Past Devotions

They missed it by two minutes!  Two minutes.

The FAA tower at the Boise Airport shut down the air space for commercial traffic on Friday so that the Thunderbirds and Snowbirds could practice for the air show on the weekend. There was one commercial flight fully loaded that was delayed for a couple minutes when the tower shut everything down. They missed being able to take off to their destination by two minutes. The airport pleaded with the tower to delay the shut down and let the flight leave, all to no avail. The passengers had to deplane and wait four hours for the tower to once again open the air space for commercial flights.

Two minutes. They missed heading to their destinations by two minutes. When the tower said it was time, there was no relenting. We know that God has set a time also. One day the Father will rise and say, “It is time. Gather my children.” And suddenly there will be no more time. There will be no arguing, no pleading, no relenting.

Jesus gave us a picture in Matthew 25 in the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Some were prepared and waiting for the bridegroom, others were not. When the time came, Jesus said, “…the door was shut.” Even though they stood outside and begged to enter, the door remained shut.  [Matt 25:10 NIV]

Maybe they’ll miss it by only two minutes, like that plane trying to take off from Boise last Friday. Oh church, the time is running short, we need to be prepared ourselves and we need to bring as many as we can into the kingdom before that door is finally shut.

My former boss flew into Boise last Friday – the same day the Thunderbirds and Snowbirds were practicing and performing. She was supposed to arrive early afternoon, unfortunately, the Tower shut down the airport for four hours and delayed her flight for quite some time. Her flight was already boarded and ready to take off when they were told they were returning to the terminal to deplane and wait for Boise air space to open again.  Everyone was a bit miffed that they found out about it at the last minute.

I mentioned that to my daughter Saturday morning when she arrived to pick Bob up to take him to the air show. My daughter works for the airport director. She told me that the airline knew about this for months but apparently didn’t inform any of these passengers ahead of time.  They were on the plane, ready to leave, anticipating an on-time arrival in Boise when they first heard about it.

As Christians, we know about redemption. We know that the Lord is going to return. We know God is going to reclaim His kingdom on earth. We know … we know!  We know now before it happens. (Just like the airline knew about the shutdown of air space for the air show.) It is our responsibility to let others know also so that they are not caught unaware. (That is what the airlines should have done for their passengers).

Beloved, we must be vigilant in proclaiming the Gospel so that others come to know the redemption in which we delight. We cannot make their decisions for Christ for them, but we must inform them there is a decision to be made!

 Acts 2:32, 38: “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact…. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” [NIV]

The Thunderbirds were in Boise last weekend performing at the Gowan Air Show, along with their Canadian counterparts, the Snowbirds. They practiced on Friday, which shut down the airport traffic also since Gowan Field and the Airport share air space. As I walked during my lunch hour on Friday I watched them practice. As they flew over in different formations they split the air with a thunderous roar. All the people lucky enough to have offices with windows facing the airport probably got very little work done. It was impossible to ignore the roar as those planes flew past at amazing speeds.

Every time they roared by, I looked up. I looked up.

In Matthew 24 and Luke 21, Jesus prophesies about end times. Some of the prophecy was fulfilled in the near term with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD. But His prophecy has an even greater fulfillment in what Christians refer to as “The End Times” when God restores His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Jesus ends his prophecy in Luke with these words. “At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” [Luke 21:27-28 NIV]

As I listened to the jets roar through the skies Friday, I had to lift up my head and look. There was no ignoring the sounds of power that filled the sky.  One day our Savior will come, with a roar of power unlike anything ever heard. He will arrive in glory brighter than the sun. All will look up … some to redemption, others to judgment.

I was driving home the other evening amid a lot of traffic. It was raining hard. Some cars were going slowly, others were whizzing along, changing lanes, trying to gain a little in the stop and go conditions. I spotted a stenciled sign on the car just ahead of me in the next lane. It read, “Practice Kindness.” It gave me pause.

I wondered if knowing that sign was on the back of the car kept them from doing anything stupid, like cutting someone off while changing lanes. I thought about my car and wondered what signs it displayed.  (Thankfully nothing that might humiliate me in traffic!)

Then I really paused. I thought about my life and what signs are displayed openly for all to see. I readily confess I am a Christian, a follower of Christ. I declare that I am a minister, that I pastor a church in Middleton, Idaho.  Are my actions consistent with those “signs?”

I can answer that “yes, they are – most of the time.” But I must acknowledge that while I am saved by grace, I am not yet completely conformed to the image of my Savior Jesus Christ. I’m getting there, but I still have a way to go. I make mistakes. I speak before I think things through. I still get angry. I still lose my patience. I still focus too much on my desires and needs and not enough on others. Yes, I’m not quite there yet.

So, as I move through this life, amid others on the same road, I will try to remember my “signs.” And I will try to not dishonor the God to whom they point …

1 Corinthians 6:20: “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” [NIV]

That trip with our Jeep to test transmission repairs put me on the track of thinking about testing. If you look up “test” and “testing” in your concordance you will find many verses. They seem to be of two varieties. The first, we are not to test God. The second, we are to test everything else, including ourselves. The standard for our test, of course, is God Himself. How does what is being test measure up against our Holy God?

We can debate about what constitutes testing and what we should test, but Paul is pretty clear in 1 Thessalonians 5:21: “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” [NIV]

Paul ends his first letter to the Thessalonians (beginning in verse 12) with a list of instructions on how we are to relate to God and each other. Smack dab in the middle is the verse above about testing everything and holding on to the good.

Everything—that would include, well, everything, our words, deeds, thoughts. It would include our desires, our goals, our focus, our relationships, how we handle our money and our time. When we hold all that up against our Holy God, how does it fare?

Once tested, we then are to hold on to the good. Good, as used here is kalos. It means not just something that is good intrinsically, but also something that looks good, is attractive, beautiful, winsome.  Those are the things we are to embrace in life.

Help me, Holy Spirit, to test the things of my life and hold on to those that are beautiful in Your sight. Amen

Our Jeep’s transmission fluid had been overheating on long trips. We would have to pull off the side of the road and let the car idle in neutral for a couple minutes until it cooled down and then we could continue.  We were blessed in that each time that happened we were at a place in the road that was wide enough for us to stop.

Before we take our next big trip, we took the Jeep in to have the transmission checked. They worked on it, told us it should not overheat any more, we paid the bill and left—wondering. “Was it really fixed?” How were we to know?  After all, it never overheated on the short trips around town, just on long ones, usually after about 3-4 hours.

So last Saturday we drove around southwest Idaho for no particular purpose except to test the transmission and see if the repair worked.  As we did I’m thinking about the Lord and how He tests us.

Proverbs 17:3: “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.” [NIV]

1 Thessalonians 2:4: “We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.” [NIV]

As we mature we go through times of testing. God knows our hearts; the testing is not for Him. The testing is for us. He tests us so that we might understand how far we’ve come … or maybe how far we still have to go!  He puts us in situations where we come away knowing just how much like Jesus we are!

Father, test me and see how much like Your Son I am, how much like Your Son I am not. Reveal to me my own heart and by Your Spirit make me more like Jesus. Amen.

Habakkuk 3:19: “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” [NIV]

One last thought from Habakkuk’s prayer. No matter what we may face, as individuals, or corporately as the Church of Jesus Christ, the Sovereign LORD is our strength. He will enable us to not just endure, but mature, grow and thrive. Just as the mountain deer can climb seemingly impossible places, so we will be able to climb the mountains in front of us.

And there are mountains in front of us.  The way of a disciple of Christ is not usually smooth and level.  It is not a pleasant stroll along well-worn paths. Often, we are walking where others have never gone, or where only a few have been. Sometimes we must move through opposition and resistance, sometimes through danger and strife.

Yet, as Habakkuk realized, whatever, wherever, whenever, the Sovereign LORD was his strength.

The Sovereign LORD is our strength too. Praise His Holy Name. Amen

Habakkuk 3:17-18: “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”  [NIV]

We have been looking at Habakkuk’s prayer following his conversation with God about the discipline God was about to minister to the nation of Judah, the people of Israel. Habakkuk had initially been appalled that God would use a nation, Babylon, even more unrighteous than Israel to bring about that discipline. God promised Habakkuk that Babylon would also be judged when her time came.

Habakkuk wrestled for a while in his prayer, but eventually came to settle things in his spirit. He decided he could wait patiently for Babylon’s judgment to happen. He also decided that even while God’s discipline fell upon Israel, Habakkuk would rejoice in the LORD and be joyful in God his Savior.

That was no easy commitment. He was looking on difficult times. He described them by using terms that describe a famine…fruit trees that don’t produce, vines that are barren, pasture and stalls empty. Famine in the natural as invasion ensued.

But I think that Habakkuk also understood that there would be a famine in the spiritual as well. When Israel fell victim to Babylon and was carried off into captivity, Solomon’s great temple was destroyed. The priesthood was scattered. The daily sacrifices and singing and offerings were gone. Still, Habakkuk grew to understand that he could still rejoice, he could still be joyful because God had not abandoned them. He would be with them in Babylon just as He was with them in the Promised Land.

The writer of Hebrews expressed it this way, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”  [Heb 13:5 NIV]

Thank you, Father, for Your Promised Presence with us always. Amen.

Habakkuk 3:16: “I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.”

I cannot imagine how awful the sounds of gunfire in Las Vegas when one evil man rained down automatic weapon fire upon those gathered peacefully and unaware below. One radio station played a segment of it that someone recorded and hearing it—even after the fact—knowing the devastation it brought was shocking.

Habakkuk not only had a vision, but he heard the awful sound of God’s judgment upon his own people for their idolatry and unrighteousness. He heard not the violence of one evil man, but the violence of an army coming against his own nation. It shook him to his core.  But it did something else also. He took God at His word that there would be an end. One day God would judge Babylon even more harshly. Habakkuk would wait patiently for that day.

I am not a harbinger of gloom and doom. I am a preacher of grace. I know that when God judges His own, no matter how severely, He does it in mercy and love. He disciplines us always with the goal of restoring us to holiness in His presence. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of that fact. “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves.”  [Hebrews 12:5-6 NIV]

Father, I trust in Your love. I trust that even as You discipline Your beloved, You do it with the goal to restore not to harm. Remove every spot and wrinkle from us, we pray. Amen.

Habakkuk 3:2 “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”  [NIV]

Habakkuk and the Lord had just had a long conversation regarding what God was doing in using a nation (Babylon) that was even more evil than Israel to chastise Israel for her idolatry and unrighteousness. God’s promise was that he would also judge Babylon for its own evil when the time came.

Habakkuk’s prayer to the Lord begins with a remembrance of what God had done for Israel in the past. Habakkuk had not seen it, but he had heard of it. As he thought about it, he was awed and showed his respect with the words, “I stand.” He also pleaded with the Lord to now show Himself strong on behalf of Habakkuk’s nation one more time. He asked that even as God poured out wrath on the ungodliness found among God’s people, He would remember mercy.

The writer of Hebrews thought a lot about God’s judgment also. He reminds his readers that God’s people, those who have found grace and salvation through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, cannot go on sinning.  He makes the profound proclamation: “’The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” [Heb 10:30-31 NIV]

Church, we are standing on dangerous ground. We cannot allow the world’s values to invade the church. I believe in God’s grace and mercy, but I also understand that God will not put up with our foolishness forever. We may find ourselves praying with Habakkuk, “In wrath, remember mercy.”

Father, we stand in awe of You. We repent of our ungodliness. We plead for mercy for your beloved church.