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Remembering Accurately

Associated reading:

  • Genesis 8 & 9
  • Psalm 8 & 9
  • Joshua 8 & 9
  • “Factfulness” by Hans Rosling

As I read the chapters yesterday and today, they helped remind me of the the importance of remembering accurately. It also helps that I’m listening to another book on the subject of accuracy vs misconception on Audible (“Factfulness” by Hans Rosling), that was given high praise on LinkedIn by a co-worker.

When we are given instructions on how to do something — as Noah was with his instructions concerning the Ark, as Joshua was with his instructions concerning the town of Ai, and as the Israelites were in receiving their instructions for life through Moses — it is important that we remember accurately those instructions, so that we can follow them accurately. And this is critically important in the short term. Like daily manna, if we rise from our slumber and go out into God’s Word each day to gather our daily bread, and if we meet with Him in the garden for intimate time alone with Him, and on the seashore for time of restoration, and even at the cross for reflection and repentance — we will remember Him more accurately through our day’s plans, tasks, circumstances and surprises.

We also do not want to forget what He has done for us in the past or remember wrongly the history of our lives, of our family’s history, and the history of the world. Relying upon our own memory alone can be tricky — as we have a tendency to forget, to embellish, or to be selective in our long term memories of things. We are not perfect in our memories like God, even though God has favored us so undeservedly as David describes, “What are mere mortals that you should think about them… You made them only a little lower than the heavenly beings”. Humankind not only has our individual memories, but we have our spoken and written and recorded history as well. We have all that we speak amongst our families, friends, neighbors, acquaintances and strangers during our waking lives. And we have all that might be read, listened to, or watched that we have done that might even exceed that short span of our breath- filled lungs.

Since God is of utmost importance in the story of the life of one who “walks in The Way”, shouldn’t He be the ever present salt that flavors our shared remembrance, and the testimony of our trials be the pepper and herbs, and our profession of Christ risen from the dead be our life giving drink? Just as Joshua sat the people down to hear the whole of God’s commands then, shouldn’t we gather together to read and hear the whole of His Word amongst ourselves?

As I am going through this “Old Testament” reading plan ( http://bible.com/r/H ), I don’t look at this example and pat myself on the back for making it 9 days in faithfully — because I remember accurately how many times I have started and never finished such an undertaking. And I’m not ashamed or in despair either about it. Nor am I flippant about my wanting to make it through to the end consistently this time. It reminds me accurately that but for the grace of God, I would be those people drowned outside the Ark, I would be those enemies appointed for judgement, I would be like Achan who stole from the Lord and deserved to be set up as an example of “what not to do”.

But for the grace of God, what would be remembered accurately about our lives?

What history would be left in the wake of our selfish, prideful, foolish, wicked, sinful lives if a better way (even the best and only way) hasn’t been revealed to us?

As I sat down for lunch with a leader yesterday, we talked about how our “default setting” is not that best way and that we both rely on God’s grace and power daily to strengthen us and carry us through. That too often, we make the same foolish mistakes as all the other characters in the Bible, save the one perfect Lamb of God who “got it right”. It is so refreshing and encouraging to sit with friends over a meal and just experience friendship and fellowship together!

As for me and my house, I want us to remember accurately all that the Lord has done for us. I’m not exactly sure what that looks like or how we live it out consistently, day by day — for our own benefit, for the world to see, but most importantly for the glory of God — but I’m eager to see what the Lord has in store, and grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it. Amen.

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Safety or Danger

I learned about Mark Wahlberg’s daily schedule last night and began rethinking my own, so I read my chapters for today before bed and “slept on it” instead of reading it first thing. I took an intentional step last night to better prepare me for the day ahead — just like establishing and implementing a plan for exercise (both physical and spiritual) will better prepare me for the days ahead.

Associated Reading:

  • Genesis 6
  • Psalm 6
  • Joshua 6

As I read Genesis 6, Psalm 6, and Joshua 6 last night, I found Noah finding safety from the world in his task of building the Ark, and David finding mercy in a time of trouble through prayer, and Rahab finding safety when Jericho fell because of her choosing to help the people of Israel — and this was a stark contrast to the depravity of mankind to be destroyed in the flood, the enemies who will turn back ashamed and horrified at what they have done to David, and the city of Jericho and everything in it utterly destroyed as a tribute to the Lord.

There was a clear contrast in each reading between what led these intentionally into safety, while others continued on unmodified towards their own destruction. And there is the same for us today.

Benjamin Franklin put this wisdom into easily accessible and non- religious words when he said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!” And we also have some great quotable that we can pull from scripture about planning, about being intentional, and for aligning our purpose with God’s will:

Proverbs 21:5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

Luke 14:28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.

Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

We are choosing today to intentionally receive this word into our minds to be written upon our hearts. We ask our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who prays on our behalf at the right hand of God the Father, that our purpose and plan would established one step at a time in His will and His purpose. In that, we find safety not damger, and mercy not shame, and deliverance not destruction. We are no better than Noah the drunk, David the adulterous murderer, or Rahab the prostitute in our own sinfulness, so we rely upon the mercies, grace and blessings of the Lord just as they have. And just as they are no longer called drunk, murderer, and whore neither are we. By His blood and through the faith we have been granted, we are children of God. Safe in our Heavenly Father’s arms. Amen.

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A, B or No

Have you ever had someone ask you if you’re this or you’re that — proposing a type of multiple choice question to you as if those are your only options — when your answer may not fit either of those options? Where they want you to confirm and show your support for either a simple answer of A or B, but the complexity of the situation may have you answering outside their question with a “No”?

The first thing that comes to mind is political parties. Yes, there are people that are die hard fanatics for a certain political party versus another and who will blindly follow whatever propaganda is fed to them by those handing out the manipulations and the agendas. But many rational, reasonable and wise people can see the corruption and wickedness on both sides of an issue. In fact, any judge with time on the bench will tell you that the true rarely lies exclusively on one side or the other side recalling of the events of a dispute, but it is most commonly found “somewhere in the middle”.

I love how Joshua 5:13-15 provides us with a wonderful picture of this type of interaction. Joshua encounters unexpectedly a man with a drawn sword and asks in a way — Are you A) for us or B) for our enemies? Expecting a confirming answer from this warrior…

Let’s stop right there for a moment, and let’s try to make this a little more real. Imagine you are about to go into your favorite football game between your team and their rival, and this impending moment is foremost and up front in your thoughts. You see another person within a block of the stadium carrying a football, but not wearing the colors of either team. And you ask, “Are you for the Clemson Tigers, or are you for the Alabama Crimson Tide?”

This more familiar situation might make the ego-centric nature of the question be revealed a little easier — because I’m not sure how many of us have commonly encountered unshielded men with drawn swords in our day to day lives (at least if we are talking physical reality and not metaphorically speaking). Can we see that the question of A or B in these situations imposes upon others that what is most important and familiar to us in a situation — most assuredly must be important to them as well.

We make these types of mistakes with other people constantly — labeling people as friend or foe when they are really just stranger or acquaintance, stereotyping and judging people wrongly, etc. And we also make these same types of mistakes about God.

How many of us fools pray “trying to get God on our side” of an issue or problem or challenge, and never talk to Him again until we need to place another order at the metaphorical drive-thru “have it my way” fast-food prayer line? Missing out altogether on who is God and who isn’t in this equation, and missing out on the work that prayer is meant to do within us more often than around us.

Some of these bratty children that I see demanding things from their parents, and some of these bratty adults that I see and hear demanding things from society and others, some of us in our wants and desires — need to hear a surprising “No”.

Some of us need to understand that our personal perspective may be blocked and hindered because we have been only considering A or B, me or them, etc. — when the right answer is “No” and our response is instead, “What does the Lord have to say to His servant?”

And when we reach this place of holy surrender, we aren’t just standing upon holy ground where we can stack up stones to create an altar or marker that others can see. We are establishing a point and time in our lifesong where a true miracle of correction, revelation, repentance and spiritual victory has been won. Amen.

Related Reading:

  • Genesis 4 & 5
  • Psalm 4 & 5
  • Joshua 4 & 5

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Bullies

Yesterday, while driving back from a morning shopping and setting up the LEGO Bonsai Tree at my office in Greenville with my 10 year old daughter, we talked about bullies.  I explained that I can remember people in my life that have acted like that — bossy, mean, aggressive and hurtful, and asked her if she had too. Her initial, sweet and soft hearted answer was no. She didn’t want to label or call anyone such a thing because she hopes the best for everyone around her. But I knew of a few examples that even she would be aware of — and I explained that acknowledging and discussing “bully behavior” doesn’t mean that we’ve written them off as “that is who they are”, and we were able to discuss and laugh about several examples.

Bullies are “people acting like enemies”, short and simple. And if we are honest with ourselves, we have all done these types of things in our lives and hurt and opposed others and not been perfectly patient, kind, gentle and loving. But the Bible tells us that our enemies are not flesh and blood, but that our battle is spiritual. This does not mean that we are innocent of any and all wrongdoing, but that there truly is an enemy of and a bully of mankind.

Genesis 3 introduces this enemy into the narrative, and we can see that his bullying isn’t just knocking books out of people’s hands, sticking signs on their backs, calling them names, and acting physically aggressive like we might see bullies portrayed in TV shows and movies about school life. No, this enemy is slick and smooth in how he opposes mankind, misleading, manipulating, lying, and confusing. And in Psalm 3, David acknowledges how it feels as a man facing his own son seeking to kill him and the enemies that have been gathered against him.

And Joshua 3 has a wholly different type of enemy revealed.  In verse 4, it is revealed that the people need a guide since they have never traveled this way before, and verses 4 and 5 reveal the need to “[keep] a systems” and “purify yourselves” as they could put themselves in danger coming too close to the Ark. The Ark is not an enemy, but staying too far away or straying too close both were a danger. A hard hearted person who hates God may think of God’s striking people dead for accidentally touching the Ark, or leveling whole cities for their sinfulness, or flooding the whole Earth and its inhabitants as a bully and an enemy — but this is how the true enemy twists and manipulates the whole truth to hurt mankind.

We can’t just think of enemies and bullies in the obvious and stereotypical way that we see them portrayed in the movies. Just like my daughter initially dismissed acknowledging any darkness in those around her in her life, when we really get down to examining the topic — we can see that there really is an enemy.

So what do we do about it?

The enemy uses us against each other. The enemy even twists God’s words against people who try to listen to the words God has spoken and follow them like rules, but don’t understand or trust the heart and reason behind those words — like with Eve. If we get too wrapped up in religion without a strong, close personal relationship with God, we will be a devil ourselves, knowing just enough “about what God said” to be used by the enemy to mislead others like Eve. But if we humbly cry out to the Lord God like David, and if we “prepare ourselves” like Joshua urged the people, we can face any enemy.

Christian, it is encouraging to not see enemies/ bullies everywhere, or “find the devil under every rock”, because God is with us and is our shield and our faithful protector. But just like it is good for me to prepare my daughter with discussions about what bully behavior looks like, it is good for us to prepare ourselves with what our Good Father has to tell us and to guide us.

The greatest thing we can do about bullying/enemies?

Know the Lord close, recognize and trust His voice and guidance, and not be filled by the enemy into hurting others.

The second thing?

Acknowledge and admit that we haven’t always gotten this right ourselves, repent, confess to each other our failures, call out to the Lord for help, do our best to not make those same mistakes, and humbly do our best to repair what damage has been done.

When we are truly a friend and a servant to even our bullies/enemies, and when we are humble about what we can do ourselves to clearly show them the love of Christ – walls can come crumbling down and God can do the fighting for us. And He can even change both our hearts and theirs to a place of reconciliation.

God bless, friends!

Associated Reading:

  • Genesis 3
  • Psalm 3
  • Joshua 3