Amazing Grace

Yesterday afternoon was spent at a funeral of a gentleman I did not know. The brother of a co-worker, my presence was merely a means of showing my respect and love for the co-worker. For that reason, the event was not overly emotional for me. But, as funerals always do, the event brought back memories.

Two things in particular ignited those memories. The song Amazing Grace and the 23rd Psalm. After my step-dad's funeral over 30 years ago, it took almost ten years before I could listen to Amazing Grace. Generally, before the first chords of the first verse were complete, I would be reduced to a sniveling pile of emotions. As I grew in grace in my relationship with the Lord, the words of the song became less a reminder of my dad's funeral and more a reminder of the character of God. Today, there hangs above the fireplace in my living room a large plaque with the words "Amazing Grace" for all the world to see. It is my testimony of the Lord's hand in my life.

The 23rd Psalm is one of those verses of scripture that even non-believers can quote. It its most basic level it promises a shepherd's provision and protection for his flock. Read and meditated on at a deeper level, it reflects the nature and character of God and how we can expect to see Him manifest in our lives.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet water, he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Even though I will walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies,

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Read that scripture and picture yourself as the sheep. Your shepherd will make sure you are fed and taken care of. He will make (not let) you rest. Quiet waters can run deep, but you have nothing to fear when He is your guide. He will restore your soul. You will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But, there is nothing to fear when you have the Shepherd with you. He will feed you and comfort you, even in the midst of your pain and sorrow. Whatever or whoever your enemies might be, the Lord has His hand upon you and is blessing you with goodness and love.

Preachers have a captive audience at a funeral. That makes them a perfect place to share the wonderful attributes of a loving God. May he who has ears hear the message before it is preached at his own funeral.

I do believe . . .

One of my favorite quotes when faced with a difficult situation is from the Wizard of Oz movie. The cowardly lion, when facing the Wizard, is wringing his tail and saying, "I do believe, I do, I do. I do believe."

Like the cowardly lion, I have used the phrase to buck up my own courage from time to time. And, I have found that sometimes faith is as simple as reminding myself that my circumstances are not taking the Lord by surprise.

Just reading the results of a word search of the word "faith" makes me feel confident. The 232 references to faith in Christ found in scripture show that it is a powerful thing . It comes by hearing. It can move mountains, justify and sanctify us, leads to healing, strengthen us.

But, faith is a funny thing. You will always be disappointed if you put your faith in the wrong things. Yourself, your momma, your best friend, your elected officials - even your basset hounds - will let you down. If you allow your faith to be in anything other than Jesus Christ, you will be disappointed.

But, when you have faith in Jesus, even the morning news is not all that depressing.

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Psalm 27:13

Just do it

You know, we really make life a lot more complicated than it has to be. My little tidbit for this morning is:

Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

Just reading or hearing the word of God does not make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. It is how you use what you take in that matters.

Not a lot to say about the issue. Just do it.

Thanks, Bud!

Just for the record, God has gone from preaching to meddling in my life this week. First, that whole revelation that there is love lacking in my attitude toward others. And now, building on that one, a reminder of a lesson my dear mentor taught me.

My step-dad, the man who raised me, died when I was 22 years old. His loss in my life left a dad-sized hole that I never expected to close. Fast forward 25 years, and I met Bud and Clauda Orrell. Bud, a retired pastor has a shepherd's heart and tremendous love of people. At my first appearance in his home, he told me I needed to repent for what I was saying about someone. The spirit of conviction zapped me on the spot, and our mentor/mentee relationship began.

Since that day, Bud has taught me a number of lessons - the greatest of which is to love other people. He always teaches by example. When I am wrong, he tells me so. When I am happy he laughs with me. When I am sad he consoles me. And, he always tells me how much I am loved. The Lord has used him to fill that dad-sized hole in my heart - he is a perfect fit.

Perhaps the most important lesson Bud taught me was that you cannot offend a dead man. Well, I begged to differ with him. Since I happened to know the scriptures about dying to sin and alive in God and I am a believer, (therefore) a dead man. and there are still a whole lot of things that upset me. I have never tolerated liberalism or stupidity well - they offend me.

Bud and I argued over the issue for a period of several weeks. I gave all my rational thinking about things that could and should offend us.

He said, "You can't offend a dead man."

I explained and gave examples of ignorant things people do, mistreatment of children, abuse of animals, people cutting you off in traffic. (I almost had him with the traffic example.)

He said, "You can't offend a dead man."

I told him how I felt, which naturally must be the truth, because it was truthfully how I was feeling.

He said, "You can't offend a dead man."

I gave it my best to prove him wrong, then prayed about it and finally came back to acknowledge (as if it were a truth I had just discovered all by myself) that you cannot offend a dead man. We just may need to die a little more completely or in a new area.

It was a revolutionary discovery for me. Each time I would feel myself picking up an offense, my first reaction was to seek out what it was that needed to die in me. Slowly, I began to allow all those things in me that kept getting offended to die. And, since that happened in my life, I have found that there is a whole lot more room for the lesson from yesterday (it is all a labor of love) to take hold.

Sure, there is still a struggle in me from time to time. But I know I am making progress as liberals and people making ill-advised statements cause my eyebrows to raise, but not my blood pressure.

You should give it a try.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 6:11

Cupcakes in Heaven

My experiences at the Texas Capitol have equipped me to multi-task and to take most things in stride. That means that things that get me really frustrated are generally handed over to the Lord by the end of the day so that I will be free to be frustrated by something entirely new the next day. That is one of the reasons my topics for devotionals jump around like popcorn in a popcorn popper.

But, for a change today's devotional was actually motivated by yesterday's discussion of my lack of grace and mercy for others. Just in case you think the devotionals are for your benefit, please know that both the Lord and I know they are His way of speaking to me.

A friend responded to the devotional yesterday to tell me that her experience was that I had shown much grace and mercy toward her. I responded that in her case it was, "a labor of love."

Boom! (Have you ever noticed how you can remember EXACTLY where you were and what you were doing when the Holy Spirit speaks to you? All the way down to what you were wearing and which side your hair was parted on.)

No sooner had I written the words than the Lord said, "Exactly My point."

And, the angels had a party in Heaven, complete with cupcakes and fizzy water. Kathi finally broke the code and realized that grace and mercy is a labor of love.

Have problem granting others mercy? Do you love them?

Not feeling particularly full of grace? How's your love tank?

I have blamed it on not having the spiritual gift. The trouble isn't a lack of mercy or grace. It is a lack of love. Wait, come to think of it, didn't Jesus say something about that?

" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37 -40

Mercy and Grace

One Sunday I was asked to share about my work with the pro-life movement at our church. During the presentation I mentioned that, "Those of you who know me, know that mercy is not one of my spiritual gifts." The rousing round of applause surprised even me.

But, knowing my limitations prevents me from taking on tasks which could lead to disaster. For example, there is no sensitive side of me when it comes to counseling. If you are doing something stupid I ask, "So, how's that working for you?" You have a complaint about your spouse? My advice is almost always, "Well, suck it up and get over it." I avoid the pastoral care ministry. The church appreciates that about me.

Though personally lacking much of the grace and mercy Christ has so graciously given me, even I cringe thinking about the implications of the psalmist's prayer in my daily reading today. "Let the heads of those who surround me be covered with the trouble their lips have caused."
Psalm 140:9

While mercy and grace may not be my top attributes, I am always thankful that the Lord does not give us what we deserve. Even I would hesitate to pray that our nation be covered with the trouble our lips have caused. Instead, my prayer is, "Lord have mercy on us." He is our only hope.

What's New?

Did you miss me? Or, did you just assume the devotionals were going to your junk email folder? It has been over two weeks since I sat down to write a devotional. So, what's new?

Congress. Still on track to bankrupt the nation. Not new.

National deficit. Not new.

Volcano in Iceland erupted. New.

Blamed on global warming. Not new.

Democrats don't like Republicans. Not new.

Republicans don't like Democrats. Not new.

There are a whole lot of things going on in the world that are not good and not new. And, if we allowed ourselves to go there, the bad things could easily eclipse all the wonderful things that are going on around us. The quick antidote to an overdose of cable news and the circumstances in which we find ourselves is to take inventory and count our blessings.

My grandchildren. Hannah. Kaden. Hunter. Brother (grandson TBA in the foster system). Not new, but always guaranteed to bring a smile to my face.

Warm spring days. (Also known as global warming.) Good. Not new.

A new book and a hammock in the sun. Good. Not new.

Goofy basset hounds. Not new. Rarely well behaved. Good for my soul.

Jesus loves you and me. Not new. Really, really good.

So, what's the best way to deal with the depressing news of our times? Not new.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things. Philippians 4:8

 

It's a Fact

Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the Lord your God, when He led you in the way? Jeremiah 2:17

The workshop on media bias was an eye-opener for me. The object was to explain that different people process information differently. Some people make decisions based entirely on emotion. Others make decisions based entirely on facts. Of course, the majority of people can be swayed by a combination of the two. And, with the success of marketing, my guess would be that there are a lot more "feelers" than "facters" in the world.

I was not surprised to find on the accompanying assessment that my emotion processing skills were so low that I rarely allow emotions to affect my decisions. (Except where basset hounds are involved, and then my reason goes to mush.) It was, however, an eye-opening experience for me.

Suddenly, I understood why so many policy issues were black and white for me. When others saw poor little sick children and thought government should do something, I saw dollars and cents and knew it was not government's job to intervene. Don't get me wrong. If I see a poor little sick child, I am even more likely to get personally involved in the situation than I am to pick up a stray basset hound. But, I don't confuse my responsibility to take action with the role of government.

So, naturally, verses such as the one in Jeremiah today make sense to me. God had chosen Israel and they were in a situation where there was absolutely nothing good left to say about them. The facts were in, and Isreal deserved to be abandoned by God and left to ruin.

Actually, forget Israel, the facts are in and we all fall short. Left to our own devices, we deserve damnation. Praise God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

And, praise Jesus who acted on the fact (in the face of conflicting emotions) that there was no way humanity could reconcile with God apart from His sacrifice.

It's Easter week - a good time to be thinking about the facts.