MY GROWN UP CHRISTMAS LIST!

Friday, November 30, 2018

MY GROWN UP CHRISTMAS LIST!

Phil 4:12

12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Phil 4:18

18 But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.

           Paul had experienced both adequacy and deficiency. He knew how to respond to both conditions with grace and thanksgiving. The word “abased,” in verse 12 is literally humiliation and the word “abound” literally means “to cram full.” He had visited both extremes and found God residing at each place.

           Christmas is coming and there is almost an urgent need to have a need. I feel the pressure of it. I take pen in hand to write out my wish list and am suddenly afflicted with writer’s block! I can’t think of anything I need and I can’t decide upon anything I want. I am full and abound.

           I’ve reached the age that values those things which can’t be wrapped in pretty paper and tied up with a bow. I cherish the love of friends and kin. I never quite get enough of that. I’ll put that at the top of my list. Next will be time. Time is that soft and unhurried space without appointments or disappointments. Yes, this belongs on my list. I long for a gathering of scattered family with laughter. I can’t find a box or bow adequate for these things.

Phil 4:19

19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Dear Lord, I am full of the gifts you have provided. Let me share with those who have little. AMEN

THE SINNER’S TEARS!

Thursday, November 29, 2018

THE SINNER’S TEARS!

Luke 7:37-38

37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

            The woman is only described by Luke as “a sinner.” Her sins are not named but we get the impression that she was what we might call a “street walker” with quite a reputation. Her tears, her humble attitude, and her expensive gift all spoke of a changed heart. We are not told when or how this woman came to repentance. Perhaps it was when Jesus gave the invitation to the weary to “come unto me … and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

           When our sins become so heavy that we can no longer carry them, we must find a place to lay them down. When our rebellion is found to be more painful than returning to divine authority, we will return. When the grief for what we have done far outweighs the pleasure we had sought, we will cry.

           During times of revival, I have seen many at the altar of prayer weeping and sobbing. As their pastor, I am both glad and sad to see these tears. I am glad because I know that God welcomes the humble and resists the stubborn. (1 Peter 5:5) I am sad because I know the pain these are going through. I have been there many times myself.

           Michael Trimble, a British professor at the Institute of Neurology in London, tells us, humans are the only creatures who cry for emotional reasons. I have no reason to challenge his research. Humans cry while other animals don’t. It makes one wonder just what it is that God placed inside of man that makes him different. I think it is our capacity for knowing and responding to God.

O Hope Of Every Contrite Heart

O hope of every contrite heart,
O joy of all the meek,
To those who fall, how kind Thou art!
How good to those who seek!

Dear Lord, how I remember, in my struggles against your will, the day I could not sustain my rebellion. I surrendered and you took me in. O the tears that fell in that precious hour – that hour when you smiled upon me in forgiveness. Thank you Lord. AMEN

ONLY A VAPOR!

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

ONLY A VAPOR!

James 4:14

14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

           Yet another birthday has come to me. In 1946, today was Thanksgiving Day. My arrival interrupted the festive feasting of the doctor as well as my mother but Oneida, Tennessee gained another son.

It seems like only yesterday I was a shirtless barefoot boy, playing with an old alarm clock in the black dirt in front of a rented house in Cincinnati. One could smell the meat packing house not too far away and the noise of the city was a curious mixture of honking horns, and the rumble of machinery. I would play all day and then turn the bathwater into muck. Momma would dry my kid-blond hair with a towel and then off to bed.

A moment later I was a teen in a football uniform and then a cap and gown. Suddenly I’m a young man working in the parts cage at the Coca-Cola Company with an uneasy restlessness that later defined itself as a call from God upon my life.

Like a blur I’m kneeling in the tabernacle at the Ohio youth camp after hearing Dr. David Cavin. Now I’m standing in line registering for classes at Baptist Bible College. Standing near the back of the Bible Baptist Church I spy a lovely young lady playing the organ. She is still the love of my life.

The once robust fellowship of pastors that molded me have dissipated into a squabbling, finger pointing mob, but a few close friends remain. It is one of my greatest heartaches.

Forty-seven years of ministry swirls about in a cyclone of places and faces. What remains are a bit of ambition, too much disappointment, and an extra helping of satisfaction in a strange blend. Now it is sunset and the colors are magnificent. A wonderful product of older age is the evaporation of the need to impress or please others. I’m much more comfortable with who I am.

Dear Lord, teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. AMEN

IT IS GIVING TUESDAY!

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

IT IS GIVING TUESDAY!

Acts 20:34-36

34 Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.

35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.

36 And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.

           I learned this morning something I did not know! After Thanksgiving and the well named but horrible Black Friday and the trendy Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday. It is a day devoted to sharing with others.

           I’ve been asked “What do you want for Christmas?” At my age my usual answer is “I don’t know and I don’t care.” It makes me hard to buy for but it is an honest reflection of the fact that I have accumulated a lot of stuff in my life and that I am well favored. I am surrounded by generous people.

           Why did Jesus say it is more blessed to give? Because it indicates that you have more than enough. You have a surplus. It also indicates that your heart is not cold and stingy.

           Think for a moment. Is there someone you could surprise with an appropriate gift today?

Eph 4:28

28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.

Dear Lord, of all that you have given me please give me one more thing. Give me a generous heart. AMEN

I CAN – THROUGH CHRIST!

Monday, November 26, 2018

I CAN – THROUGH CHRIST!

Phil 4:13

13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

           The Great Pyramids in Egypt were either built by ancient aliens that laid out the design from their space ships or they were built by the slave labor of the Jews from Goshen. Crumbling after thousands of years but still standing, the structures are a wonder and a cause for ridiculous speculation by man so modern he can’t conceive of such a feat being done by anything less than modern means. I prefer to believe that these magnificent structures were built with the skills given by God and the sacrifices of the builders. It takes as much faith to believe either theory!

           The “I can” spirit is the Spirit of God. The “through Christ” spirit is the humble testimony to the real brains and power behind any venture. Paul was not bragging on his own ability but on God’s. His confidence was not in himself but in the one who energized him.

           When my daughter was a little girl she would try to remove the lid from a jar. She would twist and grip and grunt but the lid would not come off. I watched her grow increasingly frustrated until she would say, “I can’t do it.” Then I would ask her if she was using all her strength. “Yes, I am.” She would wail. “I am using all the strength I have!” I then took the jar, twisted off the lid for her and said, “No, you didn’t ask me for help. I am also part of your strength.”

Ps 121:2

2 My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

Dear Lord, today many hard tasks may lay before me. Be my strength. AMEN