Vapor Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a-1q00Mf6Q        "Sunny Side of the Street"

In Cincinnati from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, there was no band more renowned than the Jimmy James Orchestra. If you clicked on the link above, you’re listening to a popular recording of the day by that band called Sunny Side of the Street. Jimmy James and his orchestra hosted thousands of followers each week at various locations in and around Cincinnati…he and his band performed throughout the United States; he had his own radio show on WLW radio in Cincinnati and Jimmy and his swing band was recognized as the best band in the region by the national broadcasting company, NBC.

Self-taught on the clarinet and saxophone, at age 15 he quit school to travel nationally and abroad with the Hal Kemp Orchestra. And in World War II, his job in the Army in Europe was to entertain the troops with his big band swing style. If you’re listening, that’s him playing clarinet…oh, he was gifted… Jimmy James. I know a lot about him. Jimmy James is my grandfather.

And now…a man who was a household name in greater Cincinnati is almost completely forgotten. He died in 1972 at age 64. His grave is unvisited…his name has vanished into obscurity. My Pawpaw was greatly gifted in his craft and made the most of it in this world. But as far as I know, all of his investments were in this life, all of his energy, all of his hope, all of his passion, was in his music.

Like so many people in this world, their investment is in this temporal life…everything they do is only focused on this world. When Pawpaw died, his marriage was horribly embittered, he was severely alcoholic, and his fame had eroded…only 64. There was zero evidence that he ever considered the lordship of our Messiah Yeshua…so all of his investment was spent by the time he died. Now he is in eternity, perhaps in She’ol, awaiting the great white throne judgement… I’ve stood on Pawpaw’s grave and pleaded with Adonai to have mercy on him…but my grandfather spent all his earthly investment here, with probably no eternal investment whatsoever.

Listen to this emphasis throughout Scripture about the extent of our earthly lives:

“Now listen, you who say, ‘today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a city, stay there a year trading and make a profit!’ You don’t even know if you will be alive tomorrow! For all you are is a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears.” (James 4:13-14)

“There was a man whose land was very productive. He debated with himself, ‘what should I do? I haven’t enough room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘this is what i will do: I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and I’ll store all my wheat and other goods there. Then I’ll say to myself, “you’re a lucky man! You have a big supply of goods laid up that will last many years. Start taking it easy! Eat! Drink! Enjoy yourself!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night you will die! And the things you prepared — whose will they be?’” (Luke 12:17-20)

“Adonai, what are mere mortals, that you notice them at all; humans, that you think about them? Man is like a puff of wind, his days like a fleeting shadow. (Ps 144:3-4)

“Make me grasp, Adonai, what my end must be, what it means that my days are numbered; let me know what a transient creature I am. You have made my days like handbreadths; for You, the length of my life is like nothing…yes, everyone is merely a puff of wind.” (Ps 39:5-6)

We who are in Yeshua have the freedom to rest in Him. We look toward the hope of our future with Him. This article is not about telling you to get busy. Neither is it about evangelism. Rather, let us all be mindful of how transitory this vapor life is. Holy Spirit, give us all a mind to think of You constantly and include You in all we do. Thank You that we have made our investment in You, the author of our lives and perfecter of our faith.

I often think about God's offer to Shlomo (Solomon)...to ask for his heart's desire. We know how wonderful his response was in that instance. But I also wonder what we would ask at this time in our lives, should Adonai offer it as He did Shlomo. I would ask for a constant awareness of His presence. The Lord has given us so much to enjoy and we are a grateful people. However, in my partaking of what He's given, I would like to think of Him and enjoy Him in the process much more than I do now. This is a great trap of the world...to fix our eyes inwardly or anyplace other than the Father.

So, I'd like to ask you in this moment now, to consider what one thing you would ask of the Father in the remaining 'mist' of our lives. Perhaps you'll have a discussion with Him about it. Perhaps you'll share it with the group in the comments below. 😊 We have the encouragement in Scripture to ask for our heart's desire. We are encouraged to ask and keep asking. So...ask!

Shalom, haverim!

 

Cold Love

 

     “Only ten percent of you sitting here will still be walking with Jesus, 10 years from now.”

     As a believer of only four months, this statement from the speaker rattled me. Internally, I confidently reassured myself that I would be in that small percentage and no doubt, every other person there was thinking the same thing… ”not me Lord, I will never forsake You!” I imagine too, that each person took a quick internal inventory of their commitment to Messiah. And while I have no way of knowing who in that room continued with our Lord, I do know this much…the person sitting next to me strongly renounced Jesus just two years later.    

     Recalling this event in my early Christian life (1982) led me to a bit of researching. In it, I was able to corroborate the claims of that speaker so long ago. In the book Faith for Exiles, authors Kinnaman and Matlock described those faithful ten percenters as “resilient disciples,” or rather, those who continue their commitment to Jesus ten years after their initial conversion. “From a numbers point of view,” Kinnaman says, “10 percent of young Christians amounts to just under four million 18–29-year-olds in the U.S. who follow Jesus and are resiliently faithful.”

     The writers define a resilient disciple as “those who have made a commitment to Jesus, who they believe was crucified and raised to conquer sin and death; are involved in a faith community beyond attendance at worship services; and strongly affirm that the Bible is inspired by God and contains truth about the world. Resilient disciples highly prioritize their life of faith inside and outside their place of worship.” (The research was conducted by Barna, a private, non-partisan group devoted to analyzing research that examines cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors.)

     I’ve found some solace in identifying myself as a ten-percenter (or resilient disciple) and yet, I take very seriously the words of Yeshua in Matthew 24 as He describes the signs of His return: “⁹Then they will hand you over to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. ¹² And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold.” (NASB)

     Several translations in verse 12 use the word “many” rather than “most.” Either way, the thought is sobering, in much the same way I was shaken by that teaching in 1982. Adonai also attributes this “cold love” to be a result of lawlessness and it’s increase. In a practical sense, we certainly can acknowledge the ambush of Christians in the media, the increasing numbers of Americans who identify as “none” when asked to describe their faith affiliation, and the frequent vilifying of believers by the general public (due largely to people groups identifying as God’s spokespeople who are really “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”)

    My view on “lawlessness” is this…lawlessness is a reference to the denial of Yeshua as God Messiah rather than the “fruit” of that lawlessness. Recall that when Yeshua asked who His disciples thought He was, Kefa (Peter) responded, “Attah Mashiach El,” which means, “You are God Messiah.” In short, those relying on the mercy of God through Yeshua are not lawless; those denying that mercy through Yeshua are lawless, regardless of their fruits. (I recognize that is not the view of all!)

     In light of Yeshua’s proclamation that lawlessness will lead to many or most growing cold toward Him, we must recognize how appealing and drawing are the promises of the world, as well as the fact that we “resilient disciples” are not only a minority, but increasingly so! As our numbers dwindle (in the same way that many fell away from following Messiah when they realized He was there as the Suffering Servant rather than The Conquering King), we do not rely on the world’s offerings, any more than we rely on the strength of our numbers or the vitality of “our church.” In relying SOLELY on the mercy of Hashem, we are automatically relying on His impassioned love and care for us and are not given over to the lies that assume His disinterest or displeasure in us individually. Those ideas are gateways to falling away/growing cold!

     We must sharpen our senses and awareness of the devices designed to woo us away, all the while learning to cultivate our relationship with Abba. I agree with writer John Parsons on his website, Hebrew for Christians, when he says, “God redeemed you so you could know and love Him.” He goes on to say that it can become easy to “forget” how much we mean to Him as individuals, leading then to a distorted view of God and ourselves as His kids.

     This week’s “Torah Portion” in the Jewish world is Parashah Shelech-Lekha, found in Numbers 13-15. This section of scripture is a recounting of the “Sin of the Spies.” When we forget how important and precious we are as individuals to our Abba, we can unwittingly repeat the sin of the spies who reported that, “we were in our eyes like grasshoppers.” As Parsons eloquently puts it, “Their view of themselves was more real than God’s view of them.”

     Said another way, we can fool ourselves into thinking that our belittling self-talk is evidence of humility and holiness, when in fact it is evidence of pride and self-reliance. Let us not forget our calling as image-bearers of Hashem, those of whom He dotes on and delights in. Isn’t it ironic that many of us are still afraid to be seen by Him, even though He knows us definitively more than we ever could!

     An earmark of being a resilient disciple is seeing ourselves worthy of the inheritance Yeshua procured. Being poor in spirit is not self-deprecation, but rather the joyful understanding that the mercy of God through Yeshua is our ONLY hope and that striving to please Him is folly. On the other hand, we can either cultivate knowing and relating to Him or cultivate the same with distractions of the world. In my still immature state of being, I confess that it is easier for me to dine on the world’s junk food than rest in Yeshua and enjoy the inheritance He’s given.

     When I choose the latter, however, I find courage rather than cowardice. I become Caleb rather than a “grasshopper spy.” My love is activated from cold, or worse, lukewarm, to finding complete comfort in His love. And in those moments I am filled with the relief that “doing for Him” in order to find His acceptance is worthless and unnecessary.

     Charles Spurgeon once said, “Has there not been, sometimes, this temptation to do a great deal for Christ, but not to live a great deal with Christ?”

     You are a resilient disciple. Your love will never grow cold, since it is Messiah’s love that brings you to love Him. Peace and joy, however, can be cultivated by our rest in Him. Increasing knowledge of Him comes with that rest, further enhancing our desire to be with Him. May the God of our inheritance convince us of His unchanging and unconditional care and knowledge, and thereby dispel the claims of the world on us. Find joy friends in being a ten-percenter!