9/23/13

From Gary... While I am thinking about it...



Today, my oldest daughter, Darlene, put this picture on Face book.  Their trek though the store was an imaginary one, with the Kohl's cart transformed into a train.  Oh, to think like that again!!!  To see beyond the hum-drum of mere reality and envision the possibilities of imagination that alter the "IS" to the "COULD BE".  But, wait, isn't that the substance of FAITH?  To have confidence in the one and only supreme GOD of all the universe and not just in our sensory perceptions and vain reasoning’s.  This past week I went to a new barber and asked for a "flat-top" haircut; he did a great job and yesterday in church, numerous people were saluting me and calling me "SARGE".  I really loved the irony of it all, as they had a little fun at my expense, even though they really liked the dew!!!  (I know this because several of them told me so!!!)  Well, in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that long ago that the barber poll outside the shop stood for blood letting and inside you could get a tooth pulled as well.  And we are so SOPHISTICATED!!!???  No, the Earth is not the centre of the universe, sickness is not caused by evil spirits and YES, their is a GOD!!!  His desire for us is our ultimate good and if we listen, blessing awaits...


Isaiah, Chapter 55

 1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  2 Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.  3 Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. 4 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. 5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.” 
  6 Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:
  7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 
  8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” says Yahweh.  9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

  10 For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky,
and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth,
and makes it grow and bud,
and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
  11 so shall my word be that goes out of my mouth:
it shall not return to me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please,
and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do.



OK, I admit it- I don't understand EVERYTHING about God; I can't.  But I can understand the difference between good and evil and listen when the Almighty tells me something.   God helps me understand what I really need to know (case in point- the first three verses from Isaiah) through his grace and the rest- well, that's up to HIM.  One thing is sure- Whatever God really wants done will be accomplished.  I just need to really internalize verses 6-9 above!!!  Today, I will make a point to "open my mind" to the things around me; to see shapes in the clouds above and love behind every hint of a smile on a neighbors face.  More than that, may God above help me truly understand the whole passage from Isaiah at a practical level and rely on God's grace and not just my own understanding.  Who knows, I might even go shopping and look for one of those "train" things...

PS. The older boy in the picture is Alex (short for Alexander) and his younger brother is Chase!!!  I think they are "good looking kids", but then- I just might be a tad prejudiced!!!!!


From Jim McGuiggan... WHO WOULD I DIE FOR AND SO WHAT?

WHO WOULD I DIE FOR AND SO WHAT?

     I want to say that human love is not only a gift from God but that it carries within it the promise of the future because it tells us something about the heart of God. And those who have the heart of the Dragon-slayer can't bear to see people out there lost and alone. Moses couldn't bear to think that Israel would die even though he and his family would live on (see Exodus 32:30-32). And there was Paul who said he would gladly be cut off from the Christ if he thought it would save some of his own people (see Romans 9:2-3).

     The love of David for Jonathan, son of Saul, is well known to Bible readers, but David's deep feeling for Saul is not given the notice it calls for. The poet, Robert Browning, helps redress the balance. [Google his extended poem: Saul.] Using the biblical text and his own depth of insight he gives us a lesson we need to hear again and again. The existence, depth and selflessness of human love at its best say something the whole creation needs to hear because it reflects the heart of the one ransoming Christ.
     As Browning imagines it, Saul sent for David and he's met by Abner who tells him the king is in a dreadful state and that he and the men haven't eaten a bite since he went into his tent. Nor would they eat or drink until David came back out to say the king was alive and well. He has been three days in the black tent in the middle of the camp—in complete silence. The troops know a struggle is going on between Saul and the Spirit of God.

     David first prays and then enters, creeping in on his knees, praying as he goes, into the great darkness. He speaks into that darkness, "I'm David, your servant." Not a word or a sound, only deep darkness. Then his eyes make out something even darker, an upright—the center beam of the tent and then, blackest of all, he makes out the huge figure of Saul. A beam of sunlight suddenly gives some light and David sees him there, propped up against the central beam with his arms draped over the cross beam—like one crucified, covered in sweat, head drooping, like a king-serpent, cut off from his own kind while he's waiting for a transformation.

     David begins to play the kind of music he plays for his sheep—the kind that calms them; then music that charms the birds and other animals, even crickets. Then he played happy music, the kind they play at harvest when friends enjoy one another and expand each others hearts and then came the kind of music they play as they bear a man to his grave. The kind that goes along with the praise they proclaim as they walk saying, "the land has none left such as he on the bier". Then there was wedding music and music that men do hard work by when they have to get their shoulders under huge stones when building. And more, there was the praise music as when men go to worship, led by the Levitical singers,


                    up to the altar in glory enthroned.

                    But I stopped here:

                    for here in the darkness Saul groaned.

     For a moment David's silent, listening, then the tent shakes "for mighty Saul shuddered", but after that only his head moved. David begins to play again, speaking of the joys of human life, the rock-climbing, swimming, bear-hunting. He sings of love of family and the joys of it, the love of boyhood friends and then of the king's coming to glory and being monarch of the nation. And at that point, carried away by the beauty and truth of it all, and anxious for Saul to drink it in and end his night, he calls out the king's name—Saul! and then stopped.


     The whole tent is brighter with the singing but the figure in the center is like a dark mountain that's the last thing in the valley to be hit by the rising sun's light. But not so dark that David can't make out the scars the king bears; scars he received in the nation's defence. Saul gives a long shudder, then goes silent. But now he's aware of where and who he is. He has heard all the words and in great sadness:


                    He said, "It is good;" still he drinks not:

                              he lets me praise life,

                Gives assent, yet would die for his own part.


     David understands that the king knows something he doesn't know. All David has sung, while it's true, and lovely and joyous—it's not enough. There's got to be more. Life's joys aren't enough to take the sting out of living much less out of dying.

     He imagines himself lying in a little rock fissure while he's out tending his sheep. The rocks on each side hem in his view of the sky and narrow it down to only a sliver while high above him flies an eagle. What can he see? From that height, what can he see? Much more than David. He as a shepherd boy knows so little of life, and there's so much more so with that in mind he takes up his harp and begins to sing again.
He tells the king he's right not to put too much stock in life as it is on the physical level; "it's good" but it's not enough, and people grow tired of it and feel empty. But this life and the praise the king will get in future years from a grateful nation is God-given! God gave it!

     And as he sings, Saul moves, fixes his hair, adjusts his turban, wipes off the sweat with his robe, fixes his tunic and stands erect; looking now like the old Saul "ere error had bent". Then, weak, with his back against the central post he slides down to sit on the ground right close to David, his huge knees hemming the boy in; as the roots of a massive tree hem in a lamb that's sleeping there between them. And then, without a word, slowly, the king lifts a hand and puts it on the boy's head with "kind power" and pushes it back so he can look long in his face; the face of one that cares for him. David's heart is bursting with love for the man.

     He hears himself say he would give anything, anything if he could make the king well, if he could give him not just longer life—but new life! If love could do it, love would. The thought of that startled him.

     Shocked into silence by the new and daring thought, he reflects on creation, admitting it's more than he can fathom, it far outreaches all his wisdom and exposes all his limitations. And what of God's love and his? He thinks of his own love for Saul, Saul the bent king. Thinks how gladly he'd do whatever it took to make him right. And in this, does the creature do better than the Creator? Does he compare himself with God and out-shine God?


     It's true that he doesn't have God's power to complete his desire, but does he think he has out-willed God? Does he will Saul good more than God does? Does God have more power but less will than David to do good? No, God out-wills him as well as out-powers him.

     Should David then in all the lesser matters trust God and when it comes to what matters most "distrust"? Is it too good to be true? Should he, having seen so much, go "thus far and no farther?" Would God make Saul and not love him? And if he loved him, would he not redeem him? David would! Could God be less than David in loving? Perish the thought! When the truth sinks in, he begins to weep. His own weakness doesn't prevent him from willing Saul's redemption though his weakness depresses him.


     Still, it suddenly dawns on him, "'tis not what man does which exalts him, but what man would do!" So David's service is perfect; weakness doesn't change his purpose so he asks God to speak this new truth through him.


                      Could I wrestle to raise him from sorrow,

                                grow poor to enrich,

                      To fill up his life, starve my own out, I

                                would—knowing which,

                          I know that my service is perfect. Oh,

                                speak through me now!

                         Would I suffer for him that I love? So

                                 wouldst thou—so wilt thou!


     Knowing then that God feels as he feels, David longs for the incarnation of that purpose and power; he longs to see it fleshed out. The boy enters into a new truth about God: that God in his holy love longs for the redemption even of his enemies and will do whatever it takes to give his enemies new life.

                    'Tis the weakness in strength, that I cry

                        for! my flesh, that I seek

                    In the Godhead! I seek and find it, O

                                Saul, it shall be

                    A Face like my face that receives thee; a

                                  Man like to me,
                     Thou shalt love and be loved by, for ever;

                                a Hand like this hand

                       Shall throw open the gates of new life to

                             thee! See the Christ stand!


     All this came to David with stunning power and since it was so broad a revelation, involving the Creator of all things whose character makes his work of redemption inevitable, David feels that the whole of creation must have been affected.

     He stumbles his way home in the night as it gets toward morning and feels there's a host of creatures as well as a universe watching him, like a nation famished for news on how the war is going. As he walks home creatures, awe-stricken at the revelation, flowers staring in awed astonishment, winds whispering their amazement and brooks quietly murmuring in hushed voice—all, joining together in responding to the "new law" (which was really an old law) given to David, "E'en so, it is so!"

     I'm saying that human love is a prophet and a seer. Its very being in the world speaks of an ultimate Lover. I'm aware this is no argument that'd satisfy an atheist; I'm not offering arguments now I'm proclaiming Browning's truth that honorable love between us, that would drive us to give all we have, and more if we had it, to get new life for another—even the fallen among us—that love says there's another love that makes sense of our human loves. That enriches them in ways we ourselves are unable to do.

     It's a serious question, perhaps without an adequate answer from us: how does it come that such evil exists in this world? But it's a glorious question when we ask: how does it come that such profound love is in the world?

     Isn't your love for each other a wondrous thing? Aren't there those you'd cheerfully die for? Give all you have for?

 

    Does God love less? Isn't it lovely of God to give us such a lovely thing as holy human love to tell us of his own unfathomable love for us all? And isn't it thrilling to meet people like that who are followers of the Dragonslayer! If you listen hard, really hard in the silence, from a great distance you could almost swear there's the sound of grinding teeth and a dragonish screech of anguish in the still air.





©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.

From Mark Copeland... We Reap What We Sow (Galatians 6:7-9)




                     "THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS"

                      We Reap What We Sow (6:7-9)

INTRODUCTION

1. While encouraging Christians to share and do good, Paul reminds them
   of the principle of sowing and reaping... - Ga 6:7-9

2. Related to sowing and reaping, Madame Chiang Kai-shek once wrote:

   "If the past has taught us anything it is that every cause brings its
   effect, every action has a consequence. We Chinese have a saying: "If
   a man plants melons he will reap melons; if he sows beans, he will
   reap beans." And this is true of everyone's life; good begets good,
   and evil leads to evil. True enough, the sun shines on the saint and
   the sinner alike, and too often it seems that the wicked prosper. But
   we can say with certainty that, with the individual as with the
   nation, the flourishing of the wicked is an illusion, for,
   unceasingly, life keeps books on us all. In the end, we are all the
   sum total of our actions. Character cannot be counterfeited, nor can
   it put on and cast off as if it were a garment to meet the whim of
   the moment. Like the markings on wood which are ingrained in the very
   heart of the tree, character requires time and nurturing for growth
   and development. Thus also, day by day, we write our own destiny; for
   inexorably...we become what we do."

[The implications of this principle (we reap what we sow) are important,
worthy of our consideration...]

I. IMPLICATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLE

   A. WHAT WE ARE TODAY, IS DUE TO WHAT WE DID YESTERDAY...
      1. Our position, attitude, character, etc., is the result of our
         actions in the past
      2. We cannot lay blame on heredity, environment, parents, society,
         etc.
      3. Such things influenced us only to the degree that we let them
      4. We must accept responsibility for our actions, for God will
         demand it of us one day! - cf. 2Co 5:10
      -- Truly, the present reveals much about our past!

   B. WHAT WE ARE TOMORROW, WILL BE DUE TO WHAT WE DO TODAY...
      1. We can change, if we do not like what we are today! - cf. 2 Co 5:17
      2. But such change comes slowly, not overnight - cf. Ro 12:1-2;
         1Pe 2:1-2
      3. We must begin sowing today, if we want to reap tomorrow!
      4. While true of everyone, especially true for the young
         a. They are making choices which will affect the rest of their
            lives!
         b. They cannot "sow wild oats" and not "reap the harvest"!
      -- Just as true, the present portends much about our future!

[And so, "we become what we do." Now let's consider the principle as
applied by Paul in our text...]

II. APPLICATIONS OF THE PRINCIPLE

   A. WE ARE GIVEN TWO OPTIONS...
      1. Either we sow to the flesh - Ga 6:8a
         a. This entails the works of the flesh described earlier - cf.
            Ga 5:19-21
         b. Those who sow to the flesh reap corruption (sorrow, disease,
            damnation)
         c. They will not inherit the kingdom of God! - Ga 5:21
         d. They will instead experience the wrath of God! - Ep 5:5-7
      2. Or we sow to the Spirit - Ga 6:8b
         a. This entails walking in the Spirit (see more below) - Ga 5:
            16-18
         b. Those who sow to the Spirit reap everlasting life (abundant
            life, salvation)
         c. They will also reap the fruit of the Spirit - cf. Ga 5:22-23
      -- We can't do both (cf. Ga 5:16-17); so which will it be?

   B. WE SHOULD SOW TO THE SPIRIT...
      1. By doing good to all, especially brethren - cf. Ga 6:10
         a. This is the context of Paul's remarks on sowing and reaping
            - cf. also 2Co 9:6-7
         b. Paul writes of reaping everlasting life - Ga 6:8
         c. Elsewhere he makes a similar connection - cf. 1Ti 6:17-19
         d. Jesus makes a similar connection on several occasions
            1) In the sermon on the Mount - cf. Lk 6:35
            2) To His disciples, following a parable on covetousness
               - cf. Lk 12:15,33-34
            3) To the rich young ruler, who lacked one thing - cf. Lk 18:22
      2. By sharing in the good things taught in the Word - cf. Ga 6:6
         a. As some understand Paul's comments in verse 6
         b. Even if not Paul's original intent, the principle certainly
            remains true
         c. We can so share in two ways:
            1) Obedience to the gospel, of course - cf. He 5:9; Mk 16:16
            2) Growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ - cf. 2 Pe 3:18
         d. Doing so will one day reap a wonderful harvest! - cf. 2 Pe 1:5-11
      -- We sow to the Spirit (and lay up treasure in heaven) as we do
         good to all!

   C. WE SHOULD NOT GROW WEARY...
      1. There is the need for patience and perseverance - Ga 6:9
      2. The labor is not in vain - 1Co 15:58
      3. The reaping will come at the proper time (the coming of the
         Lord) - cf. Jm 5:7
      4. We shall reap if we don't lose heart and give up
      -- Learn from the farmer...have faith like a farmer!

CONCLUSION

1. Our character today may not be what it should be, but it can change

2. We have but two choices, which shall it be...
   a. Sow to the Spirit, and reap eternal life?
   b. Sow to the flesh, and reap corruption?

Eternal life awaits those who are willing to sow to the Spirit by
patiently doing good... - cf. Ro 2:7

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2011