Healing Rays of Righteousness

Treasuring God’s Gift of Memories

How grateful are you for memories, both the joyous and the painful? What memories will fuel your expressions of gratitude on this “Thanks-giving” day? Why do you think God gifted us with memory? I suggest that God intends for memory to shape and deepen our relationship with himself, and to inspire in us a grateful response of praise and prayer.

From his memory and meditation, the psalmist, David, writes two songs of praise. In Psalm 103, he remembers God’s presence and provision of “forgiveness of sins” in human life. And in Psalm 104, he remembers God’s presence and provision of “order and harmony” in all creation.

For David, the gift of memory inspires his grateful praise to God. Even though David does not directly address God, he does pile up reasons that show God is most deserving of our praise and worship.

David begins his words of thanksgiving by addressing his “soul,” which is better understood as his “inmost being” – or the “all” of who a person is. It is the Hebrew way of addressing oneself. So, when we say, “Praise the Lord, my soul,” we are worshipping with our whole being, which means our physical actions and expressions are mirroring what is happening deep within us, revealing the depth and sincerity of our gratitude.

In these two psalms, David gratefully remembers and stacks up the many things God is doing and will continue doing for his soul. And so, David reminds us to praise God not only because of what God has done for us in the past but also because of how God will love us into the future. And as you read them, note that these memories are from both individual experiences and shared collective experiences.

Yes, the Bible frequently does call us to thank and praise God because of what he has done, continues to do, and will yet do for us. And often the word “remember” accompanies this counsel, suggesting that our worshipful praise will be minimal and lacking emotion, if we do not gratefully remember God’s many acts of goodness and mercy to us.

Such information leads me to believe that God gifted us with memory for the ultimate purpose of inspiring our praise to him and deepening our love relationship with himself.

It is easy to say, “Thank you, God” for the big things and significant events in our life, but do we also give God thanks for the little things in life. I suspect that many of us tend to take such for granted, expecting God to provide these daily necessities to us because he should do so as our Creator. We too easily forget that such an attitude and behavior will quickly hinder and diminish the fervor of our daily relationship with God, which he so greatly desires.

I agree with James Waltner who writes in his commentary on this psalm, “Forgetting and turning away from God begins when we no longer praise.”(Believer’s Church Bible Commentary). And, the apostle Paul encouraged the early Christian church, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

On the tombstone of her husband’s grave, a southern mountain woman had chiseled in rough and uneven letters this epitaph, “He always appreciated.” I hope that the same tribute can be said about me and you after our deaths.

On “Thanksgiving Day” let us join the Psalmist in remembering our blessings and expressing our thanks! “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits –

who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – November 27, 2024

Treasuring God’s Gift of Time

The same God who created time and worked in time, sending his Son in the fullness of time to rescue, redeem, and adopt us, as His children, will someday say with a trumpet shout, “There will be no more delay!” (Rev. 10:6), and earthly time is ended. But, more likely, before God’s final shout, ending time, he will whisper to you during one heartbeat moment, “Your time on earth is ended. Come home.”

That is why the apostle Paul writes, “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2). And it is why Jesus said, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” (Mt. 24:42).  And so, the passing of time, which we call aging, is not just for the elderly, but is an urgent reality for all of us, whatever our calendar age.

God created time and gives it to us human beings as a gracious gift, heartbeat by heartbeat. I like to think of time as being an individually designed package of life, which is gift-wrapped by God and sent to us, heartbeat by heartbeat. And, most importantly, what we do with this precious gift very directly shapes our future eternal destination in a world of either life, light, and love in God’s Kingdom or the opposite realities in Satan’s Kingdom.

For that reason the apostle Paul admonished the Ephesian Christians, “Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (Eph. 5:15-17).

But sadly, when confronted by God’s Spirit with this truth, many respond with, “Lord, I understand what you are saying to me and what I need to do. And sometime, Lord, I will accept your invitation and become a Christian. Sometime, I will turn my life over to you, be baptized, and commit myself to being a Jesus follower. Yes, Lord, sometime I will get around to accepting your invitation. But right now, I am too busy enjoying all that is available to me in this world.”

And sadly, many a marriage relationship has crashed, causing immense pain and suffering to family and children, because a spouse, or both, have said, “Sometime soon, Lord, I am going to take my marriage vows seriously and work at building a love relationship that endures. Sometime I am going to be the dad or mother my children need me to be. Yes, Lord, sometime I will do that, but right now I am just too busy enhancing my career, trying to get ahead in this world, preparing for my family’s future.”

From my earlier years, I remember the story of a very popular musician by the name of Jim Croce. He wrote a song entitled, “Time in a Bottle,” in which he said he was going to put “time” in a bottle. He was going to put a cork in the bottle and bottle up “some time.” Then when he needed “some time” for his family, or with his friends, he could uncork the bottle and take “some time” out to enjoy life with them.

However, it was less than twelve months from the day he recorded the song that he was killed in a plane crash, and his bottle of “sometime” was smashed to pieces. The truth is that bottled “sometime” is seldom, if ever, used as was planned. Today is the time that God has given us. “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:2).

Today is the only time we hold in our hands, 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.”

Now is the time to serve the King of kings and Lord of lords! Now is the time to prepare for our future life in the timeless world of eternal love in God’s Kingdom. Now is the time to do what I want to accomplish before my time in this world of time is ended? Now is the time to be the person I want people to fondly remember me being?

My friend, now is the time to “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.” (Song by Helen Lemmel).

And, yes, Thanksgiving Day is a time to gratefully thank God for his gift of time.

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 11/20/2024

CHOOSING TO WALK TOGETHER

The image of the Christian life being a walk is firmly rooted in the New Testament teachings.  The apostle Paul admonishes us to, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Eph. 5:1-2).

I hear the apostle saying that God’s “way of love” should directly motivate and frame my relationship with you, and is not dependent on whether or not you agree with me?  No! My relationship with you and all others should be rooted in full acceptance and respect, even though we may disagree on particular issues.

The reason so many friendships, churches, communities, and nations are severely fractured and in destructive disarray today, is because we do not acknowledge the biblical difference between agreement and acceptance.  Nor do we give heed to the many behavioral studies which show that much of our human anxieties are caused by an egocentric, neurotic need to have others agree with us.

We also are prone to ignore the fact that the dynamics of every healthy people grouping, whether it be church, community, or nation, includes lively disagreement.  The “loyal opposition” is needed to keep us from getting too comfortable with our human tendency toward selfish, narrow, and off-times marred visions. 

Furthermore, I believe that for anyone of us to presume others need us to correct their thinking or behavior, but that we do not need them to correct our thinking or behavior, is to assign to ourselves an omniscience that belongs only to Almighty God. 

Regretfully, many Christians have been misled by the King James Version of Amos 3:3, which asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”  They understand the prophet to be saying that any disagreement is detrimental to healthy relationship and community and thus, “no agreement, no relationship.”  But that is not the meaning behind the original Hebrew.

The New International Version better clarifies the original meaning as follows; “Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?  This more correctly suggests an agreement with neighbor to meet for a walk together.  It is a commitment to a planned and scheduled activity together.  In other words, I agree to walk with you because I accept and respect you regardless of our disagreements.

With his knowledge of the Scriptures and historical experience, Dietrich Bonhoffer warned that “He who can no longer listen to his brother will soon no longer be listening to God, either.”

To the Christians in Rome, Paul says, “Love must be sincere.” (Rom. 12:1).  And included in his list of loving behaviors is this admonition in verse 18, “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”   He then concludes with this word, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (v.21).

These voices, and the whole of the New Testament clearly tell us that the followers of Jesus will live a lifestyle built around GOD who is LOVE. Sacrificial, accepting, forgiving love, as seen in Jesus’ crucifixion death is to be at the core of our relationships with fellow believers, and should also shape our attitude and behavior towards all people at all times. As true followers of Jesus, this is our calling and mission.

For that reason, I am deeply troubled by what appears to be a serious drift by many who call themselves Christian, away from the biblical principles of “community by acceptance” and toward a more totalitarian view of “community by agreement” and its very low tolerance for disagreement.  It is a kind of mentality that fixes its eyes on another with a cold look and says, “If you don’t agree with us, get out.  Go somewhere else.  You don’t belong here.” 

O beloved church, we call ourselves Christian, so let us walk our talk.  Let us love, accept, and walk together with all people, respectfully listening to the “loyal opposition” toward seeking common ground and guidance in making a better world for all of us.  AMEN!

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 11/6/24