Two Roads

"Man proposes, but God disposes” —Thomas à Kempis. 

"The king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road and decides by divination which of two roads to take. He draws straws, he throws dice, he examines a goat liver. He opens his right hand: The omen says, 'Head for Jerusalem!' So he's on his way with battering rams, roused to kill, sounding the battle cry, pounding down city gates, building siege works" (Ezekiel 21:20-22, The Message)

The Babylonian army stands at a crossroad awaiting directions: One branch of the highway leads east to the city of Rabbah in Ammon; the other leads west to Jerusalem in Judah. Which way shall they go? 

The diviners ply their trade. All signs point to Jerusalem. 

Yet, Ezekiel reveals a hidden truth: There is a cause behind all causes: God had said, "I have drawn my sword out of it’s sheath (against Jerusalem)” (Ezekiel 21:1–5. 15). 

It wasn’t the king and his counselors that determined the strategy and tactics of the Babylonian commanders. It was Israel's God, confirming once again the biblical paradox: Men and women enjoy freedom of choice yet God determines the outcome.

This is indeed a mysterious, yet a hopeful thought in that it enables us to be at peace with the all-too-often, ill-begotten schemes of our leaders. We fear their decisions, but they are not running amuck. Everything is under control.

David Roper

Where's the Beef?

"He gave them exactly what they asked for—but along with it they got an empty heart (Psalm 106:15 The Message).

The incident the poet had in mind is described in the Old Testament book of Numbers: "The riff-raff among the people had a craving and soon they had the People of Israel whining, 'Why can't we have meat? We ate fish in Egypt—and got it free!—to say nothing of the cucumbers and melons, the leeks and onions and garlic. But nothing tastes good out here; all we get is manna, manna, manna'"(Numbers 11:4-6). 

"So, you want to eat meat," Moses sighed. "God will give you meat—not just for a day and not two days, or five or ten or twenty, but for a whole month. You're going to eat meat until its coming out of your nose. You're going to be so sick of meat that you'll throw up at the mere mention of it" (11:19,20). 

A wind swept an enormous flock of quail in from the sea. "They piled up to a depth of about three feet in the camp and as far out as a day's walk in every direction. All that day and night and into the next day the people were out gathering the quail—huge amounts of quail; even the slowest person among them gathered at least sixty bushels." (11:33,34). "God gave them exactly what they asked for."

But they all got sick and many died. The place ever after bore the eponymous name, "Graves-of-Craving," because that's where they buried the people who demanded meat.

The take-away? Be careful what you ask for. You might get it. 

David Roper

New Creations

"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation" (2Corinthians 5:16, 11).

Jesus and Paul were contemporaries and therefore Paul undoubtedly heard Jesus preach in the streets of Jerusalem. If so, he must have considered him to be an ignoramus from the back-country of Galilee.

But on the road to Damascus Paul experienced a radical change of heart: he saw Jesus as he really was, the son of God. From that point on, Paul did not evaluate Jesus by human criteria (“according to the flesh").

Viewing Jesus from that perspective also changed the way he looked at others: he no longer evaluated them according to the flesh, but as potentially in Christ and as radiant new creations.

Think of the worst person you know and imagine that person as an authentic follower of Jesus. What would that person be like if he or she was filled and flooded with God's Holy Spirit?

I wonder to what extent I judge others by merely human standards? What financial, physical, ethnic, educational and political criteria do I employ? Or do I view them as they could be if they would but give their hearts to Jesus? Can I think of the worst person I know in that way?

Speaking for myself, that would take a lot of prayer.

David Roper

11.2.18

From CAROLYN…

Good Morning, Friends, Beloved of God,

I have a dear friend who is going through lots of stuff in her life. You know the kind of things I mean:

~concern for an adult child,
~health issues,
~a big change coming,
~an overwhelming amount of life-details,
~and so many people to care about.

Well, my sweet friend had asked me to pray for a couple of specific things and I wanted to do so. When I talked with her recently she brought up something she had been and was still concerned about. Something big and time-sensitive I had promised to pray about this with her.

But guess what. I forgot! Certainly I had been lifting her up with some of the things I knew about. But this one thing I forgot. I told her and then wrote this issue down in my prayer list under her name. She is one of my Tuesday gals to pray for.

Then I also told my friend that God does not forget.

God has promised to remember.

Zion said,”The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, nor have compassion on the child of her womb?
Even these may forget but I will not forget you. Behold, I have you inscribed on the palms of My hands.” — Isaiah 40:15,16

God does not just make a note of you in His note pad. He has your name written on the palms of His hands,

always present,
always on His mind,
always in His heart.

Do you ever feel forgotten or have you really been forgotten? Well, not by God, the One who so loves you.

And as for prayer, we have this assurance:

...the Spirit helps us in our weakness: for we do not know how to pray as we should but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts know what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the true believers according to the will of God.  — Romans 8:26,27

At times I believe our prayer can become an idol. We think if we just get it right (because after all it all depends on us!), then God will do as we ask. However, His understanding and His love is far beyond mine in any prayer endeavor.

So of course, I want to keep my word. But when I forget, He does not. When I pray amiss, He is interceding in the right way.

The lesson for me is that while I want to pray for my friends and loved ones, God will always remember them and know what is best. He will address hidden issues I have no way of knowing. He has got me covered and He has got His other children, my friends, covered too. He invites me to participate with my prayers. He invites me to know He is the One who moves the stars at night and He is the One who is ultimately concerned for those I am concerned about. He knows the heart-needs.

 Therefore, all the glory and praise goes to Him who does not forget and who knows what to pray for much more than I do..

I still pray and want to. And I also rest in Him to be the ultimate One who remembers and prays. I believe this rest is pleasing to my Heavenly Father. He is God and I am not. One of the best things I can pray for my friends is, “Into Thy Hands I place this one.”

With love and prayers,

Carolyn

An Old Clay Pot

"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us" (2Corinthians 4:7). 

Over the years I've acquired a number of old clay pots. The one pictured above was excavated from a site dated at Abraham's time (circa 15^th century B.C.)—at least one item in our home that is older than I

It's not much to look at: stained, cracked, chipped and in need of a good scrubbing. It's very fragile. If I dropped it, it would shatter into useless shards. 

I keep it on my desk to remind me that I'm an old clay pot, a man made out of mud, of little value apart from the transcendent treasure that the pot contains. "We have this treasure (Jesus) in earthen vessels."

Paul continues: “(As earthen vessels), we are pressured from every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…” (4:8,9).

"Pressured." “Perplexed,” “Persecuted." "Struck down." These  are the pressures the pot must bear.

"Not crushed." “Not in despair.” “Not forsaken.” “Not destroyed." These are the effects of the counteracting strength of our indwelling Lord.

"...always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus." (4:10a). This is the attitude that characterized Jesus who died to himself every day. And this is the attitude that must characterize us—a willingness to die to self–effort, trusting solely in the sufficiency of the one who indwells us. "Not I, but Christ."

“... that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body“ (4:10b).   This is the outcome: the beauty of Jesus made visible in an old clay pot. 

Pressed out of measure and pressed to all length.

Pressed so intensely it seems beyond strength;

Pressed in the body and pressed in the soul,

Pressed in the mind till the dark surges roll;

Pressed by foes, and pressured by friends;

Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends;

Pressed into loving the staff and the rod,

Pressed into knowing no helper but God.

—Annie Johnson Flint

David Roper

The Terrible Speed of Mercy

Here lies Martin Elginbrod

Have mercy on my soul, Lord God

As I would do were I Lord God

And Thou were Martin Elginbrod

—Scottish Epitaph

"The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I have received mercy..." (1Timothy 1:15,16a).

Years ago, I read a story about a fractious congregational meeting in which a young man rose to his feet and shouted “I demand my rights!" An elderly gentleman seated in the pew behind him, tugged on his shirt tail and muttered, “Sit down, son. If you had your rights you'd be in hell.“

Exactly. If God gave me what I rightfully deserve I would be in one of the nine circles of Dante's Inferno. "But I have received mercy."

That thought clears my head when I think that I'm entitled to the good life, or at least one better than the one I have. No, my salvation and every other good thing that comes my way is mine not because I deserve it, but because "I have received mercy." 

How then can I be angry at friends who disappoint me when it's by God's mercy that I have any friends at all? How can I envy old folks that enjoy better health than I when it's solely by God's mercy that I enjoy the measure of health that I have? No, if I got what I deserved I'd be in pure hell. But, thank God, through the Cross, "I have received mercy!"

And, dear reader, so have you!

David Roper

10.26.18

As I wrote this morning I thought of Flannery O’Connor’s would-be hellfire and damnation prophet, Francis Marion Tarwater, who received his long-awaited commission from a burning bush: “Go warn the children of God of the terrible speed of God's mercy.” As Miss O’Connor herself might say, “May God strike you down thisaway.”

 Some Low, Unworthy Thing

Why is it that so often I return 

From social converse with a spirit worn, 

A lack, a disappointment—even a sting 

Of shame, as for some low, unworthy thing?

—George MacDonald

An inspired apostle enjoined Timothy to “flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart" (2Timothy 2:22).

"Youthful passions," in this context (2 Timothy 2:22-26), are not sexual passions, but the immature impulse to wrangle and win. To engage in "foolish and ignorant controversies" that engender strife and ill-will (2:23). These are the ends the unfledged achieve. 

Mature men and women seek righteousness (right thinking and living); faith (trust in God's wisdom and power); love (for God and neighbor); and peace (tranquility and rest)—attributes they long to see in others.

I ask myself, "Have my words and manner achieved those ends?" Or have I left behind some "low, unworthy thing”?

David Roper

10.25.18