Life – Page 7 – Pathway Journey

February 14, 2024March 1, 2024

And The Truth Is…

Have you heard something said, and realized that you knew the concept but had never put it into words? I have said this in the past, “Someone articulated a truth that I never had the words for.” We hear it and say, “Aha, that’s the truth!”

Some of the worst descriptive words are “this is my truth” or “this is what I feel is the truth.” How arrogant is that! Our feelings or thoughts are not the indicators of truth. Truth is not derived from the receivers but from the Giver.

February 6, 2024February 5, 2024

My Dentist Said I Was Stoic!

Crazy title, right?

After a lengthy dental procedure where my dentist did a root canal, then ground it down for the crown prep, plus filled the neighbor tooth, and ground it down for a crown; he patted me on the shoulder and said, “You’re stoic.” I forgot how long I was in the dental chair, but it was a while. When finished my dentist said it was hard on him and he was amazed that I didn’t move a muscle or make a sound. Perhaps I was afraid to move! Anyway, I was surprised by his comment, thinking maybe it was intended as a compliment.

January 26, 2024March 1, 2024

Looking Into Their Eyes

I have seen some pitiful folks in my time. It is not the ragged clothes I see or their crippled limbs, but their eyes that give me a glimpse of their misery and hopelessness. I believe every person was granted to exist by God; this in itself makes me know that there is dignity in every life.

Many choose to take a path that is not God’s best, but some seem to have it thrust upon them by poverty, abuse, sickness, or where they were born. I have come to know with more awareness and certainty of the dignity of every human being. I know Christ loves them just as He loved the women He saved from a stoning, the demoniac He delivered from legions of demons, and even my wretched soul.

January 4, 2024January 4, 2024

Problems and Such on Social Media

Back in my younger days when I taught high school vocational agriculture (now it is agriscience), we had district ag-teacher meetings about four times a year. I usually left more deflated than encouraged. Talking with my high school ag-teacher and mentor, Mr. Jim Turner, I told him how I felt about the meetings. He laughed and said, “Harry, some of those guys who are bragging about all the things they are doing, are probably not doing half of what you are doing. Just keep your head to the grindstone and don’t let it bother you.” It was great advice, comparison between good or bad is not healthy in either direction.

Today we have social media. Most postings on social media usually fall under one of two categories: how great someone’s life is or the severity of their problems. I am not saying either should not be posted, that is a personal preference and perhaps another discussion for another day.

December 20, 2023December 19, 2023

An Unlikely Story But True

The world lay in the sway of darkness, sin, and death. Man’s journey from Eden was marked by a trail of death and tears with each tomb a reminder of every man’s fate. Death reigned in the world by a cruel master, Satan, whose very name meant “Adversary”. God’s whole creation had been marred by the curse. Pain, tragedy, sickness, weeds, wars, oppressors, and predators ruled the world.

December 8, 2023December 7, 2023

God’s Christmas Gift

Christmas is known as a season of gift-giving. We could complain about the commercialization of Christmas, but I doubt it would change anyone’s mind. Of course, as Christians we realize the most important gift associated with Christmas is the gift of Jesus by our Heavenly Father. One of the most quoted scriptures affirms this, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV).

November 29, 2023November 28, 2023

ILLUSION OF PERFECTION

Perfection is like a dog chasing his tail. He may never catch it and if he did it would hurt. Perfection is that thing we sometimes pursue but never reach.

After almost seven decades on this ball of dirt, many things in my life can be described as in the words of an old Scottish man, “Well, that’a do!” I have come to realize some skills I have tried to perfect ended up with the grade of “B” or a “C”. I’ll just need to live with “that’a do.”

Some things look perfect at a distance. We could name celebrities who looked as if they had it all, but then we were shocked when their lives dissolved into ruin.

November 8, 2023November 7, 2023

Earmarked for Jesus

One of the poignant hidden gems in the Old Testament is in the Levitical law. It is one of those scriptures that is often skipped over because it “does not apply to us.” Yet in it is a moving principle of love and servitude. In the Law of Moses, if an Israelite became impoverished and was sold as a slave to another Israelite, he was to serve six years and go free in the seventh year (see Exodus 21:1-2).

There was also a provision in the law, if the servant loved his master and his situation, the servant could opt out of being free. If he decided to stay forever after his six-year term, his master would legitimize the relationship before the judges and then pierce his ear with an awl against the doorpost of the house. The voluntary slave would be “earmarked” as the master’s slave forever.

November 1, 2023November 1, 2023

Struggling with Surrender

All of us who try to live for Jesus, struggle with surrender at moments in our lives. Surrender to God is not a ‘one time and done’ but a life-long journey. There are times we easily surrender and then we grapple with surrender. I would think that those who do not struggle with surrender to God have already made a dwelling on the other side, in the land of rebellion. If you are struggling, congratulations! At least you are trying.

I think I am a simple man. I like to simplify rather than complicate an issue. In the process, I may at times oversimplify something. I really do not like to quibble over words, but rather concentrate on concepts to live by. So here is my take on struggling with surrender.

I think when people fail to surrender to God, there is one of two main problems at fault. One is outright rebellion where one has the attitude of, “God is not going to tell me what to do.” The other is a lack of faith or trust in God. I would prefer to err with the last one than rebellion which puts a person on the same lane as the devil.

October 26, 2023October 26, 2023

Have You Considered My Servant?

There are two interesting conversations in the Bible between God and Satan in the beginning chapters of the Book of Job. The scene was apparently in the spiritual realm where the “sons of God” (most likely angels) came before God. Satan, a rebellious castaway angel, appeared in the same gathering. God begins the conversation with Satan about Job, “Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8 NKJV)?

I am not going to tell the whole story about Job’s trials, temptations, and then his eventual two-fold restoration. Today, I am more interested in God’s all-knowing perspective about Job.

Satan did not begin the conversation about Job. God asked a straightforward question to Satan, knowing Satan’s evil heart as his very name “Satan” means adversary. God was basically boasting about Job, saying, “there is none like him on the earth.”