Monthly Archives: December 2023

“Searching for the Noble One”

On December 26, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical to suit me.

A king in a barn—a very strange juxtaposition of images. My wife made a wonderful pun that makes me laugh again every time I think of it. “The shepherds had to look through a lot of barns in order to find the Noble.” Her word play on Barnes and Noble Book Stores was an immediate hit with this lover of books.

But, as is often the case, humor caused me to think more deeply about serious things. When the laughter subsides, Truth often remains. Really good humor bears wonderfully nutritious fruit.

The story of God’s invasion of the planet begins to unfold in a barn. The strange appropriateness of this never fails to speak to me and to bring me to an awed silence.

A barn?!? Is that really the best we could do to welcome this King, whom some of us believe was God in the flesh? Yep!

And yet, such a strange God who begins his earthly pilgrimage in a barn as a baby is worth searching for. If for no other reason, we ought to love this story because it tells us of a God who is weirdly approachable. You don’t get dressed up to go to a barn. You come as you are.

I’ve searched for the Noble in a lot of barns since I left the farm. I’ve looked in books, education, ideas, possessions, people, and addictions. Meanwhile, the Noble One was waiting to be born in a barn which I call “me”.

Many of us know only the first verse of Christmas hymns. Sometimes, the best stanzas are the ones we don’t know. Here is a lesser-known part of the hymn “O Little Town of Bethlehem”. It is a prayer and it’s a good one.

“O holy Child of Bethlehem,
descend to us, we pray;
cast out our sin and enter in;
be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels,
the great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
our Lord Emmanuel!”

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“That Don’t Impress God Much”

On December 14, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much”

“That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain)

Micah 6:8 (MSG)

“But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously— take God seriously.”

I rarely think that I hear from God directly. Most likely, that is because I don’t want to hear what God might want to say. I don’t think that God wastes a lot of words on people who don’t want to listen and obey.

However, occasionally, God does get a word end edgewise. I was thinking last night about my tendency to play way too much online chess. I was not particularly praying about it. I’m not that spiritual. However, sometimes God answers even our non-prayers.

“My child,” said God in a gentle voice, “on judgment day, you will not be asked about your rating on chess.com.”

Ouch!

I’m not sure that any questions will be asked on judgment day, but there are some that will definitely not be asked. Judgment day will be a day for God to sum up my life, not ask questions.

But if God were to ask questions, I suspect they might be quite simple.

“Did you trust and love and follow my Son, Jesus?”

“Did you follow the directions I gave to all humankind through my servant, Micah? Were you fair and just to your neighbor? Were you compassionate and loyal in your love? Did you refuse to take yourself too seriously? Did you take me seriously?”

Of course, God will already know the answers.

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“Unwrapping the Present”

On December 11, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

A friend of mine sent me an email report on his day yesterday and commented on the one-day-at-a-time slogan of twelve-step programs.

I replied, “Just for today—yes! Imagine someone who gave you a whole bunch of beautifully wrapped gifts and then said, ‘There is a catch: you have to open them all at the same time.’

Suddenly, gifts would become a problem. Indeed, they would become an impossible chore.

Have fun unwrapping today and making good use of it for yourself and for others!”

There was a Family Circle cartoon decades ago that I thought summed it up very nicely. A little girl named Dolly was explaining time to her littler brother, Jeffy. “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”

But for my A.D.D. mind, a day is way too much for me to unwrap. There is a Christian song entitled “The Next Five Minutes.” It’s a good song and I like it. However, there are days when even the next five minutes is way too much for me to process. I need to concentrate on the next thirty seconds.

Admittedly, not every day or every moment in the day seems to be a good gift. As I was writing this post, regrets for how I lived in the past attacked in the present moment. The people I’ve hurt were all horribly present before my heart’s eye at the same time. Sometimes, the present is a waking nightmare and hell in the here and the now. As someone has said, “Every day is judgment day.”

But even when the present is profoundly painful, it is still a gift to be opened. There is a saying, “Good things come in small packages.” That is true. What is also true is that things that are ultimately good often come in very ugly packages that we don’t want to unwrap.

Still, there are many beautiful gifts in every day—sunrises and sunsets, full moons, and stubborn wildflowers that insist on blooming even in the winter. There is my little dog’s wagging of her stubby tail and my wife’s morning hair that she calls “bed head” but which I call wildly beautiful.

And so, I say to myself and to you, “Have fun unwrapping today and making good use of it for yourself and for others!”

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“Lust Versus What God Has Placed in Front of Us”

On December 10, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Get Serious

4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

2-3 You wouldn’t think of just asking God for it, would you? And why not? Because you know you’d be asking for what you have no right to. You’re spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

4-6 You’re cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn’t care? The proverb has it that “he’s a fiercely jealous lover.” And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you’ll find. It’s common knowledge that “God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble.”

7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” (James 4:1-10, The Message)

“Lust is wanting anything that God hasn’t put right in front of me.” (A comment by a twelve-step friend)

Among other things, lust is a refusal to trust God. When I desire something (or someone) that I don’t currently have, I am saying to God, “You’re holding out on me!” And that is not the sort of thing that someone who trusts God would say.

And why would God not give me something or someone? There are several possible answers to this question. I don’t like any of them, but I need to keep them all in mind.

  1. I don’t really need what I am wanting. This is more common that is generally acknowledged.
  2. I want different things that are mutually exclusive. (Eating lots of sweets and snacks and being in good shape comes to mind.)
  3. What I’m wanting would not be good for me.
  4. I am not asking God for it. (God gives many good things to me without my asking, but there are other good things for which God expects me to ask.)
  5. I am asking God for something for the wrong reasons.

So, just for today, I am going to be appreciative of whatever God puts in front of me.

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“Everything Makes Me Think of _________”

On December 6, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

: 12 1-3 Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” (Hebrews 12:1-3, The Message)

Idries Shah, in his book The Way of the Sufi, records a story entitled, “That Makes Me Think of . . . .”

Suhrawardi said:

            I went to see a man, and we sat talking.

            There was a camel plodding past, and I said to him:

            ‘What does that make you think of?’

            He said:

            ‘Food.’

            ‘But you are not an Arab, since when was camel meat for food?’

            ‘No, it is not like that,’ said the man. ‘You see, everything makes me think of food.’­­”

This story made me think about Jesus Christ. Or rather, the story made me think about thinking about Jesus Christ. Indeed, it made me think about how much I don’t think of thinking about Jesus Christ.

What do I think about most of the time. Well, food is indeed way up there. When I was about sixteen, I lived with my brother and his wife for a couple of months during the summer, working as a plumber’s flunky. (I wasn’t good enough to be dignified with the title “plumber’s helper”.) One Saturday morning, we were getting ready to go to a state park in Ohio. While I was buttering my sixth piece of toast after eating half-a-dozen eggs, I asked, “How long will it take us to get there?”

My brother responded, “Oh, about four hours.”

“Good grief!” I exclaimed. “It’ll be time to eat by the time we get there!”

The room erupted into laughter, but I thought it was a valid comment on my part. I thought a lot about food back in those days. Even as an old guy, I think way too much about food. Come to think of it (and I am thinking about it), it is 11:39. It is almost time for lunch!

I call myself a Christ-follower, and yet, how often do I think about Jesus? If I see a camel go by (or a squirrel), do I think of Jesus Christ? Alas, I am not that spiritual. I need to start paying more attention to what—and who—I’m paying attention to. I need to fill in the blank in the title of this post with the name of Jesus.

You?

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“Well Doing!”

On December 5, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“Gal. 6:7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Gal. 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Gal. 6:9 And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Gal. 6:10 So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (English Standard Version, italics mine.)

A friend of mine has been growing by leaps and bounds this year. That is because he has been putting one daily foot in front of the other for many days during 2023. He has been a good, kind, caring man ever since I’ve known him. He hasn’t always given himself much credit for that, though. I wrote an encouraging reply to my friend, and I thought it might be helpful to you as well. So, here goes!

“Keep doing what you’re doing, and you’ll keep growing.

You’ve been a good man since I’ve known you, but you’ve often not paid sufficient attention to that goodness. You are paying much better attention now, and you are growing into an even better man.

I would say, ‘Well done!’ but that might imply that you are done growing. You are not. So, I say to you, ‘Well doing!’”

So much for what I wrote to my friend. Upon further reflection, I thought about Paul’s words to the Galatians. Paul encouraged them to keep on doing good things for others (Galatians 6:9-10). The Greek verbs here are in the present tense. This suggests an ongoing, continual, lifestyle approach to doing good for others. Paul challenges them—and us—to do good things for everybody.

I can’t prove it, but I suspect that he speaks of doing this “especially for the household of faith” (i.e., believers), not because believers are more important than all the others. Rather, I would suggest that Paul’s “especially” is because believers are often more difficult to love than unbelievers. (Of course, you and I, dear reader, are exceptions to this general rule.) In fact, I am reminded of an old piece of doggerel that goes something like this:

“To dwell above with saints we love

will certainly be glory.

To dwell below with saints we know—

well that’s another story.”

But, whether it is a generic everybody or fellow-Christians, our doing of good needs to be a continuing goal. Only so, can we continually grow and experience the continual presence of God in our lives.

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“Perfectly Imperfect”

On December 2, 2023 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

Here is a somewhat revised report I sent to my sponsors and accountability team this morning: 

“No violations and no secrets.

Today, with God’s help, I am doing at least 5 things I need to do and 5 things I enjoy doing. Some of them will be the same. The challenge goal is to do 10 things in each category. I’ve already done several in both categories.

I did not do as well yesterday, I suspect. However, today is another day to try to get this thing called “life” right. Perhaps I will never get it entirely right, but if I did, I might become more puffed up than I am and be a real jerk. Maybe my imperfections really are an essential part of my perfection. “Perfectly imperfect,” we say. Yes. And “Imperfectly perfect” will work too. Any way you slice it, I am going to keep on striving for perfection. I am also going to keep on missing that mark.

I don’t know, guys. Maybe, for me, this boils down to Genesis 1-3. The story goes that God made humankind in God’s image (Genesis 1). I don’t know what that even means, but I feel as if I’m always trying to live that out. And it is a good goal.

Then, in Genesis 3, we’re told that the humans decided that being created in God’s image wasn’t enough. We wanted more. We wanted to know, wanted to experience, good and evil. We wanted to be like God by being God. And the rest, as they say, is history. That choice wasn’t a good fit for Adam and Eve. It is not a good fit for me, either.

God tried to show us that he loved us just the way we are, but as a species, humans are really slow learners. Finally, God sent his Son into the world to deal with our imperfects perfectly.

So, for today, here is my affirmation: Today, with God’s help, I am content and at peace with my quest to live out God’s image in my own perfectly imperfect way.

I am posting this near the end of my day. Sure enough, I was perfectly imperfect. It is quite likely that you were, too. And that is good enough.

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