Tag Archives: Lord

The Children of Barnabas

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Barnabas accompanied Paul on his first mission expedition recorded in the book of Acts. Barnabas is mentioned in Acts for as bringing money from the sale of land to the apostles in order to care for the poor among them. Later in the book when there is a disagreement dividing the church in seeking to describe the severity of it the words used were, “even Barnabas” was pulled the wrong way.

In a world where we are measured by accomplishments and accolades we easily forget the power of encouragement. I know that God shows me truth in my heart and the ability to express that truth in words and “parables”. My sharing them here is out of a desire to help others to see and understand the world of the Spirit.

We Live in a world filled with news of floods, uprisings, death and tragedy. In a world of tragic calamity, we must understand the causes and effects of life. Without understanding the spiritual world we are like people without sight or hearing walking through life not understanding the things that strike our lives daily.

Yet because I find that most of the people I encounter have little value of these things and I often feel disparaged by the things I don’t do so well rather than the Gift God has given me. I feel rejected because I don’t remember names so well or because I am somewhat disorganized. At times I am so filled with the words that come to mind I don’t take the time I should to hear, to finish listening to the one before me.

So this morning I find a comment from one I have never met saying that my mind has value. Only a few words but words that cause my heart to soar. I would write more here but I easily begin to think that perhaps since so few look at them that maybe they really do not have value.

Just a few words from a stranger this morning remind me of a Gift that I am to share. My prayer becomes, “Lord, just as Paul spoke to Timothy to “stir up the Gift that was in him.” I find myself by only a few words from a stranger encouraged again to “stir up that Gift.” May I not fail to accomplish all You have set before me to do. As I look at the demands of this day, the needs of a dying world and the urgency to bring the remaining sheep into the fold before the time comes and we can work no longer I think, “Lord, who is sufficient for these things!” Yet, though Paul was just one man, encouraged by Barnabas, encouraged by others that one man sowed the seeds of Life that now nearly 2,000 years after his death still are bearing fruit! With God nothing is impossible!

Not one of us is sufficient for these things. Not one of us can accomplish all we are called to do without others who come alongside us. May we love one another with new raging fires of passion so that our love, our encouragement may feed the fire of another. Separated by the pain of life and the self absorption that often accompanies it our fires can dim and separated each fire may grow cold. But together the collective passion of the fire that burns within us becomes an unquenchable fire consuming the hate of a dying world and burning through the underbrush of confusion to blaze a path which together we can walk into the eternity of God.

May God grant us grace to walk together and encourage one another! Amen.

Shattered!

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Shattered!

The screech of tires! The scream of a child! Our favorite place desecrated by a thoughtless act! These are but a few of the images that in a moment can burn into our mind and heart. To a lesser degree there are those conversations, meetings, news reports, sights and sounds of our busy world that pull us from some piece of sacred space ever closer to a precipice into the yawning jaws of fear, worry, or hopelessness.

None of us are immune from these things. “When I was prosperous I said, ‘Nothing can stop me now!’ Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered.” Psalm 30:6-7.
“I cried out to you, O Lord. … Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord. You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!” (Psalm 30:8, 10-12)

I am thankful that the Psalmist did not stop with verse 7. But unfortunately we often do. We sometimes go days, weeks, months in our shattered state. This is all so unnecessary. Why do we do this?

I believe that there are two reasons why we do.

1) We have believed the world around us which with ever growing crescendo proclaims to us that the solution to our problems is in the right insurance, phone, detergent, car, music, etc. Mindlessly we rummage around for answers and fulfillment where none can be found and often in the act increase our problem.

2) We do not believe God. In God’s Word and the testimony of the Church triumphant we have ample evidence that trust in God is still the only way to “stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan” (Ephesians 6:16).

Today are we shattered? We cannot heal ourselves. We were never meant to heal ourselves. We have been created to live with God in constant connectedness. We have been and are lied to on a regular basis and told that we must do it ourselves. Yet the evidence floods our world that we are destroying our lives, others and our world. Our leaders can’t lead us out of this mess. Our doctors cannot cure all our ills. Our scholars cannot bring to us the wisdom we need to find our way.

There remains, as from the beginning, but one way to mend our shattered and broken lives.
“May God’s grace be upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with undying love.” Ephesians 6:24

When the Bottom Drops Out

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When the Bottom Drops Out.

Psalm 130 is essentially a cry for help when the bottom has dropped out from beneath us. How often we may feel this way! When we do it may be tempting to think that the thing the “bottom” was resting on has shifted or moved. As Christians that thing is our faith in a Holy God. Has He moved? Has He changed? Has He left us? Of course not! Perhaps the real issue is that of a false bottom.

Too often we rest in a false sense of security in “things”. Our families. Our homes. Our careers. Our bank accounts or retirement plans. All of this ” life stuff” does not really provide a stable foundation. They perhaps bring some relative stability. They can make us feel safe and comfortable for awhile. But life is full of storms and tempests. It is easy for any one of these things to fall away. When it does, we are left feeling like the bottom has just dropped out from beneath us. In our desperation to find equilibrium, we may frantically try to recover the shattered pieces of our lives and entrust them once again to the wrong thing.

The wise psalmist knows where to turn. He cries out to God. He acknowledges his sin. He begins to wait upon the Lord. Herein lies the tricky part. The waiting part. For when we are in distress we want immediate action. We despise living in uncertainty. We long for the stability of what has been lost. The temptation is to pick up the pieces and start plowing forward under our own steam. True redemption occurs when we wait for a solution in God’s time. ” Waiting and watching till morning. Waiting and watching till morning”. This is so very difficult to do. And yet, so necessary. Amen.

Littered Landscapes and Love

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English: Roadside litter bin Why do they do it...

English: Roadside litter bin Why do they do it? The old logging road off a lay by on the A701 is littered with garbage. There are no litter bins in the lay by but surely they could take their rubbish home with them. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Littered Landscapes and Love

Relationships are like a beautiful landscape. When they are newly discovered, there is much wonder at the beauty all around. Everything seems to be bursting with color, fragrance, light. The experience can often take our breath away.

Sadly, over time, litter begins to accumulate. Harsh words. A broken promise. Unforgiveness. Records of offenses kept. Soon we see that our once beautiful landscape is littered with trash, debris, and worn out rusting junk. The scene can once again take our breath away; not for its beauty but rather for the tragedy of what has been lost. That once beautiful place where we lingered over coffee and time itself seemed to stand still, that place of holy conversation, has been littered by the trash of life and this sacred space nearly destroyed.

Yet look closely. The beauty is still there beneath the litter and debris. It is often tempting to look around and be overwhelmed by the mess we see. Rather than contemplating rolling up our sleeves and getting to work on trash removal duty, we dream of escaping to a new landscape. The tragedy in this is that this is a denial of the beautiful landscape we once beheld with such joy. What does it say of us that we are unwilling to pay a price to restore even a small piece of it? The temptation is to walk away in search of greener pastures, an uncluttered landscape, and a fresh start. The problem with this is that over time, the same litter seems to have followed us to our new and improved location……wherever we go, there we still are.

The true test of love long born is not in the initial beauty we find in the landscape of our love, but rather in our dogged determination to clear away the litter of our thoughtless passing. It is in learning new and better ways to tend to that love. It is in learning about the ways in which we litter and destroy our beautiful landscape and somehow learning to avoid them.

Yes, it is easy to abandon what was once a sacred space in search for fairer ground. But that is not what our Lord did for us. He did not leave us in our littered landscape, He redeemed us. He did not abandon us in the mess we made, but rather took on human flesh, became one of us, and lived among us. He showed us how to live, modeled love and forgiveness, and taught us the importance of preserverence until the end. Amen