Sludge & Mud....as I trudge (with joy) through my day.

     Working today I started out the day in a fine mood.  Punched in for work and started down the hall and was stopped within 30 seconds with a "list" of things to do even before my mind was set!  Ever have that happen to you?  Not even a chance to get a good cup of office coffee!  I suppose it goes with the territory, maintenance, always something to fix.  The law of Murphy shows up again.  However I believe in if it ain't broke...don't fix it.
     The first care of the world is added on.  Coursing through the halls co-workers are idled "talking" or should I say complaining about other co-workers and catching up on the latest gossip and goings-ons in the workplace.  Bob complains to Rob, who complains about his boss, who later complains to Sue about Mary's work and so on and on...the second care is added on. And on it goes throughout the day. Layer upon layer of peoples troubles until well you are sick inside and weighed down.  People don't necessarily mean it, it's just our nature.
     Finding the ability to  work in the midst of "mud & sludge" is a daily fight we all contend with and wish we could do a better job at filtering out the mess.  It just so happens that we get caught in the trap of wanting to empathize with our co-workers that we are slowly drawn into daily drama that makes it hard to pull away and care for those things the Lord wants us to care about.  Getting dragged through the mud on a daily basis is not my idea of fun or of peace.  But it is a fact of living in a light and dark world for Christians. How do we make the best of this and be instant in and out of season?  Ready to give and account our good life?  It is not that we are immune to all of these cares but we have an obligation to resist the temptations that come with this type of living.  The temptation to go with the flow.....let down your guard.....to throw in with the crowd and do the things they do!  It's harder than you think and requires a daily dose of getting close to God and remembering who we are in Christ.  We must look in the mirror and not forget and become a double minded man and become unstable in all of our ways.
     So, when Bob comes and tell you of a juicy story about so and so... remember some one is no doubt talking about you somewhere in the halls!  What are they saying.........about you.

The Mighty One: Our Salvation

                                           Jehovhah The Mighty One Of Israel

                                           Adonai, Elehenu One Who Is Lord

                                           The Ancient of Days

                                           With No Beginning and No End

                                           From Everlasting To Everlasting

                                           Melchezidek King of Salem

                                           The Prince of Peace

                                           Everlasting Father

                                           Son of Man

                                           Son of David

                                           Root out of Dry Ground

                                           I Am The Vine

                                           The Bread Of Life

                                           The Living Water

                                           The Messiah

                                           Yeshua: Jesus for ever

                                           The One Who Is, Who Was, and Is To Come
                                         
                                           THE GREAT I AM

                                               THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH

Legalism...It Will Kill You

    Many years ago I learned the hard truth about being on the fringe of a society that makes it hard to succeed when one doesn't have means.   It is in fact a circle of frustration. No job=no money=no phone=no # for anyone to get ahold of you = a less than trustworthy individual to get hired.  Not necessarily true but just true enough to not get ahead and that much harder to establish oneself.  I did anyway...wasn't easy.
     I was reminded of that today when due to an unlikely computer crash...at my local super-market it took my money off of a credit system  with no proof I paid and left me to pay with what cash I had on hand.  It also froze up my account with that creditor and so took 2 hours of my day to get it back, meanwhile one who had the power to correct the situation with little or no trouble began their l-e-g-a-l-i-s-t-i-c ways of doing things!  We need proof.....that this happened....while in reality it happened right before her eyes and was witnessed by at least 5 others, no matter, we need proof she said and ....in a statement from the bank!  That would take weeks and as I scratched my head and became slightly jaded again because she knew me and knew me for years of shopping there!  This might seem like a small matter, but in reality shows the nature of man.
 Legalism is deadly. It had Christ crucified at the hands of Gentile Romans getting the Jewish  leaders off the hook in regards to their 'Law". " The letter kills but the spirit gives life."  Never a more true argument to be considered for all time.  The grace of God in sending his spirit into our lives lets us live a higher calling when faced with matters of our government, and local societal law that would otherwise stifle us daily.  Though Christ taught us to comply and obey those over us there is a line to be crossed at some point.  This past week gave us another view of a man whose conscience dictated breaking his allegiance to high governmental authorities in favor of leaking news that our government is collecting data on us in mass amounts.  Privacy being the concern, and constitutional rights being infringed upon. Right now he has no safe harbor. Whether he is Christian or not I do not know yet he obeyed a higher internal calling. If it harms us in the intelligence field that remains to be seen.
I do know that the letter of the law cannot be kept perfectly in any way, shape, or form.  Get a traffic ticket? You broke the law!  Paid the water bill late? You get a fine and rarely talk your way out of it.  Innocently forgot to pay that ticket, get a bench warrant and then get put in jail asap if stopped again.  It happened to me in front of my five year old...stayed there for 4 hours making bail.
     So how do we live when faced with this form of confrontation?  We do the best we can.  It just happened innocently enough at the supermarket, just enough to remind me what we are made of ...without grace...

A Unique Day: All Over The World:

     I was sent to Jerusalem, from my home newspaper, the NY Times.  I spent the night in the Jerusalem Hotel awaiting and event I and everyone in the world was now questioning.  That day was dark, overcast with minimal light coming forth from the sky.  All over the world a haze covered the skyline and a strange calm and tepid temperature registered everywhere all at once.  Seventy-two degrees every where, haze everywhere, people standing, texting, taking pictures with their phone and sending them all over the world.
Media outlets, raced to get their crews and equipment to the Holy Land as fast as they could.  Flights backed up and terminals packed as people and equipment jammed every last space available.  Security was at the highest levels, arms in plain sight, from the TSA of only to warn those with high anxiety not to cause trouble.
     The Mount of Olives was in my view from my window.  Fog settled on the trees and it swirled all about as it was disturbed by those walking in the garden.  No one went to work today, it was as if the whole world stood still, except for us, those who were recording these events.
     Tremors had been felt for a week, scientists took note of the darkening skies and warming temperatures, water levels rose faster than at any other time and religious fervor took hold of millions that waited for this time half knowing what to expect.  From a fragment of ancient parchment these words:
 
  ⁶ On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost.^[a] 7 And there shall be a unique^[b] day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.

     

      If these word were true, then the very Mount I looked upon  would soon be split in two with water rushing in directions east to west.     "And it shall continue in summer as in winter."  

     Six months would pass before this event would end.  It would disrupt the normal course of our lives and set the stage for the end:> or the beginning>

My Strong Tower

     My God you are my refuge
you are my strong tower, I will call on your name
When I am weak you are strong
you never leave me comfortless
When I am empty I can count on you
you fill me up, like springs of living water
My words are empty at times,yet I have
abundant hope in you.
Daily I call on your name, strengthen me
and let me feel your goodness.
Mercy and truth are always with you never forsake me
because of my own ways.
I wilt at the first sign of trouble, nevertheless, I will trust in your ways.
The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, he is the one I count on,
he is from everlasting to everlasting, the Prince of Peace.
Lord of Lords, Yahweh always, the.. Great I Am

One Day Left

As I sat on the floor of the dark prison my hands ached with pain. The Shackles had dug their way onto my skin, redness and tearing present on my wrists.  My feet no longer felt pain, numbness had all but taken the place of feeling.  Guards talked outside, just another day for them, and for me ...my last.  All that I had done now came down to this last day.  Thoughts raced through my mind, thoughts that no longer had purpose no direction at all.  Next to me there was one who was no longer conscious.  Beaten beyond recognition he lay there next to another who had nothing but contempt in his heart.  Yelling and screaming all night he hoped to drive the guards crazy. Instead he just grew hoarse his voice all but gone his eyes red with rage.

      Today I was to be crucified along with the two others in my cell.  Everyone in this Roman world knew it would be a long and painful way to die. It was meant to be.  The man who never moved began to stir, slowly  began to awake.  It was him the guards waited for.  Now we would begin our walk, our last walk to the hill that overlooked the city.  I was afraid

     Nails pierced my hands, my feet, I lost control of my bowels, water ran down my legs mixed with my own blood.  I shook violently but still looked at the one next to me sharing the same torture I did.  No cursing came from his lips unlike the other one, he still yelled and mocked those who were below.  I had a strange peace even in my pain.  The man, who now looked at me calmed every fear, took away everything and for that moment I was at rest.  I expected judgement, torment and instead was told today.....

I would be in paradise....me a man who had robbed and cheated his way through life............

     

Blind on The Street

       A large city passes before my eyes it's citizens massing on the streets going to and fro frantic in the morning hours fulfilling the wishes of their own hearts. Every one of them blind to what's in front of them.  A boy sits on the street corner with his hand out in ragged clothes thin and worn from the night ravished in his heart longing for the contact of anyone, anyone that would meet his eyes and fill the need of an empty heart.
  The people keep walking, faster and faster looking beyond and above him unwilling to meet the boy's eyes. If just for a second their heart would be pierced through their soul stirred at the sight of one who is orphaned, alone and empty inside crying for the love that has escaped him and caused him to be abandoned.  No one sees, no one hears the call of his heart. No one has time for the one who calls out of desperation, need and loneliness.  Hunger rips at his inward parts his soul damaged ... for those who could help are of no help.
     For the people that are walking have no eyes....born blind they cannot see the obvious, cannot feel, cannot sense any longer..hearts are stone no longer flesh no longer supple no longer able to succor those who are castaways.....
   So the boy moves along in search of a city filled with a people with eyes to see, ears to hear and if for a moment one who would take him in......
           

              " and he was filled with compassion at those who were in front of him.....the people collected the                  fragments  of bread and fish and all were filled from the bread and fish.  AND THE EYES OF THE BLIND WERE OPENED:

Impossible Mysteries; Might Christ be Who he Said he Was?

Loch ness Monster                                                 Jesus Christ
Heads of Easter Island                                            Angels & Demons
Nazsca Plains                                                           Lepers being Healed
Roswell NM                                                           Men rising from the dead
Martians                                                                 Maladies & sicknesses being healed
Sasquatch                                                               Spirits into Swine
Abominable Snow-man                                           Water into Wine
Were-wolfs                                                             Walking on Water            
Vampires                                                                 Roman coins in Fish
 



      Parallels that make no common sense to us?   These are just some of the extraordinary things around us that make us wonder.  Stories that have been with us for generations. And there are many more.  Why with a list of so many things is it so hard to believe in the One who came here to forgive us and to lead us to another kingdom?  Why is there such a battle for the mind in this area of belief that challenges us and make us argue and take a stand so vehemently, be oppositional and antagonistic to one another in this area?
     Could it be that they are vying for a place in the mind and heart that is in a realm that has a power over us and can either deceive or reveal?  Revelation or deception two very powerful forces that can be like a drug, influencing the mind and bending it in directions of it's choice.  Heaven or Hell, Turn or Burn....an awful saying one that evokes strong emotions on either side of the fence.  So when we are faced with these possibilities are we closed to one and not the other? Do we fight to believe in one and think the other is non-sense?
     So if someone walks into your life, one you have known and has a life changing story will you believe it or pass it off as c-r-a-z-y!  I did for a while,,until the "scales were removed from my eyes and thinking"  like Paul in Damascus so many years ago.  It was personal, up close, in the heart and mind changing.
    What we believe. ideas that we hold will shape who we will become, what actions we will take and what we will pass on.  What we don't have to do is force feed it,like baby food  like we think we have too.  Every one has a mind, heart and soul to sort out truth and God is gracious to us all.
                      There is one who stood many years ago and uttered these words,,, "What is truth." as he relented and gave the orders to have the Son of God Flogged and hung on a cross......

Who Is Your Father: who do you run too?

                         I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

     God does not take you in as a foster child.  He is your true father in every sense of the word.  Those of us that had a limited experience of a natural father (myself included) have this hole in us that longs to be filled up.  I marveled over the years of my growing up those of my friends that had a father that was interested in his son's growth and friendship.  To be molded by one who had life's experiences that could be passed on.  
     My father for whatever reason, left my mother and brother and I when I was young.  For whatever reason, I don't really know, the details are sketchy and too many years have gone by to fit the pieces of the puzzle together to gain a good picture.
     I was fortunate:  My grandfather stepped in at just the right time.  Whether he was willing at the time I do not know.  He had lived his life and was at the verge of retirement when I came to know him.   Fifty-five years my senior yet over 20 years he became the one I trusted.  Today I bear his name out of honor and his lineage is carried on in my family name.  
   So what is this place I came too that hungered for this type of relationship?
    I'll tell you; it was adoption. A substitution of fatherhood but a reality of the real thing.  In this place was peace, security and love and an established home for my chance to grow up.
   After spending many years of just wanting to be in my grandfather's sphere of influence it was time to leave.
     Then reality hit.  I was alone in being, on my own and subject to my own ways and efforts to gain a place in this world. No longer under a covering that was someone else's. So what did I gain in being independent for the first time. Uncovered, exposed to decisions of my own making? Trouble!
     Yes, I stepped right into life as we are supposed to. And with it came all the cares of the world heaped up and standing as a wall of water rushing in with no barriers to keep it back.  
      This was a good thing...because now I needed to find my place and strength to survive this.  Where do I go? 
     Abba, Father in Aramaic, that is what I found. The true father of us all.
As the beginning of this blog states Jesus told his disciples that when he left, he would not leave them as orphans, but would send the comforter. What a term!
I think of the Peanut's character Linus and his blanket! But that is analogus  or comparable.  Looking for the hole to be filled up in the absence of what is going to soon be missing...Jesus.  
       After three years of teaching, love, healings, wisdom unbounded and friendships made in eating and living together, he was leaving them! Their Lord and savior who adopted various men to carry on his teachings left them, but sent another:  The Holy Spirit, the one who would remind them " of all that I said."  Just like a Dad.......to live in them forever never, abandoned again or fatherless.

Against The Tide of Defeat: Beating the Odds>

     On one of Pauls's last voyages on his way to Rome he and about 276 others ran aground on the Island of Malta. After spending 14 days in a sea turbulent with waves and a sky filled with thunder and lightening they all went ashore as they could.  Those it was said who could swim went first, and then those others made it ashore on pieces of "plank" or the remnants of the ship they had just been in.  For the past two week period many did not eat for sake of suspense.  So they were in a weakened state and Paul urges them to eat and gain strength for the trip remaining.  He also encourages them in a prophetic word that no one would be lost due to the storm.  They would all come under God's divine care.
    Harkening back a thousand years before, the Prophet Jonah was thrown overboard to appease God and those who were of a superstitious nature threw him overboard without compunction.
     Fighting these very powerful types of natural disasters causes us to be in a very humble state  or very arrogant take a stand frame of mind.  Which will you find yourself in when the time comes?
     Into thin air tells the story of some men that climbed Everest and some were caught in the tempest winds of the peak. Some turned back and climbed down to safety, one a leader decided to stay stick it out and died, leaving behind small children and a wife.  Gutting it out for him meant the end of his life.
     So it was with Paul, the major difference, The Lord of Peace was with him and in him.  That confidence in his God made all the difference between defeat and survival. Beating the odds against every instinct and natural obstacle the natural world had to throw at him.  Lashing waves, thunder, lightening and hunger all thrown together in terrible mix to kill him and those with him.
     For the next three months Paul and his captors (Roman centurion) ate and drank with the locals who showed them "unusual kindness"  In the aftermath of the storm Paul shook of a viper off his hand with no ill effects healed a sick man's father and many others of the island that were brought to him.
     So not only did those 276 who could have been killed  have their lives spared but were witness to God's
incredible way of doing things.  Paul beat the odds set against him only because of his faith and knowledge of his God's intent for his life.
     Those who have surrendered their lives in Christ will be at some time in their life in a place to doubt God's intent or to faithfully gut it out in him and wait for his rescue.
     If you stand pat in a poker game: you better have the best hand or risk losing the big pot.  This life we have is no game the is intent on the part of the devil is to kill you and rob you of your inheritance.  He does not care which way it comes in, only that he wins.  So for some, a natural death, ease of life, no pains, worries or challenges.  For others obstacles thrown in our way at every turn making us ponder: What's it all for?