The Ramsey's

I was working on a hobby of mine when I ran short of supplies. Arriving at the store, I had to walk to the back to get what I needed. As I was walking, I passed by a display that caught my eye.  There sitting on the shelf was the exact same thing that I was struggling to make by hand! It was maddening!  Why do I bother? Here it is already made and it’s cheaper than the raw materials are costing me to make it! I picked it up for further inspection. Yep, it read “Made in Ch”…(well you can figure out where it was made). Wow, some factory somewhere is spitting these things out by the thousands and here I am sitting for hours patiently, tediously, making the same thing. Ugh!  

Leaving the store I was kind of irritated. First, they didn’t have the materials I needed.  Second, I questioned myself again – why do I even bother? Why do I put in all the time, effort, and money to make something I can grab off a shelf for just a few bucks?  Then it came to me a few minutes later…because I enjoy the process. I enjoy creatively, patiently, tediously, working on it (sometimes more than the finished product!). All the ins and outs of working the raw materials into a thing of beauty is so satisfying. That’s why I do it.

Do you ever wonder why, after we receive Christ into our life, that we still struggle with sin?  Why doesn’t He in an instant, just – BAM! You’re perfect! You’re just like Christ! You’re welcome!  No, He doesn’t do that. It’s a process. It tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that we are a “new creation” in Christ and “old things have passed away”.  That’s true. We’ve been reborn, passed from death to life by His transformative power. We are also told in Scripture that we are His “workmanship” ¹ (emphasis on work). So why does He bother? Is it possible, could it be, that it’s for the same reason I bother with my little project? Perhaps He likes the process, the relationship, as He patiently, lovingly, tediously, shapes and molds us into something beautiful.  Taking such “raw material” and making us into His image  must be laborious, to say the least. But you know what? He thinks we’re worth it. What a thought to ponder!

 “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;” Philippians 1:6 NKJV

¹ Ephesians 2:10 NKJV

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Mike and Lorie Ramsey

I’m a big tennis fan. My love of the game began when I was quite young while watching some of the greats on TV with my dad. Guys like Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, and John McEnroe. Later, in high school I even got to play competitively. I guess that’s why the phenomenon of Pickleball caught my attention. Its popularity has soared in recent years. So when I was asked to play, I welcomed the opportunity. I had never played before, but was confident I could pick it up quickly because of my tennis experience.  After all, Pickleball seemed like a cross between tennis and ping pong, right?  How hard could it be? 

Well, the first few hits on the court were awkward, I’ll admit. My agility and hand-eye coordination weren’t what they used to be. Funny how that happens. But, after a while, we got the hang of it. We were doing pretty good. My confidence was building. We were winning. Then, a ball came flying my way that was just beyond my reach, so I began to run for it – backwards. I’m told that’s not a good idea at my age (who knew?). Shuffling back, keeping my eye on the ball, I got tangled up in my feet and went down hard. I tried to break the fall by reaching out my hand (another mistake). My backside slammed down onto the pavement and my head careened into the fence. I had fallen hard. Immediately, I knew it was bad. After several minutes of trying to recover, and with a lot of assistance, I swallowed my pride and limped off the court. The final result of my misplaced confidence and lack of caution was an acute compression fracture in my lumbar, a bruised wrist, and a wounded ego. To make matters worse, we had to delay our flight back to Japan. What have I done?  It was a hard lesson to learn.

As a follower of Jesus, life can sometimes be like my pickleball fiasco. After you’ve been walking with the Lord for many years, you think you’ve got experiences to draw on. You’ve gained some wisdom. You feel strong because you don’t struggle with the same temptations you did before. You’re confident in your ability to withstand the enemy.  That’s exactly when you’re in the most danger! Confidence in yourself will be your downfall, just as it was for me. We can never be confident in our own abilities to withstand temptation (remember Peter’s denials of Christ).  No matter how long we have walked with the Lord, we are still a work in progress. Without caution and reliance on the Holy Spirit, any one of us could fall to temptation and into sin. Leaving us with the shame, the pain, and the consequences that come from those poor choices. 

My pickleball fail reminded me it’s always so much better to walk cautiously and humbly with the Lord. 

So friends, remember….

“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” 1 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV

There’s a pond across the street from my house. There are two black swans that live there. They look so regal as they glide effortlessly across the water with their heads held high, accentuating their long, graceful necks. They are stunning.  But, have you ever seen one out of the water? 

I was looking out my window, early in the morning, when I observed one of the swans out of the pond and walking across the sidewalk. Or, should I say, “waddling”. I don’t think I had ever seen one on dry land before. They waddle just like a duck! Waddle, waddle, waddle it went, swaying from side to side as if burdened by its own weight.  Its clumsy webbed feet were slapping against the wet pavement.  It was hilarious! But what a sight! It wasn’t regal or graceful.  Honestly, I was kind of sorry that I saw it.  The whole scene ruined the mystique of these creatures for me.  But it did remind me of an important truth.

Sometimes, when I look at others, all I see are swans (especially on social media). Everyone else seems to have a perfect life, perfect kids, perfect vacations, perfect meals, a perfect house, perfect blah, blah, blah. Everything seems to always work out great for them. It’s as if they are gliding beautifully and effortlessly through life. But, that’s not true! People, like those swans, aren’t as they appear on the surface. 

In fact, living in various parts of the world has shown me that most people are all the same. To one degree or another, we all experience the same struggles, cares, concerns, hopes, dreams, and disappointments.  Nobody is “gliding through life effortlessly”. Most of us are just waddling along, swaying side to side under the weight of our concerns.  But as a follower of Christ, we don’t waddle alone and our burdens are not for us to carry!  Jesus said it this way:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NIV

So go ahead, take the weight off, and glide a little. He’s got you.

Recently, we took some visiting friends to see one of the many World War II sites here in Japan. The Japanese soldiers had dug out, by hand, an elaborate tunnel and cave system. It functioned as a military headquarters complete with electricity, conference rooms, bunk rooms, and a communications center. All of this is hidden from sight about 60 feet below the surface!  Truly amazing. Yet, near the end of the war, the inevitable became obvious. Sadly, the four remaining generals, rather than surrender, died by suicide. 

And, there have been others that tried to escape by hiding in caves; Bin Laden and Sadaam Hussein come to mind. Hmmm..things don’t seem to end well for those who hide in caves.  Yet, some will continue to try and do so.

In fact, Scripture describes what will happen in the Last Days when the judgment of God falls on those that have refused His offer of salvation and rejected Christ. It tells us in Revelation 6:15 NLT “Then everyone–the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person–all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.”  Really? At this point do they really believe they can hide from God? In a cave? 

Well, maybe not in a cave, but in one way or another, haven’t we all tried to hide from God? Yes! Starting all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we have all tried to hide from God. But why, I wonder? Why do we do it? We know He can see us, right? Well, maybe we believe the lie that He could never accept us, never love us, never forgive us for what we’ve done. Or, we’ve blown it so many times, we’ve given up on ourselves. Maybe we believe that we could never come back to church after that. Or, we couldn’t possibly ask Him to forgive us. Not for that. Not again. But those are all lies! He loves us. He wants us to come to Him just the way we are – not run away and try to hide (as if we could). 

I love what it says in 1 John:8-9 NLT: “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”  So, let’s just admit it! We’re all sinners. We’ve all blown it more times than we can count.  But rather than hide…

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…”  Acts 3:19 NIV

“Times of refreshing” … Ahhh…doesn’t that sound good?  Come on out, surrender, and breathe the fresh air! It’s so much better than being a cave dweller.

If there’s one thing that Japan is not short of, it’s vending machines. They’re everywhere! In front of businesses, factories, street corners, and even parking lots. Not just one, but several grouped together and all selling the same thing. Not candy and chips, but just drinks: coffee, tea, soda, and water. I have no idea why there is a need for so many machines, nor do I understand how it can possibly be profitable. Electricity is expensive here. But, in this sea of vending machines, a particular one stood out and caught my attention. It was standing alone and was different from all the rest. In fact, it’s the first of its kind I’d ever seen here (or anywhere). This machine was offering hot, roasted sweet potatoes. Now that’s impressive.

I had to admire the owner of this machine. Instead of selling sugary drinks, tea, or coffee, he was offering something of real substance. It could even pass as a healthy snack, or a simple meal. Sweet potatoes are popular in the Japanese diet, but how many people can there possibly be who are walking down the street and thinking, “Wow, I could really go for a hot, roasted, sweet potato”? Truly, this guy is “swimming upstream” and “going against the grain”. I respect that. In fact, I’d like to be more like the sweet potato guy.

In general, I prefer not to be noticed, just to blend in. That’s tough to do here as a foreigner in Japan. But, as followers of Christ, we should be different. We are called to be different.  And, we have something the world desperately needs, something of true value, true substance.  The Bible declares we have “the light of the knowledge of God” ¹.  It goes on to say:

 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV

These “jars of clay” are you and me! We’re not exactly vending machines, I know. But we are containers of this great treasure. And, it’s our responsibility, joy and privilege to share this knowledge of God with others. Jesus said in Matthew 10:8, “Freely you have received, freely give.”  So, let’s start giving. There are so many people filled with despair; we can offer hope. There are so many deceptive voices causing confusion; we can declare absolute truth. And, in a world increasingly filled with anger and hate, we can offer His love.  

So much better than sweet, street spuds!!

¹ 2 Corinthians 4:6

Being a foreigner living in Japan, you realize pretty quickly that this place wasn’t designed for you. I’m considered tall, even by American averages. But here?  I feel like a giant living in a dollhouse (Godzilla comes to mind). Everything is in proportion, just not to my proportions!  The shower, sink, and toilet are all together in a space about the size of a coat closet. It makes cleaning the bathroom convenient, but I have to stoop over to brush my teeth. The chairs, sinks, and counters seem to be at least 6 inches too short. This makes dish washing and meal prep a challenge. And even sitting in a chair requires a deep-knee squatting maneuver. It’s not pretty, but at least you avoid the uncontrolled “plop down”. Yes, it’s clear this place was not designed for me. 

The same thing is true of this world. As you look around, you know there has to be more than this, right? That’s because the fallen world we live in is not the world God designed for us.  As followers of Christ, we are strangers here, pilgrims¹ just passing through and we won’t truly be at home until we are with Him in eternity. 

It reminds me of something CS Lewis said in his book Mere Christianity: “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” That’s why we will never find peace looking for it in this world. He is the only One that brings peace and will satisfy the deep longings of our soul. We can take great comfort in what Jesus said:

“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:2-3

I can’t wait for that Day!  I just hope the sink is about 6 inches taller.

¹ Hebrews 11:13

It was a massive breakfast. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, the works! Gulping it down, I noticed there was one piece of toast left that I couldn’t possibly eat. I felt guilty leaving the delicious sourdough to go to waste, but it was only one slice of bread, right? What did it matter? The server noticed it sitting there and asked if I wanted it “to go”. I told her I didn’t want to waste it, but honestly, I was too embarrassed to ask her to wrap it up. She said, “No problem, people bring home all sorts of scraps for their dogs”. I didn’t want to tell her I don’t have a dog. 

Later on, I was reminded of the story in the Bible when Jesus multiplied the 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed the 5000. It tells us in John 6:12 that  “After everyone was full, Jesus told His disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” It tells us that they picked up 12 baskets of leftovers! Hmmm…12 baskets, 12 disciples? Probably not a coincidence. I wondered what they did with the leftovers. Did they carry the baskets around with them as they walked with Jesus? They didn’t have refrigerators. What did they do with all of it? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but I do think it’s noteworthy that Jesus didn’t want any scraps left behind. 

That’s true of people too. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” ¹ He’s the Good Shepherd that leaves the 99 to search for the 1 that wandered off. (Matthew 18:12) 

No matter how you feel at the moment, no matter what you may have done, or how far you may have wandered from Him, no one is a scrap, a leftover, or insignificant. All are valuable in His sight and worth saving.  

He is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” ² From the person at the top of society to the poor soul laying in the gutter – that means all of us. He sees, He cares. Shouldn’t we? 

“In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish”

Matthew 18:14 (NLT)

Oh Lord, help us to have compassion and pick up the “leftovers” in this world. May there be no one left behind. 

By the way, in case you were wondering…The next day, I popped the leftover toast into my toaster for a few seconds and smeared on some lemon curd. It was delicious! 

¹ Luke 19:10

² 2 Peter 3:9b

I have a favorite picture hanging on my wall. It’s an illustration from the Dr. Seuss Book “Oh the Places You’ll Go”. It’s a popular book for children and graduates. Appropriately, it’s hanging by my front door. Looking at it today, I realized it only portrays North America, South America, Europe and Africa (and a smidgen of India). I never noticed that before.  So, the places I’ve been (most of Asia) – aren’t even on the map!  I thought to myself, Well hello, it’s a cartoon right? 

It made me laugh, but also kind of made me sad to think that the places I’ve lived didn’t even make it in the picture. Now, I don’t fault Dr. Seuss (again, it’s a cartoon right?). But then I thought Hey, as followers of Christ, we’re not of this world anyway.  We are headed to a place that is not on any human map and He has given us directions on how to get there!  

Jesus, speaking to His disciples, said: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” John 14:3-4 NKJV  But then in verse 5, Thomas speaks up and says, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”  I love the way Thomas, often called “Doubting Thomas”, is so honest here. He was the only one brave enough to speak up and say what everybody else was probably thinking.  Jesus will always reward an honest question. He answers him and us:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

John 14:6 NKJV

Seeking a secular source to find our way in life is like trying to navigate with a cartoon map. It may have a resemblance of truth but will not take you where you want to go. Contrary to modern culture and belief, truth is not relative. There’s not your truth or my truth. There’s only The Truth. The Way. The Life. It’s Jesus. It’s always been Jesus and it still is.

My dad loved orange marmalade. As a kid, I hated it. To me, it was bitter. It has orange peel in it!  Who eats that? Completely inedible, I thought. Now, I love the stuff. So much so that as I went to a local cafe to study recently, I put some marmalade in a small jar and slipped it in my bag. You see, the cafe doesn’t have marmalade, or any jam for that matter. So, I brought my own. As I sat there and took the top bun off my breakfast sandwich, getting ready to pile on the marmalade, I laughed at myself. This is something my mother did. She would take the top off of her Egg McMuffin and eat it separately so she could put jam on it. Now, here I am doing that! What a mom move, I thought. Wow, when did this happen? I’m morphing into my parents! That’s not a bad thing at all. They were awesome. But when did that happen exactly? When I turned 50? 60? When my hair turned gray?  Or, was it when I took up crochet?  Hmmm….

I don’t know, but it certainly got me thinking.  As I am slowly morphing into my parents (their habits and characteristics), am I slowly morphing into Jesus (His characteristics)? As a follower of Jesus, I know I should be. He is my Heavenly Father. So, a little self examination: Do I love things now that I used to dislike when I was young in the faith? (like Bible study) Do I dislike things now that I used to like when I was young in the faith?  Yes, case in point:  Have you ever told your kids (or a friend) to watch a certain movie you used to watch? You told them, “Yeah, you should watch it, it’s a really good movie”! Only to be horrified and embarrassed watching it alongside them because you forgot all the “stuff” that was in that movie.  That’s happened to me more than once. How could I have watched that stuff, and liked it? I thought. Note to self: no more recommendations.

I suppose becoming like my marmalade-loving parents has taken my whole life up to this point. And I didn’t even realize it was happening. Likewise, becoming like Jesus takes a lifetime as well. It happens slowly, over time, as the Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out (if we will let Him). Still, there are times that I will say or do something that reveals to me how unlike Christ I really am, and I am ashamed.  I realize I’ve got so far to go! Thankfully, He’s not done with me yet. I’m a work in progress and so are you. Take heart, we’ll get there…someday. I take comfort in knowing:

“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but He has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is.” 

1 John 3:2 NLT

I can’t wait for that Day!