With the explosion of social media it has become common for people to give a daily report of what they are thankful for during the month of November. People are thankful for family, friends, jobs, pets, and a whole list of other things. I think this is a great idea and it is always good to reflect on the blessings you have, but I think as Christians we are called to more.
It is easy to be thankful for things like family and friends and the things in our life. The Bible urges us to go deeper than being thankful for things, we are to "give thanks IN all things" not just FOR things. Giving thanks in things isn't always easy to do. Life has a way of putting us in circumstances where we probably don't feel very thankful. Paul, the author of this admonition, spent a lot of his life in jail and in fear for his life, and yet he tells us to give thanks in all things. In one instance he found himself in chains in front of King Agrippa pleading for his life. Rather than bemoaning his situation he boldly proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ and tells the king that he wished everyone could be in the position he was in minus the chains. Here he was in jail and on trial for his very life and he was thankful. He was thankful, not for the chains, but in his God. When your focus is on God all other things pale in comparison. Our little problems are insignificant when seen in the glory of God.
There are a lot of things I am thankful for and some I am not, but I am thankful in all things.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
For Sarah, et al
I will admit up front that I don't know if this story is true or not. I do know that parts of it are based in fact.
It was the turn of the last century. A man owned a plot of land in rural Arkansas. (That's kind of redundant, all of Arkansas was rural in 1900.) The farmer tried to scratch out a living from the fields, but they proved to be too rocky. After a few years of just barely getting by, he decided to sell the farm. This proved to be equally difficult. Oh, plenty of people were interested until they saw the rocky fields. No one in their right mind would try to farm on that. Then one day a geologist from back east stopped by. He took one look at the rock covered fields and made an offer, a very generous offer, on the spot. You see, those rocks were actually diamonds. It simply took someone with the proper perspective to see what was always there.
Many people live their lives like those rocks. They spend all of their time being kicked around and trampled under other's feet. They are seen as dirty, ugly nuisances. Not only not good for anything but actually in the way of anything productive. Unfortunately many never learn the truth about themselves. All it takes is the one with the proper perspective. All it takes is for Jesus to pick them up and clean off the stuff of the world that has accumulated on them to expose the diamond that is underneath.
When we look at ourselves, we need to see what Jesus sees. We need to see the diamonds, not the rocks. All of us are made in the image of God. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are God's workmanship. All of the rest of creation was spoken into existence but we were handcrafted. Each of us was designed and crafted for a purpose and it is God's desire for us to live out that purpose. All of us are beautiful diamonds, it only takes the hand of God to expose them.
It was the turn of the last century. A man owned a plot of land in rural Arkansas. (That's kind of redundant, all of Arkansas was rural in 1900.) The farmer tried to scratch out a living from the fields, but they proved to be too rocky. After a few years of just barely getting by, he decided to sell the farm. This proved to be equally difficult. Oh, plenty of people were interested until they saw the rocky fields. No one in their right mind would try to farm on that. Then one day a geologist from back east stopped by. He took one look at the rock covered fields and made an offer, a very generous offer, on the spot. You see, those rocks were actually diamonds. It simply took someone with the proper perspective to see what was always there.
Many people live their lives like those rocks. They spend all of their time being kicked around and trampled under other's feet. They are seen as dirty, ugly nuisances. Not only not good for anything but actually in the way of anything productive. Unfortunately many never learn the truth about themselves. All it takes is the one with the proper perspective. All it takes is for Jesus to pick them up and clean off the stuff of the world that has accumulated on them to expose the diamond that is underneath.
When we look at ourselves, we need to see what Jesus sees. We need to see the diamonds, not the rocks. All of us are made in the image of God. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are God's workmanship. All of the rest of creation was spoken into existence but we were handcrafted. Each of us was designed and crafted for a purpose and it is God's desire for us to live out that purpose. All of us are beautiful diamonds, it only takes the hand of God to expose them.
Friday, October 5, 2012
But If Not
"If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
But if not, be it known unto thee, o king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3:17-18 KJV)
"But if not..." This may be the most powerful statement of faith in the Bible. It is easy to be strong in your faith when God delivers you from something, but to stand firm in your devotion when He doesn't says something. These three young men were confident in God and His ability to deliver them, but their faith wasn't going to hinge on whether He did deliver them or not. They said, "...he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods..." They were so confident in their faith that noting could shake them, not even a fiery furnace. That kind of faith brings a peace that can't be explained, it has to be experienced. This story took on a deeper meaning for me during a mission trip to Costa Rica.
We had just completed a 9 day trip to Costa Rica and were on the flight home. Somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico it felt and sounded like our plane hit something. There was a loud bang and the plane shuddered like it had hit something. The plane immediately pitched up and down and then rolled to both sides. The cabin crew began scurrying around the cabin with anxious faces looking out the windows. The pilot announced that they had felt that too and they were investigating it. They asked if anyone on the right side of the plane had seen anything odd to report it to the crew. Everyone on the plane had the same thought running through their mind, "We are going to crash!" That was the first time that the possibility of really dying stared me in the face. I will tell you that is a sobering thing. I also discovered what the three men in the furnace meant. I knew that God could deliver us from this, but even if He didn't, I knew He was still God and I was good with that. That brings a peace that can't be described.
Obviously everything worked out. We had experienced what they termed a "catastrophic failure" of one of the engines. It basically ripped itself apart. We were able to land in Ft Lauderdale and continue on to Atlanta on other flights. It was a trip I will never forget for many reason but mainly because my understanding of faith was changed. I discovered the power of real faith. I learned it is one thing to talk about faith and an entirely different thing to have to rely on it. When you come to the point where you can say, "but if not" you will discover a peace that passes all understanding.
But if not, be it known unto thee, o king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3:17-18 KJV)
"But if not..." This may be the most powerful statement of faith in the Bible. It is easy to be strong in your faith when God delivers you from something, but to stand firm in your devotion when He doesn't says something. These three young men were confident in God and His ability to deliver them, but their faith wasn't going to hinge on whether He did deliver them or not. They said, "...he will deliver us out of thy hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods..." They were so confident in their faith that noting could shake them, not even a fiery furnace. That kind of faith brings a peace that can't be explained, it has to be experienced. This story took on a deeper meaning for me during a mission trip to Costa Rica.
We had just completed a 9 day trip to Costa Rica and were on the flight home. Somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico it felt and sounded like our plane hit something. There was a loud bang and the plane shuddered like it had hit something. The plane immediately pitched up and down and then rolled to both sides. The cabin crew began scurrying around the cabin with anxious faces looking out the windows. The pilot announced that they had felt that too and they were investigating it. They asked if anyone on the right side of the plane had seen anything odd to report it to the crew. Everyone on the plane had the same thought running through their mind, "We are going to crash!" That was the first time that the possibility of really dying stared me in the face. I will tell you that is a sobering thing. I also discovered what the three men in the furnace meant. I knew that God could deliver us from this, but even if He didn't, I knew He was still God and I was good with that. That brings a peace that can't be described.
Obviously everything worked out. We had experienced what they termed a "catastrophic failure" of one of the engines. It basically ripped itself apart. We were able to land in Ft Lauderdale and continue on to Atlanta on other flights. It was a trip I will never forget for many reason but mainly because my understanding of faith was changed. I discovered the power of real faith. I learned it is one thing to talk about faith and an entirely different thing to have to rely on it. When you come to the point where you can say, "but if not" you will discover a peace that passes all understanding.
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