What Is It?
I miss the younger years of parenting. Not me being younger. But the kids being younger. Don’t get me wrong, I love parenting teenagers. As a parent, that’s my sweet spot. But I miss when they were two, three, four and five years old.
When they were that young, everything was new to them. And it was fun helping them experience those new things. Like jumping off the side of a pool. As a parent, you know the fun and joy they will experience. But for them, they haven’t experienced that joy quite yet. And so their focus was on the fear they feel. They’d look at me. Look at the ledge and the drop to the water. Then they’d look back at the cement they were standing on and would start to walk backwards to what was familiar. But after a few words to make them feel better and helping them “jump” into the water, they’d eventually trust their mommy and daddy and jump themselves.
Then, in the very same summer after trusting their daddy and jumping into the pool, I remember taking a trip to a water park with friends. You know what’s at water parks, right? Yup. Water slides. Once again, as a parent, I could look at that slide and my kids and know the joy they’d experience going down that slide into a pool of water. So I took the kids up to the top of the slide, talking up the excitement and how fun and cool it was going to be to slide down the water slide into a pool of water. But once we got up to the top of the slide, fear crept back in and they insisted on not going down the water slide. They instead wanted to go back down the stairs to the familiarity of what they already knew.
I don’t suggest this as a parent, but when Carter was four or five, I actually picked him up, sat him down, then pushed him down the slide as he screamed throughout the process. Once down, he came running back up to go down the slide by himself.
Time and time again through different experiences our kids would have to learn to trust and depend on their parent over and over again even though we’d proven trustworthy through previous experiences. Time and time again they’d crave and desire the familiar over choosing to depend and trust the call of their mommy and daddy. That doesn’t change with age. And it hasn’t changed throughout the years. What is true now, was and is true hundreds of years ago.
Check this out:
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. Exodus 16:1-3
Facing the question of where their next meal would come from made them question everything. The Scripture says, “they grumbled against Moses and Aaron.” I believe this is the first reference to a people being “hangry.” Only, it was more than simply being hangry. The Israelites actually wished they were back living as slaves in Egypt.
At this point, the Israelites had already experienced a number of miracles from the Lord. He had turned bitter water that they couldn’t drink into sweet water by having Moses throw a piece of wood into the water. And bigger still, they had just witnessed the Lord parting the Red Sea allowing the Israelites to walk across on dry land with a wall of water to their right and to their left. Once the Israelites had crossed, the Lord allowed the sea to flow again, washing the entire army of Pharaoh to their death.
But now, instead of trusting and having faith in the Lord, they begin to worry that they would die in the desert from hunger and they began to wish for the familiarity of what they had known. And they Lord heard the Israelites grumbling.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. Exodus 16:4
Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Exodus 16:8
In the midst of their worry and their grumbling the Lord heard them and decided to provide for the Israelites once again even as they were grumbling against Him. But this is the Lord’s character. You see, back in Exodus 13, as the Israelites were leaving Egypt, God decided to lead them on a longer path through the Red Sea instead of a shorter path through the land of the Philistines because God knew that if the Israelites faced war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.
Even when the Israelites didn’t know it, God was still looking out for and taking care of them. And, in the midst of their fear and grumbling of where their next meal would come from, God would still keep that commitment to the Israelites.
As I look back over my life, there have definitely been times where I can see how God took care of me… exactly when I didn’t even know it. Protection from dumb decisions I made as a teenager. Doors closing which led to better doors opening. The list could go on and on. And I’m sure, if you look back on your life, you would see the same thing.
So, here the Israelites are. Grumbling against a God who has already provided visual miracles for their safety. Grumbling against a God who had already provided protection that they didn’t know about. And now, Aaron is standing before them, speaking to the whole Israelite community. And as they looked toward the desert… the desert they’d be wondering through for 40 years… and what did they see?
The glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.
While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. Exodus 16:10
In the midst of their fear. In the midst of their grumbling. In the midst of their worry and their desire to just go back to what is familiar. In the midst of their desert, the Lord God was there with them. What is true hundreds of years ago is still true today. While God was with the Israelites in their desert, God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit is with us in our desert. You see, God doesn’t just lead us through our desert, He’s there with us in it.
And then the Scripture goes on to say…
That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’” Exodus 16:13-16
The word, manna, literally means, “What is it?” That’s what the Israelites first reaction to what the Lord provided. Manna is the clear example of the Israelites’ dependence on God was. They had to rely on Him every day for 40 years just to survive. But this isn’t anything new, it’s just different. They had to rely on God to change Pharaoh’s mind to let them go. And when Pharaoh freaked out and changed his mind again, the Israelites had to rely on God to escape from Pharaoh’s army. Time and time again we see the Israelites’ dependence on God while in their desert. And when God says, “Trust me” to the Israelites one more time, we see them again wanting to go back to the familiar out of fear and worry. But God, each time, provided for the needs of the Israelites with just enough for each day… with exactly what they needed to survive for that day.
You see, what’s true hundreds of years ago, is true now…
God is acting on our behalf even when we don’t know it. God shows up in the midst of our desert. And God provides for all of our needs when we follow His Word, His guidance and keep His commands. I pray that you see the Lord and choose Him and His Word even as you read this now.
Are You Ready
As a kid, I loved looking forward to things that were good… Christmas. Birthdays. Getting my drivers license. My first day going away to college. And before college… the last day to any school year when that final bell rang and you got on that bus for the last time before summer.
Anticipation… for the good things, is a feeling like no other. Anticipation for something that isn’t good is… well… not anticipation… it’s dread. That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the feeling of looking forward to something that’s good that’s around the corner. As an adult, this has become counting down the days before a family vacation to our favorite place in the States… Charleston, South Carolina.
Jami and I took a trip there last July for our anniversary… and we fell in love with that place. Now, we’re planning on taking our kids back there this June to see a Charleston Battery soccer game. And we can’t be more excited to show them what we experienced. Including showing Morgan the locations where Outer Banks is filmed! (In all honesty, I’m just as stoked to go back to those locations.)
I really can’t wait to get back to Charleston and take our kids along. I’m sure we all have our stories of anticipation. Childhood stories. Adulting stories. And as we read God’s Word, there’s another group of folks who might have had the same anticipation story as us. Check it out:
So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’” Joshua 1:10-11
For 40 years… FORTY. YEARS. The Israelites had been wandering around in the desert waiting for this moment. For 40 years they couldn’t enter the land that had been promised to them because of their disobedience to God. You see, God promised Abraham that there would be a Promised Land for the Israel nations to come out of his son, Isaac. And after God freed the Israelite slaves from Egypt through Moses, they ran low on their food to live. So much so that they wished they were back in the good old days of slavery in Egypt where they didn’t have to worry about where their food would come from. But God didn’t leave them to starve and instead provided manna to them all.
At one point, God told Moses to send twelve spies into the land of Canaan, one spy for every tribe of Israel. The spies went out and traveled the land for forty days. The spies came back and reported to Moses what they saw. The land was flowing with milk and honey. There were many places to grow food as farmers. But there were also many strong clans of people living there and many of the spies were afraid of them.
Caleb and Joshua wanted to lead the Israelites to take the land right away. They weren’t afraid of the Canaanites. The other spies lied and said that they saw very tall and strong people, some of them the size of giants. When the Israelites heard this, they became angry with Moses for leading them out of Egypt. They were afraid, too, and cursed God for bringing them there. They forgot God’s promise that he would help them.
God was angry with the Israelites for their complaints. They didn’t trust in Him no matter how many signs and gifts He gave to them. Moses prayed for forgiveness on behalf of the people. “Forgive the mistakes of this people according to the greatness of your steadfast love,” he prayed. The Lord responded, “I do forgive, just as you have asked, but I will punish this generation of people for their lack of faith. You will wander in the desert for forty years, the same number as the number of days you spied out the land.”
Then, after 40 years, Joshua gives the order to the people… Get ready. You only have to wait THREE MORE DAYS! Can you imagine what they must have been feeling!? What must they have been thinking? The anticipation must have been like they hadn’t felt before.
The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. Moses and the Israelites had to have struggled at times throughout those 40 years. Life was probably hard at times. I don’t know where you’ve been these last 40 years. These last 40 months. Or these last 40 days. Maybe you’ve been through hell. It might have been rough at times. Things might have been a struggle. Life may have certainly been hard and in your life you may feel like you’ve been wandering.
But God is telling you right now that your promise land is waiting for you right now to cross over. God is telling you right now that there is a better life to be lived and that He will provide for you if you will simply put your trust and faith in Him. And while He has a promise land for you to find, just like the Israelites, in order to find it there’s a couple of things God wants you to do to see it.
First, keep your eye on the Word of the Lord and follow it. Then you will know which way to go… you will know how to live.
Joshua 3:3-4 says, “…When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before.”
You see, in order to know how to get to our promise land… In order for us to know how God wants us to live, we need to keep His word continuously in front of us. When we do that, then can we know how to get to the promise land He’s provided and how to live.
Second, consecrate yourselves to God. In other words, promise yourself to God and follow Him. Devote yourself to following God. It’s surrendering all of you to all of Him. It’s a simple recognition that every second of your time, every ounce of your energy, and every penny of your money is a gift from God and for God. Consecration is an ever-deepening love for Jesus, a childlike trust in your heavenly Father, and a blind obedience to the Holy Spirit.
Joshua 3:5 says, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
When we consecrate ourselves to God… When we recognize that every second of our time, energy and money is a gift from God and for God, then can He do amazing things with and for and through our lives. Then can we enter the promise land.
I don’t know where you’re at right now. Whether you’re just entering your desert. Or whether you feel like you’ve been wandering for years. But I do know this, God wants you to enter your promised land. He has promised a better way of life. And it’s right around the corner waiting for you.
Can you feel the anticipation? I can. And God can too. The question is…
Are you ready for God's promised land in your life!?
You Don't Have to Fight Alone
This spring break we headed back down to Florida. In the past, we’ve gone to the Gulf side to Siesta Key. This time, since it was just with our immediate family, we decided to go to areas we haven’t been to. So Jami and I took the kids to Fort Lauderdale, Key West and ended in Miami.
One of the things we got to do has been on my bucket list for quite some time… An airboat tour of the Florida Everglades. The tour guide was amazing. The boat ride was crazy fun. And seeing alligators in their natural habitat was stupid cool. It’s one thing to see them at the zoo. It’s something completely different to see how they live and what they do naturally in the wild… in their natural habitat.
Florida was a great family getaway. We had a blast. And then… back to reality where life has a way of catching up to you.
As I sit down to write this, I’m tired. Exhausted. Mentally spent. Physically drained. Jami’s in the same spot… probably more so. You see, just prior to heading out for spring break, we received news that Jami’s biopsy on a nodule near her thyroid tested positive for Thyroid cancer. The genetic testing indicated that there is a 95% chance that it’s cancer.
This biopsy result is a culmination of about a four-week wait to find out the definitive results. Two weeks to learn that the initial biopsy was suspicious. And another two and a half weeks for the genetic testing to get back. And now, a few more weeks of waiting for Jami’s surgery on May 7 to have her Thyroid removed.
The initial thoughts of her doctors indicate that it’s papillary cancer… otherwise known as the “good kind” of thyroid cancer. While this lends to a great diagnosis, there’s still the worry for when Jami goes in for her surgery.
I’ve never been in a physical battle… in war. But the last five weeks and going into the next few weeks before surgery has and definitely will be a battle… physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
And so, there are things we know at this point about Jami’s results. And there are still some unknowns that we can’t know until the surgery itself.
But we also know that, throughout human history, God has told His people that He goes before us. The fight we face was never meant to be fought alone. As the Israelites were fleeing the Egyptians, He parted the Red Sea so that they could cross then allowed the sea to close on the pursuing Egyptians. As the Israelites were wondering in the wilderness for 40 years He provided food to keep them alive and never allowed their clothes to wear out. And just before the Israelites were to cross the Jordan into the promise land, He renewed the covenant with His people through Moses. He was reminding Moses and the Israelites of everything He had done for them. And then He said this...
When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against US, but WE defeated them. Deuteronomy 29:7
It's not lost on me that God could have said, ..."came out to fight against YOU, but YOU defeated them." He didn't. The words He chose were specific and on purpose. Jami and our family is facing a battle. A fight. Physical. Mental. Emotional. And spiritual. It's clear throughout Scripture that we, as God's creation, don't have to fight alone. He is out before us. Fighting with us.
I don’t know what battle you’re currently facing… Whether it’s mental, physical, emotional or all of the above. But I do know this… as God’s creation, you don’t have to fight alone. Time and time again we can see as we read God’s Word, that He is fighting for us… He is fighting out in front of us… And He is fighting alongside us.
And secondly, God provides people to stand beside us. Check this out:
When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. Exodus 17:12-13
You see, when Moses’ hands grew tired and dropped, the Amalekite army would begin to win the battle. But when Moses’ hands remained up, the Israelites would gain the advantage. The problem… Moses couldn’t keep his hands up by himself. He needed his friends to come alongside him for help. And that’s ok. We all need help at times. And God knows that. Even as God fights before us and alongside us, He also provides people to stand beside us as well.
And if you’re not currently in a battle… if you aren’t facing a battle, you might be the friend that God provides to walk alongside someone who does.
You don’t have to fight alone.
A Seat at the Table
Easter
I loved this holiday growing up. We’d always have an Easter basket with candy, a couple of toys and that colorful Easter grass. Our parents would also hide hard-boiled eggs we had decorated around the house. There was more than one occasion where we couldn’t find all the eggs. And of course mom and dad couldn’t remember where they hid them. Only after a few months did we find them… Not because anyone found them because we saw them. No… we eventually found them by following the foul odor of a rotten egg.
As fun as Easter was growing up. It’s so much more than just eggs, toys, Easter grass and cute little bunnies. Check this out:
Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?” When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Mark 2:15-17
Easter. Jesus didn’t go the the cross for “good” people. God didn’t send His Son to die for “perfect” people. The Messiah didn’t rise from the dead for people who don’t have a “past” a “history” or a “current reality.” You see, it was the “perfect” people… the “good” people… the teachers of the religious law… the pharisees who were looking from the outside in at the table of Jesus. It was the people who were hated… people who were despised, people who had terrible reputations… in the words of the “good” people, it was the scum of the earth who had a seat at the dinner table of Jesus.
In other words… it was me. It was you. This isn’t a one-time deal with Jesus. He was known to spend time with people like this during His life. And, just before He was to be betrayed, He held one more meal where He invited His friends to eat with Him. The people who spent the most time with Him during His ministry were invited to the table… His disciples. The very people who traveled with Him. And…
The one who would betray Him.
And Jesus knew this. He knew that Judas would, the very next night, hand Him over to be murdered. But that’s the very heart of Jesus. To give His life… even for the very ones who we think don’t deserve His love and grace.
After He was betrayed and taken for trial, He stood before Pilate and next to a man named Barabbas. Now Barabbas was in prison for a reason… he was involved in an insurrection and had committed murder during the uprising. Pilate, not wanting to make what he knew to be the right decision, asked the crowd whom they wanted released… Jesus or Barabbas. Like any mob, there were bad actors who stirred up the crowd… the chief priests… who called for Barabbas to be released. There was one huge problem with this though. You see, just before the Lord was going to take the Israelites into the promised land way back before Jesus came, God wanted to remind the Israelites of the priorities of God. One of the legal requirements for the Israelites to follow was directly related to Barabbas. Check this out:
Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death. Numbers 35:31
The chief priests hated Jesus because He didn’t follow their laws. They wanted to kill Him because He was/is the fulfillment of the law. And now, they wanted to break a law that the Lord had spoken to them through Moses. A law that they knew the Lord had spoken. But they didn’t care. Their hate had overcome their minds and hearts. Talk about hypocrisy!
Jesus knew all these laws as well. But He kept silent. He could have spoken up and defended Himself. But He didn’t say a word. It was God’s purpose… It was Jesus’ purpose to go to the cross for the chief priests, the pharisees and Barabbas too. And so Jesus willingly went to the cross, hung between two criminals and died what some call a death without dignity. Execution from crucifixion was the cruelest form and was usually only for the worst criminals. Death from asphyxiation usually took many hours to possibly days. For Jesus to willingly die by crucifixion is not a death without dignity… No… it is the most dignified death… because He willingly died for you and me and Barabbas and the pharisees… for the best of us and the worst of us.
And then, three days later, what we now celebrate as Easter, He rose from the sentence of death… From the grave.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.” Mark 16:6-7
You see, Jesus willingly died a horrible criminal’s death. Beaten beyond recognition before being nailed to a cross. Was laid in a tomb. And rose three days later. When Jesus invited the tax collectors and “sinners” to His dinner table He knew He’d be sacrificed and killed. And when He hung on the cross, He knew that He was dying for those same people... and for me and you.
It’s because of Jesus’ death and resurrection that we too now have a seat at His table. This Easter, right now, in the midst of our past and our current reality, Jesus calls to each of us to come and take a seat with Him. It’s my prayer that you’ll accept His invitation to…
Have a a seat at the table… the table of Jesus.
Happy Easter
Fear Is A Liar
There are some things that you try to block from your memory.
Things that are so painful that it shakes you at your core and makes you question everything. I had this happen to me 20 years ago. I was a youth pastor at a small local church in Michigan. It was my first job/church out of college. This particular Sunday we had a parent visit us during our Sunday school hour. Not just any parent, but a parent who was a long standing member and one of the deacons. To say I was nervous was an understatement.
We worked through the lesson I had worked hard on that week and thought it went as well as it could have gone. We finished Sunday school and sat through the church service. After church got over, I stayed around to talk to the kids and other adults. Once we were finished talking and ready to head out, I looked up and noticed that this parent was making his way up to me from the back of the church.
I don’t know what I expected to hear. But what he said destroyed me. “Todd, I feel like God is telling me that you need to quit. Your message was awful. I just don’t think He’s going to use you as a youth pastor.” Then he walked away.
I stood there alone. Crushed. I wish I could tell you that I called him a week later to remind him that we took over a youth group that had five kids and built it up to over 65 kids in a matter of a year. I wish I could tell you that I called him up to remind him of the kids we built relationships with, some of whom we ended up having contact with for over ten years.
I didn’t. The words he spoke to me shook me to my core.
I wish I could say that was the only time I came across someone who has spoken words of hate and hurt to me. But it’s not. And I’m sure there are a few of you that can relate.
Or maybe you can relate to this story. I struggled with self confidence about my weight growing up. When you hear about a story of a kid growing up struggling with weight issues, you might think of a kid who might be massively overweight. You see, for me, I was super skinny… tiny… not strong… sometimes Skeletor-like.
This is a photo of me when I was about 12 years old (I'm the one on the left.) My nickname on my high school baseball team was Keebler… you know, like Keebler the elf. Growing up a super skinny kid was just as hard as growing up as an overweight kid. I wish I could say that being made fun of didn’t affect me. But it did. And I’m sure there are a few of you that can relate.
Maybe you’ve been exactly where I am… either as a kid or as an adult. And whether you have or you haven't, I want you to see this because it has the power to change your life… check it out:
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
1 John 4:16
The verse above is the foundational truth that we need to keep in mind as we read the next few verses…
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates his brother or sister is a liar. 1 John 4:18-20
Love and Fear. They simply cannot live together. The two cannot co-exist… ever.
Maybe you’ve been where I’ve been. You hear and remember the voices of criticism, of hate… things you’ve tried to block from your memory but fear comes creeping in and starts telling you lies about yourself. Lies like, “You’re not good enough. You’re not strong enough. You’re not beautiful. You’re not loved. You’re not worthy.”
If you’ve been there, or you’re there right now, hear this…
This fear is not from God. It’s from the devil himself. Check this out:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. Revelation 12:10
The devil would love nothing more than to devour you. He hates God and therefore hates mercy, and grace, and love, and truth. Every fear that you feel and hear in your head is a lie from the father of lies. Check this out:
He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44
Don’t believe the lies. God says you are beautiful. God says you are worthy. Loved. And enough. You are made in the image of God Himself.
I wish I could say that I don’t go back to the dark places of the words that were spoken to me 20 years ago… or even to words that were typed in a message to me three months ago. But every so often I am tempted to dwell on the fear of maybe I’m not good enough… maybe I shouldn’t be following the call of God on my life… if only people knew how messed up I am… they would know for sure I’m not good enough.
And then Jami reminds me "that the enemy uses the lies in our head to try to keep us from doing what we’re called to do." You see, God gives each of us gifts out of love. And when we think of that, we can cast our fear into the fire as we remember that He loves us… He is love… and fear has no place in us as we call on the name of Jesus to save us and live within our lives.
The reality is that I’m not good enough. But thank God that He is. Thank God that it’s no longer I that am living… but the very Spirit of the living God within me.
And that’s enough. Because God tells me I’m enough. And He is telling you that you are enough. Fear is a liar. The father of lies is the father of fear. But God… God is love and there is no fear in love.
In the Center
Teaching a child how to drive is one of the most challenging parenting experiences I’ve ever faced.
It’s also one of the most fun too…
Jami and I have been teaching Carter how to drive for the last year and a half. And as I began to ride shotgun while Carter got behind the wheel to drive, it became very clear to me that I make what seems like hundreds of little decisions almost simultaneously as I drive.
For instance, when you change lanes you aren’t simply getting over to the right or the left. No. You are quite literally…
Initiating the thought about changing lanes, deciding on when/where to change lanes, checking the rearview mirror, checking the side mirror, checking rear view mirror, looking over your shoulder, putting on turn signal, beginning to turn the steering wheel, watching the traffic in front of you and end the change of lane in the lane that you needed to be in.
All of these things are happening simultaneously… all at once. Like any kid, learning how to drive doesn’t happen overnight. There’s so many things going on around them, and that can be overwhelming. It’s at the very least distracting.
There was one time when I was learning how to drive when I was a kid. (I’ve never told this to anyone.) Mom was in the passenger seat. I was driving on the south side of South Bend and pulled up to a four-way stop. As I pulled up, I was sure that it was my turn to go. So as I started to pull away from the stop sign, the car to my left started to pull away as well. I didn’t see the lady until she blew her horn at me. As I was in mid-turn to my left, I looked at the lady as we passed by and…
Flipped. Her. Off. With. My. Mom. Sitting. Right. Beside. Me.
To make matters worse, instead of keeping my focus on the road, my focus had switched completely to this lady and the bird to which I was flipping as I continued the left turn just past the lady’s rear bumper nearly missing the curb as my mom screamed, “Todd” which snapped me back to where my focus needed to be... on the road.
There are so many distractions while driving. I guess I completely forgot about them until I started teaching Carter how to drive. It’s really a great analogy to life too. And God knew this as well… check this out:
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “The Israelites are to camp around the Tent of Meeting some distance from it, each man under his standard with the banners of his family.” Numbers 2:1-2
Israel had been on this Exodus journey for more than a year and had assembled just about any way they had pleased. But now, ready to enter into the Promised Land, they had to take the next step in organization: Ordering themselves. At the center of this order was the tabernacle itself. The tribes would arrange themselves to the east, south, west, and north in relation to the tabernacle. Since the tabernacle was symbolically the presence of God with them, this meant all order in Israel began being centered around God Himself.
The way they were instructed to camp became a visual reminder, each time they put up their tents, of what should be at the center of their lives... the very presence of God.
And as we read God’s Word, and see His Truths, we can get a glimpse at what should be at the center of our lives. You see, when we place our camp around Jesus… around God’s Truths, the camp of our friendships, the camp of our work, the camp of our family and home… our focus can remain on what is right and good. When we camp our lives around God and keep our focus on Jesus, it makes it less likely that we’ll veer off to the side of the road nearly crashing into a curb and oncoming traffic, and possibly destroying our lives and the lives of those closest to us.
The other interesting thing about this passage is this… it isn’t only talking about individual people… it says,
“…each man under his standard with the… Banners. Of. His. Family.”
Guys. Where you camp your life… what and who you camp your life around, you will take your family with you. Ladies… you’re not off the hook. Where you camp your life… what and who you camp your life around, there will be your family.
There’s a lot of things that we can center our lives around… but there’s only one person who provides hope and love and grace if we camp our lives around Him.
I pray that we all camp around the presence of the Almighty God… Yaweh.
How Do You Find God
A couple of weeks ago, we were driving back from one of Morgan’s Penn Competition Poms competitions in St. Johns, Indiana. To get there, we had to use Apple Maps. Without a GPS… or if you’re as old as I am, a traditional map, we would have never found where Morgan and her team were competing.
While we were driving back home, we turned on one of our favorite YouTubers, podcasters and musicians. During his podcast, he was reading questions from his listeners… questions about music, family and life in general. Then he read this question from a soldier who had fought and killed people for our country. The question?
“How do you find God?”
My heart jumped. I literally sat up in my seat. One, to hear how he would answer. And two, because this is a question that has been getting me excited over the last few months. And as he was talking, I was yelling in my mind… “Tell him about Moses! Tell him about Moses!”
Most everyone has heard of Moses. Leader of the Israelites. He led the Israelites out from under the hand of the Egyptians. Was the communicator of God to His people. Brought down the Ten Commandments to Israel. If you asked people to name someone from the Bible, his name would surely be one of the firsts.
But I didn’t think of Moses because he went out specifically looking for God. No. Quite the opposite. And his story isn’t “clean” either. Check this out…
After Moses had grown up, he went out to where his people were and watched them work. You see, Moses was a Hebrew who was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter. So he didn’t grow up with or live with the other Hebrews. While he was out, he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. After checking to see if anyone was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian. Not only did he kill him, he actually hid his body in the sand.
Unfortunately for Moses (or fortunately… depends on how you look at the story), he wasn’t as slick as he thought he was and Pharaoh found out and green lit a hit on him. Everyone knew what Moses had done and Pharaoh wanted him dead. So Moses decided to do what anyone of us would do and go on the run. While he lived in Midian, he came across some girls who were being hassled by some shepherds while they were trying to get water for their father’s flock of animals.
Like any guy might do, he decided to step in to help and not only rescued the girls but also watered their animals… a real mac daddy move. The girls went back home, told their father what happened and the father not only invited him to have dinner with them, but also gave his daughter, Zipporah, to Moses in marriage.
They had a son, and after a while the Pharaoh who wanted Moses dead had died. And now, the Israelites cried out to God because of their slavery in Egypt. And. God. Heard. Their. Cries. Check this out…
Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. Exodus 3:1
God is often times found in what feels like the far side of the desert... the hot, dry land… in the far side of our struggles and our guilt and hurt and pain. But if we keep going, we will see the mountain of God.
It goes on to say…
There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush… When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, Moses! Moses! Exodus 3:2, 4
And after God told Moses that he would be the one to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, God said…
And God said, “I will be with you.” Exodus 3:12
You see, Moses didn’t go looking for God. God went looking for Moses. And this isn’t the only time this happened. It happens all the time in the Bible. God looked for Adam and Eve in the garden after they sinned. Jesus went looking for Saul, a murderer of people who followed Jesus. God looked for Hagar. He looked for and found Jacob. Jesus looked for, found and called the 12 disciples.
And God is doing the same for you. Calling your name, reaching out to you even as you read this. The reality is, is that you don’t have to find God… He is looking for you. You don’t need Apple Maps or a GPS to find God. He’s right in front of you, calling your name. And the God who is looking for you can be found in the Bible. In the book of Exodus. The same God who called Moses, a murderer, is the same God who is calling you.
And if you’re in what feels like a desert right now, keep going. God is in the far side of the desert… the far side of our struggles and our guilt and our hurt and our pain. Keep going and you will see the mountain of God.
So, how do you find God? Have eyes to see Him and know He’s already looking for you.
What Are You Facing
I’m the oldest of three boys.
Being the oldest means a few things. One, it means you get to test the waters in every area of life and how far you can go before you get in trouble with mom and dad. It also means that your the child whom mom and dad are the most strict. There are also some fun things like getting to be the first to drive and stay up the latest.
Being the oldest growing up in my family also meant that I went before my younger siblings in school. I can’t tell you how many times I had drilled into my head that I was setting the tone for when my brothers went to school… elementary, middle and high school. Everything I did, everything I said, would reflect on how the teachers and administrators looked at my younger brothers. If I acted a fool, then my two younger brothers would automatically be labeled a fool as they stepped foot into the place I had walked before. And so, I walked through life ahead of my brothers doing my best to prepare the path they were to walk in each of their schools.
Another time when I went out ahead is while we were in the Grand Canyon. I would walk ahead of my kids as we hiked and climbed, taking their hand as they took their next step. Were they scared? Sure. Were they nervous? Absolutely. But their dad went ahead of them to help them deal with and overcome their fears and to let them know that what is unknown to them is known to me.
This idea that someone has gone before us is a powerful one.
Jesus knew this. check this out:
… ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ Matthew 28:7
Can you imagine what the disciples were thinking and feeling? Their Rabbi had just been killed on a cross between two thieves. The Messiah, Jesus, had just been murdered. Not because of any crime He had committed. A riotous crowd filled with anger called for Jesus to be put to death. Were they scared? Were they nervous? Two women who went to see the tomb of Jesus are now telling the disciples that Jesus isn’t there and that an angel said Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee.
You see, this isn’t the first time they heard that Jesus was going to go ahead of them to Galilee. On the night that Jesus was arrested, He told the disciples that He was going to go ahead of them into Galilee after He had risen from the dead. Matthew 26:32
Were the disciples worried about what would be waiting for them in Galilee? Jesus’ trial was brutal… people screaming… they came and arrested Him for no reason… the people were angry and wanted blood.
There were so many unknowns that they were walking into. But Jesus promised that He would go ahead of them into Galilee… into the unknown. That’s what Galilee stands for to me.
This idea that someone has gone before us is a powerful one.
What are you facing right now? Maybe you have children that are struggling academically, socially or with depression because of the separation they find themselves in from their friends and other kids. Maybe you were just laid off from work and now you don’t know how you’re going to pay your bills. Maybe the marriage you thought could last anything is now on its last leg and you don’t know if it can be repaired. Or maybe you’re waiting for test results from a biopsy or scan and you’re left wondering what you’re walking into.
This idea that someone has gone before us is a powerful one.
And it’s been a promise of God that He has fulfilled time and time again.
The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8
I don’t know what your Galilee is, but I do know this… Jesus has gone ahead of you there. You see, it’s not that God doesn’t give us anything we can’t handle… it’s that when we call on the name of Jesus, we can be assured that He has gone before us to our Galilee and has promised to be our strength as we walk into our Galilee together.
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Isaiah 43:1-3
Dead Things
Dead Things
I hate watching anything on the Animal Channel. But especially chase and kill scenes like when a tiger is chasing its prey and then pounces on it to kill it. I can’t do it. Can’t watch it. Can’t even talk about it… especially if I’m eating.
I know. I’m weird. Especially since I’m a guy. My kids think I’m weird. And I guess I am. I don’t like dead things. I remember a time where I was driving to get our favorite Chinese food. On the way back I noticed a dead “something” in the road. I say “something” because I don’t look at whatever the dead thing is in the road. I put my hands at 10 and 2, look straight ahead as I drive over whatever it is that is dead. This time, because of how it was lined up on the road, I couldn’t put my car centered over the dead thing. And as I drove over it, hands at 10 and 2 and staring at the horizon, I felt my tire roll over the dead thing.
My gag reflex immediately started to kick in. My mouth and eyes started watering. And it was all I could do to not throw up as I was driving. To make matters worse, when I got home I couldn’t eat my food. Instead of thinking about my favorite Chinese food, all I could imaging was the feeling of my car’s tire rolling over the dead thing in the road. I couldn’t stomach eating my chicken with garlic sauce. Each bite I swallowed went down in a lump and almost came back up. My eyes are starting to water as I remember this story… and it happened years ago!
Laugh at me. I give you full permission. It really is funny. But it’s true. I can’t do dead things… at all. I can’t talk about them… can’t think about them… especially when I’m eating. It’s juvenile I know. But it’s true.
In Matthew, Mark and Luke, there’s a reference to laughter and a dead girl. Check it out:
When He arrived at the house of Jairus, He did not let anyone go in with him except Peter, John and James, and the child’s father and mother. Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. “Stop wailing,” Jesus said. “She is not dead but asleep.” They laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead. But He took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. Luke 8:51-55
Jesus was first approached by the girl’s father when Jesus arrived back at Galilee and told him that his daughter was dying. As Jesus was on his way to this guy’s house, He was swarmed by enormous crowds. At one point, he stopped to speak with a lady who was desperate to meet Jesus. While He stopped to heal this lady, someone came from Jairus’ house to let him know that his daughter was dead.
Instead of giving up hope, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” Can you imagine all the emotions running through this father’s head. The anguish. The frustration with the crowds stalling Jesus. The feeling of desperation thinking he, as a father, didn’t do enough to save his little girl.
But with Jesus, dead things aren’t necessarily dead.
When Jesus arrived to Jairus’ house, he encountered people outside who were wailing because they believed all hope was lost. They knew that the girl was dead. And when Jesus said that she wasn’t dead and that there was hope…
The laughed at Him… because they “knew” she was dead.
But with Jesus, dead things aren’t necessarily dead.
Jesus took three disciples and the girl’s parents into the house where she was, took her by the hand, told her to get up… and her spirit returned and she immediately stood up.
With Jesus, dead things aren’t necessarily dead.
I don’t know who you are in this story. Maybe you’re the dead girl. And you feel like there’s no hope for you. You’ve done things that you’d be embarrassed if anyone found out. You feel dead inside because of the sin that’s eaten you away, like a tiger chasing down and devouring its prey. Choices that you’ve made that have made you feel like all hope is lost and you feel empty and dead.
But with Jesus, dead things aren’t necessarily dead.
Maybe you’re the people standing outside of the house wailing because you’ve lost hope… you’ve given up on your friend or your spouse, or your child or on humanity in general. Maybe you’ve laughed at Jesus in your actions by not believing in the power of Jesus to change the hearts of those around you to raise humanity out of the despair and death of sin.
Or maybe you’re the father in this story. Who’s heard of Jesus. Who’s searched for Jesus and has found Him. You believe that He is the One who saves and raises lives and relationships from the depths of sin and death. Don’t lose hope.
It doesn't matter if you’re the girl. The people outside. Or the father. Know this…
Dead things aren’t necessarily dead with Jesus.
Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. Romans 6:1-11
When we call on the name of Jesus, dead things are not necessarily dead.
Gate of Heaven
Ghostbusters.
It’s in the top ten of my favorite movies. Not the sequels. Those are trash. The O.G. Ghostbuster movie. Bill Murray. Dan Aykroyd. Sigourney Weaver. Rick Moranis. Ernie Hudson. It was a great movie. On a side note, I wrote alternate lyrics to the Ghostbuster theme song about diarrhea… it was hilarious.
In any case, one of my favorite parts of the movie is when Louis is running around the city asking anyone and anything he can find is the “gatekeeper” to entryway to the evil dimension. At one point, he runs up to a horse, announces he is the key master and asks the horse if it’s the gatekeeper. Rick Moranis is hilarious.
As I was reading a few weeks ago, I ran across a reference to a different kind of gate and it gave me chills. Check this out:
‘He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place? This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”’ Genesis 28:17
Jacob, on the run from his brother and on his way to find a wife, stopped for the night to sleep. During his sleep God came to him full of promises, not the corrections he deserved for taking his older brother’s blessings. Jacob didn’t go looking for God. Instead, God looked for Jacob.
And after waking up from this dream, Jacob declared that the place he was standing was none other than the gate of heaven and named the place, Bethel.
The gate of heaven.
Can you imagine standing there in that place with Jacob? To experience the awe and wonder and majesty of God. To literally be standing at a place where it had to be labeled, the gate of heaven. That must have been crazy…
Except, it isn’t that crazy. It’s something that can happen to each one of us. It happened to Jacob. He didn’t deserve the promises of God. He had just stolen his older brother’s blessing from their father. Instead of receiving a beat down from God, he received blessings. Jacob was far from perfect. He didn’t look for God. God looked for and found Jacob.
And He will do the same with us through His Son Jesus. And instead of making a plot of earth where the gate of heaven is found, He is able to make our very life the gate of heaven, if we let Him.
The choice is ours. Each day we have a choice to have our life be the gate of heaven, or not. And that choice lies in what we allow to flow out of our mouth and our actions. Check this out:
“What goes into a man’s mouth does not make him unclean, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean. Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what makes a man unclean…” Matthew 15:11, 17-20
In other words, your heart is the gate… the gate of heaven or the gate to everything else. I don’t know about you, but without Jesus, my heart would be filled with everything else. My life would be a giant mess. And instead of my life being a gate to heaven, it would be a gate to destruction.
But with Jesus, man, with Jesus my life and your life… our hearts are the gate of heaven. And this is what the gate of heaven lets out… check this out:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-25
This world, this community… your community… needs another gate of heaven… to bring the goodness and faithfulness and grace and promises of God. The question is, will your life be a gate to destruction, or… will your life be a…
Gate of heaven.