Healing Rays of Righteousness

What God Has Graciously Not Done

We frequently thank God for the things he has done for us and others. And we should do that. But should not we also thank God for the things he has not done? I can think of four wonderful things God has not done which should make us incredibly grateful.

FIRST – God has not rewarded us according to our iniquities. In response to his contemplative thoughts regarding God’s behavior during the Exodus experience of his people, the Israelites, David wrote, “he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:10).

 David rightly understood that his ancestors, along with their Egyptian neighbors, should have also lost their firstborn children to the angel of death. But God provided a substitute in the Passover lamb. This is a wonderful part of David’s life history, and he celebrates God’s mercy. “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. (Psalm 103:8).

The Scriptures clearly state that we have no inherent right to God’s mercy and redeeming grace. As the Apostle Paul says in Romans 3:23, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  But God makes possible that privilege for us in the death and resurrection of Jesus, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). Thank you, God!

SECOND – God has not failed, even once, to keep his promises. After Solomon completed his lengthy prayer, he stood to bless the people. This inspired man of prayer looked back on Israel’s long road from Mount Sinai and summed up the entire history of Israel in one sentence;  “Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.”  (1 Kings 8:54-56).

Also, Joshua, an elderly hero in Israel’s history, affirms God’s faithfulness; “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”  (Joshua 23:14).

And, even today, we can rightly declare that the record of God’s faithfulness still stands. He has never failed in keeping his promises. When God speaks, it is as good as done. Yes, we can trust God’s promises. He will never disappoint us. What God promises, he can and will perform. Thank you, God!

THIRD – God has not given us the spirit of fear. Fear is one of the most controlling emotions of our modern life. Fear causes weakness and failure. Fear saps strength, paralyzes initiative, and poisons the atmosphere. When fear is evident in our lives, we can be assured that it is not of God.

Now listen to the prophetic message regarding Jesus’ birth that we hear each Christmas; “say to those with fearful hearts, ‘Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.’”(Isaiah 35:4). And the angel’s announcement of Jesus birth, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.” (Luke 2:10).

To reassure Timothy in his ministry, the apostle Paul writes, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid (fearful), but gives us power, love, and self-discipline (a sound mind).”  (2 Timothy 1:7).And the apostle John writes, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  (1 John 4:18). Jesus comes to free us from fear. Thank you, Jesus!

FOURTH – God has not assigned us to wrath. The apostle Paul wrote, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (1 Thessalonians 5:9).

This echoes John’s statement regarding both God’s gift of salvation and his righteous judgment, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”(John 3:36). And earlier in that same chapter, John declared, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  (John 3:16-17).

No, we cannot earn salvation or deliverance from God’s wrath, but, yes, because of God’s great love and mercy, we can receive his gift of eternal life by believing and walking with Jesus in repentance and trust. This is the basis of our hope. Thank you, God!

May these reminders of four things God has not done, give you even more reasons to celebrate God’s amazing love for you. AMEN!

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 3/26/25

Go, Tell That Fox

“Go tell that fox, I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.” (Luke 13:32).

Among first century Jews, foxes were viewed as destructive and worthless pests. Both Jews and Greeks used the term “fox” as a metaphor for a cunning man, a sly person. In rabbinical literature it occurs as a term of contempt in describing a person as worthless and unimportant.

The fox in our text is King Herod. He is a ruthless, cunning man of power. It is thought that he had two of his own sons murdered because he feared their growing political power. And now he is out to kill Jesus. But Jesus in not intimidated by Herod’s death threats.

Did Jesus fear death? He most likely did. I remember his prayer struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane shortly before his arrest, trial, and crucifixion, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” (Mt. 26:39). And his loud cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mt. 27:46). I believe these were cries of doubt and fear, questioning God’s presence and purpose in the moment. If not, how can we say that he was fully human like the rest of us.

And so, I hear his response to his disciples, “Go tell that fox …I will continue doing what I am doing, and I will reach my goal.”as both speaking reassurance to himself and re-affirming his commitment to the Father’s purpose and presence. I hear Jesus declaring that his life, work, and death would not be determined by Herod or the Pharisees, and names them “foxes.”

Jesus is committed to being directed by God’s inner voice and is clear about who holds his life and his future. He will not let sly foxes set his agenda, and he will not let Herod’s threats stop him from doing what he knows is God’s will for him. Jesus will go to Jerusalem and Herod’s threat will not stop him. Yes, Jesus will be killed, but his death will not be God’s final word. The final victory belongs to God and the risen Christ, who is Jesus.

During the weeks of Lent, we are encouraged to re-examine our level of commitment to God’s plan and purpose for us. To do so, we should seriously consider how we may be being deceived, lied to, and drawn away from God’s truth and mission for us by devilish human foxes.

These human foxes are cunning and quick to invade our mind and hearts with tempting, twisted, and distorted “godly explanations” or unbiblical “conspiracy theories” that are attractive and believable, and confirming what we “secretly” most desire to believe.

We will encounter these human foxes in our work-place, neighborhood, and even in churches. Truly, the devil’s foxes are everywhere, deliberately using the power of innuendo and scare tactics to intimidate and steer us away from the biblical Jesus and God’s grand mission of love and peace in the world.

Watch the evening news, skim the headlines, listen to the talk-shows – it is a scary and deadly world of foxes that we live in. And it is important that we give attention to the destructive nature of these foxes and how they may be diluting and weakening our commitment to being a Jesus-follower every day, everywhere, and with everyone.

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Jesus knew nasty people and nasty things are out there, but he also knew that with God’s spirit in us, we are enabled to remain committed to God’s agenda and power in the world. Jesus has shown us that with courage and determination we can refuse to be drawn into the cunning, hurtful, evil ways of the foxes everywhere present, knowing that God’s way of love, joy, and peace to all will triumph. This is the essence of our faith.

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 3/19/25

How Can I Be Neighbor

I did not understand nor appreciate the church calendar with its season of Lent until my Seminary studies and exposure to other religious thoughts and rituals. For me, the time of spiritual and relational self-examination happened twice a year prior to Communion Service.

Following my seminary experience, and after arriving at my new pastorate location, I would join in the activities of the local ministerium. Those experiences made me more aware of the value of church rituals, but also how quickly good rituals for deepening relationship with God and others, can quickly become emptied of spiritual growth and strengthening.

This is why the conversation, recorded in Luke 10:25-37, between Jesus and “an expert in the law” regarding “who is my neighbor, awakens me to my own biased attitudes and behaviors. Yes, I have biases, both good and bad. And yes, at times I have tried to justify my attitudes and behaviors by defining “neighbor” according to my own “preferred” (biased) comfort level.

But I hear Jesus’ “Samaritan story” response to the “religious expert’s” question as vividly declaring such questioning to be out of order. The correct questioning is not “Who is my neighbor” but “How can I be neighbor?”  Yes, “neighbor” to every person I encounter, with all biases removed. Yes, even the neighbor who is frequently at my door wanting something.

Okay, but what does it mean to be a Jesus-like neighbor? I hear Jesus telling us that it is more about what we do to others then what we say to others. His story of the “Samaritan who did good,” is only one example. On another occasion he told a wealthy “wanna-be” disciple to “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mark 10:21).

And in Matthew 25:31-46 we hear Jesus describing the end-time judgment and its separation criteria. “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and , and did not help you?’  He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.”  (vss.44-45).

In his devotional book, “A Daily Walk Through Romans” Myron Augsburger writes, “There is a cost in love, for when you love someone, their experience is shared with you, their problems become your problems. Love is far deeper than tolerance; it calls for repentance while tolerance doesn’t require change. Love does not select. Love shares totally with the person. When we love we identify honestly, openly, fully. Paul states his admonition simply but profoundly: “Let love be genuine.”

 Many times, I have experienced Jesus’ command to be a neighbor of love and compassion to all others, to be difficult, costly, and sometimes dangerous. But what if we considered these difficult experiences as opportunities to deepen our relationship with God and have our trust in him strengthened. We can do so being reassured that God will always keep his promise, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). Truly, I have found it to be so!

A prayer hymn that I love to sing, because it expresses the deep desire of my heart and I hope of your heart as well, is “Lord, I Am Fondly, Earnestly Longing.” It was written by Elisha A. Hoffman and published in 1902. I suggest it be our prayer for this Lenten journey with Jesus.

“Lord, I am fondly, earnestly longing  into thy holy likeness to grow,

thirsting for more and deeper communion,  yearning thy love more fully to know.”

(Chorus) –  “Open the wells of grace and salvation,  pour the rich streams deep into my heart. Cleanse and refine my thought and affection,  seal me and make me pure as thou art.”

“Dead to the world would I be, O Savior,  dead unto sin, alive unto thee.

Crucify all the earthly within me,  emptied of sin and self may I be.”

“I would be thine and serve thee forever,  filled with thy Spirit, lost in thy love.

Come to my heart, Lord,  come with anointing, showers of grace send down from above.

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 3/12/25

Taking A Deep Breath of God’s Spirit

Today another “Ash Wednesday” begins the annual 40 days of “Lent” during which we are encouraged to give serious thought regarding our relationship with Jesus, as we  journey with him toward his death and resurrection on “Easter Sunday.” 

Two questions that will focus our self-reflections are; 1) In what ways has my love for God deepened and become more precious? and 2) In what ways have my attitudes and behaviors become more like Jesus? Sincere pondering of these questions will energize our efforts toward becoming a better Jesus-follower in our world of relationships.

“Take a deep breath and count to ten” was the advice that I gave to my children whenever they became upset or angry because of what was said or done to them. Unfortunately, I did not always follow my own advice and instead said or done things I later regretted.

But this may also be good advice as we review our relationship with God during the past months. I am reminded of this advice whenever I hear the words of Jesus recorded in John 20:21-23, “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’”

This surprise visit by Jesus was more than just a friendly, neighborly visit to confirm His aliveness. It was a life-changing mission-sending visit, empowering His disciples to continue His mission of forgiveness and peacemaking in the world. In these few verses, I believe we are hearing Jesus say to his disciples and us, “I am sending you to be peacemakers, so take a deep breath of my Holy breath and receive my forgiving peace, which will enable you to embody the Father’s love and forgiveness for the world.”

Taking a deep breath of God’s forgiving, healing, energizing Spirit is advice that I think fits well into the purpose of Lent. For in taking a deep breath of God’s forgiving, healing, energizing Spirit, we will be encouraged, enabled, and energized toward a deepening love-relationship with God. And as we breathe God’s Spirit-breath, creativity is awakened, and his profound wisdom and love are empowered in us to do his will on earth as it is in heaven.

Yes, the days of Lent can be a painful time of repenting as we remember our stumbling and failures in being a Jesus-follower. But Jesus’ breathing on us his Spirit’s gift of forgiveness and empowerment, “Peace be with you,” removes all fear and anxiety that may be holding us hostage and invites us into a deepening love relationship with himself and others.

Jesus’ Spirit-breath of peace was to enable his disciples and us to embody and demonstrate the Father’s love and forgiveness for the world. And as he had told them and us earlier, their peace-mission will be known by their love for one another, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  (John 13:34-35).

Edwin Hatch has written a prayer-hymn that is so appropriate for the days of Lent. It is titled “Breathe on Me, Breath of God.” I invite you to join me in making it our prayer during this season of Lent.

Breathe on me, breath of God. Fill me with life a-new that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do.

Breathe on me, breath of God, until my heart is pure, until with thee I will one will, to do and to endure.

Breathe on me, breath of God, till I am wholly thine, till all this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine.

Breathe on me, breath of God, so shall I never die, but live with thee the perfect life of thine eternity.

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Ray M Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13@wordpress.com – 3/05/25