Lessons With Aesop

I recently came across a collections of stories from Aesop. The stories definitely have a comedic 'after-dinner' feel to them. Many of them were probably written by a number of writers. Some of the stories have morals as well.

Many of the reflections have a very pagan tone to them: don't ask for too much, don't expect too much, settling for less is best, etc. Some of the stories seem to go beneath that level, having devotional aspect to them. Here are a few that I have liked so far:

An old crab said to her son, "Why do you walk sideways like that, my son? You ought to walk straight." The young crab replied, "Show me how, dear mother, and I'll follow your example." The old crab tried, but tried in vain, and then saw how foolish she had been to find fault with her child.

Example is better than precept.

A farmer, being at death's door and desiring to impart to his sons a secret of much moment, called them round him and said, "My sons, I am shortly about to die. I would have you know, therefore, that in my vineyard there lies a hidden treasure. Dig, and you will find it." As soon as their father was dead, the sons took spade and fork and turned up the soil of the vineyard over and over again, in their search for the treasure which they supposed to lie buried there. They found none, however, but the vines, after so thorough a digging, produced a crop such as had never before been seen.

Jupiter issued a proclamation to all the beasts and offered a prize to the one who, in his judgment, produced the most beautiful offsing. Among the rest came the monkey, carrying a baby monkey in her arms, a hairless, flat-nosed little fright. When they saw it the gods all burst into peal on peal of laughter. But the monkey hugged her little one to her and said, "Jupiter may give the prize to whomsover he likes, but I shall always think my baby the most beautiful of them all."

A donkey found a lion's skin, and dressed himself up in it. Then he went about frightening everyone he met, for they all took him to be a lion, men and beasts alike, and took to their heels when they saw him coming. Elated by the sucess of his trick, he loudly brayed in triumph. The fox heard him, and recognized him at once for the donkey he was, and said to him, "Oho, my friend, it's you, is it? I, too should have been afraid if I hadn't heard your voice."

A dog was crossing a plank bridge over a stream with a piece of meat in his mouth, when he happened to see hiw own reflection in the water. He thought it was another dog with a piece of meat twice as big; so he let go hiw own, and flew at the other dog to get the other piece. But, of course, all that happened was that he got neither; for one was only a reflection, and the other was carried away by the current.

A lioness and a vixen were talking together about their young, as mothers will, and saying how healthy and well grown they were, and what beautiful coats they had, and how they were the image of their parents. "My litter of cubs is a joy to see," said the fox. And then she added, rather maliciously, "But I notice you never have more than one." "No," said the lioness grimly, "but that one is a lion."

Quality, not quantity.

A traveler was about to start on a journey and said to his dog, who was stretching himself by the door, "Come, what are you yawning for? Hurry up and get ready. I mean you to go with me." But the dog merely wagged his tail and said quietly, "I'm ready, master. It's you I'm waiting for."

Faithful Healer; Redemption

Anyone who has suffered any trauma or abuse will tell you that the physical damage heals long before the psychological and spiritual damage is resolved. It can take years, decades, and even a lifetime for those secondary wounds to heal. They can scar over at times and be numbed for long periods of time only to be reopened at the slightest new trauma. It can be a messy process and friends and family can grow impatient and even angry and relationships can be lost. There is one friend, however Who sticks closer than a brother and will never abandon any patient under His care. I know this because Jesus has been and remains that faithful caregiver in my life. In all that I have suffered either by the hand of another, by my own hand, or by the happenstance that hinders us all in a world cursed by sin, Jesus has never abandoned me.

The crucible of physical illness, the trauma of war, natural disaster, or accident are not beyond the ability of Jesus to heal. Not even the degradation of physical and sexual abuse is too personally devastating to be completely healed in Christ. Those who know Jesus will tell you that He was with them in the crucible of their trial and that He remains with them in the aftermath. I too do testify that Jesus has never failed me and that He works continually to restore me to the person my Heavenly Father created me to be. I will be that person on the day that I no longer live in a world under the curse of sin and death. This is true of all who experience God daily through His Son, Jesus Christ. This is not the healing that is like the healing of modern medicine that postpones death for a season but instead, is the healing that will end in eternal life. This is the redemption process, the sanctification of His saints that begins with the forgiveness of our sins and ends with the freedom from sin and the complete cleansing and healing of the sin-damage that before Christ brought death to all. This is what it means to be saved and it is all for the glory of God.

Isaiah 38:16-19

Lord, by such things men live;
and my spirit finds life in them too.
You restored me to health and let me live.
Surely it was for my benefit
that I suffered such anguish.
In your love you kept me from the pit
of destruction;
you have put all my sins behind your back.
For the grave cannot praise you,
death cannot sing your praise;
those who go down to the pit
cannot hope for your faithfulness.
The living,the living--they praise you,
as I am doing today;
fathers tell their children
about your faithfulness.

Imitating Christ

I am a failed Christian. Those in the religious hierarchy above me would probably agree. Though my husband and I conformed to their rules and were faithful to the ministries assigned to us, our children did not grow up and enter the ministry and as of yet, have not chosen Christ. Their rebellion has tarnished our image and we are not quite the ministry trophies we once were. I have also had health problems and as a result of each, we have become peripheral attenders and are no longer active in church ministry. Though I have failed at church this still is not the failure that I am speaking of. The failure that pricks my heart is that of not truly living a life that imitates the life of Christ.

Jesus was not well educated and did not need an education because He did not seek out His own personal success. He did not have the blessing of the religious leaders in His community when He entered the ministry. He did not study psychology so that He would be prepared to understand the flock He would lead one day. He was not a great theologian and He did not pit one theology against the other attempting to gain notoriety in the religious world. He did admonished the common folk to do as the religious leaders taught but not to do what they do because of their hypocrisy. Jesus was a humble man and not like those who love the lime light and the honor of other men. Jesus set aside His own Will, even His own life, to do the Will of His Father in Heaven.

Jesus had no home during the years of His ministry on earth. He could not even be certain where His next meal would come from. Jesus was a homeless, uneducated, sojourner Who turned the world on its ear. This Jesus, the most insignificant among the men of His time, is now proven to have lived the most significant life of any human being. He did not pontificate upon the holiness of God, He lived that holiness with every thought and action. He set aside everything that this world has to offer that mankind could be reconciled to God and through Him the Will of God accomplished upon the earth.

I have lived my Christian life in much the same manner as most of the Christians of my era. I have spent much time patterning myself after the Christian hierarchy that I might gain their approval and sanction. I have given many hours and much money to the ministries of my particular church. I have been zealous for right doctrine and values. I have sacrificed time with family and friends to carry out these ministries. I have separated myself from the world in an attempt to make myself holy and my testimony valid but I have not lived my life as Jesus lived His.

Sadly, much of what I have done in the name of ministry is in opposition to the life that Jesus lived. Rather than setting my life aside so that God's Work could be done through me upon the earth, I have sacrificed my life to do what pastors or the church expects of me when it would have been more spiritual for me to do otherwise. Though I insist that Jesus lives and that He lives in me, I have often made Him no more than a teaching. I am not the only Christian to reduce the living Jesus to only doctrine. I am not the only Christian to teach that Jesus turned the other cheek while I doggedly bicker over religious minutia with the brothers and sisters that I am to love. I am not isolated in teaching that Jesus ate and drank with sinners only to turn my nose up at those outside of Christ being fearful of what others might say or what I might be led into. Oh, that I were the only Christian to teach that Christ's church is known by its love for one another to behave cliquishly and divide the brethren! How many of us who teach that worship is to be in spirit and truth turn and resist the Holy Spirit's goading by accepting as worship that which is second best and according to the traditions and the desires of man?

As we come nearer to the end of this present Age of Grace, I wonder, will Christ find the faith upon the earth when He returns? Will He find among those Who call upon His Name any through whom He actually lives? Will there be men and women who have truly experienced God in their lives or only a form of godliness in man-made and contrived religion? Has the Power gone out of the faith called Christian? Has the salt lost all of its savor or has the Light of the world only been hidden, awaiting to be unveiled in faithful, slumbering hearts?

I am not sad that I have failed at church, at the game of religion. I am not even any longer sorrowful at what I have lost by playing that game. I am thankful that God has shown me the difference between dead religion and the Living Jesus. I am sorrowful that I have not always set my will aside that Jesus might become God's Will in me. Even now, I am not sure of the cost but I know that in Christ I can do all things. I desire to trust my heavenly Father just as Jesus trusted Him. Today's worry is sufficient for today and God will supply all my needs.

Today, dear Jesus, I open my heart fully to You and ask that You live Your life in me. May You never again be to me words on a page in the Bible or Biblical principle for a successful Christian life. May you never again be a way to an end for my own life but indeed, be the very substance of my life. Through me may God's Will and not my own be done upon the earth as it is in heaven. Lord help my unbelief! Amen.

Blessed Revelation

The apostle John in his inspiration by the Holy Spirit embedded a number of blessings in the book of Revelation. I have noted seven of them here.

What is a 'blessing'? Blessings promise happiness to the people who listen to them.

Many of these blessings are also warnings. Far from the warnings of the world which demoralize and destroy, these warnings uplift those who listen to them, and have the power to impart something true about Life.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Revelation 1:3

And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, `Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!' " "Yes," says the Spirit, "so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."
Revelation 14:13

("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.")
Revelation 16:15

Then he *said to me, "Write, `Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' " And he *said to me, "These are true words of God."
Revelation 19:9

Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.
Revelation 20:6

"And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."
Revelation 22:7

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
Revelation 22:14

The Mood Of Angels

A professor once noted that feelings are not always the best portrayal of a person's spirit. In order to understand the person as a self, one had to understand their "mood".

Moods are peculiar things.

It is often the case that a person who is in a certain mood talks about their mood as if they had no control over it. Often people blame their unhappy mood on their circumstances or on someone else. People in good moods will rarely take credit for it -perhaps thanking someone else for something good they had done.

This strikes me as very suspicious. I question any claim that a circumstance has really affected someone's mood. Unless I know a person very well, I find it hard -perhaps impossible- to predict what mood they will be in at a given scenario.

DisneyLand is often described as 'the happiest place on earth'. This may well be true, but I am very certain that not everyone at DisneyLand is happy. Often times the unhappy children at DisneyLand are the unhappiest children I have ever noticed. Certainly the park has the power to provide amusement, entertainment -and many people there do have high spirits- but does it have the ability to give someone -anyone- a good mood?

As a young person I did a lot of reflecting on myself in Church, often times on my own sour attitude. I would tell myself that if I just had several of the donut holes they provided after the service, then I would be able to find a good mood. Often times I would recall eating the donut holes and noting that my mood had not actually changed ... and that I was now thinking of something else that bothered me. Or, when I was rarely in a good mood, I questioned whether it had anything to do with the donut holes at all.

A difficult thing to consider -when one is in an unhappy mood- is the possibility that one has some measure of control over it. The hardest thing to believe is that one is soley responsible for it, and that God takes it into account.

The Bible does not tell us much about angels, and those who talk very much about them end up saying all kinds of things about topics they do not know anything about. I do sometimes wonder to myself, though, if angels have moods, and -if they do- what can we learn from them?

Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it.

Then it says, `I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order.

Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.
Matthew 12:43-45

This passage is conspicuous to my question because Jesus seems to be making a very psychological observation about demons: that they have unclean spirits, that they are led by their unclean state to restlessly looking for a distraction -not for a residence, for they have no designs to commit, but for a host.

We observe the same preference of the demons who encountered Jesus when he visited the Garasenes. The unclean spirits (calling themselves 'Legion') requested to be sent into the bodies of the swine. This request says something about their preference and about their mood.

I often see similar behavior between men and women who choose to live together without entering into a marriage commitment. A number of parallels may be drawn between the two, but for now I will note that often times when these relationships end (as they so often do) both the man and the women prefer (request?) to be sent into another relationship.

Another observation I see with this restless mood of the unclean spirits is that it is not some external sorrow that drives them onward. No, it is an inner sorrow. The authorities do not whip these unhappy people forward, they are merely permitted to scavange the dry lands of despair before finding their next distraction.

So far I have mentioned the element of the distraction when one has a bad mood. Who is the one who distracts? Not the authority, or some external circumstance. The unclean spirit is the one who distracts his own self. And what are they seeking to be distracted from? From their unhappy mood, their unhappy spirit.

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7

The apostle James tells us that when we submit to the authority of God over us the devil will flee from us. No one needs to force the devil to leave, the devil simply prefers to keep his distance from such a person.

It is worth noting that Saul was able to find relief from the unclean spirit that visited him by hiring a young shepherd boy to play the harp for him.

I am unable to say which tune exactly the young shepherd boy played, but I do know that the young boy, David, spent much of his times composing and playing worship and spiritual songs. One wonders if perhaps it was the very element of devotion that inclined the unclean spirit to leave.

And, again, it is worth noting that there is no mention of God compelling the unclean spirit to leave. From what I read in the text, my best interpretation is that the unclean spirit simply preferred not to be in the company of those who were praising God.

Another aspect of this story is the way the simple shepherd boy played the notes that inclined the unclean spirit to leave. One wonders, 'If losing one's melancholy were as simple a thing that even a child could do it, then why are there so many unhappy people?'.

Indeed the pharmecutical industry tells us that its complex chemicals (after billions of dollars in research) are able to undo the woes that hang over our hearts. And people pay a lot of money to go on vacations. Some people, perhaps like Saul, spend a lot of money on music too. Some people end their own lives, and others go on as if their lives ended long ago ...

Have people overlooked something as simple as becoming like a little child? Or is this something they simply prefer not to do?

We are told much about the followers of Satan and the crooked deeds of the unrighteous, and we are also told much about the clean spirits and the true followers of God.

When God chooses to do something that will bring happiness to many people He sends His own angels as messengers. The angels who worship the Lord are the ones who are full of gladness and thanksgiving. News of good tidings do not interfere with their mood or their spirit.

The book of Jude tells us the archangel Michael entered into a disagreement with the devil. The writer makes a very subtle distinction in noting the way the angel responds to the devil:

But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
Jude 1:9

If Michael had responded with a severe judgment, it would be hard to not think of the angel as being in something of a bitter mood. Or desperate. Although bitterness may summon (or pretend to summon) the severity and focus of seriousness, the clean spirit of the angels that worship God is full of blessedness. And this blessedness far surpasses the genuineness of any bitterness.

The story is not mentioned in Jude to tell us something interesting about angels. The story is told to provide us an example of how we are to live: not as the bitter and restless pagans in the world, but like the angels in heaven who rejoice in all happiness.

And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean."
Matthew 8:2

The Bible tells us that God does not spare the angels who have turned against Him. The miraculous, and truly wonderful thing about the providence of God is that He has the power to give a clean spirit to us when we turn to Him. To this extent David prayed, 'Restore to unto me the joy of my salvation, and renew a right spirit within me.'

It is important for those who are sorrowed by the burden of an anguished heart to all God to set a new spirit within them. The opportunity which is extended to them -to all of us everyday- is to allow the blessed spirit of God (the spirit of makarios, happiness) into their lives.

Let everyone who has ears hear the message God has prepared for them.

Mercy River

Forgiveness is to a soul as the monsoon is to the desert. In it lies the power to cleanse, restore, and nurture new life. Just as the rain does not come to the desert in response to any power that belongs to the desert but comes of its own accord, so too does forgiveness flow freely from the mercy of God. The power of the monsoon is announced in advance by a thunderous force so great that it seems to portend destruction of the life that remains after the long drought rather than promise the needed restoration. In like manner, does the soul who refuses to repent, being deceived by pride, fear the touch of God and His judgement; even though there is no hope for life but in that very touch of God. Life in the desert can survive without much water but can only live for so long. So too is the pride of human beings. There is an end appointed to all self-endurance. There is also a time appointed for recognition of He Who is the only giver of life. He sends the monsoon to the desert and has sent His forgiveness to men and women in the form of His Son.

When forgiveness finally comes to the repentant heart, it is as the rain in the desert that first settles the dry dust, washing the air and making it clean. Then rivulets begin to form, cleansing the nooks,crannies, and all the hidden places. The rivulets turn to streams that clear the dry riverbeds of all debris. The ground is soaked within minutes and when the rain stops, the sun peeks from behind the clouds as they pass and a sparkling world made clean is revealed. A bow in the clouds appears and the birds, rejoicing, burst into song, praising God for the renewal of life in their desert home. This too is the condition of a dry and bitter heart that can no longer endure by the power of its own pride and turns to Jesus.

When I sin, I want mercy and I want forgiveness. When someone sins against me, I am likely to shout for recompense and justice; but the Son of Man also has the power to forgive sins upon the earth. I am like the desert and there is no great mercy or natural forgiveness that flows freely toward others from me. I must depend upon Jesus just as the desert depends upon the monsoon rains. The desert can only bloom by the water that God pours upon it. I too can only give mercy and forgiveness to others as they flow through me from God by Jesus, Who lives in me. I pray that God will keep me humble before Him, fully aware of all my disobedience and pride as I lay them, daily, before Him receiving His mercy anew.

May His mercy and forgiveness become a mighty river flowing through me and through all who belong to Christ Jesus!

Romans 11:32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all.

Between Two Altars

A story can have different highlights depending on the way it is told. A daughter may tell a story a certain way, but it may turn out to be different when the mother tells it. Or perhaps one parent tells the story one way and the other parent recalls it differently.

When we read a story in the Bible we should keep in mind the story-teller. The stories are not told in such a way that everyone will understand them. And they are told by some One in particular. The story teller is not trying to tell the story like a newspaper reporter -pretending to hide his own opinions while vigorously working to persuade us of something 'we can all agree on'. The story teller is saying, "This is the way I see this story, and you should see it that way too."

To this extent the lense of truth does not turn away or moderate itself based on how many other perspectives there are. If the prophet speaks with the true words of the Spirit of the Living God, his words are not diminished by the other voices -however numerous they may be.

A crowd may seem to be full of truth. They may contend vigorously for something -whether it is for a political change or to have the Messiah executed- but however "deeply" the crowd feels about something it always has that component to it which remains unconvinced. The people in the crowd -in dread of being singled out and facing responsibility for their preferences- do not venture to leave the deceptive security of the crowd. Like the serpent, Eve, and, eventually Adam, the crowd always wants to say, 'Well, I was not the only one...'. But the voice of judgment is not daunted by the task of ruling in a number of cases ... even if all the prophets must be slaughtered one by one.

The problem with common sense is that it is far too common. Many people try to find distinctions, it is true. They find distinctions in the clothes they wear, their colloquial expressions, their athletic abilities, some people even find distinction in their knowledge of sports trivia. But these distinctions are all on the surface. All such distinctions could be lost (or in some cases gained) while the true person remains the same. Even those who are healed miraculously often fail to express the smallest amount of gratitude for the great things that have been given to them.
Few people have the peculiar advantage of understanding who they are -they would rather understand their circumstances. And so we have become a race of people who understand the world, but we do not understand life.

In some ways the story of Elijah on mount Carmel is a story about the evil of neutrality, the neutrality of remaining undecided. The two altars on mount Carmel represented what the prophet described as "two opinions". If the Truth of the matter were a matter of objective, factual, ostensible sensibility then the people could do nothing to impair the facticity of it. It would be so real that they wouldn't need to do anything.

The story of those who wait for knowledge -defined by philosophers as "justified, true belief"- is always the same. The important questions cannot be answered with knowledge. In the absense of clear and undisputed evidence we are left with a decision to make ... and even the choice to sit on the fence remains what it is -our choice to sit on the fence. As long as the people remain undecided, all their shouting says nothing ... they are like the virgins of Israel who give birth only to the wind.

The showdown on mount Carmel is not offensive to most people. It is the way the story is told in the Scriptures which offends people. And God does insist on telling it in His own voice.

The crowd wishes to hear a story about how people worked together as a team to solve something. This is the perfect covering for the dark motives in the human heart which prefer to remain covered. And when the notion of 'evil' is brought up, it is not evil really but the appearance of it. Elijah, the prophet of God, is ostensibly a trouble-maker. Yet the divine hand had selected the single individual -who appeared to be a trouble-maker!- with the expressed purpose of purging the multitude who seemed pious but were full of wickedness.

The story of Elijah on mount Carmel is a rebuke on those who try to remain neutral as much as it is a rebuke on those who worship false gods. Indeed, the prophets of Baal had no issue with the indecision of the crowd. They saw the mixed opinions of the people as an opportunity to remain in their position. The people thought that the priests of Baal ruled by popular consent (even if it was always in the consent of 'someone else'). But any reign by popular consent is always a house of cards which God often takes it upon Himself to obliterate with the smallest of means by human standards: the single individual.

When the priests of Baal had their turn to light the sacrifice, they unleased the fullness of their powers: theatrics, fanatical shouting, using many words instead of using meaningful words, or summarily: desperation. However committed these priests were to their despair, their despair was not committed to them. Like the crowd who wanted to see an amusing showdown between the two sides, the dark gods of Baal cared little about the actual lives of the priests.

The behavior of the priests is not so hard to find in our day. When we unleash our most vigorous efforts upon the challenges in own our lives, is it because we see something that really matters to us? Or is it that we wish to appear sacrifical and committed about something which really, in fact, does not matter to us at all.

Not long before this encounter, Solomon noted in the Proverbs that God detests the sacrifice of the wicked. This is not commonly understood. In the human way of considering it, the priests were spilling their blood over the sacrifice. Surely such a dramatic sacrifice would be meaningful in itself (even if no one cared about it, even a priest who cut himself). This is the landscape God surveys with His eyes: a world of people who have cut themselves over and over for the sake of things which they care nothing about. Will God honor a truly debilitating sacrifice if it is offered out of emptiness and despair? This is the very thing He hates!

The triumph by God and his prophet over the priests of Baal does not offer us a lesson in scientific understanding, but in true life greatness.

If a buffoon wished to make himself appear wise among the Hebrews by examining the altar and the sacrifice, his appearance of wisdom would have been his reward in full. He could have tested the acidity of the water, the water content of the wood, the trench, etc etc. Or if he wished to surpass the buffoonery of the priests of Baal he might have taken measurements and gathered witnesses as a way of 'proving' scientifically the instance of the miracle.

But the truth afforded by the story is not in the spectacle itself. Very often a child can see in his or her simplicity what the wise do not see. But, alas! We do not wish to be thought of as children (for children have no dignity among adults) and so we try to surpass the greatness which even children see clearly.

The smoldering ashes on the altar should serve to tell us this exact thing: that the physical circumstances and appearances of life are themselves completely subject to some One who is not constrained by any physical limitation. This is the terror which calls all men to examine their hearts and serve God in the most inner and spiritual way.

The physical world is always in question. Will it rain tomorrow? Who will succeed the king? We do not even know if the sun will rise tomorrow. Even healthy people die suddenly with the chance of seeing tomorrow suddenly taken.

But the reign of God is only in question by those who remain on the fense. God selected Elijah because in His way of understanding it, a single person who takes a firm view on something far surpasses a thousand people who remain uncommitted, undecided, unworthy servants.

May the God who does not judge by appearance find truth and clarity in the hearts of those who fear Him in these uncertain days. Amen.

On Mount Carmel

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"

"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the Lord's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."

So Ahab sent word throughout Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
But the people said nothing.

Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire - he is God."

Then all the people said, "What you say is good."

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them, "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears , as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

Then Elijah said to the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood."

"Do it again," he said, and they did it again.

"Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried. "The Lord - he is God! The Lord - he is God!"

Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

1 Kings 18:16-40

Flesh And Bone Jesus

Many people relegate Jesus to the world of abstract thought. Spending the bulk of their time engaged in Star Wars like spiritual battles as they contend for the faith. I also have spent more than my share of time in the abstract world of theological thought and fought many spiritual battles in cyberspace. However, when the reality of sin and its consequences comes crashing in an abstract Jesus isn't enough. Even when we suffer because of the sin of another, theology and doctrine are not enough to sustain when your heart is being crushed. It is in these times that the Jesus Who was God but suffered as a man, the true Jesus, is the one we need. When the unspeakable has happened and there is no one to turn to and no one to bear the painful burden of despair, Jesus is there. He understands the gut wrenching pain with empathy gained only from experience. He is there to comfort and supply with that which enables endurance and even to love the one who's sin has broken your heart and threatens destruction of all you hold dear. In Him, no confidence is broken and there is nothing too awful for Him to hear. In His own flesh, He has already born the burden of all sin; even the one at present, the one with awful consequence that seems too great to bear.

Jesus, Who came to earth in flesh and bone, shed His own blood and bore the awful consequence of the sins of us all. He is here with us now, in the present, meeting our need where the rubber meets the road; meeting our need in the reality we now live out in flesh and bone. He is not distant in some far away place but as near as our own breath with the strength and the comfort that we need to carry on. Not only does He give us all that we need to endure but in Him, we will have victory over this world filled with the excruciating pain born by the sin of mankind.

Today, my heart is broken and I am filled with dread at what may come. In the silence of the waiting for the other shoe to drop, I take His hand. He pulls me to Him in understanding, in comforting embrace. In Him, my heart is already being mended as in His loving presence, I find healing and the courage to face whatever may come.