The Bullet of The Abundant Life: The Feast
Recently, while eating at a smorgasbord, I was struck afresh with a fantastic new thought about our Lord.
As I walked through the line, I know my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Three salads looked great, but I could take only one! Two meats were my favorite, but I could take only one. They happened to have four delicious desserts … strawberry shortcake, chocolate meringue pie, tapioca pudding and lemon ice box pie … oh, what tempting confusion! Of course I couldn’t take all of them. I could take only one! The blazing lesson was that there was far more there than I could ever take!
How true this is of our Lord! He offers to all of us more than we could ever use! Our pitiful little spiritual receptacles are forever inadequate to drink totally of His bounty. I don’t mean to be irreverent, but just as God offers us a smorgasbord in the natural realm ... night, day, sea, mountains, male, female, youth old-age, etc. … so He does likewise in the spiritual realm.
It’s senseless to compare the beauty of the mountains and the beauty of the seashore. What insanity to debate the glory of Hawaii verses the grandeur of New England. What futility to argue for the taste of steak over ice cream.
All of the above have their place for a person’s taste at the proper time. The variety of our choices is what adds brilliance to life. God can comprehend them all at once. We mortals can scarce take them one at a time!
Those of us who are thirsty for God’s reality should comfort ourselves in knowing that the Father has offered us more than we could ever experience in a hundred lifetimes. Likewise, we shouldn’t be critical of our fellow searchers who have chosen a spiritual dessert or main course different from ours.
All of us can go “through the line.” We don’t have to depend on others to make our selections for us. Nor should we be critical of their appetites and selections! The Father only wants to give us what is good! So long as we select something He has given us in Jesus Christ we can’t go wrong!
Welcome to the feast!
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Bullet of Love: Objects, Objectives and Influences
If you want to multiply your joy then I encourage you to love people who are victorious in life. People who follow Christ have good things happening to them all the time. If your friends and loved ones are those who are always getting in trouble … denying the reality of Christ, the principles of love, concern, honesty and compassion … then instead of multiplying your joys you’ve multiplied your sorrows.
Make no mistake … Christians should love all men and women but there must come a time of separation, choosing to throw our lives in with those who are seeking God, or choosing to be with the crowd that rejects Him. The principle is irrevocable … loving in spite of anything makes us conquerors over everything!
If you want to multiply your joy then I encourage you to love people who are victorious in life. People who follow Christ have good things happening to them all the time. If your friends and loved ones are those who are always getting in trouble … denying the reality of Christ, the principles of love, concern, honesty and compassion … then instead of multiplying your joys you’ve multiplied your sorrows.
Make no mistake … Christians should love all men and women but there must come a time of separation, choosing to throw our lives in with those who are seeking God, or choosing to be with the crowd that rejects Him. The principle is irrevocable … loving in spite of anything makes us conquerors over everything!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Easter: “Forgive Them …” (Part 2)
The New Testament writer in the book of Hebrews states that none of us has ever been faced with such insults as Christ. We have been hurt but most of us have never bled! What made His forgiving so great was the depth of injury He endured, bitterness or criticism or all three!!
The power of our Lord’s life is rooted in His magnificent capacity to forgive. I know I need God’s forgiveness. I also need the forgiveness of some of you reading this. All of us need forgiveness. Not just once, but again and again. Life is like closets and drawers. There’s not a home anywhere that doesn’t possess a drawer or closet that is untidy, messy, cluttered or filled with junk. There is still a lot of clutter in my own life. I wish I could get rid of it all today, but I can’t. It takes time. In the interim my only hope is that people will forgive me for my junk or mess they see in my life. I’m really pretty stupid about some of the things I do. “They know not what they do.” The only hope for us sinners is forgiveness. “Father, forgive them.” Man, I like that!!
Have you been “crucified” lately? Why not try forgiveness? It’s the Jesus thing to do. Maybe soon you’ll need someone to forgive you!
The New Testament writer in the book of Hebrews states that none of us has ever been faced with such insults as Christ. We have been hurt but most of us have never bled! What made His forgiving so great was the depth of injury He endured, bitterness or criticism or all three!!
The power of our Lord’s life is rooted in His magnificent capacity to forgive. I know I need God’s forgiveness. I also need the forgiveness of some of you reading this. All of us need forgiveness. Not just once, but again and again. Life is like closets and drawers. There’s not a home anywhere that doesn’t possess a drawer or closet that is untidy, messy, cluttered or filled with junk. There is still a lot of clutter in my own life. I wish I could get rid of it all today, but I can’t. It takes time. In the interim my only hope is that people will forgive me for my junk or mess they see in my life. I’m really pretty stupid about some of the things I do. “They know not what they do.” The only hope for us sinners is forgiveness. “Father, forgive them.” Man, I like that!!
Have you been “crucified” lately? Why not try forgiveness? It’s the Jesus thing to do. Maybe soon you’ll need someone to forgive you!
Easter! Forgiveness!! Rejoice!!!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Easter: “Forgive Them …” (Part 1)
I suppose the most amazing thing Jesus said on the cross was, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” It was the habit of most crucifixion victims to curse their executioners, curse those who watched, curse the world and curse God. The Roman, Ovid, said it was advisable to cut out the victim’s tongue before he was crucified so those watching would be spared the obnoxious noise of his screaming profanities. The Romans developed crucifixion to such an art that, in all of history, it remains the most horrible way for one to die. The victim had to push up with his feet on the wooden support block so he could breathe and relieve the pulling pain in his hands. Exhausted, he would hang again from his hands and suffer shortness of breath. It was a question of agony from pain in the feet or pain in the hands. In reality, a choice of death or death!
The thirst was unbearable. The heat of the summer sun or cold of the winter winds only increased the suffering. Left alone, it could take two or three days to die – sometimes longer. To speed things the executioners would sometimes break the victim’s legs with a staff. Death from suffocation would mercifully follow. The fact that Jesus asked forgiveness for those who nailed Him to the cross is a most staggering thought. Following Him must include that same attitude.
I suppose the most amazing thing Jesus said on the cross was, “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” It was the habit of most crucifixion victims to curse their executioners, curse those who watched, curse the world and curse God. The Roman, Ovid, said it was advisable to cut out the victim’s tongue before he was crucified so those watching would be spared the obnoxious noise of his screaming profanities. The Romans developed crucifixion to such an art that, in all of history, it remains the most horrible way for one to die. The victim had to push up with his feet on the wooden support block so he could breathe and relieve the pulling pain in his hands. Exhausted, he would hang again from his hands and suffer shortness of breath. It was a question of agony from pain in the feet or pain in the hands. In reality, a choice of death or death!
The thirst was unbearable. The heat of the summer sun or cold of the winter winds only increased the suffering. Left alone, it could take two or three days to die – sometimes longer. To speed things the executioners would sometimes break the victim’s legs with a staff. Death from suffocation would mercifully follow. The fact that Jesus asked forgiveness for those who nailed Him to the cross is a most staggering thought. Following Him must include that same attitude.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Bullet of Love: Constancy Counts
I want to share a brief thought with you on the Biblical concept that “love never fails.” If we could learn to love, we could conquer all things. Of course, this is why Jesus Christ came … to give us the power to love as He loved through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Christian life is impossible without the indwelling power of Christ Himself. That power comes to us only when we yield ourselves and are ready to accept the Truth about God, about reality, about others and about ourselves.
The joy and power of love was brought home to me recently when it dawned on me that the more people I loved the more my joy would be multiplied. If you truly love a person, then you are not jealous and whatever good things might happen to him (or her) also happens to you! Most of us are resentful or jealous when good and great things happen to other people. In fact, it’s human nature to play them down and play our good things up. However, if you really love, you not only rejoice in the good things that happen to the loved person but, actually, experience the benefits of their good fortune in your own life
I want to share a brief thought with you on the Biblical concept that “love never fails.” If we could learn to love, we could conquer all things. Of course, this is why Jesus Christ came … to give us the power to love as He loved through the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Christian life is impossible without the indwelling power of Christ Himself. That power comes to us only when we yield ourselves and are ready to accept the Truth about God, about reality, about others and about ourselves.
The joy and power of love was brought home to me recently when it dawned on me that the more people I loved the more my joy would be multiplied. If you truly love a person, then you are not jealous and whatever good things might happen to him (or her) also happens to you! Most of us are resentful or jealous when good and great things happen to other people. In fact, it’s human nature to play them down and play our good things up. However, if you really love, you not only rejoice in the good things that happen to the loved person but, actually, experience the benefits of their good fortune in your own life
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Bullet of Loneliness: Finding the Only True Friend
Loneliness is nothing more than an “emotional pain” that says our goals in life have been too low. Loneliness becomes our “friend” when it forces us to enjoy the friendship of God as much as we would the friendship of others.
All of us have to deal with loneliness! From youth to old age it is with us. It can be an ever encircling web that leads to despair; but if we claim the promises of Christ, each period of loneliness becomes a step that leads to liberation and release!
So says our Lord in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation (loneliness) … but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” Loneliness is curable if we accept Christ’s recommendation!
Loneliness is nothing more than an “emotional pain” that says our goals in life have been too low. Loneliness becomes our “friend” when it forces us to enjoy the friendship of God as much as we would the friendship of others.
All of us have to deal with loneliness! From youth to old age it is with us. It can be an ever encircling web that leads to despair; but if we claim the promises of Christ, each period of loneliness becomes a step that leads to liberation and release!
So says our Lord in John 16:33, “In the world you will have tribulation (loneliness) … but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” Loneliness is curable if we accept Christ’s recommendation!
Thursday, March 06, 2008
The Bullet of Loneliness: God’s Perspective
It is an amazing and mysterious truth that God’s heart can suffer because we ignore Him. All loneliness on this earth is a direct result of worshipping something too small to satisfy us. The Bible says that man’s heart and soul are too big to be satisfied with anything less than God!
This is why David exclaimed in Psalm 37:4, “I will delight myself in the Lord and He will give me the desires of my heart.” Expectations for full living derived from things, other people, success or even love are doomed to eventually fail. Expectations in God are always fruitful, rewarding and satisfying.
It is an amazing and mysterious truth that God’s heart can suffer because we ignore Him. All loneliness on this earth is a direct result of worshipping something too small to satisfy us. The Bible says that man’s heart and soul are too big to be satisfied with anything less than God!
This is why David exclaimed in Psalm 37:4, “I will delight myself in the Lord and He will give me the desires of my heart.” Expectations for full living derived from things, other people, success or even love are doomed to eventually fail. Expectations in God are always fruitful, rewarding and satisfying.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
The Bullet of Loneliness: Missing an Opportunity
Let’s zero in on a critical subject we all deal with more than we care to admit … loneliness. "Experts" tell us that loneliness is American’s greatest "mental disease." One of America’s most listened to teachers defines loneliness this way, "First, loneliness is the anguish I feel when I sense that I am being cut off from the spirit of others. Second, loneliness is the evidence that I was expecting others to meet my needs as only God can." The Word of God speaks to the first definition in Psalm 69:20, "I am full of heaviness, I looked for someone to lament with me; but there was none; I looked for comforters but I found no one."
Psalm 62: speaks to the second experience, "My soul waits only upon God for my expectation is from Him." Loneliness means that at the moment I am lonely, God feels the same anguish toward me because my basic delight of life is not in Him.
Let’s zero in on a critical subject we all deal with more than we care to admit … loneliness. "Experts" tell us that loneliness is American’s greatest "mental disease." One of America’s most listened to teachers defines loneliness this way, "First, loneliness is the anguish I feel when I sense that I am being cut off from the spirit of others. Second, loneliness is the evidence that I was expecting others to meet my needs as only God can." The Word of God speaks to the first definition in Psalm 69:20, "I am full of heaviness, I looked for someone to lament with me; but there was none; I looked for comforters but I found no one."
Psalm 62: speaks to the second experience, "My soul waits only upon God for my expectation is from Him." Loneliness means that at the moment I am lonely, God feels the same anguish toward me because my basic delight of life is not in Him.
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