Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
We've had an interesting thing happen to us here lately at our home. It involves a stray cat we've seen all summer long around the neighborhood. About a week ago it was laying on our picnic table, which has a big shade umbrella over it. I decided to put some smoked salmon I had out for it to eat. Well, it chowed down on the piece pretty ferociously, and accepted another few pieces! Pretty soon it was at our door for some more, and coming into our house. We gave it some more food, and it was here more often. A couple days ago I came home from work, and my loving wife had set out a towel for it to lay down on, and it was with her in the living room.
I cautioned her that we're not allowed to have pets, that it might have flees, and she shouldn't be letting it get so comfortable. The animal actually let me pick it up, and that's when I noticed, nipples, and a chubby belly! So, its a she! And possibly pregnant! The next time she came into the house after some food we gave her she was snooping around for out of the way places, like behind the couch, and under my son's bed. Yup, she's pregnant, and looking for a place to have her babies, its called "nesting behavior"
Well, we set out the bedding under our patio table, which is a little bit dryer, but not hugely than our rain swept back yard. She stayed out there over night. As my son and wife were becoming more attached to her, I realized something had to be done.
I called the local SPCA, and we took her over there. They confirmed that she's indeed pregnant, and we filled out the paper work. We donated our cat carrier, the food, and a towel we'd given her for bedding.
I am thankful that God allowed us to be part of caring for this animal. All the factors that led up to us taking her added up to it being just in time. The lady at the shelter said that they stop eating for 24 hours before they nest, and she was still eating ferociously. That I tried feeding her was such a good thing, because she was so hungry. She was probably feeding on mice, and scraps up to now.
Knowing that I'm just a part of God's world, and part of our community I put God in charge, by not dishonoring our landlord by secretly having a cat. Truthfulness, and faithfulness to my word I'd given him that we would have no pets.
I rest in the fact, God is in charge!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Tender Hearted
1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all [of you] should be of one and the same mind (united in spirit), sympathizing [with one another], loving [each other] as brethren [of one household], compassionate and courteous (tender hearted and humble).
I felt God speaking directly to me this past Sunday. The pastor taught on the subject of all of us getting on the bus, the vision bus. And he asked those of us there to come forward, and "get on the bus". This was/is a decisive act of obedience. To be united in spirit.
I am a bus driver after all. It may look like a bus driver is in charge, but he is actually performing the task set out for him by the management. In some respects I have a truly mindless job! All I have to do is be obedient! I obey the schedule and prescribed route for my bus. I obey the policy and procedures of the company in my dealings with the public. I obey the traffic laws. Yet it is not a given that I will behave like that. Quite the opposite. In fact, the longer I am on the job, the more I tend toward attempting to take over control of the company. I do this by bad mouthing the company, my fellow workers, and the public. I begin to think the problems I face in carrying out my job description could be solved "if only..." and out pours criticism of everyone around me. I'm expressing my frustration in a manner which doesn't take the truth into account. See my posting entitled "Expectations"
When I come back to my senses, I come back to the things I did at first. And my first attribute as a driver was humility, and obedience. My attitude of submission to leadership and authority is out of reverence for God. In First Peter we see Peter speaking of this same quality. To honor leadership out of reverence for God. God put them in charge. God ordained their ministry.
1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
Are you on board THAT bus?
I felt God speaking directly to me this past Sunday. The pastor taught on the subject of all of us getting on the bus, the vision bus. And he asked those of us there to come forward, and "get on the bus". This was/is a decisive act of obedience. To be united in spirit.
I am a bus driver after all. It may look like a bus driver is in charge, but he is actually performing the task set out for him by the management. In some respects I have a truly mindless job! All I have to do is be obedient! I obey the schedule and prescribed route for my bus. I obey the policy and procedures of the company in my dealings with the public. I obey the traffic laws. Yet it is not a given that I will behave like that. Quite the opposite. In fact, the longer I am on the job, the more I tend toward attempting to take over control of the company. I do this by bad mouthing the company, my fellow workers, and the public. I begin to think the problems I face in carrying out my job description could be solved "if only..." and out pours criticism of everyone around me. I'm expressing my frustration in a manner which doesn't take the truth into account. See my posting entitled "Expectations"
When I come back to my senses, I come back to the things I did at first. And my first attribute as a driver was humility, and obedience. My attitude of submission to leadership and authority is out of reverence for God. In First Peter we see Peter speaking of this same quality. To honor leadership out of reverence for God. God put them in charge. God ordained their ministry.
1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
Are you on board THAT bus?
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Expectations
I wanna do a little low budget film of something that happened to me years ago. I was just wrapping up our family night out on the Tsawwassen Ferry Causeway. We'd had ourselves a nice open fire, and enjoyed a couple of big gulps from 711. With the ocean water being readily available I thought of a less boring way to douse the fire out. My plan was to insert the big gulp cup full of sea water into the middle of the white hot coals of the fire. It was so hot that any wood that I placed in the center of the fire would instantly be ablaze. I reasoned that if I put the big gulp cup (a cardboard cup coated with wax for those of you who don't know what a big gulp cup is) into the center of the fire it would burst into flames, and the water would gush all over the fire and put it out!
I went over to water's edge, filled up my cup to about 3/4 of an inch from the brim, and grabbing it by the top, lowered it into the center of the fire. To my amazement, the results were not what I expected! The cup didn't burst! The only part that burned was the portion of the cup that was above the water line. The rest of the cup didn't even go black, or scorch! Soon the water was boiling, and as it boiled, the water evaporated and the water line was always at the brim, because the fire would steadily burn away any exposed cup from the evaporation!
There was something that I didn't know, that was obvious!
Let me cut out of the story for a second to venture over to our daily lives. We do things all the time based on our limited knowledge, and when the results don't line up with our expectations, we become frustrated. We apply some poorly thought out solution, and when we're out of idea's and lame brained solutions, we become angry. We probably also become discouraged, and this leads us to do some pretty strange things. Self destructive things! But worse than that we usually take out our frustrations on those around us. We complain about the leadership of our local governments, civic, provincial, and national. We look around at people. The boss, our co-workers, and customers and assess their part in the blame. Soon we have stock piled a load of evidence of why things aren't going according to our plans, and we end up pretty miserable frustrated individuals! We fail to see that our expectations are based on our limited understanding of things. We fail to listen to God's word!
In Matthew 6:33-34 Jesus punctuates his teaching by pointing to the one and only solution to our daily worries. What is the relationship between worries and expectations? All our strivings of yesterday didn't add up to our expectations. And we reasonably come to the conclusion that we are woefully out of hope regarding tomorrow's worries! I say reasonably because it is our ability to reason that we so often rely upon! Who can blame us! Shouldn't we rely on our reason! Isn't that what sets us apart from the animals!
NO! It is found in Genesis chapter one, and it is found here in Matthew 6! It is our place in God's heart! It is our place in this world in which we live! We are made in his image. We are made to fellowship with God! To know him, and to daily be seeking him, and knowing him! That is a two way dynamic, and he always gives us what to do!
"30... O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
We need to abandon reason, and embrace faith! Reason is the natural man, and faith is the spiritual man! Its all done with the same mind, but the Christian has a renewed mind, and not only that but a continuously renewing mind! (see Romans 12) Our part in this isn't what we might think. Its in filling our mind with the word of God (see Psalm 119:11) We store up the word of God in our hearts, and God himself applies the truth of his word to our hearts through the ministry of the person of the Holy Spirit. (see John 14:26)
Read over Galatians chapter 5. Paul speaks of this battle between the two aspects of the inner man. The spiritual self and the flesh. We are told here to keep in step with the Spirit! And that means to heed the indications of the spirit within us. There are two lists given, one is the obvious deeds of the flesh, and the other is the attributes of what is of the spirit of God. Paul calls these the fruit of the spirit, and the greek word used is singular. I personally think that this signifies that it is the attributes of Christ himself that we are to be in harmony with. That if any of the flesh is at work, then we need to be careful to seek his cleansing, and empowerment to overcome that work of the flesh. This again is HIS work. He does it (Ephesians 2:8-10 and 1 John 1:9)
And what then becomes our expectation? That he will guide us, and lead us! That he will always be there! And those are the promises we stand upon! And if we know that the way we got to "Point A" is by listening to HIM, then we can be confident that he will continue to lead us. And by his grace its never too late! Though at times we find ourselves in a HELL of our own making, we can trust that he'll lead us out!
Now, back to our Big Gulp cup. The fire kept burning, the water kept evaporating, and the cup gradually disappeared like a candle. The water into the air, and the paper into smoke and ash!
but why?!? Paper burns at 451 degrees Fahrenheit, and water BOILS at 212 degrees Fahrenheit! The paper cannot burn until it reaches 451 F, and the water's presence in the cup keeps the cup below that! The maximum temperature the cup can get to with the water in it, is 212 F. So, regardless of how hot the fire is, the cup will not burn until the water has dissipated. This scientific fact is used to keep engines cool, using coolant that is capable of much higher temperatures than water, and the radiator that cools the liquid as it circulates through the engine's cooling system. Survival experts will tell you that if you're stuck in the woods with a paper bag full of eggs, use the paper bag to boil the eggs! Its possible! I've tried it!
So, if we come up against an unexpected situation, we need to accept that there is something we don't know. Accept that we are not in control of people, places or things. In any given situation or circumstance, in our relationships, and daily interactions with others, if things don't turn out the way we expected, then we need to give it a re-think, and find out what we don't know . . . and the place we need to look is God's word! If any of you lacks wisdom ask God! (see James 1:4-6) That's prayer!
Eventually we may even get ahead of the game, and ask God first :)
I went over to water's edge, filled up my cup to about 3/4 of an inch from the brim, and grabbing it by the top, lowered it into the center of the fire. To my amazement, the results were not what I expected! The cup didn't burst! The only part that burned was the portion of the cup that was above the water line. The rest of the cup didn't even go black, or scorch! Soon the water was boiling, and as it boiled, the water evaporated and the water line was always at the brim, because the fire would steadily burn away any exposed cup from the evaporation!
There was something that I didn't know, that was obvious!
Let me cut out of the story for a second to venture over to our daily lives. We do things all the time based on our limited knowledge, and when the results don't line up with our expectations, we become frustrated. We apply some poorly thought out solution, and when we're out of idea's and lame brained solutions, we become angry. We probably also become discouraged, and this leads us to do some pretty strange things. Self destructive things! But worse than that we usually take out our frustrations on those around us. We complain about the leadership of our local governments, civic, provincial, and national. We look around at people. The boss, our co-workers, and customers and assess their part in the blame. Soon we have stock piled a load of evidence of why things aren't going according to our plans, and we end up pretty miserable frustrated individuals! We fail to see that our expectations are based on our limited understanding of things. We fail to listen to God's word!
In Matthew 6:33-34 Jesus punctuates his teaching by pointing to the one and only solution to our daily worries. What is the relationship between worries and expectations? All our strivings of yesterday didn't add up to our expectations. And we reasonably come to the conclusion that we are woefully out of hope regarding tomorrow's worries! I say reasonably because it is our ability to reason that we so often rely upon! Who can blame us! Shouldn't we rely on our reason! Isn't that what sets us apart from the animals!
NO! It is found in Genesis chapter one, and it is found here in Matthew 6! It is our place in God's heart! It is our place in this world in which we live! We are made in his image. We are made to fellowship with God! To know him, and to daily be seeking him, and knowing him! That is a two way dynamic, and he always gives us what to do!
"30... O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
We need to abandon reason, and embrace faith! Reason is the natural man, and faith is the spiritual man! Its all done with the same mind, but the Christian has a renewed mind, and not only that but a continuously renewing mind! (see Romans 12) Our part in this isn't what we might think. Its in filling our mind with the word of God (see Psalm 119:11) We store up the word of God in our hearts, and God himself applies the truth of his word to our hearts through the ministry of the person of the Holy Spirit. (see John 14:26)
Read over Galatians chapter 5. Paul speaks of this battle between the two aspects of the inner man. The spiritual self and the flesh. We are told here to keep in step with the Spirit! And that means to heed the indications of the spirit within us. There are two lists given, one is the obvious deeds of the flesh, and the other is the attributes of what is of the spirit of God. Paul calls these the fruit of the spirit, and the greek word used is singular. I personally think that this signifies that it is the attributes of Christ himself that we are to be in harmony with. That if any of the flesh is at work, then we need to be careful to seek his cleansing, and empowerment to overcome that work of the flesh. This again is HIS work. He does it (Ephesians 2:8-10 and 1 John 1:9)
And what then becomes our expectation? That he will guide us, and lead us! That he will always be there! And those are the promises we stand upon! And if we know that the way we got to "Point A" is by listening to HIM, then we can be confident that he will continue to lead us. And by his grace its never too late! Though at times we find ourselves in a HELL of our own making, we can trust that he'll lead us out!
Now, back to our Big Gulp cup. The fire kept burning, the water kept evaporating, and the cup gradually disappeared like a candle. The water into the air, and the paper into smoke and ash!
but why?!? Paper burns at 451 degrees Fahrenheit, and water BOILS at 212 degrees Fahrenheit! The paper cannot burn until it reaches 451 F, and the water's presence in the cup keeps the cup below that! The maximum temperature the cup can get to with the water in it, is 212 F. So, regardless of how hot the fire is, the cup will not burn until the water has dissipated. This scientific fact is used to keep engines cool, using coolant that is capable of much higher temperatures than water, and the radiator that cools the liquid as it circulates through the engine's cooling system. Survival experts will tell you that if you're stuck in the woods with a paper bag full of eggs, use the paper bag to boil the eggs! Its possible! I've tried it!
So, if we come up against an unexpected situation, we need to accept that there is something we don't know. Accept that we are not in control of people, places or things. In any given situation or circumstance, in our relationships, and daily interactions with others, if things don't turn out the way we expected, then we need to give it a re-think, and find out what we don't know . . . and the place we need to look is God's word! If any of you lacks wisdom ask God! (see James 1:4-6) That's prayer!
Eventually we may even get ahead of the game, and ask God first :)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Wisdom with a connection
There is a direct link between the wisdom from God, and being in Christ. The scripture actually teaches that Christ Jesus himself lives within us! If I could only take hold of such a truth as that!
In Ephesians 3 Paul's prayer for them is that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. An active dynamic! Not a stale once repeated simple few phrases and boom, I'm all wise, all knowing, etc. But the faith connection is there!
An example of this truth found in Romans 1:11-12 is in a new friend of mine, Scott. I'm not sure what he would label himself as in terms of being a Christian or not, but my experience with him is that there is a fellowship in the spirit with him. This makes Paul's greeting in Romans 1 all the more significant to me. The reason I bring attention to his confession of faith is that as I have spoken with him on numerous occasions the Holy Spirit's presence has been evident. I know that Scott has also marveled at the presence of the Spirit, and the witness within his own heart, but I gather from what he has said that he thinks the connection and the wisdom is of human origin. He once asked me if FAITH is the bridge between the sovereignty of God and man's freewill. This statement has intrigued me ever since.
And I think that here in Ephesians 3 we have a bit of a mystery. The letter is to Christians, and yet Paul is praying that Christ would dwell in their hearts... isn't he already dwelling there? The key, I believe is the "through faith" part.
In Ephesians 3 Paul's prayer for them is that Christ may dwell in their hearts through faith. An active dynamic! Not a stale once repeated simple few phrases and boom, I'm all wise, all knowing, etc. But the faith connection is there!
An example of this truth found in Romans 1:11-12 is in a new friend of mine, Scott. I'm not sure what he would label himself as in terms of being a Christian or not, but my experience with him is that there is a fellowship in the spirit with him. This makes Paul's greeting in Romans 1 all the more significant to me. The reason I bring attention to his confession of faith is that as I have spoken with him on numerous occasions the Holy Spirit's presence has been evident. I know that Scott has also marveled at the presence of the Spirit, and the witness within his own heart, but I gather from what he has said that he thinks the connection and the wisdom is of human origin. He once asked me if FAITH is the bridge between the sovereignty of God and man's freewill. This statement has intrigued me ever since.
And I think that here in Ephesians 3 we have a bit of a mystery. The letter is to Christians, and yet Paul is praying that Christ would dwell in their hearts... isn't he already dwelling there? The key, I believe is the "through faith" part.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
We Are Members Of One Another
Romans 1:11-12
"God, you are more than me, and I am less than you. God make up for my weaknesses, and show me yourself. Is this bible truly YOUR word? Are all these things my parents have taught me YOUR TRUTH? Teach me in a way that I can understand"
- Romans 1:11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. (ESV)
"God, you are more than me, and I am less than you. God make up for my weaknesses, and show me yourself. Is this bible truly YOUR word? Are all these things my parents have taught me YOUR TRUTH? Teach me in a way that I can understand"
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