What I Have Escaped

Jesus Weeps.

Jesus waited to go to Mary and Martha to call Lazarus out of the tomb. He trudged up their lane four days after Lazarus died.

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John 11:4

But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not meant for death, but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” 

John 11:33;35

When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews with her also weeping, He was deeply moved and troubled. . . . Jesus wept.

Click John 11:4 to read the chapter in context.

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 He knew the outcome of that day, and that the miracle He planned showed the power and glory of God: and the wonderful joy prepared for all who stood by the tomb.

But when Mary grieved, He wept because He felt the pain of the sisters and the others who stood there. 

The Holy Spirit lives in His people. Our hurts are His hurts.

In this illustration by Thomas Blackshear, the man collapses, unable to go on. Jesus holds us up until we can stand on our own feet. Once again, It represented the grace of God. Jesus feels all the punishment we inflict on ourselves, and others inflict on us.

God must allow testing, for His glory; or our discipline, growth, and salvation, but He doesn’t do so thoughtlessly. Imagine your pain times the billions of people who suffer at this moment. Jesus carries it all.

In the old days, parents told their children as they spanked them, "This hurts me worse." But as the Lord allows necessary hardship in our lives, He suffers for us more than our parents. How great is our God. He knows the glorious miracles that await us in eternity through repentance. 

And the joys in our lifetimes.

Dear Lord, Thank You for Your love for us. Please let me remember that You suffer with me and that my suffering leads to joy.

 

Painting: Forgiven, Thomas Blackshear II, Also does Western Art, Gallery

Blessed Among Women and a Sword through Her Soul

Luke 1:28 (KJV)

And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

Luke 2:35 (KJV)

(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

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This picture, Kissing the Face of God, by Morgan Weistling, shows my favorite painting of Mary and Jesus. A young mother—no halo of light; no light around the head of Jesus—who loves her baby: a real person.

Every time I hear someone dreaming of a white Christmas, I think of Mary. Please. No snow.

When Joseph received the notice of the long trip to pay his taxes, he must have worried. How could he make the trip more comfortable for Mary? Most of us haven’t ridden on a donkey. Maybe it’s preferable to other means of travel. Did Joseph create a chair or side-saddle to make the trip easier? But she suffered a painful bouncing trip no matter what. 

And then, on the verge of delivery, no one will rent them a room. Finally, an inn keeper offers them his stable. So she gives birth in a barn and lays her baby in a manger.

Nativity scenes picture a manger surrounded by animals. But I prefer to believe the pastor who said the innkeeper offered her an empty stable. He said they kept their stables spotless. Maybe the hay was new and covered in a soft throw. And, before long, the couple bought or rented a house where the Magi visited.

Thirty-three years later, still a young woman, she watched as they took her first-born son down from the cross, barely recognizable—a sword through Mary’s soul. We know she witnessed the crucifixion because Jesus gave her in to the care of the Apostle John from the cross.

Mary lived a good middle-class life in the care of Joseph. And knowing God used her so profoundly filled her with joy. But how could any woman endure that day at the cross?

When God promises a blessing, it likely will come with trouble. In Mary's case, God honored her after her death. Her life has shone for centuries. But she suffered pain and heartbreak during her time on earth. If God made a promise to you, and you don't see it happening, wait. It may not be in this lifetime.

Dear Lord. Thank You for sending the Christ as a little baby to live among us. And giving us Your Bible to tell. Thank you for the courageous young family You provided for Him.

 

Kissing the Face of God, by Morgan Weistling. Click artist name to visit his gallery. Old West artist

Good or Evil: A Frightening Day

Monday Replay August 14, 2020

Romans 8:28 NIV

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

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On May 29, 2019, my hometown of Lawrence had its first tornado since 1982 (above). Sixty homes suffered damage. It caused seventeen injuries. Three people went to the hospital. Members of my church lost roofs and suffered other destruction. They waited in hotels or with their families until backed-up insurance companies repaired their homes. One man and his wife stayed in a hotel for a year.

A frightening day.

But Tom works construction and asked for prayer. His team didn’t have enough work to support them. The Sunday after the tornado, the Sunday school leader asked if Tom needed continued prayer. 

He waved his hands and said, “No. If you ask for rain, you better have an umbrella. The Lord gave me a tornado.” 

His crew worked fourteen-hour days for the duration.

None of us escape illness. Pain frightens me worse than death. But our illnesses give work to nurses, doctors, and hospital personnel. Real estate, architects, parking lot maintenance also earn their livelihoods from our gall bladder operations and worse.

A young girl gives birth and places her baby for adoption. A couple invites that baby into their lives. Her heartbreak provides a lifetime of joy for three people.

No one thinks a tornado is good. Tom meant no harm with his comment. But it illustrates how the Lord uses one man’s tragedy to move in the life of another. We only see life as it applies to us. God works with the whole.

A greedy man sold a Man's life for 30 pieces of silver. The Man’s friends felt a terrible grief. But after the most horrifying afternoon in history, the Man (Jesus) ascended to heaven and saved us from our sins.

Dear Lord, I know You see the whole while I see only a small part. Let me patiently wait on You.

Kansas Tornado May 29, 2019 appeared in Financial Times--Getty image

The Wrath of Satan

1 Peter 5:8

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Job 1:6-12 

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not reach out and put your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.

Luke 22:31-32

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you men like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith will not fail; and you, when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

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Satan fell from heaven because he, a created being, believed himself equal to the God of the Universe. What a shock to hurtle toward the earth when the LORD cast him out. Evil incarnate, now he’s evil with a purpose. Get God’s people. Frightening. Peter refers to him as our adversary. Think of the worst thing you ever experienced. The devil manufactured that.

But when he wanted to bring Job down, he went among the sons of God into God’s chamber. The LORD pointed to Job as one of His favored children. And the devil convinced the LORD to allow him to destroy Job’s faith. “He will curse you to your face.” The LORD gave him his way for His purposes.

Then he ruined Job’s property and killed his children. But Job stayed faithful to God. So Satan went back to the Father and demanded to infect Job’s body. And Job grew sores. In addition, Job had the “comfort” of the three worst friends in history. Finally, God restored Job.

Later, Jesus warned Simon Peter that Satan demanded to ruin Jesus’ followers, but Jesus prayed for them.

There’s a pattern here. The devil can’t touch God’s followers without first asking the LORD. He can demand, but he can’t act without permission, and the Father limits the extent of the devil’s power.

I’ve seen miracles that began with terrible illness, addictions, and financial ruin. But the Lord used those situations to show His love and mercy through healing. And to bring people to salvation.

Did Satan gloat on the day the Christ died on the cross? He won. He killed the Son of God. Supposedly the devil knows the Bible, but he missed that part, prophesied through the Tanakh (Jewish Bible). I’ve noted in another post that it contained 300 or 400 prophesies of the resurrection of Christ. Satan lost his power for eternity.

So what can we do to stay out of the clutches of the personification of evil, a liar incapable of any good, and malevolence only the creator of hate might muster?

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Immerse ourselves in the word of God and pray. Make no move unless we talk it over with the Lord. When evil happens, and believe me it will, cling to God with every bit of strength we have. When we feel his presence, “resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

But what of our friends and family who haven’t accepted the Lord? What is the answer for them? You can guess my answer. Us. And fervent prayer. Pray for their safety and for their salvation. We are their only protection.

Dear Lord: Everything on earth is in Your hands, including Satan. I trust You to protect me and get me through.

 

 

Joseph Ran

Monday Replay August 10, 2020

Romans 13:14

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Genesis 39-42

“How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” 

She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.

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Joseph ran to escape temptation. Potiphar’s wife lured him in to her bedchamber, only to watch him bound out, leaving his cloak in her hand. "How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?” he cried to the ?lady?. As a result, he went to prison for twelve years (estimate). 

The woman he scorned lied about him. But loyalty and God’s will mattered more to Joseph than the years in prison. And God rewarded him. The warden favored him by placing him over the other prisoners. And then he became Pharaoh's second-in-command after release. 

Billy Graham had a rule later referred to as the Billy Graham rule. He never allowed himself to be alone with a woman, including in elevators. Well-known pastors have landed on the front page of national newspapers because they didn’t follow his example, their witness and careers ruined. Billy Graham recognized potential trouble. Not to mention that his rule protected him from the lies of those eager to hurt a famous Christian.

Following Joseph’s example, the best way to beat sin is to avoid it. Run if you must. Throw the chocolate cake (or in my case meatloaf) or bottle of whiskey out the window. Don’t allow your best friend’s husband in your house alone with you.

An abstinent alcoholic might keep a bottle around to commemorate his victory, to show it won’t entice him. Not a good idea. We do ourselves a favor to acknowledge weaknesses. Make no provision for sin. 

AA requires you to not only avoid your habit, but to stay away from the people with whom you once practiced it.

We must take our sin seriously, Leave the cloak on the bedpost if necessary.

Dear Lord, as I struggle with a life-time problem with food, please let me keep eating triggers far from me. And let me therefore conquer my sin. 

 

Painting: Guido Reni Joseph and Potiphar's wife 1631 Baroque

Lost in the Wilderness

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Numbers 11:19-20

You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?

Slave owners in Egypt in the days of Moses abused the Israelites to make them too busy to hear Moses. They lived in misery. The Lord rescued them through Moses and they fled toward the promised land.

God performed miracles we will never see again. He opened the waters, so the Israelites came to the other side with no sign of wetness. The enemies who followed felt the waters descend on them, and they drowned. And yet, the Israelites questioned everything. They wanted more. They demanded meat. The Lord provided it, and they made themselves sick. The Lord's patience finally grew thin.

After forty years of weathering a harsh wilderness, they approached the promised land. Surely the giants who lived in Canaan might easily overcome their troops. They judged the fight by their weakness. Alone, they couldn’t win. But God created the earth. All His opponents stand puny next to Him.   

The trip took forty years, and the Israelites forgot what they had escaped. They should have passed over in a matter of months (40 days).

I thought the LORD used those days to weed out the unworthy, but realized that’s not the truth. The LORD prolonged the time again and again to give them a chance to follow Him in faith.

But the Israelites didn’t learn or change. They saw the LORD who parted the waters as powerless to give what He promised. The people weeded themselves out through fear.

We can appreciate the beauty of the landscape above. But what if you left your compass at home and you don't know the way out? Will you still see the beauty? Will you call on the LORD? Or will fear make you forget His power?

As we watch people die of the Corona Virus, with no clear end to it, tired of masks and social distancing, we hope to come out of our wilderness before forty years. But are we learning? Faith? Patience? Obedience?  

This Old Testament story illustrates 2 Peter 3:9. If we need to extend a forty-day trip to forty years to accept the LORD's sovereignty, the LORD will give us that time. But His patience will end eventually..

Dear Lord, Please teach me to trust You through every trial. The Promised Land is just ahead.

 

Image Alexander Nikitenko: Click his gallery on UnSplash

A Speck in Eternity

Psalm 144:4

Man is like a mere breath. His days are like a passing shadow.

2 Peter 3:9

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Life gave you the toughest trial you ever endured, and you can’t see the outcome of your struggles.
You depend on the Lord to bring you through each minute. But sometimes you wrestle with the thought “Does God Care?”

Life takes place in two parts—the part we experience here and the part we live in eternity. 

Career military serve for twenty to thirty years. But their basic training takes two months. In that brief period, they must master the routine of the military for up to a thirty-year career.

I sat, crossed-legged, in the Latrine in the dark, lights out. A small flashlight lit the floor in front of me as I shined my shoes. The First Sergeant opened the door and pretended she didn’t notice the glow. I don’t know why. She took advantage of most opportunities to shame me.

If I’m Methuselah, and I live nine-hundred-sixty-nine years, my life remains a speck in eternity–a passing shadow.
We live in basic training for our authentic life in eternity. We will experience everything more fully than our best days here. God blesses us with sunlight, wonderful food, a lovely song, and work every day. Squad leaders don’t reward those under them. They plan to wash out the unworthy. God wants to wash “in” the unworthy.

God lengthened forty days to forty years to give the Israelites more chance to follow Him to the promised land.

I suffered from an ovarian tumor for ten years. The doctor who found it died soon after he examined me and I stayed away from doctors. What if the next doctor told me the same thing? If I ignored it, it didn’t exist.

Though I suffered for years, I refused to accept that I had any problem. Finally I lay thrashing on my bed, unable to get up. The pain drove me to the hospital. Well, my son drove me to the hospital, but you know what I mean.

Many women with this monster saw it turn to cancer.  A slip of the knife on this thing devouring my body could have ended my life. Thankfully, the doctor sliced with care. And it wasn’t cancerous.

Why did I go through such a terrible experience? Other than my own bad decisions. But I thank God for it. That tumor played a part in my salvation. All of us know we will die—someday—but death no longer loomed in the distance. It stood at my front door.

Without God’s basic training, I faced being washed out, looking at heaven from the other side, separated from God forever. Instead, He washed me in.

Dear Lord, Please help me remember that my real life is still to come. Let me cling to You and glorify You in trouble.

 

Click here for original image: https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1581565535696296198

When Life Threatens to Smash Us Against the Stones.

Isaiah 43:2

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.

The water crashes against the rocks. Over the years, the shapes of the rocks change. The boulders in our lives can thrash us to bits, but in the midst of it, the Lord’s hand steadies us. And as time passes, the rough edges of the stones smooth.

A family in my church gave birth to a little girl with Down’s syndrome. She also had cancer. The family spent months in the hospital with her. At the same time, the young dad, in his thirties if that, had two strokes a month apart. His wife thought he couldn't survive. Or, if he did, she envisioned an overwhelming future of care for her daughter and her husband.

The Lord did miracles in these lives. The young man not only survived, but he went back to work months later. The only problem I know of:  he had double-vision for a while. I listened, amazed, as he spoke to a young international couple in Spanish—not his native language. It seemed impossible that he spoke English after his ordeal.

The little girl, free of cancer--though it might return--and a happy little person, high-fives and fist-bumps everyone.

They weathered this period by clinging to the Lord--their life raft. The rough waters continued for months. Surely that time hung over them endlessly. Life happens a  minute at a time and those minutes pile up until you can't see over them. 

But they end. Life moves on. And we appreciate the good God gives us more because we spent a period without it. When Winter ends, how beautiful are the Spring flowers.

Dear Lord, please let me trust you, knowing the raging waters in my life will smooth out my personality and character to make me more in Your image.