Reflections on Reflections

Okay, I don't know what to call this and to be honest it may sound a little on the egotistical side but really, I'm not trying to be. Anyhow, the other day I was reading my post on Bible Reflections. The work is my unedited and first response or as I have called them reflections to all the chapters in the Bible. However, I read one and was really surprised. Here is what I wrote on a piece of paper at the time.

The things which really get my attention aren't mistakes and the less than stellar theology, grammar, and explanations but the moments of brilliance. Yes, this is egotistical but then perhaps it isn't. When great people of the past did great work often the knew it afterward. They knew it was great. I don't worry too much about ego as I still have plenty of, oops to keep me humble. The thought that I can be brilliant is a relief that my life isn't a waste. It is a hope what I do can make a difference. Yes, the world I live in may be going the way of Isaiah's prophecy but my work may have an impact beyond a generation set for destruction.

Thanks for the Thorns

Paul the apostle talked about having a thorn in his flesh which keep him humble. He needed it because without it he would have by his own admission become proud.

I hope most of you don't need one. I don't want one but I actually have a couple. These aren't recurring sins or anything like that, but they are things which I can't control and God isn't taking away. I hate them. They can be completely debilitating, taking me from confidence to broken in minutes. 

The thing is I am a person who has a good level of self-confidence, but it could turn into pride. I could become the person who says I did it so can you, I don't care what you face. Yet the memories of brokenness and weakness remind me that things though simple to discuss are often rarely easy live. Habits, weakness in body and mind, influences around us, unseen circumstances, and the like make change and confidence difficult.

My thorns remind me of this. I keep telling God, I'm better now. I won't forget and maybe someday I will stay humble and understand the shoes others are walking in, but until then, I will at times deal with the thorns. Perhaps I can, in the meantime, be grateful for the thorns. At least, when I'm not pulling them out of my flesh.

Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

The train

I wasn't sure how I got here but it was a place of wonder. Well, as much a place a wonder as an old shack could be. It was large, filled with shelves there was a huge white canvas tarp covering the whole structure making it appear from the outside like bedouin's tent. On the shelves held a wide variety of things that I remembered, books, toys, memories of my life. I walked around amazed. I was close to an open door when I spotted it.

The old dirty hard plastic train I played with as a child. I picked it up and like it was yesterday, pulled it back across a nearby table and watched it putter forward about a foot before talking. I smiled like I was three again. It was wonderful. I hadn't seen the thing in years. I could feel the layer of dirt on one side evidence of having been played in the mud. One front wheel was missing as was part of a back one, yet I would glad had let everything else in this cabin go just to keep it.

I questioned myself, there is a lot of stuff in here; books other toys, photos all things that could never be replaced and yet I moved to the doorway and held the toy with a smile on my face and moisture in my eyes. I wouldn't cry over a toy.

I looked out then as dusk covered the land and it was then I realized the place had moved. We had move not just location but through time. I knew where we were. I didn't ask how but I knew. I was in Judea and the Roman guards in the distance seemed upset. If I left now I could find and meet him. I could meet Jesus.

The toy dropped from my hand as I walked then ran from the cabin to the place I just knew Jesus would be. I never questioned how this could be or how I knew I just knew as much as I knew my own name. I knew I had to hurry. I was too late. My opportunity was gone, the soldiers were taking him away.

It was then I realized I didn't have my train, but then it didn't matter for I had the chance to see Jesus.



Photo by Jonatan Volker on Unsplash

Parable of the pest.

Cause and effect, sowing and reaping, yen and yang, karma; throughout the world it is commonly realized there is a pattern for why things happen. Science called it "cause and effect" and it is taught that is equal. Though in life it doesn't always seem as being equal. However, is it real? and why doesn't it always seem equal?
To answer the first question, I believe it is real in this universe. Empirically science tests it and sees it as real. Life experience and religious traditions claim it's reality though its effects are at times strangely defined. 
Jesus in the sermon on the mount gives a great example of what Christians call sowing and reaping when he says that think about evil is the same as doing the evil. Why can he say this? Because what a persons plants is what will grow. It's cause and effect. Unless actions are taken to react to an thought it will grow. Thoughts of sexual impurity lead to acts of impurity. Thoughts of hate lead to acts of hate. You can't undo it.
If you buy a home which someone has allowed mice to live in you can get rid of them but it requires a reaction to the situation. We all have inherited a broken home. The Bible teaches us it is original sin. If we don't deal with it then things will only get worse. Some people clean up parts of the home and leave parts to the mice. Some try all kinds of methods to get rid of them some work good, some better and some not at all.
There are people who both try and get rid of the vermin but also leave opportunity for them to grow at the same time. These people can work hard trying to get rid of their problem but since if they don't change their ways the problem will be unchanged no matter how hard they try. These hard-working people either don't have the tools to change, the knowledge of what needs to change. or they might truly be unable to do what is needed (a person with broken fingers can't set a mousetrap). They can be very sincere people but they are missing out. Also, there are some which refuse to use some methods. These ones may have good logical reasons or just emotional reasons, but they seem good to them. If you're a neighbor you try to help. You give advice, training, assistance in other ways but you do what you can as long as they will let you. Of course, if your rodent problem is out of control, perhaps you should deal with it first.
Jesus taught we have a problem. This problem is sin and its growing. Jesus comes to help deal with it and gives us the tools to clean up the problem. Jesus moves in and helps us clean up. The problem is that many times we work against Jesus. Jesus is far more patient than us. He will abide, trying to clean up the place, until he is thrown out. The thing about it we may never say, get out, but we will do it just the same.
Jesus will change our actions, teach us how to do things differently and prepare us for a home without the rats. He will also help us make improvement on things in our home. Often he does these things at the same time. The great thing also is as we fix up our problems those around us have inspiration to improve and they don't have to worry about your mice visiting their homes.

However, if your neighbor has created a huge breeding ground for cockroaches you will get them no matter what you do on your property. Just as your doing good helps your neighbors, their actions affect you. Here we have moved from personal action and reactions to how the actions of those around us affect us. We can move and sometimes it is a great option. The dope addict would do well to move away from the temptation. However, this isn't always an option. Sometimes moving only takes you to someplace worse. In this place, the actions of others have affected you. In this situation, you can continue to fight to keep them from being any worse or you can give up. For many giving up seems the only option, why fight? Here Jesus can help just as he did before and it will make a difference. Will it be enough to change the world around you? Maybe not but it will make a difference.

I had a friend once who had this bug problem. If I had visited him I might have concluded he wasn't dealing with it. I could say, he isn't really trying, but I knew better because we talked about it. Part of me thought (at times) if you just did more you could get rid of them, but I was wrong. The more I learned the more I realized how wrong I was. Finally, he put pressure on his neighbor and when the dump next door got cleaned up the problem ceased. In the end, his actions were vital, but it was his neighbor's actions which stopped the problem.

We live in a world like my friend. Some of the places are pretty good, others are horrible. Some have the equivalent of mice, others rats, and cockroaches, but we all need Jesus to help us. Without him, we are lost. We can sometimes help others and others can help us, sometimes we can't. At times, we need to worry about our rats and not the neighbor's mice. We always need to be compassionate, because none of us are without a pest problem at sometimes in our lives and if we aren't careful they might return so we need not be proud. The situation in each of us and inside our homes are different, this is why we leave the judging to God because only Jesus knows if he still has a place in someone else's home.

Being more than just air.

Do you have substance or just air?

Yesterday I made two batches of cinnamon rolls. Can you imagine, they were not even close to being the same. I mixed the same ingredients, rolled out the dough, and cut them into the correct size and baked them for the same length of time...  The only difference was I left yeast out of one of the patches.

To say it simply, for those unfamiliar with yeast (or leaven as it has been called) is that it causes the dough to "raise." It does this by putting air in the dough.

A roll from each patch has nearly identical amount of substance but one looks three times the size. Once it is in your stomach both give the same amount of calories but one looks like you are getting a lot more.

What does this have to do with us as people?

Glad you asked.

Jesus warned people about the "yeast of the religious." This was a warning to watch out for the hypocrisy of those that try to look like more than what they really are. This is normally thought of in a church setting, but let's get real. Aren't there hypocrites all around us?

What about the politician that claims to be "for the people?" The employee that tells the boss he has it under control (and doesn't). It's the Boss that says he is looking out for the employees while increasing their workload just so he can get a bonus. It's the friend who claims to "be there for you" but then shares your secrets on Facebook. Hypocrites are everywhere.

What does this have to do with you and me.

We need to make sure that we are not one of them.  It's not good enough to recognize that they're out there but we must not become one of them. It is better to look smaller than to pretend to be something we are not.

To put it another way, have the integrity to be who you are and if you don't like that then change who you are.

Good isn't always Good

Good isn't always Good

In Romans 8:28, Paul says God will cause all things to work together for good, for those who love him and are called by him. Notice Paul did not say everything was good. It isn’t. Some things in life are terrible, or to use a highly spiritual term, “they stink.” OK, maybe it isn’t a spiritual term, but it’s true. The key in this scripture is that God works all of our life, the good, the bad, and even the boring together for good. 

Our problem is that we focus on one piece of the puzzle while God works on bringing the whole together.

My wife, Michelle, and I were watching “Cutthroat Kitchen” on TV the other day. In the last challenge of this cooking show, one of the cooks was making a muffin with some really great ingredients. He had tasted the batter and thought he had victory in the bag. However, as these muffins were baking he could tell something was wrong.

When the judge looked at them and tasted them he asked, “Did you remember to put baking soda in?” The contestant was crushed. In the fast pace of the competition, he had forgotten to add the baking soda. He probably only needed a teaspoon of the stuff but forgetting it caused his defeat. By the way, have you ever tried baking soda? It’s nasty stuff, but when it is called for, it’s needed.

For any of you who have done any baking, you know there are a lot of important ingredients that are just awful, but you have to use them if you want the dish to turn out.

In life, it is the same way. There are things, which are not good but are important to you. If you look at this one thing, then it would be easy to say that life is terrible, but that is just one ingredient. We need to look at the whole.

Of course, many want a life without any bad ingredients. The problem is that life doesn’t turn out right if all you have is good. This life, because of the fall of man, has to have a balance of flavors.

When my youngest daughter, Elizabeth, was quite young, she would try and make a pie when I did. She would pick all the ingredients, which she thought were good; sugar, chocolate, candy, fruit pieces and the like. She would take the ingredients and either put them in a pie crust I had made or she would just mix them with flour and want me to bake it. I usually did. 

Though she was proud, and to be honest, I am proud she tried, none of her creations were very good. Yes, they were normally overpoweringly sweet, but they were never great and often they were terrible. Why? She tried to make something great out of only what she thought was good.

This is the problem in our lives. We want God to do something great, but we want him to use only the ingredients, which we think are good. To be honest, we don’t trust him.

When it comes to our faith, we need to have the belief, the trust, the expectancy that God is going to take whatever we face and do something great with it.

Someone might say, but what good is it if I die?

First, if you’re a Christian, then your life hasn’t ended. The best is yet to come.

Secondly, there are times when death is better than life. Star Trek’s original series alluded to this when Captain Kirk and Spock went back in time to repair the timeline, damaged accidentally by Dr. McCoy. In the past, Captain Kirk falls in love with a very good woman who wants nothing but peace. They discover that she was supposed to die in an accident but somehow Dr. McCoy saved her. Her living changed the timeline and her efforts to bring peace delayed America entering World War II causing the Nazi’s to win. 

Heartbroken, Captain Kirk has to stop Dr. McCoy from saving the woman he loves so everything will be right in the world.

You may say, “Yes, but that is just a story, in real life, it isn’t so.” If you think so, I would like to refer you to 2 Kings 20 where Isaiah comes to Hezekiah and tells him the sickness he has is going to kill him. Hezekiah cries to God and pleads and God restores him and gives him 15 more years. 

Yes, this is great, right? No.

In 2 Kings 21, Hezekiah’s son, Manasseh, takes the throne and ruled for 55 years doing the worst possible things, even sacrificing his own children. So how does Hezekiah’s miracle of living 15 more years have to do with Manasseh? Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. 

It could be argued that the nation would have been better if Hezekiah had just died. Harsh? Yes, but true.

God will work all things together for the good for those who love him, but we need to understand not everything is good. 

The tough part is trusting.

Read the article in the Perry County News
http://www.perrycountynews.com/content/thoughts-pulpit-1

Still working on another blog, a book...

After years of posting regularly on this blog site, I feel as though I am forsaking it. Yes I know I only have 1 follower last time I looked but still, something feels wrong about leaving it.
I haven't walked away from writing. Bible Reflections 4 You has material for six days a week. I have finished the first run of The Disciples: The Sermon on the Mount, a 29-week study for use in High School Bible Clubs. I have also finished the first proof copy of the material in The Disciples adapted for small groups. Along with my regular ministry work.

I'm tired just writing about it. However, if you wonder where I am, go to Amazon and look me up or go over to BibleReflections4you.blogspot.com.

God Bless,
CS Areson 

Where are I

Okay, I know that title doesn't make grammatical sense but since I can't ask the question where are you about myself I took some liberties with Eglish grammar.

The last few weeks have been emotionally crazy as I found myself doing some of the hardest work a pastor has to do doing the funeral for multiple children. This along with supposing to be on vacation, trying to spend time with family and of course the Bible Reflections 4 You blog site has kept me away. 

What I have been reminded of through all of this is how utterly blessed I am. I have faced some difficulties, but not as bad as many. I have had hard times, but God has always brought me through.

God always does in one way or another even if we can't see it in the middle of it. As one person put it, in the middle of heart surgery it looks like a war took place, yet what is happening is saving a life. So it is with our lives, what looks like battleground carnage is actually God taking our broken messed up lives and putting them together into something beautiful.


In case you're interested: For more, Bible Reflections go to BibleReflections4you.blogspot.com.