Clay in the Hands

Today, one of my readings came from Mark 3:1-6.  This is a familiar passage that illustrates the opposition Jesus faced throughout his ministry.  In this account, we see Jesus being faced with a dilemma of whether or not to heal a man who had a withered hand.  This encounter happened on the Sabbath.

So if he healed the man who needed his touch, then the religious leaders would accuse him of breaking the Sabbath law.  But Jesus knew their understanding of the Sabbath was flawed.  He also knew the man needed his touch.

Today, as I read this passage, the controversy was not what impressed me with this story.  Today, what hit me was obvious.  There was a man with a withered hand and Jesus healed him.  As Jesus surveyed the situation and ran the scenarios of how this could play out in his head, he simply said, “Stretch out your hand.”

In this moment, you are dealing with areas of your life that are withered and need Jesus’ healing touch.

In this moment, Jesus is saying to you, “Stretch out your hand.”

Turn it over to him today.

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No doubt you have already begun to feel the strain of trying to keep some of those resolutions you made to start the new year – sleep more, eat less, lose weight.  Life has been happening and it is starting to become easier and easier to let things go.

Kristi and I have plans to exercise more this year.  We both have devices that tell us how many steps we take each day.  I have to tell you, for the first couple of days it wasn’t that hard to hit our target number of steps.  But then we had a cold spell and who wants to walk outside when its 35 degrees and the wind chill is 20.

Sure we could go somewhere to walk inside – and one evening we did – we went grocery shopping (maybe not the best decision).  But over the last two weeks, it has become easier to just give in and say, “I’ll get my steps tomorrow.”

Our spiritual health is very similar.  We may start out with good intentions of spending time with God in the Bible and in prayer, but life happens.  It gets easier and easier to give in to other things and let our time with God slip.

My prayer today for you and for me, is that God would give us the strength we need to run the race – to stay fit spiritually.  I pray that God would give us the discipline we need to seek him daily – to hunger and thirst for his truth.  I pray that you and I will stay strong and really grow in our faith this next year.

Stay with it!  The relationship is totally worth it!

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This week, much of our nation is dealing with unbearably cold temperatures.  Even here in south Texas along the coast it is cold – 33 degrees this morning.  That is not all that common in this part of the world.  In fact, last week I was sitting across the table from a gentleman and we were talking about the warm climate we enjoy in this part of the state.

He told me he had moved here many years ago from the midwest.  He still has friends in that part of the country and he was talking to one of his childhood friends who made the comment, “I guess you guys don’t even have winter down there.”  The gentleman’s reply was, “Of course we do, last year I think we had winter on a Thursday!”

There is something to be said for being able to sit on the patio in shorts and flip flops around a fire in the chimnea at Christmas.  But I also have to say, having a cold snap is refreshing as well.  My perspective changes a bit when I can literally see the breath escaping from my mouth.  It reminds me how precious the act of breathing is even though we take it for granted daily.  When it is cold outside, I am reminded of the fragility of our lives.

We are not invincible.  There are some things we cannot control nor defend ourselves from.  We can never be strong enough, good enough or smart enough to overcome our own selfish nature.  That is why we need a savior.

Thanks be to the Father for knowing that about us and taking action.

This time of year we should be especially mindful of what God has done.  We celebrate his in-breaking into humanity with hope and light.

Celebrate his in-breaking this week!

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I thought I would share a bit of what I shared yesterday morning about the Word becoming flesh and living with us.

John 1:14 – The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word became flesh – that Word that was with God and was God from the very beginning. That Word that spoke all things into being; who was involved in the creation of all things; that Word who sits outside of time stepped into the middle of time – – and moved in down the street. He made his dwelling among us!

John tells us that when Jesus – the Word – became flesh, we could see him and not only him but the glory of the Father, the one true God. Jesus proclaimed in John 14:9 that “anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

In Matthew 1 we find that one of the names of Jesus is Immanuel – which means God with us. GOD WITH US!

GOD – the ultimate being

WITH – right here right now

US – you and me.

Have you seen him today?

You may be thinking, “define what you mean by seeing him.” Have you seen evidence of his presence? Have you experienced his closeness?

These God with us moments still happen today. John tells us that when the Word became flesh, not only did everyone get to see him, they got to see God’s grace and truth as well. We can experience this grace and truth everyday – still.

Have you seen him? Have you experienced him?  The fact is that God is always with us – we simply fail to notice most of the time.

Many of us have experienced and seen his movement in different ways. Often we experience him – see him – in nature: a beautiful sunrise or sunset, or in the majesty of standing on the sand and looking at the expanse of his creation in the ocean.

Sometimes we experience and see him with different life events – the birth of a child or the passing of a parent – or in the simple touch of holding the hand of that special someone in our lives.

In those God with us moments, we sense that the Word has truly become flesh and we experience his grace and truth.

That’s one of the reasons we celebrate and set this time aside each year – TO PAUSE – to pay attention – and to truly live in these God with us moments.

When we devote our undivided attention to seeing the Word become flesh in our lives, we are changed. We gain strength, encouragement and hope; all of which come when we surrender to the Word become flesh – the Son of God – Immanuel – God with us – Jesus!

Take time to notice him today!

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Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Several times throughout the Psalms, we find these words.  They serve as a reminder that God’s love will never fail.  God is good and his plan for you is perfect.

Give thanks this day!  Give thanks to God – the one true, good God.  His love lasts – always there, always comforting, always inspiring – always!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Have you ever noticed that people don’t like taking responsibility for things?

“Don’t look at me!”

“Wasn’t me!”

“Don’t blame me!”

“I have no idea what you are talking about!”

All common responses to questioning.

We all have a tendency to want to transfer blame.  We would like to be the hero in every story and so we don’t want people to see us in any other light.  But the truth is, many times we aren’t blameless.  Saying we are not to blame does not make it so.

If we truly want to be blameless, we need to start taking responsibility for our actions.  There is only one truly blameless person that has ever walked the earth and because of his sacrifice,  our shortcomings can be covered.  But we must own those shortcomings – confess those faults – and ask for forgiveness.

Transferring blame or denying responsibility does not make us blameless.  Only taking responsibility and asking forgiveness can make us whole.

Jesus makes a way for us to be blameless and that is something to be thankful for this week!

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I have the distinct privilege of teaching an undergraduate class this semester.  The class is geared for individuals who are either in ministry in the local church or considering the path of ministry.  We have spent the semester discussing calling and discerning God’s leading or “messing” with our lives.  We have also talked about very practical, hands on nuts and bolts of the daily life of a minister.  It has been a great experience for me and I hope the students have gleaned something from our time together as well.

The last third of the semester will deal with Baptist life – polity and doctrines.  Today, we will be discussing several important concepts inherent to Baptists but I am particularly excited to cover one topic in particular – the belief in soul competency.  

Baptists have been accused of being too individualistic.  I would be naive to ignore the point to be revered in this accusation.  The world does not revolve around me – nor does it turn on its axis for you.  But before we dismiss the idea of individual faith we need to understand one of the most critical and foundational elements of the gospel message – choice.

In Matthew 16 verses 15 and 16, Jesus asked a crucial, turning-point question of the disciples.  He had asked about the chatter.  “Who do people say that I am?”  But then he turned to heart of the matter and asked the only question that matters – for them and for us.  “Who do you say I am?”  Peter voluntarily, without coaching from his pastor or his parent or from the testimony of the church answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

That turning-point question is still the question today.  When it comes to faith – to the entrusting of our eternal soul – we have to answer that question for ourselves.  Attending a particular community of faith regularly or even joining that body does not answer the question.  Living by an honorable moral code does not face the question.  Each of us has to reach a point in our walk that we come face to face with Jesus and answer that question for ourselves.

Who do you say Jesus is?

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We are two weeks away from knowing the identity of the next president of the United States.  Division in our country continues to grow and I fear it will only get worse after the election.  Regardless of where people stand politically, I continue to hear fear and anxiety in the voices of those with whom I visit about the fate of our nation.

Yesterday, a small band of folks gathered in the garden in front of our church to pray.  We prayed for school children and teachers, for our city and for our nation.  As we stood to lift our hearts in unison to the Father, one participant voiced a very insightful prayer.  She prayed that all would feel compelled to vote and to vote their conscience.  She then prayed for both front running candidates and asked God to work in their hearts – and then once the new president is announced for God to work within the heart of the person to bend their will to His.

Ultimately, we need to remember that it does not really matter, in the eternal scheme, who is elected in two weeks.  God is on His throne today just as He will be three weeks from now – and 6 months from now.  The only hope for us as a people does not rest on the shoulders of the next president but in the sovereign hand of the Almighty.

The path to lasting peace comes to an end in the very presence of God.  Rest in His presence today and the security His presence brings.

Be blessed!

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I have challenged our deacon body to read through some selected Psalms over the next month.  Today we began with the first Psalm.  It begins like this:

¹ Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

As I read these verses this morning, I was reminded how important it is to remain planted in God’s truth.  It is really hard for a tree to bear fruit if it is not receiving the needed sustenance to survive.

We are no different.  We need God’s truth flowing into us so that we can bear fruit.

We all go through dry spells in our walk.  But always remember, we are dry most likely because we have ceased to be planted by the stream.

Stay planted today!

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