Healing Rays of Righteousness

People of Faith in Action

For me, reading Hebrews 11 is like walking through a “People of Faith in Action” Hall of Fame.  As I read about these people of faith who appear in the pages of biblical history like pictures hanging in an art gallery, I ask myself, “How can I ever measure up to that kind of faith?”

There are people who live such godly lives that they did not die, like Enoch, and people who had great faith in what God said and built a boat that took many years to complete even though there had never been rain and floods, like Noah.

And there is the old couple who gave birth to a baby, the mother being 90 years old and the father 100 years old and laughing with delight as God fulfills his promise to them. 

And then there is Moses, who became God’s miracle man at age 80, boldly confronting the powerful Pharoah and freeing the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt.

When I walk through this gallery of people, I become intimidated and made to feel like I am in another world of super-spiritual people.  But then I remember the biblical record teaches me that God does not divide His people into super-spiritual saints and malnourished believers.  In God’s family everybody is totally human and equally loved.

Furthermore, God is today the same God He was in the Old Testament, and nothing less than He was to Moses and Abraham.  And so, the people remembered and named as people of faith in Hebrews 11 are not being listed as “special” saints whose life of faith cannot be modeled in our present world.

When we read the stories of these people, as recorded in the Old Testament, we discover that they are people who think, and act very much like us.  These people of faith in Hebrews 11, become “terrified” and “cried out to the Lord” when in a desperate situation.  They become angry and blame others.  And with diminished faith, they feel hopeless and despairing of life.  These are not special people with special powers.  They are fully human, just like us.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that nourishing a life of faith in God will enable each of us to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (12:2).  The writer wants us to understand that it was their faith in God that enabled the people of God to pass through the Red Sea, take down the walls of Jericho, and “conquered kingdoms, administered justice, … gained what was promised; … shut the mouths of the lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; … and routed foreign armies.”  (11:29-34).

This same faith was also seen in the lives of people who were tortured, mocked, flogged, chained and imprisoned.  Faith was evident in those who were stoned to death, sawn in two, and killed by the sword.  Faith in God sustained God’s people when they were destitute, persecuted, and tortured.

And the writer wants us to know that this same faith in God will also sustain us in our times of fear and desperation when enemies of all kinds are boxing us in with no possible escape. 

Yes, a miracle is a miracle and nothing less.  Miracles are “A humanly impossible event, that occurs in the natural realm, apart from natural causes, for the glory of God” that happened throughout our human history and continue to happen today.  Too often, in our day of sophistication and knowledge, miracles are often explained away as some natural coincidence, as some reasonable, logical result of sequential events. 

At such times we learn the difficult lesson of trusting, waiting, and being still, while God works His miracle of making a way of deliverance through the threatening sea or impossible wall of our life situation.  Hebrews 11 is for us to read whenever our faith in God needs to be reinforced in our heart, mind, and action.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for.  … These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”  (Hebrews 11:1,2,39,40).

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.  And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”  (12:1,2a). 

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 25, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

A Great Big God and Little Me

There are times when we may feel our lives are being driven by the winds of fate or controlled by evil people or forces.  Yes, we may sing joyfully about an omnipotent God in Sunday morning worship, but the difficult daily events of Monday through Saturday too frequently challenge our singing. 

Difficulties, both routine and unexpected, challenge our faith and perspective of God’s ability to carry us through the week.  It is our human nature to easily forget that our God is still the same almighty, sovereign Lord today as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow.

The prophet, Isaiah, was writing to his people, the Israelites, after they had experienced years of judgment and exile from their homeland.  They were so beaten down by life’s many trials and great adversity that they began to question whether God was with them or cared about their difficulties.

Isaiah knew both their situation and their hearts, and writes to them asking a crucial question in chapter 40, verse 27;  “Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’?”  By asking this probing question, Isaiah hopes to revive and encourage their faith in God’s everlasting love and care as He had promised them.

To confirm and strengthen the truth regarding God’s love and concern, Isaiah tells the Israelites to look up at the stars. “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:  Who created all these?  He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name.  Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” (40:26).

Isaiah believed that his people could regain their perspective on life if they lifted their eyes to the heavens.  He reminds them that God formed the heavens, “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.  He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” (v.22). 

And furthermore, “He … brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” (26).

In verse 25, the voice of the Lord is heard asking, “To whom will you compare me?  Or who is my equal?”  Isaiah joins the conversation to argue that when you observe creation, you see the power, strength, and loving care of God.  “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, and Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” (vv.28-29).

What a wonderful message to a people who were discouraged, beaten down, and worn out with life.  

Yet, even today, I know from experience that my pondering of this wondrous truth always revives my awareness of this great big God and His awesome power and love for me.  This always proves to be a sure defense and remedy for all my doubtings and discouragements.  And so, I pastorally recommend a daily “looking up to the heavens” for your spiritual health and vitality.

Our God is strong and mighty, all-powerful and full of amazing love.  God has not forgotten any one of us and never will.  Jesus told his disciples in a time of great anxiety “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.  And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”  (Matthew 10:29-31).

Look at the world around, above, and beneath you, and be encouraged by remembering that the Creator of the universe knows your name and your situation.  God understands your fears, your hopes, your dreams, and your pains.  God’s wisdom is unsearchable, God’s power is unmatched, and God’s love is overwhelming and limitless. 

Remember whose you are, and rest in God’s holy presence.  Look up at the stars and receive the gift of a grand perspective.  God is so big, and we are so small, yet God is holding you and me in the palm of his hand, protecting, planning, and providing for us.  THANKS BE TO GOD!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 18, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

God’s Majestic Name Is Everywhere

“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”  King David writes these words of praise as an introduction to the truth of Psalm 8, which declares God’s majestic sovereignty and lordship over all things created.  He then closes the psalm in verse 9 with the same words of praise to underscore this truth.

David is declaring that God’s name is majestic because it excels all others.  God’s name, which identifies His character and work, is holy, majestic, mighty, glorious, and excels far above all other names.

Similar thoughts appear in Psalm 104:1-2; “O Lord my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendor and majesty.  The rest of the psalm reviews God’s work in creation and concludes with verses 31, “May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works –.”

David continues, “You have set your glory above the heavens.”  It is God’s majestic lordship over all things as Creator and Sustainer that reveals his glory.  The whole creation, earth and heavens, give witness to God’s majestic glory.

Psalm 8 reminds us that beyond the vastness of the universe is the vastness of God.  The moon and stars are merely the work of God’s fingers.  The whole universe sits on His potter’s wheel; the whole universe stands on His workbench.

Gazing into the star-filled night sky, the psalmist believed that beyond the vastness of the universe is the vastness of his God. And in his looking and believing, he considers the moon and stars as merely “the work of your (God’s) fingers.”

Recognizing the vastness of creation and the majesty of God “in the heavens,” King David ponders before the Lord: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” (vv.3-4).

So, the question being asked is “Will God keep us in His mind?”  Will God keep His eye on us?”  Being so small in comparison to the vast and endless universe, will God think of us, see us, and care for us?

In his worshipful thoughts toward this Almighty, Creator God, so glorious and majestic in the natural sphere, King David reflects on God’s relationship with us human beings.  Reassured and inspired by God’s Spirit, King David declares “You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.” (v.5).  Many scholars believe a better translation is, “a little lower than God.”  

But the psalmist adds something more in saying that God has “crowned them with glory and honor.”  In other words, God intended our glory and honor to be seen in the world as his own glory and honoris seen in the universe.

WOW!  God’s name is not simply majestic in all the earth; God’s name is crowned in our hearts, for we are born anew and baptized in God’s majestic name.

The “glory and honor” of this “crown” is given in verse 6, “You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.”

The psalmist is again reflecting on Genesis 1:26, “… so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

That is our God-designed purpose and vocation.  Our being crowned with  “glory and honor,” is seen in our being made a little lower than God, bearing his image and placed in this world to rule over the earth and its creatures.  It is our “glory and honor” to participate in God’s rule.  God grants this crown to us as a privilege, and not as a right. 

Our Father God, the God in whom we confess our faith, is not a generic, no-name deity.  Our God is not a god who created and started the earth going like some cosmic watchmaker and then disappeared from the scene, never to be heard from again.

Our God is the God who gave the Law on Mt. Sinai, saying “I am the Lord your God. …You shall have no other gods before me.”   (Ex 20:2a, 3).

This is the glorious God in whose “majestic” name we gather to worship, and by whose “majestic” name we are blessed and sent out into the world to live and act, bearing witness to God’s creative and redeeming work.

Truly, our one vocation in life is to participate in making God’s name “majestic” in all the earth. Daily we pray, “Father, help us make holy your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  

Like a final chorus, verse 9 repeats verse 1: “Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Our place in God’s order evokes this final note of praise. As you discover your divine destiny, please join me in making God’s name majestic in all the earth.

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 11, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Being A Nurturing Influencer

“My life shall touch a dozen lives before this day is done,

Leave countless marks for good or ill ere sets the evening sun,

This is the wish I always wish, the prayer I always pray;

Lord, may my life help other lives it touches by the way.

(Anonymous author)

This coming Sunday is designated as “Mother’s Day.”  A day to give recognition and honor to our mothers.  When I think of my mother, I think of her nurturing me to become my best created potential.  From my first spark of life in her womb, she carefully nurtured me toward a healthy birth into her world.  And from that moment on, my father joined her in lovingly nurturing me into adulthood.  Thanks be to God for Godly, nurturing parents.

However, I have come to believe that this work of love in nurturing others is not limited to parents but is God’s expectation for all of us as his highest calling.  Generation after generation, commandment after commandment, God kept calling His people to this life purpose of loving and nurturing others, and then in Jesus He came into our world to “show and tell” how to do it.   

Most every human being desperately needs the emotional nourishment of recognition, encouragement, and hope.  To give another this vital nourishment of love, trust, and security toward influencing and shaping their character, attitudes, and instilling faith and hope, is called nurturing.

I must emphasize that at the core of this nurturing process is a genuine concern for the other.  Like a mother’s love for her child, there must be positive feelings and concern for the person you wish to influence and nurture.

Consider those persons who most influenced and nurtured your life.  What made them “special” to you?  Are they not persons who gave you encouragement and made you feel good about yourself?  Are they not persons who you felt genuinely cared about you?  Were they not “nurturing influencers” in your life?

What is a “Nurturing Influencer” you ask, and how can I be one?  A nurturing influencer is a “GIVER,” being more focused on giving rather than getting.  They seize opportunities to give a hand in helping others to become their best created potential.

From their heart of love and concern, they give Love.  Before you can have any relationship with another person, you must show them love.  When it comes to helping people grow and feel good about themselves, there is no substitute for love.  Everyone needs to feel valued and loved.  And do not ever assume that people know how you feel about them.  Tell them!

From their heart of love and concern, they give Respect.  That means making it clear that their feelings are important, their preferences are respected, and their opinions are valuable.  It also means giving them the benefit of the doubt. 

Please note that whereas, Love focuses on giving to others, Respect shows a willingness to receive from them.  Respect acknowledges another person’s ability or potential to contribute to the relationship.

From their heart of love and concern, they give Trusted Security.  People are reluctant to trust you when they are worried about whether they are safe with you.  People will feel secure with you when your actions and words are consistent and conform to a high moral code that includes respect for them. 

From their heart of love and concern, they give Recognition.  They readily share recognition and show appreciation to others.  Even a little bit of recognition and appreciation can go an incredibly long way in a person’s life.  “Nurturing Influencers” know they are building self-esteem and motivation every time they give recognition and express appreciation to the other.   

From their heart of love and concern, they give Encouragement.  Nothing influences another like encouragement does.  When a person is encouraged, they can face the impossible and overcome incredible adversity.  It is also true that the lack of encouragement hinders a person from living a healthy, productive life. 

You ask, how can I become a “Nurturing Influencer”?  The apostle Paul strongly directs us toward cultivating a positive attitude of other-mindedness:  “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”  (Philippians 2:3-4) 

I add the following helps in cultivating a positive attitude of “other-mindedness”:  

1) Commit to helping others.  Making a commitment to help people changes your priorities and your actions.     2) Believe in others.  Give people your trust and hope, and they will feel safe and not want to disappoint you.     3) Be accessible to others.  You cannot nurture anyone from a distance.  You can only do it up close and in person.     4) Give freely to others.  Instead of trying to make a transaction out of it, give freely without expecting anything in return.     5) Give others opportunities.  As the people you nurture gain strength, give them additional opportunities to succeed and grow.     6) Lift others to a higher level.  This should always be your ultimate goal – helping people to reach their fullest potential.

Even though many people find it hard to be loving and positive toward others, especially if their growing up environment was not nurturing them, I believe anyone can become a “nurturing influencer” and add value to the life of others if they seriously cultivate a positive attitude of being other-minded. 

I am urging you to join me in being a “healing ray of righteousness” as a “nurturing influencer” in the lives of others.  Let us live to bring light and love into our present world of darkness and hate.  Amen! 

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – May 4, 2022

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley