breaking through “same old, same old” into new ground

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

We’re up against something that is either new, or maybe more likely something we’ve faced time and time again. And the experience of it has been nothing to write home about. Not good to say the least.

What if instead of accepting that kind of experience in the midst of trial, we determine right away to choose God’s will, specifically his promise given to us in Scripture? We do so by simply praying, looking to God in faith. We can’t expect our experience to change in an instant, but it will change.

And what can be underrated is the process itself. We are turning our face in a different direction entirely, away from the gloom and doom to God’s light. The effect of doing that will change us. And then we might be able to see some things that in the darkness we could not have possibly seen before. Persevering in endurance in that process, so that God might continue to grow us toward full maturity in and through Jesus.

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stripped down to the bare essentials

Never take your word of truth from my mouth,
for I have put my hope in your laws.

Psalm 119:43

There is nothing more inspiring to me than to be simply in God’s word, in Scripture. And in that learning to appreciate more and more the gospel of God in Jesus. Give me my coffee and a Bible, and I’m good to go. Of course I know we need more: basics such as food and shelter and really, the company of the redeemed. But I believe that all we need for this new life is given to us through God’s word and by the Spirit through Christ.

The older I get, the more simple I want to become as in embracing simplicity, not in being a simpleton of course. The rest of the pericope of the above passage of this great Psalm points toward more of the same in the life God has for us through Scripture in and through Jesus.

May your unfailing love come to me, Lord,
your salvation, according to your promise;
then I can answer anyone who taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
Never take your word of truth from my mouth,
for I have put my hope in your laws.
I will always obey your law,
for ever and ever.
I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.
I will speak of your statutes before kings
and will not be put to shame,
for I delight in your commands
because I love them.
I reach out for your commands, which I love,
that I may meditate on your decrees.

Psalm 119:41-48

 

what I would like to settle into, if only I knew how

No one can map out just what they’re going to be and do. We each have gifts, things we enjoy doing and can learn to do well in. All from God. In Christ’s body, there are different gifts given to each by the Spirit for the church. We need to discern what they are with the help of others. Listening carefully to what others say about what we do, as well as simply settling into what can do well is a good start.

For me at this late stage in life I know I enjoy writing. I actually enjoy sharing a message from Scripture on Sundays at the nursing home, as well. I find a propensity in myself to get off into areas which I would just as soon avoid. But I find that if one takes all of the Bible seriously, and our Lord’s teaching alone, there are places the church needs to go which are uncomfortable. Christ could not avoid controversy for sure, and it is a mistake to think that his followers can.

That said, I would like to aim for an increasingly quiet seeking of wisdom, along with a gentle sharing of such. Such wisdom is ideally steeped in the wisdom books of Scripture, but can’t be bereft of the input and impact of all the rest. And you can see such conviction within the wisdom literature itself. Wisdom simply defined is beginning to understand what is good and suitable for our lives and all of life, and adjusting our lives to that.

I would like to be a gentle seeker and sharer of wisdom. For all, and especially to help people find the wisdom of God in Jesus. I work at Our Daily Bread Ministries which has the goal of making the life-changing wisdom of the Bible clear and accessible to all. So I’m definitely influenced by that, and I find the same passion in the good church we’re a part of.

I would like to hone what gift I have to be more along this line. Gathered from decades in Scripture and life. With some successes and failures along the way. I would like to be under the discipline of wisdom all the more for my own life, so that in my limited way, I can share that by example and word with others. Of course this comes from interacting with God through Scripture and by the Spirit, in relationship with God and others. In and through Jesus.

Scripture readings on Sundays

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”

The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Acts 8:26-40

I’ve been sharing Scripture readings on Sundays, going through the book of 2 Corinthians according to the headings of the NIV Bible from which I quote. Before that for years I had shared the prayer for Sunday from the Book of Common Prayer. I still highly value that book and the tradition that goes with it. I love church tradition, and probably prefer something of it at least in every church service or gathering. Along with the Lord’s Table. But the Lord led us away from the Anglican church plant to find a church for our grandchildren, which now the family attends. And my wife and I are happy to be a part of it.

I have always been a Bible person, raised evangelical in the Mennonite tradition. And I work for an evangelical ministry, Our Daily Bread Ministries. So Scripture is in my bones. I recently switched to sharing Scripture on Sundays. The Book of Common Prayer includes Scripture readings, but within the wisdom of that tradition drawing as well from the Great Tradition which has been at it for centuries. I have a profound respect for all of that. For a person to have Scripture, as we see in the above passage is indeed good, a good start. But by itself it’s not enough. With Scripture is the Spirit and the church, those sent to proclaim as well as witness to the good news of Christ.

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Revelation 22:16-17

So tomorrow I plan to continue with Scripture readings beginning the gospel according to Mark. Hopefully anyone not understanding will benefit with posts during the week, and from other sources. I’m just one voice, a witness. We need to look to Scripture and the Spirit along with the church for God’s help in understanding, so that by faith we may enter into the salvation and kingdom of God in and through Jesus.

glimmers of light in our darkness

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-14

Ecclesiastes is a remarkable book and makes a remarkable contribution in the Book. But much of it is hard to really get hold of, and it’s interesting how Bible scholars interpret it differently. It seems to me to speak much truth in the midst of mystery, in the struggle to understand life. It is a reflective and pessimistic view of life, considering human toil and the actual result: how everything comes and goes over and over again.

The idea of God placing eternity, or a sense of the present and future (NRSV), or even darkness as in ignorance (NET; NIV footnote) in the human heart, that humans can’t understand what God is up to. That leaves us hanging a bit, but either way life ends up being a mystery. Either darkness, or with a sense of much more, yet not being able to come up with what that is on our own. Ecclesiastes to me seems to echo that last thought, frustration over the seeming randomness and senselessness, indeed meaninglessness of life. But with glimmers of light here and there, even as seen in the above passage. Even the idea that God has placed darkness as in ignorance in the human heart is itself a revelation, and therefore oddly enough, a light.

We have revelation and a sense of so much more, and yet we walk around in darkness. A part of our lives now. Which should help us reach out all the more, maybe even grope, but push and pull all the harder to look to God to live faithfully in his will in and through Jesus.

 

 

 

continue on in scripture

I write everyday except for Sundays when I share a scripture passage, and usually something or another comes off pretty easily from what I’ve been meditating on, or through the experience of life. Today for some reason given the cold, and feeling a bit cold inside, I am struggling to come up with anything. Of course there’s no end to what we can write on from scripture. But I write quite a bit out of being a witness of what I’ve experienced, or better yet, how the Lord is teaching me through life.

We can always safely go back to one theme when we’re at a loss. We just continue on in scripture, and keep at that. Plod along. If one is looking for excitement and entertainment, then you won’t go there, you won’t do what I’m suggesting. But if you’re willing to push through that boredom, you’ll eventually find treasure. You’ll begin to find the riches from God that are in Christ, and found in scripture. For life in the present, as well as to come. In and through Jesus.

the challenge and reward of trusting God

It’s a lifelong challenge, but there’s ever present, and pressing at times, the need to trust in God. Or we may not see that possibility, and think it all depends on us. Left to ourselves, we might actually do well. Though if we would only realize that our very existence, as well as what we can do is all a gift from God. But God wants to give us special help, if only we’ll look to him. In fact, God will let us fail, because we actually do need him.

I like to have a scripture passage on my post, or at least refer to scripture passages, but this is all over scripture. Open your Bibles most anywhere, and start to read, and it won’t take long to see something of this. Though of course scripture covers the entire gamut of life. But faith and trust in God is so central to what we need to do as human beings.

It’s also a lifelong opportunity. Instead of worrying ourselves sick, or trying to figure things out ourselves, we do well to turn to God, and to the counsel of scripture. Proverbs (see, I couldn’t resist mentioning some specific scripture) is full of practical, down to earth wisdom throughout. And we really need all of scripture. But that alone won’t do it. We also need to look to God as we’re in scripture, in God’s word and prayer. God will help us. In and through Jesus.