Join us as we explore God’s ancient wisdom and apply it to our modern lives. His word is as current and relevant today as it was when he inspired its authors more than two and a half millennia ago. The websites where you can reach us are alittlewalkwithgod.com, richardagee.com, or saf.church.

I hope you will join us every week and be sure to let us know how you enjoy the podcast and let others know about it, too. Thanks for listening.

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Bill-paying weekend, don’t you hate it? Of course, the banks and creditors have made it so much easier than it used to be. Maybe that’s why, as individuals and as a nation, we are in so much more debt than we’ve ever been. On bill-paying weekend you used to stack all the bills on the table, pull out the checkbook and painfully write out that check to each creditor, stuff the check and bill stub into an envelope, write your return address in the upper left corner, put a stamp in the top right corner, and then grab the next bill to do the same again. 

Now, it’s just point and click, and in about two minutes, all the bills are paid with the bill-pay convenience most banks give you today, and most creditors are happy to subscribe. In fact, creditors will happily enroll you in auto-pay to let you no longer worry about even doing the point and click business. They’ll just collect the minimum amount due so they can collect the maximum amount of interest. Progress – maybe. 

We are up to our ears in debt as a nation, and it’s easy for us to swallow that because most of us across the country are up to our ears in debt individually. It’s become a normal part of life. Finance a car, mortgage a house, finance school, clothes, vacations, even groceries. We are a debt ridden society. It’s no wonder we let Congress get away with putting us in trillion-dollar debt. So, if we were to pay off the debt today, my two-year-old granddaughter’s bill would be about $65,600, as would yours, and your neighbor’s and every other person living in the US. Pretty sobering when you think about what we’ve done in those terms, doesn’t it? $65,600 – not per household, but person. Do you have a family of four kids, five? Now the bill is over $325,000. Sorry about that. 

I digress. What got me thinking about bills and debt and those things are tied to the scriptures from the lectionary. In Luke 14, Jesus talked about the owner making sure he had enough money to build the house before building or else people would make fun of him when he ran out of money after the foundation was done. Or the king would count the cost if he only had 10,000 soldiers against his enemies 20,000 soldiers. He’d send a delegate to try to start some peace negotiations instead of losing his kingdom in battle. 

Paul writes to Philemon and asks him to take back his runaway slave, Onesimus as a brother without punishment. Under Roman law, Philemon has the right to punish Onesimus any way he chooses, up to and including death. But Paul reminds Philemon of the debt he owes Paul for bringing life to him through the gospel. Paul calls in the debt and asks Philemon to treat his slave as a Christian brother. Hard words in Roman culture. 

Then we come to the scriptures from the psalmist in chapter 139:

For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed.

Have you thought about the fact that God made you with a specific purpose in mind? It started at the very beginning with Adam and Eve. He gave Adam the charge of naming every plant and animal. In the ancient world, naming something or someone gave it purpose, meaning, usefulness. So, God entrusted to Adam the task of giving purpose to everything else he had created. 

Why would God give such a monumental task to Adam? Because he made us in his image to be co-reagents, stewards of the world he created. This place is his world; we are its caretakers. Our purpose is to propagate the world and be caretakers of it. We haven’t done such a great job of doing the task God gave us to do, but that is why we are here. 

What does that have to do with debt? We owe God everything. We owe him the life he gave us. We owe him the talents he built into us. We owe him for the sustenance he provided in his creative acts that we might survive on this third rock from the sun. We owe him for the order he brings to the chaos around us. How can you put a price on what he has done for us? We owe him everything. 

Compare what God has done with the other debt you might have. Is your soul worth more than your house? Your car? Those vacations or presents or nights out that still plague your credit cards? How about that $65,600 the government has racked up for you? Is what God has given you worth more than that? I expect the answer is pretty simple. 

For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.

My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes beheld my unformed substance. In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, when none of them as yet existed. 

No matter what your state in life at the moment, God gives life and breath and hope. His kingdom is here for all who are bold enough to receive it. When we do, he gives his Spirit to those who ask. He empowers us to live a life of hope because we know this world is not the end. This world is in labor pains of giving birth to a new earth, a new heaven. One in which chaos and evil and pain and suffering will be removed. We will once again be positioned to carry out the task God intended for us from the beginning, to tend to his holy place. A new earth where he comes to commune with mere humans in the cool of the day. Where we can bask in his presence and enjoy his company as caretakers of the space he allows us to share with him throughout eternity.

Do I have debts to pay? Oh, yes! I realize it every month at bill-paying time. But I also know I have debts to pay every time I read God’s word, view his handiwork, hear his creation sing his praises, share with him my innermost thoughts. God made me with a purpose. He gives me life to fulfill that purpose. Each day brings me closer to the hope of spending eternity with him in a renewed world. I just need to keep living for him and obeying his commands. 

Is it easy? Not in this world. There are lots of conflicts and competing voices to filter out. Is it impossible? No. God gives us his help, his Spirit, his empowerment when we trust him with all we have and all we are. Is it worth it? Absolutely. There is no better rest than knowing regardless of my present circumstances; my eternal destiny will be with him. 

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day. 

 The lectionary selections on this site come from the Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005. Consultation on Common Texts, Augsburg Fortress Publishers. Reproduced by permission.

Check out this episode!

Join us as we explore God’s ancient wisdom and apply it to our modern lives. His word is as current and relevant today as it was when he inspired its authors more than two and a half millennia ago. The websites where you can reach us are alittlewalkwithgod.com, richardagee.com, or saf.church.

I hope you will join us every week and be sure to let us know how you enjoy the podcast and let others know about it, too. Thanks for listening.

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

You’ll find something interesting about military members who return from combat with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Sometimes it can be pretty severe, causing a person to be unable to function well because of their experiences. Sometimes it’s a mild case that just causes a few hiccups and peculiarities in their behavior. One of those peculiar behaviors can be seen in most of those returning from combat zones.

I admit I’m one of those trying to recover from some of the things I’ve seen in some of those places the Army chose to send me over the years. It’s not always easy, and I don’t always know what will trigger those memories, but one thing that I really don’t like and most of my military friends who have been in combat share my aversion. I don’t like to sit with my back to public doors. I want to see the exits when I’m in public. 

In restaurants, I prefer booths against the wall, and I want to face the entrance. In theaters, I like the back rows. They are high, and I can see everyone else in the place. I’m not very good in large crowds and tend to creep to the edges, not into the middle. I get anxious when I end up in positions that put me in opposition to my preferred spots. I’m working on it and know the likelihood of something happening is slim, but still, the brain works in strange ways after facing some of those past experiences.

What’s really fun is putting a bunch of us in a room together and watching to see who gets the prime seats first and watching the reactions of those who didn’t quite get there in time. I know my PTSD is not so severe as some of my buddies and in those instances try to make sure their needs are met, but I can’t say I’m always comfortable with the idea. 

The lectionary from Luke chapter 14 reminded me of those seating peculiarities. Jesus told a parable about a wedding feast that goes like this:

Now Jesus told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of hone, saying to them, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you. ‘Give you place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”¹

I remember in one of my dad’s pastorates one of the ladies in the church told us how she “humbled” herself. She had hair down past her waist when she let it down. Of course, she would never do that in the church in those days; she always had it tied up in a bun. But every week, she let her hair down and dunked it in the commode to show God she loved him. We didn’t ask if she flushed first. Sometimes when you stood too close, I’m not sure she did. 

And I’m not sure why she felt the need to tell us how humble she was by trying to flush her hair down the toilet. I’m not so sure God really cared much about that. And I’m sure he didn’t care about her proud attitude of her faithful ritual. My dad usually had a hard time keeping a straight face when she proudly announced her weekly ritual. The kids sitting around the church didn’t even try. We giggled and laughed as you would expect.

I don’t think that’s what Jesus meant by taking a lower place and being pulled up to a place of honor. I’m pretty sure Jesus didn’t want us to stuff our heads in toilets to let him know we were humble. That’s pretty ridiculous in my book. And for all of us who heard it and knew her, we knew she took a lot of pride in her ridiculous ritual. She wouldn’t miss that dunking for anything…even her son’s graduation! Can you imagine? I don’t think God can either. He did make an incredible zoo. 

We should strive toward a life of humility, though. Jesus is described as humble. He was God but didn’t flaunt it. He could have. He could have grandstanded and shown off a lot more than he did. We have a few instances where he did some amazing things. Feed 5,000 men plus their families with a boy’s lunch. Make new eyes for a blind man. Fix legs that had never walked. Raise kids from the dead. Call a man out of the tomb who had already started to smell in the Mideast heat. Yep, those are pretty outlandish kinds of acts. But in most of those instances, he told them not to tell anyone. Just go about your business. Leave my name out of it. Give praise to the Father, don’t mention me. And I think he meant it. 

Of course, it didn’t work. People saw those miracles or the results of those miracles and wanted to know how they happened. And the recipients couldn’t help but tell their stories. Jesus was at the center of every one of them. He didn’t ask for recognition, but he got it. In fact, he got so much of it the religious leaders decided he needed to die. Interesting how it was okay for them to break the rules because they thought he was breaking the rules, huh? 

So what does it mean to be humble? Jesus knew he was the son of God. God gave him an incredibly important mission. Yet he was humble. We define the word as having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s own importance. If we look at some synonyms of the word, we find these: meek, deferential, respectful, submissive, diffident, self-effacing, unassertive; unpresuming, modest, unassuming, self-deprecating; subdued, chastened

But he was God incarnate. How could he be meek and submissive and modest and unassuming as God incarnate? I think the answer lay in his relationship to the Father. Jesus was fully God but set aside the glory of heaven to dwell in this space with us. He assumed the same flesh and blood we have and leaned on his heavenly Father for actions that seemed so miraculous. 

He told us we would do more than he did after he returned to the Father, and he sent the Comforter to be with us. The same power that raised him from the dead is available to us to do the work the Father has in store for us. What is that work? Redeeming the world through him. We are instruments of his love, and we can tap into the power source, his spirit, to enable us to fulfill the role he planned for us. 

But we must remember it is not us. Paul reminds us, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” That is true, but I must remember it is through him, not through me. Jesus fed the 5,000 through the power of the triune godhead. He raised the dead by the power of the triune godhead. He rose on Easter by the power of the triune godhead. Our finite brains can’t really wrap our minds around what that means. God is one, yet three. He did all those things recorded in the gospels and empowered others to do incredible things recorded in Acts and the epistles. 

When we accept Jesus as Lord of life, King of all, the creator who brings order out of chaos and forgives us for our sins, he empowers us to do the works he set out for us. Will we do the kinds of miracles recorded in the New Testament? Maybe, maybe not. For sure, we can love those around us with a love that transcends that which the world knows or understands. We can demonstrate God’s love to those around us and cause them to wonder what happened to us to make us different from the rest of humanity. 

I mentioned at the beginning, a lot of soldiers end up with PTSD as a result of combat. I’m appalled at what humans can and will do to other humans whether in combat, as terrorist acts, or just through plain acts of evil. I’ve seen some of it that I would like to forget but know I never will. God destroyed humanity once with a flood because all our thoughts and intentions were evil from the time we were youths. 

Jesus’ death and resurrection changed all that, though. He makes it possible for our minds to be transformed and for us to begin a better journey. One filled with his love for one another. One that because of his empowerment, can show the world a piece of the new heaven and new earth that awaits his adopted children. 

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day. 

¹Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Check out this episode!

Join us as we explore God’s ancient wisdom and apply it to our modern lives. His word is as current and relevant today as it was when he inspired its authors more than two and a half millennia ago. The websites where you can reach us are alittlewalkwithgod.com, richardagee.com, or saf.church.

I hope you will join us every week and be sure to let us know how you enjoy the podcast and let others know about it, too. Thanks for listening.

Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Years ago, like 30 years ago, my son said he wanted to be a dentist. Then he wanted to be a lot of other things. Policeman, fireman, astronaut, and the list goes on. Then he went to school and became a really good information technology kind of guy and did network engineering, whatever that is. He got all kinds of certificates that declare his competence in various parts of the IT world. But he wasn’t quite satisfied and decided to get his MBA. He did. But again wasn’t quite satisfied. 

That dream of what he wanted to be 30 years ago, sitting beside a laid back chair reaching into someone’s mouth to relieve their pain; that dream came back. He started volunteering with a dentist to assist him in treating the homeless in some free clinics in the town where he lives. That jump-started his desire again. Two years later after finishing all the prerequisites, he started dental school at the ripe old age of 34. Now my son is in his second year on the path to fulfilling that childhood dream.

Sometimes we know exactly what we are supposed to do as we grow up. Most of the time we don’t. Sometimes we get stuck doing something we hate, but we think we have to stay in that role just because. We are sometimes afraid to explore the possibilities of doing something different. We fear it’s just a dream and we’d never be able to accomplish what we think is in our head. We think we’re just not cut out for that dream job. Whatever the case, we stay where we are and never leave the relative comfort of what we know to launch into the unknown God might have prepared for us. 

Jeremiah learned early his role in God’s plan. His call sounded something like this from the first chapter of the book that bears his name:

⁴ Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

⁶ Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” ⁷ But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
⁸ Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”

⁹ Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
¹⁰ See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.” ^[1]

God created Jeremiah with a purpose in mind. Jeremiah tried to push it off. He wanted to do something else. Being a prophet and giving bad news to all his countrymen didn’t sound like the best job in the world. Maybe God could use him doing something else. I think my son figured out as a youngster that sticking your hand in someone’s mouth all day isn’t that glamourous either, but it’s something he just couldn’t shake. 

Jeremiah couldn’t get away from his task either. He used his age as an excuse. In the middle east culture of that day, you weren’t considered to have wisdom until you hit thirty. Jeremiah was a boy, a youngster, couldn’t even grow hair on his face yet. Who would listen to him? 

Then God reminded Jeremiah that he was the one sending him out. He was the one giving Jeremiah the words to say. It wasn’t up to Jeremiah to figure out the sermon for next week, God provided the outline, the illustrations, the declarations. God authored the speeches Jeremiah would present to the nations he would visit and the kings he would remonstrate.

God gave Jeremiah the task, the talents, the courage to fulfill the mission he laid before him. But what about you and me? Where do we fit in as we look at the master plan God designed before the creation of the universe? 

Could I dare say God’s first words to Jeremiah apply to you and me as well? 

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a…”

A what? A prophet like Jeremiah? An evangelist like Billy Graham? A beacon for social justice like Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela? A fledgling dentist like my son? 

What does God have in mind for you? What talents, skills, opportunities have he laid out before you to further his plan to redeem this world and his highest creation? How can he use you because of what he has given you to change your tiny piece of the universe? 

You may never have your name splashed across the television screens or on the front page of the newspaper, but that’s okay. Neither did Billy Graham’s first grade Sunday School teacher. But think of the impact that person made on the world. You may never be interviewed by some starlet or news anchor because of your excellence in some exotic science, but think of the little boy or girl whose life you can change by the kind act of giving a cup of water or warm coat. 

We don’t always know how God will use the talents he gives us. Sometimes it will be through monumental, historical actions like Jeremiah’s or Isaiah’s prophesies. Sometimes he will use the leadership skills he gives to break the chains of evil in the world as he used General Eisenhower to break the Nazi press across Europe. Sometimes he just wants us to give a cup of water to a thirsty person and in so doing, also give to him in that gentle act of love. 

Whatever God has given you, use it for him. Whatever talents and skills you possess, recognize you have them because he had a purpose in mind for you before you were born. Seek out that purpose and fulfill his plan with your talents. He has a job for you to do. It’s not always clear, but it is always worth finding and doing. 

My son is happy in his newfound old dreams. He works hard as almost the oldest in his class to achieve the degree he talked about some thirty years ago. Was it something he just pulled out of the air then? I’m not so sure. I think perhaps God had a hand in directing his path in ways neither of us could understand then or even now. He will be a great dentist. Not because of any particular extraordinary skill that other dentists don’t have, but because he knows it’s the path God wants him to take at this fork in the road on his journey through life. 

The path each of us follows gives many opportunities. God gives us the means to take advantage of those as he sees fit. When he calls, don’t miss out on the good things he has in store for you. Jump at the chance when he calls. Say yes and let the adventure begin. 

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day. 

---

^[1]The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Check out this episode!

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Years ago, like 30 years ago, my son said he wanted to be a dentist. Then he wanted to be a lot of other things. Policeman, fireman, astronaut, and the list goes on. Then he went to school and became a really good information technology kind of guy and did network engineering, whatever that is. He got all kinds of certificates that declare his competence in various parts of the IT world. But he wasn’t quite satisfied and decided to get his MBA. He did. But again wasn’t quite satisfied. 

That dream of what he wanted to be 30 years ago, sitting beside a laid back chair reaching into someone’s mouth to relieve their pain; that dream came back. He started volunteering with a dentist to assist him in treating homeless in some free clinics in the town where he lives. That jump started his desire again. Two years later after finishing all the prerequisites, he started dental school at the ripe old age of 34. Now my son is in his second year on the path to fulfilling that childhood dream.

Sometimes we know exactly what we are supposed to do as we grow up. Most of the time we don’t. Sometimes we get stuck doing something we hate, but we thing we have to stay in that role just because. We are sometimes afraid to explore the possibilities of doing something different. We fear it’s just a dream and we’d never be able to accomplish what we think is in our head. We think we’re just not cut out for that dream job. Whatever the case, we stay where we are and never leave the relative comfort of what we know to launch into the unknown God might have prepare for us. 

Jeremiah learned early his role in God’s plan. His call sounded something like this from the first chapter of the book that bears his name:

⁴ Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

⁶ Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” ⁷ But the Lord said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
⁸ Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the Lord.”

⁹ Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me,

“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
¹⁰ See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.” ^[1]

God created Jeremiah with a purpose in mind. Jeremiah tried to push it off. He wanted to do something else. Being a prophet and giving bad news to all his countrymen didn’t sound like the best job in the world. Maybe God could use him doing something else. I think my son figured out as a youngster that sticking your hand in someone’s mouth all day isn’t that glamourous either, but it’s something he just couldn’t shake. 

Jeremiah couldn’t get away from his task either. He used his age as an excuse. In the middle east culture of that day, you weren’t considered to have wisdom until you hit thirty. Jeremiah was a boy, a youngster, couldn’t even grow hair on his face yet. Who would listen to him? 

Then God reminded Jeremiah that he was the one sending him out. He was the one giving Jeremiah the words to say. It wasn’t up to Jeremiah to figure out the sermon for next week, God provided the outline, the illustrations, the declarations. God authored the speeches Jeremiah would present to the nations he would visit and the kings he would remonstrate.

God gave Jeremiah the task, the talents, the courage to fulfill the mission he laid before him. But what about you and me? Where do we fit in as we look at the master plan God designed before the creation of the universe? 

Could I dare say God’s first words to Jeremiah apply to you and me as well? 

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a…”

A what? A prophet like Jeremiah? An evangelist like Billy Graham? A beacon for social justice like Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela? A fledgling dentist like my son? 

What does God have in mind for you? What talents, skills, opportunities has he laid out before you to further his plan to redeem this world and his highest creation? How can he use you because of what he has given you to change your tiny piece of the universe? 

You may never have your name splashed across the television screens or on the front page of the newspaper, but that’s okay. Neither did Billy Graham’s first grade Sunday School teacher. But think of the impact that person made on the world. You may never be interviewed by some starlet or news anchor because of your excellence in some exotic science, but think of the little boy or girl whose life you can change by the kind act of giving a cup of water or warm coat. 

We don’t always know how God will use the talents he gives us. Sometimes it will be through monumental, historical actions like Jeremiah’s or Isaiah’s prophesies. Sometimes he will use the leadership skills he gives to break the chains of evil in the world as he used General Eisenhower to break the Nazi press across Europe. Sometimes he just wants us to give a cup of water to a thirsty person and in so doing, also give to him in that gentle act of love. 

Whatever God has given you, use it for him. Whatever talents and skills you possess, recognize you have them because he had a purpose in mind for you before you were born. Seek out that purpose and fulfill his plan with your talents. He has a job for you to do. It’s not always clear, but it is always worth finding and doing. 

My son is happy in his new found old dreams. He works hard as almost the oldest in his class to achieve the degree he talked about some thirty years ago. Was it something he just pulled out of the air then? I’m not so sure. I think perhaps God had a hand in directing his path in ways neither of us could understand then or even now. He will be a great dentist. Not because of any particular extraordinary skill that other dentists don’t have, but because he knows it’s the path God wants him to take at this fork in the road on his journey through life. 

The path each of us follow gives many opportunities. God gives us the means to take advantage of those as he sees fit. When he calls, don’t miss out on the good things he has in store for you. Jump at the chance when he calls. Say yes and let the adventure begin. 

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day. 

---

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

^[1]The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Join us as we explore God’s ancient wisdom and apply it to our modern lives. His word is as current and relevant today as it was when he inspired its authors more than two and a half millennia ago. The websites where you can reach us are alittlewalkwithgod.com, richardagee.com, or saf.church.

I hope you will join us every week and be sure to let us know how you enjoy the podcast and let others know about it, too. Thanks for listening.

2019-08-19-devotional-Time to take care of this place

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

Carole, my wife, and I ate at a Mongolian Beef restaurant last night. You know the kind of place. You go through the line putting the meat and vegetables you want into a bowl, pick out the sauce for the stir fry, watch it go on a giant circular grill that’s hot enough to singe your eyebrows if you get too close, and then enjoy what you created. That is if you put a reasonable mix of ingredients together.   

We enjoyed the place and the food, but I think something was wrong with the air conditioning. We should have noticed when the host met us at the door looking like he just finished his workout at the gym. But we took a seat, got our drinks, and headed to the food line to make our selections. It didn’t take long for us to figure out all the servers also looked like they just finished a workout.

Sure they were working hard getting food on the tables, clearing those where patrons had finished, doing all the things workers in restaurants do. But these young men and women were obviously steamed, not emotionally, but because of the temperature. We began to feel the effects, too. Maybe it was the huge grill that made it hard for the A/C to keep up. Maybe they forgot to pay their electric bill. Maybe it was just broken. Whatever the reason, it was hot.

By the time dinner ended, Carole and I looked like those servers. We looked like we just finished a workout. It was hot. Well, it’s summer in San Antonio, Texas. Not a great time of year to visit our city. It’s hot. The news channels give us heat warnings this time of year reminding us it’s dangerous to work outside too long or leave children or animals in cars whether or not windows are open. This time of year, the inside of a car can reach 130 degrees in about 10 minutes. Pretty dangerous.

Remembering how hot our dinner date ended up last night, I couldn’t help but use the lectionary passage from Luke as the focus for this week’s podcast. In chapter 12, Jesus says these words:

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

“I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed!

“Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it happens.

You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

Did you get those first words of the Savior? “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” That doesn’t sound much like salvation, does it? That doesn’t sound much like rescuing us from everything, does it? It sounds more like wrath and destruction. It sounds like cleansing and purging.

If you listen to Jesus’ words, that is exactly what it is. God wants to rescue his creation. He created this cosmos and declared it was good. But we corrupted it. We disobeyed and brought sin and chaos into the perfect order of his creation. God doesn’t want to leave his good creation in the chaotic mess we made. God wants to restore his good creation back to the perfect state he intended from the beginning. The question is how will he do that?

Jesus hints at that several times as he talks with his disciples and Paul tells us in his letters to the churches. Here’s the plan: all of creation awaits a renewal, a rebirth, a new heaven and new earth. Jesus tells us before the present age gives birth to a new heaven and new earth, it will go through birth pangs of earthquakes and floods and famine and wars.

I’ve been thinking a lot about those birth pangs Jesus describes over the last several years. Carole has given birth twice. I was fortunate enough to be present for both and watched her go through those birth pangs. I would have endured the pain for her, but glad I didn’t have to go through it. But I watched those labor pains get more intense with each repetition and I watched those repetitions get closer together until finally they almost fell on top of each other and her doctor gave the order to push. With that order each time, two brand new people sucked in their first gulp of fresh air and let out that wonderful sounding cry only a newborn can make.

Those two births were two of the most exciting events in my life. But as I watch the news and hear reports of earthquakes in unusual places, rains pouring into lands that haven’t flooded in 1,000 years, wildfires that seem to go unabated around the globe, famines that strike almost every country, I can’t help but think of the announcements Jesus made about the present age giving birth to a new age. An age that creates a new heaven and a new earth.

I’ve been studying lately what that new heaven and earth might be like. What I’ve discovered is that it might be very much like this earth, this cosmos, this place, but without the evil, without the pollution, without the ugliness we have caused in the beauty God gave this place in his creative act. I think God made it perfect and this globe we call earth is a poor image, but still an image of the good earth he created. I have a feeling God might not throw away the good creation he made, but rather, like the humans he says transforms, he will transform, renew, recreate this earth and make it new. I’m not sure he plans to rid us of this place as much as just taking away all the corruption we have caused and just fixing it.

You see, if God can resurrect his son and give him a physical body that is recognizable as his son, but with properties unlike those of our current body, and his son says we will one day be resurrected and have bodies like his, physical bodies with properties unlike those of our current bodies; then why can’t he transform this world and renew it, recreate it, and return us to the purpose for which he created men and women in the first place. Remember the task he gave Adam in the beginning? He said to take care of his creation.

I think when God purges the corruption of this earth with fire and recreates this place, transforms his children in resurrection by the power of his spirit, and renews his purpose for his whole creation, we will again be his stewards to tend to his good creation. We will have renewed physical bodies empowered with his spirit with purpose and talents to care for his world. He will come to be with us in this new world to commune with us as he did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the beginning.

Is that poor theology? I don’t think so. We know Jesus is coming back. We know we will be transformed. We know we will be with him forever if we accept him as Lord of all. Why would we think we would not have work to do in the new world he creates for us. The bigger question is what should that do for us now as we think about our stewardship of this world if it will be transformed and not destroyed? Maybe we should think about how to care for it a little better in the meantime.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day.

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Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.

A few days ago, I visited Legoland in San Antonio with my grandchildren. First, I have to tell you how amazing to see some of the things you can build with Legos. Imagine a replica of downtown San Antonio, complete with the Tower of the Americas and boats on the Riverwalk. Truly amazing design. 

Legos made a splash a long time ago as a fad for kids, kind of like Lincoln Logs when I was a kid. Lincoln Logs are pretty hard to find today. Legos are everywhere and look like they will be around for a long time. In fact, when asked his dream job if not in dental school at his entrance interview, my son’s answer, “I’d like to be a Lego designer.” What a job, spend all day playing with Legos. His now five-year-old builds better than me. 

The two of them have dozens of kits and thousands of pieces that they will put together to make incredible things. Rockets, boats, buildings, animals, people, just name it and it seems to come alive in different colored bricks. My hobby at both their ages dealt with pencils, paper, canvas, and paint. Not such a great artist, but I painted and drew stuff. They do it in 3D.

Back to Legoland. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time there for the first couple of hours. After we’d been there a while, I started noticing the attitude of some of the kids and parents. First, you have to know if you’ve ever bought any Legos, they are not cheap. Those await special events and special occasions because of their popularity and price. Supply and demand economy makes it possible. In fact, a few of their classic Star Wars sets top $1000 each. 

Well, I watched a few parents try to win their kids affection (or at least their better behavior) with Legos. The kid wanted this set or that kit, and the parent with creased forehead pulled out a credit card and slipped it into the machine to soothe the savage beast, an offering to appease the approaching storm. 

As I watched, sometimes it was a toy. Sometimes food (make that candy) was the bribe of choice. Occasionally, the promise of more time in the playground or another ride on the spinning swing. Offerings to procure the favor of an out of control child. 

In some ways, it reminded me of the words Isaiah heard from God in his earliest days as a prophet. In the first chapter of the book that bears his name, we read these words:

Listen to the word of the Eternal One,

    you rulers of Sodom!

Attend to God’s instructions,

    citizens of Gomorrah!

Eternal One: What do I care for all of your slaughter-gifts?

        I have had enough of your burnt offerings.

    I’m not interested in any more ram meat or fat from your well-fed cattle.

        The blood of bulls, lambs, or goats does not please Me.

    When you come into My presence,

        who told you to trample down the courtyard of My temple bringing all of this?

    Just stop giving Me worthless offerings;

        your incense reeks and offends Me!

    Your feasts and fasts, your new moons and Sabbaths—

        I cannot stand any more of your wicked gatherings.

    Likewise, I deplore your holidays,

        those calendar days marked specially for Me;

    They weigh Me down.

        I am sick and tired of them!

    When you summon Me with your hands in the air, I will ignore you.

        Even when you pray your whole litany, I won’t be listening

    Because your hands are full of blood and violence.

    Wash yourselves, clean up your lives;

        remove every speck of evil in what you do before Me.

    Put an end to all your evil.

    Learn to do good;

        commit yourselves to seeking justice.

    Make right for the world’s most vulnerable—

       the oppressed, the orphaned, the widow.

    Come on now, let’s walk and talk; let’s work this out.

        Your wrongdoings are bloodred,

    But they can turn as white as snow.

        Your sins are red like crimson,

    But they can be made clean again like new wool.

    If you pay attention now and change your ways,

        you can eat good things from a healthy earth.

    But if you refuse to listen and stubbornly persist,

        then, by violence and war, you will be the one devoured.

These things were spoken by the very mouth of the Eternal.¹

What does that have to do with the parents in Legoland?

I think we often give because we believe it will appease God. If we give enough or do enough, God will be happy with us, and all will be well with the world. But it doesn’t work that way. If it did, the wealthiest among us would drop a check in the offering occasionally guaranteeing themselves a seat on the heaven-bound bus. 

Isaiah lived during a part of Israel’s most prosperous history. The nation’s economy was on fire. If they had had a stock market, it would have looked very much like our Wall Street numbers today, through the roof. Scary high. The country had some really rich people. 

Israel also had a load of very poor people. Involved in several conflicts, young men died in battle, leaving widows and orphans behind. But they had no life insurance, no Social Security, no decent-paying jobs for women. In Isaiah’s day, unfortunately, women were of less value than a cow. They fell just below the rank of a slave. And the orphans in the caste system dropped a peg below women until old enough to work in the fields. 

The Mosaic Law, which the Sadducees and Pharisees threw in Jesus’ face so often required the Jews to take care of widows and orphans. God condemned the nation for putting money into the temple but forgetting about the poor and destitute. They forgot the task he gave them. Show God to the rest of the world through their love.

So what does that mean? God told Abraham the whole world would be blessed through him. We most often interpret that as meaning Jesus came through his lineage. I know God includes that in the promise, but I’m not so sure that completes the two-part promise. I think the promise carries with it the task of actually blessing those with whom we come in contact every day. 

Abraham’s offspring failed in that mission. They enjoyed the abundant crops, the remarkable economy, the riches that God allowed them to accumulate. God gave them those things to bless the world, though. God gave them the riches to take care of the needy and spread God’s love. He allowed them to become a powerful nation in that era to demonstrate the rules in God’s Kingdom rather than man’s.

They failed in their mission. So God sent his message through Isaiah. Time was running out. Change their ways fast. It’s not about outward behavior; it’s about inward transformation. It’s about God cleaning up the inside, so we behave on the outside with a heart of love. Because they failed, the nation crumbled. 

Jesus came to show us what right looks like. He did a lot of good things. I’m pretty sure Jesus gave tithes and offerings to the temple. We know he paid the required temple tax every year by the story we find with Peter’s fishing expedition and finding the coins in the fish’s mouth. 

I expect Jesus’ offerings were pretty meager, though. He understood poverty. He grew up in Nazareth, the “other side of the tracks.” We assume Joseph died when Jesus was a teen, and Jesus would have picked up the responsibility to provide for the rest of the family until his brothers were old enough to take over the carpentry business. He told some of his followers, “the son of man has no place to lay his head,” remember?

So what does God want? He wants us to let him make us new. He wants to transform our mind to begin thinking as he thinks. He makes the same promise through us he made with Abraham, “I will bless the world through you.” Jesus told his disciples they would do more wondrous things than he did. But that happens only when we let him transform us and make us his instrument of love.

You can find me at richardagee.com. I also invite you to join us at San Antonio First Church of the Nazarene on West Avenue in San Antonio to hear more Bible-based teaching. You can find out more about my church at SAF.church. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed it, tell a friend. If you didn’t, send me an email and let me know how better to reach out to those around you. Until next week, may God richly bless you as you venture into His story each day. 

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¹ The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.

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