The Smog of Life

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.


I love traveling, especially road trips. It is just so awesome to be able to see so much of the country side, so much of God’s great creation. It’s all so different and beautiful and amazing, but I think the one sight that always strikes me the most is watching a sunset or sunrise as we approach a smoggy city – they are absolutely breathtaking! I am always astounded that through all the muck and yuck, the sun shines even more brilliant than normal. Something so repulsive and damaging is being used to make something so beautiful.

So it is with our lives. We all have muck and yuck – stuff we’d like to hide, things that we’re ashamed of – smog that clouds things up. So often we want to just hide that stuff, pretend like it never happened, act as though we’ve never been affected by it, even though we have. We don’t want others to see it, or know that it happened. We think to ourselves "there is no way that anything good could ever come of this."

Whatever our thoughts, whatever our motives, we must bring those mucky moments into the Light. It is when we allow the Son to shine through the "smog" that we can see what glory can come from our mistakes and problems. God will use that "smog" to make our lives into something more brilliant, more beautiful that we ever could have imagined. And as He shines His cleansing light through all the muck, we will find our lives being cleansed and renewed in the brilliance of His glory and love.

The Christian Life

Jude 1:20
But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.


I had the opportunity this last summer to spend a short time on a ranch in north-eastern Wyoming. A gorgeous spread of land, with a lot of livestock, and a few fun and interesting characters. I had quite an adventure.

I think the part that caught my attention most was the house that we stayed in. It was 120 years old! On the outside, at least from a distance, it seemed very well maintained, with good paint, some beautiful flower beds, and a nice green lawn. I think I have several pictures that might even be worth framing. But once you start to get a little closer, you really start to notice its age, and the fact that it wasn’t taken care of for a LONG time.

There’s clutter on the porch – some new carpet that needs to be installed, a few items worth using, a few more that just haven’t been thrown out, and an old beer keg being used as a stool (how like us to keep our nasty old habits around to "rest" on, because we think they’re so comfortable). The doors creak, and don’t fit quite right. The inside is cluttered with so many things from days past, there isn’t room for much. The walls are cracking, the paint is peeling, and the floors creak and moan with the slightest bit of weight. And the most interesting part is that it had been cleaned – it was looking so much better than it had looked when it was being left to its own.

How easy is it to let our Christian lives begin to grow, and age into looking like this house? On the outside, it looks nice – we attend church every Sunday, say all the right things, have all the right friends, and attend all the right events. While on the inside, it’s growing old and musty – the walls are cracked, the paint is chipping, and it’s filled with so much old stuff that there really isn’t room for anything new. If we let it go for too long, the foundation may still be sturdy (as Christ will never fail), but the walls and everything else could come crumbling down, bringing with it even the beautiful, nice exterior. If that happens, we won’t have any sort of legacy to leave behind, except rubble.

The longer we let it go, the longer it takes and more difficult it becomes to fix and freshen up. It becomes so much easier to just keep all the old stuff, and rearrange it, instead of letting the new come in and bring with it life and refreshment. We must continually maintain our Christian lives, friends, it is a constant process and takes "up-keep," so to speak. If we do it daily, like housework, it is so much easier, and we are more carefree because of it. But if we let it grow stale and dusty, each passing day will bring with it more work and struggle. So, what shall it be? I pray that we will each have aged-faiths that will be considered antiques, worth much, rather than just old junk, worth a few garage-sale dollars.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 96
Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD , all the earth. Sing to the LORD , praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the LORD , O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns."The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity. Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the LORD , for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his truth.


Let us spend today praising God for all that He is. Let's each lift up our hearts every moment we have, and praise Him for all that He has done, for all that He promises. Praise Him, and watch and listen for everything around you to praise Him, as well. Join the heavens, the earth, the sea, the fields, and all that is in them in a joyous refrain exalting the name of our God Most High.

Then, tonight, after a day of praise, we will see how well our days have gone, we will see how His mighty hand has changed us through the simple act of praise, and we will rejoice even more at the working of His great power in our lives.

Be blessed today, and praise the Lord!

Obedience

Joshua 1:7-8
Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.


Joshua had quite the mission on his hands – he had just taken over for Moses, the Israelites’ most beloved leader; and he was being commissioned to take the Israelites into the Promised Land – no small task, considering all that was involved! I can’t imagine how stressed he must have been – the pressure to succeed, especially in God’s eyes must have been tremendous. So, God comes to him and gives him a little tip – all he really needs to know to be successful in his ministry before the Lord.

Obedience.

I don’t think we ever really out-grow our struggles with disobedience. They start in our early childhood, and persist until the day we die. Yet, it is a struggle that is made easier with the strength of God, and it is a struggle that God expects us to fight with all that we are.

God’s love for us is not dependant upon our obedience, that is not what I am saying. I am simply saying that if we want to be successful and prosperous in our ministries, in our work for the Lord, we must listen to Him and obey all that He asks of us. We must spend time in His Word, meditating on it, not turning from it in any way. We must make a conscious choice to obey Him, then we are GUARANTEED success. That’s a guarantee I want, don’t you?

Of course, there will be times when we mess up, and that’s OK. We just need to let God pick us up, then we must seek Him for forgiveness, strength, and direction, and keep on. It is His strength by which we will succeed, we just need to be obedient in order to put ourselves in the place where we can readily draw from His strength, and benefit from it in every way.

Beautiful Feet

Romans 10:15b
"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"


I had an amazing experience this Easter weekend, going out with The Magdalene Project, which is a ministry that reaches out to women that most churches would simply overlook - prostitutes, homeless, women in prison, women who are in abuse shelters, etc. While most of us prepared for Easter, with our new Easter clothes, and pretty little baskets for our children full of yummy sweets and toys, these women were simply hoping to get through another day.

I had the distinct privilege of going with a group of women to the men’s clubs (strip clubs) to give beautiful Easter bags to the dancers and other women working in those clubs. The women were so appreciative - many are searching and God is moving in their lives, some said they hadn’t received a gift of any sort in years, and almost all of them couldn’t believe that we would give them a gift with no strings attached. We got smiles and hugs, and even some names and phone numbers for follow-up. It was a long, but fruitful night, and when I got home at 1 a.m. the first thing I did was remove the high-heeled boots I had been wearing all night, to find my feet swollen (as much as they could be having been crammed in the boots all night), and marked from my socks. I guess that’s why they tell you not to wear heels in the later part of pregnancy. They were quite unsightly and very sore. As I sat staring at my feet, Romans 10:15 came to me - "How beautiful are the feet . . ." My feet were hardly beautiful, and yet to those women who received gifts, love, acceptance, and hopefully a little light, I would imagine that my "feet," along with the "feet" of every other woman who reached out that night were the most beautiful thing they had seen for a long time, in a life otherwise dreary and dark. God did an amazing work, and will continue to, through the feet of those who are willing to cross the threshold of these places.

Sometimes I think that when we read this verse we automatically think of people in third-world countries, and start considering how we should do mission trips and pray for our missionaries. Now, not that those things aren’t important - I would imagine that seeing how other parts of the world live would do much in bringing us to a place of great contentment, although, I would argue that we really don’t even need to look that far to see those less fortunate, either. And obviously, praying for our missionaries is of great import. However, I think we always tend to overlook the fact that there are "dark jungles" right here in our own backyards. Places where Satan feels comfortable, because few are willing to take the light of Christ into such a place. We need not travel thousands of miles to do a mission trip - a little trip down to our local rescue mission could qualify just the same, doesn’t take near as much time, and can reap as much of a blessing and reward.

We don’t all have to go to men’s clubs, or prisons, or to the prostitutes, but I think we should all remember who it was that Christ came for - the lost and the broken. So, if we’re found and fixed, so-to-speak, then we need to reach out for those who are not. Ask God about some area locally that you could serve him, and see how He responds - perhaps it is your neighbor, or another parent at your child’s school. Could be the check-out lady at your grocery store, or someone you’ve met at the gym. Regardless of who or where, there is someone out there just waiting for our beautiful feet to bring them the good news of Christ!