Category: devotional

Our house is full of grandchildren for the week.  I think my wife’s face is going to crack from smiling so much.  Five of six are here.  The sixth, the oldest, has joined the world of work.  Alas, the end of her childhood has come.  I can imagine God’s house filled with us, His children.  There will be so much noise and chatter as we share with each other the joys of eternal life.  I do so hope God’s face doesn’t crack from smiling so much.  He will most likely be in danger of such for His happiness at the end of sin and our final redemption will be over the top. It is something He has waited for since that sad day described in Revelation 12. “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” 
  
We will not fill the empty places left behind.  As anyone who has ever lost a child knows, nothing fills the void.  However, another child fills a new room in our hearts.  We will fill new places that Jesus has prepared for us.  John 14.   And once again the universe will be “at one ment,” a great break down of the word “atonement.”
 
Heaven isn’t about streets of gold.  It is about love and family and knowing those we love are safe.  I do hope my wife’s face doesn’t break this week.

Laura Bassett and her English soccer team were on their way to the final game of the 2015 World Cup when the ultimate nightmare became a reality.  In an attempt to clear the ball from the area near her net she inadvertently kicked the ball into her own net giving the Japanese team their ticket to the final game in Vancouver against the United States.  It is difficult to imagine her self-loathing and remorse.  She has become the poster child for all of us who have time and again not only failed at something important but actually destroyed our own dreams.
 
Often I have heard people speak about Satan tempting them.  I would like to take the stance that all Satan has to do to defeat us is to be patient.  It is merely a matter of time until we score one for the enemy.  We don’t need anything other than our own human nature.
 
Paul, who was so ardent to be Christ-like, wrote in Romans 7, “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;  but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am!”
 
Dear Laura, welcome to the human race.  The only difference between you and the rest of us is the world was watching when you became one of us.  We know you will mentally play and replay that fateful moment over and over for years to come.  But please forgive yourself; one of the hardest things to do.  If anyone doesn’t understand that only means they are afraid of the truth about themselves.

Surely people are the most interesting thing God has created.  We come in an infinite array of shapes, colors, weights, ages and intelligence. This afternoon I watched a wisp of an elderly lady dine.  Her dyed hair did not disguise her life experience.  What amazed me were her three trips back to a soup bar, her three large bread sticks, a full sized cheese burger and fries and two large colas.  I’m sure I weigh twice what she does and I could never have handled all that food.
 
People watching is so much more interesting than bird watching or any other kind of watching.  Stars are predictable but people can be most surprising.  Someone asked me what I thought we would do for eternity and my response was people watching, angel watching, alien watching, etc.  There will be so many beings to interview.
 
I’m sure for the disciples Jesus watching was filled with surprises.  When they expected Him to chase away children instead He invited them to come to Him.  When they expected Him to shun lepers instead He touched them.  When they thought He would snub the woman at the well, she was the first person to whom He revealed His true identity.  When they thought He would foster the favor of the religious establishment instead He indicted them for hypocrisy.   Jesus watching will also be incredible for us because according to Hebrews , “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”   That is definitely worth watching.

If they had been red-winged blackbirds we would have been bloodied.  Instead they were robins and we were merely royally scolded.  We had come too close to a baby just out of the nest.  I must say they put up a significant defense.  The little guy was flapping his wings but going nowhere and mom and dad were doing all they could to facilitate his flight. 
 
Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem and wept for His people as He said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”  Little has changed.  He still longs for us to allow Him to gather us in.   He wants to come and take us home and yet, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  II Peter 3:9.
 
God longs for us to take flight and soar to new realms.  It is not a matter of waiting until some future time.  Just as those parent robins were urging their baby to fly God is calling us to new levels of achievement and righteousness.  Our lives are not to be humdrum but to be exciting adventures in development.  It does not matter how old we are, opportunities abound for new growth in our intellectual and spiritual facets.  He promised to send us His Holy Spirit to live within and thus continually be updating our talents and understandings.  In Hebrews 1 we are promised angels to attend this growth as they bring us care packages from His throne room.  This is a great family.

It was in the late 1940s when the circus came to town with its elephants, bears and tigers.  They took the animals off the train cars and walked them through town to a big tent.  It was all very exciting.  These were the days way before being politically correct and the circus came with a side show.  There was a fat lady, a midget, a tall skinny guy, a snake charmer and for two cents you could see the tattooed lady from far away Borneo. (She was probably from Brooklyn.) My mother would have had a fit if she had known my father had taken me inside.
 
It all came back to me this afternoon at Denny’s.  A scantily clad tattooed woman paraded by our table.  I didn’t even have to pay two cents.  She looked askance at me for staring.  But really isn’t that what she wanted? 
 
Most of the time I wish to be invisible but there are times when I do want to be seen.  Those are the times I want people to see Jesus.  I’m not too wild about that when just walking down the street but if I am in the classroom or with a group of friends I do so hope my demeanor would radiate the love and kindness of the One I wish to be like.  He told us people will know who we are if we have love for one another.   While I do not have any tattoos there is one I wish I had.  No not a picture of a sailing ship or my dog.  I wish to have Jesus tattooed on my heart.  Just maybe someone will know.

He was one street-smart, battle-scarred yellow cat.   His half chewed off ears told tales of territorial battles won and lost.  He definitely knew his way around.  He was a veteran of life with all his missing parts to display his valor.  As I approached he stealthfully backed under a bush.  He was way too smart to challenge a four thousand pound car.  Being brave doesn’t mean stupidly taking on something that outclasses you.  Being smart is a vital component to being brave and intelligence separates the courageous from the foolish.
 
Psalm1:1 is great counsel for the truly brave.  “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers.”  One should only place oneself in such jeopardy for a noble cause, not just to taste and see, one should flee at first opportunity.  One cannot expect to mingle and play in mud without getting soiled.  Jesus was able to pull that off.  “This man eats with sinners.”  However, Jesus also spent entire nights in prayer fortifying Himself to do daily battle with one determined to destroy Him.
 
As I was thinking about that old yellow cat I found myself hoping not all our scars will be removed in heaven. It would be boring if we were all uniformly the same without reminders of victories won.  While it is true we shall all be saved by Jesus, it should also be true that we should have identifying scars of valor obtained in the cause of righteousness.

He was a mountain of a man.  He had to be over 400 pounds and filled the door to my hospital room.  He came to draw blood and was gentle and kind.  When he spoke he was obviously not from New England.  He was from deep Mississippi and his speech did nothing to hide that.  Out of his huge man came the sweetest voice as he said to me, “Mr. Harvey, (Medicare requires my first name.) I’ll try not to hurt you.”   He was a character out of a southern gothic novel by William Faulkner.   His large dark hands could have crushed one of mine but he was ever so careful with the needle. I never felt it slip in for its drink.  On his way out as he closed the door for the night he said softly, “You have a blessed night.”  I did.  He helped.
 
It is fascinating how some people seem larger than life.  With a few kind words and a caring demeanor they can change our entire day.  Jesus was that way.   John was certainly aware of that.  He wrote in I John 1, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”  What is amazing is John’s experience is not reserved only for him.  We too will see with our eyes and we too shall touch the One who speaks worlds into existence.  “In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”  Hebrews 1

This is awesome beyond words.

We have all done it.  Someone is hurting or suffering from a great loss and we say to them, “If you need anything just call me.”  Really?  Anything?  How about making my car payments or my mortgage?  How about paying off my medical bills?  Now I do realize and so do those in pain realize that you are speaking of something within reason. 
 
This happened to my sister this weekend.  Her very sick neighbor came home from the hospital and my sister said the “anything” thing.  “Oh,” her neighbor said, “Could you bring me some egg custard.”  This sounds simple enough except my sister did not know what egg custard was (obviously my mother never made it for us) and my sister did not find it at her supermarket.  Fortunately we live in the wonderful age of the Internet and a Google search for egg custard provided a recipe.
 
I am reminded of Jesus’ parable of the midnight knock on the door.  It’s found in Luke 11 and it contains one of my favorite verses.  “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”  God, our Father, is a giver.  He cares about our needs and is anxious to help.  For some reason that I do not understand often times we have to ask. Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”  Maybe it has something to do with our adversary the devil, who accused God of over giving to Job. So go ahead and ask.  If it is good for you, you will get it.  If it isn’t you won’t.   I hope you like custard. 

Each of the Ten Commandments is designed to keep us happy.  No one knows us better than our Creator and therefore He knows what is best for us.  When He tells us not to covet He is telling us how to be happy with what we have.  It is miserable to see something another person has and to want it.  Sometimes we talk about “Gateway Drugs.”  We should talk about “Gateway Sins.”  There is no question that little sins lead to big sins.  Coveting is a “Gateway Sin.”   If we did not want what another person has we would not be tempted to steal it or worse, kill them so we could get it.  Thou shall not covet definitely belongs in the Big Ten.
 
I am amazed at how many people I speak to who are not happy.  We should have happy courses and the first class should be dedicated to paying attention to what God has prescribed for us.  One of the things I notice is how fearful people are.  They talk about how bad the world is getting.  Having been a history minor in college I would like to propose that the world isn’t any badder than ever.  Horrible things have been occurring since Cain killed Abel.   The difference now is the 24 hour news channels. In order to fill up all that time newspeople scour the world for all the horror they can find and then they pump it into our living rooms.  The bad stuff happened before this.  We just didn’t know about it.  Technology enables them to make us miserable.
 
Please remind yourself every day that Jesus loves you.  Be comforted that your sins are forgiven and rejoice in your citizenship in God’s Kingdom.  It’s a happy kingdom.

Ever so gently and as kindly as possible I whispered to the elderly lady cashier, who had given me five dollars too much in change, and I returned the five to her.  I knew it would have come out of her pay if her cash drawer was short at the end of the day.  However, before you smile and think, “I knew he was honest” allow me to say if it had been the very rude seventeen-year-old who had upset the elderly lady, I’m not so sure I would have returned it.  I would have figured she deserved to be stuck for five dollars or even more.
 
This brings me to the issue of our allowing other people to determine our behavior.  Should I have allowed a rude teen the power to make me dishonest?  This really starts when we are very little.  How often as parents have we heard, “He hit me first.”  Somehow that was a justification for hitting back and, of course, when we hit back, it was always a tad harder.
 
Not only is it difficult to teach children to turn the other cheek, it is difficult to do so as adults.  In Kindergarten we should offer Tongue Biting 101.   “A soft answer turns away wrath.”  Thank you Solomon.  And our Jesus has something to say about this in the Sermon on the Mount.  “If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.”  Jesus is not telling us to be a doormat.  He also tells us to “shake the dust off our feet and leave.” 
 
Don’t hit back, which is what I wanted to do to that seventeen-year-old.