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I was going through my pictures the other day and found one of Miss Molly Magee. She was the best cat. Molly was a cuddler. Molly would hover around constantly waiting for Bob or me to sit down. Then instantly she would be next to us, bumping her heavy body against us and then snuggling down to snooze. I miss that cat.

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,  by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.” [Hebrews 10:19-22a NIV]

Let us draw near to God. Whenever I think of what it means to draw near to God, I think of the way Molly could hardly wait for Bob or me to sit so that she could get tightly up next to us. Once she was assured that she was as close as close can be, she would become peaceful and be at rest.

Let us draw near to God. Jesus opened the way to do just that. In the temple was the Holy of Holies. That was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept and where atonement sacrifice was made once a year when the High Priest would offer the blood of the sacrifice. It was where the Presence of God was and was surrounded by a heavy curtain. In Jesus’ day, that curtain was about 12-18 inches thick.

It was that curtain that was rent in two from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross. Now Jesus’ body, His blood, is our way through the curtain that had separated man from the presence of God. Now, because the way has been opened, we can draw near to God. Through Christ, into the Presence of our Father. There we can snuggle up tightly, peacefully, and be at rest.

Romans 12 carries the warmth of God’s mercy and a challenge to be a living sacrifice. It also carries a warning.

“Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” [vs 3-5 NLT]

The Gifts of the Spirit follow but we shouldn’t rush there just yet. We should look again at that sentence, “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”

 Faith is the seedbed from which all the other gifts bloom. We are reminded by Paul not to think more highly of ourselves than we should, but to be humble and sober about what we are, what we have. In another letter, Paul asks the question, “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” [I Corinthians 4:7]

Everything, including the seedbed of faith in our hearts, comes from God. God has given us a measure of faith, and that is the foundation of all else. Any spiritual gift we might have, any talent, any ability comes from God. We have nothing of which to boast. And the principal motivation of everything we do as believers in Christ, must stem from the faith we have been given.

How can we consider ourselves any other way except soberly?

Joy! It’s a wonderful thing! And nothing brings more joy to my heart than knowing that I have Jesus on my side! (Or rather that I am on His side!)

I love those opening verses in Peter’s first letter. Verses 3 to 12 speak of the hope of eternal life. First Peter writes about what we have NOW … many trials and testing by fire. Then he reminds his readers what we will have THEN … a priceless inheritance, wonderful joy, praise and glory and honor.

And right in the middle is my favorite verse in this passage.

“You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy.” [1 Peter 1:8 NLT]

What we have when we love and trust Jesus (even though never seeing Him) is a glorious, inexpressible joy – or as some of the older translations render it – joy unspeakable and full of glory!

Right amid the many trials and testing by fire is a glorious, beyond words JOY! I love living in that JOY!

Courage to act and courage to speak. Radiance that comes from being with Jesus. Obedience. Praise and Prayer and Power. Those marks of the Christian are to be highly appreciated and desired. Here is one more, and it is the most elusive of all.

It comes at the end of Acts 4. “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.”

Unity in Christ. You would think it would be so easy, after all we are the Body of Christ, we are all attached to the same Head. But history has given testimony to the fact that Unity is often the one thing missing among us.

Too often we think that uniformity is what God desires, and that is definitely not so. We think everyone should be like us, talk like us, think like us, act like us. And if they don’t, they certainly cannot claim fellowship with Christ.

When we compare ourselves to each other, we get in real trouble. Comparisons always need to be aimed in a different direction, STRAIGHT UP, NOT SIDE TO SIDE. I can always find someone who is worse than me, and ignore those who are better, but when I compare myself with my Master and see how far I have to go, then I realize I don’t have the time to be condemning others for their walk. I’ve got too much to do about me!

It’s been a tough few months. The days have been populated with “troubles” that need to be addressed. I have felt a bit wimpy lately! That probably means I have paid more attention to the “troubles” than I have to the LORD. When I woke this morning, I knew what I needed, what I had been lacking, I need my Bible and prayer and praise.

When my prayer and praise life is interrupted by life in general, I feel spiritually weak. There is no power in my life when there is no praise and prayer.

In Acts 4, when Peter and John left the presence of the rulers and went back to their own people, they reported what had happened and all that the chief priest and elders had said to them. After the people of God listened to the account, they immediately raised their voices together and began to praise, and then they began to pray.

“Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.”  They praised God for who He is and what He had done. [4:23-26]

Then they prayed, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.”  [4:27-30]

As soon as they were done, “the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”  [4:31]

PRAISE plus PRAYER equals POWER. It was so in Peter’s and John’s day, it is so in ours.

God’s people need God’s comfort. At least this one does. Many are facing situations and difficulties. In Isaiah 40 God’s command is simple: “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.”

Then God gives Isaiah a prophecy in verse 3 that has been applied to John the Baptist’s ministry. “Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting, ‘Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord! Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God! Fill in the valleys and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves and smooth out the rough places. Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. The Lord has spoken!’” [40:3-5 NLT]

In Isaiah’s time when a King wished to travel to another country, he would send out people ahead of him. It was their job to make a road for him to travel on. They would prepare a highway for him, filling in the valleys, leveling the mountains and hills, straightening out the crooked places and making rough places smooth.

When we look at people around us, we can often see the same wilderness conditions. There are valleys of despair and sorrow, valleys so deep they cannot climb out on their own. In other lives, we see mountains; mountains of circumstances and problems, mountains that are completely insurmountable without help.

Then there are those who have crooked places; consciences that have been molded by this world, hearts and attitudes that have been bent by sin. And then there are the rough places. Each of us has rough places in our lives.

God’s comfort that we bring to people is often simply to build a highway just as John the Baptist did for Jesus the King of kings to come into a life so that He can reveal His glory.

I have had a few tough months. I was talking to my friend the other day and said it’s been like walking with a pebble in my shoe. Then getting another pebble, and another, and another, and …. One problem or trial is difficult, but compound problems or trials is often overwhelming and awakens emotions (even doubts) I thought I had already conquered in the power of God’s Spirit.

I was walking around the house as I was wrestling with the “pebbles.” Walking through Bob’s office I spotted a magnet on Bob’s gun cabinet. It said in large letters “10 Things God Wants You to Remember.” I walked past it a couple times until my curiosity got the better of me and I finally pulled it off the cabinet.

What 10 things does God want us to remember?  At least what 10 things does the magnet’s creator think God wants us to remember?

1-I will bless you. 2-I will not fail you. 3-I will provide for you. 4-I will be with you. 5-I love you. 6-I am for you. 7-I believe in you. 8-I will answer you. 9-I will strengthen you. 10-I will give you rest.

I don’t know about you, but I “know” all those things. But it is one thing to “know” them, it is another thing to “live” them … and still another thing to “live” them amid the trials and difficulties that are so much a part of this life.

In professional sports, such as baseball, when a player is struggling, they are often sent “down to Triple-A” so that they can refresh the basics. Maybe I need to refresh the basics too.  Often the simplest truths are the weightiest. You are welcome to join me over the next ten days.

I had an MRI last Friday to see if there was any “progression” in a certain issue. Thankfully (PTL), there was none, and that issue can be shelved for two years. Unfortunately, the MRI discovered a couple other “issues” that will need follow up investigations.

At the same time of that MRI, I was dealing with a pinched nerve in my neck – not a new issue but one that I have battled for six years. That doctor wants another MRI to see if there is progression in the spinal stenosis.

As part of my recent MRI, I had to update paperwork. St. Luke’s graciously (wisely?) printed off the list of my surgeries and procedures – it covered two pages. I started to laugh. I’m sitting in the waiting room waiting for an MRI and thinking about all that is wrong with me and realizing that meme is certainly applicable – “I have Early On-set Rigor Mortis!”

 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away …” Yep, like Paul, I am outwardly wasting away. But … I prayfully hope that “inwardly” I am allowing the LORD to renew me day by day.

Whatever is happening in my body they are but light and momentary troubles that are “achieving for [me] an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”  [2 Corinthians 4:16-17 NIV]

PTL

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” [Galatians 5:22-23 NLT]

We experienced such kindness on this trip. Our children took such good care of us. Our son and grandson graciously helped us when we needed to go up a set of stairs to the restrooms or across the uneven ground we found at the graduation.

Too often we think Kindness involves big acts, such as buying a car for an employee who bikes miles to work. More often kindness is a small gesture of thoughtfulness. It is something that should flow through our lives every day and touch everyone.

The small acts of Kindness we experienced over those five days reminded me of a time after we moved from California to Boise. It was just Bob and me; we had a 3-bedroom rental. One spare bedroom we set up as an office and the other as a guest room.

The church needed to provide housing for missionaries who were coming to town, and we volunteered. When I set up the guest room, I tried to think of things that I would want to have if I was visiting. I added extra pillows and blankets, lotions, extra towels in the bath, etc.

After the first night, the woman came to me and thanked me (in tears) – for the extra pillows. She said so often the places they stayed didn’t have extras. She either had to ask or do without.

Kindness should be the atmosphere we walk in, shared with all we encounter.