He Is God

 I know my wife, she is Sherri.

I know my daughters, they are Susan and Leigh.

I know my brother, he is Mike.

I guess I have known at least a thousand people, at one time I knew their names.  Over time, because I don’t see them or talk to them I have forgotten the names of many of them. The more time I spend with someone and have some kind of relationship with them, the closer I will become with them and I will know them very well. 

Have you ever tried to introduce someone who you barely know? I’ve had to do that a few times, and it’s hard to do. There is a good chance that we might mess up an introduction of a person we don’t know. It is very important to know who a person is before we try to tell someone who that person is. I know Brady, my grandson, very well. There is so much I can tell you about him. I am proud of him, and I could go on and on and on giving you information about him. 

The psalmist wrote in Psalm 100, “Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” That is a very good introduction of who God is. This introduction includes you and me. We are his people. We belong to him. We are the sheep of his pasture. We should also know that he is our good shepherd. He takes care of us, by saving us from harm, by protecting us, by leading us, and many more ways than I can write. 

Can we truly say that we know God well enough to tell a lost person who he is? You can if you spend time with him every day. If you take time to talk to him, listen to him and read about him you will love him, you will be proud of him and you will gladly introduce him to those who have no idea who he really is. I can introduce my wife, my daughters, my grandson and granddaughters. But more importantly I must be able to introduce my Father, my Heavenly Father, for he is God.

Be Thou Exalted

Last Saturday my son-in-law, Clay, drove my daughter, Susan, my wife, Sherri and me to Quality, Kentucky where Sherri’s relatives met for their family reunion. We traveled the back roads of Warren and Butler counties. For forty minutes I observed the farmland, with fields of corn and tobacco crops which, by the way, were in great need of rain. I saw farm houses that were somewhat isolated from other farm houses. At times our journey took us where there was nothing but acres of dense forests. I saw no gas stations, no restaurants or grocery stores. There were no businesses at all, not even in Quality, which is three miles from where I pastored my first church almost 47 years ago. I loved the many people I knew in the five years I served at these communities. They were a blessing for this young preacher boy who often didn’t know what he was doing. But if you ever wondered where the boondocks are, this beautiful area is it. 

I’ve been to many places and have seen a lot of wonderful sites all over our nation. I have flown to many of these places and from thirty thousand feet watched the vast land below. I often wonder what’s going on in the lives of the millions of people we pass over. I wonder how many really know Jesus. 

Sherri and I have been to several Latin American countries. We have been to Columbia, South America and several islands in the Caribbean Sea. I have friends from our church who are now in the Chec Republic on a mission trip and friends who recently traveled to several countries in Europe, one of which was Norway where their relatives live. I have a Facebook friend who lives somewhere close to Sicily. She posts pictures of beautiful places on the Mediterranean Sea, pictures of her lovely family and of people swimming and sunning at the beaches. I have friends from seminary who served as missionaries all over the world and some who were or are serving as pastors in places all over our nation. 

The point of my wandering from Quality, Kentucky to cities and farmland across our nation, to points all over the world concerns the desire in the hearts of the people who live in these places. What is their purpose in life? All of us have the same purpose no matter where we live. We were all created by our God. He created us, all of us, to exalt him. “God’s desire for the sons of men and more particularly toward those sons of men who will make the  once-for-all decision to exalt Him over all. Such as these are precious to God above all treasures of earth or Sea..” (A.W. Tozer) 

Tozer also wrote, “Let the seeking man reach a place where life and lips join continually to say, ‘Be Thou Exalted,’ and a thousand minor problems will be solved at once.” What will it take for us to reach this place of continually exalting our God? May God’s desire become our desire. Only those who are able to say as Paul spoke, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me,” will be able to live each day earnestly proclaiming to God, “Be Thou Exalted”.

Walking On Water Power

Please raise your hand if you have performed the following. Have you have ever walked on water?  Although I am not able to see your response I am guessing that no hands were raised. I am also guessing that you are thinking, "Has he lost his ever loving mind? Why is he asking me to respond to such a foolish question?"  Wait! Don't stop reading. There is a point to this seemingly ridiculous question. As far as we know, no one in the history of man or woman has walked on water except Jesus. Well, Peter briefly walked on water. Here is my point. Peter, a man like you and me, defied the laws of nature and walked on water even if it was only a few steps. He did the impossible. It happened after he asked Jesus if he could come to him. Jesus just happened to be walking on the sea during a raging storm. I don't think Peter's goal was to walk on water. I think Peter wanted more than anything, during this frightening storm, to be with Jesus, like a child who is frightened wants to be in the arms of his mommy and will run to her the moment he sees her. 

As Peter was taking those few steps he was thinking of nothing else but to be by Jesus' side. When we are in the presence of Jesus, our minds fixed on him, we have power, walking on water power. I’m not suggesting that you try to walk on water, but think what you could accomplish if you really believed that Jesus can use you to do what you have thought was impossible for you to do. Many Christians have experienced this same kind of power. Maybe you have too if you just think about

Matthew 14:28-33. Philippians 4:13

A Lesson From Rosco

Early this morning I took Rosco, my dog, out as I always do, so he could go to the bathroom. I don’t put his leash on him in the morning because no one is ever out walking their dog at this time. I do walk close to Rosco just in case someone does happen to be out. But today I wasn’t close enough to stop him when he ran across the street to meet a large dog being walked by his master. I yelled for Rosco to stop, but he kept going. Luckily the dog was friendly and so was the man walking him. I apologized for not having my disobedient dog on a leash. He graciously assured me there was no problem. 

After the two of them continued walking  up the street I scolded Rosco for not minding me, and told him to go back to the house with me. Now Rosco can be hardheaded sometimes, and as I was walking back across the street I turned to see Rosco walking up the sidewalk toward his new friend. Again I told him to come, and again he acted as if he didn’t hear me. I ran over to him, forcefully held him down on the grass and fussed at him. When I let him up he ran as fast as he could to our front door. I opened the door and he ran and got on his blanket. He laid there with his back to me. He was staring at the wall. That little fur ball always jumps up in my lap, but this time he would not even look at me. It was as though he was trying to  hide from me. I felt bad that Rosco didn’t want to get in my lap. I find joy early in those mornings when he snuggles up to me. 

All of us have a master who we are supposed to obey. We know when we disobey Him. Even a dog knows when they have been disobedient, and like Rosco sometimes when we have been disobedient we run and hide from the One who loves us unconditionally. Adam and Eve hid after they sinned, and ever since then man has hidden from God after they have sinned. Hiding from our loving Father is the wrong thing to do. Rather than avoiding Him we should come to Him, jump up in his lap and ask him to forgive us. No one loves us like our Father, and He gets great joy when we show our love for Him by snuggling in his lap. God’s lap is big enough to hold all,of His children. That’s the place we should go when we have disobeyed Him.

We Will See Clearly Some Day

 Last week I had my yearly appointment with my retina specialist, Dr. Casey. I have diabetic retinopathy. After having my eyes dilated and and a bazillion pictures made of my eyeballs I was taken to an examining room where I waited for Dr. Casey. I didn’t have to wait very long before Dr. Casey came in for our 15 minute conference. He looked at the pictures of my eyeballs for a few seconds,  and then scanned through the pictures that had been take the years prior to last week. 

Dr. Casey sat down on a stool in front of me, and with what I assumed was a very powerful magnifying glass looked into both my eyes. When he finished he told me that my eyes had not changed a bit in the last seven years. He said my eyes were in great shape, especially since I have had diabetes for over fifty years. He told me to come back in a year and asked me if I had any questions. 

I said, “Dr. Casey, I have been having trouble focusing on things far away. For instance, I sing in the church choir, and when I look out over the congregation the faces of the people are blurry. I think I might need glasses.” 

He replied, “I don’t think you need to spend four or five hundred dollars for glasses. You are probably like me. You would either lose them or break them. Just keep using your readers.”  

I guess his advice makes sense. There are many things we are not meant to see or understand. We go through life with blurry vision worrying about things we can do nothing about. We try to understand things about ourselves and others for which we do not have the ability to find the answers, and we struggle to know spiritual truths that only God knows.  He will not share with man. About these matters Jesus says, “Do not worry. Seek first the Kingdom of God.” In our days on this earth God will reveal to us and make clear what we need to know. The apostle Paul wrote about our limited spiritual vision, “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” And Paul also said that we are to live by faith, not by sight.

One day we will see clearly, and what a glorious day that will be. Our eyes will be opened, and we will see amazing wonders which are impossible for us to comprehend now. In this time God has given us the vision to see what he wants us to see. Don’t try to find a pair of spiritual glasses to see what you wouldn’t understand if you could see it. I guess my doctor was right. It’s alright to see somethings dimly.

I Hate When That Happens

I just had one of those moments that every married man hates. I lost my Fitbit. We had gone to a graveside service, and I had worn an overcoat since it was one of the few blustery days we have  down here. After the service we came straight home. It was then that I noticed that I didn't have my Fitbit. I searched everywhere for that lost Fitbit and could not find it anywhere. I decided it must have fallen off at the cemetery. I figured that it was gone just like my wedding ring that I had lost a few years ago. I think I lost it at a graveside service.

When we went to the mountains over the weekend Susan, my daughter asked me if I had looked on the computer to see the last time the Fitbit synced. I didn't know what she was talking about. She told me how to check that out. I didn’t have my computer with me so when we got home on Monday I found that my Fitbit had synced five minutes earlier. That meant the Fitbit was somewhere in the house. 

I searched again and no Fitbit. I called Susan to tell her the bad news and she suggested that I purchase the app, Find My Fitbit. So I got the app and started the search again. The Fitbit Finder led me to one of our front bedrooms which happened to be where I keep my winter coats. I went to the closet and pulled out the overcoat that I had worn to the graveside service. I just knew the Fitbit had to be somewhere in that coat. I turned in inside-out but still I couldn't find it. I was frustrated. I yelled for Sherri to come up and help me search in that coat. The coat was lying on the bed when she came in the room. The Fitbit Finder was reading red hot. 

After Sherri searched the coat she said, " Have you looked around under  the furniture? Remember you were moving everything around the other day. Maybe you lost it when you moved the furniture" 

I said, "I lost know it can’t be under the furniture. It has to be somewhere on the coat." 

Sherri knelt down and started looking under the bed as if I had not said a word.

Even more frustrated, I said, "You are so hard headed. I told you the Fitbit has to be in the coat!" 

No sooner had those words left my mouth, Sherri rose from beside the bed with my Fitbit in her hand. She was smiling when she answered me, "Now who is the hard headed one?" 

I really hate it when that happens, but I was glad to get my Fitbit back.

A Big Disappointment

 Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! Unfortunately St. Patrick’s Day is not the same for me. I grew up thinking I was Irish. If your last name is Brady you are Irish, right? Brady a derivative of O’Brady? 

After working on my family tree recently I discovered that my ancestors came from an area about an hours drive north east of London, England, meaning that the Bradys that I came from are British. I was disappointed, but I guess a British heritage isn’t all that bad. I still had hopes that my journey perusing the tree on my maternal side would reveal an Irish background. Again I struck out. The Christian clan is German. We were originally called Christiansen. I did find one ancestor that may have been Scottish. That was as close to Irish as I got.

I am not an Irishman. I had always wanted to go to “me homeland” as I let it be known in my best Irish accent. And Irish mashed potatoes have always been my favorite, so much so that my brother and I used to fight over who would get the first helping at dinner. Frequently, I would look up as my dad was offering thanks and Mike, my stinking little brother, would have his grubby little hand on the spoon in the mashed potato bowl. As soon as I heard amen I would grab the bowl, and the fight was on. I don’t know how many times neither of us got a taste of mashed potatoes. 

But just when I was thinking that it is all right to be British/German I discovered something much worse. I did one of those DNA tests at the first of the year. I was hoping that it would show for certain that I was Irish or at least British. No Irish whatsoever, but there was some British and German in my blood. But here is the kicker. I am predominately Finnish/Scandinavian. Who wants to be Finish? I know nothing about Finland unless that is where some of the Vikings came from. I can’t even begin to say anything with a Finnish accent. O well, I am what I am. Maybe some day I’ll get a chance to go to “me real homeland”! I’ll see if I can get one of those Viking hats or helmets. The best part of being Finnish is I think that is where Santa Claus is from.