’Tis the Season for Glory

’Tis the Season. Halloween costumes and Fall decorations compete for retail space. School buses have joined the morning commute. Clubs in every age group are settling into their routines and recruitment strategies. Golf and baseball are being replaced by football. Vacation plans are giving way to weekend parties and considerations for the holidays soon upon us all.

Here on the Key, dragon flies swoop upon plentiful mosquito prey at twilight like iridescent aerial acrobats. They are in competition with our spidy friends who have taken to draping their almost invisible webs from one summer lawn chair to the next. Termites dance through changing air temperatures only to shed their wings and reduce stacked wood to a maze of sawdust tunnels.

’Tis the season. Survey companies desperate to ask questions and and gear up for holiday marketing compete for your listening ear with those pleading for donations to their own precious and absolutely necessary causes. Politics are winding up for their last ditch media blitzes and phone campaigns, not just to get your vote, but to persuade anyone who will listen that they and their party have what it takes to solve all your educational, economic, social and health care problems.

People are moving. Technology is advancing. Income is shrinking. Working is hard. Life is changing.

Or is it?

In the micro sense it is but in the larger sense there is nothing new under the sun … or under the clouds that hide the sun from view.

The purpose of every God-fearing person on our planet since day six is the praise of God’s glory. Naming the critters, tending the garden, marriage relationships, the process of atonement, all these need to bring God praise to be of any value. My life would include everything to do with my husband, my children, my social gatherings, my vineyard tending and wine making, my yarn crafting, my wood burning, my income raisers, giving to those in need, my grocery shopping…my writing; Each moment of each activity I engage in has the goal of praising God’s glory.

11 In Him also we have [a]received an inheritance [a destiny—we were claimed by God as His own], having been predestined (chosen, appointed beforehand) according to the purpose of Him who works everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ [who first put our confidence in Him as our Lord and Savior] would exist to the praise of His glory.13 In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God]. 14 The Spirit is the [b]guarantee [the first installment, the pledge, a foretaste] of our inheritance until the redemption of God’s own [purchased] possession [His believers], to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:11-14 Amplified Bible (AMP)

This passages explains the why (received an inheritance, claimed by God as His own, especially chosen according to God’s will and purpose) and how (heard the word of truth, believed, appointed, stamped and sealed, owned and protected) of our existence. Let’s talk about the what. What were we created for? What purpose does mankind have in this infinitely more powerful universe?

… Exist to the praise …

Strong’s number 1868 – epainos:- praise, commendation ( from 1909 + 136 – on, over when; on, at, while; across, over, on, to, for, while + praise ~speaking of the excellence of someone or something From 1866, 1867, 1868 – commend in the past or in the current moment, and together with 3867 – to warn, urge)

…of His glory

Strong’s number 1391 – doxa:- glory, splendor, brilliance, from the base meaning of the awesome light that radiates from God’s presence and is associated with His acts of power; honor, praise, speaking of words of excellence and assigning highest status to God.

Ahhh… speaking of the excellence of words, I looked up the excellent word, “commend” at dictionary.com. Here is the notation:

commend

[kuh–mend] 

 

verb (used with object)

1. to present, mention, or praise as worthy of confidence, notice, kindness, etc; recommend: to commend a friend to another; to commend an applicant for employment

2. to entrust; give in charge; deliver with confidence: I commend my child to your care.

3. to cite or name with approval or special praise: to commend a soldier for bravery.

4. Feudal law. To place (oneself or one’s land) under another’s protection so as to become his vassal.

5. Archaic. To recommend (a person) to the kind remembrance of another.

The art of commending belongs in relationships. In relationships, I can bring praise to God’s glory by

• Acknowledging that his ways are the best ways (Conflict Management)
• Allowing Him to create in me a clean heart (Setting priorities of change)
• Being impartial in my judgments towards myself and others (Keeping it real)
• Using the tools He has provided (mouth, hands eyes, ears) to obey His words (physical self-control)
• Seeking out and utilizing opportunities to talk about things He’s done (Conversational self-control)
  • Creation
  • Deliverance
  • Provision
  • Guidance
• Expressing my pleasure in belonging to Him (Personal confidence)
• Expressing my pleasure in who He made me to be (Loving myself)
• Expressing my pleasure in who He made others to be ( Loving my neighbors)
• Practicing thankfulness for everything, great and small (Attitude management)
• Reminding myself that I am weak but He is strong ( Proper Perspective)
• Reminding myself who The Lord is (Proper Attribution)

It’s always the season to bring glory to the LORD and yet bringing Him praise changes just as much as the garden evidences changes every so often in our little corner of the world. We simply bring about a change on purpose in whatever we say or do to commend excellence in ourselves and others but most of all in the mighty power of a mighty God who loves us so very much.  Sometimes I find that I need to gear up for words that bring praise to God’s glory just like I gear up for each season.

Yes.

’Tis the season. The season for glory.

Father God, help us to gear up. Amen

Journey Forward in Wisdom: 4 Steps to a Changed Life

If you , like me, come from an environment that is wisdom challenged, perhaps you too have asked questions about becoming smarter or wiser. Here are four steps I’ve gathered from Scripture in order to journey forward in wisdom.

Why choose Scripture as a basis for learning wisdom? There are many paths to successful skill building. Indeed, wisdom is valued in every culture but I wanted to become wise with a heavenly wisdom. Not because I’m super spiritual or over the top about living the “Christian life”  but because I craved right choices early in life and still desire being able to discern the best path. 

God’s wisdom outshines all other types of wisdom to be found. His wisdom makes even those who are savants, gifts of intelligence, look like idiot children. The gap between our wisdom and His makes us all look foolish. So why not ask Him to gift us with His wisdom?

Joss Whedon attempted to show us the potential of humanity’s wisdom skills in his science fiction series Firefly…

“ I am very smart. I went to the best Medacad in Osiris, top three percent of my class, finished my internship in eight months. “Gifted” is the term. So when I tell you that my little sister makes me look like an idiot child, I want you to understand my full meaning. River was more than gifted. She… she was a gift. Everything she did, music, math, theoretical physics – even-even dance – there was nothing that didn’t come as naturally to her as breathing does to us.”  Dr. Simon Tam  “Firefly: Serenity (#1.11)” (2002)

Sorry, Joss Whedon, God’s wisdom even beats out River Tam and all those very real people like her. People wisdom is just not reliable intel for the task at hand. 

So how do we become the kind of wise that is the most useful to us?

Step #1 Wisdom begins with the desire to acquire it. Proverbs 4:7 

Step #2 Wisdom Fears the LORD

• 10 The [a]fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
  A good understanding have all those who [b]do His commandments;
  His praise endures forever. Psalm 111:10(NASB)

 

• 10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
  And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10 (NASB)

 

What does it mean to fear the LORD?

13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way
And the perverted mouth, I hate. Proverbs 8:13 (NASB)

Step #3 Wisdom knows what good and evil are.

How do we get there? We practice the good — God’s commands. We eat, sleep, and drink God’s ways and train ourselves to distinguish between good and evil.

13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. Hebrews 5:13-14(NASB)

Eventually we get so good at it that we can obey God with our senses  and by sensing … much like the intuitive River Tam acted instantaneously to avert danger based on her sensing abilities as portrayed in Firefly.

In other real world examples, people who are experts in their given field often cannot tell you what makes them successful they just are…they just know… they just do.

Take this example from Scott Young in his letter about Top Performers:

One of the challenges with building rare and valuable skills is figuring out just what those skills are. Sometimes top performers themselves aren’t even able to fully articulate what matters for success. 

“As Chris L., a former student of Top Performer explains, “I started by talking to people a few ranks above me in my job, and asked them what I should focus on. They all came back with the same answers, ‘You you’ve got to set goals with your manager and have regular check-ins, blah blah blah…’”

This is a common experience when doing research on your career. Experts often give generic, vague-sounding advice, even though you know that can’t possibly be the distinction that made them successful. […]

Chris continues, “The idea [from the course] that you can ask an expert a question, and they don’t know that they know the answer. They don’t say the answer, but you can still get the answer. It blows your mind if you think about it for a second, but that was my experience.””

Which brings me to our next step.

Step #4 Wisdom spends time with wise (skilled, knowledgeable, God-fearing) people. Wisdom seekers experience the life wise people live and experience it WITH them.

20 He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools

will suffer harm. 

Proverbs 13:20 (NASB)

It’s just that simple.

Who are these wise people?

When selecting a wisdom mentor associated with God’s purpose for your life, who should you look for? What qualities set them apart as wise in God’s eyes?

Check out their self-concept. Are they humble?

• Those who increase in learning and acquire wise counsel – Proverbs 1:5 
• They are teachable Proverbs 9:9 
• They are not caught up in being wise but listen well Proverbs 12:15 
• Wise people know how to obey commands Proverbs 10:8 
• Wise people heed instruction Proverbs 8:33 
• They respond well to reproof Proverbs 9:8 

Check out their family relationships

• Wise people were children who have made their parents happy Proverbs 10:1 
• The wise are builders not wreckers Proverbs 14:1 
• The wise son accepts (accepted) his father’s discipline Proverbs 13:1 

Check out their spoken and unspoken language skills

• Wise people won’t tell you everything Proverbs 10:14 
• They use words carefully Proverbs 10:19 
• Their words bring healing Proverbs 12:18 
• Their teaching is a fountain of life Proverbs 13:14 
• Their words protect them. Proverbs 14:3 

Check out their people skills

• They are willing to associate with the less wise Proverbs 13:20 
• They inherit honor Proverbs 3:35 they don’t seek it. Honor comes by way of what they do (gaining a good reputation) and their alignments with other honorable people.
• The wise win souls Proverbs 11:30  not just minds. Think about that for a bit. This is a universal concept that applies outside the Christian community too so pay special attention to the next point.

Check out their work ethic

• Wise people are cautious and turn away from evil Proverbs 14:16 
• Wise people are diligent and time conscious Proverbs 6:6-8 
• Wise people are not slackers Proverbs 10:5 

 

So here are four steps for the wisdom challenged:

Step #1 Wisdom begins with the desire to acquire it.

Step #2 Wisdom Fears the LORD

Step #3 Wisdom knows what good and evil are.

Step #4 Wisdom seekers spend time with wise people and get to know them.

 

8 Who is like the wise man
and who knows the interpretation of a matter?
A man’s wisdom illumines [a]him
and causes his stern face
to[b]beam.
Ecclesiastes 8:1 (NASB)

Journey forward in wisdom. It will change your face. God’s wisdom will change your life. 🙂

Matters of the heart: Guard it Diligently

23 Keep and guard your heart

with all vigilance and 

above all that you guard,

for out of it

flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23 (AMPC)

 

I thought about this verse when I thought about a recent conversation I had. You can listen in to part of it…(not represented word-for-word but thought-for-thought as I don’t recall the exact wording. It is here by permission.)

Me: What would you tell your 15 year old girl self about making friends?

Young Mother: Teenage girls are just mean.

Be confident in who you are.

Don’t spend lots of time trying to get friends. If [the people you know] are really your friends, they’ll prove it.

Me: What should they do then? Learn something? Go do something like an adventure? Get a skill?

YM:  That would be good.

Be nice to other people but guard your heart. Don’t treat everyone like a close friend. They’re not.

It’s one thing to say, “Be careful who your friends are”, it’s another thing to actually do it. But it is so important.

YM: Sometimes being mean is just what they know how to do. It’s hardest at church because there, girls are supposed to be nice, [to know better] but they don’t…they aren’t.

I hope I can teach this to [my daughter] when she gets to be a teenager. I wish I’d known this (and done it) a long time ago.

In the spirit of loving our children, it is important to understand how we should guard our hearts…and teach them to do the same.

Guarding the  heart. Can we teach this or is it something one has to learn to  do by themselves? Both really. I picture it like learning to ride a bike or to walk or to sit up straight. 

What does it mean to guard a heart? Let’s take a look at the words used here in Proverbs and dig into some ideas about how this might be done.

Natsar

1. to guard, watch, watch over, keep
   1. (Qal)
      1. to watch, guard, keep
      2. to preserve, guard from dangers
      3. to keep, observe, guard with fidelity
      4. to guard, keep secret
      5. to be kept close, be blockaded
      6. watchman (participle)

From this one word, what insights do think would be practical regarding our relationships?

Here are a few things I discovered about guarding my heart:

• Danger to the heart – to my heart- exists.
• I need to be loyal to my own heart – exercise fidelity towards myself.
• What goes on in the inner workings of my heart stays in MY heart. It is a secret shared only with the LORD, my Maker and Sustainer.
• The elements contained within my heart do not get in or out without my permission. They are blockaded.

Next let’s consider the heart itself. What is it?

Leb

Strong’s number 3820 – heart

1. inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding
   1. inner part, midst
      1. midst (of things)
      2. heart (of man)
      3. soul, heart (of man)
      4. mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory
      5. inclination, resolution, determination (of will)
      6. conscience
      7. heart (of moral character)
      8. as seat of appetites
      9. as seat of emotions and passions 1a
2. as seat of courage

From this word, what insights do think would be informative about who we are as women?

Here are a few things I’ve considered:

• Our heart is one of several parts of which it is the center…a main part, essential to the function of the rest of the parts
• My heart is the part of me that possesses my spiritual sense of being. The place inside where I talk to God. It can live and it can die.
• Learning and holding on to learning happen here in my heart
• My heart motivates me to action and can keep me on course…or allow me to get tossed by every wind and wave
• My heart needs nourishment not gluttony
• What I care deeply about is regulated and ruled over by what is in my heart
• The condition of my heart whether weak or strong effects my ability to stand up in the face of fear and win…or lose.

Mishmar

Sttrong’s number – 4929 – diligence or vigilance

1. place of confinement, prison, guard, jail, guard post, watch, observance
2. jail, prison, guard-house
3. guard, guard post, act of guarding

4. observances

Some Insights:

• Not just be loyal to my heart but be loyal with an iron clad loyalty. In and around my heart – bars, locks barriers, entrance codes and policies – all good things.

• My heart is worth setting up fences and establishing and maintaining good boundaries in relationships.

• I should develop the habit of, and effort required to protect my secret place and to blockade it.

Towtsa’ah

Strong’s number 08444 – issues, springs forth

1. outgoing, border, a going out, extremity, end, source, escape
   1. outgoing, extremity (of border)
   2. source (of life)
   3. escape (from death)

What do we learn here?

• Hearts can be big but they do have boundaries
• What comes out of my heart has the power of life in it
• What is in my heart can lead me away from death successfully

Chay

Strong’s number – 2416- life

1. living, alive
   1. green (of vegetation)
   2. flowing, fresh (of water)
   3. lively, active (of man)
   4. reviving (of the springtime) n m
2. relatives
3. life (abstract emphatic)
   1. life
   2. sustenance, maintenance n f
4. living thing, animal
   1. animal
   2. life
   3. appetite
   4. revival, renewal
5. community

What I learn from life’s connection

• It is from my heart that I am refreshed not from outside sources
• Yes, from the over flow of my heart, my love, relatives increase. 🙂
• I can impact my descendants with my heart
• Life needs heart felt  maintenance
• What goes on in my heart determines who I live with, my community…my friends

So much can be gained from guarding our hearts diligently. May the LORD guide your heart and may you guard it well. Amen

The Master’s Compassion

If the game is compassion, the foul is withholding.

26 For the Lord will be [a]your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.

27 Do not withhold good from [b]those to whom it is due,
When it is in your power to do it.
28 Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back,
And tomorrow I will give it,”
When you have it with you. Proverbs 3:26-28 (NASB)

10 For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold [a]from those who walk [b]uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in You! Psalm 84:10-12 (NASB)

We should be like Him, right?  He is strategic about whom He shows compassion to. We are cautioned to do the same.  Jesus instructs His disciples not to withhold kindness from their  fellow disciples referred to as 'those that walk uprightly' in Psalm 84 and as 'slaves' in this next passage .

21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven [v]may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him [w]ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 But since he[x]did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the lord of that slave felt compassion [4697] and released him and forgave him the [y]debt. 28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred [z]denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was unwilling [aa]and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not also have had mercy [1653] on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from [ab]your heart.” Matthew 18:21-35 (NASB) Strong’s Concordance numbers added 

There are two things that stand out here. The generosity of the master’s compassion and the limits of his goodwill.

A compassionate act is a personal choice. Both the Master and His servant made choices.

Tenderheartedness should give birth to more tenderness but sometimes it does not. Pity (internal feelings of sorrow for the misfortunes of others) should give rise to more pay-it-forward external actions of kindnesses.

Unfortunately, compassionate choices can be derailed by shame, self importance, or fear. With God’s help we can be healed of those impediments and show this sorrowing type of pity towards those who have not been kind to us. If you judge  your opponent’s deeds too foul, commit everyone involved to God because He can take care of all that. 

If your heart is not tender, only God can make it that way. Perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love can also only come from the LORD.  I can be compassionate to others because I trust in God’s great love for and encouragement towards me.

2 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any [a]affection and compassion, 2 make my joy complete [b]by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing [c]from[d]selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude [e]in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, Philippians 2:1-5 (NASB)

How can we show Christ-like compassion? Please share your ideas in the comment section below. Thank you for stopping by. I pray that both you and I will get better “doing” the Bible and becoming Biblically compassionate; meeting real needs and pleasing our Savior. Amen.

Biblical Hospitality: the Boundaries of Entertaining Strangers

Because the Bible encourages hospitality we – my husband and I– are trying to understand it better. What is the entertainment of strangers all about? I investigated because I want to be obedient to Christ but felt totally ill equipped.

None of the references to hospitality I found were in the old testament. There are two words for hospitality in the New Testament: philoxenia and philoxenos.

Philoxenia – hospitality, entertainment of strangers [ from 5384 – philos – friendly + 3581xenos- strange, foreign, alien; stranger; host, one who shows hospitality]

Philoxenos – hospitable [this word comes from the same two words above 5384 +3581]

Entertaining … strangers? Are you kidding me?

Does the fact that I’m an introvert mean anything? Amusement for amusement’s sake is neither my desire nor my forte.

Perhaps some help from the word – “entertain” …. 

entertain (v.) 

late 15c., “to keep up, maintain, to keep (someone) in a certain frame of mind,” from Middle French entretenir, from Old French entretenir “hold together, stick together, support” (12c.), from entre- “among” (from Latin inter; see inter-) + tenir “to hold” (from Latin tenere; see tenet).

Sense of “have a guest” is late 15c.; that of “gratify, amuse” is 1620s. Meaning “to allow (something) to consideration, take into the mind” (of opinions, notions, etc.) is 1610s. Related: Entertained; entertaining.

The truth does set us free. Thanks God for word histories. Sticking together and supporting one another is both important and doable. I’m SO excited hospitality doesn’t have to be hosting parties all the time. I would go nuts, be exhausted, and broke.

Another part of this word I adore from the 1610s is “consideration”. Consideration is such an art form. Considering ideas is something we’re all fond of. Considering people is a learned skill for some (especially the previously abandoned) and for others it’s like breathing oxygen. I challenge the skill; my hubby breathes it. That’s one reason we make such a great team.

But in what context does the Bible talk about entertaining strangers?

Philoxenia is used once – Romans 12:13. This verse is part of a set of verses outlining the proper behaviors of Roman believers. Essentially Paul is instructing them to care for the needs of the saints ( fellow believers) while at the same time being friendly to people they didn’t know. This too, is a team effort where support for each other is necessary. May God help us to help each other be hospitable.

5382 – philoxenos – given to hospitality is used a whopping three times.

1 Timothy 3:2 As regards bishops (KJV) and over seers (NASB, NIV ) hospitality is again part of a set. This time it is a list of qualities essential to all persons active in a specific church position. The word “given” is attached to “hospitality” here. [ Given: 1377 – diōkō – to pursue, persecute, to systematically oppress and harass a person or group, as an extended meaning of pursuing a person on foot in a chase; also from the image of the chase comes the meaning of striving and pressing on to a goal with intensity; to press on] It’s like saying, “given to given to hospitality”The double “given” increases the intensity.

Wow. Chasing someone down…systematically…harassing… According to this passage, giving chase is encouraged. (I wonder if a lack of hospitality is a part of church split equations.)

While oppression, persecution and harassment are usually negatives in my ideological vocabulary, I expect a “chase ’em down”, dogged pursuit of strangers from people in spiritual authority. My inner sense of justice demands it. Sometimes those leaders who give chase and the chase itself results in the protection of their flock and is a good thing.

I just never applied that concept to myself. It’s not really “me”. What about hospitality does apply to me?

There is a directive to women about hospitality concerning the welcoming of strangers into one’s home. It is the focal point of the entire book of 2 John. John warns the Lady not to “share” in the sins of others by choosing not to invite specific people over.

Hospitality is a physical-spiritual convergence zone. When we welcome people who teach false doctrines, we share in their evil deeds spiritually, though we really have had nothing to do with what they teach or have done themselves physically. Our misplaced blessing would take effect physically and spiritually thereby connecting us to them in a way that damages us.

Love is obedience to Christ. We cannot be truly hospitable with those who treat Him poorly.

When I invite a person over for whatever, I do not add the prerequisite, “ Oh by the way, what do you believe? Do you teach anything about God? What exactly would that teaching be?”

Should I?

I thought God was encouraging us to have people over more. John tells us not to do that indiscriminately. The place for questioning is the coffee shop or some other neutral ground. Fellowship in our home needs to be protected.

Titus 1:8 is a part of a set of verses outlining qualities every candidate for “elder” should posses.

 

Qualifications of Elders

5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. 7 For the [a]overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, 9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.

10 For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. Titus 1:5-11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Again, we are talking about overseers and the protection of families against faulty doctrines or teachings. So far, there are more warnings about hospitality than injunctions to perfect it. That’s interesting.

In contrast, 1 Peter 4:9 is directed to a gathering of believers and offers instruction.

7 The end of all things [a]is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of [b]prayer.8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint. 10 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 Whoever speaks, is to do so [c]as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving [d]by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:7-11 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

This is about entertaining strangers within the body of believers. I love how Peter gives reasons for everything…almost everything.

• Be of sound judgment and sober spirit. REASON: prayer.

• Keep fervent love for one another. REASON: love covers over a multitude of sins

• Be hospitable without compliant (‘grudging’ in the KJV). REASON: Peter doesn’t say.

Strong’s word for grudging is 1112 – gongysmos – grumbling, complaint, whispering, private talk (from 1111 – gongyzō – grumble complain mutter, murmur)

Here’s a thought about reasoning for hospitality without complaint. The complainer’s words may be heard by the pseudo-welcomed. I do not know anyone who wants their host to whisper about them in a grumbling, derogatory way or find out the welcome they enjoyed was fake. The effect is emotional abandonment; it throws people off-kilter, separates and injures socially and spiritually. Hospitality plus grumbling is not really hospitality. Perhaps that is why Peter states this as direct command. Serve, just don’t grumble. Don’t.

• Employ your gifts in serving one another. REASON: being a good steward of the manifold grace of God.

• Speak as if God is speaking. Serve with the strength God supplies. REASON: so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ

That’s a good reason to do anything. … Even entertaining strangers.

So whether you eat, drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Do it in HIS strength. That is how one is hospitable to God’s glory! No room for complaining about God’s strength is there?

Hospitality: Serve and speak God into the lives of fellow believers. Entertain strangers being considerate and cautious.

Whatever our personality, whatever our resources, or our church “jobs”, we can do this. With the LORD enabling us, WE Can Do This.

Jesus’ Will Today

Jesus’ Will Today I pray

Perhaps Jesus will come today.

What will He find me doing?

Offering Him some prayers today.

What will He hear me saying?

Caring for those He sends my way

No matter who they are?

Asking Him

To help them

To obey His pull

Within their heart?

Instead…

Focused on the things I love

Success and doing each one well

I missed a chance to speak for others

On their behalf, faith and victory to propel.

In matters of life’s daily chores

Worn out and really sore

That in this day of His,

I forgot whose Name it was I bore.

Next time…

Will he find

That I’ve been kind

To those He calls His own?

Will I speak what is true and just?

Will I use His loving tone?

Wash Up by Name

Just a thought.

How do you wash a child?

…After dinner has been the sensory development of hands, face, shoulders and hair rather than mouth and tongue?

…After curiously decorated mud pies are ready to bake in the summer sun and the pint size baker is wearing so much of the ingredients that only a huge smile and sparkling eyes let you know there is a happy child somewhere in the vicinity?

…After wading through creeks swooshed with algae capturing polliwogs?

…After a day at the beach building sand sculptures and frolicking in tiny breakers with the family pooch?

No matter what the situation, the basic washing remains the same. When it comes to spiritual things, how do we get clean?

To find out, let’s look at The Great Commission in Matthew 28. Jesus commands us to wash all nations (disciples….or we could say, our spiritual children) in the Name. Yes, we are put into the Name as one puts children into the bath water.

The word translated by the NIV and most other translations as“baptizing” is Strong’s word 907 – baptizō . It is defined as – to wash; to baptize; the baptizer.

So the text actually says, “ Therefore go and ‘make disciples of” (teach – Strong’s word #3100) all nations, washing them in the name of the Father, and of the son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”

It dawned on me that this does not describe being dipped, dunked, or sprinkled with H₂O, making a public profession of faith in Jesus, and then having another person speak the words, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” over the one being dunked like it’s some kind of good luck charm.

While that tradition is long-lived and will remain, there is much more to God’s intention.

If we think of the Name(s) of God as the water by which we wash (i.e. that substance into which we are immersed or with which we are sprinkled), then our thinking about the great commission – indeed about the beginning of discipleship – must align itself with that reality. Amen?

Consider these thoughts about washing a child:

• A parent washes their own child
• A parent makes sure that all body parts are cleansed
• A parent ensures that the child emerges from the process a happy camper
• A parent trains them to enjoy being clean as the process repeats
• A parent teaches the child how to wash themselves

Consider these realigned thoughts about washing an infant believer:

• The one who instructs them about Christ does the washing
• The instruction includes training the newbie to enjoy the washing
• The Name of the Father (Creator, Sustainer, and Judge), the Son (Forgiver, Lasting Friend our Boss and Agent of Rescue), and the Holy Spirit (the Counselor) are the ‘water’ used to cleanse all the body parts
• We don’t stay in the “water” but we do return to it…regularly.
• After having been cleansed, we dress, then start daily “play” all over again.

Washing another person does not last forever. Part of the training includes allowing the child to wash themselves with the water. To neglect this essential part is to set the child up to be shunned by their, parents, peers and the community in general.

Children need to be trained to take baths regularly because it is not natural for them to want to. Neither is it natural for us to want to be immersed in the Name of God. .. to make central to our daily routine, His activity and nature. It is, however, a spiritual necessity.

Willfully stinky, dirty people are not accepted. Appropriately cleaned and dressed ones are. So we educate our children about this good habit. In fact, we insist on it.

Dear Friend, please take a bath in Jesus’ Name… regularly. It’s simply good spiritual hygiene.

Just a thought.

Mercy + Truth

In preparation for my next book chapter, I was looking at the word “truth” ( Strong’s number 571 – faithfulness, reliability, trustworthiness, truth…what conforms to reality in contrast to what is false). Gotta love keeping it real, right? 🙂

Through my searching, a word combo kept popping up; truth was combined with mercy 15 times. Usually, Bible study veterans say repeated words are worth consideration. I think 15 times is practically yelling, “PAY Attention!” Lord willing, we will.

In each of these word combos, the word for mercy is Strong’s word # 2617 – hesed. Of the 26 times this word is used as loving kindness, we can add at least three more to this mercy–truth word combo. 18 times God says mercy is combined with reliable reality.

Sweet deal! Uh…not so much.

Mercy always get me in trouble. I can think of situations where showing kindness, going the extra mile, etc. has only cost me, not profited me. Too much of that one-way relational kindness stuff has the effect of discouraging kindness – in me at any rate. I’m a firm believer that givers need to be given to.

Ah, but mercy doesn’t mean what I thought it did.

Mercy is defined in this word combo as unfailing love, loyal love, devotion, and kindness. That is a special kindness. Handing this type of kindness to just anyone would be inappropriate. Loyalty is both earned and exclusive by an act of choosing. Devotion is willfully and thoughtfully ongoing bringing the emotion of love into every action. This mercy is a treasure not to be taken or to be given lightly.

This last defining tidbit of mercy is what caught my attention; #2617 Mercy is often based on a prior relationship, especially a covenant relationship. This is important to me..and to you… because being kind is exhausting and expensive. Investing this type of all-the-time relationship with everyone is relational bankruptcy waiting to happen. Knowing we can focus our resources and streamline our efforts to include only those with whom we have a committed relationship takes a lot of the burden… the heaviness of being kind … away and frees us up not to be fake about it either. That IS a sweet deal.

One act of kindness or loyalty is a stepping stone. You can get to the next one only after having first stepped on the one before it. They are sequential and in my mind’s eye I expect them to be reasonably set distances apart. I also often expect them to be well suited to my footfall. (not always the case but I still hold out for it)These stones across the water bridge one part of life to another. Acts of relationship are based on prior relational acts. Bad ones and good ones. Remember that reality-is-truth thing?

If we look at our relational journey as stepping stones across a brook, (the analogy falls apart so don’t think too hard.) Some of us hop delightedly along until we discover a stone is missing. At that moment in this hop-along-bridge, some important relational mercy-truth event just isn’t there. Life and time stand still.

We grieve over it. We stare longingly at the other side thinking to ourselves that the far bank is hopelessly outside our capability so we give up ever reaching it. More grief. We look at the water and begin viewing it every bit as formidable an obstacle as the great wall of China. (Perceptions can get crazy…amen?) Putting our feet in the water is not an option for all the imagined slippery footing beneath the crystal sheen of rippling current racing past; fear has begun to cripple our legitimate crossing.

Notice again, that this mercy is, by definition, restricted. While it might show up in any relationship, it predominantly works within covenant relationships. Focus is such a blessing. Covenant relationships are ones that are legally binding: God with the nation of Israel, Israel with the Levites and the temple, a husband with his wife, etc.

Some of my pathway’s bridges have missing stones. Human loyalty and devotion however cherished, are not always reliable and legally binding contracts get broken all the time but God’s mercy endures forever. The reality that God’s mercy is a forever kind of deal is repeated 38 times. Shall we pay attention? Please, please do.

If God’s loyalty and devotion to his children is reliable and certain (mercy + truth), then our anxiety about his mercy vanishes. Certainty wages war with anxiety and wins every time. Having annihilated anxiety, we enjoy a greater sense of awareness and calm with which to proceed.

So we look up. We hop.

Sometimes with one foot on a stone and the other outstretched reaching for the next. Sometimes by gaining enough momentum and height to plant two feet on a stone. Sometimes we stop on a particular stone to adjust our balance with arms and hands unconsciously working the air around us. Sometimes another hand grabs ours and lifts us to the next one.

Stones go missing for all kinds of reasons. There are two ways to cope: 1. get and place another stone, 2. have somebody help you get to the next stone.

If we find that a stone is missing, we can call on the Name of the Merciful One and He will carry each person across to the next stone. Other helpers might be found and might not but the LORD’s mercy endures…forever.

God likes to help people who call on his name. Perhaps He even enjoys our delight when we reach the other side and turn round to share the success with him before skipping off through the woods to our next grand, exclusive mercy-truth adventure.

Reality: The Essential Course

Dad told me the story of his leaving.

“I kept thinking things would get better but they never did. One night when I came home, I decided I would either go in and kill her or I would keep going and never come back. I drove around the block a couple more times then drove away.”

I asked Dad why he never came back. “My heart would never carry me home.” That was a healthy choice for him.

He had no idea what storms of loss that choice would create in his children. Divorce? That was only one loss. Leaving three infants in the care of a woman he had decided was enough “off kilter” to entertain serious thoughts of killing her…..and in reality continues to suffer mentally and physically; that choice was a doozy. Our loss…catastrophic and ongoing.

Looking back on it always takes me to a dark place. Sometimes another person’s darkness hovers nearby and I inadvertently catch a piece that takes me back into the same darkness… like one Sunday in the church foyer.

“It’s not like I’m bitter or anything,”mumbled my friend sitting along the wall in the church lobby. “She’s [my mother’s] just not a very nice person.”

Statements of reality do not equate resentment or emotion of any kind. They are facts.

I recognize that dark place. That place where relationships that are supposed to be a certain way just aren’t. That place where reality just is … the way a submerged reef lies innocently in the path of unwary sailors who venture too close to shore.

Bitter? My ears perked up as my thoughts went back to the mother who raised me.

Another window into my dark place came years ago when my own step mother and dad were talking with me in my kitchen. I forget the remark I made but my step-mom’s response was “ How can you talk like that! She’s your mother!”

To which I replied, “She’s my mother, but that doesn’t change reality.”

While her response was gobsmacked, my Dad’s eyes glowed with some kind of long awaited happiness, “ You finally understand.”

Reality is the worthier course. Alignment to it is not optional or whimsical. It is essential.

One boat plots a course based on the underwater terrain and the depth of water they can safely traverse. Another lacks knowledge of the waterways without regard for the reality of their situation to their own peril.

Who would you rather be?

We raise our glasses to toast those sailors triumphantly reaching their home port, and reflect on premature death escaped at least this time:

‘Once Again, We Have Failed to Die!’

After listening to my church friend, I felt the need to protect my heart against being bitter…again. To read once again the channel chart as it were.

Bitterness. I had to look that one up. People throw it around like a dart trying to chart courses for others in a dark place without consideration for the reality of their situation…to their peril. So here it is:

bit·ter·ness Google definition

ˈbidərnəs/ noun

1.

sharpness of taste; lack of sweetness.

2.

anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly; resentment.

Given that first definition, and Job 34:3 

3 “For the ear tests words
As the palate tastes food.

think about all the foods that taste sharp…

• cheddar cheese
• certain sauvignon blanc wines
• certain herbs

These are bitter.

Then think on the sharp words  you’ve heard recently.

Now the sweet ones.

How did you respond? Which course did you take?

Here’s another definition (a depth chart notation) worth looking at:

Strong’s concordance word # 4751 – māra – bitter, bitterness : ranging from merely disagreeable to the taste to being poisonous; by extension: anxiety, despair

If I speak my anxiety or despair to anyone but the LORD, they are negatively effected in their spirit. Indeed, so am I.

If I speak graciously to anyone – even to the LORD – listeners are positively affected. So am I. Yes, I’m talking about talking graciously to ourselves as well as to others. The turn about in countenance is amazing.

Sweet and bitter both have their place in the culinary spectrum as well as the spectrum of language. Either one out of balance presents a problem.

Being sweet always sounded obnoxious to me but I’d rather be sweet than be toxic….uh..favorably flavorful than bitter.

I’d rather be traveling by a chart with true depth soundings, traveling safely and enjoyably than traveling full of distress and foolishly place myself in danger.

By these marks, then, how we talk about our past makes a difference in our present. Just a thought to travel by.

Looking at Wrong Rightly

When things go wrong…when wrong happens, what do we do?

For my own part, when I loose my watch, have searched for days and still can’t find it — this counts for one wrong thing — I experience life somewhat off balance.

Off balance progresses to heavy-hearted and lethargic when a series of unfortunate events converge. The idea that all my effort is misspent battles to be the queen of my thoughts. Totally not true by the way but that doesn’t stop her from trying to sabotage living life.

Lethargy can quickly become oppression as I give in to a focus on wrongs in me, to me, in others and to others.

What if God opens my eyes …essentially making me watch and/or experience prolonged and various wrongdoing? What if my whole world gets turned upside down?

You know …that time when each cell in your body screams at God that maybe his ways are not quite right … the right He claims to be.

Habukkuk voiced just such complaints to the LORD.  Their conversation won’t take long to read.  Begin here.  More than the loss of a watch, the prophet looked at his own people and saw justice perverted, violence, strife and conflict everywhere. He cried out to God and it seemed like God did not care because no matter what the prophet said no action from God was observed. Sound familiar?

God answers by showing Habakkuk a picture of life beyond his own experience and asking  the prophet to look on life, God’s actions and character rightly. Then he was told to wait for it. Wait for everything the LORD had planned to occur.

God flips his view from a focus on all the wrong things, people and places to  peeking through heaven’s vantage point. The community must give up its bad ways due to a conqueror. The conqueror must give up his bad ways due to God’s direct and potent anger. Even nature gets in on the action.

When things go wrong, we need to wait — to exercise our faith in our living and fully capable LORD. We need to remember His deeds are an exercise of his everlasting power not just a one time deal. We need to witness…to observe that God works all the angles to accomplish His goals.

Good and bad, right and wrong… these mean something to God. He cares very deeply about them and about us.

When things go horribly wrong, God fights for His children even though we may not see it now. We will see it. Of this Habukkuk was certain. This certainty brought him through all the rough times, gave him strength to wait patiently for God to deliver him and enabled him to rejoice through it all.

May  looking at wrongs rightly (through God’s eyes) and patient endurance mixed with joy be God’s gift to you who are troubled in these troubling times. Amen.