Looking but not seeing

Somewhere in time, this week, I have been on vacation.  I will be home tomorrow, but it was nice to sit on the beach and look out at the ocean, even if it was only for a few days.  I’m a people watcher and I had fun watching children play in the water.  One little boy, with a droopy diaper inside his shorts, kept trying to escape up the stairs into the street.  He kept his grandfather hoping as he tried to keep the boy safe. 

It made me wonder if I really look at people in order to see them, or do I just watch as a disinterested third party.  To be honest, I just watch.  When Jesus walked the earth, he really saw people.  He saw into their heart with its hurt and confusion and he offered hope.

Jesus was traveling one day and he went into an area called Gerasenes which was directly across from Galilee.  In this region lived a crazy man.  He lived in the cemetery, he didn’t bath, and his cloths were torn. He had convulsions that were so hard, he would end up in a pit or hurting himself in other ways.  The town’s people tried to care, they bound him with chains, but he broke them.  They tried placing him under guard, but it was no use, he escaped. It was hard to carry on a coherent conversation with him.

I probably would have looked at him and walked as far as I could the other way.  Jesus doesn’t, he stops and he talks to the wild man.

Luke 37: 27 – 28 (The Message Bible) “What business do you have messing with me? You’re Jesus, Son of the High God, but don’t give me a hard time. (The man said this because Jesus had started to order the unclean spirit out of him.)”

Jesus saw immediately what the problem was.  He saw this man was tormented. He didn’t shy away from the wild behavior.  He immediately began to cast the unclean spirit out of the man.  The spirit even tried to negotiate with Jesus, but in the end it was gone.  The man was sane and sitting there able to converse in a coherent manner.  He asked to stay with Jesus, but Jesus told him to go back to his people and be a witness for the power of God instead.  You would think the people in the area would be thrilled to have God in their presence.  No, it was too much change, to fast, they asked him to leave. 

I know that it is hard, as you go through each day, hurrying from place to place. It’s hard to take the time to really see people.  My plan is when I’m at church especially, to really see people.  I don’t have to hurry through, I can notice the visitor. I can try and see their need.  Once I get really good at that, I can start really seeing people in other locations as well.

Casting Crowns Does Anybody Hear Her (Official Music Video) from michaelscott1 on GodTube.

Homeless

Somewhere in time, this week, my church hosted an event called Project Homeless connect.  This happens once a month in various locations in Arizona.  It brings in all the services and organizations that can help the poor into one location.  My job was more or less a guide.  I had a list of all the organizations and where they were located.  They would assign me someone and I would guide them to each organization they wanted to visit.  This was my very first time to work at this type of event and I enjoyed it.  I like talking to people and walking around, so it was a good day.

When I first approached the line of waiting people I felt a bit of trepidation.  I am a woman, I didn’t know if I would feel comfortable helping a man, not being one, I’m not sure of what their needs might be.  I said a little prayer “Lord, can you allow me to work with a woman.”  God answered my prayer and I met five very lovely women that day.

It amazes me the different reasons people need assistance.  Sometimes it was bad choices that lead to addictions.  Sometimes it was health related.  Sometimes it was just the economy.  Intelligent, hardworking people lose their jobs through no fault of their own.

As I helped each of these ladies, I could see a little bit of myself in each one.  I haven’t dealt with an addiction, but I have made wrong choices and suffered the consequences. I did lose my teaching job a few years back, a product of a reduction in work force.  God has been unbelievably good to me. Sustaining me through each day, each month and each year by his grace.

This is from the Message Bible -

Ephesians 2:1-6 “It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living; tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it; all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ.  He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus our Messiah.

All of us are the same, we are sinners saved by grace.  The good news is, it’s not up to us. God shows us mercy and love.  We just need to accept it and bless the Lord for His goodness.   

Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) (Official Music Video) from matt-redman on GodTube.

The Fiery Furnace

Somewhere in time, this week, I was watching an end time’s movie from the 1990’s. Its fun watching movies that try to figure out what will happen after Christ’s return and the church is taken from this earth.  It is believed that many people will come to faith in Christ during this time and they will be persecuted for their faith.  In this particular story, the Christians are placed in a furnace.  It reminded me of the Bible story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

In the third chapter of Daniel, it recounts this story.  What you need to know about the setting for this story is that Israel has been conquered by Babylon and thier King carried the best and the brightest people Israel into captivity in Babylon.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were three such people. They were respected and had earned their way into a position of power in Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom.

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold ninety feet high.  He must have been pretty proud of it because he showed it to his advisors so they could see the wonders he created. They all decided that when anyone heard music, they should bow and worship this image.  A group of the king’s advisors were a little jealous of the position the Israeli’s had achieved, so they took it upon themselves to share with the king that three of the Israelites did not bow and worship the golden image. This made Nebuchadnezzar furious.

He called in Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to talk to them.  He basically gave them an ultimatum.  They could worship the image of gold, or be burned to death in a fiery furnace.  This was their response.

Daniel 3:16 – 17 (NIV) “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king. “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.””

This made Nebuchadnezzar so mad, he heated the furnace up seven times hotter than normal.  He then ordered the three to be tied and thrown into the furnace.  The soldiers that had the unpleasant task of throwing three live human beings into a fire did not survive. The heat of the furnace killed them.

Sometimes it seems like the struggles of life have taken us out of the pan and into the fire.  Standing up for the truth, holding to your convictions can at times by hard.  After days and months of hard times, it may be hard to hold onto the knowledge that God never leaves us or forsakes us.  We get caught up with the reality of the fire and don’t see the deliverance that is coming to set us free.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had the courage necessary to face the flames. They knew that God could deliver them, but even if he chose not to, that God was still in control. When we are going through hard times, God may choose to deliver us, or He may choose to walk with us through it.  Either way, God is still with us.

 In the fiery furnace, the King watches on.  He wants to see his perceived enemy die for disobeying him.  Instead what he sees is four men, up and walking around.  The ties that had held their hands and feet together were burned, but nothing else was.  The king notices that one of the men looks as if he is the son of God.

Think about this.  Times were hard, they were in a furnace, but God was in the fire with them.  God was walking through the hard spot with them.  He didn’t rescue them from the fire. He protected them and walked through the fire with them.  If things are looking bad, just remember that God is walking through the hard time with you.

The truth that these three men, did not die in the fire, instead they are alive and well was enough to impact the hard heart of King Nebuchadnezzar.  He yells into the fire for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to come out.

Daniel 3:29 “Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”

When times are hard, remember the fiery furnace and realize there is no other God that can save this way.  No other God that is able to save us from our sins and lead us to eternal life.  No other God is God.

Big Daddy Weave - Redeemed (Official Music Video) from big-daddy-weave on GodTube.

Freedom

Somewhere in time, this week, we celebrated July 4^th as America’s Independence Day.  It caused me to think of freedom.  Freedom that our founding fathers fought to earn for us and freedom our soldiers currently sacrifice everything for.  Freedom is something we should respect, prize and do everything to maintain.

This week I have been feeling a little frustrated with my country.  I think we are letting our freedom’s be taken away, little by little.  When my tax dollars are used to fund things I consider morally wrong, a chink in the armor of freedom appears.  When the government imposes a mandate on religious organizations, forcing them to insure a life style they don’t embrace, the chink deepens to a crack. When you can’t speak your mind because others disagree with you, the armor develops a hole and the wearer becomes vulnerable.  I believe we should respect each other’s opinion, but we don’t have to agree, that is part of what makes America a great country. 

As I was thinking this, I remembered that even with our flaws, we still have it very good in America.  There are places in this world right now where admitting to being a Christian is a death sentence.  In some places, if you admit to being a Christian, it immediately reduces you to a life of poverty with no hope of rising above.  Speaking your faith brings persecution, suffering and often time’s death.  By comparison, my minor complaints are nothing.

To be honest, freedom doesn’t come from the country I live in, it comes from God.  That is why people suffer for their faith and still have unlimited joy.  Their freedom is found in their inmost being and radiates out from there.

John 8:32 (NIV) “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV) “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Freedom, true freedom, is a matter of the heart.  You can be free while in prison if you choose to.  You can live in a grass hut in the middle of a desert and experience freedom. The spirit of God is everywhere.  Where God’s spirit is, there is freedom.

For all of us who can practice our faith without persecution, let’s remember to pray for those who can’t.  Let us also be thankful for the freedoms we do enjoy.  There may come a time we are not as fortunate as now.

Stories Of Freedom - ignitermedia.com from ignitermedia on GodTube.