June is Jesus month, “What shall we call Him?” Day 18

Psalm 143:7,8 “Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the pit. Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning, for I have put my trust in You. Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.”

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It appears I spend more and more time studying. The wealth of knowledge available to me seems to drag me to an ever-expanding desire to learn. There are times in which the words of Jesus just bloom in my mind, and I am overwhelmed.  In this path of discovery, the Bible opens itself and God speaks.  Hurriedly, I write a note or two down to share and with those notes, there is a building process that expands.  This expansion often becomes more than can be used in a single daily post. Nevertheless, the best part is the writing.  There are times when an idea becomes so ingrained in my heart, it seems to simply flow out. Every day begins with the special satisfaction of sharing these thoughts with all that would take the time to read.

I know that for some this daily rant and revelation it may well go without reading.  That is OK.  My task is to write, and in that effort, there is something for me.  Occasionally there is a comment or a shared viewpoint in return. Writing is my way of learning.  I share out of my heart.  And that is good enough. I am assured that there are moments when lives were changed with slight veers in their individual paths. Writing is a privilege, a blessing, and a calling.  I am taught.  I am an echo. I am blessed.

What shall we call him?  “Teach me the way I should walk, for to You I lift up my soul.” Jesus the teacher!

#Just Larry

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Isaiah 66:12 “For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees.”

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The mightiest river begins in small places. Its ultimate end begins at its unassuming beginning. A drip from a mountainside to a brook whispering in its beginning. It joins other similar sources rushing down from high cliffs carving its path as it goes. There is an assumed purpose to it. Pulled ever downward to the ever-slowing lowlands. The river moves ever slower and slower to its ultimate end as it joins the ocean and is lost in its vastness.

My life has had its fast times, filled with purpose and decisions. Now, as my flow slowly descends from the high mountain, my days of rashness and physicality slow and moves to completion in the totality of God. Every mile I move closer to the ultimate source of all water.  In my course, I must transition from a physical purpose to a more spiritual one. Now is the time for slow recollections and attempts to understand the life I have lived.

I guess Isaac Newton said it well, and I paraphrase here, “My worldly usefulness is the last idol I am willing to part with—but the Lord will enable me to give even this up.”

What shall we call him? Jesus the Course of Life!

# Just Larry

June is Jesus month, “What shall we call Him?” Day 7

John 1:3 Through Him all things were made; without Him, nothing was made that has been made.

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From the first electron circling around a single proton, to the UY Scuti a hypergiant star with a diameter that is around 1,700 times larger than the sun, all were made through him. Creator of the smallest and the largest.  Creator of every piece and all pieces. Creator of individual and the total. My creaky knees are made up of the very stuff Jesus made an eternity ago.  I may pattern, construct, re-vamp, sort, refine, invent, combine, stir, cook, and even try to destroy. Yet they are all actions based upon the “all things were made”.

What boggles my mind is that everything in heaven and earth, the visible and the invisible, was created for Jesus and by Jesus and Jesus holds them all together. Colossians 1:19-17.

You are a creation of God, do you believe it?

So what shall we call Him?  Creator.

#JustLarry

The Cornerstone

Psalm 118:22-26 “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. Lord, save us! Lord, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.  From the house of the Lord we bless you.”

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Popularity is not a measure of worth.  Any examination of social media will reveal a silent cry of those who would be popular. Most determine their worth by the number of likes or comments to some wit or witticism garnered from someone else.  Posts are re-posted, and re-posted; all be noticed and accepted.   Each is a whimper of the un-noticed pleading “Look at me”.

I do, what I do, not to give me worth, but to bless the name of the Lord.  It does not matter if any of these words are read or even followed. You may reject me: that is what I deserve.  These words are a way to rejoice.  I am writing to be glad. I write these words to give honor and praise to a rejected stone made primary.  I write to count myself among the rejected because Jesus is the cornerstone. Only Jesus can be the basis of my life, my work, my musings, my life. 

Where is your cornerstone of life?

What do you do to give honor and praise to the foundation of the world?

He is the cornerstone!

#JustLarry

James 4:7 – Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

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When the first couple of earth made a decision to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree, they thought their actions would do no harm. But there was harm. The harm was a separation from the creator. When Adam and Eve committed the first sin against God, subsequentially they ran to hide from Him. People are still hiding from God today. We hide because of the guilt. We hide because of the shame. We hide because we do not want to be caught. Hiding away from God will not make Him disappear. Those who want to retain their sin will keep it hidden. But God will not be hidden from. If you want to be blessed, you must expose sin—bring it out of the dark and into the light—so that you can obtain mercy.

Do not hide. Do not let your failures, flops, or fears stand between you and the people who love you and want to share your frailty and allow God to lift us all up together.

#JustLarry

Mark 2:7-11 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming; “who can forgive sins but God alone?” Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

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What is life but our response to the world in which we live? When we are hungry, we seek out food. When we take a dive in a pool we want to go to the top to get air. When we stop this response, we die physically. The same principle applies to our spiritual lives. When we respond to it, surrender to it, and receive our very life from it – then we live happily and abundantly. This miracle of healing from Mark reveals both a physical need being met by the healing of a body and a spiritual one of healing of a soul. As much as the man on the pad needed something to be fixed for his body, Jesus saw the greater need for his soul.

It was a choice of Jesus to address the spiritual before the physical. Forgiveness, love, and cleansing are more helpful than the straightening of legs. I have the same choice this morning. Sure, I can pray for less pain in my physical life, but more important than squeaky knees and pain in my back is the state of my soul. I have everything and nothing if I do not have the spiritual first.

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Help me Lord to seek the Kingdom of God first.

#JustLarry

Hebrews 10:22 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.”

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Every culture, every tribe, all peoples, and every age is drawn toward something more than self.  An unseen wind flutters our sails ever so gently pushing us toward the divine. It is a spiritual confirmation, an inward knowledge or witness that makes us human. This kind of confirmation and witness was taught and treasured by great souls throughout the ages. This gentle wind of conscious awareness of the presence of God still moves!

Some would try to ignore this gentle breeze of the divine, but it is still there. Jesus is that gentle breeze.  Jesus is the loving call. Today, I will turn to the direction of God.  Today, I will be drawn with a pure expectant heart. I no longer will I chart the course.  Today I will let go of the rudder and allow God to steer me. Only when I give in to the guidance of God, will I ever find peace.  Only then will my heart be full of assurance of my faith.

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Dear Lord, I pray your wind of direction will remain strong and will guide me today. Renew my conscious acknowledgment of your direction.

#JustLarry

Deuteronomy 7:9. “Therefore, know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.”

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Grace and mercy are not the same. Grace is the unmerited care, concern, and favor shown to me.  Grace is given because of love. Grace is God reaching out to me before I need Him.  Mercy is compassion in our failures.  Mercy is forbearance toward an offender.  Mercy is looking beyond my acknowledged failures and showing love. 

Today the thought that raises my spirit is the inexplicable quantity of kindness that follows me.

My love of God and keeping his commands bleeds down all around me. My goal for today is to be a purveyor of God’s mercy. If mercy is for me, then mercy must be given to all I encounter daily.  I must not surrender to thoughts that would choke off the supply given to me. My mercy is a responsibility to have mercy. I must be filled with thoughts of love and acceptance. We are expected to have mercy in the same amount as we have received.  The scales are always tipped toward the provision God has poured out for me. We love the unlovely so that they may also be bearers of mercy.

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Lord, pour into my life mercy so that I might share examples of mercy in my thoughts, attitudes, and actions.

#JustLarry

Hillside Thoughts for Friday

Matthew 5:28  “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

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The teaching continued with a comparison between the law of the Pharisees and the living law of Jesus. In this comparison, Jesus used an example from the big 10 handed down to Moses.  Infidelity, the unfaithfulness of love, an act of betrayal. The disciples look at each other with a calm assurance, “Not much of that going on here.” But Jesus goes further and points to the attitude of betrayal.  To look with a wrong motive is now out of bounds. Jesus was explaining to us hillside dwellers that betrayal is more than an outward act.

Quite a few of the multitude take a dramatic breath.  They are shocked.  It is easy to say I have not betrayed anyone. Nevertheless, Jesus was saying a simple and seemingly uncontrollable desire brings with it guilt. Jesus was making us all guilty before God. If the constraining law was only the outward act there would be puffed up chests and egos. The inward was a betrayer.

This view into the intent of God had little to do with outward acts. My outward righteousness is not enough. My ability to do the right thing at the right time in the right place was not enough.  I need God’s righteousness in my life. It is provided by Him for me.  The law should drive us to Jesus.