He Remembered

I heard the story recently about a guy named John who had a serious memory problem. One day he ran into a friend he had not seen in a long time. He greeted him and said, “Bill, do you remember what a bad memory I had?” Bill answered, “Yes, I certainly do.” “Well, it’s not bad any more. I went to a seminar that taught us how to remember things. It was great, and now I have a wonderful memory.” Bill answered, “That’s great! What was the name of the seminar?” “Well,” John said, “wait a minute, my wife went with me. I’ll ask her.” He turned and saw his wife nearby. Then he turned back to Bill and said, “What’s the name of that flower with a long stem, thorns and a red bloom?” “Do you mean a rose?” Bill answered. “Yeah, thanks,” John said. “Hey, Rose, what’s the name of that seminar we attended?” All of us have problems remembering on occasions.  We forget people’s names, phone numbers, and special events just to name a few. However there are some things we cannot forget. Memorial Day is one of those. This is a time when we should focus upon the men and women who died fighting to maintain our nation’s freedom.  But it’s also a day when we should reflect upon those who lost their lives fighting for our faith. They refused to abandon their convictions. Hebrews chapter eleven mentions multitudes that fall into this category. They would not surrender to denial and because of that they were tortured, crucified, beheaded, and beaten to death. However, the ultimate person to remember is the one who fought for our future. When we were full of sin and without hope, Jesus died that we might become the righteousness of God. That’s one of the most important reasons we participate in Holy Communion.  Jesus said “take the bread and drink the cup and as often as you do, you are doing it in remembrance of me.”  But as hard as it is to admit, sometimes we forget. It’s not that we block him out of our memory altogether, we just don’t keep him as a priority in our lives.  This causes me to ask, “Can we forget the one who did not forget us?” A serious reading of the scripture reveals that Jesus as the supreme sacrifice remembered us in everything.  He knew we needed forgiveness--He remembered.  He knew we needed peace—He remembered. He knew we needed comfort—He remembered. He knew we were human—He remembered. He knew we needed healing—He remembered. He knew we needed hope—He remembered. He knew we needed encouragement—He remembered. He knew we needed provision—He remembered. He knew we needed deliverance—He remembered. He knew we needed power—He remembered. He knew we needed a home—He remembered. Yes, He remembered us in all things. That being said let us be sure to take the time, especially during this Memorial week to remember Him.  

Recognizing God

A few days ago I pulled into Kroger’s gas station to fill up the church van.  A gentleman across from me was doing the same. I spoke and he responded by asking, “What church are you with?” I replied “Gracepoint.” “Where is it located” was his next question. As I began to explain he interrupted and said, “Oh yes, I watch your pastor on TV regularly. He preaches on Monday or Wednesday right?” I said, “Yes it’s Monday.” He never recognized who I was and I did not tell him.  My curiosity tempted me to ask, “Does he do a good job?”  However I refrained thinking he might answer negatively.  Why did he not know who I was? Had I been dressed incognito I would have understood, but that was not the case.  Strangely enough two of Jesus’ followers experienced the same.  They were on their way to Emmaus when the Lord drew near to them. Although they had been in his company on multiple occasions and had heard him speak, on this day he was unrecognizable. Luke says “their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.”  We are not given the reasons as to why this happened, but let me suggest a few.  Possibly the problem was lack of focus. They just failed to look closely refusing to entertain the idea that it just might be him. Maybe they were too preoccupied with their loss and were overwhelmed with grief. Or one cannot rule out the suggestion given by the author that Jesus just wasn’t ready to reveal himself as yet. He had them on hold. Regardless of the reason, they did not have the capacity at that moment to entertain him.  This holds true for us. There are those occasions when God stands in our very presence but we fail to recognize him. How wonderful it is when He lifts the veil allowing us to see and hear Him as He is. When this happens our hearts will feel the same burning as Cleopas and his unnamed friend mentioned earlier.  The encounter may come on your job, at the grocery store, or while taking a walk through the woods. The important thing is not the place but the person. It is about our being successful at recognizing God!        

The Importance of Mothers

A man came home from work and found his three children outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was covered with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, the fridge door was open wide and dog food was spilled on the floor. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she might be ill, or that something serious had happened. He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Miles of toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls. As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, “What happened here today?” She again smiled and answered, “You know every evening when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?” “Yes,” was his incredulous reply! She answered, “Well, today I didn’t do it.” An article in Forbes some months ago asked the question, "Think you can put a price on motherhood?" Then they presented a study on how many hours moms work and what the family would have to pay for outsourcing that duty. The 2012 survey determined the following: The average stay-at-home mom should make an annual salary of $112,962 based on a 40-hour per week base pay plus 54.7 hours a week of overtime; the average working mom should make an annual salary $66,969 based on 40-hours of mothering duties and 17.9 overtime hours per week. The question is “how much does yours make?” Very few of us would have the resources to pay those kinds of wages. However, I have found out that mothers really don’t require it. All they want is a little gratitude, a generous hug, and a sincere “I love you!” Because if we care to admit it all of us could agree with the words of Abraham Lincoln who wrote: “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."  If you praise her appropriately she will know she is stupendous, priceless, and matchless. She’s really important!

Demonstrating Love

Has the Lord ever asked you to do something difficult? Watchman Nee in one of his teachings told a story about a Chinese Xian man who owned a rice paddy next to his. The Xian man irrigated his fields by pumping water out of a canal. Every day, after the Xian had pumped enough water to fill his paddy, the Communist man would come out, remove the boards that kept the water in his neighbor’s paddy, and allow the water to drain into his paddy so he wouldn’t have to pump the water. This continued for some time, until the Xian was just fed up with it. He prayed, “Lord, if this keeps up I’m going to lose all my rice, maybe even my field. What can I do?” The Lord responded by putting a thought in his mind. The next morning the Xian man got up early and started pumping water into his neighbor’s field first. Then he replaced the boards and pumped water into his own rice paddy. This resulted in both rice paddies becoming productive and the Communist man was moved by his neighbor’s loving action. The two men became friends and eventually the Communist man became a follower of Jesus. It comes as no surprise that God often asks us to do things we consider strange in order to develop character in us and to impact the lives of others. Such a request might involve praying for an enemy, mowing the lawn of a hateful neighbor; volunteering to fill in for the mean-spirited co-worker who drives you nuts; or being helpful and kind to an ex-spouse or estranged family member. It’s amazing but when God’s will involves development He often chooses a teacher that is diametrically opposite of us.  He may place you beside a co-worker considered to be the most distrusting person in the department, or a cantankerous neighbor. Your quiet neighborhood may become the next project in the city’s reconstruct the street initiative. Or even worse, the building you work in may be invaded by those nasty jack-hammers creating noise that goes right to the bone. Whatever the circumstance, once the project is completed you are a much better person because of it. In any event, no assignment is without its challenges but greater still its opportunities. God gives us the right situation in which to demonstrate His love.   

Our Cancelled Debt

Several years ago while pastoring in middle Tennessee a guest walked into our services for the very first time. From appearance, Evelyn looked as if she lived meagerly and was far from being a lady of financial means; however, looks can be very deceiving. I found out she was a rather savvy business person whose investments had resulted in her amassing several thousand dollars. Immediately she began to bless the church as well as her pastor. With this new member’s assistance several renovation projects were completed and she made it possible for my wife and me to take our very first tour of Israel. In addition, throughout the years I was the recipient of multiple financial gifts. However, time and age has a way of affecting the mind. Evelyn’s capacity to remember began to slip. Her spirit of generosity had not waned but her memory had. This became apparent when she began to give me checks that had previously been endorsed, cashed and returned to her from the bank.  She could not grasp the fact that even though my name appeared on the check along with her signature, once it had been drawn upon the paper was no longer valid. The first time she recirculated one I remember thinking, “Unnoticed, this could be quite embarrassing and possibly incriminating if given to a teller at the bank.”  I could not draw upon something that had been cancelled. While innocence was at play in my experience, the same cannot be said of the Devil. How often he produces notes that have been paid in full. That’s the reason why the last three words Jesus bellowed from the cross was “It is finished.” The terminology used here had to do with a merchant cancelling a debt or a prisoner being pardoned. In essence the declaration was a guarantee that once our sins are forgiven the enemy has no right to try and recirculate the check.  He cannot and we should not. Jesus has given us his endorsement. Our debt has been cancelled!     

The Ultimate Sacrifice

A Christian businessman was traveling in Korea. In a field by the side of the road was a young man pulling a rude plow while an old man held the handles. The businessman was amused and took a snapshot of the scene. "I suppose these people are very poor,” he said to the missionary who was interpreter and guide to the party. "Yes,” was the quiet reply, “those two men happen to be Christians. When their church was being built, they were eager to give something toward it, but they had no money. So they decided to sell their one and only ox and give the proceeds to the church. This spring they are pulling the plow themselves.” The businessman was silent for some moments. Then he said, “That must have been a real sacrifice.”  “They did not call it that," said the missionary. “They thought themselves fortunate that they had an ox to sell!” When that businessman reached home, he took the picture to his pastor and told him all about it. Then he added, “I want to double my giving to the church and do some plow work. Up until now I have never given God anything that involved real sacrifice.” While this story shows a deep level of sacrifice, it falls short in describing the ultimate. We see that in the life of Jesus. He chose to leave the celestial surroundings of heaven to come to earth amidst tainted and sinful man. He chose flesh and blood rather than the ethereal, hard labor in the carpenter shop as opposed to the luxury of a palace and ministry rather than the monarchy. He was lied upon, spit upon, and beaten beyond recognition, but chose nails, a cross, and a borrowed tomb when He could have been rescued by legions of angels. Denying oneself never comes without a price, neither does it come without a reward.  Jesus chose sacrifice, but God chose resurrection. Being  raised from the dead, this giver found himself being given the ultimate crown: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”  Paul explained the gift in his own words. “God has given him a name that is above every name and at the mention of that name every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”  Submission involves no fear when we realize that resurrection is God’s answer to the question of ultimate sacrifice.       

The Power of Suggestion

Several years ago, there was a beautiful hotel that was built in Galveston, Texas, which jutted out over the water in the bay. It had these large plate glass windows that allowed you to look out over the Gulf of Mexico. And the balconies on each room made an ideal fishing pier! It seems that right after this hotel opened, there was a fisherman who took his rod and reel and tried to cast out into the water. Somehow, though, he managed in his clumsiness to knock out some windows below him. The hotel very quickly put up signs in every room that read: "No fishing from balconies." Guess what happened? People had never given much thought to fishing from their balconies, but they suddenly thought that was a great idea! So everyone decided to try it! Even people who could care less about fishing joined in. And they kept knocking out windows. Finally, one bright administrator came up with the unlikely remedy, removing the "no fishing" signs. Guess what happened? People quit fishing and there were no more broken windows! Suggestion is a powerful thing. Somehow it places in the mind of the reader or listener the temptation to act foolishly. We fight it when we come to a “wet paint” or a “stay off the grass” sign. But even more so we fight it in the spiritual realm.  Eve fell prey to the suggestion of eating, Abraham to lying, and Achan to that of stealing.  Paul even wrestled this beast of the brain. He explains it to us in Romans. “We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin.  I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do.”  Here is a man who admits falling into the power of suggestion. Although, we read of those who contended with this culprit in the past it does not exclude us from wrestling with it in the present.  Daily we find ourselves battling with the power of suggestion. Paul well versed and loaded with experience gave us the means which allows for ongoing victory. “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” We cannot keep this force from approaching our mind but we can keep it from penetrating and overtaking our will. Foreign thoughts will always be lurking in the shadows seeking to control our actions. However, God has given us the ability to label them as spiritual opposition. But most of all He has given us the power to cast them down and to be successful when faced with the power of suggestion.