I will think I have it figured out. 

            I will say, “Yes, life is hard, but God never promised otherwise (despite Joel Osteen).  I can do this.” 

            Then suddenly something happens I did not expect, something that seems the opposite of everything I have prayed for, and I wilt.  That’s when it is all too easy to fall into the “Why me?” trap.  The “I’ve done all this for you and look what I get in return,” con.  Jeremiah fell too.

           The prophets never had easy lives.  Hosea, Ezekiel, Amos, and Jeremiah are prime examples, and maybe Jeremiah more than any of them.  Check out 15:10-21.  Because of the poetic and figurative language it can be difficult to get the full impact, so if you will allow, I am going to paraphrase for you.

              In many versions this is labeled “Jeremiah’s Complaint.”  That ought to give you a clue about what’s going on.

              Jeremiah says, “Everyone hates me [because of what I’ve preached on your behalf, which is implied not spoken] v 10.

              God says, “Haven’t I delivered you?” v 11.

              Jeremiah says, “I did just what you told me to and YOU have deceived me” vv15-18.

              Uh-oh, Jeremiah has gone a step too far.  God will always hear His children’s cries.  Elsewhere on this blog we studied the Psalms and discovered that there are far more lament psalms than any other kind (including praise psalms)!  But Jeremiah has accused God of sin against him.

              How do I know?  Because God tells him, “If you repent, I will restore you.  Do not become like the very people I have sent you to” v 19.

              There are two lessons in this conversation that we need to hear.  First, other people’s bad behavior never justifies bad behavior in us.  Somehow we think that we can get away with anything as long as we can say, “But look how he treated me.”  No, we can’t, and if we claim to be Jesus’ disciples, the one who When…reviled…did not revile in return; when he suffered…did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. (1Pet 2:23), then we should know that.

              And that last phrase, “entrusting himself” to God segues nicely into the second lesson.

              “I delivered you,” God told Jeremiah.  Somehow, Jeremiah missed it.  Maybe it’s because he kept winding up imprisoned or thrown into a muddy cistern and left to die, and threatened with death almost constantly.  But God did deliver him.  Someone always came to the rescue providentially, people who just happened to be there with memory and logic, or on one occasion a foreigner who somehow had influence over the king.

            Jeremiah’s problem was that God’s idea of deliverance didn’t match his.  Here I am up to my armpits in a filthy, dank well and this is deliverance?  Yes, it was.  Instead of being killed instantly, he was left to die, which gave his rescuer an opportunity to save him.  Eventually he was pulled out of that hole to relative safety so he could preach even more.  Do you see that?  He was delivered so he could continue a hard and dangerous mission, not so he could live in luxury.

            And for us, deliverance may not look like our version of deliverance.  It may not match what we have prayed for, but that’s because God’s version often involves things we haven’t even been spiritual enough to think of.

            Do you want an example?  If you know my eye story, you know it has been going on a long, long time.  Longer than any doctor thought possible.  No, my vision is not what it used to be, but I still have some!  And what has that done for me?  It has taken away a lot things that used to take up my time, and suddenly, I am able to write, to teach, and to speak.  I have done more of that in the past ten years than in the thirty years before combined.
 
           And even now, it appears that my remaining distance vision is dimming.  But with the aid of lenses and large print, I can still manage the close things.  I can still study.  I can still type.  I may not be able to see the individual features of the crowd of faces in front of me, but I can still see my notes and my mouth works just fine.

            God’s idea of deliverance cost me a few things, like a music studio and some independence.  But it also delivered me to do so much more.

            Don’t whine when your deliverance is not what you hoped.  Don’t mope when your plans don’t work out, when you feel used and abused, when you think all is lost.  You may be shoulder deep in the mire right now, but that will make the deliverance even more amazing when it comes.  Just stop expecting your version and look for God’s.  In the words of the old joke, “I sent a boat and I sent a helicopter.  It’s not my fault you didn’t take me up on it.”
 
Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. ​And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the LORD. ​I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless.” (Jer 15:19-21)
 
Dene Ward

A long time ago as we were packing for a camping trip, my frustration got the better of me and I snapped at the boys.  Nathan looked up and said, “I hate getting ready for a vacation.  You’re always so mad.”

            How is it that an innocent ten-year-old can make you feel an inch tall?  I beat myself with the guilt whip for the rest of the day, determined to keep my cool despite anything and everything that could possibly go wrong doing so.  A few days later, as we laughed and played on the side of a beautiful creek in the bowl of mountains where our tent was pitched, I gave myself a break.  Although during my childhood we could never afford what people now seem to expect in a “vacation,” we did visit family for a week or two each summer, and I remembered my parents behaving the same way I had in the stress of packing and leaving on time.  It must be written somewhere in some book called How to Be a Parent, that you must become so stressed out getting ready for a vacation that you make sure no one else really wants to take that vacation with YOU!

            It isn’t just vacations.  Why is that we can make every joyful occasion a trial to get through?  What did you do just moments before you said, “I do?”  Did you snarl at your mother?  Did you snap at the best friend who came a thousand miles at her own expense to be your maid of honor?  As a wedding musician I have been growled at more than once by the mother of the bride when I simply asked if someone could move the piano a foot to the side so I could see what was happening and know when to play what.

            What happened the day of your precious child’s first birthday party?  Did you forget that he won’t remember a thing about it and let yourself get so tired and stressed out you couldn’t even enjoy it?

            I wonder how many couples would have gladly given up their 50th wedding anniversary celebrations so they would not have had to hear their children bickering at one another about it.

            I am afraid this tendency of ours might also spill over into our preparation for that vacation we are all planning at the end of our lives.  How are you spending your life today?  Are you stressed out with a to-do list that gets bigger all the time, things that are good, that you feel you must do without fail or you are sinning because “To him that knows to do good but does it not to him it is sin?” Are you trying so hard to be all things to all people that you forget to be a wife or a mother or a friend?  Do you think that being right and doing right means there is no appropriate time to say, “No?” 

            Being a child of God and a disciple of Christ means we must suffer at times.  Yet as much as possible, God wants us to enjoy our lives.  In the beginning he made a perfect place for his children, a place where everything was “very good.”  That’s what he has always wanted for us.  Sin ruined it, but he still wants us to be as happy as possible, even if just a little while at the time.  But the only way we can is to recognize those times, and for goodness sake, don’t choose to ruin them!

            Today, while you run those errands and do those good deeds, while you feed and care for the family you love and see to the needs of your suffering brethren, remember to enjoy each moment.  You are packing for a real vacation, a time when things will once again be “very good.”  Don’t let Satan steal the excitement with annoying neighbors, aggravating drivers, and stressful situations at work.  Don’t give in to the temptation to whine and complain when things don’t go to suit you.  People are watching you.  Your children must deal with the effects of your frustrations.  After watching your preparations, will anyone even want to think about going on that trip with you? 
 
Then he said to them, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." Neh 8:10.
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

God, rather famously, expected His people to be holy. The command is repeatedly repeated in the Law. Lev. 11:44-45 “For I am Jehovah your God: sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am holy . . . For I am Jehovah that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” Lev. 20:7-8 “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; for I am Jehovah your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am Jehovah who sanctifies you.”

To be holy is to be separate or to be set apart. Something that is holy is set aside for a specific use and is to be only used for that purpose. We usually think about this in religious terms, but the concept is universal. My mother has a special set of silver that rarely sees use. It has been set aside for special occasions. These utensils are not every day, common forks and knives. They are special and are only used when special company is over or on other special occasions. In a sense, they are holy to special occasions.

This is what God expected from His chosen people. They were to be special to Him and His use. They weren’t supposed to be like all the regular people across the world. They were supposed to be set apart for Him. They failed in this. Isa. 2:6 “For thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are filled with customs from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners.” They hadn’t set themselves apart for God, instead they were just like all the foreigners.

We, too, are supposed to be a holy people. Notice that when Peter gives us this instruction, he tells us that we are to be holy as children of obedience and sets being holy opposite of fashioning ourselves according to our lusts. Living according to our common desires is the opposite of being holy:

1 Pet. 1:13-16 “Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance: but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.”

All rules of righteous living boil down to the concept of holiness. If we are set apart to be God’s people, we need to follow His will. Leviticus 19 illustrates this concept. In verse two the Israelites were told to be holy, as He is holy. Then verses 3-4 instruct them to obey their parents, keep the Sabbath, and abhor idols. Why? Because, He says, “I AM Jehovah”. Then verses 9-10 command them to take care of the poor. Why? Because, He says, “I AM Jehovah”. Then verses 11-12 tell them not to steal, lie, or swear falsely by His name. Why? Because, He says, “I AM Jehovah”. They are to be holy, as He is, set apart for His use. They are to do these things because He, for whose use they are to be set apart, so directs them.

I think we sometimes consider being holy as only abstaining from evil, and that’s just not true. As He is castigating the Israelites for not being holy, God makes this plea: Isa. 1:16-17 “Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.” He doesn’t just say “cease to do evil” but also implores them to “learn to do well”. Paul tell Christians the same thing: Eph. 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.” We are created for good works.

Mom’s silver isn’t used except on special occasions, but on those occasions it is used. It is set aside for a purpose and is used for that purpose. We, as Christians are supposed to be set apart for God’s use. Not just staying “unspotted from the world” but actively doing the works He instructs us to do. Paul tell Titus (2:14) that Jesus “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” His people have been redeemed from lawlessness and are zealous for good works. Zealous for good works. Every time I read this passage I wonder if Christ would recognize me as one of His. It’s not that I spend my time doing evil things, it’s just that so much of my time is used for my own entertainment: football, web-browsing, movie watching, Netflix binging, etc. Occasionally I do something actively good. Does that raise to the level of being zealous for good works? If I am holy, set apart for His use, I need to be working toward the use He has for me.

As holy people we are set apart for His use, to do His will. This doesn’t mean we are fuddy-duddies or dull buzz-kills who never do anything fun. Rather we are busy people actively

Isa. 61:6 “but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast.”
 
Lucas Ward

I remember once when the boys came asking for something.  I don’t remember what it was, I just remember that the way they asked made it obvious they did not expect to receive a positive response from me.  It probably cost money, which was always in short supply in those years.  I vaguely remember that their father and I had already discussed this thing, and had decided it was worth it, that we would just sacrifice in another area.  So I thoroughly enjoyed answering in an offhanded way, “Sure.”

            Their hanging heads snapped back, their eyes widened, and their jaws dropped.  It was a moment before they could utter, “Reeeeeeally?”  Being able to give them what they wanted so much was a wonderful feeling.  Although I am certain that most children doubt this, most parents want to give their children everything their hearts desire.  They just have enough sense not to. 

            Sometimes I think we approach God in exactly the same way my boys came to me that day.  We have already decided what God will and won’t do.  Or maybe it’s that we have decided what God can and cannot do—a far more serious crime.  When we know the doctors have said the illness is terminal, for some reason we don’t think we can ask God to heal.  God can do whatever he wants to do, regardless of what the doctors say.  Don’t we believe that?

            Put yourself in the place of those Christians in Acts 12.  They were all in danger.  Herod had put Peter and James in prison, and had already killed James.  When he saw the public opinion polls swing in his direction, he planned to kill Peter too.  Yet those Christians risked life and limb to gather at Mary’s house and pray for him.  If it were us, I am afraid we would have prayed that his death be swift so he wouldn’t suffer.  We would have already given up on his life being spared. 

            After my first surgeries, the doctor told me it was the first time anyone had performed that operation on a nanophthalmic eye without losing the eye.  I am glad he didn’t tell me that beforehand.  It isn’t just the extra fear I would have felt.  I am afraid it would have changed my prayers because I, too, grew up with the idea that you must not ask God for the impossible.

            Mark records Jesus saying, Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that
you have received it and it will be yours, 11:24.  Did you catch that?  “Believe that you have received it.”  Your faith should be such that you know he has already said yes—asking for it is simply a formality. 

            Jesus died so we could boldly come before the throne of God (Heb 4:16).  Too many times we come before God with a hangdog expression, a forlorn hope that he will have any time to spare for us and that our requests will be too petty to catch his attention.  We remind him how many outs he has, we lower our expectations to something that won’t be too hard for him, and we always add a “Thy will be done,” not because of our humility and acceptance of his will, but because, like my boys that day, we really don’t expect to get a yes and our weak faith needs a prop.  Just exactly how much more insulting do we think we can be to our Divine Creator?

            When you pray today, pray “nothing doubting” (James 1:6), and remember that with God “all things are possible” (Matt 19:26).  Think about the gift he has already given you—his Son.  Why in the world do we think he would withhold anything else?
 
And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him, 1 John 5:14,15.
 
Dene Ward                    

Neighbors are different out in the country.  First of all, they are a whole lot further away.  Instead of zero lot line houses barely five feet apart, they are 5 to 50 acres apart.  You seldom even see one another to wave, except maybe at the lineup of mailboxes out on the highway.  In the country, if you want to see your neighbors, you have to make it happen.

              In the city a good neighbor often boils down to this:  he’s quiet and doesn’t cause any trouble.  There may be a particular neighbor or two you really become friends with, taking turns having one another over for dinner, going fishing together, loaning your lawn mower and babysitting once in a while, but the rest are confined to a nod when you pass one another on the street and a quick word over the backyard fence if you both happen to be out at the same time.

              In the country, because you are so far out of town and away from help, “neighbor” takes on a much larger meaning.  The very lifestyle means you have far more need of one another.  You pull one another’s vehicles out of the mud.  You tag team generators when the power goes out for more than a couple of hours.  You feed one another’s livestock when the other one has to be out of town a few days.  You swap garden tilling for tractor mowing and tomatoes for blueberries.  You help one another shell peas and shuck corn, and then work together one hot afternoon to get it all put up.  You help load sick, but heavy, pets in the pickup for a trip to the vet.  You trade shooting lessons for help wiring the shed.  You loan cars when one is in the shop, or chauffeur a sick neighbor to the doctor if you need it yourself.  If a widow is alone, you load up her woodstove and get it set, ready to light on a cold night.  If a husband is away and there is a household emergency—like the refrigerator door falling off!—you head down the lane immediately and screw it back on.  When a storm passes through and leaves a live oak half out of the ground leaning over a house, all the neighbors drop everything and run with their tractors, chains and chainsaws to help.  There is something a little more primal about being a neighbor in the country.

            We’ve had neighbors like that and we’ve tried to be neighbors like that in return.  I think it’s the sort of thing Jesus had in mind when he told the story of the Good Samaritan.  This isn’t a matter of borrowing a cup of sugar.  It isn’t about keeping the TV low in the wee hours or not parking on someone else’s property.  It’s about real life and death matters, real trials and suffering, and aiding in whatever way you can.

            Maybe the Levite and the priest were used to city neighbors.  This guy on the side of the road certainly wasn’t being a good neighbor to them, causing them all sorts of trouble and a delay in their schedules if they had stopped to help.  But the truth is, you can be a bad neighbor anywhere, country or city, and the Lord expects a whole lot more from us than that.  He expects us to do just as that Samaritan did, helping beyond the expected—just think what a couple night’s lodging would cost today—and yes, for a perfect stranger.  Was he a good guy or a good-for-nothing?  We don’t know and that’s the point.  If someone needs our help, we help, even a stranger and even when we don’t have time to check and see if we are being good stewards of our money.

            “Love thy neighbor as thyself” was recognized by Jews as the second greatest commandment.  Yet they argued long and hard over who exactly their “neighbor” was.  It most cases it boiled down to a good practicing Jew.  We’re big on castigating those Pharisaical Jews who knew the Law but explained it away.  I think we have the same problem.
 
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal 5:14)
 
Dene Ward

A long time ago my piano teacher organized her students into something called a junior music club, and one year I served as president.  Because we students were members of this club, we were eligible to participate in several special events and recitals, including something called “the Festival” where our performances were rated by a judge, who also gave helpful comments and encouragement.

              Twenty years later I joined a local chapter of the Florida Federation of Music Clubs and eventually attended one of their State Conventions.  As I watched, listened and learned, all the pieces began to click into place.

              FFMC is a group of “senior clubs.”  Unlike a professional organization, parents of students and music lovers in the community are allowed to join, along with the independent music teachers, which greatly increases your volunteer pool as you try to spread the love and appreciation of music and support music education in your communities. 

              Each teacher in the local senior group was supposed to organize her students into a junior club.  My teacher, whom I later discovered had been a State President of FFMC, did exactly that.  Here is the genius of that plan—you are growing your own replacements, teaching them what the organization is about, making them as useful as possible in whatever capacity they can manage at their various ages. 

            Unfortunately, few teachers did anything more than put their students’ names on a roster so they could take advantage of the privileges of membership.  Responsibility was never taught. And worse, the senior division, all the way to state level, did not use their younger members, even though they held “state elections.”  My son Nathan, who was also my student, was elected state president of the junior division in his senior year of high school, but I had to suggest, recommend, and finally push for him and his fellow officers to be used as real members.  No one had ever thought of that, which is probably why I did not at first recognize FFMC years later.  No one had taught me the ropes.  As a student I was a member in name only.

              The same thing happens in the church.  We look at our young people and call them “the future of the church,” and then sit back and assume that someday in that future they will “grow up in all things unto him” (Eph 4:15). 

              Here is the problem:  We treat baptism like flea dip for our dogs.  We get our children wet and say, "Whew!  Got rid of all those sins, now they're safe."  But Romans tells us that when we are baptized, we are raised to walk a new life.  Something has changed.  Do they know that?  Can young children even articulate what needs to change about themselves?

              Jesus says you don’t make a commitment to Him until you count the cost.  Have we helped them count the cost of discipleship to the Lord?

              Colossians tells us that we are raised from baptism to "walk with him."  "Walk" means a lifetime not a moment.  Are they old enough to even comprehend that sort of commitment?

              1 Corinthians 12 says baptism makes them “members of the body” (I Cor 12:13).  If they aren’t ready to be working members, committed servants who put others before themselves, then they aren’t ready to be baptized.
If all we teach them is that they must be baptized or they can't go to Heaven, all we have done is terrorize them, and shame on us.  It is simple to indoctrinate a child well before he is able to count the cost of changing his life, make a lifetime commitment and actually begin serving.  The New Testament knows nothing of junior members in the church; babes, yes, but even babes participate in on-the-job training, and most of the "babes" we see in the New Testament are physically adults.  This is the point:  Either they are members or they aren't according to Corinthians.  Consider the following.

            A working member does more than read the Scripture and pass the plates.  For one thing, what about the young ladies?  These young people may not have the deep knowledge and wisdom to participate in every aspect of the work, but they should all be able to serve the Lord’s body.  Teach them how and expect it of them.  Or else do not baptize them.

              Take them visiting with you—the sick, the lonely widows, even the bereaved.  If you don’t think your child can handle that, then think again about whether he was really mature enough to commit.  Have them help clean the houses and do the yard work for those who no longer can.  Keith had a stroke one year in the middle of leaf season.  Half a dozen young high school men came to our home—a thirty mile drive—and raked all morning.  Another group helped unpack when my mother moved, and another helped clean.  They were thrilled to help, returning to me again and again with, “What should I do now?”  These young people are obviously ready to serve.

              Teach them to take responsibility for their own Bible study.  That’s what a committed disciple does.  Expect them to not only do their class lessons without being told, but to develop personal study habits.  If you always have to remind them, are they really as devoted to the Lord as their baptism should have shown them to be?  If you are making excuses, especially in regard to their age, then once again you may be admitting that all you did was scare your child to death, not make them dedicated disciples.

              Take them to the extra Bible studies with you.  I do run a Tuesday morning Bible class for the women, but I also hold one on the third Sunday afternoon of the month for those who have secular jobs or other daytime commitments—like high school and college.  I have had teenagers as young as sixteen take part.  They do their lessons and comment almost as freely as the older women. 

              Turning your baptized offspring into working members will also do this for you—if I expect to teach my child what it means to be a member of the Lord’s body, I need to be showing them how myself.  Nothing made me a better Christian than having that red, wrinkled, squirming infant placed in my arms.  The same thing should happen when your child becomes a babe in Christ. 

              And speaking of babies, do you know why we have adult infants in the church?  Because we scared the innocent to death instead of teaching them early enough about conversion, service, and commitment.  There may be no better way to ensure the demise of the body of Christ than turning it over to the coddled who were taught that baptism was only about escaping Hell.

              Don’t call your young people by that unscriptural term, “the future of the church.”  Either they are members of the body or they are not.  Prepare them.  As the old saying goes, the future is now.
 
For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether bond or free; and were all made to drink of one Spirit. 1Cor 12:13

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and they sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all, according as any man had need. And day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to them day by day those that were saved. Acts 2:44-47
 
Dene Ward

The past few years have seen a lot of damage to my optic nerves, especially the one in my left eye.  The nerve is measured by superimposing in your mind a set of ten equally sized vertical bars over it.  A hole sits in the center of the nerve and its diameter should cover no more than two of those bars.  That would be classified a “point two” nerve--perfect. 

            Nerve endings are destroyed from the center outward, so the hole becomes larger.  By the time you reach your 70s or 80s, a “point three” nerve would not be unusual, and if you have the standard open angle glaucoma of ten percent of the senior population, even a “point four.”  Even though still in my 60s, my right eye is already at “point five” and the left, the one that has seen the most procedures and the highest pressures, sits at “point five to point six.”  Point nine is as high as you go before the nerve is totally gone.

            Fluctuating pressures do the majority of the harm.  It’s odd though.  I cannot feel anything, and most times I cannot tell much difference in vision day to day.  It’s a silent process.  Usually you don’t know it’s happening, unless you stop to think how well you could see a few years ago.

            Sometimes we lose our faith that way.  Things seem fine.  I still attend services as often as possible.  I still read my Bible and pray.  I still don’t do those “big bad sins.”  My faith is the same as it was last year.  But if you examine yourself closely, like a doctor who uses a special lens to see into the back of the eye, you would notice a difference between your faith now and your faith ten years ago. 

            It is so easy to become satisfied with ourselves, so satisfied that we cannot see the problem until it is much too late.  Malachi talked to the returning Jews about this complacency in 1:6-14.  “You despise the name of God,” he tells them.  “You pollute his table and consider service to him a burden.”

            They were astonished.  “How do we do this?” they asked at least twice, and Malachi told them in detail.  When you read what they were doing, offering polluted food, and blind, lame and sick animals in sacrifice, it seems obvious.  Yet they had become so smug in their position as “the people of God,” they could not see it.  Years before they would have, but the attitude had come upon them so gradually they hadn’t even noticed where they were headed.

            This morning examine your service to God.  Examine the attitude with which you greet every opportunity as a disciple of Christ, every chance you have to serve him by serving others, every occasion to show your faith in your own circumstances of life, and the appreciation you have for your salvation.  Have you experienced some nerve damage?  My optic nerve endings cannot be regenerated, but my spiritual nerve endings can, and that hole in my service to God and devotion to his Son can once again become the size it should be, and my spiritual vision normal.  So can yours.
 
How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you and your righteousness to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away, Psa 36:7-11.

Dene Ward

Who hasn’t stood in a grocery aisle and heard a child demand that her mother buy something?  Not even asks with a polite please, but demands and follows up by a scream that echoes through the store when the mother says in an apologetic and almost fearful tone, “Not today, honey”.  Us old-timers have things we would love to say that would probably get us in trouble with everyone, things like, “Keep that up and I’ll give you something to scream about.”  The problem is, that laxness in training has brought us a whole generation that makes demands of God too, demands just as insufferable and spoiled, like “How can God let me suffer like this?”

              I have a friend, a sister in Christ who has her own medical problems—not the kind that could steal your vision, like mine, but the kind that could steal your life.  She is a bit older than I so the aches and pains and increasing exhaustion of old age plague her as well, but here is her attitude:

              “I pray to God for just a measure of health.  I don’t expect to be what I used to be.  We all get old, that’s just part of life.  I just want enough energy to do what I need to do to take care of others and help them.”

              We live in a world of increasing self-absorption, where “Poor little me” is plastered all over Facebook and peppers every conversation.  Instead of being grateful children, we have become demanding children who think God owes us for our faith.  “I’ve been so good and done so much.  Why is this happening to me?” 

            Thanks to the words of my friend, this is now my prayer:  Lord, just give me enough vision, for long enough, to do what I need to do to help others.  And someday soon, it will likely be, give me enough faith to keep helping others despite my lack of vision.

             If you are having a rough time, remember why you are here, remember whom you are following, and if you can’t find a good example among your peers, use this beautiful moment courtesy of my beautiful friend, a true disciple of the Suffering Servant and faithful daughter of God.
 
If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:14-15)
 
Dene Ward

Coming up on twelve years ago I had to make an appointment with a world famous eye surgeon at the Cincinnati Eye Institute.  He did not have an opening for two months.  Unfortunately, my problem was time sensitive.  Too late and I would lose one or both eyes.  They told us not to despair but to call every week, and the very next week a cancellation had made a vacancy two days later.  It was a madhouse here trying to get ready for that long trip on such short notice, but it was important and we made it.  And that vacancy gives me a springboard for today's thought.

            Jesus told a parable once about a man giving a great banquet (Luke 14).  After his servants sent out the invitations, people began to make excuses.  “Sir, we have done as you commanded and still there is room,” the servants told the man (v 22).  And so others were invited to fill the vacancies.  In fact, the man rescinded the original invitations altogether.  “For I tell you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet” (v 24).

            Pay special attention to the fact that none of the excuses were about sinful things.  They were simply about everyday life.  It isn’t wrong to get married.  It isn’t wrong to buy property.  It isn’t wrong to take care of your business, whether farming or manufacturing or accounting or sales.  What makes the Lord angry is placing those things above him.  Immediately after that parable, he talks about people loving family more than him.  He does not tolerate that either.

            And please note this:  The banquet may be free, but it is not without cost, his next subject (v 28).  Family, in fact, may be one of those costs.  Jesus adds that self is the biggest cost—“Whoever does not bear his own cross, cannot be my disciple” (v 27).  You must understand that when you bear your cross you are on the way to your crucifixion, your death.  It has nothing to do with bearing some disability or illness or low lot in life.  Those things are not voluntary; they happen to people regardless their affiliation, or lack of, to the Lord.   No, Christians choose to carry their crosses, to crucify themselves, for his sake.  “I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20).

            We sing a song, “There is room in the kingdom for the small things you can do.”  That songwriter understood the cost--service.  We may partake to the full of his mercy and grace, but we are expected to serve because we have become disciples of a greater Servant.  The room available is not for the lazy or the selfish.  Neither is it for those too proud to accept help when needed—that is how they serve, by crucifying their pride. 

            God has room for us--plenty of room.  He wants us to dwell with him forever, beginning here and now.  In fact, if we excuse ourselves from living with him now, on the day when it really matters, when we need an eternal room, all we will see is a sign in his window, one especially for those who refused his invitation in this life, one that says, “No Vacancy.”
 
There is none like God…who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in his majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms, Deut 33:26,27.    
 
Dene Ward

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11)
 
              “Examining” the scriptures—think for a minute your reaction if you had been feeling ill for weeks--fever, nausea, exhaustion, pain in some specified location--and your doctor examined you the way you examine God’s word.  If you didn’t sue for malpractice, you would at least change doctors.  At least that’s the way most people study their Bibles. 

              We simply do not think it’s that important.  Don’t object—if it were important, you would find the time and do it that way, a deep examination.  Jesus said of the Jews, You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, (John 5:39).  At least they had the right motive, eternal life.  At least they did the work.  We can’t even seem to get that part right—we’re too busy, and memory verses are for kids, right?  What their children memorized in the synagogue schools would put us to shame.

              But putting forth the effort is only half the battle.  In the next verse, Jesus says they missed the obvious—Him!  They could quote till Doomsday and still not get it right if they did not open their minds to what the Word teaches.  First let me refer you back to the Jan 24 post, “A Little Knowledge.”  Opening the mind isn’t as easy as you think it is, and most of us not only don’t do so, we don't even realize we haven't.

              A few years ago I had a request for study tips.  I think now I am ready to share what has taken me so long to figure out myself.  A couple of years ago I had a five or six part series that took you through a basic method I use, step by step.  If you are interested, you can find it by clicking on Bible Study on the right sidebar and scrolling down till you find it.  This time I will be sharing little tips I use all the time almost without thinking because they have become so automatic, rules (yes, there are some), and also the results of my studies that might be new to you.  What is learning for, if you don’t share it? 

            These will not be regular, like one of my Monday morning series, but more like the series I do on hymns (Do You Know What You Are Singing?)    Look for the opening tag “Study Time,” as in the title above.  In the beginning while I have several things to share already lined up, you may see it a couple times a month, and after that a little more irregularly as things occur to me.  If you think you might have missed some, you can always check the archives under Bible study or go to that month’s archives and scroll back through the week you might have missed checking.  I post five days a week, I just don’t link them all, so you can also check up on other articles about other subjects that you might have missed.

            Just remember this, if our opening passage means anything it means that God judges us by our Bible study.  If we want Him to find us “noble,” and if we want to “find Eternal Life,” the way we dig into the Word of God will show it.
 
Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. (Ps 119:97-99)
 
Dene Ward