggle.

The agent absolutely declared that they were not hard sell, as they led me, many times, right around my “no” to return to their pitch. They weren’t hard sell, but they didn’t understand “no” with an explanation, “no” with an affirmation, “no” with incredulity that we were saying it again, and many other forms of “no” until I demanded to see the manager. Then I was only required to say “no” emphatically, with dramatization and clear facial expression, to the manager and the next person who was supposed to arrange for our hotel credit. All my self image of being courteous was completely exhausted, and I was facing my raw, most irritable self.

We headed out to get some lunch. We had been at the timeshare place for three hours. I was hungry and frustrated. Tona saw a restaurant on an app that looked good. I chanced upon the same one. The confirmation clinched it. We were off to Southern Charm in Cocoa Beach. It truly lived up to its name. The owner welcomed everyone as though he had personally invited them into his home. The food was fabulous.

A woman in the next table overheard some of our comments and started a conversation. She was a Christian with a beautiful relationship with Christ. Tona and I joined her and spent the next hour or two in fellowship. By the time we finished talking, we could have walked on water because we felt so light and cheered up. We found out that she was down because she was facing health issues. Only the Lord would put two frustrated, struggling people together for them to cheer each other up.

We found out that she was riding the bus and hadn’t planned to stop at Southern Charm. She pulled the bus stop wire without thinking. Our meeting had been choreographed. We also found out that her grandfather had my birthday, and her grandmother had Tona’s birthday (same birthdays, but not the same age). There were other of those “divine coincidences,” convincing that Jesus was working on our attitude and outlook. Our outlooks and perspectives had been completely transformed.

Faith is an eye opener. It allows us to see that we have a loving Father who is always at work for us and our healing, in the foreground, or behind the scenes. Sometimes He just makes a point of letting us see it so that we don’t forget when we don’t see it. Jesus models what faithfulness and loving kindness really looks like.

When you don’t understand God–hold on!

Growing up was extraordinarily difficult. I had to do all that crazy learning, from how to speak to how to play with others to how to behave in public and so much more. I was full of mistakes and seemed to be doing my best at making the entire process as difficult as possible. I provided my parents with many stories, continually.

My parents kept telling me things that did not make sense at all. They weren’t bothered by my lack of understanding. They knew that if I just obeyed, things would work out better for me, and eventually it would make sense. I was not gifted in obedience. I was much better at disobedience. Disobedience came so much more naturally. The day came that I became an adult. Many of the things that they had said began to make sense, like bills, and so many other practical things that determine the way you made decisions, survive, and live life. They had an extremely bad habit of being right. Age brought me revelation.

I got married, and we began the process of our raising our own children. A lot more of the things my parents said to me made sense. I was the man in the middle. I could see my own past, being a child. I was a parent raising a child and could see from a parent’s point of view. I could also see my parents out in front still learning things that I would not understand until I got there. I realized that I had placed my parents on a pedestal as though they knew everything because I knew so little as a child. I could see that they were making it up as they went along, just as I was while parenting. Life is much more complex and amazing than I could have guessed or imagined. My parents weren’t perfect, but they were right about so much.

How much more is this like growing in a relationship with Jesus? He knows so much more than we do. He is so far ahead of where we are. Why should I assume that I will understand Him and what He wants and what He is doing and why He is doing it. He actually does know everything and is not hampered by the failures of humanity so common to me. When I don’t understand and just obey (as my parents expected/wished), life really does go so much better. To top it off, eventually understanding, or at least parts of it, does come. The understanding is the growing knowledge of the how and why what Jesus says works and works every time.

I can learn from experience of growing as a child and growing as a parent to work with my Heavenly Father better with more determined faithfulness than I did for my parents. I have golden opportunities before me every day to take as many of those opportunities as I can.

God’s wisdom and the wisdom He shares in scripture are so different from the world’s wisdom. The wisdom of giving versus taking, obedience to Him versus self-serving, giving to others instead of grabbing for one’s self, serving versus taking power over others, and so many other contrasts may not make sense at first. I may not understand, but I have the promise that someday I will. I can already see more than I did as a beginning Christian, enough to assure me that God is more than worthy of complete and total trust, even and especially when I don’t understand. My parents earned my trust, Jesus so much more so.

Peter didn’t understand what God was doing with the vision he had at Joppa. He was convinced God was telling him to do something against the very faith he was serving. Eventually, he realized that God was talking about people and that no race was better than any other. Even then, it took a while for Peter to understand completely. He had some ongoing problems. Paul had to bring it clear to him when Peter was showing preference to the Jews. Peter’s obedience when he didn’t understand was one of the main reasons that the door to salvation was opened to the rest of the world. Jesus has a better plan than our limitations can understand. We will always be children in His presence. He will always be the Good Father providing for us and leading us, even when we don’t understand.

**“And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭10:13-16‬ ‭ESV‬‬ https://www.bible.com/bible/59/act.10.13-16.esv