x marks the spot

Technology rules our lives; if you have any doubt about it, just keep a (paper) log and see. If you watched TV, rode in a car or listened to the radio you used technology. And that is old style; consider cell phones, computers and GPS (global positioning devices) to name a few. All these things help you do the things you want to do on an everyday basis, but do they tell you where you are in life? This picture tells you the obvious, but it does raise a good question, namely, where are you really? What are you doing with your life? There is a verse in the book of proverbs that should cause us all to reflect on this:


Pro 16:9 A man's heart plans his course, but Yahweh directs his steps. (WEB)


The years I spent in Northeast School of Biblical Studies were the best ones of all. During that time I remember Bill Bean singing "slip sliding away" by Simon and Garfunkle. The words come to mind often as they make me think about the futility of the things we do in life. Those who love (and are loved by) God are directed by HIM. This relationship causes us to be exactly where HE wants us to be; to be used by him. The "X" marks the spot in the picture is where God wants you to be and that's that. Stay put, God will show you where to go next; wait and see.

An angel or a devil?

What does an angel look like? I don't know; never have seen one! This man seems like one at first, but take a closer look; he just doesn't seem to foot the bill somehow. Maybe its the look on his face or his stance, but something says a BIG NO! We assume we know a lot of things in this world, but what do we really know? I could be very, very wrong and he could be Michael the archangel, but I assume he isn't, based on my ssumptions and guesses. That is just what the Sadducees did; they had their minds made up about things beyond their comprehension. How Jesus put them straight is seen in the following passage from the book of Matthew:

Mat 22:23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question,
Mat 22:24 saying, "Teacher, Moses said, 'If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.'
Mat 22:25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother.
Mat 22:26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh.
Mat 22:27 After them all, the woman died.
Mat 22:28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."
Mat 22:29 But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.
Mat 22:30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Mat 22:31 And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:
Mat 22:32 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living."
Mat 22:33 And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

English Standard Version

They didn't know the Scriptures, heavenly matters or even GOD for that matter! The opinions of the Sadducees were based on their "religious" knowledge and Jesus put that to shame quickly indeed. It would have been better if they had simply asked Jesus about the resurrection or marriage, but no, they had to show their superiority. Sounds like a situation of the first being last and the last being first; but that is obvious, isn't it? Maybe I should take a dose of my own medicine and ask "Who do you think this is; an angel or a devil"? I can't wait to hear from you, but wait, is it me, or does he look a little bit like John Mackenroe? Well, I had better stop with all my opinions, because I think I am seeing quicksand up ahead and I might need a miracle to get pulled out. There never is an angel around when you really need one, is there?

Any way you compute it

Right!? Does the phrase "figures don't lie, but liars figure" ring a bell? When found out, some people will continue to lie, no matter what! Call it "creative reality" or "a different perspective" or anything else you want, a lie is still a lie, period. The consequences of which can be just embarrassment or something in the extreme. Read the following passage from the book of Acts and see how dangerous lying to God can be:

Act 5:1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property,
Act 5:2 and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.
Act 5:3 But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?
Act 5:4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
Act 5:5 When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it.
Act 5:6 The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.
Act 5:7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.
Act 5:8 And Peter said to her, "Tell me whether you sold the land for so much." And she said, "Yes, for so much."
Act 5:9 But Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out."
Act 5:10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband.
Act 5:11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

ESV

How much more serious punishment could there be? In fact, there is no such thing as a harmless lie, especially if God is involved. A half truth is still a whole lie any way you compute it. Think about that the next time you step up to a chalkboard.

Your every word...

When I look at this cat I see a look I remember on my daughter's faces when they were very young; this was before boys, before school and sometime after they learned to walk. When we went somewhere they actually wanted to hold my hand and when they wanted something they would say "PLEASE Daddy, PLEEEEEASE!!!!" There was an undefinable trust there, a certain something that bound us together in a way I will never completely understand; they hung on my every word. They learned from both their mother and me, which is as it should be. Listen to how God wants us to teach our children from the book of Deuteronomy:

Deut 6:4-7
4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ESV

Teaching begins with your heart and learning with theirs. When they are listening, teach! The days of intense listening to your every word are few; use them wisely! Now, maybe its time I bought that cat?

On the brink

If you look closely at the picture above, you will see a truck perched on the edge of the cliff, ready to go over it. Scary place to be, but sometimes we find ourselves in dangerous situations. I remember working on my soon-to-be in laws farm during the hay season; it was the end of the day and the hay wagon was stacked nine tier high and we were headed down a very steep hill. I don't remember why, but my future mother-in-law was having trouble with the brakes and we just kept going faster and faster. Thinking we were going to crash, I went over to Linda (who later became my wife) and hugged her tightly as we waited for the crash. Somehow, Linda's mom managed to put enough force on the brakes of that old tractor for us to stop, but all I remember is seeing her literally standing upright on them. Later, I learned she had also put on the emergency brake but all that really mattered was she knew what to do at the right time. In the book of Esther we see another dangerous situation with a lady with the courage to do what was necessary to save her people.

Est 4:1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.
Est 4:2 He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.
Est 4:3 And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.
Est 4:4 When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them.
Est 4:5 Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was.
Est 4:6 Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate,
Est 4:7 and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews.
Est 4:8 Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.
Est 4:9 And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said.
Est 4:10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say,
Est 4:11 "All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law--to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days."
Est 4:12 And they told Mordecai what Esther had said.
Est 4:13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.
Est 4:14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
Est 4:15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai,
Est 4:16 "Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish."

English Standard Version

Well, Esther didn't perish and saved her people from certain destruction. The enemies of the Jews were destroyed and the lineage of the Christ was preserved. Towards the end of the book there is much rejoicing by the Jews over their deliverance and its easy to see why they would be happy. I imagine that whoever drove that truck in the picture was happy to escape as well. Being on the brink of destruction is a very scary thing indeed; but for those who follow God, its nice to know that we don't have go through danger alone. Somehow that makes all the difference in the world!

STOP

Stop, it is among the first words we teach our children. How often have I had to repeat it several times before one of my children would listen. Adults sometimes won't listen either and perhaps that is why they put up this forceful sign. Jesus had to use hard language to teach hard hearts; this passage from the book of Matthew is a good example:

Mat 23:27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness.
Mat 23:28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Mat 23:29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous,
Mat 23:30 saying, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'
Mat 23:31 Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
Mat 23:32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
Mat 23:34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
Mat 23:35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
Mat 23:36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

English Standard Version

God had sent prophets, wise men and scribes and they were rejected, so as a last resort HE sent Jesus to teach them. They needed to STOP placing emphasis on the externals of religion and START changing inwardly! If you have ever looked in the mirror and realized the word hypocrite could apply to you in any way.... then you just stopped. Now start over again and proceed with caution, PLEEEASE!

What are you really worth?

They may pay more than the NYPD, but it would seem they don't know the difference between a "then" and a "than". This sign does raise an interesting question: what are you really worth? I once worked for a pottery in central New Jersey and the plant manager told me that hiring employees was like buying a loaf of bread: "You pay what you have to in order to get the people you want". In the business world there are often a lot of different salaries for the same job, but what about the spiritual realm? The apostle Paul put it this way in his letter to the Philippians:

Php 2:5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Php 2:6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Php 2:7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Php 2:8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Php 2:9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
Php 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Php 2:11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

You are worth enough to have Jesus humble himself for you; so each one of us is worth a great deal indeed. Don't ask me to put a monetary value to your real worth, but one thing is for certain.... its more than Exxon can pay.

Gold "Wonder"

Imagine sitting in the driver's seat of this baby! Gold, imagine that, Gold! I can picture myself sinking into gorgeous leather seats and listening to Gustav Hosts' "The planets" via a sound system that really rocks! Mercedes Benz are known for their quality, so I can't even think that something would go wrong! But, face it, EVERYTHING BREAKS DOWN; your car, your brand new super-duper TV and that fancy new recliner too. It is not wrong to own fine things; just don't let fine things own you. I like the way Jesus puts it:

Mat 6:19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
Mat 6:20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Mat 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

English Standard Version

Put your priorities where they will reap benefits in a hundred years and I think that will work out just fine. The cost of this Gold Wonder can be calculated, but I wonder how you go about putting a price on the love you leave behind after you leave this life and the true value of the life to come?

Grandeur

This picture of the Alps reminds me of the ones Walter Hewitt showed me in 1980. Walter and his wife Lillian had taken what seemed like thousands of similar pictures. I still remember the wonder in his voice as he described the surroundings; those pictures were amazing! I went home that night feeling a little overwhelmed by all I had seen and Walter’s excitement made me realize once again how small we as human beings are and how great the works of the Almighty. However, not everyone believes in God and many are in violent opposition to him. Think for a moment about this passage from the book of first Corinthians:

1Co 1:18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart."
1Co 1:20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
1Co 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
1Co 1:22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
1Co 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
1Co 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1Co 1:25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1Co 1:26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
1Co 1:27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
1Co 1:28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
1Co 1:29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

English Standard Version

If you examine the best of your attributes, someone else is always better. If you work around those who possess true genius, you will feel stupid, but, just by being around them you WILL become smarter, guaranteed! Now, if this is true from an Earthly perspective, consider the spiritual implications. If you learn to appreciate the true grandeur God has placed in the world around us, then how much more will you grow as you begin to understand something of the nature of God. Now, that is a high mountaintop indeed, something worthy of the climb and that will give joy in each step along the way!

Wonder

Someone is having a bad day and from the looks of the monument in the background, I think he was just hit with a big dose of reality and the wonderment that exists in childhood has been somewhat tarnished. This wonder is the stuff of imagination that enables us to soar above the doldrums of everyday life and greet every new day with excitement and expectation. Our dreams may or may not have foundation in reality, but they do make living worth while. When a dream dies, it is a sad thing, but usually something better takes its place. God does this for us in ways we really can not begin to comprehend because he knows us better than we know ourselves. Consider the following passage from the book of Psalms:

Psa 139:1 Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me.
Psa 139:2 You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
Psa 139:3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
Psa 139:4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether.
Psa 139:5 You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me.
Psa 139:6 This knowledge is beyond me. It's lofty. I can't attain it.
Psa 139:7 Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence?
Psa 139:8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
Psa 139:9 If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea;
Psa 139:10 Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me.
Psa 139:11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night;"
Psa 139:12 even the darkness doesn't hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.
Psa 139:13 For you formed my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb.
Psa 139:14 I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. My soul knows that very well.
Psa 139:15 My frame wasn't hidden from you, when I was made in secret, woven together in the depths of the earth.
Psa 139:16 Your eyes saw my body. In your book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there were none of them.
Psa 139:17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I wake up, I am still with you.

The World English Bible

The boy may be crying now, but once he stops, I hope he can dream once again, and let his spirit be uplifted by the complex simplicity of the glory of life, which unfolds into wonder. As I understand it, a life worth living begins by searching for the creator of all things and ends with finding all things in him; now, that is truly wonderful!