Mercy

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March 18

Monday, March 18th, 2024

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head that just won’t go away? That has been me the past week to two weeks.

First, a little backstory. For over 30 years I have had a friendship that started out with riding bikes together at least once a week. Over the 30+ years countless miles have gone under our bicycle tires and plenty of meals have been eaten. Not even distance could put a damper on our friendship. His prostate cancer changed all that.

Another man was one of the leaders in the church. When I was threatened and encouraged with termination he stood in front of me. When the church was embezzled, he stood strong. But diabetes and a downturn physically hit him hard. So did some lies that caused a rift between us. But being bed-bound gave me the opportunity to visit him almost weekly, take communion, and repair the tear in our relationship.

My cyclist friend has been told he has 3-6 months to live. That was over a month ago. His cancer is everywhere, in spite of every effort with chemo and experimental stuff. When Jo and I got back from AZ on the 27th I went to visit my former leader on Thursday at the rehab center. He died that Saturday. The following week I went to visit my cycling friend and that visit hit me hard. There are also some other daily issues that are weighing on me.

The song that has been my go-to, the one that has not left my mind, my bulwark, the one that has pointed me to the ONE has been Morning by Morning by Pat Barrett. You can listen to it here. With lyrics like “Morning by morning great is your faithfulness to me,” I am reminded I’m not in this alone.  Psalm 62:6-7 says, “He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor comes from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.”  Psalm 63 follows it up with the following: “Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.” (verse 7-8).

I’m not alone. Neither are you. You can put a nail through that promise.

{Note: All Scripture is from the New Living Translation}

March 12

Tuesday, March 12th, 2024

Forgiving ourselves is one of the hardest hurdles we have to need to get over.

When it comes to forgiving others, I have often shared that the failure to forgive others; the desire to hold a grudge; the unwillingness to move on; holding onto hard feelings or even feelings of hate, makes me a slave to that person. They own me. They control me.

But what about that which I consider possibly even harder-the ability or willingness to forgive ourselves? I have seen way too many people able to forgive others, but then wreck their own lives because they can’t or won’t forgive themselves. Big or little sin (usually a whopper) just will not let go. It’s like an albatross around the neck, choking the life out of us.

David’s psalm-known as Psalm 51-deals with this straight on. His adulterous affair with Bathsheba and subsequent murder of her husband, Uriah, to cover it up, is exposed by the prophet Nathan (full story in 2 Samuel 11). David is convicted of his sin and his guilt is palpable. One can feel his anguish as he lays it all out. “Have mercy. Wash me clean. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Forgive me for shedding blood.” One can not read those words and not sense David’s pain and agony over his sin. But one can also see David is moving on. He wasn’t going to allow his sin to define him, to hold him down.

Neither should I. Neither should you. There is nothing you or I have done, there is no sin you or I have committed, that is beyond the reach of God’s grace. Confess it. Repent of it. Now…walk away in freedom being sure of God’s limitless grace.

February 13

Tuesday, February 13th, 2024

On my mind this morning when I woke up; when I rode my bike on my inside trainer; as I took a shower and dressed; and now as I sit and read my Bible at the table is a task-something I will do today…

I will attend a visitation and funeral of the friend of one of our new young ladies in the church.

She drank herself to death. That is harsh to say, I know, but even though only 30, her body said, “Enough.” It came to that point of her liver and kidneys failing due to alcohol abuse and past cancer treatments.

She is not alone. It is almost like an epidemic. People who lose hope. More specifically, young people who have lost hope. I guess we expect it more from an older person who can say, “I’ve lived my life. It is time for me to go.” But a young person? That cuts. Losing hope knows no age limits. It knows no status (Hollywood stars for example). It knows no financial acumen (the rich or the poor).

When did people lose hope? Please don’t fall back on COVID, although I am convinced it may have exacerbated it. Isolation. Loneliness. But I ask again: when did people lost hope? When did they lose sight of what David wrote: “How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!”? (Ps. 139:17-18). Maybe a better question is, “Did they ever know they were valuable to God?”

There seems to be no doubt that we are living in a hopeless generation and it is tragic that so many are living in such despair that they either want to end it all, give up, or in the case like this just simply say, “What’s the use?” and stop fighting for life. If we could only get back to what David wrote earlier in Psalm 139: “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.” (verses 7-10). Those aren’t words of lament, of complaining about God’s presence. They are words of triumph. Of joy. Of hope.

Something there is just too little of these days. But something offered to us by the One who gave and gives us life.

February 12

Monday, February 12th, 2024

Today is Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. It is now part of what is being called President’s Day which is a celebration on February 19th, a conglomerate of Lincoln’s birthday and Washington’s birthday (22nd). I can remember when we used to celebrate them separately. Now I can’t even remember when that changed. Perhaps that happened when we got all “revisionist history?” I don’t know. My post today is not going to go down that rabbit trail.

Instead, Abraham Lincoln was known for making wise statements. I’d like to take a brief look at two of them.

One actually finds it roots in the Old Testament book of Proverbs. Lincoln once said, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and thought a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” Those words are very similar to those found in Proverbs 17:28.

The other is a bit more confrontive. With the Civil War spawning bitter feelings all across our country, Abe saw fit to speak a kind word about the south. A shocked bystander asked him how he could do that. His answer was poignant: “Madam, do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friend?”

Jesus once said, “Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt. 5:43). “If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If you are thirsty, give them water to drink. You will reap burning coals of shame on their heads, and the Lord will reward you.” (Pr. 25:21-22).

Instead of responding tit for tat, let’s respond as Jesus has told us, and as Proverbs has encouraged us to. There is power in our actions…or inaction.

{Note: All Scripture is from the New Living Translation}

January 25

Thursday, January 25th, 2024

Have you ever cried out for help and received it? Or maybe not?

I was struck today by a chapter in the Bible I have read countless time before but never saw what hit me until this morning. It is Psalm 107.  It begins with a familiar refrain that was repeated in some previous psalms: “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever.” (107:1)

Okay. Sounds like something I or maybe you have read before. But then the writer veers from script and begins to recount different events in the life of the wandering Israelites, as well as other events unrelated to them. What I noticed though (and missed this before) is that four times they cry out the same thing: “Lord help! they cried in their trouble and he rescued them from their distress.” Those same words are used in verses 4, 13, 19, and 28. So four times we see their cry, “Lord help!” and four times we see His response: “He saved them from their distress.”  Now watch what God did:

  • He led them straight to safety-v.7
  • He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom-v.14
  • He sent out His word and healed them-v.20
  • He calmed the storm to a whisper- v.29

Simple point: they cried out for help. God acted. Please read the chapter for yourself and do your own investigation. Let me close this simple devotion with two more verses:

“Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.”  (107:43)

“Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless. With God’s help we will do mighty things, for He will trample down our foes.” (108:12-13)

Cry for help. He will answer. He will fight for you. And remember (as I told someone yesterday): God is seldom early, but He’s never late.

{All Scripture is from the New Living Translation}

January 24

Wednesday, January 24th, 2024

I’ve been thinking…about forgiveness.

Forgiveness is an important aspect of everyone’s life, whether one is a Christ-follower or not. It comes into play seemingly in about every relationship we have. For the Christ-follower is it important to know we have God’s forgiveness. On the human side, it is important for us to either forgive or be forgiven.

One vitally necessary component of forgiveness with God or with another person is knowing unconditional forgiveness. None of us want to hear, “I’ll forgive you if…” We certainly feel unloved or, at best incompletely loved, if say a spouse says to a partner, “I’ll forgive you for the affair if…” or a father says to a child, “I’ll forgive you for the breach of conduct or break of trust if…” How disheartening that is! Why? Because that type of forgiveness has strings attached to it.

The story of the prodigal son is unusual because it is not the father who puts the conditions on the relationship, but the son. Check out the story in Luke 15. The son says, “I will go home to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as your hired servant.'” (Verses 18-19). Basically, the son says, “If I do this and this then…If I show adequate repentance, become a servant then maybe my dad will forgive me.” It wasn’t the father but the son who put conditions on his love and acceptance. And what happens? The son doesn’t even get out his whole spiel before the father is bending over backwards to forgive and welcome him home and basically say, “My son! Welcome home!”

Do you see it? The father (God) is not the one with the conditions.  It is the son who hamstrung himself. How many times have we not seen and accepted God’s complete and absolute forgiveness because we don’t think we are good enough or done enough or repented sufficiently enough or been sorry enough? It’s not God; it’s us!

Stop putting conditions on God’s love and acceptance of you. Instead, bask in the glow of unconditional love and forgiveness.  Thinking done. 🙂

January 23

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024

“Why?” “Why me?”

Those just may be two of the most asked questions in human conversation. I won’t lie. I’ve said them or some variation of them. We usually say them or hear them during a particularly tough time we or someone we know is going through.

I very, very seldom ask that question any more. In fact, as long as I can remember, I stopped asking it years ago. Why? Because there is no answer to it. I mean, how can you or I honestly know why we are going through this rough patch? We can pile on the shame or the guilt or the “I deserve this” or “God’s getting even with me,” but that won’t answer it.

The real reason I stopped asking that question though is because I started asking another one: “Now that this is happening to me God, how do you want me to act?” How does God want me to respond to this trial?

I just finished reading Country Music star, Granger Smith’s book, Like a River. {Spoiler alert: I am not a CM fan} {Spoiler alert #2: Look for a review of Granger’s book on my other site, Cycleguy’s Spin, soon}. Granger and his wife, Amber, lost their son, River, in a tragic drowning accident in their home pool. This book is his story. There was a lot of good teaching that came through his book, but one that struck a chord was after he tells about speaking at a men’s breakfast conference at the church they were attending. It was exactly one year since he had walked into that same church building for Riv’s funeral. When he was done, he wrote that he wasn’t sure if any of those men benefited from what he said, but he did.  He learned that by sharing his story of pain and redemption God was answering his question. Not the one he asked why. “The one that asked God, ‘What are you trying to show me through this heartache?'” (p.178)  He then wrote that God responded with Isaiah 41:10-“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”  He goes on to comment: “God was reminding me to depend on Him. He would be there to pick me up and push me forward from the bottom of the river’s waterfall.” (Ibid).

The question to ask is not “Why? Why me?” The real question to ask is “What now? God, how do you want me to respond? What do you want me to learn?”

Sure changes the perspective doesn’t it?

December 28

Thursday, December 28th, 2023

I had some trouble this morning. I had some trouble making a decision. No, it wasn’t whether to get out of bed or not. 🙂 And no, it was not earth-shattering, ground-breaking, or even life-changing. It really should have been a simple one. You see, every other month I read Proverbs. The chapter I read corresponds with the day. In other words, today is the 28th so I read chapter 28. Each time I read I highlight a different verse with a different color. (I recently found Mr. Pen Bible Safe Highlighters to be fantastic with no bleed through). Back to earth, Bill. Proverbs 28 is filled with so many verses I could highlight that I couldn’t make a quick decision. Here are just a couple:

28:2- “When there is moral rot in a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability.” Need I say more?

28:6- “Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and rich.” Hmmm. That sets your mind back a bit.

28:7- “Young people who obey the law are wise; those with wild friends bring shame to their parents.” Choose friends wisely.

28:13- “People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.” Shades of Psalm 51.

There are more and I would encourage you to read the chapter. Slowly. Savoring it. But, here is the verse I settled on this morning: “Greed causes fighting; trusting the Lord leads to prosperity.” (v.25)

Some would look at that verse and their eyes will light up at the latter part. “See? Prosperity is promised.” But the whole verse must be considered, not just a section. “Greed causes fighting.” Put a nail through that section. “I want.” -> “Step aside.” (or step on/over) -> “I get.” That is a recipe for disaster. And that is exactly the point of that first section. James 4:1-2 says, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have…”

The core issue is greed, selfishness. The rest of that verse simply says if we take our eyes off ourselves and trust we will know true wealth. Can there be anything better than true reliance on the Source?

December 18

Monday, December 18th, 2023

Our world is filled with people who feel little. It could be because someone wanted to puff themselves up so their mode of operation was to put another down so that person felt “less than.” It could be a life circumstance led to a defeatist attitude. It could be a bully decided to exert his/her influence and beat the person down. And sadly, there are those whose personality is such that they are likely to put themselves down with words and thoughts like “I’m just a nobody.”

The late Francis Schaeffer once wrote a book called No Little People, No Little Places in which he attempted to defend that in God’s economy there are no little people, no insignificant people AND there is no place where a Christ-follower finds himself that is unimportant.

If there is anyone in the Christmas story that could fit that bill it was the shepherds. Among many other facts and quirks about them, one truth remains: they were considered the lowest of the low, the bottom feeders, maybe one tick above the leper. Their exposure to society was minimal due to their profession and all the baggage that went with it. We will call them outliers.

It should strike us then that the announcement of Jesus’ birth was not made in a palace, a Temple, or in front of the religious elite.  It was made on a hillside, in the dead of night, to a motley crew of unwanted men.  While it should strike us, it should not surprise us. Jesus once said, “I came to seek and to save the lost.” He also said that it wasn’t the well who needed the physician, but the sick.

Even at His birth, He showed that. No class distinction. No “I’m better than you.” No small people. I like it that way.

December 11

Monday, December 11th, 2023

One of the most “passed over’ sections of Scripture is the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1. I mean, let’s face it: who in their right mind would say, “Oh boy! A genealogy. I get to read a bunch of ‘begats’ and “father of’s”? Sounds good if you want to put your child to sleep or even yourself. But to be excited to read it? Nope.

But Jesus’ genealogy is filled with interesting characters.  My devotions this week will take a look at some of them- 4 women, one outlier, and one man.  Let’s take the first in the list in this devotion:

TAMAR

The whole sordid story is told in Genesis 38. Tamar was married to Judah’s oldest son, Er. The Bible simply says “he was wicked in the sight of the Lord and died.” We aren’t told what it was, but it must have been bad. She then married his next brother, Onan, but he failed to consummate the marriage correctly and he too died.  Hmmm. Two up. Two down. What is Judah to do with the next son, Shelah? I can tell you what he didn’t do!  He promised him to Tamar when he came of age, but then reneged on that deal.  Tamar waited; he failed to deliver. So she took matters into her own hands. She pitched a tent; dressed as a prostitute; seduced Judah; took his staff and ring for collateral; revealed her pregnancy and who the father was; and gave birth to twins, Perez and Zerah.  All three are mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.

Tamar was a deceiver, who dressed as a prostitute in order to seduce her father-in-law. Even in our seeming “everything goes” age that would raise a few eyebrows.  It is hard to believe she is in Jesus’ lineage…but she is. Along with the others whom we will look at over the next few days, several lessons pop out at us. One I will cover more later: GRACE. But one that is highlighted in this genealogy is the imperfection of all of us and the ability of God to change it all and to use the weak. His ability to use broken people is on full display.

I’m a perfect example of that. Broken but usable.

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I will be reminding you over the next couple of days about my other blog, Cycleguy’s Spin. I have recently revived it with a totally different approach. Today I review Glynn Young’s series of books on Michael Kent-Hughes (a fictional character) whom he developed over a series of five books. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please visit me there at this post.