AH, TO BE CONTENT

It has been about six weeks now since we made the biggest leap of our 45 years of married life and moved half the country away, relocating from New Jersey to Florida.  

When we arrived in mid-September it still felt like August.  It was very hot and humid.  Since I carry my own post-menopausal heat source with me at all times, I spent most of my days indoors, while Jim, somehow, sat outside all day in the sweltering heat, seemingly without breaking a sweat.  

Now however, just a few days from the start of November, the days begin in the high 60’s, so we have our coffee outside on the lanai.  Some days are a bit humid, others are gorgeously dry.  In the afternoon, the sun can still get pretty hot, but several days recently when I went out to the pool to cool off, I have had the gorgeously warm water all to myself, what pleasure!  And then every evening, when the breezes are blowing and the temperatures have dropped to the mid-70s, we eat our dinner outside. Sometimes I have to ask Jim to pinch me because it’s hard to believe we actually get to live like this!

After suffering from a very uncomfortable jaw and terrible nights of sleep for weeks after we got here, I went to a dentist and was prescribed a night guard, protection from grinding my teeth at night and putting stress on my jaw.  By the time the guard was ready (3 weeks later) my jaw no longer hurt!  The stress of selling a house, and moving out, and then in, to a new place in a new state was finally behind me.

We’ve been attending a wonderful church down here, which is a bit of a distance away.  It has so many ministry activities that sound great to us – Bible studies, tutoring in a local school, ministering to the shut in, mission trips to the Dominican Republic – but we have decided not to get involved in any of those kinds of activities in this time of transition.  We filled our Samaritan Purse Christmas Child boxes, donated things to a school outreach, and I’ve volunteered to bake for another fund raiser – but otherwise we’re keeping a low profile.

Having seen the movie, War Room, back when we first arrived, I find I’m content to spend more time in Bible study and prayer, asking the Lord to do in the lives of those for whom I pray the things only HE can!  These times are very sweet and uninterrupted by other activity.  

Before we left New Jersey Amazon had a good sale on Rosetta Stone so I bought level 1 Spanish and have been spending delightful time refreshing those lessons I had all those years ago in high school Spanish.  Only Rosetta Stone makes it way more fun!

Our house in Davenport finally has walls and a roof and it’s exciting to think of moving in.  But for now, Jim and I are really content – and after months of fixing up the NJ house, then wondering what it would sell for, how long it would take, when the closing would happen, etc. – feeling content is wonderful.

Every day we have something for which to feel so grateful to the Lord – green all around, swimming in October, eating outdoors (which we loved in NJ!), uninterrupted quiet times, the friendliness of the people here, a bigger kitchen to prepare meals in, two great churches to attend (here in Ft. Myers, and also in Davenport), and many opportunities to seek the well-being of this place where the Lord has us.  

And lo and behold, I now have a dishwasher!  I never dreamed having one could be such bliss!

A TALE OF TWO MEN

BIBLE QUIZ!!!!  Are you ready? Who are Diotrephes and Demetrius and where in the New Testament do you read about them?  

 

Sound of Jeopardy theme. . . . . . . . . . . Time’s up!!

They are two men of whom the Apostle John refers in 3rd John, verses 9-14.

Of Diotrephes the Apostle says:

•  He loves to have the preeminence in the church
• He refused hospitality to John and those he sent

• (Instead) he “pratted” against them with malicious words (pratted: to talk foolishly)

• He wasn’t content just to refuse to offer hospitality himself, he also forbid others from offering hospitality, even putting them out of the church for wishing to do so.

 

John said that when he came to visit, he would call Diotrephes on his deeds.  And then he had some harsh words to say:

“Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good.  He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.”

Pretty strong words coming right after John's description of Diotrephes!  

John sees the fruit of this man’s life – both words and deeds – and says, don’t imitate this guy.  His deeds demonstrate that he does not know God.

Have you ever met anyone like Diotrephes at your church?

• Maybe he’s bossy, or proud, always drawing attention to himself?   
• Maybe she avoids hospitality – not because she’s shy, or has a small house – but so as not to let anyone get close enough to see the REAL, HYPOCRITICAL her.

What kind of testimony does that person have in the church, do you think?  

I would think not many would want to be friends with someone like that, or serve together in ministry, or feel free and safe to express a true opinion.

I’m thinking people would be afraid to cross her for fear of getting snubbed, thrown off a committee, or facing her disapproval and possible censure, or of having their head bitten off!

Okay, now the hard question, “Have you ever BEEN that kind of person?”  

John’s opinion of Diotrephes is that his deeds indicate the condition of his heart – he doesn’t know God.  

I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty confident I belong to Jesus, and so I do know God – and yet. . . . . sometimes I am capable of actions like that of Diotrephes.

• Far too many times pride wells up in me.  I may not tell anyone about it because it shames me, and I might just avoid hospitality so no one knows that about me.
• Sad to say, I’m also capable of malicious words – maybe not always vocalized – but often thought.  
• Sometimes when I don’t agree with something someone did or said, I’m sure they can read the disapproval on my face.

All of these Diotrephes’ like qualities shame me.

How grateful I am for grace, because when I confess my sins, I know I have received the forgiveness Jesus died to purchase for me.  

I don’t think Diotrephes knew about grace. I take it, given John’s words about him, that he cherished his sin, he did not ask forgiveness, he did not think that his words and behavior were wrong.  He didn’t KNOW the grace of God, and so he was incapable of giving it.  “Do not imitate what is evil, but imitate what is good,” John says.

Then there was Demetrius.  John has just one sentence to say about him:

“Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself.”

And then he says:

“And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true.”

Contrast Diotrephes with Demetrius. John’s testimony about the former is that he wants to be first, he is inhospitable to John and other believers, he lords it over those who want to practice hospitality, he speaks malicious words against John.

Demetrius, on the other hand, has a good testimony, not only from John and the other apostles, but from ALL.  

Demetrius is a kind of “what you see is what you get” person.  No falsehood, no wanting to be the center of attention.  The things that describe Diotrephes are not true of Demetrius. His is undoubtedly the person John is thinking of when he says, “Do not imitate what is evil, IMITATE WHAT IS GOOD.”

Here's the rub, both of these men were in the church. 

Which do you think was a blessing to his pastor and church family?  Which had the better Christian testimony before his co-workers and neighbors?  Which made the greater impact for the kingdom of Jesus?  My money is on Demetrius.

Let's make it personal.  Which are you more like: Diotrephes or Demetrius?

What is your testimony among your: brethren, family, neighbors, co-workers, ministry partners?

Would you be one of whom God would say, “Imitate what is good”, or “Do not imitate what is evil!”

John said that when he saw Diotrephes he would, “call to mind his deeds”.  John had every intention of confronting Diotrephes face to face.  

If someone in authority were to call you out for your Diotrephes’ like deeds, how would you react?  

Would you proudly defend yourself, turning your anger on the one who called you out, or would you, in humility, confess and repent?  I asking myself the same questions.

I don’t want to be a Diotrephes, do you?  But when I occasionally commit a Diotrephes like deed, I know what to do - I practice those other words John spoke in 1 John 1:9:

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgives us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  

THE GRAND DESIGN

There’s a Bible verse in the book of Romans that has always intrigued me.  It’s Romans 1:19-20:

“what may be known about God is plain. . . because God has made it plain. . .  For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse (when they say there is no God)”.

Before I knew Jesus, nearly 40 years ago now, I saw things differently.  I looked around me like everyone else and noticed the variety of trees, many of which changed color every fall.  I noticed the variety of birds, each with their own unique song.  I too saw and appreciated the seasons.  However, I never did SEE them the way I do now that Jesus has entered my life.

Now I see the beauty around me with eyes of faith, eyes wide open to the intricacies, variety, and uniqueness of creation.  Now I see shades of color I hadn’t noticed before.  Trees that are a yellow green in spring, deep green in summer and yellow, red and orange in fall.  I notice the different sizes, colors and songs of birds and can’t wait to spot them!  I revel over the bunnies, chipmunks and groundhogs that inhabited our yard.  In each and every thing now, I see the hand of Jesus, about whom the Bible says: “For by Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth . . . . all things were created by Him and for Him. . . . and in Him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:16-17)

On Monday Jim and I were visiting our daughter and son in law in central Florida.  Since they were working, we decided to go to Sea World for the day.  We did the usual things, saw the Orca show, the seal show, the dolphin exhibit.  As usual, I was blown away by the genius of God!  

There is a group of inventors of a sort at Disney World.  They are called the Imagineers.  It’s their job to pool their collective creativity to come up with new rides, exhibits, and displays that will keep Disney World fresh.  Sometimes I think it would be fun to sit in on one of their meetings and throw out my own ideas, but I know that when it comes to creativity, I’m challenged.  

I was thinking though, that even if the Imagineers were brilliantly creative, to the point where the ideas just flowed out of them non-stop, there would probably come a point where they would exhaust their supply.   I actually saw evidence of this when I compared some things at Disney with things I had seen at Universal Studios and also at Sea World.  All three parks were doing similar things with entrance bracelets, seasonal passes, and fast access to rides and shows.  Each park works hard to try and come up with a new and fresh idea before one of the other parks does.  But many of those ideas are just variations on a theme.

In the Bible book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon said, “there’s nothing new under the sun”.  Eventually, when we run out of ideas, we begin looking around to see what everyone else is doing and we borrow one of theirs and put our own spin on it.  

 Not so with God.  When He made the world, He started with nothing and in the vastness of His greatness, He created myriads and myriads of creatures we could never have imagined.  Why?  To prove that He IS, that He is glorious, that He is God!  So that when we looked at the world around us, we would have no excuse for saying, “What God?”

Who but God could have come up with the mind boggling mammal we call the manatee?  And create it from SCRATCH???  These gentle creatures populate the waters here in Florida.  If you happened to be populating a body of water at the same time, you just might lose your lunch if a manatee swam up beside you.  

Also called “sea cows”, the adults are enormous, with broad tales and bodies that look as if they’ve been inflated with gas, so that a pin prick might send them flying like a deflated balloon.  Only the Great Imagineer could have designed something so awe inspiring!

And who but God would ever have thought of an animal with eight legs covered in suction cups and a defense system that squirts ink at its predators?  No think tank of human Imagineers could have come up with the octopus!

What about those serendipitous sea horses?  They are adorable!  With a perfect face just like a horse, and a tail like that of a monkey, who but God would think of them, and then MAKE them, IN MINIATURE?   

And then there is the “sea dragon”.   I didn’t even know such a creature existed until we went to Sea World.  If you’ve been to Disney World, then you may have seen the imaginary character of Figment.  I’m convinced the Disney Imagineers must have used the sea dragon as their model for him.  We can copy, but we can’t create out of nothing.  Only God can make the original “sea dragon”.

To me it is the most outlandish thing in the world to suggest that our world was created by chance, as the result of a big bang, or even evolution.  This kind of beauty and variety and intricacy doesn’t happen by chance!  

No, of this I AM convinced - the world “happened” by the grand design of Jesus, who created it for His glory and our enjoyment.  We just need eyes to SEE, not only the creation, but the Creator, to appreciate His Grand Design!