Kind to the Ungrateful and Wicked

 Here's a poem for National Poetry Month! It is largely inspired by the account of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount that is given in Luke 6. I am particularly moved by The Lord's radical command to not only love those who love us but to go beyond that and love our enemies and pray for them! Just as God our Father is kind and merciful to the ungrateful and wicked, so we must be too. And it's even easier to do that when we realize that so often we ourselves are the ungrateful and wicked. Yet God's rich mercy and grace still reaches to us despite this and brings us back to restoration when we return to Him in repentance. We who are forgiven so much must be willing to forgive others as well. Let us follow our Lord's example and command to show love to all, especially those we think deserve it least.


Kind To The Ungrateful and Wicked
(poem copyright by Nathan Ludwick 7/12/2022)
(Genesis 1:14-19, Genesis 1:26-31, Psalms 8, Psalms 139, Psalms 118:24, Matthew 5:38-48, Luke 6:27-38, James 1:17, Colossians 1:13-17, Job 38-42, Psalms 90, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Romans 5:8, John 15:12-17, John 13:1-20, Matthew 5:13-16, James 1:19-20, Romans 2:1-4, Ephesians 4:29-32, Ephesians 5:1-2, Revelation 19:11-16, Luke 7:40-50, Psalms 103, Psalms 150, Matthew 7:12, Romans 13:8-14, Romans 12, 1 Peter 2:9-12, Malachi 4:2, Galatians 6:2, 1 Peter 4:8, 1 John 4:7-21, 1 John 3:16-22, 2 Thessalonians 3:13, Jeremiah 31:3)

Welcome to My morning- welcome to My day
The blue sky and sunshine a backdrop to birds' refrain
The morning dew on each petal like a mint on your hotel pillow
Everything about today's been prepared for you in advance
Blink your eyes open in bed, roll down the window and stick out your head
Take in a big breath of fresh air- the same breathed since ages past
Go forth to face the day made for you and written before time
Filled with its share of toil mingling with peace and rest
Carefully arranged by The One Whose heart is kind beyond all measure
How many walk oblivious to the obvious blessings that surround them
Every breath that fills their lungs a fresh gesture of grace
Every heartbeat is one more that they weren't obligated to receive
And people go on their merry ways with nary an upward gaze
Choices are made in twenty four hour spans with after effects that still send shock waves for days or maybe years
Some even echo in eternity, bathed in blackness or light
The Eternal Time Keeper watches it all play out on Earth
As He holds everything together and intervenes with Divine authority and supreme knowledge both here and across the universe
The Giver of all good gifts makes every day like Christmas
The Gift given that day can still be unwrapped afresh each new day
Though sadly some stubbornly refuse but this never sways His mood
His eyes still look eternally with love on them through tears
He sends the sun each dawn to shine on the wicked and righteous alike
He sends the rain in its season on both the good and bad
Yet the ugly is in all of humanity and only The Beautiful One can transform it
The Beauty became the beast after Snow White bit the poison apple
The silver bullet crisscrossed His heart to render Him dead to pay for all misdeeds
Grace personified walked out of the grave with a real life fairy tale ending
All those who give themselves over to endless Love's entreaty
Can live each day with joy looking forward to living happily ever after in Love's kingdom
And in each staggering step of this race that inches ever closer to eternity's edge
Mercy's transformed miscreants must administer mercy to all just like The Father of Mercy
For even though the ungrateful and wicked spurn His open arms with sneers
He exudes kindness on them relentlessly throughout life and beyond
Even in eternity, His kindness won't force folks to be with Him who reject Him
And in the time allotted before the final breaths are lent to frames of dust and rib
Every moment is the time for lovingkindness to lavishly wash each other's feet
No matter the response, the seeds must still get water and sunshine that they might yet grow
Only God decides on the growth in accordance with the willingness of human beans
And as His kindness brought us to repentance who grow in His vine
May we continually extend olive branches of love that overwhelm all like a flood
Those who are forgiven much also love both God and man much
Man's anger accomplisheth not God's righteousness- and man can't control outcomes
Faithful obedience calls for trust in The Faithful and True one who is always good
Let Mercy lead us to never respond to hostility in kind- but in tireless kindness
That the world might know and give thanks to the embodiment of Good
Who still welcomes us each morning to the new day He has made that we 
Should rejoice and be glad in it and shine like the Sun of righteousness
That the world might see our good deeds, love and kindness and glorify the
Author of all Good and Love and Joy Whose heart is wonderfully kind.

Daily Struggle

       Do you ever have that experience of going from a spiritual high to almost immediately after a spiritual low? I mean, just after reading The Bible and spending some time in prayer and really being wowed and excited by the passage I read, I find myself slipping into totally the opposite direction with flipping through Youtube video clips from shows that can generally be clean but also slip into foul territory at times unfortunately.... 
        That's one of the worst problems with having literally millions of video choices at hand, between the Internet in general and all the many channels on cable, etc. There is always a responsibility to be careful of what we take in and one I continually have to keep guarding myself on. I do generally try to be cognizant of this and steer clear of things I know are not wholesome at all, but I also know there are times I've allowed myself to watch things that I've immediately regretted and never desired to see anything afterward. And I have gone to Jesus in repentance and asked His forgiveness and I know He's faithful to do it- but I hate to keep running into this scenario so many times in life....
         The spiritual answer behind this is defined for us in The Bible, of course. It's just like Paul talked about in Romans 7:15-25- I know the good I want to do, but it's the bad I don't want to do that I wind up doing. I still need The Holy Spirit to keep working in me and guiding me to the right thing. As Ephesians 6:12 makes clear, the struggle is real. ("For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.")- That's exactly why we need the armor of God strapped on each day for spiritual warfare. (Ephesians 6:13-18 go on to tell us more about this- the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes prepared with the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith to extinguish those fiery darts of the enemy, the helmet of salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit [i.e. the Word of God] and we need to be praying at all times in the Spirit.
       What else can we do in the fight? Certainly pray without ceasing and ask for God's help in standing firm- and resist the devil, as James 4:7 and 1 Peter 5:8-9 teach. And when we do fall, remember God's promise in 1 John 1:9 to be faithful and just and forgive us and cleanse us of all our sins when we confess them to Him. "I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16)

Zombies, Vampires and Werewolves- oh my!

      The current obsessions lately in pop culture seem to be zombies, vampires and werewolves. Well, if you want brains, "let him who lacks wisdom ask of God who gives liberally." (James 1:5) "Who has known the mind of God?" (Romans 11:34) Followers of Jesus- because "we have the mind of Christ." (1 Corinthians 2:16)
      If you want blood, forget the blood of bulls and lambs and goats because God has no pleasure in them. (See Isaiah 1:11) Their blood can't take sins away anyway. (Hebrews 10:4) But blood has to be spilled for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). And God has spilled His blood for us (Acts 20:28) and it washes us white as snow. (Isaiah 1:18)
     But we've got to drink Jesus' blood to have that forgiveness- and eat His flesh. (See John 6:25-59, particularly verses 53-58) If you just want to get a bite without fear of silver bullets, chew on this- "Taste and see that The Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him." (Psalms 34:8)              And before mummies become the next big thing or any other Scooby-Doo villians, here's something to wrap things up. "If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.' " (1 Corinthians 15:31-33) But, as we go on to read in the rest of that chapter, the dead are raised. And Jesus rose from the grave- and because He lives, we can live also when we put our faith in Him.
      We don't need to fear any monsters or ghosts of the dark heavenly realms- "Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world." (1 John 4:4) I ain't afraid of no ghosts- but I do fear and respect The Holy Ghost. And even though "I am in the midst of lions; I am forced to dwell among ravenous beasts- men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords" (Psalms 57:4) - I know my Good Shepherd walks wiith me through the valley of the shadow of death (John 10:11-14 and Psalms 23). And He has said, "I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country." (Leviticus 26:6) And surely His goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of The Lord forever. :-)

Both Hands

I'm guessing motorcycle riders don't have too many texting and driving accidents...

I was behind a motorcycle the other day and it just struck me that they can't really hold a phone in one hand and hold the handlebars. They need to be fully committed to the one thing.

In the same way, we cannot serve both God and Mammon. No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. Remember Lot's wife!

(Matthew 6:24, Luke 9:62, Luke 17:32)

The other question I wonder about is- "What do motorcycle drivers do when it's raining and that's their only transportation? " Of course, the answer is simply that they get wet.
That's part of the commitment. What happens when things get rough in following Christ, with persecutions and sufferings and fatigue? We hold on and endure. (Matthew 10:22)
Thankfully, we don't have to do this in our own strength- Jesus is holding us as we rest in Him. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24) And He helps us hold on to the end of the ride. And just as Isaiah 66 talks about, we hold to the hope of the new Heaven and Earth God will make (see verses 22-23) and, because we no longer kick the pricks (Acts 9:5 KJV) but instead get oil for our wicks (Matthew 25), we look forward to one day forever get our kicks in book 66. (Revelation 21-22)

By Faith Trust and Obey

         The point of doing God's will is not understanding. There are some things we will never understand until Heaven- and some we just may never understand period. And it doesn't matter. The point of doing God's will is obedience. Read through Hebrews 11, the chapter often called the "Hall of Faith", and you will see numerous people in The Bible who didn't totally understand (or at all) what God was telling them to do- but they were faithful to obey.
        By faith, Noah built an ark to save his family and two of every kind of animal from the flood. By faith, Abraham led his family out to a place that God would tell him about. By faith, Jeremiah faithfully preached the destruction of Jerusalem throughout his years of ministry, knowing the people would never listen to him. (God specifically told him this.) By faith, Isaiah went around naked for 3 years as an object lesson. (check Isaiah 20). By faith, Hosea married a prostitute- and took her back after she cheated on him. By faith, Jesus' disciples and the apostles boldly preached the Gospel of Christ to people- and many of them were martyred for it.
       There are numerous other examples that could be listed...None of these received the promise, since God had provided something better for us. They went through suffering just like we do as followers of Jesus. But they were looking forward to the coming glory of eternal life in Heaven with The Lord- and not just to this fleeting life. Jesus did the will of His Father and He certainly endured suffering just like we do. "Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8) (see also Philippians 2).
       "But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, 'Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.' But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." (Hebrews 10:32-39)

A Fool for Christ

            Most everyone who has made positive advancements in the world were called fools at some point- Galileo, Edison, Einstein, etc. And this makes sense- people often make fun of and mock what they don't understand. And of course, as a follower of Jesus Christ, I can identify with that. I am a fool, of course. I'm foolish enough to believe in a number of scientific and medical impossibilities simply because I believe in the God big enough to both set down the rules that govern our universe and our lives and exist outside of them Himself and thus perform miracles that we can only stand in awe of when we read about them in The Bible. I'm foolish enough to believe that God loved the world so much that He became one of us, being born at Christmas and growing up to die on the cross and rise again from the dead at Easter.
          And people thought Jesus was a fool too. But Jesus' willingness to identify with us and pay for our sins gave us access back to God. We can have salvation if we trust in Him with faith and trust and love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. But it takes a touch of folly to do that.
As Brennan Manning wrote, "The disciple of Jesus will be made to look and feel like a fool. Yet, fools for Christ formed the early church. And as that tiny band of believers grew, the world witnessed the power in such foolishness."
"I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me!" (2 Corinthians 11:1) (In fact, keep reading verses 16-33 while you're at it, if you want to see Paul's list of accomplishments that he casts aside as foolish because the only thing he can boast in is Jesus Christ.) But God uses the weak and foolish things of the world to confound and put to shame the strong and wise of the world. (See 1 Corinthians 1)
         Heed the cry of wisdom in the Proverbs. (See chapters 1-9 particularly.) Wisdom comes disguised as foolishness. If anyone thinks himself wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. (1 Corinthians 3:18-23)
As Rich Mullins sang, "Let Mercy lead- let Love be the strength in your legs- and in every footprint that you leave there'll be a drop of Grace. If we can reach beyond the wisdom of this age into the foolishness of God- well, that foolishness will save those who believe. Although their foolish hearts may break, they will find peace. And I'll meet you in that place where Mercy leads." ("Let Mercy Lead" by Rich Mullins)
         Of course, I know the natural man doesn't understand the spiritually discerned things, as 1 Corinthians 2:14 attests- for they are folly to him. How ironic that what seems like folly to the world at large is the very thing we must embrace in order to be saved- we must be willing to embrace folly in order to gain true wisdom. "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18) Christ is indeed a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Greeks- but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks [i.e. Gentiles], Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. (see 1 Corinthians 1:21-25. Actually just read the whole chapter.)
          In the end, God's foolishness is still wiser than man's wisdom. What silly creatures we are! How stupid to think that we the created being should somehow know more and know better than the One who created us! We've just got a breath in our nostrils- that God gave to us- quit putting your trust in fallible human beings. (Isaiah 2:22) Put your trust in God, the Giver of all wisdom. (James 1:5) Look how foolish He was willing to be Himself- He was born as a human baby at Christmas, lived under the rule of Mary and Joseph and grew up for 33 years on Earth- experiencing all the joys, pains, sorrows, trials and temptations that come with living on a planet of sinful human beings. And Him the only righteous One in the whole bunch- He who was both God and man at once. And He submitted Himself to a corruption of justice and gave Himself over to the power of Pilate- and thus, the innocent died in the traitor's stead. And He rose victorious and regained His rightful position as fully God, reigning on high forever!
         "When we in our foolishness thought we were wise- He played the fool and He opened our eyes. When we in our weakness believed we were strong, He became helpless to show we were wrong. So we follow God's own fool- for only the foolish can tell. Believe the unbelievable and come be a fool as well." ("God's Own Fool" by Michael Card)
With the foolish abandon of a man who bets all he has to his name on what he thinks is a sure thing, may we also likewise put all our trust and all we have on the One who we know is a sure thing.
           "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
That's what a fool believes, but it do be The Truth, brothers and sisters.

God Plans (Trust and Obey) (song)

Note: Here's another old favourite from the archives. Just like one of my favourite hymns says, "Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey."

The Bible says that we are worth much more than the birds that are sold for a penny- we’re worth much more than a flock of seagulls even! So if God thinks of us and takes care of us (Luke 11)- why would we not just simply trust Him and obey Him? Don’t run away- trust and obey!

God Plans (Trust and Obey)
………………………………………………
(parody of “I Ran (So Far Away)” by A Flock of Seagulls) (copyright by Nathan Ludwick 6/9/2013)
(Genesis 1-3, Numbers 13-14, Jonah 1-4, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalms 33, Proverbs 19:21, Proverbs 16:33, Proverbs 16:25, Proverbs 16:1-3, Proverbs 16:9, Jeremiah 29:11, John 14:1, John 14:23)

I walk alone- Genesis dude
I never thought I’d meet a girl like you
Eve’s the girl I choose
We got ensnared by serpent’s lies
Opened our eyes and realized we’re nude
Heard God striding through

And we scrammed- we panicked and hid away
God just asked- He asked where we were- Hey!
We couldn’t get away

A cloud appears above our heads
And fire by night- both guiding our whole crew
Guides us to subdue
The Lord’s behooving- in Numbers read
The Lord says what is real is Canaan’s through
The Lord will conquer, dudes!

But we ran! We ran from God’s plan- Hey!
Promised Land- we’re banned ‘cause we didn’t obey!
40 year desert stay!

Received command to preach (to) this place
“You go to Nineveh now”- I refused
A big fish stopped my coup
Spat out on land to try again
Been floating in fish three days (and) nights- I’m through
God’s will will come through

When I ran, I ran so far away
I should have just done what’s right- obey!

When God plans, His plans come true always
So don’t run- just go trust and obey!
(Trust and obey!)

………………………………………….

Do Not Harden Your Heart (song)

After just posting a piece talking about music that honors God, I thought it would be appropriate to follow up with music that I surely hope honors God. That is always my intention in all my writings and everything in life, of course- it's at the heart of all I strive to do. And as God instructs us in the Old and New Testaments, we must not let our hearts harden, but rather keep them softened and pliable towards The Lord. When we start compromising and allowing sin into our lives, we make it easier and easier for our hearts to harden to what we know is right and wrong. As God said a number of times in The Bible, we must not let ourselves turn either to the right or the left- not even a quarter of the way to either direction- but instead stay steady on the straight and narrow path God has called us to walk. And this walk is not a walk in the park and not a flash in the pan. Sometimes it feels like it moves like The Flash though- but it's gonna pan out in the end because it's Christ who is working in and through us. (Galatians 2:20) Let's keep our eyes fixed on Him and our hearts softened to His voice as He leads us on.

"Do Not Harden Your Heart"
(parody of "Harden My Heart" by Quarterflash; copyright by Nathan Ludwick 10/31/2014)
(Exodus 17:1-7, Numbers 11, Numbers 14, Numbers 16, Numbers 20, Deuteronomy 9, Deuteronomy 15:7, Psalms 95, Hebrews 3-4, 1 Samuel 6:6, Psalms 81:7, Psalms 106:32-33, Habakkuk 2:4, 2 Corinthians 5:7, Hebrews 11:1-6)

Whining for some water
Exodus 17
At Meribah and
Massah- we're in sin
We're testing The Lord
And quarreling too, you guys
Drawing from a rock a stream
Moe hit the rock and it flowed (ohh ohh)
Saw the sign from God but ohh!
Ohh-ohh-ohh!

I'm gonna harden my heart
I'm gonna wallow in fears
I'm gonna spurn and grieve God here

All of our gripes-
We've been faithless with disdain
We've been walking by our feelings
(But) the righteous live by faith
Our leader Moses
Keeps bringing God appeals
Drawing from a rock a stream
In Numbers 20 also ohh-ohh
But this time, Moe lost his cool

Again, we hardened our hearts
Moe didn't follow God here
He lost his turn at Canaan there

(Instrumental Interlude)

Quarreling- our recurring theme
The desert tried our souls
And that's why God let us know
Ohh-ohh-ohh

So do not harden your heart
You need to swallow your pride
So go and turn to Psalms 95

Don't go and harden your heart
You need to swallow your pride
Don't go and harden your heart
You need to swallow your pride
Harken your heart
And choose to follow God right
Hebrews 3 and 4
Harken your heart
And let God soften your heart
If today His voice you hear
Then do not harden your heart
And don't get swallowed like Korah
Harken your heart
And choose to follow God near
Ohh-ohh-ohh
But do not harden your heart
.............................................................

God is our GPS :-)

*Another one from the archives....

"Not all who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien
I was talking with a friend today about how God doesn't always give us a GPS or even a map! (See Genesis 12:1-9 - God just told Abraham to get up and go to this place He would show him. And he packed up his family and stuff and headed out. God was faithful to lead him to where he needed to go.) And what about Matthew 9:9? Jesus' invitation was and is so simple, "Follow Me." Matthew got up, left his tax collector booth (i.e. his ...job) and followed Jesus. In Matthew 10, Jesus sent out His 12 disciples and told them to go to the lost sheep of Israel- don't take any bags and all- just go and trust God to provide. (And God's people- and/or the man of peace- should help take care of those needs, assuming the workers were worth their salt. And they should be, since Jesus told us that we're the salt of the earth in Matthew 5:13.) Jesus may have seemed to wander from town to town sometimes, but I don't think He ever stopped to ask directions. He mapped out the whole earth! He always knows where He's going. And He's mapped out our whole lives and expects us to just trust and follow Him wherever He leads. We don't always know where we're going, but God does and He's the Master Cartographer- He guides and guards our every step and gets us safely to every place we need to be at the right time. The disciples had much better than GPS or Mapquest or Google maps- they didn't need to Google something- they could just ask Jesus the Creator God Himself! And so can we. Keep trusting and following one day at a time.