It is Pearl Harbor Day. On this day we remember the secret ambush attack made by the Japanese on the United States naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941. It was brutal and overwhelming. It was an act of war, and roused a sleeping giant into becoming the most powerful nation the world has ever seen. Four years later, America would end the war by dropping atomic bombs on two Japanese cities. These were not surprise sneak attacks. They were announced in advance in hopes that the leadership of Japan would surrender. They did not surrender until two of the most horrific promises in history had been fulfilled. Over the next couple of generations Japan and the U.S. have developed a solid relationship. Not without hiccups, but generally as international friends and allies. Yet there is always some hurt that goes with the memory of this relationship. Leaders and historians have tried to make fruitful sense out of those bookend events. In 2015, the leader of Japan spoke some very powerful words about the whole thing. "History is harsh. What is done cannot be undone." - Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, speaking on the 70th anniversary of the surrender of Japan ending the 2nd World War. I like that statement. It is very powerful. In the speech he mentioned some of the atrocities Japan was involved in during the war, but never came out and apologized for them. Japan has apologized over and over again for their part, which included the ambush of the United States military in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. I don't think this man has to apologize again for the sins of his forebears. But think about his statement for a minute... "History is harsh." That is the reality in a fallen and rebellious world. We all have regrets. We all have scars. We all have lingering hurts. Sometimes we expect too much from history. The people who did those horrible things were just like us. We are all (everyone of us reading this) capable of doing the most horrific thing. "What is done cannot be undone." Sometimes we tend to expect too much from time. It has been said that time heals all wounds. But it doesn't. Time only moves us further from the event in a chronological pattern. It separates us from the moment. In one sense, the further from the moment we get, the less it controls our lives. Time doesn't heal all wounds, but time does give wounds one necessary element. It gives opportunity for wounds to heal. The writer of Ecclesiastes passed along this wisdom... "There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven: a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build; a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) Time is marked by seasons. Some seasons are very rough. Others are very fulfilling. Seasons help us move through time. If all of time was harvest, we would have no experience with sowing or growing. If all of life was laughing, we would know nothing of compassion. History is made up of time. But it is also made up of seasons within that time. It is up to us to recognize those seasons and experience them well. Some of your history has been seasons of hurt. Others have been seasons of healing. Other have been seasons of rest. But if you constantly live in the season of hurt... even after a new season has come, have you made the best of your time? The Gospel of Jesus Christ is transforming. It changes our future, but it does not change what has already happened. If we tie the Japanese Prime Minister's words in with the apostle Paul's, we get this... History is harsh. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) What is done cannot be undone. "The wages of sin is death... but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) America cannot have a healthy relationship with Japan if we do not leave the Pearl Harbor season. Japan cannot move forward with the U.S. if they stay in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki season. Both nations must recognize the horrors of that season and determine that it is a new day. There is a time for war... and a time for peace. Your history is harsh. My history is harsh. We have done horrible things against God and others. People have done horrible things to us. A million apologies cannot erase those things. What is done cannot be undone. So we must trust in Jesus to take our ashes and turn them into beauty. There is no other way to receive life out of death. Today you can live in your harsh past. You can live in the harsh past someone gave you. You can spend today trying to change what has been. Or you can spend today building what will be. Your past is on the paper, but your future is still in the pen. This is an absolutely free resource. If you would like to support us, you can give via the above link. The video below is associated with the topic. The Church is drowning in the love of God. I know. No... that's not the latest worship song from Hillsong. It is a less than flattering commentary on the American Church. We have been saturated with the idea of God's love to the point where that is pretty much all we know about God. It is not unusual to be in a church service where you hear how much God loves you, how you are His favorite, He will do anything for you, He thinks you are to die for, nothing can make Him stop loving you, He is not mad at you, etc. Are these things true? Well, yes. But in these same churches you never hear about what God hates. And God hates plenty. In fact, it is unfair to talk about all of the things God loves without mentioning the things God hates. This is why I lament that we are drowning in the love of God. If you want to know what God hates, look at what He loves, then think about the opposite of those things. Or you can also look in the Bible. He has literally given us "Top 5 Lists Of Things God Hates." Or you can look at the people who lost their lives at His hand in the Bible (Old Testament & New Testament). God is not coy about the things He loves and the things He hates. There is no mystery in this area of God. God is love. The Bible says that in 1 John 4:8. "The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love." So as we look at some of the things God hates, it does not give us a right to hate the people He loves who are doing the things He hates. We can... we MUST love those who do the things God hates. After all, God loved us when we were doing the things He hates, right? But what about God hating things? That doesn't seem to mesh with what we have all learned about God. While God is love, he also hates things, exercises judgment and wrath, and condemns people to ultimate punishment. When's the last time your preacher mentioned that? That doesn't look good on a bumper sticker. In fact, if you see a bumper sticker on a car that mentions God's wrath, you probably have bad thoughts about the driver, right? That is interesting. Some would have us believe that the God of wrath in the Old Testament is a different God than the God of love in the New Testament. This is not true. We find the lavish love of God during the time of the law and prophets. And we find the wrath of God in the time of grace. God is larger than a label. He created us. We are multi-faceted, so He must be multi-faceted. According to the Bible, here are some things God hates... The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to Him: arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil, a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19) Yes. God hates things. That list includes some things God hates. A few of those things seem like a no-brainer. Everyone hates hands that shed innocent blood, right? Some are things we dislike, but in a culture that abhors hate, we may not be as opposed to them. I mean, we all dislike lying, but we don't hate lying tongues. Everyone lies, right? Unfortunately, the less we hate the things God hates, the more of those things we will allow and see in our lives. God has been very clear. He loves with a fierce love. He hates with a holy hatred. Why do you think there is no sin in Heaven? God hates rebellion. He allows it in a fallen world only to give us rebels a chance at His mercy, forgiveness, and eternal life. His lovingkindness is amazing and wonderful, but it does not negate His righteous justice. Look at the above list for a second. Think about the damage done to God's creation by those things... Arrogant Eyes - Pride of race, place, lace, face, and grace results in oppression of all kinds against those who are on lower economic, educational, and social levels. A Lying Tongue - Lives are ruined and people avoid healthy consequences by trying to reinvent reality to suit their own motives. Hands That Shed Innocent Blood - Whether it is a serial killer or abortion, or a rogue law enforcement officer, taking the life of an innocent person goes against the very nature of a God who created humanity in His image. Heart That Plots Wicked Schemes - All sin proceeds from the heart, which is the throne of man. When we use our throne, our power, our authority to plot against good, atrocities will follow. Feet Eager To Run To Evil - As rebellion increases, the times become more perilous because people rush to do wrong. Lying Witness Who Gives False Testimony - Apparently lying is high on the evil list, for it gets two mentions in the short list of things God hates. One Who Stirs Up Trouble Among Brothers - God is all about family. He desires family. Humanity is family. As we have watched the family disintegrate, we have watched civilization implode. Though the thought is difficult, we need to hate the things God hates if we want to successfully love the things God loves. God loves the people who do things He hates. So should we. But we must be careful to hate well if we are to love well. Today you will have the opportunity to love and hate. Don't go against God by hating what He loves. And don't go against Him by loving what He hates. This is an absolutely free resource. If you would like to support us, you can give via the above link. The videos below are associated with the topic. This is my 350th devotional. Under each devotional there is a comment section. Sometimes people write something that expresses appreciation for the blog that day. Perhaps it resonates with something they are going through. Maybe it just gives them a fresh perspective on a topic. But recently this was left in the comments... "I am hoping to be better-different but i feel as though all my past is insurmountable. Too much failure & too much brokenness that is dragging me down. I don't know how to get past all that. A friend showed me your blogs about 2 weeks ago. I like your writing, just having a hard time getting what you write into the thought patterns in my head." I don't know this person. But I do know what they are talking about. And you probably do as well. Our past is interesting. It is the only thing about which we can speak of with certainty. It is history. It has happened. It is not a mystery. It is established. We know the past in a way that we don't know the future. This doesn't mean that we can perfectly recall the past, but since the past has already happened, it is more defined than the future... at least to us. The past is fixed, even if it can't be fixed. In other words, the past is what it is. It cannot be changed. It is fixed in its place. There is no going back to rearrange it. Once a glass has been broken, it cannot be unbroken. We do try to change the past. This is called lying. A lie is a changing of what has happened. A child knocks a vase off of the shelf while playing ball in the house. The mother comes in. The child is standing next to the ball, which is lying next to the shattered pieces of the vase. She asks him what happened. He says the neighbor's cat ran through the room and knocked the vase off of the wall. He is only 4 years old, but he is trying to change the past with a story because he can't change the past with his actions. Since the past cannot be changed, it can become a monster in our lives. And part of the effects of being in a fallen world is that we forget what we want to remember and we remember what we want to forget. My memory toys with me in regard to some of my favorite experiences, but it tortures me with some of my worst moments. I'm more likely to be kept awake at night because of regret than because of delight. The past is a hostage-taker. We just can't fix it, because it is fixed. I can't make 2+2 equal 73, no matter how hard I try. It is easier to get perfume back into a bottle than take back from the air a word said in anger or a deed done without care. The enemy knows that regret for our past is one of the best ways to keep us from contentment in our now, and success in our future. The BIble tells us that all have sinned, falling short of what God expects (Romans 3:23). It also tells us that the reward for sin is death (Romans 6:23). That truth combo is pretty depressing. And if that is where the story ended, then we would have no hope. When talking about the past I draw this picture... Life is made of choices. Choices have consequences. But Satan tries to hide or manipulate our view of the consequences. We come to a choice. It is a bad choice. We can see that there is a body of water that will separate us from where we are. But it looks like a ditch. We think we can choose to do the wrong thing, and then quickly jump back to where we were before we made the wrong choice. So we jump. Then when we are on the other side, we look back to find that the ditch has become a wide raging river. This is all an illusion. The choice to sin was never a narrow ditch. Sin is no small thing. It was just made to look so by the one who wanted to separate us from our God. Sin is always bigger than it looks on the front end. Redemption always looks less likely on the back end of a bad choice. For the one who experiences regret for the bad choice, sin looks like it is uncrossable. Now that Satan has tricked you into thinking you could easily go back and forth, he has turned the glass to make your choice seem unredeemable... to make you seem unredeemable. A ditch looks huge to an insect. But a raging river looks like a thread to an astronaut circling the planet. Our perspective is based on our brokenness. We cannot cross the chasm of sin, no matter how narrow. God's perspective is based on reconciliation. He can close the gap created by bad choices, no matter how wide. That's what He does. But part of moving forward is leaving the past. I've come to believe that most of the time regret holds us back because in some way we are still practicing the things that caused the break in our relationship. Repentance is the gateway to restoration. The quicksand of regret only holds those who remain in the area. While you cannot change your past, you can learn from it and move to a new, fresh future. God doesn't change our past. He just forgives it and redeems us, setting our feet on a new path. We simply have to walk forward. And as we do, the hold of sin is broken, and our failures become part of our testimony of deliverance. Our mess becomes a message. How do we do this? Well, the apostle Paul talked about the relationship between our past and our future. Whether your are bound by a pathetic past, or a healthy history, you can't live there. Your past is not your future unless you stay there. I make every effort to take hold of [the goal] because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14) Moving on from the past requires leaving and looking. It is one thing that is two things. Your car mirror is important. But it isn't the primary tool for driving. In fact, if you spend too much time looking behind you, I can guarantee that you will wreck. We have to give God our past. It isn't something we can successfully change, but it is something He can successfully cover. Today you will have the choice to surrender to your past and be trashed by it, or surrender to Christ and be transformed by Him. The past isn't gone, but it can be put in its place. This can only happen when we allow Christ to rule in His place. And He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This is an absolutely free resource. If you would like to support us, you can give via the above link. The videos below are associated with the topic. I have never walked this idea out before, so I hope it makes sense. God makes promises. Sometimes God makes promises directly to people about those people. Other times He makes promises to people about other people. Sometimes this is directly stated. Other times it is indirectly implied. The Bible is full of God's promises. That's one reason it is important to read the Bible. God made promises to Abram (Abraham) about a nation that would come from him. That promise was direct to Abram. And it included specifics about the nation. It also included promises to those who would bless Abraham's descendants. That is kind of an open-ended promise, yet very targeted. Jesus promised things to His disciples. Some things were specific to certain disciples in His time. Other things were for all disciples including those in His time as well as those to come... us. As modern-day disciples, we also enjoy the blessings of those promises. It is interesting to think that God makes promises to people who don't exist yet. I mean, think about that for a minute. Imagine making a promise about people who won't be here for another 600 years. Interestingly enough, our memory doesn't always allow us to remember what we are told for one lifetime. How much less do we remember promises made to us that we never heard? In Genesis 15 God makes a specific promise to Abraham with a timeline. “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be foreigners in a land that does not belong to them; they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. However, I will judge the nation they serve, and afterward they will go out with many possessions. But you will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a ripe old age. In the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” (Genesis 15:13-16) In Exodus 23, as God is fulfilling that promise which is now over 600 years old, He makes another very specific promise. “I will cause the people ahead of you to feel terror and throw into confusion all the nations you come to. I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you in retreat. I will send the hornet[m] in front of you, and it will drive the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites away from you. I will not drive them out ahead of you in a single year; otherwise, the land would become desolate, and wild animals would multiply against you. I will drive them out little by little ahead of you until you have become numerous and take possession of the land." (Exodus 23:27-30) Now fast-forward to Numbers 13 where God is trying to bring His people into their promised land. They send 12 spies in to give them a report. 2 of the spies give a good report and encourage the people to obey God by going in to take dominion of the great land. But 10 of the spies advise against the conquest due to difficulties, including mysterious death in the land. “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!” So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. (Numbers 13:31-32) I wonder how many promises God made to me before I was born. I wonder how many times I have doubted His Word without even realizing He had already made promises to me. I am ashamed that I have lived in doubt or fear of things about which He has clearly spoken to me. It is entirely possible that God made promises to me hundreds or even thousands of years ago. I know that sounds silly. But what is more silly is that I would live as if He hasn't when the Bible is full of those promises. There are two types of people... Those who believe God's word, and those who don't. The world is full of more who don't believe than those who do. Be one of the ones that believes God. You will never be disappointed in faith, but doubt will leave you embarrassed and empty every time. God has made promises to you. Not just specifically to you, but to you through people you have never met. Trust Him today to do what He has already said He would do. Do not short-circuit His work through unbelief. I really believe God likes fulfilling promises people have forgotten about. And we should always receive God's promises. This is an absolutely free resource. If you would like to support us, you can give via the above link. The video below is associated with the topic. Christians are not just on this planet to have a good time, though some of us can't help ourselves. We actually have a task. We are on a mission. That mission is to save the world. No pressure, right?!? Part of the difficulty in saving the world is to get people to understand they are in jeopardy. But most people know this. Most people recognize there is something wrong, and they are trying their best to survive the chaos. Unfortunately many people are satisfied to work all of this out themselves. They don't think they need a Savior they can't see. So sometimes the most difficult part of the Christian's mission is to get people to believe that we actually know the only way of escape. We have been saved by the only rescuer. To say people are skeptical is an understatement. There is a reason we are called 'believers' and they are called 'unbelievers.' It isn't because we are better or smarter, but simply because we have put our faith is Christ and they have not... yet. But let's be honest. It isn't easy to take someone's word on the most important faith issue in the universe. I mean, there must be dozens of religious options from which a lost person can choose. Why should they choose Christ? Well, we know why they should choose Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is the absolute only way to obtain eternal life. So that part is easy. We know what we have to do, and why. But the 'how' is an interesting element. How do we get people who do not believe in and invisible God to believe that He is real? Well, it will always come down to faith. It always. has. Ultimately each person has to believe in what exists but cannot be seen. But God does give us all a peek into His reality. We can see God in nature. Just by looking around at the marvelous creation we can see that there is a God. And God has promised that anyone who truly looks for Him will find Him. But beyond that, He gives signs of Himself through the people who have come to believe in Him. At one point the people of God were enslaved in Egypt. God had promised to rescue them from their oppressors. He chose to use a human deliverer named Moses. God had worked miraculously in Moses' life, and even revealed Himself to him in a face to flame conversation where Moses saw God in a burning bush, and God told him that he would be the one to go to Egypt and lead His people to freedom. Moses was fearful of the prospect and this conversation ensued... Moses answered, “What if they won’t believe me and will not obey me but say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” The Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” He threw it on the ground, and it became a snake. Moses ran from it, but the Lord told him, “Stretch out your hand and grab it by the tail.” So he stretched out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand. “This will take place,” He continued, “so they will believe that Yahweh, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” In addition the Lord said to him, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So he put his hand inside his cloak, and when he took it out, his hand was diseased, white as snow. Then He said, “Put your hand back inside your cloak.” He put his hand back inside his cloak, and when he took it out, it had again become like the rest of his skin. “If they will not believe you and will not respond to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the second sign." (Exodus 4:1:8) Here we see God using two things to prove Himself to unbelieving people. When Moses suggests that simply showing up and saying he is acting on God's behalf won't be enough to convince people in distress, God asks, "What is in your hand?" God will use whatever is handy. You are handy. Whatever you work with is what God will work with. You don't have to go to seminary or Bible college to be useful in the kingdom of God. God will use you in whatever stage of life you happen to be in. Moses was at that point a shepherd. He had a staff in his hand. God used his staff to show Himself. What is in your hand right now? It could be a pen. It could be a stethoscope. It could be a wrench. It could be a phone. It could be a tray of food. Whatever it is, God wants to use that. He wants to use your whatever you have to show Himself to those who don't believe. But what if they don't believe that? What if they think that your material blessings or tools of life are your own success? What if they see others who have the same things but are not believers? God then used Moses' own body to prove His greatness. This can be scary, but it is obviously very effective. God often proves Himself through our personal experiences in our own physical bodies. We are His, so He can do with us as He will. God may take you through a dark moment in order to reveal Himself to others on the other side. While some people may believe when we use our specific tools of communication, nothing speaks of the reality of God like a personal in-body revelation. The miracles God performs in us can be the greatest testimony. God wants us to surrender our stuff and our selves. He can and will use both to reach the lost and trapped unbelievers. He will use what we have as well as who we are. God isn't playing games with us or our emotions. He is simply trying to save the world. And not only do we have a front row seat to this amazing project. We are actually part of the crew. Today you will have the opportunity to use the tools in your hand to share the Good News with someone. Don't hesitate just because you think you are not qualified. God has qualified you. But then He may take it a step further and prove Himself through your own body. I don't know what this might look like. But it will be unbelievable... so that others may believe. An old song says, "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands." But it seems that God uses our hands to get the world into His hands. As a tip, it is likely that you are reading this on your phone... which is in your hand. Use your phone to show the glory of God today. Right now, go to your Facebook and post something that will cause the unbelieving to believe. See how cool this is? This is an absolutely free resource. If you would like to support us, you can give via the above link. The video below is associated with the topic. |
AuthorMy name is David, and I want to know God more, and help other people find Him. Archives
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