Flight Paths

In Matt 18, Jesus says “So also shall my heavenly Father do unto you if you forgive not”

The “so also” means in exactly this way.

So now go look at the comparison. The king forgave the servant who owed a large debt (vs27). Then when that servant was unforgiving toward another servant over a small debt, the king reminded him “I forgave you…should you not have forgiven.” (32) Then the king delivered him to the tormenters TILL HE SHOULD PAY ALL THAT WAS DUE.” (34). In other words, the king unforgave the debt!

“So also shall your heavenly Father do to you if you forgive not.” How do you read it --

 Can God Unforgive sins? Does he??  

Keith Ward

Let me set you straight about a few things today—things I did not know either.  First, the musical Grease did not debut on Broadway as you might think.  No, the musical first saw light of day—or actually night—on February 5, 1971, in Chicago.  It opened in a converted trolley barn on Lincoln Avenue for what was supposed to be two weekends and wound up being eight months.  After a little gussying up, it finally debuted on Broadway on June 7, 1972, and became for the time, the longest running musical in history (replaced by A Chorus Line).  And not only that, neither version of the stage play included the song, "Hopelessly Devoted."

             It was popular in 1978 and I still remember it after nearly 40 years.  Sung by Olivia Newton-John, it was added to the film version, even though the producers were not crazy about it.  Eventually it won a Grammy and was nominated for a Best Song Oscar:  “Hopelessly Devoted to You.”

              I wonder what all those starry-eyed, romantically inclined teenagers would think if they knew what God meant when He wanted you to “devote” something to Him.

              Behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the LORD, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. Jer 25:9

              Jerusalem was to be “devoted” and that meant “destroyed.”  And no, it’s not a onetime use of the word.

              But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it.   Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.  And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Josh 6:18, 21, 24

              Jericho was “devoted” to God by fire.  It was totally destroyed.  When Achan “took of the devoted thing” he was stealing from God.

              So here’s the question for today.  How do I devote myself to God?

              We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Rom 6:6

              I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Gal 2:20

              And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

              The cross you bear is not some illness or disability or trial you go through.  Most of those things just happen to us whether we choose them or not.  Jesus is talking about something you do voluntarily, and everyone knew that if you saw a man carrying a cross he was on his way to his death.  Jesus says you kill that old man, crucify him, daily.  Then and only then can you be “hopelessly devoted” to him.
 
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Col 3:5-10
 
Dene Ward

It may be South Carolina's state flower, but we sure have a lot of it in North Florida.  I had seen those bountiful yellow blooms for years every winter so when we decided to make a large vine trellis, I wanted those, along with Confederate Jasmine, and Purple Painted Trumpets.  We have blooms now from January through June.
 
             But the jessamine also grows wild across the fence and down in the wooded section of the property along the drive.  Cascades of sweet-smelling yellow trumpet flowers hanging from tree limbs, crawling over brush, and dripping over fence lines dot our place with color for weeks.  Even if I have not noticed them yet, high in the treetops, as I walk Chloe around the path I always know when to look up.  Those yellow flowers fall and litter the ground below, still bright yellow, still fresh and unwilted.  You can always tell where they are, or, after the blooming stops, where they have been.  Isn't that the way it should be with a follower of Christ?

              I have read from several different sources, that Christians in the first century always gave themselves away.  No one else was kind to strangers.  No one else took care of the sick and needy.  No one else treated their enemies with thoughtfulness and consideration, even when it cost them their lives.

              We may not be in such dire straits—yet—but how many of the people you come in contact with during the day would shake their heads in amazement at the kindness you showed them—a perfect stranger, perhaps even a stranger who had caused them some trouble?  If they had to give a description of you for some reason, what would they say?  How many people would consider themselves better off for having known you?  How many would say, "My world is a better place for you having been in it?"

              Like the jessamine, people should be able to look around on the ground and know we have been somewhere nearby.  The ground should be covered with the aftereffects of our good works, as bright as those yellow blossoms, as obvious to everyone who passes by.
 
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.  The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of sense.​The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.  Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.​  What the wicked dreads will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous will be granted.  When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever. Prov 10:20-25
 
Dene Ward

We have a secret for lighting fires in a flash, no pun intended.  It's fat lighter.  It actually isn't much of a secret if you were born in the country or do a lot of camping.  Also known as fatwood, lighter wood, lighter knot, pitch pine etc., it is a resin-rich piece of wood that lights as well, or better, than paper.  Remember all those torches people carry in the old, black and white movies?  That's a piece of fat lighter.

              Whenever a conifer is injured, the resin in it, rushes to the injury site to seal the wound.  That section of the tree then becomes resin-rich.  When the tree is cut up, you will see the difference in the wood, a shiny reddish hue, and you will smell it instantly.  Though there are no chemicals or petroleum in it, that is exactly how it smells.  The resin usually concentrates in the knots and in the base of the tree.  If it is cut down or felled by storm or disease, the remaining stump will usually be full of resin. 

              Living in the piney woods of North Florida, we have an almost endless supply of fat lighter.  Besides what we find on our own property, a neighbor always saves the stumps for us when he clears land.  We can start a fire with a match and a sliver of fat lighter in about 10 seconds, assuming we have the twigs and logs to lay on top ready at hand.  We have at least a ten year supply right now, despite using it profligately just so we can sit by a fire on cool mornings or evenings.  I priced it on Amazon and found 10lbs for $30 plus shipping.  We could finance a year or two of our retirement with the fat lighter lying on our property.

              But not all fat lighter is created equal.  Some is richer (fatter) than others, which became quite apparent a few mornings ago as we sat there shivering in our pjs waiting for the fire to get going. 

               Keith actually used two small pieces.  The first lit immediately with a strong bright blaze.  He set it in the ashes and reached for the second.  It would not light quickly, but took most of a whole match to finally start.  Even then it was a meager flame.  A little exasperated, he lay it next to the first piece and it suddenly shone much brighter.  After a few seconds, he tried to move it away and it immediately began sputtering and smoking, but put it back by the richer piece and it once again burned brightly.  At that point he simply began adding twigs, then limbs, then larger logs.  It had been about five minutes and he moved that second piece of lighter back to the other side of the fire.  Then and only then did the flame keep going and actually start the fire on that end.  As I said, some pieces are richer in resin than others.

               If Jesus were to walk the North Florida woods, he would probably tell a parable about far lighter, and the point might be this.  Some of us are richer in resin than others.  Some of us can burn brightly even when we stand alone.  But others of us need a little help.  Maybe we are followers instead of leaders.  Maybe we are more timid.  Whatever the reason, we do just fine when we are surrounded by our brethren, but when all that support leaves us, we sputter and smoke and maybe the flame goes out completely.

              We must each examine ourselves to know what we are made of.  If you cannot see, and admit, that you might not be as rich in resin as others, you will inevitably put yourself into a position that leaves you weak and alone and unable to shine the light for the Lord.  It takes an awful lot of resin to stand alone day after day after day, especially when you face trials in your life.  Some people have it, but it is no shame to recognize when you do not.  What is a shame is to put your soul in danger.  Maybe someday after you have stood with a strong group for a long while, watching how they do it, learning and growing, you will finally be able to keep the fire going on your own.  In fact, that is probably the case.  God expects, and allows for, growth.

               And if you are good and "fat," then look out for the ones who are not.  Don't leave them sputtering alone in the dark.  Shine the light to show them how.  Stand as close as you need to help that flame get going on its own.  A piece of fat lighter, no matter how rich, is no good to anyone if it doesn't start a fire.
 
Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, Phil 2:14-15
 
Dene Ward

Have you noticed that no one can speak two sentences without taking the name of the Lord in vain?  Even children are uttering a phrase that once was never spoken in polite company, that men begged a lady’s pardon for saying, that television censors bleeped.  When you have an abbreviation for it, it has become entirely too common.  I have a friend who wants to make tee shirts with “omg” under the universal “not allowed” sign of a circle with a slash.  But that three word monstrosity is just the first, and most obvious way to take God’s name in vain.

              Recently, while I was doing some research, I came across a website called Judaism 101.  At the top, the following phrase caught my eye:  Please note that this page contains the name of God.  If you print it out, please treat it with appropriate respect.

              Oh, how we need this lesson today, and I don’t just mean the heathen out there in the world.

              The name of God stands for far more than just what to call Him.  It stands for His essence and nature.  It represents His history and reputation.  And I will sanctify my great Name which has been profaned among the nations, Ezek 36:23.  How would you feel if your “good name,” as we speak of this concept, were thrown around carelessly, used in sarcastic movie or book titles, or joked about?  Yet it goes much farther than that.

              In Judaism, any act that causes God to come into disrespect or a commandment to be broken is often referred to as profaning the name of God.  This makes sense when you realize that any good deed we do is spoken of as “sanctifying” or “glorifying” his name.  Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven, Matt 5:16.  One is just the opposite of the other, and there you have the second way to profane the Name of God—disobey or cause someone else to disobey Him.

              Number three hits a little closer to home.  The Name of God stands for His Authority.  Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the Name of the Lord, Col 3:17.  If a policeman yells out, “Stop in the name of the law,” he is telling you that the law of the land gives him the authority to stop you, and you had better do it or pay the consequences.  Too many of my brethren are out there pooh-poohing God’s Authority these days, as if “authority” were a bad word.  When you act without God’s authority, you are profaning His Name as surely as if you spoke it in vain.  You have no respect for that Authority, nor, thus, for His Name.

              The website I mentioned listed several things that orthodox Jews will and will not do in reference to the Name of God.  Some of them seem awfully, well, "Pharisaic" comes to mind.  But at least they have the right idea, while we bandy about The Name of God as if it were just any other word, then profane it with careless, or even scornful attitudes, disobey His commands because they don’t suit us, and rationalize our way out of a life of sacrificial service because it’s “too hard” and “makes me feel like a failure.”  Disrespecting the authority of God is one and the same as profaning His Name, and conservative fundamentalists take part in it every day.  Number three is the scary one because it is so easy to fall into and still think you are just fine because you are so prone to shout Amen and Hallelujah.

              God is Holy.  His Name is Holy.  His essence is Holiness.  Anything I say or do that detracts from that Holiness profanes His Name.  It can be a careless phrase.  It can be downright disobedience.  It can be deciding for God what He will and won’t mind.  Meditate on that awhile.  Stand in awe of a God whose Name is so powerful it created the worlds, and be just a little scared of how you treat it.
 
There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever. Psalms 86:8-12
 
Dene Ward      

On perspective:
"All of us interpret our encounters in life through a mental perspective colored by our own preconceptions; it is important that these preconceptions be constantly corrected by the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the testimony of his works…Begin with a false premise, and with all the right facts and correct logic, we can still come to a wrong conclusion for all the right reasons!  God wants to correct and lift our spiritual vision so that we can see all life his way."  W. E. Pratney, The Nature and Character of God.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2Cor 4:16-18)

One afternoon many years ago we stopped at an Olive Garden restaurant for a late lunch.  It was about 2:30, and it would be our only meal of the day. The place was nearly empty, so we were seated at a nice table and an eager young waitress, her order pad and pen held at the ready, came to serve us.

              “We’ll start with bruschetta,” I said. 

              “Huh?  Oh!  You mean brush-etta.”

              No, I thought.  I meant what I said, “Brrroo-skeht-ta.”

              Now, you must understand that I had been teaching Italian aria and art song for a couple dozen years at that time.  My students regularly stood before judges who marked them down on mispronounced Italian, so I had studied everything I could, constantly referencing an Italian pronunciation guide, and checking with other teachers who had sung opera.  I knew exactly how to pronounce “bruschetta.”

              I had learned some lessons the hard way.  I remember one especially embarrassing and painful occasion at state contest.  I don’t recall the exact word, but somewhere in it was the letter sequence “g-i-a.”  I had the student pronounce that as two syllables:  “jee-ah.” 

              “That’s not quite right,” the judge said, as nicely as she could.  The i turns the g into a j.  After that, it has done its work, and is not pronounced.  The syllable is simply “jah,” not “jee-ah.”

              Since we’re into Italian food at this point, let me illustrate it this way:  parmagiana reggiano cheese is pronounced “par-ma-jah-nah reh-jah-no,” NOT “par-ma-jee-ah-nah reh-jee-ah-no,” and that chef named “Giada” is “Jah-da,”  NOT “Jee-ah-dah.”  Pay attention sometime when she says her name herself. 

              Now here is my point:  who should I listen to about how to pronounce Italian—a college student moonlighting at a chain restaurant or the voice judge, a woman who has sung on the operatic stage many years longer than that waitress has been alive, singing Italian for hours at a time, and who can even translate it?

              How do you choose whom to listen to?  Who gets your vote for the one to take advice from?  Is it someone your own age who has as little experience as you do?  Is it perhaps someone older, but whose only qualification in your mind is that s/he is “fun” and “cool,” and a whole lot more so than the other old fuddy-duddies?  Is it someone who gives you the answers you want, who makes everything easy, even things that are not and should not be easy? Is it someone who makes you laugh?  Is it someone who speaks in “bumper sticker?”  Or is it someone who has experienced the ups and downs of life and come through it sane and faithful, someone who may not be able to keep an audience’s attention but can tell you from a heart of concern exactly what you need to hear—whether or not it’s what you want to hear?  Most important of all—is it someone who knows the Word of God inside out and has stuck with it even when it made his own life difficult, who tells you what God says, not what he thinks or feels?

              Mispronouncing Italian is no big deal in most of our lives, but mispronouncing the Word of God can cost you your soul.
 
Listen to advice and accept instruction that you may be wise in your latter end, Prov 19:20.
 
Dene Ward

Part 2 in a continuing series by guest writer Keith Ward, appearing on the final Monday of the month.  For Part 1, scroll down to December 31, 2018.
 
I have always known these principles: I memorized Ephesians for Homer Hailey's "Scheme of Redemption" class; I took Roland Lewis's "Home and Family" class; I preached sermons; I wrote the goals and objectives for the men when our church divided the men and women for family classes; with Dene's assistance, I taught marriage and parenting classes to both the High School and College age classes. So, WHY did I find myself riding my bicycle 13 miles home from work as slowly as possible because I did not know what to say or do about a situation between us?  I did not even know for sure whose fault it was or how to proceed to find out without creating a bigger problem.  Well, I did manage that, I was so late she worried and came looking for me. So, "Knowledge puffs up."  And, the answers are not always easy and there is a learning curve on applying what you know.

It might help us to note that God never said to the husbands that they are the head.  He said that to the wives.  It seems like a small distinction but the difference it creates in perspective has caused chasms in relationships for hundreds of years.  In fact, that small difference often leads to a domineering attitude in husbands that is foreign to the context of "subjecting [our]selves one to another," and especially to the first command to husbands, "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it."

To understand our role as husbands, we men must consider that Christ was head, though he only gave—gave himself up over and over again.  And he did so without complaint or resentment.  First, he gave up his place with and equal with God to become a man.  A fact we treat as a theological argument rather than the tremendous yielding (emptying self) that it was (Phil 2:5-7).  The creator became a creature.  Next, he walked through a world of sin.  Sometimes city people cannot stand the sights and smells of real farm life.  Anyone who has gathered eggs knows they do not come as clean as they do in the grocery store carton.  Imagine the disgust an absolutely holy being would have toward rebellious, self-destructive sin.  And, he walked among and had compassion toward these sinners.  Last, he died and in dying became sin on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21).  At no point did or does this one who is "far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named" in his role as head of the church coerce anyone to do anything (Eph 1:21).  He
wooed his people to him by giving himself up.

When men discuss this, they end the matter with, "I would be willing to die for my wife. Next verse, brother ________."  Whoa!  Back up just a bit—Is dying all that Jesus did for us? 

The Word gave up who he was and became someone else, Jesus, for his bride.   Unscripturally, many men not only do not change when they become husbands, they see no need to change.  Jesus' example leaves no wiggle room at all for the husband about his willingness to change for his wife.  And, remember, Jesus did it before his bride subjected herself and as a motive to lead her to do so.  "That's just not who I am and she knew that when she married me," is not a valid excuse.  A man determined to belong to God must consider the changes he needs to make to be the head of his wife.  Not only may different women have different needs, but the same woman will have changing needs as life progresses.  That means the husband imitating Christ cannot stay the same either.  "But what about my rights as head?"  Go consider: What about Jesus' rights? No man ever had more power than Jesus. Yet, he never used any of it to get his way about anything. Even so ought husbands to act toward their wives.

Since "head" is the way the wife is commanded to treat him and not a license for the husband to boss, he should give himself up by working to develop mutual decisions and plans. He must show consideration for her ideas and her desires by listening to her as equal partners in your life before God. In fact, imitating Christ may require him to give up his desires, his way for hers.

A man may cling to his rights and privileges.  A husband may give up his hobbies, his plans, his buddies, his dreams to demonstrate his love for his bride.  He must not wait until she asks or cries about his neglect; he must wisely consider and use his power to act on her behalf by yielding. When she sees that he loves her so, she will submit joyfully and change into the help suitable for him so that they two become one in heart.

Elkanah gave up his right to overturn Hannah's vow, gave up his son, gave up a bull for a sacrifice (1Sam 1; Num 30:12).  God says that "the husband has not power over his own body, but the wife" (1Cor 7:4).  If a husband cannot be boss over his own body, why would he be boss over his time?  His preferences?  His habits?  His only goal as God's man is to give himself up with purpose to shape her into God's woman.

Approximately half the population is men; many are married, few are husbands.  Are you even on the journey to becoming one?
 
Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. (1Pet 2:18). 

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, (1Pet 3:1).

You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. (1Pet 3:7).
 
Keith Ward

Winter in North Florida brings a mixed bag.  We have warm temperatures, cool temperatures, and downright frigid temperatures.  We have dry fronts and wet fronts.  We have rain, sleet, flurries, and even enough snow to stick for a day—once every twenty or thirty years. One year we had a winter storm with 100 mph winds, several inches of rain, a freeze, and power outages for a couple of days.  All in Florida, "The Sunshine State." 

In the past two weeks we have had flood watches, wind advisories, and both frost and freeze warnings.  In the country we watch those things more than the city folks do.  Most of us have a fall/winter garden that might need covering, a well that needs to stay warm enough to run, and hoses and pipes "in the open."  And power is iffy, even on the sunniest of days.  All it takes is some lineman to sneeze for us to lose it for a few hours.  So we keep up with those advisories.

We will do that for this physical, temporal world.  Will we keep up with advisories for our souls?  The scriptures warn us again and again that the Devil is out there like a lion "seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).  He has tricks up his sleeve (2 Cor 2:11).  He sends out his own helpers disguised as "ministers of righteousness" (2 Cor 11:15).

We are told again and again, "Be sober," "Be watchful," "Be alert," "Be on guard,"  "Be vigilant."  How many times do we ignore those sin advisories and just let the Devil waltz on into our lives unchallenged?

A lot of people in Florida have tried to ignore hurricane warnings, treating them like a big joke.  Many of them have learned better the hard way.  Are we doing the same thing with our souls?
 
Give no opportunity to the Devil. Eph 4:27
 
Dene Ward

You will find dates from 1793 to 1796 for its opening, but evidently this one is on record and cannot be denied.  The property for the City Hotel in New York City was bought on January 24, 1793.  It was the first building built to be a hotel in America.  At 73 rooms it was huge for the time, but then New York City already boasted a population of 30,000.  It was also the first building in the city with a slate roof.  Hotels have come a long way—some of them anyway.

                About fifteen years ago, a music teacher friend and I attended a state level vocal competition in a small Florida town.  She was the state treasurer, the one who handed out checks to judges and scholarship winners.  I was the accompanist for two of the entrants.  When we tried to make our reservations, the one hotel in town, an old Southern relic complete with ceiling fans and rockers on a wood-planked front porch, was booked solid and had been for months.  Our only choice was the motel up by the interstate.  We did not expect much, given the name on the sign and the price, so we weren’t surprised when we quickly stopped by to deposit our bags and saw the size of the room in the gloom.  We had no time to inspect the premises or even turn on a light or open the shades.  We just dumped our bags and drove on to the competition.
 
             When we returned about ten o’clock that night, we almost left our things and fled, but there was no place to run to.  The parking lot had been empty at 5 pm, but now it was full of souped-up, high rise, four wheel drive pickups, their fenders caked with streaks of mud and their windows with dust.  Evidently their owners also found their rooms cramped, because it seemed like all of them were standing outside, laughing uproariously at one another’s jokes and adding to their flannel-clad beer bellies by the six pack, several of which they tossed around. 

              We actually had to pull in between two of those trucks, and all talking ceased as we left our car.  I have never been so thrilled with my regular accompanist’s attire—a plain, black, mid-calf dress with a high neck and long sleeves.  My friend wore a dressy business suit, and we were both on the wrong side of forty, so they let us pass without a word.  When we got inside, we locked the door, put a chair under the knob, and pinned those still closed draperies overlapped and shut. 

              Then we saw our room in the light for the first time.  You could barely get between the outside edge of each bed and its neighboring wall.  The rod for our hanging clothes was loose on one end, and couldn’t support the weight of even my one dress, much less it and her suit.  The soap was half the size of the usual motel sliver, and the bath towels more like hand towels.  The pipes rattled, the tub sported a rust streak the color and width of a lock of Lucy’s hair, and the carpet had so many stains it looked like a planned pattern.

              After we managed to shower in the tepid, anemic stream of water, we pulled down the sheets and my friend moaned, “Oh no.”  With some trepidation I approached her bed in my nightgown and heels—neither of us wanted to go barefoot and they were all I had—and there lying on her pillow was a long black hair.  Her hair was short and very blond, she being a Minnesotan by birth with a strong streak of Norse in her veins.  “Please tell me the maid lost this hair when she was putting on clean—very clean—sheets.”

              “Okay,” I muttered.  “The maid lost that hair when she was putting on clean—ultra clean and highly bleached—sheets.”

              When we got to bed, it wasn’t to sleep.  Not with the noise going on in the parking lot just outside our door or in the neighboring rooms.  The walls seemed as thin as tent walls.  We rose in the morning bleary-eyed and ready to leave as quickly as possible.  This place offered no “free breakfast” and we would not have eaten it if it had.  We promised one another that if we ever had to come back and couldn’t get a room in town, we would stay anywhere else, even if it meant a fifty mile drive, one way. 

              It was a horrible experience, but some of us offer one just like it to the Lord.

              For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, Eph 3:14-17.

              According to Paul, it takes effort to allow Christ to dwell in our hearts, enough that he prayed for them to have the strength to allow it.  Are you allowing it?  And if you are, what sort of accommodations are you offering him? 

              Making a welcoming environment for him may not happen overnight, especially if we are dealing with deep-seated habits or even addictions of one sort or another.  He understands that, but we must constantly be adjusting our behavior to suit him, not ourselves, putting his desires ahead of our own, becoming, in fact, a completely different person altogether.  Wherefore if any man is in Christ, [he is] a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new, 2 Cor 5:17.

              But this isn’t just a problem for new Christians.  I have seen older Christians act as if Christ is nowhere nearby, much less dwelling in their hearts.  Their language, their fits of pique, their dress, their choice of entertainment, and the complete lack of spiritual nourishment they partake of starved him and ran him off a long time ago, and they don’t even seem to realize it.  What?  Do you really think he will stay in a flophouse instead of the four star hotel you should have offered him?

              What it all boils down to is a failure to live like we have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me, Gal 2:20.  Did you see that?  Allowing him to dwell in you (Eph 3:17) and living a new crucified life both happen “by faith.”  Even if you have been claiming to be a Christian for decades, if you are not living up to it, you do not have the faith required.  It doesn’t matter how many times you were dipped into a baptistery if nothing about you changed, or if you have gone back to that old way of life.

              What sort of room are you offering the Lord?  He spent a lot for it, and he will walk out if you don’t live up to the name on your sign—Christian.
 
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! 2 Cor 13:5.
 
Dene Ward