essays 146-154

1. #89  The Eyes Don't Lie!
2. #104 Unwrap it!
3. #146 Trying to Floss with Greasy Hands!
4. #147 You can't sleep with your eyes open
5. #148 Keep those bristles down!
6. #149 "You Know Better than That!"
7. #150 "Soak it Up!"
8. #151 "If I Knew You Were Coming!"
9. #152 When the Tea Spills...the Table gets Waxed!
10. #153 "Millstone Check List"
11. #154 Cereal Box Meditation #2

#89  The Eyes Don't Lie!

I was playing a few hymns on the piano the other day at the beginning of our school day. At the end of one hymn, we were singing about seeing the Savior's face some day when I noticed one of my sons watching my face as I sang. I was disconcerted but didn't say anything; I just kept on singing. Later, I wondered--what did my face convey at that moment?--joy and praise or merely mechanical intonations? It is a scary feeling to have one's facial expressions so closely examined! Words may lie but facial expressions usually do not.

Children can tell if we really love the Word or if we just read our allotted Bible chapters out of a sense of duty. They can tell if we really mean the words we sing or if we are mouthing phrases that ring hollow. Did God give us children to keep us honest?

Wouldn't you rather hear, "You really love the Bible, don't you?" than "You sure know a lot about the Bible!" We just heard in church again how Christianity is to be a faith OF Christ, not merely a religion about Him. Do you delight in the Lord (Ps. 37:4) or do you serve Him only out of a sense of duty?

a living faith--or just a good photocopy?

#104 Unwrap it!

Why does it seem to be a mark of "spirituality" to confess that you have no spiritual gifts? That seems to me to be akin to being proud of one's humility. Are you saying that God neglected to give you anything? Are you making God out to be stingy?

Now, I'm not saying that you should brag about your gifts--"Look what God gave me!   I got the biggest present!"  No, you shouldn't brag about a gift--

"For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?"
--I Cor. 4:7

But ignoring or denying a spiritual gift is like hiding your light under a bushel. How can God work through you if you insist that you are only fit for observing from the sidelines? Christianity is not a spectator sport! There should be no Christian "couch potatoes!

This spiritual gift  is between you and God; you are not to open your present in front of others and start comparing the contents:

"Lord, why didn't you give me that gift instead? It would have been a perfect fit!   I don't care for this one--could I exchange it for something else?"

Be content with such gifts as you have--the Giver doesn't make mistakes!

Open that present, accept the gift, and then use it--
to His glory and honor and praise.
(not to your own...or the gift may be "returned to Sender")

If you honestly don't believe you have any spiritual gift at all, ask God to reveal it (or them) to you--maybe you kicked it under the couch and didn't even realize it!

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
--James 1:17

#146 Trying to Floss with Greasy Hands!

"Friction" is a word with such negative overtones. It is not a good thing to have "friction" at work or school or at home. But sometimes a little friction can be a good thing. (Think: icy sidewalks)

My dentist once again reminded me that I need to improve my flossing technique. i.e.--don't skip those molars in the back side pocket. So for the next couple of days, I tried--I really did. But the hand lotion didn't help any. Flossing with greasy hands is well nigh impossible. And I wasn't going to wash off good lotion just to floss those hard-to-reach molars. Maybe tomorrow... I did get a lesson on the usefulness of friction.

Sure, we prefer for things to go smoothly all the time! How many of us really enjoy obstacles and problems? (If you actually relish such things, I don't want to hear from you, by the way!) Most of us don't. I'll hide or run from or simply ignore the most glaring problems for as long as I possibly can. I try to bury friction in the hopes it will turn into mulch or something (don't try this at home; friction won't rot).

But friction can do us good. Friction can help to bring unresolved issues to the forefront so that they can be dealt with (and then, there can be healing). People who tend to "rub us the wrong way" may actually be sent by God to polish us up a bit--so that we can shine like His gems. It's pretty hard to polish something without rubbing it (think silverware or waxing your Taurus or apples for the teacher).

Is there friction in your life today in the form of difficult people or circumstances? Maybe it's polishing time. Believe that God wants to use these difficulties for your own (eventual...) good.

#147 You can't sleep with your eyes open

If you have eyelids (unlike reptiles...), you find you can't sleep with your eyes open--just try it. I was working outside the other day when it was very windy. I guess I should have worn goggles. The wind must have abraded my left eye. I didn't really notice until I closed my eyes to sleep at night. Ouch! The eyes popped back open. It hurt to close my left eye. I tried again. "This is silly", I thought, "I'm so tired from being out in the sun today but I can't sleep with one eye open". I tried eye drops and they helped enough so that I wasn't "Sleepless In Indiana" that night.

Do you have your eyes open or are you sleeping? You can't do both at the same time. Paul reminds us in I Thessalonians 5:6,
"Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."
We are a daytime kind of people--we are to be alert and watchful. Jesus warned us several times to watch in His Olivet discourse:

from Luke 21: "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye maybe accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

From Mark 13: "And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."

From Matthew 24: "take heed...be ready...watch ye therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."

Why are we to watch? So that we won't be deceived by false prophets or doctrines; so that we will be always ready to meet our Lord when He comes, without drawing back in shame. ( I John 2:28)

Who are we to watch for? For Jesus.

When are we to watch? Always.

How are we to watch? In hope.

What are we to watch for? It doesn't hurt to be aware of the "signs of the times" (Just don't get carried away and start seeing signs in everything). Great events cast their shadows before them. Things are starting to fall into place. Watch.

#148 Keep those bristles down!

"Doest thou well to be angry?" Job 4:4

I bristle. It happens so suddenly, so inadvertently that it is frightening. I don't mean to bristle but before I realize what has happened my quills are up and poking anyone within striking distance. It is a defense mechanism, I suppose, in people as well as in porcupines. If I feel threatened, slighted, or hurt, I'm on the defensive in an instant. Do you bristle too? (or perhaps you just let your feathers ruffle a bit?)

I caught my bristles in the act the other day and learned something rather unpleasant about myself. I learned that I react illogically and all out of proportion to the imagined offense. I don't like to think that of myself but I'm afraid it is true. I also learned that I seem to have an innate inability to co-operate. No wonder my husband thinks I could be perfectly content as a hermit! I can give orders or take them but don't stick me on a committee of equals. Yes, I would've failed

co-operative learning had it been in vogue when I was in school. I am stubbornly independent; I like to make unilateral decisions and then ram-rod them through. (Tact is not a strong suit of mine either...)

It may always be a struggle for me to work with others. When my (brilliant!) suggestions are outvoted or overlooked, I will probably bristle. That's why this body of Christ thing is difficult for me. Think of your own physical body--no body part can make unilateral decisions; there is ultimate co-operation and co-ordination between the members. Can you imagine the chaos that would erupt if every cell in your body decided to act independently--apart from every other cell? (You wouldn't survive long enough to contemplate such chaos.) And the human body is what the Word teaches as our model. (sigh) Looks like I've got work to do--how about you?

Gonna smooth those bristles down, oh yes....(anybody know where I can buy bristle conditioner?)

"And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee...."
I Corinthians 12:19-21

#149 "You Know Better than That!"

"You know better than that!" My youngest son had just run out of the kitchen, dropping a dish towel on the floor as he exited. "Come back here--pick it up and hang it up! You know better than that!" I've caught myself using that phrase several times lately--prefaced by remarks like these:

"Don't leave the cereal box open--it will get stale."
"Put the juice back in the refrigerator."
"Put your dirty dish in the sink."

It can be exasperating when children know what to do but they just don't do it! I have to resist the tendency to constantly be chiding, "You know better than that!" Because I am no better than they.

How many times I deserve to hear the Father's gentle chiding, "You know better than that." Yes, "knowing" itself just isn't enough! Look at Paul describing his inner turmoil in Romans 7. I, too, know that in my flesh "dwelleth no good thing". I, too, can relate to "the good that I would I do not." Shame on me! I should know better than that!

I should know better than to:

1. compare myself with others (II Corinthians 10:12)
2. despise the weak; put a stumbling block in my brother's way (Romans 14)
3. seek the glory of men (II Corinthians 10:17,18)
4. let my tongue loose without a leash (James 3, I Peter 3:10)
5. allow my feelings to get hurt--that's just another form of pride

Yes, in these and many other matters (I had to stop now before I depressed myself with my litany of shortcomings!) I should know better. It makes my son's childish carelessness seem rather insignificant in comparison.....

Praise God who gives even me the power to overcome! (If I abide in Him.....)

#150 "Soak it Up!"

I have some new kitchen towels that are close to worthless! They look pretty hanging on the towel rack (OK, we don't have a towel rack, they hang on the oven door and refrigerator door) but they are about as absorbent as an old polyester leisure suit. (Remember them?--You are showing your age, too!)

These new towels just sort of smear the water around on the damp kitchen table instead of soaking it up. The table then has to air-dry. But why am I talking about towels?

Some of us are like my worthless new kitchen towels when it comes to Bible reading. We read our chapter but we don't really soak it up (it doesn't really "soak in"). We just sort of smear the words around in our mind a bit and let them air dry.

Because there is a danger to really soaking up the word and assimilating it: we might feel convicted and have to change something in our life. Maybe the Word will uncover a bad attitude or habit. Do we want to really get so close to God that He lets us know immediately as soon as we stray just a little? Do we want to give up our own favorite little sins? Maybe we'd prefer to have the mirror of God's Word a little fogged up (like the bathroom mirror looks when you get out of the shower) so that we can't see ourselves with such uncomfortable clarity. (When the mirror is all fogged up, I can't see my gray hairs or wrinkles or blemishes nearly as well!)

But that isn't how He wants us to be--we are to seek His truth and His guidance, not run from them. If you are a Christian, you are not always going to "feel good" about yourself--but that's OK. You shouldn't feel good about sin! God wants to draw you closer to Himself--sometimes that is an uncomfortable process. "God-esteem" is more important than a misguided "self-esteem".

Wipe that mirror clean--with a thirsty towel!

"Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now I have kept thy word."
"It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statures."
--Psalms 119:67,71

"When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek."
--Psalms 27:8

#151 "If I Knew You Were Coming!"

Do you enjoy having unexpected guests? You don't mind? Then you must keep your house in better order than I do! Not long ago, a vaguely familiar vehicle pulled into our lane. I didn't exactly recognize the driver. He came up the walk, carrying a sort of briefcase. He knocked on the door, I opened it, then he walked right into the house and proceeded to open his briefcase. Only then did I realize that it was our piano tuner! He only comes once a year and somehow his postcard informing me of our appointment never made it to our mailbox. I apologized for all the junk setting atop the piano (as I was hurriedly removing it) and said,

"If I knew you were coming...." (no, I wouldn't have "baked a cake", but I would have been ready!)

Have you ever been expecting an important telephone call? What do you do every time you hear the phone ring? If you are like me, you jump up to answer it immediately. (perhaps even injuring yourself in the process....) And then, how disappointed you are to find it was only some nice salesman trying to set up an appointment to re-seal your nonexistent basement!

Are you ready for the most important call of all? No, not a knock on the door or a telephone ring but a shout and a trumpet blast! That call of "come up hither!" or "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh--go ye out to meet Him!" Have you even thought about that call lately?

Now, you shouldn't be sitting around, pining--like some lovesick teen waiting for a certain someone to call. (As he promised he would!) We are to keep on working, to "Occupy till [He] come[s]" But Jesus will come--He will call! You don't have to worry about being stood up by this Bridegroom. He will not leave His Bride at the altar! In the Father's time, He will come. Are you ready? Will you go gladly, eagerly or will you shrink back and be ashamed?
(see I John 2:28)

Are you ready? Are you patiently waiting and longing for His return?

"For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry"
--Hebrews 10:37

"Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."

--I John 3:3

When Jesus Christ finally appears, we'll be like Him for we will see Him as He is! (I John 3:2)

I can't wait!

#152 When the Tea Spills...the Table gets Waxed!

I was about to drink my morning cup of tea when I noticed a sticky spot on the table.   I reached to slide the teacup and saucer over so that I could wash off that spot; I was half-successful.  That is, the teacup moved but the saucer stood firm.  I did mention that my cup was full of steaming tea, didn't I? 

The entire cup of tea poured all over the (oak) table and into the seats of two (oak) chairs. I sopped up the mess and surveyed the damage. I had never noticed before how dull those chairs and table were! I got my trusty can of paste wax down from the cupboard where it had spent the past couple of years in hibernation. The wax stilled looked OK (does paste wax have an expiration date?) So I got to work with my fine steel wool pad. The first chair looked so much better (although it would have helped if I had washed off the caked-on chocolate icing before I spread on the wax....) that I did the whole works--table included!

"So you spilled some tea and waxed your table--big deal! What's your point?"

(I was coming to that--be patient!) If I can remember them all, lots of analogies came to mind:

1. God can always bring good out of evil for His children. (think Romans 8:28)--just as I was able to turn a tea spill into a shiny, waxed kitchen table!
   
2. When you are stubborn and inflexible, stuck in your ways, (like that saucer) sometimes God has to give you a push. And you spill. Try to go with God's flow--it cuts down on life's messes.
   
3. Wax isn't enough in itself to get that shine. After I applied the wax, the table looked duller than ever. First the grease, then the "elbow grease"! It is the rubbing and polishing that brings out the shine. I resist being waxed and polished by God-- preferring the duller, weathered look. But for some reason, that raw, unpolished state doesn't seem to attract others to Christ...
   
4. That paste wax is ugly, disgusting looking stuff--like butter gone bad. (maybe it only looks that way after two years in the cupboard....) It doesn't smell lemony fresh either! But that lowly wax made my table gleam. In the same way, God may use unattractive, unpleasant things (life's thorns and roadblocks) to polish us so that we can shine more brightly for Him.
   
5. One last thing to mention: after I worked hard polishing the table, I called my three sons in to the kitchen so that they could admire the results. I proudly asked, "well, how does it look?"
   One son answered, "the floor is a mess; you should sweep it!"
   
   Moral: no matter how spiritually "polished" we are in one area of life, people will always notice our flaws first! Keeps us humble.
   
   Is it time for a wash & wax?

#153 "Millstone Check List"

Here is today's "Millstone Check List" to help you answer the question: "Am I a Millstone?"

1. Do you tend to drag your brother down? Do you have a predominantly negative outlook on life and on people? If you unexpectedly come across your reflection, does it frighten you?

2. Do you grind people into flour? Perhaps you keep picking and nagging on family members and friends? Or maybe you wear people down by your conversation: you are constantly complaining about something--your job, your health, your children or spouse. Or is your personality so forceful that you overpower the meek and lowly types? You don't realize that you are crushing them like a steamroller.

3. Are you the kind of millstone that falls on people and crushes them? Are you a gossip? Maybe you pride yourself on your wit--but you use your "wit" to cut others down to size (they are still bigger than you!) Do you respond in a harsh, judgmental way to other people's mistakes and foibles?

That's the test--only three questions. So, how did you fare? (In case you didn't figure it out, the more "yes" answers you had, the more you resemble a millstone. Perhaps you ought not step on that bathroom scale this morning!)

Are you a millstone? How much better to be someone who lifts up his brother and encourages him. If you see someone in a pit, you lend a hand to lift him up. (think of Ebed-Melech and Jeremiah in Jeremiah 37:7-13)

They'll know we are brethren by our care and concern for each other.

(If you really feel a need to provoke your brother, do it the way Hebrews 10:24 suggests!)

#154 Cereal Box Meditation #2

I forgot to bring my devotional books to the breakfast table so I started reading cereal boxes again. (At least, my books were protected from having me spill tea on them that day...) This back-of-the-box heading caught my eye:

"The energy you need to help take you through your morning"

That sounded pretty good to me! I'd just had one of those nights when my mind was so busy that I tossed and turned for a couple of hours before I finally could fall asleep. I needed something to get me through the morning! But I needed more than raisin bran to calm my agitated mood. I needed more than energy to get me through the morning; I needed help to get me through the whole day! I needed the kind of help that doesn't come in a box of cereal. I needed the help that comes from above--so I asked for it. But there was another problem...

It is said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day but how many of us rush hurriedly through the morning meal--or skip it altogether? How many more of us rush hurriedly through our morning devotions--or skip them altogether? We ask God for help but we don't pay attention to His Word. But His Word is one of the main ways that He communicates with us! How can He help us if we won't listen?

Slow down--it aids digestion! And don't forget that the Bible is a great "stress tablet". Remember those all important B-complex vitamins: "be thankful", "be holy", "be faithful", "be prayful".....