A PURE HEART

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalm 51:10-12

 

A pure heart---what is that? Is it the innocence of days gone by when, as a child, things that now entangle were then only undiscovered? The words to the Bob Seger classic, Against The Wind, come to mind. “I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then...” As days of this life go by, we not only learn to sin, we learn how to justify it, rationalize it and live with it. It settles in and becomes a lifestyle that soon sinks its teeth in deep.

To think, as an adult, that all this living---all this sinning---can be undone, is a thought too fantastical for some to believe. But David trusted in God to do just that. David knew the faithfulness and mercy of a God who could restore the joy and innocence of youth. And while we never forget our sin and past mischief, God does and wipes the slate clean. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

It is time to stop beating yourself up from the past---even if it was yesterday or last week. Know that what Christ did on the cross was enough to cover it---ALL of it. Admit it, confess it and believe it. He is faithful. “When you were dead in your sins, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2: 13, 14

ARRIVING

I have not arrived, no sir. My journey seems just as vague to me at times perhaps as when first starting out. My resolve occasionally wavers and my discipline dons the youthful visage of days past. Tripping upon the cobblestones of the dark path ahead, I grope feebly to see again the road clearly. Who will lead me in this bleak estate? Who will guide my spirit, feeble from the flight? The passage from the man I once was to the man I long to become seems unending. Though years have been spent pursuing, the ache and yearning in my spirit tells me I am not there yet.

Groveling and loathsome thoughts do not abandon a man just because his years would suggest to others the contrary. Older men, if they are wise, do learn to temper them in time, however, and redirect those passions, fits of anger and days of melancholy state with a certain amount of composure towards things more suiting, lovely and proper. But the thoughts themselves, come regardless of age or station in life. It is those same thoughts that are the telltale litmus of the unfinished business ahead.

That is the test of a man. Being born with a conqueror’s spirit, he is domineering of most of the challenges laid before him. By his very nature, he needs a sense of completion in any task he sets out to do. So when in the cumulative journey of life, that place of arrival---that place of spiritual completion---is always illusive and seemingly never quite attainable, a man becomes disheartened by the unconquerable. There is no hope there. He sees through a glass darkly and his hope, in all of its entirety, is laid up in a day of completion---whether or not he fully believes that day will ever come.

This is the evidence that eternity is set in the heart of a man. His DNA spells it out loud and clear. He is made for heaven and his soul is longing for this place of completion. When it comes, it will replace---in one fell swoop---all of the striving to attain and all the meager attempts to satisfy his soul.

Man has been told to live life to the fullest and enjoy his existence here because there is nothing else. The deep longing in his heart tells him otherwise---there IS more. Though the reason for that angst may be misdiagnosed by the mainstream, it remains deep in the craw of every man. Most men may not be able to explain it, but it is there. They have heard of heaven, but to actually hope for such a moment in time escapes the rationale of the rational. If you ask me of such a place, such a season, such a final destination---I have to say that, while it will never exist in this mortal shell, it DOES exist. The restlessness in the heart of a man is the proof.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; Ecclesiates 3:11

How Rude Of Me

A thought occurred to me this week. Whether it was an intentional thought, or a random notion which surfaces once every neurochemical cycle, it prompted me to want write it down before, like many ramblings of mine, it became lost in the abyss of the ever synaptic destabilization that is my middle-aged consciousness. I have had more thoughts through the years than I have recorded to be sure. So once again, I pound the keys on this laptop with some sense of purpose and story.

Have you noticed society is getting ruder? At first, I presumed it was just me. After all, the term ‘rude’ is a generalized word subject to the interpretation of the person on the receiving end, right? Whatever culture accepts as the norm becomes the norm over time. The complexities of ‘what is rude’ could be debated by a room full of lawyers until their court fees rivaled the national debt. Like many issues today, there is no right answer. If you like simple answers, the term simply stated is this: being unkind or inconsiderate of other’s around you. If you grew up the way I did, it’s how your mamma taught you NOT to act. Ignoring this code of conduct is why your daddy’s belt came flying through the loops like a gladiator’s saber.

Rude hurt.

 Now to put some cohesion to this thought I mentioned earlier. Rudeness grows among the thorns and thistles where Love is absent. Because love doesn’t mean what it used to, rudeness is a non-indigenous vine left to snake undeterred through the garden of humanity. Nowadays, love means that I get something. Love is fifty-fifty. Love has become, “If you love me, you will do it my way.” We saw it coming, but we did nothing about it. We stopped punishing rude and we are now left with the fruit it has produced. Because a new definition of love rules our land, the Love that produces the good seed is hard to find. The kind of Love that takes its place at the end of the line so that others can go first is a rare breed indeed. This is what it looks like: Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy, it doesn't boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps not record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails... I Corinthians 13: 4-8

I cannot pretend that I haven’t been changed by simply living alongside Rude. There are people in my life that can point you to moments of my own rudeness. You probably remember your darkest moments as well. But we do live here. This is our world. Because of the nature of the fall, we live among the consequence. That doesn’t mean Love no longer has a place here. Just the opposite is true. If rude is gaining a foothold, it stands the more pressing reason that Love cannot be silenced.

Our world dives headlong into challenges of humanity and throws money and resources at societal ills and never gives Love a second thought. Perhaps it doesn’t because Love always requires a sacrifice. The real kind of Love, gives with no mention of return.

Love is a vulnerable place to be. It is uncomfortable. It can be the source of much pain and many tears. But it can also turn the heart of a taker into a giver. It can turn the wrath of a tyrant into the favor of a king. What is given away in the name of Love carries more value than a taker’s mind can ever imagine or comprehend. Stepping over the threshold and loving something or someone with no promise of gain is the mark of a fool by many. If you dare to be branded a fool, that is the first of many sacrifices of this powerful, life-changing, event-altering grace called Love.

Life More Abundantly

 “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:7, 9-10

Jesus said clearly that his sheep know his voice.  Who knows exactly why we are referred to as sheep throughout the scriptures, but one thing is certain. Sheep are not driven but led, and given our human nature to buck stern authority, this analogy comes very close to describing us.  “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”  This reference is continually quoted by preachers in their description of Satan.  And this description IS accurate of that sly ol’ fox.  But in view of Jesus’ constant rebuke of the temple and its spiritual degradation, most certainly He was talking here about the oppressive delusion the religious rulers and leaders of His day used to control people and retain power.  Sadly enough, people in positions of religious authority still employ such devilish schemes today.

 

Klepto – the act of stealing  [Strongs 2813]

Kleptes – an established lifestyle of stealing; thief  [Strongs 2812];

 

Kleptes  is the word Jesus used here.  After a lifestyle is established, it has to be supported.  The Pharisees and religious rulers supported their lifestyle by imposing laws on the people and keeping them in spiritual bondage.  That way of life had no freedom to it.  Jesus spoke of liberty and grace that covered sins.  He fulfilled the law’s requirement of blood sacrifice once and for all by giving His life on the cross.  “No more let sin and sorrows grow nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow far as the curse is found.”  Joy To The World v.3

 

So, as far as the curse is found---and sin is spread pretty far and wide in this world---there IS a remedy.  There IS a cure.  The good news is that this gospel is for EVERYONE.  You do not have to have a theological degree to both understand and benefit from it.  God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son---not to one or a few---but to ALL.  And He gave this gift that whosoever would believe, may have this life.  That is not only life in the hereafter, that’s just the insurance policy. It is for life right here.  It is for life right now.  That is the gift of Christmas.



Echoes of Heaven

Being a mailman, I have people of many different stations in life cross my path.   I saw a blind man a couple of weeks ago.  I've known this man for years and we've talked on many occasions. But this time was a day when I'd already gone inside an apartment complex and just caught a glimpse of him through a window pane in the mailroom.  He was tapping along with his stick and I could see his line of travel was taking him directly to where my truck was parked. I thought to myself that he will tap the truck with his stick and then he will know to go around it. However, something totally unexpected happened.

When he got to where his stick was tapping about three feet from the truck, he stopped.  He then put the stick under his arm and began to feel for the truck with both hands.  Apparently, he heard the echo of the tap bouncing off of the object in front of him.  When he finally stretched out his arms and touched the vehicle, he began to walk all around it feeling every inch of it. Now, if you've seen a mail truck, you know that it is no ordinary passenger car. With its flat windows and protruding mirrors, it is clearly another vehicle altogether.   For another ten minutes, he proceeded to walk around the truck feeling and touching the mirrors and the odd angled shape trying to gain a clearer understanding of this new thing that was in front of him.

 Immediately, God dropped this into my spirit. We too, grope along knowing nothing but our world and the limited vision it offers. We have no clue how close heaven is to us. We have a finite understanding of the "here and now" and think that heaven is "a long time later." Perhaps when we die.  But, in times of crisis, or deep in the middle of some sleepless night, we hear a telltale 'echo' and for an instant we gain a sudden sense that there is something relating to our most recent difficulty that is just beyond our grasp of understanding. 

We need take the initiative of the blind man upon hearing this telltale 'echo' when it is suddenly in front of us.  The echo reflects just how close heaven is to us in moments of our deepest need.   When we hear these echos of heaven, we are filled with wonder, knowing not what we are in the presence of.  But in all likelihood, the constant investigation will bear out the result, perhaps even reveal to us unsearchable things we do not know.

Substanial Faith

I know what I hope for.  Dreaming and envisioning a tomorrow that is consistent with how my mind’s eyes sees it is a part of my human existence.  Not all of my dreams come to reality.  However, if I focus my energies and efforts to making my dreams a reality, they begin to take form [substance] and there begins to be more of a certainty [evidence] in my life of their existence.  This verse is a glimpse into the God-like faith we are to have and develop as creatures of His likeness. 

Wobbly Billboards

 

Every man likes for others to think highly of him. And whether he does it knowingly or unawares, he lives and advertises an image to his whole world. It becomes his calling card. It’s what others think about how he works, loves and plays.

 

At the beginning of the century, old warehouses and office buildings painted their billboards on a side wall. A wind that was strong enough to blow these billboards over had to be strong enough to topple the building itself.

 

Much frustration of the modern man comes from his attempt to prop up a wobbly billboard in a high wind. With no substance to hold up the image he is presenting, he stands little chance in the middle of the storm. A simple man builds, stone by stone, brick by brick, a life that is solid and reliable.

 

1 Corinthians 3:11