”Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up.  It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful.  It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”  1 Corinthians 13:4-7

All this quarantine stuff has really made me think.  Not being around the family as much has made me realize how easily we can take things for granted.  I can tend to overlook that God has given me such wonderful blessings such as a house, church, safety, friends, and a wonderful family.  Especially family.  If you are like me, I often forget how special that is.  There are those that have no one, and that is not Elaine and me.  We have family to share our laughter and our burdens, and that is a wonderful thing.  The above verse from the love chapter in Corinthians explains how important it to love one another.

Someone once said we should write the good that others do on a rock and the bad they do on the sand to be washed away.  I think that good advice.  If we are not forgiving of others (and especially our family)  for their inadequacies (of which we all have many) the good they do will be overlooked (and there is much good they do)  and the negative will be accentuated (and will cloud our  feelings).  Because we expect more out of those closest to us, we are sometimes much more forgiving of non-family than family; often in the same way that we are more forgiving of non-Christians than Christians (another type of family).

The closer people are to each other, the more they can become irritating.  Porcupines find that out!  Our pokiness will be most apparent to those who get closest to us.  As most of you know you know I don’t shave as often as I should.  To often I let my half beard reach the yucky-pokey state. (When I do that, passers-by drop quarters in my coffee cup!)   When I was telling the grandkids good bye, my beard poked their cheeks and they usually react with an “ouch.”  No other people are particularly  bothered by my beard (well, maybe the looks, but not the feel) because I don’t get that close to anyone else.  When we get close to people like we do in a family, that pokiness is the chance we take, but that is why it is doubly important to remember that  “love is patient.”

Paul tells us in Galatians 5 that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, being jealous of one another.”  A young Sunday schooler whose vocabulary was not quite developed  read the last part of these verses and said, “poking” one another instead of “provoking” one another.  But is that not accurate?   Many a family back seat has become a rumble-tumble seat because of poking.  If I had a quarter for every time I have heard, “He is poking me”  I would be in the top 1%.  By the way, kids are not the only ones who poke.  

 Notice the key in the above verse-  Living by the Spirit.  There is nothing more frustrating than trying to do all the above things in our own strength.   The problem with us is that we so often do that-  We know what the Christian walk is all about and we try to walk it on our own.  As Barney Fife used to say, “Not goin’ to happen.”

We have all been in the situation where the people that we love most anger us the most easily.  It hurts much more later because we know that “A joyful heart makes the face cheerful, but by a painful heart the spirit is broken” (Proverbs 15:13) and we hate breaking the spirit of those close to us.  God calls us to be more Christ-like and to see what Christ was like when He was sent by God.  Even though we have rejected God, rebelled against God, He is patient with us, and  ”isn’t easily angered” (Exodus 34:6).  Instead of giving us what we deserve, He sent Christ to die for us.  He made a sacrifice; He gave his only Son on our behalf  (John 3:16).   That is the kind of love we need to strive for through the spirit.  Sacrificing love that puts others needs before our own.  Love that looks beyond the negative and looks at others through the eyes of God.   We need to put others before ourselves even if they’ve hurt us or angered us,.  We need to be patient with them because love is patient and we are called to patiently love.

Most of us have so much less drama than many families, and we should be thankful (ever watch Jerry Springer, Dr. Phil, or Judge Judy? Wow!).  We need to be there for each other always.  Sometimes we marry into the better or worse covenant, but families have a covenant they are born into it.  We sometimes pick our extended family but God chooses our close family.  Thank you, God, for giving us family.

Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. ~Psalm 55:22

“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.”  Colossians 1:11-12

When I played football for the Pacific University Boxers back in the old days there was a campus tradition called the Boxer Rebellion.  There was a small metal replica of a dog that would appear someplace on campus and everyone would fight to try and get it to their fraternity, dorm, club, or team.  It was like a giant melee and there was no telling when it would happen.  The group that had it would figure out some ingenious way of making it appear and a battle would immediately ensue.  Once, the boxer appeared while I was crossing campus, and I actually got to run a few steps with it before I was crushed under a host of other students. My football coach, who was watching the proceedings, started yelling and pulled everyone off.  (He had told the team that we could never be in a boxer rebellion).  He took the dog from me and tossed it to someone else who was immediately chased down and disappeared in a pile of arms and legs.   This was the last time a boxer rebellion took place at Pacific University.  It was the volatile 60’s-70’s era and the boxer that was taken that day in 1969 was never seen again.  Some say it was melted down in protest of Vietnam, but only those who took it really know.

Our boxer rebellion was an aggressive but fun event on a college campus. But there was an historic boxer rebellion in 1900 China that was very violent and very cruel.  In that year insurgents captured a mission station, blocked all the gates but one, and in front of that one gate placed a cross flat on the ground. Then the word was passed to those inside that any who trampled the cross underfoot would be permitted their freedom and life, but that any refusing would be shot. Terribly frightened, the first seven students trampled the cross under their feet and were allowed to go free. But the eighth student, a young girl, refused to commit what she saw as an act of denying Christ.  Kneeling beside the cross in prayer for strength, she arose and moved carefully around the cross, and went out to face the firing squad. Strengthened by her example, every one of the remaining ninety-two students followed her to the firing squad.

We will probably never be asked to face a firing squad, but every day we must face series of decisions regarding our relationship with the Lord.  Everyday there seems to be a story in the news about how believers are expected to go against their convictions about homosexuality, abortion, prayer, even Christ Himself.  As we get closer to Christ’s return, our challenges will grow more and more difficult.  In our country we are almost isolated from the rest of the world in the area of persecution, but it could come some day.  Voices of Martyrs tracks the world-wide attack on Christianity and we are in a bubble here in the US compared to the rest of the world. It makes a person wonder how the softened Christians in America today would react in the face of true persecution.  In Romans Paul tells us to “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” (Romans 12:12)  The people in the countries around us are probably stronger than we are because tribulation strengthens us and prepares us for greater trials, and we don’t go to the spiritual gym as much as the rest of the world.

A while back I came across an poem by an unknown author.  I think it catches some of the truth about our tribulations.

“Lord, I’ve never moved a mountain and I guess I never will. All the faith that I can muster wouldn’t move the smallest hill.

Yet, I’ll tell you, Lord, I’m grateful for the joy of knowing Thee, and for all the mountain moving through the years You’ve done for me.

When I needed help you lifted me from the depths of great despair. And when burdens, pain and sorrow have been more than I can bear,

You have always been my courage to restore life’s troubled sea, and to move these little mountains that have looked so big to me.

“Many times when I’ve had problems and when bills I’ve had to pay, and the worries and the heartaches just kept mounting every day,

Lord, I don’t know how you did it. Can’t explain the wheres or whys, but I know I’ve seen these mountains turn to blessings in disguise.

“No, I’ve never moved a mountain, for my faith is far too small. Yet, I thank you, Lord of Heaven, you have always heard my call.

And as long as there are mountains in my life, I’ll have no fear, for the mountain-moving Jesus is my strength and always near.”

The Bible is full of mountain-moving promises from God.  We just need to rely on Him and realize that after every storm, the sun will return.  How we act during difficulties shows what is inside of us. If we fill a sponge with water and press down on it the water comes out.  If we are filled with Christ and are put under pressure, He should appear.

“We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.” 2 Corinthians 6:3-10

As we face our daily difficulties, we need to lean upon Jesus.  Shortly after missionary Joe Scriven’s fiancé died in a terrible accident, he penned these words: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer.”  Joe was on his way to healing.  We can be, as well.  We tend to be a stiff-necked people.  Just as the blacksmith heats the shoe to make it more malleable, sometimes we need to be heated so that God can shape us.  Let’s let Him do His work.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”   Joshua 1:8

I read a Christian fiction book a couple years ago that was very good.  It is one by a less-than-well-known author and it was on sale for free, a price I sometimes have a hard time passing up.  The book was intriguing and revolved around about twelve people, all of whom had incredible conflicts going on in their lives.  The way their lives intertwine is fascinating, but what I really like about the book is the writing style.  Some of the characters give wonderful insights and I remember reading a gem that I thought I would share.  One of the characters talked about his grandfather who was a godly man and explained the grandfather’s philosophy of life.  He had what he called a “top-button” view of life.  When someone buttons up his shirt, if the top button’s right, all the other buttons fall right into place.  If the top button is off, no matter how a person tries to get things lined up, it can’t be done.  Our relationship with God is our top button.  If it is right the rest of our life will align.  If it is not, the effort to try to get things right in the rest of our life will be a constant battle.

I think one of the the things that can “get our top button right” is cherishing God’s word.  As we get older, we often see less  need to read the Word because we know so much of what it says. But if we don’t stay in the Word, we will actually lose those memories of what it says and how it can help us.  We can start taking what it says for granted and don’t really feel the need to consult it any longer.  Although the Word never changes, our lives do and we need to stay up with how the Word functions differently for us in different times in our lives.  

As you know, I am not much of fashion aficionado.  I am always about three years behind the latest trends.  My ties are fat when they should be skinny and skinny when everyone else is wearing fat.  Unfortunately, when we stop reading the Bible, we are often pulling out fat ties during a skinny-tie time in our life. In other words, a verse we read in 2005 probably has a different meaning in 2020 not because it has changed, but because the times have changed and because we have changed.  In Joshua 1:8 it says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”  The words “for then” presuppose that we are doing the first part of the verse which is reading the word daily.

If we do not stay “current” in the Bible by reading it often, we will not really know how it can serve us and how we can serve God.  The great preacher Alexander White, when he was too old to mount the pulpit, would rise every morning to prepare a sermon, even though he never preached them. He did so until the day he died. He was convinced that study of the Word was essential to living life completely.  We often say that we can’t read because we don’t have enough time to read.  Martin Luther used to say that he was so busy and his upcoming day was so full, that he could not afford not to read the Bible.   We seem to find the time to do less meaningful things, so it makes sense that if we truly believe the Bible is the most precious book in the world and contains value for us every day, we would find time to read it. We all prioritize our daily lives.  Although part of our day is structured, there is much of the time that is left up to us, to use as we please. We decide when we will get up and what we will do with that time; we decide how we will use our empty moments; we decide how we use our breaks, and we decide how late to stay up and what our late night activities are.

George Mueller, after having read the Bible through one hundred times with increasing delight, made this statement: “I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the Word of God.  Friends often say, ‘I have so much to do, so many people to see, I cannot find time for Scripture study.’  Perhaps there are not many who have more to do than I. For more than half a century I have never known one day when I had not more business than I could get through. For 4 years I have had annually about 30,000 letters, and most of these have passed through my own hands. Then, as pastor of a church with 1,200 believers, great has been my care. Besides, I have had charge of five immense orphanages; also, at my publishing depot, the printing and circulating of millions of tracts, books, and Bibles; but I have always made it a rule never to begin work until I have had a good season with God and His Word. The blessing I have received has been wonderful.”  

I don’t think any of us can describe our days as full as George Mueller’s, but yet he prioritized his day to include the Bible. When Dr. David Livingstone started his famous trek across Africa, he had three packs of 180 pounds of books. Those carrying the baggage were so fatigued that he was obligated to jettison some of his books.  By the time he finished the journey, he had one left, his Bible.  He had prioritized his bible over all the scientific, medical, and scholarly books he had taken.

If we think we can grow in the Lord just on our past knowledge of the Bible, we are sorely mistaken.  We forget, things change, we age, but if we stay in the Word we will be amazed at how it can stay new.  It doesn’t matter how much we ate this morning, we will eventually have to eat again.  A meal last week does not fill us up today.  Good News Club is not meant to be enough Bible for us for the rest of our lives. There is no better way to “get our top button straight” than to remain in the Word.  If we don’t , we will spend a lot of time trying to get everything else squared away and no matter how much we try, we will still be a mess.