Yes, He will...

One the most often quoted "scriptures" is actually not even found in the Bible.  

That may seem like a confusing statement, so let me explain.  

I hear this statement several times a week.  I see it quoted on Facebook memes.  Well-meaning people pat others, who are going through gut-wrenching times, on the back and say it.  

Someone, at some point, a long long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, twisted some scripture around and there birthed this now over-quoted saying.  But, it is complete and total hogwash.  

What is this falsehood of which I speak? Maybe you already know.

"God will never give you more than you can handle."  

Balderdash.  

No where, and I repeat, no where in the Bible does it say this.  Now, the Bible does speak of you never being put into a temptation without having a way out, and maybe this is the verse that got confused over time (?), but scripture does not say God won't give you more than you can handle.  In fact, scripture, and life, is proof that He will.

Moses, Abraham, David, Daniel...hero after hero in the Bible, their histories show they had much more put on them than they could handle on their own.

Look at life now.  Loss of children.  Suicide of loved ones.  Friends and family dealing with cancer.  I have a dear friend who just ended a four year battle with breast cancer last Sunday.  She left behind a loving husband and 3 beautiful children.  Do you think these things are "more than they can handle" at times?  Absolutely.  

But this is the point.  God doesn't want us to do this on our own.  He doesn't want US to handle it.  He wants us to give it all over to Him and let Him shoulder our cares and concerns.  We aren't supposed to lean on our own understanding, on our own strength. God doesn't want us relying on ourselves.  And by saying He won't give us more than we can handle, that is exactly what we are saying, that I can rely on me.  I don't need anyone or anything else.

Life WILL throw curveballs at us that we don't understand, that we aren't prepared to handle, that are just too much.  And that's okay.  Sometimes we can't handle it.  

But HE can. Hand it over.  

God won't give you more than HE can handle.  Truth. 

And He can handle anything, if you let Him.

Proficiency Exam

Here in Nevada the high school students have to take proficiency exams.  It doesn't matter if they made straight A's, if they can't pass the exam, they flunk. No matter how good they were.  These tests mean the difference between moving on or staying back.  Passing or failing.  Effort in the class means nothing if they can't pass this test.

Now let's say those high school students are in a class with a teacher who is not only an expert on the subject, he actually IS the subject (think William Faulkner being the teacher in Faulkner English or William Shakespeare being the teacher in a class on Shakespeare).  But not only is he the subject, he truly wants his students to pass.  He doesn't want a single student to fail.  Not one.  So, he decides to do something completely radical.  Since he's the one who wrote the test, he decides to give out the answers ahead of time.  He doesn't do it in secret or to just a select few, he readily gives them to anyone who is willing to listen.  He puts out an invite, "Answers to the proficiency exam will be given the next 3 nights at 6PM.  Anyone who comes will be given the answers to the test."

He waits.

A few people start to trickle in.  Most people think it's a joke at first, or a trick.  Surely the author of the test wouldn't readily hand out the answers to the test.  But it's no trick.  He tells them exactly what will be on their proficiency exam.  Exactly what they have to know to pass.  The exact questions and the exact answers to those questions.  And then he does something even more amazing.  He says, "Now go tell everyone else who didn't show up."

Now the ball is in those students' court.  They have a choice to make.  They can choose to keep the answers to themselves, after all, they were the ones who made the effort to come listen, the others chose not to, right?  Or, they could do as the teacher asked, they could tell their fellow students.  Most chose to go tell the other students.

The ones who went out to tell others the good news got mixed reactions.  Some people were really excited.  Seriously?!?  You have the answers to the final exam?  If I just do this I'll pass?  Nice!  They took the answers and even helped spread the word.

Others scoffed.  Yeah, right!  Why would the teacher just willingly hand over the answers to the test?  It's too easy!  It's a trick!

Still others said, "that's nice, but I don't like those answers.  I've been studying and I've come up with different answers.  I think mine are better.  Why can't there be multiple answers?"  

You try to reason with those people.  "It's no trick."  "Yes, it's easy, but that's the way the teacher wanted it."  "No, there cannot be more than one answer." "Why?  Because the one who wrote the test said this...this right here was the answer.  See, he had me write it down.  It's in black and white."  "No, I didn't write it down wrong.  I didn't hear incorrectly.  He said this was what was on the test, and this was the only way to pass."

Still some chose not to listen.  They went into the test unprepared. Every single student who didn't have the answers the teacher had given out flunked the exam and by extension the class.  They failed.  

"For God so loved the world He gave His one and only Son, that anyone who believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.  For anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he does not believe in the Name of the one and only Son of God."  John 3:16-18

"Jesus told him, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6

"If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."  Romans 10:9

"For the Lord does not delay in His promise, as some understand delay, but He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but all to come to repentance."  2 Peter 3:9

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word WAS GOD."  John 1:1 (my own emphasis added)

 

OM...please don't go there

     So, I am writing this blog specifically to those who call themselves followers of Christ. Others are more than welcome to continue reading, in fact, I hope you do, but this entry is geared towards "Christians".  
The reason I say that is I am going to call you out.  You, yes you.  The one who may or may not realize you are taking the Lord's name in vain on a regular basis.  
It has become so commonplace for people to use the phrase "OMG".  I hear it and see it more times than I care to count each day.  It has become a simple statement, like LOL and BFF.  I hear and see it everywhere, and though I hate to hear it from anyone, it is the believers in Christ I am going to call out on this.
     You see, it's not just a simple statement, because what it stands for isn't just "laugh out loud" or "best friends forever".  It actually means "oh my God."  Now, many of you will say, "well, when I say it, I am thinking 'oh my goodness' in my head."  But that's not what the world hears/sees, and that's not what it means.  I can make up any personal statement for any set of letters, but that doesn't mean that's what they mean to the world.  
     But it goes farther than just OMG.  I hear those who profess to be believers in Christ actually saying "Oh my God."   I hear little kids say, "Oh my God" all the time, just mimicking what they hear from the world around them.  I actually heard a pastor and someone else in ministry use this term a few weeks back.  This tears my heart to pieces.  
     As believers we are called to be set apart.  Not only that, but we are specifically told NOT to take the Lord's name in vain.  There was a very good reason for this.  Today we use names very flippantly.  Some names are almost just made up words at this point.  But in Biblical times a name equated the person, it literally equalled the very essence of who the person was.  By taking the Lord's name in vain you aren't just using His name out of context, you are cursing Him, His very essence.  Do we realize this?  Can we let this sink in for a few moments?  When we flippantly use the Lord's name, saying "OMG", "Oh my God", or worse, we are in essence cursing the Creator of the Universe.
Now, I don't know about you, but to me that's not only profoundly disrespectful, but decidedly a scary thing to do!
     Let us be aware of what we allow to come out of our mouths, or typed onto our keyboards.  I am calling on believers to guard you hearts, guard your minds, and tame your tongues.  As it says in James 3:10, "Praising and cursing come out of the same mouth.  My brothers, these things should not be this way."
     

A Question Posed

     A question was asked in our Bible study last night.  Jake and I love when people in NorthStar's congregation are truly seeking and wanting to grow and learn.  People often feel like they need to apologize for asking questions.  Maybe they feel they are the only ones who don't know the answer.  Maybe they feel it isn't the appropriate time.  Whatever the reason, let me say this, if you are honestly wanting to learn and grow and seek the truth, then questions are always welcome--well, maybe not in the middle of a sermon on Sunday morning, but if you have them at that time, write them down so you don't forget, and seek out the pastor or a trusted church leader after service, I know they will be more than happy to answer your questions.  
     How else are any of us going to learn or grow in our faith?  We must all continue to seek, to ask, to listen and learn.  If we aren't willing to ask how will we find the answer?  I think it's a sad state of our society where we feel we have to pretend we know all the answers, pretend we don't have any questions or doubts or concerns.  Not one human being has all the answers.  Not one.  Anyone who says he does is lying, to himself and to you.  All of us are searching and striving to find truth, even if we go about it in different ways.  All that being said, I want to applaud the person who opened up to the vulnerability of asking a very serious question last night.
     We were asked if Satan is the brother of Jesus.  Unfortunately this is taught in some religions, and it is wrong.  I'm not going to beat around the bush or mince and words here, saying that Jesus and Satan are brothers is a lie.  It is the same lie he has tried to spin for millennia, that he is equal to God.  
     There are only 2 possibilities if this were true, and both are catastrophic. 
The 1st option is that Satan is also then God.  If Jesus and Satan are brothers, and Jesus is God, it stands to reason that Satan is too.  But this cannot be, as he is not omnipotent, omnipresent or omniscient.  Thank goodness!  He doesn't not have the power God does.  He is not God's equal.  He is just as much a finite being as you and I are.  He had a beginning just as you and I did.  He was created, just as you and I were.  
The 2nd option may be even more disastrous.  If Jesus and Satan and brothers, and Satan is not God, then Jesus cannot be God either.  The reason this is a completely and utterly gut-wrenching statement is because if Jesus is not God, His death on the cross was in vain.  You see, a mere man dying on the cross would do nothing more than simply die.  Thousands of men have died that way, two on the same day and time as Jesus.  Their deaths meant nothing to society or to the world.  Their deaths meant nothing to the souls of men.  If Jesus is simply a man, then His death was pointless.  The only way His death could have any power over sin--past, present, and future--is if He is God Himself.  
It had to be the perfect blood of the one and only perfect Creator, taking the place of His creation.  
If Jesus isn't God, we are all helplessly and hopelessly damned.  

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" 
1 Corinthians 15:57
    
     The TRUTH of the matter is this:  Jesus is God.  Jesus and Satan are not brothers.  Satan was created as an angel and chose to fall.  Each and every day he deceives people on this earth, blinds them into believing lies about God, about themselves, about him.  You see, he knows the ending.  He knows that ultimately God wins, and like every prideful, sore-loser, he wants to take as many people down with him as he can.
     He doesn't get a second chance.  We do.  Right now.  Now is your chance to accept Christ's forgiveness.  The Bible says for ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Every.Single.One.  But it doesn't stop there.  It's not hopeless.  "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  There is the hope.  There is the Truth.  
     Will there still be questions and wonderings and doubts?  Certainly.  But of this you can be sure, He who promised is faithful.  He will never let go.  He will never grow tired or weary.  It is by His GRACE we can be saved, nothing else. Grace alone.  The only pathway to that grace is faith in Jesus Christ.  Oh, won't you reach out and grab hold of that grace today?!? 


Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Year Eight

Well, it's here again. It doesn't seem possible, didn't I just do this? Has it really already been another year? Time moves quickly. Eight years has come and gone. I look back at the changes that have been made over the last 8 years, I look at who I have become, where my family has gone, who my kids are becoming... And I miss him. Still. 

I still want him here, watching his grandson play football, taking his granddaughter on dates... I long to talk to him about so many things. I want to hear his voice, have one of our daddy-daughter dates. He is still in my dreams every night. 

I guess it's apropos he died near Valentine's Day. He loved that day. Daddy's love language was gift-giving. He wasn't always great at expressing his love with words, but he did a stellar job in the gift department, and Valentine's Day was the ultimate expression of that. Jewelry. Nice jewelry. That was his go-to for Valentine's Day. Daddy didn't go half-in on his gifts; he did nothing half-way, whether for the better or worse. 

As I type this I am altering between tears streaming to the point where I cannot see the screen and smiles and laughter as fond memories come racing back.

He wasn't the easiest man to live with, that's for sure. Once he made up his mind, it was law. There was no going back or altering his opinion. He was as stubborn as the day is long. Even more so. I come by that honestly. 

My 1st entry about my dad occurred when he died. I have always loved the written word and can often express myself more thoroughly when writing than speaking. I began to write the day after he died. It was my release. My way of remembering and mourning. It seemed to help, so each year I have continued. I know this is a selfish indulgence, something that only benefits me, but I'm ok with that.  You'd think after 8 years I'd run out of things to say, but that just doesn't seem to be the case. 

You'd think after 8 years I'd be able to go a day without missing him, but that hasn't happened yet either. Maybe someday, but I doubt it. 

In the wee hours of this morning,  about the time he passed, my family was getting to a spot where we could watch an old hotel be imploded. I recognized the time and immediately thought of him. He would have loved to have been there, watching as it fell. He would have seen the drones flying over taking video and immediately decided that he needed one, and then would have gone out and purchased the best one he could find, without hesitation. I can see him playing with it now, figuring out all the buttons and features. 

I have to laugh---and cry---thinking of what could have been. 

The only thing I hold onto is my faith. My faith that he also held the same belief as me, that he had put his trust in Jesus and  because of that is now in a much better place, where cancer and illness cannot ravage him. 

Someday I'll get to see him again. Until that day, I'll keep writing, keep remembering, and I'm sure keep grieving. 

Happy homecoming day, Daddy. You surely are missed down here!