Don't Score for the Opposing Team

Hi Friends,

In case you missed it, here's the link for the article on me and Wonder Wood Ranch that came out this week. God to https://plannedgiving.com and click on the "cover story" link.

And here are some thoughts from my study of Nehemiah 5 and devoting ourselves to the work of God, especially during these tumultuous times . . .

I have one clear memory from my eighth grade basketball season. We were playing in a tournament in Lake Tahoe, an hour and a half from my hometown. The game was well underway, the score nearly even, with an important win hanging in the balance. The other team controlled a jump-ball when my teammate made a brilliant steal at half court and took off dribbling toward the basket. We all shouted and screamed. She executed a perfect layup and scored two points … for the opposing team. Somehow, that one basket seemed worse than all the others scored by our rivals. 

 

In Nehemiah, the Israelites were engaged in more than a simple basketball game; they were in a fight for their lives, for the restoration of the very identity of their people and homeland. They were in a battle for the city of God.

 

In previous chapters, Nehemiah outlined the opposition coming from outsiders such as Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod. In chapter 5, he turns the lens inward to expose the opposition coming from within their own ranks. The nobles and officials were scoring for the opposing team! 

 

The very people who were supposed to be the team’s strongest players were instead undermining their teammates by charging interest on loans, a practice clearly forbidden by God in the Pentateuch (see Exodus 22, Leviticus 25, and Deuteronomy 23). 

 

Interest, or usury, could be charged to foreigners, but not to “a fellow Israelite.” Jews were always supposed to be one people, working together to honor God and be holy, to be set apart for God’s purposes. They were to be His team. God intended, and still intends, for his people to build each other up, to support each other, to make the team stronger as a whole as they work for the win, together. They were not to make their own position stronger by making their fellow Jews weaker. 

 

The Israelites of Nehemiah’s day couldn’t win that way. And we can’t either.  We too have a bigger goal, a bigger vision, than simply making ourselves richer, than securing our personal position in life.  Nehemiah was leading the team effort to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Today, Jesus leads his church in the team effort of building the kingdom of God.  Nehemiah could not afford points scored for the opposing team. And neither can we.  We cannot use the plight of others, their struggles, their weaknesses, to our own advantage. 

 

We must be like Nehemiah, we must instead devote ourselves to the work (see v. 16), not taking advantage of even that which is due us.  God placed Nehemiah in leadership over the rebuilding of the wall because Nehemiah knew what it meant to strengthen the team instead of just himself. Perhaps God has placed me, and you, in our positions so that we too may build up our team and accomplish greater goals for the Kingdom of God. In everything we do, we need to make sure we are running toward the right basket.

TCT Today Link and Banjo Tribute

Hi Friends,

A couple things today ...

If you missed my TV interview on TCT Today, you can find the archived program here:

https://watch.tct.tv/tct-today/videos/ttod7891

I hope you'll watch it and be encouraged to love Jesus more deeply, see Him more clearly, and find a more vibrant joy in the One who loves you passionately!

I also wanted to share a little story of how our cat, Banjo, (who passed away at 20 years old last week) came to us and helped us to be faithful in prayer . . . 

 

Tapping on the Window to Heaven 

 

Rat tat tat.  A muffled tapping reverberated from the windowpane beside my office desk.  I stood, and the sound stopped.  Slowly, I reached for the shade.  Before I could reach it - Thump, thump, thump. 

“Who’s there?”  My whispered hiss dissolved in the night.

            Silence answered, followed again by the insistent rapping. 

            I took a deep breath, lifted the corner of the shade, and peeked outside.  Round, green eyes peered back at me.  I dropped the shade.  

“Bryan, you aren’t going to believe this.”  

Bryan sauntered in from the other room.  

This time, I pulled up the shade all the way to reveal a gray, furry face lit by the glow of my office lamp.  “Meow.”  The cat blinked, then batted his paw against the glass again.  

Bryan stepped closer.  “Whose cat is that?”

I shrugged my shoulders.  “I’ve never seen him before.”

We contemplated the cat.  

The cat contemplated us.

I glanced at Bryan. “I think he’s hungry.”  

He crossed his arms.  “You know we can’t --”

“I know.”  I sighed.  We had plenty of stray cats crossing our property, so we knew that unless we wanted a cat farm, we’d better not put out any food.  But then, none of those cats had ever come knocking at the window. 

“Meow.”  The cat rubbed his cheek against the window then squished his nose against the pane. 

I walked toward the door and opened it.  

A moment later, Bryan appeared behind me.  “Here.”  He held up an opened can of tuna.  

I grinned, took the can, and set it down on the porch.  

The next morning, we opened the door to find the cat curled in a ball on the doormat.  

Bryan shook his head.  “Well, it looks like we have a pet cat.”  

“You don’t like cats.”

“I know.”

We stood for a moment in silence.

“Let’s name him Banjo.”

I smiled.  “Okay.”

Bryan opened the door, and the cat trotted in like he’d been doing it for years.

In Matthew 7:7 (NIV), Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you.”  I’ve always been caught up in the idea that sometimes I’ve asked God and I’ve not received what I’ve asked for.  But Banjo has given me new insight into the verse.  

Unlike the other cats on our property, Banjo took a risk because he was hungry, for food and for love.  He decided to try, to persist, to not give up.  He knocked on the window until someone came, until I went out and met his need.  

To us, Banjo was just a stray cat.  To God, I’m a beloved child.  So, if I respond to Banjo’s bold persistence, how much more will God respond to me, whom he loves.  

And just like Banjo, I may not get exactly want I’m wanting – after all, if Banjo had his way, he’d curl up on our bed and make it his own.  But, while we sometimes let him in, we’ve decided he’s better as an outdoor cat.  He still bats at the window whenever he wants food, or attention.  And we still feed him, play with him, and call him our own.  We’ve gotten him a collar with his name, a little house to sleep in outside, a food bowl and a water dish.  He’s our cat now, and we make sure that even though he may not get everything he wants, he has everything he needs.  

These days, when I feel like giving up in prayer, when I’m tempted to think that God doesn’t care, I remember Banjo’s furry face pressed against the windowpane. And I remind myself that God will feed me, will give me what I need in him, and more importantly, welcomes me into his loving family.  So, when I’m cold, hungry, and it’s dark outside, I’m going to keep knocking on the window to heaven and meowing my heart to God.