PERSPECTIVE

Warren Spahn, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves, was once asked by a sportswriter if he ever felt more pressure than when he pitched in the World Series. Spahn said 'well there was the Battle of the Bulge'. That was the largest and bloodiest battle America fought in World War II. It was a major German counter attack against the Allied forces in Europe. 800,000+ men participated and over 19,000 Americans died. Warren was there.

He was the winningest pitcher in his era of baseball, but pitching in the the World Series, the goal of every hurler who ever threw the ball, was just another game when compared to the horrors of war that Warren Spahn knew. I like his answer. It keeps things in perspective. We need to remember to do the same.

What are you going through today? So much of what we worry about is of little eternal consequence. It might just be time to lighten up.

ON TRACK

How important is it to be on track, to be in the right place at the right time? Very important! A friend of mine has often said; "The wrong road never does become the right road." You need to be where you are supposed to be.

My mother's family owned a railroad in South Carolina. Before you assume I come from money realize that our R.R. was only 4 miles long, went forwards to Due West and backwards to Donalds. My grandfather went to the big RR conventions and once told the owner of Southern Railway, who had many miles of track, "Your RR may be longer but mine is just as wide". Once a cow got on my grandfather's track, but the loud high pitched whistle couldn't chase him off in time. Naturally the farmer complained to my grandfather about the loss of his cow who in turn chewed out the engineer. Ole Charley Hawthorne, the engineer, responded very apologetically but then said to my grandfather, "But Mr. Bob, I didn't chase that cow down through the woods and run over him!".

Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can cost us a lot. The moral of the story is if the cow hadn't been on the track he wouldn't have gotten hit. He may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but we need to be in the right place at the right time so that the good thing we are supposed to find will find us!

INHIBITED OR INHABITED?

Often folks who should experience and enjoy the presence of the Lord don't and don't know why. Many times it is because they are living in the 'presence of men' instead of in the presence of God.
Notice this Psalm:

"Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence From the plots of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion From the strife of tongues" (Psalms 31:19-20).

God consciousness is something that must be cultivated to have on a continual basis. Down through the ages men and women have cloistered themselves away from society, attempting to live in the presence of God, but that doesn't usually work. The reason is that 'you' are still there even when cloistered away. Just because many people aren't close by to make you angry or jealous or resentful, doesn't mean that you aren't still 'angry, jealous, or resentful'! The real challenge is to live before Him while living with and/or around 'them'. As the Psalmist wrote:

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over" (Psalms 23:5).

Interestingly enough, Psalm 23 describes the goodness of our Shepherd who provides us with all we need, (I shall not want), give us rest in places of beauty and bounty, (makes me lie down in green pastures), provides us with true refreshment, (leads me besides still waters), recovers our vitality, (restores my soul), also, has revealed that the place where we are anointed and where our cup runs over is at a table prepared for us "in the presence of our enemies".

The challenging arena where we cultivate His presence is in the presence of the sons of men as we learn to trust God and become more concerned about what He thinks then what men think. It is time to stop being inhibited and become inhabited.

VICTORY OR TRUTH?

C.S. Lewis once complemented a friend by describing him this way: "You saw at once he was the sort of man who welcomed attacks on his own favourite beliefs and who was ready to give his whole attention to what you said without any irrelevant consideration of who you were. He was very fair and patient in discussion and talked for truth not victory."

Love for the truth is essential to anyone who aspires to greatness regardless of what side of the argument one lands on. Truth is blind in a sense and should be. It doesn't have one eye open to adjust to a political persuasion, a particular ethnic group, a person's pride, position, or any thing else. In the profound words of Carolina Panthers head football coach John Fox, "It is what it is!".

Truth has a life of its own and cannot die. Philosophies, opinions, ideas, ideologies, dogmas, positions, arguments, come and go. Some of them, like Communism, appear to prevail but eventually they crumble because ultimately, as the Apostle Paul wrote in II Corinthians 13:8, you can do nothing against the truth.

Sir Winston Churchill said, "Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened". Do you have a love for the truth, or do you have to win? If you win at the expense of the truth you could lose more than you know. You could lose your very soul.

CREATURE OF GRACE

My daughter Katy and I saw these giraffes at the Columbia, S.C. Zoo several summers ago. They are amazing animals. At first glance they looked to be Giraffa Camelopardalis, the African even-toed ungulate mammals, the tallest of all land-living animal species, and the largest ruminants. What does that mean? I am not sure but I think it means they are very tall, hoofed, cud-chewing, animals having three or four stomachs to process their food, that look like the combination of a camel and leopard (hence their scientific name).

Although being tall and looking unstable on their long spindly legs, they are very stable and extremely hard to bring down. They can kill a lion with a single powerful kick and he is the king of the jungle! If you run across a stray Giraffa Camelopardalis somewhere, wisdom dictates, don't mess with him! Anything that makes a lion nervous should be given a wide berth.

Years ago I heard that the word 'giraffe' comes from the Arabic language meaning 'creature of grace', perhaps from the graceful way it walks and runs, or maybe from the graceful contours of its neck. As the tallest living land animal, reaching 17-20 feet in height, it has to stoop the farthest to drink and live. That is a prophetic picture of all who are 'of grace', they must humble themselves to receive vital spiritual life.

In the parable of the wheat and the tares Jesus warned the laborers not to gather the tares out of the field until harvest time or they would damage the crop. The reason is that wheat and tares closely resemble each other until they reach maturity, when the wheat bows low while the tares remain erect. The real ones bow, the false ones don't. Remember that.

Jesus was the last person on earth that the Samaritan woman would have chosen to change her life. Jesus told her, "If any man is thirsty let him come unto me and drink!" Some would rather make excuses for their lack of vitality and live in misery than admit they are wrong. You may be thirsty. You may be dry. If you are, stoop low, humble yourself. That stooping may mean asking for forgiveness from someone, or asking someone for help you don't particularly like or even disagree with. Never mind your reasoning. Just do it. You'll feel better for it and the Lord will think better of you for it.

A PRE-FRUIT TREE

This peach trees looks dead but it isn't. It's in a dormant stage preparing for the coming season to bear fruit, perhaps more than the branches can even hold. Notice the broken branches, how gnarled and dead it looks. Actually the branches are not broken, they've been pruned, cut off. Jesus revealed that every vine (or fruit tree) that bears fruit will be pruned at one time or another so that it can bear more fruit than it already has.

Be careful not to become discouraged when you find yourself in a dormant state, or after having been pruned. You could even feel cold, like these snow frosted trees. One characteristic of those times is that you may look and feel your worst. But if you don't go through the process, you will never truly 'look your best'!

The theme of my blog is 'Waking Up'. That is exactly what fruit trees start doing just about this time of year. They can go from apparent barrenness to bearing maximum fruit in a very short time. Jeremiah had a very interesting and encouraging conversation with the Lord along these lines:

"Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" And I said, "I see a branch of an almond tree. Then the Lord said to me, "You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word" (Jeremiah 1:11-12).

At first glance the exchange between the prophet and the Lord doesn't seem to make much sense, until you realize that the Hebrew word for 'almond' and the word translated 'ready to perform', are similar in sound and spelling in the Hebrew. God is using a play on words to say that just as the almond (shaaqeed) awakens first in the spring, flowering in January, so is the Lord 'awake' (shoqeed) alert, on the lookout, over His promised word to perform it.

Our faith can stay awake because He is always awake to watch over us and fulfill his word. Remember His promises and trust that He is watching over them to fulfill each one for those who believe.

NOT ONE SPARROW

I saw this bird in the road one morning and felt compelled to take his picture. I wondered how he had died. Had a car hit him, was it old age, heart failure, or maybe a stroke? Seeing him reminded me of something Jesus said about our Father:

"Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows" (Luke 12:6-7).

The Matthew version of the same parable gives a little more insight:

"Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave (consent) and notice.
But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered." (Matthew 10:29 AMP).

The coins spoken of here are worth less than 1/4 cent...not much, huh? Our Father does not allow even one sparrow to perish whose 'market value' is approx. 1/8th of a cent! That little bird does not die without, #1 -the Father's notice, and #2 (maybe more importantly) -the Father's notice. He doesn't forget even one. Then Jesus said that each hair on someone's head is numbered!?! What kind of God numbers the hairs on the heads of every living soul? Our God. Let me say once again, what kind of God keeps a constant running total of the hairs on the head of every living person? The kind of God who is a loving Father. This is the way Jesus chose to show us how interested and in love with His creation our God is. He is a tremendous Father.

Lets awaken to His goodness.