God's Forgiving Plan

I’ve always had the vision and mechanical ability to follow blueprints and diagrams to successfully assemble or repair things. Throughout High School my schedule was full of shop and arts classes including three years of mechanical drawing. One year was architectural drawing where I designed and drew a complete house. In the shop classes we had to draw out our plans before starting any project, then follow that plan to completion. I was well on my way to becoming what I wanted to be until it came to higher education when my great lack of math skills along with poor English and reading skills put the brakes on higher education. I did get some time in on trade school training where I landed a good job as a detail draftsman with a nationally known company. A detail draftsman takes the concept doodling of design engineers and makes orderly sense of it all with pencil and rule. Well, the Vietnam Conflict put the skids on all of that and I traded in my pencil for a box full of tools used to work on aircraft for four years. I can’t complain about my life though because I’ve faired well with the skills I started with and over the years I’ve self educated and improved greatly the weaker parts of my childhood education. At this point in life I feel blessed and somewhat rewarded with the work I do today. Because my life has been so diversified all my learned skills are now being employed in my day-to-day activities, something I truly had never expected or had planned for. But, I do believe some divine intervention and planning has been applied.
One rainy afternoon while driving along one of the main streets of town, taking all those extra precautions necessary when the roads are wet and slick, his daughter, Aspen, spoke up from her relaxed position in the back seat. “Dad, I’m thinking of something.” This announcement usually means she had been pondering some fact for a while and was now ready to expound all that the six-year-old mind had discovered. He was eager to hear so asked, “What are you thinking?” She then just let it out, “The rain is like sin and the windshield wipers are like God wiping our sins away.” After the chill bumps raced up his arm he responded, “That’s really good Aspen.” Then his curiosity broke in and wondering just how far his daughter could go with this revelation he asked, “Do you notice how the rain keeps on coming? What does that tell you?” Aspen didn’t hesitate one moment with her answer, “We keep on sinning and God keeps on forgiving us.”
[Ephesians 1: 3-14] Through further education and understanding of the Scriptures, Aspen will come to know how and why God keeps on forgiving us for our sins. It’s all in a plan designed by God, even before the foundation of the earth was laid. Jesus was and is a great part of the plan. God sent His son as a messenger with the Good News of the plan of salvation for mankind. (John 14: 1-11) Jesus knew the plan and brought it to man without secret or mystery. We had no hope, no salvation, until there was Jesus. We will all die in our sins, but in Jesus we have hope and the grace of God will grant us salvation. Why did Jesus give His life for you and I? Because God’s plan demands sacrifice (life’s blood) for the atonement of disobedience (sin). The blood of unwilling animals was only temporary, but the blood, which willingly flowed from the perfect life of Jesus, for the sins of mankind, was accepted by God. The way is open for all who believe and are baptized in the name of Jesus to be adopted and loved by God, forever.

Sojourner

Do you take a little break during the day? I think most of us do. The attention span of the average person on any one given task is about twenty minutes. So, when it gets right down to it we probably take several little breaks away from our daily routine just to overcome the monotony and renew our focus on the task at hand. Most companies allow a ten-minute break every two and a half hours or so, but I always found time to visit the water cooler or the restroom or engage myself in a short conversation before that. Lately I find myself playing a game on my computer in the early afternoon for about fifteen minutes just to stimulate my mind in a different direction. I liked a certain game so much I actually bought the full version, which fills the whole monitor screen. It’s not that I like the actual game so much, but it boosts my morale, pumping me up and getting me ready to get back to work for the rest of the day. How can a game do that you ask? Well, this particular game has a voice-over that praises and encourages the player as you play. When I really get on a roll, the voice-over begins cheering me on saying things like, “Good!” and “Excellent!” and “Incredible!!” I like the incredible one especially. I guess it’s about the same as saying, “Please” and “Thank-You” when you really want to get something done. The mind is stimulated into wanting to do the best it possibly can.
The value of courage, persistence and perseverance has rarely been illustrated more convincingly than in the life story of this man. He failed in business at age 22; Ran for State Legislature (defeated) at 23; Again failed in business at 24; Elected to Legislature at 25; Sweetheart died at age 26; Had a nervous breakdown at 27; Was defeated for Speaker of State House at 29; Defeated for Elector at 31; Defeated for Congress at 34; Then he was elected to Congress at age 37 only to be defeated again at age 39; He was defeated for Senate at age 46 and defeated for his run to the Vice Presidency of The United States at 47; Again he was defeated for Senate at 49, but was elected President of The United States at age 51. This is the personal, political and occupational resume of Abraham Lincoln. Can you imagine all the people in his life who must have been constantly encouraging him to overcome his disappointments and press on?
[Acts 14: 21-22] sojourn n a temporary stay. vi to stay for a short time. Sojourner n one who sojourns. The book of Acts (Acts Of The Apostles) is loaded with the travels of the Apostles and others as they sojourned for the Lord teaching and preaching the Gospel. In many cases they were revisiting certain places to encourage the brethren to remain true and overcome the problems they were experiencing. Because of their great work we can also benefit from the encouraging words they gave to the first century church. If we say we don’t have problems in the church today and we aren’t from time to time bored or discouraged in our work, we’re lying to ourselves. If we say we’re not tempted to sin against our brother with seeds of discouragement through our words or actions, the truth is not in us. (Hebrews 3: 12-14) The Hebrew writer tells us we must encourage one another every day to keep sin from creeping in and hardening our hearts. Take a break from the world! Study God’s Word. You’ll find encouraging words to help you overcome the trials of life. (Hebrews 12: 1-3) We are all sojourners on this earth, here for only a little while. Look to the goal and encourage someone to go with you.

Press 1, Now

I don’t know maybe it’s just me, but have you noticed the fact that the more we “get connected” the less we’re having to do with each other? What I mean is, it seems we’re having less and less personal contact with one another. I suppose you could say we’ve actually set ourselves up for this new way of dealing with each other. Because of frivolous lawsuits and a new sense of extreme paranoia since 9/11, nobody is willing to speak face to face or be helpful in any way except to offer a generic rehearsed answer or a simple “yes” or “no”. It’s seldom a telephone call to a place of business doesn’t connect you to an automated directory requiring the caller to input several numbers before actually speaking to a human being. It seems half the time none of the options meet my requirements bringing my search to a frustrating boil and pushing “0” then waiting for assistance. In most businesses and all government buildings, the workers therein are now securely separated from any outside intrusion by locked doors. You’re greeted by a lone soul at the entrance of the facility that is willing to direct you or announce your presence all the while being recorded on videotape by several cameras, which have already been tracking you from the parking lot. Malls and stores are closing because of or converting to Internet sales. I purchase on the Internet and in a lot of ways it’s easier. If this trend continues we may eventually evolve into a non-speaking species. Hmmm…
What if God had voice mail? “Thank-You for calling Heaven. I’m sorry, but all our Angles are busy helping other sinners right now. However, your prayer is important to us and we will answer it in the order it was received. Please stay on the line for the next available assistant.” When placed on hold, you can hear music and chanting in the earpiece. King David begins to sing one of your favorite Psalms only to be interrupted abruptly, “If you would like to speak to: GOD, press 1 now; JESUS, press 2 now; THE HOLY SPIRIT, press 3 now; To locate a LOVED ONE whom you believe has been assigned to HEAVEN, press 4 now, then enter their social security number followed by the pound sign; To select a favorite SONG or SCRIPTURE READING while waiting, press 5 now; For answers to NAGGING QUESTIONS you may have, such as the truth about dinosaurs, the age of the earth, life on other planets and the whereabouts of Noah’s Ark, please wait until your arrival to this facility. To repeat the MENU, press 6 now. Thank-You for your patience. Someone will be with you shortly.”
[Romans 15: 1-13] I’m thrilled that my God is big enough to not be a paranoid executive hiding behind closed doors. I have been baptized into Christ and the Spirit of God dwells within me, so I walk and talk with God daily and try, to “pray constantly” as instructed (1 Thessalonians 5: 17). That’s the way God wants our relationship to be. He also wants you and I to have that sort of relationship. In the beginning God saw it was not good for man to be alone. He needed to be, not with the animals of the world, but be with others like him. God says the same about those who love Him. God wants us to be together, encouraging one another, teaching and edifying. (v.5) Paul says God will even help us with a spirit of unity as we follow Christ Jesus. Why then are we not looking forward to assembling in His name? Why do we assemble in worship only when it’s convenient? God is personal. He answers His own phone. He’ll never put you on hold.

No Magic

It seems no matter what type of employment you might be involved in nowadays there’s a computer keyboard, mouse and monitor mixed in somewhere. Computer programs make what used to be rather tough tasks magically materialize in ready to print form without much effort at all. Many programs are simply fill in the blanks grade school stuff after someone initially programs a basic format to fit the task. Then there are programs allowing the operator a lot of latitude to be as creative as his knowledge will allow. I have a basic knowledge of how a computer functions, but it’s still magic to me how 1’s & 0’s, simply thought of as “on” or “off”, can be switching at thousands of times a second and always be correct. For me, I’m just happy it works so well.
Synonymous Scrabble is one of those things that people who have too much time on their hands use the computer for. Rearrange the letters in the word “Dormitory” and you have “dirty room”; “desperation” equals “a rope ends it”; “George Bush” becomes “He bugs Al Gore”; “The Morse Code” becomes “Here come dots”; “Slot Machines” becomes “cash lost in me”; “animosity” rearranged becomes “is no amity”; “snooze alarm” is “Alas! No more z’s; “Mother-in-law” can become “woman Hitler”; “a decimal point” transforms into “I’m a dot in place”; “the earthquakes” rearranged is “that queer shake” and “eleven plus two” rearranged equals “twelve plus one”.
[Isaiah 53] I’d like to share with you part of an essay by Jesse Fonville entitled, “Why Didn’t Jesus Become A Magician?” Jesus could have been the greatest magician or actor who ever lived. Just think how differently his life would have been with little or no opposition, fame, fortune, popularity and the praise and glory of the world. How easy it would have been for him to gather crowds of eager excited spectators, as he would make himself disappear or float in the air. How dramatic it would have been for him to dissolve a mountain before their eyes or instantly clothe a crowd of 50,000 with new raiment. The people would have loved it and felt good about it. But Jesus could not and would not have become a performer, an actor or entertainer, even though that would have attracted immense crowds. You see He came to make people good, not simply feel good. He came to convict the world of sin. He came to perform surgery on dying humanity with the sword of the Spirit. He came to rescue us from the power of darkness and sin, not to make us laugh and be satisfied with our fleshly selves, and eventually be plunged into everlasting destruction. He carefully avoided the use of tricks, comedy and entertainment as He brought the life saving message to a lost world. Do you remember His first miracle? (John 2: 1-11) Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding feast in Cana. Mary, His mother, had to talk Him into doing it as it seems Jesus didn’t feel comfortable being involved in the problem. But because He did it His disciples “…put their faith in Him.” I’m happy Jesus didn’t come as an entertainer or magician. Can you imagine what our preachers would look like and our worship would be like? Paul wrote to Timothy (II Timothy 1: 13), “What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.” Jesus demonstrated the compassion and love that God the Father wants to lavish upon us in the last day. God’s saving grace isn’t magic. It’s for all who love and live righteously before Him.