Who likes hospital visits?

 

Here’s a question, “How do you feel about going to the hospital for surgery or a diagnostic procedure?” 

Not something you look forward to, right?  You know that all you can anticipate is a nasty prep, and a skipped meal, followed by pokes and prods and sticks with possibly pain to follow.  On top of that, you might endure anxiety over a negative outcome. 

Last week I had a colonoscopy scheduled.  If you’ve had one, you know the prep is the worst part.  This occasion didn’t disappoint.  It was the worst part! 

We arrived at the hospital at the usual time, two hours too early.  I was poked and prodded and prepped for the procedure, and then knew I’d have to wait my turn.  Jim was with me, and since I’d had little sleep, I suggested he go to the cafeteria so that I could just rest and maybe nap.  I hate to have him just staring at me while I try to nap.

I don’t like anything about hospital visits, EXCEPT the warm blankets.  Hospital thermostats are set somewhere below zero!  Without those blankets, they’d have to thaw us out before they could work on us!  But once the nurse arrives with the blanket and tucks it around me, I feel as if I’m in a cocoon, warm and comforted. It is so natural to just close my eyes and rest my body.

Something else happens to me when I’m in a hospital that comforts me even more than a warm blanket.  The hospital room becomes a spiritual sanctuary.  I find myself talking to the Lord Jesus and enjoying the wonderful comfort of His presence, so near and dear to me.

He imparts to my heart and soul His “peace that passes understanding”.  He reminds me that my life has always, and ever, been in His hands. He reiterates His promise never to leave me or forsake me, even when I’m alone in a hospital room and under anesthesia for a procedure. His nearness is incredibly tangible, settling on me, putting my mind at rest, enabling me to trust in His sovereignty over my life.

I would never say that because of His comfort, I look forward to hospital procedures, but when they come, I do look forward to the experience of His presence with me. His presence transforms my hospital visit into a sanctuary of rest and peace that I would never want to miss. 

THE REMOTE

Ah, the good old days.  Our girls were young, but old enough to get up on a Saturday morning on their own and make their way down to the TV to watch cartoons.  As if it were yesterday, I can still hear them, the pitter patter of their feet on the carpeted stairs, the sound of the TV being turned on.  And then it began – the first of the day remote control skirmish!

Amy:  I had it first, I get to pick what I want to see.

Becky:  No, you had it first last time.  It’s my turn.

On and on it went until, our Saturday morning peace broken, one of us had to get up and mediate, or lower the boom, or whatever would restore peace.

Can you relate?  Maybe this happened at your house on a football day when your house was divided on which team was their favorite.  Or when your wife wanted to watch a chick flick and you wanted to watch Rambo. 

These were familiar scenarios in American homes - who controls the remote? 

Here's a question for you: What happens when God controls the remote?  I'll get there, stay with me!

During the Covid 19 pandemic we watched a lot of Amazon Prime and Netflix videos.  I’m guessing you may have as well.  It didn’t take long to get to the place where the pickings were poor.  Recently however, we discovered that both of these video providers have quite the stash of Christian movies, though you have to be prepared to search for them.

We’ve watched a number of really good stories about today’s missionaries, like: Two Hats, and Living Hope.  We’ve watched biographies of William Tyndale, Charles Spurgeon, Billy Graham, Luis Palau and a number of others.

It was the video entitled, Jesus in Athens, that left us in awe of what Jesus is up to in this world when He controls the remote!

Jesus in Athens, tells a refugee story.  In 2016 Athens, Greece was inundated with refugees, most of them Muslims, from all over the world.  Suddenly, the city was overwhelmed with people, many of whom were waiting to move on to somewhere else, but in the meantime, needing shelter, food and clothing.

Jesus in Athens, is also the story of the mobilization of the Christian church to meet those needs. Many church members had to overcome a resistance to reaching out to people with different religious beliefs and customs.  But, when they stepped out in faith to do so, there was an explosion of help – centers where refugees would find food for their families, places where they could go to be safe and relax.  Churches opened their doors and provided places for families to stay.  Watching what they were doing made me want to hop a plane to Athens and get involved!

Then God did the even more miraculous.  He raised up Muslims to faith in Jesus and then sent them out to preach the gospel right there in Athens.  

Back to the question: What happens when Jesus takes control of the remote?  Here's what happens - Lives are forever changed!

One story the video relates is of an ordinary Muslim man who was watching TV at his home in Athens. He got up from the couch to do something and his TV remote fell on the floor.  When he returned, he discovered that Jesus had changed the channel!  His Muslim focused program had been replaced by one on which a Christian was preaching the gospel.  Instead of changing the channel, this Muslim man heard the gospel. Responding in faith, he began preaching the gospel to his fellow Muslims, all refugees right there in Athens. 

Outside of their predominantly Muslim countries, many were open to hearing the gospel message, one they had been warned against, but had never actually heard.  Now they were open to listening – discovering that what they had heard about Christianity was not true, and many came to faith in Jesus as a result, joining the Christian churches that had served them with such mercy and grace.

I was blown away by this man's story, such a picture of the glory of God, who is sovereign even over our TV remote controls!  But it wasn't the only story that blew me away.  The following was a goosebump causing moment.  I hope it is for you as well:

Muslim man to person sharing the gospel:  Why did you not come to Afghanistan to share this message with us?

• My reaction to his comment:  A stab in my heart that we had not gone.

Muslim man to person sharing the gospel:  Oh, I know!  That’s why God brought us here!  So that we could hear the gospel and believe!

• My reaction to his comment:  Does this not give YOU goosebumps as well? God not only controlled the TV remote that brought the gospel to the formerly Muslim man sharing it, He also sovereignly controlled the events that brought otherwise unreachable Muslims to a place where they could freely hear it.

Our sovereign God is at work in the world at large, and in our little world too.  Look around, befriend the stranger, be open to sharing the gospel, share it - and watch what Jesus does to change lives!

THE CURE

2020  The covid 19 virus hit the world with a vengeance that in some places, is still raging. For nearly a year here in the US people couldn’t go anywhere and didn’t see anyone. Holiday gatherings were canceled and important family events were postponed, all travel ceased, many became sick and many died. 

If we had to go out, we sanitized our hands, wore masks and stayed 6 feet apart, in the hope of staying safe and not catching covid from one another.  Some chose even to avoid shopping in a supermarket, preferring to order food online and have it delivered.  It was a year none of us will forget.

The beginning of 2021 began to reveal a possible light at the end of the dark tunnel of 2020.  Vaccines were being developed and were nearly ready for us.  As soon as they were approved, people began trying to make reservations to receive them. Eventually, more and more people were vaccinated in the area where we live, and began to cautiously move outside to do things. Once families began to be vaccinated, plans were made to visit nearby kids and grandkids – and even give and get long awaited hugs!

Surprisingly, to me at least, there are some people who have not registered to get the vaccine.  Their reasons vary – some younger people are afraid of longterm effects that may not show up for years; some feel that to take a vaccine makes them guinea pigs; others claim the whole covid 19 thing is a fraud.  By not getting a vaccine, they leave themselves exposed to getting infected by covid, possibly giving it to others, and the worst case scenario, ending up in the hospital very sick and possibly dying.

There is a “cure” for covid 19 that prevents the worst case scenario, but some aren’t choosing to take it. 

On Facebook recently, I heard a spiritual application of this very thing. 

The man being interviewed said people had often asked him why a good God would send anyone to hell.  His response was short and to the point.

God doesn’t send anyone to hell.

Every one of us is already on our way to hell because we sin against God.  We don’t love Him with our heart, soul, mind and strength as He commands us.  We don’t obey His commands.

God says, in the 10 Commandments (Exodus, chapter 20):

·       Don’t worship idols, worship Me alone. 

a.     Yet we put all kinds of “idols” before God – our jobs, our families, money, our favorite sports teams, a boyfriend or girlfriend.

·       Don’t lie. 

a.     Yet we call in sick when we’re not sick; we pass the blame for something to someone else so we don’t get in trouble; we cheat on our taxes; or our wives or husbands; we aren’t honest about the real cost of that dress.

·       Don’t steal.

a.     Yet we take office supplies home that don’t belong to us; we don’t return the tools we borrowed from a neighbor; or the books to the library. 

·       Don’t covet anything that belongs to a neighbor. 

a.     Yet we look at the wife or husband of a friend and wish she/he was ours; we wish our home, or car, or vacation destination was as nice as our friends.

·       Don’t commit adultery. 

a.     Yet we do.  How many marriages have ended because one or the other partner committed adultery?  How many have engaged in adultery in the heart when viewing magazines or porn on the internet? What is true for a man is also true for a woman.

b.    Referring to this command from the list of 10 Commandments in Exodus, chapter 20, Jesus said this in the Sermon on the Mount 

You have heard it said that you shall not commit adultery, but I say to you that whoever looks at a woman, with lust after her, is to commit adultery with her in his heart.(Matthew’s gospel, chapter 5, verse 27-28)

We are all, every one of us, guilty of sins against God.  And that means that hell is everyone’s destiny.  God doesn’t send us to hell because we’re all already on our way there. 

But the very good news is that God provides a “cure” so that we might avoid hell. 

The cure is not a WHAT, it’s not a vaccine that will kill the sin virus in us.  The cure is a WHO, Jesus Christ, God’s Son.  How has Jesus counteracted the "disease" of sin and made forgiveness possible?

·       Though He was God, He came to earth as a man, and did what Adam failed to do - He obeyed God perfectly.

·       He lived a perfect life, completely keeping ALL of God’s law – which is impossible for us!  Only a perfect person could satisfy God's righteous requirements.

·      Jesus died on a cross for OUR sin.  Taking the penalty for your sin and mine, He died in our place.  His death satisfied God’s wrath against sin.  He rose and sits today on the throne of heaven at the right hand of His Father.

·       I receive by faith the death of Jesus as penalty for my sin, and in place of the guilt and shame I once felt over my sin, Jesus credits His own righteousness to my account.  Forever after, I can stand before a holy God, forgiven and cleansed because Jesus died for me. 

I will still sin as long as I live on this earth, but Jesus promises forgiveness and restoration.  He adopts me as His own beloved child, and one day He will come for me to take me to heaven where He is and we will never be separated. 

The vaccine that can keep us from getting the worst of the covid 19 virus – and maybe even dying from it – is available to us all, though it isn’t effective if we don’t take it.

Likewise, there is a “cure” – that ensures, not our default destination – hell because of sin – but forgiveness, acceptance, peace, in this world and heaven in the next.  That “cure” is Jesus.  Jesus gives us HOPE.

Jesus said:

Let not your heart be troubled: You believe in God, believe also in Me.. . .I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 

(John’s gospel, chapter 14: verses 1; 3)

I am THE way, THE truth, and THE life.  NO ONE comes to the Father but by Me.

(John’s gospel, chapter 14; verse 6) 

THE WARNING

We were spending a week at a condo in south Florida.  I headed for the pool one warm afternoon and met a neighbor on the way.  When she saw me, she walked over, in her bare feet, to have a chat.  I never felt comfortable walking barefooted in the grass in Florida because of pigmy rattlesnakes, which are very small, but have as dangerously poisonous a bite as the full grown variety. My neighbor either didn’t know this or wasn’t worried about it as she strode across the grass to where I was.

The curious thing was that very near us were two other women having their own conversation.  They didn’t say a word to us, but their body language said volumes.  They looked at my neighbor’s feet, they looked at my neighbor, they looked at the grass, then back at my neighbor, and then at each other, raising their eyes as if to say that they knew something she didn’t.  Their looks made me look in the grass too, expecting to see a snake.  I didn’t see one, they never said a word, and my friend and I had our chat while they walked away.

It made me think.  Why didn’t they warn her if they had seen something?  Maybe they had seen a snake emerge from the ground at that spot before.  Maybe they had, or heard someone else tell, of an encounter with a snake in the grass.  With or without the actual appearance of a snake, why didn’t they just say, “You know, you might want to put shoes on because snakes can be found in this grass?”

During this time of covid, riots in cities, political tensions, and issues that threaten to divide us as a nation, we’ve certainly had lots of time to think, haven’t we? In addition to thinking about this long ago “snakes in the grass” incident, I know I’ve come to appreciate to a much deeper degree the value of my family.  I’ve always loved them and longed to spend time with them, but this year the desire to see them in person and hug the dickens out of them, ranks so much higher.  I miss them!

With so little else to distract, the importance of cultivating my relationship with Jesus, focusing on His Word, and praying for others, especially those I can no longer regularly see and love on, has taken on new priority.  I’ve thought a lot about Romans 8:28 this past year, the verse we Christians quote so often as our favorite:

All things work together for the good, to them that love God and are called according to His purpose

I’m grateful for covid isolation. It has narrowed my priorities to the truly critical ones.

There is something else all of the tensions of the last year have done for me.  They have filled me with a sense that the coming of Jesus is much nearer than I’d ever thought before.  

Yet, I can act a lot like those women who acted suspicious when my neighbor went outside without her shoes. I see the danger for all of those apart from Christ, but I give no warning. 

I know many people, some our own dearly loved family members, who don’t know Jesus.  Maybe you do too.  Maybe you are one of those who don’t know Jesus.  Maybe you think that you’re basically a good person, or you’re at least not as bad as some people you know.  You might be surprised to read about the way God sees us apart from Jesus. 

You can read about it in the New Testament book of Romans, chapter 3, verses 10-18 (which is a quote from the Psalms in the Old Testament).

There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.

Their throat is an open tomb,

With their tongues they have practiced deceit.

The poison of asps is under their lips;

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Their feet are swift to shed blood;

Destruction and misery are in their ways;

And the way of peace they have not known.

There is no fear of God before their eyes.

That’s a pretty scathing condemnation, isn’t it?  But that is the condition of mankind, as God sees us, apart from Jesus.

That is really, really BAD news! 

But there is a good news as well. 

God, knowing the impossibility of our seeking Him on our own, the impossibility of our being good “enough” to satisfy His holiness and righteousness – provided a way for us to be right before Him. 

He sent His perfect Son to live the righteous life that was beyond mankind’s ability to live because of sin.  Jesus then, by the sacrifice of Himself, paid the due penalty for sin – an agonizing death on a cross, the penalty that should have been man’s – to satisfy God’s wrath against sin, enabling all who trust in Him to be forgiven.

Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.  His righteousness transferred to the account of all those who trust Him, so that when God looks upon those who belong to Jesus, He no longer sees their sin, He sees them clothed in the righteous of His Son Jesus – they have been  made acceptable to God, counted righteous because of Jesus, and welcomed into His presence forever. 

So what does this have to do with potential snakes in the grass? The faces of those women who saw their neighbor walking in the grass without shoes, revealed their concern, but they gave no warning about potential danger from snakes.

Not wanting anyone to face danger without knowledge, I’m giving you this warning!

Jesus is going to return, but not as Savior from sin this time.  When He comes again it will be as Judge of all who rejected Him. Their destiny is not a snake bite they might recover from.  Their destiny will be separation from God and eternal punishment. 

I don’t want that for anyone – and what’s even more important – God doesn’t want that for anyone either.  The New Testament book of 2 Peter, chapter 3, verse 9 says this:

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise (of His return), as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Did you see that?  God is NOT willing that we should perish, die without Jesus and be separated from Him forever!  He wants us to repent of our sin, trust Jesus, and be saved from sin’s death penalty.

We have no idea when Jesus will return except that it will be unexpected and sudden.  Today is still the day to agree with God on His estimation of you – as a sinner in need of repentance and forgiveness.  Tell Jesus that you believe His death paid the penalty for your sin and that you believe it also made possible your complete forgiveness. Rejoice to be clothed in His righteousness, ensuring your acceptance into God’s forever family.  And start reading the New Testament of the Bible so that you might know Jesus better and begin living the new life He’s made possible for you.

Years ago I saw a news story about a man wandering through the woods around a lake.  It was winter.  Someone had posted signs on many of the trees that read:

WARNING: THIN ICE!!

It was daytime, the signs were large and the lettering easy to see.  There was no way anyone could miss them, and yet. . . . the man didn’t heed the warning.  He was well onto the body of the lake when the ice suddenly cracked, and he was plunged into the freezing water.  With no one there to rescue him, he drowned. 

It’s one thing to receive a warning and another to heed it.  What will you do? 

THE INVITATION

 THE INVITATION

I was probably about to turn seven or eight when Mom and I began to talk about having a party to celebrate. We talked about all the important things: who to invite among neighbors’ and friends’ kids, and those from my class at school; what kind of cake I wanted; what games we would play. 

When Mom talked about sending out invitations, I insisted we didn’t need to do that.  I would just tell my friends the details and they would remember.  Mom was very skeptical, but she let me have my way.  Thinking about it now, it’s surprising that she didn’t just figure out a way to get those invitations out without my knowing.  Maybe she was teaching me a life lesson! 

Sometime during the week of my Saturday party, I did tell everyone, but when the day arrived, not a single one of those kids came!  If you know any seven or eight year olds, then you know they are not especially good at remembering things, and certainly not dates and times for a future birthday party with no invitation to help their moms remember.  Whether or not Mom was trying to teach me a life lesson, I did learn a lesson: Invitations are really important!  If you want people to come, you have to give them more than just a passing invitation they will probably forget five minutes after you tell them!

Thanks to Covid (there have been some reasons to be thankful for covid isolation), I spent a lot more time this Christmas season thinking about the coming of Jesus and all that it means to me.  This was the first year in a while that I read through all of the book, O Come All Ye Faithful, a wonderful book I bought years ago, with devotionals related to the season and the words of the carols, and their history.

I thought especially of the invitation God Himself gave to the shepherds at the birth of His Son, from Luke’s gospel, chapter 2, beginning at verse 8:

Now there were in the same country (the city of Bethlehem), shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be for all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be the sign to you: You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger. 

And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men.’

God’s invitation for the birth of His Son was of such vital importance, He didn’t leave it to chance.  He sent an angel to announce it!  And then he followed it up with a multitude of angel hosts and the shepherds couldn’t forget it!

I would have loved to have been there among those shepherds.  Imagine having an angel deliver an invitation from God Himself to announce news you’ve been waiting generations to hear?  But what would have been truly mind blowing was to then see the heavens rolled back to reveal a multitude of heavenly host!  Whoa!

Pastor John MacArthur, in his devotional about this carol, says:

The word “host” is from a Greek word used to describe a military encampment.  Christ also used military imagery to describe angels in Matthew 26:53 (“legions of angels”).  Revelation 5:11 suggests that there is an angelic number too large to count.

He says the use of military imagery suggests a host of angels, not in celebratory garb, but in military fatigues! 

That certainly puts a different slant on the image of a heavenly host of angels, doesn’t it!

The shepherds didn’t waste a single second, as we read in John 2:15 and following:

So it was, when the angels had gone away from into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.’

And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe, lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child.  And those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

The shepherds not only responded to the invitation of the angels, they gave their own invitation to everyone they met concerning this Child, Jesus, their long awaited Messish.

Invitations to follow Jesus by faith fill the pages of the New Testament.  Here are just three:

1.    In John’s gospel, when some disciples heard Jesus speak, they followed Him and asked where He was staying, to which He replied, Come and see, and they did!  They spent the day with Him and later told others, We have found the Messiah (the Christ). And they brought them to Jesus, and they followed Him as well.

2.    John’s gospel, chapter 4 records a conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan woman at the end of which Jesus reveals that He is the Messiah she and her people have been waiting for, and she leaves to tell the others.  Verse 39 says:

And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman . . .and they urged Him to stay with them.  And many more believed, not just because of the testimony of the woman, but because of His own word about Himself.

3.    One of the most precious of the invitations, given by Jesus Himself, is given in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 11, verses 28-30:

Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

When was the last time you received, not just an invitation, but a life changing invitation?  I’m guessing never.  The invitation of Jesus to “come and follow” Him is that kind of invitation.  Just read about His disciples in the gospel accounts, and that of the Samaritan woman and her neighbors – meeting Jesus filled them with joy, assured them of forgiveness for their sins, gave them confidence for the future – that Jesus would never leave or forsake them and would welcome them into His kingdom as His very own child.  Want that?  The invitation to put your faith in Jesus still stands.

I echo the invitation of the disciples:  Come and follow my Jesus.

This is the end of 2020 and many of us are saying: Good riddance!!  Maybe you have had a heavy burden to carry this year.  Maybe you have lost your job, had covid, nursed others with covid, lost someone to covid, are feeling the strain of reduced hours with reduced salaries, or no salary, feel stressed from trying to do your job from home, and home schooling your children too.  Maybe you have carried your burden alone with no one to walk beside you.

Jesus tells us in the Matthew verses that He can help us carry the burden.  First and foremost, Jesus wants us to know Him as Savoir from our sins.  He died in our place to free us from the burden of sin’s penalty and daily power. As His child, He walks with us through life’s trials, carrying the yoke of it with us, making it lighter.  Because He becomes our strength, He gives us His rest in the process. 

Your invitation has been issued – by Jesus Himself – who says “come and see”.

Read through the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New Testament of the Bible) and find out who Jesus is for yourself. 

Your invitation has been issued by the disciples of Jesus and the woman of Samaria who did come and see and found in Jesus the very One whom they were waiting for – the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior.

Your invitation comes from me because I know Jesus as they did and want you to know Him too.

You may never hear an invitation from a host of angels, but you don’t need one.  Jesus Himself issues the invitation:  Come to me, come and see. 

Like coupons you get in the mail however, this invitation does have an expiration date.  One day Jesus has promised to return as judge. Those who have accepted His invitation will be invited into His presence forever, for He died in payment for their sin, and they stand before Him forgiven and made right with God. Those who have refused to trust in Jesus and His sacrifice for them will be condemned to an eternal life separated from Him forever.  It will be an eternal life of darkness and pain.

You see, your response to the invitation of Jesus, to come, to believe, to trust in His death endured for your sake, is not one to be taken lightly, like a missed party invitation.  It’s a life or death decision, a life changing decision with an expiration date.

I can tell you from personal experience, you will never regret trusting in Jesus in this life – and you will have all eternity to enjoy Him and the blessings of heaven. However, to refuse to trust Him, results in an eternity of regret.

For All Have Sinned. . . But God. . .

 

What do you think of when you see the beauty of nature?

Jim and I took an adventure last summer when we toured many of the spectacular national parks. Breathtaking beauty unique to that part of our country!  I don’t know that I’ve always loved the outdoors as much as I do now.  I think it’s my age, but I also think it’s faith.  Now when I see a beautiful sunset, the ocean, or birds in flight, a butterfly land on a flower, or the grandeur of a mountain, my heart fills with joy and I immediately begin to talk to Jesus, thanking Him and telling Him how much His handiwork blesses my heart, and magnifies His great glory.

The Apostle Paul in Colossians 1:15-17, says this about Jesus:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible. . . . All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

That’s why my thoughts turn to Jesus when I see the beauty of creation. The Bible says He is the agent through whom heaven and earth were created.  He is its author, its artist, its sustainer, and all that He has made highlights His majesty. 

What do you think of when the beauty of the world around you catches your breath? 

There are those who view the beauties of earth and sky, but whose thoughts don’t immediately turn to God.  The Apostle Paul speaks of them in the book of Romans, the first chapters of which are very sobering.

Romans 1:16-24

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals, and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up to their uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.

This is a terrible picture of the state of mankind apart from God.  Though God’s invisible attributes (like His power, greatness, creative genius, love of variety, love, majesty and glory, etc.) are clearly seen in what He has made, mankind refuses to acknowledge Him, glorify Him and thank Him, rather, though they see these truths about God, they suppress that which is plainly seen, leaving them without excuse for rejecting Him.

They think, God says through the Apostle Paul, that this makes them superior and wise, when in God’s view, they are foolish, with darkened hearts, acting on their foolishness even to the point of worshiping other things instead of the One who created them – in days past those “things” may have been literal idols made of stone, but today idols could be things like wealth, power, youthfulness, self-centered desires, possessions, leisure, independence from God, position, educational background. 

All of that is bad news, but the saddest statement to me is this one:

THEREFORE, GOD GAVE THEM UP

What does that mean? In other words, since they wanted no part of the God who reveals Himself in all he has made, He let them have their way, exercise their free will, worship who or what they pleased, instead of Him.  That terrifies me! 

What Paul means is that mankind has increasingly turned away from God to indulge himself in whatever he wants, and has suffered the consequence of his choice – alienation from the God who made him, loves him, and created him for relationship with Himself, and susceptibility to the downward spiral of sin that comes from the pursuit of other things leave hardness in the heart that was made for God.

Even those who think they are basically good people, trying to do their best by themselves and others, might be surprised by what God has to say about all our supposed “goodness” apart from Himself.

In Romans 3: beginning with verse 10 the Apostle Paul sums up the state of man apart from God:

There is none righteous, no, not one. . . .there is none who seeks after God. . . .they have all turned aside. . . .there is none who does good, no not one. . . . .there is no fear of God before their eyes.

What a bleak picture.  Unless God does a life changing work in us, there is not a one of us who is right in His eyes.  Not a one of us seeks God.  All of us have turned aside.  Not one of us does good.  There is no fear (respect, awe) of God on our part.

Does that come as as much of a shock to you as it did to me when I first read it?  This is God’s view of those who want no part of Him.

However, this is not the end of the story.

If “God gave them up” is the most terrible phrase in this passage from Romans, then chapter 3, verse 21 contains the best phrase:

BUT NOW, THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD . . . IS REVEALED       

The Apostle Paul goes on to say, beginning in verse 23 that ALL of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.  Another words, not a single one of us, no matter how hard we try to live up to the Ten Commandments, or even our own “good” morals, is able to meet God’s standard for “rightness” with Him.  What is His standard?  God is the standard!  God’s righteousness is the standard!

It’s easy for us to look around and see others whom we consider better or worse than we are, we can always find someone worse!  But God doesn’t compare us to other people, He compares us to Himself! 

Now we’re in trouble, right?  Which of us is able to be like God in all His goodness and righteousness?  I don’t know about you, but I know there is no way I could even begin to touch God in His holiness and righteousness and goodness.  I am doomed to fail!

Can a person EVER be right with God then?  Oh yes, but not by any good works of our own.  We can only be right with God by trusting in the One who did satisfy God’s righteous requirements – His Son Jesus.

Jesus lived the life of righteous perfection that you and I could never in a billion years live.  And He did so without once sinning against His Father’s law. 

Then, willingly, and in obedience to His Father’s will, Jesus went to the cross, although He was innocent of all the charges brought against Him by His enemies.  You and I deserve to die for our sins because we are justly guilty of sinning against God, but Jesus intentionally took our place, taking on Himself the penalty for our sins in a horrible, violent death by crucifixion.  Three days later, according to the Father’s will, He rose again and is today seated at His Father’s right hand – praying for believers! 

Here’s the dilemma we have.  If we can’t live the kind of righteous life God expects, our plight is hopeless. . . . unless. . . . someone was to step in and offer to take our place, to take our punishment upon Himself!  That’s exactly what Jesus did.  The sinless One died for the sinner. 

His death becomes effectual in our lives when we embrace by faith the death of Jesus in atonement for our sin.  When we do, the most miraculous exchange takes place!  All of our sin – past, present, and future – is credited to Jesus’s account, and all of His righteousness is credited to ours.  So when God looks at us now, instead of seeing our sin, He sees that we are clothed in the righteousness of His Son.  We have been forgiven, and our sins atoned for. 

So, instead of striving for a goodness we can’t hope to achieve so that we might be “right” in God’s sight, we can REST on the work Jesus has already done on our behalf.  Is that not the BEST news you’ve ever heard?

As if that isn’t wonderful enough, God places the very life of Jesus in us.  The Spirit enables us to say no to sin and yes to righteousness, empowering us to live the righteous life God desires.  We are new creations!

Are you laboring by the burden of the guilt of all your sin?  Tired of trying to earn God’s favor by doing “good things” and failing over and over again?  Maybe it’s time to put your whole trust in what Jesus has already done for you and live with the peace that comes from reconciliation with a holy God, before whom you can stand guilt free, knowing that your sin has been atoned for. 

The next time you are out in the beauty of God’s creation, revel in the truth that the One who made and sustains all of creation, can be seen in all He has made.  And that same One has made it possible for you to stand before God forgiven, and thank Jesus for His supreme sacrifice of love on your behalf.

 

 

PEOPLING LIKE JESUS

If you’ve read some of my other blogs, you know that I am an introvert.  Even if you’ve never met me, you’ve probably met other introverts.  They are the ones who find a quiet corner at the office gathering where they can watch people, but not have to converse, and then they leave early.  They are the ones who more than likely avoid parties with a lot of people, especially if they don’t already know someone.  They are the ones who prefer the solitude and quiet of a library to the noisiness of a popular lunch spot.  They might be the ones who can teach a huge seminar in an adult school, but feel intimidated by having a meal with strangers.

As an introvert, I often find myself making choices that protect my space because I just don’t feel like “peopling” (being with other people).  Peopling, especially in large group settings that require a lot of listening, is exhausting for introverts.  When we’ve had to do a lot of it, we need to withdraw and recharge.

That was my experience a few years ago at our nephew’s wedding. I had just had major surgery a month before, so I was still a bit sore. Having done a lot of listening and smiling, I decided to take a break, walking over a lovely grassy expanse toward a quiet, deserted area in the distance.  As I began my walk, I saw the elderly man who was walking ahead of me, and swerved a bit to my right to avoid him, when he moved in my direction, and avoiding him wasn’t possible. I confess to a little complaining in my mind because I wasn’t going to get the peopling break I thought I needed.

As our paths crossed, we said hello, and exchanged our reasons for being at this particular wedding.  I don’t remember now how the conversation took such a personal turn, but this sweet elderly man began to tell me about how he had recently lost his wife. He was so obviously missing her, and his grief was so raw, that he began to cry as he told me about his wonderful wife and the hole her absence left in his heart.  My heart, so recently protective of my own space, melted with compassion.

I asked him if he knew Jesus and he said he did.  What followed was a precious conversation about the blessings of heaven, where his wife had found the fulfilment of all her earthly hope.  She was with Jesus, looking into His face, breathing the air of heaven.  One day, when Jesus called him home, his wife would be there to welcome him.  Thinking and talking about the promises that are ours in Jesus lifted both our hearts with encouragement and joy that transcended the sorrows of loss.

When we separated, I knew that man would still grieve and miss the presence of his wife, but he would also remember the joy, fulfilled for her, and that awaited him when his own home going grew near.

As I walked back to the wedding reception, I sought the Lord’s forgiveness, for wanting to avoid that man, just because I needed a break from peopling. What a blessing that would have forfeited not meeting him, and what a blessing of encouragement in God’s Word and in His truth, I would have withheld from him, because I just didn’t want to talk to anyone.

During this long time of COVID related isolation, without the distraction of activity, or peopling, the Lord did His sanctifying work in my own heart. Having been greatly blessed through Paul E. Miller’s book, A Praying Life, I was led to read another of his books, Love Walked Among Us.  Quoting many different Scripture passages, Pastor Miller talks about the humility and love of Jesus, evidenced over and over in the ways in which He peopled.

Unlike me, when Jesus was confronted by huge crowds, when what He really planned for was time alone with His disciples, He didn’t resent the intrusion.  He didn’t send them away.  He didn’t complain to His disciples (although they sometimes complained to Him!). Instead He had compassion on them, He patiently taught them, healed their sick, drove out demons. 

When being pressed by a crowd on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter, and a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, quietly touched the hem of His robe, He stopped to find her.  He looked into her face and loved her.

When a leper asked to be healed, He didn’t recoil in disgust.  He actually touched him, although according to Jewish law, He would consequently be declared unclean and have to absent Himself from the synagogue for a set period of time indicated in the law of Moses.

Instead of doing what I might do, avoid others, when too many people demand my time and attention, Jesus, Paul Miller says, “incarnated” Himself into their lives.  In His humility, in His encounters with those He met, Jesus entered the lives of others, loved them, and served them.

Jesus WAS equal with God because He IS God, (John’s gospel, chapter 10, verse 30, I and the Father are one.), but, instead of insisting on the honor due Him as God, He became like one of us and took upon Himself the form of a servant, even to dying on the cross for our sake.

The Lord spoke to my heart as I looked at Jesus in all these accounts of His interacting with people, and made me realize how often I do exactly the opposite of Jesus, though I am His child. Living in the isolation of COVID has made my natural inclination to isolate easier (not a good thing!), although it has also given me lots of quiet time to hear the Lord speak through His Word.

How many wonderful encounters, like the one with the man at the wedding, have I missed, and do I miss today, because I just do not feel like peopling like Jesus?

Our governor has lifted some of the restrictions that have been in place since this pandemic began in mid-March.  I’ve been an introvert for 7 decades, and don’t expect to be acting like an extrovert anytime soon. But, I am hoping that as we get out more, I’ll have many opportunities to people like Jesus as I interact with neighbors, wait staff at restaurants, shop clerks, office staff, friends. 

Oh Lord, teach me to love and people, just like Jesus.