Showing posts with label Devotionals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devotionals. Show all posts

Saturday, July 21, 2012

It's All in the Attitude

While at my regular grocery retailer of choice, I overheard the tail end of a bit of talk between a security guard and a store clerk.  The end of the conversation ended with this statement: ". . . She wasn't allowed in here."  Being that this conversation ocurred in the men's restroom, I could understand.  Females ought not to be allowed in men's restrooms which are multistalled in nature. 

Upon leaving the store, I asked the security guard, who was stationed at the exit, what the conversation was all about.  "We had a customer come in with their dog," he replied.  "Was it a seeing eye dog?" I asked.  "No," the guard admitted.  "It was just your everyday mutt."

Intrigued, while aware I had mistaken the "she" for a human female when it was in fact a canine female, I probed further into this situation.  "So did the customer stay long inside the store?" I asked.  "No, not really," related the guard.  "They knew I could have called the deputies and that would have been trouble for him (the customer)," the guard added. 

I wanted to know more about what kind of things this guard saw each day at this store.  I already knew of customers who dealt marijuana in the store's parking lot, much less reeked of it while inside the store.  So I inquired some more of the guard, who was friendly and polite throughout my conversation with him. 

"So what else have you seen from the customers while on duty here?" I asked him. 

"Oh, plenty," the guard nonchalantly replied.  "Probably the biggest thing I've had to deal with is girls who come in that are pretty bare.  Not wearing much and I have to throw them out.  Health and safety code, you know."

"You mean they were so bare that their body parts could come against the produce and so forth that customers could pick up and buy?" I ventured to him. 

"Well, yeah, that's probably the way to put it.  I mean, it's not that I'm against customers staying cool in the Summer heat, nor is the store and its policies, but it's about other customers picking up germs from other people's body sweat and so on.  People don't realize what they do while they pick up produce and goods as they shop."

Eeeew.  There you go.  Letting dogs into grocery stores - even while on leash - and females in scant attire brushing against who knows what in the produce and/or meat section of the store while selecting their groceries for checkout is the issue at hand.  Is this what you would want to have happen with what you purchase from such a place?  You get the drift.  There are health and safety codes in place to protect and keep clean and safe retail operations like this one in the State of California at least.  Yet with the influx of new people to my part of the state, the knowledge and practice of following the health and safety codes in terms of acceptable behavior while at a food retailer is diminishing.  Hence the need for a store guard stationed in the store.  A sad state of affairs, indeed. 

*  *  *

On the other hand, there were plenty of times Jesus ate with the unwashed, the unclean, the down, the out, the dirty, the imperfect, the Godforsaken.  I don't recall the Lord ever refusing someone coming to him who genuinely sought him just because they had a dog, or didn't have the right wardrobe, or didn't have their act together.  From Matthew 5:2-11, ESV: 

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Jesus give us his emphasis on what life is all about in the latter portion of the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 6:25-33, ESV:

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?[g] 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Ain't that the truth, eh?  (wink)  Each day has its own trouble.  But the good news is that God wants to provide for us and have us rest in his care.  All we have to do is let go. . . stop being anxious. . . stop wondering what we will wear, among other things. . . and seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.  When we do that, the things that are important - from the Lord's perspective - will be added to us and provided for us.  What will those things be?  The things God finds are necessary for us in this life and the life Eternal to come.  God, being a good God, gives good gifts to his children, and not bad (Matthew 7:11, ESV):

  7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Finally, the Apostle Paul has these succinct words for us from Colossians 3:17, ESV:

 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

My wife and I have actually done this regarding dogs.  We have a Chihuahua puppy who is just adorable. . . we can't give him up, my wife says to me!  When he was still nursing and needing more immediate attention, we actually brought him to church while we were attending our adult Sunday School class and worship service.  He was in a woven reed basket, kind of like how Moses might have been in back in the day.  Never an issue with the church leaders, and never a behavior problem.  And he was quite the hit with kids and adults alike! 

On clothes, my wife is always on my case because she doesn't like my "desert dress" of polo knit shirt and shorts.  She wants me to dress more like Arnold Palmer or something.  I say to her it's too hot to wear long slacks. . . shorts are just fine.  Besides, others in our church wear shorts, men, women, and children alike.  She has conceded the issue, but still brings it up when she thinks she can get me to change. 

Bottom line, it's all in the attitude.  Why do you bring your dog to where you are going?  Why do you dress the way you do?  Is it to get your own way, or to make Jesus' name great and praised?  That's the acid test, my friends.  Consider it deeply, reflect, and pray to the Lord what his will is for you to do based on what he has revealed to you through his Word, the Bible.  He will never steer you wrong!

Selah. 


Saturday, June 23, 2012

A Day in Your Courts

Time for the ultimate classic: God's Word.  Simple.  Unvarnished.  Never surpassed.  The best there is!  What my heart and yours was made for.

Without further adeiu. . .

*  *  *

How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of Heaven's Armies.  I long, yes I faint with longing to enter the courts of the LORD.  With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar.  O LORD of Heaven's Armies, my King and my God!  What joy for those who can live in your house, always singing your praises. 

Interlude

What joy for those whose strength comes from the LORD, who have set their minds on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become the place of refreshing springs.  The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings.  They will continue to grow stronger, and each of them will appear before God in Jerusalem.  

O LORD God of Heaven's Armies, hear my prayer.  Listen, O God of Jacob.  

Interlude

O God, look with favor upon the king, our shield!  Show favor to the one you have anointed.  

A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else!  I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.  For the LORD God is our sun and our shield.  He gives us grace and glory.  The LORD will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.  

O LORD of Heaven's Armies, what joy for those who trust in you.  

Psalm 84, New Living Translation   

*  *  *

I hope the above has refreshed your heart, as it has mine. 

Selah.

  

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

You Number My Wanderings

From Psalm 56 in the New King James Version:

8 You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?
9 When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because God is for me.
10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the Lord (I will praise His word),
11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

A little background on the "wandering pilgrim" meme I have used to describe myself to others down through the years: credit Entertainment industry arranger/producer Brett Perry, who I met a couple of decades ago at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood (California) with that description.  At the time, he was working with and collaborating with Twila Paris, the Christian singer and lyricist.  Her song Wandering Pilgrim is one that Brett helped produce for her, among others during that period.  Brett remarked to me once "David, this song describes you very well.  I guess it's meant for you too!"  (Humble bow)

How interesting it was to find in today's "Reading the Bible in a year" passage in my Bible reading plan for the day the above verses.  Never did see the word "wandering" there before.  Not all English translations say it that way, of course.  But New King Jimmy does.  Interesting. . . 

God numbers my wanderings.  "He knows my every thought," is a lyric from another song I love, "He Knows My Name."  He is that knowledgeable, concerned, and caring.  He knows our story even better than we do!  Makes one shiver at the thought when you get down to it. 

God also sees your tears as precious. . . precious enough to value them enough to bottle them.  We bottle Coca-Cola, hot sauce, and all kinds of other things. . . but tears?  Amazing that the Lord values even our tears in that kind of personal way.  Takes one's breath away when you think about it reflectively enough, doesn't it?

David (the writer of the Psalm here, not I who is named after him) in this instance was captured by the Philistines and imprisoned.  Notice what he says in response: God is for me, I will praise His word, and the immortal words of verse 11.  "In God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me? 

Lots of implications and personal applications there in that verse.  In these days of increasing tribulation, be ye glad. . . and remember this:  they can kill the body, but they can't take your soul.  Not if it's Jesus' that he bought with the price he paid at the Cross.  You are set free in the Spirit through what Jesus provided for us.  Rejoice, my friends,rejoice!

Selah.