Blog Posts

Live long and prosper

5/14/2022

Live long and prosper
Proverbs 16:31 “Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life.”

Gray hair is an idiom for old age. The author is remarking on the greater likelihood that those that live well live long – or longer. Once again, a Bible proverb as this one is not a promise but an accurate observation of life.

I am drawn to discover the reasons behind suicides as they are reported and deaths that occur early in life. It will be sometime yet before we are blessed with an age that is not plagued by futility. Yet, there is a path often not taken that usually leads to longer life. Here the writer identifies it as one of right living. He has moral righteousness in mind as a rule. By moral righteousness he is as a Jewish man concerned with what is right according to the creator and author of a transcendent law. There are those enriched by a written accessible codex such as the Bible, and there are others with that same law in basic form written on their hearts and signaled by their conscience and passed on by good parenting.

One commandment of the famous ten delivered to the Israelites from the roof of Mount Sinai goes so far as to say that the honor of father and mother will lead to a good long life.

Either way, the person of any stripe that lives the code tends to live longer.

Most of us, due in large part to our foolishness, will suffer close calls, brushes with death, closer in some cases than we realize. How far we allow our foolishness to rule our decisions is up to us.

As one author put it, “When I was a child I did as a child, but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

Make it so.

Grace today y’all

Seven falls

5/14/2022

“Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do no violence to his home; for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.”
Proverbs 24:15, 16

Solomon does not only address the propensity of even the righteous to fall but also, in an unspoken way, the grace of God to pick us up so often. In this case the righteous spring back and are able to defend themselves against the intentions of the wicked. Sometimes the righteous person or neighbor is attacked for their wealth, and sometimes for differing ideology or out of spite because the righteous life can be convicting to a wicked neighbor. Attacks come in a variety of ways. Some are overt and violent. Others are subtle and luring. Sometimes the wicked draw out the lusts of the righteous that we all share and as a result the righteous fails (I Corinthians 10:1-13)

What the wicked in his or her schemes may not realize is the resiliency of the righteous to get back up. This poses a threat to the wicked because their plan to break the righteous has failed.

Seven can be both thought of literally with a sense that after seven the righteous may have exhausted their measure of grace for rising again. Seven may also indicate a sufficient experience and grace from God. Seven as a number in Hebrew Scriptures often indicates a full or sufficient amount. Solomon’s words lead me to expect a sufficient response of understanding in Heaven toward my weakness and an accompanying favor in response to my prayer - at least up to a point.

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Hebrews 4:16

God's grace is inexhaustible but may be measured toward me. To be righteous is either a position of favor as a gift from God, or an acknowledgement of consistent behavior. In Solomon’s proverb it makes sense to think of the righteous as those of consistent good behavior. The righteous are not perfect but their pattern of good behavior and moral choices is such that they receive the benefit of the doubt. They can more easily be trusted with grace, to employ it and build upon it rather than wasting it in bad behavior and life choices that lead to further fails. Good boys and girls get a measure of favor on the basis that it will not be wasted. It is usually unwise to bestow sevenfold grace upon an unrighteous person that is prone toward misbehaving. Such a one will abuse it. It is also risky to give even the righteous person too much slack in their tether because we learn too quickly to overspend. We are too easily spoiled by excessive favors. It is best to think of God's favor toward us as measured both for our own good and for the sake of His righteous reputation.

"He leads me along paths of righteousness for His name’s sake."
Psalm 23:3

Grace today y’all

Seven signs

5/14/2022

Previously on Seven fails…
The proposition in summary was that given the righteous are favored they rise from falls and failure seven times, or time and time again. It’s not that the righteous are perfect or sinless, but that they are favored with resilience. The righteous may take many hits but even though they are defeated they can – and often do – rise again. The fact that they do rise again and again is a testament to the abundant grace of God toward them.
“For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
1Peter 3:12
Using this idea as a backdrop, is it possible to view the Apostle John's construction of his gospel record using seven signs through seven miracles as an example of a full measure of grace toward Jerusalem and the people of Israel as a whole? The nation comprises His righteous people and the testimony of history shows their propensity to fall over and over even though disproportionately advantaged by His favor (Romans 3:1-3).
In his well-organized gospel John displays a litany of awakening signs that are as such a sufficient expression and measure of grace. Let it never be said that the Lord has shortened His arm of favor toward the righteous. In spite of it all, John’s summation states the Lord’s own, His righteous ones, by-and-large failed to receive Him (John 1:11)
A case for Israel
The raising of Lazarus is the seventh sign miracle performed by Jesus that John uses in his record of the incarnate Word. He has of course done many others (John 20:31}. Some of the others that John never mentions are recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke – some but not all. One might well say that beyond the seven, God has as one hymn writer said, “given, and given, and given again” as “grace upon grace” (John 1:14-16}. The death, burial and resuscitation of Lazarus serves as a good illustration of Israel’s status before God, not as they see themselves but as God Himself sees them. As His righteous ones they have fallen and are falling. How far have they fallen? How rich is God’s grace toward them? Lazarus shows us.
Since Jerusalem was sacked and her temple edifice demolished some twenty years prior to John’s writing it might be thought that the wicked have won, Israel is dead and buried, and God has finished with His righteous nation. They have fallen and failed more than a sufficient number of times to demonstrate they are no longer worth messing with particularly since they crucified the Lord of glory, God’s ultimate grace to them. “By now they stinketh”
That is a mistake wicked minds often make.
By the grace of God and to the surprise of the nations, Israel will rise again as the righteous people of God. They just keep getting up. By now one would think Israel would be but a wisp of dust on history’s stage but here they are today, reconstructed dry bones, fleshed out and standing erect as a people in their ancient gifted land with a prophetic future salvation yet to come. That is if we believe the authors of our Bible.
“All Israel will be saved”
Romans 11:26
Violent assaults and political attempts to erase them have all failed. They will yet be as a signet of the faithfulness of our God, and He will use them in the outpouring of His justice as He turns the tables upon our wicked world.
Israel, will rise again by the grace of God!

Grace today y’all

Die another day

5/14/2022

“The righteous falls seven times and rises again”
Proverbs 24:16
Am I righteous?
If I fall but once or twice and fail to get up there may be a problem with my conception of righteousness. The righteous follow an ideal, and from a human point of view, it is the ideal that gives them perseverance to get up after taking a hit - or even seven hits.
Suicide is rampant. Why is that?
It may not be fair to present an answer that paints the crisis level of emotion and despair or chronic unbearable pain that drives the suicidal in brush strokes of black and white. That is not my intent. What is fully my intent is to remind us of the difference our view of who’s in charge makes, what is right and wrong, and where best to get those ideas.
Righteousness is universally the same for all of us, at least that is most likely Solomon’s belief. His worldview drives his notion of righteousness and the worldview of the nation of Israel at that time over which he reigned as king was one of specific law for right behavior as the people of God and general law that is the basis for accountability for all peoples. The righteous are those who not only are well behaved but are also inclined toward Jehovah as creator God before whom every knee eventually bows. Righteousness is the rule of life as revealed by God that saves our lives.
This was the philosophy of Jesus as evident in His words “Man shall…live…by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Righteousness for every human was never to be self-derived. It is not, nor has it ever been, my truth as opposed to yours. Such knowledge greatly reduces the likelihood the choice to take my own life will be made lightly. To be so cavalier as to think I am the master of my own destiny or that what is right is what I feel is right to me is to set myself up for trouble.
It is especially disappointing to hear of fellow Christian believers succumbing to common notions of what is okay and what is not okay as guideline for life. Then to see them die at their own hand is disturbing and frankly frustrating. Why is it we are so stupid?
But I am the same
It would be arrogant of me (or anyone) to say I did it my way, or that up till now success has been entirely attributable to my own great fortitude. Everyone’s cheese threatens to slip off their cracker. If it is not stuck on with deep running currents of belief it just might. The right beliefs make the greater difference, and the believer learns that the grace of God is sufficient to sustain them when adherence to the ideal is weakened in grip.
“My grace ids sufficient for you.”
II Corinthains 12:9
The righteous get up a sufficient number of times though hit hard from any number of directions and by a variety of foes because their commitment to what is right is a greater force within them than the forces that prevail from without.
The righteous live to die another day
Grace today y’all

Let love reign

5/14/2022

Let love reign
When one of our chickens dies, Karen buries the feathered friend in her garden to supply rich fertilizing nutrients for plump tomatoes. Trouble is if we fail to bury the bird deeply enough the raccoons will be around to dig it up and our plants too. They can smell the remains even with a foot of dirt over the corpse.
“Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.”
Proverbs 17:9
If we don’t effectively cover the sins that separate us, they will surely be dug up and exposed again. In our relationships of any sort - work, friends or marriage – for love to reign offenses must be effectively covered.
Some of us want to be loved and it shows. We are forever doing, doing, doing to win affection and if perchance someone else seems to be getting more attention we just might become competitive so we can feel more loved than the other guy. Perhaps self-love will drive us to cover offenses, but I am inclined to think the author has something else in mind. Here it is not likely the one to cover an offense is seeking love for themselves, rather, the author reasons that for love to reign in a relationship the love blockers must be removed from sight and senses. What is it that is hindering me from loving, or what is hindering my friend from freely loving me? If at all possible, cover it.
“Love one another fervently, for love covers a multitude of sins”
I Peter 4:8
I may find it easy to cover a multitude of my own sins, but love must cover a multitude of someone else’s sins. It is surely easier to cover small ones, and they matter, but better love covers all sorts. Simply covering to get them out of sight may not be enough. Let’s not stop there. To love as the Lord loves we will want to go so far as to cover a debt as one might say to someone that owes money – “it’s covered”.
We have been taught to “do for others as we would have them do for us,” and those of us that have been better informed know Jesus went on to add “love as I have loved you…for there is no greater love than that a person lay down their life for a friend.”
“Pursue love…”
I Corinthians 14:1
So pursue love, take it to the limit and let love reign
Grace today y’all

Fulness thereof

5/14/2022

She was told she should not carry her child to term and against her best sense went with the doctor’s recommendation. She never really got over it. She broke down and suffered for years under the weight of her guilt for killing her baby. She need not have but the sense of innate responsibility may be difficult to manage and often is.
True story, certainly not the only one out there
The back-and-forth debate on government position and ruling on abortion pros and cons for a wonderful kaleidoscope of population in our country has gone on for a long time. The banter will continue I’m sure, so long at least as there is with our plurality of people groups under one flag a difference in preference toward worldview. Part of the question about government’s legislation is whether you can remain a government that represents such diversity, thrive as a democratic republic, and be other than secular (religionless) in the making of laws. On the other hand, where does a government go for moral guidance on issues of moral import?
We could debate that for a while too
My following remarks are decidedly religious and particularly based upon an attempt to remain consistent with a Biblical worldview, that is, one that is guided by the revelation of the Judeo/Christian Scriptures.
Necessary, at some point, to the whole of the debate would be the validity of Scripture to tell us the truth. Let’s for the moment assume they do.
Concluding as the Bible does that God exists, He is the creator of us and we are told He made us as humans in His own image. Whatever that means, by so doing He separated us from the animal and plant kingdoms in our value to Him and to one another.
We are a product of divine design and in a position above the rest
This means humans are sacred, set apart by God for His own purpose. One poet/songwriter said this, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness of it (Psalm 24:1).” We are therefore not our own but His. We do not have rights other than what He ordains, and we answer to Him for our choices. We will all, regardless of race or creed give an account to Him.
“It is appointed (throughout time) for us to die and after this the judgment (an accounting).” Hebrews 9:27
My body is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof
Another fact affecting all of us is that God has purchased us by way of the blood death of Jesus Christ. His death was as a ransom to buy humanity from a form of slavery due to the ploy of an enemy and the choice on our part to allow ourselves to be persuaded into a bondage. The payment to bring us out bought us and we are His both by virtue of creation and now also via a price paid (I Corinthians 6:19, 20). This price was paid apart from any care on our part. It was not paid only for those who wanted to be a part of the plan. It had nothing to do with our desires and wants. It had only to do with His purposes and kindness with no need of us recognizing, believing, or acknowledging any need for it. We are His by purchase regardless.
It must be said that not everyone benefits in the same way from His purchase. We are not by His kindness automatically shoe-in for Heaven, citizens of His kingdom or members of His household. That comes when we receive Christ by faith. It is only to those that once being shown the offer receive Him to become the children of God.
“As many as receive Him to them He gives the right to become a child of God.” John 1:12
Particularly for the person that does hold to a Biblical worldview, this is the ultimate fundamental. It means we do not have rights except as they are ordained – installed – by God. Therefore, with great conviction we say,
“[My body therefore] is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof.”

Grace today y’all

Grow lights

12/11/2021

My wife Karen loves her plants. They all need good light, but most of them are sensitive to the cold of winter. During the warmer months they flourish in the light and warmth of the sun hanging from the lower limbs of our trees. They also line our porch steps and dot our front yard. Orchids, ferns, succulents, various cacti and her pineapple experiment all have to be sheltered from freezing and therefore lighted artificially, so in they come. Even our treadmill is converted to a plant hanger, which is good because it had been otherwise unemployed.

We’ve installed some hooks in the ceiling of our front entranceway for hanging grow lights and this year we have expanded into the living room with strings of draped LEDs to give them all equal opportunity. They do amazingly well for so little contact with the sun’s direct lighting.

We all need light

In recent meditation I was reviewing Jesus’ bold claim, “I am the light of the world,” one of several self-defining statements that His cousin John recorded for us in his Gospel account. It can be found in John 8:12. His declaration is followed by a promise that is encouraging for both someone still looking for a guru, and for those of us who have already begun a journey with Him.

“The one that follows me will not be tripped up in the dark but will have the light of life.”
I note that the one who follows is the one that benefits from His light. What I see in Him and glean from Him becomes the light on my life-path. To follow is to have His light shed on my way.
The hymn writer caught on to it this way,

“When we walk with the Lord, in the light of His word, what a glory He sheds on our way…”

As a caution to self, following is a trust issue. If I haven’t as yet begun, then it is for me to step into His light and begin to benefit from trusting Him. For those of us that have begun, no matter the number of years we have made Him our way, it remains that to follow is to have the light He offers. If we drop back from His light, letting some distance grow between us, the path will darken, possibly becoming as dark as ever. But to draw up close again is to have Him also draw close to us, and His light with its accompanying warmth once again discloses all obstacles in my way.

“If the light you trust is darkness, then your light is really, really dark” (Paraphrase mine)

Later on, in the final hours of His life, He shared an intimate moment with His closest friends laying out some concerns for their future. What would be the secret of their success without His direct light on their path? John records His words,

“Abide in Me…unless you abide in Me you won’t succeed, but if you abide in Me (following) and My words abide in you (My light), all I have to offer will be at your disposal and you will enjoy My love (My warmth).” (John 15:7 Paraphrase mine)

He included as His promise to them to send them His Spirit as His representative to help and to lead them - and us.

As with Karen’s plants we all need the light with its warmth. Jesus is the same light and love today as yesterday and will remain so for the lives of our children if they follow.

Walk in the Light.

Not quite, but something like our setup...

Better than anything

12/11/2021

Psalm 121 (read it below)
Some context is helpful
The text pictured is from a King James version of the Bible. In this case the title of the Psalm as a Song of Ascents is missing. A Song of Ascents is one in the repertoire of the saints of old sung on their way up to Jerusalem. No matter where else you were coming from, your approach to the gates was up. Jerusalem is a city on a hill. It makes me wonder if Jesus may have been alluding to this fact when He said in His Sermon on the Mount that “a city set on a hill cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14).”
It may be in the songwriter’s mind that the average worshiper of any persuasion tended to look to the hills for the source of their help because it was common for folks to think of their gods as living in high places. Mountains are often associated with the dwelling of the gods. Think Mount Olympus, or Sinai.
It is possible this song is meant to anticipate the help of God from the temple in Jerusalem. Jerusalem sat on Mount Zion and the temple, higher still on mount Moriah within the walls. However, it may also be that he is saying in verse 2 that he lifts his own eyes even higher.
Then a contrast.
“My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.” Heaven referring to the depth that one can imagine with all the mysteries of the sky an upward look can take in. Earth, including the mountains, is all His making. In other words, the psalmist’s god is Lord above all, even above the most powerful gods thought to dwell in the highest hills. He implies that his god is not limited to any place within the created order. He is transcendent, He is higher than anything
But what of His capability to help me here?
His is a perpetual help.
Verse 3 reads to me like he subtly mocks the earthbound gods of the mountains by wishing the best for their worshipers. If this is so he is setting up the folks on their way to Mount Zion and ultimately to the temple site on Moriah to declare the superiority of Yahweh. My ear hears him politely mocking in southern twist, “Hey, if y’all are looking to something in the hills for help, I hope you find it; wishing y’all the best.”
Verse 4 then follows with a description of his God; the true God Israel should look to. The contrast continues into Yahweh’s [LORD] capabilities as a god quite apart from and different than the best of the best to be entertained by our wistful worship. Yahweh never slumbers or sleeps. His efforts on behalf of His people are perpetual, never lacking, never slacking.
His help in view is that of protection
From verses 5-7, the sun and the moon are two orbs that dwell high in the visible heavens. Given they are higher than the mountains, are they any match for Yahweh? Is the formidable Egyptian sun deity Ra in the back of his mind? Normally we do not think of the moon as a threat to us. In some cultures, though, fear exists that the moon may have an effect on us mentally, as in a person thought to be ‘moonstruck’. It may also be true the moon’s association as ruler of the darkness represents a prince of dark forces, such as “our adversary the devil.” What the writer alludes to is probably spiritual adversaries that may be feared to overwhelm us. But, he says, Israel’s God is a shade, a shelter from such forces. Jonah’s experience illustrates this. If that is true, He is surely greater than the rest – greater than anything.
Wrapping up
This short but potent psalm is summed up in verse 8, inferring to me that we are meant to view Yahweh as capable even when we are at home in our fields, at work spinning threads in the house or playing in the streets with our friends with this caveat, His protection though greater than any other’s is shelter to those who dwell under the shade of it. Live on the outside, making yourself subject to the fallout from those things we ought to seek shelter from and we are liable to be hurt. Israel lost the benefits of the Lord’s complete protection. Their shade was cut back a little with each departure from His law. He will never go back on His gifts and calling but His benefits along the way will be reduced, rewards withheld, if we insist upon walking out from under the shade of His love.
Where does your help come from?
Grace today y’all

A Tough Root

6/14/2021

"Oof! This azalea is tenacious!"
Its roots so deep, and combined with the mid-day heat and poison ivy lacing through its tangle of branches my dream of relocating it for better spacing in our front hedge begins to fade.
Too hard?
Silly I guess, to say digging an azalea and moving it is too hard. I am prone to give up too easily and too soon, and maybe, just maybe, at some point I could enlist some help. Part of the glaring problem in conquering difficult tasks is my lack of determination to get'r done. In some things though, it is my genuine lack of strength and willpower.
"It is God who works in [me] both to will and to do His good pleasure…[and let] those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you."
Philippians 2:12; 3:15 [ESV]
Forgiveness is difficult
Jesus used two metaphors for extreme difficulty. One was a mountain; in fact He used two different mountains that carried deeper inference for His audience, and on at least one occasion, a mulberry tree. If you were a first century gardener tasked with removing such a tree you would have gotten His point immediately. Their roots make removal especially difficult. A backhoe might help, but then, well, yeah, there was a shortage in Israel at the time.
Some things like forgiveness are too difficult to comprehend overcoming. We are neither able to perceive a way through, nor imagine the means to remove our particular obstructing obstacle.
"Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, I repent, you must forgive him."
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
And the Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea', and it would obey you."
Luke 17:3-5 [ESV]
The other side of the point in Jesus' use of the mulberry metaphor beside finding uncanny strength for forgiveness was to point out that when we are confronted with a person that ought to be cast into the sea with a millstone around their neck (Luke 17:1, 2) - so they don't float back up - we need to let God handle it. Justice may not be not in our hands to perform.
Sometimes we would rather get rid of the offender than to forgive, but even if good riddance is called for it it is more often than not out of our hands.
"It's impossible to get rid of this offensive person in my life," you say, but the mature turn to the Lord and wait upon (trust) His methods, timing and strength.
Grace today y'all!

A Root Issue

6/14/2021

Standing tall toward the southeast corner of our front fence line is a stately cedar. It's dark green, aromatic and handsome with its conical shape. Last year we experienced a record saturation from rains raising the water table to within a couple inches of the ground surface. As a result our beloved cedar began to lose its grip. Leaning at about 3 degrees, the roots that once were hidden below the surface are now exposed straining to keep the tree erect. If they can hold out new roots will form, and while now more vulnerable to wind and softened ground our cedar will with strengthened roots endure for years to come.
A tribute to trees, but maybe not so much us?
If we are leaning a bit from the challenges of life – maybe ravages – are we like a mighty cedar though perhaps now more vulnerable since that last episode of whatever, straining to stay erect, but at the same time putting down more roots?
We could just let go and fall. Cedars don't have that choice. They are programmed to re-root for survival. We however may choose, and that is one factor that adds to our experience an element of risk. When we are shaken will we fall? If our roots are disturbed will we give in or strain to stay erect. It's automatic for a cedar, it takes courage and effort for you and me.
You are of more value than many trees.
"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving."
Colossians 2:6, 7
Grace today y'all!