R.S.V.P.

Scripture:

" 'Let all who are simple come in here!' she says to those who lack judgment". -Proverbs 9:4

AND

" 'Let all who are simple come in here!' she says to those who lack judgment". -Proverbs 9:16

(This is not a typo)

You're invited to a party...no, make that 2 parties. Both on the same day and at the same time. One will take place at 904 Hilltop Lane and the other at 916 Hilltop Lane.

You need to R.S.V.P....which one will you will you be attending?  In order to decide, let's take a look at what each will be like.

1  Wisdom has built her house;
    she has set up its seven pillars.
2  She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;
    she has also set her table.
3  She has sent out her servants, and she calls
    from the highest point of the city,
4  “Let all who are simple come to my house!”
    To those who have no sense she says,
5  “Come, eat my food
    and drink the wine I have mixed.
6  Leave your simple ways and you will live;
    walk in the way of insight.” - Proverbs 9:1-6 (NIV)

Wisdom's party sounds nice, plenty to eat and drink.  And a promise of life, and walking in the way of insight.

Now what about Folly's party?

13  Folly is an unruly woman;

      she is simple and knows nothing.

14  She sits at the door of her house,

      on a seat at the highest point of the city,

15  calling out to those who pass by,

      who go straight on their way,

16  “Let all who are simple come to my house!”

      To those who have no sense she says,

17  “Stolen water is sweet;

      food eaten in secret is delicious!”

18  But little do they know that the dead are there,

      that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead. - Proverbs 9:13-18 (NIV)

 Folly's party will be wild, guaranteed.  She'll be serving "Stolen water" and delicious "secret food".

I hope you're able to decipher by now, that the invitations are presenting a choice that each of us must make. Whether to live for God and seek His righteousness or to pursue the temporary pleasures of this world (and miss out on the perfect plan (and abundant life) that our Creator has in store for us).

Oh, and by the way, both parties are going on 24/7.  That's right, we receive these invitations daily.  Every day we must continually face the struggle of walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh.

Matthew Henry says it a lot more concisely in his introduction to the commentary on Proverbs Chapter 9:

Both houses are built on the highest point in the city, presumably so that all can see them.  We all have to make this decision every day.

I've gotta go get ready.  I'll see y'all at Wisdom's a little later on...don't forget to R.S.V.P.

Directions To God's Place

Scripture:  

Psalm 100:3-4 

3  Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his;  we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

Question:

Living in a tourist destination, one often finds himself giving directions to visitors by citing entertaining landmarks because, they tend to stand out and attract people's attention when driving past.

I used to lived in North Myrtle Beach, SC.  When giving folks directions to my house, I would often say, go past Myrtle Waves water park, and continue past Planet Hollywood.  When the highways (the bypass and business route) merge back together, you'll pass through Restaurant Row...keep going until you see the Hawaiian Rumble putt-putt course (rated #1 putt-putt course in the world by the PGA of Mini Golf AND it's where they play the Masters of Mini Golf each year)...I think you can see where I'm heading.

Looking back, I probably should have considered myself fortunate, to have had my guests actually arrive after passing by so many "worthy" distractions.

Fast forward to our current journey away from temptation and towards a renewed mind, and abundant life through walking with the Holy Spirit (the subject of the posts on this blog).  What is keeping us from walking more closely with God on a daily basis? 

Answer: 

Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “23Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:16-17, "16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want."

Let's learn to call temptation what it is...a series of self indulgent distractions along the way to visit with God.  Think about all the stuff that we spend our waking hours doing that keeps our minds occupied, and by default prevents us from serving others in the kingdom of God.

In each case, I would be willing to bet that it is something that we as individuals have convinced ourselves that we need.  

• I need to sleep in on Saturday, because I'm tired from working hard during the week.  
• I need to catch up on (fill in the blank), because I've been too busy with other things
• I need to take a break from the hustle and bustle and just relax.

While these activities are often indeed physically justified, I wonder just how many times we justify an activity on the heels of temptation.  Remember, God never leaves us (Deuteronomy 31:8), we choose to walk away from him when we engage in self-indulgent behaviors.

Going Forward:

So, what if we examine what we are stopping off to see (or more preferably, what we are bypassing (and choosing not to indulge in)) on our way to walk with God.  Let's imagine that we received handwritten instructions on how to get to God's place:

There are two ways to get here:

1. Take the scenic route through the "big city" of Meboro...OR
2. Take the Living Way bypass around Meboro and all the "cool stuff to stop and see along the way".

If you choose the Scenic Route, it will take you much longer to get to where you need to be. You'll take Distraction Drive all the way through Meboro.  Pass Nap Masters Mattress Super Store.  Pass the Gluttonous Gourmetisserie.  Pass the College Football Hall Of Fame.  Pass the To-Do Voodoo Lounge. 

When you get to the end of Distraction Drive, there will be a stoplight.  Left goes toward Shadow Valley.  A right turn onto His Way Highway will take you through the little towns of Repentance and Redemption, before eventually merging onto the Living Way bypass .  You'll backtrack for several miles, as you seem to head back towards Meboro.  Be on the lookout for a gateway arch in the distance.You're trying to get to a road called Thanksgiving Turnpike.  Once you are on that road, aim for the arched stone gateway.(see the directions from the Living Way bypass below).

OR...

A much simpler, quicker way would be to veer off from Distraction Drive at The Great Transition, and onto the Living Way bypass. This will take you around the city of Meboro, and all its distractions. Take the first exit onto Thanksgiving Turnpike...after a short drive, you'll pass underneath a very large arched, stone gateway and then you're on Continuous Praise Court.

Park anywhere. Our Lord and Savior will meet you there.

PS - Don't mind the sheep.    

Thanks to Quinn Dombrowski for the fantastic image

Leftover Mess

SCRIPTURE: 

Proverbs 16:9New Living Translation (NLT)

9 We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

One morning, not too long ago,  I took leftover pot roast, rice, and carrots to work for lunch in the oblong glass dish with the blue top.  The top is not a snap lock and is merely a friction fit, which over time has worked its way loose.

When I typically transport lunch in my insulated lunch bag, if the container does not snap, I set it in so that I must carry the lunch bag horizontally.  Otherwise, I just strap it onto my satchel and it hangs vertically.

Before leaving the house, I'd taken great care to transport the delicious contents to the car, and had set it on the floorboard for the twenty minute ride to work.  

During the ride, life and its accompanying distractions made their claim on the priorities of my mind.  Before exiting the car upon arrival at work, I strapped the lunch bag onto my satchel and began walking toward the office.

After about twenty seconds, I realized what I had done, so I immediately corrected the orientation of the lunch bag, and carried it like a tray the rest of the way in.

I knew that when I got to my desk, and unzipped the lunch bag pocket, I'd find a juicy mess. Yet, I hoped that by some miracle, it had not leaked inside the pocket.

Of course, when I got to my desk, it was just as expected, and I spent the next twenty minutes cleaning the inside of the lunch bag, as well as all the other contents that were along for the ride.

What a mess! 

However, there was one redeeming aspect to this otherwise annoying experience.  It was immediately brought to my mind that this mess illustrated what happens when we get ahead of God's will for our lives.

QUESTION:

Have you ever felt like you were walking right down the fairway of God's will? You're certain that God has put you on course towards the next destination on your journey with Him.

Then life happens, and instead of pursuing God's plan for us (by staying in constant communication with Him through prayer and the reading of His Word), we simply get complacent. We think we know the destination, and figure we'll eventually get there if we simply keep walking (that might be a "man" thing, but for the sake of illustration...).

We get comfortable with our day-to-day routine of our new path, and before we realize,  we are veering off into another venture.  Or worse, we begin accelerating our action, thinking if we work harder towards the goal that God has placed before us, we will succeed more quickly. 

How ludicrous is it that we think we can accomplish something quicker than what God has planned (than what he has preordained)?

ANSWER:

Proverbs 16:9 tells us, "we make our plans, but (it is) the Lord (that) determines our steps".  Yet, we seem to always get it backwards.  We think the Lord determines the course (or destination), but we plan our steps...and we are wrong!

God seeks everyday communication (communion) with us (His creation).

It is important to have a continual conversation with God. My grandmother taught me that from a young age.

"You can talk to God all day long.  If you get a good parking spot at the grocery store, tell God thank you."              

 - Emily Theola "Mema" (Humphries) Ammons

If you and your best friend were riding on a cross-country trip, and he was navigating from the passenger seat with a map (not a gps), would you ignore him for the last 3/4 of the trip? No.

And if your friend noticed that you made a wrong turn, and was attempting to turn the radio down so that he could inform you of your mistake and suggest a course correction, would you turn the radio back up and say,"I love this part!". Maybe, but even a good friend would eventually turn the radio off and tell you what you needed to hear.

And, there you go.

Going Forward:

When I pray the Lord's prayer, I often pray "...and lead us not to the point of trial that you would require to get our attention..."

Lord don't let us drive to the end of this road, only to discover a "road closed" sign. If we have to turn around after traveling so far, we'll certainly run out of gas and be in a mess, trying to get back on the right track.

And now back to the messy lunch bag analogy...

We set out with the knowledge that our steps must be taken with certain provisions in mind (we must keep the leftover dish inside our lunch bag in the upright position).

When we get distracted, or forget what we decided when we set out, we'll often create a real mess for ourselves.  We need to continually remind ourselves of the most important detail, which is the goal of what we are trying to accomplish (getting that pot roast into the fridge at work without spilling any of it along the way due to carelessness).

When God blesses us with an opportunity to serve Him, let's continually remind ourselves of the goal of serving Him.  

He knows the way, and will determine our steps.  We'll receive peaceful instruction via God's Holy Spirit, if we seek His guidance each day before setting out.

And, perhaps more to the point of my journey, and the struggles reflected in this blog, let's not be so quick to expand upon the opportunity that God has put before us.   In choosing to pursue other things that we may be interested in, or that seem (to us) to fit into God's plan, we may begin walking ahead of (or worse,  away from) God's will.

I've chosen to start Parallelables, because I felt called into service by our Lord.

In the process of learning how to start a blog however,  the entrepreneur in me wants to blog about several other subjects alongside. Meanwhile, parallelables are still sitting in "rough draft purgatory".

This doesn't mean we can't do lots of things for God. It means, we should test everything we do through the filter of "is this what God would have me to be doing right now?"  Or put another way, by one of my new favorite preachers (Pastor Brian Biggers - The Lamb's Chapel in Haw River, NC), "Is this flesh or is this Spirit?" 

So, talk to God often...every day. Ask him to guide and direct your steps. The closer you get to Him, the more clearly you'll be able to hear His voice, when He let's you know you've veered off track. 

Thank you Lord for always being close to us. You've said that you will never leave us nor forsake us, and we're gonna hold you to it, by checking in every day to see what you have to say.

Light Unto My Path

Scripture:

Psalm 119:105 (King James Version)

105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

After wrapping up the dinner/bath/book/bed routine with the kids, I started out on my 3-lap walk around our neighborhood.  I had been wallowing in regret as a result of last week's backslide, and hadn't made much of an effort to reconnect with God since then.  

Meanwhile, the inevitable, guilt-induced malaise had set in.  Realizing that then was the perfect time to come crawling back, I thought, "It would be nice to see what God is up to...I should check in with him."  

The Lord immediately laid it upon my heart that I should Tweet about repenting. I sensed that there were probably a few folks out there that may have struggled with their own "thorn in the flesh" this week, and like me were waiting to "get back to good" before getting back to God.

Again, it's so arrogant of us to think like that.  God calls the shots around here, not us!  When will we learn this basic concept?

Thus, this Tweet was born:

Getting back to "where you were" with God has never been easier: 1) Stop. 2) Turn around. He's been following you the whole time.
— Kevin D. Ammons (@KevinAmmons) May 29, 2014

I then prayed over the Tweet before sending it, asking God to bless the words according to His will.

I was immediately struck by the inadvertently omitted "step 3) Say you're sorry". I began telling God how sorry I was for having disobeyed. 

We should say we're sorry, but don't think that we need to say we're sorry in order to be used again by God.   Remember, He calls the shots (not us).  I explored this notion in another blog post entitled "Empty Canvas In A Room Full of Paint".

He graciously gave me the following illustration, and I am so thankfully glad to share it with you:

When I walk at night, I always carry a flashlight, allowing it to swing with my hand alongside me as a result of my natural gait.

God showed me that He (His Word) is a light unto my path...but, unless I make a conscious effort to hold the Christ light steady in front of me, the light on the path will come and go as I allow my arms to swing freely, naturally.

It takes more effort, and is counter to what the natural self desires (which is to have both arms swing freely as you walk), to put God front and center in our lives.

We must carry the light of Christ out in front of us in order to always be walking in His light. This is not to say that we can't be used by God as we walk naturally, with intermittent illumination; we certainly can. But, if we want to be sure footed (and even run), we should always keep His light shining on the path ahead.

THEN, God shared with me, that we could walk in the dark, and trust Him to keep us safe (I imagined walking around our house at night in the dark).  But, it will be a much more deliberate making our way through this world- this dark world- and will by default be much, much slower. We can't possibly get as much done for God in the dark, as we can in His light.

AND, God also brought to my mind 

1 John 1:7 (New International Version)

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 

God showed me the ambient light from the neighbors' front porch lights. During the times when I would pass these illuminated houses, my Christ light in front of me would not need to shine as brightly on the sidewalk in front of me...but, it shone with the same intensity nonetheless. It's just that I received help from those around me, to better see the way ahead.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, God also showed me the street lights placed intermittently throughout the neighborhood. These are milestones or highlights in our Christian walks. As mentioned before, we may not even need the light in front of us, as we pass underneath the bright light from above.

However, take note of your shadow that proceeds out of the bright light before you. Always be mindful of your shadow. For when you see it go before you, you know that you are once again entering the dark, and you better make sure to have your Christ light shining at the ready, lest your shadow disappear and leave you alone once again, attempting to find your way.

When we begin to take our eyes off the path ahead (back slide) during those easy times, we are acutely aware of the darkness around us.  We feel as if we are all alone as we slip back into the darkness rather quickly.  And for whatever reason, we tend to want to dwell therein (alone) for a little while longer, until we can muster enough courage to face God and ask for His illumination once more.

Question:

Why do we linger in the darkness as if alone?

Answer:

Because we don't fully understand that Christ has already paid the price for the guilt and shame of sin that plagues us when we are not fully convinced that we are His, and that He has redeemed us by His grace.

Going Forward:

We should always remember that God never leaves us nor forsakes us. 

Deuteronomy 31:8 (New International Version)

8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

When we find ourselves wandering in the dark, we simply need to re-position our "Christ light" to the forefront of our lives and keep on walking.

Thanks and praise be to God for his ongoing illumination.