Don's Devotionals: Learning to love God

Galatians 6:10  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

This morning I was pondering this verse and while pouring myself a cup of coffee, I thought of a moving scene in the movie Ben-Hur.  Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish prince, is betrayed into slavery by a friend who is an ambitious Roman officer.  While being marched with other slaves to the sea they go through Nazareth.  All of the slaves are desperate for water.

The entire group is getting water from the people of Nazareth- except for Judah.  The people are forbidden by the guards from giving him any water. Judah collapses to the ground in utter anguish overcome with thirst.  But then, into the scene comes a young man, a carpenter, who had observed what was happening from his hut.  Ignoring the guards, he comes and kneels and lifts Judah’s head and gives him water to drink.  I am in tears writing this, overcome with the power, tenderness and kindness exhibited in the scene.

The guard angrily yells at him to stop but the carpenter doesn’t.  Instead, he stands and faces the guard who then backs down, unable to withstand the power of this carpenter as they face each other.  All during the encounter, you can see in Judah’s face the gratitude, the wonder and bewilderment of what just happened.  He knows that his life was just saved.  As he later learns, he just encountered Jesus of Nazareth.

While this is a dramatic scene, the point I want to make is the value of offering someone who is thirsty a drink of water; someone who is weary, a helping hand; someone who is discouraged a word of encouragement; someone who is heartbroken, a shoulder to lean on; someone who feels overwhelmed, a friend who says you’re not alone.  May we recognize and respond to the many opportunities that surround us to do the good that our Lord expects of us.  This is loving one another and is at the heart of following Jesus.

Mark 1:40-42  A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”  ⁴¹Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” ⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

Continue to imagine that you are this man – whom we have assumed is a farmer, a husband and father.  You had to leave everything because of your leprosy.  The pain of separation, and the pain of life’s hopes and dreams being dashed had become a given in your life – until that day Jesus healed you.

Although he warned you not to tell anyone and to show yourself to the priest, your excitement and joy caused you to tell everyone about this amazing miracle.  On your knees you begged him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”  He responded, “I am willing. – Be clean!”  How can you ever forget the compassion in his eyes!  And his touch – the very fact that he touched you, an unclean leper!  No one had touched you in such a long time.

Now you are approaching your home, grateful for the bath you took and the clean clothes you now have on.  Your wife and daughter do not know yet of this miracle – but they are about to find out.  Approaching your home you experience the joy of walking across your fields.  When you are near the door to your home, your young daughter comes out but she doesn’t see you.  You stand there a moment watching her – how she’s grown.  And then you call her name – your voice cracking with emotion.  She turns and you see the stunned look on her face.  That is quickly replaced with a smile and a squeal of joy you will never forget as she runs to you and leaps into your arms.  Never, in your wildest dreams did you think this could ever happen again.

After holding her close, you tell her to go get her mother, your wife, but she’s not to tell her that you are there.  In a moment, she comes out of the door pulling your wife who was busy working inside.  Your wife is fussing with her, wondering why she had to come out.  Then your daughter slowly lifts her arm and points in your direction.  Your wife turns and sees you standing there – smiling.  You have never seen her look so stunned and so speechless.  You can no longer hold back the tears.  As you open your arms, she runs to you and is enfolded in your embrace.

For the longest time you just stand there holding each other and then your daughter comes to join the hug.  Finally, the questions burst forth from their lips.  They want to know what happened.  How can you be healed of your leprosy?  You take them inside, sit down and take a breath.  Looking into their faces you begin, “There is this man named Jesus…”

Note:  Max Lucado has a wonderful story of the leper Jesus touched.  We have had the joy of seeing our son Andrew act out the above story in performances where the audiences wept because the story came so alive.

Note: The movie “Risen” is one of the very best!  It is told from the perspective of the Romans, specifically the Roman Tribune who is assigned the task of finding the body of Jesus.  One of the very last scenes after the resurrection is Jesus in Galilee rescuing, embracing and healing a highly deformed leper –  who we then see become a fully healed man. I don’t recall ever seeing a scene to compare to it, that so reveals the leper’s deformity – and such a loving response by our Savior!

Mark 1:40-42  A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”  ⁴¹Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” ⁴²Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.

Consider for the next few minutes that you are this man.  Assume that you were a farmer with a wife and a daughter – that your home was filled with laughter and love.  One day it becomes clear that something is radically wrong.  You cut yourself and don’t even feel it.  You and your wife realize that it is leprosy and that you must leave, never to be with them or see them again.  Imagine the pain of saying goodbye.  This disease makes you unclean and an outcast, forever separated from family and friends.

Some years pass and you hear about this amazing man from Galilee named Jesus.  You hear the stories of people thronging to him because of the miracles he is doing – and not just a few.  But he’s healing all who come to him!  No one has ever had this kind of power to make the blind see and the cripples to walk.  Imagine the glimmer of hope that
would begin to stir within you when you first heard of the miracles.  The thought through your mind that maybe – just maybe – this Jesus could and would heal you!

You finally decide that you are going to find him and see if that which was unthinkable could possibly happen.  People are going to react negatively because you, an unclean and untouchable leper, are going to have to get through the mob surrounding him.  But the glimmer of hope is now a beacon drawing you to this man named Jesus.  You have nothing to lose.

Upon finding him, you experience something that all the stories of miracles and wonders had not prepared you for.  After kneeling before him and begging him, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” –  you look into his eyes and see them filled with compassion!  Compassion for you!  He is not telling you to get away, but instead is reaching out to you!  He touches you!!!  And as he does, he says, “I am willing,” and “Be clean!”

And then it happens!  The leprosy is gone and you are whole!   Think of the smile you see on Jesus’ face and the joy in his eyes as he watches your transformation.  Think of
experiencing that moment and try to imagine the wonder and glory and power and
jubilation of that moment exploding within you! Your entire world has just been radically changed!

To be continued…

James 2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.

This morning I woke up with a thought running through my mind and it was also an experience while it was happening.  The thought was, ‘How wonderful it is to be loved by God!’  I was experiencing pleasure and joy while I was thinking it.  While it is a fact that God loves us all, it is a particular delight to experience His affection; to experience the wonder of relationship with Him.

Think of the joy we have with those who love us and those we love.  Our lives are richer because of them.  I remember the week one of our dearest friends from Seattle was with us.  Paulette and her husband Jon have been dear friends since we met in Chicago in 1978.  When they moved back to Seattle, the miles could never diminish the relationship.  We are so grateful for all the times we have been together over the years.  A highlight was when we went to Romania for the wedding of their daughter in 2003.

We joke that when Paulette and Donna get together it borders on illegal – they have such fun and enjoyment.  They are kindred spirits.  When they are together, they do everything together – work, play, shop, cook, dance, clean, read and laugh.  They have a riot watching a movie together!  The relationship is rich and filled with special and precious memories. What a joy it is to see the joy they share.

Part of the wonder of our relationship with Jesus is that He wants us to become His friends – to experience all the wonder of what that means.  Donna and Paulette enjoy each other.  It is a deep, vibrant living relationship.  They have been through good times and hard times together.  The friendship deepens because they pursue it.  That is what God offers us with Him.  His mercy and grace are doorways into His presence.  There are so many things that He does, while they are blessings in themselves, they are invitations to a deeper relationship with Him.  Let us pursue our friendship with Him.  He even tells us how to do that!

1 John 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

When we moved to Franklin, TN it was a reintroduction for me to high humidity and the effect it has in combination with high heat.  I’ve lived with it for most of my life but for the previous five summers we lived in Colorado Springs where there was heat but little humidity.  In Franklin the effects of high humidity were most noted when I mowed our lawn with a push mower on hot, steamy days.  Our lawn had a slope to it so I would also get to push the mower up hill.  Needless to say, I would be drenched when done.

After my mowing adventure it was so marvelous and refreshing to step into a cool shower and experience the cleansing and refreshing it would bring.  An important part of the experience was putting on clean clothes afterward.  It would be inconceivable to put the wet mowing clothes back on – they went into the laundry.

We can all relate to the above experiences; both the effects of working in the heat and humidity, and of the cool shower and clean clothes afterward.   They present a practical
picture of sin, repentance and forgiveness.  Best of all is the absolutely unfailing promise of our Lord to always – yes always – fulfill this promise in our lives.

Being human, we sin.  The Holy Spirit convicts us.  And as a pastor friend of ours likes to say, “The Holy Spirit is not incompetent at convicting of sins.”  We confess our sins
and he forgives us.  This is where the illustration of work, heat, humidity, a shower and clean clothes come in so importantly.  (I find it so helpful to have practical, daily events remind me of His love and care for me.)  Spiritually He cleanses us from the sins like a cool shower would do for us.  There is a cleansing and refreshing that occurs.  The
repentance in our lives is discarding the ‘mowing clothes’ and putting on clean
garments.  We change our behavior.

His forgiveness never grows old.  It’s like His compassion and His faithfulness; they never fail and are new every morning because of His great love for us.  He delights in forgiving
us.  He knows these are things we will need every day of our lives.  Blessed are His sons and daughters who recognize this and pursue Him.  As Lamentations 3:25 says, “The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;”

1 John 2:16  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.

Years ago when our first two sons were little I took a job at a large bakery in Michigan.  The ministry we were involved in was struggling and I needed to have a paying job.  I discovered on my first night at work why there was a high turnover rate for this position.  In fact it was not unusual for men to quit during their very first night.  There were several of us racking bread.  We each stood at the end of a line of rollers where the loaves of bread came.  After going through a slicer and bagger machine, they came to each of us like a never ending line rolling along.  I think they came at a rate of about 50 a minute.

For eight hours we would stand in one spot and slide the bags of bread on to trays that could hold 10 loaves apiece.  Then we would slide the trays filled with bread into big racks on wheels.  If any of us fell behind there was emergency shut off button we could push to stop the bread coming down our line but that meant we got yelled at.  But at least that was better than the loaves going off the end of the rollers onto the floor at our feet.

One night while working I got to thinking about our sons (who were 1 & 2).  I thought of them in elementary school and the teacher asking students what their daddies did for
work.  The students one by one answered, “My daddy is a teacher.  Banker.  Doctor.
Lawyer.  Engineer….”  Then it was my son’s turn and he said, “My daddy racks bread at Schafer’s Bakery.”  I was mortified.  Here I had a college degree and was racking bread!

Immediately, the Lord took me to task for my prideful attitude.  My mind was filled with questions that did not originate with me and each I knew I had to answer.  Is the work you are doing necessary? – “Yes”.  Is it dishonest or sinful? – “No”.  Is it enabling you to pay your bills and provide for your family? – “Yes”.  Is it honorable labor? – “Yes”.  Are you grateful for this job? – “Yes”.

Instead of focusing on prideful comparison of jobs, the Lord wanted me to recognize the honor in work – and the importance of providing for myself and for my family.  It is a real snare to look down on jobs as being “beneath” us because the attitude will easily translate over onto those who are doing the jobs.  What a blessing it is to be able to work.

Philippians 1:27a  Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Have you ever thought about the fact that so much of our lives we are representing someone or something?  At work we represent our employer.  If we give good service or do quality work it reflects positively upon our employer.  The Zenith company had the slogan, “The quality goes in before the name goes on.”  Some time ago when I got a new modem/router, my research uncovered comments about how difficult it was to deal with some companies’ technical help people who were described as impatient and rude.

If we need repair work done on our car we typically ask around to find a shop that does quality work at a fair price.  Positive and negative reputations spread.  A couple years ago we were thrilled to discover a wonderful mechanic here in the Akron area who has his own business and doesn’t advertise.  All of his business comes through referrals from his current customers. His competence and character are outstanding!

When in Tennessee we were at Publix grocery store and the young man who bagged our groceries proceeded to take them to our car without asking if we needed him to.  He was cheerful, and being the parents of four sons, we were blessed by his attitude.  When we got in the car, I mentioned it to Donna and she said Publix was known for that!

What do the waiters and waitresses think on Sunday when they are serving Christians after church?  If they had to rank the desirability of the various groups they wait on, would Christians be at the top?  If not, why not?  In Colorado Springs we were part of a Friday night service involving an 800+ diverse group of college students & 20-somethings.  This very topic was addressed several years ago because word had gotten back regarding the less than attractive behavior of the attendees when they descended on local establishments after the service.  Unfortunately, they were fitting in with a general negative perception of Christians that these workers held.  The good news is that repentance can result in changed perceptions in those we interact with.

Think of our relationships with family, friends and neighbors.  We have so many opportunities to demonstrate the quality of life that comes from loving Jesus.  Even if people don’t associate kind and thoughtful behavior with the gospel, that is what they should experience when they interact with us.  It is our privilege and responsibility to
live lives worthy of our faith.

John 9:25b “ …One thing I do know.  I was blind but now I see!”

I think we all are thrilled when our grasp of the obvious is working.  For some of us, it’s like a visitor who only shows up once in a while or someone who leaves at a most inopportune time.  Several years ago my grasp of the obvious was long gone and I had one of the most embarrassing moments in my life.  Fortunately, this event took place between me and the Lord.  But now I get the blessing of sharing it with you all. (:>)

I briefly worked with an organization as a traveling representative and was gone every other week.  Nice hotels were provided as we traveled from city to city.  On a Monday I arrived at my hotel somewhere in the south and when I entered my room I discovered the ugliest bathroom I ever saw.  It was big, barren with railings everywhere.  I couldn’t
believe they would have something like this and nearly went down to the front desk to insist on a room change.  (I can’t tell you how embarrassing this is!)

Fortunately I just accepted it.  Two days later as I was driving across the middle of nowhere, my grasp of the obvious suddenly returned.  In a nano-second it struck me.  As you have already likely figured out, the bathroom was designed for handicapped individuals!  If I had been in a wheel chair or on crutches or simply needing assistance, this bathroom would have been exactly what I needed.  What I considered ‘ugly’ would have been beautiful to the one needing it. (As I drove I thought of the Spaniard in Princess Bride and “humiliations galore!”)

The Lord really used this experience in a powerful and serious way with me.  At the time we were going through some very difficult things and there were ways of addressing the difficulties that I thought were ‘ugly’ and had dismissed them.  It was after this experience
that I recognized that what I considered ugly – wasn’t ugly at all.  They were appropriate and a blessing to assist us in our adventure.  We needed them as much as we would need railings in a bathroom if we were in a wheel chair or on crutches.

Needless to say this has been a humbling experience.  It has made me much more careful about drawing conclusions about what I think I see and what I think I perceive.  It is too easy to miss the obvious sometimes.  I thank God that while driving across the middle of nowhere, the Holy Spirit made this blind man to see!

John 9:1-3 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.  His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.

These verses begin the wonderful story of Jesus healing the man born blind.  It is so fascinating because of all it reveals about the Pharisees and the difficulty they had grasping the obvious.  They were confounded by the miracle, particularly because it was done on
the Sabbath.  But more than that is the reality that Jesus describes in these verses above.

Do we understand that this man was born blind because that was God’s plan?  That God was going to use his blindness so that His work might be displayed in his life?  Think about the difficulties that he and his parents had to deal with all through his life.  They weren’t victims, they were experiencing God’s plan for them.

The Bible is filled with difficult situations and painful experiences that God brought into people’s lives in order for His plan for them to unfold.  Does our understanding of God and His ways recognize that He does all manner of such things today?  Specifically, that God
will do such things in our lives?  Sudden loss of a job, illness, accidents, birth defects, financial ruin, unexpected deaths of loved ones, good situations made difficult – the list is long.

We have a tendency to respond negatively to difficult things that occur in our lives – more likely to view them as a curse rather than as a blessing.  So how are we going to respond?  Will we recognize and embrace the fact that they present opportunities for us to
experience God’s work in our lives?  Regardless how we view them, we still have to deal with these difficult circumstances in our lives.  But when we see God in the midst of them, there with us and for us, it changes us.  Not only is there is no problem too big or
situation too difficult for us to walk through but He will transform the way we walk through them.

Faith in the Lord produces the heavenly wisdom spoken of by James in 3:17, ^“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”  Think of having the inner well-being described by this verse within us as we navigate the difficult adventures that
God brings or allows in our lives!

Isaiah 6:9-10  He said, “Go and tell this people: ” ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’  ¹⁰ Make the heart of this people
calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Suppose we are walking down the street and we see a man walking along throwing $100 bills in the air.  What would our response be?  Would we ignore him because we doubted that the bills are real?  How about getting angry with him because he’s littering?  Would we stand back and criticize the people scrambling to pick up the bills as they were scattered on the street?

Now, let’s tweak the situation a bit.  Suppose that we happened to be in the bank in line behind this person when he received 1,000 $100 bills.  We stood there and watched the money being given to him.  We then followed the person out of the bank and saw him begin to walk along throwing these $100 bills, which we knew were real, into the air.  What would our response be now?  Would we be scrambling after the money with everyone else?  Or would we be upset with him for littering?    Sounds absurd, doesn’t it – except it’s not!

Today’s verses are some of the most frightening verses in the Bible for they describe a condition that can happen to us and we won’t likely know it.  The condition they describe would cause us to be angry with the man for littering in the above illustration.  The fact that the $100 bills were real would be irrelevant.  We would be consumed with our perceived impropriety of it all.

Think of Jesus and the miracles that He did – particularly those done on the Sabbath.  The Pharisees and religious leaders had a fit and wanted to kill Him for it.  The fact that the stunning miracles were real was irrelevant to them.  They were blind to the reality of what was going on in front of them!  John’s gospel describes their condition (12:37-41):

 ³⁷Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. ³⁸This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: 
   “Lord, who has believed our message 
      and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

 ³⁹For this reason they could not believe, because, as
Isaiah says elsewhere:  ⁴⁰“He has blinded their eyes 
      and deadened their hearts, 
   so they can neither see with their eyes, 
      nor understand with their hearts, 
      nor turn—and I would heal them.” 

⁴¹Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

To be continued…