Baloney Sauce

Psalm 120:2 "Save me, O Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues."

I am reminded of the words of Isaiah who confessed that he was 'a man of unclean lips from a people of unclean lips'. None of us completely escapes the temptations of lying and deceiving. We are all guilty of having distorted, misled, evaded, embellished, misspoken, withheld and doctored the truth. Just the sheer number of ways we can put it must be indicative of just how pervasive the practice of lying and deception must be. Why is it so hard anymore for us just to be honest and forthcoming about anything? Some of us fall in the broad category of occasionally not being totally truthful, others of us are just short of being pathological liars.

My dad had a term for all things untrue that he would use for impact purposes, back in the day when vulgar talk was not so common and lying was a character flaw and not an art form. "Baloney Sauce!!!", he used to say when he had caught me overstating or understating or not stating whatever was the real truth. The term still sends shockwaves of conscience through my bones. I wish we didn't have to be so graphic these days to make our points, but our tolerance for vulgarity is growing with our tolerance for baloney sauce. We are a people of unclean lips, Lord save us from our own lies.

I wonder if part of our difficulty of relating to Jesus comes from the fact that He is the truth and that fact is a little more than unnerving. Wouldn't it be exciting if for just one day or maybe we could only take an hour, a minute, or a moment of 'the truth being known'. Someday it will be. Everything will be revealed. Thank God not to each other and thank God for His grace when that happens. My encouragement for us today is that we ought to make some concerted efforts anew to stop the erosion of the truth.

Every arena around us is full of baloney sauce. Advertising is so dishonest and misleading, education can't accurately differentiate between fact and theory, politics couldn't possibly stoop any lower with its mudslinging and only the media itself is more suspect. Diogenes and Abraham Lincoln would be aghast at the lack of honesty in the world today. Why is it like this? What happened to common decency? George Washington at least could admit that he chopped down that cherry tree; we cannot even admit that we forgot to lock the door.

I think the biggest problem is that our barometer is broken. Without any moral absolutes or standards, we find it near impossible to gauge just what the truth or baloney sauce is at any one given time. Since the truth is what it is, why is it so evasive? In a 'value free' culture without firm foundations, we are slipping because there is nothing to hang onto. That is why it is so comforting to know that Jesus is the Truth. In a world that has seemingly lost its way, He is the Way. In a time when it seems like we are dying, He is the Life. You can see why He is also the Answer.

Therefore, we should all try this. Start small and eliminate all convenient lying and all deceitful gossiping. This baloney sauce is easily identifiable and blatant. You know the stuff. The stuff that we don't really need to exaggerate or understate or the stuff that we could fix by just not trying so hard to make ourselves look perfect or better than we are. Not only about ourselves but about others too. Why not just stop speaking unkindly about anybody unless it is to his or her face (and then please don't lie). You see my point. I don't think we try very hard in this area because it is just so common and prevalent to lie and deceive. Anyway, it is a start and I am going to make a new effort to set an even better example. Join me if you can or dare.

In His grace and without baloney sauce, Pastor Fred

Not Lost

Psalm 119:176 "I have strayed like a lost sheep."

For the last of the devotionals from Psalm 119, I must use the first sentence of the last verse. Yes, I like the Psalmist I sometimes act like a lost sheep. By no means am I actually lost, I know for sure I am found. But sometimes, I'll admit it because it is true, I stray just like I am lost. How is that possible? You see, when assessing our spirituality, or our walks with Him, we always find ourselves in one of three conditions. Remember, our position does not change, we are once saved, always saved (if we are for sure really saved in the first place), that is eternally secure. However, our condition does change, or our situation, or our orientation.

The three words used to describe our spiritual condition are... SPIRITUAL, meaning, 'in Christ', grace-oriented, found and victorious. Or, ASPIRITUAL, meaning, not 'In Christ', self-oriented, lost and defeated. OR, the condition that we don't think of very often but are more often in but don't want to admit it..... Carnal, meaning.... acting like we are lost when we are not. Ooooh, I really think we have something to learn here. The reason the world is not very impressed by the witness of believers is all the hypocrisy caused by our choosing of the condition of carnality exhibited by too many Christians.

The wonderful thing called ‘free will’ creates all of this in the first place. We wouldn't want it any other way, but wow does it ever make life incredibly fascinating. This is why Paul is so frustrated with himself in Romans 7 saying.... "What a wretch I am, the things that I want to do I can't do and the things I shouldn't do, I find myself doing."

Paul too, like the Psalmist, like the Pastor, like the readers of these devotions sometimes act like straying, lost sheep. Not because we are lost, but because we are, far too often, carnal. Now for some insight from English class. When we use the word 'like', Ahhhh... the simile. Remember from school? When something is like something else but isn't really that something else we use the word like as a simile, to make a comparison. When I think about how I am supposed to be like Christ, it pains me. I am very conscious these days of the distance between who Christ is in me and me. Let me be the first to say again how I know that I should reflect Him more accurately and sincerely. At the moment, I am under some conviction regarding that, and on that note I will humbly end this devotion with an encouragement. Be thankful for His grace every moment of every day and try harder to reflect Him.

Me too, Pastor Fred

A Perfect Seven

Psalm 119:164 "Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws."

When we think of a number that is perfect, we always think of 10. For me I associate this with Olympic scoring and with spelling test scores. I remember as a kid always trying to get 10 out of 10 on my weekly spelling test because that was a perfect score. More recently, I remember perfect 10's from Olympic competition especially in gymnastics. These amazing performances are memorable and noteworthy. We live in the western world though and the Hebrew influence on our thinking and number system is not very notable. In Hebrew culture, for the Jew, seven is the perfect number. There are countless sevens in scripture that symbolize God's perfection.

God uses the number seven in the Days of Creation, the last words on the cross, and as the example of how many times we should forgive when multiplied by 70. The word seven is not only perfect, it is symbolic of being countless or infinite. In the same way, that we should forgive like Peter was taught 70 x 7 times. (This doesn’t mean exactly 490 times). Here in this passage we are given the example of praising Him perfectly by praising Him countless times, by praising Him an endless number of times. "Seven times." You can't praise God too much.

We praise Him because of His righteousness, His perfection and how that is reflected in His Word, The Truth, The Bible. His Laws are perfect and are righteous because they reflect His character, which is perfect. Our praise should be perfect in its sincerity and in its intention and in our all out love and gratefulness for Him, who He is and what He has done for us. We can literally praise Him for everything. That should give us infinite and countless reasons to praise Him. When studying the Bible we should not always try to understand the words only, but their meaning too. Hope this gave you a fresh reason to praise Him.

Praising Him, Pastor Fred

Stand Up

"As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, "How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine." "Not so, my lord," Hannah replied, "I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief." Eli answered, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him."
I Samuel 1:12-17

The book of 1st Samuel begins by introducing us to the beautiful story of a woman of God who poured out her soul before the Lord in prayer. Her name was Hannah (Samuel's mother), and her name has many meanings and interpretations in the Hebrew language, including "grace", "beauty" and "passion". As you learn more about her, you will see that she was rightly named. Her story is about breakthrough - it's a story about intercession, it's about storming the gates of heaven in prayer, it's about obedience, it's about the privilege of being used by God in his plans and purposes when in the world's eyes she was a failure. Hannah had what many would call 'a raw deal in life'. She was childless in a society that considered not having a child the ultimate failure. A longing of the heart denied can cause much pain. Rather than allow her pain to cause bitterness towards God Hannah used the pain in her heart as a catalyst to pray. When you have time, I would suggest you read the entire first chapter of 1st Samuel, paying attention to verses 12-20. The difficulties for Hannah went on year after year...maybe five, maybe 15 - long enough for Hannah to become depressed, she was broken and wept often - and to make matters worse she was taunted by her husband's other wife who had children. The ridicule was endless, and her despair affected her relationship with her husband - Elkanah, her husband, couldn't understand the desperation of her soul in the midst of her depression. Have you ever been in a place like this? You have carried a burden for a very long time, and it seems that your prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling and no one really understands your pain. Have you been the recipient of the taunting of the devil, who puts hurtful judgmental words in the mouths of others, or whispers in your ear that you are a failure and that God is not listening to you? Have you been with others who just didn't understand what you were going through? How long has that difficult situation been going on in your life? We are considering Hannah by divine appointment for some of you reading this today because it isn't just a nice Bible story about overcoming depression or despair. It's about being desperate - people can be desperate about many things - maybe you've been yearning for the Lord to do something new in you, yearning for something more in your Christian life - maybe you feel dried up, stuck in a rut, you wish you could feel the excitement you once knew. Maybe it's been going on for years - you're fed up going through the motions. Maybe you feel barren. Maybe you're longing for God to rekindle your spiritual giftings inside you, but its been so long you may not even remember what they ARE~ Maybe you want him to give you a new ministry, to shake you up, to do something dynamic in your life. Maybe you've got such a burning desire in you to get closer to the Mighty God of the Universe, to be more intimate with Him, to go deeper in worship. Maybe you don't know what you want - maybe you're simply hungry and thirsty. Are you desperate for God to do something? How desperate?

In 1st Samuel 1:9 we find a very significant phrase - only 3 words - it says "Hannah stood up". Three little words, but they say such a lot. It says that eventually Hannah couldn't take any more - she made a decision to do something about her situation. This was a breakthrough for Hannah -- she stood up - she rose up above her circumstances - she took a step. Instead of staying in her despair, in her circumstances, she stood up and decided to pray to the Lord and with that came release from all the pent-up bitterness. With many tears she poured her heart out, "I was pouring out my soul to the Lord." (verse 15) I love this verse. I was POURING out my soul to the Lord! Have you ever felt this serious about your prayers? Hannah's prayer was true pleading to the Lord, with many tears, out of a desperate heart. She may not even have known what she was saying at that moment, she was passionate; she was bursting at the seams in intercession. Have YOU ever prayed like that? Romans 8:26 reminds us, "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will." Groans, tears, anguish, sorrow - the Holy Spirit helps us - carries us into the very Throne room of God at those times when we have no words. We need to feel things deeply as we pray - we need to weep sometimes, for ourselves and on behalf of others - it touches God's heart as he sees the depth of our desire, our burden.

Hannah poured out her heart to the only ONE that mattered- God, and she didn't even care if anyone else was watching - she says she was deeply troubled, in great anguish and grief. So distraught was she that the priest in the temple at the time of her prayers thought she was drunk and chastised her. Eli misunderstood her - he was at fault here because he accused Hannah unjustly. Sometimes we feel misunderstood and that we're being accused wrongly. We would do well to follow Hannah's example here - she didn't react badly or direct her pain and anger at attacking the priest- no she respectfully and quietly explained herself. It would have been quite unusual for a woman to correct a man, particularly a man of Eli's status - she addressed him "my Lord". Realizing he'd judged her wrongly, he then said to her, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him." Hannah then went on her way and returned with a peaceful state of mind and body after having spent time in prayer and unburdening herself to the Lord, receiving peace and a blessing from Eli, she felt much better and was then able to eat. Hannah came to the end of herself and realized that only God could give her heart's desire. She made a vow that if God gave her a son then she would give him to the Lord for the rest of his life. God granted Hannah a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the Lord for him". Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for "heard of God". In her prayer in chapter 2 Hannah says, "for the Lord is a God who knows". God used Samuel in a mighty way to anoint the first and second kings of Israel... remember who the second one was.... DAVID! God used the result of her intercession to ultimately bless His people and to bless us with the Messiah through the line of David!

Let us STAND UP like Hannah did, and rise above what is pulling us into despair. Let's determine to do something about it by taking it to the only ONE Who can change the circumstance. Let's be ready to pray at all times, and at times to pray with fervor and passion as our sister Hannah did. Let us POUR out our hearts before the Throne of our God. Let us also be quick to praise and glorify God for all that he does in our lives.

Shalom, sister Lahoma

God Lifts the Pressure

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Dolly Whitlock:

The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace. Psalm 29:11

In this Psalm, David begins by telling the "mighty ones" to give the Lord glory and strength, and to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

David then goes on to recount the strength that the Lord holds in His voice. The Lord's voice thunders, is full of majesty, breaks the cedars, divides the flames of fire, shakes the wilderness and strips the forest bare.

The Psalm ends with the good news that the Lord will give strength to His people, and bless them with peace.

What kind of strength do you need today? Physical? Emotional? Mental? Spiritual?

Are you lacking peace? What do you need help accepting? facing? forgiving? letting go of?

Lift your voice to the Lord as best you can, and ask. Ask Him today for strength and peace, and look forward to hearing the Lord's mighty voice in your spirit. Worship Him in the beauty of holiness, and feel the peace that can be yours today.

May Strength and Peace be Yours Today,

Dolly Whitlock

Every Single Word

Psalm 119:160 "All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal."

The way I chose this verse is somewhat interesting. As I read the first 8 verses of this section of Psalm 119, for the first time since I have been writing these devotions in Psalms since the beginning of the year, no verse was resonating with me and I felt like I didn't have anything to share. Not that all the verses in the Bible are not valuable and precious, after all, look at the verse I ended up choosing. Now read what happened and how.

I am sure that there are countless observations and teachings that can be sifted and applied from this section. But, literally I was stymied. So I turned the page to look at the next section and lo and behold there was one more verse on the next page, verse 9. Not only did it resonate with me because I was stymied and needed to be reminded of the value of the truth of every word of scripture, but it showed me again how I need to turn the page in life, especially when I feel stymied.

Isn't God wonderful in the way He shows us His grace and truth? I really wanted to finish this section and was almost rushing through it, because I have only a little time before my writing window closes. I was just a little frustrated and was ready to combine two sections or blow over this one. I thought to myself, no one will even notice. What a great lesson for me. Truth is on the way, don't worry, don't panic, don't try to work around it, just turn the page and breathe. That verse, by the way, has always been there. In every other Bible, I use it is not on the next page, it is on the same page. But, for some reason today, God permitted me to be in this particular Bible and to be in the positon I am in to share what I needed to share.

Let's make the most important point again. Every word in the Word is true, even if I can't see the profundity of it right now. Even if I am stymied, God's truth is not. I just need to turn the page, after all, the Truth is going to be there for eternity isn't it? Now for the really interesting kicker to the devotional today. Now that I am almost done with this devotional, I am rereading the first 8 verses and a whole slew of ideas come to me. Every verse and most the words are jumping off the page at me with rich illustration and special application. Hmmmm. What do you make of that? That means that we should more often reread a passage and that understanding the Word is indeed a spiritual experience and not just a matter of trying to do a devotional on the next section because it is the next section. I am glad that I can still learn, aren't you? As you read the Bible, take the time to be real with yourself and watch what God can reveal.

In His Word, Pastor Fred

Nothing New

Psalm 119:152 "Long ago I learned from your statutes that you established them to last forever."

The truth is not new. Sure, my growing understanding of it freshens up regularly and my faith in it and practice of it are ever maturing, but the truth itself has always been here. God didn't have to create it. He always has been you see and He is the truth. The truth is as pre-existent as He is. His truth has been here forever and will be here forever. I like to think like this because it keeps me looking at everything from an objective perspective. Doing so increases my faith.

Recently, I was thinking about the fact that I have been a follower of Jesus Christ as my Savior for more than 47 years. That is a considerable stretch of time. I haven't taken any breaks from that commitment over the years either. God certainly hasn't ever quit on me and other than a few fleeting doubts at times of testing my faith, neither have I. The same truth that I believed in originally is the same truth that I believe in today. My understanding is deeper and richer, but the truth is the same. He that saved me is He that still is guiding me today and by the same truth that will someday unite me with Him forever.

His truth not only does not change it also does not fade. The same truth that set me free is the same truth that keeps me free. The same God that began revealing Himself to me as a young boy and confirmed Himself in me as a young teen is the same God that is helping me write this right now as a man. He hasn't changed and His Truth has not changed. This is so reassuring. Everything else is sure in flux and up for grabs. Our wonderful country seems to be changing and not for the better. Our family keeps going through changes, but as long as we put Him first and rely on His truth, we will do what we should do, whatever happens. Our world is changing extremely fast too, and not for the better also. Everything but God and His truth is in flux. No wonder we should hang on to Him.

Grace Harbor Church and School are changing. People come, go, come back and even go again. People pass through, others take root, and at the same time, others uprooted and new ones planted. Just like in my family, as long as we put Him first and rely on the truth we will do what we should do too, whatever happens. My faith or feelings are not reliant on a stability that comes from any other source other than His truth. The same amazing God and truth that drove me to my knees as a young man and overwhelmed me completely is the same amazing God and truth that drives me to my knees as Pastor of Grace Harbor Church and School and still overwhelms me today. Nothing new at all about the truth. I indeed need renewal, just like you, but the Truth always stays the same. God is perfectly faithful and I am working on it. Keep the faith, my friends, based on His unchanging truth.

Still His, just like always, Pastor Fred

Hope Renewed

Psalm 119:116 "Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed."

In the ledger of life there are countless things that happen and we all have our own way of keeping score. I'm not talking about a point system with people, or grading everything, I'm talking about the ledger that affects our moods and our hopes vs. our dismay. To connect with the devotional thought today it would help to think in terms of something simple, like smiley faces and sad faces. We see them all the time, mostly these.... :) :) or the more elaborate ones like :o) or ; 0 }. Anyway, we get the other kind too... :( or, :0{ . Usually these are more thought than typed. In the ledger of life we tend to have a tipping point where either the smiley face or sad face things tend to take over our moods and even our lives.

The promises of God sustain us whether our smiles get turned upside down or not. For me, that is a principle that helps me each and every day. Almost daily, I remember the promise of God that says nothing is going to happen to me that either He does not permit, prevent or design, therefore I will trust Him. Today for example, I have been all over the spectrum of moods and feelings. Woke up ready to go, realized I had something to deal with right away that I dreaded a little, it turned out to be nothing. Got a couple of wonderful good news surprises, had a tense moment trying to get ready for what was coming soon, found out it wasn't happening. Had a strange phone call, got a wonderful letter, heard some more good news, heard of a very painful, troubling development, saw something truly beautiful, got some better news than I thought was going to happen, finished a longstanding project, had a great meeting, wondered what all this meant. Do you know this process?

For the most part, I don't try to take my pulse too often because of the amazingly mixed bag of stuff that happens each day. I try not to assess things too often or attach feelings all the time to the ledger of experiences. His promises always trump whatever momentary dismay there is and hope always eventually wins out. Let's say that again. Hope Wins. Did you hear me? HOPE WINS!!! You know what I mean. I read the end of the book and it turns out just fine.

I think it is good counsel here to almost constantly ask God not to let our hopes be dashed. He so often let's me see the bigger picture or sends some help or encouragement to show that He is for me, for you, for us. Soooooo, just like the verse says... 'I will live'. I am not going to die or lose it right now and I am not going to waste away. I am going to live and serve and flourish and hope and be sustained. I trust in His promises and no matter what the score is I will not give up, because whatever the game is, it is not over until He says it is over.

Somebody needs to hear this today. It is not over for you. He says so. Get ready to rebound. Hope will be revived. Help will come. Things will change. He will keep His promises, you will be sustained, and you will live. I see His hand moving in Grace Harbor, healing, touching, providing, restoring, transforming and renewing. God is in the business of taking care of everything. Don't rely on your scoring system, or interpretation of your ledger or what anyone else says. He is in charge, He will do with, and for us anything He and we can agree on. Agreed?

Amen and amen. Pastor Fred

Choose to Praise Him In The Storm

"I lift up my eyes to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip- He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm- He will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." Psalm 121

There is an amazing song by Casting Crowns called "Praise You in This Storm". Here within the phrases and stanzas and verses of this song is the heart of a worshipper both crying and singing in the storm to us to remember that no matter what it looks like, we can PRAISE HIM IN THE STORM!! What a wondrous place to stand, my beloved brothers and sisters. As the rain pours down your faces, mingled with tears at times, let the Lord remind you to lift your head and worship, praise Him, simply choose to adore Him from this place of brokenness and hopelessness.

It is in the midst of the storm that we hear His still small voice in such a special way in the depths of our souls that it resonates Peace that passes understanding. If you consider the words below, see how in the middle of this song, the Casting Crowns song writer quotes David from Psalm 121, and you can almost hear the cry of David's heart, a man after God's own heart, as he reached out to God and declares that his help (and our help) comes from the Lord.

Let the words of the song bless you this day, and remember, we CAN praise Him in the sunshine, in abundance, in joys, in sorrows, in loss, in celebrations, in victories, in despair, when you at the end of your rope, when you find yourself in a dark cave with no way out, when the
doctor has no answers, on a lonely dry dusty highway, in the midst of a crowd, in the loneliness of being single, in the midst of uncertainty, in the quietness of a hospital room with monitors beeping, in the crashing waves when you can't breath, at the side of a grave.... In the midst of the storm.

Shalom, sister Lahoma

PRAISE YOU IN THE STORM
I was sure by now, God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away, stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you" and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you" and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes onto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Why do you judge your brother?

Our Friday Devotion comes to us from Council Member, Alan:

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." - Romans 15:7

Romans 14-15 talk about how many early Christians had a weak understanding of the new covenant, continuing to observe old dietary restrictions and ceremonies on special days, and condemned those that didn't do the same. Others with a stronger understanding of Scripture saw no spiritual significance in those practices and looked down upon those that continued.

Paul explains to us that fellowship among Christians is not to be based on everyone's agreement on disputable matters. Christians do not agree on all things pertaining to Christian life, nor do they need to. Anything not clearly sinful according to Scripture should be guided by our conscience and personal conviction to do all in thanks and service to the Lord.

This requires us to be mindful of how we treat our fellow Christians when they do or say things we disagree with because we all share a common Christian heritage. I always try to smile politely and say a quiet prayer on the persons behalf.

"Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification." - Romans 14:19

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and one mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." - Romans 15:5-6

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
-- Alan