The appearance of authority...

My father was in the Army.  When he was in basic training he quickly learned, as did all the GIs, that you had to avoid the people who could assign you work… or they would!  So he took an interesting approach to the problem.  It was called “ghosting.”  He got himself a clipboard and a pen and carried it with when he was walking around base.  People who could assign him work thought someone already had… and everyone else avoided him because they thought he could assign it to them!

He had the appearance of authority…

But he had to act the part.  He couldn’t just sit down.  And he couldn’t avoid anyone… that would give it away.

He had to walk.  He had to carry himself as though he had been appointed to the task.
As Christians I think we need to do some “Holy Ghosting!”

We need to carry ourselves as though we have been given all power and authority…
Wait a minute… WE HAVE BEEN!!!!

Rather than an empty clipboard… we have the Word of God… which is also the sword of the Spirit.

We are more than conquerors because of the victory we have been given in Christ!
In Christ… we outrank the enemy. 

The limit God will push you to...

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13

Maybe your experience is different, but sometimes for me things don’t go so smooth, or as planned.  Sometimes there are bumps in the road.  Little surprises that appear like pot holes… at night… on a sharp turn.  They just can’t be avoided.

And if you are like me you try to understand why God would allow such things to happen.
You may even try to remember all of the encouraging things people have said about suffering or trials or temptation. I know that these are not typically associated with word “encouraging,” but who wants to hear discouraging words when you’re going through them?

I find that I recite the promise of the above scripture often… reassuring myself that He will not push me to my limit… that in all of this I am receiving a left-handed compliment… a “Job-ism” if you will.

I know that in order to build more strength you must be pushed to that limit.
But then I began to realize…

That would still be my strength… my limit… my growth… if even from Him.

Yes, He would be making me or you or anyone else stronger… but I don’t think His goal is to necessarily have us demonstrate our strength…

But for Him to demonstrate His.

I realized that I can’t read the above scripture apart from the following:

Like Aaron and Hur

“And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.  So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.  And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.” Joshua 17: 9-12

Moses was not a man free of mistakes or imperfections.  He was a murderer and a coward.  He showed moments of lacking faith.  He had problems with delegating his authority. (Jethro helped on that one!)  He stuttered.  He questioned God.

But when he lifted his hands… when he exercised the authority God gave him in an act of both surrender and worship… God brought victory.

Aaron and Hur had one job… to lift up the arms of Moses.  They were there to support him… to reinforce his authority… the position God had given him. 

Your wave is coming

When I was younger… much, much younger… yeah, much younger… I used to enjoy going in the ocean.  That was before “Shark Week” was big and I became more “buoyant.”  If I were to ride a wave in now I think I would dig a trench in the sand with my stomach.

Back then though I could spend hours in the ocean.  And though I didn’t surf (I did try mind you, it just wasn’t one of my “strengths”) I loved having the waves bring me in to shore.  “Body Surfing” was the term that allowed us non-balanced people to maintain our dignity at the beach.

But the same rules applied to us as did the “cool”  kids who had the surf boards.

And they apply to us now.

That is… you and me… and anyone waiting on the promises and plans of God.  These are not necessarily in order… but they all teach us something about living out our faith.

Dual Citizenship

I drive down a particular stretch of highway every morning on my way to work and pass an interestingly named diner… the “Scotchwood Diner.”  I pass it on my way home too… strange how that happens.

But anyway, back to the point.  There is no “Scotchwood” in NJ.  It is not a town or a city.   It’s a dual identity.

The Township of Scotch Plains and the Borough of Fanwood both share a school district and so the area has developed this shared identity because the children ultimately filter into the high school together.

And so, the diner… wanting to belong to both areas… and maybe to save some lettering… crunched the name down to “Scotchwood.”

It’s fine for diners…

But is right for Christians?