With Easter only a couple weeks away it seems appropriate to share my favorite literary passage. It is a short but profound passage from The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan and first published in 1675.
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Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up which Christian was to go was fenced on either side with a wall, and that wall was called Salvation. Up this way, therefore, did burdened Christian run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load on his back.
He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross, and a little below, just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do till it came to the mouth of the sepulchure, where it fell in, and I saw it no more.
Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said, with a merry heart, "He hath given me rest by his sorrow and life by his death." Then He stood still awhile to look and wonder; for it was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should thus ease him of his burden. He looked, therefore, and looked again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the waters down his cheeks.
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When is the last time you thanked God for His wondrous work through Christ on the cross? Take time to ponder the scene John Bunyan paints here. We were burdened down by sin, but Jesus took our punishment leaving us free from sins' awful weight.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Spiritual Fluff
This book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. (Joshua 1:8, NKJV)
Have emotions taken first place in your life or are you building your faith on the Word of God?
With today’s obsession to please everyone . . . all the time . . . absolutes get thrown out like the Sunday newspaper. What others think becomes more important then what God says. Standards are branded old fashioned.
The Bible is treated like a book of suggestions instead of God’s blue print for daily life. Once biblical foundations are compromised away we are left with fickle emotions for our spiritual guidance. Emotions change with the weather, but we have a Heavenly Father who never changes.
How serious do you take the Bible?
Are you content to merely randomly pluck out verses to make it say what you want to hear? Or, are you making Scripture part of your daily life? Which do you treat as more valuable; how you feel on a given day or the guidance God has handed down to us in the pages of the Bible?
God gave us our emotions. They are part of who we are. But feelings must be filtered through the sieve of God’s Word. The side of the bed you got up on this morning should never dictate the depth of your faith.
Don’t masquerade your emotions as “answered prayer” to justify your actions. If the “answers” you receive are contrary to Scripture you have been deceived.
A quilt is constructed with three layers. The decorative layer on top gives a quilt its beauty. The bottom layer lends stability. The batting sandwiched inside adds warmth and comfort.
Emotions can be compared with the fluffy middle layer of a quilt. By themselves emotions are reduced to a layer of spiritual fluff. They have little use without the other two layers.
The Bible provides both our beauty and our stability.
Have emotions taken first place in your life or are you building your faith on the Word of God?
With today’s obsession to please everyone . . . all the time . . . absolutes get thrown out like the Sunday newspaper. What others think becomes more important then what God says. Standards are branded old fashioned.
The Bible is treated like a book of suggestions instead of God’s blue print for daily life. Once biblical foundations are compromised away we are left with fickle emotions for our spiritual guidance. Emotions change with the weather, but we have a Heavenly Father who never changes.
How serious do you take the Bible?
Are you content to merely randomly pluck out verses to make it say what you want to hear? Or, are you making Scripture part of your daily life? Which do you treat as more valuable; how you feel on a given day or the guidance God has handed down to us in the pages of the Bible?
God gave us our emotions. They are part of who we are. But feelings must be filtered through the sieve of God’s Word. The side of the bed you got up on this morning should never dictate the depth of your faith.
Don’t masquerade your emotions as “answered prayer” to justify your actions. If the “answers” you receive are contrary to Scripture you have been deceived.
A quilt is constructed with three layers. The decorative layer on top gives a quilt its beauty. The bottom layer lends stability. The batting sandwiched inside adds warmth and comfort.
Emotions can be compared with the fluffy middle layer of a quilt. By themselves emotions are reduced to a layer of spiritual fluff. They have little use without the other two layers.
The Bible provides both our beauty and our stability.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Walking Away from Temptation
"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13 - NKJV)
My mother-in-law is usually supportive and helpful with my weight loss goals. She is usually one of the first people to comment how niece I look when she notices I've lost a few more pounds. But, yesterday for some reason she was determined into coaxing me into eating chocolate marshmallow eggs with them.
I could taste the marshmallow filling, but my mother-in-law had already passed around the oreos a few minutes earlier. I knew three oreos were enough of a splurge for one afternoon. Even after the third offer and her assurance that I would eat one before I left didn't weaken my resolve, at least enough for me to give in.
The freedom of going home yesterday afternoon without the added calories of a marshmallow chocolate egg felt good. With the Lord's help I can walk away from temptation. That was the lesson I needed to learn. Poor eating choices is just like any other temptation in our life. God doesn't leave us there to falter alone. He promises to help.
My mother-in-law is usually supportive and helpful with my weight loss goals. She is usually one of the first people to comment how niece I look when she notices I've lost a few more pounds. But, yesterday for some reason she was determined into coaxing me into eating chocolate marshmallow eggs with them.
I could taste the marshmallow filling, but my mother-in-law had already passed around the oreos a few minutes earlier. I knew three oreos were enough of a splurge for one afternoon. Even after the third offer and her assurance that I would eat one before I left didn't weaken my resolve, at least enough for me to give in.
The freedom of going home yesterday afternoon without the added calories of a marshmallow chocolate egg felt good. With the Lord's help I can walk away from temptation. That was the lesson I needed to learn. Poor eating choices is just like any other temptation in our life. God doesn't leave us there to falter alone. He promises to help.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Look, Don't Touch
One afternoon Vickie invited me and two other ladies over for tea. I felt like royalty as we set down to the fruit salad and finger sandwiches she had lovingly prepared. The table was set with fine imported Irish china, creamy white with delicately painted clusters of green clover.
“This tea set belonged to my mother-in-law. I know she would have wanted it used.”
Vickie told us about an incident that happened shortly after she and Todd where first married. They were asked to house set for a couple of weeks while Todd’s parents went to Ireland to visit family. Todd’s parents assured them Vickie’s cat was welcome to stay as well.
Vickie carefully moved several of the antiques her in-laws loved to collect out of the cat's reach. That is all except the items displayed on a high shelf framing the kitchen a foot or so below the ceiling. “The cat could never get up there,” she thought.
But, one night Vickie woke to the dreadful sound of breaking glass. The item she found laying in pieces on the kitchen floor had been in the family for generations. Vickie was beside herself. What was she going to tell her mother-in-law?
A week or so later when Vickie tried to tell her the dear woman stopped her. “Before you say another word there is something I want you to know. Nothing in this house is more important to me then you. Everything I have is meant to be used and can always be replaced. Now what is it you need to say?”
Vickie told us that WAS her mother-in-law. She had the money for niece things and was never afraid to use them. China went into the dishwasher along with everyday dishes. It wasn’t that she didn’t value them. She just firmly believed they should be enjoyed.
Three of the ladies at our afternoon tea had matching salad bowls. One had a cereal bowl of the same pattern but noticeably shaped different. When Vickie unpacked the set from her mother-in-law’s things one of the salad bowls was missing. No doubt broken through use.
God doesn’t put “Look, don’t touch” signs on display either. The possessions He loans us are meant to share and enjoy.
“This tea set belonged to my mother-in-law. I know she would have wanted it used.”
Vickie told us about an incident that happened shortly after she and Todd where first married. They were asked to house set for a couple of weeks while Todd’s parents went to Ireland to visit family. Todd’s parents assured them Vickie’s cat was welcome to stay as well.
Vickie carefully moved several of the antiques her in-laws loved to collect out of the cat's reach. That is all except the items displayed on a high shelf framing the kitchen a foot or so below the ceiling. “The cat could never get up there,” she thought.
But, one night Vickie woke to the dreadful sound of breaking glass. The item she found laying in pieces on the kitchen floor had been in the family for generations. Vickie was beside herself. What was she going to tell her mother-in-law?
A week or so later when Vickie tried to tell her the dear woman stopped her. “Before you say another word there is something I want you to know. Nothing in this house is more important to me then you. Everything I have is meant to be used and can always be replaced. Now what is it you need to say?”
Vickie told us that WAS her mother-in-law. She had the money for niece things and was never afraid to use them. China went into the dishwasher along with everyday dishes. It wasn’t that she didn’t value them. She just firmly believed they should be enjoyed.
Three of the ladies at our afternoon tea had matching salad bowls. One had a cereal bowl of the same pattern but noticeably shaped different. When Vickie unpacked the set from her mother-in-law’s things one of the salad bowls was missing. No doubt broken through use.
God doesn’t put “Look, don’t touch” signs on display either. The possessions He loans us are meant to share and enjoy.
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