Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

1 Peter 3:15  But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,

Imagine sitting in any kind of class or gathering where the speaker/instructor belittles a particular belief. If there is an individual in the group with that particular belief and he makes it known, the focus likely shifts to him.  Typically it probably isn’t mean spirited, but more in the category of “Oh my!  How can anyone still believe that??!!”  Laughter, polite ridicule and condescension are a powerful combination.

Unfortunately if the person proves to be resistant to the ‘accepted wisdom’ or political correctness, the speaker/instructor can manipulate the nature of the atmosphere to become more aggressive, ‘seasoned’ with anger, intimidation and biting ridicule.  In a classroom setting, a subtle intimation can be communicated that good grades are not obtained by those with such beliefs.

This phenomenon can occur over a vast range of subjects depending upon the views of the speaker and the group.  Consider some topics: abortion, homosexuality, same sex marriage, voter IDs, enforcing immigration laws, government healthcare, God, Jesus, faith, evolution, the Bible, the list is long.  If we are that person and the recipient of such treatment, how we respond is critical.

Our faith identifies such situations as opportunities not victimhood.  Christ is our rock and it’s upon Him that we stand.  Sometimes we might hesitate to speak up because we don’t want to be a recipient of the verbal attack.  That might be wisdom or it might be fear of what people might think of us; or fear of persecution.  Maybe we’re just too casual with our faith and feel too inadequate to speak up, or to stand with another believer.

We have a hope that is grounded in eternal reality.  We must be prepared to express our faith in ways pleasing to God – not attacking those who oppose but sincerely allowing our light (His light within us) to shine.  We must be spiritually and prayerfully prepared to glorify our Lord when such opportunities arise.

John 12:42-43  Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

We have this problem today that we encounter everywhere –  and it is a major problem.  In Scripture it is reflected by Nathanael’s blunt comment to hearing Philip excitedly telling him about Jesus of Nazareth, the one written about by Moses and the prophets, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” (John 1:46)

Substitute the word Christianity into Nathanael’s sentence for Nazareth and couple it with an attitude of condescension and we have the problem we are facing nearly everywhere in Western Civilization. It’s in academia, business, media, government, courts – basically everywhere.  It’s similar to evolution in that it’s poor theory that’s accepted as true (I will deal with evolution this coming week).  Religion is viewed as a waste if your ‘given’ is there is no God.

But this perception and accompanying attitudes don’t exist in a vacuum.  They are rooted in forces that have no doubt as to the deadly threat posed to them by scriptural Christianity that is truly lived out. Most of the world has no idea they are pawns in the hands of evil powers. Paul addresses them in Ephesians 6:12,

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Their goal is to stamp Christianity out!  Do anything to keep Christians from tapping into the power they truly have in Christ.  In the face of this politically correct societal dismissal, the issue becomes how are Jesus followers going to respond?

Unfortunately, when our walk is weak, we have a tendency to follow the path painfully described by today’s verse – we respond out of fear because we love the praise of men more than the praise of God – OUCH!  That’s why we have been provided with the armor of God and the command to put it on. (Ephesian 6:10-18)  This armor is vital to being strong in the Lord and able to stand.

When we stand, we don’t respond with anger, shaking our fists at those who oppose us.  But we stand strong and secure in our Lord with our response reflecting our faith, rooted in righteousness and glorifying Jesus.  At times we’ll suffer negative consequences, but even then we must do so with fruit of the Spirit attitudes.

After all, our joy and our lives are centered in pleasing God – not men.

Hebrews 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

I have really enjoyed some of the Indiana Jones movies.  A couple of my favorite scenes are in The last Crusade when they get to the cave and encounter the old Crusader still guarding the ‘Holy Grail’ – believed to be the cup used by Christ at the last supper.  There is only one problem – the room has a whole bunch of cups without any indication which is the right one.

Of course the wealthy, learned leader of the bad guys insists on choosing and picks out a magnificent ornate cup, in his mind worthy of the Lord.  He drinks from it expecting some sort of heavenly wonder but unfortunately he chose the wrong cup.  He ages a few hundred years in a few seconds and is no more, to which the old Crusader responds, “He chose poorly.”

Due to the wounding of Indy’s father (Sean Connery), Indy has to choose quickly among the cups.  The story line attributes miraculous power to the cup – like the Ark in the Old Testament – and Indy needs to get it to his father to heal the wound that would kill him.  Well, Indy learned from the bad guy’s mistake and scours the table for the cup of a carpenter and chose a very humble plain wooden cup; to which the old Crusader responds, “You chose…wisely.”

We find ourselves in a world filled with gods – all being represented as the true God. When we look at all of these competing gods, how do we know what He (the True One) looks like?  This isn’t simply an intellectual exercise – this is true reality!  While He doesn’t put a gun at our head or a sword at our throat forcing us to choose, the stakes couldn’t be higher.

The good news is that the One True God didn’t leave us to our own devices to figure out which ‘cup on the table’ was Him.  He has made everything available for all to ‘choose wisely’.   He even works with us to guide us in the path that leads to finding Him.  He has communicated that it’s not His will that any should ‘choose poorly’!

Fortunately, He has given us a vibrant, living picture of Himself.  He even enables us to recognize that it is Him – we then, simply have to choose.  And when we do, He confirms our wise choice by allowing us to experience the wonder of Him.

Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being!  When we become His, He begins the transforming wonder whereby we become like Jesus.  The more we are transformed, the more others will see Jesus when they see us – and they too will be drawn to Him.

Luke 5:10b-11  Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” ¹¹ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Picture yourself a fisherman.  That is your livelihood.  You and your partners have just spent the entire night fishing and come up empty.  You’re on shore washing your nets when this new friend, a carpenter by background who is doing some amazing things comes up with a crowd around him listening to him teaching.

He sees two boats at water’s edge and gets into one of them – yours – and asks you to push it out a bit.  He then sits down and teaches from the boat.  When he finishes speaking (to the crowd) he says to you, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”  I wonder what goes through your mind at that moment; maybe something like, “Yea – right!”

Maybe you roll your eyes, but who he is gets the better of you – although you do let him know the facts of the situation.  “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.

Maybe you’re thinking that he should stick to what he knows.  Even so, you go along with it.  All of a sudden you and your companions catch such a large number of fish that the nets began to break.  You signal your partners in the other boat to come and help, and they come and both boats are filled so full of fish that they began to sink.

To say everyone is astonished is an understatement!  But this strikes you in a unique way.  This is a miracle and it involved you.  You’re struck by your own unworthiness to be in the presence of something divine.  You fall at his knees and say, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

But instead of listening to you, he says something far more profound than what you’ve just experienced! These words come from his mouth addressed to you, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” The group of you that hear this, pull your boats up on shore, leave everything and follow him.

The marvelous thing about this story is that Jesus is inserting himself into the everyday lives and situations of his followers today – just as he did then.  He will do something to get our attention – causing us to turn aside and focus upon him.

We might not understand everything that is going on but we know it is Him.  Then he calls us to be fishers of men – just as he did with them by the shore.  And we get to follow Jesus just as they did into the callings he has for us.

2 Peter 1:19  We couldn’t be more sure of what we saw and heard—God’s glory, God’s voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You’ll do well to keep focusing on it. It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts. (MSG)

Many of these devotionals were written early in the morning before the day gets going.  I usually begin by making a fresh pot of coffee.  I have a great memory of being at the kitchen sink and hearing what sounded like a bird chirping convention outside.  It was still dark out so I couldn’t see anything but I could sure hear them.  The first thought through my mind was a statement about faith that I have written in the front of my Bible.

“Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings while the dawn is still dark” (Tagore). There are a couple things about this experience that really blessed me.  The first was to experience something entirely normal – birds chirping when it’s dark out – and my mind immediately going to a statement about faith.

The second blessing in the experience was the reminder to respond in faith even though things might seem dark – not evil, just reflecting our inability to see.  Those things or situations we’re praying for or waiting for God’s intervention / provision haven’t happened yet, but this experience refocused my mind and heart upon the faithfulness of Jesus.  No matter what happens – or doesn’t happen – God is faithful.

In terms of the statement above, our attitudes and actions can reflect a belief that the ‘dawn’ is never coming; darkness is here to stay.  We become ‘me’ oriented, centered in disappointment rather than keeping our focus on the Lord.  I love the faith response of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to Nebuchadnezzar,

¹⁷ “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”   Daniel 3:17, 18

“But even if he does not…”  WOW!  Isn’t that powerful!!!  Our faith is in our God, no matter how ‘dark’ things might be.  Our faith is not predicated upon Him rescuing us.  Whatever He has for us or allows to come, our faith is in Him.

Let’s also remember Paul and Silas, in the Macedonian jail, in the middle of the night, having been beaten and flogged; they were “praying and singing hymns to God”.  Another WOW!!!  Our focus is upon Jesus.  He enables us to sing praises to Him, in the midst of darkness because He is the light of our lives.

Mark 10:21  Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  ²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Yesterday, when I was pondering about the woman caught in adultery who was set free by the Lord with the command to “leave your life of sin”, I thought of the rich young ruler and a favorite movie.  The movie is Frequency, a 2000 science-fiction film that contains elements of time travel, thriller and alternate history, starring Dennis Quaid and James Caviezel as father and son.

In the movie, the father, Dennis Quaid is a fireman killed in a warehouse fire in 1969.  His son, Jim Caviezel is in 1999, and even though it’s 30 years later, he is still hurting from the death of his father.  He has his father’s ham radio and due to unusual aurora borealis (northern lights) activity, they are stunned to be talking to each other on the radio, although separated by 30 years.

For the father, the conversation occurs the day before the warehouse fire that kills him.  For the son it is the day before the 30^th anniversary of that fire.  Though the father doesn’t believe that it’s his son that he’s talking to on the radio, the son is able to shout out a warning about the fire that took his life the next day.

Sure enough a day later as he tries to escape the burning warehouse he remembers his son’s warning to not go the way his instincts and training tell him to.  He goes the opposite direction that at the time looks like the worse alternative and escapes safely.  His original direction led to death; the alternate way led to life.  This time he made the right choice!

“Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” For the rich young ruler, this was the alternate way out of the “burning warehouse”.  This was the way for him that led to life.  Unfortunately, due to his wealth he went away sad.  Jesus communicated a precise way to life that specifically addressed his situation.  Hopefully, he later repented and obeyed.

Jesus told the woman caught in adultery, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  She too was in a ‘burning warehouse” and the way she was going would result in death.  But Jesus gave her a way out that led to life.  Jesus does the very same with all of us.  By His Spirit we are warned to turn, to repent, to follow Him in a new direction that leads to life.  He has redemptive, life giving paths for us to take no matter where we find ourselves.

John 8:3-4  The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.”

In another time and another place this woman would have been stoned to death. In the midst of her sin, she was caught and had the good fortune to be brought to Jesus by these leaders.  They weren’t concerned about her well-being, but were interested in using her and her adultery to set a trap for Jesus.

There she was, in the temple courts, standing with the leaders and Jesus but also surrounded by “all the people who had gathered around (Jesus)” to be taught by Him.  As she stood there, this possibly could have qualified as the worst moment of her life.

I wonder what was going through her mind.  Did she know who Jesus was?  Maybe she had heard of Him or heard Him teach.  Maybe she had been amazed by the miracles He’d done.  If she had known of Him, this would not have qualified as the way she would have liked to meet Him.  That is until this experience unfolded.

Jesus dealt with the leaders and with her.  His comments to them forced the leaders to recognize their own sin.  Imagine her amazement as all of the religious leaders slowly began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”   “No one, sir,” she said.  “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”  (John 8:9-11)

Jesus not only freed her from condemnation, better still, He offered her the opportunity of leaving her life of sin; no, make that He commanded her to leave her life of sin – just as He does with us.  When Jesus saves our lives and instructs us on the way to go, do we really think or behave as though His words are just suggestions???

I can see her eyes irresistibly drawn to His and her heart filled with the overwhelming desire to follow Him.  She might not have had any idea what the future held, but following Jesus would change everything.  Can’t you see her in the days ahead tearfully sharing her testimony of how Jesus saved her life – both physically and spiritually – and recounting this event, moment by moment, that led to her becoming a follower of Him?!