REDEEMING THE TIME

I have been working on a book on the warnings of Jesus concerning difficult times that are coming. However, a recent doctor appointment gave me a different perspective on my cancer. This has changed my approach to a number of things in my life including my work on this book. Although I am still not sure how quickly the drink offering of my life is being poured out to God, I believe I need to walk more wisely in relation to time.

Ephesians 5:15-17 speaks pointedly to this.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”

I believe it wisest, concerning the book, to write snatches of what I believe God is pressing upon me, and post them in my blogs rather than worrying about layout and presentation for the book. 

So beginning this week, I will post something on praying in the Spirit which would come much later in the book but has come together in my mind.

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A Poem Penned by God

Ephesians 2:10 N.I.V.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

The word translated “handiwork” here is “ποίημα” (POEMA) which is also the Greek word for poem.

A POEM PENNED BY GOD

by David Young

Are you no more than molecules?

Protein cells with mitochondria?

Impulse glands sending chemicals

With merely random respondia?

 

A hundred million coded plans

Writ in chromosomal couplets,

Determine eyes and hair and hands,

And the chance to bare quintuplets. 

Your genes are not an accident.

Detailed instructions never are. 

These all demonstrate intent

By the Creator of the stars.

Now yielding to the Spirit's plans,

While upon the earth we trod,

Heaven and Earth will understand,

You are a poem penned by God.

This poem was published in the book, Take Me To The Garden.

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SIGNS

 My book, SIGNS, is out!

"SIGNS: Stories highlighting the signs recorded in The Gospel of John," is available to buy on Amazon.

You will not yet find SIGNS there, but you can see all of my published books on my Amazon Author Page, Amazon Author Central

PEACE

The three of them were at the end of their endurance, but they ran on through the thickening trees. They hoped the woods had discouraged their pursuers. Dhanua, who was in the lead, was Malayali and roughly familiar with this part of India. But he did not know where they were now. As they came to the darkest part of the jungle, all three fell on their faces in exhaustion. Their pursuers would eventually find them if they were still on their trail. They heard later that one of their adversaries had been injured in their haste to catch them. The others had little choice, but to carry him back to their village. 

Ihita, who had been in the rear, was first to recover. He tried to revive the others. Thomas, the foreign preacher, who was called an apostle, stirred but did not fully wake. Dhanua did not respond at all. The darkness was getting thicker. It would soon be night. They would need a fire for protection. He searched the woods until he found a small clearing with a large rock. Soon Thomas had revived enough to help gather stones into a circle where they could kindle a small fire. By the time they got the first embers to crackle with flames, Ihita staggered up. They still had a small meat pie purchased at a market the day before. Thomas had some nuts and Ihita had a mashed mango at the bottom of his satchel. They boiled water from a stream and made a hot drink.

They huddled around the flames and sang a hymn that a man in the church on the coast had written. With a simple tune, it spoke of the death and resurrection of Jesus. They each lifted a short prayer of thanksgiving before they cut the pie into three pieces, dividing the rest of the food between them. They would have to find food and clean water in the morning. But what they had was satisfying tonight. As they finished the meal, Thomas asked the others what they loved best about following Jesus. 

Ihita said, “The love of God. I had never heard of such a thing until you came to us.” 

Dhanua nodded and said he enjoyed sharing the love of Jesus with other believers. “We have not seen any since we left the coastal towns, but some may yet accept Christ on this trip.” 

All three were silent for a moment, and then Dhanua said, “We love the peace we have when we travel with you, Thomas. We face hardships and losses. We often don’t know where our next meal will come from. We may soon be attacked by those who think we are their enemies. But when we have a moment to pray together, the peace of our Lord settles on us.”

Thomas said, “Jesus gave us His peace. And while our hearts don’t always understand it, we can rest in Him.”

Ihita said, “It comes from the Holy Spirit that you have taught us about.”

“That is true,” Thomas said. “The Spirit reminds us of God's grace even when things are difficult. By His Spirit, we know Jesus is with us.”

Ihita said, “We sense it best when we are actually with you, Thomas.”

“That is because I saw him after he rose from death. His life has been burned into my memory. To tell you the truth, I almost missed it. I am ashamed of my lack of faith on that first day after He rose. I was so horrified by His crucifixion that I did not want to see anyone. The other disciples gathered to comfort each other. Mary Magdalene had told them He had risen, but that was more than they could understand or believe until they saw Him themselves.

“They were hiding behind locked doors in fear of our own people who had arrested Jesus. Suddenly Jesus stood in their midst. His first words were, “Peace be with you.” He showed them His nail scarred hands and His side that had been pierced by the soldier’s spear. It was important for Him to show them that He was truly Jesus. They wept with joy that night. They sought me out the next day and told me with great enthusiasm that Jesus was alive. They had seen Him face to face. This was more than I was able to believe.

“I told them I would not believe unless I saw the nail prints in His hands. I stamped my foot. ‘Unless I put my own finger in the nail marks and thrust my hand into the gaping wound in His side I will never believe.’

“The other disciples kept me with them, even though I did not share their joy. They still loved me with the Master’s love. About a week later, we were all together when Jesus appeared as before. Again, he said, ‘Peace be with you.’ He turned to me and said, ‘Come here, Thomas. Do you see the nail prints in my hands? Come put your hand in my side. Don't be an unbeliever but believe.’ All I could say was, ‘My Lord and my God.’ Jesus our Lord rose from the grave. We no longer need to fear anything. He pressed that on me so forcefully that the peace that I have is contagious.

“Jesus said to me, ‘Thomas, you believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.’ I knew that he was sending me to people who would only see Him through my eyes. He assured me of what he told the other disciples. ‘As my Father sent me, I am sending you.’ Great peace flows from following His purpose for our lives. We begin to see difficulties and opposition as merely efforts by the enemy to distract us from what Jesus has sent us to do.”

 

This story was based upon events recorded in the 20th chapter of the Gospel of John.

 

Lord Jesus, in these uncertain times we need the peace of your life and purpose in us.

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WHO IS TRUTH?

Justinian, the servant of Pontius Pilate, rose in the middle of the night to accompany his master to the private baths belonging to the Ponti family. He was used to Pilate not being able to sleep. It began sometime before Tiberius recalled him in anger from the Province of Syria over the Samaritan fiasco. It did not surprise Justinian when Pilate’s sleep problems continued here in Rome, even though Tiberius had died before they reached the capital. The hot bath waters often calmed Pilate enough to allow him to sleep some.

Torches were still lit in the bath house when they arrived. Probably another servant had left them burning in case Pilate came in the night. The fires heating the water were never allowed to go out. Pilate handed his towel to his servant as he eased himself into the steaming pool. When he was settled, Justinian sat down beside him with his tired feet in the water.

After a time of silence, Pilate looked up at Justinian, and the servant sensed that he was about to hear an ominous confidence. “Justinian, you have been with me all these years. And you know I have not been myself for some time.” Justinian was noncommittal in spite of the familiarity of his master’s tone. Pilate continued. “I need to talk about what has been bothering me. But you must promise that you will not utter a word of what I say, even if Caligula carries out Tiberius’s intention to put me to death.”

“You know that you can confide in me, Sir. I have been with you since your youth.”

“I know that. And I suspect you may already guess much of what I have to say. But you could not yet understand the seriousness of what I need to tell someone. And as the gods are my witness, if you reveal even a hint of it, you will wish you could have died a thousand times before you let anything slip.”

“Is it the same thing that has been plaguing your wife?” Justinian ventured.

Pilate winced and nodded. “I suppose it is. But even she does not know the extent of what I have been dealing with. I suppose you have discerned that the disturbance in my mind has little to do with the trouble in my career. I cannot stop thinking about that Galilean prophet.”

“Jesus of Nazareth, The King of The Jews.” Justinian quoted the title his master had fixed to the cross of the condemned man.

Pilate continued, “I had been observing him for some time. He puzzled me from the start. He basically ignored Rome even though attacking their conquerors would have made him more popular with the common people if that were possible. I sent many spies, some of them actually Jewish, to learn what he was about. They came back with the most preposterous stories of miracles that he had done. And yet he seemed to remain a simple man of the people, at least as far as I could see. He even did several things to keep his fame from spreading. Can you imagine that? 

“Until that morning when the Priests brought him to me, I had never seen him face to face. You may not believe this, Justinian, but I was shocked at his visage. He had an amazing dignity even after being flogged and mocked. He possessed innate authority like no one I have ever met. He was certainly the first prisoner I had encountered who did not beg me to spare his life. He seemed to be at peace with everything that was happening to him. I have worked with men, soldiers, and others, all my life. I never saw anyone who struck me like that man. I don’t know how many crucifixions I have witnessed since I first received my commission, and you were a common soldier. No one ever reacted to death like this Jesus. It did not even bother him that the priests had brought him to me because they were jealous. They could not have been around him without feeling they were inferior men. I certainly felt his superiority.”

At this Justinian sputtered a silent protest. Pilate ignored him in his reverie. “Even when the soldiers mocked him by plaiting the crown of thorns, and put on him with a royal robe, he looked majestic. While he was still preaching in Galilee, I told my wife that he was the natural ruler of the Jews. He embodied the righteousness they claimed to admire. When he was brought before me, I asked if he were really the King of the Jews. He asked if that was my conclusion or if I had heard it from others. I had never had a prisoner question me, yet I felt that I had to give him an answer. I had to defend myself before a condemned prisoner! ‘Am I a Jew?’ I asked. ‘Your own people delivered you over to me. What evil thing have you done?’

“He said his kingdom was not of this world. ‘So, you are a king,’ I said. He answered, ‘You have been calling me a king. I was born and I came into the world to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to me.’ I need to tell you, that gave me pause. I thought about truth as opposed to expediency before Rome. I threw up my cynical defense, bitterly asking if anyone knew what the truth was.”

With this Pilate stirred in the bath and seemed to change the subject abruptly. “Do you believe in the gods, Justinian?”

“I am an old soldier, Sir. And I have become cynical of much that I have heard about them. But I suppose I believe in something beyond us, beyond the world.”

Pilate looked at his servant in silence for a moment. Then he looked away and said, “Through the years I seldom gave thought to the gods, or to truth for that matter. I was ambitious and practical, so I paid the expected homage. Of course, I would say, and I suppose I believed, the Roman gods were the true deities, even knowing that we stole them from the Greeks. I despised the petty gods of the provinces where I served. That was no less true in Syria. There I was disgusted with the hypocrisy of the Jews even though I eventually came to understand something of the depth of their laws.

“But when I went back out and declared to the man’s accusers that I found no guilt in him, they said something that stopped me in my tracks. One of the priests stepped forward and said, ‘According to our law, this man ought to die because he has made himself out to be the Son of God.’ Combined with everything else I had seen, this scared me. I went back into the praetorium and asked him where he had come from. And believe this or not, he refused to answer me. “I said, ‘Don’t you know that I have authority to crucify or to release you?’

“He said, ‘You would have no authority over me at all, if it were not given you from above.’ He was not referring to Tiberius. He was talking about his God! After that, I tried to release him. But there was no way I could do it. And I am haunted by the thought that I crucified the Truth. Nothing else has seemed important or even true since that terrible day.”

 

This story was drawn from Pilate’s encounter with Jesus in John 19:1-22.

 

Father, we ask you to bring us face to face with Jesus, your eternal truth.

 

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I AM!

“‘I AM,’ He replied, as from the burning bush.”*

Baruch looked up in displeasure as Temple guards stumbled into his inn. They had never come in this early. He hated the fact that the tough guards had run off most of his evening business. And now, here they were in the morning. No other customers were in the inn now, so he decided not to tell them the inn was closed.

“Wine,” one of them said without the usual bravado of such guards. They shuffled back into the darkest corner of the room. Baruch carried flagons to them that he had filled from the dregs of mugs and a skin left from the night before. These soldiers had been on duty all night. They were evidently too upset about something that had happened on their watch to go to sleep without wine. Mac, the oldest in the group, said not a word as they entered. He did not look up when Baruch brought the wine. Baruch thought he might be in some sort of daze, but he certainly saw the wine. He took a long draft from his flagon, but still did not look at the innkeeper.

As Baruch walked away, he heard one of them called Zach say, “How do you explain what happened?”

One of the others shushed him. “This is dangerous business. If Caiaphas hears that we are talking about it, we will be dismissed, if we survive his immediate wrath.” Baruch avoided hearing more of the conversation even as he refilled their mugs.

Zach said, “What can we do? Someone is sure to tell him what happened.”

As he finished off his second flagon of wine Mac finally spoke. “The words that we heard that prisoner say mean something. He said ‘I AM.’ I mean he didn’t say, ‘I am here,’ or I am the one you want.’ He just said, ‘I AM.’ I have heard the words spoken like that somewhere before.”

“I know where they come from,” Timaeus, the lowest ranking of the men, said. “I thought I remembered. But just to be sure, I asked Jonas, a rabbi that I went to school with. He confirmed it. When God met Moses at the burning bush in the desert, Moses asked God to tell him His name. And the Lord said, ‘I AM!’ Then He said, ‘This is my name by which I am to be known forever.’ Was this Jesus of Nazareth saying he was God?”

Zach said, “That has to be nonsense. I mean, we wouldn't have thought anything about the words, if we had not seen three temple guards, a Pharisee, and one of his servants fall flat on their backs when this Jesus said, ‘I AM!’

Timeaus said, “He didn’t say it with any force. I wasn't twenty feet away, and I barely heard him.”

“That’s not right!” Mac argued, slurring his voice as if he were already in his cups. “He didn’t hit anyone, and his voice was not loud, but he spoke with force, a force I can’t explain.”

Zach asked, “Are you saying he spoke with the force of God when he said, ‘I AM’?"

Mac looked blankly at him for a moment. Then he said, “Do you have another explanation?”

Timeaus said, “That is impossible! He couldn’t be God.”

Zach agreed even though he was still stymied. “If he were God in the form of a man, could the others have arrested him?”

Up until now, Mac had not been sure there was a real god. He said, “I don’t know, but he had to be someone. Something happened out there in the garden.”

They did not drink until they passed out as the innkeeper had feared. As several others came in for a drink and a few moments’ rest, the Temple soldiers shrunk away as if they dared not let anyone see them.

 

This story was conceived from the account of the arrest of Jesus in John 18:1-6

 

O Lord, we tremble as you reveal yourself to us.

*From Whom Do You Seek, a poem in the book, I AM, by David Young.

 

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PRAYER

His studies for the day completed, Jan Hus made his way through the town square, singing for alms to pay for his lodgings and to cover his tuition at the university. Today he ambled from place to place sometimes singing only one hymn before changing his location. In addition to hymns he sang gospel choruses in the Cezch language and even a few folk songs. His Latin hymns were the most popular. He stopped in a likely place and let his strong voice carry through the open square. 

“Donna nobis . . .” He knew this might be his final opportunity to sing in the square. He was only a few weeks from graduation and then his ordination. After singing for alms in the market, he preached for a few minutes, declaring the gospel in the language of the people. Moving on from the appreciative crowd that had gathered, he noticed a young boy following him. He stopped a little farther along. When he finished singing there, the boy put a penny in his basket. 

Before the boy moved away Hus spoke to him. “Thank you, son?” 

The boy nodded. “This is not the first time I have heard you sing, but today I had a penny.” Jan fished through the few coins in his basket and found the boy’s penny.

“I believe such a music lover should be allowed to listen for free,” he said, as he returned the coin. 

“My name is Mik,” the boy supplied, stowing the penny in his satchel. “The priest sent you to our flat when I was sick. You prayed for me by name. I had never heard anyone say my name in a prayer. Until then, I didn't know you could pray in Bohemian.”

‘Ah yes, You are Michael Flynn. I thought you looked familiar. You are some distance from your home.”

“I was sent with a message for a storekeeper just off the square. That is how I got the silver penny.”

“But I am not the first to pray for you by name,” Hus said. “Jesus prayed for you. He said, ‘I do not just pray for the disciples who have followed me, but also for those who will believe in me through their word.’ That is us, Mik. Jesus prayed for you and for me.”

“But he couldn’t have known my name.”

“Oh yes. The Bible says he calls his own sheep by name. Can you read?”

“I have been to school some. I can read Czech.”

“Come with me to my quarters. I have translated some of The Gospel of John into Czech. I want to show you something in it.” 

Mik looked around him. “I can probably come with you if we don't take too long.” Jan led the way toward the University housing. The boy followed him up narrow stairs to a long hallway. They passed several others in the cramped space. Jan threw back the curtain at the doorway to his room. He lit a small lamp and searched his desk for several pieces of parchment. Finding what he was looking for, he held a page out to the boy. Mik stared at the page and struggled with the words. 

Jan let him read some before stopping him. “Read this verse.” He put his finger on a line. 

Mik read, “I have showed thy name to those men, which thou hast given to me of the world.”*

Jan said, “Not only does our Lord know your name, he is teaching us his Father’s name.”

Mik asked. “Is his Father’s name God or maybe Jehovah?”

Jan patted him on the back. “That is pretty good. I suppose those are God’s names in a way. But I don’t think that is what Jesus is getting at. Look down to another verse.” 

Mik read again where Jan pointed. “I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them that thou hast given to me, for they be thine.”

“Read on further,” Jan said. 

Mik continued to read, stumbling occasionally. “And all my things be thine, and thy things be mine; and I am clarified in them. And now I am not in the world, and these be in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given to me, that they be one, as we be. While I was with them, I kept them in thy name; those that thou gavest to me, I kept, and none of them perished, but the son of perdition, that the scripture be fulfilled.”

“Now,” Jan said, “skip all the way down to the final verse on this page.” 

Again Mik read where Hus pointed. “And I have made thy name known to them, and shall make known; that the love by which thou hast loved me, be in them, and I in them.” Mik looked up and said, “I don’t understand any of this.”

“To tell you the truth,” Jan answered, “I don’t understand much of this either. But what I am beginning to understand is important. Jesus is introducing us to his Heavenly Father. Do you know what your name means?” 

Mik answered, “I think it was the name of an archangel or something.”

“That is right, son. And it meant, ‘Who is like God?’ But when I prayed for you by name like Jesus prayed, I did not mean any written meaning. To me your name meant you, everything about you. Well, Jesus is bringing us into intimacy with God. His name is His person. Jesus is helping us to know himself and his Father personally. In Jesus we come to know God Himself. God’s name also speaks of His nature and character. By his life and his words Jesus shows us what God is really like. Your surname is Flynn. Your father gave it to you. So Jesus gives us his Father’s name.”

Mik said, “My father gave me both of his names.” 

Jan said, “That is like what God has done. We bear His name because we have become His sons. We are part of God’s family. We share God’s legacy with our Lord Jesus. And if you are a child of God you need not fear anything, not even death. As God’s name is clarified on the Earth, everyone will see His glory. By His Spirit our lives will declare His glory to others.”

Jan then said, “Mik, I want to give you this sheet with the prayer Jesus prayed for us written in Czech. I want you to memorize it. Read each sentence over and over again asking God to speak to you as you read. When you can say the whole passage from memory, come and find me. We will talk about what God continues to show us.” The boy was overcome by the gift. He carefully rolled the parchment into a scroll, and with a string unraveled from his shirt, he tied it securely. Jan walked him back down to the square. Starting for home, Mik’s mind was filled with wonder.

This story comes from John 17. 

*I printed these verses from Wicliff’s translation of the Bible. Huss was in correspondence with Wicliff.                                                                                                    And he translated portions of the New Testament into Czech from Latin, like Wicliff, rather than Greek.

Lord Jesus, continue to reveal to us the Name given you by your Father. 

Help us to know You more and more.

 

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Prayer is intimacy with God.

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