This is the first time I saw the sunrise today! And every sunrise is a gift from the creator!”
                    –B.N. Rundell  (Washita)

       “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
                    –John 8:12 (NIV)
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Holy moments, holy experiences–a special time when we should be in wonder.  I can recall a few wonderful spiritual experiences in my life.  When was the last time you had one or recognized that you were in the midst of one?  Max Lucado defines one this way, “When your world touches God’s world, the result is a holy moment.  When God’s high hope kisses your earthly hurt, that moment is holy….  What matters is that holy moments occur.  Daily.”  Ponder that!
     I am going to use much of Max Lucado’s description in this wonderful, holy moment.  Read slowly, read thoughtfully.
          “It happened this morning.  Right after you awoke.  Right there in your house.  Did you miss it?
          “The alarm rings….You’ve already hit the sleeper button three times; hit it again and you’ll be late.  You’ve already asked for five more minutes…five different times; ask again and you’ll get water poured on your head.
          “The hour has come.  Daybreak has broken.  So, with a groan and a grunt, you throw back the covers and kick a warm foot out into a cold world.  You lean up and sit on the edge of the bed and stare at the back of your eyelids.  You tell them to open, but they object.  (The moment isn’t holy yet, but it’s almost here.)
          “You stand.  At that moment, everything that will hurt during the course of the day hurts.  It’s as if the little person in your brain that’s in charge of pain needs to test the circuits before you make it to the bathroom.  Back pain?–Check.  Stiff neck?–Check.  High school football knee injury?–Still hurting.  Flaky scalp?–Still itching.  Hay fever reaction?–Achoo!  With the grace of a pregnant elephant, you step toward the bathroom.  You wish there is some way to turn on the light slowly, but there isn’t.  So you slap on the spotlight, blink as your eyes adjust, and step up to the bathroom sink.
          “You are approaching the sacred.  You may not know it, but you have just stepped on holy tile.  You are in the inner sanctum.  The burning bush of your world.  The holiest moment of your life is about to occur.  Listen.  You’ll hear the fluttering of angels’ wings signaling their arrival.  Trumpets are poised on heaven’s lips.  A cloud of majesty encircles your bare feet.  Heaven’s hosts cease all motion as you raise your eyes and…
          (Get ready.  Here it comes.  The holy moment is near.)
          Cymbals crash.  Trumpets echo in sacred halls.  Heaven’s children race through the universe scattering flower petals.  Stars dance.  The universe applauds.  Trees sway in choreographed adulation.  And well they should, for the child of the King has awakened.  Look in the mirror.  Behold the holy one.  Don’t turn away.  The image of perfection is looking back at you.  The holy moment has arrived.”
     Holy?  Look again, you look anything but holy, at least in your mind.  But ponder!  We read in Hebrews, “Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (10:14, NIV)  “Underline the word perfect.  Note that the word is not better.  Not improving.  Not on the upswing.  God doesn’t improve; He perfects.  He doesn’t enhance; He completes.” (Lucado)  But note also, “being made holy.”
     We try to cover our imperfections.  Bumps, pimples, moles, scars, wrinkles and we do it in various and sometimes ingenious ways.  Get this, when God sees us, He also sees Christ.  Paul tells us, “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3, NIV)  We are hidden in perfection–the perfection of Christ.
          Lucado goes on with his imagery.  “No wonder heaven applauds when you wake up.  A masterpiece has stirred.”
     That holy moment has occured this morning, and ponder–it happens every morning.  When we wake up a child of the King has awakened!
               “Oh yes, oh yes, I’m a child of the king
               His royal blood now flows in my veins…”
                       –Cindy Walker
     On top of that, know that this day is special.  The Psalmist wrote, “This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (118:24, NKJV)  This day, right now, this moment has been given to you.  All that comes your way this day is from the Lord or has been allowed by Him.  Nothing on this day has slipped His notice.  He has given this particular day, and all others, to His child.  So in one way, as we worship in truth, every moment is a holy moment.  The words of Joseph Alleine come back to my mind, “Let us live this one day well!”
         
(Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm, 1991)

As a man, you have the responsibility to lead, teach, cover your family with your life. If you fail in this, you fail as a man.”
                    –B.N. Rundell  (The Trail to Retaliation)

     “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”
                    –Philippians 2:5 (NIV)
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Proverbs 10:12:
     “Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.” (NKJV)
     “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” (ESV)

       Bob Beasley simply puts it like this, “Sin separates us from intimate fellowship with both God and our neighbors.  Love reunites in its perfect bond.”  We read in Peter that “love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8).  Now, don’t get the wrong idea.  Love does not hide sin.  As we repent, love covers our sin (atonement).  This verse does not deal so much with our salvation as with relationships.  The New King James Study Bible states, “This verse describes interpersonal relationships, not salvation.  When people respond in love to each other, they cover over the sins, or offenses, that would otherwise come between them.”
       Right from the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned, “their bond of intimacy slipped away” (Beasley).  They realized their shame and tried to cover their sin.  They knew that some type of covering was needed.  God had to intervene and in His love, “covered them with the skins of animals, slain in anticipation of the One who would be slain for their salvation and eternal unity with Him.” (Beasley)  
       We must also not get confused over the term “love.”  Superficial, pseudo-love is worthless.  The term is thrown around very loosely today.  Love is not happiness; oh it can bring happiness, but love is commitment and sacrifice.  It is not self-serving, but serving, the giving of self.  This is the love that covers offenses.  Fausset declares, “Love does not condone sin, but takes no notice of a friend’s errors.”  It is important to understand that a relationship is involved.
       Look at our country.  There is much hatred and it has stirred up much strife.  It keeps, what Charles Bridges says, “alive rankling coldness, disgust, dislikes.”  There is no forgiveness, no love, but only anger and strife.  This hatred is insatiable, hate breeds hate.  Know this, as J.L. Flores points out, “hatred is blind” it strikes out at whomever is in its way.  Hatred indeed stirs up strife even within the calm, decent person.  The serene, peaceful lake only requires some disturbance to stir up the mud lying at the bottom.  “Malicious hatred will but incite to more sin.” (Flores)  The calm person to whom hatred is shown all of a sudden reacts because of the stirring, the strife.
       Though love covers all offenses, at least it tries to, but remember that even though love attempts to end the strife and hatred, the person must be willing to accept the love, the covering, the pardon that is offered.  There are some who enjoy having a bitter spirit, some who live to stir up hatred.  I reiterate that this love does not deal with salvation but with relationship. We often take 1 John 1:9 out of context and apply it to everyone.  John was writing to Christians, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (NKJV)  This is relational.  We are children of God, therefore He is there to hear our repentance and to forgive.  His great love covers all offenses.  

It struck her suddenly and strangely that to know the real truth about anything in life might require infinite experience and understanding. How could one feel immense gratitude and relief, or the delight of satisfying acute hunger, or the sweet comfort of rest, unless there had been circumstances of extreme contrast?”
                    –Zane Grey  (The Call of the Canyon)

       “Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, And will have mercy on His afflicted.”
                    –Isaiah 49:13 (NKJV)
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         “Blessed are the meek:  for they shall inherit the earth.”  –Matthew 5:5 (KJV)

Many times he had found himself in the presence of death, and long ago it had ceased to frighten him.”
                    –James Oliver Curwood  (Back to God’s Country)

       “Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”
                    –Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)
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No, I am not dwelling on death, but it does cross my mind now and again since my heart attack, and I’m almost six years past my allotted time.  Now mind you, I’ll take whatever time the Lord gives me, and no, I’m not morbid, wringing my hands as to when it’s going to happen.  Look at the news and ponder…  This is a world of death.  Death’s owner, the devil smiles whenever another one dies especially if they do not know the Lord.  General Harold Moore said this regarding the world and the battle we face, “This is perhaps the ultimate terror:  to be lost and alone in a hostile land where the next man you meet wants only to kill you.”  He was speaking, of course, of the war in Vietnam.  However, there is more truth in what he says in the spiritual sense as well.  
     Many of us as we journeyed through this life have faced many and myriad wilderness experiences.  Some have wandered in the dry and hot deserts of life.  Some were in the rugged mountains, or the dense jungles.  Some may have experienced them all at one time or another, but know this–no one survives the final wilderness journey of death.  Oh, in the bright days of life we may mock death.  We “tip our hat and take our last ride,” but in reality are we ready for it?  If you are a Christian it is but a last ride in this life, but oh, the rides that await us in eternity.  To the unbeliever death is a terror, an unknown, a mysterious, fearful phenomenon that, ready or not, must be faced.
     This wilderness may not be your own now, but surely one day it will be.  Right now it may be the loss of a dear loved one; that in itself is a special ordeal.  Sorrow is a wilderness all of its own and everyone who has faced the death of a loved one must deal with it.  As Christians we most certainly believe as Paul, “To die is gain”; however, facing it is another thing entirely.  Some call it “crossing the Divide,” others “crossing over Jordan”; those terms in themselves declare the struggle of crossing through the experiences that may be faced in the wilderness.
     People mockingly joke, “He is so heavenly-minded that he is no earthly-good”; but perhaps this is the answer or a help in the wilderness of death.  Since the road of the journey of life stops, the answer lies on the other side of the veil, the river, the divide.  To be properly prepared, we need to focus on eternity in heaven realizing the brevity oflife on this earth.
     Yes, it is a mystery, even for the Christian.  What is it that is needed to face this new journey?  I would say four essential things.  First, a pure heart, one that has been changed by the spiritual regeneration of the Holy Spirit.  Second, trust in the Word of God; God will do what He says.  Third, that great requirement of the Christian life and walk–faith; this coincides with knowing and trusting in the Word of God.  Fourth, hope, a wondrous hope in the promises of God, in heaven itself.  He has gone to prepare a place for us!  Someone once wrote, “An eternal hope is the oxygen of the soul.”  As we require oxygen to live this life on earth, perhaps it is that eternal hope that brings life to the soul enabling it to cross the wilderness of death.  And do not fear, the Lord will be there as He always has been holding your hand.

(much taken from Trails in the Wilderness)