A New "Old Friend"

Recently, our "second car" came to the end of its long life.  We had had the 2003 Honda Pilot for almost 14 years and had driven it over 270,000 miles.  It was more than an old friend; it was like a member of the family. Our family vehicle that preceded the Pilot was a Toyota van, which we drove for over 240,000 miles and kept for over 10 years.  The Honda Accord prior to that I drove for over 10 years.  I'm currently in year 6 with the family's "best car"...  Hubster also has a dilapidated 1987 Chevy truck which he drives only around town. You get the picture.  We drive the fool out of them.

Well, when the Honda gave up the ghost last week we were in a quandary.  Son #2 had been driving the Pilot, for the most part, sharing it with his dad.  There were many times when we were using all 3 of the previously described vehicles.  So, what to do?  We truly were not ready to let the Pilot go, but had no choice.  It could not be resurrected without spending way more than it was worth.  Son 2 and Hubster were grieving; they loved that Pilot!  Between the three of us, we had been out looking at used and new vehicles within a 60-mile radius, with no satisfaction.

This afternoon was such an occasion.  Hubster and I went up the road a ways, to two dealerships.  On the way home I was feeling very discouraged.  What on earth were we going to do?  Both of us had prayed hard over the car/truck purchase and had asked our Christian friends to pray as well.  Yet, it seemed God was silent.

We had put on our blinker to turn onto our little road when Hubster looked in the rear view mirror to see .... the Pilot's TWIN!  Yes!  It was a 2003 Pilot, same color as our old one.  And, lo and behold? There was a "For Sale" sign in the back window!  "FOLLOW THAT CAR!", I yelled, as cars were zooming by us on the right.  Hubster managed to collect himself and off we went, in hot pursuit. Finally, although there was a car between us, I managed to read the phone number in the rear window.  The owner answered, soon pulled over into a nearby parking lot and allowed us to inspect her car.

It is not as spit-shiny as our former friend.  (After all, Hubster babied that SUV.) Needs a paint job. But, with some TLC, it should serve us well until we are well-and-truly "empty-nesters".

I keep thinking of "gratitude", my theme for this year.  What are the chances an almost-identical vehicle to the one we lost would simply...happen by?  Almost zilch!  We look at it as a miracle of provision from Jehovah-Jireh, our God who Provides.  Not only that, but He cares about His children's every need.  We are SO grateful!

Jehovah-Jireh is one of the many Old Testament names for God.  Literally translated "God Will Provide", it appears first in Genesis 22:14, when Jehovah-Jireh God provided the ram caught in the brambles, an animal which Abraham then sacrificed in place of his son, Isaac.  In that story, God provided a substitute.  Today, God provided not only a replacement, but exactly what we had been seeking.

Jehovah-Jireh is a name of God that contains promise.  It encompasses the love of a Father God who enjoys giving good gifts to His children.  The story of Abraham, Isaac and the ram foreshadows the sacrifice of God's Son, the Lamb of God, for us on a hill called Calvary.  Again, and forever, God provided ... Jehovah-Jireh.  Hallelujah!

In Him, our Savior, God the Father gave us all manner of blessings, starting with our miraculous, eternal salvation.  He always provides exactly what we need, even if we think we don't need it, or think we need something else.  Then, there are other glorious times when He gives us exactly what we ask for, sometimes in ways that defy human explanation. He's a good, good Father!  Hubster and I give our Jehovah-Jireh all the glory for His sweet provision today!

Hoarding: A Godly Enough

Are you a hoarder?

In America, greed is pretty much celebrated.  We call it The American Dream.  Those who achieve it are either applauded, congratulated and celebrated.  Or, they are vilified because they "don't deserve it".   (The latter is a phenomenon that has come into the public square only in the last 20 years or so.) One of the mantras of The American Dream is:  "He who dies with the most toys, wins."  The goal, then, is to get as much "stuff" as possible.  And, we worship our "stuff".  Idolatry.

The text for the next 3 posts is Colossians 3:5-11.  Today, we'll focus on verses 5-7 (NET).

5So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry. 6Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. 7You also lived your lives in this way at one time, when you used to live among them.

Paul gives this list of behaviors, the hallmarks of the evil nature.  For the most part, they appear to be lustful and sexual sins.  Then, he throws greed into the mix.  At first glance, it doesn't seem to fit, does it?  When that list of behaviors is examined, at the root of all of them is selfishness. Greed is no exception, as it, too, is fueled by selfishness and stoked by pride.

This is not the way of Jesus Christ, who, by His own admission, had "nowhere to lay his head" (Luke 9:58).  After Christ died, there was no "reading of the will", no disbursement of His assets.  His cloak and His other clothes were his only possessions - - - "the shirt off his back", so to speak.

So, what would Jesus have us do?  How much, in this world, is "enough"?

Should the Christian's goal be to amass as much money and as many possessions as he or she possibly can?  Will doing so win God's approval?  Will doing so draw us closer to Him or to each other?

There is nothing wrong with being materially successful, particularly if we use our assets to further the kingdom of God in this world.  God will often financially prosper people so that they can glorify Him by advancing His kingdom.  Rich people can tithe more, do more, give more.  For example, although not what most would call "rich", I am now a fixed-income retiree.  God led me into a fulfilling career that had at the end of it a retirement benefit.  I'm "living off" that pension now, which frees me up to write this blog most days, to make video blogs and to use my time to further the spread of the gospel.

The problem comes in when we make these material things the focus of our love, time and devotion and/or when they limit our effectiveness for God.  The creep of idolatry is gradual and insidious.  We become "successful" in the worldly sense, after which sinful pride grabs a foothold.  We begin to credit ourselves with our "success", and the vicious cycle of idolatry repeats itself.

Unless we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, are watchful for this "creep" in our lives and when we discover it, take deliberate attempts to slay it, we are in danger of becoming spiritual and material "hoarders".  The Message version states it like this:

And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death:

(vs. 5a)

If we listen to the Holy Spirit, He will let us know how much is "enough".  All we have needed, His hand has provided, because He is faithful.  And, He will direct the use of the tools with which He has graced us. It is up to us as His disciples to obediently follow.

Father, thank you for provision, for giving us everything that we need to do what You have called us to do.  You provide what we need for each day's work.  Now, it is up to us to do it.  Then, you will provide the necessities for tomorrow.  We trust You with our "tomorrows"!  In this, Lord, you teach us about Your lordship and how to walk by faith.  Please give us the discernment to recognize the pitfalls called selfishness and pride, so we can avoid them.  In Jesus' name, amen.

"Where is the Lamb, Father?"

Good morning,

7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied. “Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 “God will provide for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.

9 When they came to the place God had told him about, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood on it. Next he tied up his son Isaac and placed him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand, took the knife, and prepared to slaughter his son. 11 But the Lord’s angel called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. 12 “Do not harm the boy!” the angel said. “Do not do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

13 Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ram caught in the bushes by its horns. So he went over and got the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord provides.” It is said to this day, “In the mountain of the Lord provision will be made.”

This time of year always feel dark to me.  When I think of December, in general, I think of words like "dark", "waiting", "resting", "preparing".  When I rise in the morning, it is dark.  When I am cooking the evening meal, it is dark.  I've even gone to do my routine walking by the lights of Christmas decorations.  Dark.

In the midst of this, we light the candles of Advent.  How appropriate that we celebrate the birth of the Lord at the darkest time of our calendar year (here in the Northern Hemisphere)!  He was and is the beauteous, heavenly Light who broke through the darkness of this sin-crippled world to be its salvation.  Lighting the Advent candles reminds me that Spring and longer days are coming, that though all around me appears dead, new life is on the way.

The names of God, written in the Bible, are so beautiful.  Some of them are Adonai, El Shaddai, Elohim, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-Rapha, Jehovah-Jireh.  That last one means, "The God Who Provides".  Yes, He always does.  But, in going to research other occurrences of the Hebrew word, yir·’eh, in the Old Testament, it is more often translated "looks" or "sees".

Yesterday the Hubster asked that I give him some gift suggestions.  There's this one thing that I want and that I truly would use, but when I went to look at its price on the internet, I thought it was egregiously, flagrantly expensive.  In truly seeing, regarding this item, I relegated the item to the category of "want", not "need".  There are just better uses for our money.  So often, we think that there are things we need, when God does not see it that way.

He saw mankind, hopelessly trapped in sin, and provided a Lamb, our Savior.  In so doing, He met our greatest need.  The story of Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Moriah is a prefigurement of how God would provide the perfect Lamb hundreds of years later.

When all seems dark around us, He calls us to light a candle of faith, to trust that He is our Source and our Provider.  The greatest of all our needs is for more of Him, more of Jesus.  When we make Him and His will our first priority it becomes possible to push worry about life's challenges aside. Worry is simply not taking God at His word when He promises that He "will supply your every need according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).  Worry is thinking that God does not know what He is doing, that He will somehow "mess things up".  It often looks that way to us because we do not see as He sees.  We ask, "Where is the lamb, Father?"

Do we truly believe that God sees us in our neediness and that He will meet all of our needs?  If we do believe that, then why do we worry and fret over things which are "out of our control"? (It's all ultimately out of our control, by the way.) Abraham did not do this.  Even when faced with the command from God to slay his son on an altar and then to burn his body with fire, Abraham did not waver.  He trusted God.  I am just "slain" by this.  I would have been freaking.out.  It is little wonder that, when we think of Abraham, we think of stalwart faith.

God provided a ram for Abraham and Isaac, that day on Mount Moriah.  I wonder if the animal was there for some time, even as they were building the altar, stacking the wood, sharpening the knife.  It was not until just the right moment that they saw it.  God opened their eyes ... aligned their will with His.  And, Abraham named the place "The Lord Provides".

Lord Jesus, you are the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).  You are all-sufficient and have the answers to all my questions.  You meet all my needs, showering on me glorious spiritual riches.  Thank you for seeing me in my poverty, and in making me yours, making me rich.  Help me to remember this, when the darkness threatens to close in...that You are my light, and my salvation!  In Jesus' name, amen.