Free Bird in a Cage

. . . vain is the salvation of man!
With God we shall do valiantly;
it is he who will tread down our foes.

- from Psalm 60:11-12

It is crucial, yet so difficult in a crisis, to remember to look to my only true hope! My dearest friend or most loving family member may be unable to release me from my limitations, but help is a heartbeat away. I'm free at a moment's notice to go straight to the source of immediate, life-changing power.

Today's reading was a great reminder to keep my eyes on Jesus when frustration sets in and I feel stuck in the muck. My prayer for you is that you will remember to call on God, "with whom we shall do valiantly." I pray you will see Him at work treading down your foes right before your very eyes.

God's way of helping is a sight to see, surprising and ironic. Today's New Testament section (Acts 28:16-31) is a prime example of the laugh-out-loud humor that happens when God decides to turn the tables. The apostle Paul was preaching the gospel from a protected position as a prisoner under Roman guard, just like a cartoon Tweety bird safely out of reach of a hungry cat.

Technically Paul was the one in the cage, but for all practical purposes the Jews were his captive audience, taunted like Sylvester, with their mouths watering, but powerless to pounce. Though they wished Paul dead, they had to listen to his arguments. They couldn't touch or harm him in any way while he awaited his day in court.

May the good news have free reign in your heart and in our mouth, even if you feel you are weighed down by chains of doubt and dilema. May the Holy Spirit empassion you and me to take in, and dispense, the truth of the Word day by day. May his joy lift your heart till you feel as light and happy as a certain little yellow-feathered friend!

STOP SIGNS and ROADBLOCKS

Paul and his group were stopped repeatedly, even though they were doing exactly what God told 'em to do. They were trying to share the good news, and must have wondered what in the world was going on when they were blocked at every turn. All the delays were necessary, though, to put Paul in the mood to see what God really had in mind:

And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia,
having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to
speak the word in Asia.
And when they had come up to Mysia,
they attempted to go into Bithynia,
but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.
So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night:
a man of Macedonia was standing there,
urging him and saying,
“Come over to Macedonia
and help us.”
- Acts 16:6-9

Forbidden to speak the word in Asia?! That seems pretty strange in light of the Great Commission. Obviously God didn't intend for the Gospel to be off-limits to the Asian people, to the people of Bithynia, or anybody else. One of the most basic tenets of the Christian faith is that the good news of Jesus is for EVERYONE.

At that particular moment, however, God had something specific in mind for Paul and his little Gospel road show. The Good News bus was stopped dead in its tracks, but not for long. On close inspection, what appeared to be senseless roadblocks were actually helpful STOP SIGNS, indications to look and listen for direction.

The next time you feel like you're doing nothing but spinning your wheels, I pray that you'll be blessed with the presence of mind to calmly pause and read the Spirit signs. When you encounter delays that just don't make sense as you're trying our best to follow the right road, don't take it personally. Remember that there's specific direction at those stop signs of life.

And though the Lord give you
the bread of adversity and the water of affliction . . .
your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
when you turn to the right
or when you turn to the left.
- Isaiah 30:20-21

WHAT HE DOES IS DONE INDEED!

Food for thought from yesterday's reading:

. . . If he tears down, none can rebuild;
if he shuts a man in, none can open.
If he withholds the waters, they dry up;
if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
With him are strength and sound wisdom;
the deceived and the deceiver are his.
- from Job 12:14-16

Wow, if I were Job, I don't know if I'd be talking like this! Job is a ruined man, even though he has done all the right things, and he's earned a pass to his own private, pity party. Yet here stand his words, preserved for all posterity. He asserts that God works with a sure hand, and that what God sets out to accomplish will be done.

How do you feel about Job's words? Do they reassure you, or do they disquiet you? I'm here to tell you (and to remind myself), that IF you have entrusted your life to God's will, and if you are trying to walk according to the plans he has for you, then these are words of encouragement and comfort - especially in hard times!

Even if you are in a time of uncertainty and distress, God is aware and in charge. We can learn a thing or two from Job, even as he sits on a heap of garbage and scratches his festering sores. He NEVER stops believing that God is in control. My situation has never been so extreme, but can I say the same?

When I get discouraged, I tend to doubt that God sees or cares about my situation. I forget to focus my attention on his sure hand, but instead I think of my own problems, and feel sorry for myself. The other day, when I was down in the dumps, I ran across the verse below, and here it is again in today's reading:

. . . “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him . . . ”
- from Acts 8:32-33

The words above are quoted from an old prophecy, and they don't refer to an ordinary guy like Job, but to the Lord Jesus himself, and his attitude when he suffered for no fault of his own. This is the model to follow: to open not our mouths to complain! When and if we are frustrated with life, let's remember Jesus, as well as Job. Let's insist upon trusting God. Remember this promise:

The LORD will
fulfill his purpose for me . . .
- from Psalm 138:8

FROM ESTHER TO ACTS

I'm amazed at the story of Esther.

In her time, the people of Persia came to respect the Jews because of the uncanny way God protected them from harm. Haman, a high official who instigated a plot to wipe out the entire Hebrew population, found his plan frustrated in the most ironic possible way when he was required to honor Mordecai, the one Jew he loathed more than any other.

Haman had prepared to annihilate Jews everywhere, but because he hated Mordecai most, he had a special punishment prepared for just for him. He had set up an executioner's gallows in his front yard with Mordecai's name on it. Before he could get rid of Mordecai, though, his plan began to unravel. The king ordered him to heap praises and honors upon his foe (read the story).

When Haman went home and complained to his wife, she couldn't help but notice the irony and poetic justice. Her response was prophetic when she said, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of the Jewish people, you will not overcome him but will surely fall before him.” - from Esther 6:13. How true, and how sure is God's power to save his people.

The New Testament section of the June 22 reading included Gamaliel's advice to the authorities not to outlaw the early Christians' efforts to spread the gospel message. He warned, “ . . . if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.” - from Acts 5:38-39. So true! God has an uncanny, poetic way of ensuring that his plans, both great and small, will come to pass.

For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the LORD, plans for welfare
and not for evil, to give you
a future and a hope.
- Jeremiah 29:11

PRAYING AT EVERY TURN

Ever feel opposition pressing in from all sides? You may not find yourself out in the desert wearing fatigues, but believe me, if you are pursuing God, your enemy is real; he's poised and ready, waiting for a chance to take you down (see more). I love the words of Nehemiah from today's reading, when he was pressed by enemies on all sides. He spoke not only to his own fears, but to all who were, like him, seeking to do what they should:

. . . “Do not be afraid of them.
Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome,
and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters,
your wives, and your homes.” - from Nehemiah 4:14

You may have noticed, as we began the book of Nehemiah in yesterday's reading, one prominent habit of this extraordinary leader. He PRAYED. When he heard about the terrible state of disrepair in his hometown of Jerusalem, he PRAYED. When the king (his boss) noticed his sadness and asked what was wrong, he PRAYED before he dared give an explanation.

When the king authorized him to go back to Jerusalem and see what was to be done, and his peers opposed him, said rude things, and did everything they could to make his job more difficult, he PRAYED. He prayed at every turn, and then he kept right on going with the work God had for him to do!

Nehemiah knew something very important: that it was God who would fight the big battles on his behalf. He may have learned this from the example of David, or from Hezekiah, or from countless others (like Esther and Job, whose life stories are coming up later this month). I hope we can learn to pray at every turn, to trust God, and stick to the work he has laid out for us to do! What an awesome example to follow!

Silly, Sad King Asa

Context is sobering at times. There's a sad story wrapped around the passage we love to quote from yesterday's reading:

" . . . the eyes of the Lord run to and fro
throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those
whose heart is blameless toward him . . ."
- from 2 Chronicles 16:9

How much I'm like silly, sad King Asa, who relied upon the Lord in the early years of his reign (because he had no choice!), only to abandon Him when his prospects improved. Asa was sadly outnumbered by his enemies at the beginning of his reign, and God delivered him big-time.

It is ironically improbable, and sad, and downright silly that thirty-five years later, when his resources allowed him to buy aid from a neighboring nation, King Asa decided it was a better bet to trust Syria than to continue to depend upon God for his safety and security.

Lord help me to learn from the context here, and to heed the sober warning not to exhaust myself in futility when all I need to do is turn to Him to keep me safe!

WHAT I WORSHIP

What do really I worship? What is special enough to look at, ponder, and study? On what do I focus my attention for long periods of time? May 16's reading talks about the people of God, and what happened to them when they lost their focus:

. . . They went after false idols and became false,
and they followed the nations that were around them,
concerning whom the Lord had commanded them
that they should not do like them. And they
abandoned all the commandments
of the Lord their God . . .
- from 2 Kings 17:15-16

In May 17's reading, I saw that even Christian symbols, the icons of my faith, can be twisted into idols. Hezekiah did the right thing when he "broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made." The Bible says that the symbol had been perverted, and that "until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan)." 2 Kings 18:4

The serpent on a pole was crafted at God's behest. People dying of snakebite were instructed to look at it, and as they did so they were healed (see Numbers 21:5-9). The thing served a good purpose, ordained by God. Yet as the years passed, people gave it undue honor, rather than remembering that it was God who used it to help and heal.

I may not be inclined to worship pagan idols, but perhaps there are things in my life that I need to examine for signs of idolatry. Is there anything I fear, honor, respect, or protect, at the expense of honoring God? I pray that my idols will be revealed to me, for I want to throw them down! I wish to honor and fear the living God, and acknowledge him as Hezekiah did:

. . . you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms
of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
Truly, O Lord . . . [the idols] were not gods, but the work
of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.
. . . O Lord [my] God, save [me], please . . . that all . . . may know
that you, O Lord, are God alone. - from 2 Kings 19:15-19

Let me not go after false idols and become false, as the people of long ago. Let me honor God, and serve him alone, so that others can know him, too. Will you agree with my prayer? "Lord save me, please, from idols. Help me to see you behind the symbols and icons of faith. Help me to strip away even the most beautiful coverings that hide who you are. Please be revealed in my life today."