Jehovah Rapha
General Posts, etc.
Jehovah Jireh
The Valley of Tears
As I was reading Psalm 84 today I was drawn to the way God turns tears into refreshing springs for those who live in God’s presence and who find their strength in Him. It doesn’t say that there won’t be tears, but that those tears can be transformed and can transform us when we put our faith and trust in Jehovah-Shalom – the LORD, our peace.
Blessed are those who dwell with God, in His holy presence,
who continually praise Him from sunrise to sunset.
Blessed are those whose strength is in the Lord,
whose hearts are set on a journey toward Him.
As they pass through the Valley of Tears,
it will become a place of refreshing springs
the autumn rains also will cover it with pools of refreshing waters.
They move from strength to strength
till each of them appears before God in glory.
Psalm 84:4-7 – Paraphrased
The Day Jackie Died . . . . . Or At Least We Thought He Did!
As a kid I did a lot of things that today would be considered dangerous. I rode a bike without a helmet. What?!?!? How stupid was I? I had countless wrecks on that bicycle that led to countless skinned knees, legs, arms, and hands, but somehow I lived to tell the tales of my escapades. I played tackle football without a helmet, or pads for that matter. And I suffered no brain trauma – a fact disputed by those who know me best. However, it was not without danger.
I remember one of the many football games played on the Junior High practice field (later moved to the High School Band practice field) by the Sunday Afternoon Ragknots. Jackie had the ball. In the process of being tackled one of us came in to make sure he was down. In so doing, the diligent player hit Jackie in the chest with his knee. For just a couple of seconds Jackie looked dead and then he went into seizures with the accompanying foam in the mouth. Stanley, my best friend, and the competent football team trainer, sprang into action. He told us what not to do – stick our finger in his mouth, because Jackie could bite our finger off. We obeyed. Stanley’s efforts to stop the seizure were unfruitful, so he got his car and drove over to where Jackie lay writhing.
Three of us managed to get into the back seat of the car with the convulsing Jackie on our laps. (BTW, Stanley drove a large Pontiac which allowed room for all three of us and Jackie with room to spare. No, such a rescue attempt would not be possible in today’s cars, but I digress.) Stanley was never known to drive slowly and, in an emergency, he figured he had the moral imperative to speed. As we were flying to the hospital Stanley hit a dip in the road which caused us to actually fly. We went airborne. Jackie flew up and hit the roof of the car and fell back in our laps – totally still, non-responsive and non-convulsive.
We screamed at Stanley, but not to slow down, but rather speed up because Jackie was dead. He looked dead, acted dead, and certainly felt dead in our laps. Stanley was yelling at us to check his pulse, an action that was truly impossible in a car traveling at highway speed on city streets. We didn’t find a pulse but we did get to the Emergency Room in record time. The nurses and orderlies took him into the exam room to check him out. It was a blessing that we grew up in a relatively small town. We were the only ones there besides the medical staff who I think we woke up from their Sunday afternoon naps.
We waited in a quiet yet panicked state – fully waiting for the doctor to come out with head down, uttering those fearful words, “We lost him.” But no – Jackie was going to be OK!
Later, in the room where Jackie was to spend the night for observation, he told us that the doctor wasn’t totally sure what happened, but that he figured that the knee to the chest caused Jackie’s heart to either speed up to 3 times the normal rate or to start skipping beats. Either way, he was going to be OK. I don’t remember Jackie playing with us on Sunday afternoons after that, although my memory may fail me at that point. However, like the NFL, we established a new rule in light of what happened. From that point on, knees were never to be used to make sure a ball carrier stayed down. Full body contact, of course, was still allowed – but no knees.
There is a saying that God watches over babies and fools. It’s not in the Bible and yet, I know that on that particular Sunday afternoon, God was watching over us and sent His angels to step in and help the poor fools who had exhausted all of their abilities to remedy the situation. We should always remember that God is willing to help in each and every difficulty we face – even those times when someone wants to make sure we’re down and that we stay down. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Psalm 50:15)
Forget Black Friday – Remember Black Tuesday
I know it’s Friday, but today is Black Tuesday – the 92nd Anniversary of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the beginning of the Great Depression. Now, I don’t want to depress you, but at that time America had just gone through the end of World War 1 (1914-1918 although the USA didn’t get involved until 1917) and the Spanish Flu epidemic (1918-1919.) Those events were followed by a period of economic growth we know as the Roaring 20’s. From 1921 to 1929 the stock market grew by 539% from 72 points to 381 points. During this same time period the economy grew by 42%. While there are many political and financial events that had some impact on the 1929 crash, I think this cartoon, published in the Los Angeles Times in 1926, may give some insight into another problem of the Roaring 20’s that may have led to the Great Depression. God has a way of correcting things that we may not always see. I’m not saying that we are headed for such a correction 100 years later. However, as stated by George Santayana, an American philosopher, in his work, The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Who or What Do You Fear?
Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)
There is so much fear controlling our thoughts, actions, and relationships. And perhaps the greatest nexus of that fear is the corona virus. People run from one pundit to another, from one politician to another, and from one fact-checker to another hoping to find something that will put their minds at ease. Then, when people arrive at a perceived solution, they respond in fear to those who have arrived at a different solution. For example, consider the vaxxers and the anti-vaxxers. One group is fearful that the other group will help sustain the pandemic causing more people to die while one group is fearful that the other group will kill them with masks full of germs or the vaccines themselves. However, it doesn’t ultimately matter what the talking points of each group may be, because the ultimate issue is death.
The central focus of the COVID-19 story has been death. Death rates and daily death counts have been on every news station and the totals of cases and hospitalizations are given as precursors to death. Haven’t you heard the reports that death statistics lag behind case and hospitalization statistics? The only reason for making such a statement is to say, “Death is coming and coming soon.” Well, here’s some news – if you don’t die from COVID, you’re going to die from something else. Ain’t none of us getting out of this thing alive.
Taking precautions against the things that can sicken us or even kill us are good – no one wants to get sick, much less get sick and then die. No argument there. Even God instituted many laws for the Israelites that pertained only to their health and physical well being. We should be mindful to care for the bodies God has given us so that we can serve Him and honor Him more completely. My thoughts here are not about health practices, but perspective.
So whether you choose to vax or not vax, mask or not mask, distance yourself or crowd up at a sporting event, you need to consider this. How you die is not nearly as important as what happens after you die. God has established hell as a place for Satan and his followers. (Matthew 25:41; 2 Peter 2:4) It’s real. Jesus talked about hell (yes, He believed in hell) in Matthew 10:28. Often we like to refer to “fear” in the Bible as reverence or respect, but here Jesus is saying, “Be afraid – be very afraid.” He goes on to talk about God’s love and care, but the point is made. We need to be afraid of what is truly fearful and trust God for our very lives both now and when we die. God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. And for those who would say that He hasn’t done anything yet, I would encourage you to consider 2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” (NLT) Failure to trust Him should fill us with a sense of impending doom because that is what our future holds without Christ.
I respect your decisions concerning how you will respond to the corona virus. Furthermore, I understand your desire to convince those you love of what you have found to be the best response. But while we’re at it, we should wake up to the real life or death question that we all face. There is a point in time when each of us will die. (Hebrews 9:27) We should take this opportunity to look honestly at that which we fear – death – in order to find peace. And peace can only be found in Jesus. “While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.” (2 Corinthians 5:4 NLT) “ For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” (2 Corinthians 15:53-55 NLT) As excited as we were when the hope of a vaccine was declared on the news, how much more should we be excited when the scripture declares that Jesus offers the hope of eternal life? Jesus Himself said, “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 HCS)
Is death a reality? Yes. Can we experience victory over death? Yes – in Jesus.
“My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” (Psalm 73:26 NAS)
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
I had a doctors appointment this morning. On October 16 it will have been one year since my prostate cancer surgery. This was to be my one-year appointment. As I walked through the kitchen I saw out of the corner of my eye the glowing colors of dawn. I stepped out on the back porch and watched as the sun slowly crept over the horizon. That is the picture that you see here.
I was filled with a sense of God‘s presence and God’s protection as I prepared to face the doctors report. At all of my three month appointments I received good news – there was no PSA detected and hence, no cancer. Still, there is something unique about that one-year mark. But as ominous as the event itself may have been, I left the house with peace of mind; peace that only God can give and peace confirmed by the striking sunrise He had provided.
The doctor had good news. Still no detectable PSA, still no cancer. Cancer-free is a sweet, sweet phrase. However, a sweeter phrase than that is “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” Corrie ten Boom once said, “No pit is so deep that He is not deeper still; with Jesus even in our darkest moments, the best remains and the very best is yet to be.” After today’s experience I can truly say that, even in our darkest moments, He is the light that breaks through the night – the sunrise in the midst of the darkness.
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see:
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Thomas O. Chisholm, 1923
Name It – Claim It
In All Things – Trust God
As I was reading Psalm 46 this morning I was reminded of all disasters around the world which appear on my daily newsfeed – floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, earthquakes, droughts – and the list goes on and on. I do not wish to engage in any arguments over what is man-made and what is natural when it comes to disasters. What I saw this morning in Psalm 46 is simply that God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, whatever the cause.
We tend to fret and worry over the disasters that may or may not come our way when what we should do is trust God no matter what lies on the horizon. We can perhaps do some things to mitigate the effects of nature’s force but ultimately we must trust God before, during, and after the storm. Verse 10 of Psalm 46 tells us to be still and know that He is God and that He will be exalted in all the earth. If nothing else, surely the magnitude of a hurricane the size of the Gulf of Mexico or an earthquake that rocks the very ground of several states should remind us of how big God is and how small we are in comparison.
So while we in our human impotence try to determine what we should do in the face of disaster, we should first and foremost seek God in his omnipotence and trust him over and above anything that our finite minds can conceive.
1God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
4There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
5God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
6The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
7The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8Come, behold the works of the Lord,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.
10Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!
11The Lord of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
Psalm 46 (NKJV)
Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast
Website – FromTheBackPorch.org
Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas
YouTube – From the Back Porch
My Uncompromising Mother
My mother grew up during the depression as one of 9 children of a Baptist preacher. Times for hard for all of them, but especially for a young lady who was taller than the average man. And quite frankly, she probably could have taken on any average man and won the fight. She grew up in a God fearing home and became a God fearing wife and mother and she was a force to be reckoned with. (I tested her many times and I don’t recall one time I came out on top.)
In her work for the state of Texas in Child Protective Services she was that same force only in the cases with which she dealt, she took it personally. When she came across a child who had been abused there was nothing that would keep her from protecting that child and seeing to it that the abuser would never have that opportunity again. Judges, Sheriffs, other Law Enforcement Officers, District Attorneys, Defense Attorneys, and even her own staff and her bosses in Austin feared her. She was relentless. She saw abuse as evil and believed strongly that it was not to be tolerated, but to be obliterated.
I learned much from her tenacious spirit, but one of the things that sticks out is her uncompromising faith based on the Word of God. Today we think of compromising as good and uncompromising as bad. It’s true that compromise is something we have to learn how to handle in order to get along with people around us. But there are times when we need to be uncompromising. When it comes to our faith in Jesus Christ we must stand firmly on the truth of God’s Word. We don’t have to be belligerent or obnoxious when we take our stand, but we must stand tenaciously holding to the truth. Thanks, mom, for teaching me that sometimes we have to firmly stand and oppose the things in this world that are evil, and thanks for teaching me that God’s Word is truth – truth on which we can stand firmly and not compromise with the values the world calls good.
From The Back Porch 