“Grace needs to be turned inside out so that we can see what God’s really doing in there.” That is the way one of our BlogTalkRadio guests explained what he liked about our slogan “Grace Turned Outward.”
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. – Luke 6:35
If you want to get a little taste of what God is like, try loving your enemies, lending money to those you know won’t pay you back, and then try being kind to ungrateful and wicked people. What does this do to one’s sense of justice and fairness? What could this possibly be about? Jesus can’t be serious about this, can He?
[This story first appeared as a Catch on January 13, 2017. I’m revisiting it because we need to be reminded to listen for this cry in every human soul.]
My wife, Marti, loves to tell the story of a dramatic rescue in which she played a significant role when she was a flight attendant. On a routine done-it-a-hundred-times flight from Chicago to New York, a gentleman on board had a heart attack. Literally keeled over in his seat. This is when you are really grateful for the flight attendant call button the man’s fellow passenger pushed in a panic.
Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?” Matthew 26:53-54
Jesus spoke these words on the night He was betrayed in the garden and one of the disciples tried to stop the soldiers from seizing Him, and ended up cutting off the ear of one of them. Jesus immediately healed the soldier’s ear, told the disciple to put away his sword and spoke the words quoted above.
A bruised reed He will not break. Isaiah 42:3
I can see it now. Jesus, on the night in which He was betrayed, goes to the olive grove called Gethsemane taking Peter, James and John with Him, and urges them to “Stay here and watch with me” while He goes on ahead to pray. “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.” And He goes to bargain with God for His life. Meanwhile, Peter turns to the others and says, “Okay guys … John, why don’t you start us in prayer and I’ll close.”Then, Zzzzzzzzzzz. And this happened two more times!
The road into town …
Listen as Wisdom calls out!
Hear as understanding raises her voice!
On the hilltop along the road,
she takes her stand at the crossroads.
By the gates at the entrance to the town,
on the road leading in, she cries aloud,
“I call to you, to all of you!
I raise my voice to all people.” Proverbs 8:1-4
How obvious is this? Wisdom is everywhere. Wake up everyone! Look! Listen!
It’s on the hilltop …
along the road …
at the crossroads …
by the gates …
at the entrance to the town …
on the road leading in …
That’s a pretty ubiquitous coverage of wisdom. It’s everywhere and it’s for everyone. “To all of you,” could have possibly meant just the nation of Israel, but “to all people” leaves no doubt. It’s inclusive of everyone.
But how do you find this wisdom when there are so many lies, fabrications, manipulations, theories and false teachers going on and on about their idea of what is wise (which could actually be foolish)? How do we determine the truth? How do you listen for wisdom in the midst of so much foolishness?
Some random thoughts about the pandemic:
I first encountered sidewalk dining in Europe in 1970. It was love at first sight. I loved being outdoors; I loved watching the world walk by; I loved the open feeling it gives you versus being trapped in a cramped, noisy room. Now suddenly everyone has sidewalk dining whether they want to or not. Actually, here in California, it’s the only way a restaurant can do business. Parking your car is now a little more challenging since parking spaces in front of restaurants have turned into another row of tables. One block in the center of our town has been closed off to traffic so the whole street can accommodate platforms and tables for several restaurants. It’s actually kind of nice — one of the few things about this pandemic that is.
I listened again this morning to Lambert Dolphin’s interview from yesterday, and my wife asked me what I liked the most about it. I like that this man has a vast knowledge of the universe, both from his study of outer space to the study of the earth from a geophysical standpoint, a vast store of experiences from major religions to mind-altering drugs, to life in 20 different dimensions including a brush with heaven, and some time spent on the dark side, and in the end, at 88 years old, he is consumed with talking about Jesus, the importance of the word of God, and intimacy with Christ and those in the body of Christ. Basically everything we talk about here at the Catch.
“Jesus is running the whole universe so we have to let Him run our lives too.”
– Lambert Dolphin from the instantly famous BlogTalkRadio interview
Our Catch today is going to be a little different. Your Catch is to listen to our 30-minute interview with Lambert Dolphin. Lambert Dolphin is an 88-year-old scientist who knows more about the universe than all of you and me put together and he loves God with a passion.
Turn to me and have mercy,
for I am alone and in deep distress.
My problems go from bad to worse.
Oh, save me from them all!
Feel my pain and see my trouble. Psalm 25:16-18 (NLT)
Does this not describe most of us right now?
We are indeed alone, isolated in our homes and care centers. This isolation is affecting us all often in ways we don’t realize. It’s subtle, but it’s real. We keep our distance, like there’s a six-foot invisible shield around everyone. Try to get closer and you bump into it.
John Fischer The Catch 