Christmas unwrapped

   With Christmas just 3 days away,  some faces are not radiant with happiness at the season. There are empty chairs around a festive table and one or more of those chairs will be empty at dinner. Some are tethered to their phone in hopes that today is the day the wayward child will call. Some already have the diagnosis that will impact the next year. Some,  fearful of a variant, will abandon visits. Some have no happy memories of Christmas past and thus have no hope for Christmas present. For far too many, Christmas is a season to endure.

   In 1990, Jack Hayford wrote in  Moments with Majesty   that Christmas can be “wrapped”. Wrapped in disappointment, hurt, loneliness, anxiety, or fear. He asks,  “How many varieties of death wrap a God-appointed celebration of life?” 

  The first Christmas was “wrapped.”  An unwed pregnant teenager traveling miles and miles with her betrothed, not the father and ending up in a barn full of animals and filth in full labor.  Joseph was going to Bethlehem to register, to be tracked and counted. The Israelites were under a repressive regime that threatened their religious freedom daily. Sound familiar?

     Remember that the prince of darkness did not easily relinquish his earthly dominion to this babe of Bethlehem. The entire story of the gospel records Satan’s efforts to stop this baby from his mission. Starting in a barn in Bethlehem.

   Today’s infant mortality rate is 2.9%   in a sterile, hospital environment with  the knowledge of a highly trained physician and the technology to literally stall death. During the Middle Ages, almost half of all babies born died. I have to wonder what chance  a baby and mother had in a barn on a cold winter night with a teenage boy attending?   When the baby thrived, a wicked king ordered the death of every Jewish boy under age 2 in yet, another effort to kill this baby before his time. Still unsuccessful, thirty years later,  this same enemy would approach this now grown baby and try again to thwart his life’s mission. Three years after that,  he would celebrate the physical death of the baby he had failed to destroy. But, three days later, the babe of Mary, the son of man and God would again prove his resiliency.

     If your Christmas is wrapped in pain, fear, disappointment, grief, heartache, or loss,  consider; as Hayford does, that “The one who sought to murder the babe of Bethlehem now seeks to ruin your celebration of His coming.” 

   Before you unwrap the presents this year,  unwrap Christmas. Celebrate the victory that began in a manger. 

Moving delayed

 If you've ever moved, you know the frustration of delays and roadblocks  Moving digitally is an even more challenging event.  This old dog is having trouble with the tech tricks!   Blog is currently posted at TonyaAnn, Writer  on facebook.   I believe the website is coming but held up in a cloud somewhere!    

Moving Day

This blog is moving to my website within the next few days,  you can access today's word on my facebook page,  TonyaAnn, Writer.  Please like the page while you are there!  Thanks.  

Two-Faced?

      Luke is the only non-Jewish writer of any book in the Bible.  His gospel and the book of Acts comprise over one fourth of the New Testament. This lengthy writing focuses on Jesus’ many parables and teaching but does not neglect the report of miracles.  Luke emphasized that salvation was for everyone,  an appropriate teaching for his audience of Gentiles. He most frequently refers to Jesus as “Son of Man”  and attributes great importance to the Holy Spirit.  His comprehensive gospel includes Jesus’ concern for the marginalized.  Luke likely gathered his information from a variety of sources.  Many of those would be eyewitness accounts.  

     Three of the four gospel writers included verses about Jesus being “transfigured”.  Luke gives it seven verses, Luke 9:28-35. Peter is the only one who  mentions it after the Resurrection.  John alludes to it the introduction to his gospel,     “We have seen his glory” ( John 1:14).   It almost seems like a non-event.  But, we know nothing in the Word is without purpose.  

    Jesus had told his disciples that he would die.  It was about a week later when he took Peter, James, and John onto a mountain to pray.   While Jesus was praying, “the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.”

   His face changed.  No one records exactly how it changed,  but all say it did.  We know he was in prayer,  in conversation with His father.  His father may have been encouraging him in what was ahead.  Or perhaps, simply being in the presence of His father changed his countenance.   

  The event was for the disciples who witnessed it. It was revelation, prophetic and instructional. The change in Jesus’ face and clothing as he talked with Moses & Elijah  revealed his oneness with God. That they were on earth to talk gives us a picture of eternal life.   It revealed that Jesus truly was God in the flesh.  The voice from inside the cloud instructed the three disciples to “Listen to Him”. 

  For us,  it is a lesson in prayer. We are changed physically and emotionally when we spend time with our Heavenly Father, listening as well as petitioning.  Relationships are built by spending time with someone.  Talking and listening, sharing emotions, situations, experiences.  We build a relationship with God in the same way.  Our faces, attitude and behavior  should be changed when we are with Him.  

Tolerance and Righteousness are not Synonyms

    Paul founded the church at Corinth during his second missionary journey.  Most of its membership were ex-pagan Gentiles.  As a result, they still walked in their worldly desires. Their spiritual immaturity blinded them to the seriousness of their behavior. Paul (and God) desired this church to be victorious over sin.  Painful as it was,  Paul was obligated to address their questionable behavior

    Paul’s heart must have been breaking as he penned this letter to a church he had founded and loved.  He reminds them right away of their call to holiness and commends them on their spiritual gifts.  3+ and a wish.  

   The Corinthian church had lost its focus.  There were arguments over petty events.   They pledged allegiance to different apostles instead of Jesus.  There was a rash of jealousy and quarrels.  There were quarrels and disagreements.   They were in critical danger of conforming to the world, and they were unconcerned about that possibility.

   Corinth is a long way from America,  but the similarities are chilling.  The Full Life Study Bible calls the believers at Corinth, “worldly Christians”.   These Christians had not submitted to sin and rebellion.  They were not immoral or unrighteous.  Most troubling, they were tolerating sin  in the name of love.  They didn’t want to offend by calling out sin among their brethren.  They had not  conformed to the world, but they were walking a fine line. Paul was filled with grief because of this and in                         I Corinthians  5:2  he suggests that the church should be also.    In the name of tolerance, in fear of “hate speech”, we hesitate to speak out against immorality. We ignore racism in the name of “minding our own business”.  Too many of our leaders are afraid to speak truth for fear of income loss.  The evil around us should fill us with grief.   And send us to our knees in repentance and petition.  Later, Jesus will call these people, “lukewarm” and that will not end well.

Come, See, Be Changed

  John,  the beloved disciple.  One of the first disciples called.  Part of Jesus’ inner circle.  A fisherman by trade.  The author with the most to say wrote his account of the gospel almost twenty years after the others.  Ancient sources indicate an elderly John, living in Ephesus was asked to write his memories of Jesus Christ.  Presumably to refute a false narrative that was being circulated.  John begins by calling Jesus the “word made flesh” and immediately makes clear that Jesus “was with God in the beginning”.    If you are only going to read and study one book in the entire Bible,  John’s gospel is the recommendation.  For those who are questioning salvation or the newly saved,  this is the book for reference.

    John waited twenty years to write his gospel.  That apparent hesitation is thought provoking.  John was Jesus' beloved friend.  His writings show that the feeling was mutual.   Was John's hesitation to write  borne of that great love?  Perhaps John felt as did Mary,  the mother of Jesus.   Of her, Luke said,  “but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.” Luke 2:19 .

   John’s book has a tone of love, respect and awe that can only be felt by one who has been with Jesus.  John shares some but not the whole of the miracles he witnessed. John extensively quotes Jesus. His writings testify that he knew Old Testament scripture well.  John is the only disciple who records Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus,  a conversation that sums up the entire gospel message.    

   836 times throughout the Bible are the words “come and see”.   John records them twice in the first chapter.  In verse 39  Jesus tells two of John the Baptist’s disciples to “come and see”  and in verse 46 Phillip invites Nathaniel to check Jesus out for himself.  “Come and See”.    But, in 4:29,  John’s record of this phrase is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry on earth.  A familiar story of the Samaritan woman at the well.  

   This woman,  unworthy and unclean in the eyes of everyone who beheld her.  A woman with a reputation for adultery,  immorality and  self-indulgence.  People turned the other way when she appeared,  shunned by her family and former friends. She had been with Jesus only a few moments but it was enough to change her life.  Being in the presence of Jesus should change us.

  When this woman shouted “Come and See”  in the streets,  people ran to see.  Scripture says that  Jesus stayed there for two more days and many believed His message.  They believed because they came to see.  They came to investigate for themselves the things they were hearing about the man, Jesus.

   John’s gospel invites us to come and see.  In the presence of Jesus, we will be changed.  As you  read and study the Word,  don’t fail to open your eyes and see,  but also be changed.  

BIG Announcement

 

    I’ve always been told to write the book you want to read.  In early 2021,  I knew I wanted to read the Bible through this year.  I had used the One Year Chronological Bible on several occasions and even used the format with a different translation.  I didn’t want to revisit that, and I didn’t want to start in Genesis and go straight through.  I get too bogged down midway through the Old Testament.  So,  I did what you do these days,  I went to google looking for  read the Bible through in one-year charts.  There are lots.  A genre read the Bible through in one year caught my interest.    As a teacher, writer, and reader,  I love to categorize by genre.  As a child we made a genre project to learn the books of the Bible and it is still imprinted in my mind. (see my Instagram)  This one from IntoThyWord   promises to “keep your pace up and prevent you from losing interest and giving up”.   In their version,  you read from a different genre every day.  For example,  Sunday: Gospels:  Matthew 1-2,  Monday: Law:  Genesis 1-3;  Tuesday: History Joshua 1-6  and then through Psalms, Poetry, Prophecy and Epistles.  As I started the reading,  I found skipping through the scriptures a little confusing, so I decided to do a week in each genre.  Seven days in the gospels,  the next week seven days in law and so on.  Using my Full Life Study Bible,  I started each week in a new book,  reading the info about timelines, purposes,  etc. And,  of course,  journaling.    Seven weeks in I mentioned what I was doing to  my writing group leader.   Within a week, I was contracted with Illumify Publishing to publish this idea. 

   It wasn’t as fast as it sounds.   When my friend at the company said,  “I want to publish that book.”  I said,  “what book?”.   When a meme from a book marketing seminar popped up on my fb that suggested God wanted me to take a leap of faith and said “Jump, Baby, Jump” , I thought “ what a coincidence”.   When Beatrice Bruno, The Drill Sergeant of Life Faith – Family – Freedom said “We getting ready to go home,  you need to write what God has given you to write”  and suggested that those left behind will be scrambling for books and articles to explain what has happened,  I felt a little sick to my stomach.   When a friend posted on her facebook "Everyone is important. God placed you on this earth for such a time as this. Pray and ask God to reveal to you what your purpose is. What he has for you to do at this time, this appointed time. Be prepared and be willing to step out in faith for what He has for you".   I jokingly asked if she was trying to be the dew on my fleece.   When she immediately PM’d me with “God wants you to step out and not be afraid.”   I took a very deep breath.  The next morning,  when I prayed for God’s direction,  he said, ( in so many words) You’re not getting a burning bush.  I knew He had been as clear as he was ever going to be. 

    When the publisher and my “team”  told me the book had to be ready for fall due to its content of being a read the Bible through in a year document,  I could see the wisdom in that.  What I couldn’t see was how in the world I could submit the manuscript by May 1^st.  Sixty-five days from day of decision.   This didn’t just require writing,  it required research and a LOT of prayer. 

  On April 29 at 4:49MST,  I pushed “send”  and the completed book went to the editor for first re-writes.  I have a detailed timeline of deadlines but Illumify believes it will publish August 10. 

   I always wanted to publish a book but this was not the book I thought it would be!   It is the book God intended me to write.  This blog will be moving to my new website soon.   I need and want your prayers as this endeavor unfolds.  I don’t intend to be a New York Times bestseller,  I intend to point people to the Word of God.  I’ll need your help to spread the word about His Word.  

Old Gold, Gold and Silver

    A few years ago,  my daughter and I had a heart-to-heart conversation.  She's the practical one,  I'm the emotional one.  We were discussing my move from my childhood/adult/entire life home.  She wanted me to move closer to her.  I'm still not sure why she thought this was a convincing argument.  " You need to move out here now while you can still make friends.  When we have to move you out here and put you in a home,  you won't have friends and it will be too late to make them then."  I'm even less sure why I bought that argument.  But, I moved out here.  

   I joined a group of women at a local church about four months after the move.  Over the past three years, they have become my tribe. Yesterday this circle of friends assured me that they would visit me in the "home".  One even offered to move into the "home" with me.  I'm reminded of a Girl Scout chorus,  "Make new friends, but keep the old.  One is silver and the other gold."   My move afforded me some silver friends.   

   Through my lifetime, there have been women who saw something in me I could not see in myself.   Rosie Yandell,  Estee Eubanks,  Debbie Sprouse.  Here in Colorado,  a woman who asked me to be her "assistant"  and join her in planning and executing service projects for our women's group.   We planned together,  laughed together,  ate a lot of lunches,  and attempted shopping together.  She hates shopping so I ended up doing that while she stayed home and directed me by phone!   She was a model for a woman who was living until she died.  I knew her for months before I knew her body was ravaged with cancer.    Three weeks ago she text me from her hospital bed  with directions for an upcoming project we were working on.  Five days later,  she went home to Heaven.  

   I was blessed to spend 30 years ministering to girls and young women in Oklahoma.  My bouts with homesickness are directly related to these women and the events they post on Facebook.   Last weekend three of them spent the weekend with me in my 'new' home.   One was a product of that ministry, the other two co-laborers in the ministry.  They are part of my "golden friends".

  Six years ago, God miraculously reunited me with the women of Evangel University from the 1970's.  The girls I lived with for four life-changing years in college.  We hold an annual reunion now but the real benefit is calls, cards, emails and fb posts that hold us together all year long.  I guess they are "Old Golden friends".  

    Our world is so full of 'woman power'.  There are volumes of books about lifting women up.  It's not a bad sentiment,  it needs balance.  More importantly it needs to be bathed in scripture and prayer.   Women of God should indeed lift each other,  not with the words of the world but the Word of God.   I am 'not enough',  not by myself.  I need other women to come alongside me.  I need to hear the truth even if it hurts.  I need to celebrate good news with someone.  I need to join other women and cry out to God for our needs and the needs of our mutual sisters.  We need each other.  Together we need the Holy Spirit to bind us together "with cords that cannot be broken"  by the lies of the world.  

   

Worthy of the Call

   Thinkin' about grace today.  The unmerited favor of God coupled with forgiveness.  Considering the price Christ paid,  we need to be sure he’s getting his monies worth.  We must be worthy of the call.  Paul said this in Ephesians 4:1.

  In Philemon we see an escaped servant who had stolen from his master, imprisoned, and deserving of death in that culture. Yet, Paul dared to petition Philemon on his behalf.  He asked Philemon not only to forgive Onesimus but let him stay with Paul to be a help to him.  A master relinquishing his right to his property.  “And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.  I am confident as I write this letter that you will do what I ask and even more!”  Paul asked Philemon to extend grace to Onesimus which would demonstrate his devotion to the Call of Christ.

  In Titus, Paul gives strict instructions to servants such as Onesimus. He reminds all Christians that godly living will show others  the “grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people”.  The whole book tells us how to be worthy of the Call.

   The words regarding the end times in the books of Thessalonians are a masterpiece of grace.  We,  like the people of Thessalonica,  have done nothing to deserve eternal security in a place of love and joy. For some, the journey will be rough but all who endure are promised salvation.  Indeed,  Paul reminds us to live a life worthy of our call. The Pulpit commentary explains, “The calling was, properly speaking, only the commencement of the Christian life, but as it was the first link in a chain that terminated in glory.”  When we accept Christ into our lives, we receive a call.  A call to “ to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God,” Micah 6:8. It is the first step to our entire life’s journey from glory to glory. Our words and our actions determine the evaluation of that call. 

Think 'bout that.  

Taking Sides... Again

 

Social media is the bane or the joy of our existence.  We hear and read pros and cons of our time spent there.  I really don’t write about social media due to its controversies.  I’m sure I spend too much time on it and writers are admonished to use it  for marketing.

   During the 2020 election and covid, I worked hard to be discerning.  I had to hide dear friends and I physically held my hands in my lap to resist typing snark. 

   A recent repeatedly shared quote by Rainn Wilson has broken my heart.  He uses his own definition of Christ to berate those who believe in gun rights,  are against certain medical procedures, believe in smaller government and are patriotic.  I don’t really care  about Rainn Wilson, (although the Bible says I should)  but I love, love some of the people who are reposting his rant.  Jesus is not republican or democrat,  see my post of February 10, 2021  Donkey Or Elephant?.   

  While reading the book of Job, we see his friends saying just enough truth to deceive.  They absolutely are right on some things, but opinionated on others. Not unlike us, and those around us. 

     Without a doubt, there was a minority who trusted the republican party as the party of God to their detriment. It become idolatry as so many believed Trump was the savior of religion freedom.  It was wrong.   That said,  regardless of anything, political, economical, social, anything;  comments like Wilson’s that project human beliefs on our Savior cannot be pleasing to him.    When Joshua asked the Angel of the Lord whose side he was on,  He responded,  “ I’m on the Lord’s side!”  We don’t need to define that,  He defined it in His Word.  

Twelve for Dinner

 

 

Twelve for Dinner 

 

   A few years ago, our church hosted a "walk to Calvary". We paraded into Jerusalem waving our “palm” branches. Our path took us through several scenes, ending at an empty garden tomb. At one point, we stopped in the upper room to celebrate Passover. The table had paper placemats placed randomly around the table. The placemats were 'monogramed' in sharpie with the names of the disciples. Jesus was in the center, but John was at the end of another table. I gasped at my placemat, Judas.

  This shocking event drove me to research  the seating arrangement of that monumental meal.  We see it as DaVinci's famous painting,  which is not at all true.  

   The seating at Jesus’ last meeting and meal with his beloved disciples was not a coincidence. In Jesus’ time, the upper room of a home held a U-shaped table that allowed the servants to serve from the middle.  It would have been extremely low to the floor with no chairs, only large pillows. Diners reclined on their left side, heads toward the table and legs stretched out behind, eating with their right hands. In this position, the lowest servant could easily wash guest’s feet.   

   The seating of the guests was intentional. Tradition and custom required that the host sit in the second seat on the left. The first and third seats would be for honored guests. The others would be seated around the U in order of their importance. The least honored guest would be at the end of the U on the right side. While this seat would be across from the host, it would be several yards away and with a servant in the middle. This seat was nearest the basin and pitcher used for foot washing. Not a choice seat.

     A close look at the scripture surrounding this event provides interesting inferences.   Jesus, the host, was reclining in the second spot at the left of the table. John 13:23 says that John was “reclining next to” Jesus. In order for John to “lean back against Jesus” (verse 25) he would have had to be sitting at Jesus’ right, the first seat of the table. This same passage indicates that Peter “motioned” for John to inquire of Jesus. Peter had to be sitting far enough away that he could not ask the question, yet close enough to get John’s attention. Scholars believe Peter was sitting across the table in the least important seat. That does not sound like the Peter we all know and love.  That brings up an entirely new discussion,  how did Peter get in the least important seat?  (Maybe next week's post?)

     To Jesus’ immediate left, was the most honored seat of all.  The guest here would share a bowl with the host. This was the seat for the most respected and recognized guest. At this Passover supper, Judas, sat in this honored position. Judas. All four gospel writers acknowledge the presence of a traitor sharing the bowl with Jesus.    

     Jesus knew that Judas was the betrayer, He said as much at dinner. And yet, Judas was sitting in the most honored seat. I want to think that Judas must have elbowed his way to that seat.  But, because of what I know about Jesus, it’s possible that He placed Judas next to Him. It’s possible his heart said,  “Here it is, Judas, one last opportunity to choose Me. One last time let me show you how much I love you. Take one more chance to change your mind”.  In one more action to show His love, Jesus washed Judas’ feet along with the others. In His fully human form, He must have cringed as he scrubbed the dirt from between Judas’ toes. But His love overcame his heartache. At that table,  in those excruciating moments,  Jesus forgave Judas for what he was about to do.  

   Sitting in Judas' seat, (albeit not factual) His great love overwhelmed me that day. His example of how to treat a betrayer, those who deliver the most devastating blows; I was convicted.  

     Is there a betrayer in your history?  While it likely did not lead to physical death, it doubtless led to the death of many other things.   A marriage,  trust,  a job,  a friendship,?   Jesus’ example at the last supper compels us to give a betrayer an honored place in our history.  John Eldredge writes, “Forgiveness is saying the cross is enough.” *

I declare today, The cross IS enough.

 

*John Eldredge, Moving Mountains (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Books, 2016)        

 

I Got Nothin'

        Over the years, I’ve heard many sermons from Ezekiel 37,  the dry bones chapter.  It’s the most popular content for sermons from the book of Ezekiel.  Ezekiel is a difficult book to understand with all the imagery, metaphors, and similes.  This time,  however,  a different portion stood out to me.  In verse 3, God asks Ezekiel if these bones can live again.  Ezekiel says,  “You know”.   In other words,  “I have no idea,  why ask me,  I don’t know.”   I envision Ezekiel shrugging his shoulders and shaking is head.  Beats me, God. 

   How many times have we felt that way? How many times have we screwed our mouth to the side and told a friend,  “I don’t know.”   If we consider our world today, pandemics, racial unrest, political craziness and the ‘laws’  our congress,  the representative of the people come up with?     I don’t know.  It looks hopeless to me. 

    Tony Evans suggested that’s exactly the place where God can work,  in the place where we have no idea what to do. 

   Apparently, I had a lesson to be learned because the next morning,  my study was Acts 3.  Peter and John are accosted by a lame man.  Peter tells the man, he’s got nothing,  but what he got from the Lord on Pentecost morning,  he’ll share that. 

   Peter might have shaken his head and shrugged at the man’s request for help because Peter had no money to give.  If the lame man asked,  “what am I supposed to do?”   their answer would be “I don’t know”.  Peter chose to share what he did know.  He had been infused with power from God through the Holy Spirit and “in the name of Jesus of Nazareth”  the man was healed. 

  I don’t know what the answer is for America.  I don’t know what the outcome will be for  friends struggling with cancer treatments and diagnosis.  I don’t know where the next job is for a friend who’s being terminated.   I don’t know how our teenagers can navigate the world they are living in.  IDK.     Is there any hope?   You know,  God. 

I’ve got nothing but God knows,  I can’t help anyone but “in the name of Jesus of Nazareth,” let's  walk forward and trust the One who can.      

Listen, Remember, Remind Me.

 In this world we are living in ,  Isaiah 46:3-4, 9-11  bears repeating.  Verse 3 starts out “Listen to me.”   I was reminded of all the times that I have said to children,  heard my daughter say to my grandchildren, “listen to me”. We usually have to say it several times and grasp their little faces to make them look at us.  The Hebrew word used in this scripture is translated “to hear intelligently”.  In this verse God is telling Isaiah and US to pay attention, not just hear the babble of the media. Listen to ME! (God).

Secondly,  God reminds Isaiah,  the children of Israel and US that he has held us since our birth,  He created us and has " cared for you since you were born. . .I will be your God throughout your lifetime". It’s a little overwhelming to realize what he has done for us since birth.   I laughed a little at Matthew Henry’s commentary on this verse.  In addressing old age he says, “When compassed about with infirmities, and perhaps those around you grow weary of you, yet I am He that I have promised to be”.   I am very grateful God has not and will not  grow weary of me!

So now that I’m listening and am assured that God is with me,  I skipped to verse 9. “Remember the things I have done in the past."  Those things which undeniably point to who He is and that there is none like Him. There was an old song, "Roll back the curtain of memory now and then, show me where you brought me from and where I could have been". This exercise will make you cry, laugh and open a floodgate of memories. Followed by an immersion of gratitude.

In verse 10,  God tells us that we have a future.  His purpose, plan, advice stands from the beginning and will continue through eternity.  His plan for our lives will not might, maybe, could be, but WILL come to pass.  It’s going to happen just like He said!

And just to punctuate verse 10 with power,  God gives us verse 11. Just a few examples of how He might accomplish his purpose.  Accomplished even with those who don’t know God or follow His lead. The Israelites would have never crossed the Red Sea and continued into the Promised Land had it not been for a band of Egyptians chasing them.   Egyptians who had no interest in doing God’s Will. One of the most pivotal changes in my life came about because of people who had no idea they were being used of God.

I’m immensely grateful this morning that God is in control of this messy life.  Thankful that I can rest in His faithfulness of the past and walk through today knowing with a doubt that He has a purpose.  No matter what I see, hear or think, He will do what He has planned. I'm grateful for where I am today.

Thinkin' about where He brought me from.

Dear People of God in America

      Once again, my daily devotional with Jim Cymbala strikes a chord that I am compelled to write about.   In Revelation 2:12-17  John pens the letter from Jesus to the church at Pergamum.  Pergamum was a great judicial center,  known as a wealthy city.  According to the Pulpit Commentary, Pergamum was famous for its idolatry because of its cluster of temples to  Zeus, Apollo, Athene, Dionysus, Aphrodite, and Aesculapius. 

In verse 13,  Jesus says “I know where you live,  where Satan has his throne.”   Cymbala points out the Satan is not omnipresent;  he cannot be everywhere at once.  He does have legions of minions who do his bidding, but he is only in one place at one time.  Apparently at this point in history,  he was working out of Pergamum.  It makes sense that he would have his “throne”  in places of great worldly influence,  a place of leadership in political, economic, and cultural influence.  Wherever he sets his throne,  it is characterized by policies against God’s kingdom and rule. 

It goes without saying where I think Satan has put his throne in 2021.  However,  I cling to what that verse says,  “I know where you live”.  Imagine,  Jesus knows where we live.  He doesn’t just know our physical location;  He knows where we breathe.    He sees every circumstance of our existence.  He knows why or why not we slept well last night.  He understands the victory or failure of getting  on the scales in the morning.  He’s watching as we stumble through the day. He heard the argument with your spouse,  the frustrated tone with your kids.   His heart felt every beat of yours. 

This Jesus who was and is and will be knows we live in an America that has changed drastically in the last five years.  He sees the evil as well as the good.  His plan for this country did not change on January 20.  The rest of His  message to Pergamum says, “Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me”    May that be said of us.

Thinkin’ about that today. 

Snake Tunnel Excerpt

 

Today's post is a guest post from a friend. I met Erin at the Christian Writers Conference two years ago in a bookstore line! My readers are used to shorter pieces than Erin's so I've posted a portion of his blog post on Snake Tunnel. You can read the entire story at https://www.erinahnfeldt.com/single-post/snake-tunnel

Boys love drainage tunnels. With each step deeper into one of those unknown man-made caves, the anxious voices and the splashes through the trickling water echo off the corrugated steel walls. Light fades. Those places, on the edge of darkness, are where boys aspiring to be men, prove their worth.

During my middle school years in the heat and humidity of a Virginia summer, we all affectionately called our proving ground “Snake Tunnel”. It was the perfect name for a tunnel that slithered its way under our neighborhood. The broken-down fence around it was easy enough to slip through, and many had before us. The graffiti testified to that. Our wiry middle school bodies fit perfectly two by two as we stood at the entrance, and thank God; it helped to have a companion at your side in case of trouble. There was always great anticipation walking into that echoing silence. With wide eyes, we paused looking at each other to be sure we were really going through with it. Then, ever so slowly, we moved forward, each footstep echoing off walls we could not see.

Once our eyes adjusted, we could see the cobwebs and the light behind us reflecting off the water. Four or five of us walking into that tunnel made quite a sound, and we never spoke what we all thought: What if our noise was alerting someone. . . or something of our presence, and it was crouching, ready to pounce?

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this guys,” someone would yell out. That would be followed by four heads turning to him with a mighty, “Shhhh!” Two or three more steps and someone else would whisper, “What was that?” We all stopped to listen, our minds going back to that questions nobody wanted to voice. Was someone else there?

Hearts pounding in us, we continued, light getting scarce and fear growing. Finally, someone would yell, “I heard it too. I think something’s coming.” The yell in the midst of the vast unknown would be too much, and we would turn toward that little circle of light and run as fast as we could. Now, this would never be a controlled stealthy maneuver out of the darkness. Fear always seemed to get more intense when our backs were turned to the perceived threat. We were confident something was chasing us, so we screamed like little girls.

If terror had not made its way into our hearts by then, the noise of the screams and crazed splashing as we ran for our lives would certainly send that terror like electricity through our bodies. We wanted that light like it was life itself.

We’d explode out of the tunnel and hunch over, hands on our knees, to catch our breath. Then, in all that brightness, we’d laugh with full on belly laughs until tears rolled down our cheeks. I wonder about that laughter. What was so funny? Maybe our panicked reactions struck us as funny when we thought about them in the light. Maybe it was relief. The fear was behind us and we would live another day. Most of all, I think we laughed as a reaction to our freedom from the unknown. We were captives in the tunnel, but we could see in the sunlight that there was “something more” beyond the darkness.

We’re living in a time that feels a lot like the darkness of Snake Tunnel. Confusion and noise reign supreme. Someone makes a comment, and it echoes off the walls of social media. The splashes of political tension explode into broken friendships, and a virus has everyone confused. Mask or no mask? In-person or quarantine? Vaccinations or no vaccinations?

And when you add to all that our own mess—the woundedness, the fear, the pride--that tunnel can feel pretty overwhelming.

That’s what makes the little circle of light at the end so beautiful. My friends and I saw it, and we ran toward it, with reckless abandon. The circle got bigger and bigger until the darkness was gone. And it wasn’t our maturity that got us there. I mean come on; we were middle schoolers. It was because we were so freaked out that we were about to soil ourselves. We were desperate.

Peter says God calls us “out of darkness and into His marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). The irony of the times we’re living in right now is that all this darkness only makes the light that much more beautiful. It drives us toward the light, and we won't get there because we're so spiritually mature. We'll get there because we're desperate. A moment to pray, a Bible verse that comes to mind, a song on the radio—those moments of light are more “marvelous” now than ever before. We need them because we're hungry to see what's just outside our tunnels.

There are times in life when it feels like the darkness and noise of our caves and tunnels is all there is,. There will be a day when the light will overwhelm the darkness, and Jesus, the “light of the world”, will be there. He’s calling us out of the darkness, and He’s not just yelling into the tunnel, “Get on out of there!” He walks beside us, and He uses our desperation, like those middle school boys, to help us see “something more” beyond the darkness, glimpses of what's ahead. Our belly laughing moment of sunshine is coming, but until we get there, we need to hold the hand of the One walking beside us, look for the light, and move toward it.

3+ and a Wish

     Years ago, I had the opportunity to do classroom “pragmatic” language lessons.  I had a six-week curriculum that covered how to ask questions that get the answer you want, listening versus hearing, tone and timing of conversation and delivering constructive criticism.  I taught the kids a lesson called “3+and a Wish”.  Later it became part of a professional development presentation for teachers.  Before offering constructive criticism,  it was suggested that you offer three positives comments.   The “wish” was the statement of correction. 

   Correction is a necessary tool for students in a classroom.  Also, a necessary tool for the Christian, no matter how long you’ve served the Lord. 

        Jim Cymbala of Brooklyn Tabernacle NYC has started a new series of devotions from the first  four chapters of Revelation.  I highly recommend his devotions; 7-10 minutes of your morning, engaging and compelling.  https://media.brooklyntabernacle.org/devo_media.html 

   In the book of Revelation, John writes the literal words of Jesus.  “This is the message from the One. . .”  (2:1 NLT) to the churches.  Note, to the churches, Us.  This isn’t for the unbeliever.  Our Savior and Redeemer employs the 3+ and a wish method to his letters.  This one to the folks in Ephesus.  

   He compliments their “deeds”, “hard work” and “perseverance”.  This is a good church.  They’ve been through some persecution but emerged without compromise.    In this definition,  I have been a member of the church at Ephesus.  The church whose doors are open seven days a week, some meeting or service or outreach happening all the time.  There was always something going on at the church,  every day.    I was blessed to be part of that church.  I loved that place and I still love the people who walked through my life there.  Still, there was a need for correction in some areas.  Just like the church at Ephesus.

   Jesus gave them 3 + and then His wish,  “But I have this complaint against you.  You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” (NLT)    Sometimes sitting in a Sunday morning service,  I confess my mind would wonder to the to-do list or a good idea for the ministry.  Often I was ticking off what needed to be done while I was at the church,  as soon as I can get out of the sanctuary.  I was oncedescribed as a "steamroller"  when directing an event. I can get the job done,  effectively and cheaply.  I'm grateful for that gift.  We can become so busy DOING for the Lord, it takes away from our worship.  Works abound but relationship is gone.  

   I’m going to mark some things off the to-do list today and spend some time in His word and prayer. 

Thinkin’ you can join me?