The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. (Psalm 103:13)

 

As another Father’s day approaches, today we celebrate those figures of strength that in some capacity have helped to develop us into the people we are today. I pray that for those of you who are blessed to have someone to call father-whether by adoption, biologically or spiritually, you will have time to reflect on the gift that it truly is. There are plenty of sons and daughters that have a deep positive connection when they think about their father. They feel a deeper connection that goes far beyond the title. But there are also those who do not. Whatever side of the spectrum you find yourself on know that you have a Dad that cares for you.

While we call this special day Father’s day, as I have been reflecting on the term father- I believe we should distinguish there is a difference between a father and a dad. A popular article reported by The Daily Republic reported by on June 17 2012 posed a question about the difference between a father and dad. Authors Kathy Mitchell and Marcy Sugar go into details about the disparities:

A father is someone who believes that by donating his sperm for your creation, he has done his duty in life. A dad is someone who gets up every day and does whatever he can to put a roof over your head, clothes on your back and food on your table. He might have to dig ditches, flip hamburgers, deliver pizzas, work in a factory — or all of the above. He might not own a suit and tie. He teaches the value of hard work not because he’s looking for help mowing the lawn, but because he knows idleness leads to trouble. He realizes his job is to make his children productive citizens, and to do that, he can’t always be his child’s friend.

In the article they discuss what appear to be differences in connection to the child.  There is a greater love for the children with a dad. This is not to say that the father does not play an important role in the child being born.  However, the true relationship is developed by the one who is called dad.  I know we call it Father’s day and I am not attempting to start a movement to change the national holiday, I just want to bring attention to the privilege of having not just a father but being able to call him Dad.

In Psalm 103:13, King David has learned and wrote about some of the benefits of having a dad, in his later years of life. He is expressing the things about the love of a father. Not just an actual biological father but a spiritual Dad that cares so much about us. The Dad we see here and His representation cannot be matched. David wants us to know of the ultimate Dad who goes above the call of duty for His children.

A child that is loved and cared for is a blessed child. David begins Psalms 103 with an overly grateful heart by saying let all that I am praise the Lord.  That is the amount of love he has for the Lord God almighty. What words for a dad to hear from his children. That everything in David he wanted to express to the Lord. The spiritual benefits of our heavenly Dad alone are amazing. He forgives our sins, heals our diseases, redeems us from death, crowns us with love and tender mercy, fills our life with good things and renews us when we know him. Oh the relationship that is established between David and God he could not just keep it to himself. I believe David created the best Father’s day card in the history of man when He pinned this Psalm.

I am thinking about my own Dad and how instrumental he is in my life. My dad stuck by me at some of the most difficult moments. I must confess some of which were my own doing. But even in those times he was with me, showing tough but unconditional love. He still was my Dad. The lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love (vs 8) is a wonderful depiction of attributes of a good Dad. Our loving Dad that so graciously sent His son Jesus and gave us the greatest gift of sacrifice known.

All dads need to cherish their children. And in return the children should hopefully recognize and love their dad. This day may be great because your earthly father is active in your life or perhaps it brings pain because he was not there, whichever the case we can look at the blessing in Psalm 103 that David pinned for us. In expressing the love of a Dad to all of His children from the One who created you and me.  All the ways the Lord expresses unconditional love for us and continues to do.  We can be thankful today.

To the fathers that are reading this, as you move throughout your day Fathers reflect on how much of a Dad you are. Most importantly, we all can reflect on how much the Lord has been a Dad to us and not just Our Father. I challenge you today to spread this message to at least one person about the privilege of being more than just a father.

Happy Fathers Day,

 

 

Do not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is threatened. I am the Lord. Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.

 

 

Initially reading this the other morning, it almost knocked me out of my seat. God’s word is so rich and prophetic. This was found in some of the greatest instructions given to man. This was really two commands but let me ask you when you see these words, what do you hear God speak to you?

In the midst of a time of social injustice but then seeing God give instructions to the children of Israel about the treatment of mankind- not much has changed. So why do we not take His commandments to heart? God is such a planner that He knew the world would not follow suit with certain key instructions if they were not put in place. Let me ask you, where do you position yourself? Do you say “that was the Old testament but we live in the New.” If that is your response you may need to check your perspective.

God’s word does not change. We change and we attempt to twist the Word to fit our own desires and benefit.  When I read this, while studying, it spoke to me because of where as a nation we are right now. Perhaps you are experiencing it too? This command was spoken to Moses by God but it was for the entire community of Israel. God’s standard always requires the bar to be raised. That bar is the standard of true living in a world where injustice and sin is prevalent. Will you check yourself?

When I say check yourself it is a mantra to examine and see really where one is. It is the ability to stop and take introspect on what is happening in our own existence. There was a song released in 1982 by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five album titled “The Message”. The primus for the song was giving insight into what is happening even now in our communities and this was over 35 years ago. I am not writing to give credence to Grandmaster Flash (for those who know who they were) but I am making a point that bringing awareness to what is prevalent in society is our duty. If you do not feel any connection to what is around happening, please do check yourself.

There are three things that God is addressing in this passage of scripture. Often just as we view a lake from the surface all appears to be serene from above but when you immerse yourself within; there is an entire system in place that if we never take time,we miss. We miss the undercurrent that is aggressively flowing from within. We miss life that we never thought existed until we take a look.

The undertone of this passage addresses checking our level of compassion, our commitment and our convictions. When God declared these words to Moses ages ago, he was giving a blueprint of how to conduct ourselves personally in community. How God had originally designed things man has stepped away from.  What he had for us as a whole. An entire list of instructions was given but for whatever reason these two caught my attention and felt compelled to unpack them here. My prayer is that as you read your Spirit connects with the essence of what Almighty God wanted to say and find yourself in these two commands. Please do not misinterpret, I am not saying that there are those not following the Lords instruction. What I am attempting to do is get us to find ourselves, slow us down enough so that the Father can speak to us right where we are. Let us check ourselves.

Three areas that I believe we all can learn in if we think about them:

Check your level of compassion when it comes to the broken or fainthearted. When injustice or wrong is taking place what comes to mind? Do you feel saddened or compelled to do something? Do we stop and think if we were in another’s shoes what would Jesus want us to do? If it was our children or parents going through such a time what would we do?

Check  your level of commitment to God? Do we commit only when we see the return on our investment as the stock market but when there is no return we look for another? Do we look the other way when the command says don’t stand idly by when a neighbor’s life is threatened. You may be thinking this does not pertain to my commitment to God. In actuality it does because if we are to love our neighbor as ourselves- how are we doing that if we do not want to embrace or even attempt to understand our brothers and sisters. Yet this was what Jesus was teaching. Jesus loved the unlovable people and it was all because of His commitment to the Father. Where is ours today?

Check your level of convictions for what is right? Do you confront or address problems or shutter or keep silent on the sidelines. Please do not misunderstand me I am not saying that we need to rise up and take aggressive action but some action should be pursued. Even as simple as educating a peer or stranger about a thought that is not correct. Or perhaps educating yourself with what is happening. This could be among family or others that we do not normally say anything but sometimes through our silence we can be part of the problem. Do we speak out about Christ love and show it in our daily interactions. Check your convictions.

Take a moment to really have an honest look on the inside. I am asking the Lord to work on me as I check myself in these same areas. If you find yourself as I did lacking in some of these just work on it. Please let us stop and pray and ask God to help us to do better. Let this be the starting point to do better and ask God to reveal ways of how this can be done. Thank God for the check.

As always be encouraged

Charles

But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. 

 

 

I am sitting here thinking about the current climate of our world and it is disheartening. As I watch the news and listen to various podcasts about current events of COVID-19 and social injustice, I am saddened. Let me not just say social injustice let me call him by name, George Floyd. While he is not the only victim, George Floyd represents the systemic problem in our nation that has been here for far too long. Not only am I dismayed, I am torn asking myself, “What is the purpose behind all of this?” Nothing takes God by surprise. However, there is a lot going on.  I see many commenting and conducting interviews, which I believe is a beneficial way to express oneself at this time. However, we also have some that have decided to use violence and aggression to make the point to bring change. There are two things wrong with this approach. Violence always takes away from the issue needing to be addressed. Second, it feeds the point of those who used it in the first place. In other words, meeting violence with violence only brings destruction not change. It is fueled by bitterness and resentment and if we are not careful it can consume. I once heard a preacher describe it this way. If you are bit by a snake and focus your time chasing the snake instead of attempting to remove the poison, you will die. The more you chase the more the poison spreads in your body- as opposed to stopping and removing the poison first.

As I am writing I am thinking about the eight minute and forty six second video that went viral the day of George Floyd’s unwarranted death. As I sat in my bathroom watching the video, with tears running down my face, all I could think was, “Is this how far we have fallen?”  As I watched the video of Officer Chauvin’s intent look, full of hatred hovering over George Floyd it dawned on me- we are a nation that lacks compassion for not only one another but for God first. The disregard for human life is disheartening and I wondered if I had been a bystander what would I have done?   Would I have been afraid to react or stop the injustice happening in front of me, if I was in Minneapolis? What would Jesus have done? Both questions I have been pondering over the past week.

Self examination is by far the hardest thing that Christ would have any of us to do. The challenges presented in God’s Word truly are created to stretch us. Nestled away in the book of Matthew chapter five, He gives us perspective on how we are to love our enemies. In fact, he commands it. Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you ! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. Then He digs deeper to drive the point home by saying, If you love only those who love you what reward is there for that? I believe Jesus says that to make us stop and think and compare where we really are in relation to unconditional love as believers.

I must admit even writing this now it convicts me where I am. I confess that it is hard for me to do this in this moment but there are three words that stand out to me, “In that way”.  There it is! This is where the rubber meets the road. This is the gauge of measurement. This is what determines if I am a true lover of Jesus Christ- how do I respond to those who are unlovable? This is my breaking point. Not a breaking point in the natural sense but it is my breaking point from what is natural to living by spiritual principal.

What is a breaking point and what causes it? A breaking point is the moment of greatest strain at which someone or something gives way. This is where our nation is right now. We have a lot of tension due to the systemic strain through various levels of oppression. Perhaps you don’t see it this way but my prayer is that you will pray for direction and revelation.

Let me say, all in the world are not the cause of what has happened in the past few weeks. Everyone does not share in the same views. However there are numerous accounts of what has not been addressed. I will admit it is not easy to see an enemy in a positive light. I am reminded of the Good Samaritan who stopped to help the injured traveler left for dead on the side of the road. They were from two very different sides of the track but the Good Samaritan did not see ethnicity, social or economic status, he just saw a need and was present to do something about the need. This is the essence of what Jesus is saying to all at this time. Stretch yourself beyond comfort and be of service to someone else. This Good Samaritan set a tone for us all. Let me ask you, how can you serve someone else especially in this heated climate of our nation? How can you serve or assist in the injustice that is present? I think it is interesting that oftentimes we can think to ourselves that “There is nothing I can do” or “It does not necessarily impact me directly”. Well friend, if you are a believer of Jesus Christ, it affects us all. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr says “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Realize that all of us that view injustice as passerbyers on the road through life have a decision to make. Will we stop long enough to seek the others perspective or will we continue as we always have?

Why do some of us as humans care more about the injustice of an animal (please do not misunderstand me I care about animals) than another human life. A man was prosecuted for dog fighting and people spoke out more for the rights of animals than one of God’s created in His image.  Perhaps you were not there when George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbury, Breona Taylor or others were disregarded as humans.  Yet I still pose the question, will we respond like the Levite and the Priest that looked the other way and knew that they should do better but didn’t. Or will we look beyond our own comfort for the sake of another to serve. If nothing else, allow this to be your breaking point.

Will we love the unlovable and not just glance over the injustice that is being done before our eyes? You choose.

 

Charles