THE MONUMENT OF YOUR LIFE

Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay,

you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:8

Early in the 20^th century, sculptor Gutzon Borglum looked upon the cliffs of South Dakota's Black Hills – and saw something no one else could see. As a great artist his vision was not limited to the sharp granite cliffs of the mountain that stood before him. In that mighty rock he saw a statement of freedom and liberty that would last thousands of years. He envisioned a legacy that would inspire countless generations.

So he began one of the greatest projects of the modern era: sculpting the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt into Mount Rushmore.

How in the world did Borglum foresee such a work of art by looking at a cliff? How did he have the extraordinary patience to oversee the 14 year project through to its completion. Simple. He had the vision to see what those Black Hills could become.

And that is exactly what the Great Artist, God Himself, is seeing in you right now.

At this very moment, God is envisioning what you can become in Him. He wants to chip away at your rough edges and make you into a beautiful work of art that will inspire countless generations. He sees a magnificent legacy in you and in the monument of your life. In you He will make a powerful statement of faith, hope and love for all to see.

Yes, the Lord Jesus wants to sculpt your life into a tremendous work of art so that anyone who looks upon you will see His Great Work.

But, you have a role to play. Unlike that old rock that became Mount Rushmore, you have a choice to make. Will you allow the Lord to mold you into something spectacular? In order for the Him to make a beautiful monument of your life, you must allow yourself to be sculpted. You must trust Him to remove the unwanted pieces in order to reveal the beauty beneath.

This week, open yourself up to The Great Artist. Let the Master create a wonderful work of art in you.

This Week’s Prayer

Dear Lord, I know you can make my life into something which brings honor and glory to you; hope and healing to your children; and peace into my family. I am your clay. Make of me what You will. Take away all that is unwanted and unnecessary. Create in me a life and legacy through which all others will see your loving Hand. Amen.

FORGET THE PAST

“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on  toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Phillipians 3:13-14

Some years ago the well known author and speaker, Dr. Kenneth McFarland was a Superintendent of Schools in Kansas. One of the schools under his supervision was the Coffeyville Jr. College. One year, on the day before the annual commencement ceremonies, a student came into his office. He recognized her immediately as an honor student. She was a very bright and attractive girl named Nancy. And she had a story to tell Dr. McFarland.

You see, Nancy’s father had been killed when she was small child, so her mother worked in factory to support her three children, Nancy and two brothers. The only other living relative this struggling family had was, Uncle Ben. And Uncle Ben had a drinking problem.

Then one night, while the children were still very young, their mother died very unexpectedly. Uncle Ben came to the house. "Uncle Ben," the children asked, "What are we going to do now?" Uncle Ben answered, "I love you kids. I'll go down to court and get you assigned to me. Then, I'll get down on my knees every night and ask God to raise you right."

"And he did!" Nancy told Superintendent McFarland. “He hasn't had a drink since. He hasn't missed a day of work since. Jim graduated from Medical School. Tommy's graduating from MIT this Spring. I'm going to teacher's college. Tomorrow night will be the sixth commencement Uncle Ben has attended.”

"There's only one problem,” Nancy continued. “He won't sit in the parents' section. He feels it would show disrespect for Mom.” Knowing that Dr. McFarland would be giving the commencement speech, Nancy asked, “Could you mention something about Uncle Ben at the Commencement?" Ken McFarland said he would.

The next night at graduation, it was a beautiful, cool evening. The graduating students came in and took their places. Behind the students was the parents' section, and behind them was the section for relatives and friends. Nancy Hollingsworth was in the front row. When Dr. McFarland stood up to deliver his address he first had all the parents stand up to honor them and thank them for their dedication to their children.

After a kind applause, the parents sat once again. Then he looked down to the front row and saw Nancy Hollingsworth. Her head hung low. She thought that he'd forgotten Uncle Ben.

But, Dr. McFarland continued by saying, "Now, I'd like to have all those Uncle Bens who have graduates in this class, please stand." It was very quiet. Everyone looked around, and there was just a murmur going through the entire gathering of people.

Absolutely, nothing happened. So he said, "I'm not going to go on with my talk until the Uncle Ben who has a graduate in this class stands." Way back behind the students, the graduates, the parents, way back in the friends and relatives' section, a very tall, lean man slowly made his way to his feet. And there he stood. Suddenly, an ovation started across one part of the stadium and roared through to the other end. It lasted for several minutes as he remained standing with his head bowed, somewhat embarrassed at all this attention.

After the ceremony, McFarland asked Uncle Ben, "When you went down to court that day, what did you say? You didn't have a very good case as I understand it." Uncle Ben said, "You're right. I was scared to death. And when the judge asked me why I thought the children should come and live with me, I said `The Master said, A man can be born again. He can change. He can change completely. And he can stay changed. I believe the Master meant any man. Even a drunken ne'er-do-well. I believe that when the Master said, 'whosoever will,' I believe he included me."

The judge had looked at him a long time and said, "I believe that deal includes you, too. I'm going to let you take the children for 30 days. We'll come check. If everything's going all right, you can keep them permanently." Then Uncle Bill said, "The three kids and I got home, and we got down on our knees, and I promised God that if he'd hold onto me, I would hold on to the kids, and the five of us have been going along together all these years."

Yes, some of us are crippled by the mistakes of the past. We lie awake at night reliving past humiliations, anticipating the consequences of past misdeeds, regretting the tragedy of missed opportunities.

But, with Christ, you have a new beginning and a new future. The past is gone. The Bible is very clear on this. In fact, Paul advises us to "forget those things that are past." This is exceptionally powerful advice.

Remember, you can't do anything about yesterday, but you can do something about today. With Christ by your side, supporting you, you can be released from all the strongholds of your past life.

Your life with Christ isn’t about yesterday, it is about an eternity of joyous tomorrows. That is how it works. But, there is a battle going on within each of us. A battle between who we were alone and who we are in Christ. You can’t fight this battle alone. You can only do it with the help of Jesus Christ.

This week, let go of the past and take hold of your future in our Lord Jesus Christ.

This week’s prayer

Dear Lord, please do not allow me to be a prisoner to my past. Remind me that my past life does not determine what my future will be like. Remain with me all the days of my life. Guide me, strengthen me and be my companion. I do not want to go on the journey of life without You. Please go with me into tomorrow as we turn our backs on the mistakes and sins of days gone by. Amen.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." 

Matthew 22:35-40

The late Bruce Larson, often referred to as the Father of Relational Theology, once told me that the Bible can be summarized in six words, “God loves you. Don’t be stupid.” Perfectly and simply put.

Yet, isn’t it interesting how people try to complicate things? Just look how complicated God has become? He didn’t make it that way. We did.

The worldwide Christian family has become splintered into thousands of traditions, cultures and denominations, each based on different interpretations and beliefs. Every year thousands of Christian books are published, all attempting to explain the Bible down to the smallest, most confusing, most complicated detail.

Down through the centuries, people have created a lot of things that get in the way of our Lord’s simple message. That’s why it’s important to remember that we need to focus on the key points and not get lost in the world’s details. Otherwise we overlook our true faith, while religion becomes a source of confusion and conflict.

Jesus explained it through just two basic principles. When the religious leaders of His day, experts in religious law, tried to test Jesus they asked Him which of the commandments was the most important. He told them, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’" 

Here, through the Words of Jesus Himself, we find the foundation and summation of everything in the Bible. Our Lord simply asks that we love Him and love others enough to treat them as we would like to be treated. Is that so hard to understand?

Maybe if people would actually read the Bible they'd realize there's nothing further to explain. This week, reflect upon these two simple statements of Christ: Love God. Love people.

This Week’s Prayer

Lord, your message is simple and powerful. I fully understand and accept your command to love you and love others. Sometimes I look for ways to complicate these two commands so that I don’t have to get right down to it and follow them. Please allow me the strength and courage to follow the simplicity of Your Word no matter what. In every situation let me see your will and give me the discipline to follow it. Amen.

I AM WHO I AM

To the weak I became weak, to win the weak.

I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.

1 Corinthians 9:22

It usually happens a few times each summer. Maybe you’ll be taking a walk and see them on them on the sidewalk. Or you might be doing yard work and find them on the patio. Wherever you might stumble upon them, ant colonies are fascinating. Why? Because while we may stop to observe their hard labor, organization and tenacity they have no idea who we are or that we even exist.

They have no idea that you have the power to sweep them away or just turn the hose on them and be done with them once and for all. After all, they’re messing up your patio and should build their colony somewhere else. Yes, you have total power of life and death over them, but now how could you possibly communicate that to a bunch of simple ants? 

If you picked them up and moved the ants they would only scatter in confusion and terror. Of course, they wouldn’t learn a thing about the proper place to build and would simply continue messing things up once you left them alone. So, how could you talk to them? How could you save them once and for all?

The only way to help them, to save them, would be to approach them as an ant yourself, a simple member of their own colony. Only then would they recognize you and understand what you were saying. And only as an ant yourself could you describe the problems they faced in terms that would make sense to them. Of course, as an ant, you would not have all your human capabilities, but your insight and superior wisdom into ant life would amaze them.  Some would listen to your warning and seek a new life off the big patio, away from the heat of the barbecue grill. Some would mock you for the dangers you were telling them about; people, cars, pets, and roadways.  While the decision to listen to you is there’s alone, you did the best you could to save.

Our Lord had a similar dilemma in communicating with people, with us. He knew that if He came to us in His true form and glory, we would respond in absolute terror. So how did He solve this problem? He arrived as one of us, God in human form, as Jesus Christ.  It was the only way He could give us a higher wisdom, a message about the right way to live and on the dangers of destruction of the wrong ways.

He didn’t have to do it this way. In fact, He turned the hose on us once before, flooding out all of us “ants” except one small colony! This time, out of love, He chose to humble and reduce Himself to our level just to teach and save us. Now, He leaves the choice to us and remains as a still quiet voice of counsel to our souls. We only need to listen and believe. This is how the Lord reveals

When you read the Bible or spend time in prayer, do you recognize that it is God who is speaking to you? The Lord’s desire to speak to you is strong. And if you give him just a bit of your time and energy, he will break through the silence and open your ears. Right now, ask the Holy Spirit to help you become more open to the One who will always be here to guide you home.

This Week’s Prayer

Thank you, Lord, for revealing yourself to me through your Son. Teach me to recognize your presence and welcome your Spirit at work in my life. With your awesome wisdom and tender love, guide me to the right places and away from the wrong ones. Allow me to see that you have me in the palm of your hand and will always place me where I need to be. Amen.