Eyes Wide Open

"Older women...are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands..." Titus 2: 3, 4

Ten years ago my family visited my father in Florida.  One day my husband and I came home from shopping and I stumbled onto a beautiful sight.

In the living room, my newlywed sister sat on her husbands lap.  She bubbled with laughter as he told her some story. They reminded me of the early days of my marriage.

I passed to a guest room where my adult son and his wife were attending to their two year old daughter. Talking about varied subjects, they instinctively carried out the different tasks that had to be done for their daughter without having to discuss who needed to do what.  I reminisced about the years when my children were young and was grateful that that time of intensive parenting was over.  Then I went into my dad's room and what I saw is imprinted in my mind forever.

At the time of the visit, my father had suffered from Parkinson's for about 5 years and he was not able to feed himself; my step mother, Clara, was feeding him his supper. She was talking to him and laughing. He just looked at her, not really seeming to be thinking about the food at all. During the whole meal his eyes were only on her.  I thought how beautifully love progresses from the first flowering of romance to the graceful bloom of aging tenderness.

Then I thought about Clara.  A woman who married an older man with baggage.  I thought of how she accepted me and my two sons into her home when I was first out of nursing school.  I thought of how she taught the children she had with my father to consider us, his first set of children, brother and sisters instead of half-siblings.  I thought of how she had taken care of my father through his battle with Parkinson's.  I realized I had learned many love lessons from her.

Now my dad is on hospice care.  To most observers he does not respond.  But last night Clara told me,  "You know; he lays there with his eyes closed all the time, but sometimes I catch him watching me."  She laughed, "He is tricky.  When he sees I notice he is watching, he closes his eyes again."  Like the Bible verse, yet unbeknownst to her, Clara taught me another lesson on how to love my husband.  Even though their relationship has diminished into Clara giving my father his tube feeding, and Clara turning him over so he wont get bed sores, or Clara bathing him; she still finds great joy in being by his side. She is an amazing example.  And as I see it, they still have a vibrant romance because she still laughs when he opens his eyes to look at her.

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Eavesdropping, (Soliloquy part 2)

"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation." Psalms 5:1

What a prayer!  David is asking God to pry into his private thought life and consider the things he has been thinking about.  I get it that God hears all my thoughts, but it feels like a law of nature.  It's like an outside force over which I have no control. Like gravity, it is always there and I take it for granted.

So to me, what David asks, is shocking.  He wants God to "consider"; to take time, inspect, scrutinize and continually ponder upon his internal chatter.  That is like speeding down the highway and hoping there is a police officer watching.  No one in his right mind would want that.  But David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, begs "Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation.  Hearken unto the voice of  my cry, my King, and my God..." Psalm 5:1, 2  What would happen to my internal soliloquies if every day I asked God to "listen in"?  Certainly the themes would change, but better still I would know that the light of God was always shining into my mind.  Lovingly He would always be listening to the "live stream" generated by my thoughts and He would become my best friend, my constant companion.  I think it would change my life.

Soliloquy

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Andy Griffith is quite humorous in his definition of soliloquy, but his understanding of the concept is correct.  A soliloquy is that self-talk, which is constantly running through our minds, in spoken form.

Psalm 1:2 says that the righteous man "meditates day and night" on the law of God.

My definition of meditate conjures an image of a Buddhist monk perfectly still and perfectly silent.  But Webster says meditation is "a discourse intended to express its author's reflections or to guide others in contemplation."  Martin Luther agrees with this idea of meditation as he states, "To meditate, as it is generally understood, signifies to discuss, to dispute; and its meaning is always confined to a being employed in words, as in Psalm 37:30 "The mouth of the righteous shall meditate wisdom."  Hence Augustine has, in his translation, "chatter"; and a beautiful metaphor it is - as chattering is the employment of birds, so a continual conversing in the law of the Lord, ought to be the employment of men."

So to meditate on the law of God is more like Andy Griffith than like the Dalai Lama.  What would I become if I meditated on the law of God day and night?  The flow of my internal monologue would be driven by godly themes.  I would "kinda look a-way off and kinda talk to (myself)" and my soliloquies would change.  I would discuss heavenly motifs and guide others in contemplating the beauty of Christ.  "Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all." (1 Timothy 4:15)

Sleep (Psalm 3:5)

The mighty man after God's own heart did not accomplish his greatest exploit on a battlefield.  Rather he did it on a pillow.  With the kingdom lost, the army at his heels and his heart broken by the betrayal of his unnatural son, David said, "I laid me down and slept." (Psalm 3:5)  His was the sweet sleep of peace.  He lay down under a blanket of night fully confident in the saving power of God.  "And the king said...if I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again..." (2 Samuel 15:25)  Fretting the night awake would have been natural; sleeping when all was lost was a mammoth feat of faith.

Our mighty God worked His most glorious act not in creating the heavens, nor in breathing life into man.  Rather He did it while closing His eyes in sleep.  With the enemy exultant and my sin braking His heart He said, "It is finished: and He bowed His head..." (John 19:30)  His was the sleep of a conquerer.  He closed His eyes confident in the saving power of God.  "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost."  (Luke 23:46)  Rousing His strength to destroy His foes would have been expected; sleeping in death to save the lost revealed His glory.

Psalm 2:4

"He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision." 

"They scoff at us, God laughs at them. Laugh? This seems a hard word at the first view: are the injuries of his saints, the cruelties of their enemies, the derision, the persecution of all that are round about us, no more but matter of laughter? Severe Cato thought that laughter did not become the gravity of Roman consuls; that it is a diminution of states, as another told princes, and it is attributed to the Majesty of heaven? According to our capacities, the prophet describes God, as ourselves would be in a merry disposition, deriding vain attempts. He laughs, but it is in scorn; he scorns, but it is with vengeance. Pharaoh imagined that by drowning the Israelite males, he had found a way to root their name from the earth; but when at the same time, his own daughter, in his own court gave princely education to Moses, their deliverer, did not God Laugh?
    Short is the joy of the wicked. Is Dagon put up to his place again? God's smile shall take off his head and his hands, and leave him neither wit to guide nor power to subsist. . . . . We may not judge of God's works until the fifth act: the case, deplorable and desperate in outward appearance, may with one smile from heaven find a blessed issue. He permitted his temple to be sacked and rifled, the holy vessels to be profaned and caroused in; but did not God's smile make Belshazzar to tremble at the handwriting on the wall? Oh, what are his frowns, if his smiles be so terrible!"  Thomas Adams.

Bearing Seed...

"And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind..." Genesis 1:12

Bearing seed costs something.

For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, 

and as a root out of a dry ground: hath no form nor comeliness;

and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. 

He is despised and rejected of men;

a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:

and we hid as it were our faces from Him;

He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

Surely He hath borne our griefs,

and carried our sorrows:

yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.

But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities:

the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;

and with His stripes we are healed...

...and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all...

when thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.  He shall see the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied...        

Isaiah 53: 2-11

Clarity

Rain blew the Nashua into a puffy ribbon.   Although the river was high from the previous week's showers, our trip was scheduled and we would go.  Beth and I sat opposite each other, with my sons then aged two and four, in between.  Most of the group shared canoes.   Our leaders, the only experienced canoeists, each took their own vessel.  We launched off into the unknown believing we would arrive at the rendezvous tired, but happy.

We skimmed along the center of the river when suddenly the Nashua began to lather. Our fears rose like the river, but the experienced pilots shouted a whoop and took off down stream as fast as they could go!  Confused, the rest of us navigated towards the shore.  Not knowing what to do, we decided to stay close and continue toward the pick-up point; after all the trip was only supposed to be two hours long and we had already done one hour, so we were halfway home.

Over the next five hours we landlubbers struggled to stay afloat.  We saw water snakes, were heaved by the class three rapids and capsized repeatedly.  After a small drop in the river my canoe flipped and Gabriel was pulled under and driven past my reach.  Miraculously one of the two men that had stayed with us jumped out of his canoe and rescued him.  Once Gabriel was safe in my arms, I said, "Enough!"  I told the group I was taking my sons and leaving the river.  As Beth and I steered our vessel toward that shore everyone else followed.  We parked our canoes on the sand and climbed the 100 foot ravine toward the highway.  That was my first and last trip on the Nashua.

In thinking about that day I remember the intense clarity with which I knew it was time to get off the river.  We had been committed to the plan.  We persevered and battled the element, but when the water took Gabriel the spell was broken.  We realized the trip, and the canoes were not worth a life.  That small moment shed light on the situation and we changed course.

Every life has illuminating moments.  They clear the muddy waters and show a change of course is due.  Each ray, clearing up confusion, is sent from God.  The thing is that light is stalking us at every turn.   If we take our eyes off the rapids, let go of the paddles and earnestly look there is brilliance all around.  The first words spoken in our universe were, "Let there be light." Genesis 1: 3.  And God has not stopped pouring light into this darkness.  Above the clouds, in spite of fog and beyond the night the sun shines.

"God is light." (1 John 1:6)  He bathes us with His light.  In tremulous storms, He sends fire bolts to clear our troubles.  On the darkest ocean, waves swirl into luminous arches.  He lightens confusion and brightens our path.  If we look at Him, our choices loom clear and our way glows brilliantly.  But we must choose to look in His direction.  We must turn our eyes toward the Son.

The Bridegroom

"...We have a Saviour who long ago laid down His life for us, and that life is still laid down for you and me.  Do you know what He is longing for?  For us to be with Him.  This yearning desire fills His soul, and He can never rest satisfied until ransom brings reunion.  Listen to this poignant appeal sent to us many years ago: "Leaving the first love is represented as a spiritual fall.  Many have fallen thus.  In every church in our land, there is needed confession, repentance, and reconversion.  The disappointment of Christ is beyond description."  (RH December 15, 1904, p.8).

Yes, here is the real disappointment, the great disappointment.  Think of the bridegroom waiting for the wedding while year after year goes by.  Don't His people want to be with Him?  God's people have just one business - to make Jesus glad, to satisfy His heart-longing..." (Ransom and Reunion, W. D. Frazee; p 118)

Alpha and Omega

First Breath

First Teeth

First Step

First Friend

First School-day

First Job

First Love

First Child

First Wrinkle

First Death

At the end of it all there is... Jesus.

Last Sigh

Last Hunger

Last Fall

Last Parting

Last Lonely-day

Last Separation

Last Loss

Last Pain

Last Injury

Last Death

At the beginning of it all there is... Jesus

Hosanna, part 2

Psalms of lament express our human condition.  They cry for help from adversity and sorrow; or for succor from anguish and shame. They usually address God, offer Him a complaint, make a request and express trust in His deliverance.

As Christians, we all believe in God and His sovereignty.  As human beings we all know how to complain and ask for things.  The secret power in a psalm of lament is the last part; expressing trust in His deliverance.

Consider the problems David protests about in Psalm 27:

     "...the wicked...came upon me to eat up my flesh...
an host...encamp against me...war should rise against me...
     the time of trouble...
my father and my mother forsake me...
     false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty."

These difficulties are more than most of us have ever known; yet in the midst of those trials He writes words of praise and trust that are unsurpassed.

     "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid...
     For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion:
in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me;
     He shall set me up upon a rock...
When my father and my mother forsake me,
     then the Lord will take me up...
I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
     Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the Lord."

The combination of trial and triumph is sublime.  Hosanna to the Son of David.  Hosanna to our God!

Hosanna, part 1

"Hosanna, to the son of David." Matthew 21: 9

Hosanna is a perfect word.  It is for use in moments of ultimate jubilation.  While children laid palm branches at Christ's feet, the multitude offered sacrifices of joy by crying, hosanna.  But hosanna's beauty out shines what can be said in a parade.   It also expresses ultimate need.  In Psalm 118:25 the word means "help" or "save, I pray."  It has also been translated to urgently say "save, now!"

This word is perfect for our fractured world, it is perfect for our damaged hearts.  On earth we have joy with sorrow and tears with a smile.  I love this concept of hosanna, for when I am weak I can say, "Hosanna to the Son of David".  When joy overwhelms me, again I can sing, "Hosanna to the Son of David".  One word puts God exactly where He belongs, in the middle of everything we experience.

Behold the Man

For thousands of years, God's people sacrificed lambs to represent salvation through the promised redeemer.  In Eden, "...for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21)  The first ounce of blood from that original lamb prefigured Christ.  The sinners were clothed in the emblem of that innocent's righteousness. Ever since then lambs were slaughtered as a picture of what Christ would do.  In His desire to draw mankind to Himself, Christ taught His children about His sacrifice in small doses, explaining only as much as they could understand.  The glory of the lesson peaked at the first passover. The Lord said, "...Every man shall take for himself a lamb...a lamb for a household...Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year...Then...kill it at twilight.  And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses...Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire..."  (Exodus 12:3-8)

The passover rituals were a living prophetic exhibition of what Christ's death would look like.  The children of Israel were blessed, in that yearly, they saw images that should have helped them recognize the Messiah.  Our sterile lives prevent us from fully realizing Christ as the Lamb of God.  We see beautiful paintings which picture Christ gracefully draped with purple cloth.  Or we see horrific motion pictures trying to express His passion.  This kind of imagery is historical fiction. But there is still a reality.  A reality of what Israel saw yearly and a reality that God chose to express in a very specific way.  The Lord was not arbitrary or limited in how He chose to articulate Christ's sacrifice.  Maybe it would do us good to look at His effigy.

The Samaritans have kept passover ever since the 12 tribes were divided. Of course they also worshiped many idols, but passover was still observed.  Today, Samaritans still live in what was the northern kingdom of Israel and they still observe passover.  Looking at their ceremonies will teach us some of what God wanted us to understand.  "Behold the Man" (John 19:5)

"Every man shall take for himself a lamb" Ex 12:3

"He was led as a sheep to the slaughter. " Acts 8:32

"This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many." Mark 14:24
"...And His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground." Luke 22:44

"And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses..." Ex. 12:7

"And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him." Mark 15:25

"I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels...I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me." Psalms 22:14, 17

"For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me." Psalms 22:16

"And sitting down they watched Him there." Matthew 27:36

"For the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city..." John 19:20

"Eat not of it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire - its head with its legs and its entrails." Ex 12:9
"His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace." Revelation 1: 14, 15

"And they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire..." Ex. 12:8  "Take eat; this is my body." Matt. 26:26

"Behold the man!" John 19:5

Omnipotent, part 2

"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." Psalms 33:6

Universes

galaxies, 

stars, 

planets,

and nebula;

these are made from air. 

What extraordinary things God can do with his breath!   In creating these He was not diminished in energy, ideas, or ability.   When He counted the cost there was none.  Jesus ended creation with as much vitality as when He began. Nothing changed for Him personally.

But Omnipotence has been changed.  The cost of saving me has had eternal consequences.  He has scars that remain.  Scars in His heart and on His body.  Yet, it is a conundrum.  Like a helix the idea swings from one side to another.  How can omnipotence be diminished if it has all power?  How can a being who has hidden outrageous atomic power in mass the size of a paper clip, loose something?

Again, amounts and realities that I cannot understand, but I do know this:  God loved me so much that He was willing to be eternally less than what He is.  "Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Philippians 2:8