Romans 7:24-25a

Romans 7:24-25a “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

My commute each morning and evening is about an hour each way. To help me pass the time, I check out books on tape from the local library. Most of the time, I listen to non-fiction, books I don’t have time to read and probably wouldn’t choose for recreational reading. I’ve listened to books on World War I, World War II, and the Civil War, and biographies of Theodore Roosevelt, Richard Feynman, and Alexander Hamilton.

In the Alexander Hamilton biography, he’s shown as a brilliant man who overcame a disastrous childhood to play a vital role in the American Revolution and in the formation of our national government. But as brilliant as he was, one word keeps appearing throughout the narrative: “unfortunately.” Unfortunately for Alexander Hamilton, he had his flaws, and they proved to be his downfall frequently—both politically and personally. And those flaws are spelled out, along with the brilliance, in black and white for all the ages to read.

Listening to this book has made me glad that I won’t be famous enough for anyone to write a biography of me. I have my flaws, and they have been my downfall more than once. I don’t want my sins to be remembered for eternity. As the author of Romans proclaims, “What a wretched [person] I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

Thanks be to God! Through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Lord, my sins have already been wiped clean and will never be remembered. Even if my sins are written in a book here on earth, God Himself has cast those sins into the depth of the sea and as far away as the east is from the west. It is nothing that I have done, but only by the grace of God that He has done this.

How about you? Will your sins be remembered forever, ending in death and eternal separation from God? Or have you been rescued from death through faith in Jesus Christ? Take that step if you need to. Put your faith in Jesus, and He will wash away all your sins and give you new life in Him.

Brenda

Acts 17:11

Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.”

I Corinthians 2:9-10 “’No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.’ 10But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God’s deep secrets.”

Acts 17:11 “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth.”

I’m reading a couple different books by Christian authors. One of them was recommended by a Christian financial advisor for people who are looking for a career change. In the goal-setting part of this book, under “Financial,” the author quotes the Psalm verse.

I don’t really have a problem with financial goal-setting in general. Somehow, though, the inclusion of this verse makes it look as though the author is implying that God meant financial prosperity for every person who trusts in him. And that doesn’t sound right at all. It sounds out of context. Then I read all of Psalm 37, and the overall message was that God will cause the righteous to prosper and the wicked to fail. Hmm. I’ll have to think and pray about that some more.

The other book talks about what heaven is like, only the author describes heaven in a different way than I’ve ever heard it described. He said that many authors will quote I Cor. 2:9 as their way of supporting the idea that we can’t know what heaven is like, but this author continues with v. 10 to support the idea that God has revealed heaven to us and we can know something of what it’s like.

With both books, now, I’m reading them side-by-side with an open Bible, so I can check the context of the verses they quote. I want to be sure they’re interpreting Scripture in a way that doesn’t misuse God’s word. Especially with the book on heaven, it’s too important a topic to go along with an author who might be getting it wrong.

How trusting are you of Christian authors? Is there something you need to be checking against Scripture, especially in context? If you’re in doubt, ask the Lord to reveal his meaning and his will to you by the Spirit. He will give you wisdom, if you ask.

May we all be like the Bereans.

Brenda

Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

I Timothy 6:17b “But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.”

When I got the news that my father had passed away, I knew I had to go, but I couldn’t bear the thought of flying up to Montana. It would have made his death seem too real too soon. So I decided to drive—2,600 miles in two days.

I spent those two days alone with the Lord and the changing scenery.

The drive from Southern California to Las Vegas was familiar, with its washed-out brown hills flanking flat, dry valleys. After Vegas, the terrain was new to me. Dry brown turned to dry red. Sparsely scattered scrub brush turned to pale grass and later to trees dotting green hillsides, and eventually snow-dappled mountains.

At each change in the scenery, my heart breathed, “Lord, it’s beautiful!” Even when I got pulled over for speeding, when the state trooper went to his car to check my registration, the Lord had a meadowlark sing for me. And the tears ran down my cheeks at that sound of Montana’s state bird, which I hadn’t heard in years.

God is good. Always and in all ways. He created this earth for us to inhabit and enjoy. And even though mankind has fallen—and nature with him—this world is ours to enjoy and to thank and praise Him for.

What beauty and blessing is around you that you need to see and appreciate? Open your eyes and let your heart breathe praise to the Lord.

Brenda

Psalm 139:16

Psalm 139:16 “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.”

Micah 6:8 “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

A year ago, my dad called and got the ball rolling on a family reunion for this summer to celebrate my parents’ fiftieth anniversary, which was this past Christmas. This would be the first time my brother, sister and I would be together in twelve years. We compared work and kids’ school schedules and picked the end of June for everyone to go to my parents’ house in Montana.

On Memorial Day weekend, about a month before our reunion, I got a call from my sister that my dad had died suddenly. He hadn’t even been sick. The autopsy showed no stroke, no heart disease, no cancer. There was nothing wrong with him except that his heart stopped.

We had no idea that his death was coming. And yet, God knew. He knew every single day of my father’s life.

I knew my father as a wonderful, Christian man, a man who enjoyed life, who listened, and who asked probing questions that helped me work through the issues that concerned me. And he was so much more that I don’t have room to write.

At the memorial service, the church was full. People came from their little town, from the city an hour away, and from the bigger city three hours away. One woman even flew in from Australia to honor and remember my dad. For them, my dad had a servant’s heart, helping the church janitor with the cleaning, helping an alcoholic to stay sober, and helping the woman from Australia to heal from a broken childhood and learn what a godly marriage looks like. He touched so many people in his quiet way and radiated the love of Jesus in all he did.

My dad acted justly, he loved mercy, and above all, he walked humbly with his God. I pray that, when my life here on earth has ended, this is what people might say about me. And I pray this for each one of you as well.

Brenda