Mission Faithwalk

                  However, God came to Laban the Aramean in a dream of the night and said to him, “Be  careful that you do not speak to Jacob either good or bad.” (Genesis 31:24) I’m not sure that careful is really a good word to use as a synonym for conscious . Aware might be better and we’ll probably get to it. But this morning when I looked up the former, the verse above was the first, and it caught my attention. God told Laban to be careful not to speak to Jacob either good or bad? What problem would God have with Laban saying good things to Jacob? I suspect this is a “God-Thing” because yesterday, I read an interesting definition. I shared it as a quote, but it seems to fit here. Dallas Willard stipulated that assault is when we act against what’s good for someone, even with their own consent. Jacob had consented to work for Laban for seven years for Rachel. Laban had assaulted Jacob by giving him Leah instead. Jacob had worked another seven years for Rachel. Then Jacob h

                 I establish My covenant with you, and all flesh shall never again be eliminated by the waters of a flood, nor shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth.”  God said, “This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for [ g ]all future generations;  I have set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall [ h ]serve as a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.  It shall come about, when I make a cloud appear over the earth, that the rainbow will be seen in the cloud,  and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh.  When the rainbow is in the cloud, then I will look at it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”  And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all

                 Only be  careful for yourself and watch over your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. (Deuteronomy 4:9) If we are going to live conscious lives, we need to figure out what we should be conscious of, because being constantly conscious about everything isn’t possible and, even if it were, it would be exhausting. Today’s passage suggests that we should be conscious of our consciousness, mindful of our minds, and aware of our awareness. We should pay attention to our attention and care about our care. It sounds odd. It sounds OCD, but it all comes back to the ideas of self-control, diligence, mastery, and being present. We’re to watch over our souls. That means every aspect of our lives. The focuses of this passage seem to me to be the thoughts and feelings. By extension, we’re to watch over our memories, expe

            Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.  (Colossians 3:17) Have you ever really watched a butterfly as it goes about its daily hunt? It flies this way and that like an aerial dog toy, ricocheting off things we can’t see in directions that make no sense. They almost land on a flower and back away several times, move to another plant, return to the first flower… and if you are very lucky, they land long enough for you to take a picture. In the process of eating, they pick up a little pollen which that might transfer to the next several flowers they visit. Thoughts can be like butterflies. They seem to flitter around randomly from one idea to another, sometimes alighting, feeding, and picking up mental pollen that it takes to another idea, and sometimes that pollen is received and produces fruit. I like this as an illustration of those odd thoughts that seem to come from nowhere, and last ni

                 Whatever you do in word or deed,  do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. (Colossians 3:17) Many years ago, they did an experiment involving workers functioning under differing levels of light. What they found instead is that people tend to work harder when they think they’re being observed, regardless of the reason for the observation. It’s called the Hawthorne Effect. If we really believed that God really watches over us, I suspect we might work harder at being better people. And I suspect it’s not that we think He doesn’t watch over us. The problem is that we don’t think about God, period. We may claim to love God, but we get so wrapped up in what we’re doing that we just go from one thing to another, drifting with a godless current because we’re too focused, or too busy, or too lazy to realize that it’s godless. In effect, we spend too much time as zombies, wandering through life in an unconscious but insatia

                 Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord,  so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. (Colossians 2:6-7) As I read this verse this morning, we’re back to that frustrating bit. We’re not supposed to just have gratitude or to give thanks. We’re not supposed to say grace before meals. All of that is too little. We’re supposed to overflow with gratitude. Overflowing is what happens when you leave the tap or spigot on. It’s what happens when there’s too much of something. Overflowing leaves a mess to clean up. Neighbors complain about garbage overflowing on your property, or music overflowing too loudly into their homes from yours. People notice overflowing. I’m from a family that tends to want to not overflow. That doesn’t mean we’re stingy or useless. Among us have been fire-fighters and EMTs, soldiers, litter collectors, dog fosterer

  Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the  Lord , saying: “I will sing to the  Lord , for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. The  Lord  is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will exalt Him.   The  Lord  is a warrior; The  Lord  is His name.” (Exodus 15:1-3)             Read Hebrews 11. It’s too long to include here, but this morning, let’s be thankful for victories. Victories we don’t notice. Victories we do notice but that seem insignificant. Victories that are bigger, or more significant. Victories that lead to other victories. Victories that happened a long time ago. Victories that haven’t happened yet. Victories that happened to someone else.           Recently, I read a book written about one man’s attempts to write one thank  you note every day for a year. He didn’t quite make it, but his life changed drastically as a

                 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Look! I, Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who has himself circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Law . (Galatians 5:1-3) If, however, you are fulfilling the royal  law according to the Scripture, “ You shall love your neighbor as yourself ,” you are doing well. (James 2:8) Freedom is a hot topic. Some folks are saying that unless they can choose whether or not to be vaccinated or to wear a mask, they are not free. Others say that unless they can choose (and dictate to others) what pronouns to use to discuss them, and decide what gender they want to be at any given moment, they are not free. Others claim that until everyone treats everyone who is like them in some way in the way they dictate, they aren’t free. As I’ve noted earlier, I have

                 Let the peace of Christ, to which you were indeed called in one body, rule in your hearts; and be thankful.   (Colossians 3:15) I wish I could find the video I saw in which Dennis Prager discussed the call for unity. He told of sitting down with three pastors who were calling for unity in the Christian Church. Since he’s Jewish and an expert at friendly interviews, he can get away with seeming innocent. He asked one of the pastors if he planned to stop one of that church’s cultural distinctives with which the other pastors’ denominations rejected. The pastor said, “No.” When another of the pastors was asked if he intended to bring that practice into his congregation, the second pastor also said, “No.” While I believe there can be unity around certain key beliefs and still allow diversity in others, the point is that calls for unity are generally devious ways to say, “Do what I tell you.” And while the passage above mentions our being called to be one body, Paul m

                   Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;   you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God.   (II Corinthians 9:10-11) As a gardener, one of the things that I have been trying to do is to grow plants from seeds and collect the seeds they produce at the end of the growing season, so I don’t have to buy seeds again. I can’t say I have this figured out yet. (And it doesn’t help when one misplaces the seeds one buys!) But that’s one goal. Another is to transplant “weeds” or to collect pieces of the plant that I then root and plant, with the same idea in mind. I may go buy seeds or find them or the plants I want, and some people might wish to claim that doing so means God didn’t supply them. Ultimately, He did because as the Creator, He set up the means by which I could later acquire them, no matter how

                 in everything  give thanks; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thessalonians 5:18) Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection;   and others experienced mocking and flogging, and further, chains and imprisonment.   They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented   (people of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, on mountains, and sheltering in caves and holes in the ground . (Hebrews 11:35-38) In everything? Give thanks in everything ? Deaths of loved ones? Lingering illnesses? Injustice? Mental illness? Persecution? Pandemics? Political upheavals?   Everything ? I’ve said many times that 2020 was one of the best years of my life. I published two novels. I expanded my gardens, learned to

               Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. (John 17:17)   So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him,  “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples;   and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) Sanctify (v) set apart as or declare holy When you think of the word sanctify and the definition provided above, you are likely to think in terms of being set apart from that which is not holy. To be holy, we need to get away from what is not holy. There’s probably some process: a weaker or stronger form of canonization, or something. We seem to think we are sanctified when we become completely detached from the world, wanting nothing physical. It’s like my irrational idea that nobleness requires being separate from dirt or struggle. We may know that it’s not really that way, but there’s part of us that holds on to that notion. It’s not really sanctification until or unless we’re dead to the world, and

            Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?   Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:24-25)   Then Samuel took a stone and placed it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it  Ebenezer, saying, “So far the  Lord  has helped us.” (I Samuel 7:2)   I’ve been talking about the easy paths that I tend to take. They look easy, probably because they look familiar. In Screwtape Letters , C.S. Lewis’ Uncle Screwtape warns his nephew about the dangers of seeking to influence his patient to greater sins. I found this in my own experience one day as I scooped a spoonful of peanut butter out of the jar. “What is more evil,” I thought, “a spoonful of peanut butter or murder?” Given the frequency that I am tempted to eat a spoonful of peanut butter, and the infrequency with which I am tempted to commit murder – and the

               He appointed some of the Levites  as ministers before the ark of the  Lord , to celebrate and to thank and praise the  Lord  God of Israel : (I Chronicles 16:4)           I used to think that there was something somehow wrong with using someone else’s words, or any sort of “aid” in worship and thanksgiving. It bothered me that my attempts were somehow false because they were not original, and if not original, then how could they truly express my gratitude or my praise? This wasn’t an idea that plagued me all the time. It was usually when I was alone and quiet. It’s somewhat the same problem I have with wishing someone “Happy Birthday!” or asking “How are you?” They are words that come out of our mouths but our hearts may not be in them. It seemed that when Saul and Elisha each had someone come to play music to calm them, that they were somehow weak.           Part of the problem is that I know how powerful music is. I’ve felt the stirring in the blood brought on by