Healing Rays of Righteousness

Numbering Our Days

In the beginning God created TIME. He then placed things into space and TIME. Then he created MAN and placed man in TIME as a subject of TIME to live in TIME.

This is to say that God created TIME and gives it to each human being as a daily gift, heartbeat by heartbeat. And someday, during one heartbeat moment, the same God who created TIME, works in TIME, and placed you in TIME is going to say, “That’s it. There will be no more TIME.”

During the past 80 years mankind’s average lifespan has increased by an additional 20-30 years. Unfortunately, many persons have not prepared themselves to fully enjoy these years of extended life, and so wake each morning without purpose and with a diminished sense of self-worth. They awaken each morning with no vision, no purpose, and little enthusiasm for living. Their days are just one long boring “rocking chair” wait for death. How sad!

Yes, each one of us will die. Life on this earth will come to an end. How will God call time, ending my life on earth? There are many possible ways. When will God call time? Only He knows. How much time do I have left? Only God knows. How do I prepare for that end moment and the latter years of life that precede that moment? That’s the focus of this presentation.

One of the comments I hear frequently as a chaplain and pastor is this, “I didn’t expect to live this long” or “I never thought I would get to be this old.” In those words I hear the confession, I wasn’t prepared for this. What should I be doing now?

What we do with our daily gift of TIME very directly shapes how we will age physically, socially, and spiritually; and determines what kind of person we will become in our latter years. To prepare for growing old gracefully and gratefully must begin before the time of retirement.

Today, not tomorrow, is given to us for the purpose of fully enjoying a meaningful present, while also preparing for our retirement. This early preparation is important not only for sufficient financial resources, but also for adequate emotional and spiritual resources to carry us through to the end of this life and into eternal life.

The Psalmist prays, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” (39:4). And again, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (90:12).

Joni Eareckson Tada writes, “…of all the things to be counted, this is the hardest – to number our days. We number everything else so easily. We know how much money we have in our purse and how many dollars in the bank. Farmers number their sheep and cattle. Restaurants number the meals served in a week. Teachers check off attendance records. Gardeners can tell you how many tomato plants are in the backyard.

Yet we find it hard to number something so precious as our days. Perhaps that’s because we see our days stretching on and on. They seem infinite and so there is no need, we think, to number them. Things we fail to account for, we waste. That’s why it is wise to ask God to teach us to consider each day separate from the next, distinct in its purpose, unique in the way it is to be lived.” (Diamonds in the Dust, 1993, Sept. 14).

Contrary to popular thought, we do not live on borrowed time but on entrusted time. Each day is the gift of time that God has given us. Today is the day we hold in our hands to manage and use for God’s glory and our neighbor’s good.

As Bill and Gloria Gaither sing so beautifully – “We have this moment to hold in our hands, and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand. Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today.”

What do you want to accomplish before your TIME in this world of TIME is ended? How do you want people to remember you? I invite you to join me in striving to use our gift of TIME in 2020 to make a difference in the lives of those around us, that is, to be blessed as we bless others. We are never too old to live and work in God’s kingdom on earth. Let’s do it!

<><><>

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 22, 2020
http://www.geigler13.wordpress.com
Ray M. Geigley

Looking Ahead and Trusting God

Have you ever wished you could see into the future and know every significant detail of the rest of your life’s journey?  Wouldn’t that knowledge make things easier?  It’s evident that many people think it would.  For that reason, many look to astrology, one of the ancient methods of predicting the future, which continues to be a popular resource for looking ahead.

Both biblical and secular history has proven that reliance on astrology for guidance can be extremely addictive and dangerous.  Such reliance on mostly human and often misleading false predictions can easily take control of our mind and planning.  More importantly, it weakens our ability to make intelligent, rational choices that are undergirded by Godly wisdom and trusting faith in his purposes for us.

In any looking ahead and planning, we usually do not anticipate storms.  But the reality is that storms, both in weather and life experience, frequently terrorize our beautiful and comfortable world, upsetting our plans and hopes, and causing us major disruption and loss.  Storms often create life-threatening situations and challenge our survival.  All storms amplify our human limitations and need for God’s help.

I remember a weather storm experience while traveling the Ohio Turnpike into Indiana.  It had been raining fairly heavy but as we crossed the state line from Ohio to Indiana, the rain and wind picked up speed suddenly and dramatically, making it extremely difficult to see ahead even with the wipers at full speed.  Some vehicles were pulling off the road as best they could, but I thought that decision to be more dangerous than to keep moving forward on the roadway.  And so, at much slower speed and with eyes intensely focused ahead I kept driving forward through the storm until it had passed and the sun glistened on the wet farmlands.

Driving through a rain or snow storm is no leisurely sightseeing tour of the countryside.  It is an intense, serious concentration on the road directly ahead, searching out it twists and turns, and looking to avoid any hazards or obstacles that could bring our forward progress to an end in wreckage.

The same is true in our spiritual journey.  We need to always keep our eyes clearly focused and our ears keenly attuned to God’s presence, who is both out ahead of us preparing the way for our safe travel and also by our side giving direction. This is especially critical when we are experiencing one of life’s inevitable storms.

 I think we prepare for this by giving serious, careful, and daily attention to God’s Word and God’s Spirit in our entire life journey of relationships, discussions and decision-making.  God spoke this word of authority and promise through the prophet Isaiah (48:17) – This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:  “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”

I think this biblical model of living by faith and trusting God is much like driving a car at night.  You can see only as far ahead as the headlights shine, and yet you are able to reach your destination by continuing to travel the short distance the headlights make visible.

When we make plans to travel any lengthy distance at night, we don’t insist in seeing all the things that may disrupt, delay, or detour our travel before we begin.  We simply set out trusting our headlights to make visible any problems that lie ahead in time for us to make appropriate response.

So it is with Christian living.  We live each day trusting God to reveal enough of his plan and path for us to make appropriate decisions.  God has promised, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”  (Psalm 32:8).

We live and walk by faith, not needing to see the whole trip, but trusting God to lead us moment by moment.  God used a blind person, Helen Keller, to put this truth into a song for us.

All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who thro’ life has been my Guide?
Heave’nly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, what-e’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me; Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for ev’ry trial, Feeds me with the living bread.
Tho’ my weary steps may falter, And my soul a-thirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! A spring of joy I see.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 15, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Remember God Is Our Strength

God’s people have returned from Babylonian captivity to again live in their homeland and to rebuild Jerusalem.  There is great joy in there liberation from captivity and the freedom to return to their homeland.

But their homecoming is not pretty and peaceful.  There is much disappointment and difficulty.  A large part of Jerusalem has been destroyed.  Foreign people claim the grazing land, and only a small remnant of the twelve tribes of Israel have returned with them.

In the midst of this situation and prayer of lament, Isaiah issues a call to his people to remember God and what he has done for them in the past.   But he also urges them to remember and rejoice in what God has promised to do for them in the future.

To “remember” is an important word of encouragement in the Bible.  Before the Hebrews crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, Moses urged them to “remember” who was giving them the land.  And throughout the history of God’s people, the prophets and the psalm writers urged the people to “remember” God’s actions and benefits in their behalf, as well as his promises for their future.

To “remember” is not just a looking back, it is also a looking forward.  Remembering the past is a blessed treasure and resource that undergirds and keeps alive our present hope. And it also reminds and reconnects us to God’s ongoing redemptive love and purposes for us in the future.

In reading Isaiah 63:7-9, we discover that in spite of their difficult circumstances, Isaiah is thankful for the goodness of God in verse 7, the grace of God in verse 8, and the presence of God in verse 9.

Regarding the goodness of God, Isaiah says, “I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us – yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.”

Regarding the grace of God, Isaiah says, “He said, ‘Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me’; so he became their Savior.”

Isaiah wants Israel to remember that God had adopted them as his very own people and became their Savior.  He did not do this because the Hebrews were the biggest and the best, but only because of his grace and love.

How long has it been since you thanked God for being your Savior?  We do not deserve salvation; we received it only because of God’s grace.  Think of where you would be, and what you would be, without God, and then thank him for the eternal difference he has made in your life and future.

Regarding the presence of God, Isaiah says, “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them.  In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”

Isaiah wants Israel to remember that in all of their sufferings and distress, God did more than just send angels.  God himself came to them to be present and participate in their sufferings.  Isaiah reminds his people that it was this presence of God that saved them, or made them well, complete, and whole, which are the most inclusive meanings of salvation.

In this verse, Isaiah paints a beautiful word portrait of the empathetic love of God.  He wants us to visualize ourselves as crying children being picked up (redeemed) from unpleasant, painful, and hopeless circumstances and (carried) with strong arms that enfold us with comforting protection and provision.

According to the psalmist, this is God being “our refuge and strength, an ever- present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1).  He hurts when we hurt – he helps, protects, and provides for us – and he even picks us up and carries us.  Most certainly, I believe that all of us have experienced this providential hand of God at work in our lives in some way during the past year.

You and I are alive this morning because of God’s goodness, grace, and presence in our lives the past year. As we enter into a new year and face the known and unknown challenges of 2020, let us pause to “remember” and give God thankful praise for his sustaining grace in the year past and petition him for enabling grace in the year ahead.

I invite you to pray the words of Fanny Crosby in her 1882 hymn, “God of Our Strength.”

God of our strength, enthroned above, the source of life, the fount of love,                                        O let devotion’s sacred flame / our souls awake to praise thy name.

God of our strength, from day to day / direct our thoughts and guide our way.                              Oh, may our hearts united be / in sweet communion, Lord, with thee.

God of our strength, on thee we call. God of our hope, our light, our all,                                          Thy name we praise, they love adore, our rock, our shield, forevermore.

(Chorus) God of our strength, we wait on thee, our sure defense forever be.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 8, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

A Happy New Year

Former President Jimmy Carter graduated from the Naval Academy and served as an officer on a nuclear-powered submarine.  But before he was able to assume that position, he had to have a personal interview with Admiral Hyman Rickover, who is considered to be the father of the nuclear navy.

Jimmy Carter says that the interview made him very nervous; knowing how much was at stake and that only the best, most disciplined officers were chosen to serve in this prestigious role.  As he stood before Admiral Rickover, it was soon obvious to Carter that the wise admiral knew more about nearly every subject discussed than he did.

Finally, Rickover came to the last question on his list – “Where did you finish in your class, young man?”  Please with his accomplishments and thrilled to finally be presented a question he was sure of, Carter informed the Admiral that he had finished 59^th out of a student body numbering 820.  Then he waited for a commendation from the old sailor – but it never came.

In telling the story later, Jimmy Carter said that the question that broke the uncomfortable silence between the two men was, “Did you always do your best?”  Carter thought a moment and then cleared his throat and hesitantly replied, “No sir, I did not.”  At that point, Rickover turned he chair around, signaling the interview was over, and asked, “Why not?”

That is a good question to ask ourselves at the beginning of a new year.  How do we evaluate what we have done during the past year?  Would we say it was poor, so-so, adequate, good, very good, or outstanding?

In the past year, have we always done our best?  Probably not.  And if not, why not?  Have any of our conversations and actions caused unnecessary pain.  Probably so.  If so, why?

The beginning of a new year offers us a time to reflect on our past, regret our mistakes, contemplate the future, and make resolutions.  I believe that most people, including me, want to do and be better in the New Year.

Many years ago, Louisa Fletcher Tarkington, wrote a perceptive poem entitled, “The Land of Beginning Again.”  It begins and ends with a verse which is almost a universal wish.

I wish there were some wonderful place

Called the land of beginning again

Where all our mistakes,

And all our heartaches,

And all of our poor selfish grief,

Could be dropped like a shabby

Old coat at the door,

And never be put on again.

There seems to always be something about the past that often troubles us, even if it is nothing more than the nagging belief that we could do better if we had another go at it.

Mistakes and regrets of the past can and often do become heavy emotional baggage for many people.  The baggage is real and cannot be easily waved aside, for it is the consequence of mistaken judgments and unwise decisions that have left scars, and sometimes, painful open wounds in our relationships.

However, the Bible is filled with the possibility of forgiveness and new beginnings.  This is God’s good news to us.  The angel’s message to the shepherds is forever new.  “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today … a Savior has been born to you.”

Whatever mistakes and regrets that may still be lying out there in our past, whatever relationships remain painfully wounded and in need of healing, God’s “Savior Jesus” can help us gather them all into a prayer of repentance, forgiveness, and new beginnings.  The ability to forgive and to be forgiven is always ours for the asking.  Jesus himself invites us to “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7).

Instead of fretting over the past, take hold of forgiveness, and move forward through God’s open door of a new year and a new beginning toward more Christ-like excellence in all of our conversations and activities.

I hope you will join me in making the decision and effort to walk into the new year of 2020 with a new commitment to be the person God created us to be.  And may all your days be happy and blessed.  Amen!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 1, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley