The Recognition, part 16: Failure to Pray

"And it came to pass about eight days after these sayings, that he took with him Peter and John and James, and went up into the mountain to pray.

Now Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep..." (Luke 9:28, 32 ASV)

As Jesus promised, some of the twelve apostles would not die until they saw the Kingdom of God and, in this passage, they are just about to get a glimpse. Jesus invited Peter, James, and John to go up onto a mountain for a prayer retreat. He did not tell them about seeing wonders, so all they were expecting was to pray. 

There is something about going on a prayer retreat with Jesus that made these three incredibly sleepy (as in the garden of Gethsemane). Their tendency to sleepiness rather than prayerfulness would eventually cause them serious problems. This time they very nearly missed seeing what Jesus had for them because they were "heavy with sleep".  In fact, they were sound asleep, not praying. 

Years later, Peter would write, "Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:7 NASB) He learned about staying alert, but I suspect he regretted those times he failed to be alert when Jesus called him to pray. 

Lest we cast stones at the three for their sleepiness, we need to examine our own tendency toward staying alert or dozing. Are we praying or sleeping when Our Lord wants to reveal truth to us? When you are tired and sleepy, staying alert is a choice you make and, sometimes, a battle you must fight. Even when you are not tired, staying alert to what God is doing is a choice and sometimes a battle. It's easy to be distracted by the busyness of life, to daydream instead of pay attention, to involve ourselves in mindless distractions (TV, Internet surfing, video games) rather than focus on the word of God. Being easy does not make it prudent. 

When we, like the three apostles, fail to be on the alert, we can easily miss the lessons, the help, and even the wonders God has for us. How tragic is that? Let us open our eyes, both physically and spiritually, to God at work around us.  Stay alert. God is constantly at work around us, and you don't want to miss a thing! 

The Recognition, part 15: expectations

But I tell you of a truth, There are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:27 NASB)

In this verse, Jesus hints at something that will happen a few days later. Some of the disciples, He told them, would not experience death before they experienced, or saw, the Kingdom of God. As we often do, they likely interpreted that to mean Jesus would soon establish His Kingdom on earth, defeat the Romans, and establish a Davidic-style reign. Knowing how we like to day dream, the disciples were probably no different. They likely envisioned palaces, regal robes, and princehoods (or at least exalted positions) for themselves. If they had only known, they would have been shocked by what Jesus would do and what was to come. 

In just a few days, some of the disciples would go with Jesus to the mountain where they would "see" the Kingdom of God, as Jesus was transfigured before them and joined by Moses and Elijah. It was not at all what they thought He meant when He said they would see the Kingdom of God, but they never forgot those amazing mountain-top sights.

Perhaps you never do this, but some us have trouble with making assumptions about the words of God. I have to be particularly careful when I decide to "claim" a verse because I want to presume that the promise it contains will unfold the way I want it to unfold. I, like most of us, would like to have my way, and for it to be an easy, comfortable way.  I have to constantly remind myself that God's way, no matter what it is, will always be better than mine. Here it is again, that business of Thy will and not my own. It runs throughout Scripture and is particularly pertinent here. 

What the disciples likely expected from these words had little to do with how events would unfold. Instead of a temporal kingdom on earth, Jesus was about to establish an eternal Kingdom that would transcend time, transcend earth. Instead of lives of ease, the disciples would be hunted like criminals, experience hardship and loss, mostly die martyrs' deaths, and be instrumental in spreading the gospel around the world. The events that they didn't expect are the very ones that made it possible for us to have the good news of Jesus today. What a good thing the truth of Jesus, rather than the daydreams of the disciples, dictated the events that followed. 

As you read and "claim" Scripture for your own, be careful to avoid "dreaming up" what the fulfillment of those promises will be. Leave the plan to God, confident that His way is best. Just like Jesus said, some of those disciples saw the Kingdom of God before they died. It may not look like what we expect, but He always keeps His word. 

The thanksGiving Series part 3

(This is the savings jar after day 2. There's a total of $2.49 after using regular popcorn instead of a bag and clearing my drains with vinegar and soda)

Back in the spring, Ryan and I went to the Bahamas to see my cousin Christy and hear her musical group, C-Force, in concert. They are awesome, play Cari-classical music (basically Caribbean music that has been written down), and you should check them out on YouTube. Before I left, I enrolled in international texting. They told me to wait a few weeks after I returned to be sure all the charges had come through. I waited and watched, then forgot about it.

When I started writing about fiscal responsibility, you can well imagine that God had some refining to do. That texting package was right near the top of the list, so I stopped by the ATT Store. It turns out that, a few months later, I have still been paying for international texting. $30 a month. I'm ashamed to tell you that, but this is the evening confession and, more than likely, I am not the only one with an absurd outlay of money for nothing. I cancelled it on the spot. 

The young man helping me said, "Wow! $30 dollars a month is a lot. That ought to make a difference!" The automatic draft notice came yesterday and it is now $30 less than the previous month. That's $30 for the Saving Jar. How about that? 

The Saving Jar is beginning to look a little different, isn't it? The total in that jar after only three days is now $32.49! I've lived well, and not one frugal thing I have done has been hard at all. 

Do you have your Saving Jar yet? When it's time to invest our thanksGiving Savings Jar money in the Kingdom of God, you're going to wish you did. It's not too late, so get going today and have fun spending less!

The thanksGiving Series part 4

(Here is the Saving Jar after the first three days. Already, it contains $32.49)

In case you missed the beginning of this thanksGiving series, we are focusing on the "giving" part of thanksgiving this year. Because fiscal responsibility and good stewardship of the blessings God has entrusted to us have been themes of mine recently, I've started trying to make consistent efforts to cut back on my spending, while still living well. The idea behind the Saving Jar is to corral those daily savings in one place and, at the end of the month, use that money to invest in the Kingdom of God in some way. 

Today's savings started a few days ago, when I wanted to roast a chicken. I have a great recipe which I will share at another time. Since I was going to Sam's, I thought I'd find a good price on a chicken. It turned out that the only whole chickens were in bags of two. They were lovely chickens, but they were $13.88 for two, which averaged out to $6.94 per chicken. I might have gone for it if the rotisserie chicken rack hadn't been in my line of sight. The Sam's rotisserie chicken, reported to be the best in town, was only $4.98 per chicken, it is a big bird, and it's already cooked! What's not to love? It put it in the basket, and saved $1.96. 

With the $1.96 I saved on the chicken and the $32.49 I had already saved this week, the Savings Jar now holds $34.45 after only four brief days! Just imagine what it will hold by the end of the month! Just imagine what kind of good my efforts to be frugal can yield! 

I have used that chicken to make a big pot of chicken and wild rice soup, chicken quesadillas, and eaten it plain with stir fried vegetables. And there is still a little chicken leftover for chicken and white bean chili! The chicken was delicious and I, once again, have lived well. I didn't miss my roasted chicken at all, and I especially did not miss cleaning the roasting pan! 

This business of spending less and saving more is not as hard as you might think, and it builds up faster than you might imagine. Why not join me in the effort? Working together, we can do amazing things! 

The Recognition, part 14: Ashamed

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:24-26 NASB)

We come now to the climax of this passage. Jesus addressed the issue of denying Him to save your physical life, or denying self and being willing to give up your physical life in order to save your soul. What good is it, Jesus asked the people, if you gain the whole world, or kosmos, but lose your soul? This kosmos can mean every created thing or the universe. Even if we owned and had control of everything in the entire universe, what good would that be if we end up spending eternity in hell? There was a popular song some years ago that said, "Money can't buy you love," and it was true. Money also cannot buy eternal security. In fact, sometimes money is a deterrent to eternal security because of the temptation to trust the security of money rather than the One who has entrusted it to us. 

The last sentence in today's Scripture passage sums things up succinctly. If we are ashamed of Jesus and His words now, He will be ashamed of us when He comes in His glory. Vine's Expository Dictionary uses an interesting phrase. It says this word is used in a different passage in the sense of "God not being ashamed to be called the God of the believers." What a sobering thought! The idea that we could be such poor examples of Christ that God would be ashamed to be associated with us as our God is heartbreaking, isn't it? 

When God looks down from heaven with that great cloud of witnesses, I do not want Him to say, "if she's going to act like that, I wish she'd quit claiming Me."  What I want Him to say is, "Look at her! That's my girl! She's the one I can count on to obey.  She looks just like my Son!" Isn't that what you want Him to say about you? If so, let's be sure we act (and think) in ways that please our Lord and make Him proud to be called our God. 

The ThanksGiving Series, part 2:

(This is the savings jar after the first day with the 39 cents I saved by popping my popcorn in a pot instead of using bag microwave popcorn. I know. It looks kinda bleak! The popcorn was really good, though)

In case you missed the beginning of this thanksGiving series, we are focusing on the giving part of thanksGiving this year.  I've been writing about stewardship, our extravagant lifestyles, and the better uses to which we could put our financial resources recently, and it seems a little more frugality is in order. The premise is that we can cut back, save some money to splurge on giving, and still live well. I'm planning to write about some little frugal thing every day and add the money I save to the saving jar. 

For the last week or so, I've had very slow drains in my shower and in the bathroom sink. As much hair as I have, it is usually due to a hair clog or that greasy scum mess that certainly was never on my body for one second. I don't know where that gross mess comes from, but it's not me! Anyway, the drains were clogged and needed work. 

What I usually use, with good success, is  Instant Power Hair Clog Remover. It is guaranteed to work on the toughest clogs, and costs $6.47 for a bottle that has four treatments. Since I had two clogs, I would have used 1/2 the bottle for the two clogs, at a cost of $3.23.

My mama was a big believer in using baking soda and vinegar, followed by boiling water, for clogged drains. Realistically, I know that baking soda and vinegar will not eat through a hair clog, but, in the interest of the story, I decided to give it a try. I paid 95 cents for a box of name brand baking soda (only because they didn't have a generic) and $1.15 for vinegar. My total outlay was $2.10 for four treatments or 1/2 that for two clogs. At $1.05 for treating both my clogs, I saved $2.18. But how did it work, you may well ask. Hold on a minute, and I'll tell you. 

Here's what I did. I put 1/4 box of baking soda down the drain. As you can imagine, it mostly made a little soda mountain. With the memory of grammar school volcanos to guide me, I stuck my finger in the center to make a pathway for the lava and poured in 1/4 bottle of vinegar. Such marvelous bubbling and spewing ensued that it was worth the $2.10 just to watch it! Once all that had settled down in both drains, I went downstairs, boiled up a kettle of water, and carried it back upstairs to pour 1/2 a kettle of boiling water in each drain. It ran right through. 

Here's what's really crazy. My mama's baking soda/vinegar/boiling water volcano method had my drain open and flowing freely in just a few minutes. My instant power stuff requires an overnight soak. It turns out mama did know best after all! 

I saved another $2.10 today, it worked better than what I usually use, and it was quicker. You can't beat that combo! 

The good news is that there is now $2.49 in the savings jar! I can't wait to see how much I have by thanksGiving! I'm praying already about how to invest that money in the Kingdom of God. You didn't think this was about saving for me, did you? It's not to late to get a jar of your own and join in the fun. I can't wait to hear about how your efforts at frugality for the giving splurge works out! 

Don't forget, there's a lot more blessings in giving than in getting. There's a lot more fun, too!

The Recognition, Part 13: the Saving

For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? (Luke 9:24-25 NASB)

The "saving" mentioned here is a complex issue and one we need to examine carefully. The word translated as "save" in both instances is sōzō, and is a word that can have multiple meanings. To the woman with the hemmorhage, Jesus used the word sōzō when He said, "Your faith has saved you."  In that instance, sōzō meant "made whole". In this verse, however, the word is used twice and has a different meaning each time. 

"Whoever wishes to save his life" is the first use of sōzō, and in this case, it indicates the preservation of the physical life. In this instance, Jesus says that the one whose focus is to save his physical life (even at the cost of denying Christ), will end up losing his soul-life. This indicates a denial of Christ rather than be martyred (physical death). Our refusal to abandon the life we hold dear for Jesus will cost us dearly in the end.  

There is a tendency in the church today to assume that "there is grace to cover that".  There is certainly far more grace than we deserve available to cover our sins, but we, in this country, tend to be entirely too cavalier about our Lord and the life to which He has called us. Jesus, Himself, spoke these words, and we do well to take heed. "But whoever shall deny me before men, I will also deny him before my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:33 NASB) What about that is not clear? You cannot have it both ways. You cannot deny Christ and, at the same time, be a faithful follower. Discipleship is costly. Jesus never indicated that it was otherwise.  You cannot stay the same and be a disciple. It is the nature of a disciple to become like the master. This decision of whether or not we will deny Christ to save our physical life is not one that can be made in the heat of the moment. This is a decision that must be made ahead of time and lived out in a consistent routine of dying to self, so that we can hold firm to our faith when the trial comes. 

The enemy of our soul would have us believe that this willingness to die for Christ is only for fanatics, not the "routine believer".  Dear ones, there is nothing in the words of Christ that offers the option of being a "routine believer".  Jesus called us to radical faith as a disciple and it was the only option He offered. 

"Whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it" is the second use of the word sōzō, and indicates the preservation of life in a spiritual sense, the saving of one's soul. In this instance, the disciple is willing to die for Christ physically, having first died to self spiritually. Jesus indicates here that the willingness to die physically for Him (which must be preceded by a willingness to die to self) may result in physical death but not the death of the soul. This is a great promise from our Lord, who said, "Everyone therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 10:32 NASB)

It is the decision to die to self that must be made, for it is only after a willingness to die to our own selfish, worldly desires that we can be willing to die for Christ physically. Does this physical death seem unlikely? Our brothers and sisters around the world are imprisoned and dying for the cause of Christ on a daily basis, and we, too, could easily face this persecution. 

There are decisions to be made. Will you be a disciple of Christ or not? Will you be willing to die to self on a daily basis or not? Will you stand for Him if it means you must die for Him? Preservation of our soul comes as a result of a choice to relinquish our life for the one Jesus offers, and it is a choice we cannot avoid. Choose well, friends. Your eternal life depends upon it.