If we take care of our character, we can trust God to take care of
our reputation. ~~ Warren Wiersbe
Sunday, January 25, 2015
A Heart for God
When he was 22, Norman D. Vaughan had a passion and a
dream. When he was 88, he also had a
passion and a dream. And the last
passion and dream were related to the first.
You see, in 1927, at age 22, Vaughan was a student at Harvard when he
read about Admiral Richard Byrd's proposed expedition to the South Pole. Although he'd never met Byrd and had received
no invitation to join the expedition, Vaughan decided to quit school and go
with the Admiral. Two years later, as
they crossed Antarctica toward the Pole, Byrd named one of the mountains they
encountered Mount Vaughan. In December 1994, Vaughan returned to the icy continent to climb Mount Vaughan. Days before his 89th birthday, the intrepid
explorer stood atop the 10,302 foot mountain and declared to all the world,
"Wow! Everywhere you look it's
tremendous! And the best thing I can say
about conquering it, if you call it conquering it, is that I dared to
fail. And the one message that I think I
want to send to the world is dream big, young and old, dream big and dare to
fail."
When I heard that crusty old gentleman say these words on
National Geographic Explorer, I thought almost immediately of another
"old man" who at 85 conquered a different mountain. His name is Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the
Kenezite. Standing atop his mountain,
Caleb would have said, "Dream big and dare to trust." For most of his life, that kind of spirit
dominated the man so that at age 85, Caleb could scale a mountain where giants
dwelt in fortified cities, drive them out of their cities, and take possession
of their mountain. And Caleb
accomplished all these deeds in the power of God because he had a heart for God
and because he had dared to trust in God.
Caleb allowed nothing to deter him from his faith in
God. Two things shine in his testimony:
his spirit and his heart. Virtually
every day of his life, Caleb focused his heart on the Lord and on the things of
the Lord. He walked with God
consistently. Please note, when God says
something even one time, you know it's important, right? While it's true He doesn't say very much
about Caleb altogether, not less than six times God says of him that "he
has followed the Lord fully." In
fact, the first time He said it, He was offering all the land of Hebron to
"My servant Caleb, because he has had a different spirit and has followed
Me fully" (Numbers 14.24). There
you see both rays of testimony shining, his spirit and his heart for following
God.
Look at the spirit first.
God said, "he has had a different spirit." What does that mean? God had sent twelve spies to spy out the land
of Canaan, and all twelve spies brought back the same report. That's right!
All twelve reported essentially the same thing. Check it out. In Numbers 14, God gives us the
details of their report: (1) The land
really is as rich as God said it was, a land flowing with milk and honey and
lots of good things (v. 27). Two of them
actually brought back proof. One
single cluster of grapes. And it
took both of them to carry it on a pole across their shoulders. Can't you just hear the response? "Man!
Wouldn't you like to see the vine that one came from?" (2) The people are strong. (3) The cities are fortified and very large
(v. 28). They all also reported that (4)
giants, the descendants of Anak, lived there (v. 28). Then the report changed. Like Goliath centuries later, the giants had
altered their perspective, intimidating them.
Ten spies added the interpretation, "We are not able to go up
against the people, for they are too strong for us" (v. 31). Caleb, on the other hand, declared, "We
should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we shall surely
overcome it" (v. 30).
What makes the difference? Spirit!
The ten spies had a spirit of fear.
Caleb (and Joshua) had a spirit of faith. The ten saw the enemy and their own
impotence. Caleb saw the Lord and His
omnipotence. The ten had the spirit of
the world. Caleb had the Spirit of
God. It was in Caleb's heart that God
was fully able to give what He had promised.
And He had promised the land of Canaan with all its blessings to
Israel. All they had to do was take the
gift. I can just hear him say,
"Let's go get 'em!"
God also said that Caleb "followed the Lord
fully." It doesn't mean so much
that he followed God as a puppy follows its master, but rather it describes the
condition of his heart. His
attitude. His affection and desire. The Medieval Rabbi Rashi interprets it this
way, "He hath filled his heart (to follow) after Me." He filled his heart after God. His heart was so full of God there was no
room in it for anything else. His heart
was so filled with God there was no room in it for any one else. A slave in Egypt, he filled his heart after
God. When he spied out the land, he
filled his heart after God. Wandering in
the wilderness, he filled his heart after God.
Finally, standing before Joshua, he has the same testimony. No wonder he can say, "Now, therefore,
give me this mountain!" (Joshua 14.12, KJV) His heart was so tuned to God's he wanted
only what God wanted. And that was
actually given to him forty five years before in an irrevocable promise of
God. Since God is glorified in the keeping
of His promises, Caleb glorified Him by claiming the promise. As a result, of all the children of Israel,
he is perhaps the only one to fully claim the promise and to fully enjoy the
blessings of the Lord. Because he had a
heart for God and because he dared to trust in God.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Lest We Forget
The
first time we went to Washington D.C., I remember standing for a long time viewing the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial, that long wall of black marble engraved with the names of those
killed in the war. Every day, people
come to the Memorial to remember their friends and loved ones, some leaving
tokens of their remembrances: flags,
photos, sealed letters, pieces of clothing.
One man left a headband, dog tags, and a letter that reads, "To all
of you here from Echo Company, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division... I
leave you my headband which contains my sweat from the war, my dog tag, and a
picture of me and Mike. Another
time. Another place. I'll never forget you."
Written on one flag was this
message: "May all of you who died, all
of you still missing, and all of you who returned home never be forgotten. -
Connie."
You see, it's important that we
remember. It's important that we
remember what those soldiers did for us, and even more it's important that we
remember what our God did for us. As the
Psalmist said, "Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face
continually. Remember His wonders which
He has done, His marvels and the judgments uttered by His mouth...." (Psalm 105.4-5) He's telling us three things to remember: Remember
our God, remember His works, and remember His words.
We remember first who He is. And as we get to know Him better, it helps also to remember what He has done for us. The best place to begin is with His deliverance. For Israel, it was deliverance from bondage in Egypt. In one night God brought judgment on the entire nation of Egypt. Without exception, a firstborn died in every house in Egypt, either the firstborn of the house or the firstborn of the flock who died in the place of the firstborn of the house. This was the redemption event of the Older Testament. Lest they forget, God proclaimed a special holiday observed each year to commemorate this deliverance. On that occasion, known as Passover, they tell stories of the first Passover to fulfill the instructions of Moses who told them to "remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm...." (Deuteronomy 5.15)
We remember first who He is. And as we get to know Him better, it helps also to remember what He has done for us. The best place to begin is with His deliverance. For Israel, it was deliverance from bondage in Egypt. In one night God brought judgment on the entire nation of Egypt. Without exception, a firstborn died in every house in Egypt, either the firstborn of the house or the firstborn of the flock who died in the place of the firstborn of the house. This was the redemption event of the Older Testament. Lest they forget, God proclaimed a special holiday observed each year to commemorate this deliverance. On that occasion, known as Passover, they tell stories of the first Passover to fulfill the instructions of Moses who told them to "remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm...." (Deuteronomy 5.15)
For you and me, it is the
deliverance from bondage to sin that Jesus accomplished for us at the cross,
which is the redemption event of the New Testament. From the day we were born into this world, we
were slaves to sin. When Jesus died on
the cross, He died in our place and thereby delivered us from that
slavery. Paul explains that "though you were slaves of sin,
you...[have]...been freed from sin and enslaved to God...." (Romans 6.17-22) Always remember the deliverance He
accomplished when He redeemed you.
On the last day of Bible School,
Friday, the 13th of June, Frances was wrapping up the session at her
table. Seven nine or ten year old boys
sat around the table. Actually only four
sat in their places completing their work, while Frances was talking quietly
with a fifth, telling him about Jesus.
Two other boys were chasing each other around the table. No one paid any attention to these two. Screaming like stereotyped wild Indians, they
bumped against chairs, banged the table. Frances calmly continued her
conversation with the one boy. Before
she finished, one of the "wild Indians" began to get curious about
what she was doing. Whatever she was
talking about had to be important since she would not stop to settle the fracas
going on around the table. So he
asked. Frances gave him an answer and led him to the Lord as well. I will never forget that morning because I
was that nine-year-old curious scrapper.
I will always remember my deliverance.
We should also remember His
blessings. Moses told the Children of
Israel that they should
Remember
the days of old, Consider the years of all generations. Ask your father, and he
will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.... For the Lord's
portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, And in the
howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded
him as the pupil of His eye.... The Lord alone guided him, And there was no
foreign god with him. (Deuteronomy 32.7-12)
The
first blessing we should remember is that we are His. The Lord's portion is His people. In the context, God divided up the nations
and took Israel for His own possession.
When Jesus died, He took us as His people. He adopted us into His family through the
birth pangs of Calvary and gave us His name.
We are children of the King.
And this is only the beginning. Look again at the passage in
Deuteronomy. He encircled us with
His love. He cared for us as a
mother cares for her children. Nurturing
us, comforting us when we are afraid, watching over us and nursing us when we
are sick, and teaching us the things we need to learn to enable us to
grow. Then He guarded us,
protecting us from evil, from the threats of Satan, even from our own
sinfulness at times. Finally, He guided
us with His Word and with His Spirit just as He guided the children of Israel
through the wilderness.
The Lord gave us the ordinance of
the Lord's Supper symbolizing His deliverance of us and He gave us His Word and
His Spirit to guard and to guide us, lest
we forget....
Sunday, January 11, 2015
The Grace of Gratitude
An old Jewish tale tells of a rabbi who asked God
to show him heaven and hell. The Lord, opening a door to a room, said to him,
"First I will show you hell." Inside, he saw a group of people
sitting around a large, round table, grumbling and complaining. On the table
stood a bowl of delicious stew; and each person had a spoon, one with a handle
longer than a person's arm. So the people could dip the stew from the bowl but
could not bring it to their mouths.
"Now,"
said the Lord, taking the rabbi to another room, "I will show you
heaven." He opened the door to a room identical to the first. But here,
the people were well-nourished, laughing, and talking among themselves. They,
too, had long-handled spoons; but had apparently overcome the problem of
feeding. The rabbi turned with a puzzled look, to which the Lord replied,
"These have learned to feed each other."
The
people in heaven were obviously flourishing in an atmosphere of giving and
receiving. They had fully grasped the meaning of the words of Jesus that
"It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35) And they
had learned the other side of that truth: the grace of receiving. When
accompanied with thanksgiving, receiving is as much a grace as giving, perhaps
at times even more. In fact, through the example of several Christian friends,
the Lord has taught me that gracious receiving is an element of Christian
maturity.
In
the New Testament, Paul uses a word for thanksgiving that descended from the
same word as grace and joy, the root word charis.
Receiving is certainly a joy. Receiving is also a grace. Receiving is always an
occasion for giving thanks to the giver and to the Lord for His blessing on
both (Ephesians 1:16).
Paul
taught that being able to receive is essential for our Christian lives as well
as our growth in the Lord. Listen to what he says to the Philippians,
You
have done well to share with me in my afflictions. And you yourselves also
know...that at the first preaching of the gospel..., no church shared with me
in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone.... I have received
everything in full and have an abundance; I am amply supplied, having received
from Epaphroditus what you have sent, a fragrant aroma, an acceptable
sacrifice, well-pleasing to God. (Philippians 4:14-18)
What a beautiful expression of gratitude. For Paul,
their gift came not only as a blessing but as an expression of their love for
him, their concern for the distress he was experiencing through his
imprisonment.
To
receive a gift is, for us the same as for Paul, to acknowledge that someone really cares for us, to acknowledge their love for us, their kindness toward
us. "Gratitude," said author, A. J. Cronin, "is the art of
receiving gracefully, of showing appreciation for every kindness, great and
small." Paul honored the Philippians by comparing their gift with the
sacrifices of the Old Testament, sacrifices welcome and acceptable to God. His
greatest joy was that their gift, as well as the love that prompted it, was
dear to God. And he expressed his gratitude simply and graciously.
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Shanah Tovah
Sounds like a new rock group that just hit the charts, doesn't it? When I first heart this expression over thirty years ago, I thought so, too. But, of course, it isn't. Shanah Tovah is a Jewish expression with several related meanings. For example, it means, "Happy New year!" Even more specifically, it stands for a longer expression which means, "May you be inscribed and sealed for a good year." I prefer this last expression because of the tradition it springs from.
The Jewish New Year, which incidentally never occurs in January, introduces a period of personal examination. According to the tradition, during this time, God "looks into the hearts of men and examines not only their deeds but their motives as well." That's a little scary by itself especially when you realize He does this all the time anyway. But God also calls on all men to examine themselves. In fact, in the synagogue on New Years's Day, the cantor (music leader to us Christians) blows the shofar, the ram's horn trumpet, to call upon the faithful to repent of all their misdeeds of the past year and to return to God with a humble spirit so the next twelve months may be richer in the service to God and to men. Not a bad way to start the year for any of us. Not a bad reason either.
Ten days after their New Year's Day, the Jews celebrate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Here's the real motive for the self-examination. On this day, Rabbi Meir said, God opens the books of judgment and the penitent are at once "inscribed and sealed" in those books for their good for another year. And so, the greeting, Shanah Tovah.
I am not a part of this tradition, and my year does begin in January. By the grace of God, my name is already inscribed in the Lamb's Book of Life, not for the coming year only but for eternity. Still, the tradition does teach me some important things because my days contain offenses that need confession, repentance, and forgiveness. Now at the beginning of this New Year, I am made aware again that I need self-examination, not only for the next ten days, but pretty much every day thereafter. How can I best do this?
Much the same way Israel does -- by prayer and the Word of God. Jesus said, "Search the Scriptures...they...testify of Me" (John 5:39). By reading the Bible, I get better acquainted with the Lord. As I get to know Him, He provides guidance and sound advice through His Word which is "a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). He clearly tells me how He wants me to live and how to honor Him with my life. He commands me to bring every thought captive to Him (2 Corinthians 10:5). His Word provides spiritual nourishment, food for thought and life, "sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10. NASB)
In prayer, I lift my heart to God and recite humbly in words my feelings, my thoughts, and my wishes to Him. I focus my attention on the glory of God, my Father, my desires for the well-being of myself, my family and those I love, and my gratitude for all God's blessings. Prayer provides the channel for confession and penitence on New Year's and every day throughout the year. Prayer compels me to recognize my dependence on God not only for my very existence, but also for my health and for the provision of order and sense in my life.
God, on the other hand, straightens up the messes I too often make and uses even the most painful experiences to help me grow (Romans 8:28-29). In that growth, I hope that you can see more the evidence of His gentle hand molding me into the shape of His Son. And what I wish for myself, I wish abundantly for each of you who read this, that through His Word and through prayer, we may all "grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ" (Ephesians 4:15). Then we can express to each other all the time the literal meaning of of the abbreviated expression Shanah Tovah, "Have a good year!"
Much the same way Israel does -- by prayer and the Word of God. Jesus said, "Search the Scriptures...they...testify of Me" (John 5:39). By reading the Bible, I get better acquainted with the Lord. As I get to know Him, He provides guidance and sound advice through His Word which is "a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path" (Psalm 119:105). He clearly tells me how He wants me to live and how to honor Him with my life. He commands me to bring every thought captive to Him (2 Corinthians 10:5). His Word provides spiritual nourishment, food for thought and life, "sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10. NASB)
In prayer, I lift my heart to God and recite humbly in words my feelings, my thoughts, and my wishes to Him. I focus my attention on the glory of God, my Father, my desires for the well-being of myself, my family and those I love, and my gratitude for all God's blessings. Prayer provides the channel for confession and penitence on New Year's and every day throughout the year. Prayer compels me to recognize my dependence on God not only for my very existence, but also for my health and for the provision of order and sense in my life.
God, on the other hand, straightens up the messes I too often make and uses even the most painful experiences to help me grow (Romans 8:28-29). In that growth, I hope that you can see more the evidence of His gentle hand molding me into the shape of His Son. And what I wish for myself, I wish abundantly for each of you who read this, that through His Word and through prayer, we may all "grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ" (Ephesians 4:15). Then we can express to each other all the time the literal meaning of of the abbreviated expression Shanah Tovah, "Have a good year!"
For over ten years, I penned a monthly Newsletter called -- you guessed it -- Candle Drippings, shared with a small group of friends. Recently, I reworked a number of these Newsletters into a book of the same title -- Candle Drippings. But loads of the Newsletters failed to find their way into the book. And many new ideas have invaded my mind and thoughts since the writing of these Newsletters and the book. So, I will share a few of these additional Newsletters here, along with new articles, new ideas, and new insights as I am able.
.....Dr. Kenneth R. "Ken" Cooper
.....Dr. Kenneth R. "Ken" Cooper
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