God's crazy love for us

In my Bible study group this week, we discussed Luke 20, which includes the parable of the tenant farmers, who wanted to keep everything for themselves.

As the story goes, the Owner of the Vineyard planted vines then let the land out to vine-keepers, while He went away for a while. When harvest time arrived, the Owner (aka God) sent servants (aka prophets) to collect some of the fruit, but the farmers beat the servants and sent them away empty-handed.

God then sent more servant-prophet-messengers, but they, too, were treated horribly and sent away. When the same thing happened a third time, God sent His Own Son.

By then, however, the renters-tenants-ones-who-didn’t-own-anything agreed they wanted the land for themselves, so they killed The Son Who Owns and Inherits All Things.

The bottom line of the story is typically told with the parable’s ending, which focuses on the wrath the Father-Owner-of-All must now unleash on the leasers. But studying the story this week and looking it up again in various translations on Bible Gateway, I can’t help but recall something I’ve heard elsewhere: The definition for crazy.

Crazy = doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different result.

Our all-wise, intelligent-to-the-max, infinitely brilliant, perfectly Holy Lord God cannot possibly be crazy, but, from all biblical accounts, our Holy Father God is crazy in love with us.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018
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Misery and good company

A Christian in one of my social media groups just admitted to being dissatisfied with the Lord! While appreciating the gift of eternal life he’s been given, he feels his present life has mainly brought misery and suffering with no end in sight.

If we're honest, most of God's people have had similar feelings at one hard time or another. Perhaps we then discovered how the Bible offers many, many, many examples of complaints and laments!

With that certainty in mind, I looked up “Joy,” “Misery,” and “Suffering" on my "go-to" site, Bible Gateway.

Misery may be a warning.

When the Prophet Jeremiah realized the inevitability of war, his whole body experienced the misery of that knowledge, so he could not keep quiet about it! He had to speak and warn the people:

“My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
Oh the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
I cannot keep silent,
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war,” Jeremiah 4:19, English Standard Version (ESV.)

Misery might also be warning us to let go of old habits and grudges at war with our new nature in Christ.

Misery loves the company of Prophets.

In Jeremiah 20:18, the Prophet asked:

“Why did I come forth from the womb,
to see sorrow and pain,
to end my days in shame?”
New American Bible (Revised Edition), NABRE

Misery might come to sensitive people who not only “see” the sorrow and pain around them but feel it too.

Similarly, Micah 7 begins with these sad words as translated in the Common English Bible (CEB):

“I’m doomed!
I’ve become like one who,
even after the summer fruit has been gathered,
after the ripened fruits have been collected,
has no cluster of grapes to eat,
no ripe fig that I might desire.”

This ability to perceive the plights of others and readily empathize can be a mark of a prophet, then and now. If so, we can follow the example of the Prophet in Micah 7:7 as he resolves to get beyond the misery by trusting and focusing on the Lord.

“But me! I will keep watch for the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
my God will hear me.”

Misery loves the company of prayer.

“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective,” James 5:13-16, New International Version, NIV.

Misery eventually ends with joy to follow.

As James reminds us:

“Brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the Lord’s name as an example of suffering and patience. See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about—the Lord is compassionate and merciful,” James 5:10-11, Christian Standard Bible (CSB.)

And, as my favorite Bible verse strongly declares:

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose,” Romans 8:28, New American Standard Bible (NASB.)

Again and again, the Bible lets us know to expect suffering but encourages us to keep faith in God and the promises He gives in Christ Jesus - The One Who Suffered and died for us but then was raised from the dead!

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed,” Romans 8:18-19, New International Version (NIV.)

Misery can draw us closer to God and one another as we recognize, believe in, and accept the Lord’s loving hand in our lives.

Let it be so! So be it. Amen.

Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2018

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The imperfect life of perfectionism

This morning I woke up thinking about the difference between perfectionism and Jesus’ appeal to us to be perfect. I suspected the thought meant God wanted me to write about these differences, but, to be sure, I prayed for a word of confirmation.

When I checked my email for the Daily Bible Verse from Bible Gateway, I did not see Matthew 5:48 as expected: “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,” King James Version (KJV.) But….

Today’s verse came from Romans 12:2:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect,” New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Or to put it another way:

“Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect,” New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE.)

As you can see, both translations say the same thing, just with slightly different choices of synonyms, and both emphasize a connection between discernment and the kind of perfection intended. In other words...

To be perfect means clearly knowing and acting on God’s will.

Contrast that understanding with definitions for perfectionism found in Word software:

Fastidiousness
Fussiness
Hairsplitting
Nitpicking

The “nicest” word in the list is “conscientiousness,” but then, that begs the question, “Of what or Whom are we constantly conscious or aware?” If ourselves, we’ll not only be apt to be nitpicking but self-absorbed and, oh, self-conscious!

Jesus’ call to perfection asks us to be God-conscious.

We’re to be so in-tune with God’s Word that scripture begins to transform our minds from the world’s ways to The Way of Christ. Then, we continue this transformation throughout our lives by choosing to renew our minds as we regularly read the Bible, pray, and worship the Lord in communion and church fellowship with others.

What joy! What grace we receive as we put aside our own need for personal acceptance and perfection and, instead, accept the wisdom, way, and will of our Most Perfect Lord.

by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2017

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God calling, Can you hear Me now?

While studying Luke 8 for my Bible discussion group this week, I kept being drawn to verse 18, which in the King James Version says, “Take heed therefore how ye hear.”

Immediately the verse brought to mind how severe critics of a church denomination, political person, or anyone else just cannot seem to hear what’s actually being said. No matter what’s said or done, the people set against them will not (cannot?) hear what’s meant or even have a clue where that person or group is coming from.

Jesus wants us to know where He’s coming from! He does not want to leave us clueless.

In verse 21, Jesus clearly states, “My mother and brothers are those who hear (listen to) the Word of God and act on it.” Obviously, this statement did not push Mary aside, but included her as one who heard and immediately responded to God’s Word. Otherwise, she never could have given birth to Jesus!

Like Mary and Jesus, some people are related by blood, but we relate to Jesus through our ears – by what we hear and how we respond.

To fine-tune my own hearing, I visited the Bible Gateway website and looked up Luke 8:18 in a variety of translations:

English Standard Version says, “Take care then how you hear,” and the New American Bible (Revised Edition) adds only commas, “Take care, then, how you hear.”

New Living Translation says, “So pay attention to how you hear.”

New Revised Standard Version says, “Then pay attention to how you listen.”

New International Version says, “Therefore consider carefully how you listen.”

That’s the first part of hearing God: really listening, paying attention, and carefully considering what we hear. But there’s more to the verse than that.

The complete verse in the new Amplified Bible says:

“So be careful how you listen; for whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a longing for truth], even what he thinks he has will be taken away.”

May God help each of us to have a teachable heart, long for the truth, and clearly hear God’s Word. Perhaps then, we – as a Christian person, church, and country – can better discern God’s voice and know where we’re to go from here.

Mary Sayler, ©2017, poet-author of over 30 books in all genres, including the new nonfiction book, What the Bible Says About Love

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Relearning how to think

The Bible encourages us to have the mind of Christ, but how does that happen? How do we trade dark thoughts for light or exchange ill thoughts for good?

Effective change comes about through the grace of God, prayer, and reliance on the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless our own choices and actions have a part in this too. For example, Philippians 4:8 tells us what we can do to reshape and reform our thinking as this prayer-a-phrase will hopefully show:

From now on,
think about
what’s actually true –

which may require research,
study, and an open mind –
free of prejudice to find out.

From now on, notice
whatever is honorable –

and honestly worthy
of time and attention.

From now on, think about
whatever is just –

right, fair, equal, unbiased.

From now on, be attentive
to whatever is pure –

as shown by pure motives,
selflessness, and empathy
toward others.

From now on, contemplate
whatever is lovely –

beautiful sounds in psalms,
poetry, prayer, music –
beautiful art and religious icons
with which to meditate –
beautiful variety in God's creation.

From now on, put your thoughts on
whatever is commendable –

of good repute, of good report –
of Good News.

Finally, if you see any
excellence anywhere,
anything worthy of praise,
think about those things –

dwell on the excellent,
inhabit the virtuous,
live in God’s praise.

Philippians 4:8 prayer-a-phrased by Mary Harwell Sayler, © 2017, using translations found on Bible Gateway

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The Voice of God

Most of us have heard, or at least heard of, that “still, small voice” of God, which the prophet Elijah perceived in 1 Kings 19:12 and which the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) calls “a light silent sound.”

Since childhood I’ve listened for that quiet word or inner “knowing,” but sometimes I suspect I’ve needed a spiritual hearing aid! Even if I’m listening – really listening – will I always hear?

That’s been a lifelong concern for me, but then, a couple of days ago my Bible study group began discussing Revelation, and from the very first chapter, we “heard” God in verse 15 where “His voice was like the sound of many waters,” similar to a rush of ocean waves. Since we live in Florida and have experienced the Atlantic drowning out all other sounds, including our own voices, we began to understand:

• God can be heard.

• God can be heard over a deafening roar.

• God’s voice rises above all others.

If you have ever wondered whether you can “hear God,” Revelation 1:15 will most likely encourage you too. Nevertheless, I confess: I soon forgot!

Then this morning, my devotional readings led me to Psalm 29: 3, where “The voice of the glorious LORD God thunders over the mighty waters,” and I started to get suspicious that maybe God is trying to tell me something vital I need to hear, believe, and remember when uncertainty arises for God’s voice can and will rise higher!

As verse 4 of Psalm 29 goes on to say:

The voice of the LORD
is powerful!

The voice of the LORD
has majesty and splendor.

Blending the voices of many translations found on Bible Gateway, I prayer-a-phrased the above verses in keeping with the adjectives used to describe God’s voice, but NABRE shows the voice as nouns:

The voice of the Lord is power;
the voice of the Lord is splendor.

That power acts, speaking the earth and the universe into being, when in the beginning, God said “Let there be…” and there was.

That power, that voice breaks cedars, divides flames of fire, and shakes the wilderness, yet gently soothes a deer giving birth in a storm-tossed forest!

Let everyone say, “Glory!” and let’s thank God for the peace of knowing the LORD speaks so we who listen can hear.


© 2014 Mary Harwell Sayler is poet-author of numerous books.

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