Category: faith

The Manna Test

Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 

 Exodus 16:4, NIV

 

Just imagine, for a moment, that it is raining bread outside right now!  We got to see this!  We run outside and and are pelted with rye, and caraway and pumpernickel.  Bread!  Its everywhere, all you want, just pick it up.  It piles up like a yeasty hail, and it doesn’t seem to diminish, its everywhere!  We call the kids, ‘Bring buckets, and clean garbage bags’!

God has directly intervened in the life of Israel.  He becomes the exclusive producer of manna to the children of Israel.  He decides to give, and then He pelts them with His goodness– bread, delicious bread, fresh and warm, and they say it comes from heaven!  This is the ultimate!  BREAD!  This is far beyond anything I could imagine.

But if we clear away the piles, and draw near to those whom we assume know something, we will be struck by a sense of the reality of God.  The others grab on the basic idea; but we are shaken, to the core.  We come out, clinging to a God who loves us and intensely cares for us.  ‘He is real, and He loves us!”  And all others can see– are the piles and piles of bread.

 God has done something drastic, something right  ‘on the edge of reason’.  We encounter Him, (or He encounters us) and we get involved, whether we like it or not.  The decision will be a foundational and a concrete one.  It really is much, much more than bread from heaven. But will we connect the dots?

Even though we see the supernatural bread piling up, we need to be aware we are being ‘tested’.  So much of this test, really isn’t one at all.  It’s the sixth day that catches us.  Do we, who have become dependent on this supernatural supply, trust Him to provide on the Sabbath?  Maybe He will he just ‘blink-out’ and leave us hanging?  Maybe we should gather more, before He fails us?

We have to come to this clear and classic place.  I believe it is the real starting point.  Exactly how will you accept “free bread”?  Will I honor Him through it all?  (We are being ‘tested’ folks.  We are on the ‘clock’.)  The rub comes when we just don’t see it.  We turn, not so much as to reject what is obvious, but to take on that which is authentic.  If we will just do this, we will pass the test.

Almighty Father

“Almighty Father, Son and Holy Ghost, eternal and ever blessed gracious God; to me the least of saints, to me allow that I should keep a door in paradise.   That I may keep the smallest door, the furthermost, the darkest, coldest door, the door which is the least used, the stiffest door.  If it so be but in thine house, O God, if so be that I can see thy glory even afar, and hear thy voice, O God, and know that I am with thee, thee O God.”

A Prayer of St. Columba, 521-597 AD

 

Bryan’s Note

We must travel some distance, before something like this will cling to our hearts.  Columba’s journey to the presence of Jesus most certainly gave him a perspective that enabled him to pray with this intensity and this humility.  We cannot dissuade ourselves of his effort and his overwhelming desire to be near Him.  We can only watch, and mark the zeal which took his heart and soul into the burning presence of His presence.  Columba becomes a guide of what is possible and what is to be sought.  We must become (if we are in pursuit) a people radically changed by the reality of His presence.

 

 

Sunday Funnies: A-B-Cs of a Christian’s Heart

A-B-Cs of a Christian’s Heart

A lthough things are not perfect
B ecause of trial or pain
C ontinue in thanksgiving
D o not begin to blame.
E ven when the times are hard
F ierce winds are bound to blow
G od is forever able
H old on to what you know.
I magine life without His love
J oy would cease to be
K eep thanking Him for all the things
L ove imparts to thee.
M ove out of “Camp Complaining”
N o weapon that is known
O n earth can yield the power
P raise can do alone.
Q uit looking at the future
R edeem the time at hand
S tart every day with worship
T o “thank” is a command.
U ntil we see Him coming
V ictorious in the sky
W e’ll run the race with gratitude
X alting God most high.
Y es, there will be good times and yes some will be bad, but…
Z ion waits in glory…where none are ever sad!

“Too blessed to be stressed!” The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor. The one who kneels to the Lord can stand up to anything. Be Blessed.

Into the Mud

 Into the Mud

We all need Jesus terribly.  A few of us have come to this conclusion based on God’s Word.  We have discovered that we have been negligent, and very much confused.  We have unplugged ourselves from the truth, and wandered into the maze of this world, stumbling in the dark.

Things are so distorted, that life has lost both purpose and meaning.  We come to the point where light has lost its distinctiveness and the shadows have become magnified.  A flood of confusion has made its way to truth’s walls.

As mentally ill people, operating from that viewpoint we are just as vulnerable as anyone else to deception.  If we open our hearts to everything life brings, we discover our vulnerability.  We are quite capable of disbelief. Our psychiatrist and therapist will very often create issues and conflicts.  I respect their gifts and insights.  But sometimes they can be stumbling blocks to real freedom.

But we have been called to the mud.  At first we clean ourselves from our prolonged stay in the mire.  It is great to stand on solid ground.  We are separated from sticky clay, and cleansed from our filth.  But there are so many left behind to wallow.  They may not even know it, but they are sinking.  We must reach out to them.

Our witness to those in the mud must be compassionate and bold.  Often, they act out of their confusion, and reduce truth to their own situation.  But we are called to be faithful, and to love them even in their lies.  Let’s not let their confusion affect us. There is simply too much at stake.

As witnesses to Jesus’ power, we are the only ones who can intervene.  Let us hold out the truth, and let us be those who are marked by faithfulness.  We must be courageous, we must be thinking clearly.  God intends to use us if we make ourselves available.  Even if that means we step back into the mud.