did you know you're driving a FIAT?

Are you sure you know what brand of car you are driving?  What it says on the grill may be different from what is inside, or who actually makes it.  Maybe a short course in American automobile history will enlighten or maybe even confuse you.  We’ll start with a building in the New York City skyline, for a few months the highest in the world.  The Chrysler Building was built by Walter P. Chrysler, an auto pioneer.  Its art deco styling is beautiful, and only the Empire State Building surpassed it for years.  You know the name of Chrysler, one of the Big 3 in Detroit, but who are they?  In the beginning, Walter P. started at Buick, part of GM, reviving them, then buying Maxwell, what was left of Maxwell-Chalmers in 1924.  Renaming it after himself, it set standards for engineering.  In 1928 he brought out Plymouth as a low end offering, DeSoto the same year as a mid priced car, and later bought what was left of Dodge Brothers, who had made money building engines and transmissions for Henry Ford’s Model T’s, who both died in the same year, and when bankers took it over, eventually sold it to Chrysler.  All in less than 10 years.  DeSoto left us in 1961, Plymouth in 2000, with Imperial designed as a luxury car in the thirties hanging on as a model, and sometimes a make.  And all was well for awhile.  Then...

In 1987 Chrysler Corporation bought American Motors.  Which was formed in 1954 by the merging of Nash and Hudson.  Hudson a great make lasted a few years, both cars badge engineered and nicknamed “Hash.”  Nash was started by Charles Nash who was a GM executive, in 1916 when he bought the Thomas B. Jeffery Company, whose car was called Rambler.  Hudson was Detroit born, and named after the Hudson Department Stores, whose owner was the principal capital at start up.  After merging they bought Kaiser Jeep in 1970, who they bought from Henry Kaiser, as in Kaiser Permanente, who bought it from Willys-Overland, who had designed it with American Bantam for the US of A during WWII.  Adding it to his Kaiser-Frasier short lived cars after WWII.  Who all met together in 1987, when Chrysler bought American Motors, and kept only Jeep.  After another merger with Renault that didn’t work.  AMC was always short on cash, but not merger potential.  Which later had a disastrous merging, which some describe as a fiscal rape by Daimler Benz, of the Mercedes Benz automobile.  Who later spun them off, in 2007, leaving them wounded, and bailed out again, first time when Lee Iococca saved Chrysler the first time, then bought by Cerberus, an investment group, then by the government.  Who peddled them to FIAT, in another questionable deal, no one else wanted them, and today the company is known as FCA,LLC.  FIAT which actually owns such brands as Alfa Romeo and Ferrari, but is remembered for its horrible, but beautiful sports cars of 50 years ago.  So if after 2009, if you bought a Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, or RAM truck-you bought a FIAT!  Did you know you were driving a FIAT?  The Dodge Dart is actually an Alfa based car?  Ferrari is still hands off.  But Chrysler is a long way from where Walter P. started it.  Think of all the great MOPAR racer cars, and who drove them, Richard Petty driving for FIAT?  A FIAT Daytona?  A FIAT Jeep that for awhile was a Daimler Jeep?  And somehow along the way, I have never owned anything Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Imperial, AMC, or Mercedes Benz.  Somehow I have evaded the MOPAR curse, which now is a FIAT curse, may God have mercy on your cars.

Jesus told his disciples that he will make all things known to them.  How deep does that go?  Well...since everything the Father had was also Jesus’, he meant all when he made it known to them.  Some just study the Word, forgetting it is all about him, basing their relationship on knowledge.  Some follow denominational teaching, sometimes even including Jesus.  But it is important to know that without the spirit, left by Jesus when he was resurrected, always points all things to Jesus.  Who always gives all credit to his Father in heaven, our Father in heaven.  But without the spirit, who reveals all the mysteries of the gospels, we cannot know Jesus.  And hence we cannot know God.  Jesus is the way, it is that simple.  Which is why we need to be spirit led, pray in the spirit, and remember that the Trinity is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Some place so much emphasis on the word that it takes the place of the spirit in the trinity, but it is always the spirit that guides.  Backed up by the word, study to find yourself approved, not to be saved.  It is the spirit, who guides us to Christ, the word verifies it. And since God is a spirit, and must be worshipped as such, the importance of the person of the Holy Spirit is magnified.  Without the spirit we wouldn’t know Jesus, and we wouldn’t know God.  Which separates us from cults, religion, clubs, philosophies, and others telling you how to find God.  When God tells us “not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord”  he means his spirit, the Holy Spirit.  Three in one remarkably intertwined, distinctive alone and together, but to never be separated.  And when the spirit comes upon you, your life will change.  Jesus is in you, and you become a child of God.

Grafted into the vine as Jesus tells us, family as he is our inheritance, and paid for in full, his dying for our sin on the cross, for with sin we were separated, only in Jesus are we reunited.  How do we know, the spirit tells us, and gives us words when we don’t have them.  A desire for Jesus, and comfort as we go.  The spirit going all the way back to Genesis, in the beginning God’s spirit moving over the waters.  The three have always been inseparable...and always will be.

So if you are a Christian, you came to Jesus via the spirit,who gave you entry to heaven where God resides, Jesus at his right hand, sitting.  His job done, the spirit hard at work still.  Do not discount the Holy Spirit, he is fully God, just as Jesus is.  You cannot be a Christian without him.  Even if you didn’t know you were driving a FIAT.  Certain mergers over time have led to many successful corporations, and also to many failures.  Merging with the spirit will not guarantee a smooth ride to heaven, but will guarantee you of your destination.  It is like two cars, one is fast with no brakes, and is known for getting close, but not being able to stop, the other is slow, has a great suspension, great brakes, and stops where you want it to.  One reaches its destination, the other, well it may still be going.  Looking for a place to stop, to rest.  Which would you choose?  Make Jesus that destination, guided by the spirit, and arrive.  Without the spirit, you just go, and go, and go.  Seeking, but not arriving.  Passing Jesus along the way.  You may have the knowledge, the spirit gives wisdom. 

FIAT Chrysler America, LLC.  RIP MOPAR.  Goodbye Plymouth, we miss you DeSoto.  So long Dependable Dodge.  Sorry Walter P.  America, if only you had been led by the spirit, so many would not be driving FIATS today.  Fix It Again Tony.  It only took Jesus once.  By his spirit....where we find freedom at last.  At one time GM, Ford, and Chrysler were the Big 3.  Fathers, Son, and Holy Spirit were long before and will be long after.  Merge with them today and insure tomorrow.  So much for your father’s Oldsmobile.... 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

lost, not misplaced

Why is it when you cannot find something it is always in the last place you look?  And if you looked there initially, think of all the aggravation you would have avoided.  But really the reason it is found in the last place you look is because you quit looking.  The quest is over, you bagged your limit, and now you go on to other important chores of the day.  Like, where should I ride today?  I took some time yesterday to look at new cars-sticker shock magnified.  For the price of my first house I could buy any number of cars, extend my payments out 72-84 months, 6-7 years, and keep my payments under $800/month.  The salesman had no problem showing me lesser priced cars, in the $30,000 range, which still exceeded my pocketbook, by about $30,000.  But I found it interesting what you could buy in the $20-25,000 range.  Closer to my budget of none.  A Volkswagen Beetle stickered at $26,000.  But so did a Mustang with a turbo.  So did a Mazda Miata-stripped.  Various 4 door sedans that are best suited for rental service.  So in that price range you could be trendy, a Beetle, cool-a Mustang, or drive a rental car with your name on the title-after it’s paid off.  So much to choose from, so I took the free brochures, and filed them away, Mustang on top, my first choice.  I stopped looking at cars because I found one I liked, even if I am not a buyer-yet.  Why didn’t I just go there first and avoid all the lecherous sales force?  Strangely I ended up looking at Mustangs last.  Do I see a trend here? 

But unlike my keys, or glasses routinely found on top of my head, they were not lost, just misplaced.   And from VW’s made in Mexico, Nissans and Toyotas made in Tennessee, and Mercedes Benz made in Alabama, let’s not forget BMW’s made in South Carolina, it may have looked like I was lost, but was only misplaced about their country of origin vs. their country of manufacture.  Only the Mustang was an American car made in America, Michigan, which I hear is still a leisure activity of the Democratic party.  The whole state is either union or on welfare.  So although not lost, just looking, I found out a lot that afternoon-I’ll keep my motorcycles.  My thoughts were only momentarily misplaced, not lost.

It is said and rightfully so that God has placed a God shaped hole in our souls that only he can fill.  And those who haven’t found him yet, note-he isn’t lost, we are, are still looking.  Misplaced emotions and ideas about God, confusing him with religion.  Most I talk with are looking for a good church, one they can fit into, that they are not threatened at, and can feel comfortable.  Really they are looking for God, and he is only found in Jesus.  Some go the cult route, or fall into cultic religions, and are barred from seeking.  They find they are not fulfilled, but the religion will not let them free.  And I know families where it has become generational, passing on the captivity from parents to children.  But I have a freedom in Christ found no where else.  It is my freedom to choose.  Religion, no matter the denomination, has a set of rules for you to follow.  Jesus loves, tells us to love, shows us how by example, and sets us free to make our own decisions.  Guided by the holy spirit, so we don’t wander off into some cult.  When we come to Christ we stop looking because we have found it all.  Love, joy, peace, and forgiveness.  All in one man, who leaves the choice up to us.  True love, because true love demands a decision, for God not a church or institution.  And saying nothing to Jesus is the same as saying no.  Yet until our dying day, the spirit calls us.  We are lost, not misplaced, God knows just who we are, and where we are, and is seeking us because he loves us.  Religion can replace, but not fulfill the need for God, it can misplace our loyalties, and separate from the one who loves us.  But we still seek, and if you find yourself seeking God today, why not give it up to Jesus.  Make him your final destination, and insure your final destination-heaven.  Not based on performance, not based on who we are, but based on who he is, and what he has done-died in our place.  The final one we turn to should be the first one-if not, make him the last one.  The only one, the begotten one.  Look no further.  The ads may promise many things, like the new cars do, but only one will fill the need. The desire, and the hope.  Only Jesus.  Church can’t do it, a new car can’t do it, sadly even a motorcycle can’t do it-lots of joy, just no salvation.  It takes knowing Jesus.   A new car may be exciting to show all your friends, but after the first payment, first scratch, and all have seen it, the new wears off and is gone.  Only in Jesus does the new not wear off, in fact it drives a desire in us to get to know him better.  To be more like him.  All driven by his spirit instead of ours.  So why drive an old God when you can have a fresh and exciting one?  Who loved you when you are lost and misplaced?

For those of us who have stopped looking it is because we have found, and been found.  Nothing else will do.  Only Jesus fulfills.  Don’t let your life be misplaced by false gods of deception.  Come to Jesus and stop looking, and start living.  Like my afternoon car exercise, I was only looking.  But when I saw the Mustang, I stopped.  And started to make excuses to get one.  Fortunately one look back at what I was riding brought me back to reality.  Jesus is looking for you and won’t quit until you come to him.  Make him your last stop today, and look no further.  I did and haven’t looked for 40 years.  It was fun looking at cars yesterday, only to find I already have everything I want.  Oh, and it works when looking for cars too. 

Did I tell you the Mustang was Race Red?  Now if I can only find where I left the brochure.  Misplaced of course, not lost.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

and when I die...

People tend to avoid the subject of death when it comes up. But death is real, we all face it someday, maybe today, and most are afraid of it. Due to religious, societal, or denominational preferences, most like to believe that when they die, they are good, and go to heaven, based on who they are, not on what they have done. They may act like hell, but don’t want to go there, and reject or make sport of those who espouse heaven and the only way to get there, Jesus Christ. They want all the benefits, they just don’t want the one who gains them access. Years ago while discussing death, we agreed we are not afraid of death, we know Jesus and are saved, but we are not sure about the process. Having been as close to death as you can come without dying, I can tell you part of the process is falling asleep. And like being asleep, you don’t realize you were until you wake up. And you cannot choose the day of your death, although some try, just as you could not have a voice on the day you were born. And scripture plainly tells us “the day of our death is better than the day we were born,” if you are saved. Two deaths, not my own, have particularly touched me, let me explain.

While watching TV the other day, during my surfing exercise I came upon a documentary about death. It was filmed live, about a man serving a life sentence in prison, and his slow death. Not sure where he was with Christ, but even the guards felt sorry for him in his slow death process. No family, only guards, he was so lonely, and I thought of my friends in prison, and their loneliness in life, and now death. It must be horrible to live in prison, but worse to die there. How horrible to die alone. No friends, no family, no one to care. But this death was different, as a group of black men who knew Jesus had formed an hospice group, and ministered to him unto death. They gathered around this dying white man, and gave him comfort. No preaching, but loved on him. Sharing Jesus in action, backing it up with words. And being there when he died. When he fell asleep. Comforting him being led by the spirit, the one Jesus sent to comfort us while alive. How sad it took death for this man to be part of it. He may have rejected Jesus his whole life, but these men stayed with him to the end, even moving the guards and warden to compassion. Lonely in jail, lonely in life, lonely in death. And when no one came to claim his body, off to a free field where the poor prisoners were buried. With only an ID number to remember him by. I was touched by his death, he fell asleep as I did, but more touched by the hospice men. They showed love and compassion for him until the end. Showing him heaven, yet it was his decision of his final destination. Despite his choice, which was never told, they loved him. I wonder, could we do the same?

I worked with Kevin’s dad, and never got to know him until we moved west. When we were over for dinner, we got to see Kevin at home, not the hospital. He had lost one leg to cancer, and was in and out of the hospital. He pushed my sons around in his wheelchair, and was known for knocking on his hollow leg, and watch his teacher go to his classroom door to see who was there. He was filled with life, but sadly also filled with cancer. Some would claim it was his youth, but Kevin knew Jesus, and had no problem telling about him. He was going to die, he knew, as the cancer was spreading throughout his body, but he faced each day, even the last ones, with a smile. I was awoken one morning with a phone call from his father, telling me Kevin had died. He was only 13. He told me how in his last days Kevin was hospitalized, and kept insisting he was going home. Emphatic about it. Yet his parents and doctors knew he never would. He was too sick. Yet when he died, peacefully and joyfully it was only then that his father knew what Kevin meant when he kept exclaiming “I’m going home.” He meant heaven, he was so close to God he knew. Up until his final breath he testified about Jesus. His body may be dying, but his spirit was alive, and he was excited abut going home. One final note, his mother was stricken with blindness just before he had his leg amputated, and just after Kevin died she got it back. God had spared her the pain and agony of seeing her son less than whole. A miracle within the miracle. And the next time they meet they all will be perfect in heaven....and I want to go back. Which is the best way I can describe what I saw, what I experienced. I want to go back.

So in death we receive life in Christ. Born twice, die once, or born once, die twice as the saying goes. But you don’t have to die or live in loneliness. Jesus sent the spirit, the comforter, his spirit to guide and be with us. We are never alone. It took a show about death in prison to remind me, and I still feel the loneliness that man felt. Don’t go through life alone, or worse yet lonely. Jesus wants to be your friend, turn to him now. The best friend you will ever have, he will not abandon you unto hell, yet will guide you into heaven. And heavenly things on earth. Kevin knew and couldn’t wait to get home, he knew where he was from and where he was going. He comforted others in his final days, a reverse hospice if you will. And I will think on those prison hospice men for some time, and how Jesus showed through them. No bars could contain them from their freedom in Christ. They may be incarcerated, but where the spirit of the Lord is, they enjoyed his freedom. And will share the same heaven with Kevin someday. As I will....and I hope you will too. Jesus makes the difference between life and death. Don’t wait until you are facing death to know him, know him today and know life. Be excited about going home. We will all have a release date from earth, don’t leave here with out Jesus. Meanwhile we are all serving a life term here, who you share it with is up to you. Everyone’s last ride will be in the same kind of car, a hearse. Where your soul goes is up to you. Meanwhile, love one another as if it were their last day. It may be yours. Know Jesus and face the day of your death with eagerness and great expectation. Someone once loved you enough to share him with you...pass it on. See you at the Homecoming....until then love one another as Jesus loved us. And loves us. And remember life is a process too. Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

http://www.gracebeforedying.org/intro.html

"I'll paint any car for $29.95..."

My friend Jim had his car repainted a year ago.  He bragged about the deal, a $399 paint job from Maaco, and it looked it to me.  It had orange peel, poor masking, and drips and runs were evident.  But from my house across the street it looked good, and probably from his living room window.  It was a 25’ paint job, and it looked good from 25’, but the closer you got it looked horrible.  He took offense to my initial comments, but soon they proved true.  A year from now I can only imagine how bad it will look, as the clear coat is peeling.  And all for only $399.  He didn’t take into account the prep work involved, for his money he could have bought a few cases of Krylon and his rattle can paint job would have turned out the same.  It is the prep work that makes the paint job, and painting over blemishes, trim, and scratches may look good from 25’, but they are still there under the new coat of paint.  And will surface sooner than expected.

Having spent most of my automotive career around high end cars, I saw many paint jobs costing in the tens of thousands.  One guy I know who only paints Ferraris, starts at $50,000-just for the prep.  But his work is without fault, and he always has a waiting list for his work.  And when you see it alone it stands out, and when next to production line work, it exceeds even more.  His work is found in the details, the little things that others may overlook as unimportant, and they take time.  And if you want it done right, it takes time, which costs money.  But yet most of us can only afford a Maaco paint job, and years before it was Earl Scheib, who could paint any car for $29.95.  And millions of them he did.  Including a friend in high school.  At $1.50 an hour it took a few days to save up the $29.95, and on a 1949 Ford worth the $50 he paid for it, the $29.95 almost doubled his investment, not counting tires, tune up, and the oil it consumed like a two stroke Yamaha.  But it was his, and he spent many hours going through the Earl Scheib paint catalogue picking just the right color for his car.  Finally he found it, Caribbean Green, and when the day arrived, I picked him up.  Through the stench of enamel in the air, he left his baby, anxiously going to school so that he could get out and get his car back.  All day he bragged about his Caribbean Green ‘49 to all of us, and we soon got tired of hearing about it.  But at 3:15 it was time, and I drove him back to Earl’s, his $29.95 in hand.  It had already burned a hole in his pocket.  Paying the cashier, she called for his car and out it rolled.  It was green alright, and maybe in the Caribbean you can see this color green, but it looked like a giant pickle.  Words cannot describe the disappointment seen on his face, his car looked like a giant dill pickle-he was speechless. Slowly walking to it, he found the doors painted shut-undoubtably part of Earl’s promise to paint the door jams, and his tires having a faint green wall effect-Earl painted the wheels too!  And all for $29.95!  Even a greenish tint covered the windows, and the smell inside the car was unbearable-misty green air from the overspray.  And initially opening the windows took effort, as they had been painted shut! 

And his planned new paint job car parade back to our friends waiting to see his Caribbean Green wonder turned into a back street detour hoping to evade anyone he knew.  I even sat low in the seat of the Picklemobile as it would be come to known, and although we all laughed, and still do, we all felt some compassion for him.  All his dreams squashed in one lousy paint job-at least their were no brush strokes to be seen.  And it is rumored he still has Caribbean Green nightmares to this day, some 45 years later.  And every time I see a Shoebox Ford, from 49-51, I think of that car.  Greater love had no man for his car-until it was painted Caribbean Green.

Jesus told his disciples that no love is greater than the one laid down for your friends.  We automatically think of taking a bullet, or serving time for a friend, but it works in the smaller things too.  Riding in the Picklemobile was showing love to a friend-maybe a bullet would have been quicker.  Potential dates would ask if that green car was his, and make excuses to not date him.  But we stuck with him, and even rode with him from time to time.  We went out of our way to feel for him, and even try to console him on his color choice.  After a few months we even started riding in the Picklemobile again, as the paint fumes had subsided, but only on sunny days, when it rained they were back.  We knew that his paint job could have happened to any of us, and he even referred to his car as the “P-mobile,” but only among us.  Bruised ego but fresh paint, we stuck with him.  It must have killed him inside to see his dream turn to embarrassment, but you can only die once.  True friendship endures forever.  And that was the point Jesus was making.  He died once for all, we need to forgive on a daily basis, showing love and compassion-even when Caribbean Green turns to dill pickle green.  Forgiving and standing with a friend in tough times can feel like dying, one ride in his car could confirm that.  But showing empathy, feeling with him, instead of feeling for him, brought many of us embarrassment, which turned to loyalty defending our friend, and his choice of colors.  Jesus said he sticks closer than a friend, and if we obey his commandments he calls us friends.  We just never imagined it would take a $29.95 paint job to prove it.

Sadly there are many people painted colors not on the chart.  Who are unlovable, but desperately need love.  Jesus set the example of loving the unlovable, of which all of us were at one time.  But when he did we shined like the sun, no $29.95 paint job, but a custom one, unlike any other.  He took the prep time to change us, and we need to take the time for others.  Remembering when we do it for the least of them, we are doing it to him.  With some afraid to ride in a Caribbean Green car with him.  Take some time today and be nice to someone whose paint job looks like $29.95.  Show them love, maybe let them ride in your deluxe life with you for a while.  Beneath every bad paint job lies a body who needs detailing before new paint is applied.  Your love and concern may be that prep work for salvation.  We love him because he loved us first.  Remember that. We are all more than colors on a paint chart to Jesus.

Earl Scheib’s paint jobs were always cheap, and even at $99.95 were lousy.  My friend found that when you buy to a price, you get every penny’s worth of it.  Remember that next time you see a downtrodden person, or get bummed yourself.  A cheap paint job will only cover up what is underneath, not make it better.  Only Jesus changes us from the inside out, while we place importance on the visible, he is more concerned with the heart-not seen.  It takes a lot of prep work before the paint is applied, and many still suffer from a quickie salvation.  Being born again is instantaneous, but we are still a work in process.  Only in death will we be fully matured.  And for some the new paint just covers the old.  Saved but not changed.  One ride in my friend’s Picklemobile will verify that.

Jesus laid down his life so we can live.  Exteriors may still be rough, but it is what inside that changes us.  Let his spirit guide you today, and if it takes a ride home in a car where the windows have a green tint, the tires have greenwalls, and every breath tastes like enamel, remember Jesus died for him too.  Take the time today, his Magic Mirror finish will shine on your forever.  Show it by loving someone in truth and deed.  It may be the best ride you ever take.  And only for $29.95....colors oprional.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

"...the first rule is obey all rules..."

Barney Fife: Now here at the Rock we have two rules. Memorize them
until you can say them in your sleep. Rule number one: obey all rules.
Rule number two: no writing on the walls

During a tour of the Mayberry Jail, Deputy Barney Fife told the crowd, “there are two rules in the jail, first rule is obey all rules.  The second, don’t write on the walls because it is hard to get off.”  Obey all rules.  That one sticks with me.  I remember a woman I knew in San Diego who worked for OSHA, who told me “it is impossible for me to know all the rules, but I can promise you I can walk into any business and find something wrong.”    Gives new hope in the meaning “hi I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”  But rules are everywhere, and are made to protect us, often times from ourselves.  And from writing on the walls.  An old joke on Laugh In, when before Pigmeat Markham playing the judge, he tells the guilty party “30 dollars or 30 days.”  And the defendant replies “I’ll take the $30!”  As if he was given a choice of a prize.  I have been given tickets for 56 in a 55, and let go for riding over 100 in the same speed limited area.  Sometimes it has to do with no officer present, or as in the stretch between Escondido and Temecula on I-15, law enforcement every couple of miles.  Always with someone pulled over.   The worst case is outside Junction, Texas on I-10, the number 1 speed trap in the US of A.  Where I got pulled over and cited for 76 in a 70 zone, and the sheriff was back in his Bronco and across the freeway giving another before we could get back on the bike.  Revenue enhancement I call it, free money to the county, nothing about protecting and serving.  At least the Colorado Highway Patrol officer who nailed Rex at 70 in a 55 was honest, he only ticketed Rex, as he told me he couldn’t reload the radar gun in time to get me also.  So even within the rules, there are rules.  Just to see that we obey the rules.  And if a government official from OSHA can’t know them all, how can we?  Maybe we need a Mayberry approach to life, “obey all rules.”  Just so we know what they are.  But do we?

Today many advocate the 10 Commandments as how to run their lives.  Or live their lives.  More laws. Given by God to Moses, because his people were unruly-without rules.  10 of them, 4 of how to have a relationship with God, but 6 with man.  Does that mean it is easier to please God than man?  Does God judge easier?  Good rules to live by, and taken down from over the 600 God gave to the Jews earlier.  Talk about a homework assignment, “toddy class you will memorize the first 50 laws of Moses...” is that a rule?  But even ten was too much for any mortal man to comprehend, and the way the law is stated, you have to be guilty of it to be found doing it.  The law does not reward, it condemns.  And only works if you are not found guilty-notice I didn’t say innocent.  There is a difference.  But God is love, so he sent Jesus his son to do what the law could not do-save us from our sin, and from the law.

Ask any seasoned Christian about the law of Jesus and they may stop and wonder for a minute.  Didn’t Jesus come to fulfill the law?  Wasn’t he perfect and didn’t break any of them?  Including the over 600 original?  That alone makes him unique.  But when leaving his disciples, he leaves them with two commands, two laws.  One directive.  Love God with all your heart and mind.  Then love man the same.  Two laws that we argue over.  That we debate, and have trouble obeying.  If you think love is an emotion, you already failed, for love is a person.  God is love.  And in 1 Corinthians, the love chapter, it tells us that love is patient, etc.  Describing God, in case you ever meet him.  Same with the fruit of the spirit-it describes the character of God.  And to the end, Jesus showed unwavering, unbiased, without requirement love to Judas.  Knowing Judas was to turn him over to a death sentence, he gave him the best seat at the Last Supper.  Judas sat at his right hand, the seat of preference, just as Jesus sits at the right hand of God-the preferred seat in heaven.  He offered him chance after chance to repent, as we know Judas responded by denying Jesus, he was driven by the spirit of Satan, instead of the spirit of God.  The one sin that keeps you form heaven, rejecting the holy spirit, who tells you how you need Jesus, who reveals the truth of him to us, he denied.  Judas died for his own sins, Jesus died for ours.  And was willing to die for Judas’ also.  He loved Judas with no reservation, no bias, even knowing his heart to the end.  That’s love.  Agape, it’s called, a love only God can show for us.  If only we trusted him enough to believe his promise, “you shall do greater things...” and there is nothing greater than God’s love.  You cannot kill it, even nailed to a cross it never died, but rose again.  And today his spirit is still moving, telling a dying world that it needs Jesus.   Not demanding like the law, we love because he loved us first.  You cannot legislate love or morality.  Look around.  But you can choose Jesus, for love does not demand its own way.  Jesus is a choice, so is his love. 

Today we see law and order proclaimed from TV to patrol cars.  Hoping that by keeping the law, order follows.  Yet we see the opposite.  For God’s love also does one important thing the law cannot-it forgives.  Forgiveness through Jesus Christ, setting the example so we can forgive others.  And ourselves, often the hardest person to forgive.  No laws of law or in love.  Just Jesus.  And without him in your life, you don’t have love.  He still loves you, you just haven’t accepted it.  Would you accept his love today?  If you have fallen from it, turn back?  Then go show someone.  A postcard once told me, “don’t brag about what a great lover you are, show me.”  If you have to tell me you are a Christian, maybe you need to show it more.  Go forgive someone.  Show compassion to one who is unlovable.  Love your enemy as Jesus instructs.  Find and forgive the Judas in your life who betrayed you.  The gospel is that simple, so we can do it.  Free so we can afford it.  Barney’s advice came close, obey all rules.  Jesus made the rules simple-love.  Let him show you how today.  Start living being forgiven.  Trust God in obedience to his love, the love he showed us.  Love written on your heart, not on tablets of stone.  No writing on the walls, Jesus made it that personal.  Obey all rules.  Love Jesus, love your enemy, enjoy life.  Only in Christ will you know all the rules.  Love.  Let’s ride.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

two if by land

We pulled into the parking lot at the Lodge at Crater Lake after along days ride.  The cooler air felt good, and nowhere, not even Lake Tahoe can compare with the blue of the Lake.  We had just gotten off and were stretching when an SUV driven by a mother and filled with kids pulled up next to us.  Getting out she took one look at us and asked “wanna trade?”  Maybe it was the altitude, maybe the car load of boys, but I like to think it was the motorcycle.  The others were just the catalyst, but she saw the freedom of the ride.  We never exchanged pleasantries, and just nodded, but so much was said in so few words.  Such is the freedom of riding.  And even after a long ride, a good stretch, a Tootsie Roll and a Coke later, we would look forward to getting back on the bike and riding again.  No such remedy awaited her in the car.  Adjust the seat and mirror, turn on the AC, pop in a CD and they would be off.  The only seat adjustments we would make would be leaning in the curves, the cool air refreshing us as it surrounded us at speed, and the triple making beautiful music as we ran it through the gears.  No one riding ever asked anyone in an SUV “wanna trade?”

Talking with a man one afternoon, he was bragging about all the places he had been.  He talked of cities in the US of A, Detroit, St. Louis, Denver, Miami, and other metro areas.  I kept up with him, mentioning roads taken along he way, and he lost interest.  Bummed, then upset.  For he had flown to all these places, many on vacation, but yet could not identify with any of the places I had been.  He had flown from airport to airport, taxied to his motel, but never seen the city.  Another taxi ride at night for dinner, and guided tours of tourist places dotted his itinerary.  He had been there, but hadn’t been anywhere.  He saw nothing more than what he could have seen in a brochure or website.  We had been to the same cities, but much different cities.  He flew over the Arch in St. Louis, I parked my bike under it.  He flew into Detroit, we rode through it.  He never felt the loss of power at a mile high in Denver, we did as we rode into it, and over the mountains to the west.  He never felt the humidity of Miami, except for a brief walk from taxi to club, we later enjoyed the AC in our room after riding in the heat.  He  bought postcards, Theresa took pictures.  Which trip would you rather take? Which one makes you want to go again, anywhere?  Does a sight of an airport make you hunger for a trip, or does just walking past your motorcycle in the garage call out to you to ride?  Anywhere?  Any time?  Why not call in sick and ride for therapy?  Have you ever seen  a motorcycle parked in front of a travel agency?

So when traveling we prefer two if by land.  Cars are optional, we took a trip a few weeks back in the Mustang, and riding in a car is a novelty to us.  But we missed riding, meeting the people, and filling up for half price.  We were in air conditioned comfort, no helmet head, no bugs, and lots of luggage courtesy of the trunk.  And I wished I was on a motorcycle the whole time.  One trip through Texas from California to New Jersey expressed it best.  Stopping for gas outside Amarillo the wind was blowing, raining hard, and it was cold.  I had to lean against my bike to steady it as I filled it, the wind was so bad.  Looking over at the next pump was a Lincoln filled with people, the windows fogged from their breathing.  My only thought was no way would I want to trade.  Even in the rain and wind, it was an easy choice.  I fact it was no choice at all.  And taking off the weather didn’t seem to matter any more....it was all about the ride.  Two if by land....

Even with a passenger, with limited communication, you can feel like you are riding alone.  But even riding single, I am never by myself.  Jesus promised that if he went away, he would send a helper.  A friend to guide us, he tells his disciples in John “I will not leave you as orphans.”  They had to be afraid, he had warned them of his death, and being with him they could face death too.  But he would not abandon them, and he had to die so he would be resurrected.  Only dead things that once had life can be resurrected.  But until he returned for us he promised us the Holy spirit to guide us.  Described as the comforter, counselor, and friend.  A prayer partner so you can never be alone, for wherever two or three are gathered Jesus is among us.  Need an amen, the spirit is there.  Maybe just amen what the spirit tells you-even better.  So I never ride alone.  Never eat alone, and never get lonely.  I may ride by myself but I am never alone.  The spirit of the Lord is with me.  And until we are called home to heaven, the spirit is with us. 

And loves to communicate with us.  While praying one afternoon, I looked back on a trip I had just taken, and found myself in prayer telling Jesus all about it.  Guided by the spirit, he was with me in every turn, and I felt like I had shared precious time with a good friend.  All prayer is not about asking for help, share some of your times with Jesus.  If he had a Facebook page, would you friend him?  Go deeper in you relationship guided by the spirit.  We fellowship with others, do we ever fellowship with Jesus?  Think of the tales he could tell us of his travels, and if he asked us “wanna trade?” I gladly would give my sin over to him again for his presence in my life.  Heaven awaits, but we don’t need to be in heaven to spend time with him.  The spirit is willing, are you?

At the day of Pentecost 3000 came to the Lord as the spirit was unleashed.  3000 individuals found Christ.  Personally.  One on one, and it is the same today.  One on one.  You are never alone with Jesus in your life.  God is still pouring out his spirit, and wants you to have all he has for you.  Until that day when Jesus returns, we are never alone.

So next time someone asks “are you in the Word?” answer like I do, “is the Word in you?”  Jesus is the Word, and he left his spirit to be in us.  Are you guided by words or the Word?  Some read about Jesus, I want to experience all he has.  I want to see more of him in my life, and in yours.  To share testimonies of him in our lives.  And even when not riding, prefer two if by land.  Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul.  Riding and living in the spirit-get all God has for you today.  The spirit is willing....wanna trade?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com