September 2, 2013
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: Matthew 7:7 " Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
All of Christianity at it's core is paradoxical and that is part of the great mystery that God has prepared for us. The teachings of Jesus Christ from 2,000 years ago are still as relevant today as they were then and just as hard to comprehend, let alone to live out in the fallen world that we live in. We want to be satisfied, pleasured, catered to and taken care of on our terms and in our time. That is the truth. But the real Truth cries out for a different realty. Serve others first. The first shall be last and the last shall be first. The meek shall inherit the earth. We gain territory by yielding it. Love your neighbor as yourself. We can't do it by ourselves. Our power is made perfect in weakness. His grace is sufficient for us. Be still. Rest. Wait a second. What is the Bible telling us to do? Pretty much everything that is the polar opposite of what the world is telling us to do.
Anything so different leaves you hungry for more. There are times I simply crave more of what Jesus says, does and teaches us. There are also times where breakthroughs happen and it all makes sense, totally relevant to what my current struggles may look like and or just the right word at the right time. In those moments, the satisfaction meter is 100%. I can't feel any more content. Nothing in the world would add to the wisdom of eternity falling down upon my shoulders.
But those moments don't ever seem to last for as long as I wish they would, no does my humanity allow me to humbly live them out the way I wish I could; the way that Jesus mirrored for us. And that leaves me hungry for me. More answers, more finding. more wisdom, more growth. It never really ends does it? The more Jesus teaches us, the more wisdom we gain, the more we see how it brings peace into our lives and satisfaction that we are loved by the Creator of the world and His Son, the more we crave more! SATISFIED, YET HUNGRY FOR MORE! Sometimes we can even learn to rest and "let the peace that surpasses all understanding, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." ( Philippians 4:7) Oh if only the "next thing" would stay away for just a little longer, so the peace of resting in Jesus could last a little longer. You know, the next sales call, the next lost deal, the next piece of news of the world falling into utter chaos, the next anxious boss, or spouse, or unhappy child. The next beer or numbing agent of choice to cover our pain. The next thought from the past that still finds space in our attic to haunt us. The next regret.
The Bible verse of the day speaks to our need for interaction with Christ on a regular basis as necessary. Why? For our own sanity and peace! When we ask, He does answer. When we seek, we do find. When we knock, the door is opened. Not always in the way we expect. Not always in our timing. Not always as a cosmic vending machine, given us all we say or think we want. But always does He give us what we need! Sometimes we need patience. Sometimes we need pruning. Sometimes we need discipline or to trust Him more. Sometimes we need to be still. But always do we need prayer time with Him. He desires us to pray without ceasing ( Thessalonians 5:17 ) Why? Because He loves us and desires us to spend time alone with Him in His presence so He can teach us, guide us, love us. Why is that so hard for me sometimes. Do I crave alone time with myself? Yes, even though there are many times when I can't even stand being around myself. My spouse, my kids, my friends? Yes. Then why not even more so with the God of the Universe, My Creator and Redeemer? My Lord and Savior. My Eternal Father who knows what I need from Him before I even think it?
When I seek Him with all my heart, I will find Him. I always do. He never moves. I know His address. He is like 7-11, always open. In those moments when I get it and put all my distractions aside and seek the best this life has to offer, His wisdom, peace and love, I can find true satisfaction. Satisfaction so great it leaves me hungry for more. Forever Hungry, Forever Satisfied. The great paradox of Christianity. A puzzle, inside a riddle, wrapped in an enigma. I wouldn't want it any other way. Oh wait a minute. Yes I would. I would want it my way. Frank Sinatra sang about it. Pride is a tough beast to slay. God, help me to truly want it your way. That is where true freedom and peace lay. Surrender begins when we admit we don't have all the answers, or even know all the questions. But you do Jesus. Help us to surrender to your marvelous mystery. Today!
Monday, September 2, 2013
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Lean into God
June 9th, 2013
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Psalm 43:1 " Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine."
We live in a time and place where there is plenty of fear to go around. All one has to do is to open up a newspaper or turn on the news to get an instant feel for the how messed up our world is. The U.S.Government spying on their own citizenry and using the IRS to target people who disagree with their agenda is reminiscent of George Orwell's futuristic thriller 1984, but it is no longer the future, it is the present, and it is scary because it is happening right here in the U.S.A. There are wars and rumors of wars all over the Middle East. North Korea threatens the destruction of S. Korea, Japan and the U.S. on almost a regular basis now. Terrorists want to destroy the freedom that we enjoy as Americans, and they seem to be doing a good job at chipping away at our liberties in both subtle and overt ways.
We live in a broken world, that is desperate for the truth of what will make it all better and will help us deal with our fears. But the Truth is right before our eyes and our real internal freedom from all of our fears is right there alongside the Truth in Jesus Christ, who says in John 14:6 " I am the way, the truth and the life; No one can come to the Father except through me." The most important question we can ever ask ourselves in this lifetime is, do we believe Him? Do we believe that Jesus is who He said He was? Because if we believe Him, and we trust that in Him we have eternal life that can never be taken away from us, then that makes all of our other fears seem insignificant within the scope of that promise. Don't get me wrong, as humans we will struggle with fear because our nature is to want to control things and as we come to the stark realization there are so many things in this life that are beyond our control, our natural reaction is to become fearful. We can't control what is going on at our neighbors house, or in the guy's car next to us on the freeway or the rogue employee at the office who has had a bad fight with their spouse. But each of these people and situations has a chance to spill over directly into our lives and can have a tremendous effect on us and we can't stop it. A drunk driver next to us could suddenly swerve into our car and cause major damage or worse. A rogue employee can decide to take out their frustration by committing violence on innocent people and their is nothing we did to cause that, nor is there anything we can do to control that. Those types of thoughts about our ultimate lack of control can make us fearful.
But those are external events. What about our ability to control fear and remove anxiety from an internal perspective? Luckily, God has given us a road map of how we can lean into Him to find some real and everlasting internal peace amongst the chaos that is happening all around us. Prayer is the biggest tool that we have in our arsenal to alleviate our fears. As a matter of fact, God promises us that prayer can directly lead to peace. In Philippians 4:6-7 it says " Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Again, the question is do we believe it?
Another thing that we can do is to get our hearts right before the Lord. He promises to forgive us of our sins if we repent and turn to Him for forgiveness. For He alone can forgive our sins. We must realize that we are only as sick as our secrets. When we have nothing to hide, than we truly have nothing to fear. Often times, however, our initial reaction when we do something we are not proud of is to hide. We run away from God, rather than leaning into God to help us through the mess we have created. We try to justify our running away by saying things to ourselves like"what I did wasn't so bad compared to what this person does" or " no one got hurt as a result of what I did" or " I don't even think what I did was sinful," like somehow we get to play God and make judgements on what is sin and what isn't. But here is the real truth: We can't trick our souls! Our souls are the feedback mechanism God built into us to know when we do something wrong. Even little 1 year old babies have the ability to know when they do wrong. They usually let us know because they start to cry even before we have ever said anything about what they have done wrong! A dog slinks around the house when they know that they shouldn't have eaten the stuffing out of the chair. A drug addict even knows when they use that it is a bad choice, even though they may feel powerless to stop.
Even before I became a Christ follower, I knew right form wrong. I just didn't take time to stop and repent before God and ask for His forgiveness and guidance the next time the same situation occurred as I do now. Therefore I had never dealt with the root problem, my sin, and that caused me to be fearful because I was hiding something from God ( or thought I was, not realizing that He already knows everything I HAVE EVER DONE OR WILL DO. ) I was trying to run from Him, afraid He was like an angry traffic cop behind a billboard just waiting to cast judgement upon me. Guilty He would surely say! I didn't know if I was ready or able to handle His harsh response. Little did I know at the time that " there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," as Romans 8;1 tells us. In fact, I know now that He alone can remove that heavy load of guilt that I was carrying on my back from my life of unrepentant sin. Not only is there no condemnation, but there is actually freedom and peace in the place where guilt and fear once roamed. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says " Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I WILL GIVE YOUR REST!" Rest not only for our bodies, but for our tired souls. Why would we ignore such a blessing?
God knew the desperation of our sinful guilt and resulting fear, and that it why after Jesus had died on the cross for forgiveness of our sins, He sent the Holy Spirit as an advocate for our lives to lead us in ways of real truth. He said in John 15:4-5 " Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. For I AM the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
How can we remain in Christ even though Jesus has left the physical earth for now? God sent the answer in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads us in righteousness and in the way everlasting. We must pray to stay connected to God. We must read the Bible, the living word of God, to stay connected to God. We must fellowship with others to stay connected to God. We must love others, the way He has loved us, to stay connected to God. We must forgive others, including ourselves, as He has forgiven us. We must stop running and learn to lean into God when we make mistakes and fall in our sin. He is not surprised when we sin. In fact, I believe He is much more surprised when we don't! Repenting removes fear because it removes our desire to hide. It brings our weaknesses out into the open and it says, please God forgive me, for I am a weak and broken person and I am sorry. I want to lean into you and your strength, mercy and grace. God works well with humility. Humility aligns us with the Spirit of His Son, the most humble person to ever walk the face of this earth. He will work to restore our brokenness, heal our wounds and remove our fear. The question is, will we let Him?
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Psalm 43:1 " Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine."
We live in a time and place where there is plenty of fear to go around. All one has to do is to open up a newspaper or turn on the news to get an instant feel for the how messed up our world is. The U.S.Government spying on their own citizenry and using the IRS to target people who disagree with their agenda is reminiscent of George Orwell's futuristic thriller 1984, but it is no longer the future, it is the present, and it is scary because it is happening right here in the U.S.A. There are wars and rumors of wars all over the Middle East. North Korea threatens the destruction of S. Korea, Japan and the U.S. on almost a regular basis now. Terrorists want to destroy the freedom that we enjoy as Americans, and they seem to be doing a good job at chipping away at our liberties in both subtle and overt ways.
We live in a broken world, that is desperate for the truth of what will make it all better and will help us deal with our fears. But the Truth is right before our eyes and our real internal freedom from all of our fears is right there alongside the Truth in Jesus Christ, who says in John 14:6 " I am the way, the truth and the life; No one can come to the Father except through me." The most important question we can ever ask ourselves in this lifetime is, do we believe Him? Do we believe that Jesus is who He said He was? Because if we believe Him, and we trust that in Him we have eternal life that can never be taken away from us, then that makes all of our other fears seem insignificant within the scope of that promise. Don't get me wrong, as humans we will struggle with fear because our nature is to want to control things and as we come to the stark realization there are so many things in this life that are beyond our control, our natural reaction is to become fearful. We can't control what is going on at our neighbors house, or in the guy's car next to us on the freeway or the rogue employee at the office who has had a bad fight with their spouse. But each of these people and situations has a chance to spill over directly into our lives and can have a tremendous effect on us and we can't stop it. A drunk driver next to us could suddenly swerve into our car and cause major damage or worse. A rogue employee can decide to take out their frustration by committing violence on innocent people and their is nothing we did to cause that, nor is there anything we can do to control that. Those types of thoughts about our ultimate lack of control can make us fearful.
But those are external events. What about our ability to control fear and remove anxiety from an internal perspective? Luckily, God has given us a road map of how we can lean into Him to find some real and everlasting internal peace amongst the chaos that is happening all around us. Prayer is the biggest tool that we have in our arsenal to alleviate our fears. As a matter of fact, God promises us that prayer can directly lead to peace. In Philippians 4:6-7 it says " Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Again, the question is do we believe it?
Another thing that we can do is to get our hearts right before the Lord. He promises to forgive us of our sins if we repent and turn to Him for forgiveness. For He alone can forgive our sins. We must realize that we are only as sick as our secrets. When we have nothing to hide, than we truly have nothing to fear. Often times, however, our initial reaction when we do something we are not proud of is to hide. We run away from God, rather than leaning into God to help us through the mess we have created. We try to justify our running away by saying things to ourselves like"what I did wasn't so bad compared to what this person does" or " no one got hurt as a result of what I did" or " I don't even think what I did was sinful," like somehow we get to play God and make judgements on what is sin and what isn't. But here is the real truth: We can't trick our souls! Our souls are the feedback mechanism God built into us to know when we do something wrong. Even little 1 year old babies have the ability to know when they do wrong. They usually let us know because they start to cry even before we have ever said anything about what they have done wrong! A dog slinks around the house when they know that they shouldn't have eaten the stuffing out of the chair. A drug addict even knows when they use that it is a bad choice, even though they may feel powerless to stop.
Even before I became a Christ follower, I knew right form wrong. I just didn't take time to stop and repent before God and ask for His forgiveness and guidance the next time the same situation occurred as I do now. Therefore I had never dealt with the root problem, my sin, and that caused me to be fearful because I was hiding something from God ( or thought I was, not realizing that He already knows everything I HAVE EVER DONE OR WILL DO. ) I was trying to run from Him, afraid He was like an angry traffic cop behind a billboard just waiting to cast judgement upon me. Guilty He would surely say! I didn't know if I was ready or able to handle His harsh response. Little did I know at the time that " there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," as Romans 8;1 tells us. In fact, I know now that He alone can remove that heavy load of guilt that I was carrying on my back from my life of unrepentant sin. Not only is there no condemnation, but there is actually freedom and peace in the place where guilt and fear once roamed. In Matthew 11:28 Jesus says " Come unto me, all you who are weary and heavily burdened, and I WILL GIVE YOUR REST!" Rest not only for our bodies, but for our tired souls. Why would we ignore such a blessing?
God knew the desperation of our sinful guilt and resulting fear, and that it why after Jesus had died on the cross for forgiveness of our sins, He sent the Holy Spirit as an advocate for our lives to lead us in ways of real truth. He said in John 15:4-5 " Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. For I AM the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
How can we remain in Christ even though Jesus has left the physical earth for now? God sent the answer in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads us in righteousness and in the way everlasting. We must pray to stay connected to God. We must read the Bible, the living word of God, to stay connected to God. We must fellowship with others to stay connected to God. We must love others, the way He has loved us, to stay connected to God. We must forgive others, including ourselves, as He has forgiven us. We must stop running and learn to lean into God when we make mistakes and fall in our sin. He is not surprised when we sin. In fact, I believe He is much more surprised when we don't! Repenting removes fear because it removes our desire to hide. It brings our weaknesses out into the open and it says, please God forgive me, for I am a weak and broken person and I am sorry. I want to lean into you and your strength, mercy and grace. God works well with humility. Humility aligns us with the Spirit of His Son, the most humble person to ever walk the face of this earth. He will work to restore our brokenness, heal our wounds and remove our fear. The question is, will we let Him?
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Baby in a basket
June 3, 2013
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Proverbs 4:23 "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
If I am perfectly honest, I say that I am a devoted follower of Christ and that I am "all in," but in many instances my actions tell a completely different story. Oh, I indeed want to follow Christ and seek him with all of my heart and soul, its just that I keep letting the world and all of its worries, get in the way. It is like I want to have all ten toes in the water with Christ, but I keep finding myself with like 7 toes trying to hang on to something in this world. I want to give myself credit for "doing it my way", as Frank Sinatra used to sing about so proudly. But why? My way never works out so well and the things of this world that I still find myself distracted by and drawn to only leave me empty, frustrated and angry. Why can't we all get along and love each other the way we're supposed to? Why does our Government act as if they are above the people, instead of for the people? Why does the media endlessly promote all the negative news at the expense of the hopeful things that could make people feel more positive. I tell myself I am over all this, it saps my strength and leaves me depleted and that the peace that I find in Christ is an obvious oasis where I should spend all of my time. Psalm 46:10 exhorts me "to be still and know that I am God" and I have felt this calmness and crave to bottle it up and keep it always by my side.
Yet when opportunities come up to serve his kingdom and to bless others, many times my own fears or lack of convictions keep my from doing the vary things I wish to do. I can fully relate to Paul in Romans 7: 15 when he says " I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do." My heart screams "yes", this is the opportunity I have been waiting for to align myself with the Lord's servant heart. I know that if I act on these feelings, the reward is a connection to a loving Savior that is pleased with my compassion and which leaves me feeling euphoric and meaningful, for I have felt this on many of those such occasions. But many times, my mind and my body are tired, lazy or fearful. Instead of seeing opportunity, I see inconvenience.
I want to so desperately be free from the shackles of conditional servitude, but many times I play that game with God that if I do this for you, then what are you going to do for me? Will I get instant payback and have the laundry list of perceived wants fulfilled? Like God is some cosmic deal maker in the sky, like a Monte Hall: should I take the box or the curtain? of course not, because God loves me too much to give me what I think I want. Instead, He always gives me what i need and in His perfect timing. One thing I have finally started to realize in my walk with our gracious Lord is we do not do deals with Him. His word promises us that we will be richly rewarded for our acts of loving others with kindness, forgiveness and patience, but that it is best to serve in secret. Matthew 6:3-4 says that " when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that all of your giving may be in secret. Then you Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." I struggle with this one mightily because of my pride that fuels my need for recognition. Hey, did anyone see what I did today for this orphan or that widow? How about a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t for going out of my way to help someone or to give some of my hard earned money to a charity which I don't even really know about. I could have done a lot more with my time or resources than that. Of course, in all honesty, that was the best thing I could have ever done with my time and resources and it also made me feel better than anything else I could have done.
That is the amazing thing about God; He never let's us down and His words are always true and always will be.It is just we struggle so much in our broken humanness with the paradoxes. It is better to give than receive? The last shall be first? If someone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles? The meek shall inherit the earth? What happened to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? What about I deserve to have all that I can get because of.... fill in the blank. I mean, these things are so counter intuitive to the way I have been raised in this world, it requires total surrender of 48 years of human experiences in order to comply and of course, no one ever fully has or will except for Jesus himself. But here is the rub: When we fully trust in God through Christ Jesus, He can take away all of the fears and doubts and actually make us see the great value in His ways, which he reminds us in Isaiah 55:9 are so much higher and greater than our ways. When we learn to trust the way that the Mother of Baby Moses did, when she placed her baby in a basket, and sent him floating down the Nile into unknown territory with all of her hope and dreams resting solely on the large shoulders of her God, then we are truly free at last.
There are things that happen to us in this world that we simply were not designed to handle. Luckily, God tells us we don't have to. He is big enough to handle them for us. The question is do we trust Him? I have come to the firm belief that we are all one giant, faithful decision away from seeing His glory manifest itself in our lives in a tangible way. I mean He is a present God and He cares deeply about all of the details of our lives. He loves the world and everything in it, which by inference means He loves us and cares about us. He is not distant; he is present, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, as we struggle to pay our bills or as we plant flowers in our garden or as we work in technology to help develop a new way of speeding up our lives.That is a discussion for another day. Why do we really think that if we speed up our lives, we will somehow blow right past all of our problems, when in reality we need the complete opposite? We need to repent and ruthlessly eliminate all hurry in our life and spend time alone in the presence of our King, so we can hear His still voice. He is pleading with us to trust him. Why is it so hard for us to let go of whatever is holding us back? Psalm 127: 1-2 says " Unless the LORD builds the house the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late toiling for food to eat- for he grants sleep to those He loves." I see the Lord pleading with me in this verse that I don't need to work harder or to stay up later toiling, I NEED TO PRAY MORE! I NEED TO TRUST MORE.
I occasionally get a good glimpse of my prideful condition that keeps me from given Him all the glory in my life and it both saddens and sickens me. it shows me a glimmer of my despair and it is uncomfortable at best. Pride is the biggest threat to our fruitful relationship with Christ because it cuts off the source of all good fruit, the Vine which is Him, and offers a cheap substitute which can never last, which is us, the branches. No wonder why Proverbs 16:18 warns us that "first pride, then the fall." We have heard it said that for every 100 people that can handle failure, only 1 can handle success and that is because of our prideful condition that longs to feed the flesh. The battle that rages between Flesh ( evil ) and the Spirit ( God ) is a fierce one that every person is constantly engaged in. Love, hope, peace, kindness, vs lust, anger, pride, greed. It is spelled out it Galatians 5 and it is a battle that we can handle on our own. Many times, we don't even realize that we are in it and certainly not until we become a Christ follower.
When Christ is at the center of all of our lives, he starves our need to feed the fleshly desires we crave. When we truly align with Christ's heart, we find that we are able to do things that would be unimaginable on our own. We are able to forgive those who have hurt us badly in the past, be it in love or finances or abuse or whatever the situation. Sometimes, we are even able to forgive ourselves for the messy areas of our lives and the destructive wakes we have left behind. For when we truly believe that Christ loves and forgives us, and that the love is so deep that He was willing to die for forgiveness of those sins, then we are free to live the lives that He intended for us all along. We can become the earthly vessels through which His grace, love and mercy can flow. We become stewards in all the gifts he has given us, freely able to let them pass through us to grow and bless His kingdom. We can't fully comprehend a love so deep in our human condition. But we can learn to trust it.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Proverbs 4:23 "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
If I am perfectly honest, I say that I am a devoted follower of Christ and that I am "all in," but in many instances my actions tell a completely different story. Oh, I indeed want to follow Christ and seek him with all of my heart and soul, its just that I keep letting the world and all of its worries, get in the way. It is like I want to have all ten toes in the water with Christ, but I keep finding myself with like 7 toes trying to hang on to something in this world. I want to give myself credit for "doing it my way", as Frank Sinatra used to sing about so proudly. But why? My way never works out so well and the things of this world that I still find myself distracted by and drawn to only leave me empty, frustrated and angry. Why can't we all get along and love each other the way we're supposed to? Why does our Government act as if they are above the people, instead of for the people? Why does the media endlessly promote all the negative news at the expense of the hopeful things that could make people feel more positive. I tell myself I am over all this, it saps my strength and leaves me depleted and that the peace that I find in Christ is an obvious oasis where I should spend all of my time. Psalm 46:10 exhorts me "to be still and know that I am God" and I have felt this calmness and crave to bottle it up and keep it always by my side.
Yet when opportunities come up to serve his kingdom and to bless others, many times my own fears or lack of convictions keep my from doing the vary things I wish to do. I can fully relate to Paul in Romans 7: 15 when he says " I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do." My heart screams "yes", this is the opportunity I have been waiting for to align myself with the Lord's servant heart. I know that if I act on these feelings, the reward is a connection to a loving Savior that is pleased with my compassion and which leaves me feeling euphoric and meaningful, for I have felt this on many of those such occasions. But many times, my mind and my body are tired, lazy or fearful. Instead of seeing opportunity, I see inconvenience.
I want to so desperately be free from the shackles of conditional servitude, but many times I play that game with God that if I do this for you, then what are you going to do for me? Will I get instant payback and have the laundry list of perceived wants fulfilled? Like God is some cosmic deal maker in the sky, like a Monte Hall: should I take the box or the curtain? of course not, because God loves me too much to give me what I think I want. Instead, He always gives me what i need and in His perfect timing. One thing I have finally started to realize in my walk with our gracious Lord is we do not do deals with Him. His word promises us that we will be richly rewarded for our acts of loving others with kindness, forgiveness and patience, but that it is best to serve in secret. Matthew 6:3-4 says that " when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that all of your giving may be in secret. Then you Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." I struggle with this one mightily because of my pride that fuels my need for recognition. Hey, did anyone see what I did today for this orphan or that widow? How about a little r-e-s-p-e-c-t for going out of my way to help someone or to give some of my hard earned money to a charity which I don't even really know about. I could have done a lot more with my time or resources than that. Of course, in all honesty, that was the best thing I could have ever done with my time and resources and it also made me feel better than anything else I could have done.
That is the amazing thing about God; He never let's us down and His words are always true and always will be.It is just we struggle so much in our broken humanness with the paradoxes. It is better to give than receive? The last shall be first? If someone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles? The meek shall inherit the earth? What happened to an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth? What about I deserve to have all that I can get because of.... fill in the blank. I mean, these things are so counter intuitive to the way I have been raised in this world, it requires total surrender of 48 years of human experiences in order to comply and of course, no one ever fully has or will except for Jesus himself. But here is the rub: When we fully trust in God through Christ Jesus, He can take away all of the fears and doubts and actually make us see the great value in His ways, which he reminds us in Isaiah 55:9 are so much higher and greater than our ways. When we learn to trust the way that the Mother of Baby Moses did, when she placed her baby in a basket, and sent him floating down the Nile into unknown territory with all of her hope and dreams resting solely on the large shoulders of her God, then we are truly free at last.
There are things that happen to us in this world that we simply were not designed to handle. Luckily, God tells us we don't have to. He is big enough to handle them for us. The question is do we trust Him? I have come to the firm belief that we are all one giant, faithful decision away from seeing His glory manifest itself in our lives in a tangible way. I mean He is a present God and He cares deeply about all of the details of our lives. He loves the world and everything in it, which by inference means He loves us and cares about us. He is not distant; he is present, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, as we struggle to pay our bills or as we plant flowers in our garden or as we work in technology to help develop a new way of speeding up our lives.That is a discussion for another day. Why do we really think that if we speed up our lives, we will somehow blow right past all of our problems, when in reality we need the complete opposite? We need to repent and ruthlessly eliminate all hurry in our life and spend time alone in the presence of our King, so we can hear His still voice. He is pleading with us to trust him. Why is it so hard for us to let go of whatever is holding us back? Psalm 127: 1-2 says " Unless the LORD builds the house the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late toiling for food to eat- for he grants sleep to those He loves." I see the Lord pleading with me in this verse that I don't need to work harder or to stay up later toiling, I NEED TO PRAY MORE! I NEED TO TRUST MORE.
I occasionally get a good glimpse of my prideful condition that keeps me from given Him all the glory in my life and it both saddens and sickens me. it shows me a glimmer of my despair and it is uncomfortable at best. Pride is the biggest threat to our fruitful relationship with Christ because it cuts off the source of all good fruit, the Vine which is Him, and offers a cheap substitute which can never last, which is us, the branches. No wonder why Proverbs 16:18 warns us that "first pride, then the fall." We have heard it said that for every 100 people that can handle failure, only 1 can handle success and that is because of our prideful condition that longs to feed the flesh. The battle that rages between Flesh ( evil ) and the Spirit ( God ) is a fierce one that every person is constantly engaged in. Love, hope, peace, kindness, vs lust, anger, pride, greed. It is spelled out it Galatians 5 and it is a battle that we can handle on our own. Many times, we don't even realize that we are in it and certainly not until we become a Christ follower.
When Christ is at the center of all of our lives, he starves our need to feed the fleshly desires we crave. When we truly align with Christ's heart, we find that we are able to do things that would be unimaginable on our own. We are able to forgive those who have hurt us badly in the past, be it in love or finances or abuse or whatever the situation. Sometimes, we are even able to forgive ourselves for the messy areas of our lives and the destructive wakes we have left behind. For when we truly believe that Christ loves and forgives us, and that the love is so deep that He was willing to die for forgiveness of those sins, then we are free to live the lives that He intended for us all along. We can become the earthly vessels through which His grace, love and mercy can flow. We become stewards in all the gifts he has given us, freely able to let them pass through us to grow and bless His kingdom. We can't fully comprehend a love so deep in our human condition. But we can learn to trust it.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Enthusiasm in God
11-19-12
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Isaiah 40:31 " But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not grow faint."
Sometimes life is hard. If we are not careful, we can easily loose our joy due to the hardships that this world offers that never seem to be in short supply. Our health is failing, our loved ones are on drugs, our boss is a jerk, there is not enough money in the bank, or if there is, not enough time to enjoy it. We are getting old more quickly they we would like. This seems to be especially poignant around major holidays such as Thanksgiving when we wonder where the last year has gone or how it went by so quickly. The years sure do seem to speed up as you grow older. If we focus on the media and the news of any given day, there are plenty of things that will depress us. This past Presidential election cycle was enough to make even the most patriotic of Americans feel embarrassed by the lowliness of the campaign process. Is that the best we can do, I kept asking myself as I viewed viscous attack ad, one after another? Apparently so. I guess all it takes to become President of the United States these days is to artfully and ruthlessly vilify your opponent without ever having to put forth an actual plan of your own.
So where do we turn when the weight of the world is stealing our joy and we cant seem to see over the mountains that stand before us? I believe the answer is found in the Bible verse of the day above. If we place our hope in the Lord, wait upon the Lord, we will renew our strength. As a matter of fact, we will find an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm from aligning ourselves with the only One, through the energizing gift of the Holy Spirit, who can ever give us real strength and real peace. I learned while listening to a sermon the other day that the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek words En and Theos, which literally mean " In God." The more we align and spend time with God, the more energy we get. We actually feel like a gust of wind has lifted us up to soar like eagles and to run and not grow weary. I have found that we need to re-frame our problems from what is wrong with us, to what is right with God. Just that subjective change in mindset can truly set us free. They say a low view of God is the cause of 100 lesser evils, while a person with a high view of God is relived of 10,000 temporal problems. We cannot focus on God and help but feel our strength grow. Our fears can cripple us and leave us looking back on our lives and wondering why we hadn't tried more things or taken more chances. These regrets, called sins of omission, can stifle our happiness later in life. The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears. God says in Matthew 11:28 "come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and i will give you rest." He alone can give us the courage to go forward when we are out of strength. He alone can give us the enthusiasm for life deep in our soul when it seems all the world is caving in all around us.
As followers of Christ, it should be our birthright to be enthusiastic and to have a sense of destiny about life when we focus in on how great His love is for us. Where others see us a having a death wish, we really have a life wish. We want to take risks for the One who risked it all. As my Pastor said this weekend, all the other religions of the world focus on the word "do" as in what do you have to do to be saved? Wow, what a heavy burden to carry around with you, always wondering what else you have to do in order to be accepted by a judgmental God. Christianity focuses on the word "done" as in Christ has done it all for us. We are free from sin, from the guilt and shame that otherwise would have destroyed us if it were not taken care of us on the cross. Our sin tab reads PAID IN FULL. It is a hard concept in this world of go take what you want from the world, be your own boss, you deserve it, for us to get to a place where we can be energized in just knowing that there is nothing that is required from us other than accepting what already has been done for us by a merciful and loving God. When we really come to that place where we see how powerless we are to deal with our own sin, and yet we realize that we have a God who sent the Lamb of God in Jesus Christ to pay an atoning sacrifice for our collective sin, Christians should be the most energized people in the world. Not naively enthusiastic, recognizing that we all will experience seasons of sometimes tremendous pain in our earthly pilgrimage, but inherent enthusiasm welled up deep in our souls.
God loves insurmountable odds, and the Bible is full of the stories that prove this, just see David vs. Goliath or Gideon's army for a few reminders, because where we see obstacles, He sees opportunities. Opportunities to bring glory to His Kingdom by using saved sinners like us, the rag tag folks of God's Army, the weak to humble the strong of this world and to bring love to the hopeless. That is why only the weak can fight in His army. He needs to break us of all pride and then He can begin to restore us for His bigger plan and purpose for our lives. There should be tremendous enthusiasm in being a part of such a big plan. Jesus says throughout the scriptures that we must be like little children " For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." What are little children like? First off, they are totally dependent on others for their survival and contentment. Was that a big hint or what from our Lord? If you look at their personalities though, they tend to be eager, enthusiastic, playful, loving, trusting and not the least bit self conscious. They are alive and they are eager to experience life to its fullest. I believe God expects the same from His followers. There should be an enthusiastic expectancy to our lives as followers of Christ. I believe King David was a man, although certainly not immune to pain and heartache, who lived his life in an eager way that was dependent upon the Lord and full of enthusiasm for what he might do next. This is captured in one of his prayers in Psalm 5:3 " In the morning O Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." For that and many other reasons King David was known as a man after God's own heart. May we have the courage to live enthusiastically in and for God ourselves. He deserves nothing less from us.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Isaiah 40:31 " But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not grow faint."
Sometimes life is hard. If we are not careful, we can easily loose our joy due to the hardships that this world offers that never seem to be in short supply. Our health is failing, our loved ones are on drugs, our boss is a jerk, there is not enough money in the bank, or if there is, not enough time to enjoy it. We are getting old more quickly they we would like. This seems to be especially poignant around major holidays such as Thanksgiving when we wonder where the last year has gone or how it went by so quickly. The years sure do seem to speed up as you grow older. If we focus on the media and the news of any given day, there are plenty of things that will depress us. This past Presidential election cycle was enough to make even the most patriotic of Americans feel embarrassed by the lowliness of the campaign process. Is that the best we can do, I kept asking myself as I viewed viscous attack ad, one after another? Apparently so. I guess all it takes to become President of the United States these days is to artfully and ruthlessly vilify your opponent without ever having to put forth an actual plan of your own.
So where do we turn when the weight of the world is stealing our joy and we cant seem to see over the mountains that stand before us? I believe the answer is found in the Bible verse of the day above. If we place our hope in the Lord, wait upon the Lord, we will renew our strength. As a matter of fact, we will find an amazing amount of energy and enthusiasm from aligning ourselves with the only One, through the energizing gift of the Holy Spirit, who can ever give us real strength and real peace. I learned while listening to a sermon the other day that the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek words En and Theos, which literally mean " In God." The more we align and spend time with God, the more energy we get. We actually feel like a gust of wind has lifted us up to soar like eagles and to run and not grow weary. I have found that we need to re-frame our problems from what is wrong with us, to what is right with God. Just that subjective change in mindset can truly set us free. They say a low view of God is the cause of 100 lesser evils, while a person with a high view of God is relived of 10,000 temporal problems. We cannot focus on God and help but feel our strength grow. Our fears can cripple us and leave us looking back on our lives and wondering why we hadn't tried more things or taken more chances. These regrets, called sins of omission, can stifle our happiness later in life. The price of our vitality is the sum of all our fears. God says in Matthew 11:28 "come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and i will give you rest." He alone can give us the courage to go forward when we are out of strength. He alone can give us the enthusiasm for life deep in our soul when it seems all the world is caving in all around us.
As followers of Christ, it should be our birthright to be enthusiastic and to have a sense of destiny about life when we focus in on how great His love is for us. Where others see us a having a death wish, we really have a life wish. We want to take risks for the One who risked it all. As my Pastor said this weekend, all the other religions of the world focus on the word "do" as in what do you have to do to be saved? Wow, what a heavy burden to carry around with you, always wondering what else you have to do in order to be accepted by a judgmental God. Christianity focuses on the word "done" as in Christ has done it all for us. We are free from sin, from the guilt and shame that otherwise would have destroyed us if it were not taken care of us on the cross. Our sin tab reads PAID IN FULL. It is a hard concept in this world of go take what you want from the world, be your own boss, you deserve it, for us to get to a place where we can be energized in just knowing that there is nothing that is required from us other than accepting what already has been done for us by a merciful and loving God. When we really come to that place where we see how powerless we are to deal with our own sin, and yet we realize that we have a God who sent the Lamb of God in Jesus Christ to pay an atoning sacrifice for our collective sin, Christians should be the most energized people in the world. Not naively enthusiastic, recognizing that we all will experience seasons of sometimes tremendous pain in our earthly pilgrimage, but inherent enthusiasm welled up deep in our souls.
God loves insurmountable odds, and the Bible is full of the stories that prove this, just see David vs. Goliath or Gideon's army for a few reminders, because where we see obstacles, He sees opportunities. Opportunities to bring glory to His Kingdom by using saved sinners like us, the rag tag folks of God's Army, the weak to humble the strong of this world and to bring love to the hopeless. That is why only the weak can fight in His army. He needs to break us of all pride and then He can begin to restore us for His bigger plan and purpose for our lives. There should be tremendous enthusiasm in being a part of such a big plan. Jesus says throughout the scriptures that we must be like little children " For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." What are little children like? First off, they are totally dependent on others for their survival and contentment. Was that a big hint or what from our Lord? If you look at their personalities though, they tend to be eager, enthusiastic, playful, loving, trusting and not the least bit self conscious. They are alive and they are eager to experience life to its fullest. I believe God expects the same from His followers. There should be an enthusiastic expectancy to our lives as followers of Christ. I believe King David was a man, although certainly not immune to pain and heartache, who lived his life in an eager way that was dependent upon the Lord and full of enthusiasm for what he might do next. This is captured in one of his prayers in Psalm 5:3 " In the morning O Lord, you hear my voice. In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation." For that and many other reasons King David was known as a man after God's own heart. May we have the courage to live enthusiastically in and for God ourselves. He deserves nothing less from us.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
We are His beloved
10-23-2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: 1st John 4:19 " We love because He first loved us."
Can you imagine the state we would be in as humans, full of our guilt and sin, if God had told us that before He could love us, we needed to get ourselves cleaned up, straightened out and rid of all the junk in our lives that keeps us from closer fellowship with Him? He would be a very lonely God because there would be no one that He could love. But thankfully for us, God is merciful and desires above all else a close and intimate relationship with His people who populate the earth. In fact, he loves us so much that rather than making us do anything to be more loveable, he sent His only begotten Son in Jesus Christ to earth to take care of our sin problem and our unrighteousness right here on earth, so that we could be reconciled back to him and His love right in the place where we were. In other words, in our sinful nature. Romans 5:8 proves His immense love for us when it states that " But God demonstrates His own love for us for us in this; While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Wow, that is a powerful verse. It says to me that God so understood the depth of our sin problem and our inability to do anything about it, that He sent us a life line in Jesus Christ, to bear the burden of the world's sin on His own shoulders and paying our sin tab in full. The message is clear, we are powerless to deal with sin, except through the strength, grace and wisdom found in and through Jesus Christ. All other religions of the world are reaching out to God in their guilt, trying to earn their way out of their sinfulness by the good deeds they are doing in their own eyes, hoping to get that insurance policy in the sky to cover the wickedness of the hearts. But Isaiah 64:6 shows the ineptitude of that approach " All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our good deeds and righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." What we see as good works, God sees as filthy rags. They are literally nothing when viewed through His eyes. They are an affront to Him, They can never compare and measure up to His holiness, when He was willing to risk it all and take the sin of the fallen world and place it on his Son on the cross. So while the other religions of the world struggle to feel ok about their guilt, and themselves, through their fruitless efforts to please God, God reaches out to us in His Son and says here is your salvation, sent just for you, take and drink of Him, who alone can save you. He is available to all people, and only your foolish pride can keep you from accepting His redemption for your sinfulness. He alone can set you free, will you let Him? So, my natural response is, what should we do to respond to a love that is so great and so undeserving? Well, in the verse of the day, 1st John 4;19 he tells us what to do: Love others. Because He loved us first, we must love others and share with them the good news of the gospel. In fact, he warns us later in 1st John 4:20-21 how serious He is about us loving others when he says " If anyone says I love you, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." We are freed up to love others, even those who are unlovable, because deep down in the depth of our souls, we have been set free by the fact that He loved us first. The world needs to know this kind of love, for it is the only true love that exists in the world. Augustine said there are only two types of love: The love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God. Which way are most of us living today? As selfish lovers of self, and it is literally starving the world of the ral love found only in God. As humans, our love is imperfect. It is jealous, anxious and often flawed. But God's love is perfect, holy and ever lasting. Human beings are prone to hurt one another. We tell each other mean, judgmental things, like that we no longer are in love with you. Things that cause pain and hurt and agony. God says just the opposite. In Hebrews 13:5 He says that no matter what you do or have done " I will never leave you or forsake you." There is another assurance we can bank on in Romans 8:1 ' Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." He has removed all of our sins as far as the East is from the West. Why would we not want what God is freely giving and what this world so desperately needs? Unconditional love, free from guilt and shame. Hebrews 2:3 says " How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" The answer is we wont. Romans 14:11-12 assures us " That as surely as I live says the Lord, that every knee will bow before me and every tongue confess to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God." Why not freely accept the love of God found only in Jesus Christ." Now go and love one another so that people can see the love of God in you. Fathers love your children and your spouses and keep the place in your family that is of vital importance. Children love your parents for they are doing their best to help you deal with this darkened world. Love those who persecute you, for then you will be aligned with the selfless love of God. God cares about our heart alignment and wants us to reflect his gracious heart of forgiveness and humility. Humility onto love on the cross. Love so amazing. Love so amazing.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the day: 1st John 4:19 " We love because He first loved us."
Can you imagine the state we would be in as humans, full of our guilt and sin, if God had told us that before He could love us, we needed to get ourselves cleaned up, straightened out and rid of all the junk in our lives that keeps us from closer fellowship with Him? He would be a very lonely God because there would be no one that He could love. But thankfully for us, God is merciful and desires above all else a close and intimate relationship with His people who populate the earth. In fact, he loves us so much that rather than making us do anything to be more loveable, he sent His only begotten Son in Jesus Christ to earth to take care of our sin problem and our unrighteousness right here on earth, so that we could be reconciled back to him and His love right in the place where we were. In other words, in our sinful nature. Romans 5:8 proves His immense love for us when it states that " But God demonstrates His own love for us for us in this; While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Wow, that is a powerful verse. It says to me that God so understood the depth of our sin problem and our inability to do anything about it, that He sent us a life line in Jesus Christ, to bear the burden of the world's sin on His own shoulders and paying our sin tab in full. The message is clear, we are powerless to deal with sin, except through the strength, grace and wisdom found in and through Jesus Christ. All other religions of the world are reaching out to God in their guilt, trying to earn their way out of their sinfulness by the good deeds they are doing in their own eyes, hoping to get that insurance policy in the sky to cover the wickedness of the hearts. But Isaiah 64:6 shows the ineptitude of that approach " All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all of our good deeds and righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away." What we see as good works, God sees as filthy rags. They are literally nothing when viewed through His eyes. They are an affront to Him, They can never compare and measure up to His holiness, when He was willing to risk it all and take the sin of the fallen world and place it on his Son on the cross. So while the other religions of the world struggle to feel ok about their guilt, and themselves, through their fruitless efforts to please God, God reaches out to us in His Son and says here is your salvation, sent just for you, take and drink of Him, who alone can save you. He is available to all people, and only your foolish pride can keep you from accepting His redemption for your sinfulness. He alone can set you free, will you let Him? So, my natural response is, what should we do to respond to a love that is so great and so undeserving? Well, in the verse of the day, 1st John 4;19 he tells us what to do: Love others. Because He loved us first, we must love others and share with them the good news of the gospel. In fact, he warns us later in 1st John 4:20-21 how serious He is about us loving others when he says " If anyone says I love you, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love love God, whom he has not seen. And He has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother." We are freed up to love others, even those who are unlovable, because deep down in the depth of our souls, we have been set free by the fact that He loved us first. The world needs to know this kind of love, for it is the only true love that exists in the world. Augustine said there are only two types of love: The love of God unto the forgetfulness of self, or the love of self unto the forgetfulness and denial of God. Which way are most of us living today? As selfish lovers of self, and it is literally starving the world of the ral love found only in God. As humans, our love is imperfect. It is jealous, anxious and often flawed. But God's love is perfect, holy and ever lasting. Human beings are prone to hurt one another. We tell each other mean, judgmental things, like that we no longer are in love with you. Things that cause pain and hurt and agony. God says just the opposite. In Hebrews 13:5 He says that no matter what you do or have done " I will never leave you or forsake you." There is another assurance we can bank on in Romans 8:1 ' Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." He has removed all of our sins as far as the East is from the West. Why would we not want what God is freely giving and what this world so desperately needs? Unconditional love, free from guilt and shame. Hebrews 2:3 says " How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?" The answer is we wont. Romans 14:11-12 assures us " That as surely as I live says the Lord, that every knee will bow before me and every tongue confess to God. So then each of us will give an account of himself to God." Why not freely accept the love of God found only in Jesus Christ." Now go and love one another so that people can see the love of God in you. Fathers love your children and your spouses and keep the place in your family that is of vital importance. Children love your parents for they are doing their best to help you deal with this darkened world. Love those who persecute you, for then you will be aligned with the selfless love of God. God cares about our heart alignment and wants us to reflect his gracious heart of forgiveness and humility. Humility onto love on the cross. Love so amazing. Love so amazing.
Monday, October 8, 2012
The Judge Without a Court
10-8-2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Romans 2:1-4 " You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things. Now we know that God's judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgement on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgement? Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you to repentance."
I am a man in dire need of repentance based on the verse above because I am guilty in my sin of judgement. I live my life in a way that is at odds with this teaching, even if by my power I try my best not to. And you see, that is where the problem lies. I cannot live the life I am called to live as a Christian, as a follower of a Christ, on my own terms and in my own power. My self-righteousness quickly gets in the way and condemns me of being guilty of judgement of others. Who am I, a mere man, to judge others and where does that lack of tolerance come from? I believe it comes from allowing the world in which I live to corrupt my thinking and from not being grounded deep enough in the true teachings and understanding of who Christ is and how he taught. He taught nothing but compassion and tolerance. In every person he saw a child of God who was worthy of His calling and time, and never did he judge someone based on their past behavior without throwing them a life line to a new life of hope in him. He understood fully our human weakness and our moral frailty. Brenning Manning, in the book Abbas's Child, points out the paradoxical challenge of Christ's life on earth to His followers by noting how He got involved with the " moral failures, the irreligious and and immoral people; so many dubious, obscure, abandoned, hopeless types, existing as an eradicable evil, on the fringes of ever society." My God, if Jesus Christ himself was so compassionate and patient towards those people in his time on this earth, turning towards them with gracious kindness so that they may still be "saved" up and until their last dying breath, who am I or is anyone else to cast our own judgement upon those same people when we don't even have a court in which to judge? Lord have mercy on me and forgive me of my sin! In today's world, the AIDS carriers, the drug addicts, the sexual predators, the dregs of society, would be the first ones that Jesus would probably reach out to because of their being ostracized in society. How hard of a message is that to hear with our human understandings and limitations? Impossible! According to Manning, "the Pharisee lurking within all of us shuns sinners, while Jesus turns toward them with gracious compassion." The only way we can ever get to the place where we can look at things through His eyes is to totally surrender to our way of thinking and to remove all pride from our lives that assumes that we have some moral authority over those whom have chosen to reject God. We are so quick as Christians to judge those that have chosen to live their life in a way that doesn't measure up to our own make believe standards. What a joke that is and an insult that must be to the Risen Lord. As a matter of fact, it is those same people who Christ may put in our path so that we can illustrate to them what true, non judgmental, love looks like. Romans 5:5 says " The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us." The challenge is do we use that love of God to the best of our abilities and in a way that would be pleasing to him? I am first to admit that I often fail in this area, as I am way to quick to cast dispersions on those who I deem as unholy. Just typing that makes me sick to my stomach when it becomes apparent that next to Jesus Christ, who reveals in His human life what it looks life to live a divine life, full of compassion, grace and mercy, just how guilty in my human ignorance I am. I fully realize that we as sinners our never able to even come close to approaching the life of God incarnate on this earth, but yet my utter lack of tolerance in some situations still startles me. I am reminded to run to the cross and repent when these episodes of judgement are revealed to me, so that I can live a radical life as one who is beloved by a God who forgives me of ALL of my sin through the blood of my savior Jesus Christ. Without that assurance, I would be truly dead in all my transgressions, with no hope for redemption or eternal life. God calls us to a life of forgiveness, which is counter cultural in a world that demands an eye for an eye at best, and a much more uneven retribution against those who have harmed us at worse. In the Lord's prayer, we ask God to "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." We have seemed to forget what He is really teaching us here, that He forgives us without limit, an unpayable debt ( The meaning of 70x 7 ) and expects us to have our hearts positioned in the same manner. Only a complete and radical trust in a Source greater than ourselves, and a total abandonment to our own flesh, can empower us to truly forgive the wounds inflicted upon us by others. May the Lord of all strength, power and glory give us the ability to do so. For there in lies true freedom, free of judgement and revenge, the truest Christian who can say they did their best to follow the example for which He died upon the cross, forgiveness of our sins. For even in His last breath, in Luke 23:34 Jesus turns to His accuser and says "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible Verse of the Day: Romans 2:1-4 " You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgement on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgement do the same things. Now we know that God's judgement against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgement on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God's judgement? Or do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you to repentance."
I am a man in dire need of repentance based on the verse above because I am guilty in my sin of judgement. I live my life in a way that is at odds with this teaching, even if by my power I try my best not to. And you see, that is where the problem lies. I cannot live the life I am called to live as a Christian, as a follower of a Christ, on my own terms and in my own power. My self-righteousness quickly gets in the way and condemns me of being guilty of judgement of others. Who am I, a mere man, to judge others and where does that lack of tolerance come from? I believe it comes from allowing the world in which I live to corrupt my thinking and from not being grounded deep enough in the true teachings and understanding of who Christ is and how he taught. He taught nothing but compassion and tolerance. In every person he saw a child of God who was worthy of His calling and time, and never did he judge someone based on their past behavior without throwing them a life line to a new life of hope in him. He understood fully our human weakness and our moral frailty. Brenning Manning, in the book Abbas's Child, points out the paradoxical challenge of Christ's life on earth to His followers by noting how He got involved with the " moral failures, the irreligious and and immoral people; so many dubious, obscure, abandoned, hopeless types, existing as an eradicable evil, on the fringes of ever society." My God, if Jesus Christ himself was so compassionate and patient towards those people in his time on this earth, turning towards them with gracious kindness so that they may still be "saved" up and until their last dying breath, who am I or is anyone else to cast our own judgement upon those same people when we don't even have a court in which to judge? Lord have mercy on me and forgive me of my sin! In today's world, the AIDS carriers, the drug addicts, the sexual predators, the dregs of society, would be the first ones that Jesus would probably reach out to because of their being ostracized in society. How hard of a message is that to hear with our human understandings and limitations? Impossible! According to Manning, "the Pharisee lurking within all of us shuns sinners, while Jesus turns toward them with gracious compassion." The only way we can ever get to the place where we can look at things through His eyes is to totally surrender to our way of thinking and to remove all pride from our lives that assumes that we have some moral authority over those whom have chosen to reject God. We are so quick as Christians to judge those that have chosen to live their life in a way that doesn't measure up to our own make believe standards. What a joke that is and an insult that must be to the Risen Lord. As a matter of fact, it is those same people who Christ may put in our path so that we can illustrate to them what true, non judgmental, love looks like. Romans 5:5 says " The love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us." The challenge is do we use that love of God to the best of our abilities and in a way that would be pleasing to him? I am first to admit that I often fail in this area, as I am way to quick to cast dispersions on those who I deem as unholy. Just typing that makes me sick to my stomach when it becomes apparent that next to Jesus Christ, who reveals in His human life what it looks life to live a divine life, full of compassion, grace and mercy, just how guilty in my human ignorance I am. I fully realize that we as sinners our never able to even come close to approaching the life of God incarnate on this earth, but yet my utter lack of tolerance in some situations still startles me. I am reminded to run to the cross and repent when these episodes of judgement are revealed to me, so that I can live a radical life as one who is beloved by a God who forgives me of ALL of my sin through the blood of my savior Jesus Christ. Without that assurance, I would be truly dead in all my transgressions, with no hope for redemption or eternal life. God calls us to a life of forgiveness, which is counter cultural in a world that demands an eye for an eye at best, and a much more uneven retribution against those who have harmed us at worse. In the Lord's prayer, we ask God to "forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us." We have seemed to forget what He is really teaching us here, that He forgives us without limit, an unpayable debt ( The meaning of 70x 7 ) and expects us to have our hearts positioned in the same manner. Only a complete and radical trust in a Source greater than ourselves, and a total abandonment to our own flesh, can empower us to truly forgive the wounds inflicted upon us by others. May the Lord of all strength, power and glory give us the ability to do so. For there in lies true freedom, free of judgement and revenge, the truest Christian who can say they did their best to follow the example for which He died upon the cross, forgiveness of our sins. For even in His last breath, in Luke 23:34 Jesus turns to His accuser and says "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Fear Not
7-17-2012
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the Day: Psalm 23:4 " Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;If your rod and staff, they comfort me."
If we are truly walking with the Lord, spending time in the word and following His directions for our lives, we should be the most courageous souls on the face of the earth. We should be bold as Lions. We know that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain should the worst thing that could possibly happen to us, we die, actually happen for as Paul said in Philippians 1:21 ' for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." This should free us up to charge ahead in our pursuits of whatever the task at hand is that God is calling us to pursue. So why don't we? Why do I still struggle so much with my fears? I have been pondering this a lot lately because I do know that the most common phrase in the Bible is Fear Not and I truly believe it can be attainable to live this way, but yet I still struggle with totally surrendering all of my fears to the Lord. I find that whenever I try to take the wheel, and drive the car that is my life on my terms or with what I feel are my rights, the fears coming flying in and although it sounds easy to just say I will stop trying to be captain of my ship, I find it to be quite difficult at times. I guess as much as I try to control it and am aware of the pitfalls that accompany my quest for my will and my way to be done, my prideful human condition can still creep in and mess with God's perfect plans for my life. I am torn because I truly know that God's way is the best way, the path that leads to real freedom and true life. I have even occasionally been quite bold in the manifestations of my faith for His eternal purposes. But I don't seem to be able to sustain or maintain the energy that builds up when I am living for the one and only real Truth in this life. I get distracted so easily by so many trivial things, be it the latest political news, or the pending collapse of the Country I love from both moral as well as financial bankruptcy, or the pretty girl at the club who is somehow working out in an outfit that together doesn't even encompass a cocktail napkin's worth of material. Many blessings are currently overflowing in my life, and I am fully aware and fully grateful. I feel the Holy Spirit all around me, and His presence comforts me in my prayers and guides me in my walk. I feel close to the Lord when I am faithful, as He is always faithful. I want to do big things for the Lord at all times and yet sometimes I find it difficult to even take a step forward towards that courageous decision that needs to made on His behalf and where I am convinced that fearless living resides. Instead of being and living as a vessel for which and through which God can use me for what I was created for, I tend to think of me and my limitations, my past stumbles and my lack of confidence in so many areas of my life and I feel unable to do it. But then I remember the Bible is full of heroes who never felt worthy of the calling God put on their lives, but they learned how to fully surrender their will to God's will and their way to God's way. I think of David as a little shepherd boy or Moses as a stuttering murderer or Sarah as a barren 90 year old. Did they fully realize how God was preparing them for his huge glory when they were in the midst of it or were they just focused on getting their hearts right and being faithful in prayer so they would be ready when and if the Lord of the Universe called them into action? I pray that this is the process I am going through know and that soon it will be revealed to me how I can be used for His purposes. It is always the remnant that God calls on to save the city, and I firmly believe He is raising up an army of men and women right now who understand what is happening and will be prepared to answer the call. Psalm 23 lets us know that God will and has always provided everything that we need for our successful completion of our testing. In this one little Psalm, we see all of the various attributes that God provides for not only our survival but also for our success; He provides Rejuvenation ( he leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul, verse 3 ), guidance ( He guides me in paths of righteousness, verse 3 ) protection ( I will fear no evil, for you are with me, verse 4 ) comfort ( your rod and your staff, they comfort me, verse 4 ) blessings ( you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, verse 5-6 ) and eternal relationship ( and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, verse 6 ). I pray for the wisdom, strength and courage to just get out of the way and let Him fearlessly lead me to the place of my destiny, for I am convinced that there is no greater discovery available to man thant seeing God as the Author of our destiny. Amen.
Weather Report From Heaven: Sunny and bright, with an abundance of light and lots of singing and rejoicing.
Bible verse of the Day: Psalm 23:4 " Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me;If your rod and staff, they comfort me."
If we are truly walking with the Lord, spending time in the word and following His directions for our lives, we should be the most courageous souls on the face of the earth. We should be bold as Lions. We know that we have nothing to lose and everything to gain should the worst thing that could possibly happen to us, we die, actually happen for as Paul said in Philippians 1:21 ' for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." This should free us up to charge ahead in our pursuits of whatever the task at hand is that God is calling us to pursue. So why don't we? Why do I still struggle so much with my fears? I have been pondering this a lot lately because I do know that the most common phrase in the Bible is Fear Not and I truly believe it can be attainable to live this way, but yet I still struggle with totally surrendering all of my fears to the Lord. I find that whenever I try to take the wheel, and drive the car that is my life on my terms or with what I feel are my rights, the fears coming flying in and although it sounds easy to just say I will stop trying to be captain of my ship, I find it to be quite difficult at times. I guess as much as I try to control it and am aware of the pitfalls that accompany my quest for my will and my way to be done, my prideful human condition can still creep in and mess with God's perfect plans for my life. I am torn because I truly know that God's way is the best way, the path that leads to real freedom and true life. I have even occasionally been quite bold in the manifestations of my faith for His eternal purposes. But I don't seem to be able to sustain or maintain the energy that builds up when I am living for the one and only real Truth in this life. I get distracted so easily by so many trivial things, be it the latest political news, or the pending collapse of the Country I love from both moral as well as financial bankruptcy, or the pretty girl at the club who is somehow working out in an outfit that together doesn't even encompass a cocktail napkin's worth of material. Many blessings are currently overflowing in my life, and I am fully aware and fully grateful. I feel the Holy Spirit all around me, and His presence comforts me in my prayers and guides me in my walk. I feel close to the Lord when I am faithful, as He is always faithful. I want to do big things for the Lord at all times and yet sometimes I find it difficult to even take a step forward towards that courageous decision that needs to made on His behalf and where I am convinced that fearless living resides. Instead of being and living as a vessel for which and through which God can use me for what I was created for, I tend to think of me and my limitations, my past stumbles and my lack of confidence in so many areas of my life and I feel unable to do it. But then I remember the Bible is full of heroes who never felt worthy of the calling God put on their lives, but they learned how to fully surrender their will to God's will and their way to God's way. I think of David as a little shepherd boy or Moses as a stuttering murderer or Sarah as a barren 90 year old. Did they fully realize how God was preparing them for his huge glory when they were in the midst of it or were they just focused on getting their hearts right and being faithful in prayer so they would be ready when and if the Lord of the Universe called them into action? I pray that this is the process I am going through know and that soon it will be revealed to me how I can be used for His purposes. It is always the remnant that God calls on to save the city, and I firmly believe He is raising up an army of men and women right now who understand what is happening and will be prepared to answer the call. Psalm 23 lets us know that God will and has always provided everything that we need for our successful completion of our testing. In this one little Psalm, we see all of the various attributes that God provides for not only our survival but also for our success; He provides Rejuvenation ( he leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul, verse 3 ), guidance ( He guides me in paths of righteousness, verse 3 ) protection ( I will fear no evil, for you are with me, verse 4 ) comfort ( your rod and your staff, they comfort me, verse 4 ) blessings ( you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, verse 5-6 ) and eternal relationship ( and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever, verse 6 ). I pray for the wisdom, strength and courage to just get out of the way and let Him fearlessly lead me to the place of my destiny, for I am convinced that there is no greater discovery available to man thant seeing God as the Author of our destiny. Amen.
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