Stumble…not a desirable thing to do, but we’ve all done it. Stubbed a toe and stumbled…. for absolutely no reason…just stumble. Then, embarrassed, look to see if anyone saw it! In the language the Bible was written in, ‘hamartano’=miss the mark. We miss the mark of our step and down we go.
Our mother has some difficulty moving around, bad knees…and we are concerned about her stumbling. A stumble could result in a fall, and worse. So…we are removing obstacles. I spent part of a day with my sister, cleaning and removing ‘stuff’ from our parents home. What looks like trash to me, looks like a treasure to our mother because of the memory it stirs. She was surrounded by things that witnessed about something pleasant.
We chose the best things. Some of them were ok…colored pages or handmade crafts, gifts from children. Half burned candles. Trinkets from all sorts of places, souveniers. Framed pictures of children who HAVE children now.
Some of the things were better. Figurines of birds and glass candlesticks. Then the best…things that belonged to my mother’s mother…photos of her grown children and her grandchildren, a small chest for jewelry that was a gift from my daddy (she has had ever since I can remember). Best things. Sometimes we have to strip off some ‘good’ things just so we can see the best things. Sometimes we have to rid ourselves of ‘ok’ stuff…just so we don’t stumble.
Life is like that. There are some things we’d be better off to let go of., or at least get off the shelf. Some friends who aren’t as committed to the Lord. Wrong friends who will get us off course. All sorts of activities that crowd in and consume too much of our lifetime. Maybe even too much religious activity. Good stuff…but so much of it that we miss hearing God’s Voice, we forfeit that quiet time sitting at His Feet….and we stumble.
‘..preserve sound judgment and discernment…they will be life for you…then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble…’ (Pro. 3: 21-23) God will give discernment. He will help us to choose the best. Trouble is, we often don’t ask Him to show us the best choices, we choose the ok stuff and miss out on so much. We cling to those ok things, and forfeit moving forward with God in adventuring into the best things He has waiting for us. We stand still and collect dust with all this ’ok’ stuff…and never see the treasures He wants to give us. And often end up stumbling on the clutter.
We all stumble. “..for all have sinned (harmartano)…and come short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23) None of us walk thru this life without stumbling and sinning…because we are not God. Jesus was the only One who lived a life without sin. He personified the glory of God. In skin. ‘ In the beginning was the Word….and the Word was God….and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us’ John 1:1,14
You can stay with the ok stuff. You can collect dust on it. Maybe you won’t stumble….maybe. Or you can run with God and ask Him to show you the better stuff, and He’ll give you the best !
‘…we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.‘ Heb. 12:1
Friday, August 13, 2010
Honor..
Honor…one of the things on that list of Ten things. ‘Honor your father and your mother,’(Ex. 20:12) I notice there are no conditions attached. I don’t get to pick and choose when or if I honor them. I am not told to obey them instead of God,.and.never in disobedience to God. But I am not given the option of deciding they don’t deserve my honoring them.
‘kabed’=to be heavy. This is the word that is translated honor. It carries with it the idea of importance. Parents are important. Even bad parents are important. But how my heart hurts for those who did not have the nurturing they needed. I grieve for those who are alone in their struggles. The mother in me wants to step into those situations and try to make up for it. But there is no making up for it. Not by me, or you.
But there is help. ‘When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.’ (Ps. 27:10) The very best thing we can do for adults who have been let down…disappointed…abandoned…forsaken by parents, is point them to The Perfect Father. Even the most devoted parent among us lets our children down, fails on some point. ‘God is not a man, that He should lie’ (Num. 23:19) Hallelujah.
‘kabed’=to be heavy. This is the word that is translated honor. It carries with it the idea of importance. Parents are important. Even bad parents are important. But how my heart hurts for those who did not have the nurturing they needed. I grieve for those who are alone in their struggles. The mother in me wants to step into those situations and try to make up for it. But there is no making up for it. Not by me, or you.
But there is help. ‘When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.’ (Ps. 27:10) The very best thing we can do for adults who have been let down…disappointed…abandoned…forsaken by parents, is point them to The Perfect Father. Even the most devoted parent among us lets our children down, fails on some point. ‘God is not a man, that He should lie’ (Num. 23:19) Hallelujah.
Lists..
Lists…Do you make them? I do. Seems if I get it written on a list, I can release it from my mind, depending on the list rather than my memory. If I send someone to buy things for me, I make a list. I’m in good company…God made a few lists…
The first one I think of is that list of ten things He wrote. (‘Moses was there with the Lord…and He wrote on the tablets…the Ten Commandments’ Ex. 34:28) THAT is a list…if you haven’t really considered all those ten things, it would be worth your time.
It’s an impossible list to fill though. He knew that when He made it…but we didn’t. We had to learn that it was impossible…that was the purpose of the list. (‘no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law, rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.’ Romans 3:20) Jesus filled that list perfectly. (..I have not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill..’Matt.5:17) And what is simply amazing is that He is so gracious to credit to us, what He did to fill that list, He did all the work and we can gain reward. Amazing grace indeed.
There are other lists. Lists of behavior that offend God. I find myself listed somehow in all of them. And am so thankful for the Amazing Grace of Jesus Christ and His payment for my offenses.
The first one I think of is that list of ten things He wrote. (‘Moses was there with the Lord…and He wrote on the tablets…the Ten Commandments’ Ex. 34:28) THAT is a list…if you haven’t really considered all those ten things, it would be worth your time.
It’s an impossible list to fill though. He knew that when He made it…but we didn’t. We had to learn that it was impossible…that was the purpose of the list. (‘no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law, rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.’ Romans 3:20) Jesus filled that list perfectly. (..I have not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill..’Matt.5:17) And what is simply amazing is that He is so gracious to credit to us, what He did to fill that list, He did all the work and we can gain reward. Amazing grace indeed.
There are other lists. Lists of behavior that offend God. I find myself listed somehow in all of them. And am so thankful for the Amazing Grace of Jesus Christ and His payment for my offenses.
List..
The lists continue.. ‘from within, out of your hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile you.’ The words of Jesus Christ as recorded by Mark in 7:22. Think you’re not on that list? If so, the arrogance got you. Let’s consider the list.
Consider that first thing…’evil thoughts’. ‘kakos’= evil. It includes hurtful, bad, harmful, malicious, injurious, ill, worthless… dialogiamos=thoughts. It means internal consideration, imagination, reasoning, to reckon thoroughly, to deliberate by reflection or discussion, cast in mind, consider, think. So….when someone cuts you off and grabs that parking space you were headed for, and you think how they deserve a flat tire when they get out of the store with $100 worth of groceries, including ice cream and milk, and it’s hot July weather…THAT is a ‘kakos dialogiamos’, and you made the list.
Consider that first thing…’evil thoughts’. ‘kakos’= evil. It includes hurtful, bad, harmful, malicious, injurious, ill, worthless… dialogiamos=thoughts. It means internal consideration, imagination, reasoning, to reckon thoroughly, to deliberate by reflection or discussion, cast in mind, consider, think. So….when someone cuts you off and grabs that parking space you were headed for, and you think how they deserve a flat tire when they get out of the store with $100 worth of groceries, including ice cream and milk, and it’s hot July weather…THAT is a ‘kakos dialogiamos’, and you made the list.
list...
The lists continue..Paul has a great list. “..whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable…if anything is excellent or praiseworthy..think about such things.’(Phil. 4:8) This list really helps to re-program wrong thinking. When I have those ‘kakos dialogiamos’/evil thoughts…the Holy Spirit will often remind me of this list, and if I do not quench His whisper, He helps me to re-direct my thinking to whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admireable, excellent, or praiseworthy. In the case of the parking spot..and my wishing for a flat tire….that’s not a noble thought is it?!!
Hoarding...
Hoarding…have you ever seen a place that’s stacked and piled up with all kinds of ‘stuff’? There is a TV show about it now. ‘Hoarders’ it’s called. I’ve seen this up close and personal….
I remember the rooms being pretty normal, chairs to sit in, tables to eat off of, floor space for children to play games on. Then over a period of time, all of it becomes consumed and overtaken with ‘stuff’. Then the stuff begins to collect layers and layers of dust. ( you just can’t clean piles of ‘stuff’) Some of the family may try to approach the problem, but after their attempts are rejected with reprimands about interfering in personal choice….the hoarding person is allowed to live as they please. Personal choice, free will….God allows us that as well.
I wonder too how people’s lives get so consumed and overtaken with what the Bible calls ‘sin’. Where does it begin? How does someone ever become a murderer? a drug addict? . Wrong choices. Sin. God doesn’t like our choices, but they are ours. He will not over-rule them. Human-kind chose knowledge in the Garden. Knowledge of both good and evil. (‘of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, do not eat…or you will die.’ Gen.2:17 )
“Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities have been clearly seen…men are without excuse…they neither glorified Him as God or gave thanks to Him, their thinking became futile and their hearts darkened…therefore God gave them over to the desire of their hearts…to sexual impurity…worshipping and serving created things rather than the Creator…He gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones…men also abandoned natural relations with women ..committing indecent acts with other men…they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of god, so He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done…they know god’s righteous decree that those who do these things deserve death, they continue to do them and even approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:20-32
Sexual sin is just one of a number of areas I could list that begins with one wrong choice. Then, we begin to know the evil of it…and it brings death into our lives. One wrong choice begins the process…unless we allow God to intervene and rescue us from wrong paths. (‘Guard my life and rescue me, let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You.’ Ps.25:20)
Hoarding and turning your home into a trash pile is a process. A life consumed and completely surrendered to sin began somewhere…it was a process. Hoarding can be undone…family can come in and carry all that stuff away and clean house. (‘Rescue me from the mire..do not let me sink..’ Ps. 69:14)
God will allow you to hoard sin in your life. The longer you hoard it, the worse it will get. Call on Him today to come carry all that stuff away and clean house. Like the hoarders…it will be painful to let go of some of that nasty stuff you’ve become involved in. But it’s never too late for Him. He is God.
I remember the rooms being pretty normal, chairs to sit in, tables to eat off of, floor space for children to play games on. Then over a period of time, all of it becomes consumed and overtaken with ‘stuff’. Then the stuff begins to collect layers and layers of dust. ( you just can’t clean piles of ‘stuff’) Some of the family may try to approach the problem, but after their attempts are rejected with reprimands about interfering in personal choice….the hoarding person is allowed to live as they please. Personal choice, free will….God allows us that as well.
I wonder too how people’s lives get so consumed and overtaken with what the Bible calls ‘sin’. Where does it begin? How does someone ever become a murderer? a drug addict? . Wrong choices. Sin. God doesn’t like our choices, but they are ours. He will not over-rule them. Human-kind chose knowledge in the Garden. Knowledge of both good and evil. (‘of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, do not eat…or you will die.’ Gen.2:17 )
“Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities have been clearly seen…men are without excuse…they neither glorified Him as God or gave thanks to Him, their thinking became futile and their hearts darkened…therefore God gave them over to the desire of their hearts…to sexual impurity…worshipping and serving created things rather than the Creator…He gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones…men also abandoned natural relations with women ..committing indecent acts with other men…they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of god, so He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done…they know god’s righteous decree that those who do these things deserve death, they continue to do them and even approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:20-32
Sexual sin is just one of a number of areas I could list that begins with one wrong choice. Then, we begin to know the evil of it…and it brings death into our lives. One wrong choice begins the process…unless we allow God to intervene and rescue us from wrong paths. (‘Guard my life and rescue me, let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in You.’ Ps.25:20)
Hoarding and turning your home into a trash pile is a process. A life consumed and completely surrendered to sin began somewhere…it was a process. Hoarding can be undone…family can come in and carry all that stuff away and clean house. (‘Rescue me from the mire..do not let me sink..’ Ps. 69:14)
God will allow you to hoard sin in your life. The longer you hoard it, the worse it will get. Call on Him today to come carry all that stuff away and clean house. Like the hoarders…it will be painful to let go of some of that nasty stuff you’ve become involved in. But it’s never too late for Him. He is God.
Rocks...
Rocks…my friend Barbara caught a couple on her windshield yesterday. It has happened to me. You too probably. A little tiny pebble, powered by some unseen force, flying thru the air, striking a heavy shatterproof glass windshield…and there’s a break. Unless the repair guy can stop it, it will run little fingers across the entire windshield.
The information and instructions we find in scripture are like that. A verse can fly off the pages, hit us right in the face, and crack the wall of defenses we’ve built around us. That wall…(and yes, you’ve got at least one)…is called a stronghold in scripture. (“For the weapons of our warfare are not weapons of the world…. they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2Cor. 10:4)
You see, you and I put up windshields. The natural, fleshly, carnal way of human beings since the incident in The Garden is to keep the Wind of God away from us. Just like Adam and Eve, we think we can hide. Then one of those verses is quoted… in print, or spoken aloud by someone…and POW!! Cracks in the windshield.
The thing is…we’d be so much better off to stay away from that guy that wants to stop the effects of it. He is not repairing…and he is not our friend. He is the enemy. (“…your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8 )
His purpose is to “steal, kill, and destroy..” John 10:10
He is a liar. Invented it, in fact. (“…the devil…is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44 )
Satan’s mission is to separate us from God. He accomplished that by influencing the wrong decisions made in The Garden. Ever since that happened, God has been at work to restore us. And those nuggets of scripture that fly into your face…well, those are the Words of our God!! He wants to crack thru the strongholds of sin. Don’t repair those!!…don’t stop His Word from spreading across your heart and changing your entire being. You do not need protection from His Spirit. Let His Word take out that entire shield, open yourself up to Him completely. You will love the wind of His Love blowing on your face.
He speaks. But the choice is your. He won’t over-ride your decision about your windshield. Listen? ….or keep the shield up, stop all His attempts to break thru…and miss out on experiencing the Wind of His Spirit?
“ He sends His Word and melts them…He stirs up His breezes, and the waters flow. He has revealed His Word….Praise the Lord.” Psalm 147:18,20
Father, today…throw some good rocks. Make some good clean breaks in the barriers that have been erected in our lives. Help us to trust You enough to allow, even ask You, to remove the shields that keep You distanced from us. And blow into us, Your breath of life.
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