Time Keeps Slipping Away

Have you ever had a day just slip away? My day just did that. I woke up twice and I didn't nap. I'll explain what I mean, I hope. The day was weird and bizarre; it had a Rip Van Winkle feel to it. Yes of course Mr Winkle had 20 years of sleep and my sleep didn't come even close in time comparison. Still, this unexpected sleep caused a little stir, or so I'm told. Mind you, had I been in bed, I could have just snored and roared on and no one would be any the wiser; being what happened, I would have died too. But I wasn't in Mr Rips' Catskills and I obviously didn't die. Nope, I didn't die and I was in church fast asleep! (Though dying in church does seem like the perfect place for a Christian to die.)

Asleep in church? I know sleeping in church isn't that abnormal. I've been guilty of it too, thankfully, it was years ago. Usually when one falls asleep—forgive me pastors—it is usually during the sermon. Growing up in church, I have seen this time and time again. It not the lobby! For whatever reason, today I fell asleep five minutes after walking in the church (my wife says it was longer, to me it's time lost within; it's time stuck in the space between my ears.) I'm not talking dozing either. I was out! I must have been comatose. I have the wounds to prove it too! How they came to be? I'm not sure.

I always get there early to help with sound. But, I had today off of the soundboard, so I was seeking extra fellowship. I remember only walking through the church door. Soon (how long I don't know) I was fast asleep. I don't remember anything. 

How can we just fall asleep SO FAST! It amazes me how God made the human body and how science can manipulate it. It takes me usually take me thirty minutes just to relax so I can go to sleep. Today, you'd think I had narcolepsy. 

By the way, what happens to us in sleep anyway? How do we remember nothing of our surroundings? How does our senses go dead or do they? I don't know? It seems our senses turn inward as dreams take place. Reason is put on hold and we try and figure out the days events. Today wasn't like that, yeah, I had my normal vivid sleep, BEFORE CHURCH. 

This was different. This sleep was just a poor sequel and the whole screen was blank!

The only thing I know for sure is that I drove to church and woke up in a hospital. Coming out of the fog, I awoke sensing something was different. Hospital?!!? I was in the hospital and plugged to all the usually creatures of the ER. Hoses and wires going this way and that, all pinning me down. I was hungry, pinned down and needing to pee! Most of all, I was confused. I just wanted to go home. 

A little more observation was needed before I could depart. The doctor stated. Fortunately, I did soon go home.

In the end the doctor thinks I just overdosed! What! Why! What's up? Well first off, if I did, it was not intentional. In an arsenal to fight off the debilitating effects of a cursed world, only one thing up my sleeve is powerful enough to cause such a thing as sleep. It's Zolpidem. Right after my first back surgery, normal sleep became a thing of the past and this gives me semi-regular sleep. Some will complain right there,“What is a Christian doing taking that!”  As you think of that, think of this: "it rains on the just and unjust." Life happens in all ways and in all forms, to all people. Meaning all people, including Christians suffer from the fallout of sin: the curse on Creation.

I think I grabbed one thing and though it was another. (I was in a hurry to be early. Figure that one out!) In size and color, Ambien (Zolpidem) looks much like the Prednisone I'm taking temporarily for allergies. That is my plausible solution to my sleeping debacle. And of course, again, this was unintended. If it had been intentionally. I would have taken the whole bottle. But who could think of such things! We all do from time to time. Yep, even Jesus was tempted--by Satan-- to cast Himself down on the rocks below. YET, Jesus didn't listen to this evil voice! And we don't have to either, not ever. For we have hope!

We have this treasure of life in earthen vessels crying out for the eternal God. Our God is our hope! Our hope lays solid on the one who is solid: Jesus. Jesus is hope fulfilled. Jesus fills us to the brim with life that wait earnestly and patiently for our time to be complete. Now, I wait in expectant faith knowing Jesus will complete His work in me and bring me home one day. It just wasn't today.

Humble King

Proud of your pride are you?

Do you forget pride was the first sin?

Do we forget on whose shoulders we stand?

I stand on Christ' shoulders dependent.

Dependent on Him for all I need.

Dependent on Jesus, of that I'll praise and sing!

For Christ did the unthinkable in finding me.

Jesus formed and made the world and even thought of me.

Even then, He knew I would sin, like Adam the eldest grandpa.

For sins sake, Jesus died.

For my sake, Jesus died.

For your sake, Jesus died.

Forgiveness swept away my sin stained life.

Forgiveness moved my mountains, O what praise I sing!

Forgiveness works in me, yes I'll forgive even thee.

Still proud of that lengthy pedigree?

Still proud of God given skills He gave to thee?

Still proud of those looks? Aren't we made like He?

God gives to all ability.

God sets our place and time in eternity.

God even gave His best to humanity.

The best took on a task, just for me.

Christ stepped into humanity.

The begotten of God, God in flesh came for me!

Jesus accepted the task of redeeming me, He took on flesh to be like me. The royal maker of time, dimension and matter, Jesus came into the life He breathed into existence.The spirit met the physical and Jesus came all humbled.

Jesus didn't demand His rights to royalty.

Jesus, while holding the universe, held out His hand to me.

Those hands were nailed down.

Jesus' hands and feet, Jesus laid out in humility.

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In grace given from Jesus, I write what He places on my heart and mind. It is liberation through activity. Christ liberates my soul everyday. His mercy comes again and again. Grace after grace, mercy after mercy it is new everyday. Today I celebrate my 200th post.

May Jesus enrich your life as He has mine. Take forgiveness!

God bless!

               Gordon

Guilt and Me

Shall in guilt I lay down? Never pick that off the ground!

Will guilt really hold us down?

Aye! If we are guilty.

Guilt is built to hold us down.

Guilt it's meant to do just that.

Guilt is the infection of sin festering deep within.

We fester and boil, till pus causes a splintered sin to rise.

Raising it rises, ready to be tugged. 

Rising, it's ready to be tugged from above.

Love became flesh and dwelt among us...

Love became flesh and took away the sins of the world.

Love became flesh and took away my condemnation.

                                                                        Selah

I still feel sore.

I still see the wound that sin inflicted on me.

I still feel the painful whinge in the place where that sin cut so deep.

Deeper depths of the sin? The greater the tug of love cuts on we.

The deeper the sin? The greater we love the One who loves us so.

These depths of sin required the deepest love: life lost, for life won.

Infected to the core, my Savior took my sin from me.

Infected by sin, I'm guilty! Guilty! That claim pressed down on me!

I'm as guilty as one can be! Jesus? Why'd You love one like me?

Father, my sins allure me to sway.

Father, I confess I've sinned, I weak in knee fall.

Hear my plea, I'm so weak in need.

In mercy, I know Jesus put away my guilt far from me.

I know my sin, does but cast my spit on Thee.

Please heal that ache in me, that which does flee.

May my tears be in repentant plea.

May my groans be intended for love from Thee.

May my affliction let me see I'm set free.

For Your Son,

My Jesus,

He has saved: even one like me.

“If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.” 1 John 1:8-10 NLT

ABC's

Are  you lacking and numb?
Come to Jesus.

Are you low and laden?
Come to Jesus.

Are you missing life?
Come to Jesus.

Bummed by behavior?
Come to Jesus.

Back here again?
Come to Jesus.

Business took a dive?
Come to Jesus.

Cares got you down?
Come to Jesus.

Crisis?
Come to Jesus.

Cat got your tongue?
Come to Jesus!

In life we all have problems and we all fall short from the glory of God's goodness. Come to Jesus! Why? Because we fall short. Short of what? The perfect life and standard of Gods' pure law. Coming to Jesus is coming to the one who met our Fathers' perfect standard and fulfilled every aspect of God s' law. He knew and fulfilled even the smallest requirement of  His Father. Jesus covered every jot and tittle, every dot and comma and small markings of the law. Jesus fulfilled Gods, His Father ultimate task.

That task was to fix what we broke. Jesus came and opened a door to come dine with His Father. Jesus restored the intimate relationship of Gods' fellowship with humanity. Jesus came and removed the sin, our sin that separates us from the glory of God almighty. Through Jesus' forgiveness of sin, we get to hang out with the God who Created life! We, through Jesus, are allowed into the Heavenly Court of God!

How did Jesus fulfil what His Father wanted? Jesus became obedient to His Fathers desire to fix our broken relationship. Jesus became willing to take on our debt of sin, of which the penalty is death. Jesus became willing to die for you and I.

Why do we care about this? Think about it. Life and death are laid in your path. Rest or toil is laid in your path. Grace or justice is laid in your path. We all come to this point. The point of decision. Decide your future: life, rest and grace, or death, toil and the justice of God who cannot bear sin. He will not look on it or overlook it. Sin must be paid for and Jesus did that. Jesus took His own life and gave it up for our sin.

Do you want His rest? Sin is hard work and it only pays out with death.  

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

Blink

"Drive! Drive!" she says.

So at mothers request we drive. This mother is a special one to me. She is like no other. She is the mother of our children. Being her birthday, we aimed to please my wife's beckoned call.

Mind you our family is like any other. It doesn't always function well together. We are loud when one or two member like it soft. We are on edge, when another is filled with joy.Yep! Our rhythms don't always fit each others melodies, especially in cramp t corridors. And yet I sit here in the wonders of Gods' Creation. 

  

Once in drive, majestic trees pass by like a picket fence. Rocks and boulders in the stream below reflect the sun above. Whitewater boils and rushes down. Down? Why be down when we sit in the majesty of Gods' Creation? Frankly I'm not! I love where I am. I love who I am with and most of all I love the one who Created both this landscape and my family. Blink and you'll miss it. You will miss the wonder of life.

So why blink?

"Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.”  How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone." James 4:13-14 NLT 

That's Taboo

²taboo

 noun

plural taboos also tabus

Definition of TABOO

1

: a prohibition against touching, saying, or doing something for fear of immediate harm from a supernatural force

2

: a prohibition imposed by social custom or as a protective measure

3

: belief in taboos

When our focus shifts from serving others and doing our service for Jesus, we run aground. Remember how Jesus pointed out what was most important? Hint. Loving God and loving people. Another hint. Serving God through serving people: our purpose in life. Sure we can do our own thing and serve ourselves. What a waste and it will leave us empty.

Jesus had the talent, connections and all the intellect available. Yet, He served His family as the oldest son, making a living as a carpenter. He had all of the creative power of the universe at His fingertips. WOW! And still He hung out with the roughneck fishermen and taught them the ways of His Father.

 "Gordon! Wake up and get off your own agenda!" I think.

Serve Jesus by laying down self. Lay down your dreams and hopes. Put away everything that blocks your view of Jesus. Clean out those eye. You need to see!

We easily get stuck on sandbars. We easily run into rocks that crush our hull. We nearly sink; all of this because we have our eyes off Jesus. To be on course, we have to stay alert. There really is a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. I know, I'VE BEEN CHEWED ON. 

His teeth are sharp! Though his tools are few, they are skillfully honed. His tools are old; they are as old as Creation itself. Our adversary has seduction down to a science. Lust, pride, greed and a host of other evils are in his hand. On the top of this list is lust and pride; they get men into more trouble than just about all the others combine (opinion of course.) Proverbs says that Hell is filled with men of renown. Why? That woman looked too good to pass up. They could keep their zipper up and they lost their soul. 

King David, Israels' pride fell into the same trap over and over. Lust ensnare him as the beautiful woman came by. To justify and legalize the mans action polygamy came into being. In a justified polygamy filled the ancient world and still exist today. Then it was even acceptable and expected by the standards of the day. A man marrying many women was a sign of wealth. It was that prideful notch in their belt, "I got her!"

Polygamy is hated by most most modern cultures (though that seems to be changing as other "sexually freedoms" march forward in our society. And those same types of legal arguments that allow same sex marriage, will prevail in over throwing monogamy--if the church lets it.) Yes, polygamy was the norm of the day. Everybody that had enough money had more than one wife. I mean, "everybody's doing it!" Even the greatest fathers of the faith had more than one wife. Isn't that the right way?

No! Fortunately Jesus straightened everybody out. God Created us male and female. And the two shall become one flesh. Jesus made that clear. Jesus pointed out that they were messing marriage up. We still are!

Yep polygamy, to the core, is based on mans' lust problem. It was the popular way of doing marriage and most of those choosing that path lost their soul or at least destroyed their own family. One extra woman was never enough and it was always one wife too many.

King Solomon, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, penned a few words about Hell. Hell was being filled with the souls' of lofty men that fell prey to the immoral woman. I'm sure the same could be said about the immoral man too. And what! Why was this happening generation after generation? Why do men and women fall prey to the obvious? Why? It's those same old tricks of Satan. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life.

There is one King David, who is a famous example of one who walked off the path of righteousness and almost perished. His escapades of sin destroyed him. And while after wards he received a new heart and a was restored, his relationships still suffered greatly. While he sewed a little sex act in private, he reaped the whirlwind of public humiliation in front of the whole nation of Israel. David's' son Absalom, took Davids' hareem up onto the rooftop of the place and had sex with them, all within public view.

David felt the fangs of our adversary the Lucifer. The perfect trap was set. And, it could have been set anywhere. The trap only require one thing to work. It required David to skip work. Instead of doing what kings of his day did in the Spring, David decided to stay home from the war. Let's see kill someone in war or hang out at home? I mean who likes all that blood shed anyway. So, for whatever reason, David stayed home.

IN Jerusalem David wandered about his huge beautiful mansion: all alone. Well that was except for his many wives and kids and guards etc.. They must have been elsewhere that day--I hope! Now, David being bored looked out over his city Jerusalem: the City of David. Not far away something caught his eye. Like a magnet his eyes took a double take. He saw Bathsheba.

Perhaps even at this point David could have closed his eyes and turned away. I mean, it was only the first glance. It was only temptation at that point. We all have temptations. We all have to fight and avoid something. It was just Davids' thoughts wouldn't let him go. Obsession set in. David's' heart grew to covet what he did not have. "My wives don't look that good!" I can hear David think.

As the moth is drawn to the flame, as a tick is draw to a dog, as a bluegill is drawn to the worm, David was drawn to Bathsheba. With his thoughts were consumed by her beauty; he sought her out. As a king is privy to all a the knowledge of their country. So David knew who to see to find out who that beauty was. He found out quickly. She was the wife of a foreign national who was loyal to the point of gladly serving the king in his military. She was also a one of Davids councilors and cabinet members granddaughter. She was a friends granddaughter. That's taboo!

Knowing all of this, David still called for her. The rest is history and it repeats itself every day. Multitudes do the same thing everyday. It's just without all of the spectacle a royal scandal.

So who was it that prompted Bathsheba to bath in the kings view? Who do you think? We know who. It is that serpent of old that still taunts men and women into sexual sin through lust.

Why do we want what we don't have? I don't know, but when your "wants" get out of control, covetousness sets in. Lust and pride go hand in hand and desires what they don't have. What most people don't realize is that when you get what you want more than anything in life: it still doesn't fulfill our souls.

LORD, be our greatest desire. I pray that You would keep our desires in check. Lead us not toward temptation, but away. Trump our desire! You sought us Lord! Lead us away from the traps that lay in our paths. Be our flashlight! Light each step of the way. For Your servants are prone to stumble and wallow until you pick them up. Preserve us Lord, for we hide Your word in our hearts. Lead our repentance. Help us see Your grace!

"For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response. I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior. Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence. And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins. You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure." 2 Corinthians 12:20-21 NLT