Contents Fragile - Handle With Care

2 Corinthians 10:3-6


I cannot help noticing that a lot of bad things are happening in the families of friends. Tragic things. Illnesses, accidents and things that just don't seem to be fair.

Every time the news comes on, there is a story about someone's child dying, violent crimes that tear families apart, tragic car accidents or someone's home burning.

It just doesn't seem fair. There seems to be no explanation. It almost makes life seem pointless. People suffering for no apparent reason.

Then you hear about those who are living life outside the boundaries of the law, and prospering. It just doesn't seem fair.

It is in these situations that our faith can be shaken. It is in these trials that we are tempted to ask questions that begin with "How could a loving God..." or "Why".

We've all been through something bad. I know I have. My faith has been shaken. I almost walked away from God because of what happened. A friend recommended that I read the book of Job. It helped, eventually.

I remember how angry my wife was after she found out her mother had lung cancer. She confided in her friend just how angry she was. I'll never forget what our friend told Cheryl. "Kick, scream, yell. He's a big God, He can take it."

Prayerfully ask the questions "how" and "why". Not defiantly.

Unless we are gifted with the wisdom of Solomon, it is impossible to see in the midst of the trial or tragedy. Our wise Father has our best interests in mind. We often don't see it until we are far removed from the tragic time. (Job 42:5)

Psalm 73 is often comforting to me. All of the Psalms, for that matter, are comforting.

I started this post with the scripture reference 2 Corinthians 10:3-6. It is relevant. If we practice taking our thoughts captive in every situation, discipline our minds with prayer and meditation on the things of God, then our faith is not easily shaken. We will not be so quick to exchange the peace of God for doubt and anger.

Thank You, Father, for the hope You hold out and the peace You promise. Help us to trust You, even when we don't understand.

Excuses, Excuses

Romans 1:19-20

People who say that they do not believe God exists are being dishonest. They have exchanged the truth of God for a lie (Romans 1:22-25).

There are those who, having come to know God in Christ, testify that before hearing the gospel, they knew.

My wife reads a lot. I will admit that she is smarter (or at least knows more) than me. We have book after book on shelf after shelf in our office at home. She has read them all.

Cheryl, my wife, told me something that she had read about Helen Keller. She said that the person who taught Helen how to communicate with others was a christian. Once Helen had a working vocabulary, the teacher shared the gospel with her. After doing this, Helen Keller's response was, "I always wondered what His name was."

I heard another story similar to Helen Keller's. It was told by my favorite singer and writer in the world. Michael Card. He said that he was in China one time. He was going to do a concert for a group of believers at a university there. The government found out about it, and made them cancel the concert. Michael met with some of the students and sang some songs for them. They started talking, and a few of the students shared testimonies.

A young Chinese woman said that as a child, she knew that there had to be someone who created all the beauty she saw around her. The flowers, the mountains, sunsets, sunrises, the sky, stars, etc....

The young lady said that she met some missionaries in her home town. They preached the gospel, and she said, "Imagine my joy when I found out He has a name."

God is AWESOME!

Standard Feature - GPS

Genesis 1:14-18

They are fixed points in the heavens. Each one ablaze from the sound of His voice and carried on His holy breath. Each one in it's specific place, held steady by the The One Who Is And Was And Is To Come (Colossians 1:15-17, Revelation 1:8). The Ancient of Days. Each one for His purpose. Each one because of His great wisdom and mercy.

He put them there for us to see and enjoy. He put them there to help our understanding of who He is and how His creation works. So we could marvel at our Creator.

He put them there so we would always find our way home.

There has only been one that really mattered. Only one that was used to navigate a group of wise men to the most significant event in all of history. (Matthew 2:1-10)


God is AWESOME!

True Genius

1 Corinthians 1:25-29

I saw something today that sparked my imagination. After turning it over in my little head for a while, the spark ignited a raging inferno.

I couldn't wait to get home from my walk to write this.

Okay, please bear with me for a moment while I set this up. It's pretty cool.

I don't know a lot about rocket science or aerospace technology, so if you are an actual aerospace engineer or rocket scientist, please forgive me.

From what I have read, when a space vehicle is going to be sent to another planet, many complicated (to me, anyway) calculations must be performed. They have to know where the planet is in relation to where the Earth is at the chosen launch date. They use this information to calculate where the planet will be in the time that it takes the space vehicle to travel the required distance. This takes teams of engineers and mathematicians and who knows what else weeks of planning and calculating and simulating. They have to eliminate every possible variable.
A lot of really smart people a really long time for a one shot, hit or go home deal.

Stay with me.

I was watching some birds fly while I was out walking today. That is what sparked my imagination.

A bird of prey, from the altitude it is flying, can spot it's food. The calculations are made. Where the target is in relation to where he is. Where the target will be in the time it takes to travel the required distance. Wind speed and altitude. Angle and speed of descent. Size and weight of target. Depth of target (if it's in the water). Every variable eliminated.

All this happens in a split second. No consulting with others, no calculators or computer simulations. None of that. All the same planning in a millisecond.

These creatures have brains that are tiny compared to ours. Yet they can perform these precise calculations in the blink of an eye. (1 Corinthians 1:27)

God built it all in. Preloaded software.

God is indeed AWESOME!

The Little Things

I heard someone thank God for 'the little things' at prayer meeting earlier this week.

Sometimes a little phrase like that can get the wheels turning in my little head.

The more I think about it, the more blown away I am. God isn't interested in just the big picture. He is interested in every aspect of His children's lives. He is a loving and wise Father who cares deeply about even the little things.

In 2 Kings 6:1-7, the prophet Elisha is with some men who are cutting down trees for lumber to build with. One of the men was chopping away, and his axe head flew off and fell in the water. He was very distressed about it because he had borrowed the axe from someone. Through His prophet, God caused the iron axe head to float so that the man could retrieve it and return the borrowed axe. Cool, huh?

I have a friend who related a story about one of the little things God helped him with. He had a relative visiting, and he thought of a picture that she might have liked to have. When he went to get the picture out of the file he had been keeping it in, it was gone. He knew he had seen it there just a short time ago. He said a quick prayer, "Lord, I know she would really like this picture, please help me find it." (Something to that affect) Just then, a book fell from the top of the filing cabinet where it had been precariously sitting. My friend bent over to pick it up, and low and behold, there was the picture he had been looking for. Wow.

God is faithful in even the little things. If He is faithful in the little things, how much more is He faithful in the big things. We can trust our Wise Father with everything. We simply need to humble ourselves and obey Him. He will see to our needs, and even our wants (Matthew 6:31-33).


God is AWESOME!

Improvise, Adapt and Overcome

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

In His word, God promises so many good rewards to us. Of course, in order to receive a reward, something must first be accomplished. That is why most of these promises are conditional. The "If, then" promises. I cannot live my life with the goal of pleasing myself and others, and expect to receive the fulfillment of God's promises in my life.

I'm not talking about salvation. Salvation is free and it is eternal. It cannot be earned and it cannot be lost. (John 3:16, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, Colossians 3:3)

What I'm talking about is rewards. We can earn and lose rewards.

The 'good works' that are talked about by King Jesus and the Apostles...what are they?

If we live our everyday lives with the goal of glorifying and honoring God and the motivation in our hearts for whatever we do is to bring glory to God, then I think these are the good works.

Jesus Himself said that if we love Him, we will obey Him. (John 14:15) In our love for Christ Jesus, we will not be able to avoid bearing fruit in our spirits. (Galatians 5:22-23).

If we continue to bear fruit, we will continue to grow and the Holy Spirit will take us deeper and deeper into an intimate relationship with our creator (Colossians 1:1-12). We will be accomplishing the goal of abiding in Christ. If we are abiding in Christ, then we will overcome. (John 16:33)

There are great rewards for the ones who have overcome: Revelation 2:7, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 2:17, Revelation 2:26, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 3:12, Revelation 3:21.

It does get hard sometimes. We cannot give up just because it is hard.

Press on.

Overcome.

Unexpected

So much of the time, when God does something, it is something completely
unexpected.

Nobody saw it coming. They were on the look out for a mighty warrior king to
come and wipe out the Roman Empire and establish His kingdom right away. Instead,
they get this guy from Nazareth, which apparently is not known for producing the best
and the brightest. (John 1:45-46) Not only was he from Nazareth, he was the son of
Joseph. And everybody knew that Joseph's wife was pregnant before they were married.
Scandalous!

One of my favorite examples of the unexpected things God does is in the book of Acts. In Acts 9:1-17, Saul had just finished asking permission to hunt down and
imprison, or even execute those 'belonging to the Way'. This, of course, lead to Saul's famous conversion experience on the road to Damascus, which in itself was something completely unexpected. But there was something else. I nearly missed it, but when it hit me, I was blown away.

The Lord visited a man named Ananias in a vision. He told him to go to Judas'
house on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. (I thought it was
pretty cool how Jesus gave him directions.) He told him that Saul was there praying and had seen a vision of Ananias lay hands on him and he regained his sight.

Ananias seemed to get a little indignant with the Lord, though. He recognized the
name Saul of Tarsus. Ananias had heard of Saul. He had heard about what Saul had
been doing to the saints in Jerusalem. He might have been harboring resentment and
unforgiveness for Saul in his heart, maybe even hate.

Jesus responded gently to his protest. He told Ananias that He had chosen Saul to
bear His name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel, and that He would
show Saul how much he would have to suffer for His name's sake.

Ananias went. I think when he heard Jesus tell him that Saul would suffer, it
made him feel better.

When Ananias got to Judas' house on Straight Street, he walked in and saw Saul
there. Who knows what went through his mind when he saw him, this man who had
imprisoned and executed his fellow saints. The air was probably thick with the tension of the moment.

Ananias walked over to Saul, and in an act of pure obedience to the Lord, he lay
his hand on Saul. As he did, something happened, his facial expression changed. He felt warm tears rolling down his cheeks. The realization had hit him. The full impact of what Jesus had done washed over him. He became overwhelmed with it. He fell to his knees next to Saul and said, "Brother Saul, ... " (v. 17)

Two hearts were healed that day on Straight Street; Saul became a new creature in
Christ, and as for Ananias, the Lord Jesus taught him how to forgive in a very unexpected way.

God is AWESOME!