It’s time to unpack the summer shoes! Well, for those of us in the Midwest, we might unpack them, but we probably won’t wear them for another month. But that’s OK; it gives us time to ease into them. You see, Midwest winters are so long that our feet forget what it’s like to wear sandals.
We can’t just jump into our strappy shoes and hop over here
I saw a post similar to this on Social Media recently:
It caused me to ponder what was being communicated. And, I have to agree with the person who posted it. Who wants a “religion” that breaks people down just so that it can lift them up? Not me! And to what does it lift us: a commitment to try harder to be good, better, or perhaps best? That’s not for me either.
But, I did an inventory:
Am I broken? No, I live in a broken world that will chew me up and spit me out. It will use me and then discard me. I have experienced that. I have also experienced holding the hands of friends who’ve lost a child, a husband, a job, self-respect, marriage, home, you name it. I have comforted other friends who’ve been broken by abortion, rape, incest, and even satanic religious ceremonies. We live in a broken world. It breaks people.
Am I flawed? Who isn’t? Ask anyone, especially the person who loves you the most, if you have any flaws. You do. I do.
Am I sinful? It’s so much nicer to ask “do I make errors or mistakes?” Yes. I do. Sometimes I lie, cheat, put myself above others, envy, or wish another person ill will. I confess, I’ve even said, “I could just kill her/him/them!”
Am I dumb? No. I have a degree. I teach. I study. People come to me for advice. I am most certainly not dumb. Well, in some areas I am, don’t ask me about math.
Am I weak? I am very strong willed! But, yes, sometimes I am weak. I cry when I miss my dad. I cry when I think of my children moving hundreds of miles away. Sometimes I don’t want to get out of bed and face the day. I don’t have all the answers. I shy away from having to say hard things to people. I can’t open pickle jars anymore.
Am I nothing? No. I am a teacher. Writer. Mother. Wife. Sister. Daughter. Friend. Cousin. Mother-in-law. Grandmother. I am something. I make a difference in other people’s lives.
Then, there’s the science side. Science answers questions, but it doesn’t give me value or worth — except that the elements of my body are worth $4.50, (we might round up to $5 if you count my skin). There is a mathematical formula for beauty, but I don’t think my face measures up. I know my body doesn’t.
How can science tell me I am full of wonder? How do you measure wonder? And, potential for greatness? How can that be measured and on whose scale? Smart? A great learner? Not everyone is smart, not everyone can learn.
To those of you who have been beaten down by “religious” people, please accept my apology, and allow me to tell you about the God of the Bible. I’d like to add a page to the post I saw:
Psalm 147:3 – He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Hebrews 10:14 – He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Psalm 103:12 – as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sins from us.
James 1:5 – If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 – [Christ’s] power is made perfect in weakness. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Romans 8:32 – He did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things.
Personally, I don’t want “religion” or “Science” to be my God. I have the God of the Bible for my God. He doesn’t break anyone so that He can lift them up. He even promises:
A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out – Matthew 12:20
Our boys are great athletes, and Brian is a great coach. His words of advice sometimes transcend the playing field.
I recall one such instance when our youngest was in Little League. During spring practice he was playing catch with a boy he didn’t know very well and had no idea of this other boy’s baseball ability. Because of his uncertainty, and not wanting to overpower or humiliate the other boy, our son held back. After practice, Brian asked him why he wasn’t throwing as he usually did.
Our son told Brian he wasn’t sure the other boy could catch the ball, so he didn’t throw hard, he lobbed in a few tosses. Brian responded, “Son, it is your responsibility to throw with authority. To place the ball where it needs to be. His responsibility is to catch it.”
If only Christians could grasp that truth as it applies to living, speaking truth, and sharing the Gospel. Sometimes it seems like we’re so afraid others won’t, or can’t catch the whole truth that we water it down, pretty it up, or lob it in so gently that it fails to reach the mark. No one benefits if the truth is not clearly given with authority so that it might be fully received.
Sometimes Christians (myself included) present the Gospel through our words, entertainment, books, Bible studies, and even our lives as if we are ashamed of it. Or as if we don’t think the receiver is capable of carching it. We forget Paul’s words in Romans:
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” – Romans 1:16-17 NIV
What is the Gospel? It is the power of God that brings salvation! It is the human life, the physical death, the resurrection, and the exaltation of Jesus. The Gospel is Jesus.
Why do we need the Gospel? Because we are sinners born with a sin nature. By our very nature, we deserve God’s just wrath.
“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desire and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” – Ephesians 2:3 NIV
We are so afraid that we might offend “seekers” by speaking about sin and the need for salvation that we speak of other things: miracles, healing, freedom, love, peace, joy. But how wise is that? The truth is that no one seeks God apart from God’s drawing that person to Him. If anyone seeks at all, he/she is seeking the whole truth. We must speak it with authority.
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away… There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:10-18 NIV
“No one can come to me [Jesus] unless the Father who sent me draws them… Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.” John 6:44-45 NIV
If someone is seeking the Way, the Truth and the Life why wouldn’t we give them Jesus in all His beauty? We don’t need to pretty up the Gospel; it is glorious, cleansing, and freeing as it stands.
If we don’t speak the truth of Jesus with authority when we are introducing people to him, how will they be prepared when the reality of life hits. If all we do is lob softballs through our teaching, how do we expect anyone to deal with the hardballs of life?
In that Little League practice, our son was afraid the other player might drop the ball, but if the ball wasn’t catchable, whose error would it be? The game of life is short. People are dying. Jesus is the only way to eternal life. Will you speak truth and pitch the Gospel with authority?
Bruce Bryant’s funeral was Thursday. Bruce’s body died on Sunday, but Bruce is alive. His family grieves his passing from this life, yet at the same time celebrates that his days of pain are over.
On Tuesday evening, some of us gathered to pray for Barb. We prayed for God to comfort and sustain her through the difficult days ahead. He is, and He will. She also asked us to pray for those who would attend the visitation and funeral: For believers to be comforted and unbelievers to hear, believe, and receive God’s word of salvation.
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.” – Romans 10:14-17 NIV
Everyone at Bruce’s funeral heard God’s word about Christ.
Some at the funeral will be challenged by what they heard. God’s word will sound comforting, and they may even want to believe it, but they will stop short of commitment because they aren’t sure salvation is that easy. Or they will think they are too unworthy. We prayed that the seeds of truth that were sown will take root. We prayed that the hearers will understand that grace means you can’t earn salvation; you receive it from God’s hand.
“It is by grace you have been saved.” – Ephesians 2:8 NIV
And, some who were there will be comforted by God’s word. They were reminded that though death seems final it isn’t. Death has been defeated. Death is the doorway into the presence of God. God’s word will comfort those who mourn.
“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 – NIV
Dying and death are real. Every “body” will die, but not every person will. Those who don’t die, are those who have responded to God’s word and accepted the gracious gift of salvation that God offers through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is free to us. It cost the life of God’s one and only Son.
To reject God’s word is to choose to take upon your own shoulders the responsibility for the errors, omissions, failures, guilt, shame, and heartache you have caused throughout your entire life. To reject God’s word is to stand condemned to eternal death. No one has to do that. It is a choice
“I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” – John 8:24 NIV
Some of those alive at Bruce’s funeral will experience death for all of eternity. Some will live forever with Jesus. Where will you spend eternity? How do you know? Upon whose word are you relying?
This morning I had some blood work done in preparation for my physical on Friday. I will sweat it out all week worrying about my cholesterol number!
Why do I fear that number? Could it be my family’s history of heart disease? Or that my dad had his first heart procedure at my age? Or that his cousin died from a heart attack at my age?
I walk. I work out. I watch what I eat (most of the time). I play hard with the grandsons. But my cholesterol numbers remain on the high side, they always have, and I just don’t want to start taking medication for it. Denial? Maybe. Self-deception? Maybe. Not wanting to admit I’m getting older? Maybe.
It doesn’t help that February is American Heart Month. I’d prefer to concentrate on Valentine’s during February, but for some reason, my annual physical has morphed its way into February. And, so on Friday, I’ll get the report. I will find out what is lurking in my blood.
What if we had a blood test that not only revealed the dangers that are coursing through our veins, but the ugliness that is hiding in our hearts? What if instead of triglycerides and glucose we could measure envy and anger? What if we could see the hate, deception, and hypocrisy?
I like to think my heart is not hiding anything from me, but I do know that my heart can deceive me!
The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? – Jeremiah 17:9 NLT
We know most of what is in our hearts. We know the secret thoughts, the schemes, the distrust and the sins we cherish. We know how quickly we lose our temper. We know how the desire for revenge stirs us. We know how good we feel when someone we don’t like fails. We know how well we hide sin.
And, God knows our hearts. There is no secret hidden from God. If we really wanted to know what’s hiding, we don’t need a test, we only need to ask God to show us.
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you…” – Psalm 139:23-24 NLT
If you ask, God will show you. You won’t need to sit down and go over the results; God will show you by what you say and do.
“What you say flows from what is in your heart” – Luke 6:45 NLT
“Above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.” – Proverbs 4:23NIV
My blood will be tested this week and I will know what action I need to take to stay, or get, healthy. The first action we must take to have a spiritually healthy heart is to first recognize that it is not healthy apart from God’s healing intervention.
Has God healed your heart? Has he shown you the sin that is killing you? Will you ask him to show you the state of your heart, and will you confess the sin that is hiding there, and ask God to heal and cleanse you?
“Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I [Jesus] have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Mark 2:17NLT
Marcia Furrow 