Verses to Live and Blog By

May 2, 2024Todd R 1 Comment

Daily writing prompt

What gives you direction in life?

Today’s post is another response to a writing prompt: “What gives you direction in life?” The short answer to the question is a who, not a what: God. Without a meaningful origin and destiny that comes from having a loving Creator and Lord, I’m not sure where I would find direction.

The longer answer is that God’s communication to us through the Bible provides direction for both life and for this blog. Here, I write what I need to hear. I write about things I learn about the direction my life should go, and I share it with my readers. So, my longer answer to this writing prompt are some key verses and themes that guide both my life and my writing. Although I routinely fail to live up to them, they provide a good and meaningful direction.

The first verse is Hebrews 10:24, which says: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works”. Christianity should be lived, not just known or believed. So, how do I stir up myself and others to loving action? We can’t do it without knowing that’s the goal and by consistent meditation on it. We should ask ourselves what tools, gifts and resources we have to help others grow in “love and good works.” For me, this blog is one of those tools. For others, they could approach this very differently. We all have our own directions, but similar goals.

The second verse is Ephesians 2:10. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We are not created and saved just to do whatever we want, but God has plans for each of us. He puts work to do in front of us, for the good of us and those around us, and for His glory. Nothing is an accident. He made us each for a reason.

Next comes Philippians 1:6. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” We all fail so often; therefore, we need reminders that God isn’t done with us, and will never give up on us. He didn’t die for us just to leave us hanging and alone. His purpose is to make us perfectly loving people, like Jesus was, and His work will certainly be completed in eternity. Thank Him for this!

Jeremiah 29:7 is another important guiding verse. “But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” Which world was Jesus referring to in John 3:16 when He said, “God so loved the world”? There’s only one world, the one we all live in, and He wants us to work for the good of that world. Imagine if Jesus had taken the attitude that this world is hopelessly lost in its sin. He would have never came to die for it, and we would all be lost forever. Likewise, we can’t give up on the world around us, especially our nearest neighbors.

And finally, Matthew 22:37-40. “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” In my opinion, Christians don’t talk enough about love, and we don’t put enough thought and effort into how to do it. Many Christians even have trouble defining what love is. For more on that, read this article I wrote a while back. Without Christ, we are all God’s enemies, so if He didn’t love His enemies we could never be His neighbors. Only by living a life entirely guided by love for God and our neighbor, even if they are our enemy, can we live the life God intended us to live.

So, what gives me direction in life? Trying to understand and live by what God wants of me. These verses are only the beginning, but they’re verses that mean a lot to me.

What gives you direction in life?

The God Who Puts Food on the Table

April 23, 2024April 22, 2024Todd R 1 Comment

There are many reasons to praise God, many ways that He blesses us. One of these is given in Psalm 111:5, and it’s something we shouldn’t take for granted:

“He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.”

While this may be a reference specifically to God providing manna and quail to the Israelites when they wandered in the wilderness, it applies more broadly to any food provided to anyone at any time. Therefore, we should praise Him whenever we have something to eat.

But He doesn’t just deliver food from the grocery store to us. He provides everything required for food to exist in the first place. He designed everything involved in the growth of what we eat. Sunlight, rain, soil conditions and nutrients, all have a role in the growth of fruits and vegetables. All of these roles act the way they need to be by design. Food doesn’t exist by change and is not an accident of a blind nature.

Then add what’s needed to produce the meat we may eat. First, those plants need to contain what animals need to eat and grow. The animals need to be able to not only digest those things, but then to turn them into something edible for us. Again, all ordained by God, the intelligent creator of our universe, who “provides food for those who fear him.”

Also, He is not only a God who designs and provides, but a God of mercy, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”[1] He provides food even for those who do not praise Him and give thanks to Him, so they might come to know Him by His mercy towards them.

Those who fear God, praise and thank Him for the food He provides, the complexity of the world He designed, and His mercy toward all His people. But also, to reflect His character, provide food for those in need, showing them the mercy and love of the God who puts food on our tables.

“He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever“

[1] Matthew 5:45b

Earth Day: Nature is Not Our Mother

April 22, 2024Todd R Leave a comment

In his classic book Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton wrote: “Nature is not our mother; Nature is our sister.”[1] Psalm 19 has an amazing contemplation of the relationships between, God, nature, and us. Verses 1-6 show that the heavens, in their orderly patterns, “declare the glory of God,” in a language that anyone in any time and place can understand. In verse 5, the sun “comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.” In other words, nature obeys God’s will for it with eager expectation and joy, not reluctant obedience or dutiful drudgery, and God has endowed nature with all the strength needed for its tasks.

Then follows the Psalm’s middle section, verses 7-11, which declare that God has declared His will for human relationships as well, in His law:

“The law of the LORD is perfect,
            reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is sure,
            making wise the simple;
the precepts of the LORD are right,
            rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure,
            enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the LORD is clean,
            enduring forever;
the rules of the LORD are true,
            and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
            even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
            and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned;
            in keeping them there is great reward.”[2]

Just as the heavens declare the glory of God by obeying His will with absolute regularity, His law shows His people how to declare His glory as well. Verse 7 says “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.” As the sun metaphorically gets joy from its God-given task in verse 5, following God’s law is its own reward, to be desired even more than “much fine gold.” As nature has all it needs for its tasks, God’s word has all we need for strength, wisdom, joy, enlightenment, and righteousness. What an endowment of riches!

More on nature’s example for us comes later, in Matthew’s gospel, where Jesus uses the regularity of nature as an example of how people should love one another, and especially their enemies: “For [God] makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” This verse suggests that Nature is better than man at self-sacrificing (agape) love and faithfulness to God’s will, but also provides an example of how to love, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”[3] As rain is for all; so love is for all.

Therefore, on this Earth Day, celebrate the earth God has endowed us with, but also remember: “Nature is not our mother; Nature is our sister.” As God’s people are His sons, nature is also His beloved creation, perhaps His daughter. Our constant, eternal, loving God cares about the needs of both.

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”[4]

[1] Chesterton, G.K. Orthodoxy (1908). P. 169.
[2] Psalm 19:7-11
[3] Matthew 5:45
[4] Psalm 19:14

Love When Bad Things Happen

April 15, 2024Todd R 3 Comments

Fellow travelers,

Sometimes things happening in the world grab our attention and make us assign more significance to them than they deserve. Sometimes these are natural phenomena, like earthquakes, comets, or eclipses, and sometimes they are manmade phenomena, like wars.

One reason we do this is that passages in the Bible like Mark 13:5-23 describe what events will happen before Jesus returns again. We want Him to return! While it’s right to anticipate with excitement that Jesus is coming back, it’s important to sort out such passages by what is describing what will happen (descriptive truth) and what God tells us to do when these things happen (prescriptive truth). In all circumstances, the God’s primary commandments for us are to love God and to love our neighbor, even if they are our enemy. No phenomena should pull us off that path, and Mark 13:5-23 recommends that.

In the table below, I paraphrase and categorize Mark’s message into what is descriptive vs. prescriptive truth:

Descriptive	Prescriptive
Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’	See that no one leads you astray
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, and nation will rise against nation	Do not be alarmed
Earthquakes and famines in various locations	Be on your guard
You will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake	Bear witness before them and do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say
Brother will deliver brother over to death and you will be hated by all	Endure
False christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders	Be on guard

To Jesus, none of the things in the descriptive column are new information. All were included in His plan from eternity past. The actions He recommends are not new information either. The “Prescriptive” column tells us not to panic, but to endure, to keep doing what we should be doing before these bad things happened – Love God, love your neighbor, even if your neighbor is your enemy.

On the other hand, false christs and prophets will tell us current events are unprecedented and a fulfillment of prophecy and they will tell us what we should do. The false prophet takes the descriptive of evil in the world and creates their own false prescriptive. They recommend an incomplete and inaccurate narrative of current events as an ultimate solution. Their own Babel which God must “come down” from heaven to even see (Genesis 11:5). But the true Christ calmly says, “be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand”. (Mark 13:23). The true Christ comes down from heaven and demonstrates how to create a true ladder back to heaven, offering forgiveness to all, even those who refuse to accept it or practice love. He will be thoroughly and eternally glorified by manifesting His kingdom as the only eternal kingdom, ruled by love, not by panic over current events.

No matter what we see happening in the news or in the world, Jesus knew it was coming and He told us that in any circumstance we should obey and glorify Him, through love for Him and neighbor. He doesn’t panic and neither should we.

Amen.

Doctrine in Action

March 23, 2024Todd R Leave a comment

In C.S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters, senior demon Screwtape writes fictional letters to Wormwood, a junior demon, on how to defeat his “patient.” In one of these letters, Screwtape advises: “As long as [man] does not convert it into action, it does not matter how much he thinks about this new repentance… Wallow in it… Write a book about it; that is often an excellent way of sterilising the seeds which [Heavenly Father] plants in a human soul… Do anything but act. No amount of piety in his imagination and affections will harm [the cause of evil] if [it is kept] out of his will… The more often he feels without acting, the less he will ever be able to act, and, in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.”

Christianity is not a soul-less doctrine, but a restoration of the right relationships between souls and their Creator, which should lead to action. Teaching should lead to love. In 1 Timothy 1:3-4 Paul writes to Timothy: “As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.” In his commentary on the verse, John Calvin says that Paul “judges of doctrine by the fruit; for every tiling that does not edify ought to be rejected, although it has no other fault; and everything that is of no avail but for raising contentions, ought to be doubly condemned.”

Calvin’s note and Screwtape’s fictional letter remind me of the linked Monty Python video of philosophers philosophizing about soccer while simultaneously “playing” soccer.

Every doctrine and institution of the church should empower His people to live for Him. Are we playing the right game, and are we playing to win?