Last Sunday was Mother’s Day and my adult children surprised me by coming over, bringing me cards and gifts, going to church with us and spending the day eating, talking and laughing together. It was wonderful. Travis, Ashley, Westin, Jessica, Alexandria, Tyler, Holly, Cheyenne and Noah were all here. As we sat around the table, we had so many conversations I can’t remember them all, but one came back to me this morning. I don’t have any idea how we got on the subject, but Ashley was talking about a habit Travis has developed. He never takes his socks off. She said he wears them all the time! He wears them everywhere! This is pretty strange if you know how this child grew up... barefoot and practically naked on the sidewalks and beaches of Florida.

Most of you who know us well, know that we are a family who laughs pretty well at ourselves, and even better at each other. We live in a tough world and believe it is very important to take it well when you are made fun of, and we’ve done a thorough job of preparing our children for it. I made a joke about how, by wearing those socks, Travis was just trying to hide his ‘hammer toes’ from Ashley. Of course, being well trained, he denied it and talked proudly about his hammer toes. As we were all laughing, another funny thing occurred to me and I said ‘You just spent too many years with those socks as your best friends!’ I don’t remember his response, but something hit me this morning.

I’m pretty sure Travis developed this habit of keeping his socks on during the years he spent in prison. I can only imagine how important the little daily routines and few comforts that you are allowed become to you. Travis has told me he used to brush his teeth a half dozen times a day. When he came home, our toothpaste tube verified the fact. Clean socks to keep your feet warm in a place that was very cold, must have been a great comfort, and I bet he put them on and kept them on every moment he was in that frigid cell. I’m pretty sure they became very dear to him and he naturally continues the habit even now that he’s out and it’s a lot warmer. They are like his best friends.

Now socks are one thing that can become so comfortable we don’t want to live without them, but what about other ‘best friends’ that aren’t so harmless? How comfortable am I with selfishness or pride? How about anger or self pity. Laziness or busy-ness? How many of these things are like ‘best friends’ to me? Have I become so comfortable with them that I really don’t want to live without them even though they aren’t so good for me? I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure my ‘best friends’ need to be reevaluated all the time. I need to check on them and see if it’s time to let some of them go.

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Not good enough. How’s that make you feel? I can tell you. It makes me feel like CRAP... useless and worthless (and before judging me for using that word... look it up... it’s in the Bible... DUNG... same difference). There’s a myth going around... it’s all over the place. People set up standards that they believe others should meet... people set up conditions in their own minds... and it’s ALL untrue. I’m not good enough... you’re not good enough... do this, do that and then you’ll be ready. I think I’ll start going to church AFTER I stop ____________ (fill in the blank). You can serve the Lord when you ______________ (fill in the blank). Requirements. Stipulations. LIES.

It’s time we put a STOP to it.

If you want to know the Truth... God doesn’t operate like that. Let’s take a look at the history:

Noah: passed out drunk and naked... God calls him a righteous man.

Abraham: speech impediment, fearful, cowardly... God calls him a man of faith.

David: adulterer, murderer, lazy, greedy... God calls him a man after his own heart.

We as humans, love to focus on our weakness and failings... God doesn’t do that. He doesn’t use our faults to beat us down... make us feel bad... or disqualify us. He definitely wants us to be aware of, and sorry for our mistakes... to come to him, confess, be forgiven and sin no more... but in the process, he loves, forgives, encourages, and hopes for us.

Here are more examples as we move to the New Testament in Jesus day:

Judas: knowing that Judas would betray him Jesus kept him in his inner circle and continued to love, encourage and trust him (Judas was the treasurer - guy who handles the money) even when he KNEW it was to no avail.

Peter: a headstrong and impetuous man who boasted of his bravery, but when the time came, his courage failed him... yet Jesus always loved him and restored him when he needed it, and he went on to be a big part of building the Church.

Paul: Christian hater, instrumental in the deaths of many who loved Jesus... but Jesus met him where he was and in the end Paul wrote most of the New Testament.

These are only a few examples of the kind of people God loves and accepts. It’s that love and acceptance that spurred these people on to become the greatness God had planned for them all along.

If anyone (including yourself) tries to tell you that you are not ‘good enough’ remember... Jesus loves us just as we are and he will make us into who he wants us to be as we come closer to him through that love... and don’t you forget it! Let no one disqualify you.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Colossians 2:18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19 He has lost connection with the Head (Jesus), from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

And the hogs didn’t eat her...

My grandparent were farmers. They lived way out in the country on a gravel road. The county used to come and oil the road every now and then to keep the dust down. They had a huge barn, a silo and another hog barn down the road with a pond next to it. For a long time they were dairy farmers, but eventually changed to growing corn, beans and pigs. Some of my best memories of my childhood are of the time I got to spend with them on that farm.

When I was very young, probably around four years old, I remember being out on the swing set one day. My little sister (almost two years younger) was with me. We were both on swings facing opposite directions. I was facing the fields and she was facing the house. We were having a grand old time, swinging away, when all of a sudden, I SAW THEM. The hogs were loose. These were not your cute little pink piggies of story book fame. These pigs were big and mean. Some of them had huge teeth that looked like tusks. They were all different colors: black, gray with black spots or reddish brown. They were very ugly and very frightening.

I had seen my Grandpa working with these hogs... trying to get them to do what he needed them to when he had to load them or doctor them or whatever else you do to pigs. It was usually a very violent process. He would yell and wave his arms and poke them or beat on them with a stick. Sometimes he would climb up on the fence and put his feet on their backs or backsides to shove them along. He called them by name... Tom, Dick and Harry are a few I remember. He did not use these names affectionately like ‘Here Tom... here piggy piggy piggy’... no, not like that at all. I don’t think those were given names, but just what he called any random pig at any given time as he ‘hollered’ at them. I also remember hearing that Grandpa had been hurt by them. I was afraid of them and when I saw them coming toward my sister and me, I froze.

I didn’t say a word to her. She was swinging away, oblivious to the danger that was headed toward us. I am ashamed to say... I left her there. I can’t remember why... I don’t even recall any of the thoughts going through my head. Maybe I was afraid that if I said anything they would come charging at me. Maybe some mean part of me wanted to leave her there. Maybe I was stupid and thought it was funny. Who knows? But I do remember that I quietly left the swing set and went into the house.

I think I told my grandmother that the hogs were out and I’m really thankful that she went outside and got my sister, and the hogs didn’t eat her, but none of it is really clear. The only part I remember very clearly is quietly sneaking away and leaving my sister behind. I hope when she reads this story she’ll be able to forgive me. I realize now, how much danger I left my little sister in. Maybe that’s why I remember it so well. My own fear or selfishness or stupidity or youth rendered me incapable of protecting someone I care about very much

What would I do today? I hope I would react differently than I did as a toddler. I’d like to think that in any given situation, I would be able to put another’s welfare ahead of my own... but we can never really be sure until something like that happens to us. Usually, I am not put to much of a test in this area. So far, I haven’t had to rescue anyone from a really dangerous situation... no running into a burning building to save someone... no stepping in front of a bullet... and I’ve yet to have a loved one who needed me to donate a vital body part. Whew! What would I do if it came to any of these things... or something even more serious? What if it required my life? What if it was going to be horrific... humiliating... excruciatingly painful? And what if I knew all this beforehand? Would I be able to walk that road? These are questions that can’t really be answered by speculation... only living through them could give us the true answers.

I know someone who can say ‘Yes’... he would do it... because he already did. For you... for me. Thank you Jesus.

Isaiah 53:5

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Throwing Rocks

When I was a kid, we used to do some really dumb stuff. I remember living in an apartment complex when I was very young. There was no grass or yard of any kind... only concrete, a laundry room, and these big open stair wells that went to the upper floors of the complex. We used to run around this ‘playground’ and, not knowing any different, we made the best of it. I always had bruised shins and scraped knees... those concrete steps and sidewalks were really hard on a kid. I can remember playing with stuff like dryer lint (yes, dryer lint) that we collected from the laundry room and geckos... those little squishy looking lizards whose tails fall off with the slightest touch (no worries... they grow back).

Being kids, we were always looking for something more exciting to do. We ran around playing cops and robbers and one day we got the bright idea to have a ‘war’. We stationed ourselves under the two stairwells. Our weapons were the never ending supply of rocks on the ground at the base of the stairwells. We’d stick out heads out and wing a rock as hard as we could at our opponents, ducking back in as quickly as possible so we wouldn’t get hit by the flying rocks. This all went on for quite a while until some unlucky soul stuck their head out at the wrong moment and was blasted right above the eye by one of those rocks.

The fun was over. There was blood, swelling, pain and tears. The game no longer held the same fascination after we saw what could happen and we never played it again.

I was reminded of this story this morning at church, of all places. We watched a video ‘Are You Amazed’ and in it were many accounts of the life of Christ in which people were amazed. One of them was a story depicted in John chapter 8 where Jesus was teaching in the temple when the religious leaders brought in a woman who was caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group (what other motive than humiliation?) and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.’ (No mention of the man, of course.) ‘In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’

This is one of my favorite pictures of the grace of God. I can just see Jesus as he bent down and started to write on the ground (it doesn’t say what he was writing, but some have speculated maybe a list of sins). The religious guys kept questioning him so he stands up and says simply ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ and he bent down and continued to write on the ground. Those who heard began to go away one at a time... the oldest first until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there. Jesus stands up and asks her ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir’ she answered. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus said. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’

How many times in life do we set ourselves up as the judge of others? How often do we look sadly at another’s sin, all the while ignoring our own? Just like that innocent game, our rock throwing can have very painful results... bruising hearts, crushing spirits, draining another's hope of ever being truly loved and accepted. Lord, help us see the damage our ‘rock throwing’ causes so we won’t ever want to play such a dangerous game.

Another shopping incident...

We frequent the local big box store for things like dog food and water. One day we were leaving, loaded down with six cases of drinking water and who knows what else. The cart was extremely heavy. We were headed out the EXIT DOOR. I emphasize EXIT DOOR for reasons that are about to become very clear to you. Remember, this cart is VERY HEAVY. There are two sets of EXIT DOORS... you know, to keep the cold air from coming in the store. Between these two sets of doors, there is a downhill slope. Just as we got through the first set of doors and the cart was headed down... people began ENTERING through the second set of EXIT DOORS. It took everything I had to hold the cart back and keep it from rolling forward and crushing the stream of people coming in the wrong doors. My daughter was there as I was expressing my exasperation about the situation... here’s how it went:

Me: Okay! I’ll just wait here, while you all come IN the OUT door... if you only knew how heavy this is. No problem! I’ll just keep holding back this two ton cart to keep it from crushing you! If you only knew how hard I am working here to save your lives! (All of this muttered under my breath with a tone of frustration and exasperation as my eyes bulged and my veins popped under the strain of holding back that cart... and yes, I do have a bad habit of exaggerating AND talking to myself).

Alex: Just let it go.

Me: (Laughing so hard I almost did) Should I? OH! You mean let go of my frustration! Don’t you? Or are you talking about the cart?

By now, we are out the door and Alex told me that she meant the cart (but not really). We laughed all the way to the truck about the weird play on words.

It’s funny how we can be totally oblivious to what someone has done for us. Can we possibly know many times have we almost caused an accident or other disaster when we are not even aware of it... and how many times the actions of another may have saved us from trouble, harm or even death?

There are people going through their lives every day... totally oblivious to what God has done for them. We are all headed for disaster... the consequences of our actions are serious... causing death of the spirit that lives in all of us. I’m so thankful for the one who is holding back the giant rolling cart for me... and for you.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

When we pray...

It seems like we have a lot of weird ideas about praying. For instance, we are usually only thankful or say our prayer was ‘answered’ when the outcome was what we thought was ‘best’. If we are praying for something and it happens our response is ‘Thank you, Lord!’ and we tell all our friends ‘God answered our prayers!’

It's usually a lot different when what we are praying for doesn’t happen. Does anyone see a problem here? If we truly believe that God hears our prayers, then we must go a step further and believe that he answers them... not just some of them... ALL of them. Sometimes the answer is a joyful, resounding ‘Yes‘! At other times the answer may be ‘No’ or what seems to be ‘No’ may mean ‘Not right now’. It’s easy to be thankful when the answer is ‘Yes’, but I have a lot to learn when ‘Yes’ is not the answer.

Sometimes I get my mind so set in a certain direction, believing and wanting something so badly, that I can’t even see anything else. Maybe this ‘thing’ isn’t what’s best for me... surely God really knows what’s best. This is a lot easier to acknowledge when we are praying for things like a job or something else we need, but it gets pretty tough when we are praying for things like a relationship to be restored or healing for someone we love. If it’s a thing we’re praying for, we can much more easily say ‘All right... that must not be what God wants for me... He must have something better’... but when we’re praying for people, it’s a lot harder to say ‘all right... God may not want that... maybe his plan is better.’

If he is truly sovereign, as I believe he is, and he can ‘intervene’ in our lives at any time and any place, it is a huge thing to trust him when he doesn’t. It’s hard not to ask why... as a matter of fact, I think it’s downright inhuman. But beyond all the whys and the pain and sorrow that go along with some of these ‘unanswered’ prayers... another question begs to be asked. Do we trust him? Will we still worship and follow this God, when at times we cannot possibly understand him? Will our faith shrivel up and die, or will we press harder into him and count on him to carry us through? Will we jump ship and give up, setting ourselves in a place far above him when we think ‘there cannot possibly be a God who would allow this to happen’ or can we surrender all our being to him and admit that we are not God?

Another weird idea I think we have about prayer is that the answers are somehow based upon our performance. This one would almost be funny, if it weren’t so true. It’s strange how easy it is for my mind to begin to believe that I ‘earned’ or ‘deserve’ something because of my ‘good behavior’. I know this is not the way it works, but something in me continually wants to go to this prideful, arrogant place. If we’re going to believe or act like this is the way it works, what does that say when prayers don’t get answered or bad things do happen? I’m not talking about when we do right and things naturally go better, or when we’ve worked hard for something and it happens, or even about when we make bad choices and suffer the obvious consequences that go along with them. We all know how that works, but aside from that (and even in it) there are times when bad things do happen, and all the praying and ‘right living’ don’t seem to make one bit of difference. What then?

People in the Bible were always trying to figure out or explain things and we carry on the tradition very well. Job’s friends were all certain that some sin he had committed brought on all the calamity in his life and continually urged him to confess his sin as he sat there perplexed and confused... knowing that his conscious was clear and deeply hurt by his friends thinking. In John 9:1-3 Jesus’ own disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Now that’s pretty profound. Maybe it would do us all good to reexamine our ideas, quit trying so hard to figure it all out, and well... let God be God. And when we pray... Lord help us to accept your answers.

I love these verses from Isaiah 55... they kind of cover it all.

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Understanding

I love the Bible. Here are some verses that have helped me see God's perspective on recent events in my life that have been difficult to understand.

Romans 12:4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Philippians 4:2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help (yes, help) these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

(But, no matter what) 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Oh yes!)

Matthew 18:15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.