Author: albertvredenburg

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FATHERHOOD

This Sunday during worship we sang the song “Blessed Be Your Name” by Matt and Beth Redman.  I was taken by this line, “You give and take away.”  My immediate thought was that any good father understands this responsibility.  When you’re raising your children, you give to them good things, and you take away the bad things.  Children don’t always like what their father does for them, but a good father does what is good for them regardless. 

As a father I carried this responsibility, and now I watch my son shoulder this responsibility.  He’s a good father willing to make the tough, though at times unpopular, decisions.  I recognize that none of us human fathers do this perfectly.  Just ask our children.  But our Heavenly Father, now there’s the perfect father.

Even though God is a perfect father, his children often complain.  I think it’s because we don’t like the answer no.  I know he’s a perfect father who cares for me, but it sometimes tries my faith to trust him when things don’t go my way. 

I’m glad God is my father.  He’s led me to a fulfilling life.  He holds the line even when I kick and scream.  I just have to trust him and remember that he has my best interest in mind.

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PSALM 32 CONCEALED SIN

All humans have this in common, sin.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8).  The question then is how do we deal with our sin?  In Psalm 32 David wrestles with sin.  He talks about the anguish of his hidden sin.  The weight of guilt is heavy upon him.  Have you ever experienced the torment of trying to keep a sin concealed?

David writes in Psalm 32:5, Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.  Confession is David’s answer.  It is amazingly freeing when we bring a hidden sin into the light and receive God’s forgiveness.  We can trust God.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Concealed sin separates us from God; confessed sin restores us to God.  The universal and eternally most important thing is to be restored to God.  The significance of Christmas is that Jesus came to earth so we might be restored to God.  God has made the way for us.  Don’t miss out!  Confess your sins and receive God’s great gift of forgiveness.

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TROUBLE

John 16:3 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

James 1:2-3 Considerate it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

1Peter 4:1-2 (The Message) Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him.  Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way.  Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

I think these passages make it clear that “In this world you will have trouble”.  Since we will have trouble, it is not about the trouble; it’s about how we handle it.  I see two options: one trust in self and the world’s ways, or two trust in God.  In my early life, I chose option one; but now I’ve had enough years with the Lord to relish option 2.  The longer I struggle with these options, the easier it gets to live under option two.  The Apostle Peter in the above scripture paints a clear picture of how working through troubles frees us from the pursuit of our selfish will.

As a father, I have watched my adult children walk through many of life’s troubles. It was painful.  I helped when I could, but circumstances didn’t often allow me to intervene.  I learned that they are God’s children, and I need to allow him to be their father.

Now, how wonderful it is to see my children maturing in the Lord.  I am truly blessed, and so is our Father.  As I trust him, he is blessed; and as my children trust him, he is blessed.

Now he and I get to see my adult grandchildren go through the troubles of this life.  It will be at times painful to watch, but I know God and I will be blessed.  It’s his promise to me.

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PSALM 121

I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. (Psalm 121:1-2)

 

My help comes from an all-powerful God who loves me as his child.  I find great comfort in these words.  When I am lost in my incessant self-reliance, I am fearful; but when I look beyond myself, I recall that my help comes from the Lord maker of heaven and earth.  I am so prone to forget this.

 

The circumstances don’t change. It’s my perspective that changes.  I look for the Lord, and he comforts me.  He surrounds me with his presence, and I find peace.

 

Whatever they may be, I pray that you find God’s presence in your circumstances.

 

Love and blessing,

Al

 

(Thanks to Joyce Caperton for directing me to this Psalm)

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Climbing the Wall of Self

Get over yourself!  Has anybody ever said that to you?  Did you know what they meant?  Well I’ve been asking people what this statement means, and have gotten some rather puzzled looks.  One young lady shared that it’s being obsessed with yourself.  Most agreed that it’s thinking only of yourself and your self-importance.  Yet, isn’t this the challenge for all of us?  Don’t we all need to get over ourselves?

When I think of getting over myself I envision this masonry wall that I have to climb over.  On the other side of the wall I find much more happiness.  For when my focus is on others, and I lose the self-concern, I feel fulfilled.  But, that wall of self is hard to get over.  It’s a difficult climb that requires self-discipline. It sounds contradictory, but self-discipline is the way to get over yourself.  We need to get on the other side of the wall of self, but, as I said, it’s a difficult climb.

This is how the Apostle Paul said it to the Philippians:

            (Philippians 2:3-4, MSG) Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top.  Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead.  Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage.  Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Paul was simply telling the Philippians to get over themselves, and I believe the message is also for us.  So, I’m passing the message on, with all love and empathy, exclaiming, get over yourself!  Be assured, I’ll be right beside you sharing the challenge in our attempt to climb that wall of self.

 

Dear friends, I will need to begin cancer treatments soon.  I appreciate your loyal sharing in my thoughts each week, and I intend to continue sharing during my treatments.  Please forgive any deviations in my posting schedule.  No need to be concerned the prognosis is very positive.  Please pray when I come to your mind.  God bless each of you who read this.

Love to you,

Al Vredenburg

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THE REAL ISSUE

 What is the real issue that Christians need to concern themselves with?  This question arose from a conversation I had last week.  A close friend and I were discussing the changes in morality that we’ve seen in our life time.  As we talked, it dawned on me that, though I’m saddened by the moral decline in America, this is not the real issue.

Jesus didn’t charge us with fixing the sin in others, and he warned us not to judge others (See Matthew 7:1-5).  However, he did charge us with two things.  The first is to love one another, and the second is to make others disciples.  Our job is to love our fellow humans, and bring them to him.  He’ll take care of fixing the sin.

Sin and evil are all around us, and this has been true since the fall of Adam and Eve.  Jesus has the only cure for sin.  So the real issue is do you know Jesus?  As Christians, loving sinners and bringing them to Jesus is the issue that should occupy our time.

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In His Presence

In the beginning, Adam and Eve had no hindrance to being in the presence of the Lord.  After their disobedience, they entered a whole new perception.  They had gained self-awareness.  With self-awareness comes concern for self.  How do I look?  What are they thinking of me?  What should I do?  Concern for self hinders our ability to enter the presence of the Lord.

An internal battle commences each time I want to spend time with the Lord. There is always one more thing to do before I can start.  Everything I forgot to do somehow miraculously comes to mind.  (I should make a list.)  When I finally do get situated, my mind scatters to a thousand thoughts.  As I strive to get my mind settled, I realize I haven’t tuned my guitar in a while.  I like to start my time with the Lord singing a few songs of praise.  The guitar turns out to be in pretty good tune, but it’s always good to check.  Then it’s, what song to begin with, and what key is that in? 

Finally I begin to sing.  Boy, my voice is getting old.  That note used to be so clear.  Wow, this is a great worship song.  If I ever lead worship again, I’ll have to include this song.  Then I realize I’ve sung through the entire song without a conscious thought about who I’m singing to.  I cried out, “Help me Lord.”  I sang the song through a few more times trying to focus my mind.  Then the Lord spoke to me, “Write about this struggle.”

All along he knew what I was there for.  I wanted to hear from him about what to write this week.  In his humble way, he answered the question I didn’t ask.  A rush of gratefulness entered my heart.   My self-concern was put aside.  I then enter into his presence and worshipped.  God had made a way!

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GOD IS WITH US

A few weeks ago I had to face a medical procedure that I knew would be painful.  The normal way I handle a difficulty like this is to draw into myself and face it in my own strength.  Of course there is considerable anxiety that comes with this method of facing a difficulty, and I am usually stressed out.  But by God’s mercy this time was different.

I am finding it difficult to explain what caused it to be different, so I’ll just tell you what happened.  I found myself aware of God’s presence.  The more I focused on his presence the more relaxed I became.  While the procedure was going on, I looked to God.  When my focus began to shift, I reminded myself to keep my focus on God.  For the first time in my life, I walked through a difficulty not thinking that I was alone but recognizing that God was with me.  I tell you it made the procedure almost pleasant.

I am not alone!  I know this, but now I’ve experienced it.  I am thankful for my family and friends who prayed diligently for me.  They helped me break through to this new awareness.

Later that day, my daughter Ruth gave me a greeting card, and in the text was this line, “You rush to help when in faith we draw near.”  Yes, that’s it.  God’s presence is always with me.  I experience him when in faith I draw near.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:20

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A TRANSFORMED MIND

One of the difficulties followers of Jesus face in our current society is avoiding the consumer mentality.  “Let’s go shopping” is the call.  We get to buy things and spend money.  There is never an end to what we can buy, but unfortunately there is an end to the money we have to spend.  Running out of money is a definite downer.  We are then driven to figure out how we can get more money.  Living the consumer life never brings us satisfaction.

I have been reading through Matthew chapters 5-7, and as I read it occurred to me that Jesus is redirecting his disciples’ way of thinking.  Jesus taught his disciples to think differently.  He wanted them to put aside self-concerns and focus on the Kingdom of God.  Paul restates Jesus’ teaching in Romans 12:1-2,

            So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking around life – and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.  Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You’ll be changed from the inside out.  Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you (The Message).

If we allow him, Jesus will change our way of thinking.  He will transform our minds.  Let me recap what Paul is saying.  We should take everything about our lives and place it before God as an offering.  Then we should humbly accept what he has done for us.   Our way of thinking is not about what we can do for him, but what he has done for us.  So with a heart of gratitude, we fix our attention on him, and receive the new way of thinking that he works into us.  This allows us to do what he sets before us without distraction.  The result, “God brings the best out of us, develops well-formed maturity in us.”

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A GOOD LIFE

Most people would say, “My overall goal is to have a good life”.  If you asked them what that means or what does that look like, you’d get a human answer.

Planning for a good life requires many assumptions because our lives are terminal and of an unknown number of years.  This is a precarious platform on which to plan.  We don’t know what is going to happen five minutes from now, or if we will be alive five minutes from now.  Statistically, we’re pretty confident that we’ll be living five minutes from now, but you know statistics aren’t that reliable.

We have only one sure way to plan a good life.  I found that way in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” The longer I live, the more I appreciate the wisdom of this proverb.  Since we have no clue about the future, how can we plan for it?  The Lord alone knows what the future holds.  Trusting him provides a great life plan.  I’d like to add this amazing truth that comes with trusting the Lord, “in Christ Jesus death is no longer part of the equation.”