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| Down and Out in The Dining Room
I had a hummingbird trapped in my dining room today, well not actually mine since I live with my parents. I cranked the windows wide open and waited for the bird to fly out but nothing doing. I even tried to shoo it out waving my arms but that didn't work either.
The problem was, every time the bird would try and fly, its instincts told it to fly upwards, so it would skate all over the ceiling, buzzing its wings furiously against it, chirping all the way until it would tire and come to rest on the curtain over the window or the light fixture. I left it alone for a while to see if it would eventually discover the open windows, but each time it took off to fly, it flew upwards and skated on the ceiling like before. It was frustrating - almost tragic - to watch it sit over the open window, catching its breath, oblivious to the fact that freedom lay only a few inches below. I finally succeeded in freeing it by literally sweeping the hummingbird off the ceiling with a broom. It took a number of tries, and it hit the window on the way out, but it flew off unharmed.
All the while I was doing this, I was trying to imagine what it would be like if I were that bird. I am aware that I am trapped, and I am trying to free myself the only way I know how, when this very large figure comes after me. I have absolutely no way of knowing that this giant thing, swatting at me with a broom, wants what is best for me; indeed, he is the only one who can set me free. And then this creature sweeps me off the ceiling and slams me into this invisible barrier, and it is only then, in my attempt to recover from that trauma, that I find I am suddenly free.
Is this not what happens to us with God? He throws some pretty scary stuff at us, and it's hard to believe He has our best interests at heart. He may even be telling us to fly down, but we don't hear Him, so He brings something into our lives that forces us down, and only then do we find that down was the way out.
What we have that the bird doesn't have is a word from God that He is in control. Everything happening to us is happening for a purpose and we will see it someday, but in the meantime, it is for us to trust, and take what He sends our way as coming from His hand.
We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:9) | | |
| Too Much Blood?
I heard from my friend, Chris this Sunday, that a recut version of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" is being released in time for Easter. This version has seven minutes of graphic scenes removed to help make it more palatable to a wider audience. In referring to the film's projected longevity, an executive with the film company was quoted as saying, "this movie has nine lives."
I had to smile at the statement. A movie about the greatest story ever told that would not even exist today had Christ not permanently risen from the dead making eternal life possible for multitudes upon multitudes of people who will enjoy eternity with God in heaven has nine lives? Is that all? The movie may die; the story plays on.
There were complaints about the amount of blood in the original film. For that reason I was braced for it when I went to see the movie a year ago. To my surprise, it was the abundance blood that had the greatest impact on me. I watched the Roman soldiers getting splattered with it, and realized it was the blood of their salvation and they didn't even know it. I watched Mary helplessly trying to wipe it all up, and realized it was the salvation of the whole world and did she know it?
But the big realization was when I connected the blood of Jesus Christ with what was necessary to cover my sin. That's when there was no longer an issue of too much blood. The new question was: Would there be enough? I suddenly realized I'd been singing R-rated hymns all my life, and I finally understood them.
There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains.
That's a lot of blood. I understand this sentiment. If this blood washes me clean, then I am going to need enough to dive into because I am dirty all over.
The new version was cut to try and lose its R-rated status. In the end, the Motion Picture Association of America refused to rate the recut because there was still too much violence for younger viewers. Fine with me. I always thought the crucifixion of Christ should be R-rated anyway.
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know-
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Too much blood? Never. Just as long as there's enough for everybody. | | |
| God Came Down (But I Didn't!)
Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. (Philippians 2:3-7)
I have considered these verses before in these writings but just recently I saw something I had never seen before. This observation comes in the form of a confession that is almost too painful to record.
I have suddenly realized that all the while I have been interpreting this verse for myself, I have been identifying with Christ. You can see why it would be easy to do, since it starts out: "have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had," but the similarities stop there-in attitude, not in the position. My problem is: I assumed the position. I assumed I, like God, had something to give up when I served. When the example went on to show how Christ left his place as God, and stooped to take on the form of a human being, I applied that to myself as well. It was somehow important for me to get down off my high and lofty place and become a human being. Well, hello... what was I before that?
This realization has served to show me how I have thought of myself as somewhere up there with God-with a lot at stake here in this servant thing. God and I... we'll get down off our thrones here and go to work. Okay God, I'm ready. If you can do this, so can I. (Gag me with a spoon!)
When Christ came down, he took on the form of a human being, which is where I start. The only place to come down from is the place I built for myself. And I need to do more than come down off it; I need to kick it over. I need to make sure it doesn't exist anymore, because it is a lie. There is only one God. That God came down to me in the form of Jesus Christ. I'm the one He stooped to meet.
This may be an obvious thing to most of you, but to me, it's a revelation of how skewed my thinking has been. I don't bend down to serve anyone. I am already down. I just need to wake up to my place and the attitude God wants me to have.
Most of all, I need to remember who God is, where He belongs, how far He has gone to reach me, and why He deserves my worship. | | |
| Three Friends
How would you like to have friends like this?
These are the names of David's mightiest men. The first was Jashobeam the Hacmonite, who was commander of the Three-the three greatest warriors among David's men. He once used his spear to kill eight hundred enemy warriors in a single battle.
Next in rank among the Three was Eleazar son of Dodai, a descendent of Ahoah. Once Eleazar and David stood together against the Philistines when the entire Israelite army had fled. He killed Philistines until his hand was too tired to lift his sword...
Next in rank was Shammah son of Agee from Harar. One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled, but Shammah held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines...
Once during harvestime, when David was at the cave of Adullam, the Philistine army was camped in the valley of Rephaim. The Three (who were among the Thirty-an elite group among David's fighting men) went down to meet him there. David was staying in the stronghold at the time, and a Philistine detachment had occupied the town of Bethlehem. David remarked longingly to his men, "Oh how I would love some of that good water from the well in Bethlehem, the one by the gate." So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew some water from the well, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out before the Lord. "The Lord forbid that I should drink this!" he exclaimed. "This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me." So David did not drink it. This is an example of the exploits of the Three. (2 Samuel 23:8-17 NLT)
Okay, so it was a kind of stupid thing to do. Still, wouldn't you like to be in a group like this with three guys who believed they could pretty much do anything? It's true that war creates its own camaraderie, but then, we're at war, too-a spiritual war that is being waged over our souls and our spirits. We cannot make it alone. We need others to stand with us. It might be cool to take on these guys as inspiration for a small group of committed believers. You could call yourselves the Three, or the Two, or the Four. Whatever. Then be careful what you long for around your friends. They might just go out and make it come true! | | |
| Your Stand-In
You... were once far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault. (Colossians 1:211-22 NLT)
True believers are constantly in a state of shock. How can this be? How can I stand before a holy God who sees everything and have Him unable to find a single fault in me? Is He blind? I know myself. I know the attitudes in my heart. I know the baggage I carry around. I have been a Christian all my life; don't you think I would have this down by now? Well I don't, and that makes this blamelessness even harder to believe.
But believe it I do, and believe it I will. It's my only chance. My only chance of survival before a holy God is that Paul (the writer of Colossians) is right about this, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in His physical body has shielded God from the whole truth about me. Christ is my advocate. He is continually recasting the scenes of my life in another light.
Christ is my shield. I know the Bible says this, and I've always thought that was talking about my protection from harm. But I think it also means He is my shield against a holy God who must deal justly with sin. (And if you think of it, you wouldn't want it any other way. If God isn't just, there's no justice anywhere.) That's why Jesus took it so badly on the cross. That's what all the blood was about. So God would look at us, looking for sin, and crane His neck trying to look around Jesus, and be unable to see us outside of what Christ has done for us. And Jesus is saying, "Forget trying to find any blame with David. I've got him covered. Don't worry; he's mine. Remember I took care of all this on the cross. Your holiness and justice are in good shape-by the way-and David, and all these people here who believe in me, are safe in my arms."
Too much, huh? Now does that make you want to just go out there and see how much sin you can get away with? That's the farthest thing from your mind. Once you get this, you know you don't deserve it, so you want to do everything you can to live a life worthy of what Christ is doing for you right now. He's your stand-in. | | |
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