Taking Responsibility

So David said to Abiathar, “I knew that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I have caused the death of all the persons of your father’s house.  1 Samuel 22:22

David didn't literally kill anyone, Saul ordered it, Saul's guards refused to do it, and Doeg the Edomite carried out the order. And yet here is David taking responsibility for it. What was this terrible deed? The murder of priests of the Lord, the men and women of their city, and their children and infants, and their livestock. And David, anointed king but still serving Saul, takes responsibility for causing these deaths. What sort of faith does one need to have in the Lord our God to confess such a responsibility before Him? A man after God's own heart of course! 

May God lead us to take responsibility in faith,

Bucky

Has He Washed Your Feet?

Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”  John 13:7

We may flatter ourselves to think that we know more than Peter did in this moment of scripture for today. However, that may not be the case for all of us, perhaps even none of us. There is in the verse a promise, "but you will know after this." If we can set aside what we think we know, then Jesus can teach us what we need to know. It may take a washing of the filthy parts for us to get to that point. It took three years and some days for the disciples to reach that point where Jesus washed their feet. What would be needed for the Savior to be able to wash their hearts? 

Glory to our Lord Jesus, and His washing of filthy hearts... and feet!

Bucky

A Different Third Day

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  John 2:1

Of course it was on the third day! Here in our verse for today, we have a seemingly nothing verse on the surface - third day, wedding, mom was there. No big deal, right? Well, it wasn't just anyone's mother, it was Mary, mother of Jesus of Nazareth. The wedding at Cana may have gone down as a good time in the usual wedding way except for what follows soon after in the story. In fact it is this one little verse that sets the stage for the first miracle Jesus performed in His brief ministry. It was just such a miracle that allowed for the Pharisees to remain unbelieving by choice when they heard about it. For the servants who labored to fill the pots with water it was a time to testify of God's Son in action. For those who looked for the conquering Messiah, it was notice that they might want to look at the scriptures again. What sort of conqueror would stop to save his mother's friends from a little social humiliation? As we know, One who loved her and could make a little wine of course! 

No need too small for the coming King!

Bucky

The Word And The Tomb

For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matthew 12:40

Why rise from the tomb, we may ask, would not resurrecting directly from the cross have answered the chief priests with their wagging tongues about coming down? Not after the Lord Jesus gave His word though, which we see in our verse for today. The word of our Lord and the tomb became linked right then, and the task of Joseph and Nicodemus, two secret followers of Jesus from the religious leaders, became critical to the resurrection. That body was going from the cross to the tomb, and our Lord Jesus would rise from there, just as He said.

And from the tomb Christ arose!

Bucky

Difficult Waiting

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”
They said to him, “We are going with you also.” 
They went out and immediately got into the boat,
and that night they caught nothing.
  -- John 21:3

The risen Lord Jesus had told His disciples to go up to Galilee and wait for Him there. By this time in the gospel accounts we have figured out that Peter is not much for waiting around. Reading the verse for today, we can infer that the disciples arrived in Galilee, waited, moved to the beach, waited some more, and finally Peter could no longer stand it. "I am going fishing," he says. And the other disciples join Peter since by now they too are in need of something to do. Where was Jesus? Oh, probably waiting for them to get in just the right place for His arrival.

While waiting may be difficult, perhaps it is time to go fishing.

Bucky

One Journey, One Lifetime

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  John 14:6

Digging into the Greek in this favorite verse of many believers, I find that it could be stated as, "I am one journey...one lifetime." At this point in life, this is as comforting to me as the usual translation. So when the occasional nonsense comes up about time travel, then I know that with Jesus we only endure the one journey, and not several 'retries'. This boot camp to eternity will only be one lifetime and not several recycles. 

Recall the longest run you have completed, a marathon, half-marathon, or like me, quite a bit less, 5 or 6 miles. And it was a long time ago! Now imagine that someone came up beside you with most of that distance already run and offered you a restart, you know, go back and fix this thing or that way back near the beginning. You might consider the offer just a bit, but then you see the finish line. Nope and no way, ain't going back to the start now. That is how I feel about this life, my Lord Jesus and I have made it this far, let's just complete the journey. No more fantasies about going back to change those regrets, just walk with my Lord the rest of the way. 

Let us all finish the run with Jesus; one journey and one lifetime is just right. 

Bucky

Fast Cars or Slow Wagons?

The LORD is gracious and full of compassion,
Slow to anger and great in mercy.
  -- Psalm 145:8

When it comes to grace, mercy, and compassion from the Lord, we'll take the fast cars. However, for His anger we would rather have the slow wagons, preferably slow enough for us to get out of the way!

David wrote this psalm of praise to our Lord God from which our verse for today comes, and he would certainly be one to know about the slow wagon of the Lord's anger. David experienced both the fast delivery of the Lord's compassion and mercy, and from that one infamous trespass the slow arrival of the Lord's anger. So slow in arriving was the Lord's anger at one point, that David may have given in to thinking that the thing with Uriah and Bathsheba was no big deal to the Lord. But then Nathan the prophet arrived in David's court to tell the king a little story of a sheep.

Make no mistake, the slow anger of the Lord does not mean that He didn't see the sin. Take the fast car to forgiveness by way of repentance.

Bucky

What Is In Humans

But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.  John 2:24-25

A space alien dropping down to Earth might have some difficulty figuring us humans out. We help each other, we hurt each other; we give to each other and we take from each other. "What is in these humans that causes such opposite behaviors?" the alien wonders. The space alien connects to the Internet to do further research. Oh, no! 

Jesus in His time had knowledge of humans and what roils inside of us, and so He did not commit Himself as we read in our scripture today. Jesus knew those same humans who greeted Him with 'Hosanna!' on the ride into Jerusalem that day on a donkey's colt, would soon turn and shout, perhaps all the more loudly, for His crucifixion mere days later. 

You see that poor space alien might not be so flummoxed if one person hated while another loved, it is that one human can turn from hating to loving so quickly, or turn right around back the other way just as quickly. And all 8 billion or so of us have that same capability within us. 

Jesus has us figured out, while all us haters/lovers, givers/takers, makers/breakers, snakes and arrows (Oh my!) are still trying to figure ourselves out. I mean, snakes and arrows, where does that even come from?

Bucky

Many Have Followed

I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.  Ecclesiastes 2:4

Solomon tells the story of his great experiment; and in it he describes what many of us have followed. Our verse for today is but one small part of what Solomon did, but we recognize a life we dream of in our fantasies. Or, at least that is what the world tells us we are to seek in this life.  Between Solomon's writing and our own experiences, we have come to a similar conclusion. No? Some of us still want to pursue money and stuff? While Solomon did have a lot more to work with than you and I, we should still gain the same answer.

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done
And on the labor in which I had toiled;
And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.
There was no profit under the sun.  
  -- Ecclesiastes 2:11

In place of worrying over 'great', let us look to grateful for the bounty of the Lord!

Bucky

Well, There's This

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Romans 8:16,17

A sin from the distant past came to mind this morning, and I regret it and hate it. But, the fact remains that I did it. Sometimes in a book or movie there is this fantasy of going back in time to change a romantic mistake. However, for many of us convicted of the Spirit, we might rather go back to eliminate those sins that cause us the pain of regret. What if that were to be made available though? Without the pain of regret, would that person then think of himself as a pretty good dude without need for the salvation of the Lord Jesus? Praise God that temptation is not available, instead we have this from Paul in our scripture for today.

The verses tell of great things for the undeserving. And Paul in other verses reminds us of how undeserving he was in his prior deeds and career as a persecutor of Christ Himself. It is amazing to me that these things are not reserved for those who have led a perfect life - no regrets! But that would leave Jesus alone among those who have lived, and He did not die to save Himself. Instead we have an adoption by the Father of those who are least deserving to be called children and heirs. We have salvation in Christ by faith, and not of those works which often show up in regrets.

So, there's that in the love of Christ our Lord,

Bucky

Every Pure Word

Every word of God is pure;
​​He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.
  -- Proverbs 30:5

Our words can be a mess. We argue over what the author meant, or what the politician tried to say. We are victims of deception and tellers of the truth by words. By slang usage we even make words mean the opposite of their dictionary definitions. And then we add in homonyms, antonyms, and synonyms, oh my! But, every word of God is pure. What a relief! Which means...yes, we can take the second part of our verse for today just as it says, every pure word of it.

Put your trust in the Lord our God,

Bucky

Coming Quickly

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!  Revelation 22:20

These things sure take a long time... well, that was quick! While no one I think expected a pope to be elected on the first vote, it sure seemed to come about quickly on the second day. Of course, I wasn't waiting out there in the square of St. Peter's as the sun warmed my head. Many things appear to take quite a long time, until they happen and it suddenly seems so swift. Jesus told us much the same thing about His return all the way to the last verse of the New Testament, when He promises, "Surely I am coming quickly." The appearing of our Savior will seem long delayed until it suddenly doesn't. 

Look up! For your redemption draws near.

Bucky

Probably Not E-mouse

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.  Luke 24:13

Those familiar with the resurrection story in Luke or Mark will find this little village mentioned, Emmaus. In the day of our risen Lord Jesus this was most of a day's journey away from the big city. Why these two who were disciples, but not of the eleven, were traveling to this place called Emmaus is not written for us. The town according to the study guide is pronounced eh-mah-oos, probably not E-mouse, which is a bit of shame to an odd duck like me. Emmaus does not appear to have any significance in scripture other than to set up this fun story of two disciples who wonder that Jesus must be the only stranger in Jerusalem to not know of the things which have happened there. (Jesus, not know? Their conclusion boggles the mind!) It is the next story after Mary Magdalene, and then Peter and John at the tomb, when Jesus enters into what seems to be a period of fun where He pops into locked door meetings and vanishes from sight in front of these two traveling disciples. The fun has a serious purpose of course as our Lord is on a mission to break into hardened hearts and open blinded eyes...of His disciples no less! 

Pope watch: No joy yesterday, and no white smoke in the first half of today. They will have three or perhaps four votes today if a pope is not selected. 

Love in Christ,

Bucky

The Secret Chamber

Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines were there—about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed.  Judges 16:27

The big conclave begins today and many of us will be tuning in to the Vatican Live channel to watch. Nope, we know by now that it doesn't work that way. It is quite the opposite of the spectacle in our verse for today. 

In the age where it seems all meetings are available to watch on the Internet, this is one of those meetings that puts the 'almost' brakes on, as in almost every meeting can be watched. The word heard most lately has been conclave, which comes from the Latin for 'room that can be locked'. The cardinals electing the next pope, if there is one, will be locked in or the world locked out, depending on a person's point of view. The cardinals are even sequestered in Vatican accommodations and fed in a common dining room, no ordering Italian pizzas I guess. The first vote takes place on Day 1, but no one expects the next Pope to receive the 66% majority required on the first vote. 

For some reason, I have been fascinated with the process of the conclave this time around. I even watched the movie. The movie was dramatized of course, you might even say Hollywood-ized. There was an air of dramatic mystery around the Pope's passing and final meeting; a front-runner cardinal was found out to have benefitted from the passing and may have been demoted. Another couple of cardinals wanted the position, and so on up to the dramatic speech from the underdog, who, it seems... I'll not spoil the surprise. I watched a YouTube video by a priest who interviewed a cardinal from the last conclave, and the word on the movie was - very entertaining, but no, not at all. There is apparently no politicking involved, but lots of prayer, reflection, and above all listening for the voice of the Spirit of God. No one 'runs' for Pope, the one elected agrees to serve. 

It is almost hard to believe that such a meeting could happen in our world today. But there it is! 

And as always, you or I may not be Catholic in denomination, but we are part of Christ's church and we can pray. 

Bucky

The Big Conclave

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach... 1 Timothy 3:2

The papal conclave begins this week, and from this list I can see that I am not well-qualified. I guess that not one of the cardinals even knows my name in any case. However, as the pope is an important position in the world, we can and will pray for God's will to be done in the selection. Even if God were to not want anyone in that position? Hmm, I'll guess again that won't be one of the considerations. Don't blame the cardinals though, about every nation, kingdom, tribe and tongue seems to like those pyramidal org charts with one person placed at the top.

And so we pray,

Bucky

Another Annual Er-day

For of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. John 1:16

Another year has passed and I celebrate another Er-day, as in the one day each year wherein I must confess to being old-er, close-er to the grave, weak-er in body, and feebl-er in mind. Fortunately for me, while I may be slow-er in memory recall, I can rejoice in the Lord's Christ and His fullness, of which I have received. And also His grace for the grace I need to be with Him. Being old-er, I also stand less chance of admonishment for a bunch of dumb-er jokes about words with 'er' in them.

Have a bright-er Er-day in Christ our Lord!

Bucky

Yesterday? Oh, I proved my feebl-er mind by fooling around with my keyboard configuration until I couldn't type. As you can see, I got it fixed last night.