Friday, March 23, 2018

How to Live Like a King!

"In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother's name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.) Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following Him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook." -- 2 Kings 18:1-7a
 How does this passage of Scripture make you feel? Inadequate? Inspired?
"At that time Marduk-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery. Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses -- the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine olive oil -- his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them. Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, 'What did those men say, and where did they come from?' 'From a distant land,' Hezekiah replied. 'They came to me from Babylon.' The prophet asked, 'What did they see in your palace?' 'They saw everything in my palace,' Hezekiah said. 'There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.' Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, 'Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your predecessors have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.' 'The word of the Lord you have spoken is good,' Hezekiah replied. For he thought. 'There will be peace and security in my lifetime.'" -- Isaiah 39
Still feeling the same way? Same king. Completely different perspective. In fact, prior to Hezekiah's prideful show-n-tell with the Babylonian emissaries, he had become so ill he was "at the point of death." Hezekiah cried out to the Lord. Nothing fake here; he had served God faithfully and with his whole heart. God heard his prayer, and added fifteen years to Hezekiah's life.

So, here is my question: Why didn't God just quit while Hezekiah was ahead? Couldn't God have preserved Hezekiah's reputation and saved him a good scolding if He'd just said, "Look, H. Up until now you have followed My precepts, trusted only in Me. You've reigned a good long time, and you have been known as a standout in the history of Judah's kings. Go out with a bang, OK?" Why did God give Hezekiah fifteen more years to be a complete knucklehead?

1. Hezekiah's days were numbered before he came to be. Before he asked for fifteen more. Before he used or misused a minute of them. God does not change His mind; God did not "tack on" fifteen "extra" years at Hezekiah's request. Hezekiah's death was conditional, dependent on his response; just as we are all destined for condemnation until we respond to God's pursuit of us. What is conditional in your life? You'll never know until you pray.

2. Hezekiah's ostentatious display and his self-centered attitude regarding Judah's exile to Babylon, are only a snippet of the fifteen years after his illness. How long after he had recovered did these men come to visit? How much longer after their visit did Hezekiah live? Aristotle said, "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts;" God said His mercies are new every day. 2 Kings 18 is Hezekiah's eulogy. Don't foster discouragement today for the mistakes you made yesterday. Accept God's forgiveness, make amends if necessary, take the lesson and live your entire life well.

3. What Hezekiah did with the fifteen years after his illness was his choice. Just like the fifteen years before his illness. And the fifteen years before that. God gave us a life exploding with choices and opportunities, varieties and preferences. Not that He might live out our days for us, but that we might choose -- to serve Him, to honor Him, to love Him. Or not. How do you choose to live the time you have been given?

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Be Prepared to Meet Jesus

I have something of a reputation for being unconventional. (A bit of coaching my children have taken to the nth degree!) So, I am, during this season of Lent, doing a 31 Day Scripture Writing Plan -- for December. Days Three and Four were writings in Isaiah 11, a chapter rife with prophecy fulfilled and prophecy yet to be realized. The fulfillment of prophecy is God's guarantee that those things which have yet to come to fruition, will; so these Scriptures just ooze hope! Just look at verses 6-10:
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb,The leopard shall lie down with the young goat,The calf and the young lion and the fatling together;And a little child shall lead them.The cow and the bear shall graze;Their young ones shall lie down together;And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole,And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den.They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LordAs the waters cover the sea.“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,Who shall stand as a banner to the people;For the Gentiles shall seek Him,And His resting place shall be glorious.”
What a glorious promise of peace, and restoration to the way God designed this earth to be -- for all mankind! The knowledge of God's goodness, justice, provision, peace, and grace spread throughout the entire world! A Prince and Champion for the people of God! Wow, hard to imagine! And who wouldn't anxiously anticipate such a day?!

Me.

I don't anxiously anticipate that day; I don't want to imagine it. My anticipation is marred by the fact I have not, I do not evangelize the way I should. My work here is not finished, I know, but I do not seize every opportunity I am given to proclaim Jesus to others. Though the door may be wide open, my mouth remains shut to those who do not know Him. Coworkers have not come to know Jesus -- or even reject Him -- because they have not heard from me. My biological family and my spiritual family are not one in the same, in part, because some have never heard the Gospel from my lips! I cannot look forward to an eternity of peace, beauty, grace, God's presence when I know I have not done what was required of me with regard to those who have spent hours talking to me, years learning from me, countless moments sharing my table or riding beside me. The words, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus," become stuck in my throat when I see the lives of those I profess to love and care for as opportunities I neglected.

I know Jesus dies to save them. I know it is their choice. But telling them is my responsibility. We all have our own personalities, and faith walks, and thoughts about sharing the Gospel; but it is God's plan that I must follow, and He has given me far more opportunities than I have taken. So, while I may not be the one offering prayer to everyone I meet, or the person who peppers their path with tracts, God demands I do something. Maybe even something that fits my unconventional personality.

So, allow me to go on record as saying, I want to joyfully anticipate that day, knowing I have done all I could and took advantage of every opportunity I was given to proclaim Jesus. I have laid it all out honestly before the Lord; I have prayed for boldness, and eyes with which to see open doors. I have no right to dread any goodness my Heavenly Father bestows; and I have no right -- for any reason -- to keep something He has freely given, to myself!

Monday, March 19, 2018

What Lies Beneath

It was only last February that Scott and I graduated to smart phones. I like to think we are, at least, living in the early 21st century now. And while, most of the time, I use my phone for things like phone calls and texts (imagine!), I occasionally use it for music while I'm cooking. I was doing just that the other day when I began going through my mental Rolodex of bands I wanted to hear. Buckcherry came to mind, and with it, a story I've always remembered from an interview with Josh Todd, the group's lead singer. Now, I'm not the "groupie" type, but the story was so charming, so poignant, it has remained with me:

Todd was speaking to his future father-in-law, when the man expressed concern over Todd's many tattoos. Josh Todd responded something like: "I hope there will come a day when you no longer see them."

Todd's story always reminds me how important it is to look more deeply into the people I encounter. Sometimes the "tattoos" that prevent us from really seeing others as they are -- "tattoos" like bad behavior, foul language, filthy habits, polarizing personalities, self-righteousness, self-obsession -- are there with the purpose of distraction. "If you focus on the things about me that offend or intimidate you, maybe you will simply judge me and move on." Those "tattoos" keep the world, as unsafe as it is, from reaching what may really lie inside: fear, anxiety, self-loathing, hurt, weakness, doubt; the armor that others believe they need to cope in a world that is corrupt, threatening, and difficult to navigate; the armor of those without Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let me first say, that as Christians, the only armor we should ever wear is the armor of God. We need to make ourselves available to those who do not know Jesus. We need to -- when called by God -- enter into some murky water, some "unsafe" or "imprudent" situations in order to effectively proclaim Christ to those who do not know Him. (Just to clarify, "unsafe" and "imprudent" as applied to the world's assessment of a situation or place, not God's.) The only armor that will ever keep us and make our work as servants of the Lord effective, is the armor of God.

Secondly, we must learn to see, as much as we can, as God sees. I recognize many "tattoos", and I also know why they are there -- I wore many for the same reasons. By God's grace, many of mine have been removed; but, also by His grace, I now am able to identify and have compassion on those who are still "tatted up." Because of Jesus, I can understand the unruly child and the self-righteous parent; I have compassion on the addict and the cutter. It is by God's grace that I can pray for Him to help me reach the obnoxious neighbor or the lazy coworker.

Years ago I might have prayed God would remove a situation from me, or remove a person from my situation -- and I still think that way sometimes; but God shows us how to see as He sees. God's Spirit teaches us to pray for that "annoying" person at your job, to see what lies deep inside. God's Spirit gives us wisdom and insight to not simply "deal with" a bad situation, but to understand what He can do through it to change us into someone who more closely resembles Him -- people who are marked with the blood of Jesus, rather than the "tattoos" of this world; people who can see beneath the surface.