Agreeing With God

1 John 1:9

It's been a while since I got caught doing something I shouldn't have been doing.  But I remember how it felt.  I remember Mother talking to me in no uncertain terms.  I remember being told to go wait in my bedroom till Daddy got home.  That was the worst wait, knowing judgment was coming in the form of a tired father who had worked all day and was coming home to a boy who got caught.

Whether it was at home waiting on my dad, or at school waiting on the principal, confessing never came easy for me.  I've never enjoyed admitting I was wrong.  That it was my fault.

Took me a while but I learned, as a much older person, that confession is a way of cleansing the soul. After I get over the embarrassment of getting caught and the humiliation of being talked to and the frustration of knowing what I should have done so I wouldn't have gotten caught... Confession actually felt good.  At least it was out in the open.  I did it.  I admitted it.  Now move on.

As a believer in Christ, confession has taken on more and deeper meanings.  Confession is a way of agreeing with God.  It's telling God what he already knows.  It's responding to conviction.  It's a pathway to freedom.  It's a step toward repenting.  It's recognizing God's opinion and agreeing with Him.  ...I seldom enjoy discovering God's opinion about my sin, my pride, my reckless decisions.  I seldom am quick to agree with Him.

But when I do, there is immediate peace.

If I will confess my sin, God is faithful to forgive me and cleanse me.  If I will confess my sin.  If I will tell God what He already knows.  If I will agree with God.  MM

Your Arms Are Too Short

Luke 15:11-32

James Weldon Johnson wrote, “Young man, Young man – Your arms are too short to box with God.”  Johnson’s poem about the Prodigal son is more than rhyming words and a clever imagination. His words are prophetic for many today that are trying to box with God…thinking they will win. 

The Prodigal resisted and rebelled and ran away, bound for a better place in the far country.  It was a place far from home, far from his father, far from everything he’d ever known to be right.  It was a place far from God – with crowded streets, bright lights, and loud music.

Johnson writes more, “Young man, Young man - Smooth and easy is the road that leads to hell and destruction. Down grade all the way. The further you travel, the faster you go. No need to trudge and sweat and toil, just slip and slide and slip and slide, till you bang up against hell’s iron gate.”

What some describe as hitting rock bottom, the poet describes as a “bang up against hell’s iron gate.”  Either way, the pain of running out of money and friends was overwhelming for the Prodigal.  He was in a place where no one cared about him.  No one loved him.  He had walked away from everyone and everything that mattered.  What would he do?

He could go home – but it would mean admitting he was wrong.  He had failed.  How would he be received?  Would his father and family mock him?  Not his father.  Most of his family would run out to welcome him back.  But there’s an elder brother in every family who’s not willing to forgive or forget.  His father was more than eager to have his son back home.  It’s a picture of sufficient grace.

Friend, your arms are too short to box with God. Quit fighting a fight you’ll never win.  If you’ve left home – come home.  Leave the crowded streets of nameless faces and come home where you belong – where you’re loved and wanted.

Come home.  Your family has missed you.   

Barking Blind

1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour."

Recently I was staying at a home near the place where I was preaching for the week.  The couple I stayed with had two dogs.  One was a young dachshund, running and full of life.  The other was an old dachshund slow and tired.  And blind.

I walked past the pen where the old dog lived at least twice every day.  He always barked but he never looked in my direction.  He was barking blind.  It was all he knew to do.  Just because he was blind didn’t mean he couldn’t bark. 

Sometimes we have to bark blind.  When we can’t see the enemy...but we know he’s there.  The Devil is good at what he does.  He is the tempter, the adversary, a liar, a deceiver, and given the opportunity he will devour us, our homes, and families…and everything we value. 

All that old, blind dog could do was bark.   

…If you know something is wrong…  It doesn’t feel right…  Speak up.  Stand up.  Just because you can’t see the Devil doesn’t mean you can’t sense his awful presence.

Do what you can with what you have.  You may think you're too old.  You may think you're too young.  You may think no one will listen to you.  You may be the only one barking...Bark anyway.   M

People Watching

1 Timothy 4:15
"Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all." 

Do you ever participate in people-watching?  I think we all do.  We sit and watch and talk and make comments about people and the way they dress...they way they walk...the way they do what they do.

"Look at what that lady is wearing...can you believe that?"

"Look at that guy's hair...it's purple!"

"Oh my goodness look at that...they have their son on a leash..."

"Oh my..."  "Oh me..."  "Can you believe that?"   "That's ridiculous."

Paul said to Timothy to walk in such a way that other people could see his progress.  That they could see his commitment to Christ...  Paul seemed to have been saying to young Timothy that it matters what others think of you.  Your reputation is important.  As a Christian...it matters that others "see your progress."

While we may enjoy watching people - We need to be reminded there are people watching us.  God help us to let our light so shine - that our progress may be evident.  M