Taking Care of Business

     Many years ago I read a story about a businessman and the queen of England. She was asking him to go abroad and take care of some matters for her. He expressed reservations because he wasn't sure what would happen to his own business without him at the helm. (This was in the days before the communications and internet revolution.) She is reported to have replied, "You take care of my business, and I will take care of your business."

     Think about that for a minute, can you imagine the government contracts she could steer his companies way! She could open huge doors of financial opportunity and gain, the whole of government was at her disposal. "You take care of my business, and I will take care of your business."
    
     Now let me show you a very amazing scripture: Mt 11:1 And it came about that when Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. In this passage Jesus tells His disciples what they were supposed to do for Him, and I don't know if you caught it, but in the very next phrase it says, ..."He (Jesus) departed to teach and preach in THEIR cities." In other words, they did for HIM, and He did for THEM. I call this the LAW OF RECIPROCITY.

     One of my greatest concerns in life, is that all my family, near and far, would love and serve the Lord Jesus. I take great comfort in believing that while I speak to others for Him, He will speak to my family for me. If you will do what is important to Him, He will do what is important to you. That is a thought that will warm your heart, and help you to keep your fire burning.

He Wrestled Alone!

Ge 32:24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

In this blog I just want to take a moment to encourage those who may be, "wrestling alone." It is true in life there are some paths that only allow one person at a time. Think of a dangerous mountain pass, only a few feet wide and you will get a mental picture of the type of road I am talking about. There are times in life that family and friends can only walk with you to the edge of the woods and from there for a season you must walk on alone into that dark and scary place.

Jacob wasn't simply alone, he was wrestling alone! Being alone is one thing, being alone in a fight is whole 'nother level of difficulty. Some battles you have to fight with none on your right hand and none on your left. Let me show you some examples from scripture, so you can see this is neither rare nor a strange occurrence in the life of a believer. Paul was arrested, and had to go to trial, speaking of that time he said: 2Ti 4:16 At my preliminary hearing no one stood by me. They all ran like scared rabbits. But it doesn’t matter—"

Samson was in a vineyard most likely picking and eating grapes: Jud 14:5 "Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him." The text says he was with mom and dad, but if you read a little further they were with him, but somehow on the trip he had gone off on his own, and was attacked by a lion. A lion isn't something you want to face alone, and yet everyone will have a day (or a few) like this on your journey.

Jesus went to the wilderness by Himself, and was tempted of the devil. David describing his time alone speaks of being attacked by enemies and abandoned by his dearest friends :

Ps 31:11 To my enemies I’m a monster; I’m ridiculed by the neighbors. My friends are horrified; they cross the street to avoid me.
Ps 31:12 They want to blot me from memory, forget me like a corpse in a grave, discard me like a broken dish in the trash.

So we see there are times friends will forsake you, family will abandon you, and to top it off you will be attacked by vicious enemies, and you will have to go through it all alone.  Most times you are forsaken it is not intentional on their part, it is just that God has decided you must walk this mountain path alone. And yet you are not alone. When the lion sneak attacked Samson something wonderful happened:

Jud 14:6 The Spirit of GOD came on him powerfully and he ripped it open barehanded, like tearing a young goat. But he didn’t tell his parents what he had done.

When you walk the road alone, you are never alone. One of the reasons for private battles is to develop private strength. Those whom God would use to tame lions, must get in the cage with the lion alone, and learn that to tame the beast, you must first learn to tame your own fears. You must develop your own lion taming abilities. The first day of Kindergarten is just as hard on the parents as it is on the child, but they must learn to venture out into the world on their own. Samson must learn he needs no help other than God to defeat the lion. Your faith is a weak one, if it cannot stand alone from other human help. There comes a time a child must swim without floaties, the bike must be ridden without training wheels, the teenager must drive in the dark alone and without a coach. This is not to torment them, but to help them become strong and mature adults.

My prayer is that when you next find yourself wrestling alone, you can say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Keep your fire burning.

"I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meribah."

Ps 81:7 You called to me in your pain; I got you out of a bad place. I answered you from where the thunder hides, I proved you at Meribah Fountain. (MSG)

Ps 81:7 "You called in trouble, and I rescued you; I answered you in the hiding place of thunder; I proved you at the waters of Meribah. Selah. (NAS)


I really liked the wording of this passage of scripture, "I answered you in the hiding place of thunder." There are things in nature that God made to teach us about Him. The bible speaks of the treasures of the snow, and of the hail, as if there are wonderful secrets there to be uncovered. (Job 38:22). In fact the bible says, God's glory is shown in the secrets He has hidden and He allows us to bask in the glory when we discover them. (Prov. 25:2) This text reminds us that God has incredible secret reserves of power ready to be revealed and demonstrated in His timing. His power can come up as quickly as a summer downpour, when a few moments before there wasn't a cloud in the sky. (1 Kings 18:44,45)

In context God says you were thirsty at a place called Meribah and didn't know if I would meet your needs, but I did. You tested Me (God) and I passed. I tested you, and you flunked. One of the most important facets of modern manufacturing processes is quality control. Machines, even the best of them need continual adjustment to ensure optimum production quality. God does quality control testing also, but for a different reason. He is not testing so that He can figure out what is wrong, He is testing to show us what He already knows is wrong.

There will always be people who want to blame every shortage, or problem on the devil. I simply want to remind you that some problems are there from God to show you the depth (or shallowness) of your faith. If you are facing an area of lack today, hang in there, and keep believing in the God who answers from the hiding place of thunder. Your answer may not yet be visible, but God's faithfulness is reliable. Keep the fire of your faith burning.

The Silent Dove in Far off Places

 

Ps 56:1 (For the choir director; according to Jonath elem rehokim. A Mikhtam of David,) (when the Philistines seized him in Gath.) Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me.

Today I want to draw your attention to the superscription of Psalm 56 where we read these words: Jonath elem rehokim. The translation of that phrase is, "the silent dove in far off places." There are places in life where even the strongest of believers, the most ardent of followers hang their heads and freely admit they don't feel like God is speaking to them, or that God is nowhere to be found.

In the book of Joel 3:16, and in the book of Amos 1:2 it says, "...the Lord will roar from Zion..." Unfortunately that is not always the case, sometimes as Psalm 56 says, the dove is silent, and to add insult to injury that is said to happen: "in far off places."

Now its time for, as Paul Harvey would say, "the rest of the story..." David was fleeing for his life from King Saul, and as the proverb says he jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. He wound up fleeing to the home town of Goliath, and even had Goliaths sword strapped to his side when he came into town. This Psalm was written when he had been arrested and before any sentence was handed out. I could easily hear him saying to God, "where are you?" "I've done my best to serve you and all I am getting for it is trouble, and now when I need you the most I feel like the heavens are brass and you are silent to me."

David feigned insanity, and the King of Gath, whom some commentators say had insane relatives, basically said, we don't need any more crazy people around here, get rid of him. So they released David, and David found out that just because you can't hear God speaking doesn't mean He isn't working on your behalf.

An interesting side note is that Jonah, (the guy that got ate) his name means dove. He also learned that even though you can be in a place that seems as far from God as the bottom of the ocean, He still hears you when you pray.

The name of my blog is fire on your altar, I chose that title with goal of always trying to say something that would stir the coals of your life. This blog today is dedicated to those whose fire is more a spark than a blazing inferno, and I remind you of two things, sometimes the best of saints have had a season where the "Dove," seemed silent, and a little fire on your altar is still awesome. Mt 6:22 "Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. Mt 6:23 If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

-Keep your fire burning, better is a little with God, than a lot in the tents of wickedness.

The Snare of the South Wind

Ac 27:9 And when considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul [began] to admonish them,
Ac 27:10 and said to them, "Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be [attended] with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."Ac 27:11 But the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship, than by what was being said by Paul.

Ac 27:13 And when a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had gained their purpose, they weighed anchor and [began] sailing along Crete...

Sometimes our conscience, or friends, or the bible tells us to avoid a certain action, situation, or  person, and then some interesting things will coalesce and attempt to convince us to do something we have been told not to do. In this case a favorable wind, a moderate south wind convinced the sailors to go against the advice of the Apostle Paul. I call this the snare of the south wind. When it comes to right and wrong, sometimes right whispers and wrong shouts at us. Favorable condition don't necessarily mean a thing is right, they could be evidence of a snare or trap.

All traps have something in them that an animal wants, and they use that allure to wreck destruction. What happened to these sailors? Shipwreck, loss of cargo, a harrowing time in a stormy sea, and almost death. Don't let circumstances overrule your conscience or you may wind up like the guys below. Keep your fire burning.

Are You a Plankton or a Nekton?

     While we don't want to dismiss the importance of plankton in the worlds food chain, or in the process of removing carbon dioxide from sea water and the world in general, there is a different reason I want to look at them today. You see plankton, don't swim, or if they do, they are very poor swimmers. Usually that are carried about by the oceans currents and unable to choose the direction in which they would like to go.
     Nektons, on the other hand are free swimmers, and the current may be a bother at times, but in general it is irrelevant to the direction in which they want to move. In life we are either planktons or nektons, we either let the current carry us or find our own way. This is true in the emotional realm, some people just run with their emotions, usually to their ruin. The same could be said of our animal drives, hunger, sex, rest etc. Either they are in charge of you, or they are under your control. Here is a thought from the wisest man who ever lived: (King Solomon)

Pr 16:32 He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

The world will never be changed by people who only follow the crowd, or their emotions. Fight the current, find a fresh direction for your life. Above is a picture of a plankton, below is a picture of a nekton, which do you want to more resemble? Keep your fire burning, do something new and different.

Death in the Pot

All of us are familiar with the story of Snow White: A poisoned apple results in a supernatural sleep, from which only the kiss of a prince can cure. That is good theology. Sin is the poison, and Jesus is the only Prince that can wake us, from that sleep. (Eph. 5:14).

There is another life lesson we can learn about poisoned food and that is found in 2 Kings chapter 4, in that passage there was something of a famine and so a group of prophets put together a hodge podge of a stew, when they started eating it they realized something was terribly wrong and the bible says that they cried out to the chief prophet Elisha and said: 2Ki 4:40 " ... O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof." It must have been something very nasty that was served up for them to say it was going to kill them. So what was it and how did it get in their pot?

The answer is found in this verse: 2Ki 4:39 One of the men went out into the field to get some herbs; he came across a wild vine and picked gourds from it, filling his gunnysack. He brought them back, sliced them up, and put them in the stew, even though no one knew what kind of plant it was. (MSG) In other words someone threw something in the community pot that poisoned the whole batch. I want to give you something to think about that is very important. What is cooking in your community pot? What strange things have been thrown into the mix of who you are?  The book of James tells us: James 3:6 And the tongue is a fire, the [very] world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of [our] life, and is set on fire by hell.

In other words, words can contaminate you if you are not very careful. What words are you stewing over? What words are you letting marinate in the center of your being? Is there death in your pot? Have you let others put poisoned apples inside of you? The cure for the prophets that day was very simple, Elisha instructed them to put meal in the pot and that would counteract the poison. The spiritual application is that the meal (bread) of the word of God can counteract all the poison that comes to us and tries to settle in our pot. Be careful what you let in, and take copious amounts of the cure, in that way you will keep the right fire burning in your heart.