Hosea 6:3 Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.

Oh to say, I overcame and was found faithful!

This is what I hope for in a world that gives me every reason to give up. 

When life is dark and we wonder, “What is the point of all this?”;  when the very air we breathe feels oppressive; when we are depressed and see little hope for the future, Hosea urges from his prophetic pages,

Press on.”

We can almost hear him encouraging us like a marathon coach.  You can do it.  Keep going!  Overcome!  Be found faithful!

The sun will come out tomorrow and if it doesn’t, Jesus is coming to bring you home.  In the meantime, let us acknowledge the Lord.  Let us press on to acknowledge Him.

You see, whether the government is open or closed; whether the debt ceiling is raised or remains the same; whether I have health insurance or pay for healthcare as I go, my hope isn’t in anything this world has to offer.  It makes little difference.  If America careens toward division and demise, I still want to be found faithful… to God.  If it means I am ostracized, laughed at, or ridiculed, God will get the last laugh when He comes to judge.

I was thinking about this after Monday’s offering posted.  When Judah was carried off into captivity by the Babylonians, there were some in the tribe of Judah who had not turned from worshiping God.  Daniel was one of those.  Even in exile, he pressed on.  He was an overcomer.

Luke 18:7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” 

I hope He’ll find it in me.  I hope He’ll find it in you.  Press on, Overcomer!

Rehoboam, do you know him? Probably not unless you study the Old Testament or have a fondness for Biblical history.  But there’s a really important and relevant lesson about division and decline to be learned from the life of this man.

2 Chronicles 10:6 Then King Rehoboam consulted the elders who had served his father Solomon during his lifetime. “How would you advise me to answer these people?” he asked. 7 They replied, “If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants.” 8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him. 9 He asked them, “What is your advice? How should we answer these people who say to me, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’? 10 The young men who had grown up with him replied, “Tell the people who have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but make our yoke lighter’– tell them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist. 11 My father laid on you a heavy yoke; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.'” 12 Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam, as the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” 13 The king answered them harshly. Rejecting the advice of the elders, 14 he followed the advice of the young men and said, “My father made your yoke heavy; I will make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips; I will scourge you with scorpions.” 15 So the king did not listen to the people, for this turn of events was from God, to fulfill the word the LORD had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.

Rehoboam’s father was Solomon, who started great with a request for wisdom and ended poorly with excesses, many foreign wives, and idolatry.  Because of King David (who was Solomon’s father), God pronounced that His judgment would not happen in Solomon’s lifetime.  (1 Kings 11:31-39)

But judgment would certainly happen and the cause of judgment was human sin.

It would result in a divided kingdom: North (Israel) and South (Judah).  As people abandoned their God, He left them to their own judgments and it would prove punishment enough to start God’s judgment process that would continue into captivity.

The kingdom, once unified under David’s and Solomon’s reigns, began its descent into division.  The 10 tribes of Israel hit the road for the north, one tribe (Levi—the priests) had no land allotted and the only tribe remaining as part of the south was Judah (out of which would come the Messiah).  All the tribes would experience God’s judgment, but Judah alone would be greatly humbled and eventually restored for the sake of David.

Rehoboam was the king under whose authority all this transpired. 

God not only allowed it.  God designed it for judgment against all the people who had left God behind in favor of human power and human rule.

Rehoboam was a foolish man whose arrogance gave him the false impression of his own greatness.  He was around 41 years old when he began to reign as king.  He rejected the genuine wisdom of other generations suggesting that treating people with kindness wins their hearts of willing service, and instead Rehoboam sought the advice of his political appointees and friends.  He rushed headlong into despotic measures that oppressed and alienated the 10 tribes.  The people in the 10 tribes rebelled and eventually left under the leadership of another.  The result was the Davidic Kingdom—once a world power with great respect and stature with the divine favor of God as His chosen people—was reduced to a humbled state of division and weakness, ultimately being taken over by Assyria (the fate of the northern tribes) and Babylon (taking Judah into captivity).

Do you see the similarities?  How do we in the United States overcome a similar division already underway before it leads to our demise?

First, we do not abandon God in the process.  We stand firm in our faith, looking to God for guidance.

Second, we pray for our leaders to make godly decisions that are generous, benevolent, and serve the people who elected them.  We pray against a spirit of selfishness, greed, idolizing power, signature achievements to make a name for the leader at the expense of the people, and arrogance in all its forms…whether red or blue.  We pray against the actions designed to harm other people, particularly the most vulnerable.  We pray that God will restore in His timing what is presently being divided by human and frankly, demonic means.  There is no excusing anyone who claims to follow Jesus for intentionally hurting innocents out of a vindictive spirit.

Mr. President.  Mr. Reid.  Mr. Boehner.  Mr. Cruz.  Ms. Pelosi. All of you CLAIM to follow Christ. 

Do you REALLY follow Him? This is the question I want each of you to seek God to answer. 

Who is the genuine follower?  The one who loves Jesus, loves and serves his neighbor and enemies, and the one who protects innocents, even sacrificing himself for them.

Third, we do what we can in our power to remind our elected officials that the Rehoboams of this world will have as their legacy the destruction of what was once good and honorable.  By their pride, they oppress those they took an oath to serve!

Fourth, we vote with our dollars against a media (and against all their advertisers) because they deny the truth.  They’ve already chosen sides and are doing propaganda instead of news.  Refuse to purchase products advertised on propaganda sources and write to the advertisers, send them emails, call them, and tell them that’s what you’re doing and ask for them to support media that are still telling the truth instead.   I’ve been set against JC Penney for a while now and I told them why.  Repeatedly.  Their persistence in leaving me, a loyal customer, behind is leading to their ruin.  (Not because of the power of Barb, but because there are a million “me’s” out there doing exactly what I’m doing).  JC Penney knows what they need to do to earn back my support. I stand for something and will not return until they acknowledge they’re reaping what they’re sowing.  Mistreat loyal people and they’ll leave.  Rehoboam learned that one.

I stand for something.  How about you, my readers?

We can effect a change by demanding that our news media—protected by the First Amendment—honor the reason they’re protected by our laws.  A free nation needs a free press. 

If they won’t tell me the truth, I’ll boycott them with every dollar I spend and will support those who will inform me with the facts. I’ll tell advertisers why I must leave them behind so long as they support a media that acts dishonestly and peddles lies.  And then I stand firm.

Rehoboam presided over the divisions that led to the demise of a nation.  Far be it from us to fail to learn the lessons of history.  Tell your elected representatives at all levels that you expect better from them, particularly those who call themselves Christian.

Frankly, negotiation is only as good as the love and truth behind it.

Jesus wouldn’t compromise with the devil, but He would stand firm for the truth and love.  He will win out in the end.  Let’s stand firm with Jesus.  It’s how we’ll overcome.  Even if our country heads the direction of demise at least we will have had no share in it.

1 John 3:8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.

James 4:13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

A mist. 

I was thinking about this verse as I went over to the local forest preserve to take photos today.  There was a thick mist on the lake and in the surrounding landscape, the spider webs among the spent milkweed and grasses hung heavy, laden with dew.  In a few short hours, the mist would be gone, burned away by the October sun.

If our lives are like that, why do we become preoccupied with meaningless stuff? 

As Overcomers, we need to examine our priorities because even items of importance seem to take on larger-than-lives of their own, ramped up by a media that hypes controversy and dissention.  Yes, there are things that are imperatives.  Yes, planning is good.

But sometimes, we forget that we are a mist.

We forget that 100 years from now, if the earth even exists, whether the government is “shut down” for 2 weeks or a month won’t really have mattered all that much.

However, the way we treated others during our misty moments can change a whole trajectory of a life and a nation.  As Overcomers, we look for ways to bless people.  As Overcomers, we seek ways to identify with and minimize the pain of others.  We look for ways of living our “risen life” because the days are short.

Sometimes the days are shorter than what we’d planned. 

I didn’t realize that my camera battery was almost spent when I went out today.  I’d planned on a morning of fun photography and really only had 20 minutes before the camera stopped working.  Oh well.  We plan.  We organize.  But the future belongs to God alone.

My priorities changed and I found myself with opportunities galore to be a blessing to others…the women from Germany looking for where to park, the cashier at the store, my family, etc.  Yes and you for whom I write daily.  The days are short and can be humbly filled with blessing.  Indeed these are the lessons of the mist because Overcomers know the future promised by God.  We practice now what we will fully experience as our risen life… when the mist fades… and we see Jesus face-to-face.  Go forth today and be a blessing!

I’ve been preparing for my message this Sunday and found myself pondering the promise made to Abram:

Genesis 12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

God blessed Abram in order to make him a blessing to others.  Isn’t that how the Kingdom is supposed to work?  As we overcome trials and temptations, as we step out in faith, we can become a blessing to others.  No matter how early in our Christian walk we are, we can always be a blessing to someone else.

The hymn “Make Me a Blessing” expresses this well.  Enjoy a lovely acoustic guitar version by clicking here.

Out in the highways and byways of life,

Many are weary and sad;

Carry the sunshine where darkness is rife,

Making the sorrowing glad.

Refrain:

 Make me a blessing, make me a blessing,

 Out of my life may Jesus shine;

 Make me a blessing, O Savior, I pray,

 Make me a blessing to someone today.

Tell the sweet story of Christ and His love,

Tell of His pow’r to forgive;

Others will trust Him if only you prove

True, every moment you live. (Refrain)

Give as ’twas given to you in you need,

Love as the Master loved you;

Be to the helpless a helper indeed,

Unto your mission be true. (Refrain)

Jesus is the Son of God.

God is Love.

Love is the Answer.

The Answer is Jesus.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:1-5)

It’s hard getting up day after day and persevering in a world that doesn’t cooperate.  There’s a popular saying:

Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, Today is a Gift, That’s Why it’s Called the Present.” 

It can help us to remember that the faith for today is a gift of God.  It helps us to overcome…today.  And a string of todays–one day at a time–becomes a lifetime of faithfulness.

It’s better than the plaque I saw at a thrift store (for sale): “If today didn’t come, stop believing in tomorrow.”  I’m still not sure what I think of that, except to say that it’s among the most faithless thoughts I’ve seen put to print.  More than anything, it’s nonsensical because:

 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)

Yesterday is gone and indeed it is history.  Tomorrow is the stuff of faith.  But in the present, God gives us the gift of faith that overcomes…in the moment…every moment…no matter what the day holds.  This is the victory.  It is the faith that overcomes.

I had originally planned on posting something else I had prepared.  Until today happened.  After today’s encounters with people who are genuinely suffering in horrific and depressing ways, the topic I’d prepared suddenly seemed trivial, insignificant, and rather irrelevant.  Petty “first-world problems” when people here and elsewhere are facing life and death choices, persecution, trauma of a deeply scarring nature, and death itself.

So, I can take a Holy Spirit hint and return to the hymns for more help in Overcoming.

Shortly before writ­ing this hymn (to the Swedish melody known as Tryggare kan ingen vara), Karolina San­dell-Berg and her fa­ther Jonas Sandell were on a boat trip across Lake Vättern, when he fell over­board, drowning while she watched.  By way of overcoming deep sorrow, Lina Sandell (age 26) penned the words to Children of the Heavenly Father.  Enjoy this link to hear it sung by the Bethany College choir.

Children of the heav’nly Father
Safely in His bosom gather;
Nestling bird nor star in Heaven
Such a refuge e’er was given.

God His own doth tend and nourish;
In His holy courts they flourish;
From all evil things He spares them;
In His mighty arms He bears them.

Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord His children sever;
Unto them His grace He showeth,
And their sorrows all He knoweth.

Though He giveth or He taketh,
God His children ne’er forsaketh;
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy.

Lo, their very hairs He numbers,
And no daily care encumbers
Them that share His ev’ry blessing
And His help in woes distressing.

Praise the Lord in joyful numbers:
Your Protector never slumbers.
At the will of your Defender
Ev’ry foeman must surrender.

Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19) 

Lucy had a short fuse.  When Linus asked for one good reason why he must memorize the Christmas script, Lucy numbers her fingers, forming a fist.  Linus says “Those are good reasons,” adding that Christmas is getting too dangerous.  Then Snoopy mocks Lucy, and she spins around pronouncing, “I ought to slug you!”  No wonder she only charges a nickel for psychiatric advice.

Making a fist for beating the pulp out of someone is not the approach God encourages for our dealing with anger.  Nor is letting anger fester into bitterness.  Likewise, immediately jumping to judgment or shoving it down to deal with it later (all the while, just letting it ruminate and consume every thought) are also poor responses.

So how do we Overcome anger? 

Consider a better use of time and action.  You see, there exists a bridge of space and time between offense and punishment.  Some offenses rightly require immediate action, but others don’t need prompt reaction.  With Kingdom vision, actions, and time frame, we can span this time and space in God-honoring ways.  We have many choices, only some of which are good (e.g. with anger, love, resentment, patience, bitterness, mercy, forgiveness, revenge, peace, etc.).

God’s approach is to let Him be in charge of that narrow bridge because it is all spiritual.  The narrow bridge is at our feet and God’s Word illuminates the way in which we should go.  But fall off the narrow bridge in one direction and we find it’s flanked on one side with anger.  Fall off the other side and we fall into judgment of our fellow human beings.  Both spiritual chasms are too dangerous for humans to navigate safely so we’re better off staying on the bridge instead of descending into the pit of anger, judgment, and hatred.

Ultimately all offenses against God’s image bearers are against Him.  

Only God is fully capable of resolving anger with proper judgment.

On the other hand, human anger points inward.  We can turn ourselves into victims.  Anger infiltrates our spirits and takes root.  It draws us inward to lavish self-worship by which we focus on our hurts, how offended we feel, and how we were wronged!

Furthermore, jumping headlong into get-even-with’em-ism, we fail to appreciate that only God knows someone’s heart, has perfect understanding, and sees how the narrow bridge of space and time can lead sinners to repentance before punishment must happen.  God doesn’t punish so He gets His pound of flesh.  He punishes as discipline to bring us to godliness and repentance.

Just as anger leads us to focus inward, judgment against our fellow image-bearing humans also brings us face-to-face with another self-worship trap.  We pride ourselves as being more like God than others when, in fact, we become less like Him the more we judge others’ hearts.  Judging can be very god-like.  But each of us has probably encountered a situation which (upon learning the backstory or Paul Harvey’s “the rest of the story”) revealed that what we thought was going on, really wasn’t correct at all.  Better to leave rash judgments aside and rely upon God’s judgment in His timing and to fill our time with choices certain to honor God.

In Romans 12:21 it reads, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”  God has given us a narrow way on which to walk with humility, love, grace, forgiveness, and mercy toward others.  Ultimately our leaving anger and judgment to God alone demonstrates our love for Christ and our trust in Him.

Questions for reflection:

1. Think of some offenses against you that have made you angry.  Picture yourself walking across that narrow bridge from offense to punishment.  What might be some strategies you can use to lay the burden down at the offense and leave the judgment and punishment to God?  What might be some strategies to keep from being tempted to take it up again?
2. Can carrying an offense or a grudge become a habit?  What happens to offenses and grudges over time?  Identify ways grudges can cause you to focus on how you feel and provide reasons to reinforce your right to be offended.

It’s really easy to shirk away from Overcoming when the times get tough.  Speaking the truth, honoring a commitment that you no longer feel like keeping because others are ridiculing you, or standing boldly for a cause that matters is hard work.  Everyone wants to be loved and no one enjoys standing alone–especially in a crowd.  Peer pressure is a powerful motivator and equally powerful at stripping away one’s will to hold onto integrity, uphold a principle, or defend a cherished value.

Jesus didn’t think much of the crowd.  And they didn’t think much of Him.

Matthew 27:15 Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16 At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17 So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. 19 While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” 20 But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. 21 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor. “Barabbas,” they answered. 22 “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” 23 “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” 24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!” 25 All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

Pilate, confronted with a crowd, sided with them to avoid the visible natural conflict, and he washed his hands of responsibility.  It didn’t change his culpability before God, though.  It merely postponed the ramifications of a poor decision to the final judgment seat.  Wash his hands all he might, but the consequences are still his to bear.

What will we do when confronted with peer pressure?  Will we do what is right or capitulate to pressure?

Our standing against the rising tide of evil and self-interest in order to do what is right by God will always be valuable in God’s sight.  There is a reward for doing what is good and the abundance is tied to our fear of the Lord.  Overcoming in plain sight of people acts as a powerful witness to God’s existence, holiness, and power.  It brings God great glory when His people take refuge in Him, particularly in plain sight of the crowd.