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“The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field.” Psalm 103:15
The marketing behind roses is one of the great success stories of all time. Anyone who knows how to impress the one they love knows about roses. The smell good, bring joy to the receiver…and die quickly! However, somewhere along the line we were ‘taught’ that the very best flowers to give were roses and so, we buy roses.
Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing wrong with roses, and I admire a good marketing plan. However, the fact remains that there are many other flowers that smell good, last a long time and are less expensive.
Why this tirade? There are plenty of passages in the Bible that remind us of the mortality of the human race. The death rate among humans is 100% and at this point there is no indication that a cure will be found. That’s the bad news.
The good news is this; you were created to be a flower! Maybe you are a rose. Maybe you are a carnation. Perhaps you are some sort of wild flower in the fields, being tossed by summer breezes, refreshed by summer rains and chilled by early fall frost. The fact of the matter is, you are a flower.
Jesus said, look at the flowers. They don’t worry about clothing, they don’t worry where the next paycheck is coming from, they don’t worry about gas prices or if their retirement account will sustain them. They aren’t challenged by unruly flowers, nor are they concerned that their seedlings will be accepted into FSU (Flowery State University).
Flowers have one purpose in life: To bring joy to those around them by blooming! Everything else is in the Father’s hands.
So. Bloom! Bloom while you can! For those of us who know Jesus as our personal savior we know this world is not our home. The very best we can hope for here is nothing compared to the worst part about eternity with Jesus. So bloom while you can. Bring joy into the lives of others by spreading the love of Jesus in your thoughts, words and actions.
Our time is short, but our impact can be breathtaking!
PRAYER: Father God. For too long I’ve seen the negative part of your word concerning the shortness of human life. From this day forward help me to see the positive. Help me to bloom for you in Jesus name. Amen!
She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. Mark 14:8 (NLT)
A couple of years ago one of my best friends was critically injured in a car accident. The EMT’s did and amazing job extracting him from the mangled heap of metal that encased him. They did what they could.
At the hospital, the ER doctors worked frantically to save his life. They did what they could.
Sadly, for us, it was Jesus’ desire to bring him home, into his loving arms. He (my friend) had done what he could.
Jesus was well aware that his time for the cross was coming. He had seen the change in Judas and knew that soon he would be betrayed and handed over to his murderers. While he sat in the home of his dear friend Simon the leper, one of his very closest friends in the entire world poured an entire flask of perfume on his head and feet. She did this out of pure love and devotion for this great teacher and friend. She did it out of gratitude for the gift of life he’d given to her brother Lazarus.
She couldn’t possibly have known the events of the upcoming week. She couldn’t possibly have understood the huge meaning of her act of love. In the grand scheme of things, her insignificant act changed nothing, but she did what she could.
“She did what she could.” Gill writes, “She hath done what she could,…. What she had in her heart, and in the power of her hands to do; she hath done according to her ability, and her good will; and if she had not done it now, she could not have done it at all.”
There are so many times when we are faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. For those devoted to ministry it may be the realization that our task is far greater than our resources.
Jesus says, “Just do what you can.”
As parents we see our children growing up in a world where evil seems rampant and hope seems dwindling.
Jesus says, “Just do what you can.”
As a business owner the red ink seems to be growing, the black in shrinking. It’s not just your business that is threatened; it’s the livelihood of your employees and their families.
Jesus says, “Just do what you can.”
To the person who watches a loved one on a path to sure destruction; who has tried everything to bring back the prodigal; who has sought every medical option to save a life; who has looked into every option to diminish the consequences of stupid choices.
Jesus says, “Just do what you can.”
God never calls us to do things he hasn’t given us the tools to accomplish. All he asks is for us to follow Mary’s lead. Our actions may seem insignificant at the time. But just do what you can.
PRAYER: Lord God. I look at the task before me and realize it is too great for me to accomplish. Remind me that the accomplishment is only in my willingness to ‘do what I can.’ Amen.
Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. 1 John 4:10
When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” Genesis 3:8-10 (NLT)
Our finite minds won’t allow us to come to a full understanding of what it was like in the Garden of Eden when the first man and the first woman walked with God. Scripture tells us that Adam and Eve walked with God as three friends, not as creator and creation. The only relationship they knew with Jehovah God was a face to face, arm in arm, friendship.
After the first couple ate from that dreaded tree, the relationship was severed, but the love was not. That’s important! It wasn’t the lack of God’s love that drove Adam and Eve into the trees; it was a misunderstanding of their relationship with the father.
In the years that followed, if we read the stories of the Old and New Testament carefully, we realize that from that point forward, the Heavenly Father’s purpose was not to punish mankind for their rebellion, but to gain back the relationship he so badly wanted. The very purpose of him creating mankind and the universe that surrounds us was so he could love us. God’s love was the motivation for all he did. Since then, everything he does is an effort to regain the love relationship he had with us in the beginning.
It wasn’t just physical nakedness that drove Adam and Eve (and us) away from a loving, merciful and graceful creator; it was the exposure of their own ability to live up to their part of the love relationship. Guilt and shame built a wall between the lovers. In the garden, God sought to cover that shame with the temporary clothing of an imperfect sacrifice; on the cross he destroyed the barrier once and for all through the Messiah, Jesus Christ!
The problem for us becomes the fact that we still are deceived into thinking that because we fail; because we are unable to fulfill our end of the love relationship we can have no part in the pure forgiveness of the perfect sacrifice. Nothing is further from the truth.
Our ability to love God has never been a prerequisite for living in a love relationship with the Father. Our only response is to accept his love freely based on our own repentance and confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, the enemy of my soul continually bombards me with the lie that I can never love you enough and therefore I can not love you. Based on your promise I realize that my love for you has never been a prerequisite for your loving me. Today, I claim your love for me based on the perfect sacrifice you gave on the cross. Amen.
After Martha said this, she went back and talked to her sister Mary alone. Martha said, “The Teacher is here and he is asking for you.” John 11:28
His final days were excruciatingly painful. She spent her time going from his bedside to looking down the street to see if they were coming. She had friends, fellow mourners, posted at the gate of the small town, ready to send word as soon as they could be seen along the dusty path.
Time was running out. Her brother, Lazarus, was weakening fast. Where was he? How could he delay at a time like this? She counted the days. She’d sent him word two days ago. There had been time for him to make the trip. He should have been here by now.
One last look down the street. Nothing. Her gaze and thoughts were interrupted by Martha’s touch on her shoulder.
“He’s gone.”
She ran to his side. His lifeless body still warm, but it was obvious he was no longer there. She wept. She lay across his body. This, her only brother, her friend. In the Jewish family system, when the father died, the oldest brother took his place. For the first time in her adult life she felt like an orphan. If only they’d come. If only they’d been the kind of friends they said they were. The teacher said he’d be with her always! Where was he now?
The days ahead were a blur of memories and mourning; of preparations and decisions; of greeting members of the community and family who’d come to comfort. She was gracious. She was always gracious. But she often cast an eye down the street to see if they had come.
She sat in her room a couple days after the funeral. “Strange,” She thought, “I’m not sure if I’m sad the Teacher didn’t come or angry; disgusted or disappointed; confused or…”
Her thoughts were interrupted by Martha’s touch, “The Teacher is here and he is asking for you.”
There was no hesitation. She ran to him and hugged him, held him as she sobbed into his arms. Once she composed herself in anguish she whispered, barely audibly, “If only you’d been here he wouldn’t have died.” There was anguish in her voice to be sure, but no doubt.
We often read the story of Lazarus and focus on the resurrection of this dearly loved man without considering the emotion of the other players in the story. Few, if any of us, will ever see someone rise from the dead, all of us have experienced the absence of God in the midst of troubling times.
God’s silence is not an indicator of his apathy to your pain. While Jesus didn’t appear when Mary and Martha hoped, his appearance fulfilled their need in His time, not theirs. What struggle are you going through? What event have you invited God to attend, but gotten no answer? We can’t understand his timing, but we should never doubt that he will come to us in his time.
He is risen. He is risen, indeed! Let the prayer below guide you in falling into the Saviors arms. He’s asking for you.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus. This turmoil I’m going through right now seems unbearable. I’ve looked for your presence but can’t find it. I invite you to come now to comfort, strengthen and renew me. Amen.
Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. Amos 5:15
A friend of mine came around the corner of his garage just in time to see his young son with the garden hose, filling his lawn mower with water! He stopped him immediately, but it was too late. The tank which had been nearly empty, was now full of a mixture of gasoline and nice fresh water. The little boy was very proud of himself for ‘helping daddy’ get ready to mow the lawn!
The lad, of course had no idea the damage that could have been done had dad not discovered his actions. Not only would the mower not had run properly, the engine would have been completely destroyed. Water and gas don’t mix. Gasoline engines weren’t made to run on water.
To fix the situation, dad drained the fuel tank completely and made sure it was completely dry. Then he filled it with fresh, untainted fuel. Any moisture left behind could have had disastrous effects on the engine.
The prophet Amos, found a similar situation during his ministry to the people of Israel. The people had strayed far from the laws that God had instituted. They were a greedy people. They were an immoral people. They had turned worship into a bunch of rules, traditions and activities.
Amos tells them that if they were to escape the consequences of their sin, changes were going to have to happen. They needed to rid themselves of all evil. Just as my friend needed to completely empty the fuel tank of his mower, Israel needed to completely remove all vestiges of evil in their lives. We call this repentance. It’s a change of activity, a change of attitude, a change of mind. To confess our sin means nothing without repentance.
But more was needed in order for Israel to be restored. They needed to replace the evil actions in their lives with something else, something good, something pleasing to God. It would have done no good from my friend to empty the fuel tank of the mower and then try to start his machine. It needed new fuel in order to run. Clinging to the good rather than evil is called holiness. It involves actions, thoughts and motivations that please God rather than man.
In our lives it’s even more important to replace the ‘evil things’ with good things. Jesus tells us that if a demon leaves and we don’t replace that part of our lives with good things, he’ll just return at a later date…and he’ll bring friends. You’ll be worse off than you were before.
The end result of turning our back on evil and clinging to good is that our lives will be marked with justice towards others. Not the fickle kind of justice the world offers, but the graceful and merciful justice of a loving God.
You can’t run on empty. Ask the Father to search your heart and reveal anything that may be hindering your relationship with him. Then fill that spot with things that are pleasing to him. Your ‘engine’ will run more smoothly.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, reveal to me the areas of my life that need repentance. Empower me to change so that my life is filled with good things, not bad; so my life will exemplify the graceful and merciful justice of your word. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 