The Lies We Encounter

     A golf instruction website included a lesson entitled "Encountering Lies in Your Game".  As I read on I learned that the author was using the word 'lies' to refer to the many different playing conditions in which one could find their ball after a shot; below the feet, side hill lie, in tall grass, in a divot, etc.  The lesson title could also have been interpreted as referring to times when golfers might exaggerate their handicap or fail to count all strokes on a particular hole.  Those too are lies we sometimes encounter in golf.
     But when I thought further about "Encountering Lies in Your Game" it hit me that the place where we encounter the most dangerous lies with the greatest destructive potential is in the 'game' of life as a follower of Jesus.  I'm not saying that life as a disciple of Jesus is a 'game'.  I am simply using the word as a metaphor for being a participant with Jesus in the life of faith.
     We have a very real, spiritual enemy who is at work all the time to undermine and derail our pursuit of victory over sin as followers of Jesus.  He is called Satan, the devil.  His name means adversary and accuser and his primary weapon is deception.  The Bible says, "When he [Satan] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and father of lies."  John 8:44 (NIV).
     Here are two destructive lies we can encounter and what the Bible says about them:

• I've got that destructive habit or compulsion under control and I don't have to be concerned about it anymore.  The devil told you, "It's all about moderation.  A little bit won't hurt." 

The Bible says, "So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" 1 Cor 10:12 (NIV)

• I know it was wrong.  What I did was a mistake.  I made a bad choice but for all the right reasons so it really wasn't a sin.  The devil told you, "Yeah, it was wrong but it wasn't that bad."

The Bible says, "If we claim we have not sinned, we make him [God] out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives." 1 John 1:10 (NIV)

Here's how to keep from being a casualty of the lies we encounter.  "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith," 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV).  Resist, stand firm, live in victory!

Why Good Isn't Good Enough

     Occasionally I hear someone say something like "I don't think that anyone needs to go to church or to believe in Jesus as long as they are a good person and believe in God."  The implication is that one's eternal destiny can be secured by a general belief in a divine authority and by right behavior; being a moral and ethical person, helping others, maybe even observing at least some, if not all of the Ten Commandments.  In and of themselves these are all good traits worthy of our attention but according to the Bible they have no inherent value for securing one's eternal destiny.
     In Mark 10:17-22 a wealthy young  man confronts Jesus with the question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"; in other words, to secure my eternal destiny.  He goes on to explain to Jesus that all his life he has been a good person, observing the Ten Commandments.  Jesus says that's all great but it's not enough.  If this young man wants to be sure of eternal life, a secure eternal destiny, Jesus tells him that he must be willing to transfer all the trust he has placed in his wealth to Jesus and let Jesus lead his life.
     The down side of the story is that the young man walked away sad without the eternal hope he was seeking.  He was unwilling to put the full weight of his faith in anything but himself, his wealth and his own capacity to be a good person.
     1 John 5:11-12 says "This is the testimony.  God has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son.  Those who have the Son have eternal life; those who do not have the Son do not have life."  Dear friend, don't let being good keep you out of heaven.  Place your faith in Jesus and let him lead you.

The Long Way Around

     You have the destination clearly in mind, the route is loaded in the GPS or highlighted on the map and you have a pretty good idea of how long it will take to get to your final stopping point.  Then after some time on the road, well into the journey, there's the sign:  DETOUR AHEAD.  The first reaction is "Oh great!  Now how much longer is THIS going to take?"  We focus on the inconvenience and the disruption to our well-laid plan giving little, if any thought to the possibility that the detour might be for our own good.            
     Usually detours are due to road construction but sometimes they are to route us around unsafe conditions like rock or mud slides, damaged bridges or wild fires.  As frustrating as these delays can be, they can in the long run save us a lot of trouble.
     When the Pharaoh of Egypt finally let God's people go after 400 years of increasing servitude,  God led them out but "God did not lead them on the route through the Philistine country, though that was shorter."  (Exodus 13:17).  In fact, He led them "around by the desert road toward the Red Sea." (13:18). 
     The Bible gives us God's reason for doing this:  "God said, 'If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.'" (13:17).  God's detour would save them from the temptation to retreat to Egypt and miss out on the new life in a new land that He had prepared for them.  There was something else they would miss out on by taking shorter route:  the miraculous parting of the Red Sea and destruction of their Egyptian enemy.
     If it seems that God has you taking the long way around in some area of your life and it appears that your goal is more out of reach than ever, keep this in mind:  God has a very good reason for this desert detour; He loves you and He's looking after you.  And if you don't turn around and head back to Egypt, you might find that He is setting you up to be a participant in a miracle of divine grace.

The Holiness of Our Days

     In Psalm 139, song writer and poet King David celebrates God's intimate knowledge of every detail of David and his life.  The One who made him knows everything about him and there's no place David can go that the Lord cannot watch over, guide and sustain him.  This psalm affirms the omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence of God; His qualities of knowing all things, having all power and being unlimited by time and space.  And it applies to us as much as it did to King David.
     David also teaches us that God knew the scope and details of our lives even before we were born:  "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." (Ps 139:16).
     I was ordained after I responded to God's call and was trained for pastoral ministry.  To be ordained meant that I was designated by an official authority for the specialized work and purpose of Christian pastoral ministry and invested with the requisite authority for that purpose. 
     When I consider that all of our days, however many that might end up being for each of us, have been ordained by God, I am overwhelmed by the inherent and holy value God has place on every day of our lives.  Every day we have has been given to us by God for His kingdom work and for His eternal purposes.  We might not all be ordained in the sense of specialized Christian ministry but every day that we draw breath has been designated by our Creator as a holy period of time to be used for His glory.  A reminder of that every morning will encourage us to go into each day with a new and exciting sense of purpose and meaning.

A Tweaking of Perspective

    Now I'm not a whine baby but it all seemed to come at one time.  First, the chest cold accompanied by loss of voice (I was the only one complaining about that!).  Then came the visit to the dermatologist.   Then the back. . . oh my aching back!  Chiropractor, heating pad, no golf etc., etc.  Did I mention NO GOLF?
    About this same time a close friend went in for major surgery.  My stuff became pretty small and I rediscovered gratitude for overall good health.  My friend's faith in his hour of affliction was inspirational.  Sometimes perspective needs tweaking.
    We can get pretty wimpy about how tough it is to be a faithful follower of Jesus these days too; what with all the temptations and modern-day anti-Christian bias (I heard someone say that recently) along with other reasons we can give for anemic witness.  I don't know if Paul was dealing with spiritual whine babies or not but in Hebrews 11 he recalls for us what the ancient heroes of the faith went through.  Then in chapter 12 he reminds us how really tough Jesus had it and urges us to "consider him . . .so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."  Then he cuts to the chase:  "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." (Hebrews 12:4).
    We don't know what 'tough' is when it comes to following Jesus and living for God.  There are multitudes of Christian brothers and sisters around the world who do.  We need to get real, be willing to take it on the chin if necessary, pray for those hurting fellow believers, and give thanks for the grace we've received.  Sometimes a good perspective tweaking can be a helpful thing.

New Beginnings a Time for Worship

The word Genesis, the name of the first book in the Bible, means 'beginnings'.  Reading it through that lens helps to grasp God's purposes and humanity's place in His plan right from THE start.  Two personalities in the early chapters of Genesis teach us something very important about 'beginnings'; Noah and Abram.
     Chapter 8 describes the end of the global flood and Noah's first step onto dry land in more than three months.  The first thing Noah did after his family and all the animals walked out onto dry land to begin their new life was worship.  "Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it." (Gen 8:20).
     Fast forward to chapter 12.  God calls Abram (later to be called Abraham) to go to a place where he had never been before.  At several stages along his journey he marks his movement toward God's future for him.  At the place of his assignment he "built an altar there to the Lord." (Gen 12:7).  Near Bethel "he built an altar to the Lord." (Gen 12:8).  When he arrived at Hebron "he built an altar to the Lord." (Gen 13:18).
     What will be the first thing you will do with God's new beginning for you?  An new job; a new community; a new opportunity; a new home; a new baby; a new relationship; a new day; A NEW YEAR!  Will you ''build an altar"?  Not literally maybe but will you begin by acknowledging God and His sovereignty over your life and by praising and thanking Him for bringing you to a point of a new beginning?  After all, you wouldn't be there if not for Him!

The Kindness of Our Just and Righteous God

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He punished them.  Their punishment came in the forms of 1) the death penalty (Gen 2:17),  2) shame (Gen 2:25; 3:7), and 3) fear (Gen 3:10).  But God also showed them kindness when he made clothes for them, covering up the source of their shame (Gen 3:21).
When Cain killed his brother, Abel, God punished him by consigning him to a life of restless wandering (Gen 4:12).  But God also showed kindness when he marked Cain to protect him from his fear of being killed (Gen 4:15).
There have been times in my life when God has given it to me with both barrels and I had it coming.   He has never let me off the hook for disobeying Him but He has also shown me unmerited mercy and grace.  His discipline has never been as severe as it could have been and His kindness has always been far greater than I deserve.
In Luke 6:35 Jesus says "[God] is kind to the ungrateful and wicked."  Even us when we least deserve it!