Travelin' by Faith - Which Way To Jesus?

Travelin’ by Faith

We had a job delivering into Montreal, Canada and we knew as soon as we dropped the freight we were heading to our next pickup which was in Saint Laurent, Quebec.  There are two Saint Laurent’s in Quebec.  One is a suburb of Montreal and one is a suburb of Quebec City.  We were told the miles to our pickup were 175 which would indicate it was the one closest to Quebec City.  We asked dispatch if they were sure the pickup was the “Saint Laurent” closest to Quebec City.  They assured us it was.  When I entered the pickup address in our GPS it didn’t find the address so we had to follow the routing information sent to us from our dispatchers.  I started driving and noticed we had not been given local directions.  We were only given the directions that would get us to the city itself but not the company.  I sent a message asking for local directions.  When we received them I noticed the street name we were given originally for the address was a little different than what showed on the local directions.  I entered that street name in with the city name AND zip code and GPS directions showed the pickup was the “Saint Laurent” near Montreal, not Quebec City.  I still kept driving towards Quebec City.  I kept trying to convince myself that we were heading in the right direction.  I couldn’t do it I couldn’t convince myself.  After driving 114 miles I stopped (yes, it took me this long to convince myself) and called dispatch and tried to explain the situation.  I asked if they would please call the customer and specifically ask them if they were closest to Montreal or Quebec City.  Dispatch was happy to do so and found out they were in fact closest to Montreal.   So…………we turned around and headed back.  It turns out the pickup location was 17 miles from the place we had just delivered.  All total we had gone 219 miles out of the way. 

The reason I’m writing this down is because I thought about us going the wrong way and if we hadn’t questioned it we would have ended up at the wrong location.  I thought about us as Christians and how awful it would be to find out we had followed the wrong directions and ended up in the wrong location.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:13 – “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it.  For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”  Also in Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.  On that day many will say to me “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?  Then I will declare to them, I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.”  These people would have thought they were on the right path only to find out they weren’t.  This example tells us it is possible for us to take the wrong path while thinking, believing or being told we’re on the right one.  How do we know for sure we are entering through the narrow gate and not the wide one?  How do we know we are one of the few who found the narrow gate?  Is our road easy or is it hard?

Based on God’s truth, what are the signs to look for along the path that say “this is the way; walk in it.”?  OR, sometimes is it necessary to look for the signs along the path that tell us we’re going the wrong way?

 
Isaiah chapter one comes to my mind.  God told Isaiah “…I have reared children and brought them up, but they have…”

·         “…rebelled against me…”

       Am I rebelling against God just like many Jews did?  Have I refused to obey Him, refused to follow Him or refused to recognize Him?

·         “…forsaken the LORD…”

       Have I forsaken our LORD?  Have I quit or left Him entirely, withdrawn from Him without the intent to come back?

·         “…despised the Holy One of Israel…”

       Have I despised the Holy One of Israel?  Has He become unworthy of my notice or consideration?

·         “…who are utterly estranged…”

       Am I utterly estranged from GOD?  Have I lost my affection or interest in God where there was once love, affection and friendliness?

·         “…no soundness in it…”

       Is there any soundness in me?   Am I showing good judgment or sense in my life, in my decision making?

·         “…your country lies desolate…”

       Have I become desolate?  Am I joyless, sorrowful as if separated from a loved one?  Am I showing the effects of abandonment and neglect?  Am I lifeless?  Am I devoid of warmth, comfort and hope?  Am I alone?

Jesus tells the church in Ephesus “…you have abandoned the love you had at first…”  He then goes on to say “…let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying…”  Revelation 2:4-7

Earlier I had written we had directions to get to the city but needed local directions to get to the company itself.  The local directions are what let us know we were heading in the wrong direction.  As Christians we have received the directions to heaven but have we paid attention to the local directions that lead us to Jesus?  Jesus tells us in John 14:6 “He is the way…”  Have we made it to “His way” or are we heading in the wrong direction?  I don’t know about you but I don’t want to hear “…I never knew you…”

I pray none of us spends too much time, if any, trying to convince ourselves we’re on the right path if we sense deep down we may not be.

Travelin' by Faith - It IS All About Forgiveness

Think about it.  How many walls are put up between us and friends, between us and family members, between us and co-workers or WORSE between us and God because WE can’t or just plain won’t forgive?  Someone has hurt us in some way, little or big and our hearts cry out for justice.  There are man’s laws which deal with injustice in the world but what about the injustice we have to deal with on our own for which there is no law?   Is it possible we have decided un-forgiveness is that law?

 Does the fact that someone paying for an injustice, whether it is from man’s law or our own law of un-forgiveness, really put our hearts at rest or does it simply satisfy our need for revenge?  Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.  Our hearts are still left with the pain, the hurt, the emptiness that comes from wrongs against us or wrongs we’ve done to others.  The story that prompted this blog was the execution of Troy Davis for the murder of Mark MacPhail.  On one side you have people who support the death penalty and on the other side you have those who are opposed.  I see both sides and understand where they are coming from.  What I wonder though is what is in the heart of someone crying out, for lack of a better word and at the risk of sounding melodramatic, “crucify him!”  Is that a cry for justice or a cry for revenge?  Or is it really a cry for someone to heal their pain and fill the hole in their hearts from a terrible loss?  And is someone else being killed going to heal their pain?  If it does, what does that say about the condition of their heart?  This blog isn’t about whether the death penalty is just or not.  This blog is about the power of forgiveness in everyday life.  Does justice really satisfy by itself or is there something else that must come along?  Sometimes justice alone can’t satisfy the deeper need.  And, just what is the deeper need?

When Jesus denied Himself and gave up His life for God’s cause, it wasn’t only for justice to be satisfied in God’s “court of law.”  Jesus provided a way for God to forgive us.  Justice came not by itself but with forgiveness.  In Micah 6:8 God tells us what is good.  He tells US to act justly and love mercy which is exactly what He did for us through Jesus Christ.  Forgiveness is what we needed the most.  Forgiveness is the deeper need. 

Think about if from a personal perspective.  Is there a wall between us and a friend, family member, co-worker or worse, God?  Is the wall still there because of the act of injustice OR because we haven’t forgiven?  This question can be quite offensive.  It means we have to look at our own individual circumstances as well as our own hearts and ask ourselves this question.  There’s a lot of “yeah, but…” and finger pointing that will come from a question like this.  I believe what is most important about facing this question in our lives is discovering the condition of our own hearts AND realizing the magnitude of what Jesus did for us on the cross.  The first battle comes with facing the question.

I’m not sure there is any greater burden we can carry than the burden of un-forgiveness.  If you have ever carried the burden of not forgiving someone, not being forgiven or not forgiving yourself you know what I mean.  The tragedy is we can carry these burdens without realizing it and if we’re not careful we end up carrying them for a lifetime.  If we’re not careful they can kill us and not just physically but emotionally and spiritually. 

Like the song says, there is power in the blood and I believe its greatest power is that of forgiveness.  If it weren’t for God’s forgiveness, there would still be a wall up between us and Him.

Travelin' By Faith - Whose GOD is the LORD?

August 2011

I began this month re-reading the chronological bible. I am in Exodus right now and was reading in chapter 6 when God spoke to Moses and told him “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.” This is just before God begins showing His power to Pharaoh before he sets the Israelites free. As I continued reading I realized there was a transition from “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” to “I am the LORD your God.” I wondered about this and asked God “why the distinction?” Why is it important for them to know you as LORD? I sat and pondered this for a minute and then looked up the word lord in the dictionary. I find it very helpful to look up words even though I know the basic meaning because sometimes I find a little something extra that helps me understand what God is trying to teach me. It means many different things but the one that jumped out at me was “one having power and authority over others, a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due.”

You see, the Israelites in bondage grew up in the Egyptian culture where many gods were worshipped. When God made the distinction between “God Almighty” and “I am the LORD,” He was setting up His sovereignty, His supreme power over not only them but all people and all gods. He wanted to make sure everyone understood then and now, HE alone is the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. This helped me to understand the transition God was making with Moses at this time. It was very necessary. The LORD God told Moses He had raised the Egyptians up for just this very purpose, to show His power and, that His name might be proclaimed throughout all the earth.

Calvin and I had a job picking up in St. Charles, MO. One of the roads we were on to get to the interstate was “Kings Highway.” I thought “Oh wow! Kings Highway!” It brought to mind an old childhood song “Highway to Heaven” which of course I began singing to myself. The words of the song that struck me were “happy are the people whose God is the LORD…” I stopped singing all of a sudden and thought deeply about those words “whose God is the LORD.” Think about that for a minute. “whose God, is the LORD.” What other god is there? Many! Even in that little childhood song there was a distinction. The psalmist sings these exact words in Psalms 144:15.

As I continued reflecting, God brought to my mind a little more of what I had been reading. At one point, Pharaoh had told Moses that he did not know the LORD and he was not going to let the Israelites leave Egypt. I thought this was interesting that he did not know the LORD. The Egyptians are descendants of Ham (Noah’s youngest son - GEN 9:18, GEN 10:6) who should have known God because He saved their ancestors from the flood waters. For some reason the Egyptians moved on with their lives leaving God behind. Unfortunately, I can relate to this. Interesting though how they desired something or someone to worship because they made for themselves so many other gods. Maybe up to this point they did not know God was real. When the Israelites packed up and left Egypt there’s one verse that tells us “many other people went up with them.” (EXO 12:38) I find that so interesting. I can’t help but think those were the Egyptians who saw the power of the LORD God and realized He is real, unlike the gods they had made up, and wanted Him to be their God too. How many of us at some point in our lives thought we knew God only to find out later we didn’t really know Him at all, but only knew of Him? Now I understand why the distinction. I thank God for sharing His wisdom.

The psalmists says it so beautifully in Psalms 119:130

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.”

And to this I say “AMEN!”

And yes, I am keeping this simple. As Calvin pointed out after reading this for the first time, there is more to “LORD” in all caps in the bible which I’m sure one day will bring me to an even deeper meaning. But for now, I am satisfied with the way God unfolded His message to me in the simplest way so I could understand.

Just like with the Egyptians and the Israelites, God will find a way to let us know He is real and not some abstract thought.

Travelin' By Faith - Denying the cross, all those years...

Travelin’ by Faith – 2011

As I am driving through Canada one early March morning in the province of Alberta, reflecting on all that I have experienced with God while out here on the road, He reminds me of something.

I remembered a story from several years ago when I was sad and depressed about my past life, my present life and where I was going in the future. I had not been walking with God for very long but He had sure been walking with me. I told Calvin I had so much going on in my head that I just had to find a way to deal with it, to be free from it so I could get on with my life. I went for a drive. This was before we started driving for FedEx. I took off on I-20 heading west and said to myself “I’m just going to drive until I am free from all of this “stuff” that burdens me so.” By the time I got to Birmingham I realized I could drive all the way to California and back and still not get rid of it all, and besides, where was I going to dump it? I laughed at how funny this was. I turned around and went back home. Little did I know, God had a plan for helping me find my way to a place where I could get rid of it all, a place where I could “dump it.” How prophetic this scene becomes! Maybe not one trip to California and back would do it, but perhaps many trips would do it. God knows FedEx is in my future.

Back to driving in Canada…As I am driving and having a conversation with God I look down at the GPS map to see where we are and for my next move. At this point we are heading north but we are about to exit onto another highway and head west to our delivery. I see that on our current course we are heading to Calgary, except in my mind’s eye I see it reads Calvary. This sure gets my attention. I start to wonder and God starts to speak.

I learned that when I accepted Jesus as Lord of my life and was baptized, I had not yet made my personal journey to Calvary. I was only twelve for goodness sakes. At the point of baptism, I had let God know I believed Jesus was His Son and I accepted Jesus as Lord of my life but I didn’t allow Him to BE Lord of my life. I was. God revealed to me that I may have believed that Jesus is His Son and that He died for my sins but I wasn’t following Him. Accepting Jesus as my Savior and being baptized was the beginning of my journey. Unfortunately, I took a detour. From the time I was baptized until I began seeking Him eleven years ago I had been denying the cross. I hadn’t followed Jesus at all. All along He wanted to be Lord of my life so He could show me the way to calvary. He wanted me to follow Him to the cross, my cross. He had a personal message to give me.

Still driving in Canada I veer off to head west away from Calgary, but I’m still thinking Calvary. I wonder to God, “WOW, how many of us veer off and never make it to Calvary.” I keep driving and see two billboards within minutes of each other advertising “visitcalgary.com.” Again in my mind’s eye I see “visitcalvary.com.” Well, then I begin to wonder again to God “how many people only visit Calvary, you know – drive by for a quick look, grab a brochure or in my case walk up to the altar acknowledge what Jesus did, say I believe, say thanks and then keep on going their own way? What does it mean to come to Calvary? AND stay? What is Calvary suppose to look like to me?

After we make our delivery and we are heading to Spokane, WA, Calvin and I both see a sign on the side of the road that reads “Disciples Way.” We both look at each other but don’t say a word. I think the look in our eyes said it all. I begin to think to myself and ask God “what is the disciple’s way?” God reminds me of His scripture in Luke 9:23. “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. “ Deny self, hum…what exactly does it mean to deny ourselves? We certainly have Jesus’ life as the perfect example of what it means to deny self. But how many of us really do this? I knew I hadn't. How many of us are inadvertently denying the cross instead of denying ourselves? How can we pick up our cross if we haven’t made it to where our cross is - Calvary? Luke 9:24 tell us “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” How many of us can say we have lost our lives to follow Jesus? I think it’s a serious question to ask.

By God’s amazing grace through His Son Jesus Christ I have made it to Calvary, to the cross, my own personal journey. It was a painful journey. It has taken me eleven years to get here. Truth be told I guess I’ve been on the journey all my life. I had to come to the end of myself (deny myself) before I could finally see the signs showing me the way to Calvary, or more accurately before I even wanted to see the signs showing me the way to Calvary. I mean who wants to face themselves let alone face Jesus?

I always knew God had forgiven me for my sins yet my heart was still in prison because I held onto the guilt of my sins. I thought hanging onto the guilt was my due punishment. God gently reminded me Jesus took the punishment not only for my sins but also for the guilt of my sins. He let me know hanging onto the guilt meant denying the cross/denying all that Jesus did for me. It meant I had not yet made it all the way to Calvary or that I came for a visit but didn’t stay. (didn’t stay long enough to pick up my cross) I had not yet found complete freedom in Jesus Christ.

We all hear throughout our lives that Jesus died for our sins and to me it always seemed such a generalized, corporate statement – “we’re all sinners in need of a Savior.” It was as if we were all one big group of sinners with no individual accountability. By being part of a group “we’re all sinners” I had, even though inadvertently, avoided facing Jesus as an individual. It was in my personal journey in seeking to know Jesus that I came to the end of myself (denying myself) and found Jesus hanging on the cross, my cross. His arms were spread wide to show me “THIS” is how much God loves me! The message He had for me was “Donna, I forgive you.”

Earlier I had written some questions I had asked God about Calvary. What does it mean to come to Calvary? For me, it meant I finally found my way to Jesus. It meant I came face to face with Him all alone just me and Him. Coming face to face with Him as an individual and not part of a group was the only way He could show me MY sins. It was the only way He could show me what He had done for me. It was the only way I could fully grasp what happened the day Jesus died on the cross. It was the only way I could make my relationship with Him personal. It was the only way He could express to me how much God loves me. It was the only way I could be free. It was a long, painful journey. At times it was very humbling, humiliating, embarrassing and shameful. It was hard work but oh so worth it. It was the only way.

I haven’t been here at Calvary long enough to answer what it will mean to stay. Jesus tells me it will mean denying self and picking up my cross daily and abiding in Him but what that will look like in my life is yet to be told. The full meaning of abide is to wait for, to endure without yielding, to bear patiently, to accept without objection and remain stable. This is exactly what I will do – abide. What does Calvary look like? Not sure I can answer that in detail that would do it justice just yet, but I can tell you from where I’m standing right now, looking back is no longer an option. I’m here to stay until He moves me.

Deuteronomy 4:29 tells us we will find God if we search for Him with all our heart and soul. I read the bible, God’s written word, for the sole purpose of getting to know this person that everyone kept telling me had died for me. I wanted to know Him for myself. I didn’t want to know the Jesus anyone else knew. I wanted to know Him personally. I met Him face to face on the cross at Calvary, my cross. How could I not love Him and not give my life to Him?

As I finish typing the first draft of this blog, Japan has been hit with an 8.9 earthquake which spawned a deadly tsunami. All I can think about is how many people never made it to Calvary or just dropped by for a visit and didn’t stay? How many thought they made it to Calvary but never did?

I believe it is important for us all to ask ourselves or better yet ask God, have I really made it all the way to Calvary or did I veer off to soon? Or ask God, did I just go for a visit? Did I walk up to the altar, “grab a brochure” and say thanks and keep heading my own way, down my own path? Am I carrying my cross? These are questions worth exploring. It is time well spent. It’s our own personal journey. A journey to freedom.

“I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today. I know that He is living whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, and just the time I need Him, He’s always near.
He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today! He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart!”