Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

One who is slack in his work
    is brother to one who destroys.
The name of the Lord is a fortified tower;
    the righteous run to it and are safe.
The wealth of the rich is their fortified city;
    they imagine it a wall too high to scale.
Before a downfall the heart is haughty,
    but humility comes before honor.
To answer before listening—
    that is folly and shame.
The human spirit can endure in sickness,
    but a crushed spirit who can bear?
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge,
    for the ears of the wise seek it out.
A gift opens the way
    and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.

• Proverbs 18:9-16

Proverbs 18:10 ”When you are confused about the future, go to your Jehovah-ruah, your caring shepherd. When you are anxious about provision, talk to Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides. Are your challenges too great? Seek the help of Jehovah-shalom, the Lord is peace. Is your body sick? Are your emotions weak? Jehovah-rophe, the Lord who heals you, will see you now. Do you feel like a soldier stranded behind enemy lines? Take refuge in Jehovah-nissi; the Lord my banner.
“Meditating on the names of God reminds you of the character of God. Take these names and bury them in your heart.
“God is
    the shepherd who guides,
    the Lord who provides,
    the voice who brings peace in the storm,
    the physician who heals the sick, and
    the banner that guides the soldier.”

• Max Lucado, The Great House of God

We are taught to glorify God in everything that we do, but there is a negative in not doing our best.  A project can be going great, but if one person falls behind, the entire team suffers as a result.  And what is the difference in a lackluster job in construction versus the saboteur, when the efforts, or lack of effort, leads to the destruction of the structure?

As Max Lucado reminds us, there are many names for God, each applied to the different attributes of God or the things that God does for us.  I have heard people rattle off each of those names in prayer, but if we simply say, “God, I need help today,” we are calling upon all of those facets of God’s provision, even the ones we might not be thinking of.  I use a variety of that simple prayer every day, usually before I get out of bed.  Often I realize how bad the aches are, and my urgent immediate need is the strength to overcome those aches so that I can get out of bed.  We are made strong through our weakness, for we learn to rely more on God, the source of our strength.

Proverbs 18:11-12 have a similar theme.  The rich who think that their wall is impenetrable have hearts that are haughty.  They have neither humility nor honor.  When the Nazis attacked Poland, the French attacked at Strasbourg.  When they found no resistance, they retreated.  Of course, there was no resistance.  The Nazi leaders knew well that the French would not sustain an attack, and they committed their forces elsewhere.  The French retreated behind the Maginot Line, a formidable series of gun emplacements that the French bragged could never be defeated.  When the Nazis turned toward France, they did not try to attack the Maginot Line, they overran the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, going around the Maginot Line through neutral countries.  They simply went around the wall.

My wife was a great talker, but after a conversation, before her mental capacities started to diminish, she could tell me details about the conversation.  As it seemed she never stopped talking, she poked a question in here or there to listen to the other person.  As she said, “If you love your neighbor, would you not wish to learn about the things that are important in their life?”  These days, we are afraid that someone else’s view will differ from our own, so we answer the question before they finish asking it, not giving their inferior opinion any chance to be voiced.  Is that loving our neighbor?  I do not think so.  And hearing a differing opinion might be offensive, but it is not harmful.  I learn something, even if I learn that I need to keep distance from that particular neighbor.  Equating offense and harm or injury is weakening our younger generation.

And we should seek knowledge.  In this day of information overload, most of it, it seems, is a pack of lies.  The worst of the lies is political.  The explanation from the Olympic committee that they were being inclusive and not offensive to Christians was one long string of lies.  Thus, they were specifically attacking Christianity, and they would not dare offend any other religion.

And as for gift giving, C.S. Lewis wrote that the concept of giving a gift is to ensure that the receiver no longer needs that gift.  Yet, the subsistence programs keep the poor in an impoverished state, needing that subsistence the next month.  Although they are not working, they are enslaved to the government.  We need a system that rewards a hard day’s work, again more lies coming from politicians in that regard.

And now let us sing.

The following song is The Voice of Truth.  This is sung by Casting Crowns.

Closing Prayer

Dear Lord,
We need Your wisdom.  We need Your Word to understand what is false and what is everlasting Truth.  To do that we need to read the Bible and listen to the Voice of Truth.  And to hear the Voice of Truth we must humble ourselves.  Lord, help us today.  We can only find Truth in You.
In thy Name we pray.
Amen

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.