Thursday Night Meditation: The Best of All

The Best of All

mike

Better is a song sung to the one whom you love.
Better is a dance danced for the one whom you love.
Better is the time spent with one who loves you.
Better is the place found in the embrace of the one who loves you.

Still, better is
when the one who loves you is the one whom you love.

But the best of all
is when the one, that very One, is our Lord and Saviour
Jesus.

Trust

TRUST
--Author Unknown

Years ago, I was enthralled as I listened to a pastor who for several years had faithfully served the church. His executive responsibilities had taken him all over this country. As he concluded his message, he told of one of the most frightening yet thought-provoking experiences of his life.

He had been on a long flight. The first warning of the approaching problem came when the sign on the airplane flashed on: "Fasten your seat belts."

Then, after a while, a calm voice said, "We shall not be serving the beverages at this time as we are expecting a little turbulence. Please be sure your seat belt is fastened."

As he looked around the aircraft, it became obvious that many of the passengers were becoming apprehensive. Later, the voice of the announcer said, "We are so sorry that we are unable to serve the meal at this time. The turbulence is still ahead of us."

And then the storm broke. The ominous cracks of thunder could be heard even above the roar of the engines. Lightning lit up the darkening skies, and within moments that great plane was like a cork tossed around on a celestial ocean. One moment the airplane was lifted on terrific currents of air; the next, it dropped as if it were about to crash.

The pastor confessed that he shared the discomfort and fear of those around him. He said, "As I looked around the plane, I could see that nearly all the passengers were upset and alarmed. Some were praying. The future seemed ominous and many were wondering if they would make it through the storm.

"And then, I suddenly saw a girl to whom the storm meant nothing. She had tucked her feet beneath her as she sat on her seat and was reading a book. Everything within her small world was calm and orderly. Sometimes she closed her eyes, then she would read again; then she would straighten her legs, but worry and fear were not in her world. When the plane was being buffeted by the terrible storm, when it lurched this way and that, as it rose and fell with frightening severity, when all the adults were scared half to death, that marvelous child was completely composed and unafraid."

The minister could hardly believe his eyes. It was not surprising therefore, that when the plane finally reached its destination and all the passengers were hurrying to disembark, he lingered to speak to the girl whom he had watched for such a long time.

Having commented about the storm and behavior of the plane, he asked why she had not been afraid. The sweet child replied, "Sir, my Dad is the pilot, and he is taking me home."

Trust the Lord to be the pilot of your life just as this child trusted her father and know that because you have put your faith and confidence in Him, your future is safe, protected and forever secured.

He Has Risen

He Has Risen

mike

Look,
a radiant Light is shining forth
from behind the dark Cloud.

See,
the Cloud is breaking,
its darkness fading.

Watch,
The Light is expanding,
its radiance intensifying.

Behold,
The Light of Resurrection
once for all conquers
The Cloud of Death!

Rejoice!
He has risen!

Divine Appointment

Rambling Thoughts on Divine Appointments

It amazes me how the Lord would bring different people, different things, different circumstances together through the divine work of his hands. I'd like to think it as two or more objects of the same or similar type that exist in different time frames and different dimensions of space, by means of not natural laws but supernatural interventions, clash into each other. The clash, of course, occurs at the same time and same place for both objects, but what leads to the resultant interaction cannot be understood by applying physical laws because the event in which objects in different time frames and different dimensions of space simply run into each other and they happen to be of the same or similar type is too rare to be considered as a natural phenomenon. In other words, if P(x) stands for the probability of this event x occurring, then P(x) = 1/infinity. I had the following scenario in mind. A US Air Force pilot, after being ejected from his aircraft due to the unfortunate event of an engine malfunction during a long-range flight training session, landed safely with his parachute, but only in another state, in a neighborhood, on the front lawn a house, from which a man presently came out to pick up his morning newspaper. If that's all there was to the story, then it would be silly of me to mention it. You might have imagined what would possibly follow: the man would be much surprised or even shocked to see an air force pilot land on his lawn, and the pilot would be kind of embarrassed but in a rather calm manner explained the accident to the man. But what if I told you that was not the case. The moment the man saw the pilot, surprised or shocked as he might be, joy came upon his face as he threw off his newspaper and leaped toward the pilot, who, as soon as he saw the man, reacted in the same way and ran toward him. They greeted each other in a warm hug. Now that would be very odd, in fact, quite unbelievable, if I hadn't add something like this to the story: immediately after they saw each other, both men realized that the other person was far from being a stranger but the very person each one had been wanting to see --- an old acquaintance. A moment ago the two men were in two different time and two different places, and all the sudden they were seeing each other like magic. I think at least one of the men would say something like: how could such an event ever happen to anyone? A discussion between the two would likely follow. If both the men later agreed to explain the incident away by merely a very rare occurrence, which many of us would do the same, I'd disagree. If a very rare occurrence has the probability of nearly 0, which I think applied to the case above, then practically speaking, there was no way that the event could have take place even in the least natural sense. Stated in another way, it was impossible to initiate such an event by means of even the most comprehensive, advanced, and applicable natural laws. The fact that the event did occur showed that it must not have been guided by natural laws but, rather, un-natural ones. In fact, the event itself was so un-natural that it passed beyond the threshold of the natural or physical realm and entered the supernatural or spiritual realm, in which a new set of realities and laws ought to be applied to correctly explain how it all happened.
God, the Author of all the spiritual realities and laws, is also the Initiator of such events as divine appointments. Divine appointments, like miracles, prove God's existence, and the fact that they do occur nowadays testifies that God is at work right now, in our midst.
Speaking from my personal experience, I encountered an amazing divine appointment this past Saturday. Praise the Lord! Doesn't it just strengthens your faith and makes you fall in love with Him all over again?!

Aslan's Country

Where Is Aslan's Country?

-an excerpt from Narnia and Philosophy exclusive chapter: Time in the Chronicles of Narnia, by Michael Peterson and Adam Peterson
-photo credited to Melaney, a dear sister in the Lord

This is Aslan's country. But how is it related to Narnia and the children's England? The children don't have a geography-or a chronology-to grasp it. Following Aslan westward into the high mountains, Peter, Lucy, and the others discuss whether it's wrong to mourn for Narnia (Last Battle (LB), Ch. 14, p. 753). When they begin to recognize features of Narnia along the way, they are puzzled over how they previously could have witnessed its destruction. In temporal life, once things are destroyed, they do not return. Peter wonders aloud why Aslan told them they would never return to Narnia, because they obviously had returned. How should they think about this new place, Aslan's country?

Digory explains that Aslan meant they could not return to the Narnia of their finite, temporalized understanding: "[T]hat was not the real Narnia. That had a beginning and an end." He continues, saying that the Narnia and England they knew were just faint copies or shadows of the real Narnia and the real England (LB, Ch. 15, p. 759). Both time and what the children loved in time are contrasted to fuller, richer existence in Aslan's country. "All of the old Narnia that mattered, all the dear creatures," have not perished but are more real than ever (LB, Ch. 15, p. 759). Even the flowers have "more color," and every rock and blade of grass looks as if it "meant more" (LB, Ch. 15, pp. 759-61). Using similar images, The Great Divorce pictures both persons and things as more solid in Heaven.

Jewel the Unicorn cries out, "I have come home at last! This is my real country. I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this" (LB, Ch. 15, p. 760). Jewel here articulates the theological principle of the inherent value of temporal creaturely life, damaged but not destroyed by sin. So, it is entirely appropriate, as we spend the time of our lives, to love the truly good things and wish they would not end. Indeed, we find ourselves wishing with Jill that Narnia "might go on for ever" and not be subject to the inevitable destruction of time (LB, Ch. 14, p. 753). As it dawns on Jewel that he is in exactly that place which he had always desired, he squeals to everyone with the sheer delight of total self-abandonment: "Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, further in!"

Aslan's timeless country is thus the context in which persons find their ultimate fulfillment. "Great joy" characterizes those who love Aslan and pass through the Door. After the Door is shut, the children feel deep satisfaction and their "hearts leapt" as a "wild hope" arises within them that they might stay with Aslan forever (LB, Ch. 16, pp. 766-67). Their joy is increased when they find that their friends Roonwit the Centaur, Farsight the Eagle, and many others who had died are among "the happy creatures" filling Aslan's timeless kingdom. When we are related to God, Lewis says, we become "more truly ourselves."

LOVE

LOVE

Have you ever missed celebrating your birthday for some reason and didn't care for it much, but sometime later somehow somebody remembered it and, together with a group of friends, threw a special birthday party at you, at the most unexpected time? Well, it happened to me, for the first time, last Sunday night. Couldn't be more surprising a birthday party, could it? To me, the fact that the birthday was not forgotten was a surprise. Given a birthday party at a highly unexpected time was, of course, a double surprise. What was my response? You cannot be more certain that I was fully surprised, such surprise that was filled with joy, such joy that was expressed in laughter, and such laughter that was accompanied with tears. I dare say it was one of the most blessed moments, among many others, that I had experienced in my life. The cake was delightful with cheerful candle flames, which shone onto the cheerful faces of those precious ones - a beautiful picture that I would not forget. That night, I felt so special and blessed.
Was it the birthday cake that made me feel special and blessed? Or the birthday party itself? Or even more so, my friends who made the party happen? I thought to myself. Well, these certainly were valid reasons, but I felt there ought to be something more, a deeper reason. What came to my mind was the word love. Yes, they love me. I totally didn't expect their organizing a birthday party for me, but I never doubted and therefore was not in the least surprised of their love for me. That night, I thought the cake was much sweeter than how others said it was, for I was really enjoying the sweetness of love from my dear friends.
As I dwell upon this love, I thought, how much more is the love of our Heavenly Father! I was reminded of, through a surprising birthday party, my friends' sweet love. How much more is God willing to do to remind us of His perfect, extravagant love, through some unexpected events in our life?
Do you expect one to lay one's life down for the sake of saving another's? I do not, although I believe it does happen, rarely, in this world. Now, do you expect anyone to die for the sake of saving all of our lives, the lives of the whole human race? I do not, and I do not believe anyone, any earthly creature, is able, or willing to do it. But God, alone, can, and He has done it as he willed. The Crucifiction of Jesus was, even to his followers, an unexpected event, the result of which - the bearing and cleansing of the human sin - is still more unexpected. However, His perfect love for us was, is, and is forever revealed through this very act. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
A convict was sentenced to death. Should he expect someone to come and take his place of condemnation? He shouldn't, and therefore you can imagine how surprised He would be when he was told that Someone, with His very life, had paid for his death. I cannot think of a reason why he would not want to know who this Someone was and why He had done such a thing to save the life of a sinner-deserving-death. Neither do I doubt that he shall find this Someone whom he was looking for, for He was raised from the dead and was alive since then. You can imagine the very day that he was set free from the Prison, how tears of joyfulness flowed out of his eyes, how songs of thanksgiving burst out of his mouth, and how he, by faith, commited all the rest of his life to embrace that Someone!

You see, I was once that convict, and that Someone who saved my soul was, is, and will always be - Jesus .
God's love - a surprise then, to me, is now a conviction.