Tag Archives: redemption

Half Full

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I had to shovel today. Twice. Living in Wisconsin can be frustrating. We have all four seasons but they don’t seem to be equal in length. Winter (cold, snow, ice etc.) seems to last 10 months with the other two months being composed of the other three seasons. Yes, I exaggerate but not by much. =-)

But as I kept throwing snow over my shoulder today, I was thinking about the warm weather that is soon approaching. It won’t be too long before I am outside wearing shorts. I look forward to cutting the grass again. But some people call me an optimist.

Yes, I am an optimist. You know why? Hope. That one word is reason enough to be an optimist. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic (hopeful) in this world but we don’t have time to list them all here.

But hope can be fleeting. I mean that my hope in stuff, events, or even people can be broken or disappointed. That hurts. Generally speaking, no one tries to let me down or do something that would hurt the hope I have but it happens. Life can be filled with despair.

So what?

Romans 5:5 says, “And hope does not disappoint us,” The hope that is talked about here DOES NOT bring shame or disgrace. It DOES NOT put us to utter confusion. It DOES NOT disappoint. That is the kind of hope that never lets me down.

To really get the whole picture, read Romans 4 and 5. It will explain why there can be hope and what our hope is in. If my hope is correctly placed then I won’t need to live in despair anymore.

When my kids are fighting…I can have hope.

When my wife and I are in a disconnect moment…I can have hope.

When my job really sucks…I can have hope.

When my body hurts just because I am over 40…I can have hope.

When I have to shovel snow, again…I can have hope.

When my former addiction flares up…I can have hope.

When ________________…I can have hope.

I can have hope BECAUSE…of Jesus Christ. It is all about what He did. Whatever is happening right now is does not change the fact that Jesus loves me and died for my sins. Like I said, Romans 4 and 5, is a really good place when looking for hope.

For the rest of this month Hope is the topic.

So today, week 1, the Person of Hope is Jesus Christ

Until next week, have hope. Is your glass half full?

half full 2

Again…and again…yet again.

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When I was a kid, I fell constantly. As an athletic boy, I was ALWAYS the messiest boy out there. Whether making a sliding tackle or sliding into second base, I was repeatedly getting dirty. The tops of my knees are permanently scarred from all of the scraps. It’s not that I was clumsy or uncoordinated, but rather, I played with passion. Baseball was my best sport. I played third base. Making a diving catch was the highlight reel that played over and over in my mind…and sometimes, it really happened!

Even now, in my forties, I play softball. I feel like I played my best when I can slide. Oh, and just in case you are wondering, I always slide head first. I have more fun that way. =-) In fact, I need to wear pants (as opposed to shorts) so that when I do slide, the wounds are much less severe.

The picture is Pete Rose, not me. Pete Rose and Roy Staiger

The other kind of falling down is the kind that is not so fun. In baseball, sometimes you strike out. In soccer, sometimes the other guy gets past you. Maybe you didn’t get that promotion for which you were hoping. It might have been the harsh words you had with your spouse. Or, if things are really bad, you lose a job because of some bad choices. The gambling problem eats away your savings account. The affair you thought you never would have has become reality. You fell down. Mistakes were made and you fell down.

Now you have a choice. Get up or stay down?

If I did not have a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe, I would say that getting up is stupid or useless. Just get another job. Just file bankruptcy. Divorce is so common these days. Move away to another state. Yea…just stay down.

But I do have an ongoing relationship with the Almighty God and so I say get up. Yes, I fell down. But I am playing with passion right? So I am going to get up and keep going.

Whether you are down because of your own doing or something that has happened to you, make the choice and allow God’s grace to help you back up on your feet.

Here is what God’s word says about us when we fall down, “for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10. When we fall, He is right there next to us.

He will help you get up. He is ready to brush off the dust. He will give you a pat on the back. He will tell you that He loves you. He will teach you something. He will remind you that His plan for you only works if you get up.

Take it from someone who has fallen way too many times to count, getting back up is always the best choice.

 

Noah 2.0

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Hello Friends!

So my last post was…it was bad. Not that I said anything I didn’t think was true but I just didn’t say much. No substance, just fluff. My goal today is two-fold:

1. to add some substance to the fluff 

2. to challenge anyone reading to open their own Bible and begin reading

 

1. In the movie, Noah, there were errors. In the ark, there were 7 people: Noah, his wife, his oldest son and his wife, his two other sons, and the bad guy.

The bible says that there were 8 people; Noah and his three sons and their wives. See Genesis 6:18.

2. In the movie, the wife of the oldest son gives birth to twins while sailing on the ark.

The Bible, in Genesis 9:1, God says to multiply and fill the earth. There were no ark-born children.

3. The last discrepancy I want to make is about the Watchers. In the movie, these creatures were angels that came to earth to be with humans. The couldn’t show their true selves so God clothed them in rock and stone. They looked more like something you would find in a Lord of the Rings movie.

In Chapter 6 of Genesis, there is talk of the Nephilim. This can be better read giants. But they were not clothed in rock and stone.

 

There were more examples but for now, that seems like enough. On to the application.

Noah and the Ark is a literal story. It really happened. Besides being an actual event, it is also a symbol of something that is yet to come.

God wanted to destroy the world because of all the wickedness that He saw. He also saw that Noah was righteous. The Ark saved all the righteous people and destroyed the wickedness.

When Jesus arrives on the scene many, many years later, He is also an Ark. Because of the sin that all humans are born into, God wants to destroy that sin. He is holy and just so He can’t stand to look upon that sin. Jesus is the Ark so if someone is in the Ark when the flood (judgment) comes, they will be saved.

 

So by faith, you and I can be saved today. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

 

I challenge you to pick up your Bible and read the Noah account. Besides being a great story, it also gives us hope that God, who is loving and just, has made a plan for us. If you find yourself wondering or questioning, ask me or someone you trust. There is help and hope for you.

 

By the way, there is plenty of room for all of us. See you on the ark!

My Haiti Experience; Chosen…part 2

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The last post left us with smooth sailing along with Jonah. He was on his way to Tarshish. That was the west, the wrong way. Let’s pick up the story.

When we make choices that displease God, I think His heart gets heavy. Yes, we can make the Almighty Creator feel sad. He loves us and has the best life in mind for us. So why don’t we trust Him? Now we find Jonah in a boat heading west. He paid the fee and is feeling sleepy, so he goes below deck and naps. (1:4) But then the wind kicks up. A storm starts blowing and howling. It is described as “a violent storm.”(1:5) Even the sailors were afraid, and Jonah is found sleeping! It was bad enough that the captain had to find Jonah and ask him to pray, but he didn’t know that Jonah was in no spiritual condition to pray! (1:6)

Let me just ask one question. But before you finish reading this article, take a moment to answer this question in your own mind and heart; “Is it ever worth it to run from the Lord?”

So let’s skip to verse 17 of the first chapter. I know I jumped over some important ideas in the chapter, so when you have time, it makes a great read. This is an important verse so I will include it here. “Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”

I think God got Jonah’s attention.

At the beginning of the story, God chose Jonah to go to Nineveh. Nineveh was a physical place with a spiritual purpose. I think that any place can be significant in God’s eyes. May I suggest that God has a reason for the fish even though Jonah was supposed to go to Nineveh? It comes to this: God chose Jonah and then sent a fish to get Jonah’s attention. Here are my thoughts on why God used the fish.

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1. It was to save Jonah’s life. He would have drowned if God did not intervene.

2. It was to serve Jonah a lesson. The intensity of our disobedience is directly related to the intensity of God’s discipline.

3. It was to show Jonah love. He could have let Jonah drown, but he didn’t. He could have called another prophet to Nineveh, but he didn’t. He could have sent fire and brimstone to destroy the wicked city, but he didn’t. Instead, God demonstrated His love for Jonah.

So here is where the “rubber meets the road.” God has chosen you and me for His purposes. If you find yourself in the fish, turn your heart back to God. Here are the first few words of Jonah’s prayer: “From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”
God will answer. So stop going west (away) from God and head east (toward) Him.