Gratitude

Last time I talked about a fast I held for several decades.  Was this a result of discipleship or nature?  That is what I want to think about today.

After I became a Christian, I ended up in a Hutterite community for several years.  Certainly, this opportunity turned me from being the incredibly violent person I had been to a very convicted pacifist.  Equally, there must have been other changes in me because of my years with them.  I now had peace.  You have no idea the terror of living every minute in fear – because very dangerous men had decided you must die because you accidentally knew something you should not.  Was my gratitude to God for the miracle of living a month on only nine crackers a day, a result of the peace He had brought me?  Certainly, I had learned my existing from minute to the next was very much dependent upon God alone.

From my Danish great-uncle, whom I credit for whatever is good in me, I learned to view life very uniquely.  I learned to see life not as something we are controlled by but rather to respond to situations with thought.  He was a very wealthy man, but you would not have known it.  Wealth was something you used to help others with, wealth was a tool to better self and others with.  He never had to work a single minute after 1942 when he became wealthy, but he chose to buy a dairy and work at what has got to be one of the harder occupations in life!  Not to save money but because he knew it was good for a man to work.  As for God, he never once mentioned Him to me, maybe I was too young, but after his death I was to learn he had been an active member in the church as well.  Did he teach me Christian values without my knowing?  Gratitude being one of them?  I can definitely see that one!

The fast I observed was not a big deal.  No one knew of it, save for Una and later Gaelic Girl, and only then because we spent so much time together.  They thought it quaint (and perhaps I was a little demented?).  I did not run around whining about hunger or pretend I was better than anyone because of it, because it was something I chose to do to remember God’s miracle in my life.  If someone wanted to do something on that day, which would have involved food, I would reschedule with them – as I had other plans for that day.

So, understand, I judge no one based on my experiences in this area.  But, I do understand gratitude and God’s active hand in our lives.

Thus, when I read Isaiah 58:6-7, I understand intimately what God is saying to the Hebrew of that day, “You are failing me in your hearts!”.

They were fasting but not remembering why they were.  They were in fact, acting in exactly the opposite direction of what they should.  They were to be remembering hunger, yet they would not feed the hungry.  They were to be remembering their poverty and yet they would not clothe strangers – much less their own relatives!  They wore their fasting as a badge of honor – “Look at me!  I am doing the Fast!”  When it would have been so much better to have dealt with their hardness of heart.  They could not see that God was the one feeding them and clothing them.

They had no gratitude.  And very soon, they had nothing - for God took away from them all they thought they had earned by their own hand…..

Doing A Fast

One of the miracles I saw in my early years as a Christian was due to a period of extreme poverty.  I reached a point where I had no money, nor means by which to attain any, in any form, at least legally.  And, I flat ran out of food.  Well, I did have a box of Saltine Crackers and half a bottle of ketchup.  So, I rationed myself to three crackers a meal, three times a day.  It was what I had, it was what I could do.  Not much of a diet.

Perhaps because of my discipleship or my nature, I continued to thank God for each and every cracker I had to eat.  I continued to try and find work in most any form but the economy was bad and lots of people were in as bad of shape as I.

When I reached my next to last meal of crackers, a month later, I knew God was still in control and was not real sure where tomorrow’s crackers would come from.  As I prayed, there was a knock at the door and my neighbor told me that some people had dropped off several bags of food.  What are the odds that this person would even tell me?  Wow!

I set about putting this miracle away in my kitchen when there was a second knock at the door.  Very odd, considering that the prior knock at the door had been the first one ever!  And now there were two?  With great curiosity, I answered the door to find no one there.  Just four bags of groceries sat there!

Now, I never had told anyone of my plight.  No one knew and yet I had now been given enough food to last several months!

As a form of thanking God, I decided I would fast one day a week, so that I would always remember God’s miracle in my life that day.  And, for many decades I was able to hold to this observance.  However, with age, so many medications require me to take them morning, noon and night – and with food.  It really broke my heart to no longer be able to observe my fast, but God understands that gratitude is in my  heart and mind, not in hunger…..

*****

It was years later I was in a Bible study and someone asked the question, “What is the strangest thing you have ever done?”  One of the guys there was my ex-boss and told about how he had felt lead to buy four bags of food and then deliver them to an apartment in Tacoma.  He had no idea whose apartment it was, or why the food was needed there, but he did it.  I never mentioned it was me.  But that was so cool, God even used him (we did not see eye to eye on anything!)…..

A decade later my grandmother told me that her husband and her had brought me several bags of groceries, “just because”.  Again, she had no idea I needed food, much less what my address was.  In fact, no one had my address.  Wow!  No idea how she figured out where I lived…..

So, that was the rest of the story.

Joy

Please forgive my poor photography, cameras just are not my “thing”.  This is my grand-daughter at my oldest daughter’s birthday party last week.  (Was it only LAST week?)  GD fell in love with the balloons. 

She would bounce them around while giggling wildly.  When she could wrap her pudgy little fingers around one or more of them, they had to be rapidly banged against her head, the table, each other, her mother’s face.  Giggles and laughter are contagious and the entire area really lit up from her frivolity.

Such simple, unabashed joy.

I could not help but think about myself and most Christians I know.  Long of face, most looking like they have sucked a lemon – rather than having the joy of knowing their Creator in a very special way.

Imagine a church full of people truly joyful for their forgiveness in Jesus.  Imagine how much we would have to change in order to be so free in our expression of joy.  I am not calling for what I saw in the charismatic church I used to attend, something a little more in control would be much better than what I see every Sunday, no matter where I am.

GD could not careless what anyone thinks as she played with the balloons, her enjoyment was real.  Might be nice if our worship and enjoyment in Jesus was as well.

Psalm 23

From my Russian artist friend, on one of my favorite verses…..

*****

The Lord is my Shepherd = Relationship

I shall not want = Supply

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures = Rest

He leadeth me beside the still waters = Refreshment

He restoreth my soul = Healing

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness = Guidance

For His name sake = Purpose

Yea, though I walk through the valley of t he shadow of death =
Testing

I will fear no evil = Protection

For Thou art with me = Faithfulness

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me = Discipline

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies =
Hope

Thou annointest my head with oil = Consecration

My cup runneth over = Abundance

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life =
Blessing

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord = Security

Forever = Eternity

*****

Face it, the Lord is crazy about you!

Relative To Man

We struggle to understand God, usually ending up by remaking Him in our image because it is what we can understand.  Jesus is not much easier.  Lots of cults have arisen through the ages differing from Christianity in their attempts to get a handle on the nature of Jesus.

I have only known two whom I believe may have a solid understanding of both and both would claim their understanding to only be at the beginning.  Which means, the rest of us are sort of hopeless in this endeavor…

So, from our perspective what can we know?

Revelation 1:12-17

Jesus is God’s beginning and end.

We are told that creation began with Jesus and will end through Him as well.

Jesus is unique among faith founders.

Jesus came preaching a message of life, eternal life, freely given.  Something no other religion or faith can offer.  (Yes, I am very familiar with both Judaism and Islam, neither of which offer salvation apart from works.)

Jesus makes death powerless.

Although Jesus’ death on the cross was for the covering of our sin, His rising from the dead demonstrated His power over death.

Jesus will never die again.

Jesus faces no condemnation from His father, and never has.  It is very poor theology which claims otherwise.

Jesus holds the keys to your eternity.

You get a choice: accept Jesus’ payment for your sin and face an eternity with Him, or face God in your sin and be judged accordingly – not an eternity of suffering ever meant for man.

The Answer is Always Zero!

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Life – Love = Zero

Great Communication – Love = Zero

Great Knowledge – Love = Zero

Great Faith – Love = Zero

Great Generosity – Love = Zero

Great Sacrifice – Love = Zero

Lesson to be learned:

Don’t let your life add up to Zero!