Flight Paths

Today's post is by guest writer Keith Ward.

When the boys were almost teens or just beginning those years, I noticed that Nathan had posters on the ceiling of his room. I just presumed he ran out of wall space. After he left, we took them down and discovered all the water marks and holes they had covered. At a still earlier age, the roof leaked in that end of the house and I tried everything I could to fix it as I could not afford a professional. Then, I did not know how to fix the holes, but Nathan managed—he covered them up. Finances improved and it was not long after we discovered the problem that we had someone fix it.

Watergate may be the best known in our times, but corruption and coverups have been around since government was. God ordained government, but Satan corrupted it. Coverups were much simpler when kings could simply lop off the heads of any who objected. Now, in our republican form of government, often the coverup causes more trouble than the original corruption.

Imputation is certainly the most evil coverup of all time with the vilest consequences. The notion that when God looks at a sinner under grace, He does not see the sins but rather looks at the perfect life of Christ which he accounts to the sinner. God wrote no passage of scripture that even suggests such an odious coverup –that a sinner with all his rotten, vulgar evil is counted righteous just like he is?!  God wrote no passage that even suggests such a thing. Satan must have worked overtime to get that one accepted as a prevalent doctrine among those denominations that call themselves, "Christian." It certainly leaves the sinner comfortable in his sins while continuing them without change and believing the lie that God is looking at Jesus rather than his foul soul.

Passages can be multiplied that proclaim that we are cleansed, pure and holy because we are forgiven by Jesus' blood, i.e. His death, burial and resurrection (Rom 6:1-7; Heb 8:11-12; Acts 22:16; etc ) Paul makes clear that God chose us to be holy and without blemish and by his grace through Jesus and the redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses i.e. sins (Eph 1:3-10). Forgiveness makes men holy, not some kind of mockery of holiness wherein God pretends that the sinner still in his sins has the righteousness of Jesus. We remain holy by finding the way of escape God provides and by seeking Jesus our advocate "IF" we sin (1 Cor 10:13; 1 Jn 2:1-2). Since God makes the way of escape, it takes a willful act by a man to return to bondage. A man overcomes temptation by God's gracious help.

"For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life"is expanded and explained when the apostle says a few verses later, "We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life…for he that has died is justified from sin." The whole matter of being saved by Jesus life is summed up, "I have been crucified with Christ and it is no more I who lives but Christ lives in me" (Rom 5:10; 6:4,7; Gal 2:20). You have no need to cover up the holes in your holiness, the ugly stains on your soul with pretend posters of Jesus taped up between you and God. Repent and live righteously by the power of the blood.

As Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it; that he might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the washing of water with the word, that he might present the church to himself a glorious, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

And such were some of you: but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.

When we moved to our new home in Tampa, we renovated more than the house.  The grass was patchy and thin.  The front walk from the driveway to the door was nearly overgrown with schefflera on both sides.  You almost needed a machete to get through.  The podocarpus were trimmed like a French poodle and the gardenia by the front door nearly covered the front step and rarely bloomed.  The oleanders were spindly and almost bare.  First the sod went in and then out came the oleanders and the schefflera that hid the front walk.  The rest of them we trimmed so we could see out the windows.  We allowed the podocarpus to grow and fill in the strange shapes they had been pruned into and finally, they look almost normal—a sentinel on each side of the garage. 

 Finally, we found what we wanted by the front door—a triple hibiscus that blooms red, pink, and yellow.  Out came the gardenia which had proved such a disappointment, and in went the hibiscus, which has been a beautiful addition to the entry.  Every morning I open the door to count the blooms and the colors.  It is now 6 feet high and fills that spot perfectly. 

 I am especially happy with the hibiscus.  When I was a small child in Orlando, the first house I remember sat at the top of an inclined cul-de-sac, or what most people back then called a dead end street.  It was a two bedroom, one bath concrete block house, painted green with a maroon trim around the roof and on the front screen door.  A back screened porch had been closed in to make a "TV room" as we called it, which left the small front room as a living room where we received our guests, mostly family and church people.  I found the original sale price of the house sometime in the past few years—something around $7000, if I remember correctly.  It couldn't have been more than 900 sq ft.

 Besides the front step, on the left side of the house under the front bedroom windows was an attached brick planter.  My mother grew roses there and something she called "shrimp plants."  You can look it up yourself to find the big fancy name, and picture of the blooms that do indeed look a bit like shrimp.  On the right side of the house, which I always thought was east and only found out was west when I grew up, she had planted a hibiscus with bright red blooms as large as my little girl head.  I must have really liked that plant because I remember it so well

 .  In the last few years of my mother's life, she began telling me stories of both her childhood and mine as a baby and toddler, things I could never have remembered myself.  She said that my Daddy had taught me the names of all the car makes by the time I was three and I could point to any car on the road and tell him what it was.  He enjoyed showing me off to his friends, whom, she said, were amazed.  One time I pointed to a car and told him it was a "Wincoln."  The only problem was, its turn signal was going and they never really knew if I was saying it was a "Wincoln," or it was "winkin'. 

 But more to the point this morning is the time she and I walked around the house on the west side and I saw a hibiscus bloom close to the ground.  She said that I asked, "Mommy, is that a lobiscus?"  It took her a moment to realize that when I heard the name "hibiscus" what I really heard was "high-biscus," so of course a bloom near the ground would be a low-biscus to me.

 Children are smarter than most people credit them.  They make connections that we in our orderly-minded way cannot.  Children with disabilities sometimes learn things that no one ever expected them to be able to do or remember because they come up with ways to do them that no one else had thought of, thinking "outside the box" as we call it as if it were some adult-only possibility.  When you consider that children with parents from two different nationalities can learn more than one language in the first two years of life, it ought not to be such a surprise.

 God knows children far better than some of their parents do.  The things I have seen small children learn will just plain knock your socks off.  And so it shouldn't be such a surprise that God expected children to ask questions and even arranged things specifically for that reason.

 When your children ask you, ‘What does this ritual mean to you? ’you are to reply, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, for He passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and spared our homes.’ ” So the people bowed down and worshiped Exod12: 26,27.

 Even today, Orthodox Jews, when celebrating the Passover, have their children ask, "The Four Questions," so that the story of God's deliverance is remembered and passed to each generation.

 That was not the only time God set things up specifically to cause the younger generation to ask questions.  After the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD spoke to Joshua:“Choose 12 men from the people, one man for each tribe, and command them: Take 12 stones from this place in the middle of the Jordan where the priests are standing, carry them with you, and set them down at the place where you spend the night.” So Joshua summoned the 12 men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the LORD your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you? ’ you should tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the LORD’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites”Josh4:1-7.

 And we could go on and on with them.  Surely today we should heed that example and pass on our rituals and commandments to our children, telling them exactly why we do what we do.  One of the saddest things in the world is parents who do not take the time to answer their children's questions, and treat those questions as a bother. 

 Today, take that time.  Tell them why, even if they don't ask.  Maybe you have worn it out of them by not answering in the past.  Show them now that you will answer, and share your God and your faith with the ones who should matter the most to you.

“When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances, which the LORD our God has commanded you? ’ tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. Before our eyes the LORD inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his household, but He brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that He swore to our fathers. The LORD commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the LORD our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today. Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us’Deut6:20-25.

I live where the animals meditate quite often.  When we first moved here, the bobcats screamed in the woods every night.  Even after all these years of people moving closer and closer in on us, the mourning doves still cry and moan every day, morning and evening.  I hear one out there now even as I type.

 “Meditate?” you ask. 

 Exactly.

 For thus the LORD said to me, As a lion or a young lion roars over his prey…Isa 31:4.

 Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I mourn like a dove…Isa 38:14.

 “Roars” and “mourn” are the same Hebrew word translated “meditate” in the KJV, including this one:  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  Ps 1:2.

 I grew up in a time when “transcendental meditation” was popular.  Most of those who participated sat in the lotus position and hummed the syllable in the above title.  I have no idea what was in their minds at the time, but it seems a far cry from the passages above.  Yet, from what I have seen, we don’t really understand what meditation is any better than they did.

 A Bible class teacher once told us he had decided to meditate more.  He did this by memorizing a passage every week and then reciting it at various times during the day.  As he continued talking, it seemed he expected that repetition to magically change his attitudes and his heart.  As an educator, I understand that repetition is the key to learning, but simple repetition itself is as useless to your heart as repeating Hail Marys.  The New Testament calls such things “vain repetition.”  Maybe it’s time to see what the Bible says about meditating instead of what the world does.

 I looked up every occurrence of the Hebrew word found in the three passages above.  I found 24.  In the King James Version, the word is translated “meditate” 6 times, which is the most frequent translation.  But here is a really interesting case.  While in Psalm 1:2, the word speaks of the action of a righteous man, in Psalm 2:1, the action is of the wicked and is translated “plot” in the ESV (“imagine” in the KJV).  The word clearly involves some mental activity.  In Psalm 38:12 the wicked are imagining “treachery all day long.”  In fact, in the ESV that is translated “meditating” treachery.

 Seven times the word is translated “speak” or “talk” or “utter” so it does involve sound, but not that mindless hum or rote repetition so many think.  If you check out the passages, the wicked “speak” (meditate) deceit or perverseness or falsehood.  The righteous “speak” (meditate) wisdom and truth, and “talk of” (meditate) God’s praise and righteousness.  Try doing any of those things without some serious thought.

 So where does the “sound” involved in this word come from?  Sheer effort and emotion.  The young lion roaring over his prey in the Isaiah 31 passage has reached a moment of intense effort in his hunt for food.  Although the dove is not really mourning, the passage is a metaphor for God mourning over his lost people, trying to save them.  Imagine reaching out to grab someone who is about to take a serious fall, or step in front of an oncoming vehicle.  Would you do it quietly?

 No, meditating on God’s word is not a time of quiet, mindless repetition.  It is a time of intense mental effort.  “Ponder how to answer” the ESV translates it in Prov 15:28.  Run it over and over in your mind for the various possibilities, for the possible results of actions or the ideas to which those thought processes might lead.  Meditate today on meditation, for clues in the texts themselves or, as we have done, in how the word is used in other places.  Memorizing is wonderful.  Reading the word of God is a necessity for one of his children, but if all you do is speak the words either aloud or in your mind, you have done no better than a pagan on his yoga mat.

Be diligent in these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy progress may be manifest unto all.  1Tim 4:15

Dene Ward

This blog is a long term investment.  It debuted August 2, 2012.  But even before that, I began writing devotionals that I sent to a small email list three times a week.  That first list contained 32 names.  Many times I have thought about quitting, especially when I looked at a blank screen and could not think of a thing to write, but knew I had to if this thing is going to stay alive.  “Why?” I think, especially since I rarely get feedback and sometimes wonder if anyone else cares whether I bruise my brain for a couple dozen hours a week anyway.

 My average pageview day runs 300-400, with an occasional spike of 2000+.  I have now passed over a million pageviews total.  But look back where I started—32 names.  It has taken many years of hard work, truly a long term investment.  I would never have made it this far if I had given up.

 Life is made up of long term investments.  Education, marriage, children, career, mortgages, as well as stock portfolios, and many other things take years to show any profit, any growth, any benefit.  In spite of our instant gratification society, most of us know this about life:  some things are worth the time and trouble and the long, long wait, and many of us manage to avoid quitting.

 Why do we forget that in our spiritual lives?  We become Christians and expect overnight that our problems will disappear, that our temptations will cease, and that our faith will move mountains.  Then reality sets in and instead of working on it, we give up.  We go to an older, knowledgeable Christian and ask for help in learning to study, but after two or maybe three weeks of making the time to meet and finding the time to do the studies he assigns, we quit.  It’s too tedious and we are too busy.  We thought there was some get-wise-quick formula.  It’s just the Bible after all, not rocket science.

 It’s perfectly normal to have bouts of discouragement.  David did:  How long O Lord?  Will you forget me forever?  Psalm 13:1.  Asaph did:  All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.  73:13. I’ve tried and tried and gotten nothing for it!  Why bother?  And then they remind us to look ahead, because it is a long term problem with a long term solution.  In just a little while the wicked will be no more…you guide me with your counsel and afterward you will receive me into glory.  Psalm 37:10; 73:24.  Sometimes the wait seems long, especially when we are suffering, but faith will be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him 37:7.

 And if you are floundering a little, wondering perhaps if you will ever make it, if your faith will ever be strong, if you will ever be able to overcome temptation on a regular basis, give yourself a break.  This doesn’t happen overnight.  Are you better than you were last year?  Did you overcome TODAY?  That’s progress.  Keep working at it.  No one expects to lose 100 pounds in a week.  Some of us have way more than that to lose spiritually. 

 The reward is worth the waiting.  It is worth the struggle.  It is even worth the tedium of learning those difficult names and the exercise involved in buffeting our bodies.  But you won’t get there if you give up, if you say, “This is boring,” or “I’m too busy,” or “I can’t do it.” 

 I have many new friends because of something I started a long time ago during a difficult time of life.  I cannot imagine being without them now.  I certainly don’t want to be without the Lord.
 
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised, Heb 10:36.
 
Dene Ward

I bet you have some of those recipes yourself—Hawaiian pizza, nacho cheese stuffed shells, Mexican lasagna, spinach and feta calzones.  It may not be an upscale restaurant’s version of fusion cooking, but for most of us it’s as close as it gets.  Italian cuisine mixed with Mexican, Greek mixed with Asian, French with Thai, anything to put a little variety in the weeknight meals.  And for many of us, they become some of the family’s favorite dishes.  When the flavors don’t clash but meld together beautifully, the whole dish is improved.

 Isn’t that the way the church is supposed to work?  God never meant us to gather in monochromatic assemblies.  He never meant for one ethnic or economic group to position itself higher in the pecking order as the more learned, the more spiritual, the more zealous.  The prophets prophesied a multi-cultural kingdom.  It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways... Isa 2:2-3. 

 Even as far back as Abraham God promised, “In thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed,” Gen 22:17.  Not one nation, not two, but all.  When you read the book of Genesis and watch God funnel his choice down to one people, then in the New Testament see that funnel turned upside down to include salvation for all in the fulfillment of that promise, you cannot possibly exclude anyone and still show a true appreciation for God’s plan. 

 And you cannot make yourself better than any other without annulling grace.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love, Gal 5:6.

  “God is no respecter of persons,” Peter said to Cornelius, and even he had to learn that lesson and teach it to others.  And the struggle went on for years.  Have we not in two millennia finally figured this out?  Even Jesus began the process when he chose Simon the Zealot and Matthew the publican.  If ever two people, even of the same race, could be polar opposites in ideology, it was these two, but they overcame their biases and went on to work peaceably and respectfully together to conquer the world for their Lord—the whole world, not just one race.

 Who are you teaching?  Who are you welcoming into your assemblies?  Who puts their feet under your table and holds your hands during the prayer of thanksgiving for the meal?

 A long time ago, my little boys wanted some friends to stay overnight and go to school with them in the morning.  “We’ll tell the teachers they are our cousins.” 

We adults looked at one another and smiled.  These playmates were black and my boys were about as fair-skinned as they come.  Their father shook his head and said, “I don’t think that will work.”

In all innocence and sincerity they asked, “Why not?”

Finally Keith looked at the father and said, “We’re brothers, aren’t we?  So I guess that makes them cousins after all.”

Would that we could all be as color-blind as an innocent child, as color blind as the Lord who died for all.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise,Gal 3:27-29.

Dene Ward

And you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people, that prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy against them, and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Woe to the women that sew pillows upon all elbows, and make kerchiefs for the head of [persons of] every stature to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of my people, and save souls alive for yourselves? And you have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hearken unto lies. Wherefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith you hunt the souls to make [them] fly, and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the souls go, even the souls that you hunt to make [them] fly. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and you shall know that I am Jehovah. Because with lies you have grieved the heart of the righteous, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, and be saved alive: Therefore you shall no more see false visions, nor divine divinations: and I will deliver my people out of your hand; and you shall know that I am Jehovah  Ezek13:17-23.

 After a lot of study on this passage, I realized that I had found just as many scholars who say they don't know all the things this passage is referring to as there are those who think they do know.  That automatically makes me doubt the ones who are so sure of themselves.  However, I think that some of these things are clear and they give us yet more ways that Satan can deceive us—in this case in the matter of who to listen to.

 First notice verse 17:  they prophesy out of their own hearts.  I once heard a woman say that she hadn't been sure of the meaning of a passage in the Bible until suddenly she felt in her heart that it meant ____________.  Fill in the blank with whatever you want to be good in the sight of God, because ultimately, that's what a statement like that will allow you to do.  As long as you feel like it's not a sin, then it isn't.  You can get away with the most hideous evil in the world with that kind of reasoning.  When someone—even a good friend—tells you to follow your heart, then take you and your heart and leave right then.

 Verse 18 tells us that these prophetesses "sewed pillows and kerchiefs for persons of every stature."  Perhaps I am reading something into this but does that mean they are making everything "fit" what each person wants to hear?  You say one thing for one person and another for someone else, depending upon their circumstances.  Ask yourself, do they say the same things regardless of the trouble it gets them into with some people, or does everyone like them and their message?  If you are preaching to a bunch of sinners who have rebelled against God, as these people in Judah had, it will be impossible for every one of them to like what they hear!  Truth does not change—no, not even "your" truth because the only Truth there is, is God's. Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth  John17:17.

 Verse 19 comes right out and says these prophetesses are lying.  Do not ever be afraid when you hear an obvious and deliberate falsehood from a preacher or teacher to call it what it is—a lie.  There may be someone there who needs to hear that in order to wake up or be strong enough to resist.  God does not lie.  False teachers often do.  Just a small example, anyone who tells you that once you commit your life to Jesus all of your problems will go away, is lying.  God never promises that we will have a life of ease.  In fact, He promises just the opposite.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved usRom8:35-37.  I could multiply passages like this.  What God promises is that He will be with us when bad things happen, not that they will never happen.  This is why you need to know your Bible—so you will know when someone is telling you something besides God's Truth.  When you figure it out, run.  They may not be Satan, but they are allowing themselves to used by that being to deceive you.

 These prophetesses "grieve the heart of the righteous and strengthen the hand of the wicked."  It must surely be obvious to everyone by now that we have reached that stage in our culture where people are calling good evil and evil good.  And not only that, but if you stand for God, you will be called "hateful" people who use "hate speech."  IN the UK, people have been arrested for "hate crimes" for simply reading the Bible aloud on a street corner.  Yet the obvious is true:  you love people enough to want to save them from their sin, even if it causes you untold amounts of grief and even persecution.  Freedom of religion is rapidly disappearing if you do not want to practice it the way they do, allowing everyone to do their own thing not only with tolerance, but with loud approval. 

 The Devil has captured many a believer because they cannot stand to be called horrible names or suffer loss, especially monetary loss or loss of status in the community.  It will only get worse.  Prepare your children to be strong, to love God more than mammon, to stand even when no one stands with them.  Don't let Satan use this device to steal their souls.  Ezekiel tells us these women were on the "hunt" for souls, and they succeeded all too well.

 Don't let them catch yours.

I charge [thee] in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts;and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.  But be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfil thy ministry  2Tim4:1-5.

Dene Ward

 It's amazing what having children can do to you.  You find reserves of strength you never knew you had when their temperatures rise and their chubby little cheeks turn rosy with fever.  You find you can do without sleep or food far longer than you ever expected.  Even more astounding, you find the Mama Bear that has been lurking unexposed your whole life until the very second someone looks at your child cross-eyed, much less actually threatens them. Grandchildren add a totally new dimension to all of this.  At least when your children are young, you are still in relatively good shape physically.  But for your precious grandchildren, arthritic knees, stiff backs, and eye-blurring cataracts will not stop you from your appointed rounds!

 Silas is in high school now, playing his first year on the varsity basketball team.  Living with a house full of men all these years, I have learned enough to know that his defense is stellar, with 2 or 3 steals and 4 or 5 rebounds a game.  He is also an assist "machine," some of which are so crisp and clean they take your breath away.  Besides all that, he makes a few points every game, yet does all of this in usually about 2 quarters since he is not yet a starter—but would be if Grandma had a vote.

 As supportive grandparents, we bought season tickets to the home games and rarely miss one.  Unlike the flag football team—where he is known for his touchdown receptions and interceptions—basketball games are played in a gym.  The home gym is 59 years old and I would bet the bleachers are the same age.  The orangy brown wood is scuffed from years of sneakers, Keds to Air Jordans to Ohtani's New Balance, I imagine.  At the bottom in the middle is something they call a step, which leads you to the top.  Evidently, 59 years ago, people were much taller, or at least had longer legs.  This "step" is higher than my knees, my achy arthritic knees.  So now they tell me to climb on up.  Pardon?  I can barely lift my foot that high, much less actually climb up.  No one is sitting there, I think, so why can't I just sit down myself?  Because, in pretty black stencil are the letters "NOT A SEAT."

 The first time I tried to step up nothing happened.  So I rocked back a step and gave it another try.  Still no go.  At this point Keith lifted on my elbow.  I am here to tell you the elbow is NOT the problem.  A lady sitting to the side on the second row reached out and asked, "Can I help you ma'am?"  I had no idea who she was, probably a fan from the other team, but she was obviously a well-bred Southerner—the ma'am always gives us away.  Meanwhile, the line behind me is growing longer.  Finally, someone—I have no idea who but just as obviously an NFL fan—gave me a "tush push" and I made it up the step.  The remainder of the steps were built for us ordinary folks so I made it to my seat.

 This has happened at every home game.  By now I am the pre-game entertainment that the whole crowd breathlessly waits for.  Even if their own team loses, they get to watch an old lady make an absolute idiot out of herself.  But I do it for my grandson and I would do it every day if I had to.  I went to a flag football game and nearly got creamed by a player going out of bounds as I sat on the sideline.  The young man found out he was really good at hurdles.  I went to a play and sat in front of a wiggly group of kindergartners.  I babysat for 18 days and by the time it was over I could hardly move I was so tired. I "ate" spaghetti and meatballs made of pine straw and rocks.  I kept chicken nuggets in my freezer along with curly fries for one and sweet potato fries for the other, and always kept the cookie jar full.  You do these things when you are a grandparent, and you don't mind a bit if you look or sound ridiculous doing it, if it's tiring, inconvenient, or embarrassing.

 For, I think, God hath set forth us the apostles last of all, as men doomed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, both to angels and men.  We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you have glory, but we have dishonor. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place; and we toil, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure;1Cor4:9-12

 Paul said the apostles were willing to be made a spectacle for the sake of Christ, his gospel and his church.  How about us?  I am afraid we are too proud sometimes.  Who wants to look different than the rest of the world?  I honestly think that is the real reason for immodesty, not the desire to show off skin.  We just do not want to be different.  My skirts were the longest ones in my high school class, along with two other Christians.  Unfortunately, there were more than two other Christians at the school.  Lucas finally gave up on the high school baseball team because the locker room talk was so vulgar, coarse, and crude.  My own Daddy was ridiculed at work because his language did not match the other workers'.  They called him, "Shucks," but you know what?  I never even heard that word come out of his mouth.

 What are we not willing to do for the Lord because it will affect how we are perceived by our neighbors, coworkers, or unconverted family?  In our old home, we were friends with some Mennonites.  Do you think those women and girls were never stared at when they went grocery shopping?  Their long skirts and modest tops, their hair pinned high in something resembling a snood, definitely garnered attention from others, most of it unkind.  While I do not believe we need to be that careful, I find myself wondering if any of us could take it if it were required by God.  Can we really say we love the Lord our God with all [our] heart and with all [our] soul and with all [our] might (Deut 6:4)? 

 I will do most anything for my grandchildren, just as I did for my children.  I do it because of how much I love them.  Maybe we should ask ourselves if we love God and our Lord Jesus that much.

For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died;and he died for all, that they that live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him who for their sakes died and rose again2Cor5:14,15

Dene Ward

Yes, there are more obvious things we simply read over in Psalm 23.

 When do you usually hear a reading of the twenty-third psalm?  Funerals and deathbeds, right?  We have consigned this little gem to those two occasions, probably because of the translation, “the valley of the shadow of death.”  Yet, if we had simply done a little study—very little, in fact—instead of just accepting what we always hear and assuming it the beginning and end of the matter, we would have found many other uses for this psalm.

 “The valley of the shadow of death” is actually one Hebrew word—tsalmaveth—and it can mean “deep darkness.”  It is, in fact, translated that way in the modern versions.  Yes, in Job 38:17 it seems to refer to physical death, but in Jer 2:6 it refers to the wilderness wandering, certainly a dark era for the people of God.  In Jer 13:16 it refers to the coming destruction and captivity, perhaps their darkest period.  In Job 34:22 I am not certain what it refers to, but it certainly isn’t death.  This is important because all of us experience times of deep darkness in our lives.  To know that God is with us during those times too, not just at death, is a comfort beyond any other.

 And do notice this, God is the one leading us to and through this dark place.  In fact, coming immediately after “he leads me in paths of righteousness” (literally, “right paths”), this dark place is the right place for me to be.  It may be a severe trial, but for some reason I need to be there.  It is right for me to be there, and God will lead me “through” it.  He will not put me there and leave me there.  Even something as severe as losing a child, becoming disabled, or becoming terminally ill, is one He has led me to and through, accompanying me all the way. 

 But there may well be other kinds of dark places I must go through, and will realize He has been with me when I get out on the other side.  That is, if I have remained His faithful servant, trusting in His wisdom and care.  As long as He is with me, “I will fear no evil.”  It may be that His presence involves correction or discipline (His “rod and staff”), but I know that He loves me and this is the right place for me to be, and that even in this dark place, “goodness and mercy follows me,” that is, “pursues” me.  His goodness and mercy are on the hunt for me, even in the dark places—especially in the dark places.

 Don’t miss out on the gold in this little treasure chest just because you have heard it all your life.  Use it to help you navigate those dark places, with Him as your guiding star.  Trust Him, as this particular genre of psalms is called, the Psalms of Trust, or Psalms of Confidence—in God. 

 You can make it through the dark to a light beyond, which is also implied, for you can’t have a shadow without a light shining somewhere.

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple, Psalm 27:1-4.

Dene Ward

Back in my younger years I was a jogger.  If you missed the story, slip over to the “categories,” and click on “Country Life.”  Scroll down to “One Fencepost at a Time”—even farther back than “Backwards One Fencepost at a Time”—and you can read about it with its own lesson of encouragement.

 When I finally progressed to jogging on the highway instead of the cow pasture (explained in that previous post), the first time I took nearly twice as long as I should have to jog the same distance.  Ordinarily, jogging on a firm surface is easier because your feet push off and the momentum is with you instead of all sinking down into the dirt, sand, mud, or grass of the softer surfaces.  That was not what slowed me down.  What kept distracting me were the things I had passed by in a car every day for three years and never seen before.

 In a car, you usually see the road, the signs, and possible problems—other cars, animals both domesticated and wild, pedestrians, potholes, discarded bottles, trash bags that fell off other vehicles, boards that might have nails in them, pieces of blown tires.  You must look for those things if you want to avoid an accident. 

 But that morning as I jogged slowly by I found out for the first time that a tiny creek ran through a four foot diameter culvert under the road just past the neighbor by the woods.  I discovered a path through those same woods that led to a ramshackle cabin a hundred feet off the road, nearly hidden by the ramrod straight pines.  I discovered that another neighbor had a second driveway, much smaller, that led to a shed behind the house.  Then as I approached the bridge over the New River, I found a path snaking off to its side, probably used by fishermen looking for bait, or kids swimming in the shallows.  All those things had been there the whole time I had, but it was as if I had discovered a brand new place.

 That is exactly how I felt after our ladies’ class studied Psalm 23.  I almost skipped that one—everyone knows it.  We all memorized it as children.  If there is a Bible passage in a movie, it is apt to be that one.  Why should we include that in what I hoped to be a study of brand new material for most of us?  Because it was brand new material, too.  I had gotten out of the speeding vehicle passing through it, and had jogged at a slower pace, seeing the details for the first time.  We are going to talk about what I found this time and next.

 Psalm 23 is classified as a Psalm of Trust.  I doubt that David, Ethan, Asaph, Solomon, Heman, the sons of Korah, Moses, or any other of the writers of the psalms actually made a decision to write a particular type of psalm and then followed some carefully laid out pattern.  No, the elements and patterns have been analyzed by scholars thousands of years removed from them, but it is interesting that they do follow something of a pattern.  For instance, Psalms of Trust (some call them Psalms of Confidence [in God]) tend to view God in metaphorical terms.  He is variously called a shield, a fortress, a rock, a shelter, a master [of slaves], and in this familiar psalm a shepherd.

 But here is the part I always missed—the metaphor in these psalms is apt to change abruptly, as it does here in verse 5.  Suddenly God is depicted as a host.  Some of the older commentators do not want to see this change, but please tell me, when was the last time you saw a sheep eating at a table or drinking out of a cup?  No, the shepherd feeds the sheep in verse 2: he makes me to lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters.  Sheep eat grass and drink water, and the shepherd has fed them exactly what they want and need.  Now it is the host’s turn to feed his friend in a brand new metaphor.

 And notice this, the host in verses 5 and 6 is not just an acquaintance fulfilling the obligations of hospitality in the Eastern tradition.  He is a close friend.  He takes you into his house not just for a meal but to “dwell forever.”  Indeed the Hebrew word for “house” often implies “household.”  That last verse could easily and correctly be translated “and I will remain in the family of the Lord forever.”  We’re not talking about being a pet sheep in the family, but a human member of the family, someone who eats at the table with the rest of the family, the truest sign of acceptance in that culture.

 See what you miss when you just breeze through an old familiar passage without a second thought?  You need to get out of the car and walk through it, paying attention to every detail and thinking about every nuance.  That’s how you learn new things.  And this new thing is nothing compared to the one I will show you tomorrow.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Eph 2:19.

Dene Ward

I was utterly confused when the older lady asked me about the bread recipe I had mentioned.

 “Is it short?” she wanted to know.

 The reply on the tip of my tongue was that it was about an inch high, but intuition told me that was not what she meant.  Someone else came to my rescue then and I gradually realized over the first few years of married life that “short” in cooking had nothing to do with height. 

 Shortening does exactly what its name implies.  It shortens the strands of gluten in a bread dough.  In a quick bread, which doesn’t take hours to rest and rise, that is important.  If it were not “shortened” it would be too tough to chew.  So biscuits, cornbread and other un-yeasted breads are far shorter than yeasted ones.

 Which shortening you choose makes a world of difference too.  Butter, oils, meat fats, and plain old shortening are the most commonly used, and the texture and flavor you want determines which one.  If you want a sandier texture, use oil; if you want a flakier texture, use shortening.  If the flavor makes a difference, choose olive oil for Mediterranean breads and bacon fat for cornbread—if you are from the south, that is. 

 Some recipes call for a mix of two or more shortenings to produce the best of each.  You want a great cookie?  Click on my recipes on the left sidebar and then click on Almond Crunch Cookies, which use both oil and butter—great flavor plus sandy texture. 

I prefer to keep my pie crusts plain so they won’t detract from the filling.  To that end I use shortening only.  It also makes a flakier crust.  Others mix butter and shortening, but I can tell you from experience that an all butter pie crust is difficult to work with and tends to be heavy, at least to me.

 Then there is cornbread.  I can tell from a recipe whether the cook is from up north or down south.  Northerners use less cornmeal, a good bit of sugar, and either oil or melted butter as their shortening—except maybe some Midwesterners who live where pork is king.  I nearly flipped when a television chef based in New York used 1 cup of cornmeal to three cups of flour.  To a southerner, it’s called cornbread because it has both the taste and texture of dried corn, plus that wonderful yumminess of bacon in the background.

 I have been trying to figure out what we Christians use as our shortening, and I think it has to be love.  Love can change both the texture and flavor of what you do.  Notice Mark 10:21: And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said unto him, One thing you lack…  Love made Jesus tell this young man, the one who had done well at keeping the law all his life, exactly what he lacked.  Try doing that without love and see how far it gets you.

 Sometimes love is tasty and easy to get down.  Sticking your finger in cake batter is a whole lot nicer than doing the same with pie crust.  One is far sweeter and has much more flavor than the other.  So pats on the back, compliments and pep rally encouragement are easy to stomach.  It doesn’t take any maturity to handle it well.

Sometimes love gets a little salty.  Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.  Col 4:6.  Salt can sting an open wound, and sometimes that is exactly what we need—a sharp word to wake us up.  That one is harder to handle, but what are we?  Toddlers who still think that discipline means Mama and Daddy are mean, or adults who have learned the benefits of correction?

 Keith grew up in a family where compliments were rare, almost non-existent.  Until the day they died I never once heard his parents praise one of his sermons or Bible lessons.  They viewed criticism as a way of helping, and if they didn’t love him why would they try to help at all?  Most of the people up in those hills were exactly the same way.  They appreciated plain speech, people saying what they mean and meaning what they say.  They viewed pro forma compliments as hypocritical, and indeed, any teacher knows when the man shaking his hand and saying, “Good lesson,” means it and when he doesn’t.

 And we should recognize the value of love in all its forms.  When you know that a rebuke comes from a heart of love it is much easier to take, even a salty one—love shortens those tough strands of “gluten” and makes them tenderer and easier to chew on.  Don’t ever dismiss a word of exhortation because it doesn’t taste good to you.  God expects you to recognize the shortening and use the admonition to improve yourself whether you like its flavor or not. 

A friend of mine once tried to sift some biscuit mix to “get out all those lumps,” not realizing they were lumps of shortening.  What she produced were the toughest biscuits anyone ever tried to eat.  If you try to get rid of the rebuke, even if it is shortened with love, God won’t be happy with your end product either.  In fact, the comment you get from Him when you try to excuse yourself from not listening because you don't like what is said is likely to be something like, “That’s tough!”

Let a righteous man strike me—it is a kindness; let him rebuke me—it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it...​Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy… Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent…Psa 141:5; Prov 27:5,6; Rev 3:19. 

Dene Ward