Life on the Ponderosa…

The overwhelming force of logic that demands it’s way into my frame of mind leaves me with no choice but to gaze into the eyes of truth.  A truth that has been present for all time yet finds itself brushed aside by the sweeping hands of fear and apathy.  A truth that is now and will forever will be echoing it’s claims throughout the halls of history.  A truth that simply states… He exists.  This truth leaves me in awe.  God leaves me in awe.  I am simply and utterly left in awe by the sheer overwhelming power of His grace.  And it feels good.

Fishing.  Ever been?  I’ve been a few times, never caught anything worth telling stories to the grandkids about.  Well I went fishing a few weeks back and got bored after literally twenty minutes or so.  I wasn’t really dressed for the occassion and the idea of catching something had lost it’s luster.  So my buddy and I sat on the bank of this huge lake discussing what the next plan of action was.  Now let me give you a little history on this buddy of mine.  He took swimming lessons all growing up, he was a lifeguard for about five years and now he works for the coast guard…  He’s practically a sea creature.  So his idea of fun was to swim to the other side of the lake, which was roughly five or six-hundred yards to the other side.  Me being the man of integrity I am, I was not about to have any part in such an adventure.  Five minutes later… we were making our journey across the dark liquid plane.  As I said earlier, I wasn’t dressed for any outdoor occassion.  So I was swimming in pants.  Let me tell you something.  Don’t swim in pants.  Don’t swim in pants in a swimming pool let alone across a deep, dark lake filled with who knows what.  Why you ask?  Because it’s quite difficult and you get really tired really fast.  Now just as a side note, I’ve been running almost  an hour everyday for well over a month now.  I assumed that my swimming abilities were up there with my running endurance.  I assumed wrong.  Half way into my quest I quickly realized the possibility of drowning.  I was exhausted and wondered what is was inside young men that compelled them to do such things.  Anyways, I reached the other side and found myself facing a wall of rock and dirt, too steep for me to crawl out of the water onto.  In addition to this conveniently placed wall of my demise, the water was still way to deep to stand.  So although I had indeed made it across, I had no resting place to catch my breath.  I was still swimming.  Meanwhile my friend was just coasting around wondering what my problem was.  So long story short I took my pants off, let them right there, and swam back.  I liked those pants.  Now some sea monster is wearing them in mockery of my struggle. 

I thought this was humorous but  I also found it practical.  So I used it as an anology in a lesson I taught my youth group.  Isn’t it so strange how we can cling to things in life that do nothing but weigh us down?  Life is a struggle and we make it harder on ourselves and those around us when we grip the temporal meaningless stuff when all we should be doing is clinging to the rope which Christ has provided us to not only stay above water, but eventually make it to shore and climb out of this world.  I had to lose my pants to make it across this lake, a small sacrifice to some but to me… I like those pants.  In life, there must be a willingness to make sacrifices if it means pulling us out of our selves and into a life of submission to His word and to His glory.  I’m glad I let go of my pants in that lake cause I was going down had I not.  And I pray I have the strength to let go of the big stuff in life if I am in any way going down because of it.

I know a man.  This man was on his way to hell.  For fourty-three years this man’s life has produced no evident fruit, has had no desire to change, and certainly has had no belief in God… until now.  God in his infinate wisdom felt it right to allow this man’s life to crumble.  You see, despite his being lost, despite his lack of repentence… he loves his wife.  The same wife who just recently felt the need to pack up her things, take their three children, and leave for good.  For the last sixteen years this man has lived with the woman of his dreams but now he lives alone.  No wife, no kids, no love.  I have had countless hours of one-on-one time with this man only to see him, time and time again, burst into tears in regret of his actions, in fear of the future, and in loss of hope.  I could sit here and type out a list of the countless verses I have shared with him, of the times I have given my testimony, of the prayers I have said, or even of the hours I listened to him cry.  But I won’t.  I can’t.  What’s going on here goes far beyond anything I can see or understand.  This man smiled at me yesterday and told me “God is good”.  GOD IS GOOD!   A toal hethan who just had his idols ripped from his heart looked me in the eye and with a smile told me that God is good.  That is nothing less than the grace of God working in this man’s life.   He used to bring a self-help psychology book to work but now he says those books are worthless and he needs to read a real book, the only book, the book that gives life, the book that has promises kept and salvation in store.  The Holy Bible.  This unsaved man who for fourty-three years chose to spit in the face of an Almighty God  is now reading the bible and learning of what faith is.   This man has recognized something many Christians sadly fail to remember… God is good.  Many believers fail to see God through their hard times yet this guy has come to find God in his.   According to scripture, because this man professes a desire to serve Chirst, a trust in God and a repentence of his life of sin… he is saved.  Only time will tell as to what extent the Holy Spirit has worked on this man’s heart, but it’s quite evident to see here and now the miraculous work of God.  In the words of my hethan friend… God is good.

I know a man.  This man was on his was to hell.

While Genesis 3 is an introduction of sin into the life of all mankind, it is also the introduction of hope… 

Romans 3:23 says “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.  This clearly states man’s innate sinful nature.  ALL have sinned, not some, not most but ALL. 

Romans 6:23 says “For the wages of sin is death…”   We see in Genesis that God was indeed merciful in His judgment of their sin because he allowed Adam and Eve to live.  The rest of Romans 6:23 says “… but the gift of God is eternal life.”  This is a promise of eternal life through the gift of God’s son Jesus. 

Genesis 3 is indeed the sad depiction of the fall of mankind into sin, but it is also the beautiful depiction of our need for a savior.  Thus begins our hope in a way out of eternal judgment and into eternal life.  This way out is Jesus Christ.

I find it encouraging how all thoughout scripture, regardless of the time, book, setting or events, we are pointed towards salvation through a relationship with Jesus.  God is so merciful for giving us His word that we may find Him and the hope of spending eternity by His side. 

So imagine you are holding a bee hive.  Now imagine you, for whatever reason, decide that it would be a grand idea to smash that bee hive on the ground right in front of you.  The outcome of such a scenario would be uncomfortable to say the least.  Well my day at work was indeed uncomfortable.  There were no bees involved but there were a bajillion mosquitos.  My knowledge on mosquitos is limited, so I am unaware of how and where they live but I now know that they have anger issues.  Especially when they are in large numbers.  I say this because I was swarmed, yes swarmed, by tons of these little buggers today!  The best way to describe this was the analogy of the bee hive I just gave.  They were everywhere and they were not happy!  The intensity of their rage was overwhelming.  Each time I clapped my hands I killed a good four or five!  Now mosquitos are normally nothing more than a minor irratance but this… this was epic.  If I had a can of bug-spray, or a hand grenade, they would have been sorry.  Moral of the story is… well I don’t have a moral really.  But this just felt like a good thing to share.  Seriously though… if I had a grenade…

Yesterday I failed.  I failed to bring Him glory through all that was done.  I failed to be a light where there is darkness.  I failed to be the representative of His kingdom that I am called to be.  And although He knows of my failure, I know of His grace. 

I feel I am able to portray my story and make my point without going into too much detail, so I will refrain from doing so.  Jumping past the fall to my regret of the incident, I can say I felt ineffective as a soldier for Christ and certainly unqualified to share His gospel.  No sooner than these feelings had arrived, so did numerous words of encouragement; “lead, press on, grow, overcome, learn, represent”.  As my mind was flooded with such words I immediately felt relieved of my burden.  I was experiencing the extent of my God’s forgiveness and the intesity of His grasp.  It was so clear how vital it is that I don’t stop in my walk to dwell on the act, but that I continue on a learned believer growing in my faith only by His grace.  Mindful of past stains yet focused on the future glory to be brought before His throne through obedience.  How these words echoed in my mind throughout the rest of the day, “At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away…”.   All we will ever be.. is recipients of His grace.

Its amazing to experience first-hand the radical changes that take place within once scripture becomes a daily dose of life.  The more I immerse myself in His word, the less I desire the things of this world.  My concerns fade, my focus narrows, and my mind dwells on treasuring Christ for all that He is.

I was working in the heat, tired, thirsty and hungry.  And a lady whom I had never seen before and did not even speak my language pulled out a grill and began grilling something in her front yard.  She fixed me an entire meal.  Before I knew it I was sitting on the curb enjoying a steak, hotdog, and an ice-cold beverage.  This was the best steak I had ever tasted.   It was obvious that she could not understand me when I tried thanking her for the food.  I have seen and experienced random acts of kindness before, but this one by far tops the charts in my book.  Completely made my day…

UNTIL… that evening I blew a tire on the way home from bible study.  I did not have any source of light as there were no streetlights, the car jack was junk and I ended up breaking it forcing me to lift up car manually by turning the jack lever with a pair of pliars.  For those who don’t know, manually lifting a jack with pliars takes FOREVER.  And to top it off, my cell phone had no service.  So I was alone, blind, tired, dirty and frustrated.  I ended throwing the jack into the woods after I FINALLY got my spare tire on.  The whole process was about two and a half to three hours.  I got home at one thirty in the morning and woke up for work at four thirty.  Completey ruined my evening…

Ok so I keep a small bottle of mouthwash in my car for those everday situations such as after eating or when I just feel the need for less stank in my mouth.  I got off work today at around four o’clock and hopped in my car for my lovely hour-long drive home.  I had just eaten so I grabbed this bottle of mouthwash and popped it open to take a swig.  Had I realized that this little fella had been baking in the heat all day, I may have chosen otherwise.    So I swig this mouthwash/molten-lava and immediately regret my decision.  In stead of spitting it all over my car I kind of accidentaly swallowed a bunch of it, which in turn caused me to cough and gag.  Let me tell you, gagging on mouthwash the temperature of the sun is no walk in the park.  It burns and slightly resembles being sprayed with mace given that at this point it was coming out of my nose and burning my eyes as well.  I will say this, on the bright side, I have learned a valuable lesson from my little mishap today.