Game Day

I took my two sons to opening day at Texas A&M on Saturday.  Another college football season kicked off this weekend.  Rabid fans all over the country have high hopes for their teams.  Everybody (but LSU fans) believes this year will be different.  This year, their team will be the last to stand, or at least not look as bad as last year.

The Aggies, like most of the larger schools, started the year off with a gimme.  A game against a smaller opponent to work out the kinks and get ready for the tougher games on the schedule.

Kyle field was packed.  Fans all clad in maroon sang praises to their team.  I think it is fair to say that many were worshipping their team.  I know, because I used to be a worshipper myself.  I’ve grown past that in my Christian walk.  I still enjoy Aggie football and enjoy the atmosphere.  But it’s just a game.

The Ags were upset by Arkansas State.  As fans, we waited patiently through the first half, expecting a blowout but barely holding the Red Wolves at bay.  We all expected that in the second half our superior size, strength, and speed would wear them out.  At the end of the fourth quarter we all shook our heads in disbelief.

As we listened to the passionate disappointment and anger of some of the fans close by, I thought of a biblical upset (at least an upset in the minds of the home crowd).  I imagined what it might have been like to a typical Baal fan when Elijah’s God, our God, trounced Jezebel’s 450 prophets of Baal.

1 Kings 18:20-40

Just before kickoff…

It is another balmy but dry fall.  Rain has not fallen in over two years.  This year will be different however.  Ahab and Jezebel have 350 returning prophets and 100 new 5-star priests this year.  This is the year we bring home the mythical national trophy of the gods for Baal.

The biggest event of the year kicks off the season.  Jezebel’s team of 450 Baal prophets are set to wipe the desert with our old God.  The God of childhood stories that a few are still silly enough to follow.  Well, today, we’ll send those small fry followers of a childhood God running for the hills as the fire of Baal falls from the sky.

I can’t believe this fool Elijah was crazy enough to schedule this opening contest.  Oh well, at least when Baal proves Elijah is living in a fantasy land, maybe we’ll get the rain we’ve been seeking these last two disappointing seasons.  This is finally our year.  I can feel it.

We’ve won the coin toss and Baal gets to strike first.  I hear we’re setting out our best bull.  That will certainly satisfy the appetite of our great Baal.  All the experts say that our prophets are ready for a big year.  This will be a great blowout victory to savor.  What a way to start the year of Baal festivities.

First quarter…

Look at the size of that beast out there on the alter.  I can feel the thunder coming in my bones.  I can almost smell the offering before the fire has even started.  Listen to the voices of our prophets call out to Baal.  Wow, the season I’ve been anticipating is in full swing.  “Go Baal! Go Baal! B-A-A-L Baal! Baal! Baal!”

Second quarter…

Ok.  Patience.  This is taking longer than I expected.  It’s the first worship festival of the season.  I guess there are still some kinks to work out in the game plan.  I’m sure our prophets will get in a rhythm soon, then watch out you pesky little Yahweh followers.

Half Time…

Listen to that guy Elijah talk his smack.  Did he really just shout out that Baal was on the toilet or asleep?  Ok guys, next half let’s wipe this guy and his so called God off the planet.

Third quarter…

This is no good.  If you let this guy Elijah hang around, he and his God will gain confidence and then there’s no telling what will happen.  Who are these bozo prophets that Jezebel has run out here anyway?  All this talk about this year being different.  Maybe we should put a few of those prophets on the alter.  Why’d we change up our priestly staff from last year anyway.  This group is worse.   What a bunch of losers! 

At least this joker Elijah has to go next.  Once we’re done laughing at his show I’m sure the judges will award us the victory.  It may not be pretty but a win is a win.

Fourth quarter…

Our prophets may not be very good today, but look what this guy Elijah is doing.  He drenched his alter with water.  In fact the trench around the alter is full of water.  Why did we even schedule this event against this small time, childhood God worshipping nobody.  We should only do these events against the Egyptians and Babylonians.  If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.

What’s that guy down there chanting now?  How can his God hear one lone voice.  450 of the best prophets in the land could not tempt our Baal to act.

“O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.  Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

BOOOM!!!

Game over…

Wow!  That was awesome.  Forget Jezebel and her prophets.  Elijah is the man.  Yahweh is the God!  Make room for me on this new bandwagon!!!

The Lord’s Prayer - Deliver us from evil

Matthew 6:13 (ESV)
¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Here Jesus asks us to pray that our Father not lead us into temptation.  However, this is exactly what the Holy Spirit did to Jesus at the beginning of His ministry.

Matthew 4:1 (ESV)
¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

We also know that we are going to be tempted throughout the day.  Just turn on the TV, listen to the radio, walk out the front door and you are faced with temptation.  We live in a fallen world with temptation at every turn.  What does it mean to ask God not to lead us into temptation?  Even if we were to move into the desert we could never evade the temptations in our own minds.

There are avoidable temptations.  Maybe this prayer is for God to help keep us from walking down the slippery slope of temptations that we could and should avoid.

We don’t have to watch those TV programs or movies that put impure thoughts in our heads, ready to pop out when we least expect it.  We don’t have to let ourselves dwell on thoughts of envy, anger, or lust but we do.

The second half of this verse is a prayer for our Father to carry us through the temptations we do face.  These are temptations from the evil in our own hearts and temptations from Satan himself.

This part of the Lord’s prayer is a great reminder that we cannot face the temptations of this world alone.  We are promised that we will not face any temptation that is beyond our ability.  However, we are are also taught that we must wear the full armor of God to resist the schemes of the devil.  We can never be so cavalier as to think we can resist the evil in this world on our own.

Jesus added this last verse because evil is real, Satan is real, and we need our Father’s protection.

P.S. Are you protecting your own children?

Take This Road Lord? Really?

This is a guest post from my wonderful wife, Mandy.  She actually wrote it for her own blog but when I reviewed it I asked if I could post it on Seeking Things Above.  For those of you that have been following along on my journey, I think you’ll see why I wanted it over here.

Proverbs 3:5 (ESV)
⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Am I going to walk down this road?

I keep asking God this question.

He has told Tony and me that we are going to one day walk down this road. But, I have questions. My number one questions is…

Really?

I know - it’s a pretty deep question.

This road is the road that leads from a hotel in Ethiopia to an orphanage called Hannah’s Hope.

Really? Is that what you are calling us to do?

I keep questioning this because I have been positive in the past that God is telling me to do one thing, only to lead me in a different direction than I thought. Of course, it has always turned out better and I can see in hindsight what He was doing when I thought I was heading in the first direction. I am fully confident that if this is not what God has planned for us, He will use this to lead us where He really wants us to go. Until then I still ask -

Really?

You have a child that will not have any parents to take care of him and you want to place him in our family?

I don’t feel worthy of God allowing our family to participate in this awesome plan. But - Yes, Lord. Please use our family and be glorified through the entire process.

I’m pretty sure there will be some people who question what we are doing. We already have four kids, there are lots of kids in America that needs homes, our family is white and Ethopian babies are black.

Somehow, I think I can handle the critical comments better than the complimentary. What I don’t want is to be glorified for what our family has done for this child. This is what God laid on our hearts. He is clear in Scripture that we are to take care of the poor, and He put this adoption on our hearts at the same time. On all of our hearts. The kids started asking for a baby right when God started opening our eyes to this. They are so excited.

I am having a hard time getting excited over this. I just keep waiting for God to tell me this was just step one and He actually wants us to do something else. I want to be excited about adoption. I want to get frustrated with how long the paperwork takes because I just can’t wait any longer.

I will trust that God has a sovereign plan and this step is part of it. I can know that if He is going to lead us in another direction before we go through the entire adoption process, then all of this is just part of where He needed to take us first. It will be okay because God is in control. Not me.

Until then, I think I’m ready to get excited about starting this adoption process. I’m getting excited about praying for a child that may not even be conceived right now, and praying for his parents, and for our family that will see that the orphans and the poor are real people that we need to love and take care of. I’m getting excited because I know this child will be a way bigger blessing to our family than we will be to him. And, I’m getting excited about walking down that road to meet a child that God knew long before now and planned to place in our family.

This journey will take us down new roads. I’m ready to see where God leads us.

Really.

- Mandy

The Lord’s Prayer - Forgive us our debts

Matthew 6:12 (ESV)
¹² and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

My debts are already forgiven.  This is the message of the New Testament.  Good News!  The debt you owe has been paid.  So why is Jesus teaching me to ask for forgiveness of my debts when He has already covered these debts on the cross?

When Jesus died on the cross, he did pay the eternal price for my debts.  If I claim Jesus as my Lord and believe he rose from the dead for my justification, then I am saved from eternal death into eternal life.  However, I still manage to sin everyday.  I still manage to choose my way over God’s ways in my thoughts and actions.  My eternal destiny is secure, but my fellowship with my Lord and my fellowship with my brother and sisters in Christ is hindered.

1 John 1:5-10 (ESV)
⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

I think where I often fail in this part of my prayer life is meditating long enough for God to reveal to me where I am missing the mark.  When I do take the time to listen to God’s Spirit in me, He does remind me were I fall short of the glory of God.  For me, these usually fall into the categories of pride and selfishness.

Psalms 139:23-24 (ESV)
²³ Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! ²⁴ And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Prior to thinking about this post and thinking about what to write, I probably would have told you that I don’t have a hard time with forgiving others.  I don’t lay awake at night harboring ill will towards anyone for a wrong that’s been done to me.  I’m an extremely easy going guy and I let most things run off my back.  If I do get upset, I get over it quickly.

However, this word “debt” is interesting.  If I truly forgive someone of a debt (a wrong done to me) then the next time they offend me, shouldn’t my reaction be the same as if it is the first time they’ve offended me?  My problem is, if someone does me wrong a second time, I still remember the first time and I am doubly offended.  Did I really forgive that first debt?

For example, a co-worker upsets me by saying something brash and condescending.  I’m upset but because it’s my nature, I get over it and I don’t dwell on it.  However, a month later this person says or does something again that irritates me.  It’s not just the latest incident that gets under my skin.  It’s that incident and all the previous incidents.  It’s not one debt but an accumulation of debt.  I’ve never really wiped clean the previous debt.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think under my own power I can really give someone a clean slate over and over, whether I tell myself I forgive them or not.  Each wrong is still accumulated in my thought process.  The debt increases, it never really returns to zero.

Just as the clearing of my debt to God is only possible by the grace of God, my ability to erase the debt caused when others hurt me is also only available by the grace of God.

The Lord’s Prayer - Daily Bread

Matthew 6:11 (ESV)
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,

This part of the prayer lesson is often difficult for me.  We’re not taught by this world to just ask for what we need today.  What about all my inevitable future needs, like medical expenses, retirement savings, and college tuition for my four children?  How can I only be concerned about just today with all of tomorrow crashing down on me?

Clearly, one of the principles Jesus is teaching His disciples is to focus on today and not to worry about tomorrow.  He makes this point more directly just a few verses further down.

Matthew 6:34 (ESV)
³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

The other difficulty I have with this lesson however, is the principle of total dependency on God.  I’m often not too concerned about my basic needs today.  Today I have a full pantry and refrigerator, I have a job, and I know I have a safe place to sleep tonight.  As I come to the Father with my needs, what I need just to survive is not on my mind.

Sure, there may be times where that day is in crisis.  However, once the crises passes, I quickly fall into a self-sufficient mind set.  It’s this self-sufficient mind set that causes a majority of my prayer life problems.  In fact, it not only hinders my prayers when I pray, it often leads me to not pray at all.

I know that the very air I breathe each day is a gift from God.  I know that anything but total dependency on Him for my daily spiritual, mental,  and physical needs is idolatry.  I know that depending on myself and the circumstances around me is building my house on sand.  I just need to get that knowledge from my brain to be ingrained in my heart.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6 (ESV)
⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

I can’t get this knowledge from my head to my heart on my own.   This is why we need to pray for our daily bread.  Not only for our daily physical needs, but for our daily  Bread of Life.

John 6:35 (ESV)
³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

We have the promise, that if we pray for this Bread, our Father will move His word from our head to our heart.

Luke 11:13 (ESV)
¹³ If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

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