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This week is a tough one to write about since there’s so much going on in the life of our country. I’m torn as I begin to write more topically than textually in our devotions, especially in light of 2 major events presently in our country. The first, from the “teaser” line at the beginning, is the honoring of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who will always be an inspiration for every ethnicity group through the years. So let me start with a moment of honor for him. A lot of significant things have happened to me while I was at church or church camp as a kid growing up. I accepted Jesus as my Savior at church camp in 1964. I missed the landing on the moon in July of 1969…while at church camp. In 1972, I sensed God inviting me to follow Him in some kind of lifetime ministry and I’m still taking that one a step at a time. In 1976 at my first ministry, I met my wife in church. In January 1991, we were at a Wednesday night church service in Bloomington, IN, when it was announced that Desert Storm had begun and I remember the “immediate on the spot” prayer meeting that began of all the people, some who would soon have family serving in that war. THE HONOR This week begins with us as a nation recognizing the work of Dr. King, Jr, who did a tremendous job of bringing the need for equality and civil rights issues to the forefront in the 60’s. Many of us “finishing well” folks can remember those days. I recall being 13 years old when we heard about Dr. King’s assassination. It was April 4th of 1968. You guessed it. I was at church during our spring Revival. THE SPEECH Dr. King’s famous, “I Have a Dream Speech” has been noted as one of the most notable & powerful speeches of all time. His dream about what our lives “could be” was much more of how God wanted us to “love our neighbor”, rather than deal with each other with the inherited prejudice and animosity from past generations. As we’ve moved to a 1 day reading for our devotional strategy, I’d like to encourage you to let “God’s DREAM Speech”, if you will, resonate with us, since He had the original idea in mind! It’s good to have a DREAM like Martin’s…. Especially when that dream is based on the HEART of God! Dr. King did it great justice as a pastor and leader as he called people to the love and acceptance that God intended us to give and receive. His passionate dream expressed the hope that “his 4 children would one day live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character. His hope was articulated more specifically almost like a prayer that “little black boys and girls could join hands with little white boys and girls as brothers and sisters”. He stated his hope that we might together be able to “work together, pray together, struggle together, go to jail together, stand up for freedom together, and know that one day we will be free.” He devoted his life, and in many ways, sacrificed his life for the noble cause of freedom for his people. Moses also knew that feeling of initiating justice when his Jewish people were being mistreated by the Egyptian taskmasters. But what is God’s dream really all about? Not just for our lifetime, but for eternity? Who are we supposed to be and how are we supposed to love as He loves? What was Jesus’ main prayer for His followers and their relationship with each other? And what did the apostle Paul tell the churches as he wrote to them in the 1st century on how to live and love? THE SCRIPTURES…. Here are some of the passages of Scripture that I hope “shape” our thinking of God’s Dream for us as His people… Exodus 6:7 simply states, “I will take you to be my people and I will be your God and you will know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” Similar things are mentioned in Deuteronomy 4, 14, 26, 29 and in 2 Samuel 7, & 1 Chronicles 17, & Jeremiah 7, 11, 24, 30,31, 32 and Ezekiel 11, 14, 34, 36, 37, & Hosea 2, & Zechariah 9 & 13, as well as 2 Corinthians 6. God’s theme is very consistent with His people! MY FAVORITES….. 1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of the darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. And Revelation 21:3 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people and God himself with be with them as their God.” Our identity is to be people of faith, belonging to God for the purpose of “proclaiming” and if I might elaborate with “displaying” his excellencies, which I believe call for this type of love for one another! A love that is “demonstrated more than demanded”. A love that is humble and not self-preserving. A love that is like the Kingdom of God, in that it is “not of this world”! That’s the type of love Jesus showed, calls for us to show and Dr. King hoped would one day become a reality. We’ve come a long ways, but have quite a ways to go and can only move closer to that type of love with the Spirit of God prompting our hearts! I pray that this week won’t come and go without us taking some daily moments of being sensitive to the need to reach out in love in big and small ways to others around us who look a little bit different. We are MADE in His image and even as we age, the outside might show some mileage, but we still reflect the beauty of God! Each and every one of us! The 2ND PREVALENT ISSUE As I mentioned, there is a lot going on in our country right now. And the California FIRES have been more devastating than we could have ever anticipated. Our hearts go out to those primarily in the Pacific Palisades, as well as other areas obliterated by the ravaging fire that took at least 10 lives, 10k homes, and forced 180,000 residents to relocate. The dry & high 100 mph winds, along with suspicioned arson & under resourced areas prevailed, regardless of tremendous efforts of first responders. One reporter described it as a “tsunami of flame & a blizzard of embers”. Heartbreaking. Thank God for groups like Samaritan’s Purse, Operation Blessing International Relief, local churches and other organizations offering help as best they could. But make no mistake, regardless of the wealth of many of those who suffered such loss, their pain is real and what they’ve lost, which is beyond the brick, mortar, stucco & tile can never be fully recovered. Jesus said in Matthew 25:37-39, that our response is important to those around us who are the “least” of these my brothers, He says. And the “least” are always those who have just “lost” something valuable to them. Jesus notes 6 “needs” that if responded to compassionately will be “reckoned” as a response to Him. They are hunger, thirst, being a stranger, nakedness, sickness and being in imprisoned. And the simple “currency” He recognizes is feeding, giving a drink, welcoming, clothing, & visiting. Light responses that carry heavy blessings! OUR RESPONSE THIS WEEK It will be easy for us to briefly be mindful on Monday of the shame of prejudice. And even occasionally send up a prayer for the fire victims out west as we see that unfold the rest of the week. But what will change within us as we go thru the next weeks, months and even years, if we “grow accustomed” to the distant pain of others? I think that’s what Jesus was getting at. Don’t let your heart be hardened! I love the passage in Hebrews 3:12-14, “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still ‘today’, so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For is we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.” (NLT) Notice the urgency, the accountability, the seriousness of us all being encouraged to WARN one another. I’ve needed many WAKE UP calls in my life and have my alarm set for several every day! May this be a week that we love like Jesus and NOTICE those around us (not just those far away) and RESPOND as the Holy Spirit nudges us. Love you Finishing Well Family, at whatever age or circumstance you are in! May we open our hearts to those to whom we have the opportunity to encourage. May we not be preoccupied with ourselves to the point they are not seen, listened to, cared about, prayed for or supported in some way by us. And may we care for EACH OTHER in that “Christ-like” way as well. I’m praying God will bless your week in a way you don’t see coming! george
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