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HOW COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE?… Judges 2: 1-10

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This is a most discouraging chapter in the Bible.  Doesn’t seem possible.  Joshua,  Moses’ successor, has led God’s people into the promised land.  God reminds them that, in spite of all His love and faithfulness, they have chosen to turn their backs on Him.  Trouble lies ahead, consequences of their rebellion.  The people cry out to the Lord.  Help!   Naming the place ‘Bochim’, which means ‘weepers’.  ‘Finders,  keepers/  losers,  weepers’.  They find themselves not keeping their part of the covenant.  Therefore,  losing is coming their way, causing weeping with deep regrets.

Joshua 2:6-7 tell of a repentant people serving the Lord, seeing the miraculous hand of God– ‘…the great work that the Lord had done for Israel’.  A miracle of submission.  But, can this last?

Joshua has died at a ripe old age.  Judges 2:10 is hard to comprehend.  Seems  impossible. How in the world could this be,  seeing all that He has done for them?  ‘…And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that He had done for Israel.’ Why was it so hard for them to remember the Lord?  Too busy raking in the blessings, forgetting to tell their own children their Source?   What’s wrong with these hard-headed people?  You know what?–something weird has happened to me.  I don’t know who, but someone has just put up a big, old, dirty mirror on the wall in my study where I am now writing.  A mirror?  I never wanted one.  Who did this to me?  ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall,  whose the disobedient and forgetful one of all’?!  ‘It’s me, it’s me, O Lord…’

Must admit to my own failure to trust the Lord for more than a few  minutes at a time. Forgetful.  Negligent about sharing Him with the ones I love the most.

How can I do better?  Here’s a few ideas that come to mind– focus on God’s character.  Zero in on His promises.  Concentrate on the life and teachings of Jesus.  Learn to lean on those everlasting arms.  On the darkest nights, exercise faith in the Lord like wearing night vision goggles, seeing God through eyes of faith. Decide right now to be serious in your commitment to the Lord.  No more games.  No more wishy-washiness.  All in.  For Him.   Are you with  me?

Prayer:  Lord, deepen our faith so that we forget you less and less… and learn to trust you more and more.  In Jesus’ name, the faithful One.  Amen.

AFTER THE UPROAR…Acts 20:1-2

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Reading these two verses, I think of ‘uproars’ in my own life.  I still suffer anxiety related to contracting polio as a two year old.  Ridiculous–that was many moons ago.  For my mother I had been a ‘surprise’,  and not a pleasant one as she would often remind me.  She would say this in a sort-of kidding way,  but I was never sure.   A pregnancy in her mid-30’s.  My father’s house-painting business was beginning and probably their income was tenuous.  Lots of worries for my mother.  She grew up during the Depression,  and her family was no ‘great shakes’..  And then I catch the polio virus.

My memories,  none pleasant,  are few but vivid all these decades later.  Now?  I know myself well enough that whenever I’m in a new place,  that the first night or two will be  scary for me.  Feels like I’m abandoned all over again.  ‘After the uproar ceases, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell…'(Acts 20: 1).  Uproars that cease…encouragement that spreads.

I’m thinking of a pastor friend of mine who came back from a well-deserved vacation only to be greeted by an angry board and others who had turned on him, turned a growing church into one seething with anger and recrimination.  When I heard about this’ uproar’,  I immediately called him to offer my help, my shoulder, my prayers.  When I had been through something similar, my phone went strangely silent.  No calls, no encouragement, no one to listen and cry with.  I promised the Lord that I would be different for others from the ‘uproar’ that I went through… alone.

Another pastor friend has endured terrible pain recovering from back surgery.  I called him the other night to encourage him, and he winds up giving me the encouragement that I didn’t even know I needed.  He’s that kind of friend.

‘Uproars’ come to all of us… and then they cease.  What Paul did with his ‘uproar’ was to use it to encourage others in their time of need.  Not easy to do.  Must overcome our own reticence and self-centeredness…to reach out to someone else in their need.  If you do, though,  you’ll feel so much better about yourself and life in general.

Don’t tell your story…hear theirs.  Encouraging someone else has never led to more loneliness and anxiety in my life.  Quite the contrary.  Take your wounds,  lick them for a brief time,  place them at the feet of Jesus, and then pray that the Lord will use you to help someone else.  That will certainly help the ‘uproar’ to cease even sooner.

Prayer:  Lord, direct me to someone in need that I can encourage today.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

DIRECTIONS FROM ABOVE… Matthew 2

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When it comes to a sense-of-direction, I’m lost!  My boys always laughed when I was driving and said, ‘this doesn’t look right’.  They knew we were terribly lost!  When God gave out a sense of direction,  I was missing!

My wife and I love to use road maps.  Remember them?!  Helps to see where we might want to go on a trip.  In Matthew chapter 2 you notice the variety of means that God uses to direct His people.  When Jesus is born in Bethlehem, Magi arrive on the scene.  God provided a star, shining over this royal baby and His parents.  Like the star predicted in Numbers 24:17.   A prophetic vision of a heavenly light.   A dream is given the Wise Men, one which warns them to escape back home.  Joseph receives his own warning through a dream.   Escape and flee to Egypt,  until the political threat from Herod has passed.  Then they can return home to Nazareth fulfilling what had been said by the prophets years before.

Many means of revelation in this one chapter of the Bible.  Angels…a star…strange visitors from the East…dreams…warnings…prophets.  God spoke in many ways.

How about today?  Here we must be very careful.  I’ve seen much abuse over the years, even by well-meaning Christians hungry for direction, insecure and afraid to make one itsy-bitsy mistake.  Been there myself.  Can try to manipulate God by stacking the ‘signs’ in our favor.  A friend was always looking for ‘signs’ about everywhere you could imagine.   Sad really.

Be very careful about getting ‘directions from God’.  Two Scriptures we should consider.  Hebrews 1:  1-2  and Deuteronomy 29:29.  Hebrews says that all these means of revelation used by the Lord have now been summed up completely in His Son Jesus Christ.  Look to Him.  Look at Him in the pages of your Bible.  Don’t let your eyes dart all around.   The gaze at Jesus alone will light your path and make your choices that much less burdensome.  We’ll be free…in Him.  Free to cease navel-gazing, looking upward instead.

Deuteronomy 29:29 says that the Lord has revealed all He wants for us in the Bible. Revelation complete… but not comprehensive.  Much He never reveals to us–‘the secret things belong to the Lord our God…’    ‘Secret things’ that will not be uncovered through some maze of hidden clues, fleeces or signs.  Things God keeps to Himself.    ‘Secret things’–belong to God.  ‘Things… revealed belong to us and to our children forever…the words of this law'(Deut. 29:29).

Prayer:  Dear God, for showing all that you have for us in the Bible, we are in awe.  Thank you.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

RUN TO JESUS!… Psalm 32

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When it comes to sin, we can either run away from  or run to Jesus… and have it covered by forgiveness.  I’ve tried both.   I prefer having them covered by the blood of Jesus Christ!   A cover-up apart from the Lord does not work.  He can’t be fooled. There is no running away from God.  Period.  Why try?  Futility is such a colossal waste of time and energy.

Why not come to the One, the only One,  who can take care of our sins.  Cover them. Covered,  never to be heard of again.  At least not in His eyes, being the only ones that count in the end.  Psalm 32–‘Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered'(verse 1).   The psalmist goes on to describe how when he kept silent about his many sins, when he ran away from ‘facing the music’ with his Lord,  that his ‘bones wasted away…all day long'(verse 3).

Treating our own sins through a variety of means–excessive alcohol, drugs, money-grubbing, sexual adventures, whatever it may be–leads down a dead-end path.  Run for cover to the Son of God.  Not away from our responsibility but to the One with the ability to wash away our sins.  When my wife and I go to an Oregon Christian Conference Center in the summer, one of the events scheduled is the sandcastle competition.  Many families come up with creative sand designs based on a theme from the Bible teaching of the week.  Some are small and simple designs, others large and elaborate.  What’s true for all the dozens of sandcastles, big or small, is that when the tide comes in all of them are completely covered by the salt water and washed away by the movement of the tide and waves.

All our sins when covered by the blood of Jesus,  from  ‘little white lies’ to heinous, unthinkable shameful evil,  all of them,  placed sincerely and sorrowfully at the feet of Jesus, are washed away once and for all.  Can you imagine?  Can any of us do that on our own?

Run to Jesus.  Run for your life.  Run for eternal life.  Then you can say:  ‘Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart'(Psalm 32: 11).  Me?  You?  Upright…righteous?  Yes, by the blood of Jesus, who covers us completely, fully and forever.  Wow!

Prayer:  Lord, how can we ever thank you for all the love you’ve shown to us.  All the forgiveness, all the kindness.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

COLLABORATION!… Acts 17: 10-12

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There’s a new ‘buzz’ word.   We’ve heard it used recently by our four year old granddaughter.   Collaboration!   Not a new word as it’s derived from the Latin for ‘working together’.  The Berean Jews receive Paul and Silas with a genuine desire to give them a fair hearing.  Reports have been circulating, conflicting and confusing.  These noble Bereans receive Paul’s message with great eagerness.  But they also take everything Paul says with a ‘grain of salt’, checking it out, examining the Scriptures to ‘see if what Paul said was true’ (Acts 17: 11).  These people are not going to fall for any line that some new-guy coming to town would spin.  No,  they discuss, dispute and debate among themselves.    Kick around the ideas presented to them.  All the while turning to the Bible, the Old Testament,  for confirmation of what is true and what isn’t.

Where do we turn to for the truth?  On our own, we’re helpless.  Aimless and never quite sure.  We need the collaboration of the Lord,  with what He has given us in the Word of God.  I remember an old professor at the Moody Bible Institute, who taught in the pastoral studies department.  He was a part-time instructor and a retired pastor. Couldn’t be all bad if he was a retired pastor!!   He recommended to us what I never did in my ministry or life.   Nevertheless,  his idea was a good one!  Read your morning newspaper standing up.  What?  Yes, while standing on your two feet.   Who wants to do that?  Not me.  His thought was that we needed to spend less time in this world’s news so we that we had more time to spend in God’s Good News– like the Bereans did.

He was so right.  How can we collaborate with God?  Co-labor with Him?  Spend as much time as you can looking into the Bible so we can interact with all the messages, good and bad, that the world floods us with.  That’s collaboration.  Not an empty buzz word.    Checking out everything.  Check it out!

 

Prayer:  Lord, for your Word, which we trust and stand upon as on solid ground, we thank you.  It’s your gift to us….a rudder in stormy seas.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

HOW DO WE HONOR THEM? … Proverbs 23: 22-26

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Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are fast approaching the horizon of our calendars.  The only one of the Ten Commandments that contains a promise is the one about honoring father and mother.  But how do we honor them?  How we would like our children to honor us?

I’ve never been one for ‘blind obedience’ from our children.  Of course, rebellion is not what I have in mind, either!  But not the finger-pointing,  power-hungry,  ‘do what I say or else’ kind of parent or grandparent.  To cower in fear in my presence never is my idea of being honored.

Honor should be earned as well as given.  There are parents who have forfeited their right to be honored because they have violated their godly parental roles.  Overstepped bounds that should never have been crossed.  Respect and honor–given and earned.   You know what I mean.

Here’s a question?  How do we honor our parents that are long gone?  Like mine.  I think of them often.  How to honor them?  Or would the commandment only apply to living parents?  Holidays raise lots of questions.   In the church I last served, I was always conscious that these parenting holidays are fraught with emotional pitfalls.   Some of our members never had children.  Others had children they were alienated from with all the hurt you could imagine.  Others faced the terrible burden of outliving their children.  A few, too many really, had parents that were in name only. What I would do in worship on Mother’s and Father’s Day was ask for those who wanted to share uplifting blessings about their children, or tell about other’s children that they felt close to like they were their own, or about their parents who were so good to them.  I also wanted to leave silent space for those too pained to speak.  I wanted to honor them as well.

As these holidays come,  be sensitive to fellow believers who have much hurt in their hearts.   Maybe a hug, without a spoken word, would be the best gift.  As far as honoring our parents, the best honor my children could ever give me would be for them to know, love and serve the Lord.  That’s how I feel.  Can you think of a better way to honor your parents, alive or not, than to live for Him?

So, my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren, live for Jesus!  Know Him.  Accept Him into your life.  Study Him from the only source of truth, the Bible.  From that, and from Him, you’ll know all about respect, love and honor.  That’s it.  That’s all.  Enough said from Dad, Father-in-Law, Step-Dad and Silly Papa!

Prayer:  God our Father, thank you for sending your only Son Jesus to die for us who believe in You.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

CLOUDY DAYS…Exodus 13: 17-22

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We had an amazing winter and spring in the Pacific Northwest.  Warmer than usual with a lot less rain.  Now that we have moved 50 miles away from a marine climate, we notice more dryness in the air as well.  Not much fog either.

It was in the spring when we started to get real serious about the move we’ve talked about for years.  We thought we’d want to be somewhere in-between where all our family lived.  Twenty one years in one house.  It’s time to move on!  But what a job.  Deciding what to take.  Packing up what we want,  disposing of what we don’t.

Do we want a townhouse or a condo?  How about a retirement community?  Nothing seemed to fit us.  This was wrong.  That was not right.  We knew that we both had to agree–husband and wife, each with veto power.  But, now was the right time.  We both had retired from our full-time jobs way back in 2002,  and then retired from the part-time church position in our home town.  Better get ‘off the dime’.   We both knew what a big task this would be.  All the work before the move.

Let’s get to the Scripture for today.  Why would I choose verses about God’s leading the Israelites out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and to the outskirts of the promised land under Moses’ leadership?  Why?  Well, it has to do with clouds by day and fire by night.  Throughout the process of moving, we asked for the Lord’s guidance.  To close doors that needed closing, and open ones that we could go through.  We depended upon Him.  Without a faltering step in our faith?  Yeah, right!  Maybe in my dreams!  Kept coming back to Jesus for His help.  HELP!

He always welcomes us with open arms, even with our puny mustard seed faith.  For us, we experienced the cloud of the Lord moving before us, shading us, directing us, giving us the moisture we needed in the deserts we were travelling through.  The cloud covered God’s people from the scorching heat of the sun.  The fire at night gave light and warmth in that rapidly-cooling desert.  Never seeing His face, always clouded over, but when looking up,  sensing His presence throughout.

Cloudy days and fiery nights!  You too may be in a bit of a desert.  Look up.  The clouds are there to remind you of the One who is always above.  Even when we don’t see Him.  Especially on cloudy days.  Ask for His help.  As He promised…’behold, I am with you always,  to the end of the age’ (Matthew 28:20 ESV).  When Jesus makes a promise,  He keeps it.  I’m so glad!

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for being there with us even when we can’t see you except through eyes of faith.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

THE CRUX OF THE MATTER…..READ Acts 5: 17-42

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This is one of the most moving passages in all the Bible…to me.  You may not have the same reaction at all.  But for me, both in my ministry and life, this story is the crux of the matter.  Let me tell you more.  Always have admired pastors who have faithfully served their congregations for years and years.  I’ve known some.  Some are reading this blog today.  Happy for them and their church families.  So good to have a long pastorate,  well-served and well-appreciated.  That has not been my story, however.  The Lord has been most patient with me.  He has had to take His shepherd’s crook and pull me out of many ditches and wrong turns in my life.  Guess I’m a ‘different cat’ after all.  If you’ve been reading this ‘Reflectionsoutoftime’ blog for awhile, you already know that!  It was years after leaving full-time preaching, that I was asked to fill in for a fellow pastor of my old denomination in a nearby town.  I hadn’t preached in any of that denomination’s churches for over 10 years.  But, it was time, I thought…but still I wondered.   Not quite sure.   Anyway, I was asked to fill in one Sunday helping a brother pastor in need.  Why not?  Indeed!   But being a faithful member(sort of!) of the higher judicatory of that old denomination, I thought I had better check in with one of their innumerable committees–you know, a courtesy communication.  However, when a hard decision had to be made, they formed a committee!  And there was no lack of them.  Not my cup of tea or kettle of fish!  Not then…not now!   Nevertheless, I met with those pastors and elders… who didn’t even know me.  I said my peace.  Thought they would roll out the ‘red carpet’!  They said they’ld get back to me.  Now remember, by this time I was a rather successful financial planner with a large U.S. brokerage firm.  I didn’t need(or really want) a full-time job in a church.  Or part-time, for that matter.  I had a good job that the Lord provided for me.  Being a financial planner was personally a very good fit.  I only wanted to let those church ‘high mucky-mucks’  know that, if needed( let me emphasize the word ‘if’),  I could fill  in and preach.  ‘If’ needed…and ‘if’ wanted.  Too much to ask?  Didn’t think so then, and don’t think so now.   Well, I heard from them…and it wasn’t a nice letter.  Not at all.  Rather pointed…don’t call us and we won’t ever call on the likes of you.  I was in shock.  Hurt.  Angry.  Betrayed.  Rejected.  A ‘dear John’ church letter!  Went to my usual Tuesday morning pastor’s Bible study(where I had always been most welcome as a fellow clergyman),  and brought that ‘red-hot’ letter with me.  What could these pastors say?  Not much really… but one did.  An old pastor, who had limited education.  Maybe high school,  possibly a little Bible school training.  He pastored a very small church on the outskirts of our out-of-the-way town.  He heard my moaning and groaning.  Boldly, he cut me off.  ‘Fischer, did God call you to preach?’  I said unequivocally ‘yes’… as He surely had.  ‘God called you to preach?  Then why do you listen to those people?  If  God called you to preach,  you preach.’  It was as if the Holy Spirit was speaking directly to me through this rough-and-tough,  grizzled, old pastor.  That moment,  the shackles fell off.   I got up.   Was freed up almost instantly–  to serve the Lord who had called me into His service…many, many years before!  Soon after I was asked to assist a local pastor in a wonderful church(not of my old denomination!).  Hosted a weekly evangelistic TV show in two counties for 5 years.  Pastored, in that same hometown, the best little church anywhere for 14 years where many people,  both young and old,  came to know the Lord and then to grow in Him.  Now, I’m honored to be their pastor emeritus!  Wow!  Can you see why those verses mean so much to me?  “Peter and the other apostles replied:  ‘We must obey God rather than men!’…Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go…Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ'”(Acts 5: 29, 40, 42).  I know what it’s like to be muzzled.   I also know that it takes the Holy Spirit’s courage to make us bold.  I don’t deny His necessity at all.  I’ve seen Him work,  faithfully opening  doors that no one else could close.  Enough about me, already.  How about you?   Need to follow the Lord and not man? To stand up and be counted for Jesus, when and where it hurts and may cost you something?  Be bold!  Be open to His leading; even when, in your past,  you’ve gone down dark alleys and taken wrong turns.  He’ll be there for you… as He was (and is) for me.  Just ask for His help…and watch out!  Those doors will open wide!  Praise His name!  Welcome into His service!  Surprise…surprise!

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for never giving up on us.  Others have and will, but never you.  Your love is so precious.  Thank you from the bottom our hearts and souls.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

TAKE THE MEDICINE!…Numbers 21: 4-9

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I’m not a fan of snakes.  At the zoo I usually shy away from their exhibit.  I do love the Israelites, wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.  Probably had my sense of direction!  Whenever they hit a rough spot, they grumple and gripe, forgetting about how faithful the Lord has been to them.  Such short memories.

Reading in the book of Numbers, God’s people rag on Him once again.  ‘… they spoke against God and against Moses…no bread…no water!  And we detest this miserable food!'(Numbers 21: 4-5).  What a bunch of ingrates!   God allows snakes to do what snakes do best.  In effect, He pulls back His protection.  The venom of their words against the Lord and Moses came back to bite them with dire consequences.

People rush to Moses, the one they spoke against, asking his help.  Moses comes to the Lord.  Only God can help.  What does the Lord tell Moses to do?  Kind of strange.  He tells Moses to make a bronze figure of a snake, and put it on top of a tall pole.  When God’s people look up at the snake, healing will come.  They will survive.

What’s the point of looking up at a snake?  The snake was made of bronze/copper, the same material used for ancient mirrors.  Looking to the snake would be like looking at yourself.  Honestly owning up to who you are.  Admitting that we are far from the character of holy God.  That’s part of what this story is about.

Something else.  Those bitten were told to do something, to look up at the serpent.  They had to be willing to look up at what God says will save them.  It happened– if you looked up.  But you had to believe in what the Lord had said, to follow His way.  Like going to your doctor when you’re deathly ill.  He says you’ll be fine– take the prescribed medicine.  Two days later, you’re worse.  You call his office and complain that the doctor doesn’t care that you feel like you’re at death’s door.  The doctor is puzzled. The medicine should have worked.  Give it another couple days.  More days pass and you almost pass out.  You feel even worse, if it’s possible.  Barely able to speak,  you complain to whom you now think is a quack.  Scratching his head, the doctor asks if you have taken the medicine.  ‘Have you?’   ‘No, I haven’t, but why don’t I get better?  Don’t you care, Doctor?’  ‘Take the medicine!’

God has provided all anyone would ever need for salvation and forgiveness and eternal life.  It’s Jesus.  Plain and simple.  Jesus.  He’s the medicine… take it!  Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.  Deadly venom becomes eternal victory in Jesus!

 

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for allowing us to look to you for help with all our needs.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE… Job 1

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Sometimes it’s difficult to make sense of the Book of Job.  He faced such tragedies– losing family, fame and fortune all in the first chapter.  We discover who’s behind these disasters– Satan.  The Hebrew word for ‘Satan’ may not be a name,  but a noun meaning ‘accuser’,  ‘adversary’, ‘destroyer’.   We read that Satan is allowed in the presence of God and His holy angels.  Stirring up trouble wherever he can.

Here in chapter 1 we see that there is more than meets the eye with what’s happening to Job.  It’s not a storm or a band of robbers stealing all of Job’s livestock.  Not bad luck either.  No. The enemy is at work.

As we go through life, we learn that there’s more going on than meets the eye.  But regardless of what happens, we have a choice.  Turn our backs on God?  Or put our trust in Him.  That was Job’s choice.

He discovered, as we will, that there may be no decent answers to the questions we have.  That the simple answers that well-meaning Christians give may be just that, way too simple.  The best answer of all is to love the Lord with all you have… and love your neighbors as yourself.  When all else fails,  that bit of godly advice never will.  It works every time.

Have I followed that every time?  Are you kidding?  Don’t I wish!  But I do want to trust Him… more and more.  I’m sure you do, too.

Has He ever let me down?  Really…think about that.   Do I have all the answers?  All neat and tidy?  Not at all.  But I do have His Word, the Bible.  I take Him at His Word.  And that tells me that I can stop leaning on myself… and start leaning in on Him.

Prayer:  Lord, we have so few answers and so many questions.  We want to trust You more.  In Jesus’  name.  Amen.