Our Great Dane, Jake is so big that every other dog looks, well, not so big. I’ve been shadowed by Jake with his long legs and massive body for the past eight years until my dad’s Labrador Retriever, Buddy, who is fairly large for a Lab resembles a Welsh Corgi.
When my dad was hospitalized unexpectedly two weeks ago, my husband and I began feeding my parents’ animals. I made my detailed list the first night. Lucy and Goldie, the cats, are fed on the front porch but their food is in the bin next to the shop behind the house with Callie’s. Belle and Buddy’s is in the shed closer to them. The chicken feed is by the barn and there are dedicated water hoses for each area. No problem. I gathered the feeding containers from the bed of the Mule, loaded everything into my wagon and started my rounds.
Each bin contained a fifty pound bag of food with a scoop inside. I poured out one scoop into each feeding dish and thought, “That can’t be enough,” so I added another healthy scoop to each one. Jake eats seven cups of kibble a day, albeit divided into two daily servings and in his prime, he polished off ten cups daily. Belle gobbled hers up almost before I had filled her water and headed to Buddy’s pen. “That must be about right,” I decided.
When I saw my dad the next day, I reviewed my game plan for the week, asking this time just to be sure I was giving the pups enough. “Belle will eat as much as you’ll give her,” my dad replied with a grin. “Then how much does she get each evening?” I asked. “About three-quarters of the scoop every day,” Dad answered. “I guess my perspective is slightly skewed,” I replied with a laugh.
Faith can feel just that way when I am abiding in Christ, a branch in the Vine, grafted in by God’s goodness and mercy. When I regularly bathe my mind in His Word, my estimation of Him grows larger than anything that looms on my horizons. I remember when Jake was a puppy but already wearing the bulk of his big dog body. I took him and his sister, Ella, for walks twice a day until they outweighed me. Then I walked alongside my husband as he walked them.
As a breed, Danes are sweet and fiercely loyal. They back up into your lap when you sit down or lean against your legs in their version of a hug but their bulk can be intimidating. Playing Danes resemble adult moose sparring and in his clumsiness, Jake has toppled me more than once. As we walked, we would turn around rather than passing other walkers. Jake, upon seeing someone approaching, always placed himself between me and the approaching party. He still does this anytime the doorbell rings. I tell my husband this is because each morning before he leaves, he reminds Jake to watch after me and the children. I feel fairly secure with Jake’s imposing presence by my side. How much more secure am I with God’s Spirit literally living in me?
“No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.
And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom.
Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.
But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit.
It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.”
“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.
They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.
They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.4.4.NLT
“Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.
For, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?”
But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:11-16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1co.2.16.NLT
The apostle Paul staked his life on the Truth that is God’s Holy Word. He boldly preached the gospel of Jesus to the nations, called out pastors and teachers to lead churches he planted, and died a martyr, so convinced was he of the gospel message. He was persecuted yet he remained undeterred. Even chained in a Roman prison, he wrote letters to the Church that are relevant today. He quoted scholars and scriptures alike in elaborate arguments meant to both hold accountable and strengthen believers in Jesus when all the world stood against them. He took a strong stance against the legalism of the Jews and the godless idolatry of the pagans, maintaining Christ as Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Our religious institutions are divided, like the Jews of Jesus’s day, about many things that we cannot fully understand. The Pharisees and Sadducees disagreed about whether or not the dead are raised. I believe there are things that we are meant to accept purely by faith as fact without seeking further explanation but Paul masterfully used scripture to bring not only clarity but unity and accountability to the early Church.
“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
Always be humble and gentle.
Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.
Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.
For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.
One God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all.”
Ephesians 4:1-4, 6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.4.6.NLT
Paul addressed early Christians who embraced the gospel of Jesus as God’s plan for reconciling the world to Himself. Jesus called Himself the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The only path to God is through Him. This is the beginning point of Christian unity. We cannot be united in Christ with someone who is without Christ. This is an impossibility. Our world would have us believe that unity is possible apart from Christ. It is not. Boldness will be increasingly required of us as we journey each day with Jesus. He commissioned us to go in His authority to the ends of the earth with His message. We cannot change the message. We simply deliver it intact. Scripture is clear that we must also be increasingly cautious of false teachers. What we read, hear or meditate on matters. Who we surround ourselves with and the conversations and influences we remain engaged with change us. Paul wrote, “Do not be fooled. “Bad companions ruin good character.””
1 Corinthians 15:33 GNT
https://bible.com/bible/68/1co.15.33.GNT
So we must pray as we abide in Christ that the eyes of those blinded by Satan will be opened. We must learn to be like the believers in Berea who eagerly received Paul’s teaching but who still diligently searched the scriptures daily to be sure that his teaching aligned with the Truth of God’s Word. And we must faithfully share God’s invitation in Jesus, the Word of Life, as we go until His return, depending on Him to do what only He can do- save souls, change hearts and minds, and bring heaven to earth.
“For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end.
Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.
As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
But the word of the Lord remains forever.”
And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.”
1 Peter 1:23-25 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.1.24-25.NLT
“Freely you received, freely give.”
Matthew 10:8 NASB1995
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