Running the Race to Completion

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It has been my observation while reading the book of Hebrews, standing firm on a commitment to God is not easy (Hebrews 12:1). Why? We are mere humans who cringe at pain, loss, and try to avoid heartache. We are not comfortable with the unknown. We are unable to see into the future. Building and maintaining a steadfast heart (strong character) is not simple, but it is possible if we connect ourselves to God and strengthen our walk with God (Micah 6:8).

Creating a steadfast heart starts and ends with trust. We deepen our trust of God through experience. This is not a ‘thinking exercise’ it is a ‘doing exercise’.  We engage in life’s struggles to strengthen our relationship with God. We learn to trust others by doing things with friends and learning how they solve issues. We build trust by discovering how they think, what they do to meet life’s challenges. If we feel safe, we become willing to reveal our hearts and troubles to them (Ephesians 5:21). Sometimes, we discover that we cannot. Other times we discover that we can.

David Wilkerson tells us – “There are powerful forces at work today against every believer who would hold fast to his confident faith.…in the midst of all this anxiety and fear, we who trust in the Lord hear His Word telling us, ‘Be steadfast and confident to the end.’  The fact is, whenever there is mounting fear, God calls for greater steadfastness. Whenever there is great terror and falling away, He calls for greater confidence. Whenever there is gloom and despair, He calls us to increase our gladness and rejoicing. That is the nature of our heavenly Father. He has made provision for His people to hold fast and retain their joy in the severest of troubled times.” 

With God, we deploy prayer, worship, and attentiveness to his wisdom to build steadfastness. We enter into a long-term conversation with God to learn from him and recognize his presence all around us. This takes time. Yielding our life and heart toward God is a learned skill facilitated by the Holy Spirit. It takes attentiveness on our part as we investigate our past, locate those issues that are impeding progress, and then give those things to him. The more willing we are to trust, the deeper our relationship with God becomes, the more our hearts are steadfast in the storms (Ephesians 4:15). This takes time.

Paul continues in Ephesians 4:17-24 (paraphrased) — So I tell you this, and I insist on it in the Lord, that you must walk away from living as the Gentiles do, standing with your fist in the air, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance they are proclaiming and the gradual hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity to the things of God, they have given themselves over to sensuality, they indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed. That, however, is not the way of life you learned. You know how to walk with God. You were taught these things when you first heard about Christ. Clearly, you were taught about the things of God in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to allow the Holy Spirit to rebuild the attitude of your minds; and to ‘walk the walk’ in the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (NIV)

Paul tells us that ‘walking the walk’ strengthens the heart muscle, grows our reliance on faith, and nurtures our trust in God. Micah presented this notion eons ago. What did he say? What does the Lord desire of us? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humblywith your God (see Micah 6:8).

This approach of stepping away from our norms, pulls us out of the feral lifestyle and brings us close to God. As we are being transformed, we take risks – perhaps we allocate more of our financial resources to God only to notice we still have plenty left. Perhaps we find time for the service of others only to notice we still have time for ourselves and our family. Perhaps we pray for somebody who has hurt us causing our recoil from them only to discover we have been changed and reach out to them with forgiveness. Trusting God. Steadfast Hearts.

I have witnessed this first-hand in many of your lives. I have watched you face impossible choices and find a way to stay true for Jesus. I have seen you make choices that would cause others to give up. I have seen your steadfast heart clinging to God and discovering his peace. We encourage each other.

I choose Jesus.

Hollywood and the Cool Breeze

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The sun had not even reached above the ridge near the area where Frank Burbank and Miss Tillie were camping. Frank was a cowboy and a guide, but most people just called him Hollywood. Miss Tillie was a schoolteacher. She was married to Frank, but everybody called her Miss Tillie, even Frank. Her full name was Rosemarie Tillie. Frank and Rosemarie knew each other as young adults.

They drifted apart as Frank went out into the world looking for adventure and she worked to become a schoolteacher. Rosemarie received wise counsel from her Grandmother Ruth. Her grandmother told her to be patient – God would bring Frank back to his senses. She grew her skill as a Wind River Range teacher and waited for Frank to become more stable. Over the years, Rosemarie lost sight of Frank and put him out of her mind. But, just as Grandmother Ruth had said — Frank settled down. It was Grandmother Ruth that gave Frank the nickname of ‘Hollywood,’ She named him Hollywood because Frank looked a bit like a Hollywood star. Frank and Rosemarie did not get married until the middle portion of their life.

Today, in the autumn of their life, they were camping in this valley looking for interesting things to see and butterflies to chase. Gradually as the sun appeared, Hollywood (Frank Burbank) remembered parts of a song that his mother (Gracie Burbank, Mother Gracie) used to sing when she was younger.

Hollywood sang aloud:

I love to feel the soft summer breeze and hear whispers through the trees.

Where you listen to the mountain stream, we often sit and dream.

The cowboys I remember true, were men who worshiped God above.

They just loved the big outdoors; God made this place for them to adore.

When he completed the song, Hollywood and Miss Tillie sat quietly for a minute. Then the smell of breakfast filled their Wind River campsite. Hollywood loved to smell coffee and bacon. He could not wait for breakfast. His tummy rolled and grumbled; he was pacing around the fire.

Hollywood said — Cannot wait, cannot wait. Really need some of your yummy breakfast, so we can begin the day.

Miss Tillie smiled and calmed him down as she carefully crafted the morning breakfast. She finished the bacon and set it aside, she finished the eggs and covered them with a lid to keep them warm, she made a little bit of oatmeal, and then she poured a nice cup of coffee. She found a bright red tablecloth with little stripes going every which way.

Miss Tillie smiled and said — I have used this tablecloth many times, it is full of memories, it will make the food taste better.

Then Miss Tillie laid out the plates on the tablecloth and placed the coffee cups where they were easy to reach. She invited Hollywood to have a seat so they could pray before they ate.

Miss Tillie prayed — Father God may you bless this food that we are about to eat, may you bless us in our activities today, may you keep us safe from trouble, and may we see the glory of your creation today. In Jesus name Amen.

With a great big smile on his face, Hollywood said – Amen! Let us eat.

Everything looked so good, Hollywood did not know where to begin; he just looked at the plate for a while. Then he gently picked up a small piece of bacon and crunched away on the wonderful flavors and aromas that Miss Tillie had made for him. Hollywood then found the eggs and gently placed them on a fork so he could treat them with all the respect that she did when she prepared them for him.

Hollywood sat back with the piece of toast and began to think about a song he was remembering. Something that Miss Tillie used to sing when she was very young and just getting started as a teacher. Hollywood remembered the song and started to sing —

I love to walk in the springtime and listen to the larks.

Can you hear God’s wind blowing, can you hear the angelic harps?

They sing in the valley where the deep snow laid just a month ago.

Now it is spring and I smell the flowers when I walk ever so slow.

Miss Tillie said – my grandmother Ruth taught me that song. She learned it from her mother. The song reminds me of the times when my grandmother would teach me about the things of God. She told me that God created the heavens and earth—everything we can see, everything we cannot see.

Miss Tillie continued — At first the Earth was difficult to see, it did not have much of a shape. The Spirit of God hovered and looked around. Then God made more changes. He said – let there be light. And just like that, light appeared, and he smiled. It was good. Then he let the night have its place and the day have its place. He was pleased. The next day, when the light appeared, he said — let there be a sky and land and oceans. Blue sky and blue waters appeared.  It was beautiful.

Miss Tillie continued – every time my grandmother Ruth sang the song, she taught me how God made everything we can see and everything we cannot see. I will always remember the respect she had for God. I hope I will always teach that respect to my students.

Hollywood sipped on his coffee. He could see the hope in Miss Tillie’s eyes as she talked about the things of God. He wondered what adventures they would get into today. He loved to listen to the stories from Miss Tillie’s childhood. Together they walked all through the valley for the rest of the day. They talked about things, listened to the larks, and marveled at God’s creation.

As the day ended, they settled down for supper. The night song from the critters was magnificent. The stars above retold the story of God’s creation. All was well in the world; Miss Tillie and her husband were content. A cool breeze lulled them to sleep. God was smiling…

Genesis 1:3-6 — And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Please note: In 1956 a cowboy poet, Jim Jennings, published a short book about his experience working at ‘dude’ ranches in the west. My Great grandmother, Goldie Livingston, obtained a first edition copy of Jim’s self-published book in the fall of 1956. The poetry in this story is adapted from Jim’s book.

Consuming the Wind

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Written by Dan

It has been my observation that death is the great equalizer, no one can outrun death, no one can avoid death, we all will pass through the portal. Some to life everlasting and others to an everlasting bad day. But what about the things we accumulate? What happens? Do those things matter? Solomon pondered on these things and formulated the essential statement on birth and death in a world with little grace.

Ecclesiastes 5:15-17 says — Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands. This too is a grievous evil: As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction, and anger. (NIV)

Psalms tell us — Do not be overwhelmed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases; for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them. Though while they live, they count themselves blessed—and people praise them when they prosper—they will join those who have gone before them, who will never again see the light of life (Psalm 49:16-19).

It is clear we do not accumulate anything in this world that stays with us after death. What is the impact of this? First, we see the fleeting nature of wealth, second, we are schooled by Solomon on the notion that our wealth is nothing, valueless when compared to the immensity and grandeur of the one true living God. We bring nothing because we have nothing material that is of value to God. He desires our heart, which is what we bring with us into the next world. We have nothing we have collected that is of any value to God. He looks for the heart, not the objects.

In Psalms we read — For you, Oh Lord, are my hope, my trust … from my Youth. Upon you I have learned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you (Psalm 71:5-6).

When we were born, we arrived with nothing. Then, in death we leave with nothing (implied in 1 Timothy 6:7). The dust that formed us, envelops us in death. For we were born in sin, and if we do not find grace in our life and turn towards the one true living God to receive the ransom, then we die in sin. We are unsanctified.   Our sorrow during life is magnified 1 million-fold in death without Jesus.

Our departure without the benefit of Grace is not God’s plan, it is Lucifers plan. He will try to twist and misalign the precepts squeezing all the power from the saving message. This is a difficult thing to wrap our mind around, yet we know he loses his campaign of destruction if we yield to Jesus. The darker truth is — he wants to distract us with wealth, causing our heart to be glued and focused on this world, striving to avoid death so that we may wrap our arms about the great wealth we accumulate and cling to rather than embracing and valuing the eternal gift given to each of us through the shed blood of Jesus.

In Hosea 12:1 we learn about Ephraim, a tribe of Israel trying to feed from the wind. How can that be? I think we quickly learn that feeding from the wind leaves us with an empty tummy. Wind cannot provide us with strength or stamina. What was Hosea the prophet talking about? I think the message is a metaphor that states pursuing wealth to bring happiness leaves us empty. If we pursue wealth for selfish reasons, we are fools. If we do manage to accumulate wealth, we will not find it easy to maintain. I think it is wise to consume the Word of God, leave wind consumption for the godless.

I choose Jesus.

You are led by the Spirit

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Written by Dan

It has been my observation that Paul often talked about the nature of self-control. I found 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 to be an interesting expression of his view. He wondered if we were aware of the purpose of the human race – getting the prize. He knew that all serious competitors would enter a strict training plan to prepare for the race – the journey. He mused at the temporary honor they obtained for all their work and noted how much better our prize of everlasting life was for the journey.

Then comes the heart of his message in 1 Corinthians – Paul was not interested in aimlessly running the race for mere trinkets at the end, he did not train to merely shadow box or run in place. The personal training was to like most training, the training included forcefully causing the body to become a slave to our mind, not driven by urges and glances, rather to be managed by self-control. God created us in his image, our body is not evil in and of itself. However, our body is a strong center of weakness, it requires management, so our mind remains in control, not our hands, eyes, nose, or urges. Why? Because impulses can be destructive to spiritual life. As a man thinks – a man is (Proverbs 23:6)

Galatians 5:13-26 says — You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So, I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious … those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other. (NIV)

This message in Galatians was completely in line with the Matthew 5 message from Jesus when he spoke about removing the eye if the eye causes sin or remove the hand if it causes sin. I do not think Jesus was recommending we actually poke our eye or remove a hand. But the message was clear, walk away from sin, it I deadly, it is dangerous, walk away. I think in the same way, Paul was telling us to bring our body into submission, develop the discipline needed to control our personal actions so we stay true to Jesus.

Imagine a runner, who is very skillful and successful in each race exhibiting a selflessness that leaves no trace of conceit. A good runner knows he is going to be standing at the pole, waiting to start, he gently responds to the respect from the younger runners, many more know of him than he realized. During the race he is observed for technique, the younger emulate him. During the race he respects the other runners, he does not need to provoke the other runners hoping to involve a mistake that will give him the advantage. He simply runs his race, his way. He has no envy in his heart for the other runners.

So then, we are not left without positive tools to help manage the body and our mind. Paul names the tools ‘the fruit of the Spirit’.  We are to embrace a joyful heart, seek a peaceful disposition, develop forbearance in all circumstances, always treat other with kindness, find the goodness of God in all things,

Use faithfulness to cement our commitments, pursue an enduring attitude of gentleness, and in all these things cultivate self-control that overrides all our impulses.

I choose Jesus.