We live in a culture that is self-focused. The mantra today seems to be what can you do for me? Sometimes, without actually saying the words, we, by our actions, often ask the question, what’s in it for me? We regularly tell those we care about, I’m here for you. But, are we really? Societal trends have drifted away from community and moved toward self. I want what is good for me, even if it comes at the expense of others.

Let me stop for a minute and say that in my opinion, self-care is different than self-centeredness. Self-care isn’t done with the intent to harm others. Self-care is replenishing my resources without depleting yours, whereas self-centeredness adds to me and subtracts from you. Self-care enables me to give myself away. A self-centered me only attitude is only concerned about me, and instead of giving myself away, I end up giving to me and taking away from you. I also believe that self-care includes others but self-centered ultimately excludes others.

The Bible paints a very different picture than the societal me-first attitude. Just as Jesus poured himself out for us, we are to pour ourselves out to and for others. We are told in Philippians 2:7 that Jesus, who was fully God with all the divine privileges, gave up those privileges, and emptied (poured) himself out for us. When he instituted the Lord’s Supper, Jesus said this, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27b-28).

The apostle Paul, in both Philippians 2:17 and 2 Timothy 4:6, tells his readers that he himself is being poured out as a drink offering. Paul is willing to give himself away, at a cost to him personally, for the benefit of others. Here is what we read in Philippians 2:17, “But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.”

You might be asking, what is a drink offering? In the Old Testament, a drink offering was an offering of wine that was poured out on the altar as part of the sacrifices of burnt offerings (atonement) and grain offerings (recognition of God’s provision). The first recorded drink offering is found in Genesis 35:14, after God changes Jacob’s name to Israel – “And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.”  On the cross, Jesus’ sacrifice fulfilled the need for a drink offering; his blood literally spilled out when the solider pierced his side with a spear (John 19:34).

Just as Jesus poured himself out for us, and just as Paul considered his service to the world as being poured out, we too are called to be poured out sacrificially for the good of others. I ask you and me today this question – are we willing to be poured out, even to the point of being used up, not seeking to be served, but rather, to serve those around us?  

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Many years ago, but still etched vividly in my memory, we had some visitors staying with us. These visitors were uninvited and unwanted, but they stayed anyway. In fact, they likely were there before we moved in. Let me explain. The house we lived in at the time was surrounded by corn fields. When the corn was harvested, and as the weather turned cooler, the field mice scattered, looking for new sources of food and shelter. They often found their way into nearby homes, including ours. Each fall, we could hear these unwanted visitors scampering across the drop ceiling in our basement.  

Unbeknownst to us, up in that ceiling, along with the mice, there also lived some other even more unwanted and unwelcomed visitors. Snakes. As we spent countless hours in our family room, snakes slithered only feet above our heads, enjoying an all-you-can-eat buffet of mice. One fall season we became aware of the snakes. Oh no! After being convinced not to quickly sell the house “as is,” we hired a pest control company to rid us of these snakes. When it was all said and done, six weeks later, ten black racer snakes had either been caught or killed.

Nothing probably visualizes our look of fear better than Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” In describing this autobiographical painting, a passage in Munch’s diary, dated January 22, 1892, likely describes the painting’s inspiration: “I was walking along the road with two friends – the sun went down – I felt a gust of melancholy – suddenly the sky turned a bloody red. I stopped, leaned against the railing, tired to death – as the flaming skies hung like blood and sword over the blue-black fjord and the city – My friends went on – I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I felt a vast infinite scream [tear] through nature.” Yes, that definitely says it – trembling with anxiety, a vast infinite scream.

Even though the snakes had likely lived in our ceiling for years, as soon as we became aware of them, fear was ever-present. Oh no! We were almost afraid to go downstairs. Thankfully, we eventually located the spot through which our many unwanted visitors were gaining access to our house. We never had snakes or mice after that. Oh yes!

The dictionary defines fear as “an unpleasant emotion caused by the awareness or anticipation of danger.” Even many months after the snakes were finally gone, we had a hard time relaxing in the family room. We still had real fear, constantly looking around, expecting to come face to face with a snake, even though during the extracting period only one had actually found its way into our living space. When faced with real or perceived fear, a physiological reaction occurs in the human body, causing us to either forcibly push back against the danger or run away. This is called the fight-or-flight response.

Fear causes us to be afraid. The Bible also talks of fear; “the fear of the Lord.” Say what? Is the Bible telling me to be terrified of God the same way that I am terrified of snakes? The answer is no. We often see the word fear and frame it through our 21st-century eyes; danger equals fear. But fear of the Lord is not a “scared” fear but a “positive” fear; one of reverence and respect, not wanting to disappoint God. A unique mix of awe and trembling that we feel when in His presence, whether standing at the burning bush, listening to that still, small voice within, or just sitting quietly, away from life’s noise and distractions.

Psalm 33:8 tells us this, “Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!”

And in Proverbs 9:10, we read, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”

In both verses, the root Hebrew word for fear is referencing reverence, respect, honor, awe. In the psalm it is used as a verb (yârê’), while the Proverbs usage, as a noun (yir’âh).

So, you see, fear of the Lord comes out of our reverence toward God. And reverence helps us live the way God desires us to live, and it is really the only appropriate response to our Creator and Redeemer. Fear of the Lord is not Oh no. It is Oh yes!

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Are you a meatloaf fan? No, not the American comfort food. But rather, the singer known as Meat Loaf. One of his classic cult songs is an eight-and-a-half minute opus about teenage sexual angst. You likely know the song, “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.”

The song begins by introducing the listeners to a teenage couple on a date, in a parked car, contemplating paradise by “going to go all the way tonight.” What follows is Phil Rizzuto, the New York Yankees long-time announcer, excitedly describing a baseball player making his way around the bases. Then, just as the player rounds third base and heads for home, the song shifts from baseball back to the teens in the car. At this point the girl refuses to let her date “score” without first taking her hand in marriage. In frustration, the boy agrees, only to later regret it – “I started swearing to my God on my mother’s grave that I would love you to the end of time. Now I’m praying for the end of time to hurry up and arrive. ‘Cause if I’ve gotta spend another minute with you I don’t think that I could really survive.”          

In this song, the car’s dashboard lights likely provided a dim lustful glow in the car. But, in real life, our vehicle’s dashboard is much more than mood lighting. And while the song also claims that there is paradise by those dashboard lights, that is not always the case. The lights flashing on the dashboard could be indicating something is amiss. In addition to performance information (speed, engine temperature, fuel level, RPMs, odometer, etc.), a vehicle’s dashboard also displays warning lights that alert us to potential problems with the vehicle’s various systems.  

Now let me make it personal. Are any warning lights flashing on your dashboard? I am referring not to your vehicle’s dashboard, but rather, to the lights that inform you when you need servicing. It could be something physical. Emotional. Relational. Financial. Spiritual. Whatever it is, there are often warning signs that go ignored. Usually when we ignore the flashing lights, what could have simply been a tune-up ends up requiring a major overhaul. 

Today do you need a tune-up before a major overhaul is needed? If you say yes, and there is no harm, no foul, in saying yes, right now ask God to lift your hood and get to work. It is through God’s grace and by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can be renewed in our minds and transformed into the image of Christ: “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God—what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect” (Romans 12:2).   

Even if the odometer does not reflect high mileage does your body have more rust than paint? Is your engine making a weird noise? Do your tires have very little tread left Do your brakes squeak? Is one headlight burned out, making it hard to see and be seen on foggy nights? Basically, what I am asking – are you tired, your body feeling frail, your soul feeling empty, your nerves on edge, your future uncertain? If you are in need of strength and endurance, guidance and direction, peace and calm, click your heels three times and repeatedly say: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3). Also, check out Isaiah 40:28-31.

There can be genuine and lasting paradise by the dashboard lights if we don’t ignore what those warning lights are telling us!

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Have you ever wondered why the ocean is salty but other bodies of water are not? Simply put, because the salts that get deposited in seas, lakes, rivers, and streams, have an outlet to remove those deposits, namely, a path to the Earth’s oceans. But, the oceans have no outlet, and thus they become the final resting place for the salts that originally got deposited in those smaller bodies of water.

Other than the oceans, most every other body of water has a flow in and a flow out. These waterways are called exorheic, meaning they externally drain through one or more outlets. These waterways get nutrients in, they also send nutrients out. Sadly, pollution too is also passed through the Earth’s waterways much this same way. Though relatively few in number, there are some non-oceanic bodies of water that only have inflow and no outflow. One such body of water is the Dead Sea, which is located between Jordan to the east and Israel to the west.

Despite its name, the Dead Sea is not really a sea at all. (The difference between oceans and seas is both size and proximity to land. Whereas an ocean is a vast body of water, a sea is a comparatively small and partially confined body of water surrounded by land.) The Dead Sea is an endorheic lake, meaning that it retains its water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water. The Earth’s largest lake, the Caspian Sea, is also an endorheic body of water. Along with the Jordan River that flows into the Dead Sea, both nearby springs and rainwater keep it from totally evaporating. The Dead Sea is a receiver but not a giver.

Many of us are like the Dead Sea. We receive but we do not give. We receive water in, from any number of sources, but no water ever flows from us to others. I believe whether or not you are a Jesus-follower, the purpose of receiving is the same – to bless and enrich us but also to then in turn give away for the blessing and enrichment of others. We get in order to give.

In an encounter with a Samaritan woman at a well, Jesus said this – “Everyone who drinks of this water (well water) will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14).

Later on, still in John’s Gospel, during the annual Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), the priests draw water from the Pool of Siloam as a remembrance of God’s provision to the thirsty Israelites during their forty years in the wilderness. But this simple drink of well water does not fully satisfy the people, so Jesus makes this appeal – “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:37b-38).

What do I see in those two passages above? I see Jesus telling you and telling me not to be like the Dead Sea; don’t just receive and fail to give. Putting our trust in Jesus, looking to Him to satisfy all that makes us thirsty, will quench our inner thirst forever. But not stopping there, as our thirst, our longing gets quenched, we are to be ever-flowing rivers through which Jesus can quench the thirsts of others, with His spring of water welling up, His endless source of living water.   

Rivers only flow if they send water out. So, I ask you today, are you more like a flowing river or a dead sea?

Note from Dave: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read my writings. I will be taking some time off from writing to focus on soul care and self-care. I will be back later this month. In the meantime, if you are so inclined, you can check out my Archives page to find all my past writings.

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Have you ever been tempted? Sure you have. We all have. It could be that urge, that inclination, to do or say something. That urge which causes us to be strongly inclined. All the food tasted so good that you were tempted to go back for seconds. After trying and trying to learn how to play the piano, and trying some more, but with no success, you were tempted to call it quits. Or how about to try something foolishly – like tempting fate. Being tempted might also mean to attract or allure – she was tempted out of retirement after talking to her boss. None of those examples is inherently bad, but temptation can also be our desire to act disobediently. Cheating on our tax return. Calling in sick to work while we drive to the beach. Sneaking in after curfew. Underage drinking. Premarital or extramarital sex.

No matter the context, the temptation of disobedience is really nothing more than an enticement to do wrong with some promise of pleasure or gain. God established protective guardrails in all of life because He knows the dangers of disobedience. The world claims that satisfaction can be found in status, wealth, friends, career, social media influence, ladies who are 36-24-36 or men who look like Adonis. Satan uses the worldly enticements we face every day to turn our affection from God to him and his schemes. He does that through temptation. He makes our rebellion against God, which is the root of all sin look, smell, feel, taste, and sound very attractive.

This rebellion started long ago. It first occurred in what can be said is the most beautiful garden ever known to mankind – the Garden of Eden. God gave the first man permission to enjoy every tree in the garden, except one. Here is what we read – “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:16-17).

But, sadly, we know that that first man and woman stepped outside God’s command and after being tempted by the serpent, ate the forbidden fruit, thus separating them (death) from God (Genesis 3). Because of that fall from grace, we too are born into sin, subject to God’s judgement to death and captive to Satan’s kingdom of darkness. Thus, our need for Jesus Christ as our Messiah and Savior. I have written extensively on that subject. His atoning death on the cross took on our sin, reconciled us to God, and disarmed the demonic powers.

How does Satan tempt us today? Using the same three-pronged strategy he used in the garden. First, he puts doubt in our heads: “Did God actually say?” (Genesis 3:1). He then deceives us by contradicting what God says: “You will surely not die.” (3:4). Oh, that sly serpent, he’s not done. He goes on to romance us: “You will be like God.” (3:5).

So, are we doomed for perpetual sin? Without God’s help, yes. But if we commit our lives to
Jesus and immerse ourselves in Scripture, we will begin to get the power to kick Satan to the curb, and look temptation straight in the eye, and say, “You’re outta here!” And in doing so, we have the power to escape temptation. Let me offer this verse – “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). And thankfully, when we fail (notice I did not say if we fail), God is faithful and just to forgive our sins when we confess them to him (1 John 1:9).  

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Have you ever been so sure of something that you “bet your life on it,” only to soon thereafter find it not to be true? Has there ever been a time that you went from absolutely knowing something is true to only hoping it is so, even after being so sure? Do you struggle with doubts about Jesus amid difficult circumstances? Do you ever find yourself wondering if Jesus really is who He claims to be? If you said yes, you are not alone. We all do at one point or another.

John the Baptist, as he sat in prison, possibly for as long as a year, found himself doubting that very thing. John, the very one who told the crowd of the coming Messiah (Matthew 3:11), found himself questioning in that dark moment. John, the very one who after baptizing Jesus saw the heavens open and the Spirit of God descend and rest on Him, even after hearing a voice say, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17), found himself afflicted with doubt. John, the very one who said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29), as he sat in Herod’s prison, questioned whether Jesus was really who He claimed to be. Maybe he was wondering where Jesus was at this critical time of need? Had he possibly misunderstood the ministry of Jesus?

When the heat is on, when life gets tough, real tough, we often find ourselves experiencing deep darkness. Accusing thoughts flood our minds. Here is what we read in Matthew 11 – “When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’” (vv.2-3).

Maybe what John was really asking is, “Why, Jesus, aren’t you doing more?” That seems like a surprising question. John had been so sure that Jesus was the Christ, but now, sitting in that filthy prison, he seemed to be wondering, “What if I had been wrong?” Have you ever found yourself asking that same question?

In vv.4-6 we read how Jesus responded to that question, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me (shall not fall away in me, tripped up, doubt).”

In those three verses I believe Jesus was assuring John that He was in fact the Messiah and his ministry was being fulfilled, just as it had been prophesied in Isaiah 61, while also reminding John that blessed (literally, “happy”) is he who, despite irrefutable proof in the current circumstances, can cast all doubt aside and still have faith.

Yes, it is true that Jesus does not always answer when, or even how we desire, but He always answers our genuine and sincere questions. We are told in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that His grace is all we need; it is sufficient to overcome every obstacle, no matter how big, no matter how long, no matter how difficult.

In the midst of John’s doubt, Jesus sent a promise, a word of hope, a reminder that He is who is claims to be. Do you trust that He will do the same for you? Can you cast aside all doubt?

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