Monday, August 23, 2010

Madeline


Mark 10:16 "And He took them up in His arms, laid His hands on them and blessed them."

Yesterday was a very special day in our lives. Michelle gave birth to Madeline Anne Underwood. The particulars? Born at 3:45pm, 8lbs 13oz (Wow), 21 inches long. Mich did great. She was in labor for over 24 hours from the beginning of contractions to the end and she pushed for almost two hours. Man, am I glad I am not a woman! My little girl was amazing! Georgann was able to be with Michelle the whole time and witness this amazing miracle. I was able to be with her up until the pushing, then Grandpa had to leave. Oh well. I stood outside the door for two hours and listened to Brenda Coleman (our good friend and Mich's personal nurse) count to 10 at least 100 times. Then Madeline popped into the world.

A couple of days ago I read this verse. I can only think how much Jesus loves Madeline and the amazing plan that He has for her life. He has definitely taken us all up in His arms and blessed us. Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful gift!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Future Shock

Isaiah 66:18,23 "'For I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory...And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh shall come and worship before Me', says the Lord."

Is there any question about what is really going to happen in the future? God has ordained it. All nations, all tongues, all people will see the glory of God. No one is going to miss this. Everyone who has ever lived is going to see the majesty, the splendor, the honor of God. It really doesn't matter whether you are a Jew, or a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, or straight, or gay, or pro-life, or pro-choice, or a Democrat, or a Republican, or an Independent, or a man, or a woman, or a child, or an American, or Russian, or Iranian, or Chinese...Do we get it? God knows our works. He knows our thoughts. He knows who we are and what we are like and His going to pull all of us together and we are all going to see what He is like. It is going to be awesome for some and awful for others.

The end result? "All flesh shall come to worship before Me." No one is going to be left out of this. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. Every person will be flat on our faces before the God of all creation acknowledging who He is and who we are not.

If it weren't so sad, this whole cultural battle that is going on in this world would be interesting to watch. It isn't interesting, however, because it is so sobering. We have men and women all across the world, who set themselves up as arbiters, as rulers, as leaders. These people, as a general rule, have no clue. They think that they are the ultimate authority. They think that we all have to bow to their mindset of political correctness or their ideology. The thing that they don't understand is that they are not mini-gods. They are not the ultimate decision makers. They are really nothing. Oh sure, they have some authority now but in the end, they will bow. They will see who is the Ultimate Authority and they will confess that they were wrong...dead wrong...literally. The road that we are traveling in this country and in our world is the road to destruction. Turning our backs on God and failing to tremble at His word is resulting in God turning His back on us. (See verse 2.) The result will be self destruction. Finally God will intervene and we will all see Him for who He is and will fnally admit His word is true, His way is right, His Son is Lord over all, to the glory of God the Father.

The ruling made in California this week by this Federal Judge on Proposition 8 is nothing. He is nothing. The Ninth Circuit is nothing. The Supreme Court is nothing. Governor Schwarzenegger is nothing. President Obama is nothing. The United Nations are nothing. The world rulers are nothing. They will all see the glory of God and worship only Him for He is everything...He is in control and we will all admit it. This will be the world's future shock.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Danger...Danger

Is. 58:2 "Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God."

All good stuff. Look at what God's people did: They sought God and consulted Him every day. They had a heart that found joy in knowing what He was up to. They performed righteous acts. They didn't run away from God's law but ran toward it. They wanted to know what He had to say and they enjoyed coming to Him and being in His presence.

Wow. If this were true of all of us, we would be on the right track, right? I mean, how could you go wrong when you did all this stuff? As a rule, this is true. If you run after God and His heart, you want to know His ways, you do what is right and obey Him and love being with Him, it would seem that your spiritual life was right where it should be.

I guess, however, this chapter deals with the danger of doing all the right things but still being off base. Apparently, even with all of these supposedly positive things, there is still the danger of pride. There is still the danger of selfishness. There is still the danger of thinking that you are pretty special therefore God better respond to you in the way that you expect. You see it in the next verse when they go to God...see they are approaching God, a good thing, but they come to Him with an attitude. "Why have we fasted...and you have not seen?" In other words, we are doing all the right stuff and we expect to get something from it. Danger...Danger.

I wonder, am I willing to do all the "right stuff" and not see any results? Is my relationship with God so committed that I don't expect anything in return? After all, God is not obligated to do anything for me. He is God. Sure, He is true to His promises, but He will only be true to His promises when my heart is pure. If I am going through the motions just to get stuff, forget it. I would love to say that I seek Him every day, that I had joy in knowing His ways, that I obeyed Him and ran toward His word and loved being in His presence. With the right heart, this is what God wants...but with a selfish heart, I am only fooling myself.

This is a good time to examine...why do I do what I do? Why do I read and journal and pray and go to church and serve? Is it "me centered" or God centered?