Setting The Record Straight...

Late last night as I lay in bed, I picked up my iPhone, went on to Facebook and began to look at some of the comments that a few of my most loyal blog followers had written concerning yesterday’s post.  I was touched to read that my experiences had encouraged them and was personally enlightened by their precious words of encouragement back to me. 

This morning as I was helping my wife out of bed, I began to relay some portions of the Bible Study that I had just completed.  I had read from Psalms 33:20-22 where it says:

“We wait for the Lord.

 He is our help and our shield.

 In Him our hearts find joy.

 In His holy name we trust.

 Let your mercy rest upon us, O Lord,

 Since we wait with great expectations for you.” 

                                             (God’s Word © personalized)

Charles Spurgeon in his great exposition on the book of Psalms entitled “The Treasury of David” asked his readers to “Note the three ‘ours’ in the text.  These holdfast words are precious.  Personal possession makes the Christian man; all else is mere talk.”  The truth of that statement had hit a strong chord within me and as I was sharing this with Piper, my thoughts went racing back to yesterday’s post and I considered how my personal experience with Christ, the living Word, was affecting others.

It is my greatest and humblest desire that the words that I write in this blog do not come across as one who is a “know it all” or is arrogant or pompous. Over the years I have witnessed the Biblical message of faith that I believe, live and share, mistakenly come across by well meaning men and women of God as a boastful proclamation.  I have had both friends and close family walk out of some of our own church services feeling hurt and offended by words that were shared by those of us in leadership.  And while I can personally vouch that what was said was not meant in the way it came out, the damage was still done.

Your personal relationship and experience with Jesus is a very precious thing that I do not declare as inferior to my own.  I have endeavored to share from my heart the reality of the love, the joys, the pains, the victories and the failures of my personal experiences with you from the standpoint of how I believe and live my life as I understand the truth given to us by the Holy Spirit in God’s Word.  My hope is that my thoughts and that my stories would be an encouragement as well as a challenge to you as you live your daily lives.  I believe that God has given us all the tools to live a victorious life on this earth.  But as someone once said, great victories only come after great battles!

The journey that my wife and I have been on with the attack on her health over the last three or more years, has suddenly taken me from the comfort of the observer’s seat flying high above the fight and tossed me right into the heat of the battle.  I have learned more about myself and what I believe (or in some cases, what I thought I believed) and desire to be more empathetic, understanding, loving and giving to others who also deal directly with the heart rending experiences of life.

So as you follow along with me, let your tears, your laughter and your new found determination and great expectations in the Word of God catapult you on to greater strength and success within you and toward others as you share the Good News with them.  Have a great day filled with great expectations.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”

Options

Well, we made it through the weekend, through my Mom’s memorial service, through the reception, and through the Labor Day weekend!  As my wife and I were driving to the coast yesterday, I commented that the new school year was about to start in earnest for all the kids.  Summer is but a recent memory, and once Labor Day is written off, all thoughts begin to focus on school events, the Holiday season and then the beginning of another calendar year.

As we drove through the town of Sebastopol, the tiny hamlet of Bodega and then around the harbor area of Bodega Bay, I noticed all the couples, young, old and in between, as they walked, talked, laughed and smiled together in the late afternoon sun.  My heart began to ache as I glanced over at my wife and thought of all the fun times we have had over the years since high school.  She had kind of a hard time getting into the car as we had embarked upon our adventure to the coast, and was sitting quietly beside me.

There are times in this walk of faith when it would be easy to let the natural circumstances that are visible before you to have dominion and allow oneself to slide right into the realm of defeat and dwell on the thoughts of life without the one you love.  Yesterday was one of those times for me.

Now I understand that I have just been through a tremendously tough time with the sudden passing of my Mom, our recent scare with my wife’s visit to the emergency room last week, and three years of dealing with the attack on my wife’s health.  But does that really give me the right to suddenly abandon the One whom I have determined to trust through this current journey in the continuing saga of my wife and I?

All these thoughts came flooding into my mind this morning as I opened my Bible and read the words of the Psalmist in Psalms 34:8 where it says: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the one who trusts in Him.”  (NKJV)  Strong’s defines the word “taste” as to experience, or to perceive the flavor of and the word “See” as to inspect, to learn, or to find out.  It would therefore seem that if I gave up in a moment of emotional weakness that I would be halting any hope that I might have of experiencing or tasting the flavor of God’s answer to my cry for help.

The final nail in the coffin of my doubt attack was inserted when I dug a little deeper into the original intent of the author’s use of the term “good.”  In the Hebrew context it includes the thought of something that is pleasant, agreeable, valuable in estimation and then the idea that really set me straight… it can be described as something that is better in comparison.

Giving in to the effects of sickness and disease is definitely not something that I would consider pleasant, nor would it be something that I feel anyone in their right mind would agree with!  Going with the solid, unmovable, unshakable, never ending truth of God’s Word on the matter of sickness (see:  Exodus 15:26, Exodus 23:25-26, Psalm 91:16, John 10:10, Acts 10:38, Romans 8:2, and 1Peter 2:24 for starters…) is the best option available when everything and everyone else gives you no hope of a bright future.

So if you’re having one of those doubt attacks like I experienced yesterday, I would whole-heartedly suggest that you make a beeline back to the Word of GOOD EXPECTATIONS, the Word that will give you a positive expectation for a prosperous and bright tomorrow.  As far as I can see, it not only is the best option available… it is the ONLY option!  Have a great week as we wrap up summer and look forward to the changing winds of the Fall season ahead.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What GOOD THINGS am I expecting today?”

The Straw That Broke The Camel's Back

Last night as I lay wide awake in bed, I gazed across the room at the clock and noticed that it read 1:31 AM.  I then dropped my head back into the pillow and continued reviewing all the events of the previous day, in connection with all that has been happening to me over the last couple of weeks.  My wife had had a light seizure at about 10:00 in the morning and following the response of the fire department and the ambulance crew, we spent the next 5.5 hours at the Emergency Room as they ran countless tests, did a blood workup, took a Cat Scan, Chest X-ray, and an EKG, and had her hooked up with various wires that monitored all of her vital signs.  At one point it got a little scary as her blood pressure dropped quite low, but in the end everything stabilized and they final released her late in the afternoon.

The thought that kept popping into my mind in the early hours today was that old Arabic proverb that talks about “The straw that broke the camel’s back!”  With all the emotions and pressures of my Mom’s recent passing and tomorrow’s Memorial Service, the doctor’s appointments for Piper and I, and then the need to recertify the eligibility for all of her benefit programs, the events of yesterday seemed like they should have been the final straw.  But as I laid there in the quiet still of the early morning, I was keenly aware of a “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Philippians 4:7 NKJV) hovering about as well as in me.  

I recalled as I sat all day at the side of my wife with my Bible Study notebook open before me in my lap, looking at something that I had written a few hours before everything began to happen yesterday.  I had jotted down a personal note that said: “It takes an overriding trust in God to totally let go of your own thoughts and desires.”  Immediately under this I had copied a quote out of a book by Smith Wigglesworth where he encouraged his readers to “Let go of your own thoughts and take the thoughts of God, the Word of God.  If you build yourself on imaginations, you will go wrong.”  (Faith That Prevails © 1938, 1966 by Gospel Publishing House, Springfield Missouri 658-1894 p.12)

Yesterday, I had a choice to make.  Every time the monitor on the wall began to beep loudly and flash its little red lights at the updated reading of my wife’s blood pressure, I had to fight off the haunting words of terror and defeat that the enemy of our souls would try to amplify in my mind.  Each time I would read aloud the words of trust in God’s Word that I had before me, and reaffirm the truth of how He saw my wife’s condition in disagreement with any negative imaginations that were attempting to plant a seed in my mind.  I was determined to not allow things to go wrong and to stay firm in the faith until the monitor, and all the reports of the multitude of tests agreed with God and His thoughts!  And the exciting thing is that after about an hour of standing and confessing the truth, the monitor finally began to raise its numbers until it finally jumped up and stabilized on a reading that was exactly my wife’s normal BP!

Was this “The straw that broke the camels back?”  No Way!  It was merely another bump in a life that has been committed to the control of God and His Word.  Was it as easy and simple as it may sound?  No Way!  I confess, it was rough (very rough) going at times, but in the end I forced myself to agree with His view and not on my own incorrect imaginations.  Yesterday’s events brought to my reality the words of Hebrews in chapter eleven verse three where it talks about “things which are seen (that) were not made of things which are visible.”  (NKJV) All those flashing lights, wires, monitors, doctors, nurses, technicians, and readings that were blinking in my face seemed to be broadcasting one story, while the truth of the matter was as yet unseen in God’s realm of His truth.

So as Joshua asked, I ask of you today… “Choose today whom you will serve…”  Will you choose to panic and let that one additional piece of straw break you or choose to “’Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding” and thereby allow Him to “make your paths smooth?”  (Proverbs 3:5-6 God’s Word ©) I’ll give you a hint… Go with the latter.  It tends to give your camel a long and healthy life!  Have a good weekend.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”

Bravery

Hebrews 10:35 in the Contemporary English Version says to, “Keep on being brave!  It will bring you great rewards.  Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised.”  The idea of being brave caught my attention as I read that this morning.  It just seemed to have a slightly different connotation than “do not cast away your confidence…”  (NKJV)  The thought of a mother or father telling their little child to be brave as they set off on their first day of school came to mind.  What also ran across the screen of my mental imagery was the need for an adult, such as myself, to be brave in the midst of a long and trying ordeal.

The Webster’s original 1828 dictionary defines brave as “Courageous, bold, daring, intrepid and fearless of dangers.”  That didn’t seem to fit real well with my personal situation, but a further definition said that being brave “usually unites the sense of courage with generosity and dignity of mind; qualities often united.”  That explanation hit a nerve!  One of the hardest situations that has continually raised it’s head throughout the ordeal that I have lived with through the attack on my wife’s health over the last three years, and recently exasperated with my Mom’s home going, has been the need to love and forgive the few who have been oblivious (or added) to the hurt and needs of our situation.  Just when I think that I have succeeded in a breakthrough of God’s agape love, something comes up that stirs up the memories.

Webster’s definition combining “a sense of courage with generosity and dignity of mind” seemed to greatly clarify the writer of Hebrews meaning when he or she talked about being brave.  To me it meant having the courage to move beyond the hurt and walk with an attitude of generosity and the mind of Christ (which would be love) toward everyone, especially to those who have knowingly or unknowingly accused, neglected or abandoned us.

The bottom line being that no matter what man may do toward us, God is still in control and our unyielding faith is solidly founded on Him and the truth of His Word.  That trust frees us from dwelling on and being moved by the hurt and allows us to be generous and loving in the midst of the pain.  Webster goes on to give an example of the use of the word brave as a verb with the sentence: “The rock that braves the tempest.”  That example also hit a nerve as it pointed me directly to “The Rock” that we are to stand on that gives us the courage to be brave enough to endure any tempest just as water runs off a duck’s back!

So… just how brave are you feeling today?  Do you have the confidence and courage to brave any tempest that blows your way?  What is your usual reaction to trouble.  Do you get angry or suddenly feel lovingly generous to those who might be at fault?  Remember the Rock… and the duck!  Have a great Wednesday.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”

Cast Away

Have you ever read the old classic book Swiss Family Robinson or seen the Disney movie?   The movie was always a family favorite in our home when the kids were young.  The story portrays a family that sails off to a new country for a fresh beginning only to find themselves as the sole survivors on a uncharted island after being shipwrecked in a fierce storm.  The Disney movie tends to be a fairly loose interpretation of a novel written in 1812 by Swiss pastor Johann David Wyss entitled “Der Schweizerische Robinson” (literally: The Swiss Robinson).  In the Oxford Companion to Children’s Literature (Oxford 1995) it is noted “that with all the expansions and contradictions over the past two centuries (this includes a long history of abridgements, condensations, Christianizing and Disney products), Wyss’s original narrative has long since been obscured.  The closest English translation to the original is William Godwin’s 1816 translation, reprinted by Penquin Classics.”

For my purposes though, the original intent of showing how a family must depend on its own ingenuity, abilities and faith comes through sharp and clear.  I’ve always been a bit of an adventurer as well as one who likes to stray from the beaten path others have taken in life and repeatedly found this movie to an encouragement to whatever new project I was working on at the time.  2 Timothy 1:7 states that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”   (NKJV)  The well known Pastor, Bible Teacher and writer E.W. Kenyon stated that the word “power” in this verse would better be translated as “ability.”  If that be so, then this verse would be the perfect foundation to stand and depend on if one suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves as a “Cast Away” from their normal course of life.

As I studied in the Word this morning, the Lord showed me how a “Cast Away” is one who is separated from everything he is used to.  He is separated from his network of family and friends as well as from all his resources.  This individual has nothing left but to look to himself for survival.  The Christian though, is not left completely without resources.  According to 2 Timothy 1:7 he, like the old ‘80’s and early ‘90’s television character MacGyver,  always having his roll of duct tape and his Swiss army knife in the form of God’s abilities present within him!

In any new and/or unexpected situation, the Believer has only to seek the Lord’s guidance, and answers will avail themselves to him.  A scripture such as Romans 8:6 quickly becomes perfectly clear where it is stated that “the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.”  (English Majority Text Version)  When surprises come our way that have the potential to shake us all the way down to our boots, it becomes imperative that we “focus on Jesus, the source and completer of our faith”  (Hebrews 12:2 –paraphrased)

So in one respect, you could say that we should always have the mindset of a “Cast Away” as we are always ready to look to Him for the solution to the various predicaments we face in our daily lives.  We are always ready to find His ability in us, so that we can experience His victory.  Once you find yourself living in that lifestyle, you will tend to face each day not in the fear and trembling that the mother in Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson did, but with the thought of nothing but adventure and confidence as that of young Francis.  “You don’t have to worry now, I caught my tiger!”  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What TIGERS am I expecting to CATCH today?”

Gilligan's Island

Last night as I was reading to my wife before we turned the light out, I came to a place where the author was using the scripture from Hebrews 11:11 to enhance the point that he was making.  The last line of the verse really caught my attention and I jotted down a note to myself to review it the next morning during my Bible study time.  This morning after I settled in at my desk and savored a fresh hot cup of Don Francisco Hawaiian Hazelnut medium brew coffee, I turned to Hebrews 11:11b and read, “Abraham trusted that God would keep his promise."  (God’s Word ©)

After having gone through a long and complicated week of Doctor’s appointments for me, crazy reactions to a new medication, dealing with benefit and health issues with my wife, and the upcoming memorial service for my Mom, that scripture was like a cool glass of lemonade on a hot summer afternoon.  I’m not entirely sure why, but the thought of God’s faithfulness to His promises seemed very calming and refreshing.  As I wound down my study today, I ended up at Hebrews 10:35 where the author comments “Therefore do not cast away your confidence which has a great reward.” (NKJV) 

The phrase “Cast Away” caught my attention and I immediately recalled the old United Artist Television sitcom “Gilligan’s Island!”  Okay, so I know that I am dating myself, but how many of you remember that show?  Even though the show was very popular with the 98 episodes that it originally aired from 1964 to 1967, it gained more popularity during the decades of syndication especially in the 1970’s and ‘80’s when it played during the late afternoon hours when multitudes of kids turned it on after school.

It wasn’t necessarily the quirky situations and characters that the show delighted its audiences with that caught my thoughts this morning, but the idea of being a cast away on an uncharted island in the middle of the ocean with no hope of rescue!  On the show, the only thing that people could depend on was the companionship of their fellow shipmates or the somewhat wacky ideas of the professor.

Hebrews 10:35 encourages us to not take on the mentality of a cast away, but instead to toss all of our confidence on the Lord and the truth of His Word which promises “a great reward.”  The promises of His great reward is much more comforting to me than the thought of re-floating the battered and broken “SS Minnow” or building a raft with coconut tree branches or hoping that a passing plane or ship might just happen to spot you as you stand on the beach wildly waving your arms!  NO!  His great reward is as sure as a certified bank draft that just needs to be taken down to the nearest branch and cashed!

So, don’t be like Gilligan and toss out your anchor without a rope attached to it, but tie up the ship of your life to the solid and unmovable anchor of the Word of God.  Put your trust in Him and you’ll never find yourself on a deserted and uncharted island.  Have a terrific week.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”

Torment

My life over the last few years has been anything but what I used to consider as normal.  It is definitely not what or where I expected it to be.  Due to my wife’s needs our daily routine changes without notice and without a care for what is happening all around us.  At times this can be very frustrating, especially when I am trying to fit into someone else’s schedule.  When my ability to complete the responsibilities that I have agreed to accomplish is compromised, my personal integrity alarm rings loud and clear!  Then the inner torment begins to override my peace as I am torn between taking care of my wife’s immediate, previously unseen need and that of taking care of the other need that I have promised someone else that I would handle.

This morning as I was coming to the conclusion of my Bible study time, I was suddenly drawn to the Apostle John’s thoughts about love in the book of First John chapter four.  The distant chime of the words that “perfect love casts our fear” began to sound from somewhere in the back of my mind. As I turned to page 1196 in my New King James Version of the Bible, verse eighteen of chapter four literally leaped off the page and into my heart saying: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.”

As I meditated on that verse I began to see that much of the torment that I was feeling was self imposed!  Much of the concerns that I considered were things or reactions that I thought might happen when others found out that I was unable to do what I had said that I would do.  In reality, most individuals have been very understanding of our situation.  I say “most” because I think the few that haven’t been, have really made a negative impact on my personal well-being since I tend to want to please everyone!

The lesson that I believe the Lord was trying to convey to me this morning is that I have not been allowing His love to work in the situations in my life.  Suddenly I have found  myself in a place where I cannot personally control my daily life and it has been quite difficult to give up that place of control to God!  Have you ever felt that way?  It is a tough and humbling predicament to be in.  But you know what?  God’s words to Joshua as he embarked upon a completely new and different chapter of his life, sounded off in a fresh and personal way to me this morning:  “I have commanded you, ‘Be strong and courageous!  Don’t tremble or be terrified (or be tormented), because (I) the Lord your God is with you wherever you go… I will never neglect you or abandon you.’”  (Joshua 1:9 & 5 God’s Word ©)

If you at times find yourself in similar circumstances, then I would encourage you as He did to me today, and remember His love for you!  Peel your fingers off the grip of your life and yield that which you can’t control to Him.  I have to tell you… it is quite a freeing experience!  I know that we are always instructed to love others, but there comes a time when you have to focus that love – His love - upon yourself and allow Him to take care of you!  Have a wonderful weekend.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”