When the Sail is Broken

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Yesterday I received a delivery. The young delivery man appeared to be unbalanced – nervous, twitchy, inattentive to details about the delivery process and payment – and aloof. I had never encountered such a delivery experience before. My heart became sensitive to his inner turmoil. Ultimately it was time to start talking about the solution. He listened. He received the gift of Salvation through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and left my home revived. In the midst of all his turmoil God is present and ABLE to save.

 

 

Psalm 34:18 NASB declares “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

 

 

Humiliation breeds resentment. Face it, when a situation occurs that is a direct blow to your pride (ego) your immediate response is subversion – get rid of this thought, issue, desire, person, place or thing that is attempting to destroy you.  If you can remove the threatening element yourself and keep your pride in tact, your ego is fueled. But if you are unable to thwart the process of humiliation then you are faced with a pierced ego/broken heart.

 

 

The Hebrew word for “BROKENHEARTED” is derived from shabar (unto them that are of a broken) and leb (heart). David describes that of a broken mind. The breaking process is likened to a ship wrecked in a stormy sea.

A Nonsuch 30' under sail
“Without Him life would be drifting like a ship without a sail.”

Picture a sail boat gracefully gliding across a body of water. Instantly a violent storm produces winds and lightening that ultimately destroys the large sail on the boat. The storm then moves on leaving the boat stranded in the water unable to navigate the waters because the sail is broken.

 

How precious it must have been for David when he realized this process of humiliation yielded a closeness to The LORD.

 

Jehovah – “the self-existent One, He that is who He is, the eternal I AM; a special relation of Deity, in His Jehovah character, to man, and all Scripture emphasizes this; the redemption name of Deity, a beautiful type of the righteousness provided by the Lord God through sacrifice (Romans 3:2125 http://www.biblestudytools.com/nas/romans/passage.aspx?q=romans+3:21-25); 

 

in God’s redemptive relation to man, various compound names of Jehovah are found which reveal Him as meeting EVERY need of man from his lost state to the end {Jehovah-jireh – the Lord will provide – Jehovah-rapha The Lord who heals and Jehovah -shammah – the Lord IS PRESENT.” (the Scofield reference Bible, pg.117)

 

 

God has our entire existence in His hands. Humiliation gives rise to the reality that you are in need of Him. The flesh laments in the disdain of ego assassination but the spirit is primed for God’s Heavenly intervention. “He saves those who are crushed in spirit” The “saving” implies a significant force or power behind the action. God saves us at the level of our spirit through the power of the Holy Spirit. It is an inside job!  Humiliation of the flesh crushes the spirit of a man in such a way that he/she is WILLING to receive DIVINE INTERVENTION or HELP in the time of trouble. My experience with the deliveryman demonstrated how IMMEDIATELY God can restore. Your circumstances outside of you may not change right away BUT God’s Word changes the condition of your heart and fortifies you, equips you with the strength, courage and wisdom to navigate through the difficulties with grace, love, peace, hope and perseverance.

 

 

You can’t tell HELP how to HELP. You can only ASK for HELP. When HELP shows up just RECEIVE IT. To my surprise the deliveryman asked for a solution to the angst of fear, uncertainty and heartache attached to him. His inquiry surfaced after hearing the Word of God.  All that was happening up to that point was God’s Sovereign hands preparing the way for this young soul to receive the message of God’s Saving power.

 

 

When the sail is broken, God is present to help restore you, revive you, rebuild you from within. It is then obvious that His presence was in effect during the humiliation process evidenced by His grace. If you are honest with yourself you can realize that your humiliation could have been a lot worse. The fact that you are still alive, able to realize His presence and receive His power is the proof that He Is.

 

 

Embrace humiliation and get into the solution. David’s pronouncement of the Lord’s nearness generates hope in times of hopelessness, strength in times of weakness, power in times of powerlessness. OUR LORD JESUS SAVES to the UTMOST.

 

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A Train Ride To Serenity

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The New York Subway system is great. There is a fundamental element associated with traveling from downtown to uptown. When I was a child, per my cousin Gary, there were two trains that got the task done. From Penn Station you could catch the “A” train, a local route making many stops throughout the entire boro of Manhattan. Mostly everyone used this one because of its frequent regular schedule during the day. But if you knew what you were doing and your goal was to get uptown, you could travel up a steep flight of stairs, wait a while and get on the “AA” train instead. This express line offered you the freedom to arrive at your destination in a fraction of the time uninformed/impatient passengers realized on the popular local route. Today it is known as the “A Express.” On a good day you can get from 42nd street to 168st in 4 stops.

The Serenity Prayer offers us the same advantage.Serenity PrayerThis prayer is like an express train to my core. On the exterior, when I find myself honestly appealing to God‘s Sovereignty over my life as I face some sort of issue, this prayer acquaints me with the dilemma’s affect on me. It also provides me with a Divine solution – PEACE! Philippians 4: 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Each request in the Serenity Prayer is significant.

At the point when I am “boarding” this train, my spirit cries out “GOD.” Now I must tell you that I had to learn how to interpret this instinctive cry and utilize this prayer. I can vividly remember my twenties, when I was SO overwhelmed by life and too afraid to ask for help,I thought/BELIEVED I was supposed to be able to know how to handle all of the things going on around and in my life. Asking for help seemed like a weak, spineless cop out. In essence, the lies had me fooled and I was destined to experience all of the calamity and blessings that God OK’d. I am so thankful for the Old Testament because my consistent pursuit into that portion of scripture, during my twenties, gave me this level of clarity as my twenties came to a close. However, I did not realize God’s sovereignty until my 30’s.

I take my “seat” on the train as my spirit declares “Grant me the SERENITY.” In other words, my peace has been disrupted. Some person, place, thing or situation has interrupted the harmony within me that fuels my purpose. It’s obvious to me now that at this point I have conceded to myself that I am in need of help – GOD’S HELP – in order to arrive at His desired will for my life. Somehow, someway I have gone astray and I NEED to be restored.

“Accept the things that I cannot change” – Action occurs as the train speeds towards the next stop. Acceptance is in motion. What characterizes the motion experience like that of an actual subway ride is how I adapt to the bumpy segments between stops. When you ride the subway it can sometimes be a rough ride. So it is as I have to get myself to this acceptance of whatever it is that has interfered with my peace. The plea for acceptance directly calls into focus what I CANNOT change. Here is where the bumps get intense. Who cares to admit that they can’t do something when they are so engrossed in the prospects of consistently looking good on the outside. The prayer quickly challenges every aspect of my ego. Summarily, everything that goes on outside of me that affects my core – people, places, things, situations – are BEYOND my control. Acceptance gets me into an awareness that God controls every aspect of what goes on outside of me PERFECTLY (whether I want to believe it or not) and I AM NOT GOD.  The doors close and the train leaves the stop quickly speeding towards the next one.

“Courage to change the things that I can” – Finally something that I can do. The action of acceptance does not stop. In addition , I now call on God to provide what  I can physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually utilize to affect change in effort to achieve peace at all these levels – COURAGE. It enables me to honestly assess all that is going on at my core – what I am feeling, how I am thinking and most of all HOW MUCH I AM TRUSTING IN GOD VS TRUSTING IN ME OR OTHERS.  Courage is necessary in order for me to make whatever changes that are necessary within me that puts God back in His proper place -1st.

Why is this such an important life principle? All month I have delved into courage to gain a greater willingness to get all that courage affords me. I am a fearful being on so many levels. So to arrive at the place where I can honestly seek the Lord’s presence from day to day, and continue to experience the power that His presence does supply, offers me a vast supply of courage. The courage I write about is based in TRUST, HOPE AND FAITH IN THE CREATOR OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, who created me. It just seems so apparent to me that one of the biggest problems we face in our core is keeping God engaged in our day to day affairs. A daily surrender to the finished work at Calvary is not an obstacle when you realize your need for a Savior.  The Apostle Paul made a simple but profound declaration in Philippians 4:13 “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENS ME.”

The train doors close again as it speeds towards the destination. Along the way, my countenance has changed. I am now eager as I realize I am almost there. It is amazing at how quickly I have gone from 34th – downtown feeling all out of sorts and “off” – to 168th street – uptown Harlem – on top of my game, resting in the peace of God which is far beyond what I can possibly understand. Peace is at work because I called on God, requested “serenity now”, actively engaged acceptance and willingly utilized courage. But as the doors open at my final destination I am still in need of “The wisdom to know the difference.” Having the blessing of peace continuously at work in and around me requires a continued presence of wisdom. Wisdom to assess those things that are in my control and out of my control. The wisdom to know when I need to get back on the “aa” train.

 

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Check up on the heart

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Hebrews 3:12-15
12 Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,”so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said, “TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS, AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME.”

The heart is the most important organ in our bodies. It is vital because it provides the source of motion that delivers blood to every organ. The blood is the life source in all of us. When it stops flowing we are dead. We can never assume that the heart is in good health. A heart attack is a silent foe and it kills. While this description pertains to our human bodies, it also applies to our spiritual condition.

In the human cardiac system there are many tubes that transport the blood from the heart throughout the body and back to the heart. We are conscious of the perils of cholesterol that can cause “blockages” in those tubes that obstruct the flow of blood and cause damage to the heart. Large clots can form and go unnoticed until the heart’s function is disrupted and death is possible.

Sin is to our spirits what cholesterol is to our bodies. The writer of the scripture above understood this spiritual axiom and was commissioned by God Himself to relay the message. We all need to hear the message of the dangers of an “evil,unbelieving heart that falls away from the Living God.” This does NOT mean that a Christian can loose his salvation. Rather it means that, at any given moment, un-confessed sin can manifest to produce “a hardened heart” and wreck havoc in our lives and the lives of others.

We are socially aware of the perils of a lifestyle that is riddled with the possibilities of having a heart attack – a diet high in cholesterol and sodium, over consumption of fast food, a sedentary lifestyle, poor weight management, smoking, drinking, drug usage/abuse etc. – but the issues of the spirit i.e. “the heart of man” continues to go unaddressed socially.

Whenever the subject of sin is mentioned, it is almost a taboo matter today. People do not want to discuss it because they do not want to engage in the subsequent issues associated with the acknowledgement. When you accept the presence of sin in your life you can be overwhelmed about a healthy solution if you do not know how to address it from God’s prospective.

The scripture reminds us to engage in healthy spiritual relationships that encourage us to “stay in the faith.” It is good to know Jesus. He is a friend all the time. I am thankful for the 24/7/365 characteristic our Savior manages so well. He is never too busy for any of us. In addition, the service and servitude of Christians around the world, AKA the body of Christ, is a vital aspect of a “more than a conqueror” lifestyle.

A hand can not function without the connectivity of the hundreds of thousands of cells that provide it with the ability to move even 1 finger. The work of your hands is not possible without the rest of the body. The work God has called you to in your lifetime is not possible without Christ and the rest of the body. Stay connected and stay “IN HIS SAFETY.”

I Want What I Have

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There are so many things that I can think of that I want – a new car, a new condo, all of my bills paid in full, restored relationships, new relationships……….. – and if I were to give these “wants” too much attention I can easily get distracted from my reality.  Distractions are designed to create confusion in my life. Can you think of a time when your focus was re-directed because of a distraction?

They come in all forms – personal, professional, social, and most of all spiritual.  Distractions can be subtle too.  Especially in the area of my personal and professional lives, I can recall on numerous occasion where I was engaged in situations that were purposefully designed to distract me from what was important.  At the point when I realized the distraction, the affects were already in place.  I know I am not the only one with this experience. Am I?

So I have come to realize on the Eve of this Christmas day in 2011 that the best way to avoid the pitfalls of distractions is to want what I have.  That implies a personal understanding of my assets and my liabilities.  Overall, an assessment yields the results of personal reconciliation between the two and I am in a balanced relationship with my life and the Creator of my life.  

Now does this mean that I do not want to work towards improvement? God forbid.  If I am not realizing change in my life that means that my life is non-existent.  You know you are living, and how you are living by recognizing the changes that are at work in you.  Other people are watching and God is watching. Therefore, you should be the spectator in the first row, in the center aisle occupying the center seat. Next to God, you should have the best seat in the house.

Consider the obvious. The climate of the environment dictates the season of the environment. Climates change and seasons change. Imagine if you woke up to the same climate every day for a year.  All of my East Coasts readers may actually like that after dealing with cold winters over a course of time. But the point is life would be mundane if every day was the same climate and the same season. The changes in the environment offer us new outlooks, new insights, new experiences……..  This is why I would not be content living in Aruba. It is a beautiful island but I would get bored with the same climate day after day… I think!

God is the author and finisher of our faith in Him.  No change is possible without His intervention.  For anyone who is struggling with the concept of God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, the evidence of His Power is in the identity of the source of all change.  He is Sovereign over all and that includes my wants.  Through Him I have an awareness of all my needs being in place.  THAT IS A BLESSING IN ITSELF. I can get entangled in the “rat race” working feverishly towards attaining my wants and allow all of the distractions along the way to make me miss out on all of the peace, joy, love, hope and assurance that comes with being thankful for what I have.  I don’t choose that path today. Instead I will be content and just “WANT WHAT I HAVE.” 

The song “Safe In His Arms” reminds me “Because the Lord is my shepherd I have everything I need”

Merry Christmas