Greetings, dear ones.
Right after sending this, I plan to get out there to knock out my little old man jog routine. I am not facing any temptation lately to lay aside work to go to the mountain and play in the snow with my skis on. For some reason there has been an atmospheric inversion going over the last week. I just checked conditions at Timberline to learn that it’s 40 degrees and raining.
The other day I mentioned I’d be working with Thano to process a bunch of firewood. Just for the fun of it, I’ll stick on a photo I took that morning so you can better visualize what that operation looks like.
True blessings upon your day—in comparison with the frivolous kind.
Love, Ray.
We’re familiar with the pitiful suffering of Job. And we’re also familiar with the pitiful mindset of Job’s “comforters,” who, more accurately, should be regarded as accusers and abusers. Their basic flawed view was that if a person was truly right before God, their life would demonstrate that status in the form of health and wealth. Isn’t that essentially the very same notion Satan is imposing on Jesus during this appointed time of suffering and testing? “How can you possibly be the Son of God and go hungry?” Hmm. Just a minute. Isn’t that the very same notion that tends to well up in our own minds when we encounter unforeseen suffering and painful set-backs? Perhaps it could go something like this: “How could a good God possibly allow this ugly circumstance to happen to such a good person—such a good Christian?!” Connecting dots in this way helps me identify where that notion is coming from.
The next verse bears Jesus’ reply—which I have to regard as one of the most vital themes for me to get copied and pasted into my dirty little heart—“Bread (or, the abundance of food, comfort, health, and wealth) will not satisfy, but true life is found in every word, which constantly goes forth from God’s mouth” (4:4. The Passion Translation). To be sure, God has designed His Word, the Bible, to not just play out to be informational, but transformational. (Psalm 119:9, 11). So be it.
I’m reminded of Jesus’ related words of warning when He says, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15, NIV).