Tag Archives: Mark

Anything beautiful starts with a plan

Posted on November 24, 2014 by | Comments Off on Anything beautiful starts with a plan

Spring-Garden-506fa51868638_hiresThere is great beauty in a well designed and planned flower garden. Even before we really get into the winter months, those like me, who love gardening, have already begun to plan out what bulbs, seeds, or plants we plan to plant in the early spring months. It takes personal investment in time, effort, and money to make a flower garden. All it takes is to take a trip through town and you will see the results of all the effort placed into gardening. There are some yards and publicly maintained parks that are simply breathtaking and inspiring; they are literally a work of great beauty to behold. Then there are others that seem haphazard at best; no clear plan, no organization, and more akin to a jungle than a flower garden. Rarely do we give them a second glimpse or find them inspiring.

It is the same way with how we live our life as a follower of Christ. Each Christian should have the goal to hear those words spoken by the Lord: His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord (Matthew 25:21). The apostle Paul believed he had lived a life worthy enough to hear those words and even told a young preacher by the name of Timothy, For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing (II Timothy 4:6-8). Since becoming a Christian, Paul had done all that he could do for the Lord, had followed Christ as completely and without question as he could, and knew he had lived a life that Christ would find pleasing.

Just as planting a flower garden requires a plan, a cost, a want, and work to have a truly beautiful and inspiring place of beauty, so does our walk with the Lord. If we want to live a life that brings glory to the Lord and that He will find pleasing, we have to have a plan, we have to have a desire, and we must be willing to work towards that goal. The cost has already been paid by the cross. We must be willing to separate ourselves from the things – from the lusts and sins – that hold us back. I believe that this is exactly what the apostle Paul had in mind when he wrote, This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you (Ephesians 4:17-32).

There’s an old Southern gospel song that has been performed by many people that’s called A Beautiful Life. The song, as it is written, makes me think of a person who is desiring that when they stand before the Lord, He will find their life to be pleasing.  The lyrics of the song are:

Each day I’ll do a golden deed By helping those who are in need
My life on earth is but a span  And so I’ll do the best I can

Life’s evening sun is sinking low  A few more days and I must go
To meet the deeds that I have done  Where there will be no setting sun

The only life that will endure  Is one that’s kind and good and pure
And so for God I’ll take my stand  Each day I’ll lend a helping hand

Life’s evening sun is sinking low  A few more days and I must go
To meet the deeds that I have done Where there will be no setting sun

While going down life’s weary road  I’ll try to lift some traveler’s load
I’ll try to turn the night to day  Make flowers bloom along the way

Life’s evening sun is sinking low  A few more days and I must go
To meet the deeds that I have done  Where there will be no setting sun

It takes a plan to live a life that the Lord will find pleasing. Not only must it involve focusing on meeting the needs and ministering to others, it must include being faithful in other things as well – in our prayer life, in our studying of the Bible, and in our service within the local church. Just as it takes preparing the soil, fertilizing, weeding, watering, pruning and planting to make the garden, there are different things that we must do so that we, too, can have a beautiful life in the eyes of the Lord. Just as a truly beautiful flower garden is designed to appear balanced, to have blooms from late spring to the end of autumn, we must approach our lives in such a way that we have a plan to follow throughout our life. Our Christian faith is not something we retire from when we reach 65, but it is something we are supposed to live through from the moment we accept Christ as our personal Savior until the day when He calls us home either through the rapture or through physical death.

I’ve not always lived a beautiful life for the Lord. I’m ashamed of the life I lived from 1988, when I first accepted the Lord as my Savior until 2006, when I decided to become serious about my faith. Instead of having a beautifully planned garden, my life during that time would resemble a vacant lot in the deteriorating area of town. It was overgrown with the weeds of sin, with the decay of rebellion, with an occasional blossom here and there. I wasn’t reading my Bible daily, I wasn’t praying daily, and I wasn’t faithful in my church attendance nor in resisting sin and the desires of the flesh. Although I was saved, my life was not bearing the fruit that Christians should bear. I’m not saying this in a bragging matter because I am truly ashamed of my life then; however, as I found out in 2006, it didn’t have to stay that way. Maybe you are a Christian but when you look back at your life, you see things that you don’t think the Lord would find pleasing. It’s never too late to give it to Him and allow His plan to take center stage in our lives. We have to reach the point when we are ready, we desire and crave to have spiritual success and not living a life that’s flesh-oriented. Only then will we truly live a beautiful life for the Lord.

So, how do we put a plan together that will allow us to have a beautiful life in the sight of the Lord? I believe that the best way is to simply to take the advice of the apostle Paul: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15), Pray without ceasing (I Thessalonians 5:17), In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you (I Thessalonians 5:18), and to follow in complete obedience the teachings of Christ: And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15), And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself (Luke 10:27), If ye love me, keep my commandments (John 14:15), and  And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses (Mark 11:25). If we do each of these things on a daily basis, then we, too, will have lived a beautiful life in the eyes of the Lord.

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The four snows of scripture

Posted on November 17, 2014 by | Comments Off on The four snows of scripture

2013 Winter - along the Ohio River in Henderson, KYBefore anyone gets too excited, this picture is from last winter (February 2014) where the town I live in experienced one of the snowiest winters on record. This past Friday (November 14th), we saw the first snow flurries of the season and for those who like snow, it puts a certain excitement in the air. Ever since my first winter in Germany in 1994, I have always loved watching snow fall. The cold, crisp smell of snow in the air, the reflection of the light as the snow falls at night are not only comforting but relaxing as well.  Within the Bible there are various snows that are mentioned that I always think of as I watch the snowfall. To me, just as the rainbow is a reminder of God’s promise never to judge the sinfulness of man by flood again, snow also is a reminder of God’s goodness and grace towards man.

The purity of snow shows the sinful nature of our own self-righteousness

Within the book of Job, as he is beginning to question all that he believes about the Lord, he states: If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands never so clean;  Yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch, and mine own clothes shall abhor me. For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgment (Job 9:30-32).  Snow water is often considered one of the cleanest forms of water. Back when I was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, I loved going to the Cascade Mountains along the trails and loved doing the hiking trips of Mount Rainier. At one station, you could take a cup and catch meltwater from the glacier and drink it. It is a clean taste that has the ability to quench any physical thirst; and if you let the cold water run over your hands, there’s something about the way your hands feel afterwards – as if they are more clean than they have ever been.  Job is saying that even if he were to wash his hands in the purest of water, his hands would still not be clean enough for the Lord. This is just what Isaiah said when he wrote, But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6). It is of the similar mindset when the apostle Paul wrote, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). No matter what we try to do on our own, our sense of purity and righteousness is contaminated by the flesh. Think of the physical contrast between a yard when snow begins to fall – the snow in all its white purity seems to bring out the darkness, the filth, and the decay on the ground around it.

Snow as a picture of judgment against sin and rebellion

There are a few places in scripture where the phrase “white as snow” is used when referring to the results of God’s judgment. The first time this phrase occurs is the results of a brief rebellion led my Miriam, the sister of Moses. Not only was she questioning Moses’ position of leadership and his marriage to an Ethiopian woman: And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the LORD indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the LORD heard it (Numbers 12:1-2). As she challenged Moses authority, the Lord interceded for him: And the LORD came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam: and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the LORD was kindled against them; and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous (Numbers 12:5-10).

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A day of rest – a gift from the Lord

Posted on October 29, 2014 by | Comments Off on A day of rest – a gift from the Lord

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It is easy to lose sight of what is important to us, especially when we fill our days with so many things such as work, church, family obligations, and community involvement.  There are times we get so busy what we feel must be done that things we once enjoyed now seem like work. We adopt a mindset that the things we did to unwind are completely avoided because we feel we do not have the time to spend on them. If we are not careful, we can easily fall into a dangerous trap where we become physically, emotionally, and spiritually tired.

I’ve experienced this more times than I would like to admit; I’m hard-headed and it takes me a while to learn things. Even though the Bible makes a provision for us to set aside one day a week for rest, it has been difficult for me to take the time off especially when I look around at everything that needs to be done. Not only did God make a provision for us to have a weekly day of rest, He instituted it within the Law that he gave Moses to teach the children of Israel: Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed (Exodus 23:12). I know that Christians will often claim that we are no longer under the Law but under grace, and they are correct. However, the reasoning for setting aside one day out of each week for rest goes beyond being a part of the Old Testament canon. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and Scribes when they were attempting to rebuke Jesus for working on the Sabbath: And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath (Mark 2:27-28). What Jesus was telling the Pharisees is a lesson that we all need to remember from time to time.

Under the Law, the Jews were required to set aside the seventh day of each week, from what we would consider sundown on Friday evening until Saturday evening (as a reference, see Genesis chapter 1, verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31). It was to be a day set apart for rest of the body, soul, and mind, and a day to worship the Lord. Before the law, I can imagine that human society treated this day as we do – as any other day. Instead of it being regarded as a day of rest as God intended, it became another day to work, another day to meet deadlines, another day to toil and labor. Even under the Law, the Sabbath had become transformed from a day of rest to a day of judgment by religious men. Jesus experienced this first hand, as recorded in the gospel of Luke: And it came to pass, as he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the sabbath day, that they watched him. And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these things (Luke 14:1-6). In their zeal to discredit Jesus, they were willing to condemn Him for healing on the sabbath when they would have done greater work to keep their own wealth and livelihood.

Under grace, what we now have since the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, we do not have to become “sabbath keepers” as some denominations believe. As Christians, we worship on Sunday, the day of the week that we believe that the resurrected Jesus rose from the grave. For all “legalistic” purposes, Sunday is not the Christian sabbath but simply a day we set aside to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. I know Christians that work on Sunday and I know other that treat Sunday the way that the Pharisees treated the sabbath.

Under grace, I am convinced that it does not matter which day of the week I set aside for the worship of God and as a day of rest. What is more important to God is that whatever day I say I set aside for Him, I must not let it become common or filled like every other day. From a spiritual perspective, we need that day to worship and fellowship with the Lord; from a biological perspective, each week we need one day where we break from our normal routine and get rest for the body, mind, and soul. Under the Old Testament, God made the provision and later the Law reflects His practicality that the day of rest and day of worship should be the same. Under grace, while there is no biblical requirement that the day we set aside to rest and worship must be the same day, for me it is not only practical but it is being a good steward of the time that the Lord has given me.

Jesus understood the need for rest; although He was God, he was also man. His disciples were men – flesh and blood just like us. Shortly after the death of John the Baptist, Jesus and his disciples were living a fast paced life and they were beginning to feel the pressures: And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately (Mark 6:30-32). Jesus understood that if they were not given an opportunity to rest, they would become ineffective in their ministry. They would begin to question the reasons why they were doing all they were doing. They would begin to question His leadership and if they were really effective in their efforts.

If you think about it, when we become spiritually, emotionally, and physically tired, we begin to question ourselves. We get discouraged, we get ineffective. We begin to lose our joy. He doesn’t want us to face spiritual, emotional, and physical exhaustion. This is not the life that Christ has for us. He wants us to live a life of joy and He wants us to be able to get the rest that we need so that we can continue our work effectively and in a manner that brings glory to Him.  

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