Monthly Archives: January 2015

HOW GOD FEELS ABOUT HIS OWN…Psalm 149

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Teddy Roosevelt, the 26th President, used to greet people saying  ‘Dee-lighted’!  And he meant it.  People remembered him for this greeting for the rest of their lives.  That’s how God feels about you and me.  He loves us, His children, through faith in Jesus Christ, His only Son.  He delights in us–‘For the Lord delights in His people, He adorns the humble with salvation’ (Psalm 149: 4 NIV) and ‘The Lord your God is in your midst…He will rejoice over you with gladness…'(Zephaniah 3:17).  ‘Dee-lighted…’!

For my 65th birthday my wife organized a pot-luck dinner at our church that was advertised as a ‘Roast of the Pastor’, the old goat!  My wife was amused when people came up to her wondering what kind of roast would be served–pork or beef?!  Really now!  Even some of my goofiness showed up that Sunday–the birthday cake that had ‘Happy Bar Mitzvah, Seymour’!  My primitive portrait that I call ‘Gwendolyn’, which could be considered among some of the worst art anywhere by anyone ever!   She was there for all to admire and lose their appetite over!

People shared some really nice things about me and my ministry (which is not the object of a ‘roast’!).  And then came a dear friend, who gave a scathing diatribe against me, concerning all the wonderful background stories of favorite hymns that I share in worship,  which I research and memorize.  People loved those stories.  She did admit that people liked the background stories,  but it was really my wife who did all the research and let me get all the credit for it all, never doing a lick of work myself!  How horrible.  Who told her?  Who let the cat-out-of-the-bag?!   Truth be told,  this woman is a dear friend… and it was such a dee-light! having fun poked at me.  Knew it came with lots of love and friendship.

What no one knew except me was that as people were ‘roasting’ me,  two of my grandsons were under the head table shoving plastic forks and spoons inside the socks of both my shoes!

God delights in us.  He roars with dee-light when He sees us, the messes we get into, the crazy thinking we have, all the stuff that makes you… you!  Feel His delight.  May it make your days lighter. Have fun!  Laugh!  Go ahead…poke fun at yourself!   Feel the love God has for you.  Dee-lightful indeed!

Prayer:  Our Lord, thank you for just delighting in me.  In Jesus your Son.  Amen.

LETTING GO…Genesis 21: 8-21

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I find it hard to let go of relationships.  Like losing a part of myself.  Why is that?  Possibly, for me, it goes back to my early years, having contracted polio, then being hospitalized miles from our new home in the suburbs never seeing my family at all until I was out of isolation.  A counselor once told me that at the age of two I concluded that they were gone.  Not coming back.  Abandoned me.  What would a 2 year old think?

I hold on to others.  Sometimes far too long.  I was reading in Genesis 21 about Abraham’s first child, Ishmael, who laughed with scorn and derision, at the newly-weaned boy Isaac, the promised son of Abraham and Sarah.  Ishmael laughs, not in joy,  but with hatred and jealousy.  As the Bible says,  Abraham, as hard as it will be, needs to say ‘good-bye’ to his first-born and also Hagar, the woman who was like a wife to him.  To both of them.  Can you imagine the pain in Abraham’s heart?

Both the son and his mother are destroying this household,  trying to ruin what God has in plan for them.  So, with God’s permission and Sarah’s demands, Abraham prepares food and water for Ishmael and Hagar as they are put out of the house, onto a journey whose destination and direction is unknown.

Genesis 21: 15-21 records a dialogue between the Lord and Hagar assuring her of God’s constant care and watchfulness over both of them.  ‘And God was with the boy, and he grew up.  He lived in the wilderness…’ (vs. 20-21).  As hard as it is to say good-bye to someone we’ve loved and still do, but being together is not possible for now at least, we must know that the Lord will watch over them and be listening for our prayers.

Maybe things will change.  But if not, then the Lord will still care for others long after we’re gone from this world.  It’s hard.   Sometimes it becomes necessary.  A tough love.  The Lord knows all about it.  Look what He went through with His first two kids… and where they had to go.

Prayer:  Lord, when we hurt we know we can nestle-up close to you, feeling your arms around us in love and compassion.   In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

DO NOT CALL LIST!… Psalm 9

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When I was a financial planner, I had to make dozens and dozens of phone calls each and every day .   As pastor, lots of calls to make and receive.  Now that I’m retired, the calls are minimal.  The ones I always hated getting most were from sales people.  I thought I had put them on the do-not-call list.  Why is the cremation society calling me at 9pm?  What do they know that my doctor doesn’t?!  Burned me up!

Psalm 9: 10–  ‘And for those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.’   God never minds our calls to Him. Any hour, day or night.  Holidays included.   He never puts our phone number on the ‘do-not-call’ list.  He has no evening television schedule that resents interruption.  He doesn’t screen our calls.   No,  ‘…for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.’

What could be better?  Win the lottery?  Live in Sun Valley, Idaho?  Have everything you ever wanted?  Think of it– all will be done away with in one single moment, our death.  No U-Hauls on the way to the cemetery. The cremation society’s phone calls will not need to be answered.   Supposedly, someone asked John D. Rockefeller’s accountant how much money he left when he died, and that the accountant said, ‘Every last dime!’

To know the Lord is to have eternal life with rewards unthinkable and unimaginable.  Rewards that are out-of-this-world!  They come to those who know Him, who have a personal relationship with Him.  Yes, far from perfect, but close to the heart of God.

The psalmist David says that they not only know the Lord but put all their trust in Him.   On Him alone for there is no other… and we need no other.  It’s not about our efforts as if we need to find some secret formula or hidden code to get to God, for the Bible says that He never forsakes anyone who seeks Him.

Anyone (‘those who’) means you and me.  Not a certain caste or social standing or pedigree or net asset value or anything else.  Those who seek Him, who come to Jesus with an open and repentant heart, will find Him.  I did.  And actually, what I found was that He was seeking me and wouldn’t let go until He found me.  Seek Him…

Prayer:  Lord, thank you that you love to hear from us whenever and wherever we may be.   In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

ON THE WAY… Luke 10: 25-42

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Seems like we’re always going somewhere…a week here,  a month there, a few days who-knows-where;  and, if necessary, time at home!  This is all a big exaggeration except for those who really know us well.  When I was reading in Luke 10 about the expert in the Law of Moses asking Jesus about inheriting eternal life, I kept noticing the references to being on the go and on the way.  What struck me was how spontaneous Jesus was with those He came across on His travels.

How about us?  Open to sharing Jesus as the opportunity comes our way?  Not forcing it… but being available to the Lord.  Being spontaneous,  open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, who is like the wind and the breeze?  When we were staying in New York City , we wanted to visit the original Macy’s store in Manhattan,  as it still has the first wooden escalator.  Clakkety-clack!  As we’re walking down the street toward Macy’s,  I notice a well-dressed man probably in his mid-thirties on his cell phone.  I could hear him talking to his wife about how he was in a coffee-shop and had all his money and passport and train ticket in his ‘man bag’ stolen when someone came over to him asking for directions.

Now what does he do?  My ears perked up at this.  He went on to tell her that the police said that maybe it would show up someday,  but highly unlikely… and all his valuables will be gone.  I was very interested in his conversation, until I felt the nudge of the Holy Spirit.   The message to me was loud and clear– ‘help him’.  Why me, Lord?  You know I don’t like being scammed… and especially if it’s my money!  ‘Help him’.   I told my wife what was going on and turned to him saying, ‘do you need some money?’  He almost fainted.  Immediately, he looked suspiciously at me saying, ‘what do you want?’  ‘I want nothing but if you need money,  I have some for you.  I heard you talking to your wife.’

He almost fainted again!   He was so grateful.  I told him I was a pastor and was happy to help.  Gave him the train ticket money to get to his parent’s home in my old state of New Jersey,  and a tract that talked about having the comfort of the Lord.  He said he needed some comfort!  I didn’t plan this.  Just happened ‘on the way’.  How about opening your own eyes to share the Lord with someone in need?

Prayer:  Lord, let me be your light in someone’s darkness.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

I LOVE TO LAUGH!…Genesis 17: 15-21

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There are many great songs in Walt Disney’s movie,  ‘Mary Poppins’.  One is ‘I Love To Laugh’, which has old-time comedian and character-actor Ed Wynn floating up to the ceiling of his home whenever he laughs too much!

I wonder if Abraham saw that movie?!  He laughs and laughs in Genesis 17.  Most of us think that it’s only Sarah that derisively laughs when she gets word of a coming baby at very advanced ages for both mama and papa ( Genesis 18: 12–‘so Sarah laughed to herself…’)!  No, not just Sarah.  “…I will give you a son by her…Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself,  ‘Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred year old?  Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old,  bear a child?(17:17)'”  As you can see, they both laughed.

Why?   Laugh or cry with that kind of news!  Certainly their laughter was tinged with unbelief,  incredulity and shock.  The promise of a nation of God’s people,  through Abraham and Sarah and not any shortcuts, funny tricks or sleight-of-hand.  God is very clear–the promise of a son would be directly through old Abraham and his not-so-spry wife Sarah.  So, they laugh… and the son’s name will be Isaac, which means in Hebrew ‘he laughs’.

Laughter is built directly into the name of the promised offspring.  I do think that there’s something else going on here.  I believe their laughter contain elements of joy from all that this will mean for them.  Think about what her sister will say?!  Who’s always gloating over the fact that her children, all of them, have children of their own…but poor Abraham and Sarah!  Now… what will she say?

Joy, at the coming fulfillment of the Lord’s promises, is part-and-parcel of this laughter.  Joy that their prayers will finally be answered.   We can laugh because we know the One who will always have the very last laugh of all!  Laugh away…it’s good medicine!

Prayer:  Lord, we do laugh at the joy of your answered prayers.  Thank you.  In Your Son’s name.  Amen.

DON’T VEER OFF COURSE… Luke 9: 57-62

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I’ve veered off course too many times in my life.  I have a very poor sense of direction.  Ask my wife… or better yet, don’t!   I worked for a florist delivering in the Princeton area while studying for my masters at seminary.  Good thing I was paid by the hour, for half the time I was trying to figure out how to get to an address and the rest how to get back to my employer!  One time I delivered some flowers to a home and backing out of the driveway I had no idea if I can come from the right or the left.  No idea at all!   Still, way too many times, I have veered off course not following the Lord as carefully and wholeheartedly as I would now have wanted.

Jesus says that ‘no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:62).  Don’t look back.  Keep your eyes focused forward… not backward.  Poor Lot’s wife paid a terrible price for veering off course.  She became the salt of the earth!

My brother, who is 9 years older, and quite the opposite in personality and interests, built me a number of gas-engine  ‘go-carts’. Wow, they were neat!   One time he built an adult-sized one for himself.  How rude and selfish!   It was powerful… and so tempting to drive.  This one was his.  So, I bugged him to let me drive his.  One day, it was a Sunday when the stores was closed, we were driving our carts in the parking lot of the Lord & Taylor Department Store.   Had the whole lot to ourselves.  It was fun.  Got my way, persistent one that I am.    Yes, he caved… but it came with a warning.  ‘When you get near the big tree in the middle of the parking lot, don’t turn right.  Go around it or you’ll lose control and crash.’  No problem.  I’m a pro, bro!

Well, you guessed it.  Smash-a-roony… right in the middle of that immovable tree. The brakes didn’t work.  My sneakers,  dragging the pavement,  didn’t slow the rig down one bit. His cart was a sorry mess.   We had to carry it home… and, as you could imagine,  I was in big trouble!  I had taken my eyes off where I was to go.  Veered off course.

The lesson?  Listen to directions.  Hear what’s being said for our own good.  Follow whatever the Lord tells us to do and wherever He leads us in life.  Stay near Him,  so you can hear Him.  Stay in the Bible,  and let it be your guiding light.  Good advice?  Oh, yes.  Only wish I had taken it more often…

Prayer: Lord, thank You that we can follow You.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

ONE TOUCH IS ALL IT TOOK… Luke 8: 40-48

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This poor woman has suffered a blood disorder for twelve long years.  That’s a long time…and no end in sight.  I’ve known people with terrible conditions who became consumed with their troubles.  Takes most of the pleasure out of life.  I remember one church member, who in the latter stages of cancer lost total interest in anything having to do with church.  It seemed as if the disease sapped every bit of life out of this person even months before physical death.  Pain can do that.  Focuses everything where you least want it to.  No matter what it is, the troubles seem to take over, lock you in,  pin you down and not let you go.

This poor woman has suffered for too many  years.  On top of that, she has spent hours, days and years of her life with doctors who had no idea how to help.  She wound up spending ‘all her living on physicians’ (v.43), which I assume means her money and all she found good in life.  All consumed.   Until…she hears that Jesus is coming!

Jesus has been asked by the synagogue ruler Jairus to help heal his dying daughter.  The sick woman has heard of Jesus and His healing power.  Maybe He’s the Messiah?  Indications are good that He is who He says He is.  She garners as much strength as she can, and moves into the crowd.  She pushes back, slinks to the side, doing whatever it takes to see Him,  to touch the hem of His garment.  There He is!  She touches Him, not His body but the fringe of his garment.

She thinks if that’s as much as she can get of Him and His attention, that will be enough. She believes in Him.  She has faith in Jesus to help her.   She’s heard about His power to heal.

He does.  She’s healed!   The One who would shed His blood for you and me causes her discharge of blood to stop for the first time in twelve long years.  His touch.  One time.  No more useless physicians now that she’s had the touch of the Great Physician.

What about today?   What’s been bothering and consuming you for years?  You’re sick-and-tired of whatever is making you sick-and-tired.   By all means, push in toward Jesus.  Get close to Him.  Touch the hem of His garment.  A word to Him will help.  Pray and sit at His feet or tug on His sleeve or shout as loud as you can over the din of the crowd–He cares for everything you go through.  Everything.  He means it.

Prayer: Lord, you know all about us.  We come to you once again to help us…to heal us.  In His name.  Amen.

TIME TO ENRICH THE SOIL… Luke 8: 4-8, 11-15

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For believers in Jesus Christ it’s always time to enrich the soil!  You know the story.  A farmer sows seed that falls on various soils.  Those that fall along the pathway get trampled on while birds swoop down and eat them.  Others fall on rock.  They take hold yet because the soil is so thin, they wither away and die.  The next land among thorn bushes with competition causing the good seed to choke and die.  Finally, some anchor in good soil and the crop grows and grows yielding one hundredfold.   A good crop would normally yield tenfold, so this is an extraordinary yield!

What does all this mean?  Jesus says that the pathway seed are people who allow Satan to grab the Word of God out of their minds and hearts.  Push the Bible to the fringes of their lives. Say it’s but myth and fiction. The rock-seed people have no depth, and when times get tough, they head out of Dodge!  The choked seed are people who fret and worry without faith in the Lord while loving the things of this world, counting their money every night, checking their investment portfolios before and after breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Ah, but the good soil and the good seed, they go together.  The good seed is God’s Word, filled with wisdom and direction.  Like breathing…it’s the oxygen of our lives.  The bread of life that’s kneaded and needed.   At times I go between one soil and another.  Greedy…worried…immature…

I’d really like to be good soil. Luke 8: 15 tells us how.  Good soil hears the Word of God.  Spends time with the Lord in His Word.  To hear Him.  To hold onto Him.   ‘…hold it fast’, Jesus says.  Grab hold for dear life…and don’t let go no matter what.  Good soil comes from an ‘honest and good heart’, whose own word is trustworthy, beyond reproach.  Good soil bears fruit.  And fruit is something for the good of others.  The crop doesn’t get to enjoy the fruit, but others do.  Enjoy the blessing of doing for others, giving to them.

That’s good soil.  Don’t get all worked up… for it says that this soil is ‘patient’.  It’s willing to let God have His say His way…in His time.

Time to enrich your soil?  There it is.  The mixture is available to you anytime you’re ready and willing.  Put the Good Seed into the Good Soil of the Lord.  Watch it grow and grow…

Prayer:  Lord,  help me to hear and heed your Word.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT, DAVID?… Psalm 5

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I know…it should be Alfie!  But this is a psalm of King David.  Psalm 5:7– ‘…through the abundance of your steadfast love, (I) will enter your house.  I will bow down toward your holy temple in the fear of you.’   Now, don’t get all tied up with the word ‘fear’ as if God is some terrible ogre out to scare you, making you jump with fear.  Yes, He is fearful and awesome.  His being is so great that His holiest prophets could only fall on their faces in His presence.

But ‘fear’ is because of His greatness and power.  Not because He can’t wait to get you when you’re down, throwing salt on all your wounds.  Sometimes I’ve had this image of God.  Forgive me, Lord, as that’s nowhere in the Bible.

As a matter of fact, the phrase ‘steadfast love’ is one of the major themes in all the Old Testament.  The genesis of this phrase is in Exodus (a very bad pun on my part!).  Exodus 34: 1-9.  Actually, go back to chapter 33: 12-23 and read of Moses asking the Lord to ‘please show me your glory'(Exodus 33: 18).  And God does.  Not by splitting rocks or gobbling up enemies, but as He says in verses 18ff by displaying His goodness and graciousness, mercy and glory…all in the rear-view mirror,  for no one really sees the face of God in this life.

Don’t get me wrong.  For those who deny and reject God, their choice will be honored, but in a way no one should ever want.  And, when we His children, veer off course, He will certainly discipline us because He loves us(Hebrews 12:6).  Turn to the Lord, and He’ll always be there for us in all His ‘steadfast love’.

So, what’s it all about, Lord?  Who are you, anyway?    Here’s the capstone verse– Exodus 34: (5 and) 6:  ‘The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him (Moses) there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.  The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, the LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands…’  Wow!  Can you possibly read those words and not shout out a loud ‘AMEN’ ?!

What’s it all about?  It’s all about our great God whose steadfast love never runs out of steam, never gets distracted and tempted away from us, never ceases and is new every morning of every day of our lives.  Count on it.  No, count on Him.  That’s what it’s all about!

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for who you are.  We depend totally on you.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

BEST WISHES FOR THE NEW YEAR!… Psalm 4

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Let me offer you the very best wishes for this new year!   What would it look like if the very best year of all?   Would it not involve family and friends?  Your health and happiness?  Financial success?  Job security?  How about a substantial raise?  Could be one of many things.

King David in Psalm 4 offers some hints about what’s best for any new year.  In spite of scoffers, David knows that the Lord hears all his prayers (verse 1).  He knows that the Lord cares enough to help him in times of need and ‘distress’.  That’s pretty good–God hears us and responds.

Verse 3 adds more best wishes for all who trust in Him– that He ‘…has set apart the godly for Himself; the Lord hears when I call to Him.’   He hears us.   We are His.  We belong to Him.  He takes care of His own.  Could there be a better new year’s wish for you and me?

David takes it another step higher.  Verses 4 and 5 speak of worship that is simply trusting in the Lord.  David has much he can be angry about in his life.  So do you and I.  But, in worship of our Lord, we move beyond hostility to holy leaning on our God, placing our hands in His, taking His yoke upon us.  ‘Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the Lord.’  That’s a best wish for any year.  Anger will not win out.

Verse 6 echoes those scornful laughs of unbelievers who wonder if there really is any good in this world.  David responds with the best wish of all– seeing the Lord’s loving face gazing down upon us.  To know that He will never go away.  Never disappear or abandon us.  That His smile is one of love and affection.

Like our grandchildren, all of them, equally, without comparison.  To look at them and marvel at them!   Know what I mean?  Nothing could be better.

Verse 7:  ‘You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.’  More than a fine meal with a special bottle of vintage wine.  Much more.  After all, these are the best wishes for the new year– God’s hearing us, His taking us to Himself as His own, and then to be with Him forever.  That’s the very best of all!

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord,  for all the best wishes you have for us in this new year.  Help us to trust you more and more.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.