Category: Spiritual Reflections

I happened to run across this video while reading blogs this morning.

It’s a video on it being “Friday” – the Friday before Easter Sunday.

Sunday’s Coming

A new book called Perspectives on the Sabbath gives 4 different views on the Sabbath.

One is by a Seventh-day Adventist Christian named Skip McCarty from Andrews University.

Might be a good read.

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Sometimes I want to test God so that I can know exactly which direction He wants me to go. Does He want us to buy a house? Is there a reason all of these deals fall through or don’t even get off the ground? Or is this perhaps God testing me?

In the Old Testament a man named Gideon used a small test for God that worked for him.

He laid a piece of wool fleece on the threshing floor and said to God “If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry then I’ll know that God will save Israel.”

Not a very hard test for God but it shows that Gideon doubted that God would do what He said He would do. But God worked with Gideon in spite of his lack of trust. Dew was only on the fleece and the ground around it was dry.

But, as humans are, we need to double-check God to make sure it’s really Him talking to us. Kind’ve like rolling die 3 times and going with the 2 out of 3 decision.

So Gideon tests God again. This time He asks God to do the reverse, make the ground wet with dew and leave the fleece dry. And God, being ever so patient with us, comes through again.

Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew. Judges 6:36-39

Gideon was a little too bold for me. I’d rather wait and trust that God will speak to me when He’s ready and in His own way than for me to devise some test for Him.

So – I continue to pray and listen.

How quick my tongue is sometimes to speak a word that should not be said or to speak in a tone that does not bring any goodness to a heart. When I think of how Jesus treated people, I feel so inadequate sometimes to even speak. Yet, as I continually look to Him, I am reminded that my character can be like His. A transformation that, if I allow it, will take place in my heart.

“He was never rude, never needlessly spoke a severe word, never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human weakness. He spoke the truth, but always in love. He denounced hypocrisy, unbelief, and iniquity; but tears were in His voice as He uttered His scathing rebukes.” Steps to Christ, Chapter 1

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A friend sent me the video below. It reminds me of the Scripture found in Isaiah 11:6-7. I can taste a little bit of heaven when I read the Scripture and look at the video.

The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

Cat and Dolphin

My Sabbath School lesson this morning pointed me to this Scripture:

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.  Philippians 3:10-11

The speaker is a man named Paul who was a devout and dedicated Jew until he “met” Christ on the road to Damascus. You can read the story by clicking here.

The above verse intrigues me because of what Paul is saying.  His relationship with Christ was so intimate that he not only wanted to share his life by knowing the power that Jesus had but he also wanted to share in his sufferings “becoming like Him in His death.”

I see very little in our society of people wanting to share in other people’s sufferings.  When things go well, people are there.  When things don’t go well, people don’t want to be around you.  It’s not always the case. But it’s the case too often.

One might say that the life Christ lived is idealistic. Going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, dying for one’s enemies — who does that anymore? Or, who wants to do it?

But, when someone actually lives it, how magnificent!

I know someone who is an alcoholic. He’s dying. The people he wants close to him the most are the people who purposefully stay away.  I’ve heard comments like “he’s done this to himself.” So what? Can we not offer compassion? Can we not help him in his sufferings?

Paul wanted to share in Christ’ sufferings. Here on this earth we can do that partly by helping our fellow humans in getting through their suffering.

As Christians – it’s the least we can do.

The big piles of snow in Minnesota are melting.  They are no longer pure white but show the dirt beneath and inside.

This is how I look inside.  Sometimes I do good.  Sometimes I do bad. I tend to measure myself by how much good I do. If there were a scale, would my life be balanced equally between the good and the bad or would one side be weighed down more than the other?

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

All includes me.  And if I stop at this Scripture, I would not see any hope for me. But, as Paul Harvey used to say, here’s the rest of the story.

Romans 4:7  Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.

I have a “covering.”  A robe that Christ puts over me.  A robe that is clean –righteous.  It represents the life He lived.  And He covers me with it if I believe in Him.

No longer does God look at my life and see all the dirt.  He only sees goodness because I am covered by the life of Jesus.

Romans 3:22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

And I am happy inside.  Now the challenge – to look at other people the same way.