Specks and Planks

June 15, 2012

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7: 3-5 NIV)

Jesus had a great sense of humor; I have long imagined He spoke these words with a smile on His face.  They are, however, very wise and profound words.  The way we perceive other people has everything to do with our relationships with them.

The story is told of two psychiatrists who rode the same subway every day to their office building.  Every morning one got off the elevator at the sixth floor and the other at the tenth floor.  One morning before the sixth floor psychiatrist got off the elevator he spit in the face of the other psychiatrist.  This happened every morning that week. On Friday the elevator operator asked the tenth floor psychiatrist, “Aren’t you going to do something about this?” He responded, “That’s not my problem.  That’s his problem.  He has a problem.  He spits on people.  But that’s not my problem.  He needs to get his head read.”

Very few of us are that secure.  But if we were we would know that it takes a strong person to not retaliate.  If we have a wholesome and positive evaluation of ourselves, and others with whom we have relationships, we would not play games like specks and planks.

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Posted by Dick Woodward

The Great Shepherd

April 22, 2012

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”    (Psalm 23: 1-3)

These are some of the most familiar words in the Bible loved by Protestants, Catholics and Jews.  They describe our relationship with God.  They tell us that when God is our Shepherd we have green pastures, still waters and a full cup that never empties.  This is because our great Shepherd makes us lie down.  He may use problems we cannot solve to make us lie down.  However, since we are creatures of choice we can choose to get up again.  When we do our green pastures turn brown and our cup empties again.  He then restores our soul by driving us into the paths of righteousness that restore us.

Many devout souls also love this psalm because they see in it a description of a believer’s death.  To them death is the great Shepherd coming into a life for the last time making a devout person lie down so He can give them the green pastures that never turn brown and the full cup that never empties in the eternal state.  The only way He can give us these eternal blessings is to make us lie down in death.

The key to these eternal blessings is found in the opening words of the psalm: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Meditate on these words one word at a time.  They are the key to living here and in the hereafter.  Can you say that He is your Shepherd today and always?

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Posted by Dick Woodward

A Prescription for Renewal

November 16, 2011

“This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory.  And his disciples believed in him.” (John 2: 11)

Jesus goes to a wedding and when they run out of wine, He creates more wine. In addition to the record of a miracle, this story is a formula for regeneration and a prescription for renewal.  There is tired and there is tired of.  Disciples of Jesus not only get tired – they get tired of.  We call this “burnout.”

I’m convinced this first miracle presents a prescription for burnout.  If you are experiencing the need of renewal consider this prescription.  When Mary tells Jesus they have no wine, since wine is a symbol of joy in the Bible let this represent your confession that you need renewal because you are tired of, dry, and burned out.

Then block out some time to fill your human vessel with the Word of God as symbolized by the vessels being filled with water.  While you are filling up on the Word of God do whatever the Holy Spirit tells you to do.  Then realize that your renewal is not just to give you an experience, it is for the benefit of those God wants to touch and bless using you as His channel.

Let these four principles you can learn from this miracle that first brought glory to Jesus and faith to His disciples bring renewal to you as you serve Jesus.  Our Lord often invited His apostles to come apart and rest awhile.  If you don’t come apart at times and take this prescription of Jesus for your burnout – you will come apart.  Let Jesus turn your water into wine.  That will bring glory to Jesus and make a restored believer out of you!

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Posted by Dick Woodward

A Formula for Regeneration

November 14, 2011

“This miraculous sign at Cana in Galilee was the first time Jesus revealed his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11 NLT)

An allegory is a story in which people, places and things have a deeper meaning.  In addition to being the record of a supernatural miracle the story of Jesus turning water into wine is a beautiful allegory that shows us how to be born again.  Carefully and prayerfully read the story.

A first step is expressed in the words of Mary when she tells Jesus they have no wine.  Wine is a symbol of joy in the Bible.  This statement of Mary is like a confession.  Our first step in being born again is to confess that we have no wine (joy) and we need to be born again.

A second step in this formula is when Jesus tells the servants to fill the huge thirty gallon jars with water.  The Scripture is sometimes symbolized by water because of the way it cleanses.  A devotional application here could therefore be that our second step toward regeneration would be to fill our human vessel with the Word of God.

A third step is pictured when Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.  While we are filling our vessel with the Word we must do what it tells us to do.

The fourth step is when Jesus tells the servants to draw out what they had just poured into the huge jars and serve it as wine.  Precisely, when did the water become wine?  I’m convinced it was when the servants had the faith to serve the water as wine.  We are born again when we believe Jesus can turn our water into wine and show His glory through us.

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Posted by Dick Woodward

Who Are You?

October 19, 2011

“…  Who are you? What do you say about yourself?”  (John 1:22)

 John the Baptist was the greatest man and the greatest prophet ever born of woman according to Jesus, yet there’s very little space given to him in the Gospels.  His greatness as a man and as a prophet seems to be attributed to the way he answered this question a delegation from Jerusalem was commissioned to ask him.

At first he did not want to answer the question because he did not want to talk about himself.  He just wanted to talk about Jesus Christ.  But when they told him they had to take an answer back to Jerusalem, he finally gave the answer that he was a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord.  That was who he was, that was what he was, and that was where he was.

We might summarize John’s answer by saying that he accepted the limits of his limitations and the responsibility for his ability.  We bear a lot of needless pain because we do not accept the limits of our limitations.  But at the judgment most of us are not going to come up short because we did not accept our limits.  We will fall short because we did not accept the responsibility for our ability.

Therefore, we should have a realistic, objective evaluation of who we are, what we are, and where we are to be as we live out our three score and ten, or four score years of life in this world.  Who are you?  What do you say about yourself?  When you meet the Lord, are you going to be able to say that you were who, what, and where He willed you to be?

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Posted by Dick Woodward

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