TIME TO REFLECT? … Ecclesiastes 1

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I found an old notebook from the 1970’s in which I had written but one measly article. Entitled the notebook, ‘Reflections Out Of Time’.  I had big writing plans, but way too young to have many reflections to share from my life.  Way too much ahead that I could never have imagined.  More travails than travels.  But God has always been faithful.  Never butting-in when I chose to go my own way.  Waiting patiently for me to come to my senses and come back to Him.

I can imagine Jesus and the Holy Spirit interceding for me with the Father knowing that a few more bumps would not do me any real harm.   I’ve hit my fair share of potholes on the roads I’ve travelled.  Many of them others dug deep and led me right into.  Quite a few, more than I’d like to admit, were of my own digging.  I dug it… and then fell in.  Can you dig it?!

When I read the book of Ecclesiastes, I can feel myself in the presence of some older and wiser man.  Sitting at his feet to cull any pearl of wisdom coming from his mouth to my ears.  Eager to soak up all that he’s learned from life.

I picture Solomon, the King of Israel.  Reflecting on his life.  All those achievements– some good, some not.  Political, educational, relational.   Wine, women and song!  His first words– ‘Vanity of  vanities,  all is vanity’.  The Hebrew word ‘vanity’ is very difficult to translate.  Many shades of meaning.  Basically, it means a vapor, a mist that appears quickly and then disappears.  Nothing lasting.  Here today…gone tomorrow.

I have a suggestion.  Why not read one chapter in Ecclesiastes every day for the next 12 days?  As you do, begin to let the Bible remind you of your own life. Bounce off Solomon’s reflections.  Have your own.   Pause and reminisce.  Think and remember.  Pray for the Lord to infuse those reflections with His insights and wisdom.  We need to come to the same conclusion that this wise old man came to–‘The end of the matter, all has been heard.  Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of  man'(Ecclesiastes 12: 13).

In the Hebrew it states that ‘…this is the whole of man.’  Our duty, yes, but even more– our life, our purpose, our everything.  All of it, the whole…is God with us.  Nothing foggy or misty about that.  You can begin to see more clearly now.  The fog has lifted.  The mist vaporized.  Reflections out of time.   How about doing some reflecting with Solomon…and me?

Prayer:  Dear Lord, it’s good to reflect on you in our lives.  You have always been faithful.  In Your Son’s name.  Amen.

THE FAULT IN FALTERING FAITH… Matthew 11: 1-15

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What would I do if someone put a knife to my neck and told me to renounce my faith in Jesus Christ?  What would you do?  With the way the world is, not such a remote possibility anymore.  I pray that I would say ‘no’ to the infidels and ‘yes’ to my Lord,  who has always been faithful to me.

But what happens when they bring out our children and grandchildren and put their lives on the line?  Could I be that strong with their lives in the balance?  Now the choice becomes unbearable.   I imagine my faith would falter.  I hear that this has happened,  and am shocked at their lack of steadfast faith.  But not when I think about it for a moment.  How could I possibly criticize someone else’s faltering faith when I would probably do much the same.

I feel bad about that.  No backbone for Jesus?  I wonder how God would judge me.  Not more with His mercy rather than my judgmental principles?  Look at Jesus’ cousin…John the Baptist.  He has been the most amazing evangelist,  calling growing crowds of people to repentance and to Jesus the Messiah. His success is unparalleled.

But now, in prison, he’s wondering if Jesus really is the One he’s been looking for.   His faith begins to falter.   Here in Matthew 11, Jesus sends word back to prison for his cousin.  Jesus is the Messiah.  He is all that John expected of Him.  In addition,  He says that John is the greatest of all those ever born,  including the prophets.

If John the Baptist’s faith can falter, who am I to find fault?  Who am I to judge and criticize?  Who am I to feel high-and-mighty when I have never been put in such circumstances.  Nothing even close.  Who am I to feel smug when I’m afraid to bring up Jesus’ name among some friends and family?  A coward when the only persecution I’ve ever felt has come not from the flames on the stove but from the tiny pilot light.

What do we do?  Pray for those who face such choices.  Pray that God would strengthen and comfort them.  Pray that their enemies would turn to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation.  Pray for the Lord to strengthen our weak knees so we can stand tall for Him.   And when we falter in our faith, let’s remember that the greatest man, John the Baptist, and the greatest Apostle,  Simon Peter, faltered in theirs only to find that their Lord was kind and forgiving and merciful.  He strengthens us.  Lifts us up and carries us.   My faith may falter.  Jesus never does!  Do I hear an ‘Amen’?

Prayer:  Lord, help any believers who face real persecution today.  Give them your strength and your mercy.  We pray for them.   In Jesus.  Amen!

A GOOD NAME–SO WHAT? … Proverbs 21: 20–22: 4

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This has to be the most ignored proverb of all!  Proverbs 22:1– ‘a good name is to be chosen rather than great riches…’  If you had the choice between riches and a good name, which would it be?  Could I have both!?    Lottery winners fantasize that they will handle their new-found monies without any difficulty at all.  Spend it wisely.  Turn aside all erstwhile relatives so needy for extra cash,  who suddenly appear out of nowhere!

The statistics don’t bode well for such good intentioned,  newly-wealthy,  lottery winners!  Our culture really puts the super rich on a pedestal.  Gates…Buffett… Rockefeller–names of the unbelievably wealthy, past and present.

I didn’t read your name on that list.  That’s strange.  Anyone see mine?   No.  Well, look again.  Are you sure?  Not there, huh?   Only a precious few can make the most wealthy list.  But all of us can have a good name, and according to God’s Word, that’s the better of the two…by far.  We can have a good name!

Reading  Proverbs 21:20 through 22:4,  we discover what is means to have that good name.  No where does it list anything whatsoever about your net worth.  Not one thin dime!    Or how much education you’ve achieved.  Or the square footage of your home.  Or what luxury car you drive.  All left out.   Important things?  Of course.  Critically important?  Not on your life, and not to God.  He values a ‘good name’ more than any of those other ‘things’.

What comprises a ‘good name’?  First,  a good name seeks God and His ways with all the kindness and love we can muster(verse 21).   With self-control and boundaries, good stewardship(verse 20).  A person with a good name knows how to watch what he says(verse 23).  Guard your tongue.  Tell the truth.  Exhibit genuine humility(verse 24).  Hard-working and generous(verse 25).  That’s what makes for a ‘good name’.

Character… in action.  Not just empty words.  Certainly not  ‘do as I say and not as I do’.  Quite the contrary.  But I wonder–will everyone like me?  Didn’t read that as part of a ‘good name’.  Not a popularity contest.  Do I match up?  Hardly.  I feel the pinch of conscience.

But God’s not done with me yet.  Or with you, either.  What needs to change immediately, though,  is the priority of a good name above anything else.  Lord, I want a good name… above all else.   And that’s a commitment.  Ready?  Let’s go…for a good name!

Prayer:  Lord, I want a good name.  Help me to understand what that  means in my life.  To be more like Jesus.  Amen.

THE WAW FACTOR! …Exodus 1:1, Leviticus 1:1 and Numbers 1:1

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I’ve titled this devotional the Waw Factor.  Now you think I can’t even spell!  Who sez I cant spel?!   Shouldn’t it be the Wow Factor?   Not really.  Let’s have a little biblical Hebrew language lesson.  Okay?  Here we go… anyway!  The letter ‘W’ in Hebrew language is pronounced waw.  Just like our ‘W’ but sometimes with a certain vowel-marking it may be pronounced like our letter ‘U’.  Let’s not get too complicated!  After all, in Seminary at Princeton,  I did not turn the world upside down with super grades in Hebrew language!  Remember, Fischer is spelled with a C… and let that be a hint for you!  Now this may surprise you–for the past 5 years I study Hebrew and Greek every day.  Still have to!

I’ve learned that the letter ‘waw’ is also the word ‘and’ in Hebrew.  Looking at the first 5 books of the Old Testament, we discover that the middle three books all begin with the letter Waw , which of course means ‘and’.  Exodus–‘AND these are the names of the sons of Israel…’  Leviticus–‘AND the Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting…’ Numbers–‘AND the Lord spoke to Moses…’

Genesis tells of God’s marvelous creation, the Fall of mankind, and those stories of the earliest patriarchs of the faith.  But the middle three books all begin with the word ‘and’–as if there’s more and more to tell.  More of the life stories of His people.  Some good, some not so.

I was thinking about this Waw Factor.  It reminds me that we can never comprehend all there is of God.  He’s too big…and wide…and deep.  Waw!  And too amazing!  When you imagine that He’s fed up with you, maybe even done with you,  that’s when you discover that there is more forgiveness ahead.  Ask Him.  Come to Him, kneeling at His feet,  saying  you’re sorry.

His love is always more.  Never runs dry.  Never the bottom of the barrel with not one drop left.  No floor…and no ceiling.   With our Lord, there is always more. ‘AND!’  Need more understanding because of the terrible traumas that have come your way?   You wonder if maybe He’s heard the same-old-things from you one too many times?  No!  He always has more time and compassion for us.  Always more…  Even in heaven,  we’ll be eternally discovering more and more of our wonderful God– Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   That will be the Waw Factor of Eternity.  When you and I reach that last chapter of our lives on earth,  that’s when the Lord will say “you’re only half-way through letter  ‘A’ in My encyclopedia of eternity”!  We’ve barely gotten to ‘AND’!   Waw… and Wow!

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for all you add to our lives.  Never ending really, and we are so grateful.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

MORE ABOUT MERCY, ALWAYS MORE…Matthew 9: 9-13 and Hosea 6: 4-6 and Amos 4

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Matthew’s Gospel.  We see that Jesus goes out of His way to ‘stir the pot’,  causing trouble that seems unnecessary.  He calls a tax-collector to be one of His disciples.  A tax-collector!  Are you kidding me?   Tax-collectors weren’t the most sterling characters in Jesus’ day.  Crooks… or worse.   Of all the people He could reach out to and call as one of His disciples, a tax-collector?     Why not a Rabbi or a Temple official?  Nicodemus came at night.  Why not call him by day?  No, not Jesus.  No!  He calls a tax-collector!

The Pharisees are disgusted.  Fed up.  He even goes to dinner with tax-collectors.  You can feel the Pharisee’s  dripping arrogance and self-righteousness.  That’s when Jesus lowers-the-boom!  He quotes from Hosea in the Old Testament.  Remember him?   Hosea was God’s prophet,  commanded to take an unfaithful woman as his wife.  He was to show forgiveness in addition to that big word, mercy.  Nothing about ‘throwing the book’ at her or standing on his right principles with his righteous indignation.   In the book of Hosea,  we discover that our Lord ‘…desires mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings'(Hosea 6:6).    More mercy and less judgement is the desire of our Lord.

He doesn’t want to throw salt on our wounds.  He wants to heal them.  With mercy.   He really loves us,  and wants us to come back to Him.  Have you read that portion of the prophet Amos yet?  My, oh my, just dripping with sarcasm!   ‘Go to Bethel and sin…Bring sacrifices every morning,  your tithes…brag about your freewill offerings–boast about them…for this is what you love to do…'(Amos 4: 4-5).    Reading the rest of Amos 4, we discover the heart of the Lord,  who says over-and-over again–‘…yet you have not returned to Me.’  Five times God says this in chapter 4.   He cries out:  to come home… to Him.  Waiting for us at home is His mercy… like a mighty river flowing and flowing with  great force.

How could we ever stay away?  But we do.  I have at times, and I don’t recommend it.    So, come home.   Open arms will greet you.    He promises to forgive and forget.  Unlike you and me,  He really means it.  Forgives…AND forgets.  That’s mercy, I’d say. Like choosing a tax-collector or receiving an unfaithful woman.   Even greeting me and you, not with the back of His hand, but with open arms.    Empty rituals will never cut it with our Lord.  Never.  Only hearts and souls that passionately desire Him.  Only if we come home to Him.  Only then…

Are you home yet?  You’ll know it when you’re there!  He’s left the light on and the door is open!  Welcome home!

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for all your kindness to us in Jesus.  In His name.  Amen.

HAVE MERCY! … Exodus 37: 1-9

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The end of the book of Exodus seems rather tedious.  All those instructions about the tabernacle and its furnishings. Does it really matter?   Well,  look again.  I found an amazing verse–Exodus 37: 9.  Moses was remembering how the gifted artisan Bezalel had made the Ark, and overlaid it with precious gold.  There were rings on the Ark’s side where wooden poles,  also overlaid with gold,  would fit through so the Ark could be carried without ever having to be touched by human hands.  Tightly covering the Ark was a solid gold lid called the ‘mercy seat’.  On top of the mercy seat were two golden angels,  the cherubim,  spreading their wings over the mercy seat.  Their faces look directly at each other.

What impresses me most is the mercy seat.  Mercy covers all the glory of the Ark.  Mercy covers it all.  Mercy and His holiness go hand-in-hand.  Angels look over and protect God’s mercy.  Angels are created guardians offering shade from the heat that blazes down upon God’s people.  The terrible heat emanating from anxiety,  worry and overwork.  Angels shading us.  Acting on behalf of God Himself.

What is His mercy anyway?  Some have said that His grace is receiving what we don’t deserve.  God is so generous.  None of us deserve one smidgeon of His grace.  It’s truly God’s ‘amazing grace’.  I depend on God’s grace… and am thankful for all He gives me, when I bother to think about it.  When I stop taking Him for granted.

Mercy?…That’s NOT receiving what I DO deserve. Think about that for a moment.  God not giving us what we deserve.  I love grace, receiving from the Lord.   Who doesn’t?   But mercy, sounds pretty good to me and in light of how I am, maybe even a better deal!   Imagine if God gave me all that I deserve.  I know how brutal that would be.  I know myself.  I know what a sinner I am.

It’s mercy I need.   Somewhere, way down deep in my emotions, I know how little I deserve anything good from God.  How right He would be to write me off.  But the Gospel  is not about me or my fragile, fractured emotions.  It’s about the Lord and all His mercy sealed tightly over the most precious item in the Tabernacle.  His mercy we can count on.  His mercy trumps all our sin.  His mercy is everlasting,  new every morning and night.  I’m glad!  So glad!  You too?

Prayer:  Thank you, Lord, for all your mercy.  For covering us when we feel so exposed by our sins.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS… Proverbs 18: 10

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One verse for today!  But a good one to memorize and carry around with you for a long, long time.  The Bible says that the Lord is our ‘strong tower’.   Christians today are under great pressure, even for their lives,  because they name the name of Jesus Christ.  Wherever you may be, to say you’re a Christian is to open yourself up to unbelievable scorn, ridicule and ostracism.  Some safe tower, you may say.  What does this mean?   What gives?  What about the ‘strong tower’?

I think you know the answer.  We were made for paradise…and this ain’t it!!  Not after what sin has done.  This promise of the strong tower must be for somewhere else, someplace different than ‘this old world’.  Yes, of course, it’s for where God is,  where He keeps us safe. It’s for heaven.   Keep looking up where heaven is, where God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit give us their strong tower to safely run to.

Cherish the safety of your relationship with the Lord here and now as a foretaste of things to come.   Remember when Jesus said that if we had the faith of a tiny mustard seed,  we could approach mountains saying to them  ‘be tossed into the sea’, and they would?  That’s found in Mark 11: 25.  We know what Jesus obviously doesn’t mean.  Mountains, wherever you live, are still there even though some well-meaning person prayed and wanted them in ‘Davy Jones Locker’!

Something else is going on.  At the Christian Church I served for 14 years, we always ended the worship service by singing the chorus to the old hymn ‘Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus’–‘look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace’.

Look up to Jesus, who is way above any mountains you and I may face.   Looking to Him fully,  you notice that our mountains of trouble don’t seem as evident.  Maybe you don’t notice them at all.  It’s as if when we fully concentrate on Him, that mountains move aside…and, in a sense,  disappear!

That’s what the’ strong tower’ image means.  Not for here completely…but especially for there and then.  In heaven with our Lord, who opens the tower doors and gates and welcomes us home, safe and sound.  You know what?   I don’t even see those mountains anymore!  Only the One who made them and can move them aside… for you and for me.  ‘Turn your eyes upon Jesus…’

Prayer:  Oh Lord, thank you that no matter what happens to me in this life, I am safe and secure in Your arms.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

OFF ON MY OWN!… Exodus 25: 1-22, Matthew 6: 5-6

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When I was a student at the Moody Bible Institute many of the original buildings, from the 1880’s,  were still in use.  Evangelist D. L. Moody’s office and first classroom building, 153 Institute Place, was still standing.  My favorite hang-out was the SweetShoppe,  manned ably by Pop Mitchell.  His cheese omelettes were the very gooiest best!  I spent way too much time…and money there as a student.  Those were happy days for me. Over a thousand students on one city block in downtown Chicago!

But I had a secret place on campus that I cherished.  I’ve never told anyone about it.  Until now.  It was on the second floor of Crowell Hall, where old classrooms were empty as empty could be.  No one ever around after noon.  But me.  I would take the back stairs, avoiding the elevators, and walk the empty halls until I came to a large classroom with the highest ceilings and biggest blackboards you’ve ever seen.  I just loved that place.  It had those old student desks made of wood with a flat surface.

A certain musty smell hung in the air.  A scent of a very old building.  I would sit there for upwards of an hour at a time, all by myself… praying and talking with the Lord.  Time with Him.   No one would bother me.

I’ve never forgotten that special place.  I was reading about the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament, where only the High Priest would enter once a year to offer atonement and prayers for all the people of Israel.  It was the inner sanctum of the Tabernacle, with very little furniture.  It was a simple place.  Gold…a wooden box that contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments,  Aaron’s rod that budded and a jar containing a bit of the food they called  ‘manna’.  That was it.

Simple.  Not all 613 commandments but only 10.  Ten was enough to guide God’s people on how to live for Him and with each other.  Not complicated.  No code to break.  No hidden messages to trip us up.  Just 10 commandments.  On top of the golden Ark were two angels that had been hammered out of the same piece of pure gold,  reminding God’s people that He’s watching over for us.   His angels cover us,  and while we never see them in action yet they are there.  Covering the Ark.  Below them is the Mercy Seat, the solid-gold covering that fits exactly over the wooden box.

10 commandments–the best way to live.  Words of God.    A rod that budded–miracles abound with Him.  A jar of manna–His provision.   Angels watching over us.

Let me recommend that somehow, somewhere, sometime you get away with the Lord.  Spend time with Him.  Pray.  Read your Bible.  Jesus and you.  Together.  Nothing formal or forced.  Cherished moments…previews of things to come on a much larger scale!

Prayer:  Lord, thank you for times alone, you and me.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

WHATEVER IT TAKES… Proverbs 3: 1-8

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I’m ashamed of myself.  I should have known better. Young and painfully immature, I must admit.  A generational sin I grew up with was talking about others behind their backs.  Relatives, who were doing better financially, were ready targets.  Making fun–or so we thought.  Who knows what they said about us?!  Sad to say,  I did the same thing.

I think of someone many years ago.  Her family was filled with turmoil.  She loved the Lord.  All day long she’d read Christian books.  Hours on end  listening to Christian music.  Loved church.  Loved the choir.  Loved sharing with others, including me her pastor, about her love for the Lord and how she grew close to Him by books and music.   In my private moments,  I thought she was way over-the-top, somewhat bizarre.  Sitting around reading inspirational books, listening to tapes of Christian music?  Praying for hours on end?  What’s this all about?

Years later, she would phone me periodically.   I still felt like I was humoring her for her strangeness, but never out-loud, never for her to hear.  One day she phoned me for prayer.  She was having surgery the next week, and would I, her former pastor, lift her up to the Lord.  I did.  I think now with tongue-in-cheek, to my shame and embarrassment.

Never heard back from her. One less phone call for me to field.  Somewhat a relief.  Assumed all must have gone well.  But it hadn’t.  In a newsletter from my old church it mentioned that she had died on the operating table during surgery.  She was now with the Lord.

Oh my…guilt was like a tsunami rolling all over me.  Yet, now, for her, all those trials and troubles were over.  I read in Proverbs 3 about binding around our necks and writing God’s love and faithfulness on our chests near our hearts so we don’t forget all about Him.  Like she had been doing.  Strange things to me, but all the right things by her.

Do whatever it takes to get close to the Lord.  Don’t worry about what others may think, even your pastor.  Even trusted friends and family.   I’ve done some growing up since then, and have adopted what other’s may think are strange habits of discipleship.  I don’t care.  I want to get near to Jesus.  Don’t you?  Do whatever it takes.  May seem strange to someone else.  That was me.  Not any longer.  And I share this embarrassing story only to keep myself on guard for the next time I might judge someone else as weird…maybe they are just wired to the King of Kings!  Wired and connected and in love with their Lord.  Do whatever it takes…

Prayer:  Lord, please forgive me for judging others when I need a closer walk with You myself.  For nothing will mean more now and forever than sitting at Your feet.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE… Matthew 5: 1-20

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I used to love preaching from the pulpit at West Side Church in Englewood,  New Jersey.  The pulpit was elevated and I would access it through a small wooden door,  climbing  a spiral staircase, out another small door while turning on the overhead light whose switch was right behind my back.  Disappeared downstairs to appear upstairs with light shining down on me!  Reading the ‘Sermon on the Mount’,  I notice that it was  not how elevated He was on that hillside but what He said that turned everything upside down.

Think about being that ‘light of the world’ for a moment.  You… a light?  That’s what Jesus says (Matthew 5: 13-16).  ‘You are the light of the world’.  Don’t stop there for He also says that we’re to let that light shine before others.

I was thinking–what kind of light am I?  A searchlight?  A Fresnel lighthouse lamp that can be seen for miles and miles at sea?  A small match.   A little light for a short period of time?  Jesus doesn’t specify what lamp is required– just that we shine for Him.  I don’t  know how many will read this devotional.  This may be ‘my little light’.   I used to love to sing that song as a young child–‘this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…’  I wonder–will anyone want to read this book?   Come to think of it, you are right now!  So, I’m going to let my light shine.  ‘Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine’!

A friend came back from a Holy Land archeological dig many years ago, and brought me a lamp from Jerusalem .  It had the archeologist’s markings on a tag authenticating it as being from the Roman period over 2000 years ago.  It had a well for oil and a opening where a wick could be lit.  The lamp would offer enough light for a tiny home.  If you’ve never seen one of these Holy Land lamps, you would be as shocked as I was.  It must be quite large, right?  Well, no, it actually fits into the palm of one of my hands.  That’s it!  But that lamp would do more than you could imagine.

So can you.  So can I.   Just shine…for Him…for others.  It will be truly magical and amazing what heights He’ll take us to…all pointing to Heaven!  ‘This little light of mine, I’m GOING to let it shine!  Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine’!

 

Prayer:  Lord, I want to shine for You.   Take my lamp and light it, so others can see Jesus, the Light of the world.  In His name.  Amen.