Murphy’s Law

Romans 5:1-5

When I was first married, we had a small leak in our half bath downstairs. When I tried to repair it, instead of tightening the pipes, I disconnected them. Do you know how small those pipes are? And do you know what small pipes do to water pressure? Water shot out of there so hard and fast that pieces of toilet paper were blasted onto the ceiling.

That was a perfect example of Murphy’s Law which is, “Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. Yup! Been there, done that!

My co-worker recently had a streak of bad luck. First her stove died and they went for weeks before the replacement arrived. Then one of their cars was making some weird noises. Several hundred dollars later, the noise was gone. Finally, the dish washer started leaking and had to be replaced. Have you ever heard of the saying, “If it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all”? Been there, done that!

Adversity, affliction, problems, struggles, suffering, issues, trials, temptations, testing, or troubles - whatever you want to call them; we’ve all experienced them. But Paul and James suggest dealing with them in a highly unusual way.

³ We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. ⁴ And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.    NLT

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.      James 1 NIV

To respond to adversity with rejoicing or pure joy seems not only counter-intuitive, but ridiculous. Why would you do such a thing? I’m glad you asked.

⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.   NIV

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.         Romans 8 NLT

 This is not to say that adversity isn’t hard, because it is. But even in adversity, we can know that God is with us; He is working in our life to draw us closer to Him; and that He loves us no matter what happens.

 That, my friend, is cause to rejoice.

John 21:1-4

Seven Disciples Fishing

Today’s reading is brief. It is about seven of Jesus’ disciples going out fishing and catching nothing. It ends with; John 21:4

“Early in the morning Jesus was standing on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.”

How could they not know it was him? Did he take on a different human form? Were they so convinced he was dead they never considered it could be him?

Is it feasible to think Jesus is watching us as we fish, work, shop, engage with others, or choose not to engage? Might Jesus be that young man who looks rough and un-kept? Could he perchance be the unwed mother or misbehaving child we shun?

Perhaps we should keep that in mind as we live our daily lives. The Bible tells us of the gift of the Holy Spirit being with us; to guide and support us in the way of the Lord. We are urged to live our lives in reverence to God as well as being kind, generous, patient, humble, moral, etc.

Once again I suggest we think about living our lives as though Jesus were in our midst observing the approach we take with our family, friends, and strangers, because He is!

Immanuel means “God with us.”

Read/Listen to John 21:1-4

What Does Your Life Communicate?

1 John 4:1-6

 Do you open your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

Growing up, my parents made us wait until the morning. It was sheer torture. I was so keyed up the night before my Dad would read the Christmas Carol just to put us to sleep. Even then, I found creative ways to stay awake like, hiding in the downstairs closet or hiding under my bed with a light to stay awake.

 There are a lot of messages at Christmas time, and many of those messages come through time honored traditions, like gift giving. In Sweden, there is a tradition of watching a 1958 Disney Christmas special at 3:00 p.m. on December 24. The program consists of Jiminy Cricket introducing a series of vintage cartoons. What message does this tradition communicate?

 “¹Dearly loved friends, don’t always believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God: test it first to see if it really is. For there are many false teachers around, ² and the way to find out if their message is from the Holy Spirit is to ask: Does it really agree that Jesus Christ, God’s Son, actually became man with a human body? If so, then the message is from God.” TLB

That’s what John wrote to the believers about how to determine if a spirit - or message - is genuine. He wrote that we should put messages and beliefs to the test; to make sure that the message you are hearing holds up to the truth of the Gospel.

 Messages are normally communicated by word of mouth, but oftentimes messages are communicated by written word or body language, actions and even inaction.

This makes me wonder if our lives aren’t a message. And if that is true, what message are we communicating? What would happen if our message, our life, was put to John’s test?

 As a child, I knew that Christmas was about Jesus, but the message that I heard, that came across loud and clear, was that Christmas was all about gift getting.

John wrote in his Gospel the true message about Christmas. “¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… ¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”        NIV

Jesus Christ came in the flesh from God. This is what we as believers celebrate, not just in December, but throughout the year. This is the truth. It may not be popular. It may not be PC. But it does pass the truth test.

What does your life communicate?

Eeyore or Tigger?

Numbers 14:1-9

 

 

Who’s your favorite: Eeyore or Tigger?

 

Have you ever noticed that there are two kinds of people in the world? One sees everything as half empty and the other as half full. In Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore is a half empty kind of guy: “It’s not much of a tail but I’m sort of attached to it”. While Tigger is always bouncing around: “Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! I almost bounced clear outta the book!”

 

In today’s passage the Israelites are half empty as they respond in despair to the report concerning the Promised Land: “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?” Sort of sounds like Eeyore doesn’t it?

 

While Joshua and Caleb are half full kind of guys: “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.”  Do you feel like bouncing with Tigger?

 

How did the other ten spies explore the same land as Joshua and Caleb but came to the totally opposite conclusion? The answer is in the last statement in today’s passage. “The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them”.

 

There are many examples in the Bible of people who believed and trusted that God would be with them in difficult, if not impossible situations. Moses ran away from Egypt and Gideon was hiding in a winepress when God promised each of them, “I will be with you”. The same promise is true for you and me.

 

Eeyore and Tigger are make believe characters from a fictional children’s book, but they have human traits. Traits that can be seen in people throughout the Bible. Traits that we can see in ourselves.

 

Are you more like Eeyore or Tigger? Or a better question to ask is this; do you see God at work in your life or do you only see the obstacles? Like the Israelites, do you ask God why, or like Joshua and Caleb do you ask God why not?

 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=numbers%2014%3A1-9&version=NIV;GNT

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Num.14.1-Num.14.9

 

Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23

Do you sometimes feel alone? Are the holidays difficult for you? We all have those days or even seasons when we feel alone, abandoned.  Take a look at how both of the scripture verses for today tell us God is with us.  Both verses predict or announce the arrival of Immanuel which means God with us.

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14)

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). (Matthew 1:23)

God sent His son so we would not feel alone, so we would know we are not alone.  This first Christmas without my husband isn't near as difficult as I thought it would be.  Why?  Because I am not alone.  I am spending part of the holiday season with family in Ohio and part with family in Wisconsin, and all of the holiday season with Jesus.  It is so important we stay close, to family and to God.  How do we do this? 

We stay close to family by spending time with them, talking and sharing meals and family fun.  We stay close to Jesus by talking to Him, sharing our hearts and having fun with Him.  I manage to stay close to God by reading His Word, journaling my thoughts and spending time in His presence.  How do you stay close to God during the busy holidays?

It is so good to know that Jesus is with us...Immanuel.