Thursday, May 6, 2010

Delight Yourself in the Lord


www.GrayceDillon.com

He Tore Down the Walls


He Tore Down the Wall

Ephesians 2 1-6 It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.

7-10Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

11-13But don't take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God's ways had no idea of any of this, didn't know the first thing about the way God works, hadn't the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God's covenants and promises in Israel, hadn't a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything.

14-15The Messiah has made things up between us so that we're now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody.

16-18Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father.

19-22That's plain enough, isn't it? You're no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You're no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He's using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he's using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home.

Pleased with Your Self?


Luke 18: 9-12 He told his next story to some who were complacently pleased with themselves over their moral performance and looked down their noses at the common people: "Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: 'Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.'

13"Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, 'God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.'"

14Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself."

On Giving Thanks and Praise to God




Psalm 50:23 It's the praising life that honors me.
As soon as you set your foot on the Way,
I'll show you my salvation."

2 Corinthians 9:12-15Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they'll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!

2 Corinthians 2:14 But I thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ. Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It's like a fragrance that fills the air.
(GOD'S WORD® Translation)

1 Thessalonians 5:18 Whatever happens, give thanks, because it is God's will in Christ Jesus that you do this. (GOD'S WORD® Translation)

Psalm 106:1 Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

Psalm 105:1 Bible in Basic English
O give praise to the Lord; give honour to his name, talking of his doings among the peoples.

Psalm 35:18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly. I will praise you among many people.

Psalm 7:17 Bible in Basic English
I will give praise to the Lord for his righteousness; I will make a song to the name of the Lord Most High.

Ephesians 5:4 Obscene, flippant, or vulgar talk is totally inappropriate. Instead, let there be thanksgiving.

Wake Up!


Ephesians 5
Wake Up from Your Sleep
1-2Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

3-4Don't allow love to turn into lust, setting off a downhill slide into sexual promiscuity, filthy practices, or bullying greed. Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don't talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn't fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.

5You can be sure that using people or religion or things just for what you can get out of them—the usual variations on idolatry—will get you nowhere, and certainly nowhere near the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of God.

6-7Don't let yourselves get taken in by religious smooth talk. God gets furious with people who are full of religious sales talk but want nothing to do with him. Don't even hang around people like that.

8-10You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You're out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.

Ephesians 5:11-16Don't waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It's a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ.

Wake up from your sleep,
Climb out of your coffins;
Christ will show you the light!
So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!

17Don't live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.

18-20Don't drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ.

Gratitude/Gratefulness

With a grateful heart we lift up the name of Jesus. When we are discontent, we essentially tell our loving father, "It is not enough. I want more. Your provision is not sufficient." 1 Tim 6:7 we find, "For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content." I don't think we can have a grateful heart, without contentment. Contentment is a satisfied soul. Satisfied and grateful, without yearning for more of what pleases the flesh.

On the other hand we do yearn for others to come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved. We are not content that "we have OURS." Rather we are stirred to share the riches of our God with all. Our hearts are so grateful for what HE has done, and the richness of HIS love and blessings to us, that we desire to give back to HIM.

Heb 13:5-6..."Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have; for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."

True gratitude focuses on the greatness of the giver rather than the gift. We are thankful, grateful for who HE is, rather than what HE gives. We express it in tangible ways that bless others. "How can we love God whom we can not see, if we can't love those before us?" Paraphrased from a scripture I can not recall, but is written on our hearts. We follow our lord with a commitment that shows that we believe what we preach.


The Bronx Zoo

by Grayce Pedulla Dillon

When I was a child growing up in the Bronx, my family made frequent trips to The BronxZoo. It was always an adventure, and the happiest times I ever spent with my Dad were in that park. We would take the number twenty bus to Fordham Road and Southern Boulevard. Before we entered we would purchase a brown paper bag of hot roasted peanuts from the vendor stationed just up from the bus stop. Once armed with our enticements, we'd proceed to the entrance. Dad would pay our fee, push my brothers and sister and me through the tall turnstile and then follow us. Without exception, he always "got stuck" in the huge rotating iron-gate and pleaded with us to help him get free. After he succeeded in terrifying us he always miraculously broke loose and we would gleefully cheer. Raucously, we kids would then dart ahead to "the rock." A mammoth boulder jutted out of the pavement and we would climb and clamber over it until we triumphantly reached its pinnacle, which was all of three feet high.


Having that ritual done, each of us filled our tiny hands with peanuts to feed the squirrels. Tap, tap, tap, we would knock on the ground to get their attention. We'd drop the treats just in front of us and remain very, very still while they gingerly approached. They would grab their gifts and cleverly maneuver the shell to get at the nut inside. We were enthralled at the entire performance.

Next we happily skipped ahead to the deer herd enclosed in their fenced yard. We were convinced they belonged to that roly-poly, jolly guy who dressed in red. Of course we searched diligently for the most famous reindeer of all with the red nose. The only one to spot him for certain was (you guessed it) Dad. It was a thrill to get so close and to know the herd lived in the Bronx.

Just a short run ahead was "the giant bird cage." It was very exciting to enter their world as a myriad of feathered creatures freely flew over our heads. What fascinated me also was the variety of birdcalls. Until this day I whistle to birds, mimicking their calls as I learned to do then. Some responded and came closer to examine us in wonder.

One exhibit after another entertained us beyond our expectations. As many times as we visited we were never bored. There was always a new discovery and Dad enhanced it with his own shenanigans. He would skip along exhorting us to join him as he sang "Here we go gathering nuts and hay, nuts and hay, nuts and hay." We merrily skipped along singing, laughing, and eagerly anticipating the next stop of our tour.

We always visited the toucans. They were among Dad's favorites. He told us that he had once carved his initials into the beak of one of them. I never did find it but I believed it for a long, long time. In fact I still find myself inspecting them prudently.

When we reached the big, noisy cat house we were awestruck. Dad lived dangerously. He would roll up a newspaper and glide it across the bars tantalizing the lions or tigers until the cats shredded it. At that time all the felines were housed in one building in bare concrete and steel cages. Although Dad played perilously, I think two things were accomplished (in spite of him). First, he demonstrated to us the power of the animals, and secondly he provided some diversion to the poor beasts that had little more to do than pace to and fro out of bored frustration. Throughout the day Dad would show us the paper and remind us what those big cats were capable of.

In the Ape House, where there were exotic primates from seemingly every corner of the planet, there lived a clan of Mandrills. Not only did I find them mesmerizing, but they apparently perceived me the same way. When I was in their presence the red-faced patriarch would become agitated and pounce on the glass toward me. He would calm down when I exited, then resume his aggressive behavior when I returned, leaving me open to crude remarks from my older siblings.

Visits to the Zoo continue to be a family destination to this day. Dad died three years ago. The last time I spent time alone with him was at the zoo. We reminisced and marveled at the wonderful changes that have occurred. It is now more appropriately called "The Wildlife Conservation Park." Long gone are the prisons that once housed the animals. For the most part they have been replaced by naturalistic habitats that are designed to provide comfortable dwelling places for the residents and visually appealing views for visitors. It has come a long way since it's inception in 1899. Today more of the park's 265 acres are used as diverse environments to the animal's advantage. They are grouped with other species in areas according to the regions they are indigenous to. For example the lions share an open plains area with other species that are also natives of the African Savannah such as gazelles and storks. A deep moat that blends unobtrusively into the landscape separates them from each other. Nearby are other African species such as giraffes, okapis, meercats, and more all in the great outdoor neighborhood replicating their native lands.

A few years ago a snowstorm caused the old aviary to collapse. Fortunately loss of bird life was minimal. A new structure has been erected and provides a beautiful seaside community of feathered creatures from the Pacific Coast of South America.


This wonderful zoological park we call the Bronx Zoo has truly changed drastically for the better since I was a child. It serves to raise people's consciousness about endangered and threatened species rather than to simply entertain. When my grandson Christopher saw a display of the frivolous products made by ivory from slaughtered elephants, then examined the mammoth pachyderms live, he quickly came to their defense, recognizing the need to protect them. Countless children have come to understand many of the perils that earth's creatures face because of education programs provided at "our Bronx Zoo." This is a heritage worth preserving for many generations to come.

This essay is dedicated to my Dad, Dominick Pedulla. I wrote it in 2000 not long after my Dad passed away. Mom has since, also passed away.

Mom and Dad at the Bronx Zoo

Grayce Pedulla Dillon © 2002
www.graycedillon.com