"Cast Down" Sheep

I don’t know about you, but I’m getting a little tired of 60,000 volts of static electricity shooting out of my fingers every time I exit my chair and get within a two inch proximity of anything metal. Low humidity and cool temps are the perfect brew for producing good static charges and for some reason I seem to be one of the best storage vessels looking for a place to discharge. The sparks that fly off me even have the tendency to turn off my remote controlled office radio. I only know of two ways to prevent this from happening. One is to simply stand still until the static electricity naturally dissipates, but I don’t have the time for that. The other is to have air friction discharge the static, but I don’t move that fast. So, until we get our humidity back I guess I’ll just have to remain a little more “shocking” than usual. Bad hair days too!

One day a little girl was watching her mother doing some dishes in the kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had some strands of white hair, noticeably contrasting on her brunette head. She inquisitively asked, “Why are some of your hairs white, Mom?” Her mother replied, “Well, every time you do something wrong to make me cry or be unhappy, one of my hairs turns white.” The little girl thought about this revelation and then said, “Momma, how come ALL of grandma’s hairs are white?”

We deem it strange to see a dog or cat lying on its back sound asleep, but I think they find comfort in it, much like you and I, at the end of the day. For me, I think bed rest gives the equilibrium and the neck a much needed rest after a long day of balancing life. Not so when it comes to sheep. Known as “cast down” sheep, the shepherd goes through a lot to get one back on its feet. You see, when sheep lay on their back, gas begins to collect in their stomach. It hardens the stomach, cuts off the air passage, and they suffocate. In addition to that, their legs go numb in that position. Only the shepherd can restore them. The process used by the shepherd to get the cast down sheep back on its feet is slow and takes patience. The shepherd rolls the sheep on its side and begins massaging the four legs to stimulate circulation. Then he begins to talk in a reassuring tone to the sheep, “Everything’s going to be alright. You’re going to make it.” Then he gently lifts the sheep up, and because it cannot stand on its own he’ll hold the animal there while the sheep begins to regain its equilibrium. The shepherd can see and feel the independence of the sheep gaining as blood flow returns to the legs and stability returns. When the shepherd is sure the sheep has recovered and can stand on its own, he begins his walk back to the fold, lovingly encouraging the sheep to follow him.

[Matthew 9: 9-13] Jesus indirectly compares himself to a physician having come to heal sinners. Humanity has dubbed Jesus “The Great Physician”, but I think He would rather be seen in the same light as the shepherd working with the “cast down” sheep. When you’re on your back and the emotional pain of guilt, grief and grudges are overwhelming you, will you remember that the Lord is your shepherd? He lovingly comes with tender hands and reassuring words, picks us up and sets us up straight until we get on our feet again. Then, as He leads the way, He continues to encourage us to follow Him back to the fold. …He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness, For His name’s sake. … And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Fifteen Minutes

Where does the time go? It seems like I just had a birthday and here it is again. Well, like someone said long ago, “Having birthdays sure beats the alternative”. I got to reminisce about my childhood last week with the national news reporting on the big snowfall in Oswego, New York. That’s where I grew up, and I have a sister that still lives there. I remember several such snowfalls and the challenges that came with them. I also now remember why I chose to live in South Texas. I also got to thinking about my fifteen minutes of fame. It is said that we will all experience our fifteen minutes of fame and if I’ve already had mine, I’m sure disappointed. After thinking about it for a while longer I decided that, as far as I know, there isn’t any rule against improving on the fifteen minutes that may have already slipped by. Don’t try to analyze my thoughts now. I’m not planning to do something stupid just to make the national news. I just don’t want my fifteen minutes of fame while laying in a box, you know what I mean?
I don’t guess it matters the age at when your fame surfaces, because it’s what you do that matters, not when you do it. At age 42, Ted Williams slammed a home run in his official last time at bat. Mickey Mantle, age 20, hit 23 homers his first full year in the majors. Golda Meir was 71 when she became Prime Minister of Israel. William Pitt II, was only 24 when he became Prime Minister of Great Britain. George Bernard Shaw was 71 before one of his plays was first produced while Mozart was just 7 years old when his first composition was published. Benjamin Franklin was a newspaper columnists at 16, and a framer of the United States Constitution at age 81.
I think our fifteen minutes of fame just sort of sneaks up on us and I also think we get more than one in a lifetime. Maybe we have to add up the minutes. You know, like fifteen, one minute spurts of fame over a lifetime, or thirty, thirty second proud moments, if only in your own mind. I don’t know. Here are a few things we could all do to help improve our fifteen minutes. Forget each kindness that you do, as soon as you do it. Forget the praise that falls on you, the moment you win it. Forget the slander you hear, before you can repeat it. Forget each slight, each spite, each sneer, wherever you may meet it. Remember every kindness done to you, whatever its measure. Remember praise by others won, and pass it on with pleasure. Remember every promise made, and keep it to the letter. Remember those who lend you aid, and be a grateful debtor.
[James 4: 13-14] Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that city, spend a year there, carrying on business and making money”. Why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. It’s only natural that we seek recognition for the things we do in life. As for me I look forward to a lot more birthdays, all the while trying to improve on my fifteen minutes of fame. My past contains a few minutes of fame I just as soon forget and since I’ve given them all to the Lord in baptism, I know I’ve been forgiven of them and they won’t ever again be accredited to my time on earth. I, nor anyone else, have any idea what tomorrow will bring. So for this fifteen minutes I’m going to please God, then the next fifteen, and then fifteen more. I will study God’s Word to learn how to do it better the next fifteen minutes, till comes my day in the box.

Ouch!!

Do you learn from your mistakes? I generally do, but it normally takes me three or four times before I get the point. It’s not that I want to make the same stupid decisions over and over again, its just that the human mind rationalizes that if you do something that has failed in the past a different way, the results will be favorable. We don’t even listen to experience half the time. “Don’t touch that, it’s hot!”; “Get down before you fall!”; “Slow down! You’re going to kill us all!”. Yeh, right. I’ve got full control here, not to worry. I’m not proud to tell you for many years I pointed my finger at others knowing what was right for them, all the while I was probably in worse condition than they. The human is so self serving it is willing to do most anything to “feel good”. A news report just the other night warned of a new twist on mind altering drugs aimed at our children. Methamphetamines, if you’re not very well versed about them, in my opinion, are equivalent to drinking a glass of gasoline while smoking a cigarette. If that doesn’t bother you, dealers are now adding a strawberry flavoring to their concoction hoping to hook an even younger group, which seems to have an endless flow of cash these days. We’re not learning from our mistakes, so neither can our children. Ouch!
A woman was a half a block from her home when she was stopped by the police. After pulling to the curb she wondered why she was being stopped. The patrolman asked to see her license and proof of insurance. Striking up a conversation the woman stated, “I’m so happy to see a greater presence of police patrol in our neighborhood. I’ve been complaining about the speeders flying up and down our streets for months now.” The patrolman replied, “Oh, in that case madam I’m pleased to report to you, we’ve just caught one of them.” Ouch! Are you a perpetrator of your own complaints?
A little shoeshine boy with ragged clothes and worn out shoes was shining the shoes of a wealthy man one day. While he worked he quietly sang, “Jesus loves me, This I know…” The man stopped the boy and asked, “If Jesus loves you so much, why doesn’t He tell some people to buy you some new shoes and better clothes?” The little boy looked up at his customer with tears in his eyes and replied, “Jesus did tell them mister, but I guess they just forgot.” Ouch! I guess we’re just too busy taking care of ourselves.
[Jeremiah 8: 4-17] Can we learn from the past? Should we try to learn from the past? If you have cause to want to go to heaven, you better learn from the past. In His infinite wisdom, God has seen to the preservation of the growth of His people. We know it as the Old Testament. In his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10: 1-13), Paul states to the brethren that the recorded lessons of their forefathers are for their benefit, that they too may not fall into the same condition, finding themselves destroyed in the end. I find it comforting that God, like any good parent, gives us good examples of what not to do in this life, in order that He would be pleased with our service. And let’s understand one thing here. Satan is the underlying cause of all that is bad and wrong in this world. Built into obedience to Satan are automatic consequences, not as a direct punishment brought by God, but as the inherent results of sin. You cannot live wrong and die right. You cannot sow to the flesh and reap spiritual things. You cannot think wrong and live right. You cannot do the Devil’s work and draw God’s pay. Ouch!

Enjoy Your Coffee

Ahhh, sunshine. I’m glad to see some of it today for it’s been several gloomy days without it. We sort of take the sun for granite, expecting it to always be there and when the clouds deprive us of it light and warmth we tend to get a little testy and lazy, for this is the time of year when we see less of it and that has a way of wearing us down. Have you ever noticed how we kind of take on the attributes of the day? Cloudy, cold , windy , rainy days have a tendency to pull us down into a depressing mood about everything and too many days of that in a row can really hurt productivity. Then the sunshine breaks through and we sort of pop-up out of our wasteland, wanting to go conquer something. Yes, how the day is dressed is how we dress for the day, but as for me, I’m trying real hard to check my attitude as I enter the day to make it sunny for myself, and others too.
A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit an old university professor . The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups – porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal; some plain-looking, some expensive and some exquisite – telling them to help themselves to the coffee. After all his guests had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said, “If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, THAT is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it’s just more expensive and in some cases it merely hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and then began eyeing each others cups. Now consider this. Life is coffee, and the jobs, houses, cars, things, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have does not define nor change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. God brews great coffee, but does not make the cups. Enjoy your coffee.”
[2 Peter 1: 3-15] There are those who feel that God has short changed them in this world. Well, I’m afraid they don’t understand that Gods plans for this world are not to make it any better than it is already, but in fact to destroy it. Here, Peter is reminding us who we are. God has provided us with everything we need to live in this world, not to conquer the world, but to escape from it, and it’s evil desires. Once we truly understand that we are first spirit and second flesh, then we will want to “participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption of the world”. When we come to the belief that Jesus is the Son of God and that He has delivered us from the clutches of the evil one, then we need to start concentrating on the promises offered by God. Peter says, we must add to our faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. We can’t always have sunshine in our lives, but I can testify to this: If you work on adding to your faith every day in all that you do, you will have SON shine in your life every day in every way. Enjoy the coffee (LIFE).

Paradise Not Lost

I went to visit an old friend the other night. Just a few years older than I and a great influence on the direction my life has taken over the years, I’ve known Ed since my teens. After being drafted into the armed forces and serving four years, each time I was home on leave I told him I had found paradise in South Texas and had no thoughts of returning to the snow country. About a year after my discharge I received a phone call from Ed asking if I could help him out as he was broke down in a little place called Pflugerville, just north of Austin. He had suffered some great financial problems, so headed for paradise with his wife and six children. Well, to make another long story short, he and I partnered up in business for a while until I was faced with great difficulties in my life. After a seven year relationship I moved on. Because of Ed, I had the courage to open my own business which ran for nearly twenty years. I kept loose track of Ed and his family for all this time knowing he lost three of his children in an auto accident and for the last five years he had been fighting cancer. He had found paradise, for he made a good living and lived his dream of building and showing hotrods and custom cars. I went to the funeral home to see him one last time and he looked good.
We live in an age of specialists, and their presence complicates life. Who hasn’t heard of the maid who proudly proclaims, “I don’t do windows!” No longer can you just go to the doctor; you must find, or be referred to, one who treats exactly what ails you. There are doctors who treat feet, those who work on the head, those who work on the nerves, and doctors who are specialists for almost every part of the body. Believe it or not, such specialization has entered even the realm of “faith healing”. It seems a faith healer came to town one day and a woman came to him with a kidney disorder. Following his prayer of healing, she began jumping around on the platform stage, rejoicing over her “cure”. She became so excited, she fell off the platform and broke her leg. When someone suggested that an ambulance be called another remarked, “No need for that. Get the preacher to heal her.” When everyone turned to him, his reply was, “I don’t do broken bones, just vital organs.” One of those things that make you go, Hmmm.
[Revelation 2:7] I must have been pretty convincing to get Ed to move his life to Texas thirty years ago. But, I also believe that God leads us and sees that we get to the places where He wants us to be, doing the things He wants us to do. Ed and I, and our families, were influenced and brought to the Lord by God fearing people in the ‘70’s. I came to the Lord in baptism first and he a few years later. The devil sifted each of us to see just how strong we were and to see if he could stop our growth in the faith. I’ve got to tell you, the devil is a mean, sorry, evil being, not wanting to lose a single soul and it seems he’ll do anything to discourage anyone from coming to the Lord. He changed both of us, but our faith kept us strong. I don’t want to discourage anyone, but get ready for trials and temptation to come your way testing your new found belief in Christ. If you’ve become convinced that there is a place called paradise, and Jesus is waiting there to show you a better life, then leave everything behind and move. I’ll tell you right now, it won’t be easy, but resist the devil and he will flee from you. I try to convince people daily there is a place called paradise and I want to see them, and Ed, there again one day.