Worth Dying For

As a young person, I read and heard stories of martyrs.  I pondered the whole notion of dying for a cause.  I heard people say they would be willing to die for the cause of Christ.  It seemed so noble.  But at some point in my teens years, I decided that any cause worth dying for, must also be worth living for. 

Life is actually a process of dying slowly.  If a person is not willing to make daily sacrifices for the cause they claim to hold dear, I don’t want to hear any nonsense about their willingness to die for that cause.  For example, I have heard parents say that they would do anything for their children….even die for them.  If those same parents smoke around their child who has asthma, I say “bologna!”   You aren’t willing to die for your child, if you aren’t willing to make daily sacrifices of your own wishes and desires and habits for the sake of the child’s well-being.

Long ago I memorized Romans 12: 1-2   I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  That is the King James Version.

I also like Phillips’ translation:  With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him.  Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God remold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets his demands and moves toward the goal of true maturity.

God does not ask most of us to be martyrs in the traditional meaning of the word.  He does, however, expect us to die daily…be a “living sacrifice.”  This means obedience to his good plan for us, even when we don’t like it or don’t understand it.

I read an article yesterday in Christianity Today which was written by a lesbian, who still has such inclinations, but also understands that in obedience to God, she must resist the temptation to act on those inclinations.  She is living out the daily sacrifice of her desires in order to conform her mind and body to what is acceptable to God.

I know people who have left marriages and married someone new stating that “God wants us to be happy.”  Nope!  God wants you to be holy.  He wants you to sacrifice your desires and have your mind transformed.  Don’t follow the pattern of this world!  If you have to die a little every day in order to be obedient, so be it.

We all have inclinations and urges that are wrong…..anger, pride, fear, feelings of worthlessness, temptation to gossip.  We may read books, listen to music, watch television, or have friendships we know are not suitable for a mind that is being transformed for God’s purposes.  If we are a “living sacrifice,” we need to learn to die daily.

Obedience to God may mean a dramatic death, but it will more likely mean the slow process of surrender to his purposes in daily life.

Puerto Rican Heartache

My heart aches for Puerto Rico and the suffering of the people following Hurricane Maria.  So many in Puerto Rico live in poverty normally, that I can’t imagine what it must be like now.

I have visited Puerto Rico twice.  Both times, it was in connection with an arm of our church denomination.  My husband serves on a board that makes loans to Puerto Rican churches to purchase buildings and renovate them or buy land and build new churches.   While there each time, we visited multiple churches and had opportunity to interact with attendees of some of the churches.  On one occasion, we attended a church potluck dinner, which was a chance to eat “normal” local dishes as opposed to what one might find in a restaurant.

We stayed in lovely hotels on the beach, but across the street there were people living in cardboard boxes.  Poverty was too obvious to be ignored.  One day we rented a car and drove from San Juan to the southern part of the island.  The situation was even worse there.  I came home sad for what I had seen.  Certainly, I was encouraged by the spirit of the people in the churches, but once you are outside of the tourist area, the rest of the island is depressing.  I felt helpless, because the need was so enormous back then.

What now?  The island is destroyed.  People are without food and water and basic sanitation services.  Relief efforts are hampered by highways being impassable and ports not yet safe for ships to enter.  On the mainland, anyone could rent a truck, fill it with supplies and drive it to a needy area.  Power companies from unaffected areas can come in and help.  But we are talking about an island!

I am suggesting that anyone, who has the ability to do so, could make a contribution to an agency they know will provide relief without skimming too much off the top for administrative costs.  I have read recently of some celebrities making major donations, but I wish more of them would step up.  Does someone really need a private jet or an enormous diamond when there is so much human need? 

 

Information coming out of Puerto Rico is still scant.  I do not know how people I have met have weathered this.  I am praying for the people of Puerto Rico, and especially for those in the churches I have visited.  May God give them strength and provide for their needs.

Is the World Going to End on September 23rd?

Is the world going to end on September 23^rd?  Well, yes….obviously, for some people it will.  For others, it will end sooner, and for some later.  One of the fascinating things about life is that it ends for everyone, and very few people know when that end will come. 

Neither does anyone really know what tomorrow will bring.  Will Kim Jung Un have sent us the “gift” he has been promising?  Will the Yellowstone super volcano blow and wipe out everything west of the Mississippi?  Will another hurricane smash into the east coast or Florida?  Will I fall down the stairs and break my neck?  Do I unknowingly have an aneurysm that will rupture while I am eating dinner?

I wish all the supposed prophets would stop making specific predictions and contriving something from the signs they believe are in the heavens.  My understanding of a prophet is that he/she is someone who speaks truth into a situation.  This does NOT necessarily involve attempts at predicting what will happen five days from now.  Those assertions are not truth….they are guesses.  Only God knows what the future holds.

He has made some promises which are truth and will happen.  He will return.  Those who know and love Him will be taken to heaven to live with Him…either at the time of their death or when He returns.  But, He has very purposefully not told us when.  When John wrote Revelation, there were things he heard which he was specifically told not to record.  I suspect this may be because it would have made coming events too obvious to us.  God did NOT want us to know, so please stop guessing!

What God does want is for all to repent, acknowledge His son and enter into a loving relationship with Him.  If we knew the future, it would be tempting to live in sin until the very last moment and “repent” then.  God does understand human nature.  He knows our weaknesses.  He wants us to come to Him because we love Him and genuinely desire to serve Him.  He knows the intents of our minds and hearts.

Matthew 24:42-44 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.  But understand this, if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.  So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

I guess since he is expected on September 23^rd, it will not be then. 

Hmmm….I wonder if the “prophets” making the predictions have copies of the Bible that are missing these verses.

Is This God's Mercy?

Those of us who believe that Christ will one day return and rule the world in righteousness have been expecting it was imminent for a long time.  I’m sure those who don’t believe it think we have loose screws, and that we are silly to keep believing as years go by.  

We believe that it will indeed happen, but only in God’s time.  He wants everyone to have a chance to accept the salvation that comes through the sacrifice of Jesus dying for our sins.  Only He knows when everyone who is open to receiving His free gift will have had a chance to accept it.

Lots of people are out there declaring they have had dreams and visions that now really is the time, and that natural disasters we are currently seeing are God’s judgment prior to his coming.  I have no idea.  The Bible says that no man knows the day or hour. (Matthew 24:36)

I would like to propose that the natural disasters are, in fact, God’s mercy.  I am praying that those who are atheists or agnostics and see these events as the power of “Mother Nature” will begin to see them as the power of an Almighty God.  A little bit of fear in the face of a strong hurricane or an earthquake is not a bad thing.  “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 111:10)  Perhaps, this is not so much judgment, as God giving a last chance to those who have been resisting.

Will these events bring misery to those who already know and love God?  Yes, in some cases, they certainly will, but what if our misery brings salvation to someone who doesn’t know and love Him.  There is a saying that “there are no atheists in foxholes.”  Perhaps, there are no atheists in 185 mph winds or 12 foot storm surges.  

We need to believe our suffering is worth someone else’s salvation.  The rain falls on the just and the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)  So, if the already redeemed are inconvenienced or experience suffering or even death, let us see it as part of God’s mercy to those who still have not recognized their need.  Let us pray that they are driven to the “Mercy Seat.”

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The stable door swings open

And with speed he charges out.

His rider wears a crown.

He gives a thunderous shout.

His bow is strung,

His mission to fulfill,

And the white horse springs forward

To conquer and to kill.

A red steed comes behind him,

Chaos to create.

He holds a mighty sword

To bring about man’s fate.

He stirs up dissension,

Men kill each other.

They fall and they die,

But yet there is another.

The black horse of famine

Flies over the earth

His rider holds scales

To determine worth.

What will it cost

To buy your daily bread?

The world groans in hunger.

Millions are unfed.

The sound of the pale horse

Is heard in the street.

His hooves are clattering

With an incessant beat.

Famine, plague and death,

The wild beasts rise up,

A fourth of mankind drinks 

Wrath from judgment’s cup.

We go about our lives,

Not thinking this will come,

But the day is approaching,

And no one can run.

Satan may win the battle

But God will win the war

Every knee will bow to Him

And time will be no more.

From Revelation 6:1-7

                                                                        

Countdown to Demise

I don’t think I am excessively morbid, but I often find myself thinking about death and the whole experience of dying.  I was present as three close family members took their last breaths, and I arrived on the scene shortly after two others had left this earth.  I am now the oldest person in my family of origin, so wondering about the timing of my own demise seems quite natural and not particularly depressing.

This morning, as I soaked in my lovely bathtub, I was wondering what I would do differently, if I knew ahead of time when I would die.  The online longevity calculators give me another 25 years, but it’s a bit risky to actually believe those online questionnaires, that tell you crazy things like what percent beautiful you are and whether your IQ is as high as Stephen Hawkings.

So I concluded, if I knew I would die in:

25 minutes—I would get out of the bathtub and put some clothes on.  It would be bad enough for someone to find my dead body, but imagine the trauma, if it were naked and water-logged!

25 hours—I would make some lists of my wishes, things like who should get what and details about the workings of our lives and the household that I know and Bill doesn’t

25 days—I would try to touch base with each of my children and grandchildren one more time to encourage them to give God his rightful place in their lives.  I would do some sorting and throwing out.  I have a few projects in progress that I would attempt to finish.  I would put everything I have written out on my blog and make no further attempts to get it published.

25 months—I would do more sorting and throwing out.  I would get Bill ready to move into something smaller and more convenient for him with less yard work.  I would sort through several boxes of photos and slides and have them digitalized so that the originals weren’t sitting around collecting dust.  I would not start any new projects.  I wouldn’t bother trying to sand down and refinish those old dressers at the cottage.  I would not accept any more tutoring jobs.

25 years—What if I really did have 25 years left?  I wouldn’t change much right now…other than getting out of the tub, but I would begin working on some of the previously mentioned activities.  I would start new projects.  I would continue to write.  I would work at down-sizing, but not in a frenzied way.  I would continue to be amazed at God’s faithfulness and the peace that comes from a relationship with him made possible by the shed blood of Jesus.

25 minutes, hours, days, months or years from now, I look forward to seeing him and knowing, as I am known.

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.  (I Corinthians 13:12 New Living Translation)

Empty Head...Empty Soul

Empty-headed brains full of white noise,

Spew forth meaningless chatter

About appearance and ego

About events of no consequence

Foolishness.

The reality of life and death,

Brushed aside and ignored

For thoughts of celebrities

For music without substance

Trivial pursuits.

Living a life of denial

Ignoring what matters

Keeping busy going nowhere

Doing nothing of consequence.

Treading water.

Filling the hollow soul

With a bit of wine

With a ridiculous flirtation

By manufacturing conflict

Creating drama.

Is there no hope of insight?

If I shook you, would it precipitate

A clear and rational thought?

How can you not see?

Someone loved you enough to die for you!