Category: devotional

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.

This afternoon the checkout lady at the Dollar Store, who appeared to be very close to seventy, was being rudely ordered around by another employee who was all of seventeen.  With tears welling up in her eyes the elderly lady attempted to help me.  The extent of her mental state evidenced itself when her trembling hands gave me an extra five dollar bill in my change.  My dilemma was to further upset her by pointing out her error or take the easy way out and pocket the extra five and say thank you.  Or was I merely justifying an attempt to keep the five?  The human heart is a deceitful thing and works its very best havoc on its owner. The most difficult person to know is the one we see in the mirror.
 
For over seventy years I have been trying to know me.  But like Paul in Romans 7, I regularly do things that disappoint me.  “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” 
 
I don’t think it was about an extra five dollars.  I am not a rich man, but really five dollars?  What would a man give in exchange for his soul?  Five dollars?   That’s trading your soul for one large extra thick chocolate malt!  But what if it were for five million dollars?  Then I would rationalize how much good I could do for my church.  I could make quite an impressive list of good deeds after I took an around the world trip with my wife. 
 
So what did I do?  If I tell you what and why I would most likely be trying to assuage my conscience.

I remember it as if it were yesterday.  My father, a school teacher, who always went to school in suit, white shirt, tie, and a white handkerchief in the left top pocket of his suit coat, came home and announced it was time for me to learn to ride a bicycle.  I was so excited as I climbed aboard my sister’s bike and off we went with him running behind.  It was elation beyond words as the wind blew through my hair.  These were the days before helmets and knee and elbow pads.  This was blood sport and I did not disappoint.  I looked back over my shoulder, a big mistake.  He knelt down beside me and took the white handkerchief from his suit coat pocket and wiped off the gravel and blood.  And then he said to me, “Good job.  Look how far you came.”
 
I did not stop being his son because I fell down.  Neither do we stop being part of God’s family when we fail.  Quickly He comes to our side and with the white robe of Jesus’ righteousness He wipes us clean and says to us, “Good job. Look how far you have come.” 
 
The Christian walk is not about being perfect.  It is about falling, being wiped clean and getting up for another try.  It is about going farther between falls.  And sometimes the falls are spectacular but that just makes getting up so much more courageous.  It is true Jesus said to the woman taken in adultery to go and sin no more.  We must never forget He also said, “Neither do I condemn you.” 
 
Happy riding.  Go far.

I sat down this afternoon to watch a program on Netflix.  It was a British production and I was having such a difficult time understanding what they were saying I finally turned on the subtitles.  That helped a lot.  I felt kind of stupid needing subtitles for something in my native tongue.  Or is British English my native tongue?  This afternoon I doubted it.
 
My students in Africa used to argue amongst themselves about what language we will speak in heaven.  Of course each tribe was a rabid supporter of their language.  I never got into the fray.  I didn’t have to.  I know it will be American English.  But wait will that be American English in Georgia or Boston or Des Moines?
 
I used to have some church members who were insistent that I should use the King James Version when I preached.  They were convinced that Jesus said “Thee” and “Thou” as I should if I was going to have any authority.   So what language does God speak?  He speaks the language of the heart.  He doesn’t need the mutterings of our mouths to understand our needs, our desires, our passions and our longings.
 
I love Romans 8:26 and 27.  “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”  Perhaps in heaven we will retain our native tongue and use a universal translator button on our shirts. (robes!)  However it will work it will be just fine.

It has been 37 years since a horse has won the Triple Crown of racing.  This weekend American Pharoah’s name will be added to the list of the all time great horses.  He did it and it is indeed a rare and noteworthy event.  However, I am even more excited about our Triple Crown win.  Please note the following verses.
 
James 1:12
 
“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the CROWN OF LIFE that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
 
II Timothy 4:8
 
“Now there is in store for me the CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

I Peter 5:4
 
“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the CROWN OF GLORY that will never fade away.”
 
This is super exciting because it is not going to be rare.   Revelation 7:9 says, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne.”  Our God who is rich in mercy and anxious to save as many as possible is ready and prepared to award us our Triple Crown win.  It really is a Triple Crown gift but who is going to quibble about words over something so very grand?  It is no wonder there is an old hymn that says, “Crown Him with Many Crowns.”  We shall have three.  Jesus will have so many crowns and He earned His. Because He loves us He is thrilled to gift us ours.

I had a student who professed he had little faith in anything.  According to him he was a practical man who had to personally experience things.  He seemed puzzled when I asked him to explain the difference between a one dollar bill and a twenty dollar bill.  Because we can obtain twenty times something with the twenty dollar bill than we can with a one dollar bill certainly there has to be a difference in their value.  But they are both made of the same kind of paper and are the same size and weight.  There is no intrinsic difference.  The only differences are the ink patterns.  My practical student displays faith every time he purchases something.  He has faith in the power of the United States Federal Reserve Bank.
 
Next, I asked if he ever flew anywhere.  To do so requires faith in the competence and sobriety of the pilots, the mechanics, the air traffic controllers, the manufacturer of the fuel, the structural engineers and the weather prognosticators.  Flying is truly an act of faith.
 
Everyday life in our modern world requires faith.  So why not place ourselves by faith into the hands of the One who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them.  Why not believe Him when He says, “I love you.”   He is more trustworthy than any monetary system or any airline team.  Trust Him who said, “I am the resurrection and the life” and then gave viable evidence by raising Lazarus back to life.  Jesus said, “He who believes in me shall never die.”   I like that.  I like that a lot.

A dream of some scientists is to bring back (de-extinct) the passenger pigeon by injecting band-tailed pigeon embryos with primordially edited germ cells.  De-extinction is a fascinating idea with overt shades of Jurassic Park.   In regards to man God has long held a de-extinction program. With Adam and Eve’s failure came the extinction of perfect God-imaged creatures.  With sin came the decay and death of the noblest finest thing God ever made.  Adam and Eve could only stand at the gate of Eden and remember what was.  Jesus was morally perfect, but He was not physically perfect.  He was, according to Hebrews, subject to all the weaknesses of fallen man. 
 
The plan of redemption has always been the de-extinction of the perfect Adam and Eve.   In I Corinthians 15 Paul speaks of this corruption putting on incorruption.  He is talking about de-extinction.  What is exciting about this is the non-exclusiveness of God’s plan.   This plan has never had restricted membership.  According to the close of Matthew, Jesus commanded His disciples to recruit members from every tribe, nation and race.  
 
Just imagine yourself with the ability to will away all your bad features and will into existence perfect replacement parts.  Look in the mirror and think just how good you could and will look while still being you. Think of yourself with a noble mind thinking pure unselfish thoughts.  Think of yourself with an eternity at your disposal that you might dedicate the time needed to master skills you only now can dream about.  Think of yourself never forgetting a face or a name.  Think of yourself being de-extinct. 
 
De-extinction is the theme of the plan of redemption.  This is so much more than grand.  This makes grand look like a feeble word.

As the recycle truck rolled down the hill the thought hit my friend.  Her fanny pack was in that truck.  That wouldn’t be so bad except for what was in the fanny pack.  Her passport, her wallet, her credit cards, her driver’s license were on the brink of becoming a new whatever.  But she was not giving up so easily.  Jumping in the car she arrived at the back of the truck just in time to see the compactor do its job.  “Sorry, Maam,” said the driver.  “Once it’s in there I can’t get it out.”
  
But she was not giving up so easily.  She followed the truck to the recycle center and persuaded some big cheese to dump the truck contents apart from the main pile.  After a while of unsqueezing the squeezed there it was.  Redeemed.  Now the moral of the story almost writes itself.  Chasing after the valuable, rummaging through the discards, saving the lost; all the elements of the Gospel story are there.
 
However, that is not what struck me.  It was the squeezing.  The icons of her identity were being crushed into something else.  As she was telling me of her adventure I remembered a text paraphrased by J. B. Phillips.  Romans 12:2, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, . . .”   It’s a great message about letting God shape us and not allowing modern culture to determine who we are.  If we are not vigilant about what we become we really are squeezed into “mold.”  That’s a slimy fungal thought.
 
But a great thought is the rest of Romans 12:2, “. . . let God re-mold (reform) your minds from within, . . . and move towards the goal of true maturity.”

One evening, many years ago on a Wednesday night after prayer meeting, I was leaving to drive all night from Des Moines to central Wisconsin.  As I was locking up the church one of my friends said, “Let’s pray for your safety.”   And so he did. (Thanks, Dennis)
 
About four in the morning I was moving through southern Minnesota on a beautiful straight stretch of highway.  I had not seen another car for miles.  As I looked ahead all I saw a straight highway with the typical overpasses.  So I thought, “Why don’t I straddle the dotted line between lanes and take a nap.  When I get to that overpass ahead I can recenter on the lines if the car has drifted.”  So I reached down to put my seat back for a bit more comfort.  When suddenly the fasten seat belt light came on with a persistent blinking.  Reaching up I banged on the dashboard and said to the light, “You are keeping me awake.”   It was then that my brain woke up enough to listen to me speaking truth.  I pulled over and went for a walk.  (Thanks, Dennis)
 
The seat belt light never again malfunctioned. Prayer is a powerful thing.  It is connecting to the source of all power, wisdom and presence.  Prayer is talking to our Father about what we need, not because He does not know, but because it clarifies it for us.  Ever since I read Jesus’ words about our heavenly Father knowing how to give good gifts to His children, I have never since asked God for something more than once.  When my sons ask me for something they only need ask once.  Begging would be insulting.  At least that is how I understand the process.