Right or Left?

 "Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or left; keep your foot from evil." Proverbs 4: 25-27

    During a conversation with a friend last night, we spoke of the difficult choices which lay before us on Election Day. The thought came to my mind of the various verses in the Bible about maintaining our walk with the Lord - not turning to the right or to the left. Is it just a coincidence that these terms are used to define the Republican and Democratic parties?

    As I advised my friend, it is tantamount to the Christian to fix our eyes on Jesus. As we drive along, the political signs beckon us to lean this way and that, but if we keep our focus on the road ahead, we will not go astray. 

    In the book of Daniel, we are assured it is God who deposes kings and raises up others (2:21), but that doesn't mean we shouldn't exercise our right to vote prayerfully. We have a responsibility to uphold that which is valuable to the Lord as best we can at the polls. 

    When the outcome of this day is revealed on the morrow, nothing along my path with Jesus will have changed. No matter who is president, Jesus is still the King of kings and it is under His authority I live and move and have my being. Amen!

    When Jesus stood before Pilate, His flogged body bleeding through the robe of purple in which the mocking soldiers had dressed Him, He gave no answer to the governor's probes. Finally, Pilate stated frankly, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 

    Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above." (John 19: 10-11)  

    Even when it appeared that evil had won, God was at work executing his perfect plan of redemption, removing the sting of death and the power of the grave. 

    Perhaps you have already placed your vote, or you are flummoxed by the decisions before you. Let the Bible be your voter's guide: "Do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in obedience to all the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess." (Deuteronomy 5:32)

    "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Hebrews 12: 1-3

    

Dirty Laundry

 "His (Manasseh's) prayer and how God was moved by his entreaty, as well as all his sins and unfaithfulness, and all the sites where he built high places and set up Asherah poles and idols before he humbled himself - all these are written in the records of the seers." 2 Chronicles 33:19

    This guy, Manasseh, was only twelve years old when he became king of Judah. When I think of how goofy I was when I was that age, maybe I can better understand how badly he botched his royal life and its fifty-five year reign. 

    The Bible airs his laundry list:  

• he rebuilt the high places
• he erected altars to the Baals
• he made Asherah poles
• he bowed down to the starry hosts, even setting up altars to them in God's temple
• he sacrificed his children in the fire
• he practiced divination and witchcraft
• he consulted mediums and spiritists
• he led the people astray

    In fact, the people of Judah under Manasseh's leadership did more evil than all the pagan nations before them. Though God spoke to them about this, they paid no attention. Manasseh ended up being dragged off by a hook in his nose as a prisoner of the Assyrians, bound by bronze shackles.

    My laundry list may have different entries than that of this king, but all stains look the same to our Holy God. "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind, our sins sweep us away." (Isaiah 64:6)

    

    I shrink from the very idea of my lascivious laundry flapping in the biblical breeze for all to see, but my Heavenly Father sees all; He knows my every transgression. How embarrassing!

    When Peter denied even knowing Jesus by the charcoal fire in the courtyard, Jesus turned His gaze on him with those piercing eyes, seeing through to Peter's soul. The disciple wept bitterly, as do I when my contrition overwhelms me. Thanks be to God, a broken and a contrite heart He does not despise! (Psalm 51:17)

    Getting back to Manasseh's dirty laundry...As he was being led away in shackles of shame, he repented of all his sins and the Lord had mercy on him. "In his distress he sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors," the Bible says, "And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom." (2 Chronicles 33: 12, 13)

    My mother used to say, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." I have to agree with her because there is no way I am going to see God in my dirty clothes. The only stain fighter that works is the blood of Jesus.

"Wash me and I will be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7

    

What is More Important?

 "You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved." Matthew 10:22

    Within the pages of the latest newsletter I received from the Voice of the Martyrs, I learned of the persecutions Christians in Vietnam are facing. 

    Many of their people are animists who worship spirits believed to inhabit the world around them as well as the spirits of their deceased ancestors. Fortune tellers and witch doctors are consulted for advice on health and success. The darkness of this demonic oppression runs deeply in this Communistic country, raining blows of suffering upon those who profess Christ. 

    The story is told of a man and wife, Cai and Hein, who found just a glimmer of hope one day while on the internet. It was there they heard of the powerful, loving God of the Christians, but they needed to know more. Soon, God sent some traveling traders who shared the Good News with them, which they accepted with joy.

    In response to their newfound faith, they burned the animistic altar which had been in their home. This began waves of persecution from their community and the government as all forms of support were withheld from their family. Their electricity was cut off, they were denied police protection and Cai was falsely arrested and imprisoned. Even their children were denied enrollment in the local school. To feed her family, Hein had to harvest edibles from the forest.

    Have you ever wondered why the persecutions against Christianity are so vehement and violent? What was it about Jesus that caused Him to be so hated? Why were the apostles of the early church martyred for their faith? 

    The apostle Paul listed the hardships he suffered for Christ: imprisoned, flogged, beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, hungry and thirsty, cold and naked and in constant danger. Yet, in his letter to the Romans he declared, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18)

    The reason behind the hatred is because those who live in darkness do not want to hear the voice of Truth. Though the light of Christ came into the world, people loved the darkness, not wishing to be exposed. (John 3: 19, 20)

    As I read about those like Cai and Hein who are my relatives in the family of God, I pray for faith like theirs which remains even if all else is lost. I will close with this quote from Hein who said it best: "Even if Cai stays in prison, we believe in Jesus and have eternal life. If he (Cai) is free here and doesn't believe in Jesus, we don't have eternal life. What is more important? We want to have eternal life, so we can accept any suffering in our life."

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you." Psalm 63:3

Just Believe

 "While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. 'Your daughter is dead,' they said. 'Why bother the Teacher anymore?'  Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him (Jairus), 'Don't be afraid; just believe.'" 

    While shopping recently, I saw a decorative sign that said, "Just Believe," and I wondered in what do they want me to believe? 

    Faith is of value only when the object of that faith is trustworthy and true. If I sit down in a broken chair, even though I had all the faith I could muster placed in that chair, when it breaks beneath me, all my faith was for naught. The fault lay not with my level of faith, but in the compromised chair. 

    Put yourself in the sandals of Jairus here. When he had seen Jesus, he fell at his feet pleading for his daughter's life: "My little daughter is dying. Please come put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." (Mark 5:23) 

    When word came that his beloved child had died, had her father just sat down in a broken chair, so to speak, which splintered beneath the burden?

    Look what Jesus was asking him to believe! Hadn't Death had the final say? Hadn't the curtains been drawn as the girl's soul had left her body? What hope had Jairus now?

    Imagine the tear-filled eyes of the anguished dad meeting the steady gaze of the Savior. Perhaps Jesus gripped Jairus by the shoulders, lending His strength to the grieving man. "Don't be afraid; just believe!" 

    Now imagine the astonished parents who witnessed the resurrection of their dead daughter! Indeed, just as Jairus had believed, Jesus laid his hands on the girl and she lived.

    How simple it is: Just believe. How simple, yet so wildly complex! If we but have the faith as small as a mustard seed, we can move mountains. (Matthew 17:20)

    Just believe. Jesus asks the same of us today. Over and over again, He implored his listeners, "Believe also in me." Will we be like his very own brothers who did not believe in him? (John 7:5) Or, with the help of God, will we hang our hats with that of Simon Peter who avered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God." (John 6: 68, 69)

    In what do you believe? The government? Money? Yourself? When you draw your last breath, you have but one hope in this world: Jesus the Christ. Just believe in Him.

"Though you haven't seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1, 8, 9 

An Army of Milkweed

 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed...Some fell on rocky places where it didn't have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and they withered because they had no root...Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times." Mark 4: 3, 5, 6, 8

    When it comes to gardening, I am a plop-and-hope sort of gardener. So, when I received some milkweed seeds, I sowed them in the front garden next to our butterfly bush without bothering to investigate their lifestyle. Visions of grateful butterflies flocking to our yard filled my daydreams as I anxiously awaited results. 

    Fast-forward one year, when those pesky plants have so prolifically suffocated all else in that garden, and witness my daydreams turning into a nightmare. The hale and hearty stalks resemble a troop of Union soldiers marching against the Old South - always more and more of them in rank and file. 

    Though I have furiously dug them up by their roots, those telltale green shoots persevere regardless, so I have been spraying them with RoundUp. Even so, they do not surrender!

    After reading the Parable of the Sower, I have come to view my milkweed army in a different light. After all, I planted them in good soil where their root system took hold like an underground bunker; they are only doing what God created them to do. At my hands, they have tolerated my unloving behavior, suffered persecution at the tip of my shovel and even survived the lethal spray of weed killer. 

    As a Christian, I should follow their example, especially considering the waves of persecution which can be seen on the global horizon. Am I firmly rooted and grounded in Christ alone, built up and strengthened in the faith? Or will I wither at the first sign of heat? Do I boast in the glory of my resurrected Savior in hopes of winning souls for Christ, thereby producing a multiplying crop? Or have I permitted thorns and briars to choke my efforts?

    Maybe I will wave the white flag and just learn to appreciate the perseverance of the milkweed. They have the right idea after all.

"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." James 1:12  

     

Humpty Dumpty

"When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak, because she thought, 'If I just touch His clothes, I will be healed.' Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering." Mark 5: 27-29

    On Saturday, my sisters and I attended a craft fair on the grounds of a splendid historical home in Kent, Ohio. While browsing about, I came across a booth whose moniker caught my attention so I paused to speak to the artisan. 

    "Why is your business called "The Broken Rabbit?" I inquired of the man who crafted pottery. 

    "Because," he explained with a half smile, "I am the rabbit and I am broken."

    Though he didn't expound upon the reason behind his condition, I ruefully agreed that we indeed live in a broken world and the only cure for us is Jesus. 

    In hindsight, I should have shared the verses from Isaiah which speak of our Lord God being the Potter while we are his clay, the workmanship of his divine hands, but it didn't come to mind in time. I did, however, buy a wee work of his as a reminder to pray for him.

    Before walking to the park the following day, I donned my ballcap that bears an embroidered cross. As I wended my way 'round the pond, a dogwalker commented, "I like your hat." I asked him if he knew Jesus, and his glowing countenance provided the answer. At my coaxing, he shared a bit of his testimony which involved a downward spiral to a rock-bottom resignation. 

    While he was at this nadir in his life, a pastor asked him, "Are you ready to invite Jesus into your life?" And like the woman in the verses above, when he reached out to Christ in faith, he was healed.

    As I pondered the two broken men, the words of Humpty Dumpty came to mind: All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put him back together again. From a mother's kiss to a psychiatrist's couch, we find through trial and error that only the One who made the vessel is truly able to make the repairs. And the Potter doesn't just fix the cracks, He creates a new work. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17) 

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Psalm 147:3

Hard Boiled

 "Blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction." Proverbs 29:18

    I thought I knew how to boil eggs, but the last time I did, it became clear that I had not mastered the task. Somewhere along the line, I had gotten off track.

    With my niece expected for lunch today, I desired hard boiled eggs to complement my salad fixings so I decided to consult my cookbook, and guess what? Because I followed the directions, the eggs came out beautifully. They were perfectly cooked and even peeled well.

    As I removed the shells over the sink, I thought about all the times in my life when I thought I knew what I was doing, but in all actuality, I ran pell-mell into folly. 

    If I had only consulted the Bible, all the wisdom and knowledge of God could have been found within its pages thereby saving me (and those affected by my folly) from a peck of trouble. I need to quit being so hard boiled and soften my heart to receive God's instructions. 

"Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord." Proverbs 16:20