Kicked out....

Ever been kicked out? 

I remember being kicked out of a click of girls in school. Of course, I was taken back in a week or so and somebody else was kicked out. 

I've known of people getting kicked out of college. 
I've known of people getting kicked out of a movie theatre.
I've even known kids who got kicked out of their home.

Most of the time, getting kicked out is a result of bad behavior...though not always.  (...I don't remember that I behaved badly in school, but maybe I did...and I am regretful this morning to have participated in that kind of behavior towards anyone else..)

As I continue to reflect on the man with new vision in John 9, I see that he got kicked out. 

This man, blind for as long as he had lived, now sees.  He is interrogated about it as if he had done something wrong. His family is approached. He is challenged about his honesty. The religious leaders throw out their chests and wave their credentials.

Then they kick him out.

Oh that will resolve it....right.  NOT!!

Rather than listen honestly and consider the testimony.....they kick him out.
Rather than honestly consider why they are so against such a wonderful thing....they kick him out.

I am thankful that I am given sight. It matters that some people don't understand. I may be 'kicked out' of certain circles, ridiculed, accused, or avoided. 

But that's ok.  I'll just keep trusting Him......the One Who gave me sight and directs my steps.

Declare...

I remember hearing my grandmother say "......well, ... I declare !!!  "

I don't recall just what it was that she ever declared, but whatever it was, I would have believed her. 

Being believed is a valuable thing. 

Continuing my study in John 9 where  John records the story of the blind man that Jesus' healed.  Afterwards, he is bombarded with questions.  Why were you blind in the first place? Were you really blind?  Are you pretending to be that blind man that has always been down on the corner? Just who did this supposed miraculous thing?  How was this done? If that happened, it was illegal !

ugh... 

I sure understand the response of this man with new vision.... "....I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see." (John 9:25 The Message)


I declare....I have been blind.  And Jesus has given me new sight. 

Why....

We look for reasons. We want to explain...

"...who sinned.... causing him to be born blind?"
( Jesus' disciples concerning a blind man in John 9:2)


"...I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble.. reap it."
(Job's friend Eliphaz in Job 4:8)

The age-old question...why do bad things happen to good people?

"No one is good, except God alone."
( Jesus Christ in Mark 10:18)

I suppose perhaps the question should be why not?

While scripture clearly teaches that we reap what we sow, it is also clear that we don't always get what we deserve.

Paul didn't deserve to be an apostle. (1 Cor. 15:9)
The centurion didn't deserve having his servant restored to health. (Matt. 8:8)
The prodigal son didn't deserve to be restored into the family. (Luke 15:21)
Jacob didn't deserve protection from Esau. (Gen. 32:10)

....and I have done nothing to deserve the privileged life I have enjoyed.

Why was I born into a church-going Bible-believing family?
Why was I born an American and not an Ethiopian?
Why have I not had some dreaded disease?
Why do I not have a physical disability?

There is no answer. Certainly, the reasons are not of my own doing.

What IS of my doing is the choices I have made. I can prevent some bad things from coming into my life sometimes, simply by choosing to be obedient and NOT choosing the participate in evil. (...it's that same principle of choosing evil, picking and eating the fruit from that awful tree...)

But just because I don't, doesn't guarantee a trouble-free life.

Just ask Job.

Can't....

Somewhere in my life I've heard it said that  'Cain't couldn't never do nuthin'....' 
It was an admonition to make an effort.  It was a warning that if you decide you can't succeed before you even try, you will certainly NOT succeed.

There is truth in the saying.

 We have to WANT to try....and it is really hard to want to do some of the really hard things...  Our flawed nature does not naturally WANT what is good and right.  In that, I'm afraid that it is true that we 'cain't' do 'nuthin' about it.

But God can.  And He will, but only by our honest request and permission, only according to His will and not our own.


"  You're the One I've violated, and you've seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair.   I've been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born.

  What you're after is truth from the inside out.

Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.  

Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.  
God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.  Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me.

 (selected verses, Psalm 51 from The Message)



We certainly 'cain't' do 'nuthin' about our flawed nature.  How thankful I am that He is willing to restore mine....

"...Change my heart, O God,

Make it ever true...

Change my heart, O God...

May I be like You. "

Left....

I've never been much of an Elvis fan.  He could sing pretty well, and I could enjoy listening to some of his stuff, it depended on the genre...

I remember the saying, 'Elvis has left the building...'.  I understand that was first said after Elvis had in fact left the performing auditorium, and it was said in order to encourage people to remain in their seat and watch the rest of the show. (..seems people wanted to follow Elvis off stage instead of hear the next performers....)



Now I in no way equate Elvis with God.. but God left a building too.  God's Shekinah glory once lit the tabernacle. (Ex. 40:34) 

But then, because of man's disobedience and rebellion,  "....the Glory of GOD left..." (Ez. 10:18)

God left the building.  (...how sad, yet again, is the response of humanity to the Person of God.)



When God filled the tabernacle with His glory, there was no need of light.  After He left, candelabras were set up to dispel the darkness within the tabernacle.

Hundreds of years later, Messiah Jesus, God in flesh, spoke in an area of the temple, the temple where those candles were still burned. (John 8:20)


God had now returned.

He had returned to 'the building'. Not a cloud of smoke or fire this time, but in the Person of Jesus Christ.  (how sad, even again, the response to the Person of Jesus Christ, God in flesh.)



He told them He would leave again.  (John 8:21)  And He did.

But He left us the benefit of His light.  We don't have to burn candles nor do we grope around in darkness. He has given us His Word, and has sent the Helper to be with us in His place. 

.....until He comes back yet again.  One last time.

Stoning....

Throwing rocks.  AT a living person. Until they die.  That is what stoning is.

It was the death penalty of Biblical time. (...still practiced in some cultures today)

It just sounds horrible to me.  I can't fathom throwing a rock at somebody, especially with the intentions of it being a death blow. 

The religious leaders'  in John 8 suggested a stoning.  Not because they wanted justice, but because they manipulated the rules for their own purpose.


That old saying about sticks and stones?  It's a lie.  Words hurt and can bring about death. 

So I repent this morning as God shows me my words can be spewed out like stones at some guilty person, not because I'm concerned with justice, but because I too am capable of manipulating the rules for my own purpose. 

Lord, give me a heart like Yours...full of mercy and compassion.  I purpose not to be an executioner of those caught in sin, but an encourager, encouraging  them to leave it behind.

Finagle...

It's an odd word.  I've heard it used for years, it's certainly not a new term.

It is defined as.... "to obtain or achieve something by using shady behavior, manipulation, or deception; achieve by indirect, usually deceitful methods"

That's what the religious leaders did in John 8, and they used only one of  two equally guilty people caught in the very act of adultery. 

They used the woman to finagle a trap. (..musta been a neighborhood good ole' boy... he didn't get drug out into the street like she did...)

They had an agenda.....to discredit this Teacher who was gaining favor with the public, they intended to find something wrong with Him.

Finagle.

  They would protect their agenda, keep their (un)holy huddle in tact, and not share the limelight with Him or anyone else.  They would remain top dog.

Finagle.


Why is honesty so difficult for us?  Why can't we just deal with each other as we are?

 Why do we finagle?

What is so difficult about simply speaking plain and truthful? Truth in love....no better way.  Certainly better than the best finagle.



One of the things that makes it so difficult for me is the hard truth that people don't handle truth. (...I'm hearing Jack Nicholson as he portrayed his character in A Few Good Men..)

People don't always handle the truth well.  I often don't handle it well...but I want to be able to BE truthful with others, and I want THEM to handle MY truth.

 I do want to be a big enough person to handle truth with no need of finagling.

 Always.