Detour Ahead

Some people’s lives are mapped out in detail. Some parents carefully select the right preschool, the right friends, the right college, the right marriage partner, and the right occupation. The only flaw is that they’re perfect! This kind of oversight isn’t necessarily a bad thing; carefully planning with an eye to detail can produce some highly productive, highly motivated individuals. So what’s the problem? Myopia? No! The problem is—detours. Life is ultimately chaotic and indefinitely disorganized with unexpected detours aplenty.

Hard to believe? Do you think Adam and Eve anticipated the serpent asking such a simple question with such nefarious intent? (Genesis 3) Do you think Noah anticipated spending over a century working to build an ark to save his family from the coming wrath? (Genesis 6) Do you think Noah’s son Ham anticipated his children being cursed by his father? (Genesis 9) Do you think Abraham anticipated the changes in his life and his children when God asked him to move to Canaan? (Genesis 12) Could you anticipate all the changes that happened in all these centuries from just these four examples in these four chapters? The Bible has nearly 1,200 chapters and a cast of thousands! Who could possibly anticipate the detours caused in 2,000 years?

Detours are everywhere. Life is unpredictable. There will be pain and suffering, and there will be joy and happiness. There will be unexpected twists and turns, and there will be mountain tops and valleys. Should that cause us to panic and avoid all detours? No! ALL—OF—LIFE—IS--DETOURS! What did God say about those detours? “I am with you always, to the very end of the ages.” Matthew 28

How is Jesus with us? Jesus was with the disciples physically until he ascended into heaven, and then spiritually through the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4). The Holy Spirit would be Jesus’ presence that would never leave them (John 14:26). Jesus continues to be with us today through the Spirit. The Old Testament prophecies and genealogies in the book of Matthew present Jesus’ credentials for being King of the world—not a military leader or political leader, as the disciples had originally hoped, but a spiritual King who can overcome all evil and rule in the heart of every person. If we refuse to serve the King faithfully, we are disloyal subjects, fit only to be banished from the kingdom. We must make Jesus King of our lives and worship him as Savior, King, and Lord. Still some ask, ‘where does he get this power?’ That’s simple; “All authority in heaven on earth has been given to me.” Matthew 28:18

Your shepherd knows that you’re not made for this place—earth. Jesus has come to guide us out—to restore our souls. Be careful! Do not let these orange cones confuse and detour you. Don’t follow the maddening crowd—they’ll lead you astray, into trouble, sin and even death. Remember what Jesus, himself, said in Matthew 7:14, “… small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life…”

A Two-fer

Ever hear someone say, “That doesn’t make any rhyme or reason”? Would you recognize something if it had both, rhyme and reason? Two for one! The Book of Psalms is a collection of songs, laments, and praises. The Jews referred to it as, “The Book of Praises”. The book was the hymnal of the Jewish people. The titles to the Psalms are related to several people; King David is credited with writing 73 of them, Asaph 12, Solomon 2, and others. Western poetry is based on rhyme and meter. Hebrew poetry is based on rhythm and parallelism. The rhythm is achieved by stress or accent on important words. In parallelism, the poet presents an idea in the first line then reinforces it by various approaches in the succeeding line or lines. There’s antithetic parallelism, synthetic parallelism, and emblematic parallelism. Psalms 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. It is also a didactic and wisdom psalm. It is an alphabetical acrostic in which each stanza of eight verses is devoted to successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This great psalm presents the thought that the Word of God contains everything man needs to know. The general supposition is that we cannot have God without knowing His Word. It’s elementary that it’s reasonable, and that it rhymes!

One of my favorite Psalms is found in chapter 1, verses 1-3:

“Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Believe It or Not?

Robert L. Ripley was a world traveler who searched for, and found the most incredible, amazing, and ‘almost’ unbelievable items of interest. Like a two-headed animal, a shrunken human head, and a person nearly nine (9) feet tall! Mr. Ripley would not only produce these items for anyone’s inspection, he would often challenge them to: “Believe it, or not”? He offered millions of dollars to any person who could disprove his findings. After seeing it with their own eyes, people had to believe it; they were often left no other choice! He had the goods.

Two thousand years ago three men were crucified on a hill called Golgotha outside the city of Jerusalem in Israel. The official record shows that all three men died, but only one was wrapped in burial clothes and buried. After three days had passed, some friends went to the tomb to pay their respects. What they found was incredible, amazing, and ‘unimaginable’. The men at the tomb were dressed in white clothing (gleaming like lightning) because they were angels. They told the visitors that the man who had died and been buried, was not there. Before they could ask the men any questions, the men explained:

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.Then they remembered his words.” Luke 24:5-8

Like Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James who took spices to the tomb, we too often run into people who are looking for God among the dead. We study the Bible as a mere historical document and go to church as if going to a memorial service. But Jesus is not among the dead—He lives! Do you look for Jesus among the living? In John 11:25 Jesus says to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life.” There are seven (7) “ I Am’s ” in the Bible, this is the last one mentioned.

You have heard the story many times before, and many times you have been given the choice, “Believe it, or Not”? You have a choice, but it’s not, believe it, or not. The choice presented to you is, “Believe it…or else”!

The Role of a Lifetime

You go to the store. You shop for the items on your list. You bring it home. Everything’s fine until you discover one small mistake; one item is different. You chose the generic brand over the popular name brand. You didn’t notice the packaging was almost identical, the size, the shape, the coloring, the placement, the look-alike graphics; every detail played a crucial role in your decision to just-grab and go. At first you’re disappointed, then anger sets in. Was it a trick, were you intentionally deceived? Sold an inferior brand? Feel like marching right back over to that store and giving the manager a piece of your mind?

In Genesis 3 Eve said, “The serpent deceived me!” That is true. And we need to remind ourselves here that the serpent did a good job at deceiving. He didn’t oversell or undersell his product. He knew his “target” audience. His sales pitch was delivered with finesse and charm, and when the customer was slightly confused, he ‘closed the sale’, ‘sealed the deal’. You’re caught. There were no refunds, there were no exchanges, there were no “do-overs”, and no second appeals; there were however, consequences.

We try products we can’t use. We buy cars that rust and wear out. We buy homes that devalue. We buy clothes that wear our or we outgrow. We buy stocks and bonds that fail. We buy the notion that a good life is all that’s necessary. We buy whatever Satans selling.

If you don’t buy into John 3:16: you’ll buy the consequences of John 3:18

Hot or Cold

The Book of Revelation is a record of what was shown to John the Revelator. The salutation is to the seven churches in the province of Asia. The seven churches addressed in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 were actual churches in John’s day. But they also represent different types of churches in all generations. The seven churches were selected out of hundreds of churches. The statement at the end of each letter shows that the Spirit was speaking to the churches.

One interesting overlooked fact concerns the letters to the churches of Laodicea is mentioned in Revelation 3:15, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot, I wish you were one or the other!” Why would the Alpha and Omega say that? Would the people of John’s day understand that statement? Lukewarm Christians send confusing messages. In this state being useless to Him, He spews them out of His mouth! That is how He views this attitude of compromise with principles, ideals, standards and truth!

All the messages to these seven churches highlight works because they are evidence of how Christians conduct their relationship with God. Works reveal the heart. They are a gauge of one’s witness and spiritual state.

Is it Possible

The field of genetics has made some amazing discoveries. With just one drop of blood or a strand of hair, scientists can extract your DNA and tell if you are related to a Pharaoh, embalmed like a mummy. This information could be either a blessing or a curse. It may be a blessing if you could be traced to one of the twelve Apostles, hand-picked by Jesus. What a family history that would be! It may be a curse if you are traced to Judas Iscariot! It’s a fact-the ‘ole apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! What do these men and women have in common? They all have a relatively bad gene, their lives prove it!

Cain killed his brother Able in Genesis 4.

No remorse, no repentance.

Herod killed John the Baptist, Matthew 14.

No remorse, no repentance.

Pilate consented to the crucifixion of Jesus in Luke 23.

No remorse, no repentance.

Worry not, evil, murder and hatred wasn’t just a good ‘ole boys club, women participated too.

Jezebel had Naboth killed in 1 Kings 20.

No remorse, no repentance.

Jael killed General Sisera in Judges 5.

No remorse, no repentance.

A stylish little hat, like the one shown here is called the “Idiot’s fedora”, or “The Fools Hat”, It’s for people who are not stupid-but do stupid things without remorse or repentance. In the examples above, the hat fits perfectly. But beware: Satan is custom fitting a ‘Fedora’ for each of us. He laughs at us when he fits us with a Court Jester Hat, a Mad-Hatter Hat, a Dunce’s Hat or a beanie.

There is an alternative. We can fight back! In the Christian life, we battle against rulers and authorities, those powerful forces of evil (Satan). To withstand these evil attacks we must depend on God’s strength and armor. Our whole body needs to be armored, especially the mind and head. Sometimes it will be necessary for us to fight, to stand our ground, to be a good soldier, and fight the good fight. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5, “Put on the helmet, the hope of salvation”, which protects our minds against the attacks of Satan. Forget the beanie, go for the helmet.