Thoughts from the One-Year Bible
January 25, 2011
Gen 50:20 - “Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good,....”(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)
I have worn glasses, it seems, all my life. The earliest school pictures show me wearing glasses when I was in the first grade. Now that is a long, long time. Several years ago I had a wonderful surgery that transformed my eyes forever. I no longer have my natural lenses, I have implants. My left eye has an implant for reading and my right eye has an implant for seeing things at a distance. It was amazing! The very first morning I got out of bed I could see the clock all the way across the room...with no glasses! Before that surgery my vision was so bad I could hardly see anything clearly within five feet. Once the implants were in place I could see well all the time. In order for me to see clearly my eyesight had to be changed.
How well this little thought fits in with the scripture today. Joseph’s brothers thought they were going to be mistreated now that Father Jacob was dead. You know,... those brothers that sold him down the river and thought they would never see him again? But, Joseph was seeing things a little more clearly than his brothers. His eyesight had been changed. No longer did he view what his brothers did as evil. He saw through what his brothers had done it actually positioned him to be able to help his brothers and all fo their families. His brothers were looking at the situation without the use of God-eyesight. They were looking at the death of their father as floodgate through which all of Joseph’s vengeance would rain down upon them. Joseph was looking at his brothers as opportunities to bless them because of what they had done and how God had used their evil actions.
That is the problem so many times in our own lives - we have bad eyesight. And most of the time the eyesight is nearsightedness rather than farsightedness. To be nearsighted is to “myopic” - note the word “MY-opic”. When we are spiritually nearsighted we see things best at close up range - my range - me range. Things become about us and me and my - case in point...Joseph’s brothers. But Joseph was farsighted - or “hyperopic”. He could see things far away while losing sight of things up close and personal - the hurts and offenses. Too often we are “my - opic” and take everything personal. Our world is a huge failure and everyone is against us. We need to become farsighted, being able to see things at a distance. Everything is not about us and everyone is not against us. In fact, more often than not things that come into our lives are not necessarily for short range understanding, but rather long range transformation. God wants us to be like Him - Holy. The only way we get there from here is with eyesight that sees further down the road than the little things that crowd into “my” space right now. What you are going through right now is either because of less than wise decisions - OR - God is trying to change your eyesight - to see how He is working out everything for HIS purpose. After all isn’t that what life is really all about - transforming our lives and fitting us for eternity with Him?
You are loved,
Pastor Roger
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Correction
Thursday, January 13, 2011 - Thoughts from the One Year Bible
Correction
Proverbs 3:11-12 - "My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights." Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
How many times was I corrected as a young boy? Too many to count. What do I remember most of many of those corrections? My father saying to me, "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you." Wanna bet? At least that is what I thought until one day I heard myself say to my own child, "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you." I suddenly found myself laughing on the inside as I immediately went back in time and my father's words echoed through the chambers of my mind. Why in the world would he say such a thing? Why did I say it? Discovery - when we love someone deeply, we are grieved when we must bring discipline into their lives. We know it will hurt them in the short term. We risk the possibility of rejection. We risk misunderstanding. We risk a potential break in relationship. We risk creating anger in the one whom we discipline.
The writer of this Proverb came to understand the loving touch of God's discipline. "Don't reject the Lord's discipline...don't be upset when He corrects you...." So why is it we often respond so negatively when the hand of correction comes into our life? I believe it has to do with our heart condition. We tend to believe we are right...all the time. When we do the wrong thing we tend to believe it doesn't affect anyone else and if no one finds out what is the difference? I love my children and in those days of "growing up" it wasn't so much I wanted them to do things my way as it was I wanted them to do things "rightly" or righteously. I wanted them to do things right in the sight of God. I loved them enough to care they grew up knowing the right thing to do and doing the right thing.
So it is with God. He loves us so much He gave His only Son to die for our sins and it only makes sense He loves us enough to see to it we do the right things - not only because He is God and wants us to be righteous and holy, but because he knows what is best for us. He made us and understands us. When we find ourselves doing things that bring sin and harm into our lives, He cares and loves us enough to bring discipline into our lives. I love the analogy of a loving father and would recite the verse this way, "The Lord brings discipline into the lives of those in whom He delights!" God delights in His creation - YOU! Discipline calls us to attention. Discipline calls us to accountability. Discipline from God brings us into a place of character adjustment. God wants us to live life to the potential He created in us. But, for us to experience the God-potential within us we must experience the loving discipline of God.
It didn't happen overnight - it took a while. In fact, it took a few years into my adult life when I finally understood the discipline of my father was most often nothing more than a great big hug and an "I love you". At the time it was like hugging a cactus, but over time the sticker wounds healed and what remained was a better, wiser individual. Don't reject God's hugs - even if there are a few stickers at the time. In the long run you are better off.
You are loved, Pastor Roger
Correction
Proverbs 3:11-12 - "My child, don't reject the Lord's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights." Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
How many times was I corrected as a young boy? Too many to count. What do I remember most of many of those corrections? My father saying to me, "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you." Wanna bet? At least that is what I thought until one day I heard myself say to my own child, "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you." I suddenly found myself laughing on the inside as I immediately went back in time and my father's words echoed through the chambers of my mind. Why in the world would he say such a thing? Why did I say it? Discovery - when we love someone deeply, we are grieved when we must bring discipline into their lives. We know it will hurt them in the short term. We risk the possibility of rejection. We risk misunderstanding. We risk a potential break in relationship. We risk creating anger in the one whom we discipline.
The writer of this Proverb came to understand the loving touch of God's discipline. "Don't reject the Lord's discipline...don't be upset when He corrects you...." So why is it we often respond so negatively when the hand of correction comes into our life? I believe it has to do with our heart condition. We tend to believe we are right...all the time. When we do the wrong thing we tend to believe it doesn't affect anyone else and if no one finds out what is the difference? I love my children and in those days of "growing up" it wasn't so much I wanted them to do things my way as it was I wanted them to do things "rightly" or righteously. I wanted them to do things right in the sight of God. I loved them enough to care they grew up knowing the right thing to do and doing the right thing.
So it is with God. He loves us so much He gave His only Son to die for our sins and it only makes sense He loves us enough to see to it we do the right things - not only because He is God and wants us to be righteous and holy, but because he knows what is best for us. He made us and understands us. When we find ourselves doing things that bring sin and harm into our lives, He cares and loves us enough to bring discipline into our lives. I love the analogy of a loving father and would recite the verse this way, "The Lord brings discipline into the lives of those in whom He delights!" God delights in His creation - YOU! Discipline calls us to attention. Discipline calls us to accountability. Discipline from God brings us into a place of character adjustment. God wants us to live life to the potential He created in us. But, for us to experience the God-potential within us we must experience the loving discipline of God.
It didn't happen overnight - it took a while. In fact, it took a few years into my adult life when I finally understood the discipline of my father was most often nothing more than a great big hug and an "I love you". At the time it was like hugging a cactus, but over time the sticker wounds healed and what remained was a better, wiser individual. Don't reject God's hugs - even if there are a few stickers at the time. In the long run you are better off.
You are loved, Pastor Roger
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