CATS & STATIC ELECTRICITY

We're taking care of one of our kids' cats for a while. One of the fun things about this is watching how she reacts to static electricity.
Believe it or not, this makes a great illustration.

Christians sometimes (based on Isaiah 55:8-9) talk about how God's ways are higher than our ways & His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. That is true, although sometimes we think that God's ways are not reasonable, rational, logical, consistent, or coherent. 

Sometimes I've described our ability to understand God's ways to the ability of an ant to understand computer technology. Maybe that's not the best way to to describe it. 

A better way might be how the cat reacts to static electricity. She notices it but doesn't understand it. It stimulates & irritates her. 

Ants don't even know that computer technology exists, but no one can convince the cat that static electricity doesn't exist. She just doesn't understand it.

That's the way God's ways are to us. We know He is real. We know He has ways of doing things. But sometimes we don't understand it. Sometimes we don't like it. 

Sometimes we even rebel against it. We're kind of like the cat & the static electricity.

Keep fighting, kitty.

But Christian, trust God & His ways. Especially when you don't understand them. If you do, it (& He) will make sense one day.

FORM VERSUS SUBSTANCE

One of the scourges of our time is what I call form versus substance. 

This audio has been around for years & illustrates it perfectly. Someone who appears reasonably intelligent & educated calls the local radio station. But we split a gut when it becomes obvious that she doesn't have a clue.

What I mean is that people look at appearances & make assumptions from those appearances rather than looking at the reality that is behind the appearance.

It's easy to be fooled in that way if we allow ourselves to be. It's also easy to give in to the temptation to be fooled, accepting the image uncritically & at face value even if we sense that there's more behind the image.

A lot of spiritual problems go back to this. A lot of the moral dilemmas we face also go back to this. And a lot of the political challenges we have as a nation go back to a failure to understand the difference between form & substance, appearance & reality.

I challenge you today - look beyond the visible, please! 

1 Samuel 16:7 says that God sees the heart not just the image. As His people we must understand more than just what appears to the eye. We need to look beyond appearances & see reality.

AN EXERCISE IN APPRECIATION

On days like Veterans Day, my mind goes back to a special experience that we had in June, 2011. 

At that time we had just come home from 4 years overseas, & we were spending time with our kids on the West Coast. We attended a soccer game with them and the only thing I really remember from that game was the National Anthem.

After having spent 4 years overseas where it wasn't really wise to to display any kind of American symbol outside our house, including something as innocuous as a tee shirt with an American flag (things that we take for granted that we can do here in the US) we heard our National Anthem being played on the stadium's PA system. 

Hearing it like that for the first time in 4 years, I can't tell you how that felt. We were home, in a place where we could do things like that freely.

We were at that moment in a place where we weren't seen legally & culturally as people that were transplanted to another country. To be honest, I choked up when I heard our National Anthem.

So, for those that have a problem with our flag or our National Anthem, things that symbolize our country, I would like to suggest a little exercise in appreciation.

It would be good for you to try spending not just a day, a week, a month, or even a few months outside the US. Try spending 2 years or 4 years outside the US. Then come back and see if that has an effect on your ability to appreciate your nation, our nation, & the things that symbolize its greatness.

STRONGHOLDS

The term "stronghold" is one that Christians use quite a bit & usually has negative connotations. They say things like "He can't overcome that because the enemy has a stronghold in his life." 

I have a little bit of a problem with that. There is a place, II Corinthians 10:4, where Scripture uses the term "stronghold" or "fortress" in a negative sense. 

But I want to remind you about a few of the 14 places in the Psalms where the word "stronghold" is used. Each time it has a positive meaning. 

Psalm 9:9 "The Lord also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." 

Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock and my fortress, my deliver, my God, my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield & the horn of my salvation, my stronghold." 

Psalm 31:2 "Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly, be to me a rock of strength, a stronghold to save me."

Although it's possible for the enemy to to have a stronghold in someone's life, it's important for us to remember this: God did not just make a stronghold; He IS our stronghold. 

We need to take refuge in Him. He needs to be our hiding place. I encourage you today make the Lord your stronghold. 

If you do this, you'll find out that the enemy can't have a stronghold in your life.

USE WORDS - IT'S NECESSARY

A famous pastor centuries ago said something like, “Preach the gospel, & use words when necessary.”

He was giving a very powerful truth about the importance of how we live to confirm what we profess. But it's not one or the other, words or lifestyle, that we must choose between.

If we have a Christian lifestyle without words, people really don't understand what we believe.

If we have words without a Christian lifestyle, people stumble over the way that we live and don't believe the message.

I encourage you today, proclaim Christ with both your lifestyle and your words. It's a holistic message. The lifestyle confirms the truth of what we say. The truth we speak gives meaning to the lifestyle that we live.

The really great thing about this is that the Holy Spirit uses both our words and our Christian lifestyle to bring conviction and revelation to the people that we love, care about, & pray for.