In today’s world the focus seems to be on “our differences.”  They are many ways people differ, of course.  From the way we look to the way we think to the way we act.  From the way we were raised to the way we raise our kids.  We differ in our tastes, our loves, our goals.   The list is endless.

But then there is this.  There is one thing that we all have in common.  We were born.  We were created.   We were  ALL created in the image of God.  Genesis 1:26 shows this truth.  “Then God said, let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

We all descended from one set of parents, Adam and Eve.  Christians, Muslims, and Jews can all unite behind that statement. For others, who say science is their god, science is also increasingly showing that the minuscule difference in our genetic code points to one set of parents.   There is really only ONE human race.  We are all one big and broken family!

Because each of us was created in God’s image,  every one of us has immeasurable worth.  And, again, according to Genesis 1:26,  each of us was created to be a ruler, first over our own passions, and then over creation.  

WE ARE DEEPLY BOUND TOGETHER BY SOMETHING GREATER THAT ANYTHING THAT SEPARATES US!

The entire human race is a family.  We are ALL related!  Family will fight.  Family members can be very different.  But family is family!

I wish the world would remember this.

THERE IS A SYMBOL OF FREEDOM RESIDING IN PHILADELPHIA THAT COULD TELL A LOT OF INTERESTING STORIES IF IT COULD SPEAK.  IT IS THE LIBERTY BELL.  IT’S INSCRIPTION READS

Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants Thereof”

SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE WE ARE NOT DOING THIS SO WELL BUT IT IS  A WORTHY GOAL!

HERE ARE A FEW FUN FACTS ABOUT THIS SYMBOL OF FREEDOM

• IT CRACKED ON IT’S FIRST RING

(Arriving from England in 1752 and weighing over 2000 pounds, it was purchased to replace a bell, brought by William Penn,  that hung behind the state house in Philadelphia.)

•   LOCAL CRAFTSMEN, JOHN PASS AND JOHN STOW, RECAST THE BELL BUT IT SOUNDED AWFUL!

(A public celebration with free food was scheduled to hear the bell ring but the crowd mocked the sound and it got recast again)

•       THE INSCRIPTION ON THE BELL ,   “Proclaim LIBERTY Throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants Thereof” is from Leviticus 25:10

(  Abolitionists adopted the bell with its inscription in the 1830s and renamed it THE LIBERTY BELL)

•   NO ONE KNOWS HOW THE CRACK IN THE RECAST LIBERTY BELL HAPPENED

(the crack appeared in 1846 but there are so many different stories ….which one is true?)

•       NO ONE ALIVE HAS EVER HEARD THE LIBERTY BELL RING

( It has not been rung since a birthday celebration for George Washington in February of 1846)

•       OVER A MILLION PEOPLE VISIT THE LIBERTY BELL EVERY YEAR

(My parents took me to see it when I was young.   Admission is free and you can see it every day except Christmas)

•      IT WAS ONCE INVOLVED IN AN APRIL FOOLS DAY JOKE

(As an April Fool’s Day joke in 1996, Taco Bell ran a full-page ad in a national newspaper and  said they had bought the Liberty BelL)

FREEDOM IS NO JOKE.  IT IS WORTH FIGHTING FOR….. OUR OWN FREEDOM AND THAT OF OUR NEIGHBOR.  LET FREEDOM RING!

The Liberty Bell in historic Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (PA)

Do you believe in God?

Do you understand the world?

If you believe in God, can you fathom how He is working in the world?

When I look around at the world we live in, there is so much that is anti-God.  So much suffering.  So much dishonesty.  So much selfishness.  So much death.  It is overwhelming and disheartening.

Looking inside is not much better.  I find all sorts of things inside that are just as distressing.

My lack of understanding can really get me depressed.

I am sure I am not alone in this, so I want to share a “ray of light” that has helped me.

The ancient book of Jeremiah, chapter 9, verses 23-24 says that I should be able to boast in knowing and understanding God. In fact, it warns against boasting in riches, or wisdom, or strength.  These are all the things men usually like to boast about.   But knowing and understanding God?  Really?  We are finite and God is infinite.  And yet I find comfort in this verse because God’s word says it is possible.

So how do you get to know and understand God?  I guess it is a simple but never ending journey.  Jesus, when He was on earth, says that if we have seen him we have seen the Father.  So getting to know Jesus is the same as getting to know God.

The world was a mess when Jesus was here, just as it is today.   And He had a lot to say about it, even though He taught us to live in a larger and more eternal context.   He says a lot about seeking to know God.  Jesus tells us to seek FIRST the kingdom of God, and His righteousness and that then we will receive everything else we need.

And yet, from God’s perspective, nobody seeks Him on their own.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

²  God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,2

who seek after God.

³  They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good, not even one.

         (Psalm 14)

And then there is Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, who set out to understand God.  In Ecclesiates 7,  this is what he concluded:

 See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out MANY SCHEMES.

 Many schemes??   LOL.  That sounds about right.  It pretty much sums up the world!  Man and his many schemes.

But we do not need to despair.

Jesus says that HE came to give life.  As He says, to give it MORE ABUNDANTLY!

CS Lewis described us as playing in mud puddles, and refusing a trip to the beach, because we thought we were happy in the mud.  But we are really not happy in the mud.  We need and want the trip to the beach!

Seek the  more abundant life!  Seek to understand and know God.  If you are discouraged, or confused, or exhausted, or fearful, there is an answer to be found.   We humans have big problems, but Jesus came to be the solution.

!

I always thought that Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, when he was preparing to face death, dreaded the physical pain of the cross.  But now I am not so sure ……

Think of the worst thing you have ever thought or done.  Do you remember feeling shame? Guilt? Filthy? What if the whole world knew? You will never be innocent and clean.  Have you hated yourself?  Have you felt that there was no hope of reconciliation with God because you could not even accept yourself?

Now multiply that by the shame and guilt felt by all sinners through all the centuries.  Think of all the rapes and murders and betrayals that have occurred.  Hideous things hidden from all but God.  All human selfishness.  All human evil, collected together.  The sins of Ivan the Terrible.  The sins of Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Franco, Pol Pot.

Imagine if you had to carry the guilt and shame of ALL human sin, not just your own.  Imagine paying the price of separation from a Holy God because the guilt of all of those sins were on your shoulders.

When the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross, and “became sin who knew no sin,” He must have felt all of the shame and guilt of all sins committed through all of time.  No wonder, He said “My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”  He was feeling the separation from His father because of all that sin, for He was no longer Holy in that moment, because He was loaded down with our guilt and taking the punishment for it, in our place.  In my place!

I think that is what He was dreading.  Yet if it were not for the sacrifice of my Lord Jesus Christ, my sin would now separate me from a holy God.  I would be doomed but for the fact that Jesus was separated and punished in my place. Isaiah 53:5 says,

He was pierced for our transgressions;

He was crushed for our iniquities;

Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

And with his wounds we are healed

The Cross is where human sin met Divine love.  The cost for our cleansing was extreme but holiness and sin can never mix.  Our sin had to be dealt with and paid for.   It was the only way we could have a relationship with our creator…the only way we could be in His presence, our sins covered by the blood of Jesus.

Am I thankful for Easter?  Eternally so!!

Jesus is the ONLY way to know God.  No one else shed divine blood FOR YOU.  Seek Him and you will find the highest TREASURE in the universe!

For your sake he became poor

2 Corinthians 8:9

Christmas has become, in the eyes of the world, about so many things.  But it is really only about ONE GIFT.

Jesus left heaven and became a poor little boy on this earth for us.  He gave His whole earthly life

for us and then died for our sins.  As Charles Spurgeon says,

“He descended from His lofty position, and we rose from the depths.”

God has given us the best gift – nothing I can wrap or unwrap could ever compare.  

Merry Christmas To Us All

The word LOVE was front and center recently, as Dr. Jill Biden wore it on her back.  Dr Biden says it was part of an effort to promote unity.   I do believe in love….and I believe in unity (though not at any cost)…….but I wonder if LOVE is really understood.  What is it, really?  Where does it come from?  How do you get it?

You can work a lifetime and accumulate great wealth, but you cannot buy love.   You may purchase acceptance and accolades.  Not love.

You can give your life to a good cause…..environmentalism or equality or a cure for cancer.  You can purchase admiration or gratefulness.  Not love.

If you have been gifted with an unusual talent or athletic ability, with hard work and dedication you may rise to the top of your chosen field and garnish much praise.  You can purchase notoriety and fame.  Not love.

If you are the smartest person in the room, if you can predict the future, and understand the mysteries of this world, you can make a lot of noise and people will listen to you.  You can purchase a following…but not love.

And yet, the ONLY answer for our poor lost world is real LOVE.

If you are wondering what real love is, I know of no better definition than what is found in the famous words of 1 Corinthians 13.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It ⁱdoes not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;² 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,endures all things.

8 Love never ends.

If you go with this definition, you realize that real love is not attainable within ourselves.  We are a self-seeking species.  On our own, we all must admit times when we have been impatient, unkind, envious, arrogant, rude  and irritable.

So where does real love come from?

1 John 4:7 – Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Real love comes from only one source.  It comes from God. That is why Jesus says “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have lovefor one another.”   (John 13:35)

If the world wants to find a way to dwell in peace, to care for all peoples, to help each people group to be nourished and prosperous, the ONLY answer is to turn to our creator and seek His love.   He can change us so we truly love others.  And when we truly love others, we will want what is best for them, as well as ourselves, and answers will be found.

As Charles Spurgeon said,

LOVE IS AN EXOTIC PLANT; IT DOES NOT GROW NATURALLY IN HUMAN SOIL

So what is going to happen?

It seems that the human race is deciding to go it alone.  We have decided that we were, in fact, not created.  We have decided that we evolved by natural forces, that there is no absolute truth, and definitely no God given moral law.  We no longer know what we don’t know.

1 Corinthians 13 also says that if we take all our knowledge, our powers, our achievements and try to solve the problems of this world without God and His love, we will be noisy gongs and clanging cymbals, but we will GAIN NOTHING!

Unfortunately, I hear a lot of noise…. a lot of gongs and cymbals.   I fear that nothing is where we are headed.

Some food is healthy and some food is not.  We all need to eat…but the actual practice of eating can help or hurt us, depending on what we actually INGEST.

Is it not the same with meditation?  What our mind ingests?   Can we meditate to calm our anxiety?  Can we meditate our way to mental health?  Exactly what is meditation and does it work?

Meditation can have many different connotations, some secular and some spiritual.

For example, it is a part of modern yoga where it has come to mean a form of mindfulness….an effort to increase one’s awareness by paying nonjudgemental attention to the present moment.

( Though yoga may help stress,  anxiety, and quality of life, there are studies that show that simple stretching may be  as or more effective than yoga in this regard.  I don’t think mandatory Yoga classes will solve the world’s problems…or yours.)

There are other forms of meditation –

Some forms of meditation involve an effort to “empty the mind”.

Some involve chanting.

Some involve focusing on sounds or visualization techniques.

Some involve breathing awareness or breathing techniques.

It is obvious that meditation can mean a lot of different things.  I would like to make the argument that, just like eating can help or hurt,  some meditation is helpful and some is harmful.

Soooooo…………..What is helpful meditation?

#1 – if your life is always in a drive mode to do more, be more, accomplish more….If you are always busy, then shifting from drive to neutral and taking time to slow down is helpful.    We were not created to always be in high gear, always in “drive.”  We were created with a need for rest.  Not just physical rest, but mental rest also.   We all do need to learn the art of  BEING STILL.

#2 – Don’t JUST be still.  God says to be still AND know that I am God!  No matter what the world says about how we can help ourselves or what we need, I am thoroughly convinced that apart from God you will never find true, lasting rest.  You were created by God, but also for God.  Just like I think a man and wife, deeply in love, were MADE for each other and are not happy apart, you were made for God and will be restless until you find your rest in Him.

#3 – Once you “come to your senses,” so to speak, like the prodigal son, and come home to God, begin to meditate or focus on the absolute truths that God has revealed.  Your mind is capable of being deceived.  It does need to be renewed, but only by ingesting or dwelling on healthy things.  You need to develop a worldview based on reality.  It is amazing how something very simple, like admitting that God is God, and I AM NOT, can bring a lot of relief to a troubled heart.  A restful mind is a wonderful thing to experience.  Center your mind on Your Creator, who promises that our peace increases as our trust of Him increases.

#4 – The media, in all its forms, and even some well meaning Christian leaders would have us focus on what is wrong in the world.  I think they seek to use fear to influence us.  After all, there is a lot wrong!  But there is hope.  There are solutions.  Our focus should be on finding the right paths forward.    The past is in the past.  It might be a good learning tool, but mistakes in the past cannot be undone.  We are commanded by God to actively look today for “Whatever is true and honorable.  We are told to hunt for what is JUST!  What is pure and lovely.”   These are safe things to meditate on and pursue. (Phillipians 4)

#5 – In keeping with dwelling on what is good, If we spent more time thinking about and honoring those who acted unselfishly, those who put others first, those who wanted to really solve a problem and not just use it to promote an agenda, I think our society would look very different.  Healthy thoughts and gratefulness produce one chemical response in our brains.  Unhealthy thoughts produce another.  After all, a cheerful heart doeth good like medicine!

So, yes, meditation can help (or hurt) your mental health away …  it all depends on what you meditate on!

Last week discussed the subject of anxiety.  That is something EVERYONE struggles with.  There may be days that seem carefree, but there are many that are not.  When I am anxious, I have found that often it is that I (or life in general) feels out of control.  I really like control, and I suspect I am not alone.  

Here are five activities that may give temporary help with anxiety.  

1.  Laughter – comedians, funny sit-coms, jokes, funny stories, or anything that brings on deep and hardy laughter can change your mood
2. Nature – a peaceful walk in a meadow or the woods can be very calming
3. Discussing a problem with an optimistic friend – if you worry a lot, you can get to a point where it is hard to be objective about things and another viewpoint can help
4. Exercise – there is a natural release of endorphins
5. A good nights sleep – it is amazing how a lack of sleep makes everything seem worse.

                                                                     BUT THEN

IF YOU WOULD LIKE MORE PERMANENT HELP WITH ANXIETY………..  THERE IS A ROAD 

This road can be long and it involves going back to basics.  It involves changing your worldview in the direction of timeless truths that have been rejected by the world.  It involves learning to think differently, and that takes time.

To start, go back to the very beginning.  According to Nancy Pearcey, who wrote Total Truth ( a book I highly recommend), we need to go WAY back.  She says that the Christian message does not begin with “accept Christ as your Savior”:  it begins with “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  The creation is orderly because He designed it that way.  The laws of physics and the laws of mathematics are nothing but a reflection of God.  There is nothing outside of His jurisdiction.  It is true that because of rebellion, creation is fallen and waiting for redemption, but His rule and beauty are still visible.  It helps anxiety to remember this.  

Sometimes I will gaze at the stars and wonder how all of the heavens just go on when I am in turmoil? But they do.   “The heavens declare the glory of God.”  (Type in heavens in a concordance and read the verses that come up)

Knowing God would NOT help my anxiety without knowing of His character and  His love for His creation.  He loves you!  He cares about what is troubling you, even to the smallest of matters.  His word says that He knows how many hairs are on your head.  Do you know how many hairs were on your head yesterday, or today?  

God invites you to know Him.  Read His word and learn.  Tell Him you want to know Him.  As you get to know Him, He can change your perspective.   When you do not know what to do in a situation, you can ask Him and find practical guidance and help.  Instead of following our own instincts, it is helpful to try and see things from God’s perspective.  He has a much broader view!  Why stumble around in the dark when you can turn on the light?  We can learn what is pleasing to Him.

 I will never like the feeling of being out of control, but in reality I am very limited in my ability.  Therefore it is a GOOD thing I am not in control.  Knowing who is and being able to ask for help makes all the difference.  Knowing that He loves me and cares, even when things seem dark and bleak, brings relief from feelings of hopelessness and despair.  It calms my fears.  

The world says there is no God.    But those who know Him are amazed at the foolishness of the world.  If you are uncertain, seek Him. ” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him”. (Lamentations 3:25) Tell Him you want to find Him and know Him.  There is nothing better than knowing God.   All real truth is God’s truth, and finding it will guide and guard you.

It is the only way to  bring REST TO YOUR SOUL