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²Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. ³Cry out for insight and understanding. ⁴Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure. 
Proverbs 2:2-4 (NLT)

That which we tune our ears to is what we begin to hear. Mothers tune their ears to the cries of their children. Doctors tune their ears to hear abnormal sounds in our lungs and abdomen. I could listen through their stethoscopes and every sound would seem either normal or abnormal – but I wouldn’t be able to distinguish one from another. In a room of crying babies I would not be able to distinguish one specific voice.

Similarly, with all the sounds that assault my hearing, unless I tune my ear to God’s wisdom I will not hear it. And I want to hear it. Proverbs 2 continues with some of the benefits of hearing God’s voice:

⁵Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God. ⁶For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding. ⁷He grants a treasure of good sense to the godly. He is their shield, protecting those who walk with integrity. ⁸He guards the paths of justice and protects those who are faithful to him.

⁹Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will know how to find the right course of action every time. ¹⁰For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. ¹¹Wise planning will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.
Proverbs 2:5-11 (NLT)

What tremendous benefits await those who tune their ear to wisdom! They are benefits that are clearly worth the effort. The question is how does one tune their ear to something that we’ve never heard before? What is the “sound” of wisdom? How do we find it and how do we recognize it?

God is so good! He doesn’t tell us to do something without providing a way to do it. Our key verse provides God’s approach. Let’s break it down:

Verse 2a: Tune your ears to wisdom – I see two elements to this simple statement.First, is the imperative to take action. The verb isn’t passive, it is active. So let’s start by recognizing that it’s something we need to do and making a decision to do it! Too often we pursue education for our profession or vocation, but assume that we either have wisdom or don’t. That’s not consistent with Scripture. Scripture says clearly that we can gain wisdom, just as we might gain a college education. We don’t get a college degree without applying ourselves to our studies, and wisdom isn’t something that we gain by osmosis. Just as we can glean some knowledge by hanging around others who have invested in it, we can glean some wisdom by those who have already tuned their ear to it. But do you want just the little bit of God’s wisdom, knowledge and understanding that you’ll gain from befriending a wise person, or do you want the whole gamut of wisdom God has for you? Do you want just a little of the good sense He has for you or all of it? Do you want just a little of His joy or all of it? I want it all (and I suspect you do, too).

The second element in this sentence is the kind of action we’re to take: Listen! You can’t tune your ear without listening closely. Each Sunday morning as our worship team tunes up, they strum their guitars, turn a knob or two, strum them again, turn the knobs again, and repeat this process until the strumming yields the sound they’re listening for. Quite frankly I don’t hear much difference between the first strumming and the last strumming. The musicians have tuned their ears – they’ve listened to their instruments over a period of time and know what it should sound like. We must listen closely, over a period of time, to learn the voice of the Lord. As we tune our ear to hear the Lord, sometimes we’ll get it wrong. That’s OK. God will correct us, and He loves that we are getting to know him.

Verse 2b: Concentrate on understanding – It’s not a lackadaisical approach that will tune your ear and give you understanding, it is the concentrated approach. Have you ever watched someone when they’re learning something new? Think of the child learning to tie his shoe. Or perhaps you’ve watched a great basketball player in slow motion as he concentrates on the basket as he sets up his shot. In both examples, you can see the concentration on the person’s face. They are focused on the task at hand, shutting out all outside influences that might ruin their concentration. God tells us to approach understanding like that – concentrate on it! Don’t just try it once, but concentrate on hearing God and understanding His ways. Block out the influences of this world and seek His wisdom.

Verse 3: Cry out for insight and understanding – Don’t go it alone! Cry out to God for insight and understanding. Ask God for it! He promises to give it:

If you need wisdom—if you want to know what God wants you to do—ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.
James 1:5 (NLT)

Notice the word “gladly.” He doesn’t give it begrudgingly. But you must cry out for it!

Verse 4: Search for them as you would for lost money or hidden treasure – Search high and low for it, as you would for money that you’ve lost or hidden treasure. Don’t give up easily! I lost my passport once. I emptied drawers and filing cabinets. I looked under furniture. I even cleaned off my desk – and I’m not a clean desk person. What have you searched for lately? Think about your search, then think about applying those same methods and intensity in finding wisdom, understanding and insight.

As I’ve been reading through Proverbs, God has been reminding me that I don’t seek His wisdom often enough. When I do the results are tremendous. Just today Phil was trying to do something on our website that he couldn’t figure out. He had spent quite a bit of time researching and trying various things, all to no avail. Then he started thinking about how God gave Joseph wisdom for succeeding in every position he held. So Phil paused to pray. He went back to working on the website, did a few things that made no sense to him and within minutes he had accomplished what he’d been trying to do for days! God’s wisdom is so good. We’ve had experiences like this in the past. Seeking God’s wisdom brings success. It was the topic of my last blog, and God is impressing it upon me enough for it to be the topic of this blog.

Let’s ask God for His wisdom before we waste time trying to live in our own wisdom (or lack thereof). He’s so good, He’ll give it generously! We have His promise.

 ⁵Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. ⁶Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

¹⁰“Choose my instruction rather than silver, and knowledge over pure gold. ¹¹For wisdom is far more valuable than rubies. Nothing you desire can be compared with it.

¹²“I, Wisdom, live together with good judgment. I know where to discover knowledge and discernment….¹⁴Good advice and success belong to me. Insight and strength are mine. 
Proverbs 8:1012, 14 (NLT)

As I read verses 10 and 11, the Holy Spirit grabbed my attention with the understanding that choosing silver and gold is so much easier than choosing God’s instruction and knowledge. Let me rephrase that – choosing to pursue silver and gold is so much easier than choosing to pursue God’s instruction and knowledge. Our society highly values the pursuit of silver and gold. Far be it that anyone should set aside the pursuit of these things to pursue God’s wisdom. I mean when was the last time you heard someone say that they were going to work less so they could pursue God more. It happens, but not a lot and most of the world (even those in the Church) would look at such a person with a bit of suspicion.

But then I read on, and learned that wisdom brings along good judgment. Good judgment is one of the greatest values in the workplace. Having wisdom and good judgment leads to the discovering of knowledge and discernment. Scripture continues, telling us that good advice and success belong to wisdom, as does insight and strength.

Now let me see if I have this right. If I pursue (and presumably attain) wisdom, I will also be receiving good judgment, good advice, success, insight and strength. It would seem to me that if I had all those things, there could be little doubt that I would be successful in the work world during the (less) time I’m spending there. I am also totally confident that my spiritual life, my relationship with God, would bring greater satisfaction, joy, peace and victory.

OK, there was an important parenthetical in that last paragraph that perhaps I should qualify. I assumed that when you pursue wisdom you would “presumably attain” it. Well, I have it on good authority that you will:

⁵If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. ⁶But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. ⁷That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
James 1:5-8 (NIV)

God’s Word promises that He will give wisdom to all who ask. When we really believe that verse, we live in expectation that God will give it. (See my blog “What Do You Really Believe” for more on this.) And when we live in that place of faith, God responds by generously giving us wisdom. What’s it take to live in that place of faith? Pursuing Him more so that we might know Him more.

Can there be any reason that makes sense not to pursue wisdom? Well, in case you don’t agree with me yet, let me share one more verse. Here’s Hosea 4:6a in two translations:

my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6a (NIV)

My people are being destroyed because they don’t know me. Hosea 4:6a (NLT)

Lack of the knowledge of God destroys us, God’s Word says. Conversely, pursuing the knowledge of God brings with it good judgment, discernment and success (among other things).

God’s Word provides so much encouragement to study His ways and get to know Him. Let’s be a community of believers who prove God’s Word to the world. Let’s be people who prove that when pursuing God and knowing Him is more important than pursuing worldly riches, we become people of knowledge, wisdom, discernment, insight, good advice, and success.

Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet
In August, we’ll spend most of our time at the River’s Edge with Jeremiah. I’ll be honest with you…there are some books of the Bible that don’t make me excited when I think about reading them. Known as the “weeping prophet,” Jeremiah is one of those books. Let me be more honest…I’m so wrong! The book of Jeremiah is full of great material and reveals the heart of God tremendously. Here’s a quote that I love. God is speaking to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah.

This is what the LORD says: “What fault did your fathers find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
Jeremiah 2:5 (NIV)

Do you hear the Lord’s broken heart? “What fault did your fathers find in me…” Now obviously there is no fault with God, just as there is often no fault with parents when their children choose rebellion. And the parents’ hearts break. God’s heart breaks when we stray far from Him. He watches as we follow worthless idols, knowing that doing so we will be come worthless ourselves.

I bet there are other verses in this book that you know but perhaps don’t know the reference. Check these out:

[The Lord is speaking] “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” (Jeremiah 1:5a)

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

¹³You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 29:13-14a)

Someday my emotions will catch on that the weeping prophet knows the heart of God and I’ll rejoice at the thought of reading the book of Jeremiah.

Mark, James & Peter
Our New Testament reading will have us in these books:

• Gospel of Mark – We’ll finish the Gospel of Mark, reading chapters 8 through 16.
• James – The book of James is a favorite of many. It was written by James, the brother of Jesus, and many people believe it was the first New Testament book written.
• 1 Peter – This book of encouragement was written to Christians facing persecution. We’ll be exhorted to live a holy lifestyle and submit to authority (and who doesn’t need those lessons?).

The month holds some great opportunities for learning and reflecting as we rest by the river’s edge with God’s Word. I pray that you will come to know God’s heart in a greater way as you read during the month of August.
Blessings, Friends!
Sandy

The recommended reading schedule for August is below.

To download a PDF of the August 2011 recommended reading plan, click here.

The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?
1 Cor 6:7

In my blog last week, I jumped off this verse, concluding that the Apostle Paul was able to overlook offenses because he kept his eyes on the prize – Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). He was so focused on Christ – what He had done, what He was doing and what He would do in the future – that he didn’t have the time or expend the energy to deal with slights, real or imagined. That’s a great message and one I need to remember.

But it wasn’t the message I had in mind when the Holy Spirit highlighted the verse to me. As I was typing out the phrases that might answer the question “Why not rather be wronged?” I could feel indignation (righteous indignation I would like to think) welling upwithin me. But God was showing me that the indignation, even if it was righteous, would lead to actions that didn’t reveal His heart to the offender. He brought this verse to mind:

¹²Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, ¹³because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
James 2:12-13

Mercy triumphs over judgment. That’s grace! God is being merciful toward me instead of giving me the punishment I deserve. But grace carries two meanings – it is both that which is extended to me by God, and it is the reflection of that grace working in my life. (See a short blog about it here.) What that means is that in my life, I should be striving to allow mercy to triumph over judgment…not nursing my indignation whether it is righteous or not.

Considering the tremendous grace God has shown to us, it is not our place to measure out punishment. Paul put it this way when writing to the Romans:

¹⁷Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. ¹⁸If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
¹⁹Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:17-21

Paul begins the passage with a warning not to repay evil for evil and ends with the injunction to overcome evil with good. He leaves little wiggle room for bringing lawsuits or claiming “our rights.” Between the two verses, Paul gives what might be even harder instructions – we’re to actually bless our enemies – not just with words, but in deed.

And then there is verse 18. God often brings this to my mind: “As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” That wording implies that I ought to be proactive in bringing about peace. I’m not to just make peace in my heart, but to take whatever action is possible to make peace when there is friction between me and someone else. Yes, boundaries may be appropriate, but “if it is possible” I’m to make peace.

These are challenging instructions. God has given us His Spirit to guide and enable us. Sometimes the hardest part is being willing. I find that often, what is required is the simple prayer “Lord, make me willing.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for – and serving a God who is wildly, passionately in love with me is at the top of the list. My list is long, and I’m hoping yours is, too. I have a roof over my head and am well fed. I’m blessed to be able to write this blog and am involved in a number of other meaningful ministries. I have a wonderful marriage and good family and friends. I have my own business that is moderately successful and gives me a degree of freedom over my schedule. That freedom allows me to be involved in events at my mom’s nursing home and other daytime activities that I might otherwise have to miss. Of course I could get more specific and the list would begin to bore you.

Yet for each of those things, it would be easy for me to add a “but…”

• I have a roof over my head, but that roof needs to be replaced and I can’t afford to do it.
• I am blessed to write this blog, but I don’t have time to do all the many additional things I dream about – truly taking Apprehending Grace Ministries from being simply this blog and a few other things to being a vibrant ministry.
• I have a moderately successful business, but there are so many stresses with owning a small business these days.
• I have a wonderful marriage, but…

You get the idea. For every aspect of our lives, we have a choice – to look at the blessing or to look at the disappointment. The disappointment might be real or imagined, but either way, it mitigates the joy we feel when we think of the blessing. I find that the disappointment we experience falls into two categories:

• “Not yet” disappointment – that is, disappointment in what you haven’t yet seen, received or accomplished.
• Experienced disappointment – reality crashed into your expectations.

Both find their solution in God.

Experienced Disappointment

We will experience disappointments and sorrow in this life. Things will break and people will die. Life will crush in and our hopes will be shattered in Humpty Dumpty fashion. We can hold onto that disappointment, or we can give it to the One who cares for us more than we’ll ever be able to comprehend.

²⁸Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”

Matthew 11 (NLT)

I find that dealing with life’s shattering disappointments makes me weary. There’s no better word for it. Weary is more than just tired, it’s overburdened and tired. Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines weary as “exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness.” Phil’s family would describe it as “all used up.”

Jesus says “Come to me when you are all used up. Come to me when your strength, endurance, vigor or freshness is gone.” I love that the word “freshness” is included in the definition. When you have become stale and are about to become moldy – “come to me.”

And once you’re there – give him all your disappointments, your worries and your cares.

Give your burdens to the Lord. He will carry them. He will not permit the godly to slip or fall.

Psalm 55:22 (TLB)

Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you.

1 Peter 5:7 (TLB)

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7

If a “but” is taking the joy out of your blessing, you are carrying burdens you need not carry. Go to Jesus – the yoke He has for you fits you perfectly. Once there, give Him all your “buts” – and don’t take them back again. Let Him deal with them for you. (Remember, He is always working in the background to cause all things to work for your good if you continue to pursue Him.) Give God your “buts” today – then just focus on the blessings.

“Net Yet” Disappointment

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy.

Psalm 13:12 (NLT)

“Not yet” disappointment is the disappointment in ourselves and/or God, that our dreams have not yet been fulfilled. Scripture validates our feeling of disappointment, but that doesn’t mean we ought to dwell there. It also validates that fulfilled dreams bring life and joy.

Pray into your unfulfilled dreams. Trust God to bring them. “Not yet” disappointment teeters on the brink of lack of faith. Push past the lack of faith into the knowledge that God is on the move! You don’t see it yet, but He is moving to bring about the hopes and dreams that are within His will and those hopes and dreams will be more fulfilling than you imagine.

Live life on purpose! Don’t just hope for your dreams to come true and don’t just pray into your unfulfilled dreams – do whatever there is for you to do today to help your dreams come true tomorrow.

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

James 2:26 (NIV)

Believe God for your dreams and work toward them. Make your life a “no excuse” zone. When you’ve given your energies toward praying and making your dreams happen, you cannot be disappointed in yourself. When you know that you know that you know that God is working on your behalf, you cannot be disappointed in Him.

For All Disappointment

King David knew a thing or two about disappointment. One of my favorite passages in Psalms was written by him in a period of disappointment. You probably know this Psalm – it begins with the well-known verse “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.” (Psalm 42:1, NRSV) Clearly this is a Psalm written in a time of disappointment. Yet David has found the secret to dealing with that disappointment. Read on:

⁵ Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and ⁶my God.
My soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember you
from the land of the Jordan,
the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

……….

⁸ By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:5,-6, 8 (NIV)

In the midst of his weariness, David speaks to his own soul – he instructs it to bring it into alignment with true reality. “Put your hope in God” he says. True reality is not what we see and hear and feel around us. Our emotions lie to us regularly. I woke up this morning wanting to cry for no reason – I was just feeling sad. I could come up with reasons I might be feeling this way and it’s tempting to do that. Life makes more sense to me when I can justify my feelings – but that’s just what it is – justifying them. Why justify them, when instead I can instruct them as David did? “Why are you so downcast, soul of mine? Rejoice in God! He is my Great Redeemer and my life. He lives in heavenly places and never ceases to pray for me. He is my hope and my salvation. He is my friend. He longs to whisper His secrets in my ear.” How much more edifying that is than figuring out why I might be sad. (Don’t hear what I’m not saying – there is a time to work through our emotions, but there is also a time for setting them aside knowing that they are simply lying to us or trying to sabotage us or divert us from God’s purposes.)

Peter has a final instruction that is worth noting here:

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8 (NRSV)

We do have power to redirect our thoughts, and using this power changes our perspective and our attitudes.

Let’s Leave the “But” Out

I have a blessed life. That blessed life is diminished when I let the “buts” of Satan rob me of the joy of the blessing.

Friends, may I encourage you to silence your buts this Thanksgiving and then continue the practice throughout the holiday season and 2011. Make it a lifestyle choice you make today.

Stay tuned – check out tomorrow’s blog titled “But In…”

“The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.”
James 5:16b (NLT)

Several things have happened recently that have me thinking about those who have no one praying for them. I think they’re all around us and we just don’t see them. We are often so caught up in our own lives and our own challenges that we don’t look into the faces of those around us, and we notice their actions only when those actions interrupt the peaceful flow of our lives. The person walking or driving haphazardly in front of us, the rude store cashier and the angry customer grab our attention, but unless we’ve allowed God to transform our natural reaction, we probably become frustrated, annoyed and/or angry ourselves.

I’ve known for quite awhile that God allows (even sends) these people to cross my path to help transform me into the likeness of His Son – to help sand off my many rough edges. What rough edges you ask? Well, in these examples, it might be my pride (in my own abilities or my superior kindness), my impatience and my lack of love. Ouch! That’s not a pretty list. (Can kindness really be superior when my attitude is  “I’m kinder than that person?”) But God is working on transforming them and we’re seeing some improvement.

It occurs to me lately, however, that these same people may be the way they are, in part, because they have no one praying for them. The angry customer may be experiencing exceedingly difficult circumstances in his or her life, and he may be facing them totally alone. The person operating haphazardly may be in a mind trap of confusion with no one praying for clarity and wisdom.

How often do you pray for those around you? I don’t mean praying for your spouse and your children, your pastor and brothers and sisters in Christ, your family and others. I don’t even mean praying for the lost in general or specific people who need Christ. I mean praying for people you don’t know and know nothing about other than they seem to lack a joy of the Lord. It is these people – those that no one else has asked you to pray for – who may have no one praying for them. I’m guessing the answer is “not very often.” I know I don’t pray for those around me nearly as often as I should.

The truth that has gripped my heart is that perhaps NO ONE is praying for some of these people. If they grew up in a non-Christian or prayerless home, quite possibly – perhaps even probably – they aren’t on anyone’s prayer list. Or maybe they grew up in a Christian, praying home, but they have gone so far afield that their family has grown weary of praying for them. They have fallen off the prayer lists of those who once had hoped for their salvation.

I have an assignment and a challenge for us.

The Assignment
Over the next couple of days ask God to point someone out who needs your prayers. Then commit to pray for that person regularly. What a privilege to be the only person praying for someone – you may well be the key component that causes that person to turn toward the Lord.!

The Challenge
Commit to pray for each person you see tomorrow. As you sit in your car at a stop light, look at the person in the car opposite you and pray for them. As you walk through a store, pray for each person you pass and each person who serves you. Actively look for opportunities to pray for people. You will find yourself quite tired from the mental alertness that is required for such diligent praying. The first time I did this, I was shocked to realize how often I allow my mind to zone out or focus on things that were not profitable.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27

It seems to me that the Church is much better at emphasizing the latter point than the first one – when was the last time you heard a sermon encouraging you to look after orphans and widows? When was the last time you were given the opportunity to participate in ministry to orphans and widows? Does your church budget reflect this priority of God’s or is it more heavily weighted toward helping you become/remain unpolluted by the world? I can’t think of a single church I’ve belonged to where there would be anything close to a balance in the church budget between looking after orphans/widows and pursuing holiness. Now you might say that there are fewer orphans and widows than there are healthy people who need help pursuing holiness. OK, I’ll buy that, and I would also agree with you that the percentage of a church budget associated with a specific ministry isn’t a final determination of the church’s support of or involvement in that ministry. For example, nursing home ministry is relatively inexpensive. Still, the point is valid that the Church as a whole does very little to serve “the least of these.” Which means individually, most of us are probably doing little to serve “the least of these.” Jesus said:

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

⁴⁴“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

⁴⁵“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

⁴⁶“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46

There are 16,000 nursing homes in the United States, and another 35,000 assisted living facilities. 1.6 million people live in those nursing homes, and 800,000 people die in them each year. The statistic that hit me the hardest, though, is that about one third of all the people who die in the US will have lived in a nursing home for three months or longer before their death. One third. Another statistic that got to me was that eighty percent of people who live in nursing homes receive less than one visitor each week. These people are among the sick Jesus talked about. I would argue that they are also among the strangers because they have been moved to a place that was not their home, and the prisoners because they cannot leave (in most cases). Yet they are the people who built the world we live, who taught in schools, who worked in factories, who cooked and served in restaurants, and who taught in Sunday Schools. They are people who are lonely, confused and disappointed. Some are feeling defeated.

For just a moment I want you to remember and think about the most difficult trial you have ever gone through. Now multiply your suffering, confusion and stress by some large number. That’s the kind of trial that our nursing home friends are going through. What did you need when you were going through your trial? You needed Jesus to comfort, heal, protect, provide and love you. And when He seemed far away, you needed a friend to come alongside you, put their arm around your shoulder and walk you over to their Friend, Jesus. You needed your earthly friend to be a sort of conduit between you and the Lord because your circuits seemed to be closed at the time you most needed to hear from God. Your friend did that by reminding you of God’s faithfulness and His promises, by praying with you, and simply by being there.

We have the awesome opportunity to become friends with people who desperately need someone who can introduce them to Jesus and/or be their conduit during times when He seems far away. They need someone to take their hand and lead them to the feet of Jesus with their pains and their cares. They need someone to give them the cold cup of living water that comes from Christ.

Those who live in nursing homes, have been moved from their home into a strange place where people who are as young as their grandchildren now tell them when and what to eat, when to wake up and go to bed, when it’s time to take a shower and when it’s time to take their medicine. Much of their privacy is lost as they share rooms with people they don’t know and the doors are kept open most or all of the time. Their world has become quite small and they have no control over it. They are probably in pain most of the time. Everyone has authority over the residents and many people treat them as if they were invisible. Most will struggle wondering if their life has any purpose or ever will have purpose again.

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2:10

This verse is God’s commission to you and me. We are saved by grace through faith, but we are commanded to do good works. The verse is also God’s commission to those who are in nursing homes. Those in our nursing homes who know Christ need refreshing and encouragement that God still has purpose for them. God still has works that He has prepared in advance for them to do. From personal experience, I can tell you that some of those works are to minister to the people who befriend and serve them. Nursing home residents have been such a blessing to me as I’ve ministered to them.

You are all familiar with Jesus’ final commandment to the church:

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
Mark 16:15

A significant percentage of those in our world live in nursing homes. They are most likely at the time in their lives when they are in more need than they have ever been – socially and spiritually. The fields are ripe for harvest and the saints are in need of encouragement. Will you consider going?

I introduced a new series of posts a little more than a week ago – Let’s be PC – Practicing Christians! I never intended for the first post to about serving in nursing homes, but it seems God did. I was just about to hit the publish button on this post when I realized it’s all about practicing what God commands and should be the first in this series. I had planned on blogging about a subject that will have to wait for the future. I guess God wanted to draw our attention to religion that He accepts as pure and faultless. I won’t argue with that call!

Resources: To become involved in nursing home ministries, contact God Cares Ministry if you live in northeast Ohio – they offer training, resources and teams you can join if your church doesn’t have one; the Sonshine Society for large-print resources and to find ministries in other areas of the country, or a local nursing home to ask the Activities Director if they have a church service for the residents and if you might visit residents one-on-one. Be the catalyst that begins a ministry at your church that reaches into the lives of men and women who helped create the community in which you live.

The Apostle Paul ends both chapters 1 and 3 of Ephesians with prayers for the believers in that city. And what great prayers they are. Let’s look at them together:

¹⁶I have never stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, ¹⁷asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. ¹⁸I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people.

¹⁹I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power ²⁰that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

…..

¹⁶I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. ¹⁷And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. ¹⁸And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. ¹⁹May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Ephesians 1:16-20, 3:14-19 (NLT)

¹⁶I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. ¹⁷I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ¹⁸I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, ²⁰which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,

…..

¹⁶I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 1:16-20, 3:16-19 (NIV)

My New Living Translation refers to Paul’s first prayer as “Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom” and the second as “Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Empowering.” I want some of that action! I want it for myself and I want it for my fellow believers. I even want it for those who are not yet believers – may they come to know Christ and grow in spiritual wisdom and empowerment!

But you know what? I am guilty of not praying like Paul prayed. I, like others, fall into the trap of praying more for (1) physical needs and (2) issues of comfort and provision. There’s nothing wrong with these prayers, but when they occupy the bulk of our prayer time, I think we are short circuiting God’s best plan for us and those around us.

Look at this list of things Paul asked God to give the Ephesians:

For Spiritual Wisdom

• Spiritual wisdom
• Understanding
• Revelation
• That they might grow in their knowledge of God
• That they might know Him better
• That their hearts would be flooded with light so that they can understand the wonderful future He has promised them.
• That they would know the hope to which they have been called.
• That they might realize what a rich and glorious inheritance God has given them.
• That they would understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us believers

For Spiritual Empowerment

• Inner strength (through His Holy Spirit)
• That Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith – that He would be more and more at home in their hearts
• Deep roots in the soil of God’s love
• Power to understand (to grasp) how wide, long, high and deep God’s love really is
• That they would know God’s love that surpasses knowledge
• That they would be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God)

Who are you praying for? How would their life be different if you prayed radical prayers – for wisdom and revelation, that they might grow in their knowledge and experience of god, for power to grasp how much god loves them, and that they would be filled with the fullness of life and power in God?

Here’s your assignment:

1. Write down 3 names – you can include your own if you like. Including your spouse or your pastor would be a great idea. Perhaps including that person in the office (or your neighbor) who is really getting on your nerves is a better idea!
2. Now write down three things from the above list that you will pray for these people. If you prefer (i.e., if you’re excited about what God can do), you might select different things from the above list to pray for each name on your list.
3. Find a way to keep this list in front of you. Use Post-Its or an index card in your pocket or tack it on your fridge or your mirror. I’ll keep mine on the top of my monitor at work and near the chair where I study and relax.
4. Pray for these things for these people between now and Labor Day – that’s about six weeks.
5. Expect God to respond to prayers that are in accordance with His will.

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 5:16b (NIV)

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results.
James 5:16b (NLT)

Well, if you’re reading through the Bible, you’ll eventually come to the book of James. That’s where we are in our Resting at the River’s Edge readings. My reaction to the news – sigh. So many people seem to love the book of James. I’m not particularly one of them. Don’t get me wrong. I do like it…but I don’t always like it. Those first few verses – seems like they’ve been quoted and taught so many times, but the teachings always seem to come across as wishful thinking to me – you know – “wouldn’t it be great if we did this?” kind of teachings.

It seems cowardly to avoid the passage, though, so I thought I’d dig a little on my own. I did what I often do – looked up the key words. I found some interesting things that helped me with the passage.

First, two translations of the passage, then I’m going to break it down and eventually put it back together.

²Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. ⁴Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4, New International Version (NIV)

²My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
James 1:2-4, New King James Version (NKJV)

“Consider/count it all/pure joy”
While I typically prefer the NIV translation over the NKJV, in this case, I think the NIV does the passage a disservice. The Greek word translated “consider/count” is actually a very strong word. “Consider” doesn’t seem to carry the command or authority that the Greek word actually encompasses. When I read “consider it pure joy,” I think of a philosopher musing about the beauty of the white puffy clouds in a beautiful blue sky. The context here is more of “decide that you will respond in joy” – it is a command to be joyful, not an invitation to muse about being joyful.

I used to think that “consider it all joy” meant “consider everything that happens (i.e., all of it) joy.” Actually, the word translated “all” means (conveniently) “all,” but is translated “pure” in the NIV because it modifies the word joy. In other words, James is telling his readers to count the trials as “all joy” or complete joy. Much different perspective. It’s not saying to consider it all joy, it’s saying to consider it all joy. Hmmm. Complete joy. Maybe I need to know more about that word joy.

“Joy” – here’s where the greatest change in my perspective comes in. I’ve never thought of myself as being very good at the joy in the midst of trials part. I’ve heard the teaching about the difference between being joyful and happy, but I really haven’t grasped them deep inside – intellectually, yes; practically, no. Looking at the definition of the Greek word helps me here. One of the first definitions of the word translated “joy” is “calm delight.” I like that. I can be calm and I can delight, by faith, in what God is doing and will do. “Calm delight” and “joy” seem like two radically different concepts to me. When my husband had his heart attack, I experienced calm delight. In the midst of a rocking worship service, I experience joy. The Greek word encompasses both meanings. I had never heard the former.

“whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance/produces patience”
The word for trials/temptations is interesting – it literally means “a putting to proof.” I love it – our trials are our opportunity to prove our faith.

Hang on – it gets more exciting!

The word used for testing here means “a testing; by implication trustworthiness.” Did you catch that? Your opportunity to prove your faith is accomplished through opportunities to be trustworthy or show our trustworthiness. It’s not about painfully enduring trials, it’s about being given opportunities for proving or demonstrating my faith by showing the character of God to the world.

And doing so, develops or produces (accomplishes is another definition) perseverance or patience. The words mean “hopeful endurance or constancy, patient waiting.” Again, not painful endurance, but hopeful endurance and patient waiting. That sounds to me a lot like “calm delight.”

Of course, the passage ends with the wonderful promise this hopeful endurance or patient waiting brings us into maturity, completeness, not lacking anything. What a wonderful promise!

The Sandy Hovatter interpretation of James 1:2-4 reads like this:

Respond in calm delight when you face trials because they are opportunities to prove your faith and to show your trustworthiness. These opportunities produce in you a quality or spirit of hopeful endurance and patient waiting. That calm delight and patient waiting brings you into maturity, so that you are fully complete and do not lack anything. (my interpretation of James 1:2-4)

I can get excited about that.

Calm delight – Lord, with Your help, I can see myself doing that
Trustworthiness – Lord, what a privilege to prove my faithfulness to You. I know that I will fail, sometimes, but I can look forward to opportunities to learn to trust You even more.
Hopeful endurance – When I have to endure, I want it to be in hope, Lord.
Mature, complete, not lacking anything – Lord, it is my destiny in You. Thank You!

Two Old Testament Leaders, One Message
In the month of May, we’ll read about the passing of two great leaders: Moses and Joshua. I love their final exhortations to the people they had led for so many years.

Moses speaks at the end of his life:

¹⁵“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between prosperity and disaster, between life and death. ¹⁶I have commanded you today to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, laws, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and become a great nation, and the LORD your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. ¹⁷But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, ¹⁸then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

¹⁹“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, that you and your descendants might live! ²⁰Choose to love the LORD your God and to obey him and commit yourself to him, for he is your life. Then you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NLT)

The Book of Joshua picks up the story after Moses dies. With Joshua as their leader, the Lord gives the Israelites many victories over their enemies and they gain the land they had been promised. After the land was divided among them, they had peace. It is then Joshua’s turn to give a final message:

¹The years passed, and the LORD had given the people of Israel rest from all their enemies. Joshua, who was now very old, ²called together all the elders, leaders, judges, and officers of Israel. He said to them, “I am an old man now. ³You have seen everything the LORD your God has done for you during my lifetime. The LORD your God has fought for you against your enemies. ⁴I have allotted to you as an inheritance all the land of the nations yet unconquered, as well as the land of those we have already conquered — from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ⁵This land will be yours, for the LORD your God will drive out all the people living there now. You will live there instead of them, just as the LORD your God promised you.

⁶“So be strong! Be very careful to follow all the instructions written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Do not deviate from them in any way.

¹⁴“So honor the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone. ¹⁵But if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 23:1-6, 24:14-15 (NLT)

A Transition in the New Testament Readings
So far this year we have read two Gospels, the book of Acts and we’re half way through Romans. I placed Romans after Acts because it is such a foundational book — it appears “first in every list of the Apostle Paul’s writings [bearing] witness to the importance of the work both in its tehem and in its content.” (The Bible Knowledge Commentary: New Testament) Perhaps that why it always makes sense to me to read Romans immediately after reading the Gospels and Acts.

When we finish Romans, however, our reading plan transitions. I’m doing things a bit different this year in scheduling the remainder of the Epistles based on when they were written. In other words, you’ll read the books in the order they were actually written. Of course, they were written by different people and to different groups of people, but I think it will be interesting to see the themes that the writers addressed knowing that those themes would mirror the growing new Church.

So following Romans, we’ll read James. James is an interesting book and has caused some controversy over the years. Martin Luther called it a “right strawy epistle,” and the Bible Knowledge Commentary describes it like this:

“needles in this haystack to prick the conscience of every dull, defeated, and degenerated Christian in the world. Here is a ‘right stirring epistle’ designed to exhort and encourage, to challenge and convict, to rebuke and revive, to describe practical holiness and drive believers toward the goal of a faith that works. James is severely ethical and refreshingly practical.”

Hmmm. Seems like the first issues that needed to be addressed in the Church was faithful endurance and holy living.

The two letters to the Thessalonians followed much in the same theme. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul encouraged perseverance in the face of persecution and he addressed some more issues in which the church that had cropped up in the church.

2 Thessalonians was most likely written shortly after 1 Thessalonians. Some suppose the information came to him from the person who delivered Paul’s first letter. Paul commends the church for their faithfulness and exhorts them to continue in faithful living, not abandoning responsibilities because they expected the Lord to return soon.

Paul’s final exortation in 1 Thessalonians followed by his closing from 2 Thessalonians seem to be a fitting closing to this month’s Resting at the River’s Edge blog:

¹²Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and warn you against all that is wrong. ¹³Think highly of them and give them your wholehearted love because of their work. And remember to live peaceably with each other.

¹⁴Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone.

¹⁵See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to everyone else.

¹⁶Always be joyful. ¹⁷Keep on praying. ¹⁸No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

¹⁹Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. ²⁰Do not scoff at prophecies, ²¹but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. ²²Keep away from every kind of evil.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-22 (NLT)

May the Lord of peace himself always give you his peace no matter what happens. The Lord be with you all.
2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NLT)

The recommended reading schedule is below.

To download a PDF of May’s recommended reading plan, click here.