No Automatic Pilot

Our generation seems to be preoccupied with the ability to put circumstances on “automatic pilot.”  The newest invention is self-driving cars.  Before that were self-flying drones. 

The obvious question, to me, is why are we trying to write ourselves out of involvement in our own lives and jobs?  That’s a question that probes human motivation.  The next question, looking to the future, is what will be the consequence? 

As I drive down Austin city streets with Waymo vehicles passing me, I get an eerie feeling as I peer into empty driver seats.  Will actual people become expendable? 

Ironically enough, as I think about the way God sees people, I realize we are anything but expendable.  In fact, we are precious.  Believing in God the Creator and Redeemer of mankind reveals a weightiness about human beings. God so loved the world that he gave what was most precious to himself.  I suppose he could have sent a robot, but instead he sent his own Son. 

Likewise, when I think about the position and commission Jesus has given to us, his disciples, I am even more struck by the weight of authority he has placed upon us.  The responsibility of God-given authority – of being his hands and feet to the world – is the opposite of being expendable. 

I don’t know, maybe we’re afraid of the responsibility.  Maybe we’re lazy.  But we had better wake up or we might “automate” ourselves out of usefulness.  There is no automatic pilot for being human.

Tribute to Dr. James Dobson on his Passing

 I was a confused and terrified parent.

 

Having raised me on a mix of Dr. Spock and “Pavlov’s dog” philosophies, my own mother’s form of discipline had been to ineffectively chase me around with a yardstick when I misbehaved, and father’s was to demand, “When I say jump, you say ‘how high!’” 

 

My first child was a toddler when I heard Dr. James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” program on the radio.  I couldn’t get enough.  A beacon of hope!  A voice of reason and guidance.  I was a committed Christian and needed biblical parenting counsel.  It is not overstating to say that "Focus on the Family" and its resources were a fountain of life to me in all the years when I was raising four children.  The balance of love and discipline.  The effective, non-abusive application of corporal punishment. The principle of taming the will without wounding the spirit of the child.  And so many other lessons and encouragements guided me through the parenting years as I read books and listened to radio broadcasts.

 

Several years ago I wrote a letter to Dr. Dobson, telling him how much his ministry had changed my life and set a course for my family.  I will be forever grateful. (And my grown children would thank him too, if they had any idea what their lives would have been like without him!)

Miracle Sight

Have you ever thought: “If I saw a real miracle I would believe in God!”  Really?? 

I beg to differ. 

On the contrary, you and I see things of miracle or near-miracle status every day, and go about our business as if nothing is out of the ordinary.  It’s shocking, but true.  For instance, have you ever seen a healthy baby? The overall chances of a healthy couple conceiving and birthing a full-term baby are about ll.2%.¹  Maybe that’s not quite a miracle of the supernatural kind, but at least it should cause us to say “Wow!” 

Or have you seen a sunset or sunrise?  These events depend on the stable revolution of Earth around the Sun as they both hurtle through space.  How likely is it that they will move out of this stable relationship (i.e. no sunrise and sunset)?  “Current estimates suggest only a 0.2% chance of Earth being flung out of its orbit or colliding with another planet over the next five billion years.”²   I think we’re OK.

My point is that if we have lost our sense of awe over God’s creation of these “natural” things, how will we respond when someone tells us: “I had cancer and God healed me”?  The ones who believe this are usually the ones who already believed in God. Many people may be too polite to say so, but they doubt it.

Jesus did fabulous, never-been-done -before miracles, and yet some people questioned his authority, some accused him of conspiring with the devil, and some wanted to kill him.

Why was that? Why didn’t they believe, with awestruck wonder, that God had done something?  Jesus diagnosed the condition by saying:

‘When they see what I do,

   they will learn nothing.

When they hear what I say,

   they will not understand.

Otherwise, they will turn to me

   and be forgiven.’ (Mark 4:12) 

In other words, their problem was deeper than physical seeing and hearing, but was a heart issue.  They were spiritually blind and deaf, and couldn’t see what was “as plain as the nose on your face.”  As odd as it sounds, they needed to believe before they saw.  If they repented of their unbelief in God first, then their hearts would be clear to actually understand what they saw and heard.

So next time you see or hear about a miracle, don’t just think “I doubt it.”  Instead ask for the heart change that will enable you to understand.

 

¹https://mommyhood101.com/pregnancy-odds-ovulation-to-birth

² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_orbit

 

 

A WORD OF HOPE

Psalm 132: 13-18

For the Lord has chosen Jerusalem;
   he has desired it for his home.
“This is my resting place forever,” he said.
   “I will live here, for this is the home I desired.
I will bless this city and make it prosperous;
   I will satisfy its poor with food.
I will clothe its priests with godliness;
   its faithful servants will sing for joy.
Here I will increase the power of David;
   my anointed one will be a light for my people.
I will clothe his enemies with shame,
   but he will be a glorious king.”


I’m a literature teacher. In literature we learn that a symbol is one thing that represents another thing. But it also includes the original thing in its meaning. For example, a rainbow is a symbol for God’s promise never again to destroy the earth with a great flood – but the bow in the clouds is itself included in the meaning.


In Psalm 132 there are several symbols. The first is "Jerusalem," which is a symbol and precursor of the church, and both were in God’s mind from the beginning as his chosen possession. The second is "David," who is a type and symbol of Christ, but also included in Christ because he was Christ’s physical ancestor. Next is “David’s enemies,” which would represent the devil, because the same spirit that was opposing David in establishing Israel’s kingdom was opposing Jesus in establishing God’s kingdom.


So God is speaking over us at Hope Chapel that

• he lives here and this is the home he desires
• he will bless us and make this place prosper
• he will satisfy our needs with his provision
• he will clothe us with godliness so that we sing for joy
• he will increase the power of the Lord in this place so that people are drawn to his light
• he will expose the works of the enemy that he has conquered for us

And Psalm 132 is one of the songs of ascent that the people were singing as they walked up to the city of Jerusalem, looking up in hope to what God was going to do there.


Today we’ve been singing “open the eyes of my heart, Lord,” and Steve has described how Isaiah looked up and saw with his inner eye what was not visible in the natural. 

So look up!  With the eyes of your heart, with the eyes of hope. to what God is about to do for you.

The Gifts of Salvation

On Sunday during worship service I had a vision I didn’t share with everyone.  It is Christmas in July and there are beautiful presents stacked high and wide under the Christmas tree.  Jesus has them all wrapped and waiting.  He wants you to reach out and take them, open and receive each lovely answer to your need!

 

One of the ways to honor him, (and all the worship songs we were singing were about giving him honor) is by receiving his gifts.  Things in the kingdom of God are upside down that way – we bless him by receiving from him.

 

“What shall I give unto the Lord

For all he’s done for me?

I’ll take the cup of salvation

And call upon the name of the Lord.”  Psalm 116:12-13

 

The cup of salvation is free, the gifts are free – prepared out of the good and loving heart of your Father; paid for by the sacrifice of the Son.  Salvation will not only happen in eternity, but is the answer to your every need now – to make you whole and holy.

 

Reach out and receive today!

 

Song reference:              https://youtu.be/-Qfzfeswi_g?si=-sQdzxkZymBVnZfM

Scripture reference:        For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.  Ephesians 2:8, 9

The HAVES and the HAVE NOTS

 Read: Matthew 6:19-34

Jesus’ teaching about money and the kingdom of God in Matthew 6 is about focus. He uses two types of audience as examples: the HAVES and the HAVE NOTS.

 

In verses 19-21 Jesus is addressing those who HAVE money.  They have something laid up, something to treasure.

 

Then the flip side – in verses 25-34 Jesus is addressing those who HAVE NOT.  That is, they actually don’t have money laid ahead but are struggling day to day or month to month just to survive. The thing is, their focus is just as much on money as those who do HAVE extra set aside.  It’s the same problem on the flip side.

 

In verses 22-23, in the comparison about the eye, Jesus explains that the problem with money is all about your focus.  If your focus is on money and what it can provide you, that’s like living in the dark but thinking you can see just fine.

 

Jesus then uses another powerful comparison in verse 24: focusing on money is enslavement.  It keeps you from actually serving the kingdom of God.

 

Either way, HAVE or HAVE NOT, if you trust in money and what it can do for you in this world, you’re trapped.  You find that you’re not actually free to do the things God is calling you to do.  Because God always calls you to respond to his grace through faith, and what he calls to is what HE provides for.  Bottom line: where is your provision coming from – God or self, faith or works?  It makes all the difference.

 

What’s in your “wallet”?