Run the Race

 

It is a major theme in books and movies. Just as all seems lost, things come together and the day is saved. The hero tries one more time and succeeds. Help arrives just in the nick of time. A convoluted plot twist comes together and foil the antagonist’s plans. It’s the proverbial “happy ending”. It’s what we rally desire. It’s also Biblical. I’m also one of those people that like to look ahead and see if the hero makes it. I’ve read the ending of our struggles; we win! Or better said, we are on the winning team. One of the reasons I generally dislike the horror/thriller movie genre is that often no one wins, and the bad guy usually gets away.

The Apostle Paul said, For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NIV)

When running a race, the most vulnerable areas are the beginning and the end. Think of a marathon. Now let’s be honest. Although I have coached middle school track and run the mile, I have never (nor do I ever plan to) run a marathon. I have had many friends who have, and they describe it as a battle.
The start is where you prepare everything, warm up, and then set your pace. Set it wrong and you will either not run fast enough or wear out too soon. It is said that most runners start too fast.
The middle is where you find your second wind. You glide along and hit your stride. It can be a time of almost automation like running on automatic.
As you approach the finish, fatigue, thirst, discomfort, and a desire to give up kick in and the attack really begins.
So how does this relate to the Christian life? Whenever you are busy in Kingdom work. It is the beginning and end where you are most vulnerable. Many fail to get started because of early discouragement. I have seen others stop just short of the finish line because they didn’t know where they were at. Is Satan attacking you? You may be about to embark on something great. Are you having to resist the fiery darts of the wicked one? You may be closer to the finish than you thought. Don’t quit! Never give up! God will see you through.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9 NIV

Proverbs or Promise?

 

Recently I was in a discussion on whether the book of Proverbs was a book of promises, or just good suggestions. The verse, Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it always comes to mind. And although there are merits to both sides, I sometimes think we still come up deficient as to the answer. It is put in the Bible as scripture, and All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16) so we should be able to claim the promise. Then there is the argument: “They did everything they could and still their child turned away. He/she must have just been a bad seed.”

Now I am not a Hebrew scholar, nor the son of a scholar, but I find that there are still two mitigating circumstances: Faith, and the actual meaning of Training.

We in Western Christianity seem to think that we have all the answers for the world. “As America goes, so goes Christianity.” Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact in some scenarios, Christianity might do better without us. We don’t often see God do many mighty works because we don’t need anything. There are very few Christians, at least from my vantage point, who have worn out the floor with fervent prayer. Our families are disconnected; our children roam aimlessly through the morass that is social media.

 Jesus said, … Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8

Where is out faith? We trust in our paychecks, our reputation, the fact that we went to church on Sunday. Yet do we trust God for what we need? Or is it really the fact that we don’t need anything. I seems that most prayer is more about health, or illnesses (or maybe problems that are our own faults) than anything else. Are we claiming the promises of God that HE will provide instead of trusting our own efforts? Every time one of the Patriarchs ran off the rails it was when they thought they could do it themselves. Yes, it’s human nature; no, it’s not faith.

Training and Teaching have become muddled up also. When I think back over my children, I probably did less training than I would have liked. Webster’s defines training as the act, process, or method of one that trains. The key words are process & method. Training is active. It is demonstrative. It is repetitious. It takes active participation. It is not a set of rules. It is not necessarily discipline. It is mom/dad getting off the couch and showing how to act or do. I would like to think I did a decent job training my children. I know I taught them. But as I reflect on their upbringing, there were many times that I defaulted to teaching instead of activity training. “Do as I say, not as I do” will never count as training.

By all means, teach, but train if you can. “Preach the Gospel, if necessary use words” has been attributed to Mother Theresa. Please understand, I am not advocating only “lifestyle evangelism”. But actions do speak louder than words…

HWJD (How Would Jesus Drive)

 

One thing that I have been pondering in the last few months is the inconsistency of obedience to God among those that name the name of Christ. There used to be a joke in Bible College that “everyone has their one thing”. They called it living life 5 miles an hour over the speed limit. 

The way I drive is one area that I have realized I needed to work on. Now, I’m not a bad driver. I have, so far, never received a moving violation. That is not to say there haven’t been times I deserved one, but the record still stands. My issue is with the little things like not signaling consistently, or not keeping close tabs on speed limits. I do not usually intentionally break the law, but I am not intentional in keeping it either. Still, it has always amazed me how that many famous preachers & evangelists can be so strict about obedience in the Christian life and yet they were/are awful drivers. So my mind, circling around as it often does, brought me to the question, “How would Jesus Drive?”

Without making this a legalistic thing, let’s look the question of How Jesus would drive. Sure, Jesus did not have access to cars, but let’s go there anyway.

I’m convinced that Jesus would follow the laws of the land. Yes, He is God so it might seem easy for Him to do it right, but I believe the answer lies in His character.

·         Jesus would plan ahead so he wouldn’t be late and have to speed.

·         Jesus would exercise patience instead of cutting others off.

·         Jesus would extend courtesy to others (move out of the lane to let others pass, give the Right of Way).

·         Jesus would actually stop at stop signs. (No California stops for Him!)

·         Jesus would remember that God always makes a way of escape for temptation.

·         Jesus would always be gracious in His speech (no road rage)

·         Jesus would always take the high road if he dinged or dented someone’s vehicle.

·         Jesus would park in a manner that is fair and equitable to others.

·         Jesus would go to the next exit instead of crossing 4 lanes at once because He wasn’t paying attention.

·         Jesus would not get His identity from His car. (He would even be ok driving my 98 Toyota. My son calls it a scraper… LOL)

·         Jesus would wear His seat belt and smile at you until you buckled yours.

·         Jesus would never ride someone’s bumper to get them to speed up or get out of the way.

·         Jesus would speak kindly, even to that guy.

Jesus would probably not be a popular driver, but He would be the safest, kindest, driver on the road. He would drive perfectly because He is God, but also as a human, because it is the right thing to do.

Yes, Jesus could take the wheel, but really, I think He would rather see you do the driving, just more like Him.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

1 Corinthians 10:33 NIV

The Voices in My Head

 

I quit. I give up trying to bring home fried potatoes. I guess I owe you some back story on that one. I have mentioned before that my wife and I volunteer at a ministry that helps the struggling and homeless. Our cook there is known for her seasoned, roasted potato wedges. They are fantastic! Since I often have an egg burrito for breakfast, they make a wonderful fill addition in them. Sometimes we have left overs. When that happens, she hands out containers to whoever would like some. I have tried to take some with me at least 5 times. They have only made it all the way home once. I blame it on the voices in my head. No, I really don’t hear voices in my head (that would be disturbing indeed!). But God often subtly communicates with me as I go about my day. Several times He has prompted me to give them away. It also happens on the way out of Olive Garden when I get one of the take home meals. My wife seems to think it’s hilarious.

One evening on the way home I saw a young man standing by the traffic light. He had the all too familiar handwritten sign of “Hungry, Anything helps”. This is where God nudges me and says,

“Help him.”

“But I’m in the wrong lane and the light changed.”

“Turn in to this parking lot.”

“Hey that’s a long walk all the way up to the light.”

“Seriously, you know you need the exercise. Didn’t you just tell your wife you wanted to start walking again?”

So I walked up the sidewalk and waited for the light to change so I could cross the street. I approached the young man. "This may sound crazy, but God said to bring you these” I said reluctantly. (Hey, if you had tasted these potatoes, you would hesitate too!) “Thanks! These look just like my mom used to make!”, he exclaimed. There was no question he was hungry. He started eating them as quickly as he could. After another “Thank You!” and a prayer together, I made my way down the hill to my car. I was potato-less, but all I could think was, “Well played God, well played.” It was all good. He needed them much more than I did. I hope I never get over the “voices in my head”.

 

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you,

saying,  “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:20-22 NIV

Turn Here…

(This is a rewrite from a previous post)

Several years ago, I added an app to my phone called Survey Mini. It tracks where you go (not for those paranoid of Big Brother) and asks you to do a survey of the product or service you encountered. You earn points, and in turn, can redeem them for gift cards. I normally get Burger King gift cards so I will always have a spare Whopper in my wallet. It’s funny how God can remind you of the card.
Coming home from work one evening, I see a young couple with a sign asking for food. Aw, I don’t have any cash, oh well. Then God tickles your mind. “You have a card.” But I’m already past them. “You know you can easily turn around. Turn Here.” But there probably isn’t a Burger King close to them. “Remember the poor. Turn Here.” But there probably isn’t a Burger King close to them. Reluctantly I turn, and then turn again. Of course, I turned into a Burger King parking lot. At this point I’m laughing at God’s planning and can hardly speak. I hand the card to a very pregnant young woman, say something like “I hope this will help”, and pull back onto the street from the Burger King parking lot that was right behind where they were standing. At the stop sign, I see her run excitedly to her young husband, waving the card. He nods, and she skips into the Burger King. Well played, Heavenly Father. God never disappoints me. I’m glad I listened. I plan to do that more often. So now I earn points so that I can give it away. Because, as I look at my waist, I’m sure there are others who need that Whopper more than I do…