Ephesians 1: 1-14 – Our Glorious and Great Treasure

The Book of Ephesians has been described as the “Queen of the Epistles” for its elevated themes, themes which deal with some of the great doctrines of our faith.  If Romans is the purest expression of the gospel (Luther),  then Ephesians is the most sublime and majestic expression of the gospel (Lloyd-Jones).  Charles Spurgeon said, “Whoesoever would see Christianity in one treatise, let him ‘read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest’ the Epistle to the Ephesians.”

I find Ephesians to be exciting because it is full of encouragement and love.  In it, God’s love for us is overflowing. His grace overflows, too, and I see it when I think about how He chose me with all my flaws and screw-ups, and loved me anyway.  I see His grace in how He has allowed my mistakes to mold me into someone who doesn’t want to see Jesus as less than Lord in all the areas of my life.  Having kept Jesus out as Lord in most of the parts of my life because I thought my plan was better, I learned that His ways are higher than mine.  I learned not to lean on my own understanding, but in all my ways to acknowledge Him so that He would direct my paths.  Jesus wants all of your life submitted to Him.  It is only then that He can direct your paths.  Otherwise, you are always going off on your own, and making choices that do not honor and glorify Him.  I know, because I was the queen of making my own choices.  And then living with the consequences of those choices.  Now, I want to choose only what He wants for me.  My needs are met by Him, and I am still learning that the desires of my heart change to more closely reflect Godly choices if I will walk in obedience to Him and His plan for my life.

That being said, you will recall that in Romans, we studied about God’s work in the individual Christian.  In Ephesians, we are going to study God’s work in the church (community of believers).

In a lot of ways, the writing and content is very similar to Colossians, but that may be because they were both written by Paul when he in prison.  Both are about the theme of greatness and glory of Christ, but while Colossians was more dirrected to particular situations, Ephesians is directed more to the place of the church in God’s purpose.

This first blog is directed only to the first part of Ephesians, the blessings of God and the work of God in the believers.  Next time, the blog will be directed to the last part of Ephesians, the prayers for the believers in connection with God’s work and plan.

One commentary breaks it down thusly:

1:1-2 – Paul’s Greeetings

1:3-6 – The Work of the Father

1:7-8 – The Work of the Son

1:9-12 – The Mystery of His Will

1:13-14 – The Work of the Holy Spirit

Paul calls on us to bless “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” because he had already given us every spiritual blessing.  I think you can all agree that if you think about what God has done for you in His grace and mercy, you will incredibly grateful and will have no problems thanking Him and blessing Him for who He is.  By the way, when “us” is used here, Paul means the Jewish and the Gentile believers.

“Spiritual” blessings are those blessings that resulted in a new heart and new life for us.  How awesome is that?  As wonderful as it is when God gives us earthly blessings, how much more so it that He would give us something so rich and enduring?  Spiritual blessings last forever; earthly blessings last only until we die.

And how cool is it to know that believers are CHOSEN by God?  And that this choosing is according to the good please of His will?  Not because of what we have done, but because of who He is.  And why did He choose us?  Salvation and holiness.  Of course, believers have a very personal responsibility for personal holiness in how we choose to live out our salvation, but He chose us “that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”  Don’t forget the love.

Also, unlike what happens when you welcome a child who was not yours into your family (adoption), God’s plan made us sons and daughters as if we were born into the family.  This plan of God to choose us as His children was for His glory, and we are now “highly favored” or “full of grace,”  all because of His grace in choosing us.

Wow.  If this is the work of the Father, what is the work of the Son?  I am glad you asked.  : )  In Christ, we have redemption and forgiveness.  The redemption is found only in the blood.  In regular English, when something is redeemed, it’s a payment.  Specifically here, it means “to liberate on the receipt of the ransom.”  The price is Christ’s blood.  It is not a redemption through love and power, but a redemption through His blood.  His sacrifice.  His payment for our sin.  Again, this is hugely indicative of God’s grace to us, in His wisdom.  I don’t know that I would want to sacrifice my life for someone else’s, but I am overwhelmed that Jesus died for me.   He knew me before I was born, before the foundation of the earth, and He still chose me and redeemed me.

The mystery of His will has been revealed!  “Having made known to us” implies that it is now known, and what is known is the plan of God concerning Jesus Christ.  What a great plan.  Why has He revealed this plan?  To unite (“gather together”) all things in Christ in heaven and earth.  This will happen in the “fullness” of time.

When it comes to unity, God is talking not only about the unity of “all things in Christ,” but also about unity in the things of our own life.  In other words, you can’t separate the spiritual part of your life from the worldly part because all it should be unified.  Otherwise, how will a split life be subsumed into the unity of “all things in Christ.”  This is part that people miss.  In your flesh, you want to separate out the secular from the spiritual, and forget that your entire life as a believer belongs to God.  This is where the rubber meets the road.  Do you accept Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord?  Is He Lord over all the parts of your life, or just the “spiritual” parts?  Something to ponder. . .

We have our inheritance in Christ, but why He chose us is something we may never understand in this life, other than to know it was for salvation and holiness and for His glory.  Still, having been chosen, you can see how God’s plan works together.  Verse 11 – “according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”  God has a plan with an eternal purpose, then He counsels within the Trinity (who else could He counsel with but with the Son and Holy Spirit), and then He works.  Simple but eloquent, right?  Reminds me of “He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.”

He does all this for a purpose.  That we who “first trusted Christ” should be to the praise of His glory.  The ultimate goal of God’s plan is to glorify Him.   Everything points back to all of creation glorifying Him.

Once we are believers, we then have the Holy Spirit, with whom we have been sealed.  Of course, we must first trust in Him, hear the word of truth, and believed, right?  And once you are sealed, you are sealed.  Nothing can separate you from the love of God.  Nothing.  The Holy Spirit is our promise that God has guaranteed our inheritance.  We belong to God, and the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life is proof of that.  Plus, “guarantee” is only in the New Testment and it used as a “down payment” of what is coming to us after we first believed, our eternal life.  Now that’s security.  Please note that the sealing with the Holy Spirit comes AFTER you believe in the Christ.  You trust first, then you see the blessings.  And we are sealed until “the redemption of the purchased possession.”  That is, until our resurrection, and all this to the praise of His glory.

What a treasure we have been given!  Jesus Christ and all He means to us.  Eternal security.  Spiritual blessings beyond measure.  A guaranteed inheritance from a God who loves us in ways we don’t always understand. The comfort and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  The knowledge that we are not adopted children in God’s eyes, but are His sons and daughters.  So many amazing things because we believe in Jesus Christ.  A treasure beyond measure, I think.

So, I have only one question for you:  what will you do with this treasure of Jesus Christ?

Romans – the Power of God. Chapter One

First, let me say that I am sorry I haven’t written in a couple of weeks.  As you know, I’ve had surgery since then, and want to thank you for the emails, the calls, the visits, the help.  It’s all much appreciated.  I am very sorry I missed the last two classes (and will miss this one, too), and hope you understand my absence.

On Sunday, October 26, 2008, we will begin a new series on the Book of Romans, and hope to study a chapter a week. I don’t know how this will work out because some of the chapters have so much doctrine that needs discussing, but we will just go with the flow.  This week, it’s Chapter 1. Chapter 1 is interesting in that it lays the whole foundation for the rest of the book. Clearly, Romans is evangelistic in nature, but it’s also a call to discipleship to those who believe, and a warning to those who choose not to believe. I want to break down the sections I see in the first chapter and give a brief overview in preparation for class. I’ve written my own comments first, followed by the verses. I have written from my heart, so if you disagree, please try to keep your comments from becoming a personal attack on my beliefs. Argue your interpretation of these Scriptures and not your dislike of my interpretation.  Romans is considered by some to be one of the hardest Books, doctrinally speaking, but as a believer with a Southern Baptist background, I really enjoy reading and re-reading Romans.  I like discussing it with believers and non-believers alike.  I can get quite passionate about Romans, but it’s because Romans is filled with so much information and instruction.  So, let’s start.  BTW, all verses are NASB and are bolded for ease in reading.

 

Setting the Stage:

Verses 1-7 identify Paul as the writer, and Paul identifies himself as a voluntary slave (bond-servant) of Christ Jesus. Paul names Jesus by his title “Christ,” and by that you know that Paul saw himself in submission to Christ. Paul tells us he has been called by God as an apostle – which means he was a messenger – and his purpose (set apart) was to spread the Gospel (the “good news”). We know the Gospel is about Jesus Christ and that God promised Christ to us through the prophets of old (which would be the Old Testament since the New Testament hasn’t been completed at the time of Romans). We know that the believers are beloved of God and are called of Jesus and referred to as the saints. We know that Jesus was a descendent of David in the flesh (as the prophecies foretold), but also He is the Son of God. While we may all be sons and daughters of God, “The Son of God” is a title used only for Jesus himself, and speaks to His divinity. See Hebrews 1:8, quoting Psalms 45:6, and check for yourself if the title is used for anyone else in the Bible. At any rate, Paul uses these verses to identify his place and position, and his audience, the believers.

 

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

The Power of God in the Gospel:

 In verses 8 – 17, Paul begins to expound on the blessings of sharing the gospel and its message of salvation. He first thanks God for the saints because their faith is expanding throughout the world when they share the Gospel they have received. Paul is fervent in his preaching of the Gospel, and he reminds the saints that he always seeks to be with them, if it be the will of God. He wants to be with the believers to encourage them, much the same way the body today encourages and lifts up fellow believers. By the same token, he seeks encouragement for his quest from other believers. He reminds us that he is a debtor to everyone, Greeks and barbarians, the wise and foolish, for the honor of preaching the Gospel. In fact, he is always eager to share the Good News. He can’t stop talking about it. The closest example I can think of is the way we sometimes act when we are “in love.’ You know, the way you think everyone around you is breathlessly waiting for you to tell them how your new love is so perfect? Well, in Paul’s case, he was preaching something perfect – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul explains it is the power of God that gives salvation to everyone who believes, no matter who they are. He doesn’t say, and it would be scripturally unsound to do so, that salvation is available to anyone without first believing in Jesus Christ. “Who believes” is a crucial component of what it means to be saved, or “born again.” The Good News was given to the Jews first (think Peter, here), then the Gentiles (hello, Paul!). When we receive the Gospel and believe that Jesus Christ is exactly who He said He is, then the righteousness of God is revealed in our faith. But, while we are saved by a single act of belief, in order for us to grow to be more like Christ, we have to immerse ourselves in His Word. We have to let the Scripture penetrate us and we have to penetrate Scripture in order to be more conformed to His image. That’s discipleship, and as Paul points out to us, some of that happens when we fellowship with each other. We need each other for encouragement.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift o you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

So What Happens if You Don’t Believe? 

 Verses 18 – 30 paint a very bad picture of what happens when you are presented with the Gospel and refuse to believe it, but these verses also speak to what happens if you don’t believe even if you have never actually heard the Good News from someone else. That sounds harsh, but is it? The whole Bible is filled with examples about God and His creation. In His creation, you can see God everywhere. As these verses say, you can clearly seen His invisible attributes, His eternal power and His divine nature, so there is no excuse that you give for suppressing the truth. Also, and I truly believe this, God has made it evident within you that He exists. I believe there is a place in your heart that just KNOWS about Him. And, since God has made the truth of Himself evident within you, there is no excuse not to honor Him or fail to give thanks to him. Ever since I was a little kid, I have shuddered internally when someone uses God’s name in vain, or as a curse word. It occurs to me that in today’s society, people are quick to use “Jesus Christ” as an epithet, but why don’t they use “Buddha” or “Mohammed” the same way? Maybe because the Gospel has the power to divide the believers from the unbelievers. Hmmm. Worth thinking about. . . At any rate, these verses speak to how God will let the unbelievers have their way and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator. (Mother Earth comes to mind here.) In fact, I believe we are living in a world that has rejected God, and in rejecting God, has rejected the Gospel that proclaims Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus said that no man comes to the Father except by Him. That means there is only one way. Unpopular in this culture? Yes. Very much so. I don’t care. Like Paul, I would rather be a slave to Christ than a free woman to anyone else. Like Paul, I would rather keep telling the story of my own salvation as an encouragement to other believers. Like Paul, I would rather share the Gospel at all times, and am reminded that my salvation is a gift of God through His power alone. It’s my faith by His grace. I have been set apart, as Paul was, even though I am not called as an Apostle. I am called, however, to partake in the Great Commission by sharing the Gospel with everyone. How they respond is a work for God, not me.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Okay.  That’s it for this week.  Sunday’s class will be great, so go.  It’s your chance to participate, discuss, ask questions.

 

Living a Life of Purpose. Stop Procrastinating!

Alright.  I am guilty of this.  I procrastinated in writing this blog.  I procrastinated cleaning my house until I knew I had company coming.  I procrastinated in making doctor appointments.  I am still procrastinating on finishing the book I’m writing.  I am still procrastinating on changing my driver’s license.  I am still procrastinating on changing my name.  Should I go on?  Or do you get the picture?  I didn’t want to write this week, primarily because it is an area in which I struggle.  There are areas where I never procrastinate, but those are areas where I feel safe and confident in my own abilities. But  some verses came to me this week (and yet I STILL waited until FRIDAY to write about it). 

Ecc 9:10 – Whatever your hand finds to do, do {it} with {all} your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.  (NASB)

Pro 27:1 – Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.

Jam 4:13-17 – Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are {just} a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, {you ought} to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows {the} right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. (NASB) 

Rom 13:13-14 – Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to {its} lusts.  (NASB)

These are the points as I see them:

1) You don’t know what tomorrow holds for you, or even if you will live to see tomorrow;

2) God has given you a task, or many tasks, and He expects you to do them on this earth;

3)  You are to spend that time productively, not wasting it away.  To waste that time is sin; and

4) To know the right thing to do and yet not do it is sin.

Well, I think that covers procrastination, don’t you?  Procrastination is not the same as waiting on God to direct your path.  Procrastination happens when you know what you are supposed to be doing, but you fail to do it.  Instead, you find any reason at all to do something else.  You distract yourself, or allow yourself to be distracted from the task at hand.  I know, because I do it.  I’ve been convicted by my study this week that my procrastination is inapposite to living a life of purpose.

A life of purpose is one where I spend my time seeing where God is working and then joining Him in His work.  A life where I seek to do His will, even when I don’t understand it or can’t see how in the world He expects me to do it at all.  A life where I try to make every moment count.  A life that if I were to die today, things would not be left unfinished because of my procrastination. 

This includes a lot of things.  Things such as telling the people I love that I love them.  Encouraging someone I know who is suffering and feels alone.  Sharing the gospel with that person I chatted up in the coffee shop.  Inviting someone to visit me because they need a break.  Picking up the slack of a co-worker who is overwhelmed with events in her life.   Visiting a former friend and letting them know that things are okay between us.  Calling a neighbor to see if there is anything she needs. Offering to babysit someone’s child so they can have a couple of hours of “alone time.” 

Do I manage to fit this stuff into my week on a regular basis?  No.  Because I have procrastinated on other, unimportant things.  That procrastination then feeds into the procrastination of the things that are important.  But, I can see that God wants us to do the right thing and do it without hesitation. Or procrastination.  Otherwise, it is a sin.  I’m convicted now; are you?

If you haven’t noticed, this blog is shorter than usual.  That’s because I’m trying to catch up on the stuff I put off.  I’m trying to stop the procrastination.  Which means I have to go now.  Have a great week and I will see you on Sunday.

Doubtful Trust in God

I’m a little late this week getting to Sunday’s lesson.  Sorry about that.  Still catching up after Gustav.  At any rate, I’ve thought about this issue a lot.  Mainly through my own experiences grappling with whether I really trust God, or is it just something I say?  I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling this way.  Someones as Christians, I think we refrain from being honest about our struggles, and this is one issue where I am going to be vulnerable, as much as it exposes me for occasionally wondering “why?”  I know we are studying Proverbs (specifically this week, Proverbs 10, 15, 16, 18-20, 29), but there are some other verses I think are helpful.  Read them, then see my thoughts below that.

Mark 11:22-24 (NASB) 22And Jesus answered saying to them, “^(A)Have faith in God. 23“^(B)Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24“Therefore I say to you, ^(C)all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.

Romans 14:23 (NKJV)- But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

Matthew 6:25-34 (NASB) 25“^(AF)For this reason I say to you, do not be ^(AG)worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26“^(AH)Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27“And who of you by being ^(AI)worried can ^(AJ)add a single hour to his life?  28“And why are you ^(AK)worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,  29yet I say to you that not even ^(AL)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.  30“But if God so clothes the ^(AM)grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? ^(AN)You of little faith!  31“Do not ^(AO)worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’  32“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for ^(AP)your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  33“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and ^(AQ)all these things will be added to you.  34“So do not ^(AR)worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Okay.  So these are just a few verses out of many, many verses that deal with faith and trust.  You first learn to trust God when you come to Him by faith, right?  When you accepted Christ as your Savior, you accepted Him as your Lord.  Meaning you trusted that, as He says, He has a plan for your life, plans to prosper and not harm you.  You trusted that Jesus is exactly who He said He was, and that He died in our place as payment for our sins.  You trusted that He would never leave or forsake you, and that He will be with you always, even unto the end of the age.  You trusted that nothing can separate you from the love of God, not death, not life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, not height, nor depth, or any creatures.  You trusted that if you don’t lean on your own understanding, but acknowledge Him in all your ways, He would direct your paths.  You trusted that if you would seek first the kingdom of God, He would grant you the desires of your heart.   Of course, the desires of your heart change when you start living your life in accordance with God’s will and plan, but that’s for another blog at another time. 

Suffice it to say that I’ve given you a long list of how much you trusted God when you were saved, through no effort of your own, but through His grace.  And His grace is sufficient, right?  Paul said he counted it all joy, and he meant all the trials and tribulations because we also know that trials and tribulations produce perseverance, perservance produces character, and character produces proven hope, and proven hope does  not disappoint, right?  You can look up the exact verses yourself.  I’ve just memorized a bunch of them, but can never remember the exact references.

Wow.  After that, it seems hard to doubt our trust in God.  But, we are human, and so we do doubt it at times.  Why?  Because it appears the wicked are winning, even prospering.  It appears that those who have harmed no one are harmed greatly.  It appears that, while we are trying to live our lives in a way that demonstrates our faith in God, great trials and tribulations keep happening to us.  It appears that, while we may pray for a mate, our prayers go unanswered.  The key here, I think, is perspective.

We look at life from our own perspective.  To accept God’s word as being absolute truth, without error, requires humility.  We either believe the Word, or we don’t.  If we believe the Word, we cannot look at present circumstances from our perspective.  We have to look at it from His.  His ways are higher than ours, right?  He has a plan.  Always.  Without fail.  Without exception.  He plans to grow us spiritually, and some of us require different circumstances in which to blossom, much like different plants need different soils or water levels. 

For me, I’m a slow learner.  In the past, I’ve tried to move things along when I thought God was either not listening, or too slow.  For awhile, I believed that I had to act in order to accomplish things.  While that is true in a general sense, it’s just a bad idea to move forward when you haven’t heard from God that you are doing His will in His time.  Of course, my doing things my way has never worked out.  So, I learned.  Some really harsh lessons.  I took a hard look at myself and realized I said I trusted God in every situation, and even gave Him some of my situations to handle.  Then almost immediately took them back when He didn’t act soon enough to suit me.  Which really meant I didn’t trust God.  And I knew the blessings that follow when you trust God!  Have you ever been there?

One day, in 2000, my whole life collapsed.  Everything I thought I had, I lost.  Turns out those things were things I had placed before God.  They were idols.  (See, I TOLD you I’d be vulnerable here!)  I don’t like admitting these things, especially on the Web, but I have a feeling I’m not alone in this.  Am I?  You tell me.  Can you be honest enough to admit that you didn’t really place God first in your life?  That you didn’t really trust Him to look out for you?  That maybe you placed your trust in someone else to take care of you? 

I learned a lot about myself during that incredibly rough time.  I learned that money didn’t matter because God always provided.  I learned that having a spouse was not the end-all, be-all of my identity because my identity was in Christ.  l learned that how I handled the circumstances would reflect what I really believed.  I learned that my actions meant more to the others watching me than any of my words.  I learned that submission to God’s plan was the very best path I could take.  I learned to be content.  Always.  Even when the circumstances were bad.  Because He was with me.  Through the storms.  Through the times when I thought someone emblazoned a big, fat “L” on my forehead because I was such a loser.  Through the times when I did nothing but cry in my prayer closest for relief from the pain.  Those were times when I could feel His actual presence, wrapping His arms around me as He told me in my spirit that He loved me and that I was becoming exactly the woman He envisioned I’d be.  I’m not there yet as I’m a work in progress, but I’m further along now than I used to be.  It’s a journey, one that is going to take a lifetime to complete, but along the way, I’ve learned the most important lesson:  Trust and obey.  Just that.  Trust Him that He is love and truth and that He will not steer you in the wrong direction.  Obey whatever He commands, even when it doesn’t make sense from your own perspective.

I’ll give you one example.  My husband and I were divorcing after a long, loveless dead marriage.  He didn’t love me, and he was honest enough to tell me.  He wanted to leave to find his own happiness, that marriage was more than he had signed for, and so he wanted to be single.  I was mad.  Really, really mad.  I had put him through school, working long hours, so that when he finished, I could finish my education.  Six months before that was to happen, he was gone.  And I had a talk with God.  It was clear to me that God said, “Be his friend.”  I raged at God, and said, “Do you KNOW the things he has done to me???”  The answer remained the same.  Still raging, I called my pastor to complain about it all.  My pastor told me he had been praying, and asked me to read Hosea.  I said (still mad, of course), “Okay.  Fine.”  After reading Hosea, I came to my senses and the realization that I needed to trust God with this, and I needed to obey.  Promptly. 

I began acting like a true friend to my soon-to-be ex-husband.  After a few weeks, he began to soften, and fearing that he could love me (yes, this is a true story!), he begged to be let off from my friendship attempts.  I had learned by then that you can’t force someone else to behave properly, so I agreed.  I kept things pleasant and cordial, told him I was praying for him, but that he was free to make his own decisions. 

One evening, I felt led to give him Charles Stanley’s book, “The Blessings of Brokenness.”  I told him that I couldn’t make him read it, but that I had to do what God wanted, and God wanted me to give him this book.  Well, around 1:00 in the morning, he called me, sobbing and heartbroken.  He didn’t make it past the first chapter before he found himself on his knees, asking Jesus to truly be his Savior and Lord.  Over the course of the next couple of weeks, he took the time to compose a long email to me, asking forgiveness for a laundry list of things he had done to hurt me and our marriage.  It was incredible, and I still have it.  It was written from a contrite and humble heart, and I was so blessed by it.  It was healing for us both.  We still divorced because he believed that the best way to show me he cared for my happiness was to let me go.  We parted as friends, and with a legal document hardly more than a page long.  That was eight years ago.  We are friends, and we have been kind to one another since the time I decided to trust God and obey Him. 

This story isn’t meant to generate stuff about marriage and divorce, either.  It is simply to illustrate what can happen when you fully trust God.  I’m also not downplaying that really bad things happen to people.  I just want everyone to see that if you really have faith, it needs to be the kind of faith that will withstand the hot fires of trials and tribulations.  Not a faith that blows in the wind, depending on how you feel that day. 

Is this hard?  Of course it is.  Is it impossible?  Of course not.  Nothing is impossible with God.  And you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.  God accomplishes mind-blowing things if you allow your heart to be opened to His purpose and plan and used according to His will.  Does this mean you give up your wants?  Not really.  You will find that the closer your relationship is to God, the more your wants (desires) become pure and holy, and the more you find yourself with the mind of Christ.  This means seeking the kingdom of God FIRST.  What you eat, what kind of job you have, where you live, or what style of clothes are on your back.  God knows what you need.  There is no need to be anxious.  Be anxious in NOTHING, but go to Him with your needs.  He can provide the answers to your need better than a parent, a child, a spouse, an employer, or the government. 

I want to close by saying that God understands your doubts and fears.  A doubt is a fear of some kind, right?  He understands we are flawed humans with limited foresight.  He loves us anyway.  He gave us the greatest gift available:  His Son.  What more do we need to know in order to trust Him? 

Have a great week, and I’ll see you here next week!

Hurricane Gustav & Baton Rouge

Hi.  As the world now knows, Hurricane Gustav paid a visit to Louisiana on Labor Day this year.  While the national media focused on wanting to see if New Orleans’ levees held up, they missed the big picture.  The coastal parishes were hit very hard by this Cat 2 or Cat 1 storm.  Who knew that winds this small (relatively speaking, that is) could cause so much damage?  Down in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, there are downed power lines, poles, and transmission boxes everywhere.  At some spots, the electric lines are dangling by the side of the road, making driving those roads a hazard.  There are blue tarps everywhere, along with trees, limbs and debris scattered as far as you can see.

Here in Baton Rouge, the same thing, but on a smaller scale.  And yet, most of the area is without power, and in some cases, without water.  There are people in Baton Rouge and the surrounding parishes who will wait weeks for power to be restored!  For those of you unfamiliar with Baton Rouge, it is an inland city, unaccustomed to being hit hard by hurricanes, and to be without power in this storm was unimaginable.  While the utility companies are now making repairs, a few questions remain:  1) why wasn’t the infrastructure better maintained? 2) what did they do with all their profit, since it was not used to shore up the system or place lines underground? and 3) how much will their CEO’s receive as a bonus this year?

On the other hand, we have a superb governor in Bobby Jindal.  He has been just great in handling the storm and its aftermath, keeping the citizens of this state well informed during a time of crisis.  He has pushed and prodded other agencies to do their jobs (and I am including the utility companies, too), even though pushing FEMA has not resulted in much.  Not his fault, though.  While FEMA patted itself on the back for how well they prepared, they have not delivered on their promises of supplies.  Instead of 100 trucks, they send 45. Instead of equipping the distribution sites with all manner of supplies, you can stand in line for ice just to learn your distribution site only has tarps.  Who is the mastermind that came up with this stupid plan?  And why can’t FEMA do a better job of staging?  I will admit the response is better than it was after Katrina, but it is still inept and slow.  There is no excuse for promising supplies and then failing to deliver them.  Just as there is no excuse that we would lose power after a Cat 1 or Cat 2 storm.  And to lose it for long, too.  Completely unacceptable.

Now, here is the part that irks me.  Some of the schools are planning to reopen on generator power and feed our children MRE’s (meals ready-to-eat), a high fat, high calorie (about 1200 calories per meal) meal that comes with a flameless heater and matches.  The heater rises to a temperature of 100 degrees!  Can you imagine kids with this heater?  Plus, each kit comes with matches!  What are the school boards thinking (or not thinking)?  Is anyone else puzzled by this?  Yes, I know kids need to be in school.  So let them go in June, or take away many of the half-days and whole days they are going to be out of school already.  Florida added in 11 hurricane days for the 2006 school year; why can’t Louisiana do the same?

Oh, and back to the power thing.  Can’t pump gas or have perishables in the grocery stores without electricity.  Florida requires certain gas stations and grocery stores in the Palm Beach County area to have generators in the event of extended power outages.  Louisiana can do this, too.  So, although I didn’t line up at the gas stations, or stand in line to get a bag of ice, I certainly sympathize with those who did.  While you might be prepared for three days without power, more than that is not acceptable in this country.  Hence, the lines everywhere.

This will be my only rant about Gustav, but Ike is coming, so I might have more to say then.  On a last note, I do want to commend all the churches that helped out, along with various places like CVS.  They managed to help people where FEMA did not.  I know it’s not the government’s job to provide help like this, but if they are going to exist at all, they must be held accountable for their lack of preparation (again).  But for Jindal, we would be in the same predicament as we were following Katrina.  But for Jindal’s persistence and insistence, there would be no FEMA presence at all (at least not until next week!).  Thank God for a governor who is bold enough to take the reins and insist that promises be kept.  Too bad he isn’t running for president now. 

I’ll post again in a few days.  Until then, stay safe and God bless.

The Discipline Dilemma

UPDATE:  Due to Hurricane Gustav, this class will now be held on September 13, 2008.

When I first looked at this lesson in the Proverbs: Uncommon Wisdom, I thought it was about discipline as it applied to raising children, especially in light of the series at the Oaks right now, “Different Children, Different Needs.”  Then, I realized this lesson is about God’s discipline of us, His children, when we stray. 

Well, Sunday’s sermon was about the Determined child, the one who moves fast, and is task-oriented.  I am one of these children, both in the Spirit and in the flesh.  I make decisions quickly on everything except things that affect me on a personal level.  For those, I’m indecisive because I am tired of making mistakes.  Although in this life, mistakes happen.  I also tend to share my thoughts on a subject (see why there is a blog?), but not my own personal feelings.  Sometimes what I convey may appear to be my personal feelings, but they are not.  Those I keep close to my chest.  It’s what makes me a true introvert.  That, and the fact I make decisions without any input from other people.  And, I would rather not lead, but am compelled to do so when others fail to step up.  Which makes me quite assertive.  And probably at times, unlikeable.

I say all this because these are the same traits that lead me down a wrong path, and which require correction.  Otherwise known as “discipline.”  Not something I like, but something that helps me grow, especially spiritually speaking.  And, because I fall into that “determined” category, I’m strong willed and need a strong God to keep me in line.  Believe me, that’s not an easy task!  I’m used to making new mistakes in the same areas (strongholds) in my life, and God sometimes has to be really clear in what He expects before I can comply.  I want to be obedient, but sometimes fail.  Actually, often fail is a better description.  But God is ever faithful and He continues to bring me back to His reality.  One which is far more of a blessing to me.

This, however, leads to the dilemma.  The same one I face with my children.  I want to be assured of my boundaries in behavior (words and deeds), but I don’t want it to hurt.  Only it does, and if I avoid it, I don’t grow.  I stay exactly where I am.  I won’t admit that I’ve sinned against Him, and that I need to repent and seek His forgiveness.  That is when God allows me to suffer the natural consequences of my own choices, or He allows a situation that will make my sin crystal clear  to me.  I don’t like either option, and want God to just pat me on the head, and say “That’s okay, honey, I’ll fix everything.”  That approach doesn’t help me change, though.  It allows me to continue to do things my way because He is now a permissive parent, and if you allow me to walk all over you, in my flesh I will do it.  When I’m guided by the Holy Spirit, I don’t do it at all, but I would be lying if I said i’ve never done it.  I’m more than capable of it, and it is a major source of sorrow for me that it is so easy for me to stray in this area.  Which is why I need God’s discipline.  I need Him to show me that His way is higher than mine during those times I forget.  I need Him to chastise me when I fail to consider someone else’s feelings or needs before my own.  I need Him to allow me to fall to my knees and look up to see Him waiting for me to acknowledge that His strength is in my weakness.  Does this make me happy?  No.  But it does give me great joy.  Joy in knowing that I have a Savior that loves me so much that he cares about the path I take, and cares enough to discipline me to keep me on the path.

It’s the same thing you do when you are raising your children.  As much as you might want to rescue them from the consequences of their choices, you shouldn’t do it.  It robs them of understanding that every action has a result of some kind.  I understand that when have to discipline your child, it hurts you to see them suffer the slightest indignity or pain, but without it, your child does not grow or mature.  And, it’s a mature Godly child we want, right?  So does God.  He wants us to walk in maturity, feeding on the meat of His Word because we are past the bottle stage.  It means we sometimes suffer for our own choices, but if can think of the discipline as being a trial or tribulation, then we know that trials lead to perseverence; perseverence to character, and character to hope. 

The choice is ultimately yours because you have free will to do it God’s way, or not.  Can you learn from the discipline and grow in your faith such that you can help others to accept God’s discipine?  Or are you content to continue on your merry way, ignoring God’s direction for your path?  Maybe in the end this isn’t about a dilemma so much as it is about submission.  Will you submit to His will, recognizing that when you are out of His will, He may discipline you for it? 

See you next week!

Lie, Cheat & Steal – Do We Really Do This?

Of course we do. We just sometimes choose to overlook it, rationalize it, justify it, explain it away.  Hmmm.  We all know the Ten Commandments, right?  Thou shalt not bear false witness?  Thou shalt not steal?  So, where’s the commandment against cheating?  It’s there.  You just may not recognize it, but I’ll get to it in a few paragraphs.  I think it goes without saying that if you have integrity, you are honest and trustworthy.  It also goes without saying (although I’m saying it anyway) that if you are a Christian, you must have integrity in your actions and words.  Always.  The world is watching you to see if you walk the talk.

Let’s just start with lying.  There are two kinds of lies: 1) a lie of commission – this is the one where your intent is to deceive someone by telling them what you know to be an untruth; and 2) a lie of omission – this is the one where your intent is to deceive someone by withholding information that would change their opinion or action.  What both these lies have in common is your intent.  Are you thinking now that if you had “good intentions,” i.e., you want to spare your friend’s feelings by telling her a white lie, that kind of lie is okay?  It’s not.  And here’s why:  that white lie, however well intended, is still a lie, and lies compromise your faith.

Let’s assume you believe, as I do, that God cannot lie (Heb 6:18); God the Father is the Truth (Deu 32:4); Jesus the Son is the Truth (John 1:14, John 8:45, John 14:6); and the Holy Spirit is the Truth who guides us in the truth (John 14:17, John 16:13).  If that is what you believe, then lying is opposite to the truth, and therefore a sin.  God doesn’t distinguish between good lies and bad ones, and neither can we.   It doesn’t give us license to judge someone else or punish them for their lies; it just gives us an opportunity to check ourselves to see if our actions line up with our beliefs. 

I want to next address the lie of omission, which is the one I think might be more common and harder to spot.  This is the one where you leave out important details that the other person needs to make an informed decision.  This is where I struggle.  I will try to rationalize it by thinking that if you fail to ask me the right question, I’m only going to answer the question you asked.  I’ve put the responsibility on you, and not on me, where it belongs.  The Holy Spirit convicts me when I do this, and so sometimes you get a longer answer than you were probably expecting, and it’s because I don’t want to lie.  Not that it doesn’t happen, but I try now to give the details.  Even when they cast me in an unflattering light.  I’m not immune to this kind of lie, and you probably aren’t, either.  But, since God does not condone any lying, then we have to do a better job of giving complete and truthful information.

Let’s move on to stealing.  There are two types of stealing:  1) active – you intentionally take something that does not belong to you; and 2) passive -you intentionally do not return or give something to someone else that belongs to them.  The first one is easy.  Or is it?  Ever take a pen home from the office?  Ever play on the Internet when you should be working?  Ever call in sick when you are perfectly well?  That’s all stealing, and I am sure we are all guilty of it.  I know I am, and I’m not happy about it.  It distresses me that, although I have been saved for a long time, I still screw up so frequently.  To paraphrase Paul - I do what I don’t want to do, and don’t do what I want to do.  Such is the life when you let the carnal mind rule.   I know it grieves the Holy Spirit, and I am immediately chastened by my actions.  Then I have to make it right, which means I return the pen, and stay late to make up for the time I play.  (I don’t need to call in sick; I can just say I want to stay home, though.)  I return excess change because the thought of keeping it would keep me awake at night; and I try to review my actions each day before I go to sleep to see what I’ve done during the day that does not bring glory to God.  It’s a long list, and I fall asleep praying over it.  Am I the only one?  I doubt it.  I just don’t know how many people are honest enough to say it out loud!

Okay, now the other kind of stealing.  Believe in “finders keepers, losers weepers”?  Do you try to return that wallet you found?  Or that beautiful bracelet that matches your new dress so perfectly?  Or, how about this:  you promise to pay someone for a job they did for you, but then you don’t pay them, or you pay them less?  Maybe the cashier gave you too much change or forgot to charge you for that case of water in the bottom of your cart.  That’s all a passive form of stealing, and it’s wrong, too.  

Both lying and stealing violate the trust of other people involved.  Both show a lack of integrity and both are a reflection of your character.  Parenthetically speaking, I think this is why we are to examine that board in our own eye before we address that mote in a fellow believer’s eye. 

Last but not least:  cheating.  That’s the one that is in the Ten Commandments, but people miss it.  When you cheat, you are either lying or stealing.  For example,  if you cheat in school by copying someone else’s paper, you have stolen his hard work as your own.  If you cheat by forging you timesheet, you are stealing from your boss and lying at the same time.  If you cheat by reading Cliff Notes and not the book, but write a report as if you had read the book, you have lied (you didn’t read the book).  So it’s a sin that is inherent in either lying or stealing:  you are cheating someone somewhere whenever you lie or steal.

The thing is, while we are not to judge others because judgment belongs to God, we are to confront them with love when their actions or words damage us, or damage the truth of the Word of God in any way.  We don’t know their hearts, just as they don’t know ours, so we can refrain from judging their intentions.  They may know they have sinned and are broken hearted by their failure to live the way Christ did, and they need grace and mercy, not judgment from you.  Unless you have never stolen, lied, or cheated, I don’t know you have much ground to stand on if you go crazy on someone who has stolen, lied or cheated you.  (I think we are back to loving your enemies!)  Talk it out, find out the truth, give them the benefit of the doubt.

Next week is the Discipline Dilemma.  That’s going to be a hot little topic, isn’t it. : )

Loving Your Enemies

August 6, 2008.  Today is Wednesday, the middle of my work week.  This is the day I normally use to send out emails to the Singular Devotion group, and contemplate projects, activities, and topics for the class.

Today, I’d like to reflect on what it means to love your enemy.  I think before we can go there, we have to first love ourselves the way God loves us, then love our friends, and this has to happen before we can understand how to properly love our enemies.

First, seeing yourself as God sees you.  Wow.  How does that happen?  It happens when you recognize that God loves you so much that He sacrificed his Son as a penalty for your sin.  It happens when you recognize that God will never leave you or forsake you, and that nothing can separate you from the love of God.  It happens when you recognize that all things work for the good of those who love God, and are called by Him according to His purpose.  It happens when you recognize that He knew you before you were born, has numbered each hair on your head, and has plans to prosper you and not harm you, spiritually speaking.  It happens when you recognize that the God of our universe, the same God who made millions of galaxies and innumerable stars in our sky, is the same God who created us in His image for fellowship with Him and relationships with others.  Wow!  Again.

Once you accept these things as truth, and you realize you can’t measure the love of God, it begins to dawn on you how much He really cares about you and what that means to you on a personal level.  It means that He loves us so much that He weeps when we weep; He rejoices when we rejoices; and He feels every pain, every insult, and every rejection we feel.  He is always with us.  Until the end of the age.  Wow.  (I know, I’m repeating myself!) How incredible that He knows us so well!  How much more incredible is it that He forgives us EVERYTHING?  How incredible is it that once He has forgiven us, He places that sin as far away as the East is from the West?  How incredible is it that there is NOTHING we can do that He won’t forgive?

If you think about from the perspective of the cross, for those of us living today, every sin we would ever commit was in the future.  And yet Christ, knowing every sin we would ever commit, died in our place so that we would not suffer the penalty of sin.  He died in our place.  But the glorious news is that he rose from the dead and is living today!

So, now that you know about the magnitude of God’s love and forgiveness, let’s move on to loving your friends.  At first glance, it’s easy.  After all, how hard is it to love someone who probably already loves you?  Hmmm.  Let’s think about it for a moment.  Ever been betrayed by a friend?  You know, the one who swore to secrecy about something, and that person told everyone anyway?  Or maybe you have a friend who says or does thoughtless things to you, never realizing you were hurt by the actions or words?  Still feeling loving now?  Well, you should.  That is, if you understand the love of God.  Love covers all things.   It doesn’t mean you don’t confront the person about the behavior; it means you confront them in love because the relationship is so important to you that you would risk losing it to set it right.  And it’s all about being in right relationship, whether it’s with God or with a friend.  God loves us even when we are thoughtless towards our commitment to Him, or when we fudge a little about the truth because it suits our own purpose.  Of course, He confronts us about our behavior, but He does not abandon us because of it.  Are you guilty of abandoning your friends when their behavior is not perfect?  If so, are you perfect?  Would you appreciate being abandoned when you aren’t?  Neither do your friends.  Love them as God sees them and loves them.  Just do it.  It will happen naturally once you have practiced for a while.  : )

Now, the whole “loving your enemies” thing.  Far more difficult.  Normally, “enemies” would refer to “enemies of God.”  But, this blog is more focused on those we view as our enemies, the ones who mistreat us or disagree with us or don’t like us.

In these cases, our fleshly nature wants payback when we are wronged.  We want that person to suffer the way we did, and we certainly don’t want good things to happen to them.  After all, they owe us, right?  Hmmm.  I would agree we have a “right” to expect some kind of retribution when we are mistreated, but that doesn’t mean we have to act on it.  We can forgive, and in doing so, set aside our “right” to seek retaliation or revenge.  We can choose not just to forgive, but to then place that sin against us in a place that is as far away as the East is from the West.  We can choose to cover it with love, and move on.  On the other hand, we can choose to stew over it, replaying it in our heads over and over again, endlessly sharing with everyone how much we dislike that person and what they did to us, and then think of all kinds of ways we can punish that person for their behavior.  But, most of the time when we act like that, the other person is completely unaware of what we are feeling!  So, we then try our best to make that person feel humiliated and rejected, torturing them with the silent treatment or with what we think is witty-but-cutting sarcasm.  Unfortunately, that only reveals the state of your heart, and it’s not a heart for God!  It is a true judge of your character.  Wow.  And that’s not a happy “wow.” 

Okay.  Now, if you want to love your enemies, how do you go about doing this?  Easier said than done.  Remember the love of God?  That’s how.  Look at them with new eyes.  Look at them with the eyes of God.  How does He see them?  Does He see them as a lost person in need of a Savior.  Okay, so don’t hold them to the standard you hold a fellow believer.  Cut them some slack and get over it.  Move forward with some grace towards them.  Be kind.  Don’t return evil for evil.  Take what was evil (the sin done to you) and turn it into something good (try a kind deed towards that person).  It’s hard to hold a grudge when you are doing loving things for someone who has wronged you.  Remember that Jesus said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  Be a friend to your enemy.  Hah!  I hear you blowing me off now, but wait and read a little further.  Jesus said to love your enemies, not me.  Let me share a small story with you.  I have worked with nearly impossible bosses.  They screamed, yelled, found fault with everything, and pretty much convinced me that I was useless at my job.  I wanted another job, any job.  I wanted to run.  But I didn’t.  I prayed, sometimes for months, that God would help me become the kind of person I needed to be in order to befriend them.  I began seeking out what was in their best interest – how I could help them shine in their own job.  I began to notice every time they did the slightest thing right, and let them know I noticed.  Soon, they (as as aside, I say “they” because I’ve had two bosses that were like this) relaxed and were less critical of me.  Then, the day came.  They were NICE to me.  Then another day came.  They were REALLY NICE to me.  We became friends.  For life.  Even though we had nothing much in common until they were saved.  Both of these two women have said it was my befriending them that caused them to look at me in a new light, trying to figure out what I was doing.  I was just doing what Jesus said to do:  love your enemies.  So it can be done.  The question is:  are you willing to put in the work such a change takes? 

Another way to love your enemies is to be kind and not respond in anger or seek retribution.  Ever.  Just let it go.  Forgive them the way you want to be forgiven.  It doesn’t mean you have to be friends with them, but it does mean you can’t seek to harm them because they first harmed you.  Just LET IT GO.  Get back to having peace and joy in your life.  No one can take that from you, except for your own sin, and if you fail to love your enemy, you are sinning.  And that’s not coming from me.  Talk to Jesus.  If He said to love your enemy, and His word is truth, then isn’t failing to love your enemy going against His word, which would make your actions sin?  Simple logic, right? 

Okay.  So a believer who wrongs you is a horse of a different color.  (Is that the right metaphor?  I can’t remember. . .) Does God see those believers as He sees you, a child of God who committed yet another sin?  Of course He does.  Then love them as a brother or sister in Christ.  Confront the behavior lovingly and with the intent to be reconciled to them.  Forgive them the way Christ forgave you.  I think it was John who said, “He who loves, loves God.  He who does not love, does not love God.”  And remove that plank from your eye before you address that mote in a fellow believer’s eye.  In God’s eyes, all sin is the same.  Sin is just sin.  No sin is greater than another one.  Different, maybe.  But not greater.  Your sin in failing to love a fellow believer because you now see them as an “enemy” is as wrong as whatever that believer did which made you see them as an “enemy.”

This is way longer than I thought it would be.  Sorry about that.  I’ll try to keep the future ones shorter.

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