The Worries of Life

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. -Matthew 6:25-34

If you have been around for any length of time, then you have seen the destructive power of the wind. A tornado can take down a town. The tightly formed, swirling winds will level anything in its path, leaving behind a trail of mangled destruction. A hurricane is the same way. The hurricane’s winds meander along the ocean, drawing strength from the warm waters. Its powerful force hits the coastline bringing with it wind, and rain, and the ocean's fury. Devastation is left in its wake. But who needs such dramatic examples of the winds destruction. A simple thunderstorm can bring with it straight-line winds that will topple trees, crashing onto cars and homes, causing plenty of damage, headache, and sometimes heartache.

Not nearly as recognizable, but what the scripture calls “the worries of life” can be just as destructive. We easily get caught in the swirling trap of tomorrow’s questions. Replaying over and over again, in our minds, the “what if’s” of life’s possible troubles. We get stuck in the fears of all the worse case unknowns.

Dying, Living and Becoming Like Christ

by Keith Gardner

I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

-John 13:16 (NIV)

In John 13:16 Jesus is pulling the disciples back to reality. How many times have we watched someone do something well and thought: “I can do that”. Jesus’ ministry and his time on earth were coming to an end. He knew it and he was preparing his disciples with these last bits of instructions. Jesus’ ministry lasted about three years. They were wild and wonderful. Those that saw his miracles were astonished, those that heard his words were amazed, and those that personally experienced his touch were changed forever. The disciples’ training was also about three years. They watched and witnessed Jesus at work; they also experienced what he did first hand. Twice they were sent out to perform the same miracles they saw Jesus do, and twice they came back elated at what was accomplished through their efforts. But now it was time for reality. These words came at the end of another teachable moment. Jesus has just washed the disciples’ feet. The lesson was humility, servanthood, and heart felt love. To Jesus, his messianic activities were more about being than doing. Jesus did what he did because he was how he was. The same is true for you and me. If we are to be the Christians we are meant to be we have to be like Christ, but becoming like Christ is not automatic – there is a price to be paid. Being like Christ come about through humility, serving others and loving deeply. All the other stuff follows from that.

Where Are the Blessings?

by Keith Gardner

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.

Hebrews 11:24-29 (NIV)

Many times there are questions we ask ourselves and those around us that only God can answer. It is not that these questions are not important, or that our experience and wisdom does not measure up; but it is that the wisdom of heaven is greater and sees with a greater clarity. Heaven’s wisdom sees from an eternal perspective. We generally see in the context of the present.

Mercy and Grace

by Keith Gardner

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. -1 Corinthians 11: 23-26 (NIV)

There is a mercy that is available to each one of us. We receive it with great ease; almost unnoticed. It is wrapped in the gift of forgiveness. When I am drawn to God for the first time, and I come to him asking him to forgive me, and he does; releasing me from the penalty of my sins and adopts me into his spiritual family; that is mercy. Mercy is where we do not get what we deserve. Jesus’s death on the cross paid the price for my sins; that debt payment was God’s mercy in action. The mercy is not applied until the free gift of forgiveness is received (Romans 5).

Limitless Vision, Limitless Faith

by Keith Gardner

Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."  Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

Romans 4:18-21 (NIV)

Faith is a funny thing. It is easy to believe in something when we already expect it. I can believe in the common things that I see all around me. When I look at a circumstance, based on the known physical laws of nature, I can with certainty determine the end results. Depending on where I live, I can pray for rain and truly trust it will; it is an easy thing to believe. Given enough time it is going to rain. However, it is difficult to have faith in a thing that is in opposition to the principles of the physical law.

The Two Faces of the Religious Spirit

by Keith Gardner

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Mark 10:13-16 (NIV)

The religious spirit is not a phrase that we find in the Bible, but the concept is as old as the creation of man. This unrighteous spirit is easily described by all the appearances of being spiritual. It is the idea that my goodness is defined by how well I demonstrate my devotion to God. It is the works side of Christian service. I prove my faithfulness by doing good things. I show my spirituality by my pious demeanor. We all probably know someone like this. In fact, I would expect that we have been this person at one time or another; maybe even now.

The Kingdom of Heaven

by Keith Gardner

“…your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” [Matthew 6:10 (NIV)]

It is easy to get our thinking cockeyed whenever we delve into the Word of God. We come at it with our own preconceived ideas about who God is and who He is not; what is right and what is wrong. Most of our maturing as believers is God’s efforts to correct our wrong notions. It is His plan that we know Him, not only through knowledge, but through relationship as well. Knowing God’s word is a good thing, but not at the expense of knowing Him. Experiencing the presence of the Lord is a good thing, but not in a matter that is inconsistent with who He is, as demonstrated in His Word. The Word and the experience are both required to give a complete understanding of who the Father is. 

Bound to Earth, but Spiritually Free

by Keith Gardner

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. [Galatians 2:20 (NIV)]

2 Kings 6:8-23 tells the story of the king of Aram (Syria) sending a detachment of his army to surround the city of Dothan. Their intent was to capture and kill Elisha. Elisha, through the Spirit of God, has been warning the King of Israel of the moves and traps of Aram, and the king of Aram wanted to put an end to this trouble maker. When Elisha’s servant saw their city surrounded he was afraid, at least until Elisha prayed for his eyes to be opened, and he saw the Army of the Lord was also surrounding the city, in defense of Elisha.

The Chains Are Gone

by Keith Gardner

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. [Romans 6:18-22 (NIV)]

Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39 both tell the story of a man so ravaged by our spiritual enemy that he had lost all senses of who he was. The man was wild, living among the tombs, naked and beastly. He was not friendless however, and not without love. Those who loved him had tried to seize him. And while we are not told, I am sure they tried to reason with him as well. But the mind, ravaged by sin, cannot be reasoned with; it cannot understand the voices of love, or the cries of the hopeless that are also bound to the sufferer.

The Problem with Not Knowing

by Keith Gardner

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you." [Genesis 12:1 (NIV)]

 Abram was comfortably living with his father, doing what all good sons of his time did; working for and living under the protection and provision of his dad. When God asked Abram to leave his family He was also asking him go against the culture and social norms of the day. There is no doubt that this was a huge request. To Abram the request must have not only sounded odd, but it must have been a very frightening idea. Like the prodigal son of Jesus’ New Testament story, Abram would have asked for and received his inheritance. Afterwards, he set off for a new place not knowing where he was going.

Expecting Big Things

by Keith Gardner

A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah." Jesus then left them and went away (Matthew 16:4 NIV).

I like seeing God move. It is a joy to see my Heavenly Father do great things for His children, of which I am one. I often refer to Matthew 6 where Jesus in teaching his disciples (and us) to not worry about the necessities of life; clothes and food, because our Heavenly Father know we need such things and He will take care of us. I also like the scripture; "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him”! (Matthew 7:9-11 NIV). These verses remind me of just how loving and caring God is. But, if God loves doing these wondrous things for His children, then why would Jesus call us “adulterous” when we look for such miracles?

Reconciled

by Keith Gardner

Genesis 3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

Have you ever asked yourself the question; why did God choose the method He chose to reconcile man to Himself? You know what I mean! Why did God do things the way He did? He removed Adam and Eve from the garden, but gave them another chance. He removed Cain from his family, but gave him another chance. He destroyed the earth in a flood, but gave man (through Noah) another chance. He made a people of His own (the Israelites), and they failed Him, but He gave them another chance. He sent His son Jesus, to live and die as a man to give us another chance. Why?

The Prodigal Has a Father

by Keith Gardner

1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

In Luke 15:11-32 Jesus tells the story of a young son who, after asking for and getting his inheritance, left his father’s home to live his life as he pleased. After squandering all that he had and coming to his senses, he returned to his father, expecting nothing more than to be a hired hand. What he received was the love and acceptance that he had earlier rejected. This is the very familiar story that speaks of the reaction God has for us as we relent our self-will to our Creator. Much has been said about the son, and much attention has been paid to the nuances of this rebel’s life.

The Unity of the Cross

by Keith Gardner

John 19:30 “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

In the sacrifice of the cross we have a coalescing of the Spirit of God and the spirit of man; a uniting of two realities, the finite and the infinite. There is a unifying of the body, soul and spirit; bringing all things into completeness; in anticipation of the day that this work will be fully seen.

Here for a Reason

by Keith Gardner

Act 17:24-27 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

I was looking at my thumb drive the other day. You know what I’m talking about; thumb drives, jump drives, flash drives; they come with different names, but all serve the same function; to hold computer data in a transportable fashion. They are very useful; getting smaller; come encrypted for security; or not. They look quite simple. They are definitely easy to use.

Who Am I?

by Keith Gardner

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I often begin my Christian thinking with “if…then” statements. For example; “if God loves me then, I do not have to be afraid of him.”  Or, “if God calls Himself, ‘Johovah-rapha’ (the Lord that heals), then I can trust Him to heal me.” There is one “if…then” idea that bears a great deal of consideration. If the Bible is a set of stories, fairytales, and fables, then I can read it as entertainment. If the Bible is documented history, I can understand it in context of the past. But, if the Bible truly is the Word of God, then it requires reading, learning and applying to the way I think, act and live my life.  Think about it. God the creator of all that is, a Spirit, a being so vast that He holds His creation in His hand. A timeless One, who holds all eternity past and eternity future in a single thought. He loved His creation so much that He empted Himself of all His Godness and became finite, he became a man. He did this not for the sake of Himself, but for the sake of His creation; to reconcile it back to Himself. To reclaim for Himself all that was lost in the original paradise. That One, the One whose love is without end, has poured infinity into understandable words, and recognizable ideas, so that we could grasp Him and learn to love Him back. Those stories are no longer just stories; they are now instructions; glimpses into the eternal nature of the One I call Heavenly Father.

Contentment

by Keith Gardner

1 Timothy 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

There is a fear of lack that pervades my thinking. Even though I have plenty of food to eat, and cloths to wear, I sometimes worry about tomorrow. I live in a comfortable, warm home, and I am surrounded by my family and friends, but still in the back of my mind are thoughts trying to invade my thinking; how long will this last? What catastrophe will over take me; what misfortune will cause all of this to come crashing down?

To Recognize God

by Keith Gardner

Ecclesiastes 3:11 [God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

On April 12, 1961 Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go into space. He was credited with saying; "No god up here." In 2006, Yuri’s friend, Col. Valentine Petrov, stated that he did not say that but, it was instead a fabrication by the Soviet regime under Nikita Khrushchev. Either way, for over 45 years this acclaimed statement was an anthem for atheist who believed there is no God. Compare that with the events of December 24, 1968, while going to the moon, Apollo 8 astronauts Jim Lovell, Bill Anders and Frank Borman read from Genesis 1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” They concluded there three minute reading and comments with; “from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you on this good earth.” Have you ever wondered how some can see the evidence of God all around them and others can find no evidence of God anywhere?

A Child is Born

by Keith Gardner

Luke 2:6-7 While they [Mary and Joseph] were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Luke version of the birth of Jesus is the most detailed of all the gospel stories and the most popular. It is a beautiful re-tale of the love of God coming to earth, demonstrating Jesus’ humanity and his vulnerability. For what could be more vulnerable than a new born baby, birthed in a rented barn; in an unfamiliar small town. But the greatest beauty of all is the intentions of the Father being played out in the lives of the most unlikely characters as He lays out for us His divine plan.

God My Provider

by Keith Gardner

Genesis 22:14 So Abraham called that place (Jehovah-jireh) The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of (Jehovah) the Lord it will be provided.”

I’m sure you have heard the saying as I have; “God helps those who help themselves.” I am also sure you are aware that this saying not only is not in the Bible; its very concept is not scriptural. There is a false conception tied to the saying and it permeates our Christian thinking; “God needs my help.” I spend a great deal of energy working to provide for my family. There have been times I have worked hard to solve some problem. At times I have worried, contrived, and manipulated others to fix relationships in my family or between friends. All because I think God needs my help.