Making Good Use of Your Time

There's a little devotional book by a godly old Norwegian pastor named Ole Hallesby. This was the first devotional book I had as a child (borrowed from my mother) and although most of the thoughts were probably deeper than my understanding, I used that book for years. At some point I loaned it to someone and never got it back. A year or so ago, another copy of the very same book fell into my hands and I've been treasuring it ever since. I think at some point during the years I had actually prayed that I would get my book back - one of those "forgotten" prayers that you don't remember until the Lord answers them. It's been wonderful to have the gift of this little book.

I was reading in this book today and came across a thought that thundered in my brain when I read it. The context was the author's thoughts about God's mercy in the way He chastens us. "Suffering child of God! It is not dangerous to suffer. In this world we are to suffer. Christ went before us also in this respect. We are to follow Him also in suffering. You are making good use of your time when you suffer. You are suffering unjustly, you say? Oh, well, neither is that dangerous. That is the way Jesus suffered all His life."

What an amazing thought - that we are making good use of our time when we are suffering! Only a heart truly gripped by the Holy Spirit can speak those words. It is one of the great mysteries of the Kingdom, like the first being last, the least being greatest. My flesh will never tell me that suffering isn't dangerous, that it's making good use of my time. This echoes of Paul's words that "these momentary, light afflictions are producing for us an eternal weight of glory." Producing an eternal weight of glory is definitely a good use of time; turning light affliction into a weight of glory is a good return on the investment. What Paul considered "light" affliction is rather boggling, though, too (beatings, imprisonments, etc).

Another thought I was chewing on today was from Ephesians 2:10: For we are His workmanship... I was trying to find out what that word "workmanship" means. I know there is the obvious meaning but I thought there might be more behind it. I checked several sources and found an interesting insight in Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. The Greek word for workmanship is POIEMA. It means something that is made, fabricated. It is the word from which we get our word "poem". So the next time I start to feel a bit worthless, I will remind myself that I am God's poem, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Dead is dead

Sometimes you have one of those moments when a truth sinks in and begins to revolutionize your thinking. I had one of those moments on Saturday.

Pete and I were discussing Ephesians 2:1-10 in preparation for our small group. The apostle Paul states bluntly in verse 1 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins" (NASB). Pete made the observation that "there aren't degrees of deadness - dead is dead. Some people aren't more dead than others." A light went on for me at those words. I don't know how I've missed the implications of that all these years. Sometimes in my prayers for people I find myself thinking, "Oh, this person is so FAR from the Lord!" as if that would somehow make a difference in how hard it would be to save them. But, silly me, there aren't degrees in deadness. You can't be a "little" dead.

I've been thinking and rejoicing over that verse these last few days. It isn't easier to save a "nice" dead person than an "evil" dead person; it isn't easier to save someone who has only been dead for, say, 4 or 5 years than someone who has been dead for 40 years. Every one of us that has been saved is a miracle of salvation and redemption, even if I was saved as a small child. It's a miracle because I was a dead small child, dead in my trespasses and sins.

There is another picture in Ephesians that, coupled with this thought, infuses my prayers with hope. In chapter 1 (verses 15-23) Paul is telling of his prayer for the Ephesians. He asks that "the eyes of their heart may be enlightened to know (among other things) what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us..in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead." Phew - that's quite a mouthful, one of those lofty Pauline thoughts in Ephesians that we hardly know what to do with. The Living Bible puts it this way: "I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great His power is to help us who believe in Him. It is that same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead..." I picture Jesus dead in the tomb, wrapped in linen, bound and unmoving. Suddenly the power of God bursts forth and in an instant Jesus is transformed, raised from the dead and made alive forevermore. THAT is the power that is available to help me! THAT is the "working of the strength of His might which...raised Him from the dead."

The power that raised Jesus is the same power that raises each of us from our deadness. It is the same power that works in us day by day, our Deliverer day by day.

What hope. Dead is dead. But GOD, being rich in mercy and mighty in power - there's no room for puny prayers in the light of that truth.

Simple but difficult

Pete and I had an ongoing argument many years ago. He maintained that life was simple and I said it was complicated. We finally agreed on the idea that life is simple - but difficult. Most truth is pretty simple (to understand), but that doesn't mean it is easy (to apply or obey).

Here's one of those "simple but difficult" concepts: God's sovereignty.

This morning I was juggling and chewing on some ideas and it occurred to me that there are two truths I have taken a long time to learn in life. One of them is this: I am NOT the Assistant Holy Spirit. The other is: Don't turn every difficulty in life into an occasion for self-pity. I realized that really both of those lessons hinge on my understanding of God's sovereignty.

When I first heard the term "sovereignty" I really had no idea, except from the context, what in the world it was supposed to mean. Scripture doesn't use the term "sovereign" when talking about God but the concept is implied and described throughout the Bible. The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI, 1978, vol. 5, pg. 498, article by H.B.Kuhn) says this: "sovereignty" connotes a situation in which a person, from his innate dignity, exercises supreme power, with no areas of his province outside his jurisdiction...as applied to God the term indicates His complete power over all of creation, so that He exercises His will absolutely...God's sovereignty is His omnipotence expressing itself in relation to the created world."

Books have been written trying to explain how this all works in relation to the free will of man and that is totally outside the realm of these lines. What I'm talking about here is the simple assurance that nothing He allows in my life is outside the control of my loving Father. And if He sees fit to allow it, then it should be my good pleasure to receive it. No matter how difficult a pill it is to swallow.

If God is in control of His Holy Spirit's work in other people's lives, then I have no need to jump in there and assist Him (lesson 1 above). He may lead me to share a word or idea but it's not my job to try to change people. It's one thing to serve them and build them up, another to try to change them.

And if God truly is in control of my circumstances, then I have no need to feel sorry for myself (lesson 2 above). I may feel like I'm being taxed beyond the limits of my endurance or patience or whatever but if God has let these circumstances through His filter into my life, then He obviously has a purpose in them. The sooner I learn the lesson, the better.

Praises instead of complaining. It's only reasonable, isn't it? Rom. 12:1-2

Seen on the LA Freeway

A truck with rolls of turf. Sign on back of truck: Instant Grassification.

Someone in advertising deserves a raise for that one. I love it.

The Soil of God's Marvelous Love

For several days now I've been chewing on Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3: 14-21. The words there have been described as "the grandest promises which human language can express" (Adolphe Monod) and so they have furnished much fodder for thought. Bishop Moule's Ephesians Studies has been a wonderful help and guide. A phrase I re-read there this morning is worth sharing. Speaking of the phrase "you, being rooted and grounded in love" (or as the Living Bible says, "I pray that your roots will go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love") Bishop Moule explains it as meaning:
"that in the eternal love they may so feel their 'root and foundation' that they may look around from it and contemplate in peace the universe of salvation."

The word picture he creates is marvelous - standing rooted deeply in His love, our outlook on the world is one of peace, everything working together for good because of His salvation.

What a prayer to learn to pray.

Thoughts of Home

All our moving boxes have been on loan to some friends from church and today they brought them back. Collapsed, they store nicely under the garage staircase. While cleaning out that cubbyhole we were poking through a few boxes full of things that didn't fit in the house here (mostly because the kitchen and bookcases were already full). The table cloths that had covered the table in the farmhouse kitchen for so many summers and winters brought back memories of those times when "everyone's feet were under the table" as my dad used to say. My apple peeler is in storage, too, waiting for the return to the apple trees of home. We're happy here and fervently praying that we won't have to move when our lease is up. But seeing things from the farm did bring some pangs.

Oddly, this morning I was leafing through a notebook and came across some quotes I had written down on the topic of home.

"And pray what more can a reasonable man desire, in peaceful times, in ordinary noons, than a sufficient number of ears of green sweet corn boiled, with the addition of salt?" Henry David Thoreau (If you're from Illinois corn = home.)

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin built there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade. Yeats

The following was found on a wall panel in an old house in Concord, Mass, author unknown.
He who loves an old house
Will never love in vain-
For how can any old house
Used to sun and rain,
To lilac and to larkspur,
To arching trees above,
Fail to give its answer
To the heart that gives its love?

One of my mom's favorite authors was Gladys Taber. In honor of Mom's 92nd birthday which would have been yesterday, here's a quote from Gladys and her "One and Only True Shortcake Recipe", just in time for strawberry season.

"The mind makes many journeys, but the heart stays home."

Gladys Taber's True Strawberry Shortcake

Sift together 2 C. flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar. Work in 1/3 C. butter and gradually add 3/4 C. milk. Toss the mixture on a floured board, patting it rather than rolling it. Bake it in a deep pie pan at 425 deg. for about 25-30 minutes, then split it and butter both halves.
Pour crushed, sweetened strawberries on the bottom half, pour more on top and serve immediately with thick cream. Serve in shallow soup plates. Will serve four.

Don't bother to count the calories. Fresh strawberries are worth it!

Jasmine

Before we moved to California jasmine was just a word to me. I knew it was some kind of very fragrant flower and I'd even drunk jasmine tea. But I didn't really know jasmine.

Now, however, I KNOW jasmine. Starting sometime in March the climbing jasmine was blooming all over the neighborhood and even just driving by in a car with the windows open the fragrance was overpowering. For a couple of weeks now the star jasmine, a groundcover type jasmine, has been in full bloom and once again it's like walking through a jasmine cloud. There's really no way to describe it but once you have the experience of it, the word "jasmine" conjures up a whole lot more than just a vague definition.

I was thinking that the same is true for other things, like hope. And redemption. We can use the words and have a vague idea of what they mean. But until we have been born into the kingdom and actually experience true hope and real redemption from our lostness, well, they are just words and ideas to us. But having experienced real hope, there's no going back. Once we're bought, the "freedom" of lostness has no appeal. We may not be able to describe it to someone else - we can only encourage them to taste it for themselves. "Taste and see that the Lord is good."