“Traffic Reports…” (by Mel McGuire)

I drove my family to a friend’s house for a birthday party recently Now this friend lives about eighty miles away, and our trip involved driving in parts of three or four counties.

As a result, I was concerned about the status of the freeways along our route.  To insure a safe, and uninterrupted trip, I monitored the traffic reports along the way.

We eventually drove on nine (yeah, I said nine) different freeways to arrive at our destination. We could have used just three, but because of the traffic reports, we used nine…this time.

We never backtracked or went out of our way, and every freeway we got on was moving at or near the legal limit, (Modesty and common sense prohibit me from saying how “near”) because I heeded (acted on what I heard) the traffic reports.

Now to take advantage of traffic reports (of delays, closures, accidents and congestion), I needed to know three things; where I was, where I was going, and how I could get there.

When I heard a report of a delay on the road ahead of me, I would alter our route, but we never got off track, we kept going in our intended direction. The other thing I do is this, I have the stations that give traffic reports preset on my radio, and I know how often they give updates, so I don’t miss them.

That is how our walk with God is sometimes.  You need to know where you are (not where you should be or want to be), where you are going, and how you can get there.

Then you need to monitor God’s frequency for “traffic reports”.  You need to know where others have been delayed, had accidents, or where the “road is closed”.  This way, you don’t waste time and energy backtracking, getting lost, or getting stuck along your way.

Now some folks check in with God at the beginning of their journey.  Then they pop in a CD or a cassette and off they go, not thinking about the trouble they could avoid, if they would monitor the “traffic reports”.

Then once they get caught up in some congestion, they are scrambling to get some information on why they are stopped, how long they are going to be delayed, and what is an alternate route they can take (could have taken?).

There are few things as frustrating as sitting in a traffic jam, listening to the traffic report, and hearing about everybody else’s freeway but yours! Because now you have no answer to your questions, “What is the holdup? Why the delay? How much more of this must I endure?”

Theology lesson: Sometimes you just have to sit and wait, or go real slow.  See an overturned car or an ambulance taking away an accident victim.It could remind you to slow down, watch out for others, or obey the laws, so that the same thing doesn’t happen to you.

But not us, as soon as we clear the scene, we are flexing that right foot. (Hey, all the Highway Patrol officers are dealing with the accident, and I have to make up for lost time!)

God uses delays, and will even have you stop from time to time. You may not ever see the reason for it.  He has a purpose in it, even if it’s as simple as reminding us to keep Him tuned in, so we can get updated “traffic reports” and arrive at our final destination safely.

Tune Him in, you may be due for an update…

                                                                                     Psalms 32:8   (God is our “eye in the sky”)

“Plain Car…” (by Mel McGuire)

A previous work assignment allowed me to drive an unmarked police car, what we officially call a “dual purpose” vehicle, or in common terms, a plain car.

It is a police car, a bonafide emergency vehicle, equipped with lights and siren and all the things that make a police car a police car…except it’s not black and white.

I was giving a presentation to a group of elementary students and one of them commented, “That doesn’t look like a police car.”

I turned on all the lights…then the siren, and then used the loudspeaker to ask them, “Does it look like police car now?” They all yelled, “Yes!” And I got a message from the Lord about my “plain car”.

First, if the person inside the car is a police officer, that kind of makes the car a police car…there is a policeman in it, and the police come out of it. Just because it doesn’t look like what you’d expect doesn’t mean it isn’t genuine or official. It’s who is inside which matters.

Secondly, some of us are spiritual “plain cars”…we don’t look like believers. We fit in with normal traffic; people say and do things around us not knowing we are children of God.

Then they cross a line, break a rule, and we turn on our lights and sirens. Then they know we belong to God, get convicted, and they watch themselves around us. It’s easier to catch people slipping when you are in a plain car.

Finally, it is okay to be a “dual purpose” vehicle for the Lord. I’m not talking about living a double life, or having two separate identities (you know, the Sunday you, and the “rest of the week” you), but I do believe God has not called all of us to be “black and whites”. You can tell a black and white from a great distance, and sometimes God needs to catch people “in the act”, so they will repent and not deny.

Pastors and other spiritual leaders are called to be the black and whites, to obviously stand out, at all times in all situations. That is why they wear collars, and robes and vestments…to signify their place and role as spiritual leaders. But most of us need to work regular jobs, and go to school, and shop, and live “normal” lives…we need to fit in a variety of places.

We are plain cars. But when the situation calls for it, we are equipped with lights and sirens and a loudspeaker. We let it be known that the kingdom of God is present, because God lives in us and comes out of us.

We should be encouraged that while we are all not meant to be pastors, we all can minister. We can get closer to people, fit into more situations, and have a more intimate impact than the “official God representative”.

If people look closely, you can see the lights and other things that indicate a plain car is much more than that. The same is true with your life and lifestyle. If others look close enough, they can see the differences. Just because a light is not obvious, doesn’t mean it is hidden.

Being in the presence of a police car should make people want to do right. Being in your presence should make people want to live right…because you are living right…as a plain car. God’s plain car…Him in you, and jumping out of you!

J.A.R.V.I.S. (by Mel McGuire)

One of my pastors preached a message in which he used “Iron Man” to talk about what it means to be “in Christ”, using the Iron Man suit as in a symbolic way to illustrate how we are better “in him”. And he had to mention the “voice inside the suit”, aka JARVIS.

In his illustration, he reminded me of how Tony Stark, (Iron Man) would be in constant communication and corroboration with Jarvis. In the Marvel comics, Jarvis was Stark’s loyal butler but in the movie, Jarvis is the artificial intelligence that serves as Stark’s assistant.

Jarvis is the one who manages the suit, who monitors its functions and knows it’s capabilities and limitations. Iron Man relies on his wisdom, his counsel, and his honesty to perform his superhero activities.

In the film, you can see how Jarvis can show Tony things he otherwise does not see outside of his alter ego, Iron Man. He can call up information upon demand, and allows Iron Man to function at his maximum capacity and ability.

Of course, this led to me to consider the ministry of the Holy Spirit and His role in my life. If I am honest, my walk with Christ, my walk in Christ, is always easier and better when I access that “voice in my head”, the Holy Spirit. Like Jarvis, He is here to serve and make me better.

He acts as a counselor, a comforter or companion, and His wisdom and insight is irreplaceable. His presence, and my reliance upon it, allows me to operate not only most efficiently, but with full power.

He allows me to see things I otherwise could not, for He is tuned to the real world, the spiritual one. If I allow Him, He will monitor and manage my functions and keep me in the best possible position to perform at peak capacity.

Like Jarvis, He serves as an early warning system, advising when I am approaching dangerous limits. And like Jarvis, I can choose to ignore or refuse His counsel. In that case, He simply recalculates and is always ready to step in and do work at whatever point of crisis I may find myself.

If you can imagine Iron Man without Jarvis, (I cannot, the relationship is such a HUGE part of who Iron Man is to me), that would be most believers absent the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit.

But just like Tony Stark steps out of his Iron Man suit, there are times I simply disregard the impact of the Holy Spirit in my life. It happens.

We would all like to think that if we had the power and ability of Iron Man, we would never take the suit off! We would just become Iron Man and do hero stuff all day every day.

But if we still ignore our God-given “JARVIS”, then we are not ready to be super(natural) all day every day. Just like Iron Man is better with Jarvis, so too are we better when we walk in agreement with the Holy Spirit.

Open your eyes, open your ears, open your heart to the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is here to help, to make us all not just better, but our best.

“Tools…” (by Mel McGuire)

Years ago we bought my daughter a bed. Whoever put it together (it wasn’t me) didn’t do the best job, and consequently, the screws that hold the frame together were put in backwards. Anyone who walked real close could get scraped or impaled on the screws. The way the bed was positioned in the room made this highly unlikely, and the screws remained as they were.

Recently my wife decided to alter the bedroom set up, exposing the screws and raising the chances of injury. My job then became to remove the screws and put them back in correctly. All I needed was a screwdriver and a wrench. While both tools used together would make the job simpler, I opted to go with the screwdriver alone. The first screw was a Phillips head and came out without any issues. The next screw was a flathead and my multi-headed screwdriver really didn’t work that well. Eventually I got the second screw out and due to the effort involved, declared myself done.

The Lord was already convicting me as I made my way downstairs to inform my wife the final two screws (also flathead) would be too difficult to remove due to a lack of proper tools and the intense effort required to remove them. I don’t really remember what she said to communicate to me that my intentions were insufficient, only that I returned to the task…agitated and motivated.

God reminded me that He has given us certain tools; prayer, praise and worship, counsel, and the Word are just a few. They work best when used together and the right combination is the equivalent of “the right tool for the right job”. Too often we allow things that could hurt someone to remain in place for too long. Then when forced to correct them, we only bring the most convenient tool. We are then ready to give up and declare the project too difficult because we didn’t have the right tool for the job.

Specific spirit- led prayers, founded on and incorporating established principles and promises in God’s word, backed up by praise in advance, and worship “just because”. Counsel that is rooted in the Word, sealed by prayer, and celebrated in praise. These are effective, proven, winning combinations that can correct most problems. Fasting can act like a lubricant, to loosen the atmosphere of the flesh so God can have His way. Be willing to put in the effort, it may save someone from a serious injury down the road.

Tools, like spiritual weapons, are designed to complement each other and when used properly, can make any job seem easier. In my case, I located a wrench and when combined with the screwdriver, I was able to fix the final two screws with less effort and in less time than the first two. When I was done, I marveled at how easy the job was…once I used the correct tools for the job. Assess your situation, then access your necessary tools.

Use all of the tools God has given you. Use them in conjunction and support of each other. That is key to unlocking the various challenges we all must eventually face. Choose, then use the right tool for the job.