Jesus

Swimming Lessons

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None of you should think only of his own affairs but should learn to see things from other people’s point of view. Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be. Philippians 2:4-5 J. B. Phillips NT

 “He’s touching me dad! Our six-year-old suddenly yelled. Trying not to take my eyes off the road, I shouted back, “What’s going on?”  “He was looking at me!” came the squealing retort from his younger brother, who was smirking, and my wife would roll her eyes, trying not to laugh. Just like that precious memory, most of us have discovered that being a part of a family means more than just giving flowers for Valentine’s Day or taking mom out to her favorite restaurant on Mother’s Day. Being a family includes, putting up with dad’s smelly feet, listening to big brother snore and having to tell someone we are sorry because said something we shouldn’t have (again!) Some days it feels like we are drowning in conflicts, and we decide it is easier to avoid going more than ankle deep into the water. Now today’s verse doesn’t offer us an escape from the ocean of relationships, but it does offers us three swimming lessons!

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Lesson one: stop thinking only about our own affairs. Stop telling God, “My brother (or sister) is touching me!” Start realizing that maybe that pesky sibling feels lonely and simply needs someone to pay attention. Maybe that older neighbor who is complaining about all the noise our kids are making, could use a plate of homemade cookies and someone to sit and have coffee with them. Maybe that store clerk with nineteen tattoos and a nose ring, could use a smile, a friendly word, or a moment of eye contact to tell them they have value to someone.

Lesson two: “Learn to see things from other people’s point of view.” Yes, that even includes, Republicans, Democrats, Communists, Muslims, and (you fill in the blank). Seeing things from their point of view doesn’t mean agreeing with their world view, it just means looking out through their living room window. Maybe while we a taking glance from where they sit, we will see ourselves, hear the words we have spoken and walk a little differently down their sidewalk tomorrow. Maybe we will stop shouting, “He was looking at me!” and start really looking at them the way God intended.

Lesson three: Let Christ’s attitude be our example. While Jesus was being whipped in front of Pilate, He didn’t shout, “Father, they are touching me!” While He was being stripped naked and nailed to the cross, He never once complained, “They are looking at me!” And as He died, Jesus didn’t smirk thinking, “They are really going to get in trouble now!” Instead, He cried out, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus didn’t come to earth to get even with us, He came to make us family, and He gave His life to do so. For us to be members of His family we all need swimming lessons, and God in His grace is offering them to us for free!

Come and Rest

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And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. Mark 6:31-32 NKJV

Jesus’ invitation to rest must have sounded wonderful to his tired and hungry disciples. The busyness of the ministry had denied them even a few minutes downtime to eat. Though Mark doesn’t fill in all the details, it may have been that they set out late in the afternoon and spent a quiet evening sailing across the lake looking forward to a day snoozing on a faraway beach. But in the morning as they approached shore, the sight that greeted them was not at all what they had expected. Let’s listen in on what their conversation might have been:

“Wake up Peter! Hoy smokes! Look at all the people on the beach!” John blurted out. Peter, still rubbing sleep from his eyes, sat up and peered over the side of the boat and groaned.

“Oh no! You better go and wake up the rest of the guys. It sure looks like we aren’t getting the day off after all!”

Remember, these twelve men were just regular, nine to five, working guys. Though they had committed to following Jesus with all their hearts, their everyday mannerisms were not those of professional clergymen, monks, or mystics. That morning, I am sure they wondered what had happened to the rest Jesus promised. It seemed like, the needy crowd had thwarted Jesus’ original plans. Did He somehow get off track? Absolutely not! Instead, Jesus was showing them (and us) that real rest is more than just kicking back in our recliner or peering over the side of a cruise ship. The rest that God invites us to is about resting in the work that He gives us today. Whether visiting a sick friend or listening to a family member venting their hurt and frustrations, Jesus offers us both strength for service and rest for our hearts as we yield to His plans.

So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 
Mark 6:42-43 NKJV

Now, as we come to the end of the day, and we need to remember that the disciples had been invited to rest because there hadn’t been time for them to eat, and Jesus surprised them with twelve baskets full of bread and fish! Not only had He supplied plenty for them to eat, but with each bite they could also say: “This is miracle bread! This is miracle fish!” I don’t know what you are facing, but Jesus does, and He calls us to come and rest. But, as we come, we need to prepare for God’s unexpected call to service and be ready for the real rest and the greater miracle, that He has planned for us all along!

Three Times at The Lord’s Table – Part One

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You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5 NKJV

Even though sixty years have passed, I can still hear my mother loudly calling, “It’s almost time for supper Peter! Get a move on and set the table!” But in this verse, no one told the Lord to set the table. He chose to do so on HIs own, and now His call goes out us. “You who have walked with me through the valley of the shadow of death. Come sit down, it’s almost time for dinner!” On a side note, I learned from my years serving in a Brazilian church that this passage in Portuguese renders the first section of the verse, “You prepare a table before me while my enemies watch,” Reading that, helped me picture a banquet table set up in a green meadow lying just beyond the valley of the shadow of death. In the distance, hungry wolves watch as we are invited to sit down at our Shepherds table. They howl, remembering that even their most wicked attempts to destroy us have failed and that now they must watch the Lord feasting with us and then filling our cups to overflowing at His table! Are you in a dark valley right now? Take heart, our Shepherd will walk by our side in the darkness, and He has prepared a banqueting table for us to share in the sunshine at its very end.

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