bumfuzzel

I just don’t get it! I don’t understand! I am confused and perplexed. I’m bumfuzzeled! I am wandering the hallways of my mind trying to find a doorway. I am searching the forest for the buried treasure hidden deep in the damp and musky ground with no map or key. I am calling out in the wilderness of my soul. Many are lost in the chaos and confusion of our world today. We have forgotten that the fear of God is the beginning of understanding.

Many Jews celebrate Passover, which is also called Pesach. This celebration is about the Biblical story of the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt. This year it starts tomorrow - Wednesday, April 5th until Thursday April 13th. Over two thousand years ago, Jesus also celebrated this time with his parents growing up.

Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them. LUKE 2:41-52

And so now, in our world today, we have the opportunity to ponder those words and we can know why Jesus had to be in His Father’s house. We get to look back over 2,000 years, read the scriptures and contemplate what it means to have Jesus in our lives. Many did not understand then and many do not understand now, but for those of us who are believers, we do! Celebrating Passover and Easter takes on a new meaning other than egg hunts, bunnies and chocolate. Can we really fathom all that Jesus did on that cross for us? Perhaps it’s time to realize how important that is.

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Happy Easter!

Labefy

Walls of castles decay. Older bodies become more apt to break. Negative thoughts creep into psyche and try to weaken or impair our goals and opportunities, sometimes wounding our very souls. Tsunamis of destruction seems to crash into our lives and destroy.

In 2 Chronicles 29, Hezekiah was set on turning the people back to the God they had forsaken, as well as rededicating and restoring the temple. The bible tells us in v. 3 that, “he in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the LORD, and repaired them.” Hezekiah made serving God his first priority when he began to reign. Later in the scripture, we find that it took just over two weeks or 16 days to complete the restoration of the temple vessels and its services. (v. 17)

In the summer of 2005, I journeyed with a group of teenagers and a few adults to Banda Ache, Indonesia. Many people may recall that just six months prior to that on Boxing Day of 2004, a tsunami destroyed many people’s lives, coastlines and homes and was considered the deadliest tsunami in history. The 200 foot wave affected 14 countries and killed over 200,000 people, yet many survived. We were one group went to restore a village that had been destroyed by the water and give people a home to live in. It was amazing to hear of their stories of survival. From a pregnant woman sitting in a palm tree for days to the man who ran to higher ground and waited until the waters receded, they were determined to live and they cried out to God.

It doesn’t matter what our background, talents or obstacles are. If we put God first, there is no limit to what He can do. When God gives us an opportunity, He can help to defy expectations and make the impossible, possible. Jesus demonstrated this numberous times.

He turned water in wine at a wedding. He healed the sick and raised the dead. The crowd of 5,000 was fed with a few loaves of bread and fish and he died for humanity defying death. So, as we prepare for Palm Sunday and Easter, we remember that God makes all things impossible, possible. That’s the God we serve!

instead of

… of a gumble - a grin. Instead of a sad face - a song in our hearts. Instead of depressed with the world - deepen our faith in God. Instead of hurts - the healing. Instead of hammers - helping hands. Instead…

Instead of reading a book alone, read with a group of students; Instead of taking a vacation and spending $2000 dollars, give $500 of groceries to 4 hungry families; Instead of sitting at home complaining about being lonely, go visit a senior home for an afternoon.

Instead of living a life with emptiness, ask Jesus to come into your heart; Instead of suffering in sin and shame, ask Jesus to forgive you and tell him you repent of your wrongdoings; Instead of wondering about your future, trust that God has control of your life.

There was a monastery in a small village up in the mountains.

One day, a rich man approached the monastery and knocked on the gate. A monk opened the gate and was handed a bunch of grapes.

The rich man said the gift was his way of giving thanks because the monastery was always there when he needed help. Now that he came across a good fortune, he wanted to give back. After the rich man left, the monk contemplated what to do with the grapes. At first, he thought about eating them. But he thought better and decided INSTEAD - to give it to the monastery’s abbot for he had taught him about kindness.

The abbot liked the grapes. But he thought there was someone more deserving of this gift — a sick monk. The abbot thought that the grapes would bring joy to the sick monk. So INSTEAD of eating them, he took them to the sick monk.

The sick monk was given the grapes and was thankful for them. However, he thought the cook who prepared his meals throughout his ordeal would appreciate them more.

It was now the cook’s turn to admire the grapes. He couldn’t bear to eat them, though. The cook wanted the monastery’s sexton—the one who tended the churchyard every day—to have the grapes as a sign of appreciation for everything he’d done.

The sexton was happy when given the grapes. But he gave it to his apprentice so that he could appreciate the beauty of God’s creation.

The apprentice was honored by the gesture. However, he recalled that it was the monk who opened the gates who welcomed him with open arms the first time he stepped foot in the monastery. So he gifted the grapes to the monk, not knowing the grapes were his, to begin with. The monk, who found the whole thing amusing, thought the grapes might be his. He also realized that if he started giving happiness, it was bound to come back. So, INSTEAD of keeping happiness, time, resources for yourself, share and bless others.

In reference to the Macadonean churches, Paul writes:

In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.  For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own…

2 Corinthians 8:2-3

How are you going to bless others this week?

fructify

As we go through our days, we need to consider that joy is a flower we can pick or choose. Throughout the beautiful moments that we can be thankful for, we can collect joy along the way and by the end of the day - there’s a bouquet!

Whether it’s a cherry tree - hopefully soon in bloom - or the spring flowers and fruit trees that start to bud and blossom, the world is so much brighter and colorful. I love what Hosea 14:5 has to say about this Latin “fructus” or “fruit” - to make fruitful like the actions of fruit-bearing plants.

I will be like the dew to Israel;
    he will blossom like a lily.
Like a cedar of Lebanon
    he will send down his roots;

Our prayers are that God will refresh, reinvigorate, rejevenate and make the desert of our lives bloom! May He saturate our souls. May He fill us with the Water of Life. Let the Word of the Lord sink in to the soul of our discontent and drench us in the dew of the morning. As we start with joy, it can only grow into flowers of kindness, love and compassion.

I recently watched a little film about that very thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQGuVKHtrxc (Joy and Heron)

I also read a tale about joy that got me thinking about how contagious it can be.

One sunny day in the jungle, a bathroom scale appeared. The animals were amused and took turns weighing themselves. As time went on, some of the animals became obsessed with their weight.

They started getting into a bad mood because of the numbers displayed on the scale. They treated the scale poorly, kicking it and giving it angry looks.

But one day, the scale decided to do something about it. When the first animal, a zebra, stepped on the scale, it began tickling its hooves, causing it to burst into giggles.

From then on, the scale would tickle anyone who stepped on it, causing them to forget about their weight and focus on the joy of being tickled instead. As the years went by, the scale stopped measuring weight and instead began measuring good humor and optimism.

The Word of God tells us that Nehemiah told the Israelites, ‘Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10 He was referring to the people being convicted of their sin, feeling guilt and shame and then being restored to the Lord. That is the joy we have.

interlocutors

When we are describing the participants of a conversation, we call them interlocutors, but the sad thing about social media is that there are few discussions and many opinions. More like the interlopers with lots of words but no substance to their worth.

Words can bulldoze us with criticism or buoy us up with encouragement. They can knock us down or hold us up. Words are hammers that can nail an issue or pound it down deeper. What we need is a hand, not a hammer, to help us out. It’s a push down or forward or a winch to lift us up. Words pasted on the screen.

Social media is zooming in on other people’s lives, like living diary entries that brother has picked the lock on and now it’s all posted on the screen for full display of the world to see. It could be a murder in the suburbs, an avadado toast recipe or pictures of narcasistic beauty pageant queens who never got to wear the banner.

This “safe space” of brother and sisterhood and proper pronouns with fake backgrounds of mountain scenes and sunsets at dusk with plastic pasted on smiles. This technology was supposed to bring us all closer together in communication, bonding, connecting, but we are literally universes apart now. Zoom Zoom in - Zoom out! Find the perfect Emoji. The WWW is now the weird, wild and wonderfilled. Insanity at its best.

But there is a place where opinions do not matter; where people don’t get the final word and don’t win arguments with the God of the universe. There are countless stories of conversations that mattered and ones that are still to happen. It is infallible, indestructable, incurrate, and indesputable. It’s the Living Word, sharper than a two edged sword - the Bible

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4: 12-13

eternity

There is the story of the sailor who set off on a journey using instruments to guide him to his destination, not realizing that with every calibration, it was off by one degree. Over the course of his time on the sea, he ended up in a very different location from his original destination.

“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death,” Proverbs 14:12 tells us. The Bible is our compass and it calibrates us every day. In the Old Testatament, the Israelites rebeled against God and stopped believing in HIm, His promises and His commandments. They slowly indoctrinated themselves into the cultures and religions of those around them. One degree at a time, one sin at a time, until they were totally off course. Judges 17:6 tells us that “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” Doesn’t that sound like our culture, our society today? And yet, our loving God chose to redeem His people. He didn’t have to send Jesus to save us, but He did.

People today want to come to their own conclusions, share their own opinions, believe their own “truths” and have even stopped believing in the God of the Bible. “There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness." Proverbs 30:12

If we really want to finish this race and have Jesus tell us, “my good and faithful servant” then we need to confess our sin, believe that Jesus is the Son of God and on the cross, He took our sin and shame and died for us so we wouldn’t have to. He was buried, rose again and has gone to prepare a place for us. Eternity is forever and I am so thankful that I will spend it with Jesus because heaven is my home. Where will you spend it?

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.”

John 3: 16 -18 (from The Message)