It’s a crazy world these days

Ferguson, MO. According to news reports, out-of-town agitators are entering the town and stirring up trouble. These reports say police arrests are being made of mostly people from out of town, many from out of state. Coming from outside, stirring up trouble, isn’t new. I remember Watts, the major riot in the 1960s. While living in Augusta, GA, in the early 1970s, I was told about protests and subsequent riots there. Local folks were peacefully protesting some issue and agitators came from the north stirring up trouble, turning the protests into riots.

These days, Riot-control techniques include using spotters to locate, and quickly subdue such agitators. The difficult thing is entering a crowd of people to arrest one agitator, who may quickly turn the entire crowd against the arresting officers.

This outside interference–or support, depending on your outlook–is told in the Book of Acts.

But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes. Acts 17:13

As Believers, as Elect, as People of G-d, we know there are fallen angels from Heaven here to trouble the people of this world, both Believers and non-believers. We know this. The agitators in Ferguson, MO, are themselves being stirred up. Any love of peace is being driven out of them.

These are troubling times; these are crazy times. Weird things are happening throughout the Earth, not just in Ferguson, MO. Ebola in Africa, with potential cases popping up in other countries outside of Africa. The U.S. is entering the ware in Iraq–again. There is trouble throughout the Middle East. And Arabs broke a short stay of violence in Gaza. There’s a volcano possibly erupting in Iceland. Muslim scholars are now calling for a ‘global uprising’ against Israel. Evan as we are building complex computer networks throughout the world, becoming technologically advanced, Al Qaeda is targeting U.S. infrastructure for a digital 9/11. And then there’s California, the state in which I was born and lived most of my live: California breaks drought record as 58% of state hits driest level. Are the Horsemen of Revelation upon us? I don’t know. I only know that we have a response to make, action to take. It is this:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Eph 6:12

The warfare in which we engage is spiritual. Our weapons are spiritual. And our prayers are not based upon our strength, our courage, our righteousness; we pray in the Name of the Lord our Messiah.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon y’all. . .

Earlier this Morning. . .

. . . I pull myself out of bed early to prepare the day. Make oatmeal for my wife, who just hopped into the shower. Let the dogs outside. Set out some things for my wife to make a salad for lunch. Cut up an apple, put it in a baggie for my wife to take with her on her drive to her office. Make sure my daughter is getting up. She is almost out of bed. Return the the kitchen. Make two turkey and cheese breakfast burritos and pour a glass of orange juice. That’s my daughter’s breakfast, which I take to her. Room Service. Knock on her brother’s door, ensure he’s getting out of bed.

Now, at last, coffee for me in the kitchen. Read Psalm 118.

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success!

Psalm 118:24,25

Pray a praise for the Psalms. Pray for the family, immediate and extended. See my wife off. Clean up the counter, put away salad items. Daughter comes into the kitchen, ready to go. Son follows, wanting breakfast, which earlier he’d declined. He pours cereal into a bowl. It Will Be To Go, Right! I say.

All in the truck, we drive merrily toward their school, radio plays Country tunes today. Near the school, wait at a signal light for the left-turn arrow. An electrical company van in front of us is two car lengths behind the car in front of him. The arrow is green. The van doesn’t move. Honk! Not beep. HONK! Son says I over reacted. Says I drive like him, slow. Explain there’s a difference. Van needed to know it is time to drive, PERIOD. Son says again I over react, that I do it all the time. He is now getting under my skin. Feeling irritated. Annoyed.

Drop the kids at their high school. Drive toward home. Long stretch of two-lane road with 45 mph speed limit. Another van, mini-van, in front of me. Drives 35. No passing zone. Finally, I’m turning just ahead. Arg! He turns where I’m turning. We turn. Okay to pass now. Pass. Zoom past. Drive 48 now. Leave him in the dust. Don’t feel better. Worse, actually.

Home. Irritated. Annoyed. Lord?

Oatmealraisins (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I prepare my oatmeal and think to myself, “Maybe, it’s all because I’m not doing what I should be doing. It’s a reaction to not serving the Lord the way I should.” I’ve thought before that perhaps I need to return to the truck driving ministry.

Yet. . .

Ashamed. I was ashamed at my reaction to the utility van that wouldn’t go fast enough at the green light. Ashamed and didn’t want to feel the shame at having my boy point it out. So I became annoyed. I tried to explain it all away. I carried that irritation onto another van driving too slow for my taste.

Inhumanity is a horrible thing. Being truly human is being truly perfect. Some how, having been around six decades now, I should know better. Should behave better. I should be perfectly human in all ways. Especially in driving. I’m a professional driver, after all. I have a commercial driver license. I can drive the big rigs. I’m good at it, too.

Ego wants me to think of myself as perfected. PRIDE! I sorta keep forgetting I’m a sinner saved by Grace. Humanity is perfection. Inhumanity is flesh.

But, all is not lost. There’s a song I recall that has a line that sums it up the hope, “He’s not finished with me yet.”

By G-d’s grace we are saved from the punishment we deserve for our sin. By G-d’s mercy we are blessed with good things, things we didn’t earn.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (Photo credit: Chiot’s Run)

Children, we are. We stumble. We fall. He picks us up. He washes our face. He says it’ll be okay. Then He gives us an oatmeal cookie! Praise His Holy Name!

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine upon y’all throughout this beautiful week.

The Waiting Game

“Hurry up and wait!” I heard that often enough during my years of military service. Waiting was as difficult as busy work, which was meaningless toil, drudgery, to prevent just sitting around waiting. There are other sorts of waiting, too. School kids “wait” for the bell to ring during last period so they can zip out the door to freedom. A parent waits late into the night for his or her teenager to return home from a date. And there’s the waiting of a Believer, a Follower of Y’shuaJesus, waiting for the Trumpet to call us to be with the Lord.

Waiting’s hard work. While driving truck, after delivering a load I often had to wait for another assignment. It could come at any time, too. Depending where I was, I might be able grab a quick shower at a truck stop that was close to where I delivered. Or perhaps grab a meal, if convenient. More often, I simply parked in the parking lot outside the plant to which I’d delivered and waited. I tried to read, but would find myself looking often and anxious at the Qualcom, the communications system on which I’d get a load assignment. It was hard to relax between loads unless I knew I had a set amount of time. Once, after delivering a load south of Dallas, Texas, I pulled into a dirt lot next to a restaurant, and went in for a meal. Every fifteen minutes I’d go out and check to see if a message arrived on the Qualcom. I was there about a couple of hours when I received a telephone call from the dispatcher asking why I hadn’t responded to the dispatch message. I went immediately out to the truck, but there was nothing there. He had to verbally dispatched me to a steel plant for a load going into Georgia. Not a bad run, but one I almost missed if I hadn’t had a cell phone with me. I took another twenty minutes or so after pulling out of the parking lot to receive the written dispatch on the Qualcom. Perhaps the metal building walls reflected the satellite signals, preventing me from receiving the dispatch. I don’t know.

Waiting is hard work. It is also a dangerous time; it is a time when we can be distracted and wander off in some other direction. There’s a story that Y’shuaJesus told about the maidens that fell asleep, letting their lamps go out. And in Luke chapter 12, after Y’shuaJesus talks about laying up treasure in Heaven, He talks about what to do while playing the waiting game.

Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Luke 12:35-40

Matthew Henry commented on this scripture that Y’shuaJesus, “charges them to get ready, and to keep in a readiness for Christ’s coming, when all those who have laid up their treasure in heaven shall enter upon the enjoyment of it.” So there are two elements, according to Mr. Henry, in this waiting game. First, get ready; second, stay ready. That means waiting is active. It isn’t just standing around. Sometimes we are likened to servants whose master has gone away. Picture a servant standing by the door awaiting his master, doing nothing, just waiting. Probably not the best way to wait, I’m thinking.

So it seems there is good waiting and poor waiting. I’m on the poor side of waiting a lot of the time, especially when it comes to cooking. Even with a timer set, I’ll often just stand watching, waiting for the timer. In some of my best moments in the kitchen, I’ve put a pot of water on the heat, and while waiting for it to boil, done other things in the kitchen, or in the laundry room next to it. I’ve gotten distracted, too. I’ve left a pot to boil until nearly dry, and once totally ruined a batch of steamed vegetables.

Additionally, playing this waiting game takes balance and awareness. I’m thinking of when Y’shuaJesus went into the house of Martha and Mary. Martha was too busy to sit with Y’shua while Mary did only sit with Him. Y’shua said Mary picked the best of the two extremes. Y’shua hasn’t come into our house physically yet, so perhaps we need to be active while at the same time foster the spiritual communion with our Lord that He desires. But is our activity just busy work. What we do, is it necessary? Or is just something to fill the space between other things? Back to the kitchen. Perhaps when there is two minutes to wait for some vegetables to steam, it’s okay not to always have to be doing something. Perhaps standing in front of the stove is okay, and using that very moment to consider the One for Whom we wait to return. We can offer words of Praise, offering hearts of Worship, and we can offer prayers.

Occupying my waiting time then is a balance of activity that is purposeful, balanced with the spiritually uplifting elements of Praise, Worship, Prayer. And in all this activity, in all that I do, all must be done as to the Lord.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. . .

Colossians 3:23

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

A Song of Praise

A Song of Praise. Of David. I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.

Psalm 145:1-5

“Those who, under troubles and temptations, abound in fervent prayer, shall in due season abound in grateful praise, which is the true language of holy joy. Especially we should speak of God’s wondrous work of redemption, while we declare his greatness. For no deliverance of the Israelites, nor the punishment of sinners, so clearly proclaims the justice of God, as the cross of Christ exhibits it to the enlightened mind. It may be truly said of our Lord Jesus Christ, that his words are words of goodness and grace; his works are works of goodness and grace. He is full of compassion; hence he came into the world to save sinners. When on earth, he showed his compassion both to the bodies and souls of men, by healing the one, and making wise the other. He is of great mercy, a merciful High Priest, through whom God is merciful to sinners.” (Matthew Henry, from his concise commentary)

In Mr. Henry’s comments, I find that the reward for “fervent prayer” during trials and temptations will be that some day I’ll “abound in grateful praise. I shant disagree with Mr. Henry; certainly there are always rewards at future times for today’s righteous acts. I will add, however, to Mr. Henry’s comment. David sang to his Lord, our Lord, “I will extol you, my G-d and King, and bless your name forever and ever.” When David sang this, he could not help but be elevated into the joyful realm of G-d’s Heavenly Kingdom, if only for a minute, even an instant. And one minute, even one instant, of Heaven is enough to change one’s heart for the day of troubles that follow.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Getting Back to Basics—Four

Regardless of how we get into an exile situation, we are not in the place G-d intends for us to be. In the book of Ezra, a wave of exiles are released to return to Israel. Once there, they follow an interesting order: First on the agenda: getting settled in and their own homes in order. They meet in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths/Tents), and then begin the ritual sacrifices to G-d. Finally they begin work on the Temple, starting with the foundation.

Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the LORD, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the LORD, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.” Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build and bribed counselors against them to frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. And in the reign of Ahasuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

Ezra 4:1-6

Point three in this look at Getting Back to Basics is: Once G-d’s people return to where they are suppose to be and begin to rebuild their spiritual lives, there is resistance to their efforts.

Now those “adversaries” are not Jews. But before you say, “Well, the Jews made the Gentiles angry when they refused to let them help.” I think the Gentiles wanted work, wanted a share in the money being spent. They wanted construction contracts. And they were refused. Here’s what the note in The Apologetics Study Bible says, “Some people see an arrogant attitude at work in this rejection of help. However, the Jews were applying an important spiritual principle—service should be conducted by God’s people. They should be very wary of partnerships that involve unbelievers in fulfilling their service to God.” This rebuilding is between the people of G-d and G-d Himself, without outside “assistance.” This rejection of help enrages people, and those people become resistant to the Jews’ efforts at rebuilding their spiritual lives, their nation.

So here’s the the modern-day exile: Tarnished Gold. We are Christians. We are among those who Believe. We know we are saved by grace. Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Live. But we also know we are far from being G-d’s model Christian. We are tarnished. At some point we become conscious of the tarnish that is on us. Our Thoughts, Words, and our Deeds are not what we want them to be. We begin to try to clean ourselves up. That’s when things get interesting.

Sunday I visited Christ Community Church. Pastor Jason, in his talk, spoke of the fallacy of trying. We try, we fail. We are, he said, to train. We either do or we don’t. We train to do. We take it one step at a time, is what I took from this part of his talk. The overall theme of his talk is really interesting. It was May Day: A Heart Check. It took its core message from Mark 10:17-31 in which a man walks away from Y’shuaJesus, turns away from Y’shuaJesus, Who asked him to sell all his material possessions and come and follow Him.

The key points in Pastor Jason’s talk are:

Sincerity is not the same as obedience.
If possessions have our heart, God cannot.
Following Christ will always cost you something.
Allow his love to transform your heart.

So, in the book of Ezra, non-Jewish folks resist the Jewish rebuilding of the Temple. They raise concerns to the Earthly authority, and that authority says, “Cease and Desist.” Pastor Jason didn’t speak about resistance as such in our attempt to reconnect with G-d, to get into a place with Him to which we feel called. Pastor Jason did, however, talk about how he would, as his pastor before him, try to talk people out of going into the ministry. Pastor Jason said that if he could talk a person out of it, it wasn’t from G-d.

If we really want to build or rebuild our relationship with our Lord, we are going to experience resistance. In Ezra, the resistance is from non-Jewish peoples afraid of the power of a people totally in G-d’s plan and protection. The resistance we may receive today, to our re-establishing or deepening our relationship with G-d, should only come from non-believers in Messiah. But, from what I take out of what Pastor Jason said, this resistance can come from those near and dear to us in order to test us to be sure that we are truly called to this new thing. Wow! Assaulted from both sides.

Funny. There are so many times in which I’ve pushed toward some goal, whether physically or spiritually, that I’ve not known whether it was G-d’s desire that I push onward, or allow myself to stop and be redirected. Resistance. The real question is when is resistance to bend us toward the destination or be broken through in order to get to the destination. Interesting question, isn’t it? But then perhaps you’ve got that figured out. I suppose is has to do with knowing precisely what the will of G-d is, what the destination is suppose to actually be.

Here’s something from Mira Grant’s book Blackout (the third book in a zombie trilogy):

“You’re a crazy. . . Shaun Mason, and I think sometimes you’re not going to be happy until you’ve managed to get every last one of us killed, but you’re a good man, all the same.”

“Remind me to have that inscribed on my urn.” I said, and Becks laughed, and things felt like they might be okay again. We had a direction. I didn’t like it; I didn’t have to. All I had to do was follow it, and let it lead me to whatever the next step on this increasingly insane journey would prove to be.

Direction. The Will of G-d. Perhaps I think too much. Perhaps I’m sincere, but fail to obey. Perhaps I simply am not willing to spend what it takes to follow. It becomes a bit clearer to me now, though, that isn’t the doing. The way Pastor Jason put it is that it isn’t about finding out, and following, G-d’s will; it is about seeking G-d’s heart. This isn’t something new to me. Rephrased, yes. I’ve known it this way: “It’s not about doing, but being,” meaning being in relationship with the Lord, our G-d, our Creator, and knowing HIM.

Knowing G-d’s heart allows us to overcome all resistance, even if it means allowing the resistance to redirect us. Knowing G-d’s heart means not worrying about the moment, where we are starring at our path, but to lift our head up, to look toward heaven, to watch for our Lord with utter rapt attention.

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

Matthew 24:30

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Psalm 7 A model prayer for us while in distress (part three)

O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

“In You do I take refuge,” prays David. One commentator said the original meaning of the Hebrew for “take refuge” meant “flee to.” In danger, I’m sorry to say, my first thought is to flee from, to go anywhere that gets me out of danger. Isn’t that what fleeing is all about. Perhaps that is exactly what Elijah did. G-d tracked him down, led him to a mountain cave, and got him to the point He could finally whisper to him.

David’s attitude is much better. “He puts himself under God’s protection and flies to him for succour and shelter,” wrote Matthew Henry. “He pleads, his relation to God. “Thou art my God, and therefore whither else should I go but to thee? Thou art my God, and therefore my shield ([see also] Gen 15:1), my God, and therefore I am one of thy servants, who may expect to be protected.” His confidence in God: “Lord, save me, for I depend upon thee: In thee do I put my trust, and not in any arm of flesh.” Men of honour will not fail those that repose a trust in them, especially if they themselves have encouraged them to do so, which is our case.”

There are those saints today, brothers and sisters in Messiah Y’shuaJesus, that are in eminent physical danger. Pastors, ministers, brothers and sisters living in any of the 51 Gospel-restricted nations of the world are in danger. They are in danger if they assemble, if they speak of the LORD to one another, if the actually share the Gospel with someone. The rest of us may be, but most likely are not, in the line of fire—yet! It is coming, though. In whom will we trust? Is our pattern in times of distress, discord, to turn to a spouse, someone in our family, a close friend, or a paid therapist? Have we trained ourselves to flee from anything that discomforts us? When all else fails us, and no resolution is found, do we then come to G-d and say, “Hey, where are You, where were You?”

For any time of distress, whether or not it is spiritual, emotional, intellectual, physical, there is a way that is better. There is David’s way. Flee to G-d! But to prepare for times that are truly evil, we must train ourselves to look at every moment of every day as an opportune time to flee to the Lord, to offer the sacrifice of praise, the sacrifice of thanksgiving. It is an attitude we do ourselves good to develop. Then, in time that are certain to come upon us, evil times, dangerous times, we will flee first to the Resurrected Messiah.

Praise Y’shuaJesus!

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Psalm 7 – A model prayer for us while in distress (part one) (jonahzsong.wordpress.com)
Psalm 7 – A model prayer for us while in distress (part two) (jonahzsong.wordpress.com)

Psalm 7—A model prayer for us while in distress (part two)

O LORD my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.

Let’s back up a bit. It’s only been recently that I began to read the Bible in the “Authorized Version.” You know, the King James Version. I’ve used several versions, including Holman, NIV, NASB, and English Standard Version. When I looked at the introduction of Psalm 7 the word “Shiggaion” that is used in the “Authorized Version” is translated from the Hebrew word sheminith, as meditation in the New King James Version. Without getting into the merits or lack of merit for any particular version, I want to say something about the word meditation.

First of all, there are several things that David was not doing. First, he was not repeating endlessly a single word or sound. Second, David wasn’t repeating a phrase or series of words, over and over and over. Third, he was absolutely not clearing his mind in order to get in touch with the greater mind of the universe. David didn’t open his mind, clearing it of all thought, so that he could get in touch with some sort of spirit guide (read “demon”). David wasn’t practicing Eastern or New Age mysticism. What he was doing is fighting a spiritual and physical battle; he was waging war by thinking through all that had occurred to him as he spoke to G-d. He was talking things over with G-d.

Another point here. David’s first cry is O L-RD, my G-d. We see this word as L-RD in all capital letters. We occasionally see it written as Yahweh, or Jehovah. I care not for either of those latter two. It is the name G-d spoke to Moshe, Moses, during his commission. Another way to represent the name of G-d is The Name, or H’Shem in Hebrew. My point here is that David spoke in a personal relationship with his Lord. It could be said that David spoke to Y’shuaJesus. The L-RD is G-d, The L-RD is One. One G-d, three persons. H’Shem. Our Creator. Our Lord. Our Savior. David cries out “O L-RD, my G-d, in You do I take refuge.” Also, let me say at this point that a more literal translation of “my G-d,” as David cried out, would be “G-d to me.” Semantics? Perhaps. But I think there is a little difference. David, as in the Hebrew grammatical structure, isn’t saying he possesses G-d. He reaches out to a G-d that he knows, who is a G-d to him. Okay, maybe it’s only semantics, but I find it a way to think about my own relationship with Y’shua. His banner over me. His way in my life. I am his. His way is mine.

Thank You, Lord Y’shuaJesus. You make me whole. I rejoice in You. Amen.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

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