The Power of One Word

Words can be powerful, no doubt about it. But it all depends on who’s saying them.

You probably know people who never stop talking. The more words they say, the less any of them seem to mean.

One time I was on the phone with a lady who called wanting my help. At least that’s what she said. But the words just kept coming, and there was never a place for me to insert a question or a response, let alone any counsel. I actually put down the phone and went into the other room to get a glass of water. When I came back she was still going.

But when somebody really has something to say, you listen.

I was reading Matthew’s account of two demonized men. My Bible has the words of Jesus in red, and in the whole paragraph there was only one red word. Jesus told the demons, Go (Matthew 8:32).

So much happened because Jesus said, “Go.”

• He catalyzed the roiling unrest of the demons;
• He freed the demoniacs;
• The herd of swine was hurled into the sea;
• The herdsmen fled and told the tale;
• Everyone in the city begged the Lord to leave them alone.

All set in motion by the power of one word. Just like when He said, "Lazarus, come out." Or, "Let there be light."

We should always pay attention when Jesus speaks.

Out of Control

My wife and I just spent a week with our older son and his family. I had fun being Grandpa and playing with my grandchildren. 

We went to the park and spun on the merry-go-round. My job was to propel the merry-go-round "faster, faster," until my almost-five-year-old granddaughter was horizontal to the ground, hanging onto the railing for dear life. If she had let go, she would have been flung out like a little blond missile.

Of course my other job was to immediately stop the merry-go-round if she became afraid or was in real danger of losing her grip. 

Have you ever felt like your life is spinning so fast you're in danger of losing your grip? It's easy to forget that there is Someone who actually controls the merry-go-round.

Paul said it this way: …in him all things hold together (Col. 1:17b, ESV).

“All things” means the molecules of my body. They are held together by Christ. “All things” means the solar system, subatomic particles, and my sanity. Held together by Jesus.

Jesus holds me together. Just because something is out of my control doesn't mean it's out of His. My progress in holiness and faith, my path to heaven, are only certain because my Lord holds them together. Why doesn’t the moon come crashing down and destroy our planet? And why is my life never really out of control, even though it may feel like it? Because Jesus holds all things together. 

His strong hand is always on the merry-go-round. And on the planet. And on my heart.

I Had a Dream: The Lord's Closed Fist

I want to tell you about a dream I had a few years ago. I didn't make this up to illustrate a point, or as some sort of parable. It was a waking dream, and it came to me while I was praying.

Another thing: I'm not much of a believer in "dreams and visions" the way some people on Christian television seem to be. But I do believe in the reality of angels and demons, and the absolute supremacy of Jesus over all things.

So I'm telling my dream for two reasons. First, I'm convinced it's real--that God showed me something about my early life, just a glimpse. And second, it reveals once again why I admire Christ.

In my dream I saw myself when I was a small boy. My parents and I were back on the farm in Western Colorado. I saw the top floor of our old farm house. It was nighttime, and we had gone to bed. It was a small upstairs, almost a loft, two bedrooms connected by a narrow hall with no door separating them.

My parents slept in the first room, at the top of steep, narrow wooden stairs. My bedroom was at the other end. I still remember as a little boy taking a nap with the window open and a summer breeze carrying the perfume of the huge lilac that grew in purple splendor below.

But in my dream it was dark, late at night. I could see the sleeping forms of my parents in one room and my own small shape in the other.

Suddenly a black form flitted across the room. Like an oily stain, the shadow slid rather than floated. I knew it was a malevolent spirit, a spirit of death, and it moved between the rooms, from mine toward my parents’, as large as a vulture, or a huge bat. As the creature approached, my dad and mom began to breath erratically, almost to choke. 

Then I looked again.

Near my parents’ bed I saw the glowing shape of a shining, beautiful Person. He stood strong, protectively, assuredly, clearly in control of the room and everything in it.

The black shadow began to move erratically, like a moth after you take a swat at it, and it seemed much smaller somehow, maybe the size of a small, ugly bird.

I looked once more.

The black spirit was now the size of a fly. It seemed irritating instead of menacing. As it buzzed about the room, the Beautiful One shot out His hand and snatched it out of the air, effortlessly capturing it in His fist.

Invisible?

What is “invisible” anyway? If an object doesn’t reflect light into our eyes in the “visible spectrum,” we don’t see it. Some creatures can see what we can’t. For example, bees can “see” into the infrared spectrum. Or think of the interstellar hunters in the Predator movies. They saw in a different spectrum than their prey.

Our sight is pretty limited, isn’t it? Think of all the important things that we know are there, but which we do not see with physical sight. Love, hope, patriotism. Russia, dust mites, satellites. Deep sea creatures, the internet, hydrogen gas.

From the New Testament’s perspective, the spiritual realm is more real and lasting than the realm of physical sight. But people only see into that realm when God allows it.

Right now you and I could be in the presence of angels and demons and be unaware of them. We could be in the presence of Almighty God, and not give Him another thought. Because we cannot see Him.

Which brings me to one of the reasons I admire Jesus so much.

• He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15a, ESV).
• No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known (John 1:18, ESV). 
•  He is the radiance of the glory of God, and the exact imprint of his nature… (Hebrews 1:3a, ESV).

God has had mercy upon our blindness, and shown us Jesus. When we see Him in the pages of Scripture, when our spiritual blindness is healed to see Him at work in our lives, we are seeing God. The One who used to be invisible to us.

Sticks and Stones

Sticks and stones can break your bones, of course. But names hurt worse and do more damage in the long run. Just ask anyone who grew up being called “fatso” or “stupid.”

The truth is that nicknames reveal far more about the people using them that the ones who get labeled. What you call other people reveals your heart.

My dad called me “boy.” I liked it. When he said it, it was always wrapped in affection and humor and good will. It was the last thing he ever said to me, actually. At the end, when his cancer was far gone, and he was mostly in a deep sleep, I walked into the bedroom. He roused himself, turned his head toward the door, and without opening his eyes, said, “Hi, Boy.”

I was a boy, of course, only fourteen. Had he lived longer, I don’t know if he would have called me that into my 20’s or 30’s. But I wouldn’t have minded if he had. He was always my dad, and I was always his boy.

I admire how Jesus addressed people. Remember when the four men brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus? A crowd blocked the doorway, so they tore up the roof and lowered the man down. Jesus looked up at this poor fellow, so helpless, dangling there in front of everyone. He said, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven” (Matthew 9:2).

Our Savior is so wonderful. Not only did He forgive the man's sins, but He called him “my son.” Literally, “child.” We don’t know how old the man was. Jesus, in His human nature, was a young man. So the paralytic may well have been older than Christ. But I bet he loved hearing Jesus call him “child.”

Later in the same chapter another desperate and hopeless person met Christ. A woman with a chronic issue of blood touched His robe and was instantly healed. Undoubtedly her affliction, which had burdened her for a dozen years, was humiliating to her. But in touching Christ’s robe, she made a spectacle of herself and actually rendered Jesus ceremonially unclean. She must have felt terribly exposed as she caught the attention of the crowd.

Remember how Jesus addressed her? "Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well" (Matthew 9:22).

There’s no one like our Savior.

The Death of Two Warriors: Andrew Breitbart and Lowell Oldenburg

Andrew Breitbart

This week two warriors died, both passionate advocates for causes greater than themselves. Many people know about Andrew Breitbart, who was a fearless activist for conservative political causes. He was a commentator for the Washington Times, an author, and ran Breitbart.com, along with five other conservative websites.

Breitbart died in Los Angeles early Thursday, March 1. He was only 43. You can read more about him here.

Lowell Oldenburg

Three days earlier, on February 27, Lowell Oldenburg died in Turlock, California. He was a Christian missionary to college students for 35 years. He loved the Bible, and memorized huge sections of it. A gifted evangelist, he had a gentle and engaging style that made him a friend to people of all ages. He was 71. You can read about him here.

I admired them both. In many ways they were cut from the same cloth. Neither man cared much about how the world perceived them. They were both sold out to the greater mission they served.

Even as a relatively young man, Andrew Breitbart made an impact on the political climate of our country. Lowell Oldenburg lived a longer life, and left this world with much less fanfare. But without any doubt his legacy is eternal.  

God’s measurement of greatness is very different than ours. While I don’t know anything about Mr. Breitbart’s spiritual life, Lowell's was the most obvious thing about him. “Lowell helped me fall in love with Jesus through the Bible and I will forever be grateful to him,” said one of the online tributes to him.

None of us knows how much time we have left this side of the veil. While I look up to both men, Lowell makes me want to live for Jesus. Christ said, For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? (Mark 8:35-37).

What will they be saying about you at your funeral?

Swing for the Fences

I admire Christ for so many things. One of them is that He challenges men and women to strive for a prize they would never have attempted apart from Him. We swing for the fences because Jesus is so worthy. 

He shows us the truth about our selves, enough to make us despair. But when we give up on ourselves, He shows us Himself. He accepts us and then He transforms us. The Lord makes us want to be better than we ever would have been without Him.

We know that our performance won’t disqualify us, that if we blow it and fail, Jesus will still love us. It’s His performance that puts us right with God, not ours.

Sometimes I catch a glimpse of my better self, and I can see His fingerprints on my life.

I don’t know what kind of man I would have been if I had never met Him. But I am absolutely certain I would not have been someone I could have been proud of. Very occasionally now I am, and it is always to His glory alone.

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14.