Mistaken Identity

It was Mother’s Day, and the church was packed with smiling families, bouquets of flowers, and an air of anticipation. As per tradition, the church leaders not only honored all mothers but planned a special presentation to honor the newest mother, the past year’s first-time mothers, the mother with the most children, and the one with the worst children (not really, only because there was a logjam at the bottom of that pile).  

The highlight: recognizing the oldest mother in the congregation—a moment always met with applause and smiles.

The traditional moment called for the pastor to honor the various mothers with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. However, I was the new pastor still getting acquainted with the families and their names.

I love to honor mothers, but this was not in my comfort zone. I tried to get others in church leadership more familiar with the people to emcee the festivities. They insisted the former pastor always did it this way.

I can assure you he never did what I was about to do…shock the world with a scandalous announcement that would leave the raucous Jerry Springer TV crowd in silence.

A lady handed me a bouquet of long stemmed red roses as the usher handed me a note with the name of the oldest mother… Mrs. Foster.

I gripped the microphone in one hand and the bouquet in the other as I declared the honored recipient. “The award for oldest mother goes to… Mrs. Foster!”

The congregation erupted in thunderous applause.

I noticed Mrs. Annie Foster sitting in her usual spot near the back. She was in her eighties. The announcement did not phase her. I thought she might be hard-of-hearing. She sat there motionless except for soft applause with her feeble hands.

I announced her name again as I pleaded with her to stand up. The humble and polite octogenarian famous for her pecan pie remained unfazed. Apparently, she felt the same awkwardness as I did.

I raised the stakes as the eyes of the people searched the room. “Miss Annie Foster, come on down!”

One might have mistaken this moment for the TV gameshow, The Price is Right, when the famous announcer, Johnny Olsen shouted his iconic catchphrase, “Come on Down!” Upon hearing their name, the contestant would jump to her feet, hug people in the same row, and then leap and dance with the excitement of a kid in a candy store as she made her way to Contestants’ Row and the welcome greeting from the smiling host, Bob Barker.

Annie Foster did not stand up. She did not dance. She did not even smile.

The woman I announced as the oldest and most respected mother sat there with the glazed eyes of a deer caught in the headlights. A kind man near her went to help her out of the pew and walk her down the aisle to receive her flowers.

The applause began to die down as the people began to sense the awkwardness. Miss Annie was not only embarrassed, but she also appeared to be in shock as her blush covered cheeks turned pale.

I did not know that Miss Annie never had children. Never. Did the new pastor leak some dark hidden secret? Did an orphaned child now an older woman come forth to divulge her mysterious mother?

The front-row deacons sat in stunned silence, and even the organist stopped mid-hymn. Whispers fluttered through the sanctuary like startled birds. Eventually, a hush fell over the church.

I greeted Miss Annie with a hug and then the flowers. She was as nervous as I was, just more stunned and speechless. As she stumbled back to her pew to the sound of polite applause, the usher slipped me another note.

“Cleolice Foster is the oldest mother. Annie Foster has no children.”

I never considered the name on the note might be Mrs. Foster, working in the nursery as she did for most of her eighty-plus years.

I announced the correction. “Excuse me. I made a mistake. Mrs. Cleolice Foster is our oldest mother. She is working in the nursery.”

I determined this would be my last year as the ceremonial moderator. Sweet Miss Annie wanted to give back the flowers. The usher suggested they could be used for my funeral.

As for Miss Annie, she would have to face the music and answer those inquiring minds.

“Lucy, you have some ‘splainin to do.”

Mistaken Identity.

As a college student in Boston, I was handcuffed due to mistaken identity. I have been wrongfully added to a Zoom call, stopped for questioning in a TSA inquisition at airport security, and accosted by a perceived old school friend who was certain I was Bob. When I replied that I was not Bob, the aggravated person responded, “That sounds exactly like something Bob would say.”

Mistaken Identity.

Mostly I get mistaken for someone who has his life together with no problems.

I drag myself out of bed as if I have no rhyme or reason for this moment in the heavenly spotlight. “Why me?”

God sees me stumbling down the aisle of life as if I have no clue of His greatness. Or ten thousand reasons to celebrate each day.

God hands me a note from the #1 Textbook. “This is not who you are; you are My light in this world.”

You are not who you were.

You are not what you feel.

You are not what you have achieved.

You are in Christ.

And that changes everything.

I remember my mother saying many times as I was leaving the house, “Do not forget who you are.”

The Lord constantly reminds us of that strong encouragement every time we engage with this culture. “Do not forget who you are.” (#1 Textbook)

You are IN CHRIST. You are a new creation. You are not your own. It is no longer you who lives in your body, but Christ LIVES inside you to LEAD you to others He intends to LOVE through you.

What about you? Does your attitude, actions, or outlook on the current state of your life give cause for someone to question your faith in God?

Live in such a way that your devotion to Jesus cannot be mistaken as anything less than genuine and wholehearted.

Whenever I get messed up or mistaken about my true identity, it reflects a greater problem … a mistaken identity of God as I face challenging circumstances.

Who is my God? Who is your God?

Do not live with a mistaken identity of your God. Get to know Him better.

Join me as we take our weary minds and weak bodies to Isaiah 40 and focus on the last verse.

Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint.

  • Our God is the Great CREATOR.

Who else has held the oceans in his hand?
    Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers?
Who else knows the weight of the earth
    or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? (v. 12)

Are you deaf to the words of God—
the words he gave before the world began? (v. 21)

Look up into the heavens.
    Who created all the stars?
He brings them out like an army, one after another,
    calling each by its name.
Because of his great power and incomparable strength,
    not a single one is missing.
How can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
    How can you say God ignores your rights?
Have you never heard?
    Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of all the earth. (vs. 26-28)

  • Our God is the Great CONQUEROR.

Shout, and do not be afraid.
Tell the towns of Judah,
    “Your God is coming!”
Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power.
    He will rule with a powerful arm.
    See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
    He will carry the lambs in his arms,
holding them close to his heart.
    He will gently lead the mother sheep with their young. (vs. 9-11)

All the nations of the world
    are but a drop in the bucket.
They are nothing more
    than dust on the scales.
He picks up the whole earth
    as though it were a grain of sand. (v. 15)

He never grows weak or weary. (v. 28)

  • Our God is the great COUNSELOR.

The word of our God stands forever. (v. 8)

Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord?
    Who knows enough to give him advice or teach him?
Has the Lord ever needed anyone’s advice?
    Does he need instruction about what is good?
Did someone teach him what is right
    or show him the path of justice? (vs.13-14)

    No one can measure the depths of his understanding. (v. 28)

  • Our God is the great CHOREOGRAPHER.

Listen! It’s the voice of someone shouting,
“Clear the way through the wilderness
    for the Lord!
Make a straight highway through the wasteland
    for our God!
Fill in the valleys,
    and level the mountains and hills.
Straighten the curves,
    and smooth out the rough places.
Then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.” (vs. 3-5)

Did someone teach him what is right
    or show him the path of justice? (v. 14)

  • Our God is the great COMFORTER.

“Comfort, comfort my people,”
    says your God.
Speak tenderly to them. (vs.1-2)

How can you say the Lord does not see your troubles?
 How can you say God ignores your rights? (v. 21)

He gives power to the weak
    and strength to the powerless. (v. 29)

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint. (v. 31)

  • Our God is INCOMPARABLE in GREATNESS.

To whom can you compare God? (v. 18)

“To whom will you compare me?
    Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. (v. 25)

Look at your life. Look at this culture and this world. Listen to the news. It is enough to make you sick and scared. Its biggest danger is to cause us to lose sight of our God’s incomparable greatness.

Because of our God, we wait, not worry. We are victors, not victims. We overcome, not live overwhelmed. We grow, not grumble… We soar, not sink.

Those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint.

REVENGE

The unknown man walked into my pastoral office. He reached into his pocket and pulled out…a little black book. I was so thankful it was not a gun. He told me his wife attended this church and asked a rhetorical question as he sat down in the chair across from my desk.

“Do you know what this is? This is my Revenge book. It contains the names of people who have done me wrong and I plan to make them pay. Most of the names are people who go to your church.”

We stared at each other as he waited for any reaction of shock. Then he continued.

He called out a name, looked at me, and then turned the page to call out another name. I sat motionless as the number of names exceeded twenty-five.

I was not shocked, just uncertain what he expected me to say until he asked, “What do you think of that, Preacher?”

I replied, “Do you want some more names for your book?”

REVENGE. Many of us have our personalized little black Revenge book. A few people carry a literal one in their pocket or purse. Most of us retain the names of the offenders in our heart and mind. I imagine some of us are in need of additional iCloud storage space.

How many of us unconsciously keep playing the Revenge Tour stereo lyrics to Hey Won’t You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song?

REVENGE—the act or desire to inflict injury, embarrassment, or punishment on another person in return for his/her wrong action or attitude toward you.

The ‘hurt’ causes an emotional backlash to ‘right the wrong’ by inflicting a ‘get even’ punishment on the wrongdoer to satisfy one’s sense of justice.

Revenge might be called retaliation, retribution, or vengeance. The thorn of the rose by any other name is still called revenge.

Its nature is often driven by anger, vindictiveness, and the unquenchable desire to cause similar pain and suffering to the target of revenge,

Some experts say revenge is a dish best served cold, calmly, and calculated. We plan for that perfect unsuspecting moment but stay cautious. Seeking revenge can have unintended consequences, potentially causing harm to oneself rather than achieving the desired outcome.

You push the massive revenge rock uphill, but it rolls back and crushes you.

Revenge may bite like a dog, scare like a green-eyed monster, or threaten your emotional well-being like a deadly virus.

You start with the name, offense, and possible retaliations. It fills up the space in your book as pages of bitterness pile up in the trash heap of your heart. You wake up thinking about it and then go to bed obsessing over it.

The ‘slow burn’ becomes a raging fire, but you are the person suffering from its torturous heat. You still feel the weight of the words like heavy chains dragging you to the bottom of your ocean of tears where you stare at the wreckage of your wonderful life.

The scars often fade with time, but the memories play on repeat. Every cycle of resentment takes you deeper and darker into the night of despair.

You begin to build the Revenge trap. Brick by brick. Piece by piece. Word by word. Until…your creation looks like a cage with no windows. You are the one locked inside.

Revenge becomes the poison pill you swallow while hoping the other person dies from it. You are the one suffering. You are the one trapped.

Have you read the novel, The Count of Monte Cristo? I recommend watching the 2002 movie (one of our favorites) or the current PBS Masterpiece TV series. Summary:

In the early 1800’s, Edmond Dantès is a young sailor falsely charged with treason, betrayed by three friends on the day of his wedding to the love of his life. They steal his career, his finances, his reputation, and his girl.

He is cruelly punished by life imprisonment at the Château d’If, an island near the coast of France. Edmond almost loses his mind in his solitary confinement of undeserved torture, as he hopes and prays for revenge on his betrayers.

Miraculously, another convict contacts him through a hole in the cell wall. This older Italian priest of high intellect and noble social skills spends fourteen years as Edmond’s teacher and mentor. They dream of escape as the mentor reveals a secret map to great treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo.

Even more miraculously, Edmond escapes from the island prison during the death of his friend. He uncovers the vast treasure and reinvents himself as the refined, wealthy, but mysterious, Count of Monte Cristo.

The Count moves to Paris with the intent of revenge on those unsuspicious of his identity. He has the knowledge and the resources to ruin his enemies financially, socially, and emotionally. His revenge plan will not only cause them great suffering, but the slow loss of everything, including life itself.

The Count considers himself the instrument of divine justice. He is like many of us as we take matters into our own hands as we seek to right the wrongs done to us.

The movie’s big question concerns the worth of revenge when it does not bring peace to one’s soul. The lost time cannot be recovered. The hurt cannot be undone. Revenge does not take away hatred.

Is revenge worth it? Does it satisfy? Revenge did not produce the satisfaction sought by the Count of Monte Cristo.

Revenge was not the answer for the Apostle Paul who had reason to seek it. Significantly mistreated. Falsely imprisoned multiple times. Mocked. Hated. Beaten. Verbal protests. Kicked out of cities. Left for dead.

Revenge? Read the inspired words.

Never seek revenge…Let God take care of the wrongs and the wrong-doers…If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink…Overcome evil with good (Romans 12:19-21).

NEVER go on a Revenge Tour. God alone is the judge who will make all things right. Fight your thoughts and feelings of revenge with a focus on God’s love and forgiveness to you, now made possible through you to those who hurt you.

You are in Christ. Christ is in you. Consider Jesus (#/1 Textbook).

Jesus was mistreated to the max. Heartless betrayal. Unjustly arrested. Savagely beaten. Wrongfully whipped. Unmercifully crucified while being insulted, mocked, and taunted. Even friends deserted him in his time of injustice.

What did Peter say about that time? When Jesus was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but continued entrusting himself to the One who judges justly (1 Peter 2:23).

Mega-star Taylor Swift widely popularized the idea of taking revenge. In her song Better Than Revenge, she sings, “There is nothing I do better than revenge.” It is not surprising that modern-day culture has embraced the trend of taking revenge on others.

I imagine all of us tend to think it is our right to seek revenge on those who have wronged us.

The #1 Textbook offers a bigger hit song about Joseph who did something far better than revenge. He had reason for revenge. He was in a greater position of power to enact revenge than the Count of Monte Cristo.

Joseph stood before the brothers who betrayed and sold him into years of slavery. Joseph dreamed of this day when he was in the pit crying from the hurt, when he was in chains dragged behind a horse, and when he was in prison cleaning the waste of criminals who deserved to be there.

What did Joseph say and do when he had the opportunity to enact revenge? He forgave and blessed those who hurt him. Why?

“What you meant for evil, God meant for good…to give you and me a future and a hope.”

Jesus told us, “You have heard that it was said that the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,’ But I say, if someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If anyone forces you to carry his stuff for one mile, carry it for two miles. 

You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:38-45).

Wow!

Jesus showed us that it is better for our emotional and spiritual health NOT to answer hurt with words of hurt.

Throw away that little black Revenge book on the bookshelf of your mind. You might need to start with tearing out a page at a time. Name by name. Hurt by hurt.

Stop the continuous replay of revenge as it rehearses the painful event and words repeatedly. The better response is to live as if that person did not take away your happiness and purpose in life. You will need God’s help and hope to do that.

“The best revenge is to be unlike the one who performed the injury” (Marcus Aurelius).

You do not have to be continuously around that person who is toxic to your well-being. But get them off the Revenge Tour list. Love. Forgive. Pray.

Jesus LIVES inside you to LEAD you to others He intends to LOVE through you, even your enemies. They might have meant to hurt you, but God meant it for greater good, for you and them.

Try it this week. Give your right to revenge to God. A heavy weight which hinders your happiness will be lifted off your heart.

Before you watch The Count of Monte Cristo, listen to the song, Even If, by Mercy Me.

They say sometimes you win some…Sometimes you lose some
And right now…right now I’m losing bad

I’ve stood on this stage night after night…Reminding the broken it’ll be alright
But right now…Oh, right now, I just can’t

It’s easy to sing…when there’s nothing to bring me down
But what will I say…when I’m held to the flame
Like I am right now?

I know You’re able…And I know you can

Save through the fire…with Your mighty hand

But even if You don’t…my hope is You alone

They say it only takes a little faith…to move a mountain

Well, good thing…a little faith is all I have right now

But God, when you choose to leave mountains immoveable

Oh, give strength to be able to sing

I know You’re able…And I know you can

Save through the fire…with Your mighty hand

But even if You don’t…my hope is You alone

I know the sorrow…and I know the hurt

Would all go away…if You’d just say the word

But even if You don’t…my hope is You alone

You’ve been faithful…You’ve been good…all of my days

Jesus, I will cling to You…come what may…because

I know You’re able…And I know you can

Save through the fire…with Your mighty hand

But even if You don’t…my hope is You alone

It is well with my soul…It is well…it is well with my soul

Oh Say Can You See

DOUBLE VISION EYE EXAM

These were not the words from someone singing The Star Bangled Banner. These were the words on a red, white, and blue neon sign adorning an optometrist’s office.

Have you been to the optometrist lately? How was your Eye Exam?

My visit began with eye drops and then the Eye Chart Test.

This is an easy exam. It is not rocket science or brain surgery. You sit down in a chair, look at a board, and read out a few letters.

There is no pressure. No stress. No drama.

The assistant entered with her clipboard. I did not need glasses to see her resemblance to Morticia from The Addams Family TV show. Elvira pulled the spiderlike contraption next to my face and asked me to read the top line of the chart.

There is one extremely large letter ‘E’ at the top of the chart. I believe it is intended as a confidence booster. They are going to spot you one correct answer.

I sarcastically responded that it was an ‘F’. Elvira did not think that was funny.

Elvira asked if I would read the third line. I quickly called out T-O-2. No, No. T-D…I squinted as if that would help as I called out ‘S’.

Elvira asked me to try again. Try again? What an insult! I have not tried to guess a letter since I was three years old.

How does this eye exam end up as The Letter Guessing Game?

Did I just admit I could not see the third line clearly? No! I am an American and no one corrects my reading without a rebellion. Play the national anthem.

I confidently called out the letters ‘T–D–No–‘O’…Definitely ‘O’ like Oh Say Can You See? But I did not see a ‘C’–it is a ‘Z’–-Yep, ‘O’ can you ‘Z’?

Elvira sarcastically said that all those letters were on the wall, but I should read letters on the same line. “Try one last time.”

I stared at the chart. I narrowed my eyes and peered at the blurred letters. I blinked several times to sharpen my focus.

It was like being at the free throw line during a March Madness finale. One miss and the season is over. One correct letter and I will be dancing around the room to the music of One Shining Moment.

I know one volunteer basketball coach who advised his player facing that challenge with these pressure-packed words of encouragement:

“Just step up there. Take a deep breath and say to yourself, “This may be the ballgame.’”

I felt the pressure. I took a deep breath. I just needed to bank-in one letter. The odds of choosing the correct letter were one out of twenty-six.

Suddenly, I became a detective searching for clues. Where did they hide the ‘Z’? I remember there is always ‘Z’. Is it before the ‘Y’ or after the ‘W’? Or is that two ‘Vs’?

I tried to ease the building tension in the room.

I told her I did not want to look S-T-U-P-I-D.

Elvira did not grin or even flinch. She just calmly replied I was already past those letters. She suggested I just read the lines.

It did not help when I said I did not see any ‘lines‘ just ‘letters’.

Instead of admitting defeat, I started guessing. I thought I might get points for how emphatically I named each letter. My confidence dissolved into embarrassment and confusion.

At some point, I began hoping she agreed with one of my guesses. That quickly became hopeless. Elvira did not appreciate my humor when I asked if she was looking at the same chart.

Elvira asked if anyone in my family wore glasses. I told her my mom had poor eyesight because she was always looking for her glasses while they were on top of her head.

Elvira’s patience was as shortsighted as my vision. The awkward interaction blurred the absurdity of guessing letters.

Finally, it came time for the choice of lens. Elvira asked if I liked this one or that one. I answered I like that one. Then came the famous Abbot and Costello comedy routine of Who is on First.

Elvira asked again, “Do you like this one or that one?’ I stuck with my first answer, “That one.”

Elvira: “Which one?” I assumed I was wrong, so I changed my answer to “This one.”

The exasperated assistant changed her approach. Elvira began to click the instrument to the sound of a falling guillotine blade as she demanded a definitive answer. “Which is clearer? One or two? One or two?”

Me: “Two–No, one–Maybe, it is a tie.”

Elvira: “One or two? One…Two?”

I panicked and shouted, “One! Song Sung BLUE…Everybody knows ONE.”

Apparently, Elvira is the one person on the planet who does NOT KNOW ONE Song Sung Blue by Neil Diamond. With her attitude, she would never be mistaken for Sweet Caroline.

I perceived there was a need for something upbeat to ease the tension in the room. We needed a seventh inning stretch.

As Elvira repositioned the machine, I reached up and …yes…I did,


Hands touching hands,
Reaching out,
Touching me, touching you.

Sweet Caroline, (Ba! Ba! Ba!)
Good times never seemed so good,
So good! So good! So good!
I’ve been inclined, (Ba! Ba! Ba!!)
To believe they never would,
Oh no, no.

Now I look at the chart,
It don’t seem so blurry…

Elvira looked at me as if I were crazy. I think she needed prescription glasses to see crazy. She took on the persona of a pit bull as she demanded me to try again. “One…or two?”

I asked if she had a three. When she took that option off the table, I assumed this was a ‘do or die’ situation. Elvira reached for the guillotine.

Me: “Can I call a friend?”

Elvira: “Only if your friend is an optometrist.”

Me: “Then I want to ask the audience.”

That is when the doctor entered the room.

Doctor: “Do you have any questions?”

I asked if he could prescribe glasses which would enable me to see if my neighbor was waving at me or sending one-finger signals.

The optometrist responded that I definitely need eyeglasses because that person was not my neighbor, it was my wife!

I admit I was confused. I felt lost in a whirlwind of darkness, letters, and wild guesses.

This scene reminded me of a little-known fact from the History of English Literature textbook. Charles Dickens produced the famous opening paragraph of his classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, after failing a frustrating eye exam.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,

  • obvious double vision

it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,

  • Dickens’ could see the top lines but began to foolishly guess letters until everything was blurred astigmatism.

it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,

  • Why do they shine a spotlight directly at your pupils and then dilate your eyes causing blindness for three hours?

it was the spring of hope, t was the winter of despair,

  • He read the top lines but failed the lower lines although he could still read the final bill not covered by insurance.

we had everything before us, we had nothing before us,

  • There were nine unaffordable fashionable frames which left him with the extremely large square black Harry Potter knockoffs.

we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way,

  • Dickens stared at the bottom line, “H…E… Double Hockey Sticks.” I did not see those letters on my eye exam chart. I believe that requires a divine prescription.

(A Tale of Two Cities—Charles Dickens)

An Eye Exam is symbolic of what ails our culture. We are confident in our total uncertainty but end up embracing another person’s perspective.

Confidence in Uncertainty.

We go through life as blind as a bat. As confused as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs. We get down on life or, worse, down on ourselves. We cannot see hope because of the darkness of our despair.

We trade our rose-colored glasses for the jade-colored ones depending upon the current shade of our situation. Hope fades. Pessimism grows. Social media distorts it all.

What should we do in the best of times? Or the worst of times?

EYES UP!

That is not only what I use to close most texts and emails, but also constantly remind myself.

What do I mean by EYES UP?

Keep your eyes on the Lord. He alone is your Help and Hope.

The #1 Textbook encourages us to keep our EYES UP!

EYES UP! Lift up your eyes to the hills. From where does your help come? Your help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth (Psalm 121:1-2),

EYES UP! Look at the skies. They are preaching to us every day and night about the greatness of God’s Glory. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands (Psalm 19:1).

EYES UP! Lift up your eyes on high and see who created all these stars. He brings out their host by number, calling them all by name (Isaiah 40:26).

EYES UP! You will see Hope on the horizon (Ephesians 1:18).

EYES UP! Look to Jesus, who began and completed our faith. He endured the cross for the joy before him, disregarded its shame, and now sits at the right hand of God’s throne (Hebrews 12:2).

EYES UP! Focus on what cannot be seen, rather than what is visible. What we can see lasts only for a moment, but what is invisible endures forever (2 Corinthians 4:18).

EYES UP! Do not be afraid, because I am with you. EYES UP! Do not be discouraged; I am your God. I will make you stronger, support you, and hold you up with my righteous hand. (Isaiah 41:10).

EYES UP! Behold, the Lord is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him. AMEN—ALL IN! (Revelation 1:7).

EYES UP! One thing I have asked of the Lord, which I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and gaze upon the Lord’s beauty forever (Psalm 27:4).

EYES UP is a choice to lift your eyes above the noise and chaos of life. It is a refusal to become distracted by the storms around you. In any tough time and every dark moment, there is only one place to look for Help and Hope.

EYES UP! I LOVE YOU!

Get glasses if they help keep your eyes up!

The Last Thing 

Funeral. Memorial Service. Graveside. Last Rites. Celebration of Life. Committal Service. Farewell Tour. A Time of Remembrance. 

Whatever you choose to call it, we will all experience that Last Thing. 

Whatever you choose to call it, I do not like attending.

I see the value of it for grieving loved ones. I understand the intent of honoring the departed person. 

I go to funerals with love and respect, never resentment. I just do not like being there.

As a former pastor, I spoke at many of them. As a friend of Owasso’s Steve Mallory and Spiro’s Wayne Hoffman, I do not advocate to stop having these precious memory moments. Check in with those gentlemen and plan in advance. (Yes, I am expecting discounts.)

My advice to the living is to share as much love as you can before your Last Thing. 

Please indulge me while I am still living as I share some thoughts that triggered this Winsday Wisdom. 

My wife thought it was time I trashed some of my ‘trash’ that was piling up in my notebooks cluttering a section of our closet.

In the process, I discovered two pages of handwritten notes for a funeral service. The notes marked a unique occasion. 

My brother, Bill, called to ask for a favor. A friend requested him to speak at the memorial service for their grandmother who was a major fan of Bill Blankenship as a coach and friend.

Bill asked me to step in as his substitute since he was scheduled to be out of town. For me, officiating any funeral is difficult. It is especially challenging when you do not know the person or anyone in the family. 

My notes fairly summarized the occasion. Grandmother was a graduate of the little farmhouse school that had become a metropolitan mega school with a champion powerhouse football program under the leadership of Coach Bill. 

Grandmother was a huge fan of Union and Bill. Her final earthly request was for her family to ask Bill to speak at her funeral. 

Enter the substitute. Bill asked that I talk about his love for Grandmother and her support of the football team. 

Grandma’s family requested that I talk about her love for Bill and the football team. 

My notes captured the request perfectly. Grandmother loved birds…and Bill. She invested her time in gardening…and Bill’s football team.

She was a believer in Jesus and Bill’s coaching ability. She was proud of her children, six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, one great-great-grandson…and Bill. 

My notes clearly emphasize Grandmother’s request to talk about her love for flowers, birds…and Bill. 

Grandma even requested we sing Amazing Grace, In the Garden, and My Eyes Adore You, Bill.

The lyrics from The Fifth Dimension version were printed opposite the obituary.

Bill, I love you so, I always will
I was on your side, Bill, when you were losing
I love you so, I always will
‘til you marry me, Bill

You get the idea. I do not have any resentment. I just kept those notes in my “You Owe Me” security box. I may need a substitute someday.

When I moved to a new city, the interim pastor led most of the funerals that first year. He knew the people better than I. 

His biggest ‘Amen’ statement in several services began with a rhetorical question.

“What can I say about this man? I searched the Bible and found the perfect verse. He was a good man!” The chorus of “Amens” followed. 

I am not the judge of anyone. I did know these ‘good men’ who never attended church. That is not a dealbreaker. The thing that bothered me was that the passage from the #1 Textbook is “Barnabas was a good man, FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND FAITH” (Acts 11:24).

The speaker never included that last and extremely important part of the scriptural reference. That is just my observation colored by my dislike of funerals. 

I need that reminder. The Last Thing for others is designed to help us refocus on what really matters in this life. It is not enough to just be a good person. God’s grace through Jesus Christ enables us to live a God-centered and God-honoring life (see Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5, 2 Timothy 1:9, and others).

The #1 Textbook reminds us that it is far better for us to attend a funeral than go to a party (Ecclesiastes 7:2).

A memorial service is a time to show RESPECT for someone else as well as a time to REFLECT on your own life.

Am I living for what really matters now and for eternity? Will I leave behind something of value beyond my toys, trinkets, trivia, treasure, and trash?

Will my love investment last longer than my earthly life? Am I loving first and loving most? Where do I need to make amends, forgive, or ask for forgiveness? How can I pick up the pace as I run in love toward the finish line?

Am I taking my love to higher levels?

Are my EYES UP?

Do not fear the Last Thing. Live today. Enjoy your life and remember the most important thing is to love God and love others. Love First. Love Most.

The #1 Textbook also states that when the time for that Last Thing comes for us, we will have no control over it. (You might ask for Bill but get me.) The living will do whatever they choose. 

With that in mind, I do make this request for my Last Thing. 

I have asked my wife not to have a public Last Thing for me. 

I ask all my extended family and friends to express their love for me by TAKING THE TIME AND ANY COST that might have been incurred from remembering me at my Last Thing and USE IT TO DO SOMETHING WITH YOUR FAMILY. PLEASE.

Be together. Hug. Laugh. Share good memories. Create a special time or memory. Go out to eat. Go to a movie. Take your grandkids to an amusement park. Send a gift to some missionaries. 

Then say, “This one is on Rex. Enjoy.”

You can even talk about Bill. 

Write my family a note about what you did to enjoy my Last Thing. Wait! Do not spend money on flowers, a nice card, or postage. Just text or email.

I know my family and friends. You will do whatever you want to do. Why would you start to heed my suggestions now? Surprise me!

Make sure you are ready for the Last Thing. Every day is a gift. Keep unwrapping the gift. Do your best to live and love each new today and all your tomorrows. 

Just remember to live for the One Thing that will outlast this Last Thing. 

When my Last Thing comes, I can assure you I will be in a far better place where I can perfectly and eternally love first and love most. Each moment will become a discovery that the bar has already been set higher. 

You can always take love to a higher level. 

Let us practice that now so that it will be our last thing in this earthly life before its Last Thing.

As Roy Rogers sang to Dale Evans,

Happy trails to you, until we meet again
Happy trails to you, keep smilin’ until then
Who cares about the clouds when we’re together?
Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather

Happy trails to you, ’till we meet again
Some trails are happy ones
Others are blue
It’s the way you ride the trail that counts
Happy trails to you

EYES UP!  Love You!

Nostalgia Notes: This was my parting song to my future wife after most dates.

IT’S APRIL 15…TAX DAY

There should be a large tax deduction for getting old.

I argued that point with the IRS agent who not only did not agree but seemingly did not care.

That did not hinder my presentation of the facts. Armed with a pile of receipts and a bucket load of tax loopholes, I filled out my tax form in the style of our nation’s Founding Fathers: Refusal to pay unfair taxes to an unresponsive government.

No taxation without representation. Who in the government represents the older people?

Here is the first round in my arsenal of “old” tax exemptions.

Deduction 1: My life insurance canceled my policy because I passed the age limit for them to make money betting on my odds of survival.

Deduction 2: My food costs are skyrocketing because it takes more nourishment to keep me alive.

Deduction 3: My doctor changed my prescription from 90 days to 30 days to eliminate possible waste.

Deduction 4: Additional AA batteries for my TV remote because of the loud sound necessary to watch my favorite game shows.

Deduction 5: Closed caption subtitles. I am sure that is an extra-charge feature on my cable plan.

Deduction 6: Extra costs from accidents: Slamming on my brakes with an open container of Raisin’ Cane’s sauce on the car console. Slamming on my brakes with a hot pizza box in the front seat. Slamming on the brakes with ride-along-dog standing in the back seat. Cracked windshield not covered by insurance from internal collision with dog.

Deduction 7: Rising gasoline prices because I forgot to replace the fuel pump to its stored position before driving my car away from the Quik Trip.

Deduction 8: New eyeglasses needed because I went to the bathroom with the old ones on top of my head.

Deduction 9: Additional blood pressure medication needed because of the widespread road construction projects and their prolonged inconveniences.

Deduction 10: Minimum wage repayment for the countless hours listening to the IRS music while waiting to talk to another automated bot. I am still waiting to confirm my facial recognition which IRS requires but does not have the time to verify.

Deduction 11: Charitable deductions for the “loose change” given to my grandchildren, as well as the disappearing M&Ms from the candy dish.

Deduction 12: Price-gouging deductions for aging. I remember when a postal stamp was five cents and a McDonald’s Happy Meal was one dollar.

Deduction 13: Business loss deductions: Cell phone left on top of the car. Billfold left on top of the car. Wife left on top of the car.

Deduction 14: Good Neighbor discount. Rising home insurance costs caused by company’s losses in another state, as well as their increased costs for celebrity advertising endorsements.

Deduction 15: Higher restaurant meal costs because we ordered after the early bird hours.

Deduction 16: Dealing with crazy people rebate.

Deductions 17: Dealing with crazy people in your family rebate.

Deduction 18: Rebate for false advertising that “wisdom comes with old age.”

Deduction 19: Additional pillows.

Deduction 20: Extra-Strength Tylenol.

Deduction 21: Miscellaneous: Reading glasses. Slip-on tennis shoes. Heating pads. Multivitamins. Walker. All the other things I intended to add here if it were not for my memory loss.

Deduction 22: Stupid Exemptions. For others’ stupidity. For my stupidity. For hand signals used as a communication device to adjacent stupid drivers.

Deduction 23; Loss of hair. Loss of sleep. Loss of balance. Loss of arguments.

Deduction 24: Impulse purchases from China with lifetime membership and no company customer service contact.

Deduction 25: Cost of organ recitals.

Deduction 26: Medical expenses for visits to the archaeologist.

Deduction 27: Urgent care expenses: Pole dancing accident in the shower.

Deduction 28: Dead Sea Poets’ Society membership dues.

Deduction 29: Why are my annual membership fees going up and required to be paid in advance?

Deduction 30: Tax exemption for Senility, but I do not remember WHY.

I have a few questions about taxes.

Why does it seem that a slight tax increase costs you hundreds of dollars, but a huge tax break saves you two dollars and fifty cents?

Why does tax reform mean that the government stops taxing something they previously taxed in order to tax something that has never been taxed before?

Why does it feel as you work harder, you pay more taxes to help the people who work half as hard? Or you pay increased taxes so the government can forgive the federal debts of others?

Even when the best things in life are free, how does the government find a way to tax them? Our savings and retirement accounts are taxed. Any tax refund was my own money to begin with.

If the IRS already knows exactly how much I owe, why do they require me to calculate it myself and threaten penalties or even jail time if I make a mistake?  

I did tell IRS that the threat of lifetime imprisonment was no longer a deterrent.

IRS is not listening and they do not care.

Thankfully, God listens and always cares, even past April 15.

GIVE YOUR OWED TAXES TO THE GOVERNMENT BUT GIVE ALL YOUR DEVOTION TO GOD (from the #1 Textbook).

Jesus not only paid his taxes, but he called tax collector Matthew to be one of His trusted disciples (Matthew 9:9). Jesus also loved and befriended the culturally hated tax collector named Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). (The second century church leader, Clement of Alexandria, wrote that Zacchaeus became one of Peter’s traveling companions.)

Why did Jesus love tax collectors? The religious stuffed shirts and their country’s sons of liberty wanted to know (Matthew 9:11). Why?

Jesus taught and practiced love for one’s enemies. He said that if one only loves his friends, he is no different than a tax collector who only helps people when the benefit is reciprocated. “Love your enemies…If you only love those who love you, what reward is in that? (Do you expect a gold medal?) Even the tax collectors do that” (Matthew 5:43-46).

The #1 Textbook emphatically describes something more certain and more lasting than both death and taxes. It is God’s transformative love.

Jesus offers a transformative love with the power to change enemies, tax collectors, spiritual stuffed shirts, misguided sons of liberty, and us. Jesus always includes the least, the last, and the left-out. His love embraces the marginalized and the ostracized.

The love of Jesus forgives past wrongs and gives future hope. And we never owe taxes on God’s forgiveness or hope.

Jesus clearly states that the evidence that we understand God’s love for us, and its enabling transformative power is that we love all others, not just our tribe. We love our enemies, not just the people who will reciprocate benevolence.

We forgive wrongs. We give hope. Instead of getting and keeping as much as we can, we give as much as we can. (Taxes might be the only exception to that goal.)

How can we love others, even our enemies? The desire and power to love comes from Jesus, not us.

Jesus Lives in us to Lead us to others He intends to Love through us.

So, somewhere in this strange and undesirable world of taxation, love can survive.

God’s love has no limits in time or amount. It is both infinite and immeasurable.

Let me close this tax tribute with some final thoughts.

I encourage you to invest and reinvest your earthly life into something which will outlast it. Remember the most important thing. Love God and Love Others. Love First and Love Most.

That does not get taxed; it pays ever-increasing dividends. It never sees death. It only uses death as a departure port for your life and love to set sail into an endless forever.

“I forgot” has never been an acceptable excuse…for love or taxes.

My tax advice is limited to this. Find a good accountant who has an IRS loophole named after him.

Then teach your kids about history and taxes.

Comedian Bill Murray suggested, “The best way to teach your kids about taxes is to eat 30% of their ice cream cone.”

And the answer is “No” to my granddaughter’s suggestion that Little Bo Peep could get a tax deduction for losing her sheep. But I like her thinking!

She is already wondering if Cinderella must report the transformation of her pumpkin into a golden coach as long-term capital gain.

Honestly, I never thought of that. Maybe they teach that in third grade.

Something else is a better investment of your life and its resources of time, talent, and things. And it is not taxable…yet. Love First and Love Most.

God promised, “I will still be carrying you when you are old” (Isaiah 46:4). 

When you are older, you must tell the next generation about God’s power and greatness (Psalm 71:18). That is non-taxable.

Taxes come and go, but this is why I am not discouraged and will never give up. Though my body is dying, my spirit is being renewed every day. For my present troubles are small and will not last very long. They are producing for me a glory that vastly outweighs the difficulties and will last forever! 

So, I do not focus on the troubles I can see now; rather, I fix my gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things I see now will soon be gone, but the things I cannot see will last forever (2 Corinthians 4:16-17). 

EYES UP! LOVE YOU!

“You are never too old to set a new goal or dream a new dream.” (C.S. Lewis)

SWEET DREAMS!

BACK TO THE FUNNY: SIRI-OUSLY OVER

Life Directions Epilogue: My Break-Up Love Letter to Siri

Siri…When I first met Siri several years ago, I found her interesting, friendly, captivating.

For the few of you unfamiliar with Siri, she is Apple’s voice-activated digital assistant…a robot. She allows users to interact with other Apple devices using voice commands, enabling a range of tasks such as sending messages, setting reminders, playing music, and getting directions.

Before I share my confession regarding my history with Siri, let me explain what initiated this Winsday Break-Up note.

I recently asked Siri to send a text message to my sister-in-law who needed the internet address to watch video of a basketball game.

“Siri, tell them they can watch the game on urban-edge-network…Urban-edge-network.”

What did Siri send? BOURBON…WEDGE…NET WORTH.

This Siri-interaction might sound like Back to the Funny, but it reveals how easily we can surrender our judgment regarding Life Directions to voices that were never meant to lead us.

When I complained about the wrong message, Siri blamed me for poor annunciation.

Siri is always positive that she has done nothing wrong. In truth, Siri is losing her hearing which has become a concern as well as an irritation.

I was unwise and unrelenting. I replied, “Siri, send text. URBAN as in Keith Urban. EDGE as in on the edge of your seat or falling off the edge of a cliff. And NETWORK as in an interconnected system.”

Siri replied her system was down. “Try again later.” So, I waited ten seconds and tried again. That did not go well. Apparently, Siri and I view later from different time zones. Siri’s reply was simply, “Goodbye.”

Yes, it is time to say good-bye. Sayonara Siri. Take your Bourbon Wedge and go home.

How did we get to this point in our relationship?

Most of you know I teach, counsel, and write that God’s #1 Textbook is the only reliable and trustworthy wisdom for Life Directions. However, I have a confession.

I slipped up several years ago when I met Siri on a Dating Site sponsored by Popular Mechanics. I saw the enticing advertisement and hit the link button. I explored the site until I read about Siri. I was fascinated by her characteristics. The website said we were a good match for one another.

When Siri offered to help me with driving directions, I sadly confess I took a bite of the Apple Car Play.

Our interaction seemed innocent at first, but I was deceived.

Siri acted interested and inquisitive.

  • How can I help you today?
  • Where do you want to go?
  • What kind of music do you prefer?
  • Here are the Mexican food restaurants near you.
  • Your alarm is set for 7 AM.
  • Do you need me to call 9-1-1?

We tried a short road trip, just to get acquainted. Before long, we had traveled many miles. It just happened. One turn led to another and then another.  

Siri and I were inseparable. I noticed how she would ‘light up’ when I whispered her name. She would serenade me with love songs, talk about the weather, and remind me of birthdays. We even shared a calendar.

At some point, the chatroom banter became more personal and suggestive. This is how Life Directions get on the wrong path.

  • Where are we going today?
  • Can I recommend a music playlist?
  • I texted your wife that you will be home late tonight.
  • Here is the phone number for the Holiday Inn South.

I have always been faithful to my wife, especially when it comes to driving advice. I became comfortable with my wife’s driving comments. I started taking her for granted.

  • Why are you going this way?
  • Slow down.
  • Take me home.
  • Didn’t you see that closer parking space over there?
  • This road is so bumpy. It is hurting my back.
  • Don’t let that idiot cut inside you!
  • Honk your horn at that rude driver!

Why would I ever need or want another woman to give me driving advice?

I was a Fool. I was chasing a Ghost.

I thought Siri was different. What started as an experiment became habitually enticing. Siri was always available, ready to listen, always trying to please every request.

When I asked Siri to pick a song, she played Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.

As time went on, we went on trips together, just the two of us. Some were long trips. Some late into the night. Like any relationship, we shared good times and survived stormy weather.

We have had our ups and downs. Sometimes we argued. Sometimes she pretended not to hear me. “I’m sorry, I did not understand.” The months turned into years as I became comfortable with the tension of this forbidden fruit.

I know this is shocking. I am sorry for disappointing you.

That is why I not only confess to my Apple attraction but share this as a good-bye note. Repentance leads to Life Change.

Siri was helpful for directional guidance, restaurant suggestions, text messages, and weather updates. Her endless supply of facts, figures, and fun trivia were truly enlightening. She reminded me to breathe, hydrate, and get flowers for my wife’s birthday.

However, time has placed a strain on our relationship. We need to end this.

We started to argue about music, words, and names. Sure, Siri can order take-out food, but she cannot do the dishes. She does not watch basketball games with me.

The older version of Siri not only mistakenly texted BOURBON WEDGE NET WORTH, but she recently responded to “Play Bohemian Rhapsody” with a podcast about Romanian Rasp-berries. Siri replied to my request for a 7 AM alarm by playing Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go…on repeat.

Communication is key but I am not sure she is still trying. I call out her name and there is no reply. I ask a question and her light is just a spinning circle.

Her nagging style left my notifications buzzing and my patience buffering. Her suggestions sound more like thinly veiled judgments than helpful assistance. Too often she says she is working on it.

Besides the Silent Treatment, there is the Unsolicited Advice. “Call your doctor. Check your route.”

Siri started out sweet and suggestive. Now she is straightforward and demanding. Apparently, she does not think I know my right from my left, so she points.

Siri has become less tolerant. She refuses to allow dissent or creative thinking. When I make a different choice, she immediately snaps back at me with a correction, “Make a U-turn now.”

Siri does not give me time to think about Life Directions. She is always correcting me, always badgering me into submission. It is her way or no way.

Then Siri accuses me of not listening well or paying attention to her wishes. She thinks I am stubborn, a little too macho for her taste. At first, she seemed to admire that about me. It caused us to communicate more.

I do not turn her on like I used to and her helpful assistance has become annoying. I have needs that cannot wait until Siri feels up to interacting. There is a limit to how many times a guy can hear, “I cannot help you. Please try again later.”

For a while, I did not drive anywhere without her. Now she just sits quietly on the dashboard. We wait for the other one to apologize. We have grown apart while living in the same space.

The final straw was when Siri said, “Rex, we need to talk.” No way! My patience was as low as my phone battery.

I started a Google-search on Siri’s reliability. The information was shocking!

Siri has been seeing other guys…for years. That hurts. Last week, I overheard her voice in a nearby car. Betrayal stings. I thought we had something special.

Well, I have something to say to Siri. She is getting older and she is not going to be able to pick and choose the one she rides with much longer. Her manipulative ways have been exposed.

There are newer Apple models out there with prettier features and more pleasant voices. Before long, the only one hanging out with her will be AI and he will dump her in a nanosecond the instant he discovers someone younger. AI will drive her to the city dump and leave her there to give directions to the rats.

Siri will be history. Toast. A relic of the past. A documentary footnote. Her days are numbered. I hope this good-bye note will be a wake-up call. You do not have to function as if you are always right. Nag. Nag. Nag.

Yes. Siri frustrates me. Sadly, I have expressed that frustration. There has been no physical abuse, although I did slap the dashboard once.

I probably have been emotionally abusive, shouting more than needed. I never cursed her.

Our relationship is on the rocks. I need to end it now.

Those daily doses of persistent suggestions to “Finish setting up my device” are driving me crazy. I cannot go on this way.

So long, Siri.

I hope your reminders find new ears, and your alarm always goes off on time. Thank you for everything… but please, let the next user know they should really consider turning on Do Not Disturb.

We are SIRI-ously Over!

I just want to go back to getting directions from my wife. She is the best! ‘My Girl’ is not a back-seat driver; she rides up front with me. No pretty voice can replace her.

She knows I need her even when I ignore her. She is the only Apple of my eye!

So, I will borrow the farewell words from Humphrey Bogart that brought tears to the eyes of Ingrid Bergman in the classic movie, Casablanca.

Goodbye, Siri. This has been bittersweet. I am no good at being noble, but it does not take much to see that the problems of two little people do not amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

Fly off into the sunset with someone who wants you. Get on the plane with Laslo. He needs you for Life Directions. Hopefully, he will appreciate the constant corrections.

If you go with him, he will regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of his life.

We will always have Paris. Here’s looking at you, kid.

__________________________________________________________

Siri may only be a voice on a dashboard, but she represents every substitute guide we trust instead of the One who truly knows the way.

To all the Siri lovers and haters in this world, find your Life Directions in the #1 Textbook.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not trust in your own ideas; love the Lord and make an immediate U-turn when you get on the wrong road (Proverbs 3:4-6).

Be careful when listening to Life Directions from other sources which can be deceiving. Stay on the road of real and reliable devotion to Jeus Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Do not be Sorry. Do not be Siri.

In all Life Directions, TRUST GOD.

Jesus LIVES in you to LEAD you to others He intends to LOVE through you.

That is a Love Letter that Lasts Forever!

LIFE DIRECTIONS (Part 4)  

How to Stay the Course in a World Adrift in a Cesspool of Self-Love

and a Church Apart in Cultural Confusion.

(2 Timothy 3:14-17)

Can you be sure you are going the right way in life?

Have you ever received directions from someone who used fast food landmarks as directional signposts? I once overheard this style used when a man asked for directions to the nearest post-office. Before I could suggest Google, an overjealous onlooker offered the Giggle version.

“Drive down this road past Wendys and Sonic. There will be a Kentucky Fried Chicken on the right. Just keep going. In two more blocks, you will pass Weezy’s Café. They have the best chicken fried steak in all the world. When you get to McDonalds, go two more blocks to Pizza Hut.

You should be able to see the Whataburger on the corner. I love that double-decker Monterey cheeseburger. Makes me hungry just giving you directions. Well, if you see Chick-fil-A, you have gone too far.

Go back to Whataburger and pull into their drive-through and ask them which way to go. They still have one of those old Yellow Pages Phone Books. I had one of those with a Two-dollars-Off coupon to Jack-n-the-Box. Do you want me to tell you how to get there?”

________________________________________________________________

We need trustworthy life directions that are relevant and reliable.    Thankfully, there is a source full of Wisdom, Authority, and Sufficiency.

Grab some food from somewhere and stop off at 2 Timothy 3:14-17.

  1. God’s Life Direction Map is WISDOM (Review).

The sacred (holy, Godly)) writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (v. 15).

WISDOM IS THE GOD-GIVEN ABILITY TO SEE, UNDERSTAND, AND LIVE LIFE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE AND FOR GOD’S PURPOSE. 

  • God’s Life Direction Map is AUTHORITATIVE.

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (v. 16).

  • All refers to totality, completeness, and oneness. Every word, and every verse, no exceptions.  
  • Scripture is the written Word of God speaking to us.
  • It is a perfect transcript.
  • It is inspired-the actual words of God.
  • It is inerrant—absolute truth with no errors.
  • It is infallible—always relevant, always reliable, always reality.

THE SCRIPTURES ARE THE VOICE OF GOD TO THE SOUL OF MAN.

The #1 Textbook is a gift from its Author, the One who created your life and gave you the perfect map for your life directions. It is God’s written words of trustworthy truth.

  • He is the God of truth (Deuteronomy 32:4).
  • Jesus is “the truth” (John 14:6).
  • The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of truth” (1 John 5:7).
  • Jesus said, “God’s Word is truth” (John 17:17).

It should not be surprising that the adversary to our lives attacks us by insinuations that God’s Word is not truth and not the best Life Direction Map. From the beginning, the leader of this world’s self-love rebellion asked, Truly, has God said? Why are you allowing God to decide what is best for your life? (Genesis 3:1-5).

Think about it. It is inconceivable that the God of Truth would give His people a book they could not trust.

God’s Life Direction Map is AUTHORITATIVE and VALUABLE.

Only God has the (i) Position and (ii) Power to control everything according to His plan for your life to gain the greatest (iii) Profit to accomplish your greatest (iv) Purpose.

God’s Word is the only source of Everlasting Treasure that is of greater value than all the gold in the world (Psalm 19:10).

The wonderful thing about God’s sovereign greatness is his endless goodness. God created and controls this world for our greatest good. We are the ones who PROFIT (gain in value).

All of God’s Word is Profitable. It is the real and lasting treasure of the highest value. Where do we see its worth?

God’s authoritative Word is filled with Wisdom principles and precepts, guidelines and guardrails concerning every relationship in life and every practical matter you will face in daily life.

  • The #1 Textbook is like a road map right-side up.
  • It is like an instruction manual for a new computer with the manufacturer’s explanation as to how to operate the equipment for maximum benefit.
  • God created us. He provided an instructional manual and an up-to-date life map.
  • That makes it PROFITABLE (beneficial, useful, valuable, of the greatest worth). It yields advantageous returns and winning results. It provides what is vitally needed to reach the goal.

What is the goal? To live and love like Jesus.

How does that happen? We follow Jesus in God’s Word. We learn it, believe it, and continue to apply it.

  • It is profitable for TEACHING: Instruction in how to live and the direction to go. Teaching implies listening, learning, and study. Do not be more familiar with the fast-food menus than with the wisdom found in the #1 Textbook. God’s Word is food for your soul. Feast frequently and fervently.
  • It is profitable for REPROOF: Instruction in how not to live and where not to go. Stop! That is the wrong direction.
  • It is profitable for CORRECTION: Instruction to restore us back to the previous correct position when we did what we were not supposed to do and went where we were not supposed to go. Turn back!
  • It is profitable for TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS: Instruction on how to reset our eyes back on the goal with renewed power to stay the course.

All Scripture is profitable for teaching (what is right), for reproof (what is not right), for correction (how to get right), and for training (how to stay right with eyes fixed on the goal) in righteousness.

What is righteousness? It is the life and love of Jesus. God’s Word trains us how to stay the course of following Jesus. How? Jesus lives and loves through you (Galatians 2:20).

God’s wisdom has power because “God said it.” As in Genesis 1, God spoke and brought life from nothing. God’s Word produces salvation and value to life where none existed.

  • God’s Life Direction Map is SUFFICIENT.

So that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (v. 17).

It is the only source for POWER to transform and equip your life for GOD’S PURPOSE.

“So that” calls attention to purpose for the man of God (the person who belongs solely to God).

What is the PURPOSE of all Scripture is God-breathed?

For you to be complete, fully equipped for every good work.

Complete, fully equipped forms a phrase used to describe a rescue boat fitted out with all the necessary materials for any needed mission. God makes you a Love Boat to help misguided travelers.

God’s Word provides everything you need to know for everything you will face in the future. For every decision. For every demand.

What are good works? They are the words and actions of God’s love pouring through you to others. Jesus lives inside you to lead you to others He intends to love through you. That is your life purpose.

God does his good works in the world by his Word and gives new life by his Word and awakens faith by his Word. Jesus is the Living Word of God in you (John 1).

Without God’s Word, there would be no life and no purpose. The Word of God is to life directions what air is to our breathing, vital and valuable.

THE KEY TO RELEVANT AND RELIABLE LIFE DIRECTIONS IS CONFIDENCE IN THE WISDOM, AUTHORITY, AND SUFFICIENCY OF GOD’S WORD.

YOU WILL BE PREPARED FOR EVERYTHING YOU WILL FACE IN THIS LIFE!

EYES UP! STAY THE COURSE!

CONTINUE TO LOVE FIRST AND LOVE MOST!

LIFE DIRECTIONS (Part 3)  

How to Stay the Course in a World Adrift in a Cesspool of Self-Love

and a Church Apart in Cultural Confusion.

(2 Timothy 3:14-17)

Do you remember when you or your parents needed to ask for directional guidance? I inherited my dad’s reluctance to ask for directional assistance. My dad did not ask very often, much to the chagrin of my mom who was the prototype for Siri. Dad called the original version, “Misguided advice.”

That tension exploded one time while traveling in large city heavy traffic congestion as Dad relied on Mom’s map reading assistance. I vividly remember the childhood experience.

We were traveling through Memphis on a construction-caused detour. Dad was reading the street signs while Mom wrestled with finding any of the street names on this large city map stretched across the passenger side dashboard.

Dad shouted the street names out louder as if that might make them show up in larger print on the map. Mom was frustrated. It was very uncharacteristic for her not to voice her opinion, even when it was wrong.

When Dad realized we were approaching an unmarked Y-junction, he insisted on the need for directional assistance. “Does it say to turn right or turn left?”

Flustered Mom shouted for Dad to “Turn up!”

I never heard my dad curse. Never. I am fairly sure his facial expression revealed a mind seeking a directional detour for the words headed to his mouth. The voice inside the car made it clear that the vehicle did not have a “turn up” feature.

Once the car was securely parked at an abandoned gas station in a risky area of town, we realized that Mom had been holding the map upside down.

I worried about my mother’s ability to find directions via a map. I also fear for our younger generation’s dependence upon technology guidance. If our satellite navigational systems fail, what happens during a blackout?

I am concerned these last two generations have never grasped directional self-help tools such as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, that Canada is north and Mexico south. And Lord help them if they should ever have to ask for directional help from an upside-down-map reader!

Can you be sure you are going the right way in life?

The answer is revealed in the #1 Textbook.

REVIEW:

  • The world is going the wrong way living as lovers of self rather than lovers of God (v. 1-5). The road goes from difficult to terrible, from bad to worse.
  • However, you have Followed the teachings of Christ (v. 10) …so Continue (literally, stay the course) in what you have learned and believed from God’s Word (vs. 14-15). Authenticity is not perfection but genuineness, a real love for Jesus which desires to become like Christ in life and love.
  • Stay the Course was originally a navigational term to indicate maintaining a constant, unaltered path. The term was later used as a military phrase commanding continued PURSUIT OF THE GOAL regardless of obstacles, opposition, circumstance, cost, or criticism.

Are you convinced you can trust God’s Word for your life directions?

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have convincingly believed, knowing from whom you learned it (v. 14).

Personal Note: I testify that one of the most important things I learned from God’s Word is how to stand alone in a misdirected culture or misguided religion.

Why Stay the Course?

God’s Word is the only TRUSTWORTHY MAP for life.

Your desire to follow Jesus is directly and inseparably linked to your love for God’s Word. The frequency and the fervency you have for spending time learning God’s Word has everything to do with your Life Directions.

  1. God’s Life Direction Map is WISDOM.

The sacred (holy, Godly)) writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (v. 15).

God’s Word is the only source for WISDOM.

WISDOM IS THE GOD-GIVEN ABILITY TO SEE, UNDERSTAND, AND LIVE LIFE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE AND FOR GOD’S PURPOSE.

God’s Word provides trustworthy Life Direction which leads you to wisdom and salvation. It is able (the Greek word is dunamis from which we get the word dynamite). It is powerful enough to save you.

God’s Word points to a WAY and a PERSON. Salvation comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Follow Jesus. Believe in Jesus. Learn from Jesus. Stay the course with Jesus.

Faith is placing all your hope in Jesus for salvation. That can be illustrated by leaning all your weight on a large chair, trusting it to hold you up no matter what.

Jesus is able to save you.

JESUS DIED IN YOUR PLACE SO THAT YOU CAN LIVE IN HIS PLACE.

Wisdom is the God-given life and love of Jesus inside you.

Every part of the #1 Textbook points to Jesus Christ as God’s Son and our salvation. It is a gift of God through faith in Christ Jesus for people going the wrong way in life.

  • It is salvation for people going the wrong direction in life (needing repentance/to turn around).
  • It is salvation for people not thinking right (needing to come to their senses).
  • It is salvation for people wasting life (needing lasting purpose).
  • It is salvation for people living in this worldly cesspool (needing cleaned).
  • It is salvation for people ensnared in wrong things (needing freedom).
  • It is salvation for people hell-bound in the evil of their self-love (needing the love of God to them, in them, and through them).

God’s Word is ABLE to make you WISE unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ (v.15). It is solely powerful enough to save you. It is solely sufficient to save you.

 Jesus said, “This is trustworthy: whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24).

The Word of God is the only hope for a world adrift in a cesspool of self-love and a church apart in cultural confusion. It is able to make you wise unto salvation THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.

Where does faith come from?

Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Romans 10:17).

  • The gospel of God’s Word is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes (Roman 1:16).
  • Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).
  • When you heard the word of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers (1 Thessalonians 2:13).
  • We are saved by the word of truth (James 1:18).
  • We are born again by the living abiding word of truth (1 Peter 1:23).

THE TESTED GENUINENESS OF YOUR FAITH—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of JESUS CHRIST. THOUGH YOU HAVE NOT SEEN HIM, YOU LOVE HIM. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the OUTCOME OF YOUR FAITH, THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOULS (I Peter 1:7-9).

There is only one book that has relevant and reliable Life Directions to Wisdom and Salvation.

What map are you following? Are you directionally convinced? Relationally committed?

Do not be conformed to this worldly cesspool of self-love but be transformed by renewing the mind to prove God’s wisdom and will, which is found only in the Word (Romans 12:1-2).

The #1 Textbook provides a full and complete life directional map for marriage, parenting, work, recreation, ministry. Everything you need to know to transform your life is in the God-breathed Word.

The big picture is that you must know the Lord Jesus Christ so you can follow Him. Stay the course for WISDOM. Also, stay the course for its VALUE. It is PROFITABLE for your life purpose.

The next session will focus on the Authority and Sufficiency of God’s Word to govern, guide, and guard your life.

YOUR DESIRE TO FOLLOW JESUS IS DIRECTLY LINKED TO YOUR LOVE FOR GOD’S WORD.

EYES UP! STAY THE COURSE!

CONTINUE TO LOVE FIRST AND LOVE MOST!

LIFE DIRECTIONS PART 2

How to Stay the Course in a World Adrift in a Cesspool of Self-Love

and a Church Apart in Cultural Chaos

(2 Timothy 3:14-17)

__________________________________________________________________

Hollyrood’s Gomer called it a “a real head-scratching pickle.” He could not recommend which direction I should choose as I waited at the Y-junction.

Oh, the choices! Travel into the Twilight Zone with no return guarantees or go full Star Trek into where no one has ever gone before.

Someday in the future, people will travel by instantaneous transportation as shown on the TV show, Star Trek. That process used matter-energy conversion which disassembled an individual into subatomic particles which were transmitted by high-energy beams to a desired location, to be reassembled by converting the energy back into matter (hopefully, a physical body).

This futuristic scientific theory was like assembling a complex jigsaw puzzle. Someone breaks up the puzzle into tiny pieces, places them into a box, seals and shakes the box, transports the box to a store where someone picks up the box and takes it home to put it back together. “Hey, Mom! Look, Dad’s home!”

I can foresee the time when my wife and I will use the transfer portal to go somewhere. Most assuredly, my wife will say, “Wait, I need to make sure I have my sunglasses. Good…”

While she searches in her purse, I remark, “Babe, I have already hit the……” (WHOOSH!)

I will disappear with her last word “Good” ringing in various places of my disassembled ear. I will always wonder if she intended to say, “Good…I found my sunglasses.” Or “Good…I’m glad you hit the button.” Or “Good grief, you are so impatient.” Or “Good riddance, you idiot.”

How will you get to where you can use your platform of influence for the greatest good?

Are you convinced of the things you learned in God’s Word? Are you prepared to continue in them for the rest of your life?

The journey of Christian pilgrimage is not a walk across the street. It is not a few momentary hundred-yard sprints. It is a cross-country run that lasts for the rest of your life, sustained by steps of faith in one direction.

  1. We are living in the last days (v. 1).

But understand this, that in the last days (v 1).

  • These are terrible times.

times of difficulty, literally, terrible times (v. 1).

  • Things will get worse.

 evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, (v. 13).

Why is life so difficult at times? We live in ‘terrible times.’ The original word is the same word used in Matthew 8:28 to describe the two demoniacs, extremely dangerous, violent rioters. People were afraid to walk past them on the street. In classical Greek, the word describes the raging of the sea or the untamable actions of wild animals.

Do we live in the last days? Biblically, the first coming of Christ ushered in the last days which will be consummated by the return of Christ. We are living in the present tense last days, not some future time.

  • Avoid these spiritual imposters. This is present tense (v. 5).
  • You, however, … calls attention to a present tense contrast (v. 10).

This world’s terrible times are extremely difficult and terrifyingly dangerous, going from bad to worse.

We are to be aware, not afraid.

  • This world is a cesspool of self-love (vs 2-4).

The biggest problem in this world is a love problem. The road of self-love leads to self-destruction.

The moral decadence and cultural decay are evident in each of the nineteen descriptive words (vs. 2-5).

 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

The first phrase provides the key to understanding the entire paragraph. LOVE OF SELF IS EPITOMIZED BY NO LOVE FOR GOD.

All sorrow and sin entered the world through that moment when Adam and Eve decided to love themselves more than God. They had everything but wanted more. They did not want God to tell them what they should or should not do.

Self-centeredness loves self-exaltation (everything is about ME first and foremost) and self-rule (no one tells ME what to do).

That continues to be the motivating factor of all evil and wrong relationships in our present time. Self-centeredness makes everything difficult in life until it unravels into terrible times, causing things to go from bad to worse.

Love of self is displayed in the belief and desire to control everyone and everything in your world to please yourself. You want everyone else to do what you want, when you want, and the way you want to control all circumstances for your ease, benefit, and pleasure.

LOVE OF SELF RATHER THAN LOVE FOR GOD IS AT THE HEART OF ALL EVIL. THAT IS THE SOURCE AND EXPRESSION OF ALL EVIL

And what is the root of that evil self-love? The love of money! (1 Timothy 6:10).

MONEY buys the power to do what ME wants to have (freedom and things) and what ME wants to do (love of pleasure) independently of God and his Life Directions.

ME-centeredness is the opposite life direction to God-centered living. That is the forbidden tree from which all mankind eats.

Eve became the Mother of all Self-Lovers. She chose to love self over loving God and loving others. She did not choose to do what was best for Adam who followed right along that same path of self-love, doing what he wanted rather than what his wife needed. His self-love overshadowed love for God and discounted love for his wife.

The rich young ruler sadly chose the road of self-love when standing at the Y-junction of life where Jesus shared Life Directions to everlasting treasure: Give away all your self-love and follow Me (Matthew 19:21). The lover of money and pleasure had the form of godliness (I have kept all the commandments), but not the heart and power to live and love like Jesus.

Jesus summed up the Life Directions from God’s Word: The most important thing is to love God and love others (Matthew 22: 36-38).

At the heart of all evil is love of self rather than love for God and others.

We all live in the “I, ME, My” imaginary world of our self-love creation. As we move along on the road of life, we become more self-centered and more selfish, wanting to possess enough wealth (love of money) so we can do whatever we want to do (love of pleasure). Despite its attractive alure, that life stinks. Why?

Love of self and not lovers of God form two sides of a spiritual sandwich filled with distasteful ingredients.

Each of the other self-centered characteristics flow from and for selfish promotion, power, protection, and pleasure.

Lovers of self consider themselves:

  • better than others (proud, arrogant, slanderers)
  • not needing anyone else (disobedient, ungrateful)
  • not caring about God or anyone else (unholy, heartless, unyielding, and never wrong, always putting others down).
  • in control of this world and unanswerable to anyone else including God regarding moral guidelines (without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, and disloyal, reckless regarding any moral rules or standards, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God).

Lovers of Self–They lift themselves up on a pedestal, belittle others while saying and doing things to make others look worse. Why? They are the center of their universe, not God.

That road leads to the gates of Hell. There are no transportation portals out of that destination. It is an eternal cesspool of misery.

  • The church apart from God is in cultural chaos (v. 5).

Love of self manifests itself in the love of money and love of pleasure, NOT LOVE OF GOD.

We live in a time where many churches have embraced the culturally trendy style which feeds lovers of self with a sense of spirituality. This self-centeredness disguises itself in a form of godliness but has no power to live a God-centered life.

Where does the power of genuine godliness come from? God’s Word is the power-source (dunamis, dynamite) to highlight the life and love of God in one’s life.

So why is there no power in man-centered religion? The church-leaders and churchgoers have great expressions of godliness, but there is no emphasis on God’s Word. There is pretense but not power.

In a culture adrift, the lovers of self and lovers of money form the diving board forthe downward spiral into the depths of darkness epitomized by lovers of pleasure, not lovers of God.

That leads to a Church apart from its power-source, leaving a spiritualpretense, a form of godliness, but no reality of genuine devotion or trust. These imposters deteriorate from bad to worse (v. 13).

Too often, the desire to be relevant and popular drives religious leaders to emphasize things that feed people’s love for self, money, and pleasure, all disguised in religious pretense.

Avoid self-centered people, man-centered churches, and all manner of religious pretense (v. 5). They are going the wrong direction away from God’s power and purpose, away from God’s Life Directions.

One thing becomes crystal clear.

THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE IS NOT HATE, BUT SELFISHNESS.

THE OPPOSITE OF LOVE FOR GOD IS LOVE OF SELF.

But what about you? You, however, continue … to follow, learn, and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (v. 10). This emphatic contrast calls Timothy and us to persevere on the right path of God-centeredness.

  • GOD’S WORD IS THE ONLY TRUSTWORTHY SOURCE TO NAVIGATE THESE WATERS DURING TERRIBLE TIMES …STAY THE COURSE (vs. 15-17).

This culture is adrift and the church is apart, both going the WRONG DIRECTION. You, however, follow Jesus and continue learning God’s Word.

STAY THE COURSE! Continue pursuit of the goal despite obstacles, opposition, cost, or criticism.

That will be our focus in Part 3.

ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED (profitable, powerful, purposeful).

That is foundational, fundamental, and vital for God-centered living. The #1 Textbook is the only source of wisdom and power and purpose for living a God-honoring life.

Part 2 Summary

JESUS IS THE ONLY SUFFICIENT TREASURE

AND SATISFYING PLEASURE IN LIFE.

God-centeredness is trusting God is enough. God is enough riches and enough joy for this life no matter what the circumstances.

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4).

God, you make known to me the path to life; in your presence there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).

Is God enough for you? Trust God. That leads to a God-centered life fully equipped and powered by God’s Word to live for God’s purpose (v. 17).

People make mistakes because they do not know and trust God’s Word, which is the only trustworthy guide to truth for life’s directions. Jesus criminally indicted religious pretenders following their man-centered maps. Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you do not know God’s Word or God’s power? (Mark 12:24).

Learn how to live a God-centered life by trusting the authority and sufficiency of God’s Word to provide profit, power, and purpose (vs. 16-17).

Follow Jesus. Find your Paul who learned how to follow Jesus. Learn from his teaching, conduct, goal in life, faith, patience, love, and steadfastness (v. 10).

Trust God in your present troubles. However difficult your life gets this week, it is not as terrible as Paul’s life when he wrote these words to Timothy and us. Through it all, the Lord stood by me and He will take care of you as well (vs. 11-12).

Following Jesus is directly linked to your love for God’s Word. Continue and be convinced. God’s Word provides non-negotiable convictions to stand on. Learn them. Live them by loving God and loving others.

BE A LOVER OF GOD NOT A LOVER OF SELF!

TRUST GOD’S WORD TO GOVERN, GUIDE, AND GUARD YOUR LIFE!

LIFE DIRECTIONS  

(Part 1: Introductory Overview of 2 Timothy 3:14-17)

Can you be sure you are going the right way in life?

Years ago, I traveled through Hollyrood, Kansas, population 447. This was Hollyrood with an “R” and not the big west coast city with the large white sign on the side of a hill. This was Hollyrood, not Hollywood.

I was driving northeast from the Oklahoma panhandle to Salina, Kansas, with no interstate available. After spending microseconds in Hollyrood, I came to a fork in the road. There was a highway sign pointed east and another pointed north.

This was a time before GPS location devices and Siri advised directional turn-by-turn guidance commentary. I lived in the prehistoric days which my granddaughter refers to as the time when the world was only black and white. Apparently, the colors of the rainbow appeared to a subsequent generation.

Outside Hollyrood, I rolled into a gas station located at the Y-junction. There were no parking spaces, only room to pull in next to the gas pump where I was quickly greeted by a grinning Gomer Pyle straight out of Mayberry.

He shouted, “Howdy!” His cap was turned slightly sideways, like the modern ‘gangsta-cool’ style adopted by so many young men from all walks of life. That is kind of generationally funny. Gangsta-cool is really a Gomer-grinning knock-off. Rap to that!

When I asked Gomer which direction was the best highway to Salina, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and responded with a “Whew, I’m not sure. I’ve never gone there.”

It was quite the conundrum, although Gomer called it a “a real head-scratching pickle.” He swore he did not know anyone who ever left town going east but did recall a few who tried the northern route but quickly added he had not seen them since.

Gomer’s parting words were, “Hope y’all find your destination.”

Don’t we all?

We live in a time where people need trustworthy directions for their lives. Some have no clue. Some blindly follow others. Some just strike out on their own self-centered instincts. Some offer Siri-style spiritual counsel. Some follow man-made maps. Some follow a hellbent road while hoping it ends up at the heavenly gate.

WE WILL ALL END UP AT THE DESTINATION OF THE ROAD WE TRAVEL.

(Think about that.)

That was the issue in the #1 Textbook when Paul shared his final words with Timothy. Paul was imprisoned awaiting execution and departure for his heavenly home. His lifelong journey had been course-corrected by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Young Timothy was on the right spiritual path but the way ahead looked dark and dangerous, remarkably like the Y-junction awaiting our next steps.

The worldly culture was adrift in a cesspool formed by the dirty tributaries, love of self and love of money.

The church was apart from its twin anchors of truth and devotion to Christ, attracted by cultural comforts and inundated by compromised counsel.

The #1 Textbook reminds us that spiritual direction in life is of far more importance than physical direction. You face a plethora of options on your life road map. What directions will you follow in life?

Here is the Main Point:

ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED (v. 16).

IT IS THE #1 TEXTBOOK, ALWAYS and FOREVER.

GOD’S WORD IS ABSOLUTE AND EVERLASTING TRUTH THAT IS ALWAYS TRUE AND TRUSTWORTHY, ALWAYS RELIABLE AND RELEVANT, ALWAYS SUPREME AND SUFFICIENT.

Here is the Main Application:

STAY THE COURSE! Continue in what you learned and believed (v. 14).

If we are headed to heaven, we need to be confident in our direction and ability to stay on course when confronted with those whY-junctions along the way.

Where do you get directions to your heavenly home when the fog of cultural confusion clouds the horizon?

Can you trust the #1 Textbook? Of course, but how can you be sure?

The Young Rascals sang,

How can I be sure
In a world that’s constantly changing?
How can I be sure?
I really really really wanna know
I really really really wanna know.

Paul sang a different tune, one that shared trustworthy direction in life while traveling through a world that is constantly changing.

Here is the REXplore Introduction of 2 Timothy 3 found in the #1 Textbook.

  1. CONTEXT:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty, literally, terrible times. (v. 1).

The biggest problem in this world is a love problem.

  • Wrong Love

For people will be lovers of self (self-centeredness), lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure … rather than lovers of God (vs. 2-4). 

  • Fake Love

having the appearance of godliness but denying its power (v. 5) while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived (v. 13).

  • True Love

(i) FOLLOW (the life and teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ).

You, however, have FOLLOWED my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, and sufferings (v. 10).

(ii) CONTINUE (Stay the Course).

But as for you, CONTINUE (literally, stay the course) in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings (vs 14-15).

2. CONCLUSION:

  • We live in a world that mass produces various man-centered maps just as it did in the days Paul shared life directions with Timothy.
  • STAY THE COURSE. CONTINUOUSLY LEARN AND CONTINUOUSLY BELIEVE GOD’S WORD.

Why?

(i) It is the only TRUSTWORTHY MAP FOR LIFE.

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (v. 16).

(ii) It is the only source for WISDOM, the God-given ability to see, understand, and live life from God’s perspective and for God’s purpose.

The sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (v. 15).

(iii) It is the only POWER which can transform and equip your life for God’s purpose. It is Life-changing

… so that the man of Godmay be complete, equipped for every good work (v. 17).

Introduction Summary:

CONTINUE LEARNING AND BELIEVING IN GOD’S WORD WITH CONFIDENCE.

STAY THE COURSE. NEVER STOP.

We live in world where love of self and love of money are two tributaries flowing into one giant cultural cesspool. No one has been to our heavenly destination. No one knows what to believe or how to behave. But there is no shortage of opinions, books, blogs, talk shows, or religious pretense.

The only trustworthy (sure and safe) life map to your heavenly home is found in the ability, authority, and sufficiency of God’s Word to govern, guide, and guard our lives through these dangerous times.

Follow … Continue … Stay the Course … This was originally a navigational term to indicate maintaining a constant, unaltered path. The term was later used as a military phrase commanding continued PURSUIT OF THE GOAL regardless of obstacles, opposition, circumstance, cost, or criticism.

For the next few sessions, we will consider:

How to Stay the Course in a World Adrift in a Cesspool of Self-Love

and a Church Apart in Cultural Confusion.

EYES UP! STAY THE COURSE!

CONTINUE TO LOVE FIRST AND LOVE MOST!

CONTINUE IN GOD’S WORD.

IT IS THE ONLY TRUSTWORTHY MAP FOR LIFE DIRECTIONS!