Catch You On The Flip Side!

The band Creed in their song “Higher” describe a recurring dream where everything is perfect…blind men see,  golden streets…sounds a lot like Heaven.  The struggle is to stay in the dream because life is so much worse than the dream, but then again, the problems of the world make it possible to appreciate those dreams that much more.  “But, my friend, I'd sacrifice all those nights if I could make the Earth and my dreams the same.  The only difference is to let love replace all our hate.”

Then the country duo Big & Rich said in their song “Eternity” “Just can’t let this old world get us down.  There's too much beauty in this life.  It should be so perfect we shouldn't know we've made it to the other side…When we make it to the other side.”

In Matthew 6 Jesus is giving instructions on prayer.  Don’t be all self-righteous and hoity-toity about it.  If you’re going on and on just to impress the people hearing you – well guess what…they’ve heard you, and you just got your reward.  That’s what you were seeking, and congratulations, you found it – people heard you and your fancy words.  But when you pray, do it so that it’s between you and God and know that He knows what you want before you ask.  And then He gives the example prayer commonly referred to as the “Lord’s Prayer” in Matthew 6:9-13.  And in verse 10 He says, “Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.”  Man!  What a goal!  And of all the things that we ask for, why shouldn’t that be request number 1?

“if I could make the Earth and my dreams the same” “It should be so perfect, we shouldn’t know we’ve made to the other side…when we make it to the other side.”

Call this one an Attention Deficit devotional – because it doesn’t take a long time to get to the point.  And there’s only one question to answer on the review quiz.

Listen for the Whisper that’s asking you, “What are you doing to make this world more like Heaven?”  And a bonus question for those that like extra credit: “If the answer is ‘nothing’, then why aren’t you doing anything?”

~Dwayne

ListenForTheWhisper@comcast.net

http://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com

Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me!

“You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.”  It’s one of those universal truisms that everyone knows.  Everyone knows the line, and everyone knows what it means.  It’s actually an idiom (your $3 word for the day), and like most recipes, some people substitute sugar for the honey, but the point is the same.  It’s the same concept as in the old Aesop fable about the bet between the North Wind and the Sun.  The quick version of the story is this:

The North Wind and the Sun are talking about strength.  The Sun says that gentleness is more powerful than shear strength.  So the Sun proposes a contest.  There’s a man walking below on a winding mountain road.  The Sun says, “see that man there, whichever of us can get his coat off of him is the winner.”  So the North Wind says, “I can blow his coat off of him!” So the cold North Wind blew and blew.  He blew the leaves off of the trees, birds off of their nests, and blew up so much dust that the man could hardly see where he was walking.  But the harder the North Wind blew, the tighter the man drew his coat around him.  And so the Sun took his turn.  He slowly came out from behind a cloud, and began warming the afternoon air.  The man let go of the tight grip he’d had on his coat.  The sun started shining a little brighter and soon the afternoon became very warm, and the man sat down under a tree to rest and took off his coat and sat it on the ground beside him.

So now you’re thinking “yeah, that’s great, but what does this have to do with a church devotional?”  Well, I’m glad you asked.  When Jesus called people to Him, how did He do it?  Did he stand there wagging his finger in their faces listing sin after sin after sin that they were committing, and then telling them that the only way to get right it through Him?  Nope.  He showed the love and forgiveness that only He had to offer and people ran to Him in flocks.  He didn’t beat them over the head with their mistakes and insult them for just not getting it.  He didn’t yell and accuse and blow the leaves off the trees and the birds off of the branches expecting them to give up sin and turn to holiness.  He showed them what holiness looked like.  He showed them what Godly love looked like, and they willingly walked away from their sin and chose to walk to Him.

Listen for the Whisper that asks you that if Jesus handled it that way, why shouldn’t we?  Because there was one group of people that Jesus got sideways with.  There was certainly one group of people that He had no trouble at all calling hypocrites, and vipers, and ohh…what was that phrase…oh yeah!  “Sons of Hell” (Matthew 23:15).  And who was that?  Oh, just the self-righteous Pharisees and Jewish teachers that thought that they had it allll figured out.  And ran around pointing fingers, accusing and patting themselves on the back for knowing God and all about what He wanted.  They acted like they were better than everyone else and instead of offering the sweetness of Jesus and the love He had for them, they offered condemnation and a “holier than thou” attitude to anyone to anyone close enough to hear.

Which group are you in?  Are one of the ones that shows how great Jesus is if you get to know Him.  Let the “Son shine” so they take off their own coats.  Or are you a North Wind “blow hard” that points out all of the sin in someone else’s life, telling them just how wrong they are in everything they do, and then expect them to simply look at you and say, “wow, you’re right!”  As for me, I’m pretty sure I’m no position to act like I’m holier than anyone…”for all have sinned and fallen short” – and like The Animals said in “House of the Rising Sun” – “and, God, I know I’m one!”  Show them Jesus, and they’ll come running to Him all on their own.  They always have.

~Dwayne

ListenForTheWhisper@comcast.net

http://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com

What Does This Button Do?

We went to Red Lobster a while back…for the seafood lover in me, I guess.  As usual, there was a wait to be seated.  This wait wasn’t as bad as the usual wait, though.  It was only “25-30 minutes” according to the lady at the desk.  And as a quick side note, I’m thoroughly convinced that smartphones were created by people standing there staring at a lobster tank for an hour while they waited on a table.  But we were handed our buzzer, pager, your-table-is-ready-inator, whatever you want to call it and began our wait.  First we stood by the lobster tank, then talked about the different colored rubber bands – if there was a significance, then told Cameron to NOT stick his nose in the water (“I wasn’t, I just looking down in the water to see better”) but since he’s MY kid I thought it better to throw out the “don’t do it” first, and ask questions later.  And finally a bench opened over by the hostess station.  So we scurried over to sit out the rest of our wait while we “people watched”. 

After a bit, this one family walked in and had a couple of little girls with them.  Looked like a normal family that likely would have been to this restaurant (or others like it) before.  But after the hostess handed the woman the “your-table-is-ready-inator”, the kids became fascinated!  “Mom, what is THAT thing?!”  “Why is it blinking?”  “What is it for?”  “Will it blink and buzz when our table is ready?”  And I thought those were some of the most absurd questions.  I mean these kids were probably 8 and 10 years old, and MY kid is 10 years old and he knows what the thing is, so how could they not?  I mean we had played with it like it was a taser and everything else…we just took it from the hostess matter-of-factly and started the waiting procedure.  But then here came this regular family and the kids acted like it was some amazing new thing.  I thought the questions they asked were almost unbelievable.

And I do the same thing with fellow Christians.  I’ve been doing a lot of reading and studying lately, and in doing my studying I’ve googled a lot of questions looking for answers to some really tough Bible questions.  But search engines hit on key words, and when I search for answer to some pretty hefty questions (for devotional purposes, you don’t really need to know my questions) I get some strange search results.  And some of the questions make me shake my head and wonder how just how stupid some of these people are.  But they’re not necessarily stupid.  Just ignorant.  And smart enough to know that they don’t know.  And unashamed enough of their questions to ask it.  I mean literally, here are some examples of the questions that I read people asking: “Is the parable of the talents just a parable showing that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?”  “Why is God going to judge us and hold us accountable for Adam’s sin?”  “Does the Bible say the Earth is flat?”

And while these questions made me chuckle when I read them, I have to understand that I’m reading them as someone who is pushing 40 and has read the Bible (or had it read to me) since I was VERY young.  And there was a time that I’m sure I asked questions that some viewed equally as ridiculous.  And to include one specifically:  “Has Satan actually been thrown out of Heaven yet?”  Seems like an insane question, but it’s one that as I read a few verses, I began to wonder.  Of course, when you put it all together, it’s a little laughable to look back and think that I even wondered the question.  But when Revelation 12:10 says that Satan accuses us before God day and night has been hurled down – and you look at Revelation as future – then certain questions come up.  But I read some more, did some asking around for opinion and, like I said, looking back it seems more than laughable.

But studying leads to questions.  And it doesn’t matter how far along the path we are, we need to be studying and searching for answers.  When we hear a brother or sister in Christ asking questions, then we need to be willing to answer them.  And even more so if we’re talking to a non-believer.  If they’re asking if this-and-such is a sin, then we need to answer the question.  No laughing.  No ridicule.  Just a simple answer.  And with references…don’t just answer them “yes, the Bible says so”.  The Bible doesn’t actually say a lot of the things that people think it says or want it to say.

But I was laughing at a lot more of these questions than I realized I was.  “Can you BELIEVE that these people are asking these ridiculous questions?!”  “Have you even READ the Bible?!”  Right up until I saw that family at Red Lobster, and it dawned on me that what is blatantly obvious to me might not be to someone else.  And yeah, they might very well have read the Bible.  But it’s a big book.  And it’s a DEEP book.  And if you’re a new Christian trying to get to know who God is and what it means to be Holy and all you have is a small, green Gideon’s Bible that was given to you at a college campus – well then, they might not be able to find the answers to some of these questions so easily.  And like everything else in Christianity, it’s about treating others with the love that Jesus had for them.

You want an example of the right way to handle something you think is a question too stupid to have been asked, let’s take a look at how Jesus handled it.  Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8 are all parables where the disciples came to Jesus scratching their heads and asking “uhhhh…whaaat”.  But not once did Jesus laugh at them, or slap his forehead “what a bunch of maroons” (to borrow a Bugs Bunny line)…not once.  What he did was take the time to explain it to them.  He spoke in parables – according to His own words – so that the ones hearing would not understand.  How did the disciples understand?  They went to Him and asked.  And He likely would have explained it to the members of His audience had they just asked.

Why didn’t they?  I don’t know.  Why didn’t I?  Thought it was a dumb question, maybe.  Scared that I’d look stupid for asking the question, maybe.  Embarrassed that the answer might be so simple that I’d look even more stupid for asking it.  Or maybe it’s something I thought I should already know if I’d been paying attention, and I don’t want to look like I wasn’t.  There a millions answers for why a single question goes unasked.

But Listen for the Whisper that tells you to embrace the opportunity to answer a question from someone searching for Biblical Truth.  And if you have to tell them, “I’m not sure, let me get back to you” then tell them that, and then get back to them.  But always be ready to answer Bible questions.  And like Andrea always tells me when I’m yelling “Come on!  That’s an EASY question!” at the TV, “It’s only easy if you know the answer.”  So the Bible question that you laugh at may only be easy because you know the answer.  And in that case, you should share it gladly…and with compassion and joy because some Christian cared enough to ask it.  Because in the asking, they are showing a willingness to learn.  And we’re all supposed to be teachers anyway, so take the chance to teach every chance you get.  And remember to watch for the clues that God is giving you.  I literally had laughed out loud when I read some of the questions that I saw people asking.  And then I saw that little girl with the Red Lobster buzzer asking “what does this do”, and just like that I realized that instead of laughing at questions that I thought were dumb and moving on to find answers to my own questions, that maybe I need to take the time to answer a question or two.  And answer it with kindness.  The same way Jesus answered the questions of His disciples when they asked the questions to Him.

~Dwayne

ListenForTheWhisper@comcast.net

http://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com

What's It To Ya, Buddy?

Back in the “We Were Soldiers” series (the fourth one to be specific), I was making the point that at some point we have to deal with things and move on.  As an example, I mentioned a guy in my office.  Here, let me go get it and stick right in here for reference…I’ll be sure to note it in my bibliography so that I’ve given myself full credit and won’t sue myself later for plagiarizing myself.  I’m the sort of guy that would do that, by the way, if I added bibliographies…reference myself.  And probably think it was funny.  But anyway, the referenced paragraph is:

But how long do we stand there complaining about what got us here instead of just dealing with it and moving forward?  To point some generic fingers, there’s a guy in my office that will call me over to see something quirky with how our program is behaving.  “See, when I do this, it does this…and when I do that, it does that.  Have you ever seen it do that?”  Well, no – but apparently this one is doing it, so I suggest not doing that.  “Well that’s just weird!  When I do this, it does this…and when I do that, it does that.”  And instead of just grabbing the bull by his proverbial horns and just avoiding the “when I do that it does that” scenario, he’ll go back and forth between the two probably a dozen times just griping that it happens every time it happens.

And I recently had a moment of self-reflection and confession.  I’m not that guy…but I’m that guy.  When I originally wrote that paragraph, I was talking about someone else using our computer program.  But as I recently went on yet another “this guy is so lazy” rant about another particular guy in my department, I realized that I am that guy.  Glass houses, throwing stones.  Pots and Kettles.  Irony.  Hypocrisy.  Whatever you want to call it.  I had that out-of-body experience where I looked back at myself realized that as I was sitting there typing devotionals about a guy using a program and NOT getting over it and moving on with it, I’m doing the same thing about a lazy coworker.  He’s lazy, Dwayne!  Deal with it and move on!

And that’s not to say that he doesn’t still aggravate me.  It’s that quintessential, stereotypical “lazy coworker” that we all know…unless you ARE the “lazy coworker”.  You poke, you prod, you flat-out call him out, and yet he still stands there like a cow slowly chewing his cud with no intention of ever picking up the pace regardless of all you’ve tried.  And I sat right here at the office one day and wrote that paragraph above without ever realizing that I’m doing the exact same thing.  And it’s really easy to say “Get over it!  Move on!” like I said about the guy and the program, but that doesn’t make it easy to do.  Because without fail whenever he’s sitting back with his feet kicked up letting us others drag him along, I go into my same old rant.  But for whatever reason (I lean toward the Holy Spirit) one day I had that realization.  Then I had a couple of verses come to mind.

First was Colossions 3,  ²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  And along those same lines, Philippians 2, ¹⁴ Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life.  And while it may seem like a stretch to look at a lazy coworker through the eyes of “working for the Lord” and “Do everything without grumbling”, it’s not such a stretch when I realize that most of my failings of the tongue…the UN-Christian words from my mouth…lack of ”gum control”, if you will, happen to come when I’m the middle of one of those tired, old rants. 

Am I one of the laborers that got there early?  “Hey, C’Mon, Jesus!  I’ve been doing alllll of this work, and this guy just worked one hour!”  And, yeah, I know that’s about salvation and people that are saved first and later and whatnot – but doesn’t the Bible have truths that can be applied on multiple levels?  And if I’m working as though I’m working for God, and not necessarily working for my company, might I be a little more patient when things come up that normally ruffle my feathers.  And to be honest, they ruffle a lot more easily these days than they used to.  And if instead of showing up at the office and doing my job for “THE MAN”, I acted like Colossians 3 tells me to and worked at it with all my heart, as working for the Lord, perhaps, just perhaps, I wouldn’t be so quick-tempered.

And the skeptics among you…and those with “lazy coworkers” of your own to deal with are saying, “well, yeah, that’s all fine and good…but why isn’t THAT guy acting like he’s working for the Lord?!  Huh, Smart Guy?  Riddle me THAT, Batman!”  And to those of you that think that way and to myself because that’s how I’ve looked at it for a long time, I’d ask you to pause a minute and listen to the other verse that came to mind.

Listen for the Whisper of John 21.  The Whisper of John 21:21 when Peter asks a resurrected Jesus, “What about HIM?” and then the Whisper of John 21:22 when Jesus essentially asks Peter right back, “what about him?”…His exact words, “What is that to you?”  And there’s the reference for the devotional title.  What Jesus has asked of you, He has asked personally of you.  Paul had a thorn in his side and prayed for it to be removed.  God said, “no, my Grace is sufficient”.  My thorn is my temper.  My thorn is my lack of patience.  And when it comes to lazy people not pulling their fair share of the weight, I lose both very quickly.  Who am I to say that God hasn’t directly planted these trials in my path.  “Here’s this.  How do you handle it?”  Not like the Christian I’m supposed to be should handle it, that’s how…more like Buford T. Justice.

Is that to say that we should just accept lazy people and let them ride coattails while others do all the work?  Absolutely not.  The Bible says much about laziness, but that’s not where I’m pointing the accusatory finger today…today I’m pointing it at me.  Because it also says much about how I’m supposed to treat other people.  And instead of firing off hot-headed emails, or calling them on the phone and jumping down their throats, perhaps we should take a deep breath and approach them Christian to Christian and bring the Word to help you.  And ask the Spirit to guide your tongue, instead of letting it waggle freely to say whatever it wants.  And if they don’t respond to that?  “What is that to you?”  Do I have a license to be hateful?  No.  Do I have the right to treat him as though I never knew Jesus?  No.  My issues are my temper, my patience, and my tongue.  And I struggle and fail those tests regularly.  So who am I to judge someone who regularly fails the tests of sloth and laziness?  Are their short-comings worse than mine?  No.  And lastly is it fair that they get away with doing so little?  Again, it’s an obvious and resounding NO.  But was Daniel treated fairly?  Was Paul being beaten repeatedly fair?  Was Samson’s death fair?  Was Peter supposedly crucified upside-down fair?  Was Stephen’s stoning fair?  Was Isaac on Abraham’s altar fair?  Was Uzzah’s death after catching the Ark fair?  Was John the Baptist’s beheading fair?  Was the death of every first-born in Egypt – and that includes the Egyptian families that had NOTHING to do with Pharaoh’s hard heart – was the death of their children fair?  Was Saul’s hatred of David fair?  Was Jesus’ crucifixion fair?  No.  None of those were what we’d call “fair”.

So why do we treat “unfair” as permission to forget we’re Christians.  Colossians 3:17 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”  Nothing there about “except when we think things aren’t fair.”

~Dwayne

ListenForTheWhisper@comcast.net

http://listenforthewhisper.blogspot.com