essays 60-67

1. #67 Pull Out the Beam, Lord!
2. #66 The Bugs that Bite Us
3. #65 Save or Delete?
4. #64 Souls Cast Down
5. # 63 Shining Faces and Solar Cells
6. #62 Botulism loves a vacuum!
7. #61 "Supernatural Super Glue for the Soul"
8. #60 Caked-on dirt & rusty bolts

#67 Pull Out the Beam, Lord!

Faults are funny animals, aren't they? They are so conspicuous on others; so camouflaged on ourselves! Why is that? How much better if it were just the other way around. Life would be a good deal more pleasant and we would all be more truly humble. Our Lord had it exactly right: we assiduously go about poking at the speck in our brother's eye while we ourselves are severely handicapped by that huge beam jutting out of our own! It is good to be concerned about your brother's welfare but.....look to yourself (and your own motives) first! Did your brother ask you for help with that speck?

Sincere prayer does wonders for making those hidden faults of ours rise up and smack us right in the face. That's good, actually, for then we can repent of those faults and ask God to forgive us--and help us to overcome them. Think of the prayer in Psalm 19:

"Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

"Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." (verses 12 & 13)

Some of us won't see ourselves in any of this; we will continue to strain at a gnat and swallow a camel (Matt. 23:24). We will continue to be sightless seeing-eye dogs for our brothers and sisters. How does the saying go, "there is none so blind as he who will not see"? Ask God to show you your own heart (He knows it through and through). And be prepared to wince!

"Help Wanted--heavy, cumbersome beam to remove from off premises. Respond ASAP!
Lori fiechter, Sept. '97

#66 The Bugs that Bite Us

This is the time of year when those biting bugs are abundant: mosquitoes, horseflies, deerflies, chiggers...but especially mosquitoes! You don't go out in the woods on a summer evening without liberally dousing yourself with insect repellent. (Well, unless you actually enjoy being eaten alive!) I sprayed myself the other evening before walking on the trails at our local state park. Even then, I had to keep on walking. As soon as I stopped to enjoy the scenery, part of the scenery bit me! (I must have missed spraying that right elbow and ankle).

But I'm not talking about mosquitoes. Have you been bitten lately by one of these bugs? (You won't find these 6-legged critters in any Field Guide!)

1. the "Keep up with the Jones' bug" ; a materialistic bug who is not happy unless his possessions are greater and flashier than his neighbor bugs. The "Greed Bug" is a closely related species.
Matthew 6:20,21 "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven....For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

2. the "busy bug". This bug is industrious--overly so--to the neglect of everything truly important in life. This bug is unable to relax. He never sits still long enough to hear what it is that God really wants him to do.
Psalm 37:7 "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself..."

3. the "eat, drink, and be merry bug". This bug never worries about the future--or about anyone or anything outside of himself. He is happily hedonistic.
Luke 12:20 "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; then whose shall those things be, which though hast provided?"

4. the "look out for #1" bug. This bug is myopic; his poor vision won't allow him to see past himself. He can be rather brash and overbearing at times. Don't ask him for any favors!
Philippians 2:3,4 "...in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

5. the "bitter bug". I believe this one is in the aphid family; he has such a sour attitude that he sucks all the joy out of life. The "resentment bug" is a close relation, as are the "complaining" and "unthankful" bugs. May their numbers decrease!
Hebrews 12:15 "Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled."

6. the "gossip bug". This poor bug does not have a life of her own and so lives vicariously through others...she passes on juicy tidbits much as an ant shares regurgitated food from its own crop. This bug is not to be ignored; she has a vicious bite which leaves permanent scars. I would include all bugs with "tongue troubles" in this group.
lots of proverbs for this one. 17:9, 17:28, and I Timothy 5:13, James 4

7. the "worthless to God and man" bug. This bug is overly introspective. He is prone to navel-gazing. He needs constant encouragement to accomplish even the smallest tasks. His eyes are on his own failings instead of God's power. Related to the "fearful bug" and the "fainting bug".
Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith..." or Moses' word to Joshua, "Be strong and of good courage'

8. the "I'm glad I'm not like that publican" bug. This self-righteous bug is remarkably ugly and yet spends most of its day preening its dull exoskeleton. He is practically hollow on the inside...makes a unique crackling noise when stepped on.
self-evident. re: the parable of the Pharisee and the publican.

9. the "One foot in the world" bug. This bug is unsure about his proper habitat. It is just too hard for him to give up some of his favorite sins from his unconverted life. Or maybe he doesn't want the other bugs to laugh at him for being different. He has no idea how to live an overcoming life.
II Cor. 6:17 (quoted from Is. 52:11) "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"

I'm sure that you can think of many more "bad bugs". But there are a few bugs we need to encourage! These are like the praying mantids, ladybird beetles, lacewings,dragonflies,etc. of the insect world. When they are active, they help to inhibit the population of harmful insects.

A. The "fruit of the Spirit" bug. You want to be bitten by this one--he has a 9-fold bite! (Gal. 5)

B. the "not ashamed of the gospel" bug. Ditto! (Romans 1:16)

C. the "my heart is in heaven bug". This one has the right perspective on life! (Hebrews 13:14)

Encourage those good bugs and do your best to make those bad ones extinct in your life: swat them, spray them, stomp on them--just get rid of them!

wishing you all a "pest free" day in the Lord!

lori fiechter
August of '97

#65 Save or Delete?

Do you ever save things that could be deleted and delete things you should have saved? I certainly have, more than once. And the same principle is at work in my memory. I remember things I could ( or even need to) forget--bits of trivia or past hurts and grievances--and I forget important things--like people's names, dental appointments, etc.! As King Nebuchadnezzar put it, "the thing is gone from me".

I was amazed at how many Bible verses have to do with forgetting or remembering. As far as forgetting, we need to be "forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before" (Phil 3:13). God forgets our sins (Jer. 31:34 & Ps. 103:12) and remembers that we are but dust (Ps. 103:14). Praise Him for that!

Then there are the things we are not to forget:

We are not to forget all the Lord's benefits (Ps. 103:2)--which I take to mean that we are to remember to be thankful to him. We are not to forget His word (Ps. 119:16). We are not to forget to do good and to "communicate" (to share with others). (Hebrews 13:16)

There are some things we need to remember:

We should remember our Creator in the days of our youth (Eccles. 12:1) We should remember the lesson learned from Lot's wife (Luke 17:32). We should remember the love we first had when we became converted (Rev. 2:5) We should remember the Lord's suffering by partaking in communion (Luke 22:19, I Cor. 11:24,25).

But there is something that we will not remember--this present earth. Isaiah 65:17 says "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind."

By the way, God has promised that He will never forget us. According to Isaiah 49:15,16 we have been engraved upon the palms of His hands. (Right next to those nail prints? )

I hope to get this remembering/forgetting sorted out in my own mind.

As the poet Christiana Rossetti wrote:
"haply I may remember,
and haply may forget"

P.S. Did you know that God has a book of remembrance written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name? Look at Malachi 3:16,17

lori fiechter, summer '97

#64 Souls Cast Down

I was reading in Psalms 42; verse 5 stood out:

Satan is clever enough to make you unhappy no matter what your circumstances: healthy or ill, financially secure or deeply in debt, successful or failure-ridden. He can make you miserable even if all outward indicators seem positive. Satan will exploit your every weakness and make you inordinately proud of your strengths. So what is the solution? Turn your eyes upon Jesus!

Don't dwell on your problems, don't compare yourself with others, don't kowtow to Satan! Keep your focus on Christ: on His Word, His power, His example. Put yourself entirely in His loving (nail-scarred!) hands and let Him use you according to His purpose. When your soul is cast down, remember that the Lord is the "lifter up" of your head. (Ps. 3:3)

Our Lord knows all about your individual strengths and weaknesses. He made you, after all! Keep looking up! Don't let Satan get the best of you but rather give the Lord your best!

summer, '97

# 63 Shining Faces and Solar Cells

We heard much in church yesterday afternoon about shining faces. The first reading was the OT account of Moses returning from the mount; his face was shining so brightly from being in the presence of the Lord (although Moses himself didn't realize it) that the people couldn't look at him. He had to have a veil cover his face. And then we read that familiar verse in Mark 4 about letting our light shine and not hiding it under a bushel.

I thought of Stephen, as he was being stoned to death; his face shone like that of an angel. I thought of our Lord at the Mount of Transfiguration. And I thought of verse 3 in Daniel 12:
"And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the starts for ever and ever." Do our faces shine? Is God's glory reflected in our faces? I thought about being "recharged".....

We have a little calculator which runs on a solar cell battery. It works fine and has lasted for years. You don't have to worry about replacing any batteries but the solar cell does need to be recharged by holding it up to a source of light: such as a sunny window or a lighted bulb. If you are using the calculator in a dark room, it will need to be recharged more often.

We are Christians, trying to shine our lights in this increasingly dark world. How often do you hold yourself up to His light to be recharged? If your light is growing a bit dim, that may be your problem. We need frequent recharging in the Light of His Word and in fellowship with Him in prayer.

Psalm 119:105 states:

and verse 130:

Look up the words "light" and "shine" in your Bible concordance sometime (today?) and prepare to be illuminated!

Be like the sunflowers--so called because as they grow, they always turn their heads toward the sun. May we ever turn our faces toward the Son as well.

Numbers 6:24-26

l.f., Summer of '97

#62 Botulism loves a vacuum!

I loaned out my pressure canner recently and it made me think of why green beans need to be cooked under pressure (10 pounds per square inch)--it is in order to kill those botulism spores. I realize that the inside of a can of green beans is not technically a "vacuum"--not in the scientific sense--but it will do for my purposes.

There has been a lot of talk of food poisoning in the news again; especially the e.coli bacterium. I wonder if that is just another sign of the end times? Since it is home-canning season here, the bacterium I am concerned about is the fatally toxic clostridium botulinum. It is absorbed rapidly, is not destroyed by gastrointestinal enzymes, and causes death from respiratory paralysis and suffocation. The mortality rate for botulism is high. Why all these details? I just wanted you to understand that botulism is very dangerous. And it grows best in the absence of air. So to speak, Botulism loves a vacuum. And so, according to Jesus, do unclean spirits. Look at Luke 11:24-26

"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

"And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

"Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first."

The point is that we are not to be empty but completely filled with the Spirit, as the Word states in Ephesians 5:18

or this verse:

"Nature abhors a vacuum", as the saying goes. You are going to be filled with something, like it or not. There really isn't a neutral state. As Jesus said:

Make sure that you are not poisoned by the world's or Satan's "botulism spores". Be filled with the Spirit (which in the Bible is compared to breath, wind, or air) and those spores will not be able to live.

Let the Lord Jesus kill those toxic spores of sin and fill you with His Holy Spirit!
lori fiechter, august '97

#61 "Supernatural Super Glue for the Soul"

Super glue comes in handy in our house--especially when the fan in our microwave falls off, as it does every few months. Super glue makes a strong bond; it holds almost all things together (including fingers, if one is not careful!).

Have you ever felt that you could use a dab (or a whole tube!) of spiritual super glue? Does your life seem to be falling apart? Are there relationships that need cementing or mending? Let the One Who holds the entire universe together help mend your life. What does hold the world together? Look at Hebrews 1:2-3--

"...Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he (Jesus Christ) made the worlds;

"Who (Jesus) being the brightness of his glory, and express image of his person, and UPHOLDING ALL THINGS BY THE WORD OF HIS POWER...."

Jesus Christ is holding the world(s) together! How? By the word of His power! If He can hold the whole world together, He can certainly sustain you as well. In Colossians 1:17, the word translated "consist" is actually the Greek word "sunistano", from which we get our word sustain. By Jesus Christ were all things created (Col 1:16--look at the end of verse 13) and by Him all things consist or are sustained. He is holding together the very atoms of the universe...if He didn't, if He "let go" for an instant, everything would go flying apart. Scientists still do not really understand what holds the atom together--what is the source of its "binding energy"? (Just because you give something a name, it doesn't mean it is completely understood!). Jesus is the Source Himself!

Jesus Christ can mend a broken life or a broken spirit with his supernatural glue. He is able. What is He able to do? For starters, He is able to "do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think...( Eph 3:20). He is able to "keep that which I've committed unto him against that day"

(II Timothy 1:12). He is able to "succour them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18) and able to "save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him..."(Heb. 7:25).And think of this glorious promise: "...he is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude 24)

Super glue bonds in seconds; works on most clean, dry surfaces--with this warning: do not reposition. But super glue cannot mend things that have been completely shattered; Our Lord can and will--if you but ask in faith (nothing wavering!).

"The One who holds the universe together is the One who holds your hand"

lori fiechter, august '97

#60 Caked-on dirt & rusty bolts

Regular maintenance is the best way to keep anything clean and running smoothly. That goes for the family car, machinery, appliances and even relationships--with God and man. Have you ever tried to loosen a bolt that has rusted shut? Or tried to wash dishes where the food has been caked on (especially with egg yolk or oatmeal!)? Or tried to get a stain out of that good white shirt after it has set for several days? Or maybe you've tried to patch up a relationship that has gone sour...so sour the two parties are not even on speaking terms.You are looking at a heavy-duty expenditure of time and effort toward something that could have been prevented so easily with just some regular maintenance!

How are you doing with your spiritual maintenance? Are you rusty in the Word,in prayer, and in fellowship with your Lord? Are you "caked-on" with little sins that you have just ignored instead of confessing and making them right? Maybe you have let things go for so long that it all looks hopeless: instead of scouring those dirty dishes, you'd rather just throw them in the trash. Don't give up! It is never too late to get back on track--not in God's estimation. Take the first small step back: you probably need a good soaking--in either water or oil. Confess your failures to God; ask Him to help you with a fresh start. He is the great Healer; the great Cleanser; the God of second chances! He possesses the universal solvent; He can dissolve your grime and dirt; with His help, you can cut through those problems.

get out His maintenance manual and make it a habit to study it daily!