Self Glorification?

Posted on October 28, 2011 by James Gorton

Friday October 28, 2011

When I was a little boy I dreamed about playing professional baseball when I grew up. I was playing baseball as soon as I could walk and throw a ball. I still remember my dad coaching the little league team when I was five. I couldn’t play because I was too young, but I was the bat boy and my dad let me hit. I remember hitting a ground ball and was thrown out, but it was my dream to play baseball.

As I grew and went to college, I realized that my skills as a baseball player would never be used in professional baseball, so my goal turned to being the best high school baseball coach in Colorado. What was your dream? Was it to be a dancer? A singer? A movie star? The president of the United States? I think all of us at one time or other dream of being on a big stage and being recognized for a special skill or ability. Some of you reading my jlog have been in that position to be recognized for some outstanding contribution you have brought to our society.

There is a young man who had the exact opportunity for center stage when a king demanded that people who could interpret dreams tell him his dream as well as the interpretation of the dream. No one had ever been able to do that and when they told the king that, he responded that they all be killed. One man stepped up and asked for time to find out what the dream was but also interpret it. His name was Daniel. He went home with his friends and together they prayed for God to reveal the dream and it’s intrepretation. Their prayers were answered. Daniel went back to the king and responded by saying, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these: (Daniel 2:27, 28 NIV). Daniel had the prime opportunity to take the credit for his skills and abilities to reveal the dream and it’s interpretation, but he gave credit to the God of the universe. He could have glorified himself, but he chose to give God the glory. Self-glorification stops God’s power and wisdom from continuing to flow. We are on our own. Daniel knew that whatever gifts and abilities he had came from God and he sought to give glory to where glory was due.

On this journey, self-glorification stops God’s ability to guide and direct our future.

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Choosing Not To Defile Oneself

Posted on October 27, 2011 by James Gorton

Thursday October 27, 2011

If there was one word that would describe young people today I would use the word entitlement. They feel that they deserve to get everything that their parents have worked a lifetime to get. They want the best car. They want the latest styles in clothes. They want to go out to the fast food restaurants to eat if not everyday at least a few times a week. They feel the need to get the latest computer or latest iPhone. The latest jeans. The best tennis shoes. The coolest t-shirts. Entitlement.

And what about discipline. Most teenagers today have no concept regarding being disciplined. They live for the moment and change their plans on a whim. There are so many temptations out there in real life along with temptations on the internet that it is very difficult to maintain a level of ethical standard in the midst of myriads of temptations.

There was a young man in the old testament who sought not to compromise his standards in the midst of being tempted to do so. He had been taken from his homeland and had become a slave in a foreign land. He was being indoctrinated in the culture of this foreign land and decided to stand up and not compromise his principles. His name was Daniel and this is what was said of him. “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. . . .”Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.” So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food.” (Daniel 1:8, 12-15 NIV). His first step in not compromising himself was to have a resolve within himself. When we are tempted to compromise our ethical standards, we often give into the temptations because we have not determined what we want for our lives internally. What I will or will not do starts way before I am tempted. That determination internally caused Daniel to look for alternative ways to maintain his ethical and moral standards.

On our journey today, what are the possible compromising places where we are tempted to veer off course of what God wants for us. In order to stay on the course, we need to internally choose not to defile ourselves and it starts with resolve.

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River Of Life Part IV: Fruit

Posted on October 26, 2011 by James Gorton

Wednesday October 26, 2011

The Tippicanoe River in Illinois was a very beautiful river with all kinds of trees growing on it’s banks. The trees’ roots were growing along the river to gain water from the river in order to grow and produce fruit and other byproducts of the nutrients it soaked from the ground. What was interesting when I went into the swamp area is that very little was growing on the banks of the swamps. Many of the trees and bushes had died and there was obviously no fruit being produced.

Ezekiel continues his message about the river of life when he said, “Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47:12 NIV). When the river of life (God’s word) is flowing in and through us, fruit will be the byproduct of our gaining nourishment from the bible. Paul talks about this fruit in Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” Fruit coming from the river of life involves qualities and characteristics that are useful for building relationships with the Lord and with those we come in contact with.

On this journey we have the opportunity to be fruit bearers by staying plugged into the river of life so that the nourishment we gain from the river will produce fruit in our lives to feed us as we connect with others.

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River Of Life Part III: Stagnant Waters

Posted on October 25, 2011 by James Gorton

Tuesday October 25, 2011

As I was canoeing down the Tippicanoe River, I noticed some openings along the river, I decided to take a side trip into one of these openings and didn’t stay long. What happened is that the water went into these openings, but stayed in these areas and developed swamps with the stagnant water that just sat there and began to stink. Trees had fallen into these places and had begun to rot along with weeds and other stuff. It smelled like rotten fish and garbage and I had to get out of there. Fresh water had flowed into these places but just sat there and caused everything around it to die.

Ezekiel continues on in describing the flowing of the river by defining water that had gotten off the track and ended up in a still place. “But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.” (Ezekiel 47:11 NIV). When we are not reading the word of God, what we do know stays in our lives and begins to form swamps and marshes in our lives. We hear ourselves saying, “I am not gettig anything out of my reading” or “I feel like I’m not growing.” It could be that the word is not entering our lives or that it is not having an impact in being put into action that is causing us to spiritually rot away. It is a daily life of taking in the word and allowing that daily word to impact our attitudes, the words we speak, our actions that we take, and our thoughts. It is only then that we find ourselves in the flowing river of life and not in the swamps of death.

Today on this journey, be careful not to move into the calmer places of life, only to find out that we have settled for a swamp.

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River of Life Part II: Flowing Waters

Posted on October 24, 2011 by James Gorton

Monday October 24, 2011

In my early life, I took summer classes at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana and wanted to take a trip down the Tippicanoe River in a canoe just to say that I had gone canoeing in that river (Tippicanoe and Tyler to–don’t know where that saying came from). It was a wonderful day going down that lazy river and allowing the flow of the river to carry me down or paddle down the river at my leisure. There were people fishing and swimming in the river and it was alive with all kinds of wildlife along with all kinds of people having a wonderful time. What hit my fancy was the aliveness in the river and the trees on either side of the bank.

When Ezekiel was describing the river flowing out of the temple and the width and the depth of the river, he as well described the life of the river when he said, “Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.” (Ezekiel 47:9-10). What he was describing was what God’s word would do to those who partake in the river. That person would be alive and the river would wash away any salt that had accumulated in a person’s life. Whatever place in a person’s life the river touches, there would be life. That means that it is our choice to allow the word of God to either touch certain places in our life, or we can choose to block God’s word from impacting certain areas of our life. The consequence of that decision is that no life will form.

The river (God’s word) can positively impact our lives, or we can choose to block the river from cleansing out the salt deposits that have accumulated in our lives. Our choices and decisions daily will determine whether or not there is life flowing in and out of us. On this journey we have the choice to allow the river to bring life to our lives or to block that life from impacting everything we do. My choice is to experience life today. What about you?

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River Of Life: It’s Breadth And Depth

Posted on October 18, 2011 by James Gorton

Tuesday Octeober 18, 2011

In the summer of 1977, I had the privilege of going over to Israel and spending about a week in Jerusalem. It as wonderful to walk where Jesus walked and performed His miracles. It was awe-inspiring to visit the place where Jesus was crucified and was buried. I saw where Jesus took the disciples fishing on the sea of Galilee and where He fed the 5000. It truly was a wonderful trip that I would encourage everyone to go on.

One of the more interesting places was the old temple location inside the old city wall. There was the east gate that was shut and won’t be opened until the Lord comes back again. I mention the east gate because Ezekiel talked about it in the passage I read this morning. “The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. (Ezekiel 47:1, 3-5 NIV). The water coming from the temple represents the life that the lord brings to everyone who is connected to Him. What is interesting about this passage is that the longer you soak your roots into the river, the deeper you can go and it will continually bring more and more depth to your life as you soak your life in the living water. Some only go to ankle deep water and never allow the water to support them. The challenge is to continue to move to deeper waters so that we become dependent upon the water to support our very existence.

On this journey, keep stepping deeper and deeper into the water of life to get your guidance, support and direction from it.

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Eating Gods Word

Posted on October 14, 2011 by James Gorton

Friday October 14, 2011

Over the years there have been various ways in which those of us who are not the most avid readers can read. There have been audio books that allow someone to read a book by listening to someone else read it via a cassette or DVD. There have been movies that have come out from a book to help those who don’t read get a good handle on books in print. Spark Notes (summaries of books) have been helpful in getting the gist of a book without reading the whole book. I even took a speed reading course to speed up my reading so that I might enjoy reading more.

God had I think the most creative way in which to understand His word when He came to Ezekiel. “And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. (Ezekiel 3:1-3 NIV). God had Ezekiel eat the word rather than read the word. Not only did He have him eat the word, but God flavored it with honey so that it would taste good. Ezekiel needed to take it into himself so that it would become a part of him.

How often do we read the word of God but never take it in to ourselves and allow it to penetrate to our innermost being. Rather than just reading today God’s word, it might be helpful to allow what we read to sink in and permeate the very depths of our being and transform us by what we think about and how we behave and what we do.

On this journey, take time to eat God’s word and may it be sweet to our taste as it fills our life.

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Not Consumed, But Compassion

Posted on October 13, 2011 by James Gorton

Thursday October 13, 2011

This seems to be a non-sensical title for the jlog I am writing today. But when I read the passage in Lamentations this morning I was struck with two words in this passage that caught my eye. The writer of Lamentations says, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:22-26 NIV). You get these two words in the first verse when it says that because of the Lords great love, we are not consumed. The writer is referring to our sins that could easily cause the Lord to destroy us or consume us. But because He loves us so much, His love constrains Himself from destroying those He loves. It reminds me of when our children doing some stupid things wrong and we are very angry with them, but because of our love for them, we don’t carry out the things we might be thinking of doing to them.

In the midst of our bungling up our lives and our choices on a daily basis, God’s response is to show His compassion to us every day. Not every week or every month or periodically, but every day. It is interesting that I have tried to make a commitment to write my jlog 6 out of 7 days, but as you can see I have already missed one day and may miss another one or two before the week is out. But the Lord is faithful to bring new insights and compassion to us every day and His perspective is new every morning for those who want to plug into His perspective. Our only requirement is to wait quietly for Him to speak. It means that we need to stop what we are doing and listen to what He wants to say to us. He wants to give us His insights and compassion every day of every week of every month of every year that we are here on this earth. The question for you and for me is whether or not we are setting time daily for Him to speak to us.

On this journey, we need daily guidance and direction for our lives. God is ready today for us to experience His compassion if we only take the time to be quiet and Hear Him.

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Potter And The Clay

Posted on October 11, 2011 by James Gorton

Tuesday October 11, 2011

Pottery has always been a hit or miss with me. There is some pottery that I have seen and I would never pay any money for the pottery that is being sold. There is other pottery that is interesting to me and I have shelled out the money to buy a coffee mug, or a set of dishes. I remember my favorite pottery coffee mug that I had for years that I drank my daily coffee from. I would wash it daily so that the next day I could use it. In college the washing of the cup was less than sanitary at times. Eventually it was cracked and had to be thrown away.

I have always been fascinated with passages in the bible that relate to the potter and the clay. They always have symbolized God being the potter and the clay being us. Jeremiah wrote about the potter and the clay when he said, “So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. (Jeremiah 18:3-10 NIV).

Sometimes we think we are in control of our destiny and our life, but God is the potter and we are the clay. He can at any time choose to take us when he sees us marred and seek to reshape us. In this passage, we as clay need to be willing to be reshaped and not fight against the remolding process. We have a choice in whether we choose to be remolded into His image and His purpose, but He has ultimate say in our destiny if we choose to rebel and not repent of our destructive ways.

On this journey, it is most helpful to choose to be moldable clay for the master to use in the way He wants to use us.

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Being A Watchman

Posted on October 10, 2011 by James Gorton

Monday October 10, 2011

In 1970 when I began to read the bible through in a year, I came across a passage in Ezekiel where God spoke to me that changed the way I communicate with people. God was calling Ezekiel to a ministry and He set up a communicative structure that I think is important to be practiced in all relationships that are important in our lives. It says, “At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn them or speak out to dissuade them from their evil ways in order to save their life, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person and they do not turn from their wickedness or from their evil ways, they will die for their sin; but you will have saved yourself. (Ezekiel 3:16-19 NIV)

God was saying to Ezekiel and to me in 1970 that He wanted me to speak the truth when He impressed me with what to say to a person. I have sought to use this in my counseling of others throughout the years. It is similar to to the two passages in Epesians (5:15, 5:25) where Paul says to speak the truth and speak the truth in love. We sometimes don’t want to tell a person the truth because it might hurt their feelings. What God said to Ezekiel is that if He told Ezekiel what to say and he didn’t say it, he would be responsible for the consequences. But if he told the people what God wanted him to say and they didn’t listen to it, they would be responsible for the consequences of not listening or heeding the message.

How different would our relationships be if we were to speak the truth to one another and not put on a facade when just the opposite is true? Maybe today on our journey we can choose to speak the truth to those we come in contact with in love.

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