I know people might read the title of this post and think I’ve decided to take a break from my usual hope-centered posts, but I haven’t; this post is also about hope.
A few years ago I was watching a show about ancient Rome on the History Channel. One of the most fascinating segments was on the incredible highway system the Romans had built throughout their empire. These Roman Roads were built to exact specifications to handle cart and foot traffic. This intricate network of roads facilitated trade and commerce as well as making it much easier for people to travel.
We saw early Christians respond with courage to severe persecution.
We saw miracles were normal for the early church.
We might say such strong faith is something we long to see in our church.
But do we really?
We sing, “Revive us again,” and “Mercy drops round us are falling, but for the showers we plead.”
But do we really desire and plead for the presence and power of God to revive us?
I wonder if we are content with the “mercy drops”.
Maybe really we are satisfied to have the Lord simply break through, every now and then, to do a mighty thing or two among us, but we really aren’t serious when it comes to wanting to see the full power and presence of His Holy Spirit.
Now some say we are living in a different dispensation and that the age of miracles is over — that was for a specific time and place to authenticate the message of the apostles, but we no longer need that today.
English: Sunrise on Mt. Sinai in Egypt (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Really!!
The church doesn’t need the power and presence of Holy Spirit today?
Miracles are happening in mission fields where people have never heard of Jesus, why not here?
Is not “Jesus Christ […] the same yesterday and today and forever” as it states in Hebrews 13:8?
I’m afraid we have become comfortable and accustomed to the absence of God’s Presence in our meetings.
In reality, maybe the Presence of God scares us, just as it scared the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, and as a result, we don’t experience the miracles of God.
And our faith is dying.
When God sends forth the Holy Spirit, amazing things happen:
Surprised? Just think a bit: If you make war against someone, you have to believe he exists, don’t you? Right. So, the demons and their captain do believe Jesus exists, and, Scripture says, they at least have the sense to tremble at the thought, which shows they are not dumb.
Think some more: The old arch-nemesis can disguise himself in a multitude of ways, and it is obvious he has made his way into church membership in lots of places.
Right?
So, let’s see if you would agree he could join your church if he walked the aisle and asked the preacher if he could join. The folks at our church were fascinated with this exercise, and amid very quiet listening, got quite a few chuckles, which I will indicate here with asterisks (*).
Let’s ask all the typical questions we think are so important for church membership, and see if we would let satan join our congregation, as he has so many others before*:
Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God! — Of course, satan would agree. The evil one knows this is true and can agree to it, if it serves his purposes. After all, this fact is the inspiration for his hatred.
Do you believe Jesus was born of a virgin? — Again, he knows this is true; saw the star over Bethlehem, himself, right?
Do you believe Jesus died on the cross? — You know, he’d be thinking, I offered Him a way out but He was too stuck on Himself to take it . . . but he would say, “Of COURSE!”
Do you believe He rose from the dead? — Here he might hesitate. After all, it was his worst nightmare.* But still he would give a “yes” to this question.
Are you willing to baptized as a sign of your faith? — He would never refuse baptism, would never have a problem with it. Of course, he might sizzle . . . *
Will you commit to attending church weekly? — He might think: Thought you’d never ask!*— but he might say, “I won’t miss a single service! I’ll be there every time the doors open!”*
Sounds like a great prospect, so far, doesn’t he? Would he make it into the membership of your church’s congregation?
Now here is the final question:
Are you ready to repent? Will you quit fighting God and start life over? Will you trust and obey Jesus Christ as your Lord in every area of your life?
And exactly at that point is where it all breaks down.
As it should.
Because faith, by itself, when it is not accompanied by works, is dead.
James 2:19 – You believe that there is one God. Good. Even the demons believe that — and shudder.
Well, we use it to mean believability, but “sin-” means without and “cere” means wax.
You see, long ago, when the best container for holding liquids was made of some sort of fired clay, of unknown quality and skill, it was totally easy to mess up and crack one of these containers.
Totally.
Not like having engineered, mass-produced, tempered glass, at all.
Even the vendors and potters, themselves, could accidentally cause a small crack to occur in the product.
Oops.
A rather useful way to fix this problem, back then, was to pour melted wax over it and let it soak in, to seal it, buff the wax to make it shine, and if no one noticed, you could pass the container off as whole.
Not a cracked pot.
The trouble often came, though, that when a homemaker poured hot liquid into one of these waxed pots, she would discover a leak and realize what she had: damaged goods. She might not know whether she bought it that way, or bumped it herself, unless she could observe wax floating atop the liquid.
She might not discover it until the next morning.
She never could prove she had not waxed it, herself, though, so never could get any satisfaction, aside from spreading the news to her friends, to help them avoid this vendor.
While she might enjoy that as payback, she still needed a new pot. One that was without wax, “sincere”.
______________________
I recently signed a letter “sincerely” and immediately thought of the word history. I asked myself: Really? Am I sincere? Am I laying a coating over cracks in my believability? Am I pretending? Is this the truth? If not, will I be discovered?
I did not answer. Maybe I did not like the answer. Instead, I wrote this post.
Safer.
Maybe I’m a cracked pot? Should I avoid all heated content? Is there any other way to fix it besides waxing it over?
Still sort of thinking about the heart, although March is here.
A friend reminded me, today, to think of what I treasure. I treasure a lot of things. Some are good to treasure and some, because they are so temporary, are not wise things to invest much time in, or to treasure.
I remembered a Bible verse that lends some guidance, here. It’s found in the book written by Matthew, one of Jesus’ first 12 followers, and here, he quotes Jesus: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
He makes this connection directly after stating we should not treasure things that can ruin, and He follows it almost immediately with the warning not to try collecting both earthly and Spiritual hoards, because it can’t be done.
Wise Man, right?.
Love this birdhouse. Not that kind of love . . . Photo credit: Wikipedia
So, my fun collection of bird houses, which do not house birds, but only collect dust in my sunroom, are not wise things to treasure. I already knew that. I view them like wallpaper or rugs, just decor. Only I bought them at garage sales for pennies, so they cost less. Although I like them a lot, I don’t treasure them.
When it comes to my grandkids’ souls, though, wow. Those I treasure, and my heart is full of them, often. If I even think I see a sign of a troubled soul, I have to remember I’m not the mom, and certainly not God. I have to work hard not to say anything outside of encouragement, except when speaking to the Savior of souls. I earnestly seek protection for their souls. Different from birdhouses, which I only dust.
If there were a fire, I would rescue the grandkids and let the birdhouses burn. Easy to choose.
I remember reading a story about a wise woman in Little Rock whose house had burned. When interviewed, she thought of all the kind folk who were returning to her the gifts and photos she had given them, just so she would have SOMETHING.
She said, “After a fire, the only thing you have left is what you gave away.” That quote riveted me like little I’ve ever heard before. What wisdom!
And the Bible tells us our God is a consuming fire. Only what cannot be consumed remains after He is done with us.
And some resent that. They want to live down here, in this messed up world, instead of zooming on up to pure delight. Where is their treasure? Where is their heart?
The Test of the Two-Year-Old!
Some of us go too far with treasuring our people, though, and take it to the point of worshiping.
I knew a lady who complained that she never had time to pray or read the Bible because her granddaughter just took up all her time. She further explained that the child was in a demanding stage and it often took all day to satisfy her every whim, whether it be for food, entertainment, or even the simple need for sleep. They were often up until 10:30 or later, just fighting sleep, after which point the lady was exhausted, as we all would be, in that situation.
But where was her treasure ? Where was her heart?
I once read that wherever your mind goes, on autopilot, when you are not directing your thoughts, is where your heart is, is your treasure, is your god.
The Kiss of Peace 1869 albumen print 36.0 x 27.8 cm. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Love and faithfulness meet together;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Psalm 85:10
Love.
It’s been on our minds a lot, lately. And of course we think of the kissy kind of love first.
But what else can love be?
And what else can a kiss be?
Moms kiss away booboos because of love. Some people die because of love. Others kiss because of treachery.
Love and kisses don’t always go hand in hand.
Seldom, though, do we think of anything other than people kissing. I mean, dogs actually lick. Perhaps the sun kisses a peach or a wave kisses the shore, but that’s about it.
In the verse above, righteousness and peace are treated as animate things that can kiss
We call kissing a sign of love or the glue of marriage. If we mortals grasp anything at all, maybe these ideas are right.
And maybe peace is so interconnected with righteousness that the two are one, as in marriage.
It sure is true that when we know we’ve done wrong we lack peace and when we know we’ve done the right thing we feel peace return.
Once Baby was all bathed and dressed for bed, a secret and almost sacred ritual would begin.
First he would shyly ease his way into the dim-lit nursery and stand a bit away from the rocker where Baby rested in my arms. Then he would ask if Baby had bathed and if Baby’s feet were all clean.
Once assured, he then would ask if he might kiss Baby’s feet.
It always awed me, the tenderness this one had for Baby and for Baby’s feet.
And those were the nights that I learned all the baby expert books in the world that predict jealousy in the displaced sibling meant nothing to me.
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