Contrast

"...a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table...truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her."

"Now when evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.  As they were eating, He said, 'Truly I say to you that one of you will betray Me...The Son of Man will go, just as it is written of Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed!  It would have been good for that man if he had not been born.'"

As He reclined: A woman/A man.  Costly perfume/Blood money.  Love poured out/Love sold out.    

Honorable deed/Traitor's woe.  Beautiful memory/Despicable birth.  The woman: nameless/The man: Judas.  

According to Matthew and Mark, once "the woman" displayed her love, "then Judas went" and betrayed Jesus love.  Oh, how wonderful and oh, how tragic!!  Let us meditate with great seriousness our walk in this life.  It is our witness; it is the display of our true heart's devotion.

Too Crowded to Notice

At a recent Bible study, someone made the point of Jesus sitting weaving the whip He was about to use in the temple to drive out the money changers.  I never thought about that.  I've pictured Him doing the deed but never weaving the whip.  "And He made a scourge of cords..."

Think about it, there He was in the middle of all those thousands of people.  Did anyone notice Him sitting there making a whip?  Did they stop to think why?  Or was it too crowded to care what one Person was doing?

It's just a thought, but are we too crowded with the many worthless pursuits of life to care that life is not always going to go on like it does.  There are going to be changes.  Are we prepared?  Spurgeon said in a recent devotion that we need to view everything in our life as temporal, that change will not come on us unexpectedly.  That's not to say we should not enjoy life, but to view it in terms of eternity.  And also, for those who do not know Christ, to view every breath they take as one more compassionate gift of God to direct them to Himself.  Let it not become too crowded to notice that He compassionately warns us of the coming changes and eternity's certainty.  He IS weaving the whip, but He has granted us "everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him."  Seek Him, listen, obey!  It is the only answer to life's uncertainty!

"My Precious"

Gollum's "precious" consumed him to the point that he was unrecognizable as what he had been: a hobbit.  Of course, you may say, "that's fiction."  Yes, it is but what is fiction but what man takes out of the life he knows and writes it down?  Therefore, I'm sure Tolkien had seen the deterioration of humans consumed with stuff.

God, of course, knows it well.  He has watched it continually since man's beginning.  As He had done so many times before, God discusses with His prophet Jeremiah what to say to disobedient Israel.  However, Jeremiah has faltered and become frustrated with his job.  It's not an easy job to tell people they are to turn or burn.  But the fact is that this is truly a compassionate work on God's part.  He doesn't have warn them.  And now His prophet is fumbling around in self-pity.  So God must deal with Jeremiah before He continues His warning to His people, Israel.

Jeremiah's "precious" must be unmixed with what the world deems precious!  And he must rouse himself to the amazing position he holds as God's spokesman to the His people.  God, the mighty Maker of all things, is speaking to Jeremiah.  So, in his faltering, God deals with him a moment so that he can get back to the business at hand.  "If you return, then I will restore you--before Me you will stand; and if you extract the precious from the worthless, you will become My spokesman.  They for their part may turn to you, but as for you, you must not turn to them."  Jeremiah 15:19

Let us turn to what is truly "Precious", for there is our only hope, security, and peace.  Is Jesus precious to you?  If yes, then be consumed with Him and not with that worthless pursuit that will one day come to nothing.  That is NOT fiction, but is life changing and life saving.  May we, too, become "unrecognizable" as to our former way of life as we submit to this transformation God wants to make in us.

Locked Out

For some weeks now, I have been locked out of my blogspot.  I've been blogging now for over five years.  I've written down personal thoughts that are a peek into the person God is making out of me.  I haven't told many people about my blog, as I viewed it not as a blog to gain a following, but to just throw out thoughts to cyber space and hope God uses some of them for His glory.

When I have some thoughts that come out of my personal Bible study, I write them here.  After one such morning, I came to post some thoughts, and I could not access my blog in order to write, edit or really do much of anything.  I won't belabor all the details of what followed, but let it suffice to say that I tried many things to get back in and could not.  I felt violated and then hopeless.  It was like coming home and your house is no longer yours.  Or like going to get into your car and it's stolen.  I know it's just a blogspot, but it was part of me.

Today I found a way back in and here I am.  However, it occurred to me through this trivial blip of my personal life crisis, that there is a much greater hopelessness that has devastatingly eternal consequences.  For if a person rejects God or tries to access God through his own works, that person will be "locked out" of eternal life.  They will be going along, thinking things are fine because everything goes on as usual, but they would not heed the signs along the way or stop to think or consider.  And then it will be too late.  And they will not "find a way back in".

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father, Who is in heaven will enter.  Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you'; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'  Locked Out!!  (Matthew 7:21-23)

Oceans of Fish

Pardon me as I rant a private soapbox thought!  Most every funeral I have attended in my long life, one chapter of the Bible is the spiritual nourishment provision.  ONE chapter!  Even if the officiating minister or family friend does not use "that" chapter, it is most often written in the program of the deceased.  I'll not name it here, but as a lover of the Word of God, I would like to take issue with this practice.

There are about 1,189 chapters in the Bible.  And there are 31,173 verses within those chapters.  And here's an opportunity, the one time that many people will ever be in tune to the Word of God, they will hear this same chapter over and over with every funeral they attend.  While I'm not sure as to why "this" chapter was the chosen one, the fact remains, it is the one.  Now I'm not saying that "this" chapter cannot be used by God to draw men unto Himself.  But I think a change would get their attention.  It would be like throwing a curve.

As I contemplated this at a recent funeral, I likened it to taking one fish from the ocean and concentrating on "that" fish.  Just one fish.  Out of all the vast oceans!  One fish that we talked about over and over while missing all the various species of fish that swim in those oceans.  That is to me what taking one chapter out of 1,189 and missing all the wonder, joy and nourishment of the other 1,188!  (Not to mention the other 31,167 verses!)

I know it's just a thing with me but I'm just saying...

Peas in a Pod

English peas are one of my favorite vegetables.   Growing up I only avoided them.   Even as I began to have an extensive taste for all kinds of food, that was one I could not like!  Until one day, I was introduced to "fresh" English peas.  These were clearly a world apart, not anything like the canned ones  I had tried.  The taste of the fresh was a delightful surprise, and I've loved them now for many years.  Sometimes I have a hard time finding them and for the last two years, my curb market suppliers have not been able to get them.  Last week I found them at our local grocery store, all shelled and bagged in the organic section.  I paid the price, brought them home, and enjoyed each bite.  It was the first time I had ever bought them shelled.  I've always shelled them and it is a very easy task.  Sometimes you come across one that is kind of old and when you open it, the peas are tiny and shriveled.  But most of the times, the pods are healthy and the peas inside of them are fat, round and yummy.

 As I walked this morning, I was praying for a Bible study group.  I was considering the closeness of the group and praying for a greater unity.  I also prayed for how that is reflected in each life to a world in need.  As I prayed, I thought of the peas in the pod.  We can become very comfortable in our little pods.  We grow, we become secure and protected.  And then sometimes, we become fearful to extend outward.  But if we only stay "peas in a pod", we become dry, limited and shriveled.

I know these kinds of illustrations break down, but only if the peas are cooked, salted, and tasted are they of any good to others.  Trials, the Word and the giving of ourselves are the ways God uses believers in a world hungry for hope.  This is why God doesn't take us up once we are saved.  We are here to be tasted and provide nourishment for a very sick and needy world.  Praise God for His use of us in these things.  As we endure the heat of trials and enjoy the nourishment of the Word, may others "taste",  notice, holiness as we reflect our Lord in our every day routines of life.  May the Holy Spirit be our help moment by moment in this great work.

Devil Run

No, that's not the name of a new, over-the-top, obstacle marathon.  It's what believers in Jesus Christ want the enemy of our souls to do.   As stated in James 4:7, "Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

We have a room in our house with a mirror that I've come to avoid at all costs.  There is much light, and as I've grown older, it's not a pretty sight I see in that mirror.  It shows EVERYTHING!  I had no idea how much I'd changed.  So, over the last year, when I go to that room to clean, I avoid that mirror at all costs.  I want to stay in a good mood so I just do not look at my image in that mirror.  Last week, as I took great pains to avoid it, I literally had to look down in order to clean in front of it.  It occurred to me, the intense effort I was taking in the name of vanity.  And immediately, I thought of sin.  How intensely do I stay away from sin?  I hope I'm this diligent to avoid every aspect of sinfulness in whatever way it manifests itself.

"It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret." (Ephesians 5:12)  We must not think about it, look at it, discuss it or even "mention" it.  "Resist it",  as advised in James, and "the devil will flee from you."