Delivered, but Fallen Short II

How many times have you driven past something and not really noticed? I’m not talking about the deer on the edge of the woods whose color and stealth prevent you from seeing it. What about the mundane things that everyone drives by without understanding its spiritual implication? Viewing such an object recently occurred while driving to work. Although I’m aware of most of the environment around me while driving, what stood out was the newspaper on the ground. You know. The one inside that translucent, pale, red plastic bag; the one that for whatever reason never made it into the specially established delivery box on a post next to the mail box.

That snapshot got me to thinking and the first thought was, “I’ve fallen short of the Glory of God,” as referenced in Romans 3:23. Almost immediately the next thought arrived. The paper had been delivered. How do we know that? The bigger picture indicates that next to the mail box is a driveway leading to someone’s home. It also shows that all of the papers delivered on that stretch of road were lying on the ground.

But wait. Remember the receptacle especially made for the delivery? What if this paper wasn’t the one that “owned” the box? For instance, the box may have been established for the Kingston Freeman delivery and this paper was the Ulster County Shopper. Still, the inference makes it the property owners. The Ulster County paper has been offered. It has not yet been accepted; therefore it has not yet been delivered.

I find my life much like that. I have chosen to receive many writings: newspapers, novels, history books and school texts. Each delivered at a particular time for a particular purpose, be it work, recreation, or simple interest in the subject matter. On the other hand, there has been a book offered consistently that has often been ignored, left lying, or picked up and put away so I didn’t have to look at it. It’s fairly plain, neat lettering on the cover, no pictures inside, nothing on the cover that screams, “Look at me!” It’s my Bible.

Within the church we expect that our brothers and sisters choose to read the Bible because it is part of the faith; it’s where faith comes from (Romans 10:17). They have been delivered. The book comes to them in the place appointed for its storage; the box on the post, or within their heart. And why does this thought occur to me?

A short two years ago I had an asymptomatic cancer on a kidney. It was big enough to cause much concern in the medical community and the urologist said, “The appropriate treatment is to remove the entire kidney. It’s a common thing. We take kidneys all the time.”

“You don’t take my kidney all the time.”

But they did take it. The odd part? I had not one post-surgery pain associated with the four incisions of the surgery. I suffered a gas bubble stuck under my ribs—once. “Why?” is the question I’ve asked and this snapshot of the paper on the ground brings an answer.

The paper ended up on the ground, but there were many that passed it by. I wonder how many of those papers would have been read if someone else had completed the delivery; picked it up and put it in the box.

You see, this is a perfect picture of my experience. I may not be the most righteous man, but my wife and the church saw to it, through their prayers, that I was delivered through my trial. They lifted me up to that box with such fervor that God reached down and put His hand on my front page. I received that because I do have faith, but yet I am a sinner. His word says to pray for others that you may be healed. I have prayed for others—none of which jumped up and said, “Amen! I am healed.” But I did the exercise; my faith set me free, after the completed delivery.

Delivered, but Fallen Short

How many times have you driven past something and not really noticed? I’m not talking about the deer on the edge of the woods whose color and stealth prevent you from seeing it. What about the mundane things that everyone drives by without understanding its spiritual implication? Viewing such an object recently occurred while driving to work. Although I’m aware of most of the environment around me while driving, what stood out was the newspaper on the ground. You know. The one inside that translucent, pale, red plastic bag; the one that for whatever reason never made it into the specially established delivery box on a post next to the mail box.

That snapshot got me to thinking and the first thought was, “I’ve fallen short of the Glory of God,” as referenced in Romans 3:23. Almost immediately the next thought arrived. The paper had been delivered. How do we know that? The bigger picture indicates that next to the mail box is a driveway leading to someone’s home. It also shows that all of the papers delivered on that stretch of road were lying on the ground. There was no other reason for those papers to be lying there were it not for the intent to be for the owners to have them.

But wait. Remember the receptacle especially made for the delivery? What if this paper wasn’t the one that owned the box? For instance, the box may have been established for the Kingston Freeman delivery and this paper was the Ulster County Shopper. Still, the inference makes it the property owner's. The Ulster County paper has been offered. It has not yet been accepted; therefore it has not yet been delivered.

I find my life much like that. I have chosen to receive many writings: newspapers, novels, history books and school texts. Each delivered at a particular time for a particular purpose, be it work, recreation, or simple interest in the subject matter. On the other hand, there has been a book offered consistently that has often been ignored, left lying, or picked up and put away so I didn’t have to look at it. It’s fairly plain, neat lettering on the cover, no pictures inside, nothing on the cover that screams, “Look at me!” It’s my Bible.

Within the church we expect that our brothers and sisters choose to read the Bible because it is part of the faith; it’s where faith comes from (Romans 10:17). They have been delivered. The book comes to them in the place appointed for its storage; the box on the post, or within their heart.

 It’s the other recipients of this book, who turn it down or put it away because it is not convenient for them, that are represented by this snapshot. The Word is delivered to them in many ways, often right at their feet or within hearing distance, but they choose to ignore it, to follow other interests, or through blindness determine that it is not for them. It is these people for whom God showed me the paper lying on the ground. Although I have fallen short of the Glory of God, I do have the Book to give and it’s my responsibility to deliver it. What others do with it is up to them, but I must not ignore His call to be the paperboy.

The following two blogs come from the same snapshot. I was encouraged by Pastor Robert Englehardt to see if there was a second view. Turns out, there was! Please see Delivered but Fallen Short; both episodes.

Trash Fire

The waste paper can in the small establishment sat under the low coffee counter. Three feet away from it stood a fire extinguisher. These people were serious about how they treated the future. Sure, there wasn’t likely to be a need for the extinguisher, but when they did need it, it was going to be real handy.

Where’s your fire extinguisher? I’d contend that most of us have thrown away a lot of garbage in our lives. We might even have pulled some back out of the garbage can because we just couldn’t live without it. But the fact is that there are always things that we should be rid of. And the best way to not have access to them again is to burn them.

“…the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone…” (Rev 21:8) This scripture would indicate that God knows what to do with those bad habits. They will be put to death in the heat of the moment. But one thing about which I am thoroughly convinced, is that there will be no extinguisher when that time comes.

I am certain of that because the Extinguisher has existed for 2000 years. The issue is that we have to choose to have the Extinguisher in our lives now, not after the fact. He is the One who can forgive these acts of unrighteousness in this time so that we don’t have to suffer eternally in the fire later.

It’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ that extinguishes our sinful behavior so that when our day comes, judgment won’t cast us away into the trash dump. Even the murderer on the cross next to Jesus was forgiven just before they both died simply because he recognized the Truth of Jesus’ life. “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Plan on it.

I have been remiss in publishing blogs for some time. I hope to cure that in the coming weeks. In the meantime, may I present to you a few writings spurred by snapshots of items that God would have me recognize as important for you to know?

Through His love, to you.

Warren

Mustard Seeds

It’s a new year’s start and it begins on a Sunday.  The message is about hope for the future, as God’s child rightly deserves. The word reveals prosperity in abundance. It’s been likened in various times to the difference between mercy and grace. Mercy sustains. Grace multiplies. The scripture centers around Isaiah 40:31. It suggests that those that wait upon the LORD will renew their strength and not grow weary or faint. Jesus, in Luke 18, admonishes the disciples to wait upon Him in the garden for an hour, but it isn’t the passive hang-out-with-nothing-to-do kind of wait. It’s an active pursuing of the spiritual accomplished through praying and the activity of the Holy Spirit.

This active pursuit requires regular attendance on our part at the altar of the Holy Spirit. It is there that the Word of God is to be found, for if we are not concentrating on the voice of God, we will not hear the still, small voice within us and our blessing will be missed. Not because God has not sent one, but because we are blind and deaf to the spiritual world without the exercise.

We find that God’s timing never considers our mind, but rather our heart. If our heart sits not within the precepts of holding the one true God as utmost in our lives and sits not with love for all mankind, then our wait will likely be longer than anticipated. But when our heart flows from the love of the Holy Spirit, the blessing comes in the organic reply of faith.

Faith as small as a mustard seed, according to Matthew 17:20, can move mountains, and that faith grows exponentially through the organic process of waiting on the LORD. The example shows how the mustard seed, when planted and nourished and watered and tended, will grow to a full sized, mature plant that not only gives a harvest of its own, but also yields sanctuary for those seeking it.

In today’s society and in America’s culture we find a plethora of opportunity in finding a place to practice religion. From old denominations to upbeat contemporary congregations, there exist abundant offers to lead our hearts to nirvana. But the question begs to be asked. Do you seek the One true God, or do you seek what is convenient, what is familiar, what is considerate of your opinions, what allows you to be culturally acceptable to your peers?

All of these optional religions will offer some form of truth, yet they dilute, bastardize, and obliterate the clarity of God’s Word. They become a hybrid of the teaching of Jesus, and they offer false hope. The proof lies in the fruit that result from the harvest.

In God’s good example, the mustard seed not only grows organically, but it also produces a fruit. When you harvest that fruit, it returns seeds that can be planted, and the exponential blessing explodes as the individual seeds sown grow into more fruit bearing plants, and the harvest multiplies again. Obviously, one gains not only the initial blessing, but garners repeat blessings going forward, probably enough to feed the poor and to sustain generations, too.

In the hybrid species, the seed produces sterile fruit. Although the fruit of the first plant produces seeds, none of those seeds will result in the growth of a plant that produces fruit. This phenomenon recently made the news in the survivalist journals as companies start to offer specific strains of corn, wheat and other staple food sources that are not hybrids. This allows the individual needing to survive to plant, harvest and plant again from the seed of the fruit of the plants.

So the question’s answer becomes an important guidepost to your journey in God’s Kingdom. Are you experiencing the exponential growth promised through the example of the mustard seed of faith, or do you struggle to see any resemblance of blessings? Do you seek out the One true God, following His commandments to have no other god before Him and loving one’s neighbors as one’s self? Do you hear His Word spoken in truth with clarity in how to apply the Word to your life in such a way that you actively wait upon the LORD? Or, do you go blithely about your life, influenced by all kinds of gods from television to video to magazine mediums that preach all kinds of culture far removed from the truth of righteous living; far removed from the narrow path to His Kingdom? Hybrid Christianity. You’ll be able to tell by the ability of the fruit to multiply.