The Beauty of Winter

 "From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen?" Job 38: 29, 30

    The beauty of winter is often discredited by those who grumble against her. Adorned in white diamonds, her limbs bare their graceful lines that are otherwise obscured by foliage. It's not until God removes the clothing of a warmer time that her exquisite form may be plainly seen. I love winter because of its harsh beauty. Its overlooked because it doesn't come as easily as palm trees that sway their skirts in the sunshine.

    The storehouses of snow have generously blanketed your driveway and you groan, but there's a greater satisfaction in perseverance, in pushing through tough obstacles, for that's when you see Christ grab a shovel and work alongside you. When the long, snowy drive has been cleared and you catch your breath beside the Savior, that's when a grateful feeling of hope settles over you, one that is bourn in accomplishment. It wasn't by your strength alone that your driveway is now passable.

    So it is with life. A fresh coating of snow presents a challenge, one that offers opportunities to see God's brawny strength in action. Will you groan and return to your abode, deflated? Or will you push through?

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1: 2, 3

"...suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." Romans 5: 3-5

Cancel Culture

 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. " Colossians 2: 13-15

    Cancel culture is as old as mankind. Joseph's brothers, pricked by jealousy, neatly canceled him (or so they thought) by throwing him in a pit before selling him into slavery. Years later, jealousy reared its ugly head again when the administrators under King Darius wanted to snuff out Daniel, having him thrown into the lion's den. But the greatest example of cancel culture was when the Jews plotted to cancel Jesus by nailing him to a Roman cross. "That ought to do it, " I picture them smugly saying as they washed their hands of Him, while they left that grisly scene on Good Friday.

    Though the Roman empire ruled over the Jews with an iron fist, Jesus did not rise up against them. He paid his taxes and He submitted to the arresting authorities when they came for Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. When Pilate, the Roman governor, questioned Him, as a sheep before the shearers, He was silent until Pilate proclaimed, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you realize I have the power either to free you or to crucify you?" (John 19:10) 

    I would have loved to see the steady gaze of Christ when He gave this reply: "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." (John 19:11)

    The Bible says, "The authorities that exist have been established by God." (Romans 13:1) So, the truth of the matter is that, whether it be the Babylonians, the Romans, the Russians or the Americans, they have no power other than what the Lord has meted out. 

    To be executed by crucifixion was a criminal's death, a very humiliating and excruciating experience. When those who wished to cancel the Son of God nailed Him to the cross, they sought to make a public spectacle of Him, but they never had any power over Him; He laid down His life for us of His own accord. Who was doing the nailing? It was Him! He nailed our sins to the cross. What Satan meant for evil, God meant for good, forever and all eternity, as He took a symbol of horrid execution and used it to disarm the powers of hell. 

     Putin and Biden are but puppets on the elaborate stage of history, just as King Darius and Governor Pilate had once been. We, as Christians, are given box seats as we watch our powerful God orchestrate and establish His kingdom in His timing. All He asks of us is to be faithful to the end.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

    

What are You Waiting For?

 "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." Philippians 3:20

    When the Apostle John wrote in the book of Revelation about the "patient endurance on the part of the people of God," he must've had me in mind. It took me twenty minutes and two connections to overseas call centers to cancel a simple hotel reservation. And, nowadays, I can't even slam the phone down to expend my frustration!

    Think of all the waiting we do in this life: Watched pots that never boil. Christmas morning. The old man in a hat who drives under the speed limit during rush hour traffic. The repetitive, inane television commercials. The harshly-lit doctor's office, with nary a germy magazine in sight to distract you as you pine in a paper gown (that's why we're called "patients.") Waiting, waiting, waiting.

    It's easy for an impatient person like me to feel convicted by such verses as, "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." (Psalm 27:14) "I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope." (Psalm 130:5) What am I waiting for?

    The answer is found in Hebrews 9:28: "He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him." Not being citizens of this world, we go through life with one ear cocked to the clouds, listening for the voice of the archangel at the trumpet's call, heralding the second coming of Christ! O, blessed day worth waiting for! 

    By the way, patience is a two-way street: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9) I am so glad His ways are not my ways, that He has the patience of Job, so to speak.

    If you haven't already put your trust in Jesus, what are you waiting for? Do it today.

"Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. You, too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." James 3: 7, 8

On Whom Are You Depending?

 "I can do all this through Him who gives me strength." Philippians 4:13

    Rosie the Riveter portrayed the strength of women in the '40s who stepped into jobs left vacant by American men who had gone to war. With her hair wrapped in a polka dot kerchief and her bicep flexed, she became an iconic picture of the patriotic brawn of our nation's can-do spirit. I have a tee shirt depicting the robust Rosie but it bears the verse above: "I can do all things through Christ!" This puts the proper spin on it, giving credit where credit is due.

    The other day at work, as I listened to the principal's exhortation to the students to "believe in yourself," I looked around at the kids in pity. Pity because what we, as a society are offering them, without faith in the bedrock of our powerful Creator, is all just sinking sand. We tell them they can be anything they want if they just apply themselves, but on what is that based?

    Yes, people can better themselves through an education; I am not denying that. But, when human strength wanes and all the earthly props give way, without confidence in God, a person hasn't a prayer.

    As told in the second book of Kings, chapter 18, the nefarious king of Assyria was badgering Hezekiah, king of Judah, snidely inquiring, "On what are you basing this confidence of yours? You say you have the counsel and the might for war - but you speak only empty words. On whom are you depending, that you rebel against me?"(vs. 19, 20)

    Consider all that is piling up against us today: Virus, vaccine, vitriol, death, deceit and disrespect. How does one cope against this? By believing in the government or the health care system? Talk about "empty words!" No, as for me, I choose to depend upon the Living God, here and in the hereafter. He's the Solid Rock on which I stand. Won't you join me?

PS: In response to the Assyrian threats, King Hezekiah prayed to the Lord for deliverance. That night, "the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp." (2 Kings 19:35) 

"Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16    

The True Pandemic

 "Jesus said to her (Martha), 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" John 11:25, 26

    Coming face-to-face with one's own mortality is a sobering experience. When we're young, we think we're immortal, but, sadly, we've all seen obituaries for those who have died too soon. We who survive move along, raising families, building a nest egg, until we hear news we'd rather not. 

    Especially since the onset of the pandemic, much emphasis has been placed upon our temporal beings and, rightly so, as least to some degree. I wish we were more concerned about the true pandemic: Sin, which results in death. This has been a global problem since the Fall of mankind. The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that the wages of this sin is death. Contrary to what we hear, the coronavirus is not our biggest problem.

   There is a true vaccine for this pandemic, one that really works. In the verse above, Jesus told a grieving Martha, "whoever lives by believing in me will never die." Stop right there: We have all been to enough funerals to verify the reality of death. So, what did Jesus mean? How may we become inoculated?

    There is a second death, the death of our souls, which means eternal separation from God. To escape this awful outcome, we must be born again. A second birth for our souls. When our hope is in Jesus's death and resurrection, we live eternally with Him, praise be to God! His blood is the vaccine.

    Sitting in our own filth in a prison cell, bound in captivity by our enemy, Satan, we are powerless and sentenced to death. At the sound of footsteps, our hopelessness is punctured by liberation when we hear a voice say, "Arise! Your price has been paid in full by your Kinsman Redeemer." The chains clank to the floor as you unbelievably, but confidently, stride past your captor to freedom.

Do you believe this?

"I will deliver this people from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?" Hosea 13:14

"Jesus said to them, 'Take off the grave clothes and let him go.'" John 11:44

    

Is God Listening?

 "You may ask for anything in my name and I will do it." John 14:14

    He was a nice man, a lanky, affable guy with a faith in God to match his smile. He had just started wearing a toupee that made him look younger and, I thought, sort of handsome for an older fellow. He was my Sunday School superintendent and I looked up to him.

    Then, one Sunday, I came to the classroom to find he wasn't there. A tragic fall had rendered him paralyzed and, though he attended services with his faithful wife pushing his wheelchair, he never returned to our Sunday School room. Fervently, I prayed he'd walk again, just as I'd learned through all those Bible stories acted out on the flannelgraph, when Jesus directed the lame to "get up, take your mat and go home."

    When, week after week elapsed and the man was still in that wheelchair, the outcome of my prayers affected me. I had the faith of a child, a child who wanted things to go back to the way they were. A child who cringed to see a man who used to stand tall, now with useless legs beneath a blanket, a visual reminder of my seemingly powerless prayers.

    What went wrong? Was God listening? 

    Years have gone by. I've participated in many small groups, studies and services where prayers are requested and lifted up, but have I grown past my childhood observance? When I have been in need of prayer, do those who have promised to approach God on my behalf follow through? Will these heaven-bound petitions do any good?

    The answer, as sure as I'm sitting here, is "yes." Praying in Jesus' name is not like rubbing a magical lamp, or maybe you've seen those ads taken out in the newspaper that posts a prayer which promises marvels if one would just repeat it over and over. No, that's all wrong.  Rather, prayer is an outward extension of an inward relationship, a unique partnership between the Father and His child build on trust. It's not MY will be done, but that HIS will will be accomplished. The world does not revolve around me.

    When I was a kid, I'd see my mom sitting at her desk writing checks and tabulating figures. I had no comprehension of her task as I happily passed by on my way to play but, as I matured I understood. As I walk with the Lord, I don't always know what He's up to, but I do know He's taking care of business. When I have a question or request, He will lay aside His task and listen to me because I am His daughter.

"So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Luke 11:9, 10 

That's Why

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5

    Years ago, as I drove about town with my toddler philosopher strapped in the back seat. I espied her in my rearview mirror with a puckered brow as she gazed out the window before asking, "Mom, why is the sky blue?"

    Have you ever researched the answer to that? Turns out, it's a complex explanation involving light beams refracting and so on. Just one more reason to adore my Lord and the inquisitive toddlers He creates.

    Our omniscient, loving Father knew we'd be asking "why" quite often so, as in the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, He provides the "becauses." Why do we have to observe His decrees, being careful to obey? So that you may enjoy long life. So that it may go well with you. So that we may prosper and be kept alive.

    The first time I'd read these verses during which the Israelites were on their way to the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey, God sounded like an egocentric bully bossing people around., but as I grew in my faith and experienced God's love for me first hand, I knew why He commanded me to love Him with all I possess. It's so that He can gather me under His protective wings, as a hen gathers her chicks. My Father, who has been around the block forever, knows who my adversary is. He has seen the dark, demonic host who wish to sift me like wheat. He's well aware of the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms so He wants to spare me from all the sorrows that slavery to Satan brings. 

    With the greatest commandment being to love this God will all my heart, soul, mind and strength, He makes that pretty easy. After all, I love because He first loved me. That's why.

"'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied, '"Love the Lord your God will all your heart and will all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment." Matthew 22: 36-38 

Dirty Laundry List

 "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9

    Is mankind inherently good? Do we have it naturally within ourselves to do the right thing? The Bible says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that there is no one good, no not one. (Romans 3:23, Psalm 53:3) 

    I heard on a television program the other day that those who believe in evolution also believe that man is constantly evolving, always progressing and so, without any belief in God or the Original Sin, they believe mankind is inherently good. What do you say?

    I investigated three different lists in Scripture which describe the heart of mankind. These dirty laundry lists (as found in Romans 1, Galatians 5 and Mark 7), which are said to come from the heart of man, include:

    Wickedness, evil thoughts, greed, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossiping, slander, hatred, insolence, arrogance, boastfulness, sexual immorality, theft, adultery, lewdness, folly, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, drunkenness and orgies.

    Have you seen any of these traits around you today? Have any of these come from your own heart at some time in your life? Check out some of these definitions:

• Depravity: a corrupt act or practice; the quality of being corrupt, evil or perverted
• Malice: the desire to cause pain or distress to another
• Deceit: the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid; dishonest, misleading
• Dissension: disagreements that become violent; angry words, strife, discord
• Faction: a party that has a common end in view; seeking by irregular means to bring about changes in government; a combination of persons using subversive or perverse methods of promoting their own selfish or partisan views; combined disorderly opposition to established authority; turbulence, tumult, dissension

    Based on the proof around you and inside of you, is mankind good? 

    

    Let's face it, we all have laundry to do. What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Let's take a look at a clean laundry list (as found in 1 Corinthians 13 and Galatians 5), what a heart that belongs to the Lord should resemble:

    Patience, kindness, goodness, love, joy, peace, gentleness, self-control, hopefulness, perseverance, trustworthiness, not rude, not envious, not boastful or prideful, not self-seeking, not easily angered, rejoices in the truth.

    We cannot do this by ourselves. Only God can cleanse us from our sins.

"'Come now, let us settle the matter,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are as crimson, they shall be like wool." Isaiah 1: 18