Location, Location, Location 5/12/2016

 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.  Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”  Matthew 7:24-28

Did you know that sand is a pretty good substance on which to build a house?  In fact, according to the University of Minnesota Extension, "If the subsoil is coarse (sand, loamy sand), water drains through it rapidly (assuming there is no high water table). Coarse-textured soils are easily excavated and quite stable during both dry and wet conditions."  Of course a firm and solid foundation of bedrock is a good place to build too.  Considering this passage, however, there are two things most of us miss.

First, it is the location of the sand.  Whenever we think sand, we think beach.  When we think beach we think ocean.  In reality, those in Israel were more familiar with the desert and something called wadies.  A wadi is a dry riverbed.  Though water does not consistently flow there, when the rare rains come, even if they occur miles away, they are subject to torrential flash flooding.  These flood are responsible for killing more people in the wilderness than heat, thirst and animals combined.  Because of the unpredictable and dangerous nature of the sand lined wadis, they just don't make good places to build homes.  Note the wording of a portion of the passage in the NIV (emphasis mine): "The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Second, we get so caught up in houses, construction and materials, we miss the message that compares the way the houses withstand the sudden onset of potential calamity with hearing and acting on the word of God.

Beloved, it is a sure thing that problems, challenges, threats and storms will come our way.  Nowhere in the bible is it promised that these things will not happen.  It is actually implied that they will.  Rains, winds and floods happen every day to this day.  The difference in wisdom and foolishness and the difference in the outcome of the storms is found in the decision to adhere to the given word of God.  It is important to note that hearing or being aware of what God has to say to us is not enough.  Acting on the word or according to it is the critical piece.  Our parents told us not to put anything into electrical sockets.  We all heard it.  Only those who heeded do not have stories of suffering to share (unless they are relating those of others).

Let us not subject ourselves to a great fall.  We know the difference between good and bad and right and wrong.  We know what God has said.  Even if we do not agree, if our desire is to be contrary or if we are skeptical of the outcome, God is worthy of our trust.  Let us be wise.  Let us not build our lives in areas that are in harms way but let us elevate out of the river bottom and build on the Rock that is Jesus who sits on high where surely there is safety even in the storm.

Practically speaking,

Lee

You Know and You Know You Know It 1/14/2016

"Why do you complain to him
    that he responds to no one’s words?
 For God does speak—now one way, now another—
    though no one perceives it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
    when deep sleep falls on people
    as they slumber in their beds,
 he may speak in their ears
    and terrify them with warnings,
to turn them from wrongdoing
    and keep them from pride,
to preserve them from the pit,
    their lives from perishing by the sword."
Job 33:14-18 (NIV)

When Job famously experienced some of the worst tragedies known to man, he eventually began to question God.  He justified himself, wondered aloud to his friends why God was punishing him and most importantly complained about God's lack of response (Job 33:8-13).

So often we find ourselves in Job's frame of mind.  We think more of ourselves than we ought.  While in the moment we think our circumstance is worse than it really is.  And when our faith fails, we somehow think that God is not only absent but unaware.

Beloved, what we must know and believe is that God is all present, all knowing and all powerful.  There is nothing that escapes His eye (Matthew 10:29-31).  Not only does He know your situation and hear your cries, He answers!  Have you ever come to the crossroads of a decision to do right or wrong and hear that voice in your head saying, "Now you know what you should do don't you?"  Have you ever gone to bed with a dilemma and arisen the next morning with a decision about what you will do?  Have you ever gone to a friend with a problem, hoping that they would tell you what you wanted to hear only to have them tell you what you actually needed to hear?

You see, God speaks to us in many ways.  If we do not know it consciously, we most certainly know it subconsciously.  In fact many of us refer to this phenomenon as our conscience, typically depicted by an angel on our shoulder arguing against the devil on the other one.  My mom always taught me to do what I know is right.  It turns out that she received that advice from God (James 4:17).  The fact is that we know right from wrong and good from bad and we make our own choices.  The more spiritually mature among us know that God is present with us and offers us guidance every day of our lives.  Though we may fail to realize it, or worse, claim to the contrary, God knows, hears and answers.  We know it.  We know we know it.  We just need to listen attentively and stop giving ourselves excuses to do other than what we know is right as we accuse Him of not being present.  He is.

Practically speaking,

Lee

Go Fish 1/8/2016

“Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’  Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.”  Matthew 4:18-20

Almost immediately after Jesus formally began his ministry, he called his first followers into service.  There was already an existing acquaintance between them (John 1:35-42) but at that time the work of the Lord had not yet begun in earnest.  There was a period of time when the opportunity was given to get to know him and to begin to understand who he is.  When the time came to execute on his purpose for coming to earth, a precedent worthy of note was set.

The first four of the called were employed in the fishing trade.  As Jesus would go on to do almost exclusively, he communicated a heavenly message to them in earthly terms with which they could easily identify.  The first item was an invitation to follow him.  In the rabbinical tradition, the master teacher took on students (disciples if you will) who lived with him and learned by both direct instruction and direct observation.  You will note that in the Gospels, there was rarely a time when at least some of the apostles were not with him.  Secondly, Jesus informed them that there was work for them to do and he analogized it in a way that resonated deeply with them.  The message was that as you catch fish for a living, you will now capture souls for life.

Beloved, it is both a simple and common thing to claim acquaintance with Jesus.  We all have stories of how and where we met him, who introduced us to him and what the circumstances were at the time.  Some of us may even claim to be followers in that we attend worship on Sundays, attend bible study mid-week and Sunday morning and generally try to observe his commands.  The issue most of us have is that we come just short of being actual disciples.  This is seen in that we do not do the very first thing we were called to do as his followers and follow one of the very last instructions that he gave, which he himself demonstrated throughout his ministry.  We are not actively engaged in seeking and saving the lost.

Imagine being a doctor who studied under a research physician who discovered the cure for cancer.  Imagine that research physician instructing his charge to offer it to all mankind that the disease may once and for all be eradicated.  Imagine the teacher and mentor further wisely advising his student that there would be plenty who would be skeptical and would not accept the cure, perhaps even going so far as to become antagonistic and accusatory about what they believe to be false hope.  Now imagine the student taking the cure for himself and storing the formula away in a safe where it stays.  Finally, imagine people all over the world continuing to die from cancer.

We have been given both a great gift and a great responsibility.  Jesus has saved us from the ultimate death and he has commanded us to do all we can to save others (Matthew 18:19-20).  We know something about fishing.  Let us apply that skill in a way that benefits those in critical need as it was once applied to us.

Practically speaking,

Lee