Why do I get two?

Here dies another day

During which I have had eyes, ears, hands

And the great world around me;

And with tomorrow begins another,

Why am I allowed two?

(From an evening prayer of G. K. Chesterton)

I keep reading these lines over and over again. Why am I given another day? (I rarely hear people asking this question.)   Why have I been allowed two? What a bounty is three! And four is unbelievable largess!

A week of days in which we can see and feel the heart of our Father. A month of days when we can see His handiwork all around us and revel in His power and goodness.

We are given a whole string of days of grace.

Why should He give us more?

What gives us the right to expect (or demand) more days of His grace?

It is not God who is in our debt. We are in debt to Him - everything comes from Him to us --it is always a gift -- gifts of grace.

But He does give us more...and more...and more...

William Wordsworth wrote: My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky...He goes on to say that it was true when he was a child and hopes it will be the same when he is old.

Or let me die....If he can't have that feeling of joy in the simple gifts of God's nature, then he would rather die...

King David wrote: Praise be to the LORD, for He has heard my cry for mercy, The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song (Psalm 28:6-7)

My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to Him in song...

Every morning we arise and sing our thanks to God for His "unspeakable gift" - our Lord and Savior-Redeemer -

But there are so many other gifts we receive each day. Small gifts that delight and amaze us. Sights and sounds that make our hearts leap up for joy - Simple gifts  -- random, spontaneous  moments of awe and thanksgiving! (WOW moments!)

God's great world around us - and we have eyes and ears and hands (also gifts from Him) to exult in all of  it!

Here are some from today...simple gifts that made my heart leap up...that let me "catch a gleam of glory bright"...
.

1. hummingbirds' wings fanning my cheeks

2. rich plowed land waiting for seed promises

3. winding inviting pathway through the woods to everywhere

4. green ivy holding up crumbling stone walls

5. ribbon snakes performing synchronized swimming duets in our pond

6. dollar menu at McDonalds

What are some of yours? Email them to me, if you want...
....gloart2@yahoo.com

Take my moments and my days.

 Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

A Wall of Shields

Paul talks about the "full armor of God." Not the armor of the legendary Roman military, but God's armor -- armor that allows us to "...when the day of evil comes...be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand" (Ephesians 6:13).

(I guess it's better to "stand fast" than to "run fast" sometimes).

Paul gives us the list of protective gear we need: the belt of truth buckled around our waist, the breastplate of righteousness in place, feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

And then he tells us to take up the shield of faith, "with which we can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one....."

And the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

The belt -- we put that in place and it rides around our body. We don't have to hold  it up. The breastplate and the sandals are the same. They fit onto our bodies, and without any further concern they become part of our armor. 


And the helmet is the same. It is kept in place by our body. We don't put it on various parts of our body to see where it functions best -- it goes on our head and stays there!


But the shield and the sword are different. They have to be taken up and held to be skillfully used.

A soldier in the legendary Roman army was well-equipped. When he went to battle it was intended that he do as much damage to the enemy as possible, and have the most security from harm as possible.

We often picture a soldier in the arena, a gladiator, fighting another warrior, or wild animals. He will skillfully maneuver his shield and stab decisive gabs with his sword.

But this is not how the Roman army generally used their shields.

Most of the time, marching and in battle, they formed a phalanx, like the Greeks and Assyrians did before them, and like the medieval armies did for hundreds of years after them.

A phalanx was a successful military formation in which the infantry lined up, close to each other, actually shoulder to shoulder, with their shields overlapping and their swords almost touching.

This is the way it would look: one soldier would take up his shield with his left arm and hold it so that it would protect his left side and his companion's right side, and would give his short sword flexibility of movement.

The line of soldiers would then be forming a "shield wall," with the brave men on the front line either advancing or standing firm as a unit, with their shields overlapping without any breaks. The army would move as a cohesive unit.

The term "right hand man" probably came from this military practice. Because a soldier's most protection came from the man on his right, whose own shield was covering his right side and protecting his sword arm.

It was hard for the enemy to break through this shield wall, but once it was broken, the battle became man-to-man combat and the bloody fierce fighting could go on for hours and the last men standing would declare themselves winners!

A good example  of the shield wall can  be seen in the Bayeux Tapestry, a woven record of the Battle of Hasting, when the Anglo-Saxons, under Harold, tried to defend England from the invasion of William Duke of Normandy in 1066.

The English had a solid shield wall formed and as they slowly advanced toward the Norman army they felt secure in that they would be able not only resist the enemy but drive them back to sea!

Then the Normans used their alternate strategy, which was to pretend to be retreating. They turned around and broke their formation, and appeared to be scattering in a mad retreat.

Cheering, the English broke their formation, chasing the fleeing men, and trying to cut them down
one at a time.

Then the Normans stopped running, turned quickly and reformed their shield wall, blocking the English, defeating their army and advancing against Harold.

And the rest is history.....And falling for that dastardly French trick ended the rule of Anglo-Saxons and led to the re-creation of England into a European style government and hastening its development into the modern nation we know today!

What makes my mind sparkle is that in the shield wall strategy:

1. each man benefited from his neighbor's shield as well as his own.
2. when the shield wall was broken the battle turned into a single-combat melee in which the side whose wall collapsed had a serious disadvantage.

So I wonder -- When Paul wrote to the Ephesians and compared their attire for battle with evil to the military gear of the Roman solider -- was he also thinking about a shield wall?  Each soldier benefits from his neighbor's shield as well as his own.....And actually the soldier's main defense and offense was the overlapping shields that formed a solid battle line....

Is Paul reminding us that when we join together and form a solid wall we will have more success in our Christian walk -- especially in our fight against the enemy within and without? That "united we stand and divided we fall"?

Is God reminding us that we need to rely on, support, and stand by each other? That the shields of faith of my sisters and brothers in Christ help me stand fast....and holding up my shield of faith  will help them to stand?

God Pleads Through Us!

 

                                  God Pleads Through Us!

"Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: 'We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.' For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)

I love the energy and promised freedom of these verses!

We are no longer enemies of God. He has made the way clear for us to come to Him  --  and now He calls us His friends, even better, His children.

My prayer for us today:

Father, we forget so quickly that we can talk to You at any time, for as long as we want. There is no need for a special appointment or a waiting list for us to sign up on. You are always available and Your door is always  open.   

In fact, You tell us You are eager to listen to us and anticipate with joy when we approach Your throne.

Help us to remember to turn to You today with each question, each challenge, and each difficulty.

How really stupid it is to turn to our own faulty, unproven solutions when You are standing right beside us with Your  ears and hands open and eager to help us.

It is so foolish to ignore Your gifts of grace in our time of need.

Thank You for making us Your ambassadors today. Help us too implore those around us to come to You and be reconciled through the death of Your dear Son, our Savior, and join Your family forever. Amen."

How could anyone resist such an offer?

Inspired by Inspiration

God spoke directly to His people and He also caused His Word to be written.

That is the critical importance of the Bible -- it is God's Word written -- written for people of all languages and of all generations to read (and hear).

Since it is God's Word, His Message, to mankind, it is important to know what the Bible says about itself and its origin.

We look to the Bible for teaching on the Sovereignty of God, on salvation, on eternal life, on the divinity of Jesus, and many other foundational doctrines.

But above all, we have to come to grips with what it says about itself.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work we read in 2 Timothy 3:16.

That covers a lot: ALL Scripture...to be used for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction...So His people can live godly lives in this perverse and profane world...and so bring glory to Him.

What does "inspiration of God" mean?

Here the New Testament is speaking about Hebrew Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament.

The English phrase "is inspired by" or "inspiration of God" has come into our traditional versions from an older Latin translation, the Vulgate.

But scholars tell us that the Greek word does not mean "inspired."  It literally means "God-breathed."

And it is translated that way in our NIV (New International Version):

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God maybe thoroughly equipped for every good work.

God-breathed is a much larger concept than inspired.

The Scriptures are the direct result of the breathing out of God.

Another important verse is 2 Peter 1:20-21:

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (NIV)

Older translations say, "....men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."


According to James Boice in Foundations of the Christian Faith:

    The word translated "moved" is significant. It was
    used by Luke to describe the coming of the Holy
    Spirit at Pentecost as the rush of a mighty wind
    (Acts 2:2)

     Later Luke once again employs the word in the
    dramatic account of the Mediterranean storm that
    ultimately destroyed the ship taking Paul to Rome.

     Luke writes that the ship was carried along by the
    wind:


      'When the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we
      gave way to it and were driven' (Acts 27:15); 'they lowered
      the gear, and so were driven' (verse 17).


    Luke was saying that the ship was at the mercy of
    the storm. It did not cease to be a ship, but lost
    its control over its course and destination.

         -- James Montgomery Boice


And so Peter is teaching us that the writers of the Bible were borne along in their writing to produce the words God intended to be recorded.

[Another image might be of a leaf being carried along with the current in a flowing stream.]

They wrote as people, differing in personalities and style and culture, but as people moved by the Holy Spirit.


The books of the New Testament had not been collected into a final, authoritative volume during the lifetime of its writers.

Nevertheless, an several occasions the New Testament writers do speak of their writings as the words of God.

In some cases, when a New Testament book was written late enough to know of other New Testament writings, the later book speaks of the earlier ones in the same terms that Christians and Jews used to refer to the Old Testament.

Get out your pruning shears (and give them to somebody else!)

Get out your pruning shears.....
                             and give them to somebody else!


I came across another choice item from the Chumash (the old Jewish commentary on the Torah - it is full of fascinating treasures) -- when the Jews were pruning their trees it was a practice to not prune their own trees, but to prune a neighbor's, and that neighbor would then prune someone else's trees. So all over the ancient land, you could see pruners out working in their neighbor's orchards, not in their own.

Why? Because good pruning requires deep cuts, radical removal of deadwood and diseased branches.

The owner is reluctant to make the drastic cuts needed for the health of his own trees. He wants to keep all he can. A good pruner wants to get rid of all he needs to. A good pruner is looking toward the future, not trying to preserve the present.

I know when I prune my roses, I snip a little here and there. But when I ask the gardener to do it, he attacks the bushes, topping them, and removing much more than I ever would. In fact, I am often angry that he removed so much of the bush! But then a few weeks later I have a vibrant, healthy row of roses, getting ready to bloom in pristine beauty. My feeble attempts would not have resulted in such a happy restoration of edenic loveliness.

This is a reminder to me, that when God is pruning me, shaping me, removing dead wood and disease from my character, He can do it a lot better than I can myself. And maybe my friends can do a better job, too, at pruning me than I can.  It's a certainty I am not good at pruning myself!

The ancient Jews had a number of fruit trees -- fig, mulberry, olive, apple, walnut, almond, pomegranate, dates...and grape vines. Pruning must have been a major task for the farmers.

About pruning:

1. It is selective. The accomplished pruner looks for diseased or unhealthy branches, non-productive limbs, out-of-control growth. He targets structurally unsound and damaged areas. He would rarely remove a healthy, productive branch, unless perhaps it was overshadowing the interior of the tree, preventing the necessary rays of the sun to reach deep inside to encourage future growth and productivity of the whole plant.

2. Younger is best. Usually the smaller the branch that is cut, the easier it is for the plant to repair the wound, which then limits the potential for  pathogens to enter and cause decay. So ordinarily early pruning is more beneficial than waiting for more mature growth.

3. It stimulates growth. Removing a portion of a growing stem, even if healthy, or cutting back, to buds, or side-growing stems, causes the plant to increase flowers and fruit.

4. It makes the tree or plant more beautiful. Cutting away the dead limbs and stems, allowing the vibrant green to stand out, just makes the tree or plant -- and the entire garden or orchard --  more beautiful. Newly forming buds and leaves remind us of life and God's faithful providence. It brings us pleasure. The sight of dead branches and diseased leaves reminds us that someone needs to take care of his trees!

We all need to be pruned, re-shaped, thinned out so the rays of God's Holy Spirit can penetrate deep inside. We need to be pruned so we can produce more and better fruit. We need to be pruned so we can reflect the beauty of God's grace.

Pruning is hard, precise work. I can't do it myself.

Pruning is sort of like God's discipline.....

My son, do not despise the LORD'S discipline

and do not resent His rebuke

because the LORD disciplines those He loves

as a father the son he delights in.

Proverbs 3:11-12

When we are judged by the LORD, we are being

disciplined, so that we will not be condemned with the world.

1 Corinthians 11:32

Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD,

the man You teach from Your law.

Psalm 94:12

Endure hardship as discipline;
God is treating you as sons.

For what son is not disciplined by his father?
 If you are not

disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline),
 then you are illegitimate children and not true sons....

Our fathers

disciplined us for a little while as they thought best;
 but God

disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and

peace for those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12:7-11


[Maybe pruning is sort of like accountability?????]