Fame By Association

Hello All,

Sometimes I wonder…. Well, that’s already a lie. I don’t wonder at all: Being blatantly honest, I absolutely don’t think that God realizes how hard it is to go through life feeling as unsure as we often do. When I read The Bible, I must admit that I really do get jealous of people like Abraham, Elisha and especially Moses. I imagine the great things I could be doing for God and what my life would be like if He could just come and spend half of the time with me as He spent with Moses. I’d even settle for a couple of rumbling voices every now and again…just to let me know I’m on the right track. But then I take a closer look at Moses and I see a certain flaw that I suspect would be exponentially worse if I was allowed to be placed in Moses’ shoes: Just from my point a view, I believe that Moses journey ended the way it did because he fell victim to fame by association.

We live in a society that makes much of our associations and experiences; we keep autographs, selfies with celebrities (or even just their stuff), ticket stubs and other souvenirs and we love to tell the stories of how we met or simply saw ‘so and so’ or were at some sort of memorable event as the makings of an exciting life. I don’t mean to sound as if I think it’s a bad thing to have been part of special events or to remark about these memorable times in our lives, but just to lay the foundation – that’s what we do. Now carry it forward. What if God DID spend a lot of time with me personally in our current day and age. Would I be able to keep it together? Or would I the pressure and fame associated with being one-on-One close with “The Big Guy” make me start looking down my nose? I suspect each new occasion in His presence would find me newly “scared to move” but once back in my own ‘hood, I’d probably have a swagger in my stroll that would only be appropriate if it were in slow motion accompanied with rock star background music.

Here’s The Word:

Numbers 20:7 - 12 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,8 Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.9 And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.12 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

Woah! Seems like a pretty high price to pay – but is it? It’s more obvious to me that “Sanctifying The Lord” is a pretty serious thing and it’s never to be taken lightly, no matter how long you’ve been in His presence. I still don't want to take away anything from Moses, I just think that the disobedience of the people got to him. But it got to him in a way that made him make a wrong choice. I think that wrong choice came easy to him because of his personal association with God and made him take an opportunity to make a stage for himself rather than realizing "It's God's stage....always was....always will be!"

So what is it that I REALLY want? if it’s to know if I’m on the right track, God has more than enough direction and wisdom in His word and so many practical, yet theologically sound writers and expositors to satiate anyone serious enough to sit and investigate the volumes of material: Spurgeon, Tozer, Wiersbe, Moody, Scholfield, Edwards, Pentecost…the list goes on and on, and none of these people were afforded an audience into His presence the way Moses was, but they still managed to have a life spoken of with the utmost regard to their passion for God.

So I do thank God that although I’m sure He knows how lonely and unsure things may get, He also knows how to see me through and it doesn’t require an actual manifestation of His physical presence which may sound like a good idea on occasion, but would probably lead to less holiness and more pride due to my propensity for being blinded by fame....even if it's by association!


In Him,
Cros

Front Row Seats

Hello All,

Have you ever felt like giving up? I’m not trying to be morbid and fundamentally, this is just a realization that sometimes life deals us some pretty heavy blows. I think that if we’re honest, when we think of all the problems that befall us; financially, physically, relationally, and many other areas of burdensome disappointment, we’ve probably thought (more than once) of ditching this “Ol’ world” and going straight to Heaven. Trust me, I know.

But what if you could? What if you could simply call on The Lord and have Him remove you from this life his very moment. Would you do it? I know right? not a tough choice there: “Yes! Please!” – But what if after you’ve ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth..and touched the face of God’, you’ve found yourself in a celestial amphitheater where you’re handed your ticket and directed to your seat for the upcoming Celebration where Christ receives His Bride, The Church. You make your way to your row: V where many other people are seated. You shuffle your way past the other guests to your seat: 27.

Immediately, as you strain your eyes to try and make out the preparations taking place on the stage, you realize, you can barely see from so far away. You’re a little troubled thinking “I didn’t think it was going to be like this?” Just then, the person next to you nudges you and responds with "I know right?" – followed by “Yeah, we can all read minds here.” Anyway, you engage in conversation and question, “But why are we all so far back?” In one troubling moment, all the people near you give you the answer – “Because like us, you’re here early. We, like you, all met a moment of despair where we were overwhelmed by our troubles and became more focused on the problem than the Solution and the purpose that God had for allowing us to continue in the problems. This caused us to forfeit the seats He originally planned for us. But Hey! We’re in Heaven and it’s more beautiful than anyone could ever imagine....right?”

You agree at the magnitude of the sheer beauty of Heaven, but somewhere deep inside, you feel the sting of that one single word – “forfeited”.

Knowing what you know NOW - you kind of find yourself wishing you would’ve chose to endure your earthly problems and had rather focused on the Truth of God’s word. Even though things become what seem to be unbearable for what seems to be an eternity, and even though none of your friends seem to be able to understand or offer lasting comfort – Here’s The Word:

2 Corinthians 4: 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.8 We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

Luke 18:29 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God's sake,30 Who shall not receive manifold more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.

So this little fairy tale is ultimately about encouragement to endure the tough times. I remember hearing the phrase “If it was easy, it wouldn’t be called ‘enduring’”. So no, it’s not easy for any of us, but if you could check out early, would you? I’m persuaded that if God knows what I’m going through, then He knows that somehow, me sticking it out will give Him glory in a way that I can’t see.

Contextually speaking, I’m sure that the Luke passage I mentioned doesn’t apply to all the things we think we’ve lost or times we've suffered through; we need to realize that much of our suffering is due to our own choices, not suffering for The Kingdom. The verse assures us God knows our way and He's not onlyh able, but willing to provide for us if/when we’re in His will. And I surely don’t want to forfeit what He has for me, either here or in the life to come!

Who knows what you give up, when you give up…You could be passing up on front row seats!



In Him,
Cros

Monday's Meditation - The Clock Gospel

The Clock Gospel
(developed from a dream I had Sep 1 2014)

When you look at a old watch or wall clock, do you see the Gospel? Not simply in the idea that time is running out. Look closer.

The Long hand is God, The Father. The minute hand. God counts away each MINUTE in our lives. He knows the span of each life and He's involved with the big things all the way down to the "MINUTE" details. He doesn't just look at our actions, He looks deep in the heart and tests our motivations; even our very words are recorded to be played back as we are to give an account for every idle word.

The short hand is us. We're only here for a short time and although we call it the hour hand, we'd sorely regret living this life leaning to OUR understanding, motivated only by OUR desires. Thank God that He's provided the solution for OUR ultimate problem; OUR sinful state.

Which brings us to the second hand; and in relationship to time, each minute is further broken down into seconds which is what Christ did. He addressed the "minute" details of The Law and explained that these could be fulfilled only with a changed heart; a heart that loves God first and foremost, followed by loving your neighbor as yourself.

The Word of God is embodied in the SECOND Person of The Trinity and it tells us to make every SECOND count because at the SECOND coming, there will be no SECOND chances.

You see, time is not only relative, but the aspects of time are related.

Here's The Word:

2 Corinthians 5:19(a) To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,

That's a fundamental truth of The Gospel. Reconciliation. Bringing us back in to the intended relationship with our Maker.
- Stated another way. God's longsuffering didn't quickly count us out (although He could've without a second guess), His desire to address the minute details of our predicament via a living example caused Him to send His son into our situation (minus the sinfulness) so we could be redeemed and follow His example, for God's glory and our benefit.

The next time you look at a clock - Look closer and see The Gospel.

In Him,
Cros