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SAFE AND SECURE? Deuteronomy 28-30

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Nestled within these chapters of Deuteronomy, there’s painted a rather disheartening picture of God’s people turning out to be a bunch of playacting hypocrites, making promises they have no intention of keeping, with faith in their Lord God as rare as penny candy today.  Just them?

Too often I’ve toyed with my commitment to Jesus, which turned out to be less than skin-deep.  Maybe others didn’t notice, but I’m sure some did.  Regardless, I’ve gotten an eyeful of myself.  Certainly the Lord has.  That ‘shivers me timbers’.  Makes me weak in the knees.  And ashamed.

“…and who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart'” (Deut. 29:19).  Big mouths boasting promises which won’t be kept.  Feeling safe only going through the motions.  In church on Sunday, co-habiting with the devil the rest of the week.  Sinning today, glibly repenting tomorrow.  Safe and secure from all alarms?  You think?

Due to no lack of futile effort on my part, I’ve got to admit that sin offers no shelter at all.  None.  First off, my conscience kicks in and kicks me in the pants.  Then, somehow, the truth gets out.  Sin’s thrills turn out to be full of hot air.  Fluff.  Flighty.  Leaving me spiritually flummoxed.    

Some answers?  Don’t have to go far.  Deuteronomy 30:19-20–‘…I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.  Therefore choose life…loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice, and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days…’

There it is!   Moment by moment choices of loving, obeying and holding fast to Him.  Not that complicated, but rare among God’s people.  In my heart as well.

So when sin causes you to fall off your horse, hold Jesus’ outstretched hand, letting Him pull you right back up.  Love Him and thank Him.  Too much wasted time looking back when He has so much more ahead for us.  Giddy-up!

Lord Jesus, help us to live in love, obedience and dependence upon you.  Amen.

IS THAT A HINT? Deuteronomy 28

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Don’t you love hearing about the many promised blessings God has for you?  I do.  Only the best for God’s people, including a hefty dollop of hard, cold cash thrown in for good measure.  God’s blessed cornucopia gushes my way.  Sounds good?  Think again. 

I’m sure you’re more levelheaded than I am.  You know the other side of the coin.  But first check out Deuteronomy 28.  Starts out with blessings… for obedience.  Wow–14 verses describing God’s bounteous blessings.  Deuteronomy 28: 6–‘Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.’  Great!  Guess I can close my Bible now on that rather upbeat note.  Right?  Wrong!

Possibly too good to be true?  You think so?  What God requires of His own is simple obedience as in following those 10 commandments, coincidentally the number of fingers on both hands.  Doing things His way.  Not veering off course into dead end streets with no U-turns allowed.  Don’t take the lead.  Follow… Him.

Glancing down at the rest of Deuteronomy 28, you’ll note that there are 53 verses of curses… for disobedience.  For selfishness.  Greed.  Lying.  You name the sin and it costs a tidy sum.  We won’t enjoy paying that piper.  Way overpriced.  

God warns us.  53 curses to 14 blessings.  A hint?  You think so?  Be careful how you live your life for Jesus.  How tolerant we’ve become with sin.  Especially my own.  Disobeying God is like an unnoticed sizzling hot stove.  Watch out!  Or wet paint.  Look before you touch!

I know that God wants me to obey Him from the bottom of my heart.  Not only when nothing else works, or I can’t weasel out of something on my own.  But a genuine, twenty-four carat follower of Jesus. 

Join me?  Remember, I’m about two-carat, if that.  So I know that this won’t be easy.  But will be worth it all, since it pleases Jesus.  That in itself should be enough.  Still with me?

Lord, give us strength to be your disciple.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

NEVER AGAIN? Deuteronomy 17

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I’ve discovered a gem in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, in the midst of laws, rules and regulations.   A fragment of a verse which gives me pause.

Chapter 17 focuses on negative and positive instructions for a king, if ancient Israel chooses to have one.  Marvelous words that also apply to all believers.  Look at Deuteronomy 17:16 for that gemstone–‘…You shall never return that way again.’

The warning’s issued against anything material or spiritual that will lead Israel to turn back to Egypt.  Back to slavery. Back to worshipping gods other than the one true God, Yahweh.  Backwards.  ‘Never return that way again.’

A thought crosses my mind– true repentance means that we don’t return to sinful ways on a regular habit.  Instead of toying with what God forbids, turn away.  Don’t say you’ll do it, do it.  Not like Lot’s wife, who’s supposed to be on a salt-free diet, yet gazes over her shoulder, yearning to go back sin’s way, then becoming a block of Kosher salt.

I know when I mean business with the Lord that things change in my life.  Yes, I’ve had times of grasping greed, holding tightfistedly to money and things.  Not just then, but now.  When I look in the mirror of my Bible, I know that I must change.

But do I really want to?  Completely?  100%?  Don’t I wish!  I’m far from perfect.  Often a perfect mess!  Yet Jesus knows that I long to be His true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool follower.  At least most of the time.  See my dilemma?  Yet He forgives me, giving strength to get off my duff, stop wallowing in guilt and pity, shifting my transmission, so to speak, out of reverse into forward drive.

Now it’s your turn to face whatever needs changing.  Being honest and upfront, probably best keeping it between you and your Lord, knowing the trouble sin causes.  Hoping and praying never to return that way again.

At least until the next time.  And when we do, as we will, get up and go.  Holding Jesus’ hand.  Looking up into His face, resolving not to double back, flip-flopping, and bottoming out once again.  Jesus will help you get right back up!  Ready?

Lord Jesus, I want to be more like you.  Amen.

AS HE SAID Matthew 28

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Who can you trust?  Seems like few and far between anymore.  Growing up we respected police and firefighters, doctors and teachers, and pastors.  I called our elderly neighbors Mr., Mrs. or Miss.  Never by their first names.  If any complaints came to my parents about me, the griper was believed way before yours truly!

Remember when you shouldn’t trust anyone over 30?  Then those under 30!  That covers the gamut.  Leaves us with little authority to lean upon.  Few we can believe in.  Lion’s share come up short.  Except.

You know what I’m about to say.  Yes, Jesus!  After His crucifixion, women followers come to His tomb, expecting nothing less than one containing His lifeless body.  But instead, they encounter the unimaginable.  He’s gone.  An angel tells them not to be afraid.  Yeah, right!  Why not?  What’s happened?  Where is He?  God’s messenger says this–‘He is not here, for he has risen, as he said…’ (Matt. 28:6).

‘As he said…’  That’s it.  We can read Jesus’ promises and stories, His miraculous healings and right teaching, trusting them one and all.  It’s all there in your Bible.  Check it out!  The Old Testament points to the coming Messiah, with all fulfilled by Jesus Christ in the New.  ‘…as he said…’ –from start to finish.

What Jesus says we can trust.  And the only way to know Him better is to dig deeper into your Bible.  Without that, we’re left utterly vulnerable to any claptrap myth and baloney society doles out and bullies us with.  The more I study God’s Word, the more this world seems hopelessly off-base, off-kilter, off-the-wall, outlandish, hitting multiple sour notes all at the same time.  Well, you get the point!

So, take Jesus at His word.  Feast on your Bible like never before.  Then you’ll notice that your trust barometer is beginning to rise, and heading in the right direction.  Just ‘…as he said…’

Thank you Jesus, for being totally trustworthy.  Amen.

AND REMEMBER, DON’T FORGET! Deuteronomy 8

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The church that’s honored me as their pastor emeritus has two communion tables.  Two?  Yes, two!  One rests up on the elevated chancel platform.  The other table, crafted by a church member decades ago, sits on the main floor, where the communion elements are placed for distribution during weekly worship.  Jesus’ words have been carved on the front–‘Do this in remembrance of me.’

Why two tables?  Well, getting older, it’s obvious that some no longer can navigate the chancel steps without fear of falling.  It sounds redundant yet having two adds up.  After all, how easy is it to forget how much Jesus has done for us?  As in giving His all to forgive us of what we can’t do for ourselves.  That the cross was no walk in the park, but the ultimate sacrifice of God for His own.

Deuteronomy 8 repeats the words ‘remember’ and ‘forget’ many times.  Here’s one–‘You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you…’ (Deut. 8:18).  And then ‘…if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods to serve them and worship them…’ (Deut. 8:19).  The dual words ‘remember’ and ‘forget’ roam all through this chapter.  Why so necessary to repeat them?  Don’t we get the point?

No.  At least I don’t.  I need constant reminding.  How often do I face some difficulty and my first reflex being fear and worry, wringing my clammy hands until finally remembering that the Lord wants to hear from me not last and even least, but rather first and foremost.

That’s what He wants.  To be remembered… that He’s right there for me.   And not forgotten… that He always knows best.  Why is that such an uphill battle?  For still I fret and stew.  Am I the only one?

So– ‘Remember and do not forget…’ (Deut. 9:7)– all those times He’s been there for you.  All the help Jesus has given.  He’s right there, side by side, never to let go.  Never.  Ever.

Got it?  Remember…and don’t forget!

Thank you, Jesus, for always being close to me.  Amen.

UP A CREEK Deuteronomy 1

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I’m impatient.  That grass seed we scattered weeks ago seems to be more bird food than anything else.  Where are those new sprouts?  Push…push…push.  Pull…pull…pull.  Working myself into a stew.  And not a tasty one at that!

In Deuteronomy 1, Moses sadly rehashes ancient Israel’s history of disobedience.  Instead of entering the Promised Land, they hem and haw, grouse and gripe, kick the dust, anything other than following God’s instructions.  But when the Lord warns them that this is not the time to fight the Amalekites and the Canaanites (see Numbers 14: 39-45), they plow ahead anyway, getting totally clobbered.  Impatient bunch.  Aren’t you glad that you’re not like those naughty, rebellious folk?  Me too!

Sad to say, I’m their mirror image.   Antsy and in a sweat.  Gung ho and rarin’ to go.  At times like this, I can hear the Lord saying to slow down.  Wait, already.  What’s your hurry?

I need to listen to the Lord.  But somewhere behind my impatience lurks a wrong view of God.  Much like that of ancient Israel–“And you murmured…and said, ‘Because the Lord hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt…to destroy us'” (Deut. 1:27).  Hated them?  Out to destroy them?

Hard to admit that at times I think the Lord is out to get me.  Waiting for my next misstep, causing Him to put His big leg out tripping me up.  Has it in for me.  Relishes rubbing salt in my sin’s wounds.

I know.  You’re disappointed in me.  How could a retired pastor ever think that way?  Sorry if honesty bothers you.  It does me too.  But let the truth be told.  Read the Old Testament Book of Job without preconceptions.  You’ll encounter bald-faced bluntness, glazed with heated anger and rampant impatience.

So, I pray for a truer picture of God.  One that’s spot on.  And biblical.  Not from nasty old distorted tapes I keep playing over and over again in my rusty noggin.  Time to shred them.  Heed their siren call no longer.  And for this I pray the Holy Spirit’s help.  HELP!

Without His help, I’m up a creek without a paddle.   Just me?

Lord, help me to know and love you as you truly are.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

THE SATURDAY BEFORE John 20: 11-18

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The Saturday before Easter Sunday, a church member, who happens to be an actor on the television soap opera ‘As the World Turns’, meets with me to rehearse the main Bible reading for the next day’s 3 worship services. I’m the tenderfoot assistant minister who needs help. At Princeton Seminary, I take speech classes with Virginia Damon, who’s a former radio star and character actress with Jackie Gleason’s repertoire company. A top-notch teacher, yet I must still seem needy.

Hank Forsythe, who portrays Dr. David Stewart on the soap in addition to a variety of roles in movies and on Broadway, volunteers to coach me on reading John 20, the Easter Resurrection story of Jesus’s encounter with Mary Magdalene at the garden tomb.

How am I feeling? Nervous an understatement. Shaking more like it. After all, this is my first Easter Sunday in a church of 1600 members with probably many more attending this special day. Oy vey, already!

How’d I do? Fine really. Hank, a kind and humble man, how could I not love what he teaches me, adding passion and emotion to familiar words. But actually none of this falderal amounts to a hill of beans disconnected from the reason behind it all. That Jesus truly gives His life so that we’ll live forever. Death dies in the face of His resurrected life. And knowing Him personally as your Savior and Lord is incomparable. What could ever match up?

Lots of moolah stashed away? Maybe when interest rates were worth writing home about. But not even then. Being in control of everything? If so, you won’t be missed when off the scene. Not one bit. The center of attention? Sorry, vain big shot. Who cares anyway? Spend some time reading the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes to get a good whiff of life’s meaning. Oodles and caboodles of vanity and foolishness. Unless.

Unless you know the Lord. The more of Jesus, the less annoying life becomes. You can put up with a lot holding His hand, looking up into His face, walking right beside the One who knows exactly where He’s going. He makes a world of difference. I know. Has in my life. And He’s not done with me yet!

Tomorrow why not think about all that He’s done for you. How He’s changed your outlook on life. Added patience and kindness with lots more where that came from. All because of Jesus.

Let the children enjoy the decorated eggs and candy (probably I’ll have some, as well!). But primarily, let’s relish Jesus. Who lives…and lives forevermore!

Happy Easter!

Lord Jesus, you mean the world to me. I love you. Amen.

GOOD ADVICE Matthew 24: 36-51

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Yesterday would have been my father’s birthday.  Ellsworth (he preferred Bud!) Fischer was a house painter and interior decorator.  He was good at what he did.  Made fair money even in difficult times.  Not ‘easy street’, but we were never forced to live on the street either.  Thanks Dad, for providing so well for your family!

Growing up, I don’t remember him giving much advice.  He wasn’t the type.  But when it came to school, he always said to do your best.  I did.  I loved school.  Doing my best is easy when you love what you’re doing.

Most weeks he and I would drive to his local bank where he’d make deposits into my folk’s savings and checking accounts.  He would advise me to take any amount I could out of whatever paycheck I earned, and put it in the bank.  $5 or $10 a week becomes seed money for later needs.  Good counsel Dad, which I also heeded.  I’m so glad I did.

Do your best.  Save for later on.  Be honest.  And never work for family or friends!

In Matthew 24 Jesus tells His followers that the timing for His second coming is known only to God the Father.  Oh, how disappointing.  A little hint or two, Jesus?  Forget it!  Stop the guessing game.  Admit we don’t have a clue.  Any advice, Jesus?  What should we do in the meantime?

It’s simple.  Do your best.  Whatever you can… for Jesus.  A busy bee for the Kingdom.  Get off your duff–‘Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them food at the proper time?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes’ (Matt. 24:45-46).  See?

What else.  If it’s to call a friend, make contact.  Give to a missionary couple?  Donate.  Offer a helping hand to a neighbor?  Well, you get the point.  Following through is like banking in God’s Kingdom.

Save for later on, investing in what Jesus has in store for you and me.  Make whatever size deposit you can into your account with the First and Only Bank of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  All fully insured.  All forever.

Thank you, Lord, for what we can and will do for you.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

BARKIS IS WILLING! Matthew 23: 37-39

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I love Dicken’s novels.  In ‘David Copperfield’ young Davy is raised by an attendant named Peggotty.  She’s a gentle, humble woman who loves Davy as her own.  He feels the same toward her.  Later a rough and tumble man, a good’s hauler, shows interest in Peggotty.  His name is Barkis.  He asks Davy to pass along the word that he’d like to marry her.  Davy is to say ‘Barkis is willing!’  Peggotty gets the message loud and clear and is willing!

Willingness.  That’s what’s missing in ancient Jerusalem as Jesus prays–‘O Jerusalem, O Jerusalem…How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!’ (Matt. 23:37).  Barkis is willing but not God’s people.  When Jesus wants to gather His own close to Him, to love and care for them, they put up both hands, barking a loud ‘NO!” Unwilling.

How about you and me?  When Jesus makes promises do we go around unwilling and unbelieving?  Not sure if He’s ready to help?  His willingness heard in one ear and out the next?  That’s me, sad to say, more often than not.

But Jesus knows we’re far from perfect.  What He wants is an inclination, a simple nod, a genuine desire to be His own.  A willingness.  He’ll clean us up in time.  Then completely in the sweet by-and-by.

In the meantime, cuddle up a little closer.  Talk with Jesus.  Hear from Him in your Bible.  Put Him center frame in the Zoom picture of your daily life.  As best you can, try to block out Satan’s nasty lies, put-downs and suspicious doubts.

So, are you willing?  All in?  Mostly?  Well, that’s a good start.  Let’s keep at it.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being my best forever friend.  Amen.