“Sin lives in a costume; that’s why it’s so hard to recognize. The fact that sin looks so good is one of the things that make it so bad. In order for it to do its evil work, it must present itself as something that is anything but evil. Life in a fallen world is like attending the ultimate masquerade party. Impatient yelling wears the costume of a zeal for truth. Lust can masquerade as a love for beauty. Gossip does its evil work by living in the costume of concern and prayer. Craving for power and control wears the mask of biblical leadership. Fear of man gets dressed up as a servant heart. The pride of always being right masquerades as a love for biblical wisdom. Evil simply doesn’t present itself as evil, which is part of its draw. You’ll never understand sin’s sleight of hand until you acknowledge that the DNA of sin is deception. Now, what this means personally is that as sinners we are all very committed and gifted self-swindlers. … We’re all too skilled at looking at our own wrong and seeing good.”
—Paul David Tripp

HT: Between Worlds blog

While on vacation last week, Josh and I went to hike at the Chickasaw National Refuge in Sulphur, Oklahoma.  It is a beautiful park, full of woods and hills, nestled in the town of Sulphur.  We decided to take a familiar hike along the creek that runs through the park, about a two-mile trek.

As we came to the cut-off to head back to the car, I decided for us to take a different route to the bottom of the hill and then back up.  I wanted to see the scenery down hill.  As we made it to the bottom of the hill, we made the decision to follow the road back to our car.  That 2 mile hike turned into a 5 mile journey.  We took the long way!

I am always in the mood to take pictures when we hike, about 3.5 miles, I put up the camera and “hoped” for the car to appear around any curve.  It finally appeared about a mile and half later, when we wrapped around that final bend, we found the trail again.  The car was within minutes. 

Have you ever gone the long way?  Hindsight tells us, if you don’t know what is along the road, go back the way you came.

         

I woke up early this morning with a question rolling through my mind and penetrating my heart.  “What are you living for?”

So, “What are YOU living for?”

While on vacation last week, Josh and I toured the Oklahoma State Capitol.  I was quite impressed, to say the least.  The architecture and the decor was top-notch.  In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, the capitol went through a major renovation to restore it to the original design.  This meant that a complete remodel of many portions of the building brought it back to the way it was originally designed.  The House and Senate chambers were redone.  In 2002, they added the dome on top of the capitol.  This was a multi-million dollar project.  The dome was in the original plans but the state ran out of money.  To celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the capitol, the governor wanted to have the dome put on.  The dome was added before the anniversary date.

Among the capitol’s artwork, were paintings of two of my boyhood heroes, whom, I found out, are native Oklahomans.  Mickey Mantle, the great Yankee’s Slugger, and Jim Thorpe, believed to be the greatest athlete in the history of America.  Seeing those paintings brought back memories from my childhood, although I was not alive during their playing days.  I can remember a few school reports done on those guys.

All in all, we were impressed most by the State Supreme Court Chambers.  It was absolutely beautiful.  After leaving, the Oklahoma Capitol, we made it a goal to visit all of the capitols of our nation.  That is quite a goal but maybe, we can do it in our life time.

     

This morning in my devotional reading, I read through Job 38-40.  I have been moving through the book of Job over the last month, but this morning’s passage really struck a chord with me.

Job has been through an immense period of suffering.  He has endured the pain of loss as well as physical suffering.  As is natural to most of us, Job questioned God.  Job felt alienated and disappointed at what had become of his righteous life.  His friends have jumped on this bandwagon, but have not questioned God, but rather Job.  They have blamed Job for all of his troubles and accused him of having sin in his life. 

After their final discourse, God now speaks up and questions Job.  God is a God that can handle our questions and doubts.  He does not strike us dead when we do not understand, nor does he punish us for asking questions.  There is, however, something to remember.  If you question God, be ready for Him to give you an answer.  It might not be the answer to your question, but He will give an answer like He did Job.

As I read God’s response to Job, I was instantly humbled by the power of God.  Not only the power of God, but in the exactness of God’s sovereignty and involvement in this universe.  Here is parts of Job 38-40:

¹ Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said:

² "Who is this that darkens my counsel
       with words without knowledge?

³ Brace yourself like a man;
       I will question you,
       and you shall answer me.

⁴ "Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
       Tell me, if you understand.

⁵ Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
       Who stretched a measuring line across it?

⁶ On what were its footings set,
       or who laid its cornerstone-

⁷ while the morning stars sang together
       and all the angels ^[a] shouted for joy?

⁸ "Who shut up the sea behind doors
       when it burst forth from the womb,

⁹ when I made the clouds its garment
       and wrapped it in thick darkness,

¹⁰ when I fixed limits for it
       and set its doors and bars in place,

¹¹ when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
       here is where your proud waves halt’?

¹² "Have you ever given orders to the morning,
       or shown the dawn its place,

¹³ that it might take the earth by the edges
       and shake the wicked out of it?

¹⁶ "Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
       or walked in the recesses of the deep?

¹⁸ Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
       Tell me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ "What is the way to the abode of light?
       And where does darkness reside?

²⁰ Can you take them to their places?
       Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

²¹ Surely you know, for you were already born!
       You have lived so many years!

²² "Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
       or seen the storehouses of the hail,

²³ which I reserve for times of trouble,
       for days of war and battle?

²⁴ What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
       or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?

²⁵ Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
       and a path for the thunderstorm,

²⁶ to water a land where no man lives,
       a desert with no one in it,

²⁷ to satisfy a desolate wasteland
       and make it sprout with grass?

²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
       Who fathers the drops of dew?

²⁹ From whose womb comes the ice?
       Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

³⁰ when the waters become hard as stone,
       when the surface of the deep is frozen?

³¹ "Can you bind the beautiful ^[c] Pleiades?
       Can you loose the cords of Orion?

³² Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons ^[d]
       or lead out the Bear ^[e] with its cubs?

³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens?
       Can you set up God’s ^[f] dominion over the earth?

³⁴ "Can you raise your voice to the clouds
       and cover yourself with a flood of water?

³⁵ Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
       Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?

³⁷ Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
       Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens

³⁸ when the dust becomes hard
       and the clods of earth stick together?

³⁹ "Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
       and satisfy the hunger of the lions

⁴⁰ when they crouch in their dens
       or lie in wait in a thicket?

⁴¹ Who provides food for the raven
       when its young cry out to God
       and wander about for lack of food?

Chapter 39

¹ "Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?
       Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

² Do you count the months till they bear?
       Do you know the time they give birth?

³ They crouch down and bring forth their young;
       their labor pains are ended.

⁴ Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds;
       they leave and do not return.

²⁶ "Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
       and spread his wings toward the south?

²⁷ Does the eagle soar at your command
       and build his nest on high?

²⁸ He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
       a rocky crag is his stronghold.

²⁹ From there he seeks out his food;
       his eyes detect it from afar.

³⁰ His young ones feast on blood,
       and where the slain are, there is he."

Chapter 40

¹ The LORD said to Job:

² "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?
       Let him who accuses God answer him!"

³ Then Job answered the LORD :

⁴ "I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?”

Enough said!

This afternoon, Josh, Quentin and I took a hike out at Hobbs Conservation Area.  It was a warm afternoon, but once we got into the woods, it wasn’t too bad in the shade.  The Hidden Diversity Trail has some great trails so we chose one and went for about five miles.  It was an awesome trek into the hollow and followed some ridgelines through this portion of the Ozark mountains. 

We went about five this afternoon and it was about the time some animals started moving in the woods.  We saw two armadillos (the first ones I have seen alive since moving to Arkansas, the rest have been road kill).  We also saw a couple of deer. 

I am becoming more intrigued with nature as we hike these trails through the mountains.  I am always invigorated by the scene of God’s creation.  There is an amazing calm in the woods.  As the gentle breeze blows through the trees, you can almost sense God’s presence.  When we are out on the trail, there are no cares or worries.  Just awestruck at the beauty of God.

       

It is our final day of vacation and back to the office tomorrow.  We have our nephew home with us for the week, so we are trying to keep him and Josh busy.  This afternoon, we took a trip to Huntsville, Arkansas to our favorite diner, Granny’s.  After Granny’s we went to the Tiger Creek Wildlife Refuge to see the wild cats.  It was a hot afternoon and the cats were pretty lazy, but honestly after Granny’s, I was feeling the same way. 

I will be posting more pictures of our vacation this week.  We had a great time of rest but I am excited to get back to work.

 

Before we left for vacation we made a slight investment that has paid off great dividends on our trip.  We bought a GPS (Global Positioning Satellite).  It is amazing, the technology of the GPS.  We type in an address and it takes us there with precise direction.  The only trouble we got into was not following the directions good enough and we took the wrong turn.  We bought a Magellan GPS and it tells us when to turn and what streets to turn on.  I took the wrong turn when I didn’t listen well enough, so I had to turn around and go back the right way.

Within every Christian, God has placed His personal GPS.  The Holy Spirit!  The Holy Spirit guides us.  He is an internal voice that tells us when to turn and where not to turn.  He gives us precise instructions and we must follow those, if we want to stay on the right path.

Often, we have the problem of going the wrong way and having to turn around.  On many GPS systems it says “recalculating” when you miss your turn or you do not go the suggested route.  On our Magellan GPS it does not say recalculating it waits a moment and then says, “As soon as possible make a legal u-turn.”  That is what the Holy Spirit says when we do not go the right way.  “As soon as possible, make a legal U-turn. Turn around and go the way I told you to.”

Too often as believers we do not go the right way.  In fact, we go our own way!  But in the gentleness of the Holy Spirit, He urges us to turn around and go the right way.  We must learn to obey our internal GPS and follow the Holy Spirit’s instructions.  It will save us alot of heartache and trouble.