It's been a crazy week!

I am not so sure I can even remember all of the crazy from this week. Have you had one of THOSE weeks too? I guess it is crazy because it has been unusual. Not the normal crazy I experience so it seems all that more unusual.  One of the highlights was a hoped for contact with a draftsman who is working on our building project. We set up a meeting and confirmed our goals and information required for him to begin work.

This building project has consistently been stymied by paperwork of one kind or another. Either we had no idea we needed it or it was not the correct document in the hands of the correct people. There are two phrases that have proven to be true. The first, “it’s all in the paperwork,” and the second, “it doesn’t exist until it’s on paper.” Those two phrases will be the death of me. Not really but you know what I mean. There is progress not on paper yet but progress towards getting all on paper so the physical work can begin not ministry that is already well underway.

We have had the opportunity to assist a medical missions team headed to Guatemala this fall with vitamins for children and some instruments to assist in the care of those children. Simple things really like collecting change and nail clippers will make a difference in children’s lives and the lives of their families. In another project, we are putting together blessing bags filled with personal care items for local children and their families. It is a partnership with our elementary school to make a difference in the health and welfare of children right here. It is crazy how the simplest of things makes the biggest difference.

Crazy how we complicate so many things by creating artificial boundaries to life and living when it was simple and effective within the original borders. At the heart of Jesus message was simplicity. Two commands Love God with all that you are and hope to be and love others like you love yourself. We make those artificial borders by trying to define boundaries to exclude or limit the scope of our love. Jesus made no such borders. His Father made no such borders, “For God so loved the world that he gave…” Love without borders and boundaries, now THAT is crazy living. The crazy continues as he invites us to love like that. We immediately identify a boarder to our love by recognizing our love has limits. Our love runs out like an empty pitcher. God blows that away by promising a limitless supply of strength and love as we trust him and participate in his plan, now THAT is CRAZY.

Crazy like a Fox!

I have to depend on Him to love like that.

That’s just what HE wanted!

That’s crazy don’t you think?

That’s living!

In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG

 

Where is it?

There are two things I must think about on Friday or at least by Friday. The first is this article and the second is how to organize the ideas and thoughts I have for the message for Sunday. Both are like are 24/7 task masters that never take a break, call in sick or change their deadline. So, I opened the door to my office, walked in, turned on the light, set my book down and looked for my computer. It was not there. Immediately I knew it was at my home, ugh. I had left it there Thursday evening (not a normal thing I do). Drat, today my Jedi mind powers are on the blink.

Solution, there is another laptop in my office I could use instead of going home and returning with my computer. So I fired that bad boy up and searched to open this file to write this task-master-article but no-can-do. The computer has network connection issues, ugh. The choice, I could spend time trying to resolve the issues on a machine not regularly used or go home and get my computer. I opted for the later just a little thing.

It is the little things that get us. Many a passionate discussion has raged over the up-ness or down-ness (I just invented those terms hey maybe they will go viral) of the toilet seat or the placement of a trash bag in the waste can following disposal or the purchase of a specific brand of pain reliever verses the generic. A few years ago a young woman in pre-marital counseling remarked how it is always the little things that blow up between a couple. I think it is always the little things that throw a wrench into the day. A simple loss-of-mind momentarily results in an article about…well you know. It is crazy or is it?

Some mornings the whole flow of the day is determined by one little thing, out of coffee. We react like the whole day depended upon our coffee. Some of you are saying, “Well yes.” Sit down and hear me, it is just NOT so. The whole day does not depend on one little thing however, it is determined by our perspective of those little things. Our perspective is most times suspect because it is so limited. What do I really know? Yes, I have lived a few years but the longer I live the more I recognize I know very little about very little, although, I got final Jeopardy the other night from a very obscure statement. Barbara looked at me and said, “How did you get that?” I also recognize I spend a lot of time on the little things and not the important things.

Monday evening a radio show challenged me to consider grace and acts of grace in my life, the kind that change everything. That is what grace does it changes everything. We throw the word around so casually and with such great familiarity acting as if we know what that means. We sing about it and say it. As I drove down the road I was stumped to think of a grace moment that changed everything, a moment so important that you recall the scene and faces and smells of the environment. You can hear each word spoken or not spoken in your mind as you remember. As I began to think about grace moments I recognized they are all around us, happening every minute of every day and I dismiss them as little things.

Grace changes everything and a moment of grace is NOT a little thing. Today the leaving of my computer was a little thing that I made big. It was small because you are reading this article and it is still Friday while I complete it, task complete. What was big? The round trip was big. Why? The day is bright with sunshine and life, my dog greeted me with excitement and a wagging tail at the house, I spoke with my wife who loves me so to care for me, my parents and my children so very well. Moments I enjoyed but did not deserve. Those are grace moments. I probably would have missed them if my little thing had run its course in my mind. Yes, I would have missed the GREAT things of grace. Had it not been for this task-master article about grace!

Grace, it’s not a little thing!

  
In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG

I hate waiting

Is there anybody who likes to wait? Are you sure? I think sin might be involved in your answer if you said yes. You need to repent. I think wait is the ugliest four letter word in the English language. It should be banned because it smacks us in the face reminding us we are not God and we can’t make this happen right now. It usually reveals some of our other failings. Like not getting out of the door on time for work or not having done homework the night before or…well you know. Those are the times when the traffic stops or something happens to make us wait.

It is hard to wait on test results from the Doctor. We want them right now. The reality is the results reveal what was already there or not. When I volunteered as an EMT with the fire department I would remind families to take their time getting their stuff together. They were in for a long wait in the emergency room and their loved one was in good care. The rub there is we want the medical staff to be thorough but we want it right now. Thorough takes time. That means a wait. Waiting in the ER or anywhere is hard duty. The following are some thoughts about waiting from David.

14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 HCSB

Chuck Swindol puts into context the thought from Hebrew for the word translated wait.

The term "wait" is from the Hebrew verb kawah, which eventually carried the idea of eagerly looking for something. It originally meant "to twist, stretch." The noun form means "line, cord, thread." The literal definition became a word picture involving tension or eager anticipation - See more at: http://www.insight.org/resources/devotionals/waiting-on-god.html?print=t#sthash.kFBfoGxx.dpuf

I rephrased wait in this way: A string or line under tension eagerly waiting to be released. Like a bow string or an instrument string ready to be played. 

Why we wait:
· We are not ready
· Others are not ready
· We need strength and courage

But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind. Isaiah 40:31 The Message

That is the why of waiting. It helps me wait when I have something to do. Usually I take a book or people watch anything to do to pass the time. David has a better process from Psalm 27 instead of anything to pass the time something specific.  

While we wait:
· Remember God
The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom should I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom should I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 HCSB

Remind yourself of God’s work in your life up to this moment. Remember the promises of God for you and your future. Remember God.

· Ask God for what you need BOLDLY

Lord, hear my voice when I call; be gracious to me and answer me.8 My heart says this about You, “You are to seek My face.” Lord, I will seek Your face. Psalm 27:7-8 NCSB

Yes, it is ok to ask!

· Trust God

I am certain that I will see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living.14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14 HCSB

Waiting is a matter of trust. For the child of God, we wait on God to provide as he said he would.

I will wait.

I still don’t like it but I’m learning!       

In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG

It's a Fight

In a devotion book I read by Max Lucado, the entry for September 4 spoke of what we do when we are in a pinch. How we respond when we find ourselves in a tight spot. You know how we chew our finger nails like corn on the cob or how we wear new paths in the carpet from the pacing or the countless hours of sleepless nights or the cases of antacids that we consume because of digestion issues. That is what we do when we find ourselves in the grind. What does God do?

From our perspective it looks like nothing. However, Lucado reminds us of the children of Israel in the wilderness facing the Egyptian army on one side and the Red Sea on the other. The people complain (go figure) saying they would have been better off staying in Egypt. Have you been there? When it gets hard you think or say out loud it would have been easier to stay where I was. Those devils I knew. We are just like those Israelites. Moses says this to the people.

¹³ But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet.” Exodus 14:13-14 HCSB

The key here is the underlined text “The LORD will fight for you” What a concept. The LORD (God of the Angel Armies) will fight for me. My battles will become his as he is my champion. He fought for my salvation on the cross. In sharing this thought an individual took issue with the idea that God would fight all our battles. It was their opinion that God picks and chooses the battles he will fight on our behalf. I can see that perspective but I think it is based on a general misconception of ours.

The misconception seems to me, if someone is going to fight our battles for us then we believe we can sit ringside and watch the fray. No personal involvement in the action. No blood, guts or bruises it will be done for us Not by us. That would be great. God the magician Abra-ca-dabra, presto change-o it’s done and better. Here just take this pill and no heart attack or instant weight loss, eat whatever you want in any quantity you want and you will lose weight. That’s what we think. Reality is different than that. Here is the reality of the Lord fighting for Israel.

¹⁵ The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to break camp. ¹⁶ As for you, lift up your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and horsemen. Exodus 14:15-17 HCSB

“You must be quiet” We can read that they were to be quiet because they had much to do. Sometimes we need to be quiet and wait. There I said it “wait” the ugliest four-letter-word in the English language. To wait is to be still, to trust, and to rest, to pray for God’s timing and prepare for our part in the process yet to come. What does God do? He gets busy for his children and invites us into the process for his Glory and our Good. There is a chorus of a song I used to sing a long time ago it went,

 “It’s not in trying but in trusting, it’s not in running but in resting, it’s not in wondering but in praying that we find the strength of the Lord.”

“The LORD will fight for you. You must be quiet” [and wait]

In HIS Service and Yours,

BroG