New Year Challenges

Exodus 3-7: Beware the burning bush, a message directed especially to Boomers

February 6, 2016 by untilfulllight

Some of us remember more about the 60’s and 70’s than the caricatured images in the media. We lived them. We may have worn the bell bottoms and flashed an occasional peace sign, but we weren’t into sex, drugs, and dropping out.

Some of us were part of the Jesus movement. We flooded the college dorms with evangelism; we witnessed in coffee houses that played the new folk-sounding Christian music; we studied the Bible in small groups that the institutional church sometimes considered suspect. We felt we were part of once again turning the world upside down for Jesus.

Yet, somewhere along the way, as the song goes, the music died

We married, some had kids, most had careers. The passion that at one time fueled evangelism was turned to making money and a good life. We turned John 10:10 from a promise of the eternal life of God gave to believers into a justification for pursuing our version of what “life to the full” meant. We settled. From studying the Bible, we turned to studying stock portfolios, investment options, and how to get ahead. From concentrating on evangelism, we perfected our golf game or the perfect recipe in our spare time. We look forward to retirement.

I imagine Moses, at age 80 may have had similar thoughts. At one time he wanted, he tried, to do something great for God. He felt God had called him to free Israel from oppression; he felt it so strongly he even killed a man he saw wrongly treating a fellow Israelite. But instead of his Jewish brothers recognizing him as liberator, his actions forced him to flee Egypt.

That was a long time ago and Moses had settled into a routine in the desert—tending sheep, raising a family. Wandering around the desert. At 80, I wondered if he couldn’t help but think that maybe it was time to spend a little more time in the tent than tending the flocks. He was probably tired.

But one day a bush was burning.

The God of second chances never stops calling

God called Moses to an extraordinary destiny and a second chance to do what he had been called to do, born to do.Continue Reading

A New Year reminder: the promise of a good ending does not mean an easy journey

January 2, 2015 by untilfulllight

We all start out the new year with hopes, dreams, and goals. Many of them may be God-given and though we are facing difficult times now, we hope for a better future. To help you reach your God-given goals, the following reminders may be useful because in-between God’s promises and the fulfillment of them are often challenges and trials. The following Bible stories may give you strength for those in between times:

Biblical promises of a happy ending

The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Exodus 3:7-8

Before the Israelites began their exodus from slavery Egypt, God promised the final result—a good land of their own.

This passage reminds me of another one in the New Testament:

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. Mark 4:35-40

In both passages God’s people are promised a safe ending to their journey. The challenge is that for both the Children of Israel and the disciples, between the promise and the destination there would be challenges. For Israel Pharoah’s denials made their work more difficult before they were free and after their exodus from Egypt over 40 years of challenges and failures came before the Promised Land. For the disciples:

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Mark 4:37-38

The final result and challenge

Israel conquered the land and lives in it today. For the disciples, the storm was calmed, they landed on the other side and went on to turn the world upside down with the gospel message.

After the troubles, I can’t help but think that for both groups there were probably some moments of regret because they did not trust God in the midst of the difficulties and the storm.

If only the people of Israel had said, “God you promised us this land and the giants in it just give us a greater reason to trust you!”

If only the disciples had said, “Lord, what a great storm to ride through to show your ability to keep us safe even in this!”

But those affirmations of faith did not happen. Instead fear, accusing God, drawing back and failure was the response on the part of those who called themselves followers. For Israel, a whole generation suffered and died in the desert because 10 men didn’t believe God. For the disciples fear replaced the opportunity to trust.

We cannot be too hard on them because often that is our response when life becomes difficult: we cry, moan, groan, accuse God, overeat, work too hard, gossip about whoever “made” us behave like that. We have no idea how many people are affected by our lack of faith or what blessings we missed out on because we didn’t trust.

In the midst of the trials and storms, God remains faithful

The end of both stories does not dwell on the failure of frail humanity, but the trustworthiness of the word of God. Israel did occupy the land. The disciples did get to the other side.

Our God is good and gracious. May we face the upcoming trials of life (because there will always be more) with trust and faith. He will get us to the other side, that is never in doubt. Our attitude is.

Prepare in advance for how you will handle the upcoming difficulties. Be in the Word, memorize it, meditate on it, be in prayer and strengthen your heart so when the journey becomes difficult you can be at peace in trusting your ever-faithful God.

When overwhelmed, the one thing we need to do

February 13, 2014 by untilfulllight

I was feeling overwhelmed this week. I know that’s not unique to me and my schedule isn’t more busy or crazy or stressed than anyone else’s (to me it seems like it is, but I know that is self-delusion). Seriously, as I was thinking about that I remembered something I wrote a while back and wanted to share again—I did the following blog just before New Year, but I truly think that where ever we are in life, whatever time of year it is, it can always be a New Year with our Lord…so following is the reminder that encouraged me.

Death as a reminder

This past year the father of one of my friends died. My friend shared with me that in the time they spent together as death approached, he asked his father, “Is there anything you need to do?”

What a kind and wise question to ask a loved parent in the twilight of life—to be there to help him do whatever needs to be done to rest in peace. We all want to know our lives mattered and that we finished up the tasks, the calling, and if possible, all we were created to do before we leave this earth. We may not be able to finish those things alone and the offer to help seemed incredibly insightful and caring.

As I thought about it in the days that followed, I realized that it’s an important question for all of us to ask ourselves and those we love. As the New Year is about to start, it’s an especially good time to do that. As many of us make resolutions at this time, we ought to take time to make worthwhile ones.

What is it we need to do?

Though the specific application for all of us may change, Jesus has an overall answer. The question isn’t new. Life has always been busy, always pushing and pulling in many directions. Long ago, Jesus gave us this answer on one busy day with friends, as Luke tells us in his gospel:

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:38-42 (NIVUK)

The one needful thing in life, what we all need to do, is spend time with Jesus.

It sounds simple, but it is difficult to put into practice because like Martha, we are often “worried and upset about many things.” Often they aren’t “bad” things—after all Martha was busy about serving Jesus. But even as she was doing service for Him, she wasn’t paying attention to Him.

Attention to Jesus starts by time in His Word, reading it, listening to it, thinking about it, discussing it. The world is so loud with its demands, messages, entertainment and empty noise. If we want worthwhile dreams to fill our hearts and minds we’ve got to intentionally fill it with God’s Word.

That’s why his year and every year I pray that we’ll daily read the Bible through so that we’ll learn to think like Jesus thinks, to know what matters to Him, to understand how He would respond to the events of life. More than simply reading to learn the content, history and facts (though all that is important), read it through to see the heart of your Creator, Savior, Forgiver, and Lord. You must have the broad overview to correctly understand the parts.

We wouldn’t think of reading part of a text-book, bits and pieces here and there and attempt to pass a course on the subject. How can we claim to be a follower of Jesus and not ever have read all that he wrote for us?

We would never assume to be a follower of any popular series of books, such as the Harry Potter series, if we didn’t read them all, cover to cover. Can you imagine saying something like, “Oh, I love Harry Potter!” but then admitting you’d only picked up one book a few times, opened it at random and read a few pages. Someone who really cares about Harry Potter, reads all the books and knows in detail about Muggles, Quidditch, Gryffindor, and Lord Voldemort. If we don’t take seriously someone as a fan of a popular series of novels who knows little about them and has never read them, how can we expect our Lord to take us seriously in our love for him if we haven’t read the Book, he wrote for us?

He speaks to us through his Word and we must spend time individually and with others in worship and study reading, listening to, discussing it. We must allow God’s Word to “dwell in us richly” so we can hear his voice.

If we do that, most likely He’ll make clear some things He wants us to do. As you listen, ask yourself:

What is it that you need to do to make your life focused on the one thing that is needful?
What is it you need to do to care more deeply for those you love?
What do you need to do to serve more fully those who have needs?
What is it you need to do for Jesus, this year, for it to be a year obediently lived?

His answers may involve some difficulty for you to carry them out. We always want to take the easy path—but like any path, if you take the easy, level road, you’ll miss the view available only after an exhausting climb. If you don’t focus on Jesus in the coming year, chances are your life will be easier, but easy, fun, and comfortable are rarely God’s descriptions of the lives of those who counted the most for Him.

Decide on a pattern of faithful study and service

Not just the coming year, but every year the path of our life goes in a certain direction and the grooves of direction get ever deeper each year. God has given us the opportunity to choose that direction, each New Year gives us an opportunity to change directions and travel down new paths that will bring satisfying joy and peace. In the coming year and always, may your life be like this verse:

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. Prov. 4:18

Wherever you are at in your knowledge of God’s Word or obedience to you, there is always room for growth in the learning more about it and the grace of living it more completely. It isn’t the action of reading or checking off a list that’s important when we read the Bible–it’s a way to spend time with Jesus, listening to Him, the God who loves us, saves us, and walks with us now and forever.