“Show-Me”

There are a number of stories and legends behind Missouri's sobriquet "Show-Me" state. The slogan is not official, but is common throughout the state and is used on Missouri license plates.The most widely known legend attributes the phrase to Missouri's U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver, who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. While a member of the U.S. House Committee on Naval Affairs, Vandiver attended an 1899 naval banquet in Philadelphia. In a speech there, he declared, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." Regardless of whether Vandiver coined the phrase, it is certain that his speech helped to popularize the saying.[1]

I thought of this Show-Me slogan while reading Luke 3 this morning. When the crowds came to hear John he told them the same thing (well, kinda!). John’s message was “repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”. When the people asked what they should do he didn’t go into a 3 point sermon or give them a tract (I write this tongue-in-check). John’s message and Jesus’ was the same “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” John said, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.”

Jesus said, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!...‘I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.’ (Mt 25:34-46)

Both John and Jesus were saying, Show-me! Have you and I, as the body of Christ, gone to the poor, hungry, desperate, the prisons, brothels, slums, streets…where people live and brought God to them by giving “food, drink, clothing or taken them into our homes? Or have we been content to pay someone else to do what we have been mandated to do? I’m not against giving to charitable organizations. These organizations can sometimes reach more people than one individual ever could. I also understand some have physical or age limitations where it’s not as easy for them to “go”. But if we ‘pay’ so we don’t have to ‘go’ then are we truly “living our repentance”? Our motives become the window of our hearts revealing the proof of our repentance.

When Jesus looks inside our window, what will he see and will he be pleased? Show-me…..

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[1]Resources:
Rossiter, Phyllis. "I'm from Missouri--you'll have to show me." Rural Missouri, Volume 42, Number 3, March 1989, page 16.Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 1979-1980, page 1486.

Sack race

I loved the games we played when I was a kid, especially the sack race game.  Two people are put together; one leg from each person is put into a sack and then the bag is tied shut.  Object of the game is to work together to get to the finish line first.  To make it even more difficult two people of different sizes were often put together.  Bruises, grass stains from falling down, and sometimes even being drug along by your partner become the survival-mode of getting to the finish line!
   

Don’t know if the prophet Isaiah ever play the sack game, but he certainly describes the process in Isaiah 5:18.  What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart.

  

Amazing how some of these same games seem to weave their way into our lives as adults.  Only the game is no longer fun but instead becomes a destructive way of life. 

The ropes of deception can bind us so tightly that only when they are broken do we realize how much of a stronghold they actually were.  These ropes don’t appear overnight nor would we think we could be controlled by them.  They build with one compromise upon another usually starting with something small, something seemingly innocent.   

Ø  A “small white lie” becomes a foundation for others to build upon.

Ø  A clerk’s mistake on our bill could be seen as our “advantage”…do we say something or consider it a “blessing”? 

Ø  An innocent look that becomes easier to linger the next time (a pornographic website that pops on our computer screen or TV channel when searching).

Ø  An innocent touch that turns into a longing for someone other than our spouse. 

Ø  “If one pill helps with the pain, two will be even better”, prescription medicine turning into a habit.

Ø  A comment or action made toward us that we allow to fester in our hearts turning into hatred and/or gossip. 

Ropes of destruction become weights that hold us down and keep us back from living a life of freedom, hope and peace.  They become the binding force behind not extending mercy and grace (i.e. forgiveness) to others.  Freeing ourselves of these ropes become the avenue through which God can work in and through us to show the world who He is.   

The book of Isaiah is filled with the Israelites getting caught in these ropes of bondage and God’s responses.

Isaiah 30:1, 12-13, 15,18 (NLT) “What sorrow awaits my rebellious children,”
says the Lord…“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly—like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down…”

“Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength…”

So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.
For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help. 

How then do we get out of this cycle?  We cannot do this on our own. 

     First: Admit, stop hiding and recognize what your rope of destruction is.  People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.  (Proverbs 28:13)

     Second:  Repent.  Simply put, do a complete 180◦ about face turn.  But don’t just turn, RUN from those ropes.  Ask for forgiveness from God and possibly those you have wronged.  So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. (Isaiah 30:18)  God pursues us and longs to show us His love and compassion even when others won’t.

     Third:  Find a Christ follower who will hold you accountable.  Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. (2 Timothy 2:22)

     Finally:  Wait on the Lord.  Let God’s Word (the Bible) be the foundation you build upon. All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17) 

Games don’t have to stop when we “grow-up.”  We just need to remember to keep the ropes where they belong. 

GROW…GROW….GROW

Growth…Our hearts swell with generosity as our waists grow with all the wonderful goodies the holiday season brings.  Cookies, candies, cakes, Christmas party buffets—my mouth is watering as I write this! 

Growth… Parking lots at area malls and shopping districts overflow from macadam to grass.  What usually takes five minutes to “run in and out” of a store now takes twenty minutes.  Restaurants have a longer than usual wait time to seat and serve their customers.  Lines at the post office get longer and traffic, well let’s just say it can be a bit testy! The thoughts of someone being without the basics of a home, food or clothing is heightened during this holiday season and we respond generously.

Growth…While all the above growths are temporal there is a kind of growth that should never stop or be based purely upon a certain season or emotion.   This growth produces both long term and short term affects in our lives that has the potential to change the course of our lives and those around us.

Webster defines what I am writing about as “anything believed; complete trust or confidence.”  Faith.

Peter gives us a beautiful picture of growing in faith in 2 Peter 1:3-8.
“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life…And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires... Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.  The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NLT)

 Since I am a very visual person, when I read this passage I liken it to the growth of a tree.

God has given us everything we need in giving us the rich soil of our lives.  God allows all circumstances (whether good or bad) to come into our lives which creates fertilization for the soil to produce good fruit (vs. 3-4).  When we realize God has carried us through a difficult situation our faith begins to grow.  This faith becomes the foundation to build upon for future circumstances.  We learn God can be trusted even though we may not be able to see the outcome or even want what the outcome becomes.

When our faith is placed in God the way we approach life changes.  Our moral values begin to change and we set higher standards to our life choices and what we put into our minds.  We begin to realize the depths of God’s love and compassion for us.   To understand that He doesn’t view us with a big club waiting to smash us for making a mistake brings freedom and openness for intimacy with Him. God longs and desires to have an intimate and daily friendship with us. We become hungry to know who He is how He wants us to live and treat others.  This creates a drawing to read His Word which increases our knowledge. 

Through this knowledge we become aware of issues or life styles within us that need to be dealt with in order for that freedom and intimacy to grow.  Self control is the result of this realization, which becomes a lifelong respect of the change starting within us.  Patient endurance becomes the byproduct of this knowledge and self control.  We begin to view others around us not with a judgmental attitude but one of the same grace and mercy God has extended toward us.  This produces a godliness within us because we are beginning to take on the character of Christ (vs4) living within us (Gal 5:22-26).  It is only because of these characteristics we can have true affection and love for those around us.

Just as we can’t plant a seedling and expect fruit the next day or without giving it water or fertilization, we can’t expect fruit in our lives without living this process.  One area cannot be bypassed to move to another and get the same results.  This isn’t a “once-and-done” event or a feeling of “I’ve finally arrived.”  It is a lifelong growth process, but the end result is well worth staying the course.  We produce not just fruit but everlasting fruit (John 15). 

                                     

BUDS/FLOWERS: Patient endurance, godliness,

brotherly affection, love for everyone……fruit that can change the world

ROOTS:Moral excellence, knowledge, self control,

Fertilized soil 
 

So in this season of growth don’t stop when January 1^st comes around. GROW…GROW….GROW.

                                                                                                                
                  
            

           

Good Stuff Cheap…

“Good stuff cheap” is not only the mantra of a well known store chain but in this economic climate has become the desire of just about every shopper I know. I don’t know about you, but for me I absolutely hate to pay full retail price for anything! The overwhelming crowds that forfeit sleep on Black Friday to get a “good stuff cheap” are certainly testimony to this mantra. We all want to be generous in the Christmas gift giving season, yet we also don’t want to die early deaths because of the credit card bills that start arriving January 1st!

I was thinking about this mantra when I read John 14 (NLT version) recently.  One of the best gifts we could ever receive and encourage others to accept is so simplistic yet we work overtime to complicate.

I’m talking about peace of mind and heart.  In the current climate of jobs and homes being lost; sickness and disease going unchecked or not cared for with no health insurance coverage; families stressed and marriages dissolving because of underlying financial struggles the words “peace of mind and heart” seem foreign if not a cliché.  So what does peace of mind and heart look like?  How in the midst of all this chaos can that be accomplished?

YouTube has a video of Bob Newhart counseling with two words, “STOP IT” (see link at bottom)

This video came to mind when reading Jesus words about peace of mind and heart.  John 14 starts with, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, and trust also in me…..Just believe (vs 11).   Period.

“I am leaving you with a gift-peace of mind and heart.  And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give.  So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (vs27)  Again, simplicity, but how we/I complicate the gift with “buts”.  Just believe—PERIOD!  Accept His gift of peace of mind and heart—PERIOD!  Don’t worry or be afraid—PERIOD!  My peace should not be based upon the way the world tells me to have peace (“just buy something new”; “just eat more comfort food/indulge in your favorite drink” or “just think about yourself”).

Paul said in Philippians 4, “Don’t worry instead pray about everything.  Tell God what you need and thank Him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Paul continues to tell us how to do this, “Fix (determine or strengthen) your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable.  Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise…then the God of peace will be with you.”

Fear starts in the mind then transcends to the heart (our seat of emotions, actions).  In the same manner, peace starts in the mind then transcends to the heart and is also displayed through our actions.

We may not be able to change our current circumstances but one thing we can change is what we think and dwell on.  No one else can impose this on us; that is our choice to change.  This will determine and affect our emotional, physical and spiritual well being.  Jesus told the disciples (and us today) there will be hard times we must go through.   “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

This gift cost Jesus everything, but to us it is free.  Good stuff cheap?  Can’t get any better than that!  

Letter from God

My dear children,

If you are wise and understand (my) ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with humility that comes from wisdom.  My wisdom is first of all pure.  It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and good deeds.  It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.  Those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.*

The best wisdom isn’t what is spewed from your mouths to impress others with your great wealth of knowledge.  The best wisdom is demonstrated by how you live life with others:  the lovely and unlovely, the hurting, the lost, those that are searching all around you..waiting for you.  When you go to the prisons, give a cup of water/food to the starving, do random acts of kindness when no one is watching.  This is being God-wise…the best wisdom you could ever have or impart.

Now go and make disciples teaching them to obey all the commands I have given you.  You can do this…you will not be alone, I will always be with you.  This is my wisdom in action.

Love,

God

*James 3:13-18; Mt 28

Stay Connected

After Thursday storms left our area, on Friday Comcast was down at our store. We had electrical power, just no Comcast. To some this may not sound like a big deal, but to Billy Wray Music Shop, this is our ‘bread-n-butter’. No internet access meant no Ebay sales (which is about 90% of our business), no phone access (we use an internet phone) or the ability to process credit cards (also done through the internet). The internet has become such an integral part of our lives, we literally felt lost. The world has become a smaller place thanks to the world of computers, internet and all those other gadgets I have no clue about!! We can now reach and sell around the world through our Ebay store and never have to leave the comfort of our office.
I started thinking about this today and realized there is a faith lesson in this. For years we have heard, “God is our source of power.” And although I believe that will all my heart, if we stifle that power and not allow Him to use us BEYOND our homes, church or other comfort zones, we will never fulfill the great commission Jesus gave us, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations (communities…)……….And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
In our faith walk, our ‘internet connection’ is the connection we make with people every day whether at the grocery store, office, Starbucks, Panera….well, you get the idea. Let’s get out and stay connected!!

Obedience or sacrifice

This month I am studying verses about obedience and righteousness and came across very familiar verses in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 “…Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.”

What are the “sin of divination” and the “evil of idolatry”? Are these just terms of the past? Are they relevant for us today, and if so how?

My trusty dictionary defines divination as “the act or practice of trying to foretell the future or the unknown by occult means; a successful or clever guess.” Idolatry is “the worship of any object or person with excessive devotion or admiration.”

There is an obsession with knowing the future. We want to know NOW so we can manipulate the future to conform to what we want and how we get it and when. This is not a new obsession but has taken on different forms throughout the ages. It is worldwide and has been practiced in both civilized and uncivilized societies. Séances, Ouija boards, fortune tellers, crystal balls, card readings, tea leaf readings, horoscopes, animal organs, and the list goes on. Thousands and millions of dollars are spent each year to…know….to control.

So what does this have to do with obedience? EVERYTHING! The burnt offerings/sacrifices are all events that can be seen by others. They are an outward; upright (self/ego) appearance that results in just giving lip service. Obedience is an inward, laying prostrate (surrender) appearance which is only seen by God. Unless our hearts are in a prostrate position where we allow God to work his plan (Jeremiah 29:11-14) in us, in his timing, we will not escape the manipulation trap that leads to rebellion. This trap starts not with major events or occurrences but rather the small subtle questions, doubts, disappointments and complacency. When we rebel and want to be the owner of our own destiny, arrogance and “self” will become the object of worship, the idol that must be feed to keep the deceit alive.

“You have trusted in your wickedness and have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you when you say to yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’ Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away (Is 47:10-11)

God’s warning is the same for us today as it was to the Israelites when they didn’t want to listen to the Lord. “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. (Isaiah 30:12-14). Likewise, his promise is for us today, “…..in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and TRUST is your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15)

Oh that our ears would be bent to his voice and our hearts molded by his word, then obedience would be the path that leads to life, hope and a future.

Witnessing the character of Christ

I spent January looking at scriptures about witnessing and these themes are consistently present in the scriptures:
• God works in and through difficulties to perform the miraculous so we may be a testimony to those today and those in the future of the power and goodness of God. Why? THAT THEY MAY KNOW GOD IS GOD. (Ex 10:1-2; Numb 10:29)
• When we praise God (be a witness of His goodness) to those around us God will bless us (Ps 67)
• To be a witness for God we must be a servant (Is 43:10; Is 49:5; Acts 26:16)
• To be a witness we must personally (intimately) know God; believe (trust) God; and understand that God is who He says He is. (Is 53:10)
• God does the revealing and saving (Is 43:12)….we are only an instrument He uses.
• To be a witness is to be obedient to God’s prompting whether those we witness to believe or not (Ez 3:11)• God takes no pleasure/delight when an unbeliever dies without Him…and our response should never be “they got what they deserved”. Truth be told, none of us get what we deserve but even when we were dead in our sin Christ died for us. This thought should hound us and catapult us to obedience when God wants us to speak to ANYONE. (Ez 33:11)
• When those we witness to advance beyond us in their love and witness of God (Jonah 3-4) let us rejoice with them, not sulk
• God’s Holy Spirit living within us will give us the words to speak…we must be tuned into His voice. (Matt 10:17)
• We cannot go in our strength (Acts 1:8)
• Expect God to move (Mk 16:15-20)
Bottom line: being a witness for God is about humility, desiring others before ourselves, being a servant to the lost. It is not about adding numbers to our churches but rather multiplying the character of Christ. His character within us will then be the motivating factor to share His Good News. HUMILITY…SUBMISSION…SERVANT…could the absence of these be the turn off to the term Christian today?

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the death—even death on a cross!” (Phil 2:5-8)

PROMISE KEEPER

Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all
integrity a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
Isaiah 45:22-23

A promise is only as good as the one giving or representing that promise. Can they deliver what they promise? What has their track record been in the past? What happens if they change their minds?

God has sworn BY himself, there is no one higher. He is, as the saying goes, “where the buck stops”. He is God there is none above Him none equal to Him none that will save Him or make good His promises if He can’t. HE IS!!! His integrity is on the line with each word He has spoken. Likewise, each word He has spoken cannot be revoked or overruled by another—no one has that power. Not Satan, you, me…NO ONE. What God has said WILL remain, never to be erased, never to be improved upon, never to be changed…NEVER!

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times,
what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please…..
What I have said that will I bring about
what I have planned, that will I do.
Isaiah 46:10-11

No matter what circumstances have been brought into our lives, nothing can negate what God has spoken and put in to place before time as we know it even existed. Whatever we face today there is Someone who is above it all, perhaps even right in the midst of it waiting for us to open our closed fists and allow Him to work it all out for His purpose within us.

CONDUITS

You are My witnesses," declares the LORD,
"And My servant whom I have chosen,
So that you may know and believe Me
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
And there will be none after Me.
"I, even I, am the LORD,
And there is no savior besides Me.
"It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,
And there was no strange god among you;
So you are My witnesses," declares the LORD,
"And I am God.
"Even from eternity I am He,
And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;
I act and who can reverse it?"
Isaiah 43:10-13


Our part:
KNOW…to perceive, distinguish, discriminate, acknowledge, confess, know by experience, be revealed, be instructed
BELIEVE….to stand firm, to trust, to be certain, to believe in, pillars, supporters of the door
UNDERSTAND…acted wisely, consider, diligently consider, discern, intelligent ,interpret, investigating, look carefully, observe, perceive,
God’s part:
DECLARE…to be conspicuous, tell, make known
SAVE… liberate, save, delivere, victorious
PROCLAIM… to hear, listen to, obey, to grant request


Reality is, God does it ALL but chooses to reveal Himself through you and me. We just need to be available and obedient, an open conduit. Sounds so simple…why do we make it so hard??

SERVING AS EVIDENCE

Last year I used the Bible In Chronological order as my devotional source. This year I’m focusing on a Biblical theme each month: witnessing, salvation, healing, Holy Spirit, etc.

I would love to hear your thoughts on these life-paths we live every day, even though at times we may not realize or understand the path we are on.

Witnessing
My trusty old dictionary describes two words critical to this theme:
(1) witness as “evidence; testimony; a person who saw, or can give a first and account of something; to be present; see personally; to serve as evidence of”;
(2) evident/evidence as “easy to see or perceive, clear, obvious or plain; something that makes another thing evident, indication, sign; something that tends to prove.”

To “serve as evidence of” and “something that tends to prove” is more than just SPEAKING of evidence but living (SERVE) as proof of that evidence.

To be a good witness we must be credible or our testimony will not hold any weight. We must have firsthand knowledge of what we witness or else it is hearsay.  In a courtroom others can rebut what is said. Likewise in the world others will try to refute our verbal testimony of a living God.

Because we not only experience His power but are evidence of His power (He lives in us), will we by our actions prove He does or doesn’t exist?
“For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.” Psalm 96:4-6

As believers, confessors and followers of Christ, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19; Rom 8:11). It is His strength and glory that should be witnessed by the world around us…through difficult or peaceful times. Today let us serve to those around us as evidence of the resurrection and power of the one and only true Living God.