A STAR Moment
BY now you – those who actually read these weekly missives – ought to be familiar with one of my favorite catch-phrases, A STAR Moment; taking a time-out to Stop, Think, Assess, and Reflect. (There is a long list of “R” words that could be used here.) https://captivethoughts.net/time-out/
Today’s posting is one of those “Star Moments.”
WE’VE just completed Chapter 49—Reckoning in Galatians 2:20in our reading through The Complete Green Letters. Before we proceed to Chapter 50, I’d like to share a personal reflection.
READING the next chapter is another rich dip into the warmth of our Lord’s healing pools of love and truth. It is hard for me to know how many or who may be reading this blog. There is a website statistical data review that runs in the background, but it doesn’t provide much detail. There are occasions when some of you have commented or responded to what I’ve conveyed. But it’s a rare event when that happens. Never-the-less, I am grateful if only one takes the time to muse upon these things. But even if it were none, that would still be okay too. You see, there is one who does benefit from all this, and that is me. This is a discipline that draws me to a book I value greatly, have read and reread many a time, and enjoy going back each time to another reading and mediation in order to share it with others – even if there are “no others” out there. I read recently that one recommended activity within the Spiritual Disciplines is journaling. In a way, this is what I’m doing here as I journal on through my Lessons from the Garden.
However, it saddens me when I see individuals struggling, or more accurately, succumbing to their struggles.
ON the other hand, however, it saddens me when I see individuals struggling, or more accurately, succumbing to their struggles. We are going to struggle and have difficulties on our journey to the kingdom, that ought to be obvious and clear by now. If you’ve spent any time reading through the pages of Scripture, or these Lessons from the Garden, you know “that gardens just don’t happen!” James warns us to be prepared, even welcome our earthly trials. But being overwhelmed, defeated, driven to despair is not a welcoming matter. How often in counseling have I looked into the eyes of a troubled soul and said, “It doesn’t have to be this way.” Decisions have consequences, and Galatians 6:7 is an axiom we simply do not like to entertain, let alone embrace: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”
WHEN we think of the Spiritual Disciplines, why do so many think they are unnecessary? Why do so few practice them with any degree of diligence? I served on a session – a group of overseeing elders – that were shepherding a chapel work in another state; four teaching elders (pastors) and myself. I recall when on a conference call, discussing various issues within that body our conversation diverged to the lack of Spiritual Disciples manifest in each problem area. It is a lost art that needs to be recaptured. When we get to the next chapter, Chapter 50—Reckoning in Philippians 3:10, we will find these lines in the opening,
“The key to knowing the Lord Jesus here and now is the Word of God. We can learn about Him through our general study of the Scriptures, but we can only get to know Him personally by feeding upon Him therein. In our devotions, we should concentrate on the Living Word as revealed in the written Word. In this quiet fellowship, we study Him in Scripture in dependence upon the Spirit of Truth. We get to know Him as we meditate upon Him in the Word, both as He was on earth and as He is in glory—observing His character (attitudes, actions and reactions), listening to Him speak, speaking to Him, responding to Him, loving and trusting Him.
WHAT words jump out at you there? Go back and reread it. The words I would point you to and underline are: “know Him personally,” “feeding upon Him,” “quiet fellowship,” “meditating,” “observing,” “listening,” “speaking,” and “responding.” How do these words align in the patterns of your daily experience?
BELOW is a devotional I read to the CCA middle school on the last day I had them in Bible Study, capping off my closing comments. It was primarily aimed at the graduating 8th graders. There is a line that reads: “That we should always trust God’s heart — when we cannot understand His hand.” The question I posed to those young hearts and minds – I pose to you right now. How can I trust the heart of God, if I do not know the heart of God? Jesus said the reason for coming was not just to save us from our sin, but that “…this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
Well, with all that, below is today’s mediation and Lesson from the Garden. Next posting we will get into Chapter 50, Reckoning in Philippians 3:10.
In the inexorable riches of Christ,
Joe
Neh. 8:10, Isa 30:15, Jas 1:2; Prov. 21:30
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The key to many of the painful or mysterious providences
JR Miller
“You do not realize now what I am doing — but afterward you will understand.” – John 13:7
Like many of Christ’s other words — this saying of His has a much wider application than its primary reference to Peter’s perplexity. It furnishes the key to many of the painful or mysterious providences of our lives. We do not understand them at the time. We do not see how they can have any blessing in them for us. They seem altogether dark. But we have no right to judge of our Master’s work in us, or with us — until it is finished. “You do not realize now what I am doing.” How could we be expected to understand all the Master’s transcendent thoughts and plans?
Yet this is not the end. “Afterward you will understand.” This mystery is to be explained. This perplexity is to be resolved into the clearness of noonday. You do not understand now — because you cannot yet see the end — you cannot perceive the blessing and the beauty. The Master Himself knows just what He is going to bring out of each mysterious work of His — and therefore He is not perplexed.
Jesus assures us that “Afterward you will understand.” We shall see the tangles resolving into lovely grace and beauty!
What is the lesson? That we should always trust God’s heart — when we cannot understand His hand. No doubt, divine love and infinite wisdom has planned all His ways with us. No doubt, there is blessing in the outcome, as it lies now in God’s mind. No doubt, we shall see the blessing, too, afterward!
