I paused this morning for some much needed Bible time. I’ve been reading the Gospel of Matthew, specifically the sermon on the mount, but slower this time.

In chapter 6, Jesus said,

When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, Who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Then, Jesus taught us to pray. I’ll admit, I’ve mindlessly rushed through it at church, but today, I spent a little more time with it.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Sometimes, I stumble on words. If God is leading us away from temptation, why would He have to deliver us? Shouldn’t that be and deliver us instead of but deliver us?

He may lead us not into temptation, but, if we find ourselves there anyway, then we need Him to deliver us.

And now… the rest of the story.

We were invited to lunch with a client, a whole group of us. The place was nice, the food was good, but the waitresses were wearing… let’s just say not enough.

One glance had me counting my shoelaces.
Then I took off my glasses because I couldn’t see far past my nose without them. Still not good enough.

Then this morning’s Scripture came to mind:

Lead us not into temptation.

Well, I’m here.

But… deliver us from the evil one.

There it is.

 

I don’t recall how many times I prayed that prayer.

 

Then God whispered:
Count your ice cubes.
What?
Count your ice cubes.
Thirteen.
Count them again.
Still thirteen.

My chair was right next to a wooden column which, thankfully, provided an obstructed view.

And each time the waitresses came near, I heard:
Count your ice cubes.

As soon as lunch ended, I quickly made my exit, looking at anything other than what lied before me.

What I thought was simply pondering Scripture that I’d read a thousand times, was actually building up armor for the battle ahead.

I am grateful.

… And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so you can endure it.  1 Corinthians 10:13

He will provide you a way out.

Even if it’s counting ice cubes.

The other side of the bed was empty.

Sounds like the makings of a good ol’ country song.

At times, it’s because someone left.

Other times, sadly, they were taken away.

The other side of the bed was empty.

 

Flying halfway across the country to sit with your daughter in a hospital.

Or awake in the middle of the night, making sure an ageing parent doesn’t fall.

That same ageing parent spent years working the night shift to feed his family.

Again, the other side of the bed was empty.

Necessary, but the other side needs you there too.

 

The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Peter’s wife, but Jesus healed the mother-in-law, so there was a wife.

And the other side of the bed was empty.

I expect it was hard to her to complain when her other half was walking with Jesus. Literally walking with Jesus.

Maybe I should consider my long nights the same way.

 

The other side of the bed is still there, its blankets smoothed, its pillow fluffed… waiting.

When the time is through, I’ll climb back in its warmth and watch my precious bride breathe softly off to dream.

 

For those of you whose other half are in heaven, there is a place prepared for you as well, and your other half waits patiently to welcome you.

The Lord told Adam, “It is not good for you to be alone.”

If the other side of the bed is empty, know you are not alone.

You are never alone.

Jesus is with you there

Brushing the hair from your face

Gently rubbing your back in the stillness.

 

And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20

The warrior towered over remnants of the battlefield, his armor beaten but holding firm. A broken breastplate and damaged chain-mail showed signs of battle. Mud, sweat and the crimson stain of lifeblood, some of others, some of his own.

The captain bumped shields and said, “You, my friend, have the strength of a conqueror and the heart of a champion.”

Yet, beneath the armor, it was apparent that it stood on its own. My warrior’s heart is weak, facing each challenger as they come, but having little time to recover, rejuvenate.

You’d think there would be time to rest, yet the battle resumes long before the sun breaks the horizon.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I will praise Him. Psalm 28:7

He is my armor and He is why my armor still stands. My heart is grateful, but leaping? That’s a little much for now.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show this all surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.    2 Corinthians 4:7-9

Hard pressed and struck down, but not crushed, not destroyed.

Jesus withdrew to quiet places to pray and recharge while the world slept.

I, too, have spent many sleepless nights watching others rest, just making sure they are breathing.

There has been prayer.

But rejuvenation?

Just enough to get by or so it seems.

But I do know this:

He restoreth my soul. Psalm 23:3

He Restoreth.

My heart will leap for joy, and my song will praise Him.

Thank You, Jesus.

It had been a long, hard week. I was covered in dirt, sweat and other kinds of grime I tried not to track inside. The first load made it through the machine but not the smell. I ran it through once more and it was better, but not much.

A friend suggested I put in those smelly beads but that only covers it up. As soon as I start sweating again, the old smell creeps out. It’s just not clean.

So many metaphors for the crud and crust that dwell deep within my chest. I scrub and scrub memories of failures, foolishness and even try to sprinkle perfume over them with fancy words or fancy prayers, but the stench still lingers.

Zechariah saw a vision of Joshua, the high priest, standing in filthy clothes before the angel of the Lord. Satan stood at Joshua’s right hand to accuse him.

The Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!”

Rebuke rarely falls into our modern vocabulary. In this moment, the Lord essentially said, “Silence! Enough! I have chosen Jerusalem!”

The Angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”… “See, I have taken away your sin and will put rich garments on you.”

I have been there too; standing before the Lord in filthy rags, Satan pointing a crooked finger shouting, “See? This is what you are!”

But the Lord said, “Silence! Enough! I have chosen him, he is Mine.”

Then the Lord looked at me. “I have taken away your sin and clothed you in rich garments.”

I fell to my knees, unworthy as I am.

This is what the Lord Almighty says, “If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then … I will give you a place among these standing here. Zechariah 3:7

The day may come when I return to this court in rags for I’m a broken creature and evil will find a way to drag me in again.

But the Lord stands ready to take up my case and welcome me back.

 

With arms wide open

And nail scarred Hands.

I had a full schedule, so I knew I’d better grab lunch if I got the chance. Nothing sounded tasty and I considered skipping it altogether, but I went anyway.

I came across a place I go to every once in a while. I paid for my order, settled into a booth and started writing as I’ve been known to do.

A man in a wheelchair left his table and rolled up to mine. He was about my age, unshaven, missing part of a leg. He said he didn’t have enough for a piece of chocolate cake because he’d been robbed recently and they took all he had.

I took care of the cake and told him, “Everyone deserves a little chocolate in their life.” I couldn’t hear him over the crowd, so I grabbed my stuff and asked if I could join him. Now I usually overanalyze and calculate the risks, but not today.

He offered to share his fries but I said, “I’m not supposed to eat ‘em, doctor’s orders.”

I asked where he got robbed and he said when he was on the way to visit a friend, two guys took his money, $200 worth. I said, “I don’t know how people sleep at night doing that.”

He told me he’d been a mechanic and we talked about engines and how new cars are impossible to work on without a computer. We got to talking about keeping lawnmowers running and it seemed we’d both spent our younger days with busted knuckles covered in grease, or building fence or digging post holes.

We talked for the better part of an hour telling stories and laughing like old friends. I had to get back to work so I cleaned up my half of the table while he packed up his leftovers.

I reached into my pocket and handed him a few bills I had folded up. I said, “It won’t replace what they took, but it might help.”

He looked at me with wide eyes, “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I was blessed with a little extra today so I’m sharing it.”

He nodded and said, “Maybe we’ll meet up here another day… and I’ll pay you back.”

I shook his hand and said, “It’s a deal.”

I don’t know where he came from, where he went or even his name. None of that seemed important at the time.

It wasn’t until I drove away that I remembered a devotional I had read.

How are you going to share the Gospel today?

I certainly hadn’t planned on it.

Not sure how much Gospel we shared.

We just had lunch.

When a child approaches the stove, you tell them not to touch it but sometimes they have to burn their finger to realize it’s a bad thing.

Proverbs chapter 5 says temptation is like the lips of an adulterous woman, dripping honey, her speech smoother than oil; but in the end, she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword… Keep to a path far from her, do not go near the door of her house…

For if you travel too closely, she will entice you to with her fragrance; yet one step beyond her threshold finds you deep in a pit, whether it be a substance, an errant thought or whatever our particular weakness may be.

Evil knows what it is.

But so does God.

Oswald Chambers, in My Utmost For His Highest, March 14 – “Obedience” writes about how yielding to a temptation makes us quickly its slave because we chose it. The more you try to be good, the harder you fight, the more you pray for it to go away, it still consumes you because you allowed it to.

He continued:
“There is no release in human power at all but only in Redemption. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One Who can break the dominating power… the Lord Jesus Christ.”

To surrender fully.
A heart completely unmasked.
Unguarded.
Laid Bare.

Too often I fight, and scrape, and try to climb out on my own only to crumble in exhaustion. It’s only then I fully surrender and cry out to God.

Immediately, Jesus reached out His hand and caught me.

We can choose to lay our hearts bare

Before the tempter

Or before the One Who can truly break our chains.

Father,
Please forgive my weakness.
My stubbornness.
My foolishness.

Help me to call on You as my first option
long before You become my only option.

Amen…

If you spent any time at Sunday School, you know the story of Jonah. He ran away from God and ended up in the belly of a big fish. But a lot happened between the time Jonah stepped on the boat and when he went splash.

God told Jonah to go Nineveh and deliver some bad news, but he didn’t want to go. So, he hopped a ship and went the other way.

Then a great storm came. The sailors fought it but were afraid they would go under. They cried out their gods to save them. Then they cast lots to see whose fault it was and it pointed at Jonah who was sleeping below deck.

They asked Jonah who he was and where he was from. He answered, “I am Hebrew, and I worship the Lord, the God of Heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

Jonah admitted the storm was his fault because he was running from God. He said to cast him overboard and the sea would become calm. But the men continued to row until there was no other option.

They feared Jonah’s God and cried out that He wouldn’t hold them accountable for killing this innocent man.

As soon as Jonah splashed, the sea became calm. The sailors were in awe and offered sacrifices and vows to the Lord.

Now I don’t know how heartfelt their vows were or if they forgot their other gods, but they came face to face with the one true God, the only One Who could save them.

We chase other gods too.
Idols of gold and silver.
Desire for shiny things.

When storms rise, we look to them for safety, but realize they’re no more than cold, lifeless statues.

Like Jonah, we know we’ve turned away.

It’s not until we throw ourselves into the sea, completely surrender to the only true God, maker of all things, that we find the calm.

If we keep our focus solely on God and God alone, hopefully it won’t require

A Jonah splash.

The predawn morning had come to a sweaty end as a group of gladiators crushed a workout to prepare for the challenges ahead.

Our trainer suggested we air-five instead of slapping sweaty hands, but there’s a certain camaraderie in sharing sweat. If you survived August two-a-days or building fence sun-up to sundown, you get it.

Sharing sweat, or salt specifically, is an ancient tradition. Sharing salt in a meal represented family, fellowship, loyalty, commitment. Much of which gets me out of bed for these five am sessions.

But salt was much more. It was a valuable commodity. Not specifically used as currency but as a measure of what you were paid. Our word salary is rooted in the Latin word for salt and if you are worth your salt, it means you earned your keep.

I paused to catch my breath, my feet surrounded by puddles of what poured out of my body. As the oppressive summer sun reached its perch, evaporation left remnants… salt.

But anything worthwhile costs some of what you are.

Blood.
Sweat.
Or good old-fashioned elbow grease.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It’s no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.” Matthew 5:13

I always thought Jesus meant salt as the seasoning.
But salt was used for preservation, purification, and covenant. It was valuable in so many ways.

You are the salt of the earth.
God made you to be.

But if you don’t live what makes you special, your salt will lose its taste. Salt in a shaker does nothing but stick to the bottom. It only has value when it’s poured out, whether that be on a plate or out of every inch of you as you fight the good fight.

Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings. Leviticus 2:13

Add salt to all your offerings.

Sacrifice costs us something.

Jesus sacrificed and it cost Him everything.

His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:44

Jesus shared His salt… all of it.

 

For us.

I was doing everything the doctor prescribed.
Exercise more.
Eat better.
Reduce stress.
Well, two out of three isn’t bad.

Taking a glance at my blood-work, most numbers were in a good range and the others weren’t far off.
I was feeling good.

Then came the day of reckoning.
Doctor’s office.
White coat syndrome.

My good was better, but…
Not good enough.

I was crushed.
I’d worked so hard.

Dragging myself to the office was no help.
Business comes and goes in cycles.
One day, we don’t have enough work.
The next, we have too much.
There is no happy medium.

My effort is the same.
It’s just the nature of the business.

And again… my good was not good enough.

It seems no matter how hard I charge forward, there’s always something pulling me back.
Like a tail trying to wag the dog.

My heart sank until the Lord reminded me
I’m not alone in this.

There is no one that does good. Not even one… for all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.

But it continues that

all are justified through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:10, 23-24

Yeah.

Medical reports.
Quarterly reports.
My internal report card (no gold stars there.)

They’re just symptoms.
Not the cure.

And the last I checked, reports were not sitting on the Throne.

I had lost sight of the scale that measures my worth, my value.

But God demonstrated His Own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

He knows my value, so much so that He died on the cross as an atonement for my sins, and yours.

No.
My good will never be good enough.

But His Good will always be.

Amen…

 

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