Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray Proverbs 10:17

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.            2 Timothy 1:7

When we were children, our parents taught us discipline. At least I hope your parents did. If they did not, you may be suffering quite a bit now as an adult. Parents teach children by implementing external rules and routines that children, hopefully, will internalize and claim for their own as they grow up. So, at first, discipline is external, that is, someone imposes it on us, until those good, healthy practices become internal.

Initially, external discipline is rejected, typically, because we “want to do what we want to do, when we want to”. You know this to be true if you have ever parented a two year old. In fact, it is human nature to want to be independent, “do my own thing”, and feel free of restraint. While disciplined independence is wonderful, undisciplined independence is a disaster.

Personal disciplines are hard, but they are ultimately good for us, even life-saving. Good eating habits, regular exercising, and other basic health practices usually lead to good results for us. Then, as we mature, and realize that the world is much bigger than our own desires and comfort,  we come to realize that those personal disciplines are good for those around us too.

So, in this day of COVID-19, which is stretching our physical and emotional limits, we fall back on the fact that doing the hard thing is typically good for us because it is the right thing. As my daughter recently said in an interview, “Trust your training” when things are difficult. In times of pain and hardship, trust your training, your personal disciplines, to sustain you during the hard times.

Those personal disciplines also, in this inter-dependent world, help to save other people. Our own lack of discipline can endanger the health of others. We cannot resort to personal comforts at the expense of others. Loving other people costs us something. So if that cost is wearing a mask to protect others, washing our hands dozens of times/day, keeping social distance, and not buying every scrap of toilet paper to be found on a store shelf, then that is a small price to pay for everyone to be a little safer.

Disciplines are good for us, and they can save our life, and perhaps the lives of others.

Prayer: Thank you Father for loving us enough to extend disciplines in our life which give life and health, Amen.

 

The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.  Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”  From I Kings 17: 7-24

 

We see major miracles in this passage of scripture- incredible workings of God through Elijah. Elijah extended the flour and oil in the home in a miraculous fashion, saving the widow and her son. Elijah was responsive to God and he had been sustained day-to-day. He was in a rhythm of communion with God. Elijah had earlier been sustained by ravens in the wilderness, now by another miracle, in the home of the widow.

God, through Elijah, provided for the widow and her son miraculously, yet the woman seemed to become accustomed to it, and even took it for granted. Then, when her son became ill, she seemed to question whether God was really there, whether Elijah really cared or was even on her side. Isn’t it interesting that we can so easily lose sight of the miracles that God has shown us all around? The widow was not alone in this. We saw the same thing with the Israelites in the desert, and, if we are honest, we see it in ourselves everyday!

Can you name a miracle, an everyday miracle in your life that you may take for granted? Or perhaps there was an event that happened in your life that was God’s great gift, but over time has lost its power and awe?

I see God’s miracles even as I write this. My immune system right this moment is probably fighting off some invasive little microbes or viruses as part of a wonderful self-sustaining life system built into us. Especially in the grip of the COVID-19 crisis, we see more than ever that our immune system is always in the fight against unseen enemies of disease and illness.

I have sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste- the gifts of the senses. Yes, those are amazing miracles we may take for granted.

I have an incredible wife, children, and grandchildren. I am blessed beyond measure. I see the amazing scientific laws which did not just invent themselves, but rather show the Designer in His glory. Yet, I take these miracles for granted unless I deliberately take time to notice and be grateful.

For the widow, it was only when her son was raised from the dead that she agreed that Elijah was the “real deal”. What does it take for us?

Prayer: Father, sharpen my awareness of your miracles everyday. All I have to do is look around, and I see your hand, Amen.

 

 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.  There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. Now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.

I Corinthians 12:4-7

 

Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD for short)—that was the name given to the Cold War philosophy whereby the United States and the Soviet Union (and other nuclear players) acquired so many weapons, that for one to start a conflict, it would end in the complete destruction of both sides. While this perhaps helped us to avoid a nuclear conflict, it did not ensure peace. True peace can only be secured by dependence on God, and His plan for Mutually Assured Dependence upon one another. Yes, in this turbulent world, that is a very hard “ask”.

Mutually Assured Dependence takes a lot of trust. We as prideful people have a hard time with this concept, so that is probably the exact reason that God made this the plan for us to live by. The church- the world- is comprised of people who have “gifts differing.” Different does not mean better, or more important—just different. I found it interesting that Paul said in verse 24 of chapter 12 of I Corinthians that “God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.” 

We are so used to differentiating the importance of roles in organizations, including the church. Part of our self-esteem seems to be based on how significantly we impact any organization of which we are a part. Sports leagues are always determining the “Most Valuable Player,” etc. We enjoy these discussions, and they can be fun. However, as we discuss the parts of the Body of Christ, we cannot get into an MVP discussion. There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.

The simple solution to this (simple, not easy) is to just celebrate the gifts we see in other people, as well as in ourselves, thank God for giving it to us, and resist rating whether one gift exceeds another. Indeed, gifts are probably like an iceberg. What we see on the surface is only a small part of the impact the gift has for eternity, or how many people have been impacted by it. Let’s recognize our Mutually Assured Dependence upon one another, and thank God for a plan that we could never have imagined on our own.

I saw on the news last evening an interview with a man whose job was to insert the tiniest screw into a ventilator which ensured a perfect, air-tight seal. He said, “I just see myself like this tiny screw in relation to the whole assembly. It is a small part, but all the parts are essential.” This comment was from a man working at a GM plant in Michigan that now makes ventilators.  I like that guy.

Especially in this time of health crisis, we see the beautiful healing arts gifts that God has given to our health care professionals. I wish that I had those gifts, yet I know that in this time of crisis we are being called upon to exercise the gifts we have for the benefit of all society. Indeed, reflect upon the specific gifts God has given to you. How can you use those gifts in a special way for the benefit of others now?

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for the gifts that you have given to me and my brothers and sisters. I am constantly amazed at how you work, and that you always work for our good. Help us to see your hand in each of us, Amen.

 

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans12:2

 

Our attitudes are the things that we most certainly have control over. We may not have much control over events that happen, but we do have control over how we interpret the events, and how we respond to the events.

Viktor Frankl was a Jewish doctor imprisoned in a concentration camp in World War II. He observed that those prisoners who “gave up” or behaved like victims were the ones who tended to die much more quickly. The ones who found meaning in their life, in spite of circumstances, were the ones who survived. It was all about their attitude toward what was happening around them- not bemoaning their unjust fate, (and it was unjust!). Finding meaning in suffering sustained them. He suggested that there are higher meanings in life which no one can take from us. We carry those values and beliefs within us, and we are ultimately responsible for how we get along in this world.

Victims are people who identify themselves by their handicap or situation. A person can be a victim of their suffering or abuse, or a person can be an overcomer. Having suffered from hardship does not mean that a person needs to be identified as a victim. That person can recognize that their suffering can be used for a better purpose.

People going through a shared experience of suffering, as we are currently enduring, can make the painful experience one of real significance, by actively trying to help others who share the suffering. We see this happening so often during this crisis, and it encourages all who see it.

The root of the word “encourage” is from the Latin word for “heart”- cor. We literally “give heart” to people when we encourage them. So, dear readers, take heart, and give that away to others!

Prayer: Lord, help us to redeem our current suffering into encouragement for others, to your glory, Amen.

 

 

 

Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
    Everything under heaven belongs to me

Job 41:11

I often smile at this passage from the book of Job. It is part of God’s response to Job near the end of the book after Job and his friends have been discussing and arguing over theology, and the cause of suffering. Job’s friends typically came around to the conclusion that Job had done something to merit God’s punishment, otherwise, their sense of God’s fairness and judgment would be challenged. Surely God was responding, they believed, to something that Job had done, or not done, to deserve such terrible circumstances.

Job, on the other hand, was trying to work through his own actions and thoughts, and came to the conclusion that he had not really done anything wrong particularly, and he was questioning God about his situation. He wondered what he must to reverse God’s curse on him. Finally he just wondered if God cared at all for him.

We, at least I, do the same kind of stuff. Somewhere in our theology, we impose our sense of fairness and justice on God, and ultimately justify ourselves. We then believe that God should respond to us in a certain way. If He does not, we question His goodness or even His power. In other words, we feel entitled to answers from God. He owes us an explanation for unanswered prayers!

I keep saying “we” here. Maybe it is just me who often falls into this sense of entitlement (but I really don’t think so :). It is subtle, and I have to really question myself at times, but yes, sometimes I get this ridiculous sense of entitlement from the Creator and sovereign God of the universe. Then I reflect on God’s words to Job.

Who has a claim against me that I must pay?
Everything under heaven belongs to me

Who am I to question God? It is really pretty laughable when I really think about it. Sometimes I also sit back and try to think of God’s take on it.

“Poor John” He may be saying, “he really thinks I owe him something. I have told him that I love him, and I will never leave him, but it is never enough for that one. I will carry him through whatever he faces, he just doesn’t see that now. Some day he will”

Prayer: Forgive my sense of entitlement. Thank you for loving us right where we are. Your promises hold true no matter what, Amen

 

 

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27

One of the principles of prayer I discussed this week is about listening for God to speak to us. Prayer is not just petitioning God for what we need, nor even just praising Him, or expressing our gratitude. All those aspects are important parts of prayer, but one that we miss is listening.

Listening is hard. We like to express what is on our mind. We feel the need to talk. Yet, part of any relationship is the ability to listen. So, how do we learn to listen to God? Learning to hear His voice is difficult, because we have to discern whose voice we are  hearing- mine or His?

Like anything, time and patience bear fruit as we practice a discipline. As a counselor, I know both the importance of listening, and the importance of self-awareness. We need to really be attuned to what is going on internally to be able to discern God’s voice. We need to know our own selfish and self-serving nature, and accept that this is part of being human. In fact, the awareness and acceptance of our brokenness is the beginning of healing and health. Humility is the beginning of wisdom.

God can speak to us in many ways- if we are listening. He wants to connect with us, and He uses various ways to do this. Often, He speaks through other people, whose wisdom we need to consider. He can speak through circumstances, which challenge us to consider choosing the right path.

In this COVID-19 crisis, I have heard God through the voices and actions of heroic and selfless people who run to the aid of those in trouble. They put themselves in harm’s way for the benefit of others- even people that they do not know.

When we see such actions, we see the heart of God at work. Look and listen closely for the voice of God today. Seek, and you shall find…

 

Prayer: Thank you for your presence, which we can see and hear all around us when we really listen for it, Amen

 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

John 6:67-68

 

Amidst some challenging times in my life, there have been times when I said to myself, “Well, now what do I do. Where do I turn?”

This COVID-19 crisis is an overwhelming challenge for our country, indeed for the entire world. Our best answers, things that have been tried in the past regarding health and economic crises, are no longer operable. This is new territory. While I have great faith in our incredible health system and medical science structures, I know that medical cures for this virus are a way off. At this time, a cure or a vaccine is not on the immediate horizon.

Our economy, struck down in ways that have never been seen, is more fragile than we had realized. The margins are thin for many people living paycheck to paycheck. We need help in ways that we may not even know. We are challenged physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Then I think about Peter and his response to Jesus. Jesus said, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”  Peter responded with the great and obvious truth “Lord, to whom shall we go?

I love this because it is so simple. There is no other place to turn. He is the best and only place. We turn to Jesus who loves us and cares for us. We trust in his provision.

As I discussed in the prayer reflection yesterday, we pray so that our hearts can be changed, not so that we can change the situation around us. If I could have the prayer answer that I want, I would pray, and I have, that this virus be cursed and destroyed from the planet. I don’t have that kind of power, nor should I. Do I want that result- most definitely yes! Yet, I know that there is only one place to turn. I don’t have the power to make the situation change, but I will entrust this to Jesus, and trust that he has this, and his answers are infinitely better than mine. We are going to be OK.

 

Prayer: Jesus, I know, like Peter, that you are the only place to go, and that is more than sufficient, Amen  

 

Today we look at some principles of prayer. In the coming days, I will discuss some of these principles in more depth. 

• God already knows our needs. We pray for reasons other than to let God know our needs. Prayer is about our need to connect with Him, and be in relationship.

• We all have doubt, I take that as a given. However, it confirms our faith each time we pray. It affirms our faith, however shaky it may be. Faith, even as small as the mustard seed, is shown when we open our mouth to utter His name.

• God does not owe us anything. We need to search our hearts for a sense of entitlement. Romans 11:35; Job 41:11; Job 2:10; Daniel 3:17-18
  

• Prayer changes our attitude about the situation. It does not always change the situation we are in, but we are changed when we pray. We can then see things more through God’s eyes. It renews our mind. It helps us see the truth of a situation, that God has bigger plans and a bigger vision than we do.; Isaiah 55:8-9 (God’s ways are higher than our ways); Gen. 50:20 (We do not see the whole picture)

• Prayer is about listening to God, not just talking to Him. We need to be silent before Him at prayer time. I am not always so good at that, because I am apt to “do” rather than “be”.

• Prayer reveals much about our character. In prayer, when I open up to God, I can recognize my selfishness, my bargaining with God.

• Prayer connects us with our source of power. By myself, I am unable to do anything. In the presence of God, following His Spirit, I can do anything. Philippians 4:13

• God is sovereign, and He does not answer to us. When we lift up prayers, God hears them, and they do not return void. However, God will be God, and He will answer in His time and way.

• Answered prayer does not mean that we deserve it, or that we did something right. We simply return thanks for His grace. We might not recognize that God has answered our prayer because we did not get what we asked for. However, we receive what is best for us, because God loves us and wants the best for us.

• Praying for our “enemies”- Changes our heart toward them; gives a chance for empathy for them; allows God to work in both our lives.

 

…”he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation”

Hebrews 9:11-12

The writer here is describing the perfect, once-for-all sacrifice that Jesus made for us. He later contrasts this with the system of animal sacrifice which was practiced by the Jews.  Jesus made the perfect sacrifice because he did not need to repeat the cleansing over and over again.

We know that in this life, our actions must be repeated day after day in order to maintain the intended results. We need to brush our teeth, shower, clean the house, and maintain the car, etc. regularly so that our health, and our stuff, is maintained and functional. We need to do this because of the temporal nature of our bodies and our stuff. Left to our own natural processes, we will break down, get dirty, fall into disrepair, and eventually die. This is one of the laws of nature.  According to our physicist friends –“bodies tend to go to a higher level of disorder” on their own. In other words, we break down and decay. We can delay that process for some period of time with regular care and repair, but we need to repeat that maintenance function all the time, and even then, we cannot stave off death forever.

Animal sacrifices needed to be done over and over because they were “of this creation” and insufficient. Nothing that is from “this creation” is sufficient to stave off death because created things cannot do eternal things on their own.

Jesus however, not being created, (only in the earthly body he took on) could do the eternal thing. He could, and did, take on our sins, and he gave up his life “once and for all” so that we could be forgiven, and that we too could have eternal life. His sacrifice only needed to be done once.

Our lesson about this is to understand that we are “bought with a price” (I Cor. 6:20), that we are not “our own”, and that our only available moral response is to submit to the one who paid the price for us.

Prayer: Father, we are always amazed upon the reflection of your plan to have Jesus be the once-for-all price of redemption. Thank you for loving and saving this unworthy soul, Amen” 

Proverbs 4:1-27

4:7 “Wisdom is supreme; therefore, get wisdom”

I love this chapter from Proverbs, but I must admit that when I was a young Christian, I did not really care for it so much, or even understand it. The point was, I was early on my journey to wisdom, and being young (and less wise) I did not get it. Not that I totally get it now, but I am much farther down the road now, so at least I know how to pursue wisdom.

Essentially, wisdom is seeing the world the way God sees the world, not the way the “world” sees the world. Once we understand that the most important thing is to see the world the way God sees it, it becomes apparent that, indeed, wisdom is supreme. We need, at all costs to see the world the way God sees it, or we will miss everything.

Once we see that God’s ways are higher than our ways, that they do not always reflect basic human impulses or intuition, we can get on with submission to God’s way of thinking- wisdom.

I have listed just a few examples of the “world’s wisdom” and “True Wisdom” as I understand it:

World’s Wisdom                                                                    True Wisdom

Do good work to gain heaven                                             Faith in Christ alone

Gentleness = Weakness                                                         Gentleness = Strength

Take charge of your life                                                        Give your life away

Life ends at death                                                                   Life extends beyond death

Hate your enemies                                                                  Love your enemies

Man is self sufficient                                                             We are God dependent

Hide your faults                                                                     Confess your faults

The world evolved without a Designer         The world was created/evolved by a Designer

Look out for #1                                                                      Esteem others higher than self

 

Prayer: Father, your ways are higher than our ways, your thoughts higher than our thoughts. Continue to give us the wisdom to know you better, Amen