Deeper Waters

Rest assured first off everyone, I am not against Memorial Day nor am I saying we should abolish it. I post this today because I fear that while we would not officially abolish it, in our society we might as well have. As I thought about the day some today, I thought that most of us just enjoy another day off or in my case, holiday pay.

That’s truly saddening, and not just for others. I didn’t think much about our armed forces today either. Our company had been playing patriotic songs all weekend and we played some today. However, I heard several songs that had nothing to do with patriotism and wondered why we’d play patriotic music on the weekend but not on the day.

It has been said that our society can remember what happened in the past 60 minutes, but not in the past 60 years or past 60 centuries for that matter. We are people of the NOW who live for the moment. We don’t really have any idea where we came from and without that, we won’t have any idea where we’re going.

Students today don’t really read history. I’ve even got a friend who wants to teach history and yet hates to read. I’ve told him that he’ll never become a history teacher then if he hates to read. His reply is that he sees it on the History Channel. The History Channel might be a good thing in many ways, but I’m sure they don’t want it to take the place of a book and even if they do, they’re wrong.

Christian political speaker Hugh Hewitt says in his book “In, But Not Of”, that Christians need to have at least a basic grasp of the history of the Jews, the Greeks, the Romans, and the English. Such concepts were usually required reading in school, but the education system has sadly changed. I have bought Plutarch and Tacitus and since read them to fill in the gap in my idea of history.

Today though, we were to honor an important part of history. We were to honor those who had died to defend this land. However, their sacrifice often means nothing to us today. The tragedy of 9/11 was sadly lost quickly. Why should we be surprised? We murder 4,000 a day in abortion clinics. VTech happened and for a week, it was all you would hear about, and then even that disappeared. Tragedies don’t stay with us long enough for us to realize what is important.

In some ways, it’s good to get past the past. What that refers to though is personal hardships that you can’t change and that you shouldn’t live in. The Jews were to remember their slavery in Egypt not as a past they wished to change, but a reminder of what God had redeemed them from. He is the one who says he will remember our sins no more. Unfortunately, we often think we need to remember them. Why? God doesn’t.

Many a soldier has lost his or her life though in defense of this nation. I don’t love everything that goes on here, but I am thankful I live in America. I honor those who died and need to keep them more in mind. Maybe this year, we didn’t do as much, but hopefully when Memorial Day rolls around next year, we might appreciate our fine soldiers some more.

Tonight at my church’s service, we had a band perform of several from my Sunday School class along with our minister of music. I like them really. They’re a good band. Music’s not my thing really, but I can enjoy it. However, I listen closely to lyrics in songs and watch to see if there’s anything I think is a bit off.

We were listening to a song they were doing about Jesus coming to one’s rescue. I do agree with that concept. Jesus is the deliverer of our souls. However, I was a bit concerned when I got to the passage with them saying “This world has nothing for me. I will follow you.” I understand the sentiment, but I think it’s wrong.

I think it’s a far difference from songs like “I’d rather have Jesus than silver and gold.” I would hope that we’d all agree with those. I would also say that I would hope that I would. For the record, I do think we can have too much bravado in our devotion to Christ and then fall like Simon Peter did.

Does this world really have nothing for us? This seems to be more of a gnostic idea that there’s nothing good in the material world. In fact, passages like 1 Tim. 6:17 indicate quite clearly that God does create a lot of good in this world and the verse specifically says they’re for our enjoyment, and the context is on worldly wealth.

I get more concerned over this seeing as I’m now reading a book by Os Guinness. “Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think And What To Do About It.” Guinness mentions many things that are good in themselves, but they have sadly produced an anti-intellectual climate.

This seems common in our era when we can replace devotion with truth. If someone is so devoted in their walk, then their views must be true. Not so. There are devoted Christians on each side of many issues. This kind of thinking can lead to what Greg Koukl says from Francis Beckwith. When you argue with other Christians, if they can’t win with logic, they’ll trump you with spirituality.

The truth is that this world does have a lot of good things. In fact, these good things speak of the nature of God. It is his creation and it is all meant to reveal him. If we walk outside our doors and do not see God, we need to adjust our vision. Nay. If we look at anything and do not see God, we need to adjust our vision. I even remember an IM conversation with someone a long time ago where the nature of an IM was used to explain why God gave us his message in Scripture. God is there if we will only look for him.

This is also the reverse to the problem of evil. G.K. Chesterton said that he’d explain the problem of evil to his opponents as soon as they explained the problem of pleasure. Atheologians seem to enjoy having Christians explain all the evil if there is an all-good and all-powerful God. How come they’re not asked to explain all the good if all is just from random chaos?

Do I need Jesus to come to my rescue? Yep. Would I rather have him than silver or gold? I hope so. However, I will not deny the good things that he created and I intend to honor him in this world by enjoying them.

John Loftus of Debunking Chrisitanity has written what it would take for him to believe. Now I’m not going to go into all of it. I certainly won’t go into all of it tonight. It’s late in the evening and I need to rest and I want to read before bed, but I would like to touch some highlights and maybe I will do so tomorrow night. There are some areas I won’t touch such as the scientific areas. I might dabble in them some, but I prefer to leave science to the scientists.

Loftus’s account can be found here.

http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2007/05/what-would-convince-me-christianity-is.html

I find it interesting that he says Christianity must be revised because God is too barbaric and cruel in events like the OT slaughter and the existence of Hell. This is simply an argument from emotion. How much justice is too much for instance? It seems that people want God to punish evil but when he does, they complain about how he did it.

Indeed, if we are talking about the Christian God, then we are talking about the most moral being of all and the omniscient one who knows the best way and the most righteous way to act in every situation. In essence, it is denying that that God is really God and wanting another one. If one is arguing in that case, then the argument goes out the window. Alvin Plantinga has done much work in showing that the deductive problem of evil is not valid any more and it’s usually the probabilistic problem of evil that must be dealt with.

However, what I suspect gets to people the most is the personal problem of evil. People die every day. We know this happens. However, your loved one dies and suddenly, the problem of evil hits home. Why did God let this happen? Unfortunately, in such cases, we’re thinking with our emotions and that’s not the best time to make a life decision.

I have told several friends with an interest in apologetics advice along the same lines. When a lady comes into your office and her son has died in a car wreck or some event of that sort and she asks “Why did this happen?”, they had better not be philosophers or theologians or apologists at that moment. At that time, that lady needs a friend, a minister, and a counselor.  Now in a few weeks or so, she might want to talk about it from a rational perspective, but while she’s suffering, you don’t answer her with knowledge. You answer her with presence.

And this is also the biblical promise. The promise of God is that all things work together for good to those that love the Lord. ALL THINGS! Note that he doesn’t say all things are good. God knows they aren’t. He says all things work together for good. He also doesn’t say they work together for good for everyone. They work together for good to those that love the Lord. If you are in that camp, then you simply trust him.

Loftus also makes the request that God appear in every generation and do miracles for the people. But the question is “Why would God want to do such a thing?” The atheist will say “So he can show me that he does exist.” However, why would God want to do such a thing? Is God merely interested in showing the atheist that he exists, or does he want something more?

In the Christian paradigm, God is looking for people who will seek him. He is not looking for those who come to him merely because they feel that they have to because of force of some kind. He is looking for those who come because they want to. For those who want to, it is promised that they will find him.

For instance, Loftus ends this article saying that he’d believe in God if he revealed himself like this, but he wouldn’t worship him. If that is the case, why should God want to do such a thing again? God is wanting those who will come out of the desire to know him and worship him in Spirit and in Truth. If God is God, it is he who sets the requirements and not me. Why should God be subject to the atheistic criterion for belief?

One can think of a parallel to what the skeptic wants. Imagine a girl who says “I am looking for a man to love me.” Now this girl is exceptionally beautiful with a great form, so she walks into a gentleman’s club and strips naked and announces that she is open for love. There will be several offers there to give her that love no doubt. However, are they really wanting to love her or is their mind elsewhere?

How does the girl find true love? It is not by revealing herself. It is by finding the one who is seeking or in the case of most relationships, letting him find her. It is when the girl is found that the extent of her love is shown.

Now could miracles be done today? Of course. I believe they could be being done in some places right now. Why should this be God’s goal though? God does a miracle just to show off? In biblical times, miracles were connected with the plan of salvation or to announce God’s endorsement on a new revelation. Even with that, the Israelites were told to be cautious because just because someone does miracles, it doesn’t mean they’re of God. See Deuteronomy 13 for the passage.

What about prayer? What is being asked for in prayer is that God specifically answer prayers so that all will want to find a Christian to pray for them. Again though, why should God do this? Why should God set himself in such a way. To do so would turn God into a wishing machine that people will come to merely for their desires and not to know him.

I do believe in making our requests known to God, but there are other kinds of prayer. We can pray to intercede for someone. We can pray a prayer of thanksgiving. We can pray a simple prayer that we will know God better and walk in a Christlike manner more, and we should pray that more. How will that be tested scientifically?

I am not surprised about scientific studies on prayer. We are dealing with a person after all and we cannot treat a person like a lab rat. Now would I object to someone wanting to study my brain while I pray or know what I’m praying for? Generally no. There are some private matters I may not share but if someone is curious and wants to study, be my guest. However, I would tell them the best way is to pray on their own.

Ultimately though, the evidence has been more than enough for those who have wanted it. Why? Is it because they were smarter than anyone else? No. I do not believe it’s a matter of intelligence. There are intelligent people on both sides. What is the reason? I believe ultimately, some people just don’t want to bend the knee.

We all want to hold on to our deity. Since the Garden of Eden, we have been trying to be the God of God. Every sin we commit is saying that God is not God and we are to be the God. We are to determine right and wrong for ourselves. Coming to Christ requires a huge sacrifice on our part. We must admit that he is God and we are not. We must be willing to relinquish our claim to the throne and allow him to sit on it.

It’s a hard sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice I don’t often like to make either. There is something in all of us that resists that, but such is the path to greater happiness. If Augustine is correct and God has made us restless until we find our peace in him, then all other searching is vain. Only the Christian answer will truly provide lasting happiness. The non-Christian can have happiness this side of eternity, but will it truly last?

No. The Christian is the one who has said that God will be God and he will approach God on God’s terms and not his own.

However, Loftus has one thing we should keep in mind. He does say Christians should act more like Christians. To this, we may all say amen. I say it even of myself. We should all be praying that the love of Christ will be more manifest in our lives. I believe in the arguments for the faith and the weaknesses of those outside, but remember one of the first things said about the Christians was “See how they love one another!”

Now that’s one type of early Christianity we do need to be restored to.

I know you’ve seen them several times. You go through the check-out line at the store and there are all those celebrity magazines. Guess who’s dumping who! Guess who is having whose baby! Guess who is now getting married for the fourth time and who they are getting married to!

I had a friend in an IM this morning tell me something about Paris Hilton. They said they saw it only because it was on the news. I had to say I couldn’t care less. I have no interest in the world of Hollywood. I do enjoy some movies and I have some people I can like, but I don’t really care about what’s going on in their personal lives.

When Anna Nicole Smith was found dead, it really didn’t concern me. Yeah. I do get concerned about the spiritual implications but we spent a week or so in trial proceedings and that was all that we heard about. I don’t think we spent as much time when Mother Teresa passed away.

I am concerned mainly for a culture that lives vicariously through celebrities. I fear it means that we have been made utterly shallow. We have no lives of our own so often that we have to live vicariously through others. It is a phenomenon that J.P. Moreland refers to as our having empty selves.

Yet whose life is to be in us? It is to be the life of Christ! Now there’s someone to learn about! If only we spent as much time studying the Scriptures that have been handed down where every word is true instead of running off after every speculation of gossip that comes out of Hollywood.

If only we also realized that our lives are just as interesting as those in Hollywood. You may think you work a typical 9-5 job, but you are living out the life of Christ. You are effecting people around you, and you’d better hope you’re doing so in a good way. I ponder how it could be at the judgment if God shows us our lives and we see how much he was involved and we didn’t know it.

Let’s also remember something. The world of Hollywood doesn’t tend to embrace Christian values. I think we can get something out of it though. I think there’s much to learn about people chasing after happiness everywhere except in Jesus Christ. Maybe we should when we see these magazines, instead of brushing aside entirely, we could make a note to pray for them and those around them witnessing to them.

Go out though now and live your life. In the eyes of God, you are a celebrity after all.

Readers of my blog know that I’m a diehard Smallville fan. Last night, I watched Season 1, Episode 11, Hug. I won’t really tell what the episode is about in case some haven’t seen it and because it’s my favorite episode in Season 1. I think those not familiar with the series can still see the beginning of this episode and discern some of what is going on. YouTube, fortunately, has the beginning.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=wdiTL89HXsU

This beginning always strikes me as interesting. Naturally, after the words “I’m going to Smallville”, the scene goes into the opening with the theme song of “Somebody Save Me.” I kind of like the way the villain is so nonchalant in what he’s doing. He knows what’s going to happen and when it does, he’s ready with his plans.

There’s something else I consider though. There’s one thing I really like about this theme song in conjunction with this episode. I like it in every episode, but it seems most poignant in this one. What we end is with this tycoon thinking that he’s going to go and have his way in this town and increase his business empire.

Fans though know what the villain doesn’t. Clark Kent is there. I can rest easy at the start of the show because I know that Clark will show up and the story might seem grim at times and maybe there will even be casualties, but I’m not afraid ultimately. I can get anxious and wonder what’s going on and wonder if the writers know what they’re doing, but I know the truth. Clark wins in the end.

This is something the villain definitely doesn’t. He may have a unique power, but he doesn’t realize that there’s a greater power working there. He doesn’t realize that he can’t go around doing what he’s doing and expecting that no one’s going to stop him. That power is there and it does stop him of course. The story ends happily. (And if you watch the episode, the last scene is quite humorous for Superman fans.)

Some of you have already drawn out the parallel by now and it’s one you and I need to learn in our own lives. I can sit down and watch my favorite show and while I get tense, no matter what happens, I know that in the end, the good guy is going to win. I may see suffering and casualties and losses, but it doesn’t bother me entirely. Sure. I grieved when Jonathan Kent died and still miss him, but I know even that has been used for good.

So easy to do for a TV show. So hard to do for real life.

And yet, it should be easier! Our God is bigger than Superman is. Our God is a better writer of a story than the Smallville writers are. Certainly, our God has far more capability than anyone does. Also, no other villain can begin to even have a chance in a fight against God. He has no kryptonite.

Why don’t I?

Because I’m me. I don’t think God’s got it all under control a lot of times. It’s easy to look at my world and get confused, especially in our day when we’re all jumbles of feelings. We’re so centered on ourselves that if the world isn’t going great for us, well God isn’t doing his job.

Newsflash: God’s job is not to make you happy. Your temporary happiness is not God’s concern. Oh you will have eternal happiness if you follow him, but he’s willing to allow some temporary misery if it will get you to that point. Why should this surprise us? Even Clark Kent has suffering and we don’t look and say “Ha! The writers are fools!” No. We see in this and any other show that the writers allow suffering for a good purpose.

What do I recommend then? We simply need to trust. We’re told to do so and we’re admonished when we don’t show proper faith in Christ. Trust in God is not an option for the Christian life. It’s a necessity. If I can trust my favorite show to turn out well when I don’t even know the authors, how much more can I trust reality to the best author of all?

I was chatting with a friend last night just discussing his plans for the future and getting to know him a bit. I consider some of the younger guys I meet in my life the little brothers I never had. I always want to be there for them as someone they can come to who will help them along the path and I’ve found an unusual respect from people I really don’t usually understand.

We got to discussing salvation and for all intents and purposes, I was thinking this guy already had everything taken care of there until he says “Well I’m not saved yet.”

I was stunned and I had to ask why. He said that he believed it all and that he’d prayed and that it just hadn’t happened yet, but that it would on God’s time.

I wanted to know how he knew he hadn’t been saved yet and he said that he would know it. When I asked how, he told me he just would. Eventually, he said the word “feel” at one point. He told me though to drop it around that point. I told him I would for tonight, but that that door was always open.

This really concerns me as I think about it. Our salvation is not determined by our feelings. If it was, I would have been in trouble a long time ago. I remember strong feelings when I got saved, but they didn’t last. You give things some time and they just go away. Feelings are like that. Good and bad ones both, a lesson I still need to realize, especially for bad ones.

Greg Koukl has said that people who are really emotional in their Christian lives are often really emotional in every other area as well. I’m not really an emotional person, unless it’s usually negative emotions. I would say my Christian walk is not filled with overwhelming desire often. I just do what I do.

Chances are, many of us are like that. We love Jesus, but our hearts are not often overwhelming as if we’re in some sort of love story. I actually think it’s quite possible to have a deep love for Jesus and not feel it simply because feelings move up and down. Our deep love should come before our feelings and if we get feelings, great. If not, oh well.

In fact, too often, I fear we have been chasing after feelings. I know I’m guilty of this when in a slump. I want it to end. I won’t leave you guessing on that. I want to be happy again. Instead, what one should do is merely experience. Realize that this is a part of life and as the ancient stoics would say “This too will pass.”

It will and it does and we look back on the experience and think “How silly I was then.” Of course, after that, we have the more insane thought of “I’m glad that’s over. I’ll never make that mistake again.” Heh. Give it a couple of months or so and you’ll be back in the exact same place.

I hope my friend comes around and he did tell me to pray for him. That I will definitely do. Of course, I should pray that I also learn the lesson I hope my friend does. I’d ask you to pray it for me also and maybe I need to pray it for you.

Today is the day of salvation, and it might not just be from sins.

I’m not sure how many of you out there might be like me, but I can relate to the idea in James about being tossed around by every wind. It’s not by doctrine for me. I doubt it’s what James had in mind, but for myself, it deals with feelings. We approach the idea of feelings differently than the ancients did. Our value system shifted from our society to ourselves sometime and now we judge things by how we feel.

I was talking about this with some friends last night. I had signed off, but then I signed back on because I thought something needed to be done. I needed to say something to someone and I wouldn’t rest until I did so, and so I signed on and after discussing with some friends, I did what I had to do.

I discussed some personal issues though that made me feel inadequate for the task. I’m one of those people that when I’m in a really good mood, I’m in a really good mood and I’m unstoppable. When I’m in a down one though, I’m lower than low. Everything that’s right will suddenly be wrong.

I was told today that we need to learn to simply experience feelings and not analyze them. It’s a good idea, but it is definitely hard in practice. Those of us with my personality type are very analytical and that analysis can just kill us. Usually when it’s self-analyzing, it’s never good.

Yet this is where our whole society seems to be going. A man will divorce his wife because he doesn’t feel love any more. A person will not hesitate to do wrong because they do not feel like it’s wrong. To quote the song that so epitomizes what is going on “It can’t be wrong when it feels so right.”

Yes. This can happen in the church also. This happens when we start giving our feelings divine authority from God. Unfortunately, Scripture has nothing in it about God revealing his will for us through our feelings. Isn’t that part of our individualized culture as well though? What is God’s will for MY life? We spend so much time asking about ourselves that we don’t ask about God.

It’s easy for us to become locked inside of ourselves today. Iron bars do not a prison make. This can happen with our feelings or with reliving the past. We can also become enchained to what other people tell us. Now we need to have encouragement from other people, but it doesn’t need to be total dependence. It needs to be interdependence.

And as you can guess, I’m just as guilty as anyone. I believe we have lost a key part of life due to the effects of secularism on our culture. We removed the image from King God and as Peter Kreeft says, replaced it with the image of King Kong. We need to get back to that. We need to get to who we are and who he is.

Then ultimately, we have to get to who we are in him. Only in him can we see who we really are and only in him can we be free.

Last night, a friend stopped me as I was getting ready to sign off. He wanted me to come to a chat where he was going to be discussing with some atheists. Apologetics isn’t his strong point so he asked me to come. I went and another friend of mine came and what I saw there concerned me.

I enjoy the discussion, but I believe we were talking with several youths and it made me sense the need of the youth. The questions started with asking if life has any meaning at all. There were several hints of moral relativism and the arguments were quite lacking. I think of the one who wouldn’t accept the existence of Jesus because secular sources at his time didn’t talk about him. (They did later of course, but such was common for the ancients.)

I recall one especially who I had a strong heart for. This one said that either God doesn’t exist or if he does, he hates us all. I think that one is really taking it seriously. That one is looking at the issues of life and is coming to the conclusions. I do not think they are valid, but I am glad that he is at least thinking.

Yet such was his heart. It makes me realize why so many young people commit suicide. We have created a vacuum as it is and that vacuum is even in the church when we tend to reduce faith to feelings and pragmatism such that even one like myself at one point in time felt that same despair while in the church.

This is a huge problem and the church needs to deal with it but we aren’t. Too many of our young people are screaming that we are irrational and sadly, in many cases, they’re right. The church is often quite irrational. Please don’t misunderstand me. Christianity is not irrational. We can be though.

Yet they are hardly rational themselves. I think about the rational response squad which what I’ve seen of them hasn’t impressed me, but these are atheistic teenagers working together, and while I think their arguments are weak, they need to be answered and dealt with for they are souls.

Not only that, these youths we see today are the future of our nation? What will it mean when we have a nation with no respect for authority, no belief in a judgment to come, and no belief in absolute morality? What will it mean when postmodernism finally hits the highest offices and everything is a grab bag with no truth out there?

Yet if we do not do something, this is our future. This is where we are going. We are going to a world that is more and more hostile to our faith. Now while I agree some persecution could do us good, I would prefer that we have the good without the persecution simply because we’d all realize that our message is true.

Why? Our future is at stake and souls are dying. Do you need any more motivation? If so, think about this. Take your closest friend who you know is a non-Christian.

Now take your concept of Hell whether it be a burning furnace or not.

Your friend is in there.

No way out.

FOREVER!

Even if you believe that Hell doesn’t exist and God just destroys the wicked, then you still have something to think about. Your friend is gone forever.

Seriously, before you read any further, think about that. If you want to step away and come back later, that’s fine. This blog will still be here.  I’m even going to scroll way down before I continue in case you want to do that.

That is what you’re fighting for. That is a future. That is one soul. Now all of these souls are out there. If they win the day, it will only make our fight harder. If we win the day, then it will make evangelism far easier. Strength in numbers after all.

Friends. We need to do our jobs. We need to get cracking in evangelism. I love a good game, but this is the ultimate one and there is no reset button. Eternity is a long time to be wrong.

After church today, I went and joined my Sunday School group at our director’s house for lunch. It was a short meeting, but some of the guys invited me to join them for ultimate frisbee. For those who don’t know, I really have sports apathy. I don’t know a thing about sports hardly. I can watch Braves baseball, but that’s about it.

Well, I figured I’d go. I heard it was a bit wild though and there would probably be bloodshed, so I decided to stay out. Why? Well for those who don’t know, I have had scoliosis surgery so I have a steel rod on my spine and I don’t particularly want to risk anything happening to that.

So I walked around with my book in my hand and watched some of the other guys playing. For awhile, I felt like an outsider. All of the guys were out there playing and I was the only one with a Y chromosome that wasn’t on the field. It was as if this was a “guy thing” and I wasn’t participating.

Yet I thought about it some more of course. Who says that it’s the masculine thing to go out on a field and get dirty? I’m not saying it’s an unmasculine thing, but why can not the life of the mind be just as intellectual. These guys get rough and fight on the physical battleground. I do so on the intellectual. Is that not just as masculine?

I had to pause as I pondered that. A lot of our views on masculinity and femininity come from the culture. Women are told they must have a figure like X and weigh Y pounds and play with dolls and any number of things. Ladies. Don’t go to Cosmo or Glamour or any of these other magazines looking for true femininity. Still, tonight is for the guys.

We men are sadly seen in less than glamorous light in today’s society. We’re seen as ones who just belch and watch football and think about sex 24/7. We’re also supposed to be big and muscular and if you’re not, we’ll you’re just less than a guy. Unfortunately, that puts myself and a lot of other guys out.

Is this really the way it is? Let’s look at what Scripture says. When it speaks about a man in his household, it says he is t be the head and to love his wife and be willing to die for her.  He is to be the head of the household. None of those qualities above are mentioned. You can lead your household whether you’re the skinniest kid from your graduating class or Mr. Universe.

Of course, I’m not saying there’s anything unmasculine about such traits either. I’m simply saying that real masculinity lies not in the physical and your association with that, nor would I say it even lies in the intellectual and your association with that. I think you can find real men on both sides and some men are even on both sides entirely.

So tonight, I want our men to go out and find real masculinity. You won’t find it in the men’s magazines. I have nothing against exercise or building yourself up if you want to do that. Just don’t do so thinking it makes you more of a man. Real masculinity is found in reflecting the nature of God as you were meant to be. The man who does that is a real man.

A few days ago, I was reading 2 Kings 3. In this chapter, the king of Israel needs to defend himself against the king of Moab and he asks Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and he also asks the king of Edom to help him out. Jehoshaphat insists that they go see a prophet for help from the Lord before the fight and so, they go to Elisha.

One verse in this strikes me. The kings of Israel were not noticed for being saints. Chances are, neither were the kings of Edom. Jehoshaphat was one of the righteous kings of Judah though, and when they go to Elisha, Elisha says “Were it not for the fact that I respect Jehoshaphat, I would not speak to you.”

Think about that. This was God’s representative on Earth and he is saying that he respects Jehoshaphat. What does that mean? Have we ever considered what it would mean to be the kind of man that God respects? The most awesome being of all could respect us!

We know there are such people. In Hebrews 11, the writer speaks about the righteous people and says that God is not ashamed to be called their God. What would it mean if God was though? What would it say about me if God would prefer that I do not say I am a follower of his if such is even possible as he wants me to speak the truth?

I really think we should pause and consider this awesome wonder. It is possible to be a man (Or woman) that God respects. It doesn’t mean God bows down to you or anything. It means he does honor you though in that you reflect his image well. Rest assured, God will get the glory in the end, but he also honors you.

Fame among men is fleeting. Fame at the foot of God isn’t. Abraham and Moses weren’t too popular in their time among the people. They are the celebrities of Heaven though. When people talk about who they want to see in Heaven, these two names will normally show up on the list.

What about you? How are you living? Are you bringing shame to Christ or glory? Does God respect you or not? Live your life so he will.