Ensign: Happy Birthday, Patrick!
All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye. Isaiah 18:3
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 4 March 2016
My oldest nephew where I live now -- which means he was Martha's nephew before he was mine -- in Minot, North Dakota is twenty-four today! I still have my mind blown by the fact that our daughter Sarah had her tenth (her first double-digit) birthday this past Sunday! Even though I KNOW that age, that measurement of the number of times I've made a complete orbit around the sun -- not a circle, remember that our Earth's orbit is oval -- is ultimately just a number, it's easy to feel it.
I imagine Patrick especially is, considering where he has been the last several years. I don't think I'm giving anything way saying he's been in prison, and not on the visitors' side. I'd like to say that I have been as faithful visiting him as I have been praying for him, but I would be lying -- Martha and our kids and I have only been able to go there once. And Lying I'm already planning as the subject of next week's Ensign, but I digress.
Patrick is currently scheduled to get out of prison next month, and all the accounts I've heard say he's been a model citizen there. My question is, are you and I on the outside model citizens ourselves? On a lark I looked up the words or forms of the words jail and prison in the Bible and came out 1 to 122. (The one use of jail is in Acts 16:23, "And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:".) A prison for us is not just that place with the bars.
For every reference Paul makes to himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:1 and 2 Timothy 1:8) -- that his acceptance of Jesus as his Lord and Savior (word order's important here; all too often we want Jesus to save us which in fact He has to do first, but having Him as Lord we're a mite skittish about, I include myself in that) limits what he does and says and where he goes -- we see those remaining 120 times indicating we want to GET OUT of prison. We don't like limits.
Then being "a prisoner of Jesus Christ" won't matter because you, if you've chosen Jesus as your Lord and Savior, will be eternally with Him. You don't need to be confined if your jailor rules all He surveys. And if you haven't chosen Him ... well, you're a prisoner of yourself, far more than you'd ever be a prisoner of the devil and his angels. To become free in life (and after this life), we have to start by admitting we are prisoners of our own limitations, that we need a Savior from them.
A Savior to lift us out of them.
David
P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you in my address book, and I hope I encourage you too! If I don't or you want me to get lost, please let me know -- thanks!
Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that You will provide for all our needs even when we're confused about what they are! Please, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and all over the world.
Thank You again, Lord, for all in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for those opportunities we have along with the promise of new life through You, and may we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
AN ENSIGN ON THE MOUNTAINS 4 March 2016
My oldest nephew where I live now -- which means he was Martha's nephew before he was mine -- in Minot, North Dakota is twenty-four today! I still have my mind blown by the fact that our daughter Sarah had her tenth (her first double-digit) birthday this past Sunday! Even though I KNOW that age, that measurement of the number of times I've made a complete orbit around the sun -- not a circle, remember that our Earth's orbit is oval -- is ultimately just a number, it's easy to feel it.
I imagine Patrick especially is, considering where he has been the last several years. I don't think I'm giving anything way saying he's been in prison, and not on the visitors' side. I'd like to say that I have been as faithful visiting him as I have been praying for him, but I would be lying -- Martha and our kids and I have only been able to go there once. And Lying I'm already planning as the subject of next week's Ensign, but I digress.
Patrick is currently scheduled to get out of prison next month, and all the accounts I've heard say he's been a model citizen there. My question is, are you and I on the outside model citizens ourselves? On a lark I looked up the words or forms of the words jail and prison in the Bible and came out 1 to 122. (The one use of jail is in Acts 16:23, "And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:".) A prison for us is not just that place with the bars.
For every reference Paul makes to himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:1 and 2 Timothy 1:8) -- that his acceptance of Jesus as his Lord and Savior (word order's important here; all too often we want Jesus to save us which in fact He has to do first, but having Him as Lord we're a mite skittish about, I include myself in that) limits what he does and says and where he goes -- we see those remaining 120 times indicating we want to GET OUT of prison. We don't like limits.
Then being "a prisoner of Jesus Christ" won't matter because you, if you've chosen Jesus as your Lord and Savior, will be eternally with Him. You don't need to be confined if your jailor rules all He surveys. And if you haven't chosen Him ... well, you're a prisoner of yourself, far more than you'd ever be a prisoner of the devil and his angels. To become free in life (and after this life), we have to start by admitting we are prisoners of our own limitations, that we need a Savior from them.
A Savior to lift us out of them.
David
P.S. I write this weekly devotional to keep in touch with you in my address book, and I hope I encourage you too! If I don't or you want me to get lost, please let me know -- thanks!
Thank You, Lord, that we can come to You in prayer and that You will provide for all our needs even when we're confused about what they are! Please, we pray for the peace of Jerusalem on both sides of the fence there and all over the world.
Thank You again, Lord, for all in leadership and service both here and abroad. Thank You for those opportunities we have along with the promise of new life through You, and may we all seek and have a blessed week! Amen.
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