Why Lie? I Need A Beer.

He was sitting on a milk crate on the corner yesterday, just at the edge of downtown Detroit proper. I was in the lane closest to him and the light turned red. It was a semi-decent spring day, so my window was down. I turned to him and smiled as he showed me this.

I know. I know. You don't need to warn me about the dangers of chatting with strange men on milk crates holding signs in the middle of Detroit. I won't listen to you. Never have. Never will. 

He said, "Want to contribute to my beer fund?" "Absolutely not!", I said.

He pointed out his honesty to me and I commended him for it. I told him that he might want to turn his life over to Jesus and then he wouldn't need that beer. He told me he believed in God. He told me that when he looked into my eyes he didn't see black or white. He said we all bleed red.

We chatted about my Mustang. He told me I must have a need for speed! For a second I thought about the measly $1.10 I had in my change purse and almost added to his fund. Almost...

As the light turned green, again, I lifted my hand to him, at the same time noticing another man approach with a toothless smile, and I said, "Jesus loves you!", and drove away. As I started to move, I heard them both yell back, "Jesus loves you!"

Jesus loves you?!?!?!

What kind of thing was that to say? Really, Donna? "Jesus loves you?" How trite. How cliche. You couldn't do better than that?

Somewhere deep I remembered another man; one sitting at the gate called Beautiful. He sat there begging every single day. He asked Peter and John to contribute to his fund, but Peter said,

"Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk". (Acts 3: 6)  

Peter gave him the name of Jesus. The power in that Name caused this man, lame from birth, to walk.

Isn't that all we really have to give that's of any worth or value or POWER?

The Name. The Name of Jesus? Not a lecture. Not an admonition to go find a job. Not disdain or disgust at his sad estate. 

The One who is called Jesus Christ is the best thing any of us can give.

We all bleed red. He was right.

But the One whose Name I gave bled the reddest of all.

For me.

And for my friend on a milk crate on the edge of the city on a spring afternoon in Detroit. 

 

 

It's All A Set Up

"But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons." (Galatians 4: 4-5)

Because Holy Week and Easter often fall in April, one of the daily devotionals that I study each morning has dedicated this month to the last few hours of the earthly life of Christ. Taking thirty days to go over the events of a few hours time has lent itself to going slowly and deliciously in-depth in regard to the details. I'm one of those line by line, precept by precept bible studiers anyway. The more I can squeeze out of a word or single phrase of Scripture, the more excited I get.

Studying the final hours that Jesus spent on planet Earth as the Son of Man has led me to draw one conclusion. God is in the business of setting things up. Being all powerful, He could accomplish His purposes with just a word going forth from His lips. Really, He doesn't have to get up from His throne, and He doesn't even need to speak. All He has to do is think it, will it, and it will be done exactly as He wants it to be. More than now and again that's not how He works. If you don't just look at the familiar verses that we focus on every year at this time, but look deeper into the environment in which those events took place, you'll see something so remarkable, and I'm praying that "something" will bring you new hope today.

Before the foundation of the world, God knew what would take place in the Garden of Eden. He knew that the man and woman He created would be deceived by the serpent and that sin would spoil the perfection which was His original intent for mankind. He also knew that He would have to do something to bring fallen man back into right fellowship with Him. He had to do something because of His love. From that moment on, His plan of redemption could realistically have taken place at any time, but He skipped generation after generation of His people, waiting for the perfect conditions, to send His son, made of a woman to redeem mankind. When the fullness of the time was come, He would send Jesus.    

There would be a particular virgin girl named Mary. There would be a kind-hearted, righteous Joseph. There would be a designated time for a census. There would be a loving home for the boy to grow up in. When His time for ministry came, there would be men in position to become His close band of followers. The political and religious climate of the day would have to be perfect. Roman law would mix with Jewish religious law and form a unique set of circumstances that would be just what was needed to bring Jesus to a death sentence of crucifixion. Caiaphas would have to be high priest. Pilate would be governor of Judea throughout the entire length of Jesus' ministry. Herod Antipas would be tetrarch of Galilee, and both he and Pilate would find themselves in the city of Jerusalem during that particular Passover feast. I wish that I could do a more in depth study with you right here so that you could see some of the most minute details that had to be in place for God's plan to come to fruition in just the right way and at just the right time. The right stew of political, social and religious environs all mixed together, and the fullness of the time was come. God had set up the details perfectly and then, not one moment too soon or too late, He told His Son, "Now is Your time."

Why, in our present situations and circumstances, do we think we're exempt from the process? God is a God of order and plans and purposes. Jeremiah 29: 11 says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Where there's an end, there was first a beginning. To get from the start to the finish, there must be a process in between. Details must be worked out perfectly to achieve that expected end, and that's the part where God sets it all up just the way He chooses.  He pays close attention to the details. It is then, and only then, that He says to you, "Now is YOUR time."

We would be patient if it weren't for all the waiting.

It is right in the middle of the waiting dear one, where God is paying perfect attention to each and every detail that needs to be in place for your own expected end. At a wedding in Cana, Jesus told His mother, "My time has not yet come." (John 2: 4) Later, when His disciples urged Him to go to Judea for the Feast of Tabernacles, the Jews were there, waiting to take His life. Jesus told His friends, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right." (John 7: 1-6) That's you and me, isn't it? We think that any time is right. We want it to happen and we want it now. "Any time now, Lord! Any time would be right!" Jesus shows us otherwise. He could have gone to Judea and let them take Him at that very moment and the whole thing would have been over. But He trusted His Father enough to know that the perfect plan would be carried out in the perfect way and at the perfect time. Can we trust Him that much?

When God knows that the time is right, it will happen; even more so, if He has promised it to you in His Word. I read somewhere that the time preceding the event is like a glass of water slowly filling up as the time rolls on until when the glass is full it has reached the time for the designated event to occur.

Matthew Henry said, "Cast not away your confidence because God defers his performances. That which does not come in your time, will be hastened in his time, which is always the more convenient season. God will work when he pleases, how he pleases, and by what means he pleases. He is not bound to keep our time, but he will perform his word, honour our faith, and reward them that diligently seek him."

Your Heavenly Father knows what you're going through today. He has a plan to bring you to your expected end. A plan that is good and perfect because He has taken the time to pay attention to the details. Don't fight the process. Embrace it. Let not one moment of it be wasted. Let it draw you nearer to Him in trust and expectancy. When the fullness of your time has come, you will see that you wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Jesus knew that. Learn from Him for He is gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your weary soul.

 

 

   

          

Seventh Inning Stretch

The other day, one of the elders at our church referred to those of us fifty and over, as being in the fourth quarter of life. This is not a new or shocking revelation for me. I've told my man not a few times that I've lived more years than I likely have years ahead. He doesn't like it when I say that, but truth is truth. I just turned fifty-seven.

I've been struggling lately with a whole lot of regret. "If only I had" has been a recurring thought. This thought doesn't involve anything major, like marrying my husband. I'd do it again in a hot second. My kids? Absolutely never a regret! I wouldn't have missed them for the world! 

Some of it is rather personal; not sharable here. But can I just say that I have left a trail of quite a few years behind me, and there are indisputably things that I would've done differently?

I wish I was in my thirties again. My whole life ahead of me. Wisdom like I have today. If wishes were horses, beggars would ride, right?

The truth is, I'm no longer thirty. I'm fifty-seven, and maybe these regrets aren't just something I've dreamed up. Not to give any credit to the enemy at all, but I think some of it is just a mental battle he wages to make me depressed, discouraged, and ineffective.

I've done too many things wrong.
I've wasted too many years.
I'm too old now.
It's too late.

I could have...
I should have...
If I would have...

He only lets me host my unattended pity party for so long. Gently, on a spring morning, He knocks on the door of my heart and enters to sit awhile and reason with me.

He says, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43: 18-19)

Um mm...no.

He shakes His head and says, "Forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead. Press on toward the goal to win the prize for which I called you heavenward in my Son." (Philippians 3:13-14)

O. Kay. But...

With a smile on His face, His words perfectly echoing my thoughts, as if He can read my mind, "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." (Isaiah 46:4)

"I will sustain you, like I did Paul, and Peter, and David. Look what they became in spite of the things that lay in their pasts. They made mistakes. Big ones! Paul murdered my followers! Peter denied me! David!! He slept with Bathsheba and murdered her husband! For goodness sake, child! Go back and read about what I did with their lives and see what I can do with yours! It's not over until I say it's over!"

You know what? I'm not a big football fan, so I'm not relating so much to that fourth quarter thing. I do love me some baseball though. 

I would prefer to look at this period of my life as a seventh inning stretch.

I'm going to stand up. 
I'm going to shake it all off.
I'm going to str.....et....ch. 
I'm going to get back in the game! 

And if I'm really blessed maybe I'll get to play some extra innings!