The Perfect Father

[Jesus said] “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11 ESV).

 

As I said yesterday, I’ve been a father for nearly forty-six years. I have three sons. Each of them has had bumps and bruises, and even a few cuts and scrapes. Some of them required more than a band-aid. In fact, each of them have had one experience where a trip to the emergency room and stitches were required to repair the damage done in a encounter with something harder than their heads!

 

I remember each of those times well. Our oldest, Kyle, was playing chase in the gym with one of his friends and fell into the wooden bleachers head first. Grabbing him up and whisking him away to the ER, it wasn’t long before he was given several sutures to close the wound properly. His greatest concern was whether his brains were coming out as he saw the doctor wiping some of the excess blood from the wound! Daivd fell while jumping on the bed. That trip required a few sutures as well. And, Aaron passed out during a wedding, falling forward into the stairs of the stage requiring a great number of sutures!

 

In all of those cases I have wished that I could have prevented their pain and injury. I have come to learn that try as we might, we cannot always protect our children. I am not with them all the time. Even when I am present, I might not be fast enough, strong enough, or smart enough to help them. I am not the superhero father I wish I could be.

 

By revealing himself as our Father, God compares himself to something we experience as fallible. Jesus even refers to the flawed goodness of earthly fathers to highlight the perfection of our heavenly Father. As much as we earthly fathers want to provide for and protect our children, our Father God does all the more. And he IS able. As the perfect Father, he is never too slow or caught off guard, never a helpless bystander. He is never too busy. Unlike even the best earthly father, God’s motives are always perfectly good, even when we don’t understand his actions or lack of intervention.

Jesus relied on the Father throughout his ministry. The strength and intimacy of that relationship is offered to all who believe in Jesus. In a world of uncertainty and danger, we need a perfect Father.

 

Children of God

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:6-14 ESV).

 

Many years ago when I was teaching Bible for Tyler Junior College, one of the elective courses I was responsible for was title, “The Writing of the Apostle John.” Of course, the principle focus of the course was the Gospel according to John. Our reading today is from the first chapter of that writing. Each semester I began with the statement that John’s writing was much like a river; it was both narrow and deep. It was a way to call my students attention to the simplicity of the message without minimizing the profound depth of the meaning expressed in it. Our reading today is such a message. It is simple and incredibly profound. Imagine the simplicity of receiving the right to become the child of God and then follow that simple thought to its natural conclusion. Theologians use big words and elaborate concepts to explain God and our relationship with him. But the Bible more often uses simple images that are easy to understand. My favorite is that God is our Father and we are his children. It’s that simple. And, it is that profound.

 

I have been a father for nearly forty-six years, and I have enjoyed a healthy relationship with my own father. Based on my experience of being both a son and a father, I have a pretty good idea of what a father is supposed to be. God’s revealing himself as our Father is a concept on which I can hang my faith. Usually a father is someone older, wiser, and stronger. He is someone with a deep interest in your well-being. He cares about you and provides for you. He knows your name. He is interested in the things that interest you. A good father is avail­able, especially when you really need him. The Scripture declares that all who believe in Jesus are given the right to become God’s children (v. 12). Faith in Jesus opens the door of belonging to the family of God.

 

In a world where it is easy to get lost in the crowd and feel anonymous and insignificant, there is a Father who loves you. There is a Father calling you home. There is a Father who wants you to know that you are his child. I need to return to such simplicity today. How about you?

 

Faith in Crisis

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. (Psalm 62:5-8 ESV).

 

Our reading today has a very contemporary theme. When in the midst of any critical time, everyone looks for rest. The means to that can only be found in our faith. Often faith can seem vague and theoretical. It appears to be little more than an exercise in debate. At least that’s true until we find ourselves in a crisis and at the end of our strength. Then, like the spare tire in your trunk when you have a flat, your faith suddenly becomes very important. In fact, it may be the only way out of the mess you’re in.

 

In the middle of a crisis, all we usually hope for is some way to get the situation straightened out so that we can move on. No one likes to need faith. As with the little spare tire that comes with most cars today (you know, the little “donut” spare that’s designed to go just a few miles), most of us are willing to rely on our faith for a little while, only as long as we need it. But just as you’ll want to get a real tire back on your car as soon as you can, so also most of us want to move past our faith reliance and find a real reason for confidence. At least that’s how it can seem.

 

It seems to me that we also face the temptation to call blind trust in fate as faith. I suppose it is natural, but it is devastating to mistake fate for faith. Fate would tell us we have no hope. Life will unfold with all of its challenge and difficulty and there is simply nothing we can do to change it. That is not the position of faith in the Scripture. It is true that much of our lives are beyond our control; however, none of it is beyond God’s control. Faith takes me to the source of control over circumstance; faith takes me to the Creator and Redeemer of all mankind. It takes me to God.

 

No one likes crises, but it’s not hard to see how God can use our crises to reach us in ways that he might not reach us otherwise. Most of us pray differently—more earnestly—in times of crisis. Our fear can prod us to squint for God through the fog of our uncertainty. And the more we squint, the more we begin to see God.

 

See Him and trust His way for your life. It will always work together for your good!

 

 

Obsufscation

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. (Ephesians 4:17-25 ESV).

I really enjoyed the cartoon I’ve included today. The pastor, in his effort to communicate very clearly in his sermon tells his wife, “I tried bloviation, obfuscation, prevarication, and equivocation, but no one understood me. So, I’m back to plain lying.” I like the word “obfuscation.” It sounds so pretentious. According to the dictionary it means “the obscuring of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually with confusing and ambiguous language.” Which brings us back to the simple truth – it is lying. Some people believe that lying is only a problem if you really hurt someone, or if you get caught. But God doesn't see it that way. God cares about the truth because our relationships depend on it. Like God, Christians believe that honesty is very important. Of course, being honest is not the same as saying everything you think. If you don't like something, or you believe a comment someone made is pretty foolish, you don't necessarily have to say so. There are also times when telling the whole truth can cause too much hurt. The stories from WWII with the example of people who hid Jews from being taken captive by the Nazis illustrate a “good” lie. In that situation, the effect of deception was more in line with God's intention for relationships and caring for others. However, rare exceptions shouldn't blind us to God's basic demand for honesty in relationships. If I am going to relate to you in a loving way, I need to be able to count on you for the truth. If I can't, I will feel manipulated, become suspicious, distrust your word, and eventually become alienated from you. Lying changes more than the facts; it also changes the liar. If I lie to you, I erode our relationship, whether or not you know I lied. Lying to God does the same thing. The only difference is that God already knows.

Crazy Grandpa

You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess. (Deuteronomy 5:32-33 ESV).

I’m sure you’ve seen this shirt advertised or referenced on one of the social media sites you may visit from time to time. Being a grandpa myself, and mostly crazy, I’m sure the meme fits the situation for all of my grandchildren. Perhaps more truth could be found in changing the reference from “grandpa” to “grandma” in our case. Mary is neither tolerant nor patient toward anyone who would even slightly threaten her children or grandchildren. Restraint is not a description that could be applied in such a situation. That began the formation of a thought for today’s devotional. When Moses was given the Law, God instructed him to explain to the people of Israel that all of these things were designed “…that it may go well … and that they might live long in the land” (v. 33). There is no doubt that God wants our lives, however long they may be, to be “abundant” (cf. John 10:10). So, why is it that so many dread aging? Mature, seasoned, senior—no matter what word is used, the message conveyed by these words is “old.” Scientists differ on the matter of when humans stop growing in their lifetime and start the process of becoming old. Some pessimists would say that a person begins dying as soon as he or she is born. A lot of things can make it difficult, even miserable, to grow old — deteriorating health, the death of friends and loved ones, losing touch with society, financial difficulties, and more. Changes like these are hard to cope with, but the Scripture reminds us they are temporary. We can age gracefully if we have an attitude of recognizing that “inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” The Bible talks about long life as a reward for obedience to God. The wisdom of Solomon adds that “gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness” (Proverbs 16:31). If one is able to lead a life of righteousness in Christ, growing old is an honor. I pray that our older readers may live a life that is pleasing to God and filled with blessings. I also pray that the younger generations will honor them, learn from their experience, and praise God for their witness and example (cf. Matthew 5:16). More than anything, I pray that all of us recognize the blessing God gives to us in each day of our lives.

Training for Life - Pt 7

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:1-6 ESV).

We have returned to our reading from yesterday to see another principle that is often overlooked. The last verse reads: And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God (v. 6). While the Chinese proverb shown in the illustration today is undated and of unknown origin, it teaches a very common principle found throughout the Scripture. Greatness should not be measured in sheer strength or superiority to others, but by one’s ability to bow down to others with modesty and compassion. During the years while he lived in Midian, Moses often had to learn and practice humility. Back in Egypt he had acquired knowledge and power. Then in Midian, where he spent forty years as a foreigner and a shepherd, he realized that there were many times when he wasn’t in control of his situation and he didn’t know as much as he thought he knew. The forty years God placed Moses in Midian was not wasted time. Though he may have felt like a failure, wasting his time and previous training, God was still preparing him for the greatest work of his life. The work of tending sheep taught Moses more than humility. Sheep need shepherds to lead them to green pastures and quiet waters. They need shepherds to separate aggressive sheep from timid sheep, ward off predators, and keep strays from wandering. Moses learned how to do these things for his sheep in preparation for having to do them for God’s people. Israel would need someone to lead them in a way that directed their attention to God. That’s humble leadership. Israel would also need someone who could lead them to food, water, and safety, and who could gather them when they wandered. That’s capable leadership. I wonder how often you may have felt the same as Moses? I wonder if you have felt that life had passed you by and the lost opportunities had closed the door on your effectiveness? Nothing could be further from the truth. As long as we draw a breath in this world, we are being trained for each opportunity yet on the horizon! Thank God for that training and commit yourself to a life of humble service.

Training for Life - Pt 6

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. (Exodus 3:1-6 ESV).

Our reading today is one that is familiar to everyone who have been exposed to the stories of the Old Testament. Moses is called by God to deliver the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. As familiar as it might be, we often miss the truth tucked into the first verse in favor of the miraculous events that follow. Note that Moses was in “the west side of the wilderness” (v. 1). He was a long way from home. It is so important to recognize all of us are in our own “wilderness.” We are not at home. God has far greater intentions for His children. I’ve been fortunate to travel through nearly every state in America and many foreign countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. I’ve learned that traveling far from home is an opportunity to learn lots of things. The things you miss teach you what is important to you. Unfamiliar experiences teach you that your familiar way of life isn’t the only way to live. Your anxiety in new settings teaches you how flexible, or not, you really are. The joy of hearing your native tongue spoken by a stranger in a foreign land teaches you the beauty of things you once took for granted. In our reading for today we see Moses living in a foreign land, learning some important things. It is another part of his “training for life.” Back in Egypt he had made terrible mistakes, and he had to run for his life. His escape had taken him to the land of Midian. He certainly couldn’t consider himself an Egyptian anymore; in fact, some might argue he couldn’t consider himself a Hebrew either. He was a man without a country in many ways. He had come to identify himself as “a foreigner in a foreign land.” The lesson is the same all of us learn when our lives are turned upside down: We are not in control. The illusion of the self-managed life is just that — an illusion. God alone is forever. He alone is faithful. Only God is constant. When Moses would be sent back to Egypt, he would need to remember that lesson. We have the same lesson to learn today. We are not home! And that is a good thing!

Training for Life - Pt 5

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. (Matthew 4:1-11 ESV).

Yesterday we saw Moses make a critical error in judgment: he figured he could take matters into his own hands, and he killed an Egyptian who had been beating a Hebrew slave. Today’s reading contrasts the response of Jesus to the same temptation. Jesus understands that his most powerful weapon is something that lies beyond himself. It is the weapon that his heavenly Father has given to him to use: the Scriptures he has studied since he was very young. He responds to the devil with three verses from Deuteronomy, reveals the devil’s lies, and sends him away. Like Moses, when we come up against something challenging, we often assume that our most important resources are within ourselves. We must not rely on solutions that solely come out of our own wisdom, cleverness, or might. We put them to use and are mystified because we don’t get the results we want. Or, if things go our way, we assume that our own strength and knowledge made it all happen. Our hardened self-reliance will come back to haunt us later. Scripture, prayer, God’s wisdom coming to us in times of silence and meditation, the wisdom of other believers who care about us are the resources that God provides. The truly wise look to such things first and foremost. I often remind myself of my “pay-grade.” I am not nearly high enough up the chain of command to be able to rely on my knowledge, experience, or authority. It is a lesson we learn with difficulty, but essential to our success.

Training for Life - Pt 4

One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. (Exodus 2:11-15 ESV).

Our reading today provides a tough lesson for Moses. He had thought that killing an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew was a good thing to do. Maybe he had thought that by killing the Egyptian he might endear himself to the Hebrews. Maybe the Hebrews would see that Moses’ loyalties were with them even though he had grown up in Pharaoh’s household. However, that was not the outcome at all. The Hebrews didn’t trust him, and Pharaoh soon found out about Moses’ murder of the Egyptian. Pharaoh then declared that he would kill Moses, and Moses found that he was not so valued a member of Pharaoh’s household as he might have thought. Moses learned a very valuable lesson: Taking matters into his own hands was not a good solution to the dilemma he and his people faced. I am fully aware that is counter-intuitive in our culture. There are many other examples of this mistake in the Scripture. Abram and Sarai (cf. Genesis 16) is just one of those examples. Sarai, later to become “Sarah,” thought God needed a little help with the fulfillment of His promise to give them a child to begin the nation of promise. She instructed her handmaiden to be the vessel of that fulfillment. We know how that turned out. It began 6,000 years of strife between two people groups that continues to plague our world today with strife, animosity, and war. Of course we are just as guilty. It is easy to fall into the trap of trying to fix things without waiting on God. We pray to Him and plead with Him, we tell ourselves that we are trusting Him, and then we soon decide we need to solve the problem ourselves. Our mouths open when we should keep them shut, we take on tasks we should leave for others, we play God instead of letting God work out His perfect plan. Moses had had quite an education already, both the hardship of his earliest years and the luxury of his growing-up years had shaped him. Now this mistake, the murder of the Egyptian, would become a teacher as well. It would teach Moses to wait on the Lord instead of pretending that he, Moses, was in charge. That is a grave mistake. However, I would encourage you to “forget the mistake and remember the lesson.” Trust the Lord and His timing!

Training for Life - Pt 3

And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:42-52 ESV).

As we continue in our series “Training for Life,” it occurs to me that I may not have been as clear as I could have been in the beginning of these devotionals. My hope each day is that anyone reading these little thoughts will be encouraged and find renewed hope in the grace of God. They are not intended to be an exhaustive “study” into the Scripture (no big surprise there). They are merely a glimpse into the thoughts and musings of a fellow traveler. Because of that I may not always clearly state some of the basic principles that direct these thoughts. They are my thoughts and I rarely remind myself of that which has become second-nature to me. However, one of those principles may be important to restate for my readers. When I cite various circumstances and experiences of the characters of Scripture and use the word “training” I am referencing discipline (discipleship), not punishment. God does not punish us, all of that went on Jesus in the Cross. He does teach, disciple, or discipline us. Sometimes that may be a painful experience, but only because we do “reap what we sow” (cf. Galatians 6:7). With that said, let’s look at Jesus in one of the rare references to his childhood. In our reading Jesus is at the Temple, just twelve years old, and asking questions that these teachers and scholars had not encountered in any of their students. He asked questions that these learned men only asked of one another. It was surprising to them. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, the hometown of his parents, Joseph and Mary, in the region of Galilee. Jesus learned life and faith in a community of faithful people. Being without sin, he could undoubtedly learn more deeply and sense God’s purposes more perceptively, but his community and its faithful life was his school. The religious leaders in our text weren’t just seeing a 12-year-old boy. They were seeing what happens when a boy grows up in a community of faithful life, in which values are not just preached but lived, in which faith and its truths are passed along to the next generation. Community is an essential in our training and the training of our children. “Do as I say” does not work without “do as I do.” We learn and teach by that which we see in those we love. How’s your “doing” today?

Training for Life - Pt 2

Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews' children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” (Exodus 2:1-10 ESV).

Yesterday we began a short series in our “training for life.” I’ve based much of the foundation for this series in the life of Moses. What we will see is many methods of education for this pivotal man in the history of Israel. Suffering is a teacher, revealing that life is hard and that we are not able to fix life’s problems on our own. Moses spent his earliest years with that teacher, living with his family in slavery to the Egyptians. Today we will see that extravagance can also be used as a teacher. Moses’ mother took him, at some point, to the house of Pharaoh, where she handed him over to Pharaoh’s daughter. This Hebrew boy, who had been learning the lessons of suffering, spent the rest of his youth growing up as the grandson of Pharaoh. He was probably shaped by Egypt’s best tutors and professors, taught to speak, think, and behave as a highly educated and privileged Egyptian. Moses probably also witnessed great extravagance and power at the court of Pharaoh. Such things can wrench the fallen human heart farther from God and deeper into the illusion that one can fix the problems of life on one’s own. We must understand the lessons taught to us in the extravagance of life. Do you see the generosity, creativity, and bounty of God in your life, or do you see your wealth and its blessings as products of your cleverness and planning? Have you learned gratitude—or an attitude? The former of those is the only acceptable lesson for a truly successful life.