Why

“…everyone who is called by my name, whom
I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
(Isaiah 43:7 NIV)

Why, is a question that we tend to ask when we don’t understand the reasons for something taking place or the absence of the same. It’s a question that most of us if asked would admit that we’ve asked God. It’s a question that I’ve asked and have with tears in my eyes just yearned for an answer from God.

In John 11, when Jesus heard that his close friend Lazarus was dying, He told those around Him, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." (John 11:4 NIV) Then it says that Jesus stayed where He was for two more days. If it were up to Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, they would have had Jesus drop everything and come right then to heal their brother and keep him from dying. But as we read this portion of scripture we see that it wasn’t up to them and that it wasn’t about them, or their brother, rather the circumstance that they found themselves in was all about God’s glory.

It’s a very natural thing for us to become focused on ourselves when in the midst of our circumstances we find ourselves weighed down and burdened by the reality of pain and suffering. Could it be possible that the cancer our loved one is facing is for God’s glory? Can my losing my job and not being able to get one for this long be because God wants to be glorified though it? I’ve been praying for my husband for years to come and know the Lord, but to no avail. Should I continue to pray or give up? Could this journey of pain be for the glory of God? How could my life of struggling with my addictions ever turn out to bring glory to God? How could Christians being put to death and worse, because of their faith be for the glory of God?

In the midst of our circumstances, as we face uncertainties day in and day out, we must remember that not only were we made for God’s glory, but that everything, every circumstance in our lives, the good, the bad and the seemingly indifferent, are all a part of the plan that God has to bring glory to Himself. So, as we take steps day by day, moment by moment and face circumstances beyond our control, let’s remember that it’s all about Him and His glory. It’s not about our good and well being, it’s about His glory which when accomplished will always work out for our good. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Rom 8:28 NIV) Our circumstances will look much different when viewed through the lenses of God’s glory. For that is the purpose for our being.

MJ

September 11, 2001

Like many, I will never forget where I was and what I was doing on the morning of September 11, 2001. As I waited to hear news of friends and family involved, I was hit with a sense of fear that life as we knew it in the United States of America would never be the same.

Several days later, while talking with some friends that did get out of the building alive, I learned of the incredible heroism of many men and women who set aside their comfort, their reason and for many their very lives to rescue men and women, boys and girls from the grip of a fiery grave. One friend described a fireman sitting with a disabled man giving comfort to him while hundreds of people passed by trying to escape. Another described firemen going up the stairwell towards the fire to find any one who might still be alive, only to realize in just moments that they would enter into eternity trying to help out a fellow human being. All of the police, fireman, priests, etc. that perished in those buildings that day did not know what the future held. They were not guaranteed that they would ever return to their jobs, their homes, their families, all they knew was that duty was calling them and in their eyes, duty was the highest calling that they had on their lives. When surviving public servants were asked, “why did you enter those fiery towers?” they responded, that they were doing what they were called to do, their job!.

There have been many other hero’s in history that entered a “fiery building” to set the captives free, Moses entered Pharaoh's chambers, Esther entered the Kings court, Elijah entered the prophet of Baal’s territory, David entered Goliath's field, Abraham went to a mountain that He’d never been to before, Daniel entered the lion’s den and his three friends an actual furnace. Each of these had a calling too. It was a calling from the God of the Universe. His call was to obey. To trust in His word above the unknown, the unseen, the unclear, the unbelievable. Each one lived a life of “going without knowing” the outcome. However, they all were just “doing their job”, which was obedience to their Master.

We share a deep gratitude for the hero’s of September 11th. Even though we may never get a hero’s title, we too have been called to be “Fire rescuers”. When God calls us to “enter the building” He is looking to provide someone with life eternal.

Will you be willing to enter into someone’s “burning building” of life when called on by the Master? Remember as you do that Jesus is right by your side and will lead and guide you through.

Where or to whom is He calling you today? Because He is worthy, “get up early” and go!

With you on the journey,

Pastor MJ

It Will Never Happen To Me

“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20(NIV)

“It will never happen to me.” I believe that everyone has said or thought that way or if not, at the very least lived like it. It is a dangerous realm that we all enter into throughout our journey here. It’s a thought, conscious or unconscious that one person had as they continued to overeat and then faced a life of diabetes. It’s the feeling of a young man in the hospital ER the morning following a motorcycle accident in which he was not wearing a helmet.

Several years ago I woke up to a car that wouldn’t start. When the Triple A driver arrived, he noticed that one of my battery terminals was filled with battery acid, the powdery corrosion of an old, tired battery that had leaked out. It had sapped that power from my battery. He looked at me and said, “Do you have any coke?” Not knowing him, I didn’t know if he needed a fix or a cold refreshment, however, giving him the benefit of the doubt, I said, “no, but I think I have some Dr. Pepper.” To which he said, “No, Coke works best to clean batteries.” What I witnessed next blew me away. As he poured this bottle of coke on the corrosion, it melted away like butter and cleaned the terminal like new. It was acid eating away acid. He told me that was why he had given up drinking Coke. If it could do that to battery acid, he said, what does it do to our teeth, our insides? But “that will never happen to me!”

Scripture gives us instruction, promises and warnings as to how to live this life and how to live it in such a way as to be protected from some of the harsh consequences of this sinful state that we live in. However, when we are feeling good, when we are not in “seeming” danger, when all is well with us and ours we allow ourselves to participate and partake of things that in time can maim kill and destroy us both physically and more that that spiritually.

In his sermon, “Pay Day Some Day”, Rev. R.G. Lee tells of Jezebel and that scene in 1 Kings 21, regarding Naboth’s vineyard. After her treacherous deeds, years went by and she thought she was off the hook. However, as we read in 2 Kings 9:30-37, payday came and her “sin found her out.” She lived as though nothing bad could ever happen to her and the unrepentant sin became a “cancer” that ultimately became the death of her.

What are you and I consuming today (internally or externally) that we know is, bad, wrong, and sinful? Do we think that just because it’s “blue-sky” today and that we’re feeling just fine that everything’s going to be alright? God has called us to be good stewards of all He has given to us, our time, our resources, our bodies, our families. Are we good care takers of His gifts or do we assume that a clear day means that there is not a tsunami brewing?

“We may not be what we eat,

but assuming on God’s goodness and patience

could lead to our ultimate defeat.”

Pastor MJ