Free Swimming Lessons

When we’re really young we don’t get many choices. It’s brush your teeth, get dressed, finish your milk, go to school, come straight home, do your chores, finish your homework, take your bath, turn off the TV, and turn out the lights. When we get to the point of making some decisions of our own, we know everything…right? Youth and inexperience never make a mistake, never miscalculate, always sees the clear choice, always exercise caution and control and follow the rules…right? Life is fraught with peril and indecision. Life is like living in deep water. There are rip-tides, sharp coral reefs beneath the surface, killer waves, great white sharks, electric eels, paralyzing jellyfish, and the occasional fish that swallows a prophet. However, Jesus gives us all we need to navigate treacherous waters. From the Sermon on the Mount, to his prayer at Gethsemane; he taught us to swim and not give up. He helped one to even walk on water. Now that we know better, we can do better. Right? Get noticed: swim against popular opinion, swim to help someone in need—reach out, some are drowning. Jesus gave us all we need to navigate the treacherous waters of life.

II Corinthians 1:4 gently consoles us, “God comforts us in all our troubles so that…we… can comfort those in trouble.”

Remember Michael Phelps, the Olympic Gold Medal winner, who won more gold medals than any other swimmer in history? At seven years old he didn’t even like getting his face wet. We all get scared at times, but we can overcome our fears. We might not walk on water like Peter, but we do walk through tough situations. And if we focus on the waves of difficult circumstances around us, without looking to Jesus for help, we too, may despair and sink. We need to do what Peter should have done—keep our eyes on the Savoir. When our faith fails, as Peter’s faltered, we need to reach out to Christ, the only one who can help. Peter was afraid, but he still looked to Christ. When you are apprehensive about the troubles around you and doubt Christ’s presence, or his ability to help, you must remember what the Psalmist stated;

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar…” Psalms 36:1

Eye Candy

Ladies and Gentlemen: In this corner weighing in at 23 calories, is the Hershey’s ‘Kiss’ made of creamy milk chocolate. In the other corner, weighing in at 81 calories, is Godiva’s ‘Mélange’ made of mandarin mocha double chocolate with a liquid raspberry center, drizzled on top with white almond coconut marzipan and delicately enrobed with pralines. Delicious, delicious and decisions, decisions? What to do? At gift time, one is wished for, and one is given. One costs $2 a pound; and one costs $40 a pound! Is the product worth it? It depends upon your tastes, and if you have an orchard of money trees. Yes, candy is good food. And a differentiation is made in everything. One is good, one is savored. One comes in a simple silver wrapper; one comes in a box, and sometimes with a diamond ring. Reminds me of the Bible. One sometimes just reads it, and one reads, studies, and applies it. Again, one is good, the other is savored. It’s your choice. You want taste or satisfaction? Where do your tastes lie? Does it long for the rich rewarding and fulfillment of the Word? We must know what our souls hunger for. Jesus says, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man gives you.” John 6:27 Jesus gets more detailed, “I am the bread of life, he who comes to me will never go hungry.” John 6:35 Regardless, of which candy we choose there is nothing sweeter than the words of Jesus. Palms 119:103 says, “How sweet are your words to my taste.” German researchers have discovered that eating a small amount of dark chocolate (about 1 square of a bar) daily can lower your risk of a heart attack or stroke by a whopping 39%. The antioxidants in cocoa are the magic ingredients. Prophet researchers have discovered by ingesting the Bible daily we can not only eliminate heart attacks and strokes but, we will be given a whole new body. There is eye candy out there, but let’s choose substance and everlasting nutrition over sweet advertisements.

Need Protection?

Umbrellas are a unique invention serving people all over the world. They come in a variety of colors and sizes. Their main function is to protect an individual from a downpour of rain. Under ideal conditions they perform their tasks with excellence. In the Old Testament, the prophet Elijah predicted it would not rain in Samaria for three and a half years! Luke 4:25 and James 5:17 bear this out.

No one in that area needed any protection from the rain—there was none! The drought lasted until Elijah challenged the false prophets of the god Baal, to a contest (1 Kings). Elijah played the role of a fight promoter setting up a contest between the God of Israel and the prophets of Baal. Eight hundred and fifty false prophets of Baal, plus a large number of Israelites gathered on Mount Carmel to witness the challenge. Two bulls were placed on two alters and whoever answered by fire was the true god!

The false prophet called on their god all morning and afternoon—there was no answer. Elijah asked that four large jars of water be poured on his sacrifice. The water, a precious commodity in a drought, drenched the bull, the alter, it also filled the trench surrounding the alter. Elijah called on God once and fire fell from heaven! The fire consumed the meat, the wood on the altar, the stones comprising the alter and even consumed the water in the trench surrounding the alter! In one minute, Elijah’s prayer was answered and a firestorm fell from heaven and settled the matter of who was the true God!

Bottom line Umbrellas may be good for a driving rain, but they are no match when it’s raining fire from heaven!

Bird Brain

Many people don’t give birds the respect they deserve. The Bible has plenty to say about our feathered friends. God created them, and that ought to be enough for us to respect them. They play a role in history that some people couldn’t. When Noah built the ark, God instructed him to take two of every kind of animal on board except birds. God instructed him to take seven of every kind of bird. (Genesis 7:3)

When the flood subsided and the ark came to rest on a mountaintop, Noah released a raven from the ark, and then he released a dove. When the dove returned with an olive leaf, Noah knew the water had gone down. When God instructed Noah to release all the animals in the ark, Noah built an altar and sacrificed some of the clean birds on it. God was pleased. (Genesis 8)

God directed ravens to bring bread and meat to Elijah during a severe drought. (1 Kings 17:6) Jesus reminded his audience that the ravens neither sow nor reap, and yet God feeds them. (Luke 12:24) Joseph and Mary offered a sacrifice at the Temple when Jesus was born. Since they were poor, their sacrifice was “a pair of doves or two young pigeons”. (Luke 2:24) God was pleased.

Jesus was talking to his disciples about their worth in the eyes of God. “And how much more valuable you are than the birds!” Luke 12:24

Clean Image?

 

Believe it or not there are people in this world who have a clean image. Politicians, bankers and those on K-street should politely excuse themselves. What should a clean image go for these days? Can you buy a clean image? Should a clean image be traded like a rare baseball card, or sold to the highest bidder? What’s that old saying—you can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people, all the time. Let’s be perfectly clear: you can fool people, but not God!

The Bible says volumes about some people in just a few choice words. Abraham was called God’s friend. Enoch walked with God. David was a man after God’s own heart. Moses saw the glory of the Lord. Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were both upright in the sight of the Lord. These special people led exceptional lives and it is recorded for the ages. More important, God acknowledged their contribution to humanity. Prime examples of how the rest of humanity should conduct themselves, they lived lives that pleased their creator. That is no small feat!

One man rises to the top like cream is mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. Promised he would see the Messiah before he died, he waited patiently. Not knowing what to expect exactly, one day the Messiah was presented to him as a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. Is a clean image that important? “Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout.” Luke 2:25

Bottom Line: 

"The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.

Jeremiah 17:8-9

A Taste of Celebration?

Everybody loves a party. Birthday, wedding, anniversary, they are all good occasions to celebrate. What about the “Great Exodus”? That should‘a been the greatest celebration of all time right? The Israelites escaping the Egyptian army and crossing through the Red Sea on dry ground to safety, saving millions of men, women and children! What an awesome event!

Three months after leaving Egypt (thanks to 10 miraculous plagues) they landed in the Sinai desert. Moses went up on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and other instructions. Gone for only 40 days, the people got restless. They demanded Aaron ‘make’ them a false god to worship in the meantime! They offered up gold to be melted, and Aaron fashioned a ‘golden calf’. They made offerings to it and worshiped it! Can you imagine? Moses returned, and full of anger, he broke the Ten Commandments. He melted down the golden calf and ground the gold into powder. He took the powder and sprinkled it over the water and made the people drink it!

Some celebration! No more music, dancing, drinking or celebrating: the party was indeed over. The taste of rebellion and acting foolish was bitter for years (kind of like enduring a bad president for four years). Even though the idol was gone, the idea wasn’t gone. Idol worship reappeared again when Solomon's Kingdom split into the Northern and Southern Kingdom.

You may remember God’s first commandment… “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, Out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2