On May 8, 2019, Amanda Eller, a thirty-five year old physical therapist and yoga instructor, went for a hike in the Makawao Forest Preserve on Maui.  The reports I have read seem unclear, but it sounds like she went for a jog, lay down to rest and when she woke up was somehow disoriented enough to go in the wrong direction.  Evidently no one was within earshot of her and that evening she was reported lost.  Her car was found in the Hunter's Trail parking lot.  Over 1000 volunteers searched for her for 17 days.  The search helicopter flew over the area again and again.  Finally, 17 days later, on May 25, the pilot decided to go a little farther out and there she was, standing in a creek bed between two waterfalls waving her arms.  Overall she was in good condition, but she was sunburned, had swollen feet, a leg injury (at least two articles I read mentioned a "fracture"), and she had lost 15 pounds.  She had survived on berries, moths and other edible creatures, and rainwater.
            We have been lost a few times ourselves, once in the woods of a North Georgia State Park the story of which you can find in the Camping category, and another time a couple of years ago.  Neither time was life threatening, but they were both a little unnerving. 
            About that last time:  It had already been a frustrating day.  Our Google Map directions had brought us straight to the town we were visiting, but once we hit the city limits, those directions became increasingly vague.  The street we were to follow suddenly ended and we didn't know which way to turn to find our hotel.
            So we headed down the busy road in the direction that seemed right.  The street changed its name at least three times.  No hotel.  We stopped at a gas station, found a man sitting in his car who was willing to help.  He didn't know the hotel but knew where the street was—or so he thought.  Ten minutes later we pulled into a different hotel and they gave us good directions to their competitor.  Turns out the hotel was off the main drag behind two restaurants on a street with no road sign.  You wonder how they stay in business.
            So then it was time for dinner.  We have a favorite restaurant in that town, but it had been many years and things looked very different.  The desk clerk gladly looked it up and handed us directions.  And once again the street we were looking for was not there.  We wound up at exactly the same gas station.  This time we went inside and none of the workers there knew either the restaurant (it has been there for 50 years!) or the street. Finally, as we walked dejectedly out the door, a young man with a Smart Phone chased us down and looked it up for us.  We weren't far away and the directions were simple.
            Then it was time to return to the hotel.  Based upon our memory of the man's phone map, the restaurant road ran parallel to the one the gas station was on and should have led us right back to the hotel road, coming out even closer to the hotel.  But that road curved every which way, was full of forks, and we came out somewhere entirely different—which we did not realize at first because now it was too dark to read street signs and had begun to rain.  By the time we figured out our error, we were so far out, no one could direct us.  "What road?  Never heard of it."
            Finally someone had heard of it—the fourth one we asked, and we did make it back.  What should have been a ten minute drive had taken over an hour, and we had gone through the gamut of emotions—from frustration to aggravation to desperation.  Fear and hopelessness were just the corner, kept at bay by my stubborn refusal to become a drama queen, whining and blubbering my way into senseless hysteria.
            But it made both of us stop and think about those who are really lost.  What is it like to be out there looking for direction and getting no help at all?  I'm afraid my view of that town will forever more be that none of the roads are straight, they all change names confusingly, and none of its populace has any idea where they themselves are either.
            We all need to be like that young man with the Smart Phone, not only willing to help when asked, but going to the trouble of chasing down someone in obvious need.   They may not be in dire physical need, but everyone is or has been lost in a spiritual way that is far more serious than even Amanda Eller's plight.  There are lost souls out there, people.  Frustrated people, fearful people, desperate people who need our help.  A lot of Christians are so wrapped up in themselves, in their own earthly destinations and goals, that they don't see those who are wandering around, hopelessly lost.  And quite a few of them don't know where they are either.
            Pay attention today.  They may not wave their arms to get your attention.  You may need to fly over more than once or twice.  Make sure you know where you are first and then be on the lookout for others.
 
I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you… (Rom 1:14-15)
 
Dene Ward        

On May 24, 2019, the FDA approved the drug Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) for the treatment of pediatric cases of SMA-1.  It was a day to rejoice for our extended family.
          My grandniece has Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1.  SMA-1 is a disease that causes progressive loss of motor neurons, leading to muscle weakness and atrophy.  Type 1 usually shows in babies 6 months and under.  The infants will have difficulty moving, eating, breathing, and swallowing.  They will be unable to lift their heads on their own and unable to sit up on their own.  Most victims of this disease do not survive past age 2 due to respiratory failure.  Abigail has already survived the odds, but her life is not an easy one.
            Abigail must often be rushed to the hospital.  Even a simple cold could be the end.  She recently gave us a fright as she was once again loaded into an ambulance and carted off first to an ER and then a PICU.  Abigail takes it all in stride, and today she is going to teach us a lesson we all need to hear. 
            My niece, Abigail's mother, posted the following on Facebook.
---------------
           "Abigail's full name is Abigail Andreia (on-DRAY-uh) Saltz.
        [Her father] was very partial to "Abigail," and I...was not. He always wanted purely Biblical names for our children and I told him we could use Abigail IF he could think of a middle name that had three syllables, accent on the second syllable. He stretched his Biblical names rule by choosing a Greek word for her middle name meaning "brave," because it seemed a fitting descriptor for the queen we were naming her after and an admirable quality to live up to.
           Wow. The things you don't know.
           I have told Abigail what her middle name means so many times now that she thinks her *actual name* is Abigail Andreia Brave Saltz. When she has to do something scary she says, 'Gimme a minute. I' takin' away da Andreia and da Saltz so all I have is da Brave. Brave means being still even when you're scared.'
          Today the IV techs marveled at how still she was while putting in her IV.
And this is what people mean when they say their children teach them far more than they teach their children."
----------------           
            Abigail has always been the happiest child I have ever known.  I always suspected she was brave—children who have physical difficulties often are because of the things they experience from early on.  Now I know exactly how she does it.  She "takes away" the names that might be in the way so she can make use of the name that counts--Brave.
            Can I ask you this morning, what names do you need to take away?  The only name that should count for you is Christian—a child of God, a disciple of Christ.  That name will give you strength when temptations arise.  It will give you peace and contentment when you don't understand.  It will give you courage and steadfastness when trials beset your soul. 
            And why is that?  Because through that name we have life (John 20:31), we have hope (Matt 12:21), we have justification (1 Cor 6:11), we have remission of sins (Acts 10:43) and salvation (Acts 4:12).  We also have absolutely no excuse for failure because the one who wore that name left the example for us to follow, and said it was possible to do so.
            Four year old Abigail knows the power of a name.  Remember the name you wear.  Take away all the others and use that one to be faithful to the end.
 
Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! (Ps 99:3).
 
Dene Ward

Saul/Paul of Tarsus Yesterday at 8:00 am:
            Hoo boy! Time for another day among people who don’t even care about God.  Why did this mission get put off on me?
Saul/Paul of Tarsus Yesterday at 12 pm
            Well, we got run out of another synagogue.  On to the next town, but I haven’t had a decent meal in three days.  And can anyone please find me the nearest Stella-cerva coffee bar?

Saul/Paul of Tarsus Yesterday at 3 pm
            Did you hear what Proditor of Seleucia did to us?  How can he claim to be on our side and speak out against us like that?  It’s hard enough what we must bear without a traitor among us.  No one understand what it is like to have this job and what it demands of you.

Saul/Paul of Tarsus Yesterday at 5 pm
            The government and everyone in it is corrupt.  I can tell you a few things I heard when I was in prison.  The guards talked to one another all the time and all we prisoners overheard everything.  One time…(See more)
Saul/Paul of Tarsus Yesterday at 7 pm
            Here is more proof of what I have been saying about those Roman senators.  Go to this link to see for yourself: http:Allpoliticiansshould(bleep).  (Sorry about all the foul the language you have to navigate, but this is really good.)

Saul/Paul of Tarsus Yesterday at 9 pm
            The end of another long day and little to show for it.  I am not sure I can take much more of this.  Surely twelve hours a day is enough to give to this thankless task.

Saul/Paul of Tarsus 12 hrs ago
            Here we go again.  And I had little sleep because John needed some counseling at 2 am.  Seems he is not sure he can handle any more.  What a wimp.  So now I have to write two epistles and get together a new synagogue sermon on little if any sleep at all because of his selfish waste of my time.
Saul/Paul of Tarsus 10 hrs ago
            Now what?  Have you all heard the latest from Corinth?  Can’t these immature brats get anything right?  It’s not about me, me, me, people.  In fact, maybe the few of you who are on my side, need to head across town and start a new congregation.

Saul/Paul of Tarsus 8 hrs ago
            What?  No comments on that last one?  Surely you see how wrong they are.  If you do, let me hear from you!

Saul/Paul of Tarsus 6 hrs ago
            Oh, so now I am being too harsh?   True believers won’t let something like this pass without comment.  If you are real Christians, copy and paste this to your page.  We’ll find out who is truly faithful to God.

Saul/Paul of Tarsus 5 hrs ago
            Here’s a fun pic of me and the guys taking a quick dip down at the river.  We’d already gotten wet baptizing people, so we just chucked the robes and had a good time.  Everyone deserves some fun! : )

Saul/Paul of Tarsus 4 hrs ago
            Here I am trying to spread the Word as hard as I possibly can and all I get is criticism.  Really people.  Someone find me an Stella-cerva coffee bar ASAP!  I won’t get through this ordeal without one.
Saul/Paul of Tarsus 3 hrs ago
            All right.  I’ve had it.  I am a Roman citizen.  I do not deserve to be treated the way they are treating me.  Everyone meet me at the agora at dawn tomorrow and we will show this government exactly what we think of it.

Saul/Paul of Tarsus 2 hrs ago
            I am so tired.  No one has to put up with the things I have to put up with.  Can’t you all take care of yourselves for a change?  Do you really expect love and encouragement from someone who has so little and has sacrificed so much?  It’s not fair!

Saul/Paul of Tarsus 1 hr ago
          Was that really necessary Peter?  After all, you are a Gentile-hating hypocrite.  Keep your criticisms to yourself.

Saul/Paul of Tarsus 30 min
           Nearing the end of another 12 hour day and I did not accomplish a thing.  Does anyone have any idea why?
 
            If there had been such a thing as social media in the first century, Paul would never have used it in those ways.  So why do I see these sorts of things from people I know are Christians?  Why do I see whining and “poor little me?”  Why do I see diatribes against brothers and sisters?  Why do I see posts designed to cause an uproar, and the writers then sitting there all day to gloat over it?  Why do I see people railing against the government they are supposed to obey and respect whether they agree with it or not?  Why do I see pictures of Christians in scanty clothing, doing questionable activities and passing along items with crude and vulgar language on nearly every line?  And why do I see idlers who cannot seem to get anything profitable done because they are posting all day long?
            If Paul were alive, how would he use social media?  Just look at his epistles, the social media of his day.  He edified.  He encouraged.  He counseled.  He commended brothers and sisters to one another.  Yes he did rebuke, sometimes harshly, but even then with the design to save souls not to exalt himself.  Yes, he did talk about some of his ordeals, but the percentage was minuscule and always with the purpose to teach and admonish.  Yes, he did ask for prayers, not because he deserved them but so he could continue to preach the gospel.  Yes, he did pass along personal information and requests (“Bring me the parchments,” etc.), but always with a humble attitude, not as a petty tyrant abusing his authority.  He never for a minute sowed discord among brothers.  Instead he told us all to do as he did:  be willing to take wrong for the good of the gospel.  His sacrifices were willingly given and never resented.  He knew others sacrificed as well and never put himself above them, even though he probably could have.
            So maybe we should consider this:  If Paul wouldn’t post it, maybe you shouldn’t either.
 
Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no occasion of stumbling, either to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God: even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved. 1Cor 10:31-33
 
Dene Ward

"I'll never forget what he did to me."
            As you might guess, this was not said in a kindly or grateful way.  What this person remembered was something he perceived as an evil against him.  One done by a brother.  And it was said again and again, in fact, every time that person's name came up in conversation.
            Everyone out there understands the problem here, at least in their minds.  When it happens to them, it may not be so clear how they should feel.  After all…and here come the rationalizations.  But let's just focus on a few passages that make it as plain as possible that our own salvation depends upon whether we forgive others.
            Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you (Eph 4:31-32).
            Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do you (Col 3:12-13).
            Just like God forgave us, it says.  Are we so arrogant as to think that while God must forgive us, we don't have to forgive anyone else?  The next verse in Ephesians goes on to say that we should be imitators of God, and forgiving is the nearest antecedent.
            For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matt 6:14-15).  I think that one is pretty plain, don't you?  Then we have the following:
            Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ​And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ​And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ​And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. ​So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart. (Matt 18:23-35).
            Please notice:  the servant was forgiven and in good standing with the king until he sinned again by failing to forgive his debtor.  The king had forgiven an unpayable debt, while the servant would not forgive one a small fraction of his own.  That is where we stand, with that unforgiving servant when we follow his example.  The debt God forgave us is one we can never repay.  No matter how wrongly we have been treated, and some have been abused to the point of martyrdom, we cannot hold on to a festering grudge that eats away at our hearts.  It will send us to Hell.
            No, you may not ever truly forget how someone mistreated you.  No one can just open up his brain and cut it out.  But you can keep from bringing it up day after day, wallowing in the memories and sharing them with any who will listen.  Those words at the top of this article should never come out of the mouth of a person who has experienced the saving grace of God brought about by his Son's sacrifice.  It may be the most ungrateful thing we can do to God.
 
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD (Lev 19:18).
Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done” (Prov 24:29).
See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone (1Thess 5:15).
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord (Rom 12:17-19).
 
Dene Ward

I’ve done it and I bet you have too.  You turn to Acts 2:38 and read, “Repent and be baptized for the remission of sin.”  It’s a simple math equation.  Repent + be baptized = remission of sin.  I’ve shown it to my classmates in high school, to my neighbors, and even to my bosses.  It amazes me that they can say, “I don’t see it that way,” just as it amazes you.  I shake my head and say, “I’m not seeing it any way.  I’m just reading scripture,” and still they ignore it and go on their way.
            Guess what?  We do the same thing.
            Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Jas 1:27
            Here’s the math in that one:  visit the fatherless and widows + keep yourself unstained from the world = pure religion.  Let’s simplify it even more:
            Take care of the needy + live a moral life = pure religion.
            Do you know what we do?  We go to church on Sunday.  If we are especially spiritual, we don’t do the big bad sins—we don’t lie, cheat, steal, or commit adultery.  But when was the last time you just spent an evening visiting, for example, a lonely widow?  Yes, “visit” in that passage stands for more than just dropping by.  It means seeing to their needs too, but let me tell you something.  They need a visit a whole lot more than we seem to think they do.  Not a call, not a card—a visit.  They need companionship, something you take for granted and even try to get away from occasionally. 
            Older people love to have someone to talk with.  They love to have someone actually sit and listen to them as if they were more than something taking up space.  They love for young people to ask them questions, to ask for advice, to ask about the “olden days.”  Young people make them feel young again too.  They will talk about that visit for weeks, that’s how much it means to them.
            They used to be young.  They lived every bit as exciting and busy a life as you do.  They’ve been through things you never experienced and have come through with their souls and sense intact.  You would do well to take what they say with more than a grain of salt, and use it.
            So remember your math.  No matter how many sins you successfully overcome, no matter how “unstained” you are, if that’s all you have, you still do not have pure religion.  No more than your unbaptized friends and neighbors have remissions of sins!
 
But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1John 3:17-18
 
Dene Ward

I believe I have mentioned this little guy before, a migratory visitor who, despite his love of worms rather than birdseed, stopped by our homemade aviary one day a couple of springs ago.  He looks like nothing less than a little old man—scrawny legs, pot belly, and three stripes across his pale head like the sparsest comb-over you ever saw.
            As he walked across the area outside my window, he stopped occasionally and poked his long thin beak into the ground like a cane.  Occasionally he stopped and pumped it, up and down, up and down, then pulled it out and walked on.  Finally I saw him stop, poke, pump, then stand very still with that beak still in the ground.  Suddenly he began to pull and pull and pull, and gradually a long black earthworm appeared, rising a quarter inch at a time out of the ground.  That worm hung onto the dark earth for all he was worth, stretching like a piece of melted mozzarella.  Suddenly, he ran out of dirt to hang onto, sproinged out of the ground like a rubber band, and the woodcock swallowed it in nothing flat.  Then he continued his stroll, poking and pumping every foot or two.
            Sometimes we can be just like that worm, hanging onto the world for all we are worth while claiming to have left it all behind.  We may be at the assembly of the saints every time the door is open, but our lives during the week tell stories on our "devotion" to the Lord.  We get as close as possible to people and things that taint our purity.  What kind of movies do we watch?  What kind of television shows?  I have heard people discuss things that even the world calls "racy," and "suggestive," while claiming to live lives of purity and holiness.  What kinds of clothes do we wear?  Do they adorn a chaste character or do they suggest exactly the opposite?  What do we talk about?  Are we all about money and status and the latest gizmo or does our love of the Lord and spiritual matters monopolize our conversation?  We may be just like that earthworm, struggling to hold on to this world and its cares while the Lord is doing his best to pull us to him. 
          Ultimately, Christ won't be like that woodcock.  If we want to leave completely, he will let us, just like he did those supposed disciples in John 6.  They left and he never chased after them.  He simply turned to his disciples and asked, "Are you leaving, too?"  It's time to make a decision and mean it.  Are we for the world and the ruler of this world (John 12:31), or are we for the Lord?
 
Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God (1John 3:7-9).                                   

Dene Ward

On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education that “the doctrine of separate but equal has no place in public education.”  Do you know who “Brown” was?  She was Linda Brown, a black third-grader who had to walk a mile to the all-black elementary school, right through a railroad switching yard, instead of a much shorter seven blocks to an all-white school where she was not allowed.
            Although that decision was a giant step in desegregating American schools, it did not change things immediately.  It was over 11 years later when I had my first black classmate, a seventh grader named Diana White.  She was well-spoken, well-dressed, friendly, smart, and pretty, and I liked her instantly.  At that point, nothing about the Supreme Court ruling had affected me personally at all.  I still walked across the street to school every morning.
            The next year we moved from that small town where grades seven through twelve were all housed in a small school labeled “high school” to the biggest city I had ever lived in, a melting pot of cultures and beliefs that made me feel like I had moved to another country altogether.  Schoolyard fights were common and the bathrooms billowed with cigarette and marijuana smoke. 
            I hated those first two years of what they called junior high, more than twice the number of students I had been with the year before in one-third the number of grades—8th and 9th.  I had discovered that the school year consisted of 120 days and that first year I kept a small notebook in my desk in which every afternoon I marked off a day, from day one to day 120, four vertical lines and a crossbar every week.
            That was also my first experience with busing, which was how that city handled the new laws, and it was not a kind experience.  Instead of riding safely with a parent to the school near my house, I was hauled off five miles in the opposite direction. 
            Most of the upholstery on that old bus was dried out and cracked from the Florida heat, some of the foam padding spilling out, or torn out by bored students, the walls and seatbacks scratched with rusting graffiti, the floors scuffed and covered with gum wads and other sticky things I really didn’t want to contemplate.  The windows stuck either up or down, depending upon who sat there last and how strong he was.  I suppose the engine was in reasonable shape.  It certainly spewed out enough fumes, which then wafted back around the bus and in through the windows.  But that acted as a sort of buffer for the odors of adolescent sweat and far too much Brut and Tabu.
            The first morning I stepped on that bus was like something out of a nightmare.  Even though the county had tacked up a list of rules for all to see, rules that included, “No more than two people per seat,” and, “No standing on the bus,” most of the seats were crammed with three people and the unlucky few who had no friends to save them a seat, stood in the middle.  (It was deemed better to break bus safety rules than to break the federal law that required the busing in the first place.)  I was near the end of the pickup route and I knew no one else on board, so I stood.
            What a ride that was.  I always carried several thick textbooks stacked on the slanted top of a loose-leaf notebook—no backpacks back then.  It was either hold onto the books or hold myself up as we swung around corners and bounced over railroad tracks.  Somehow I managed to grab the metal back of a seat with my right hand while using my left arm to hold my notebook and books tightly up against me so they wouldn’t slide into the floor on the nearly thirty minute ride across town, made so much longer by the frequent stops for railroad crossings and the multitude of traffic lights and school zones we passed through. 
            Before a week was out, though, I had made a friend, another quiet girl as much a fish out of water as I.  She got on the bus three stops before me, when there were still seats available, and she started saving one for me.  That one little thing made the days bearable—I had a place, I belonged.  It meant so much that on the mornings she was absent and I discovered it when I climbed aboard that reeking bus, I nearly cried.
            God understands our longing for a place.  He knows we want to belong, we want to matter to someone.  Into a world where the best you could hope for from capricious, petty, spiteful pagan gods was to go unnoticed, the apostles came preaching about a God who actually cared.  Jesus came preaching about a God who knew you so intimately that he could number the hairs on your head, and who willingly provided you the necessities of life.  The disciples spread the word about a God who sacrificed himself to save, who helped bear burdens, and who offered rest and refreshing from a world sometimes too difficult to bear alone.
            God is saving you a seat on the bus.  Sometimes the bus hits a bump in the road, just as it did for Job.  Sometimes the driver takes a detour you never planned on, just as happened with Joseph.  Sometimes the route is long and the day hot and stifling as you sit among people who reek of the stench of this world, just as has happened to so many who have taken the ride before you.  But you are not alone.  The Lord got on that bus before you.  He will always be there saving you a seat, and after you count off that last day of “school,” he will give you a place where you can “belong” forever.
           
I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. Acts 26:18
 
Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.
 
That question was intentionally worded to grab your attention, but with the utmost respect I ask again:   what is it about God that makes Him great? 

The pagan gods of man's imagination show their greatness in a variety of ways.  Some of the gods were great because of their ability to manipulate creation.  Zeus and Thor, for example, were known for creating storms and hurling lightning about.  Poseidon, the god of the sea, was known for his ability to cause earthquakes and Baal was the Canaanite god who brought the spring rains.  Other gods showed their greatness by their ability to destroy their enemies.  Ares was the god of war who could defeat all who came against him.  Hades was the god of the underworld and the bringer of death.  Occasionally gods were known for their wisdom like Athena.  

These are the attributes that men imagine would make a god great and, indeed, the true God exceeds the imaginations of men in all of these areas.  In fact, we see that one reason for the ten plagues on Egypt was to show God's superiority:  "on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD." (Exo. 12:12, cf. Numb. 33:4).  As you go down the list you see God embarrassing god after god:  the Nile, a god in itself and the bloodstream of another, is manipulated by God; the cattle they worshiped were killed by plague; the storm gods could not keep Jehovah from sending the hail; the sun which they worshiped was darkened; and their death gods could not stop the final plague.  About 600 years later God made a mockery of Baal in the contest atop Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18).  Jehovah was known to His people as God Almighty (Gen. 17:1, 28:3, 35:11, 43:14, etc) and God Most High (Numb. 24:16, Ps. 46:4, 57:2, etc) and there could be little question He filled those titles.  

Yet it seems that God wanted primarily to be known for another trait.  In Ephesians 1 we see a list of great things that God has done for us:  blessed us with every spiritual blessing, chose us, ordained us to adoption as sons, provided redemption and forgiveness.  Why has He done all these thing?  Eph. 1:6  "to the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved".  Notice that it doesn't say "to the praise of His glory" but rather "to the praise of the glory of His grace."  It seems that God is wanting to show the world the greatness of His grace and mercy.  He wants the source of His praise to be not His strength and power, but rather His amazing grace.

This is a major theme of the epistle to the Ephesians:  vs. 7 mentions the riches of His grace; vs 11-12 says that the Jews were made a heritage to Christ (an act of grace) "to the praise of His glory"; in vs. 13-14 the Gentiles were said to be sealed by the Holy Spirit (another gracious act) "to the praise of His glory".  It seems His glory is most to be praised when we fully understand His grace.  But wait . . . there's more!  In chapter 2 vs 4-7 we are told we are made alive in Christ "that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus".  In other words, the entire plan of salvation was enacted to show off the greatness of God's grace!  Also the church (founded upon the grace of God) made known the manifold wisdom of God (3:10) and God grants us strength and power "according to the riches of His grace" (3:16).  

Over and over and over the primary praiseworthy attribute of God is His grace.  His greatest works, painstakingly achieved over millennia, show off the "riches of His grace."  Think about what that says about the God we serve.  While He is more powerful than any pagan god imagined, more capable of defeating enemies, wiser and holier, He wants to be known for His grace.  He doesn't terrorize us with threats, He courts us with mercy.  Surely "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 9:10), but the fulness of wisdom is shown in His greatest work of grace (Eph. 3:10).  This is truly greater than any god man could imagine.  Our God, who could destroy us with a word, wants to be known instead for His kindness, His long-suffering, His mercy and His grace.
 
Psa._84:11  "For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield: Jehovah will give grace and glory; No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly"
 
Lucas Ward

God has tried again and again to give us the perfect place.
            It started with Eden.  All of our physical needs were met in a place of perfection.  And the God who loved us came to walk with us every night "in the cool of the day."  But what happened?  We messed it up.  We listened to the one who did not love us and believed his lie.
            Then God took us to a land flowing with milk and honey, the place he had promised Abraham 400 years before.  And what happened?  We messed it up.  Even though God had shown us His power again and again—the plagues, the Passover, the Red Sea—we failed to trust that He would help us win the land.
            So forty years later, God tried again.  The Jordan parted.  The walls of Jericho fell.  And what happened?  We messed it up.  We failed to drive out the sin and the sinners, but took it all into our bosoms and nurtured it.  Once again we discarded His perfect Plan A and drove God to Plan B, judges to deliver us when the oppression got so bad that we actually repented.
            And you are saying, "What?  That was them, not us."  Really?
            One more time God has given us the perfect place.  A kingdom that cannot be shaken.  A King who is King of kings, who sacrificed himself for us, and ever lives to make intercession.   A place of righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Spirit.  And what happens?  We mess it up.  We fail to "be of the same mind," to do "nothing of faction or pride," to "each count the other as better than self" (Phil 2:2,3).  We forget to "be kind, tender-hearted, and to forgive" (Eph 4:32).  We certainly never "take wrong" for the good of the kingdom and its mission in this world (1 Cor 6:7).  We ignore God's authority because, "God wouldn't mind if…" and "God wants us to be happy! (Col 3:17)"
            Every time we misbehave in this ideal kingdom God has blessed us with, we are Eve taking a bite of the forbidden fruit, we are the 10 craven spies shaking in our boots, we are the unspiritual men who failed to drive out the pagans and their worship from the Promised Land.
            But this time, we can still be part of that perfect kingdom.  God is gracious and forgiving.  His lovingkindness endures forever.  And even in Sardis, there were …a few names…that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy (Rev 3:4).  I can be one of those few, even amid a crowd of the others, and so can you.
            God is giving us one more chance with his perfect kingdom, the one his Son died for and now rules over.  Don't mess up again.
 
​The nations shall see your righteousness, and all the kings your glory, and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. ​You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you (Isa 62:2-5).
 
Dene Ward

I accidentally made some healthy cookies a few weeks ago.  I had not taken the time to pick up my glasses and the magnifying glass.  I had just concentrated hard and was sure the recipe said, “1 ½ sticks of butter.”  After the cookies came out of the oven, I was disappointed in their dry, cakey texture, when I had expected something chewy and rich.  So I picked up my glasses and looked again—“1 ½ cups of butter.”  That is three whole sticks.  What I had done was cut the butter in half.  Low fat cookies were not what I had in mind, but it did help to say to myself, “For low fat, they’re not that bad.”
            As Christians we often focus so often on what we cannot do—all those “thou shalt nots”—that it is amazing we can endure.  Our faith becomes negative instead of positive.  It is all about what we do not do, not what we do.  That may explain why so many of us are bitter and why we never manage to spread the good news—to us it isn’t such good news.
            It also explains why we lose so many of our children.  Your home should be a place of safety, a place of contentment, a place of love and laughter.  It should be a haven for your children and their friends.  Do you want to know where they are, what they are doing, and with whom?  Make your home a pleasant place to be, not a prison they hope to break out of someday, and you will know where they are, because home is where they are, and where they want to be.
            Christians should be known for what they do, not for what they don’t do, for who they are, not who they aren’t.  If your friends were asked to describe Christians based on their knowledge of you, what would they say?  “Christians are people who don’t drink, who don’t gamble, who don’t go to clubs, who don’t curse, who don’t engage in non-marital sex, who don’t smoke or take drugs, who don’t watch certain movies and TV shows,” and on and on.  Or would they say, “Christians are happy, generous people who help others whenever a need arises, who are always having people in their homes—you can hear the laughter going on all evening.  They are honest and forgiving.  You know you can trust them because you never hear them gossip.  They are pleasant to be around and seem to be able to handle anything life throws at them, and handle it well.  They are the best people on earth.  I wish I was more like them.”
            God has always promised his people “fat” lives.  He told the Israelites they would have a land flowing with milk and honey, Ex 3:8.  When Nehemiah brought them back from captivity, he reminded them that they had taken fortified cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns hewn out, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit-trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in [God’s] great goodness, 9:25.  But they focused only on the restraints of righteous living instead of the blessings, finally fell away to the heathens whose lives they envied, and God sent them away to punishment. 
            Yet still, He had Ezekiel tell them of another good land, a Messianic kingdom that would bring joy and peace.   And I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them upon the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture; and upon the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel, 34:13,14.  That is exactly where we find ourselves today, in that “fat” Messianic kingdom, so why do we so often insist that the life of a Christian is a miserable one?
            God has never required “fat-free living;” in fact, He has promised just the opposite.  Concentrate today on the peace that living as a child of God brings to your life.  Focus on the joy of salvation and the fellowship of a spiritual family.  Contemplate the good in your life. The rest of the world deals with addictions, legal problems, disrupted families, purposeless lives, and finally, illness and death without hope and comfort.  Talk about a negative life. 
            Go out and enjoy the fat in your life today.
 
The thief comes not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly, John 10:10.
 
Dene Ward