Wisdom

 As a teacher, I guess I'm in the "knowledge business," right?  I'm supposed to be imparting valuable knowledge and information to my students, which would be relevant to their success as future professionals.  I often wonder, however, how valuable the knowledge I'm sharing with them really is if they don't know or learn how to apply it.  Young learners have a hard time making connections between things.  They don't stop long enough to reflect on how learning Spanish could be really beneficial to them in this country.  They are in a hurry to get to where they want to go and if they feel they are told to do things that they don't perceive as important, they are quick to dismiss them.  This is why for a few years now, rather than just going through the language lessons to help them become more proficient in Spanish, I have tried to incorporate exercises, situations and comments that are designed to show and demonstrate the relevance of what they are learning.  I try to make the language lessons be applicable to potential, real life scenarios that they may encounter so knowledge of Spanish clicks as something key to help them fulfill their professional goals.  

I believe that being able to find the application in things requires wisdom.  Therefore, I hope by incorporating these notions into my lessons, I'm actually guiding my students through the road that leads to wisdom, which according to some dictionaries, could be defined as the ability to have the necessary insight to apply knowledge effectively.  

We are supposed to seek and ask for wisdom.  But, what is the Biblical definition of wisdom? In many verses we see it defined as "the fear of the Lord." (Job 28: 28, Psalm 111: 10, Proverbs 1: 7, Proverbs 9: 10, Micah 6: 9)

We believe that "fear" in these instances points to reverence and respect, more than fright.  I mean, there is an element of "fright" in the concept of "fear" even in this sense.  After all, we tend to respect and revere because we know the object of such devotion is powerful and worthy of being feared.  The idea of fear also points to being more aware and conscious of what we do.  It sharpens our senses and makes us be in full attention mode.  I believe all those actions are required in wisdom.  That might be why Revelation 13: 18 represents such a sobering warning:  This calls for wisdom.

There is never such an urgent and grave comment, seeing "this calls for wisdom" in the midst of the book of Revelation while talking about encountering the second beast in all its evil presence is utterly profound and it makes my soul tremble.  That is the moment when we are to be able to not just recall everything we know, but implement it so we are not overcome by the enemies who rise against us.  That is the moment to fear, revere and respect Our Great and Almighty Lord who is the Only One who can defeat and does defeat all the beasts and dragons that may think they can get away with their evil-spreading actions.  That is the moment to hang on to His Hand and don't be swayed by the enemy's schemes.  Without wisdom...we succumb.  But He won't let us, because He has been preparing us for this all along by teaching us and granting us wisdom.

I'm sure whatever path to wisdom I might or might not be able to open up for my students can't be compared with the holiness of the mission of wisdom we are supposed to take on, but I pray that the lessons I learn as I meditate on it help me be wise when the moment comes.  In the Precious Name above All Names, and upon which every knee will bow.  Amen!

Joy Around the Table

 I'm not a social butterfly, but I truly enjoy gathering together with friends and family in fellowship over a meal.  There's something about sitting around a table with the people you love...even those who sometimes irritate you.  Once you are sharing a meal and enjoying time together things feel just right. There's something about it, after all the hectic preparations are over and all that is left is to sit and just be...it's hard not to feel joy.  It is part of human nature to find satisfaction being near those we love, especially if there's yummy food involved.  

Jesus showed us His humanity in the many instances of fellowship around food and lively conversation that we see in the Gospels.  From weddings, to dinner parties to Passover celebrations and everything in between, Jesus fully participated and took active roles in this very human ritual of hanging out.  

The calling of Matthew is one of those instances.  Let's hear it from Matthew himself:

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.

10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9: 9-13

This passage is not only a moment in which we see Jesus being a normal person, eating and having exchanges with other people, but it is one of those moments that fill our hearts and souls with hope.  Not only was Jesus displaying His humanity, but He also infused the room with His Majesty when He pronounced the purpose of His coming: "to call the sinners."  Sinners of which I am the worst...

Praise the Lord for giving us these passages of Scripture that record the seemingly mundane events of His earthly life, but that in reality state His Divinity and Glory in the midst of His humanity.  May we remember Jesus' fellowship when we gather together with our loved ones to commemorate Our Lord's death and rejoice in His resurrection.  May He remind us that He is waiting for us to gather around His table again soon. In the precious Name of He Who Came for Us...the least deserving of all.  Amen!

Jesus Wept

 Dylan was telling me the other day how he was having a conversation with his special "friend" about how he has been known to cry at movies more than once.  We laughed and began to recall all the movies we have cried at together.  Some we have cried while watching them here at home, but we have cried rivers at the movie theaters too.  The one that came to mind right away was I Can Only Imagine.  Boy did we cry.  It was so bad my shirt sleeves were completely wet at the end.  We had no tissues so...I tell you, it was bad.  I remember how Dylan said to me at the end of the movie that he was sobbing so loud that he was self conscious about the people next to him until he realized they were sobbing too.  

I am a softy.  My movie-crying experiences are not limited to dramatic/tragic stories either.  I've cried at movies like Rogue 1, from the Star Wars series, and Avengers End Game... I mean, really!  I cry every time I watch an episode of Little House on the Prairie.  I cry at cartoon movies!  Forget about dog movies...sigh...anyway, tears flow freely because like Dylan once told me:  "we have too many emotions."

There's nothing like tears to demonstrate a person's humanity.  In this era of technology, when we have Artificial Intelligence performing tasks that used to be reserved only to humans such as flying a plane, driving a car, carrying out all kinds of surgeries, writing a composition, poetry or even a novel, only humans are capable of producing emotional tears. That is why there are two words in Scripture that reveal Jesus' humanity like not many others can:  "Jesus wept." (John 11: 35)

Those two words make one stop, don't they?  They are as powerful as they are melancholic.  Jesus, the Lord of Lord and King of Kings...the One to whom the winds and the waves obey...the Creator of all that there is...wept.  I can't help it but to just pause and be in awe.

Jesus shares humanity with us in every aspect, except in sin.  He walked on the dusty roads of Israel.  His feet got dirty and tired.  He sweated.  He got hungry and thirsty.  He enjoyed Himself.  He suffered.  He loved and continues to love and He wept.  He knows what it is to cry.  He knows the tightness we feel in our chest.  He knows the knot that forms in our throats when crying is about to begin.  He knows the head ache and heart ache.  He knows what causes tears to roll down one's cheeks because He has felt all of that.  He felt it over the pain of loved ones experiencing loss.  He felt it over the hurt of knowing His Sacred city being lost. (Luke 19: 41)  He felt it over His own sense of loneliness and terror during the agony at the Garden of Gethsemane. (Hebrews 5: 7)  He experienced it all...just like we do as we journey through this valley of tears.

Sigh...

Well, I don't think Jesus cried at the movies like Dylan and I do...that's just silly to even begin to consider...but He did cry.  He tasted the salty discharge that is a sure sign of being alive and made out of flesh and blood.  And He did it all for us.  Blessed Redeemer, how we love You.  In Your Precious Name, Lord Jesus, for You were obedient to be fully human so you could experience it all with us, even death...even tears.  Praise You and Thank You for Who You Are.  Amen!

Righteous Anger

 The wind is blowing with scary fury outside.  It's impossible not to notice.  The weather app says to expect wind gusts up to 55 mph...yikes...not my favorite.  The whistle-like noise of the wind filtering through the front door is a reminder we need to replace it soon.  The noise of the gusts beating on the windows and rattling the downspouts makes me really nervous.  All I can think of is how scary it must be to be in a tornado.  It'd be like being hit by the whip of God.

While I'm trying to keep my mind occupied in this windy March evening, I started thinking again about Jesus' humanity and about how He experienced a wide range of human emotions.  The fury of the wind brought me to moments in the Bible when Jesus expressed His righteous anger.  Being about one week away from Holy Week, the passage of Jesus overturning the tables at the Temple popped into my mind.

13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” John 2: 13-17

This is quite a moment.  Meditating on all its details would take volumes.  Tonight, all I want to highlight is how the incident showcases Jesus the man.  I have a ton of experience with anger.  I guess that's why this portion of Scripture speaks to me so loudly.  I have no problem imagining someone being so irritated that he'd improvise a whip and start swinging it in the air to drive away the perpetrators like a regular Indiana Jones.  All I could think of is: "boy, I'd loved to have seen that!"  Notice, He didn't whip people...Jesus used the whip on the sheep and cattle.  Then He flipped tables, scattered the money and yelled at people.  "Get out of here!" was most certainly the message. "Stop turning my Father's house into a market!"

He was indignant...angry...annoyed...but the difference between Jesus' anger and mine is that His was justified.  It was righteous anger.  He was angry at all He saw because it opposed God.  His disciples got it when in verse 17 they recall Psalm 69:9 

for zeal for your house consumes me,

and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

Jesus could not look the other way while the people desecrated God's House.  The zeal spoken by the Psalmist many years ago in his prophetic image had to be seen.  My anger is selfish in nature.  My manifestations of irritation are usually all about me and how my agenda has been disrupted.  My annoyance is mostly about me not getting my way and feeling disrespected.  It's all about my pride.  My rage is very far from righteous.  That's why Jesus' example is so perfect for short-temper people like me.  This passage seems to say, "hey, it's OK to be angry and to display it publicly...but only if it is not misplaced.  Like Paul says:

26 “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry,

27 and do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4: 26-27

Notice he doesn't say, do not be angry ever.  He says when you do get angry, "do not sin...do not give the devil a foothold."  Paul knows how anger can so very easily unfold sin and weakness which the enemy takes advantage of right away to grab a foothold immediately.  The admonition of not going to bed angry can't be more perfect.  It is one of the greatest tips to avoid going down the slippery road of sinning while angry.  

In both John's and Matthew's gospel, the conclusion of this incident seems to indicate Jesus went back to serving people, healing them and performing wonderful signs.  That's another amazing example of what to do when experiencing anger: redirect your energy into something productive like service.  Amazing!

I hope I can remember these tips for anger management the next time I feel the volcano inside of me about to erupt.  The wind seems to have slowed down a bit.  The whip of God appears to have been put away.  It's time to look at the damage.  I'm sure we're OK...maybe a little cleaner since the wind could be seen as God's broom too...which purpose is to make things healthier and better.

May the inspiration of Jesus' human reactions take up residence in our heart so we know how to act in every situation always in His righteousness. Amen!

The Humanity of Jesus

 I have to admit that I don't think about Jesus, the man much.  He is always in my mind as my Lord and Savior, but I don't stop to meditate on Him as a human being as much as I probably should.  Not considering this very important truth about Jesus, though, causes me to miss out on His fullness and greatness.  It is a blessing, then, that there are passages of Scripture that move us to see His humanity.

Today, I ran into this moment in Luke chapter 12 that did just that for me: it pointed out the man,

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” Luke 12: 13-14

Honestly, Jesus' response here on verse 14 makes me smile.  It makes me chuckle...I'm not sure why, but I think it is because, in a way, I can identify with it.  I can actually see me and hear me saying something like that.  "Why do you come to me with this? What am I? The President? Your Mom? Why are you asking me?"  I've also been known to say slightly different takes on it...a different perspective such as, "Who made you the judge?"  or  "You're not the boss of me!"

I know...not quite the same...but somehow the tone is similar...a bit...

In my opinion, Jesus expresses frustration in His reply...a very human and common reaction to foolishness.  And that's what we're dealing with here, isn't' it?  The foolishness of greed.  How many times can Jesus preach, teach and demonstrate with His own lifestyle that seeking the material is completely counter productive idiocy...and yet, we continue to strive for it to the point of fighting and creating division among our own flesh and blood. 

I don't know about you, but I can almost hear Jesus sigh at the end of verse 14...a sigh that seems to show understanding and compassion before He continues,

15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

And He is back in His role of Divine Teacher and Guide.  The authority of His voice is perceived by the tone of the statements in verse 15.  A warning replaces the frustration of the previous lines.  He remembers how capricious our will is and He brings us back on track with His admonition.  That's the moment when His humanity gives way to His divinity.  And that's when the blessing of His nature becomes evident. And that's also when our similarities end, because I get too hung up on my frustration, and forget to take the next step.

Praise the Lord that He is fully human and fully God, so He is able to realize that we need Him to be both.  In the Precious Name Above All Names: Jesus Our Redeemer and Friend, Amen!

Laugh Without Fear

 I've been told, upon occasion, that I take myself way too seriously.  Dan has been telling me that I need to learn to laugh at myself more.  He says that's the key to staying humble and out of misery.  I know he's right, but I struggle.  I don't think...or at least I hope it is not so, that the reason I tend to not be able to laugh at myself is because I think I'm superior.  I hope not. It's not that I believe I'm so important that I must not be messed with.  I don't think that everything that happens to me is of such importance that life must stop until my troubles pass.  I don't think that's it.  I believe the reason I take everything so seriously and I tend to overreact is because I grew up in an environment where every tiny mishap was treated as a huge problem and as a great inconvenience.

It might have something to do with the fact that my parents were older and they were not planning to have another child coming along to disturb what they thought was their smooth sailing towards retirement.  If I think about it, I was a big inconvenience for my parents.  My Dad retired from the field of Education after 30 plus years of service when I was 5 years old...my Mom when I was 8.  To top it off, the same year my Mom retired from teaching, also after 30 some years of service, my Niece Nicole was born and she came to live with us while my brother (her Dad) finished college.

So, my parents basically had 2 young children still in the house after they were retired!  And, of course, their pay was so miniscule, that money worries forced my Dad to take another job, which happened to be in a completely different field of which he knew nothing about...but necessity is the mother of many things, so he learned the trade and eventually became very successful at it. But there was a lot of stress in my household as my Dad worked full time in a new career so he could support his "growing family" in the autumn of his life.    

At any rate,  ever since I remember, we were always on edge.  I had a good and happy childhood, no question...but there was an element of fear and stress and nervousness always there, which didn't make it conducive to developing the ability to take things lightly. 

That's all I knew.  So, when I met Dan and he started talking about laughing at myself more and taking things easy...I had no clue what he was talking about.  So I'd react with the same and only response I knew:  anger.  I've been hanging out with Dan for almost 32 years now...and it has been a huge learning curve.  I still do not claim to master this lifestyle of laughing at myself and at life itself...but I am trying.  Maybe some day I will get it.  Maybe it will become part of who I am for real.  In the meantime, I will claim Proverbs 31: 25 as a verse to live by as I try to laugh at my present and future without worry and fear: 

Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure;

And she smiles at the future [knowing that she and her family are prepared]. (Amplified)

I Don't Know

 There are so many things I don't understand about God's plan for me, my loved ones and the world.  Let me rephrase that:  there is very little I understand about God's plan for me, my loved ones and the world at large.  There isn't much I understand at all.  I guess, if we could know and comprehend everything about God with our limited minds...He wouldn't be much of a God after all, right?  It is actually by design that some things-many things-are supposed to remain a mystery.  

He has revealed much through His Word in Scripture.  I believe He has revealed all that He thought was enough for us to know.  But it would be foolish for us to think that there isn't more-much more-that He has decided is not the time yet to disclose.  I believe we see a hint of this truth in Revelation 10: 4 when John heard a Voice from Heaven saying,

And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”

John witnessed something God didn't want revealed to humanity yet.  It's like when Jesus tells us not to be anxious about the future (Matthew 6: 34).  The future and its hidden things do not belong to us, so it is useless to be obsessed with it.  We have received enough information and guidance for what we have to do today.  There's no need to try to figure every single detail out.  Some things are meant to stay secret. 

This is why I should not be shy to say: "I don't know," when someone asks me things like: "Why does God do this?" or "Why does a supposedly loving God allows bad things to happen to good people?"  We can reply the standard, "we live in a fallen world and this is the consequence of our corruption brought unto us by our sin," but an honest and heart felt, "I don't know" could probably be very effective too, because it shows our humility and how we depend on God for meaning.  He doesn't need us to defend Him.  We are not the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes a simple, "I don't know...but I trust Him," can soften a hardened heart or plant a seed.

One day all the mysteries will be revealed and we will learn the fullness of God's plan.  For now, we rest in His care, trusting in His timing.  Trusting that He is Holy and Good, and that His will is perfect. In the Precious Name of Jesus, Our Sustainer and Redeemer.  Amen!