That Saturday state of mind

As we finish Holy Week with a bang tomorrow, celebrating Resurrection Sunday, I heard something on the radio this week that got me thinking.  We all know what Good Friday is about: 2000-odd years ago, Jesus was crucified, and the disciples were devastated.  In hindsight, we all know what happened on Sunday, and how the disciples were unbelievably joyful.  How many sermons have you heard about holding on to hope, 'cause Sunday's coming!  But the early followers of Christ didn't know that.  Imagine how they felt on Saturday.

Lost.

Alone.

Forsaken.

Perhaps questioning their decision to follow this Man for the last three years.  Maybe questioning their faith.  And almost certainly afraid for their own lives--if the Romans had killed Jesus, and their Jewish religious leaders had delivered Him into the Romans' hands, what would become of them?  They couldn't go back to the way it had been before they met Him.  But I'll bet that many of them thought they couldn't go on.  Judas had killed himself--was he better off than they?

Maybe you are in a situation in your life where hope seems lost.  If you've lost your job, does it seem like you'll never find one again?  If you've lost your home, does the specter of homelessness loom over your every thought?  If you've lost a loved one, does it seem like life as you know it has stopped cold?  Whatever situation you are in, whatever loss you have experienced, let me encourage you to not lose hope.

Many times in the Bible there are stories of three days' duration: a tragedy occurs on the first day, the hero lives it for an entire day, and the triumph comes on the third day.  One example is Jonah.  When he disobeyed God, he knew that he was the one being punished; to save his ship-mates, he asked to be thrown into the sea.  He was swallowed immediately by a great fish.  That was day one.  On day two, he was still in the fish.  What went through his mind? Did he think he might never see the light of day again?  It wasn't until day three that the fish beached itself, and spit Jonah out on dry land.

Another example is Queen Esther.  The wicked Haman had issued a decree, under the authority of King Xerxes, that all the Jews would be killed.  This was the tragic event.  Esther asked all her people to fast and pray, and she invited the king and Haman to a banquet on that first day.  She invited the two men to a banquet on the second day.  On the third day she prepared a banquet for the king and for Haman again, but this time she asked that her people might be spared.  She did not know on the second day what would occur on day three--Xerxes could have declined the invitation to the third day of banqueting.  "Listen, Esther, I appreciate the party, and nobody throws a party like you, but frankly, Babe, I've got a country to run.  Lots of rules and laws to carry out.   You know how it is. Maybe next time."  But in fact, God had given the king insomnia the night before the third banquet.  To help him sleep, the king asked for an aide to read the palace records to him.  Lo and behold, the king was reminded of a huge favor that Mordecai the Jew had done for the king some time before.  Esther did not know about this dream.  She could only go by faith that her request would be heard and granted on the third day.

The periods of time don't have to be literal 24-hour days.  Remember Noah?  When the floods came, that was a pretty tragic event--the population of the whole world was killed, save the people and animals on the Ark.  After what seemed like an eternity he still didn't see any land.  So Noah sent out a raven to do some reconnoitering--if the bird could fly high enough or far enough to see land, then there might be a ray of hope. But the raven never found any land.  Here, the "Saturday state of mind" lasted over 40 days.  Finally, Noah sent out a dove, and the dove did find land, and hope was again re-kindled in their hearts.

So what do you do when tragedy strikes?  What do you do when all hope is lost, and you wake up the next day, and the next, and so on?  You've picked yourself up, dusted yourself off, and then what?  In these trying times, you must redeem the time, and repent if necessary, and ask God to reveal Himself and to restore your joy.

Redeem the time
The temptation will be strong to just throw up your hands and give up. You may want to curse the situation, or the people that you believe caused it.  When Job lost everything he had, including his children, his so-called friends concluded that he must have deserved it--God was evidently punishing him for something, so it was his own fault.  Job's wife blamed God, and advised her husband to just "curse God and die."  She lost everything, too, you know.  She gave up.  Job did not waste his time assigning blame.  His attitude is found in  Job 1.21(b), "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord."  After this, Job did some serious soul-searching.  Was there anything that he could have done differently to avert this crisis?  Or was it a truly random event, one that could not have been prevented or foreseen?  Remember that God knows everything--He sees the future, and He knows what will happen.  He knew it from the moment of Creation.  Remember that the Bible says that God never gives us more than we can bear.  Knowing these truths--that God knows, that He cares, and that He can help you through it all--this is what you should be thinking about after the tragedy strikes, while you are waiting for deliverance.

Repent (if necessary)
It may be that you deserved what you got.  This doesn't mean that God can't work all things for your good and His glory.  But if you lost your job because of something you did, then you should repent.  If you did not do your best every day, or if you did not have the integrity and character to make yourself indispensable, then you need to ask forgiveness.  If you lost a relationship due to negligence or bad attitude, then some soul-searching may reveal areas in your life that need work.  Ask God to reveal to you anything that you might have done to have brought this on yourself.  Avoid the temptation to fall into depression or self-loathing: you are an individual for whom Christ died!

Request God to show Himself to you
God desires fellowship with us.  That fellowship may be broken due to your present circumstances.  If that happens, Satan has won the victory.  Believe Romans 8:28 to be true: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."  You may not know what that purpose is, but God knows.  The more you know God, the more you seek His face, the better prepared you are for realizing His purpose for you.  Philippians 1:6 says, "[We are] confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Are you a child of God? Do you believe that He has a purpose in mind for you?  Let not your heart be troubled.  Ask Him to reveal His plan to you.

Restoration is coming--believe it!
Sarah Young has written a series of devotions on hope, called Jesus Today.  In it, she writes, "I am not only with you; I am also in your circumstances. Moreover, I am in control of everything that happens to you.  Although I am never the author of evil, I am fully able to use bad things for good.  This does not remove your suffering, but it does redeem it--infusing it with meaning.  So if you are in a storm of difficulties, I say to you, "Take courage. It is I."  Search for signs of My abiding Presence in your current situation.  You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)"

Life can be pretty cruel.  Don't lose hope; our God is greater than our circumstances.  In the grand scheme of things, this major crisis may not amount to anything more than a footnote in your life story. At some point in the future, you will look back on this and see how it all worked out, and hopefully you will be able to see God's hand in it all.  Just like the disciples, after the Resurrection, everything made sense.  They took that knowledge, that victory, and changed the world.  But during that Sabbath, that Saturday when their world had been turned upside-down, they sought comfort from one another.  I'm sure they prayed to God to help them make sense of it all.  Little did they know the miracle that was about to happen.  This event, the Resurrection, inspired Paul to give this benediction in his letter to the Ephesians: "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21).

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name. 

Refrain
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand. 

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil. 

Refrain 

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay. 

Refrain 

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain 

The Lord's Prayer

I have learned quite a lot about prayer this past week.  My faith has been put to the test, and I have been driven to my knees.  So many things are out of my control, but God can and does answer prayer.  All I have to do is agree with him in my heart.  Does He know what is best for me? Yes, He does.  Is that always what I pray for, the things that are best for me? I may think so, but often it is not.

"God, please give me a million bucks so I can contribute it all to worthwhile ministries."  First, God knows my heart, and if I had a million dollars in the bank, I would spend most of it on myself, not give it to charity.  Second, if I won the lottery or a big inheritance without having to work for it, the money would not have cost me anything, and it would seem cheap--I would probably stop working and live like the Prodigal Son before he found himself feeding pigs in a foreign land.

So, keeping this example in mind, I see in Matthew 6:8 that "God knows what you need before you ask Him."  If this is the case, why pray at all?  We are commanded to pray, because it teaches us to rely on God for our needs. We are commanded to pray, because if God always gave us what we need without our asking, we would stay like children in the faith, and never mature--as is the case when we feed and clothe our children before they realize what we are doing for them, but as they mature they realize where the good gifts come from, and what they cost, and ultimately the joy and sacrifice of providing it for someone else.  We are commanded to pray, because God desires fellowship with us, and He wants us to grow and mature.

So how are we to pray? Jesus gave us an example in Matthew 6:9-13:

Our Father
This salutation is more than noting to whom the prayer is directed.  It is acknowledging that God is the Patriarch, the source of all things good.  It is acknowledging that we have been adopted as sons (Romans 8:23), thus giving us the legal right to call God our Father (Acts 13:32-33).  Think about that: we now have a  familial relationship with the Creator of the Universe.  We have assumed the family name.  Isaiah 56:5 says, to them will I give...a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off."  One of the old hymns we used to sing in church was "There's a new name written down in Glory, and it's mine." This goes deeper than our belief in Christ and our identification with other followers who call themselves Christians.  This is God Himself calling us--you and me--His children, and giving us all of the rights and privileges associated with His matchless name, through a family bond that cannot be broken.

Who is in Heaven
This designation does more than differentiate between God and our biological parentage.  It is identifying the family homestead, where one day our inheritance will be divided up to us.  Ephesians 1:13-14 says, "And you were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession."  Colossians 1:12 says, "Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."  People, do you realize this when you begin your prayers? This is the source of all praise; even if our prayers are uttered out of the depths of depression, the very acknowledgement of the One to whom we are praying is an encouragement and a joyful acknowledgement of who we are, and Whose we are.

Hallowed (kept holy) be Your Name
This declaration is not only acknowledging the holiness of God.  It is also an admonition to keep ourselves holy.  We, who bear His name, would not dare to drag the name of God through the mud.  Yet when we willfully sin, that is what we do.  1 Peter 1:15-16 says, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all that you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy'."  Romans 11:16 (b) says, "if the root is holy, so are the branches."  By prayer, you are conversing with God.  You have no power to make God any more holy than he already is.  God is good.  But by acknowledging the goodness of God, and identifying ourselves with Him, we are allowing His holiness to wash over us and to wipe away any unholy thing.  This is the power of prayer.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
This exhortation is making the relationship you have with God personal in your own life.  In heaven, God reigns; He sits on a throne, and has angels attending Him.  When He says "go", they go, and when He says "come" they come.  By contrast, this world appears to be ruled by unholy men, by demonic forces, and by natural phenomenon out of anybody's control.  Asking God to make His will evident to us gives our lives meaning and direction.  Asking that our world will be more like heaven means we are ceding control of our lives and circumstances to Him.  Jonah disobeyed God, but when he repented, he asked to be thrown into the sea.  He almost drowned, but his prayer from the belly of the great fish was one of thanksgiving, for deliverance from the sea.  He was swallowed up inside the digestive tract of a sea monster, but Jonah was grateful for deliverance from death, knowing that if it was God's will for him to preach to Ninevah, then he would be delivered to Ninevah by the hand of God.  "We are assured and know that [God being a partner in  their labor], all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose." (Romans 8:28, Amplified Bible).

Give us this day our daily bread
This supplication assumes that God knows our needs.  Philippians 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."  It also presupposes that God is able to meet our needs.  After Jesus presented his disciples with the model prayer we are studying today, he expounded upon this very thing later in the same discourse.  Matthew 6:25-34 says, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body; what you will wear.  Is not life more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?....So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'....But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."  Philippians 4:7 (Amplified Bible) says, "And God's peace [be yours, that tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot of whatever sort that is, that peace] which transcends all understanding, shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors
This confession and request for grace assumes that we have wronged God.  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."  Even Paul, the greatest missionary of the New Testament, said in Romans 7:15-19 says, "I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do.  And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.  As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing."  Like Paul, we must daily confess our sins and ask God's forgiveness, then have the faith that God will be faithful to His word, even when we are unfaithful.  The second part of this verse is especially poignant in the Amplified Bible: "And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven (left, remitted and let go of the debts, and given up resentment against) our debtors." (Matthew 6:12).  If we expect God to completely forgive our sins, and take them as far away as the East is from the West, then we must also not harbor grudges or resentments that would cripple our ministry to others.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one
This admonition, spoken after our confession and request for forgiveness, goes back to the part about holiness.  If we are to keep the name of God holy, then we might need to change who we hang out with, or where; we might need to stop watching certain movies or television shows; we might even have to stop listening to the news.  It is absolutely ludicrous for us to pray for deliverance from evil when we are constantly walking in the path of temptation.  But if we are leading godly lives, we may need help to avoid stumbling blocks; for nothing wrecks a good reputation like a fall from grace.  It is hard for worldly men to hear our godly testimony if they see our evil actions; they cannot hear our words because our works speak so loudly.  James 2:17 says that faith without works is dead.  We want our faith to be living and active, just as the God in whom we place our faith is living and active in our lives.

So you see, prayer is more for the benefit of us than for God.  Please pray for me and for other believers in your sphere of influence; pray for yourself, that you will be holy.   Together we will help to bring about the will of God on this earth, or at least our little part of it.

I'm an emotional wreck!

It has been a very emotional week for me.  For the past month I have pushed hard to go above and beyond in my job, but it feels like I am in the same boat as the girl in the movie The Devil Wears Prada.  Every time I have felt good about some area of improvement (quality, productivity, etc.), it seems like my boss demands more.

I have tried to keep my emotions in check, and only focus on my work.  I have asked God to forgive me for being so emotional, and to help me do my work better without the emotional baggage dragging me down.  But still I envision headlines in an imaginary Roman newspaper, circa 60 A.D.:   Christians Suffer Soul-Crushing Defeat At Hands of Gladiators; or maybe Christians Devoured By Lions, Face Demons Next.  And today I opened my Bible for my quiet time and read in I Corinthians 4:9 "For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of a procession, like men condemned to die in the arena.  We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men."

Paul was using a bit of irony, and in context, one can see this statement as a little bit tongue-in-cheek.  And I, too, don't want to give the wrong impression: I am blessed; I am employed, I have a great family and good friends, and don't have any illusions of myself being persecuted like many have been throughout history, and even those who suffer today.  Like I said, it is an emotional time for me.

But this is how my week has been: in a series of meetings each day with my Manager in attendance, after my part in each meeting I look to her for approval.  On Tuesday, she frowned and shook her head, and I felt like I was in the Colosseum looking to Caesar and getting a "thumbs down" sign signifying death.  But on Thursday, after my performance, I looked to her and got an approving nod.  I felt like I got a thumbs up, and the right to live another day.

So exactly how much weight should be given to our emotions?  I have tried to be stoic, not letting anything get to me.  But that approach has not worked for me.  I have tried to soldier on, and work through the emotions--gritting my teeth and swearing that by God I will get this right or die trying.  But the best way to approach this problem is on my knees.

As I prayed this week, I was reminded that we are created in God's image.  Just like God's nature is found in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), we humans are made with a three-fold nature, as well.  We are created and maintained in Body, Soul, and Spirit.  The Body identifies with Christ, who suffered death but was resurrected by God's power.  Our Spirit identifies with the Holy Spirit, who gives us gifts such as Hope, Peace and Patience so that we can overcome any situation our body finds itself in.  And the Soul identifies with God the Father.

Our souls are made up of three parts: the Mind, the Will, and the Emotions.  It was out of the Mind of God that Creation took place.  Psalm 8:3-5 says, "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings, and crowned him with glory and honor."  We, too, have a mind; and when our minds are set on God, things tend to work out better for us than if we have our minds in the gutter, or if our minds are cluttered with meaningless things, or if our minds are set on earthly tasks.

Similarly, it was the Will of God to provide a way of redemption for us.  He led His people out of the wilderness in the Old Testament, and he provided a sacrifice for our sins in the New Testament.  So we should train ourselves to earnestly desire what He wants, not lust after the things of this world.  Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Finally, it was out of the Emotions expressed by God that we knew what the consequences of sin might be.  How many times in the Old Testament did God's anger burn against Israel, and Moses intervened on the people's behalf.  There is even an account in Exodus 4:24 when God's anger burned against Moses, and He was about to kill him.  Fortunately, his wife Zipporah stepped in and circumcised their sons (which Moses should have done when they were eight days old), appeasing God's anger.  If God expresses emotions, up to and including anger, then why should we, who are created in the image of God, bottle up our emotions?

The difference between God's anger and my anger, often, is that God's anger is righteous.  Mine too often is not.  I will get angry at someone who cuts me off in traffic.  I don't know that person, I don't know their story: maybe they are hurrying to see a dying relative, or maybe putting on my brakes will keep me from being involved in an accident on up the road.  There are more important things to be angry about.  If I have a righteous anger, and I know in my heart that God is on my side, then it is okay to be angry.

So do I have a right to be angry at my boss, who I think is trying to get me fired?  Certainly my emotions of fear and dread are appropriate--I am not sure I can find another job in this economy.  But I don't want to be overcome by fear to the point where I freeze up; instead, I want my fear to motivate me to do better.  But is my anger at her a righteous anger? Probably not; there are areas where I need to improve in my work.  Luke 6:27-28 says, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."  I have been praying for my boss, as I beseech the Lord daily to help me improve at my job or find alternative employment.  My motives have been put to the test this week: on Friday, my boss called in sick.  It was a good day.  It's probably wrong for me to pray that this illness would be debilitating, or that it would lead to an extended medical Leave of Absence.  Not that I wasn't tempted to go in that direction, let me tell you!  I was humbled into praying for her swift recovery, even though I know there will be another battle on Monday, and I will again probably feel like a gladiator in the Colosseum watching for Caesar to give a thumbs up or thumbs down.

This week I have learned that emotions are okay, as long as they have a righteous basis and are not debilitating.  "Perfect love casts out fear."  Praying for my boss, who doesn't like me very much, is helping me understand the sacrifice that Jesus made, when he died for all men, even those who would hate Him and curse His name.

Grace and mercy at the movies

Last week I took my daughter to see Les Miserables, the movie.  While both of us enjoy musicals, neither of us had seen this one before.  The movie is very well done, but like all adaptations of stage musicals, it made me want to see it live.

For those who haven't seen it, Les Mis is based on the novel of the same name, written by Victor Hugo.  Set in France during the French Revolution, it depicts a kind of hell on earth.  Jean Valjean, we are told, has served a 19 year sentence in prison for merely stealing a loaf of bread.  When he is finally released, he jumps bail and steals some silver from a kindly archbishop.  Valjean is caught, and brought to the archbishop so that he can press charges. But he refuses; in a gesture symbolic of God's enormous grace, the archbishop refuses to pres charges, and gives him even more valuable gifts--a pair of silver candlesticks.  This act of kindness changes Valjean forever.

Later, when Valjean (under an assumed name, because his former jailer has become a bail bondsman, searching relentlessly for him) has made an honest living, he is the owner of a factory which employs many under-privileged women.  One of those women, Fantine, sends all of her earnings to her beloved daughter, Cosette, who is being cared for by others.  Through an unfortunate event involving gossip and lies, the factory foreman fires Fantine.  She finds herself out on the street, and fends for herself as best she can.  She sells her hair, her teeth, and eventually her body in order to continue providing support for her daughter.  When Valjean discovers this, it is too late--Fantine has died.  With the sherriff hot on his heels, Valjean swears to redeem himself for Fantine's untimely death by finding and caring for Cosette.

Cosette comes to love Valjean like a father, although she doesn't understand why he is always looking over his shoulder, always on the move.  When Cosette falls in love with one of the young revolutionaries, Valjean gives her away, and retreats to a monastery, where he literally gives himself to God, as he draws his final breath. It is a story of the fall and redemption, of grace and mercy at odds with justice.

I left the theater thinking of my favorite verse in Scripture, Micah 6:8: "He has showed you, O Man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."  There are those, like the jailer turned bounty hunting bail bondsman, whose world revolves around justice.  But since sin has entered the world, justice is imperfect.  No one has ever said, "Perfect justice drives away fear."  If there were perfect justice, we would all be dead.

It is a fact that no one in this life gets what he deserves, either good or bad.  Valjean's punishment did not fit the crime. And his living the rest of his life on the lam was, in a way, no better than living in a prison: the only benefit of it was his ability to share goodness with others. Similarly, we read of Old Testament heroes, such as Moses, who was raised in the palace of Pharaoh, but who saw the plight of his fellow Jews and killed a man.  He lived in exile 40 years, but returned to lead his people away from slavery in Egypt and toward the Promised Land.

We make justice appear very noble by thinking of her as blind--she only exacts what is owed, without regard to a person's race, creed, gender, appearance, wealth or station in life.  But her illegitimate children are retaliation, vindictiveness, and revenge.

In fact, we humans need mercy. It is what allows us to live with ourselves and with others.  It is what allows us to overlook one another's faults, and to love.  It is within us a reflection of our Creator, the gracious God who provided a sacrificial Lamb.  It is why, I think, that the verse in Micah says we "know" justice, but we "love" mercy.  The perfect mixture of justice and mercy is God, who can truthfully say, "Vengeance is mine." The human combination of justice and mercy produces humility.  If we are honest, the most humbling thing we can hear is "I love you, and I forgive you" when we know we deserve punishment.

Today in my Scripture reading, I came across the passage in Mark chapter 11 where Jesus cursed the fig tree.  Many times in the Old Testament, the destruction of the fig tree is associated with judgment.  Hosea 2:12 says, "I will ruin her vines and her fig trees, which she said were pay from her lovers; I will make them a thicket, and wild animals will devour them."  Jesus said in Luke 3:9, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."  The symbolism of the passage in Mark is often at odds with people's thinking about Jesus and His nature. Why would he curse the fig tree? Didn't He know that it was not the season for figs? Didn't He have the power to heal the tree, or to make it produce figs out of season? Yet when the disciples asked him about it later, when they saw the fig tree withered from its very root, Jesus used it as an object lesson about faith.

Jesus, as a member of the Trinity and one of the Godhead, knows about justice as well as mercy. He is the Good Shepherd, but in the end He will be there when the sheep are separated from the goats, and the "goats" are cast into hell.  Yet it was He who laid down His life for the sheep.  How vast and how deep is the mystery of God!

I am grateful for grace and mercy.  I can see it in my life every day--in my job, in my marriage, in my entire life.  I can even see it in a movie musical.

Good vs. Evil--private retailer takes on big government

I was in Hobby Lobby yesterday.  Found a sale on "man-cave" related items and decorations.  Decided to buy some.  Now, Hobby Lobby is not a place I would normally be on a Saturday, but my daughter told me that yesterday was a day that was being organized in social media to support the store and it's owners in their fight against the mandates of the Affordable Health Care law.  While I cannot confirm that there was any organized support (as there had been last year when GLBT supporters had decided to boycott Chik-Fil-A), I do know that there are some supporters of the health care law and of the President who have decided to boycott Hobby Lobby.

Here is the background story found on foxnews.com:

A Christian-owned chain of hobby shops is facing a bitter backlash after suing the Obama administration over new requirements to provide insured employees with contraceptive and abortion coverage.

Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby filed the suit Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, alleging that the ObamaCare mandate violates the religious beliefs of the company's owners. The suit followed similar suits by Catholic colleges and a Denver-based company whose owners also objected to the mandate on religious grounds. While a judge has not yet ruled on Hobby Lobby's suit, a Facebook page calling for a boycott of the company, which operates 500 stores in 41 states, has appeared online, and several other forums have featured posts urging customers to steer clear of Hobby Lobby.

“I’m boycotting Hobby Lobby!” reads the heading of one posting on image posting site Flickr. “Even if you're pro-life this kind of action stinks to high heaven! If things like this can be allowed then what's next?!,” the user added.

“They’re being told they have two choices. Either follow their faith and pay the government half-a-billion dollars or give up their beliefs."

- Lori Windham, attorney for Hobby Lobby

Others have taken to social media to protest against Hobby Lobby, with a “Boycott Hobby Lobby” page on Facebook.

“I've been to two Hobby Lobby parking lots today and they were fairly empty. I used to have trouble finding a parking spot!” read one posting from the administrator of the Boycott page. “I think the boycott is catching on! I do not think they are getting the reaction they hoped for.”

Hobby Lobby owner David Green is a devout Baptist who owns one of the world's largest collections of Biblical artifacts. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represents Green in his suit, argued that compliance with the offending portion of the health care law  that the nature of their suit is “would force religiously-motivated business owners like plaintiffs to violate their faith under the threats of millions of dollars in fines.”

Lawyers argued that company employees are well aware of Green's views and their bearing on the company.

“The Green family’s business practices ... reflect their Christian faith in unmistakable and concrete ways,” the complaint states. The company employs full-time chaplains; close all store locations on Sundays and monitors all marketing and operations to make sure that it is consistent with their beliefs.

Failure to comply with the mandate could subject the company to as much as $1.3 million in daily fines, according to Becket Fund attorneys.

"They’re being told they have two choices: Either follow their faith and pay the government half a billion dollars or give up their beliefs,"  Lori Windham, an attorney from the Becket Fund, told Foxnews.com. "We believe that’s a choice no one should have to make.”

David Green could not be reached for comment, but in a recent USA Today Op-Ed, he blasted the Obama administration for imposing mandates he believes he cannot comply with.

“Our government threatens to fine job creators in a bad economy," Green wrote. "Our government threatens to fine a company that’s raised wages four years running. Our government threatens to fine a family for running its business according to its beliefs. It’s not right.”

The company does not object to providing coverage that includes birth control pills, but refuses to provide or pay for two specific abortion-inducing drugs such as the so-called "morning after" pill, because Green's "most deeply held religious belief" is that life beginning at conception, the family said in a statement released through its attorneys.

As for the boycott, the company's founders believe customers have the right to vote with their feet.

"The Green family respects every individual's right to free speech and hopes that others will respect their rights also, including the right to live and do business according to their religious beliefs.," the statement said.

Hobby Lobby is believed to be the first non-Catholic company to file an objection to the healthcare mandate. The Newland family, the devoutly Catholic owners of Denver-based Hercules Industries filed a similar suit this past summer and won a court injunction that ruled that they are not obligated to follow the mandate.

“I think the law and precedent set by this case is very strong for Hobby Lobby and the Green Family,” Windham said.

The lawyer for Hobby Lobby, Lori Windham, was quoted as saying  "They’re being told they have two choices. Either follow their faith and pay the government half-a-billion dollars or give up their beliefs."  I suppose there is a third way--to pay lip service to the government mandate, then to stop hiring women of child-bearing age who would request coverage for the offensive "morning after pill".  But this would also compromise the stand that they are taking.

In the Bible, there are many examples of people of God taking principled stands against evil.  Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego refused to bow down to an image of Nebuchadnezzar, even when they were thrown into the fiery furnace.  They were rewarded with life in this world, as they did not die in the furnace.  Joseph, one of the twelve sons of Jacob and father of two tribes of Israel, did not compromise his beliefs when Potiphar's wife tried to seduce him--although she had him thrown into prison, he was eventually rewarded with a prestigious title as the third ruler of Egypt.  Job did not bow to peer pressure to "curse God and die" when Satan was allowed to torment him for his faithfulness.  Job was rewarded with additional riches and family members in addition to the family that had been taken from him.

I hope that the owners of Hobby Lobby can win the court injunction and will not be obligated to follow the offensive mandate in the healthcare law.  I hope that the company and employees will reap multiplied blessings for taking a stand against evil.  But most of all I hope that people will see God's justice and mercy in all of this.  As the saying goes, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.  If that means I shop at Hobby Lobby and buy things I didn't even know I needed, then so be it.

New Years Resolutions; Humility before Happiness

I just watched Mel Gibson in the movie "The Patriot" again.  There was one scene that struck me.  Colonel William Tavington, a ruthless commander in the British Army, is discussing tactics with Lord Cornwallis.

Cornwallis has just finished drafting a Land Grant to another officer when Tavington enters.

Cornwallis: This is how His majesty rewards those who fight for him as gentlemen.

Tavington:  I dare to presume my own meager contributions will be rewarded one day.

Cornwallis:  You may presume too much.  His Majesty, like history, judges us not only by the outcome of the war, but on the manner in which it was fought.  We serve the Crown, and we must conduct ourselves accordingly.  Surrendering troops will be given quarter.  These brutal tactics must stop.

Tavington:  Is it not enough, my lord, that I have never lost a battle?

Cornwallis:  You serve me, and the manner in which you serve me reflects upon me.  I would've thought that a gentleman from a family as esteemed as your would understand that.

Tavington:  My late father squandered any esteem in which we were held, along with my inheritance.  I advance myself only through victory.

Cornwallis:  You advance yourself only through my good graces.  The colonials are our brethren, and when this conflict is over, we will re-establish commerce with them.  Do you understand, Colonel?

Tavington:  Perfectly, my lord. 

This conversation did not keep Tavington from committing more atrocities--one scene shows him summoning a village into a church, and promising mercy if information is given about the location of the militia. But when this information is given, the evil Tavington orders the church doors locked and the building burned, with all of the townspeople in it.  When some of the villagers protest that he had promised them mercy, he replied that God may show them mercy in the next life, but it was not Tavington's intent to show any mercy in this one.

Tavington later convinced Cornwallis that he could capture the leader of the American Militia, but it would require him to use the brutal tactics that Cornwallis found unacceptable.  Tavington promised to become a rogue officer, out from under the chain of command, so that Cornwallis could remain blameless.  Tavington's hope, if the British had won the war, was to be named regent over Ohio.  Of course this didn't happen, either in the movie or in history--the British did not win the war, and there was no American aristocracy of landowners, as Cornwallis had envisioned.

I thought about our battles with the world, and the fact that our actions reflect upon our Lord.  If we represent Him well, He may reward us.  But if we do wicked things in His name, it brings shame upon us. We only live by the grace of God.  If we lose favor with Him, there is nothing to keep Him from withdrawing His blessing from us--in fact, He could decide to snuff us out.

When I was in college, I ran for student counsel president.  My platform was that we represent Christ in this world, and that as servants (even slaves) to Him, we have no "rights"; we only have responsibilities.  My argument was that as college students, we relied upon the good graces of our parents and the University.  The University had accepted us into the student body, but that was subject to our compliance with University rules and policies--those who did not follow University rules could be expelled.  We received instruction from our professors, but we were not guaranteed a passing grade; we accumulated credit hours based on successful completion of each class, but there was no guarantee that a degree would be conferred upon us.  We had to do our part, to get the work done, to follow the prescribed degree plan, and to reasonably reflect the University and our families in the work that we did.

Needless to say, I lost the election.  People love to believe that everyone--students, citizens, even humans--all have "rights".  They seldom stop to reflect that those "rights" are granted to them by a government, or a Constitution; they forget that a Constitution could be rescinded or that a government could be overthrown.  Certainly the US Constitution is interpreted very differently today than it was 200 years ago.

Romans 13:1 says "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God."  Remember that the Christians to whom Paul was writing may have been experiencing persecution at the hands of these rulers.  Certainly they had no "right" to worship as they wished.  Even today, there are countries which do not allow believers to congregate in public worship, or to evangelize openly.

So in this season of New Years resolutions, keep in mind the grace of God.  Instead of resolving to stand up for your "rights", think of ways you can be responsible for yourself, for your family, for your community, and for your God.  Remember that your good works may lead sinners to repent; conversely, your sins may become a stumbling block to unbelievers.  As you think of how you want to improve yourself this year, start with humility.  James 4:6 says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."  Somehow I don't think that having a mind-set of "my rights above all else" exhibits the humility that James was talking about.

James 4:7-10 is a good place to start when making Resolutions for the New Year:

1. Submit yourself to God.
2. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
3. Come near to God and He will come near to you.
4. Wash your hands, you sinners--you want to be able to lift "holy hands" to God.
5. Purify your hearts; do not be double minded.
6. Grieve over sin.
7. Mourn for those without Christ.
8. Cry out to God for mercy.
9. Change your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom--don't think so much about your own personal happiness that you fail to get serious about sin or its consequences (both in your own life, and in the lives of your friends and family.  Remember sin separates men from God.)
10. Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

As I said before, the key to success in the Christian life is humility; to count others as more important than ourselves.  We should call for God's mercy more often than asserting our "rights"; we should covet God's grace more than our own success or happiness. An old saying in our church is that "Happiness depends on happenings; Joy depends on Jesus."  We can have joy even when bad things happen.

Blessings on you and yours in 2013.

The gifts of God to us this Christmas

It's Christmas Eve, and I thank God for all of His gifts--he gave us so many of them.  First, He created us; He gave us life.  Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."  So not only did He give us the gift of life, but He made it a marvelous and wonderful thing--He made us in the image of God.

Think about that.  Where God is beautiful, we know beauty.  Where God is just, we know justice.  Where God is righteous, we know righteousness.  Every attribute of God, we have, or have access to, on a smaller scale.  And if not for original sin, we would have direct fellowship with God and would share in his all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present Being.

And this brings us to the next gift that He gave us.  When He made us, he gave us Free Will.  But being all-knowing, He knew before-hand that we could not handle it.  We would, at some point, inevitably act in our own self-interest, rather than in the interest of others; we would, sooner or later, make bad choices.  And God knew this about us, yet He gave it to us anyway.

Mankind has philosophized about the "problem" of Free Will for ages.  If God knows everything in advance, how can we think that we are free to choose?  But if we have freedom to do whatever we want, then God could not possibly know how things will turn out--there are just too many variables.  But this is false thinking, as it limits God: it makes Him out to be nothing more than a super-computer, using predictive analysis to foretell the future.  But God is not all about algorithms, just like He did not make us robots.  He gave us Free Will, so that we could choose to follow Him on our own, not just because He commands it.

His commands are the third gift He gave us.  In the book of Romans, Paul speaks a lot about the Law. Without the Law, we would not be able to know what we are doing wrong, when our Free Will has allowed us to sin.  Romans 7:7 says, "I would not have known what sin was except through the Law.  For I would not have known what coveting really was if the Law had not said, 'Do not covet.' "  The Law was given so that men could be reconciled to God.  He called out an entire race of people to follow the Law (after sin had entered the world).  Where those men failed in keeping the Law, He allowed them to offer a sacrifice.  In the case of a sacrifice, all of that man's sin would be transferred to the animal that was being offered, whether it was a bull, a lamb, or a dove.

The problem with the Law is that it is exclusive. The Jews, the people who were given the Law, believed that God would only love them, and not the Gentiles (all other people, the ones who were not Jews.)  This is why it was so hard for them to accept the Sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was sent to take away the sin of the entire world.  Their thinking was that God could not possibly love those who did not follow the Law.  But Paul writes in Romans 11 that without the Law, Jews would not know what sin was.

So the greatest gift of all is Mercy.  By God's grace, He gave men Free Will; and by His mercy, He gives them the Law to show where they failed, and Grace to everyone who has access to God, even those who do not know the Law.  This is what Paul meant when he said, "For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all." (Romans 11/32).

Does this mean that all will be saved, no matter what they believe, or what god they serve? Of course not.  But those to whom He gave the Law know that without sacrifice they would never measure up.  And those to whom He gave grace by offering His only Son as a sacrifice know that without mercy, we would be left out.

I know it would be easier to say, "Jesus is the greatest gift of all," or "Jesus is the reason for the season." Those statements are true.  But they are so inadequate when describing God's gifts of mercy and grace.  Most people alive today do not think they even need mercy or grace.  Why would they follow Jesus?  They will do just fine on their own--they can live life with the Free Will that God has given them, and not worry about the law, or sin, or sacrifice.  Yet Jesus died for those people, too.  I don't mean to be talking in circles, but we seldom think through the entire history of God's interaction with Man, or why it was even necessary to send a sacrifice.  But as you think about Christmas, I would urge you to to think about the back-story, about why Jesus needed to come when He did, so that He could eventually sacrifice Himself for us.  Thinking about this makes me feel very, very small.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!  Who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has been His counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever! Amen.  --Romans 11: 33-36