Contrasting Joy and Pain

I believe that the only way (or maybe just the best way) to experience great joy lies in our ability to contrast the current, joyful time with the darker, joyless times of our lives. If we don't have the perspective of dismal times, the realization of the good stuff is less pronounced.

In reading Psalm 66 this morning, I noted that the author was giddily focused on the joy that came from praising and serving God, but his perspective was then established in lines like this:

You have tested us, O God;
    you have purified us like silver.
You captured us in your net
    and laid the burden of slavery on our backs.
Then you put a leader over us.
    We went through fire and flood,
    but you brought us to a place of great abundance.

- Psalm 66:10-12 (NLT)

To me, this foreshadows Romans 8:28 and many other passages, particularly what Jesus said in Matthew 5 about being glad when people despise and lie about us because we're following Him (not because of our stupid mistakes). In the case of ancient Israel, their suffering often came at their own hands because of their stupidness, but in the end they found that God was standing there with great things waiting on them.

In honesty, do these promises lift your spirits when you're going through difficulty, or are they more of a "I'll believe it when it finally gets here" set of hopes?

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Not Shredding the Paper

We receive the Sunday local newspaper, for some reason. I think it's because we like to spend an extra few bucks each month. We don't even take advantage of the money-saving coupons within its pages, nor do we read Prince Valiant or the other killer in-color comics (do any of you actually follow Prince Valiant?).

I neglected to get the paper out of the driveway on Sunday of this week. As I pulled back into my driveway on Monday after taking my son to school, I noticed that the paper was not in its wrapper in the driveway any longer. Rather, it was in lots of shredded pieces in my font yard, thanks to my dog, who got more use out of the paper than we typically do.

Should I get mad at Hershey the Chocolate Lab for having done this? We never trained him. He's a typical, still-hyper six-human-year-old-that's-42-years-for-you-and-me Labrador Retriever-Based Mutt. He did what that kind of a dog will do. Should I expect him to politely refrain from attacking/reading our weekly newspaper?

I remember asking my dad for my own car when I was fifteen or sixteen. he told me something like, "No, you can't even keep this car [the old 1969 Chrysler Newport boat-mobile] clean or do maintenance on it." "But if it were my own car," I'd argue, "I'd take really good care of it!" My dad didn't believe me. He shouldn't have, either. He was right. When I finally got my own car, I kept it dirty and never changed the oil.

Smart dad! How'd he know I was going to do that?! He had seen my patterns of behavior. He knew I wouldn't do what I said -- he knew what the result would be. Do you ever think that this is why God doesn't allow us to have more responsibility? Are we ready for it? Are we walking with clean hands and a pure heart?

He may be waiting for the day when we can see the paper in the driveway and resist the urge to pounce on it.

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Crushing Peace

Talk about unusual-sounding statements...

"And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." - Romans 16:20 (NKJV) (emphasis mine) You need to read the preceding passages to see when and why God will do this.

I love that verse! This is completely weird, I think, but the promise contained in it makes me think of the following song. I am not making light of the verse in the slightest -- it gives me a great feeling and a great outlook. A virtual kewpie doll and a grand prize (I'll make a special "Ode to This Person" post) go to the one who identifies it first. I'm going from memory here, so you may also correct me on mis-remembered lyrics.

It's a good feeling to know you're alive;
It's such a happy feeling -- you're growing inside
And when you wake up happy to say,
"I think I'll make a snappy new day,"
It's such a good feeling, a very good feeling.
The feeling you know that...
I'll be back... when the day is new...
And I'll have more ideas for you...
And you'll have things you want to talk about.
I...
will...
too.

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If-Then

Emphases in the verses below are mine...

If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. (Genesis 4:7, NKJV)

And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised them, you must designate three additional cities of refuge. (He will give you this land if you are careful to obey all the commands I have given you—if you always love the Lord your God and walk in his ways.) (Deuteronomy 19:8-9, NLT)

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, [then] I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14, NLT)

"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matthew 6:14-15, NLT)

"But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.

"Which of the two obeyed his father?

They replied, "The first."

Then Jesus explained his meaning: "I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do." [this had to go over quite well with the chief priests and elders...]
(Matthew 21:28-31, NLT)

God makes conditional promises: "if you do this, then I will do this." I don't think that some of us really like to hear that, and therefore we choose to disbelieve it, often having a tendency in our minds to replace these conditional promises of God with the unconditional love of God, which is not the same thing. Do we read John 3:16 and take the first part ("God so loved the world...") without taking the last part into account ("...that whosoever believes in Him...")?

This is one reason I believe that many Christ-followers become lethargic in following Him, or even launch their new lives with built-in lethargy. There's simply no motivation when we think we can take the tail end of a promise (the actual promise part) without commiting to our part (the "do this" part).

I'm not suggesting that we can buy our way into heaven by doing good stuff (Ephesians 2:8-10 says that we aren't saved by things that we do, but by faith. Then we should do the good works that God has prepared for us). I'm just noting what I've often stated, that the new nature of a Christ-follower will progressively, readily, and visibly manifest itself in everything that person does.

Are we holding up our end of the bargain?

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