Life hurts. At least sometimes. Anybody who tells you life is always wonderful or great is lying to you. The Bible says that the sun shines on the good and the bad. Which means the rain pours on both at times too. At some point in your life you become the solitary person standing under the rain cloud while life dumps on you.
I've been there. I know the feeling. When we thought our baby boy was deaf... only to learn he could hear just fine. He simply didn't care that we were banging pots inches from his head. We'd later learn he had classic or severe autism. At about nearly four the fights would begin. I remember being in the room when our youngest was born and the Dr. called in the Neo-Natal crash team. That was a scary few minutes. And I remember just last year when the Dr. told us he had O.C.D., among other things. When you get bad news, over and over, it feels like you're bleeding out. Slowly the life-blood is leaving your body. And without that blood you can't function. You get weaker not stronger. You lose interest in life. And soon what you have isn't a life - it's just survival.
There's a story in Luke 8 about a woman in this very situation. Literally. She was bleeding out and no one could stop it. Most agree she probably suffered from a menstrual cycle that never stopped. She was at best anemic but probably suffered from low blood pressure and low blood sugar as well. And besides the incredible physical toll this took on her body there was an even bigger spiritual toll. As a Jew who was constantly bleeding she was in a continual state of uncleanness. She would have been cut off from her people, from worship, from society. In fact, her very presence that day in the midst of the crowd could have gotten her killed. If others recognized her... well, every person she touched was now ceremonially unclean.
And it's not like she hadn't tried to better her situation. She wasn't sitting around waiting for some miracle. No, she had used every last penny she had seeing one doctor after another who promised a cure but delivered disappointment.
Until the day she risked her life and her illness to find hope and healing. She pushed through the crowd with one thought, just touch his jacket and you'll be cured. She barely had the energy to make her way through the crowd. Several times she thought she would miss Him as she had to stop and catch her breath. She expended every last ounce of energy to get close enough to touch Him. But as soon as she did the bleeding stopped. She knew it. She could feel it. It was all she could do to keep from screaming out in happiness but in the middle of the crowd - she was still too tired and scared to be discovered. She may have been healed but that didn't take away the stains the blood and illness had left - that was enough to make her and everyone around her unclean, unworthy. But the bleeding had stopped. Energy would return. Focus and strength would soon follow. She was going to experience life like she had only dreamed she would.
What are you bleeding from? Abuse? Those who were supposed to love you treated you like dirt until you began to believe that's all you were. Someone took your innocence, or you gave it away and the guilt and pain you carry just acts like an open wound that won't close. Your spouse left. Said they never really loved you. Your child is sick and not getting better. You lost your job and can't find another one. Your car keeps breaking down and you can't afford the mechanic. Every one a cut that takes a little more out of you.
It's time to stop the bleeding. It's time to realize that the only thing you're truly risking is the life you so desperately want. There's a man named Jesus who can stop the bleeding. Can heal the wound and give you hope and life. And more than that, He wants to! He wants to help you but He won't force you. Are you willing to risk the life you have for real life through Him?
Send us a message here at Real Life and we'll get you information on how to stop the bleeding and begin to experience real life.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Breaking The Rules
There are lots of quips about rules. Here's a couple.
Rules were made to be broken.
Women often fall for the bad boys - rule breakers.
Rule followers are called, "teacher's pet."
Rules are necessary. But rules without common sense and purpose lead to legalism in every area of life. Find rules without a moral or ethical guide and you'll find orderly chaos. Rules are about order. Without rules things would be pretty difficult. And yet even Jesus- the Son of the Great Rule Maker - knew there had to be balance (He learned this from His Father of course).
See the pharisees and religious teachers were all about the rules. Obey the Sabbath. You can't rub wheat in your hand on the Sabbath because that would be "threshing" the grain and that is work. You can't heal someone of a disease on the Sabbath because that is work (how they came to that conclusion I have no idea). They had rules for everything! You had to wash your hands, no not that way, not that way either... there was a certain way you had to wash your hands in order to be ritually clean - or a rule follower. They had rules about where they could walk and what they were allowed to touch.
Here's a bit of truth that might hurt a little. You can obey EVERY rule in the Bible and still miss connecting with Jesus in a way that leads to salvation.
The religious teachers obeyed every rule. But they were, as Jesus indicated, the farthest from the Kingdom of God. In contrast, Jesus said that the prostitutes and tax collectors were close to the Kingdom of God. Why? Let's let Jesus explain. In Luke 18 Jesus has an encounter with a young man who wants to know what he still needs to do to get to heaven. Jesus tells him, "obey the commands." Which he promptly says he has done since he was a child. STOP HERE. If Christianity or religion was about rules wouldn't Jesus have put aside whatever He was doing and patted that young man on the back and said, "well done good and faithful servant!" Wouldn't He?! But instead He points out that obedience to rules is NOT what Christianity is all about. It's more about relationship the rules. The relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ and the relationship with other people whom God loves. That's why instead of a commendation Jesus tells him, "there is something you still lack. Go and sell your possessions and give them to the poor."
Wait a minute. Selling everything you have and giving the proceeds to the poor is not a rule. I have not seen that rule in the Bible anywhere. So why did Jesus say it? Because the young man was so focused on obeying the rules that he missed the fact that the rules were created to help maintain a proper relationship with others and with God. If you obey the rules but miss the purpose for the rules you've gained nothing! Just a miserable life of trying to earn something that can't be earned.
You cannot get to God by following rules. You can only get there by following the Risen Lord. The rules you find in the Bible will help you follow Him. They will foster your relationship with Him and make it better but they will not earn you any special favor or place with God. I want to be a Christ follower. I want to obey the rules because they help me follow Christ more closely but it's not about the rules, it's about the relationship with Him.
Rules were made to be broken.
Women often fall for the bad boys - rule breakers.
Rule followers are called, "teacher's pet."
Rules are necessary. But rules without common sense and purpose lead to legalism in every area of life. Find rules without a moral or ethical guide and you'll find orderly chaos. Rules are about order. Without rules things would be pretty difficult. And yet even Jesus- the Son of the Great Rule Maker - knew there had to be balance (He learned this from His Father of course).
See the pharisees and religious teachers were all about the rules. Obey the Sabbath. You can't rub wheat in your hand on the Sabbath because that would be "threshing" the grain and that is work. You can't heal someone of a disease on the Sabbath because that is work (how they came to that conclusion I have no idea). They had rules for everything! You had to wash your hands, no not that way, not that way either... there was a certain way you had to wash your hands in order to be ritually clean - or a rule follower. They had rules about where they could walk and what they were allowed to touch.
Here's a bit of truth that might hurt a little. You can obey EVERY rule in the Bible and still miss connecting with Jesus in a way that leads to salvation.
The religious teachers obeyed every rule. But they were, as Jesus indicated, the farthest from the Kingdom of God. In contrast, Jesus said that the prostitutes and tax collectors were close to the Kingdom of God. Why? Let's let Jesus explain. In Luke 18 Jesus has an encounter with a young man who wants to know what he still needs to do to get to heaven. Jesus tells him, "obey the commands." Which he promptly says he has done since he was a child. STOP HERE. If Christianity or religion was about rules wouldn't Jesus have put aside whatever He was doing and patted that young man on the back and said, "well done good and faithful servant!" Wouldn't He?! But instead He points out that obedience to rules is NOT what Christianity is all about. It's more about relationship the rules. The relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ and the relationship with other people whom God loves. That's why instead of a commendation Jesus tells him, "there is something you still lack. Go and sell your possessions and give them to the poor."
Wait a minute. Selling everything you have and giving the proceeds to the poor is not a rule. I have not seen that rule in the Bible anywhere. So why did Jesus say it? Because the young man was so focused on obeying the rules that he missed the fact that the rules were created to help maintain a proper relationship with others and with God. If you obey the rules but miss the purpose for the rules you've gained nothing! Just a miserable life of trying to earn something that can't be earned.
You cannot get to God by following rules. You can only get there by following the Risen Lord. The rules you find in the Bible will help you follow Him. They will foster your relationship with Him and make it better but they will not earn you any special favor or place with God. I want to be a Christ follower. I want to obey the rules because they help me follow Christ more closely but it's not about the rules, it's about the relationship with Him.
Friday, March 2, 2012
A Straight Shooter
I've heard this saying a time or two. Honestly, probably just on television. But I'll bet you can figure out what it means with no clues at all. Really there are not too many options. Either you're talking about someone who is shooting at something... and hitting it. Or you're using it to describe a person who is honest and direct. A straight shooter with the truth, like a bullet, or an arrow screaming toward the bulls-eye.
Bullets and arrows don't typically get off-target. They generally hit exactly what they were aimed at. Wait, you didn't hit your target last time you tried? Well, either your sights were off or you aimed at the wrong thing. Bullets and arrows are designed for one thing and one thing only to move as quickly as possible with as little drag as possible toward whatever they are aimed at. Nobody invents a bullet that intentionally elevates or skews to one side or another. Bullets are fine-tuned to go as straight as possible for as long as possible. I've never seen an arrow that looked like a "C".
The only time an arrow or bullet stops is when it is moved off target by something else. A branch for instance can change the trajectory. Even the wind can drive a bullet off course unless you compensated for it.
Think about your life as an arrow. You're moving through the air headed right for something. You're always moving straight-ahead in whatever direction you've been aimed. There are some things that distract or can begin to move you off course - but then you're never really "off" course, you're just off a particular course. Headed straight for whatever is in front of you.
The writer of Psalm 25 asks a question. "What are God-worshipers like?" And the answer he comes up with is, "Arrows aimed at God's bulls-eye."
The straightness of the arrow, it's aerodynamic properties and flight properties are only half the equation. What the arrow is aimed at is as important as how good an arrow it is. A straight arrow, a fast bullet, aimed at the wrong thing is still going to be wasted.
What kind of an arrow are you? Do you get distracted, off-target easily? Have you hit a few sin-branches or been blown off course by the wind of deception? You are speeding toward something, do you know what it is that your aiming for?
As a follower of Jesus Christ I want to be a straight shooter- not perfect in my life - but purposeful. I want to be the best arrow I can be and then I want to aim for perfection through the Holy Spirit. A straight shooter has to have a straight arrow and a clear target.
Are you aiming for God's bulls-eye?
Bullets and arrows don't typically get off-target. They generally hit exactly what they were aimed at. Wait, you didn't hit your target last time you tried? Well, either your sights were off or you aimed at the wrong thing. Bullets and arrows are designed for one thing and one thing only to move as quickly as possible with as little drag as possible toward whatever they are aimed at. Nobody invents a bullet that intentionally elevates or skews to one side or another. Bullets are fine-tuned to go as straight as possible for as long as possible. I've never seen an arrow that looked like a "C".
The only time an arrow or bullet stops is when it is moved off target by something else. A branch for instance can change the trajectory. Even the wind can drive a bullet off course unless you compensated for it.
Think about your life as an arrow. You're moving through the air headed right for something. You're always moving straight-ahead in whatever direction you've been aimed. There are some things that distract or can begin to move you off course - but then you're never really "off" course, you're just off a particular course. Headed straight for whatever is in front of you.
The writer of Psalm 25 asks a question. "What are God-worshipers like?" And the answer he comes up with is, "Arrows aimed at God's bulls-eye."
The straightness of the arrow, it's aerodynamic properties and flight properties are only half the equation. What the arrow is aimed at is as important as how good an arrow it is. A straight arrow, a fast bullet, aimed at the wrong thing is still going to be wasted.
What kind of an arrow are you? Do you get distracted, off-target easily? Have you hit a few sin-branches or been blown off course by the wind of deception? You are speeding toward something, do you know what it is that your aiming for?
As a follower of Jesus Christ I want to be a straight shooter- not perfect in my life - but purposeful. I want to be the best arrow I can be and then I want to aim for perfection through the Holy Spirit. A straight shooter has to have a straight arrow and a clear target.
Are you aiming for God's bulls-eye?
Monday, February 27, 2012
Sin Gets A Name
It's hard to watch some stories on television or read about them in the paper. My wife likes to watch Law and Order: SVU but I can't take it, too much senseless violence, especially against children. Stories of terror or destruction can be very difficult to see or hear. A friend of mine told me the other day of a relative that was just diagnosed with stage III cancer who has three little girls. Heart-breaking. But knowing of someone who is hurting is not nearly as bad as knowing someone who is hurting. When that illness or hurt or problem has a name that we know it changes everything.
I think that same can be said for sin. I know that there is sin all around me. Marriages falling apart, infidelity, stubbornness, adultery. I run into people using course or foul language nearly every day, in the grocery store or on the street. Addictions run rampant in our lives and there seems no end to the lengths people will go to in order to plunge headlong into sin and destructive lifestyles. But it's different when I don't know the person. When a friend or a church partner's marriage is falling apart it's a whole new level of hurt. When partners at Real Life are struggling with addictions, sexual immorality or other sinful lifestyles then it gets personal. Then that sin has a name that I know.
In Mark 14:21,22 Jesus said, "In one sense, it turns out that the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures - no surprises here. In another sense, the man who turns Him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man - better never to have been born than do this!" (MSG).
The way that Jesus was going to be betrayed had been well documented in the Old Testament Scriptures, it was going to be someone who was close to Him, from His own number someone would rise up to betray. This had been known for many years. But now that sin of betrayal has a name, Judas. It's more difficult when it's someone you know.
We know that Satan is behind every sin. He's the father of lies. His desire is to steal, kill and destroy. So in a sense every sin already has a name, Satan. But that's just generic. It doesn't mean much to us. Saying sin is from Satan is like watching the starving children in third-world countries on TV. We know it's there, we feel bad about it, but for most it doesn't inspire or require anything of us. We're not personally involved. But when Satan capitalizes on the thoughts of someone close to you so that they act on their sinful desire, now that sin has a name that means something to us.
We sin when we are dragged away by our own evil desires and enticed (James 1:14). When I sin it starts with me, not Satan. My sin has a name, it's Corey. We each give sin a name, ours, when we give in to desire and give birth to sin. Then it's personal. Then it means something. Adultery is not just adultery, it's John. Or Mark. Or Tonya. Gossip is now, James. Betty. Samantha.
Jesus said the sin is going to come, but woe to the person through whom it comes. Sin always manifests itself through a PERSON and gets a name.
Genesis 4:7 - Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.
I think that same can be said for sin. I know that there is sin all around me. Marriages falling apart, infidelity, stubbornness, adultery. I run into people using course or foul language nearly every day, in the grocery store or on the street. Addictions run rampant in our lives and there seems no end to the lengths people will go to in order to plunge headlong into sin and destructive lifestyles. But it's different when I don't know the person. When a friend or a church partner's marriage is falling apart it's a whole new level of hurt. When partners at Real Life are struggling with addictions, sexual immorality or other sinful lifestyles then it gets personal. Then that sin has a name that I know.
In Mark 14:21,22 Jesus said, "In one sense, it turns out that the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures - no surprises here. In another sense, the man who turns Him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man - better never to have been born than do this!" (MSG).
The way that Jesus was going to be betrayed had been well documented in the Old Testament Scriptures, it was going to be someone who was close to Him, from His own number someone would rise up to betray. This had been known for many years. But now that sin of betrayal has a name, Judas. It's more difficult when it's someone you know.
We know that Satan is behind every sin. He's the father of lies. His desire is to steal, kill and destroy. So in a sense every sin already has a name, Satan. But that's just generic. It doesn't mean much to us. Saying sin is from Satan is like watching the starving children in third-world countries on TV. We know it's there, we feel bad about it, but for most it doesn't inspire or require anything of us. We're not personally involved. But when Satan capitalizes on the thoughts of someone close to you so that they act on their sinful desire, now that sin has a name that means something to us.
We sin when we are dragged away by our own evil desires and enticed (James 1:14). When I sin it starts with me, not Satan. My sin has a name, it's Corey. We each give sin a name, ours, when we give in to desire and give birth to sin. Then it's personal. Then it means something. Adultery is not just adultery, it's John. Or Mark. Or Tonya. Gossip is now, James. Betty. Samantha.
Jesus said the sin is going to come, but woe to the person through whom it comes. Sin always manifests itself through a PERSON and gets a name.
Genesis 4:7 - Sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Help me walk in Your ways
As Christians we talk about walking with God, about following Christ and most of us have a much more difficult time doing it then we would like. Honestly, our desire to follow is constantly challenged by our desire for so many other things. We pray to follow God more closely, to walk this life with Jesus but life gets in the way, bills, children, family, careers. A few verses from Psalm 25 may help us on our walk with Jesus.
David gives four statements that will progressively help us in our walk.
1. Show me how You work. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The God of David is the same God today and His plan is the same plan. When we see how God works we begin to trust Him more and the more we trust the closer we can follow. The more you trust your father, the higher you will climb before you jump. As you see how God works in your life the more you will trust, the more you trust the higher you are willing to go, the more you are willing to suffer. God show me how you work so that I might trust you even when I don't understand what you are doing.
2. School me in Your ways. David was a student of God, a learner. I want to go to God's school, to learn from Him what He requires of my life. A life of faith is easy to start but hard to maintain. Only by constant instruction can we learn what to watch out for and what God requires. Teachers have already learned what they are teaching but God knows it all, every mystery and every secret and He is willing to teach anyone who is disciplined enough to be his student. Take me to God school and teach me your ways.
3. Take me by the hand. God is not asking you to go where He is unwilling to go. He will not ask you to do what He is unwilling to do. He doesn't ask that you go on your own or take the first step. Instead He will go with you wherever He asks you to go. God will take you by the hand and take the journey with you. I will go anywhere You will go with me. David didn't want to follow behind and miss the works of God and he certainly didn't want to go ahead and fail on his own. God will take you by the hand and walk through this life with you.
4. Lead me down the path of Truth. There are many roads to travel in this life, I want the one that leads to Truth. I don't want to be sidetracked. I want to know the Truth that will set me free. Jesus said, I am The Way, The Truth and The Life, no one comes to the Father except through me. I want to know the Truth, the path that leads to life eternal. I don't want to waste my time going in a direction that doesn't get me where I truly want to be.
Show me how You work, School me in Your ways, take me by the hand and lead me down the path of Truth.
David gives four statements that will progressively help us in our walk.
1. Show me how You work. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The God of David is the same God today and His plan is the same plan. When we see how God works we begin to trust Him more and the more we trust the closer we can follow. The more you trust your father, the higher you will climb before you jump. As you see how God works in your life the more you will trust, the more you trust the higher you are willing to go, the more you are willing to suffer. God show me how you work so that I might trust you even when I don't understand what you are doing.
2. School me in Your ways. David was a student of God, a learner. I want to go to God's school, to learn from Him what He requires of my life. A life of faith is easy to start but hard to maintain. Only by constant instruction can we learn what to watch out for and what God requires. Teachers have already learned what they are teaching but God knows it all, every mystery and every secret and He is willing to teach anyone who is disciplined enough to be his student. Take me to God school and teach me your ways.
3. Take me by the hand. God is not asking you to go where He is unwilling to go. He will not ask you to do what He is unwilling to do. He doesn't ask that you go on your own or take the first step. Instead He will go with you wherever He asks you to go. God will take you by the hand and take the journey with you. I will go anywhere You will go with me. David didn't want to follow behind and miss the works of God and he certainly didn't want to go ahead and fail on his own. God will take you by the hand and walk through this life with you.
4. Lead me down the path of Truth. There are many roads to travel in this life, I want the one that leads to Truth. I don't want to be sidetracked. I want to know the Truth that will set me free. Jesus said, I am The Way, The Truth and The Life, no one comes to the Father except through me. I want to know the Truth, the path that leads to life eternal. I don't want to waste my time going in a direction that doesn't get me where I truly want to be.
Show me how You work, School me in Your ways, take me by the hand and lead me down the path of Truth.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Cultivating Fertile Soil (from parking lot to parking your seat)
I was reading in Mark 4 the other day and was thinking about the parable (story with a point/message) Jesus told about the different soils. Jesus said a farmer was scattering seed by hand and observed that some of the seed fell on rocky soil, some on hard packed soil, some fell among soil that had not been worked (weeds) and some on the good cultivated soil.
The seed is the message of hope and help in Jesus Christ, we call it the Gospel (it means Good News). And the different soils represent different life points. Some people are like the rocky soil - there is something for the seed to grab onto but the roots soon have no place to grow and the seedling dies. Some are like the hard packed soil - never even letting the seed in so that it can germinate. Some are like the soil with weeds that had not been cultivated - the seedling took hold but the weeds soon choked out the light, nutrients and available soil. But some people are the cultivated, weeded and tended soil - the seed not only takes hold but has all that it needs to grow and produce a crop greater than the single seed that was sown.
Here's what is going through my mind today (among other things...haha)
Everybody is in a different place in their life. Some people have so much baggage that while they hear and get excited about Jesus there is just not enough room for Him and they quickly fizzle in their young faith. Some people have been so beat down by the world, abuse, their own sin, addictions, hurts, failures, etc., that when they hear about hope, joy, peace and real life through Jesus, it just bounces off, it can't soak in and take hold. They walk away wondering what the big deal was - they just don't get it. Some people are quick to jump on the Jesus wagon but their own lives, schedules, plans, obligations, civic or religious duties, bills, jobs or kids soon crowd Jesus out. But some people are at a point in their lives where they are ready to hear, ready to respond and ready to produce a crop for Jesus that far exceeds their own life.
So, in order for the Gospel to take hold and grow strong, to produce a crop in someone's life, the soil must be cultivated and taken care of. Here's my questions:
The seed is the message of hope and help in Jesus Christ, we call it the Gospel (it means Good News). And the different soils represent different life points. Some people are like the rocky soil - there is something for the seed to grab onto but the roots soon have no place to grow and the seedling dies. Some are like the hard packed soil - never even letting the seed in so that it can germinate. Some are like the soil with weeds that had not been cultivated - the seedling took hold but the weeds soon choked out the light, nutrients and available soil. But some people are the cultivated, weeded and tended soil - the seed not only takes hold but has all that it needs to grow and produce a crop greater than the single seed that was sown.
Here's what is going through my mind today (among other things...haha)
Everybody is in a different place in their life. Some people have so much baggage that while they hear and get excited about Jesus there is just not enough room for Him and they quickly fizzle in their young faith. Some people have been so beat down by the world, abuse, their own sin, addictions, hurts, failures, etc., that when they hear about hope, joy, peace and real life through Jesus, it just bounces off, it can't soak in and take hold. They walk away wondering what the big deal was - they just don't get it. Some people are quick to jump on the Jesus wagon but their own lives, schedules, plans, obligations, civic or religious duties, bills, jobs or kids soon crowd Jesus out. But some people are at a point in their lives where they are ready to hear, ready to respond and ready to produce a crop for Jesus that far exceeds their own life.
So, in order for the Gospel to take hold and grow strong, to produce a crop in someone's life, the soil must be cultivated and taken care of. Here's my questions:
- How do we intentionally prepare the soil of a person's life so that when they hear the message of hope and help in Jesus, forgiveness and freedom through His sacrifice, they respond and hold on tight?
- Are there ways in which we can do that from a person parking their car on Sunday morning to parking their seat in a chair as the service starts?
- How can we prepare them to receive the message with joy BEFORE it is delivered?
If you have any insight I'd love to hear from you! Especially if you are NOT a regular church attender, I want to know! Comment and share this post I want to know how we can be more effective!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
A First Century Intervention
In Mark chapter two Jesus heals a man who is paralyzed after some friends lower him through the roof of the house Jesus had been speaking in. It was quite a scene as the thatched roof began to be removed and certainly the people underneath were a bit concerned about what was coming down on top of their heads. But the craziness of the moment is quickly forgotten as Jesus begins to intervene in this man's life.
The first thing Jesus notices is the faith of the paralyzed man's friends. It was strange for someone with a disability in that culture to have friends that were not also disabled (see note below). But the length that these able-bodied men go to on behalf of their friend inspires Jesus and He intervenes in this man's life to an incredible end. He notices their great desire for their friend to be restored, perhaps both physically and emotionally, but also (because He's Jesus) wants to take advantage of the opportunity that is provided to teach about who He is - God in the flesh.
So Jesus first order of business is to forgive the sins of the paralyzed man. This spiritual healing had no immediate physical effect but was a paradigm shift where eternity is concerned. Jesus just made this man pure, blameless, forgiven. That's huge! Remember when Jesus said, if your eye causes you to sin, cut it out and throw it away - it is better to enter eternity with one eye then go to hell with both. Jesus is much more concerned about the man's spiritual standing then him being able to stand physically.
But before much else is done the religious leaders begin to complain because, only God can forgive sins. So Jesus, knowing their thoughts, poses this question. Is it easier to say, "your sins are forgiven," which can't be proven or argued with this side of heaven. Or is it easier to say, "get up, take your mat and leave"? Which would really put you on the spot ('cause if he didn't get up you'd be proven a fraud). So Jesus turns to the man and says, "get up, take your mat and go home."
Well, the man gets up, rolls up his mat and leaves. Incredible! A miracle right there in front of everyone! Wow!
Have you ever thought about the man's mat? What it represents? What it was used for? This man would have lived on that mat. From the point of the accident or illness that caused his paralysis this mat was probably the man's only personal possession. It probably wasn't in great shape. It probably smelled. He spend the entire day on that mat - every day. It wasn't changed out by a nurse and he didn't get a new one every few days or when it got dirty. He just laid on it. He also slept on it. He ate on it, when he ate. It was with him all the time. He was never without it.
Do you have anything in your life like his mat? Perhaps an addiction that you carry around with you. A "vice" you might call it, but it's really an addiction. Something you go back to for comfort. Something that makes you feel secure. Something that you might really want to get rid of, but aren't willing to let go of. That mat was both his comfort and his curse. It never left him. All day, all night it was right there with him. Do you have something like that? It's always with you. You can't get rid of it.
Jesus offers not only forgiveness but freedom. Jesus healed the man spiritually first. But he was still on the mat. Still addicted. Still stuck. Still in the same situation. But then Jesus says, "get up." He frees him from his mat! He doesn't have to rely on it to keep him out of the dirt any longer. Jesus has become His his mat, the one to rely on and trust and go everywhere with. But notice Jesus also says, "take up your mat and go home." You may be free from your addiction, your past, your sin, your vice. You may not have to rely on it any longer but you will carry the reminder of where you once were forever.
What's your mat? Are you ready to get up? Are you tired of relying on your crutch? Are you ready to rely on Jesus? Ask Him to forgive your sin, to free you from your addiction, your baggage, your past, get up from your stinky, rotten, self-pitied life and start over in His strength and with Him as your crutch. He will never let you down. You will never forget where you once were but you never have to go back. You can be free both spiritually and physically. Forgiven and Freed.
NOTE: People with disabilities in the first century were often outcasts. Other than family no one really wanted anything to do with them. Their only friends were others with disabilities. For this man to have four friends may indicate that he had not been paralyzed for very long. Perhaps a fall or an accident of some kind put him in this condition and maybe even his friends were with him when it happened, maybe even felt responsible. That could account for their involvement in this mans life. Typically you would expect these friends to be out working to support themselves and their families. Had this man been paralyzed from birth he may not have had any friends at all since at a young age his family would have put him to work begging to earn his keep. Just my opinion - I could be wrong.
The first thing Jesus notices is the faith of the paralyzed man's friends. It was strange for someone with a disability in that culture to have friends that were not also disabled (see note below). But the length that these able-bodied men go to on behalf of their friend inspires Jesus and He intervenes in this man's life to an incredible end. He notices their great desire for their friend to be restored, perhaps both physically and emotionally, but also (because He's Jesus) wants to take advantage of the opportunity that is provided to teach about who He is - God in the flesh.
So Jesus first order of business is to forgive the sins of the paralyzed man. This spiritual healing had no immediate physical effect but was a paradigm shift where eternity is concerned. Jesus just made this man pure, blameless, forgiven. That's huge! Remember when Jesus said, if your eye causes you to sin, cut it out and throw it away - it is better to enter eternity with one eye then go to hell with both. Jesus is much more concerned about the man's spiritual standing then him being able to stand physically.
But before much else is done the religious leaders begin to complain because, only God can forgive sins. So Jesus, knowing their thoughts, poses this question. Is it easier to say, "your sins are forgiven," which can't be proven or argued with this side of heaven. Or is it easier to say, "get up, take your mat and leave"? Which would really put you on the spot ('cause if he didn't get up you'd be proven a fraud). So Jesus turns to the man and says, "get up, take your mat and go home."
Well, the man gets up, rolls up his mat and leaves. Incredible! A miracle right there in front of everyone! Wow!
Have you ever thought about the man's mat? What it represents? What it was used for? This man would have lived on that mat. From the point of the accident or illness that caused his paralysis this mat was probably the man's only personal possession. It probably wasn't in great shape. It probably smelled. He spend the entire day on that mat - every day. It wasn't changed out by a nurse and he didn't get a new one every few days or when it got dirty. He just laid on it. He also slept on it. He ate on it, when he ate. It was with him all the time. He was never without it.
Do you have anything in your life like his mat? Perhaps an addiction that you carry around with you. A "vice" you might call it, but it's really an addiction. Something you go back to for comfort. Something that makes you feel secure. Something that you might really want to get rid of, but aren't willing to let go of. That mat was both his comfort and his curse. It never left him. All day, all night it was right there with him. Do you have something like that? It's always with you. You can't get rid of it.
Jesus offers not only forgiveness but freedom. Jesus healed the man spiritually first. But he was still on the mat. Still addicted. Still stuck. Still in the same situation. But then Jesus says, "get up." He frees him from his mat! He doesn't have to rely on it to keep him out of the dirt any longer. Jesus has become His his mat, the one to rely on and trust and go everywhere with. But notice Jesus also says, "take up your mat and go home." You may be free from your addiction, your past, your sin, your vice. You may not have to rely on it any longer but you will carry the reminder of where you once were forever.
What's your mat? Are you ready to get up? Are you tired of relying on your crutch? Are you ready to rely on Jesus? Ask Him to forgive your sin, to free you from your addiction, your baggage, your past, get up from your stinky, rotten, self-pitied life and start over in His strength and with Him as your crutch. He will never let you down. You will never forget where you once were but you never have to go back. You can be free both spiritually and physically. Forgiven and Freed.
NOTE: People with disabilities in the first century were often outcasts. Other than family no one really wanted anything to do with them. Their only friends were others with disabilities. For this man to have four friends may indicate that he had not been paralyzed for very long. Perhaps a fall or an accident of some kind put him in this condition and maybe even his friends were with him when it happened, maybe even felt responsible. That could account for their involvement in this mans life. Typically you would expect these friends to be out working to support themselves and their families. Had this man been paralyzed from birth he may not have had any friends at all since at a young age his family would have put him to work begging to earn his keep. Just my opinion - I could be wrong.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Get Moving
Been moving since the first of February. It's a pain to move. Incredible to me how much stuff I crammed into a hole and forgot about. I once heard that every five years you should rent a U-Haul truck - one truck - and load everything up like you're going to move. Whatever doesn't fit in the truck gets hauled off or sold. Then you clean and unpack back into your same house. Probably some good advice.
Packing is kind of fun, at least at first. We were doing an excellent job starting out. All the boxes were organized, marked and the contents were specific to the space/room they were going to. But near the end of the process stuff just got thrown in, didn't matter where it came from or where it was going, just get it in a box so it can be moved. Now we have stacks of things that have to be sorted through before they can be put away.
And once we got the majority of the "stuff" out of the house, furniture and trinkets that take up so much space, we realized how incredibly dirty things had gotten. You don't notice it when there is life going on and stuff in the way, but when everything is gone and the house is bare the dust, cobwebs and dog hair really stand out.
Seems to me that life is a lot like the moving process. It's sure easy to get comfortable in your situation, no matter how bad it is, it's still home. You know where stuff is, the creaks and slants. Which window to go through if you lock yourself out. You know where to hide and where to find. Life may be full of pain, slavery to addictions, abuse, even self-inflicted - but you're comfortable with it, it's home.
It's even kind of fun to make changes, or talk about making changes. New Year's resolutions, get you motivated for a few weeks. You pack up all the stuff you want to get rid of and all the stuff you want to keep and mark it plainly. But if you keep digging, keep packing, to get your whole life cleaned up there's a point where it gets messy. You even reach a point where you have to decide if it's worth it. Packing your old hangups and hurts and pains into a new place isn't gonna help you at all.
You get down to it and you quickly realize that your life was a lot messier then you thought it was. With all the other stuff out of the way the dirt really stands out. We have a way of focusing on kids, spouse, job, honey-do lists, cars, sports events, television, friends. We fill our lives with so much that it gets easy to look over the junk, the dirt, the sin. We can even begin to blame our hangups on the "other stuff" in our lives. If only the kids were older. If only my spouse was nicer or did more to help. If only my job paid more... then I wouldn't need to (fill in the blank).
What needs to move in your life? What have you been hiding that needs to come out in the open? Moving is painful at times but if you stay where you are you'll continue in the same patterns, same sins, same problems. You need to clean your life out and move on. Pack up the stuff, clean out the junk, sweep and make a new start.
Ephesians 4:30-32
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Packing is kind of fun, at least at first. We were doing an excellent job starting out. All the boxes were organized, marked and the contents were specific to the space/room they were going to. But near the end of the process stuff just got thrown in, didn't matter where it came from or where it was going, just get it in a box so it can be moved. Now we have stacks of things that have to be sorted through before they can be put away.
And once we got the majority of the "stuff" out of the house, furniture and trinkets that take up so much space, we realized how incredibly dirty things had gotten. You don't notice it when there is life going on and stuff in the way, but when everything is gone and the house is bare the dust, cobwebs and dog hair really stand out.
Seems to me that life is a lot like the moving process. It's sure easy to get comfortable in your situation, no matter how bad it is, it's still home. You know where stuff is, the creaks and slants. Which window to go through if you lock yourself out. You know where to hide and where to find. Life may be full of pain, slavery to addictions, abuse, even self-inflicted - but you're comfortable with it, it's home.
It's even kind of fun to make changes, or talk about making changes. New Year's resolutions, get you motivated for a few weeks. You pack up all the stuff you want to get rid of and all the stuff you want to keep and mark it plainly. But if you keep digging, keep packing, to get your whole life cleaned up there's a point where it gets messy. You even reach a point where you have to decide if it's worth it. Packing your old hangups and hurts and pains into a new place isn't gonna help you at all.
You get down to it and you quickly realize that your life was a lot messier then you thought it was. With all the other stuff out of the way the dirt really stands out. We have a way of focusing on kids, spouse, job, honey-do lists, cars, sports events, television, friends. We fill our lives with so much that it gets easy to look over the junk, the dirt, the sin. We can even begin to blame our hangups on the "other stuff" in our lives. If only the kids were older. If only my spouse was nicer or did more to help. If only my job paid more... then I wouldn't need to (fill in the blank).
What needs to move in your life? What have you been hiding that needs to come out in the open? Moving is painful at times but if you stay where you are you'll continue in the same patterns, same sins, same problems. You need to clean your life out and move on. Pack up the stuff, clean out the junk, sweep and make a new start.
Ephesians 4:30-32
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Google Privacy Policies Forcing Biblical Ideals?
So I read through an article on Gizmodo that discussed Google's new privacy policy which basically force links all your accounts on Google (Google+, Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube). What that means plainly is that if you look up a place on Google Maps that info may show up when you're on your Google+ account or an email you send or read in Gmail that contains a name or song or comedian, may show up the next time you log onto YouTube as a suggestion. Google will essentially store all your activity from every method you access so they can further tailor your user experience to the things you like or are interested in. It basically means it's harder for you and I to be anonymous when using Google.
Now, don't freak out. If you're a Facebook user or really, do anything online, your activity is followed, stored and available to someone, somewhere at sometime.
The Bible teaches that what a person does in their private life and what they do in their public life should be the same. There are some who want to hide their lives from others and so probably would not like this new privacy policy. Honestly, I don't want everyone knowing the things I've viewed online. But it is a reminder to us that if we wouldn't want anyone to know what we're looking at or saying or doing on any given sight then we probably shouldn't be there in the first place.
Christians are often called hypocrites for this very reason - being one person out in the open and another person when the doors are closed. While this is damaging and has damaged the reputation of Christ over the years it is not the reason we should strive to be the same in every situation. We should seek to be the same because God is watching us and the Holy Spirit lives in us, so whether we are walking in the light or at home or the office in the darkness, we should seek to live the same life.
So, bring on the new Google policies, maybe they will actually help us to live by this Biblical ideal.
Now, don't freak out. If you're a Facebook user or really, do anything online, your activity is followed, stored and available to someone, somewhere at sometime.
The Bible teaches that what a person does in their private life and what they do in their public life should be the same. There are some who want to hide their lives from others and so probably would not like this new privacy policy. Honestly, I don't want everyone knowing the things I've viewed online. But it is a reminder to us that if we wouldn't want anyone to know what we're looking at or saying or doing on any given sight then we probably shouldn't be there in the first place.
Christians are often called hypocrites for this very reason - being one person out in the open and another person when the doors are closed. While this is damaging and has damaged the reputation of Christ over the years it is not the reason we should strive to be the same in every situation. We should seek to be the same because God is watching us and the Holy Spirit lives in us, so whether we are walking in the light or at home or the office in the darkness, we should seek to live the same life.
So, bring on the new Google policies, maybe they will actually help us to live by this Biblical ideal.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Pushing a Nice Paint Job.
I like cars. I've had more than a few - don't get excited none of them were "good" cars. I had a '71 VW Square-back once, I liked that one. When I was younger I remember spending hours washing and waxing on a warm summer day. I would clean the wheels and tires and carefully apply Armour All and make everything sparkle and look shiny and new. Then I would push the car out of the grass and back into the driveway.
Do you treat areas of your life like I treated my car? Have you spent time polishing and shining something that just didn't work? I recall a not-too-old episode of Mythbusters where the co-hosts tried to polish dung. And it worked! But guess what, it was still dung! It had a nice shine to it but I wouldn't use it as a table decoration!
We can spend so much energy, both physically and mentally, trying to shine areas of our lives so we look like everything is okay. My car looked really nice, but it was a fraud. A fake. And after awhile someone wanted to see under the hood. And the outward show I had worked so hard to maintain was proven to be worthless.
And we don't just do this with our lives. We do it in our churches as well. There was a day when the goal of nearly every Christian (at least that I knew) was to make everyone "think" that their lives were perfect. They pretended that God was providing for them and giving them the "desires of their hearts." Somehow they thought no one would listen to their Gospel presentation unless they thought that slapping the name "Christian" on their lives would make all their dreams come true. So they polished up their messed-up lives real good. But they were still a mess. And out of that culture we get statistics like 50% of all Christian marriages end in divorce.
Guess what. Marriage isn't about what everyone sees; a clean home a well behaved child, a spouse who laughs at all your jokes, it IS about what happens when the door is shut. Christianity isn't just about what people see "Christians" doing, it's about what happens when no one is looking. It's about how treat our family. Our children's teachers at school. How we handle the person who cuts us off in traffic. It's how we talk to our co-workers and what place Jesus Christ holds in our hearts.
Jesus tells the story of a gnat and a camel as it relates to the religion of his day (Matthew 23:23-25). He says that there are religious people who work so hard to rid their lives of a sin or a problem that He represents as a gnat that they end up neglecting the sin/problem He represents as a camel. And I think we do the same. How we look on the outside (to others) is the gnat. What is going on in our hearts and private lives is the camel. Jesus tells us that our outside should match our inside. He says it this way, you don't get good fruit from a bad tree. You can fake it for awhile, shiny and new looking, but eventually you're gonna have to turn the key.
A car with a fancy paint-job and tailored interior sitting in your driveway without an engine is not worth nearly as much as a piece of junk that gets you to work every day. Don't spend your life polishing the paint when you need to rebuild the engine.
And Jesus wasn't just a carpenter, He's a mechanic as well, really a handyman, if it's broke, He can fix it.
Check out this post (Think Napoleon NOT Uncle Rico) if you want some help getting your life right with God or if you think you're beyond help!
Do you treat areas of your life like I treated my car? Have you spent time polishing and shining something that just didn't work? I recall a not-too-old episode of Mythbusters where the co-hosts tried to polish dung. And it worked! But guess what, it was still dung! It had a nice shine to it but I wouldn't use it as a table decoration!
We can spend so much energy, both physically and mentally, trying to shine areas of our lives so we look like everything is okay. My car looked really nice, but it was a fraud. A fake. And after awhile someone wanted to see under the hood. And the outward show I had worked so hard to maintain was proven to be worthless.
And we don't just do this with our lives. We do it in our churches as well. There was a day when the goal of nearly every Christian (at least that I knew) was to make everyone "think" that their lives were perfect. They pretended that God was providing for them and giving them the "desires of their hearts." Somehow they thought no one would listen to their Gospel presentation unless they thought that slapping the name "Christian" on their lives would make all their dreams come true. So they polished up their messed-up lives real good. But they were still a mess. And out of that culture we get statistics like 50% of all Christian marriages end in divorce.
Guess what. Marriage isn't about what everyone sees; a clean home a well behaved child, a spouse who laughs at all your jokes, it IS about what happens when the door is shut. Christianity isn't just about what people see "Christians" doing, it's about what happens when no one is looking. It's about how treat our family. Our children's teachers at school. How we handle the person who cuts us off in traffic. It's how we talk to our co-workers and what place Jesus Christ holds in our hearts.
Jesus tells the story of a gnat and a camel as it relates to the religion of his day (Matthew 23:23-25). He says that there are religious people who work so hard to rid their lives of a sin or a problem that He represents as a gnat that they end up neglecting the sin/problem He represents as a camel. And I think we do the same. How we look on the outside (to others) is the gnat. What is going on in our hearts and private lives is the camel. Jesus tells us that our outside should match our inside. He says it this way, you don't get good fruit from a bad tree. You can fake it for awhile, shiny and new looking, but eventually you're gonna have to turn the key.
A car with a fancy paint-job and tailored interior sitting in your driveway without an engine is not worth nearly as much as a piece of junk that gets you to work every day. Don't spend your life polishing the paint when you need to rebuild the engine.
And Jesus wasn't just a carpenter, He's a mechanic as well, really a handyman, if it's broke, He can fix it.
Check out this post (Think Napoleon NOT Uncle Rico) if you want some help getting your life right with God or if you think you're beyond help!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Welcome readers from El Dorado Times!
Let me say Welcome to anyone who might be reading this blog through the El Dorado Times blog pages. I am happy to be sharing, through this new expanded audience, what God is showing me in everyday life and through His Word. I hope that you are blessed and encouraged by what you find here and that ultimately it either strengthens your relationship with Jesus Christ or that you begin a relationship with Jesus. I believe that Real Life happens when enter into relationship with Jesus - not with a certain church or certain group or even belief structure - but when you encounter Jesus and begin to know Him as He knows you.
You won't find super-spiritual dogma here, I'm just another guy on the journey who has found the Light to help me along. I hope that God uses me to share that Light with you!
You won't find super-spiritual dogma here, I'm just another guy on the journey who has found the Light to help me along. I hope that God uses me to share that Light with you!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Does God Owe Us Blessing?
As I was thinking through a verse in Exodus 15 a strange thought came to my mind. I wondered why the Israelites had complained to Moses and God about the waters at Marah being bitter. After all, the word Marah means bitter. So why would the people of God get upset that the waters at Marah (bitter) were bitter? They apparently knew that the place was called Marah. Moses grazed his father-in-law's sheep in this area, surely he or some of those with him knew of this spot and that the water here was unsuitable to drink. I wondered why they would be upset.
At first it seemed to me that the Israelites had simply not yet learned to trust God completely. Surely not too much time had passed since God turned the water in Egypt to blood. The Israelites knew God could do that, no problem. And it was just three days ago that He did the impossible and pushed back the waters on either side so the Israelites could walk on dry ground. But this was a small body of water in the middle of the desert! There was no need for God to part these waters. The Israelites had experienced God doing some pretty amazing stuff with water, but not turning salty water fresh. This would be a whole new miracle they hadn't seen and because they hadn't seen it they questioned whether or not He could do it.
But maybe there's even something more to this then just a new miracle. If they knew the place was called Marah and that the water was bitter and they STILL complained that may mean that they were already beginning to think they were something special. And because they were special they expected God to make the water sweet just because of who they were! Because God had rescued them from Egypt and delivered them from Pharaoh's army through the water they assumed He was just going to do everything for them. Make their lives a bed of roses. So they didn't even ask Him to change the water, they just assumed He would!
Some believers today live like this. They expect that just because they go to church, put a few dollars in the tray or "believe" that all their hopes and dreams will come true that God is just walking in front of them organizing the events and circumstances of their life to be just the way they want so they never have to suffer. They expect that God owes them somehow. And there are quite a few preachers who foster this belief, though maybe not intentionally, by telling us over and over how special we are to God and how His greatest desire is to show His love to us by meeting our needs and fulfilling our lives with all the wonderful things we can imagine.
But have ever heard or talked to a believer from a third-world country? Hungry. Persecuted. Broke. Without hope for a better tomorrow. But with a hope in eternity that will not die and a thirst for more of God that can not be quenched. We sometimes whine to God because we ONLY have 1/4 tank of gas in the car. They walk for days just to share or to hear the Word of God. We get upset if we have to chose which bill to pay the cable tv or the heating bill. They sleep on the dirt floor with no heat or entertainment and read their bibles for hours at a time.
Paul had every terrible thing happen to him you could think of and he considered himself blessed. So before I complain to God because He didn't do something I expected Him to do I think I'll remember the Israelites and the bitter water. And I'll thank God for putting me in a position to see His glory.
At first it seemed to me that the Israelites had simply not yet learned to trust God completely. Surely not too much time had passed since God turned the water in Egypt to blood. The Israelites knew God could do that, no problem. And it was just three days ago that He did the impossible and pushed back the waters on either side so the Israelites could walk on dry ground. But this was a small body of water in the middle of the desert! There was no need for God to part these waters. The Israelites had experienced God doing some pretty amazing stuff with water, but not turning salty water fresh. This would be a whole new miracle they hadn't seen and because they hadn't seen it they questioned whether or not He could do it.
But maybe there's even something more to this then just a new miracle. If they knew the place was called Marah and that the water was bitter and they STILL complained that may mean that they were already beginning to think they were something special. And because they were special they expected God to make the water sweet just because of who they were! Because God had rescued them from Egypt and delivered them from Pharaoh's army through the water they assumed He was just going to do everything for them. Make their lives a bed of roses. So they didn't even ask Him to change the water, they just assumed He would!
Some believers today live like this. They expect that just because they go to church, put a few dollars in the tray or "believe" that all their hopes and dreams will come true that God is just walking in front of them organizing the events and circumstances of their life to be just the way they want so they never have to suffer. They expect that God owes them somehow. And there are quite a few preachers who foster this belief, though maybe not intentionally, by telling us over and over how special we are to God and how His greatest desire is to show His love to us by meeting our needs and fulfilling our lives with all the wonderful things we can imagine.
But have ever heard or talked to a believer from a third-world country? Hungry. Persecuted. Broke. Without hope for a better tomorrow. But with a hope in eternity that will not die and a thirst for more of God that can not be quenched. We sometimes whine to God because we ONLY have 1/4 tank of gas in the car. They walk for days just to share or to hear the Word of God. We get upset if we have to chose which bill to pay the cable tv or the heating bill. They sleep on the dirt floor with no heat or entertainment and read their bibles for hours at a time.
Paul had every terrible thing happen to him you could think of and he considered himself blessed. So before I complain to God because He didn't do something I expected Him to do I think I'll remember the Israelites and the bitter water. And I'll thank God for putting me in a position to see His glory.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Come to Know, So You Can Learn to Trust
Have you ever felt like God got it wrong?
You thought He was working things out (and you were excited) but they fell apart and left you wondering what in the world He was up to. Maybe you've asked God, "Wasn't I following/doing/saying what You wanted me to? Why did this happen?"
Ever been there?
The Israelites were in that exact spot three days after they walked through the water on dry ground. Exodus 15:22 says that for three days the Israelites followed the pillar of cloud/fire, that represented God's presence with them, into the desert without finding water. When they finally saw water at a place called *Marah they thought they were saved, but the water was bitter/salty and they couldn't drink it.
I think one of the greatest challenges to faith is unmet expectations. You think God is going to do something and He doesn't meet your expectation and leaves you questioning His presence or effectiveness or interest in your situation.
But let's take a deeper look.
For 430 years the Israelites had been a captive forced labor work-force for the Egyptians. Then Moses shows up and they get a front-row-seat to God's power as He "motivates" the Egyptian government to let His people go. The Israelites began to understand that God cared for them but they didn't really know Him first hand and their faith was only in it's infancy. They watched God do things, but you don't develop faith from the safety of your living room or front porch. So God sets them free and they leave Egypt. Now they get to know God a little better, after all, He's personally leading them out of Egypt in a "pillar" of cloud during the day and fire at night - pretty impressive. So they know that He is personally involved in their release. But He leads them to the sea where they soon realize there is no escape from the approaching Egyptian army (um, they changed their minds about their free-labor friends). They expected God to deliver them but it looked like they were going to be killed. So they question God. Then God parts the waters and the Israelites get away from the Egyptians! They come to know God as a protector and they begin to trust Him more.
Every step of the way God had to help them know Him a little more so they could trust Him a little more. Knowledge and trust are close friends.
So the Israelites are now passed the point of no return. They will be held responsible for the death of hundreds or maybe thousands of Egyptian military personnel if they return to their forced labor duties. And, they are three days out in the desert without enough water to make it home even if they wanted to go back. And waters of Marah, which they thought would allow them to refill their jugs and water their animals is unsuitable for drink. What to do now?
What would you do in a situation like that? They complained. They expected God to meet their impending water need. But He didn't. So they complained. Then God tells Moses to take a stick and throw it in the water. When Moses obeys (obedience is the part we play in coming to know God and trust Him) the water turns sweet. A fresh water source from a salt-water pond. That's called a miracle. God did it (not the stick or Moses) and the people came to know Him a little better.
You can't learn faith from the comfort of your front porch or even from down the street. You have got to be three days out with too little water and no hope. That's a whole new level of trust.
The next time you think God has got it wrong, consider the alternative. He knows exactly what He's doing getting you farther from home so that you come to know Him in a new way so that you can trust Him at a new level.
Pack your bags.
*Marah means bitter - fitting isn't it.
You thought He was working things out (and you were excited) but they fell apart and left you wondering what in the world He was up to. Maybe you've asked God, "Wasn't I following/doing/saying what You wanted me to? Why did this happen?"
Ever been there?
The Israelites were in that exact spot three days after they walked through the water on dry ground. Exodus 15:22 says that for three days the Israelites followed the pillar of cloud/fire, that represented God's presence with them, into the desert without finding water. When they finally saw water at a place called *Marah they thought they were saved, but the water was bitter/salty and they couldn't drink it.
I think one of the greatest challenges to faith is unmet expectations. You think God is going to do something and He doesn't meet your expectation and leaves you questioning His presence or effectiveness or interest in your situation.
But let's take a deeper look.
For 430 years the Israelites had been a captive forced labor work-force for the Egyptians. Then Moses shows up and they get a front-row-seat to God's power as He "motivates" the Egyptian government to let His people go. The Israelites began to understand that God cared for them but they didn't really know Him first hand and their faith was only in it's infancy. They watched God do things, but you don't develop faith from the safety of your living room or front porch. So God sets them free and they leave Egypt. Now they get to know God a little better, after all, He's personally leading them out of Egypt in a "pillar" of cloud during the day and fire at night - pretty impressive. So they know that He is personally involved in their release. But He leads them to the sea where they soon realize there is no escape from the approaching Egyptian army (um, they changed their minds about their free-labor friends). They expected God to deliver them but it looked like they were going to be killed. So they question God. Then God parts the waters and the Israelites get away from the Egyptians! They come to know God as a protector and they begin to trust Him more.
Every step of the way God had to help them know Him a little more so they could trust Him a little more. Knowledge and trust are close friends.
So the Israelites are now passed the point of no return. They will be held responsible for the death of hundreds or maybe thousands of Egyptian military personnel if they return to their forced labor duties. And, they are three days out in the desert without enough water to make it home even if they wanted to go back. And waters of Marah, which they thought would allow them to refill their jugs and water their animals is unsuitable for drink. What to do now?
What would you do in a situation like that? They complained. They expected God to meet their impending water need. But He didn't. So they complained. Then God tells Moses to take a stick and throw it in the water. When Moses obeys (obedience is the part we play in coming to know God and trust Him) the water turns sweet. A fresh water source from a salt-water pond. That's called a miracle. God did it (not the stick or Moses) and the people came to know Him a little better.
You can't learn faith from the comfort of your front porch or even from down the street. You have got to be three days out with too little water and no hope. That's a whole new level of trust.
The next time you think God has got it wrong, consider the alternative. He knows exactly what He's doing getting you farther from home so that you come to know Him in a new way so that you can trust Him at a new level.
Pack your bags.
*Marah means bitter - fitting isn't it.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Is God's Will Revealed In Circumstances
I've been watching comments on Facebook and blogs and listening to conversations about how God works in our lives lately. Many people talk about God opening doors or closing windows as a way for us to determine His will. You've heard it, I'm sure. I was going to do this or that but God closed the door. Or perhaps it works out this way. This must be God's will because it worked out. I was talking to someone the other day who said that they were sure God wanted them to make a big move because He worked out all the circumstances.
I'm wondering if circumstances are a good way for us to determine what God's will is for us in any given situation.
Look at it this way. If Noah would have considered his circumstances would he have followed through with the Ark? Or what about Moses? Or Joseph? Surely had he considered his circumstances he would have determined God had abandoned him! After being sold into slavery by his brothers. Thrown in jail for doing nothing and then after accurately interpreting the dreams of two other prisoners he's forgotten about. Or consider Paul. Here's his list from 2 Corinthians 11:
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Do you think that after all this Paul would have concluded that He was doing what God wanted? Would he have considered the doors in his life to be open or shut? If you would have faced this same set of circumstances would you have given up?
Here's what 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
Regardless of your circumstances if you are loving God and loving others you are accomplishing God's will. Don't ever think that your circumstances determine whether or not you are on the right path with Christ.
I'm wondering if circumstances are a good way for us to determine what God's will is for us in any given situation.
Look at it this way. If Noah would have considered his circumstances would he have followed through with the Ark? Or what about Moses? Or Joseph? Surely had he considered his circumstances he would have determined God had abandoned him! After being sold into slavery by his brothers. Thrown in jail for doing nothing and then after accurately interpreting the dreams of two other prisoners he's forgotten about. Or consider Paul. Here's his list from 2 Corinthians 11:
Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
Do you think that after all this Paul would have concluded that He was doing what God wanted? Would he have considered the doors in his life to be open or shut? If you would have faced this same set of circumstances would you have given up?
Here's what 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
Regardless of your circumstances if you are loving God and loving others you are accomplishing God's will. Don't ever think that your circumstances determine whether or not you are on the right path with Christ.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Get A New Calendar - If You Want A New Life
Well it's the first few days of 2012 and that means it's time for many people to get started on their list of New Year's resolutions. I hear the gym is more crowded than usual and people are showing up to work on time. It seems like more people are reading their Bible, three days in to the New Year and I'm guessing that prayers are on the rise. The New Year is always a time of hope, expectation and even excitement! At least for the first few days. Then it seems our schedules get the better of us. Time gets tight and we get lazy. By March the good parking spots at the gym will once again abound and Bibles will again become dust collectors.
But maybe that isn't our fault. I mean, I would be much more willing to go to the gym if every time I finished another 5k on the treadmill the scale proved that I had actually done something! And Bible reading would be much easier to accomplish if God did something incredible every day that I read. But that's not reality is it. Physical training and spiritual training both utilize delayed gratification. If you really want your gym membership to pay off you need to reorganize your calendar to maximize your efforts. You have to make your workout time a priority and plan your meals so they benefit your goals instead of your waistline. And the same is true for your spiritual health. You need a new calendar that puts God in control. Instead heading out every day letting someone else, your boss, spouse, kids, bills, control your schedule you need to plan your days around God. When you do, He begins to organize your daily events on His timeline.
Here's how it worked for the Israelites. For 430 years Pharaoh kept their calendar full with his plans and desires. So every day, 7x365, they got up and made bricks. Now, they needed to make bricks to support their lifestyle. If they didn't go to work they were not given food. Worse yet, they might get punished, lose their job or even their life! Making bricks provided them with lots of good things, food, shelter, clothing. So when God called them to something new He knew He had to get a hold of their calendar first. He needed to reorient their lives to His timing and schedule, instead of Pharaoh's or even their own.
In Exodus 12:1,2 God talks to Moses and does something that hadn't happened since the beginning of time and wouldn't happen again until the birth of Jesus, He gave them a brand new calendar.
Because of what God was preparing to do with the Israelites He needed them to be on His time and following His schedule instead of Pharaoh's. So God gives them a new calendar to follow. Nothing changed immediately, few things do, but God needed the people to be on His schedule so they could see that He not only knew what He was doing, but would Himself see that it was accomplished.
So for the first 10 days on God's schedule the Israelites got up and made bricks. Everything seemed to be exactly the same, except that now they were told in advance what was coming and to be ready. On the 10th day they were to pick out a perfect yearling lamb. Then back to brick making. On the 14th day they killed the lamb, made up some bread without yeast and painted their doorposts and lintels with some of the lamb's blood. And on the morning of day 15 they walked out of Egypt - free. Free to follow God on His schedule and in His time.
The Israelites needed to have a new calendar because they were going to have a new life. They needed to be following God's timeline and schedule because, let's face it, their old one just wasn't working for them. And once they Got on God's time they were able to see His plan unfold and they were able to join Him because He had cleared their calendar, made room for Himself and created space for them to grow into their new life.
Maybe this year what you need, instead of a bunch of new items added to your old calendar, is a brand new calendar. I'm not talking about a new 2012 kitten calendar. I'm talking about a calendar that gives space and precedent to God. A calendar that allows Him to organize and schedule your days around His perfect plan for your life. You could continue to make bricks every day. Or you could begin to see what a life lived on God's time for God's purpose really looks like. Once the Israelites got on God's calendar He was able to use them to glorify Himself and prove to the Egyptians (and others) that He was the One True God.
If you want to change your life, start with your calendar. God has to get you using His calendar BEFORE you get to see His plan.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Before You Make Your Next Decision - Read This.
I think I will start adding Daniel to the characters in my Nativity scene. Weird you say? Heresy? "Daniel wasn't there the night Jesus was born" you yell. Well, neither were the wise men. In fact, I would say that Daniel plays a larger part in the Nativity story then the wise men do. Now, I can't be 100% sure because the Bible doesn't spell it out for us, but it sure makes sense to me... Follow the trail for a minute. How did the wise men get to Bethlehem? Well, Matthew 2 says they came from the East. What was East of the Holy Land? Only one of the largest nations of the world at the time, Babylon... Persia... or we could call them, Chaldean.
Six hundred years before the birth of Jesus Daniel was taken as an exile from his home in Jerusalem to Babylon under king Nebuchadnezzar. He was taken along with those three fire-proof guys, furnace testers, I think they were. When they got to Babylon they were placed among the kings wise men. But Daniel refused to eat the food the king ordered, instead, he asked for vegetables and water. After a short test Daniel and his friends were found to be in better physical and mental shape then the men who had been eating the kings food. And it began there...
That one choice to remain faithful to God in the midst of a crummy set of circumstances set a chain of events (directed by God's own hand of course) and resulted in Daniel being placed in charge of the province of Babylon AND head over all the kings wise men. The fiery furnace causes the king to issue a decree that anyone in any nation who says something against God be cut into pieces and their houses destroyed because, "no other god can save in this way."
Later, under king Darius, the king is tricked by some fellow wise men of Daniels and Daniel is thrown into a den of lions. The next morning Darius goes to the lion's den and shouts down to Daniel to see if he is still alive. After a moment of panic, Daniel responds that God sent His angels to shut the mouths of the lions and he is fine. Which causes king Darius to proclaim, "in every part of my kingdom people must fear the reverence the God of Daniel. 'For He is the living God and He endures forever; His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end. He rescues and saves; He performs signs and wonders...'" Even into the reign of king Cyrus Daniel found favor and God was honored through his life.
Six hundred years later, because Daniel refused to eat the kings food and instead trust in God, the pagan Babylonian and then Persian kingdoms came to know God. These Chaldean wise men probably were from the same group that Daniel led so many years before. And because of Daniel's faithfulness they believed and were willing to make the journey to find Jesus and salvation.
Are you willing to follow God even when it might be difficult? Are you willing to trust him even if what is going on around you doesn't make sense, maybe isn't even your fault? Just think, trusting God today, on your journey no matter that finds you, could be the catalyst that causes people hundreds of years after you are gone to seek Jesus for themselves. And isn't that what we are called to do? To point to Jesus through our lives? Only GOD could make your legacy stretch over hundreds of years, but only YOU can decide to follow Him in your next decision... perhaps the one that leads to a nation acknowledging Him.
Monday, November 7, 2011
What Happens When God Lives Here
I'm reading in the Old Testament this year and LOVE some of the prayers that King Solomon and his dad, King David prayed. Reading in 2 Chronicles 6 today as Solomon dedicates the Temple to God and I can see that God did indeed give him incredible wisdom. And I long for Real Life to inspire as the Temple did, not because of the architecture; the gold and dressed stones or the sheer size of the structure but because of God presence in what we're doing.
Let me give you some background on what is going on so you get the full-effect. King David stockpiled massive amounts of dressed stone, lumber, gold, silver and bronze for the construction of the Temple. Then right before he died he gave massive amounts from his personal wealth to the cause. Then when Solomon began construction he gave even more and the people of Israel contributed as well. Think of it like, Fort Knox meets the Taj Mahal. Yea. Impressive. Solomon was building a place for God, The God, to dwell so he knew it had to be the best. And now he is dedicating it to God in the presence of all the people of Israel who have come to see and to worship.
But Solomon didn't just dedicate it to God as His residence on earth, he dedicated the people TO God in this place. And I think, as incredible a moment as this is, I love Solomon's vision and heart for God more than the pomp and circumstance the day required. Let me quote the part of Solomon's prayer that I am just digging today so you can see what I mean.
"...And don't forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation-people are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonderworking power-and who come to pray to this Temple.
Listen from your home in heaven and honor the prayers of the foreigner, So that people all over the world will know who you are and what you're like, And live in reverent obedience before you, just as your own people Israel do, So they'll know that you personally make this Temple that I've built what it is."
In the midst of dedicating this great Temple to God Solomon was looking forward to what this place would mean to people who were NOT Israelites. The foreigners who would come from great distances because of, "Your reputation." He knew that people around the world would be attracted to Jerusalem, in part because of the magnificence of the structure, but also because a God that would warrant such a great home must indeed be a GREAT GOD! He even asks that God "listen" and "honor" the prayers of the foreigners so that, "people all over the world will know who You are and what You're like." And then, because of God's Greatness they would, "live in reverent obedience" before Him, just like God's chosen people.
But the last line is my favorite... "so they'll know that YOU PERSONALLY MAKE this Temple that I've built what it is."
It's not the brick and mortar, or the fancy band or the preaching or the nursery or restrooms or even the volunteers and people (sorry) that make a church great so that people from around the world would want to come (if it is then it will result in nothing). It is the very presence of the God of the Universe.
God, may people be attracted to Real Life because of YOUR reputation, not ours. May they come here because of YOUR wonder-working power. May they know who You are and what You're like and may that knowledge change their lives like it has ours. May the people of Butler County and the whole world know that You personally make this church what it is.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Reminder to Parents
Just had a simple reminder today from Deuteronomy 31:9-13 I thought I'd pass on to those of you with children or if you're expecting children some day.
Children believe what we tell them as their parents. We have the ability, through what we chose to say, to totally destroy their self-image, by being negative. Or to build them up and encourage them to be the best they can be. But this also works with our faith. Moses told the people of Israel just before he died to, "make the children listen so that they will learn to live in holy Awe..."
Have you talked to your children about your faith? Have you told them how God has worked in your life? Do you share stories with them in the car or at dinner about how God is working in your life or what you learned about Him in a Bible study or prayer time? The more comfortable you are in sharing your faith with your children the more they will see faith as a benefit and privilege instead of a boring or dead part of life that could be tossed aside.
If they see God working in your life, they will begin to look for Him working in their lives as well! Don't assume that they "get" it at church or in Sunday School. You have the power and the responsibility to instill faith in your children's lives, the earlier the better.
Here's how I have tried to remind myself to be conscious about this issue. If I am instrumental in leading hundreds, even thousands to faith in Jesus through my ministry and life, yet see my children far from that faith I will have failed as a father and as a pastor. My first faith responsibility is to MY family, then yours. I will not trade their souls for any others.
Have you talked with your children about Jesus? Next time you see a beautiful sunset talk to your kids about the God who spoke that into being. At the first snow discuss with your children how no two snowflakes are alike and while super tiny, each one is beautifully created and nearly perfectly symmetrical. God set that plan in motion thousands of years ago. When God answers a prayer or works a miracle, no matter the size, in your life, let the family be the first to know!
By doing these simple things you will teach your children to live in holy Awe of the creator and lover of their souls.
Children believe what we tell them as their parents. We have the ability, through what we chose to say, to totally destroy their self-image, by being negative. Or to build them up and encourage them to be the best they can be. But this also works with our faith. Moses told the people of Israel just before he died to, "make the children listen so that they will learn to live in holy Awe..."
Have you talked to your children about your faith? Have you told them how God has worked in your life? Do you share stories with them in the car or at dinner about how God is working in your life or what you learned about Him in a Bible study or prayer time? The more comfortable you are in sharing your faith with your children the more they will see faith as a benefit and privilege instead of a boring or dead part of life that could be tossed aside.
If they see God working in your life, they will begin to look for Him working in their lives as well! Don't assume that they "get" it at church or in Sunday School. You have the power and the responsibility to instill faith in your children's lives, the earlier the better.
Here's how I have tried to remind myself to be conscious about this issue. If I am instrumental in leading hundreds, even thousands to faith in Jesus through my ministry and life, yet see my children far from that faith I will have failed as a father and as a pastor. My first faith responsibility is to MY family, then yours. I will not trade their souls for any others.
Have you talked with your children about Jesus? Next time you see a beautiful sunset talk to your kids about the God who spoke that into being. At the first snow discuss with your children how no two snowflakes are alike and while super tiny, each one is beautifully created and nearly perfectly symmetrical. God set that plan in motion thousands of years ago. When God answers a prayer or works a miracle, no matter the size, in your life, let the family be the first to know!
By doing these simple things you will teach your children to live in holy Awe of the creator and lover of their souls.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
There is Hope (Think Napoleon, not Uncle Rico)
I am generally a pretty critical person. I think that we should pay for our mistakes and not just expect that God will get us out of the situations we get ourselves into. God is not a genie who will appear and grant a wish every time we get in a tough spot. I guess I've thought of God more like Uncle Rico, who constantly points out the stupid decisions I've made. He may offer me a job selling DuPont woven fiber bowls door to door, might even let me drive his van, but he's always gonna make out a little better and I'm always gonna be counting my change on the kitchen table. That's kind of the God we see in Deuteronomy 29 where Moses is listing the curses that will come on the people if they do not follow God with their whole heart. It's a depressing chapter and kinda makes we want to throw grapefruits.
Then today I come to chapter 30 and maybe my view of God is not quite accurate. See, in chapter 30 Moses tells the people what will happen if, while they are serving others and laboring and dying in other countries under the oppression of other nations, they turn back to God with their heart and soul. He says God will restore EVERYTHING they lost, He'll have compassion and get them out of those nations and bring them back to Jerusalem and make them more numerous than their ancestors!
See I have this view of God sometimes, like He's just watching me suffer because I was the one who messed up and He wants to teach me a lesson. But if God always let me suffer for the stupid mistakes I've made and the pain I've caused Him and others He would never respond to me again. But He doesn't do that! He doesn't let me suffer the full-extent of my own stupid actions. See, even if I go off on my own and do things my way, if I realize my mistake and come back to Him He is faithful and just and will forgive and save me! THAT MEANS THEIR'S HOPE!
But look at what else! God will not only welcome me back into relationship, verse 6 says He will, "cut away the thick calluses on my heart and on my children's hearts, freeing me to love God with my whole heart!" He not only forgives and welcomes, He actually makes it easier for me to love Him, cutting away all the crap I've let build up.
And the end result is that I am able to "make a new start, listening obediently to God..." (verse 8).
Here's the bottom line. If you've messed up there is no point at which God ever says, "that's enough, I'm done with him/her." He not only waits for you to come back to Him, He's watching for the exact moment so He can jump in and save you. Maybe you've been burned by religion and so have left God. The reality is that there are lots of religions out there that claim God - but He doesn't claim them. Don't let what someone else said or did mess up your relationship with the God who loves you and died for you. And if you're a believer but have made some bad choices, God is there to restore you, if you return to Him with heart and soul.
Do you need a new start? Are you tired of being so grumpy and irritated and mad at the world because you think it's out to get you? Turn (or return) to God, my God, He'll not only save you, He'll restore you! He's full of compassion and love and one of His greatest loves is rescuing those who have messed up and come to Him for help. So, if you're sitting in your truck and reading this - it's for you. Open up a little and God will do the rest. He hears you, knows you and loves you.
Turns out, God is a lot more like Napoleon then Uncle Rico... He's waiting until you realize you can't do it yourself. That's when the music starts and He dances for you.
Then today I come to chapter 30 and maybe my view of God is not quite accurate. See, in chapter 30 Moses tells the people what will happen if, while they are serving others and laboring and dying in other countries under the oppression of other nations, they turn back to God with their heart and soul. He says God will restore EVERYTHING they lost, He'll have compassion and get them out of those nations and bring them back to Jerusalem and make them more numerous than their ancestors!
See I have this view of God sometimes, like He's just watching me suffer because I was the one who messed up and He wants to teach me a lesson. But if God always let me suffer for the stupid mistakes I've made and the pain I've caused Him and others He would never respond to me again. But He doesn't do that! He doesn't let me suffer the full-extent of my own stupid actions. See, even if I go off on my own and do things my way, if I realize my mistake and come back to Him He is faithful and just and will forgive and save me! THAT MEANS THEIR'S HOPE!
But look at what else! God will not only welcome me back into relationship, verse 6 says He will, "cut away the thick calluses on my heart and on my children's hearts, freeing me to love God with my whole heart!" He not only forgives and welcomes, He actually makes it easier for me to love Him, cutting away all the crap I've let build up.
And the end result is that I am able to "make a new start, listening obediently to God..." (verse 8).
Here's the bottom line. If you've messed up there is no point at which God ever says, "that's enough, I'm done with him/her." He not only waits for you to come back to Him, He's watching for the exact moment so He can jump in and save you. Maybe you've been burned by religion and so have left God. The reality is that there are lots of religions out there that claim God - but He doesn't claim them. Don't let what someone else said or did mess up your relationship with the God who loves you and died for you. And if you're a believer but have made some bad choices, God is there to restore you, if you return to Him with heart and soul.
Do you need a new start? Are you tired of being so grumpy and irritated and mad at the world because you think it's out to get you? Turn (or return) to God, my God, He'll not only save you, He'll restore you! He's full of compassion and love and one of His greatest loves is rescuing those who have messed up and come to Him for help. So, if you're sitting in your truck and reading this - it's for you. Open up a little and God will do the rest. He hears you, knows you and loves you.
Turns out, God is a lot more like Napoleon then Uncle Rico... He's waiting until you realize you can't do it yourself. That's when the music starts and He dances for you.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
What's Your View of Church?
Has the focus of Church changed over the years. It seems that church used to be about church. Now there are social activist churches. There are Pro-Life churches. There are churches that take on current political issues. There are churches that focus on self-help or self-improvement. There are even sports or activity churches. There are coffee churches and family churches and singles churches there are even churches that spend their time on the homosexual agenda, either fighting to promote it or to squash it.
I'm not saying that all these things are necessarily bad. I think the church should have an impact on social, political and personal issues. But too often these areas the church is supposed to impact end up being the main focus of our gatherings. I personally know of a church that had a pro-life focus and the preacher actually got up in the pulpit and celebrated the fact that he had been arrested and spent a night in jail during the week. (I thought we were supposed to obey the law of the land - like as a command from Scripture. Romans 13:3-5). In many cases the church no longer influences society as a natural expression of changed lives through the Holy Spirit, but makes a social issue the focus and uses it to teach some truths about God.
In my Bible reading yesterday I came across this passage from 1 Chronicles 29:1 (Great stuff in this chapter about humility; vs 14 and parenting; vs 19). In this chapter and those leading up to it, King David is preparing to hand the reigns of the kingdom to his son, Solomon. He's is talking to all Israel about God's decision that Solomon would build the permanent Temple for God, for which David has prepared most of the materials. But it's in David's presentation about this building that got me thinking about how we view church today.
Here's what David said, "This place (the Temple) is NOT just a place for people to meet each other, but a house for God to meet us." Profound. Simple. Perfect. This building is not about getting together and catching up with those you haven't seen for six days. It's not about fundraising or social/political conversations. Those things may happen at church and that's fine, but that is not what church is about.
No, church (not the building, but the gathering of God's people) is about a place for God to meet us. It's where God's children come together to hear from Him. To worship Him. To honor Him as the beginning and the end. To surrender to Him. Confess their sins to Him. To seek accountability so that we might receive more of Him. To raise the call of holiness and righteousness that can only be found through Him. It's not about us, but about Him. So church should be a place where the heart of God is made known. Where God's commands to love Him and love others are evident by actions. Where people serve because He served and left us that example.
How would your view of church change if you really saw it the place where God was going to meet YOU? Would it cause you to prepare for church differently? Would you be more expectant when you entered? Would you listen more intently? Would your attitude be self or others focused? Tell me how it would change your Sunday morning routine if you KNEW God was going to meet you in church...
...And then expect Him to meet you this Sunday.
I'm not saying that all these things are necessarily bad. I think the church should have an impact on social, political and personal issues. But too often these areas the church is supposed to impact end up being the main focus of our gatherings. I personally know of a church that had a pro-life focus and the preacher actually got up in the pulpit and celebrated the fact that he had been arrested and spent a night in jail during the week. (I thought we were supposed to obey the law of the land - like as a command from Scripture. Romans 13:3-5). In many cases the church no longer influences society as a natural expression of changed lives through the Holy Spirit, but makes a social issue the focus and uses it to teach some truths about God.
In my Bible reading yesterday I came across this passage from 1 Chronicles 29:1 (Great stuff in this chapter about humility; vs 14 and parenting; vs 19). In this chapter and those leading up to it, King David is preparing to hand the reigns of the kingdom to his son, Solomon. He's is talking to all Israel about God's decision that Solomon would build the permanent Temple for God, for which David has prepared most of the materials. But it's in David's presentation about this building that got me thinking about how we view church today.
Here's what David said, "This place (the Temple) is NOT just a place for people to meet each other, but a house for God to meet us." Profound. Simple. Perfect. This building is not about getting together and catching up with those you haven't seen for six days. It's not about fundraising or social/political conversations. Those things may happen at church and that's fine, but that is not what church is about.
No, church (not the building, but the gathering of God's people) is about a place for God to meet us. It's where God's children come together to hear from Him. To worship Him. To honor Him as the beginning and the end. To surrender to Him. Confess their sins to Him. To seek accountability so that we might receive more of Him. To raise the call of holiness and righteousness that can only be found through Him. It's not about us, but about Him. So church should be a place where the heart of God is made known. Where God's commands to love Him and love others are evident by actions. Where people serve because He served and left us that example.
How would your view of church change if you really saw it the place where God was going to meet YOU? Would it cause you to prepare for church differently? Would you be more expectant when you entered? Would you listen more intently? Would your attitude be self or others focused? Tell me how it would change your Sunday morning routine if you KNEW God was going to meet you in church...
...And then expect Him to meet you this Sunday.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Let Nothing Hold You Back
Deuteronomy 20
Moses is about to die and is addressing the Israelites before they cross the Jordan river and begin the assault on the people of Canaan to posses the land God had promised them. He's talking about a whole bunch of important issues and how they are to be handled by people who follow the One True God. He's talked of their Holy Days and how they are to worship. And in the previous chapter he reminded them about the Cities of Refuge. Now he deals with the subject of war.
The Nation of Israel was constantly at war. Everything from full-out call all the troops, to little skirmishes that only took a division. Somebody was always messing with them. That somebody was Satan. Satan owned the people in the neighboring cities and he is always looking to take out some of God's people. There were periods of less peace and more peace or less war and more war, but it never completely came to an end. Satan doesn't give up that easily.
So why do I fuss about the battles in my own life? Satan never left the Israelites alone, why should he leave me alone? I feel like I am constantly at war, even today, during a fast that is supposed to draw me closer to God I find that Satan is constantly trying to distract me. He uses things that make me angry to get me angry. He uses things that make me frustrated to frustrate me. He uses this pretty severe hunger pain as a way to tell me, you're too weak, you can't do it and God doesn't care anyway. I find myself wondering and asking, "God, where are You? I'm struggling here where are you?"
Take a look at what the priests - God's spokesmen - are supposed to announce to the entire army of Israel as they line up and prepare for battle.
"Attention, Israel.
In a few minutes you are going to do battle with your enemies.
Don't waver in resolve.
Don't fear.
Don't hesitate.
Don't panic.
God, your God, is right there with you, fighting with you against your enemies.
Fighting to win."
When Satan comes after me he often tries to get me to weasel out of whatever I've told God I would do. Like this fast, I really want to eat but I've resolved to finish out the day and break this three day fast at dinner tonight. But a whole bunch of times I have almost had something to eat and thrown in the towel.
He also says the craziest stuff to us about what "might" happen. He plays on our fears constantly especially the fear of the unknown. What happens if I can't make my car payment or rent this month I'll get kicked out of my house and then what will I do? Where will my next meal come from? What if, what if, what if... all fears that Satan throws at us to try and get us to conclude that the risk is just to much greater than the reward.
And because he is so good at what he does we often hesitate and you know what happens then... yep. It's all over. So often I tell myself, get up now cause if you hesitate you won't do it. When we hesitate it gives us the opportunity to quite and lets the enemy advance against us unchecked.
And finally he wants us to panic. I've panicked before. You freeze. Unable to move. You can't think straight and you become a very easy target.
The priest of God would cover it all - all the tricks of Satan, every angle that he uses to get us to withdraw and hide and freeze and fear and wait. But God wants you to know something.
He's right there with you. Fighting against the same enemy you are! And He's not fighting a loosing battle, no he fights to win! If God is for us, who can be against us? No weapon that is fashioned against us shall stand! Put on the full armor of God so that you can "take your stand" against the Devil's schemes. I will not be afraid because YOU are with me, Your rod and staff they comfort me.
Jesus said, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age. Let's stop standing on the battle lines and get in the fight, God is on our side, whom shall we fear?!
Moses is about to die and is addressing the Israelites before they cross the Jordan river and begin the assault on the people of Canaan to posses the land God had promised them. He's talking about a whole bunch of important issues and how they are to be handled by people who follow the One True God. He's talked of their Holy Days and how they are to worship. And in the previous chapter he reminded them about the Cities of Refuge. Now he deals with the subject of war.
The Nation of Israel was constantly at war. Everything from full-out call all the troops, to little skirmishes that only took a division. Somebody was always messing with them. That somebody was Satan. Satan owned the people in the neighboring cities and he is always looking to take out some of God's people. There were periods of less peace and more peace or less war and more war, but it never completely came to an end. Satan doesn't give up that easily.
So why do I fuss about the battles in my own life? Satan never left the Israelites alone, why should he leave me alone? I feel like I am constantly at war, even today, during a fast that is supposed to draw me closer to God I find that Satan is constantly trying to distract me. He uses things that make me angry to get me angry. He uses things that make me frustrated to frustrate me. He uses this pretty severe hunger pain as a way to tell me, you're too weak, you can't do it and God doesn't care anyway. I find myself wondering and asking, "God, where are You? I'm struggling here where are you?"
Take a look at what the priests - God's spokesmen - are supposed to announce to the entire army of Israel as they line up and prepare for battle.
"Attention, Israel.
In a few minutes you are going to do battle with your enemies.
Don't waver in resolve.
Don't fear.
Don't hesitate.
Don't panic.
God, your God, is right there with you, fighting with you against your enemies.
Fighting to win."
When Satan comes after me he often tries to get me to weasel out of whatever I've told God I would do. Like this fast, I really want to eat but I've resolved to finish out the day and break this three day fast at dinner tonight. But a whole bunch of times I have almost had something to eat and thrown in the towel.
He also says the craziest stuff to us about what "might" happen. He plays on our fears constantly especially the fear of the unknown. What happens if I can't make my car payment or rent this month I'll get kicked out of my house and then what will I do? Where will my next meal come from? What if, what if, what if... all fears that Satan throws at us to try and get us to conclude that the risk is just to much greater than the reward.
And because he is so good at what he does we often hesitate and you know what happens then... yep. It's all over. So often I tell myself, get up now cause if you hesitate you won't do it. When we hesitate it gives us the opportunity to quite and lets the enemy advance against us unchecked.
And finally he wants us to panic. I've panicked before. You freeze. Unable to move. You can't think straight and you become a very easy target.
The priest of God would cover it all - all the tricks of Satan, every angle that he uses to get us to withdraw and hide and freeze and fear and wait. But God wants you to know something.
He's right there with you. Fighting against the same enemy you are! And He's not fighting a loosing battle, no he fights to win! If God is for us, who can be against us? No weapon that is fashioned against us shall stand! Put on the full armor of God so that you can "take your stand" against the Devil's schemes. I will not be afraid because YOU are with me, Your rod and staff they comfort me.
Jesus said, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age. Let's stop standing on the battle lines and get in the fight, God is on our side, whom shall we fear?!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
A Giant Slayers Manifesto
When David was a young man, before he was king of Israel, maybe 16 or so, he killed the giant Goliath with a stone and a sling. Goliath was supposed to be unbeatable at least that is the way it appeared as he faced the entire Israelite army - men trained for battle - and not one stepped up. Goliath was surely a great warrior, his size alone made the enemy run. Countless times the Philistines had marched him out to face their enemies and countless times Goliath was victorious. Goliath made that famous wrestler, Andre the giant, look like an elementary school bully. But David didn't fear the outcome of his battle with Goliath. He knew God would come to his rescue, not because he was such a righteous young man, but because he believed God would not stand for this godless Philistine mocking His Great Name or the people God had chosen as His own. And he was right.
Years later, Saul is dead along with his sons. David has been made king of Israel and once again the Philistines want to start something with God's people. This time though David doesn't have to do the fighting, three of his mighty men (one his own brother Jonathan) defeated three giants themselves. One was the brother of Goliath whom David had killed. The one Jonathan faced was a "hulking giant" who had "24 fingers and toes - six on each hand and foot."
The Philistines continued with their same old tricks; Find the biggest baddest dude you can to fight for you. It had apparently worked well for them because they kept doing it. But what would have happened if David had not fought Goliath all those years ago? David had already been promised the kingdom so he would surely have still been king. But I wonder if David or his men would have been so eager to fight the giants had David not gained that victory years before. David may have been king but the Philistines would have no-doubt remained the big kid on the block.
What giants are facing in your life today that your children or grand-children may have to face years from now? Satan is kind of like a one-trick pony. He sticks with what works or has worked. Perhaps your giant is addiction - in whatever form that takes, drugs, drink, food, television, porn, games. Maybe it's abuse, having been passed down to you by the generations before you. Perhaps your giant is anger or jealousy or hatred or bigotry. Whatever name your giant has, he's been kicking you around long enough. David didn't fight Goliath in his own strength or wisdom he fought Goliath knowing that God would fight with him. Maybe your faith is small - use it. Maybe you only have one person who will help you - tell them. Your will may be weak, your struggle long, but with God's help your giant can come crashing down and when you cut it's head off it will not mock you again.
And years from now when Satan tries to bring another giant to control and belittle and make slaves of your children they will stand and fight because if you could beat him they can too.
So take your rock and your sling and run you're not just fighting this battle for yourself you're fighting for your legacy, for the strength of your children's children and in God's Name and with His help you will leave a legacy of faith and victory instead of defeat and slavery. Let's be giant slayers who grow giant slayers.
Years later, Saul is dead along with his sons. David has been made king of Israel and once again the Philistines want to start something with God's people. This time though David doesn't have to do the fighting, three of his mighty men (one his own brother Jonathan) defeated three giants themselves. One was the brother of Goliath whom David had killed. The one Jonathan faced was a "hulking giant" who had "24 fingers and toes - six on each hand and foot."
The Philistines continued with their same old tricks; Find the biggest baddest dude you can to fight for you. It had apparently worked well for them because they kept doing it. But what would have happened if David had not fought Goliath all those years ago? David had already been promised the kingdom so he would surely have still been king. But I wonder if David or his men would have been so eager to fight the giants had David not gained that victory years before. David may have been king but the Philistines would have no-doubt remained the big kid on the block.
What giants are facing in your life today that your children or grand-children may have to face years from now? Satan is kind of like a one-trick pony. He sticks with what works or has worked. Perhaps your giant is addiction - in whatever form that takes, drugs, drink, food, television, porn, games. Maybe it's abuse, having been passed down to you by the generations before you. Perhaps your giant is anger or jealousy or hatred or bigotry. Whatever name your giant has, he's been kicking you around long enough. David didn't fight Goliath in his own strength or wisdom he fought Goliath knowing that God would fight with him. Maybe your faith is small - use it. Maybe you only have one person who will help you - tell them. Your will may be weak, your struggle long, but with God's help your giant can come crashing down and when you cut it's head off it will not mock you again.
And years from now when Satan tries to bring another giant to control and belittle and make slaves of your children they will stand and fight because if you could beat him they can too.
So take your rock and your sling and run you're not just fighting this battle for yourself you're fighting for your legacy, for the strength of your children's children and in God's Name and with His help you will leave a legacy of faith and victory instead of defeat and slavery. Let's be giant slayers who grow giant slayers.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Who's Fault Is It, Really?
1 Chronicles 9:1
Someone a lot older and wiser than I once pondered the dash (-) between two numbers chiseled into a headstone at the cemetery. The thought was that there was a whole lot of life captured by one small, insignificant grammatical symbol that is used to connect one thing to another.
In this post I'd like to steal that dash and insert it into the passage referenced above and then look at what really lead from "this" - (to) "that".
"This is the complete family tree for all Israel, recorded in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah at the time they were exiled to Babylon" (-).
What we know right now is that the nation of Judah (after Israel split into the Norther tribes (Israel) and the Southern tribe of Judah) has been exiled to Babylon. Which seems weird because these were God's people! God's chosen Nation! How could... how would God let them be destroyed and taken captive?! This was the tribe from which Jesus would later come and they are nearly destroyed and the city and Temple left in ruins. We might consider all the reasons for such devastating trouble... in fact, this is what I thought of (from experience with trouble of various kinds).
Reasons God would allow the people of Judah to be destroyed and exiled:
Someone a lot older and wiser than I once pondered the dash (-) between two numbers chiseled into a headstone at the cemetery. The thought was that there was a whole lot of life captured by one small, insignificant grammatical symbol that is used to connect one thing to another.
In this post I'd like to steal that dash and insert it into the passage referenced above and then look at what really lead from "this" - (to) "that".
"This is the complete family tree for all Israel, recorded in the Royal Annals of the Kings of Israel and Judah at the time they were exiled to Babylon" (-).
What we know right now is that the nation of Judah (after Israel split into the Norther tribes (Israel) and the Southern tribe of Judah) has been exiled to Babylon. Which seems weird because these were God's people! God's chosen Nation! How could... how would God let them be destroyed and taken captive?! This was the tribe from which Jesus would later come and they are nearly destroyed and the city and Temple left in ruins. We might consider all the reasons for such devastating trouble... in fact, this is what I thought of (from experience with trouble of various kinds).
Reasons God would allow the people of Judah to be destroyed and exiled:
- He didn't love them anymore.
- He was just no match for the Babylonians and their gods.
- He was busy taking care of some other pressing matters and just didn't have the time.
- He was vengefully getting back at them for their sin ("I'll show them!").
- He was tired of listening to them and thought they deserved a little butt-whooping.
- He was angry for the way they treated Him, they hadn't called much and were too busy for Him.
Maybe this is not how you handle trouble. But when it comes into my life but I'm pretty sure I've considered each of the above as viable reasons why God was letting me go through some painful experience. And I usually combine several of these into one massive, "I told you so!"
Maybe He just doesn't love me anymore because I looked at that picture on my computer too long?
Perhaps He's angry because I haven't talked with Him in a while?
Satan is really after me, maybe God's having a hard time defeating him in this area of my life?
I'm sure I deserve this God - after all, I am the worst of all sinners.
But let's look at what we're told about who God is and why He does what He does.
God NEVER stops loving us, not matter what - 1 John 4:16, John 3:16, Psalm 136:1-26
God is not weak or powerless - Deu 3:24
God does not get back at us for some sin we've committed - Psalm 78:38-39
God is never too busy or tired or sleepy - Psalm 121:3-5
God does not grow tired of us - Isaiah 40:28
That was the dash, here's the rest of the 1 Chronicles passage, "this happened, "because of THEIR unbelieving and disobedient lives" (emphasis and capitalization mine!)
Our problems come from two sources.
- Our own desire for selfishness and sin.
- The very real presence of Satan working in the world and in our lives.
Satan we will always have as long as the world turns he'll be working to steal, kill and destroy - that is what he does. So deal with it. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to take your stand against him.
But Romans 6 tells us that we are not longer slaves to our own desire for sin!
So we need to stop blaming God for every bad thing that happens in our lives. Truth is, God didn't do it, He doesn't want you to have trouble or pain or struggle (had sin not entered the world through man's selfishness we'd all be living in perfection just as God placed the first humans). So, it's NOT God's fault that you and struggling it's Satan's and sins. Now, if you are in Christ you must believe that the Holy Spirit working in you will lead you out of sin and into righteousness so that should be improving. But Satan will always be there trying to work evil in your life. But God even uses the naturally occurring consequences of sin (which Satan knows but doesn't understand, he thinks it's gonna work out every time) as DISCIPLINE so that we might be "taught not to sin" again. This discipline helps us put to death the desire to sin and grow the desire to please God.
I need to stop blaming God for my problems and recognize that God is my rescue and my strength and Satan is my pusher. Get behind me Satan so that I might be wholly and holy Gods.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Just a reminder.
- No other gods, only me.
- No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever...
- No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter...
- No working on the Sabbath; keep it holy just as God, your God, commanded you...
- Respect your father and mother-God, your God, commands it!
- No murder.
- No adultery.
- No stealing.
- No lies about your neighbor.
- No coveting your neighbor's wife. And no lusting for his house...nothing that belongs to your neighbor!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Truth comes when we're open to it - not when we're prepared for it
Here's just something to ponder.
Here at Real Life we've been doing a series called Carbon Copy that has kind of taken on a life of it's own, at least for me. We just finished week 4 and I have no idea how long we're gonna hang out on this series idea, I just feel like God is using it somehow (again, maybe just for me) to grow and draw us closer to Him. The foundation text is 1 John 2:6 Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did. And we're talking about how we ought to be Carbon Copies of Jesus in our daily life.
Last Saturday I attended Ozark Christian College's Building Stronger Teams conference with a friend from Real Life and I heard a guy say this, often the story on the inside doesn't match the story on the outside. Isn't this the character flaw that Jesus called out in the lives of the religious leaders? We need to be the same person on the inside and the outside. This is not as easy as it seems though, I get that more than others. I'm a goofball, I often say the wrong thing at the wrong time (which would be right, right?!) so me being the same person outside I am inside sometimes gets me in trouble! Being a Carbon Copy means we avoid the issue of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy only exists when we say one thing and do another. But if our inside and outside match up, hypocrisy looses it's power.
While preaching this Sunday I was getting this point across and while I was rolling this stuff out there was a little boy who got so excited during the music and stuff he just couldn't get all his wiggles out. So while he danced around right in front of me God just spoke to my heart and brought a great truth to us all through this little boy. Remember that Matthew 18:3 says, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Right there in the middle of the teaching I'm doing some theological thinking... Why did Jesus say that and what does it mean? Well, I've heard a lot of things said about this passage and I'm sure someone, a lot of "ones" probably knew this already but it meant something to us right there on Sunday morning.
Children are the same on the outside as they are on the inside. Take your young child shopping to check out some of the "people of Wal Mart" and listen to what they say. "God left them in the oven too long..." beep, beep, beep, "watch out mom, their backing up!"
How do we get to heaven? We become like children, being the same on the outside as we are on the inside. Carbon Copies are children - trusting completely, being the same on the inside and outside.
Here at Real Life we've been doing a series called Carbon Copy that has kind of taken on a life of it's own, at least for me. We just finished week 4 and I have no idea how long we're gonna hang out on this series idea, I just feel like God is using it somehow (again, maybe just for me) to grow and draw us closer to Him. The foundation text is 1 John 2:6 Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did. And we're talking about how we ought to be Carbon Copies of Jesus in our daily life.
Last Saturday I attended Ozark Christian College's Building Stronger Teams conference with a friend from Real Life and I heard a guy say this, often the story on the inside doesn't match the story on the outside. Isn't this the character flaw that Jesus called out in the lives of the religious leaders? We need to be the same person on the inside and the outside. This is not as easy as it seems though, I get that more than others. I'm a goofball, I often say the wrong thing at the wrong time (which would be right, right?!) so me being the same person outside I am inside sometimes gets me in trouble! Being a Carbon Copy means we avoid the issue of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy only exists when we say one thing and do another. But if our inside and outside match up, hypocrisy looses it's power.
While preaching this Sunday I was getting this point across and while I was rolling this stuff out there was a little boy who got so excited during the music and stuff he just couldn't get all his wiggles out. So while he danced around right in front of me God just spoke to my heart and brought a great truth to us all through this little boy. Remember that Matthew 18:3 says, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Right there in the middle of the teaching I'm doing some theological thinking... Why did Jesus say that and what does it mean? Well, I've heard a lot of things said about this passage and I'm sure someone, a lot of "ones" probably knew this already but it meant something to us right there on Sunday morning.
Children are the same on the outside as they are on the inside. Take your young child shopping to check out some of the "people of Wal Mart" and listen to what they say. "God left them in the oven too long..." beep, beep, beep, "watch out mom, their backing up!"
How do we get to heaven? We become like children, being the same on the outside as we are on the inside. Carbon Copies are children - trusting completely, being the same on the inside and outside.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Try telling your fish to think outside his tank
Preparing for last week's message on love from the Carbon Copy series I'm doing I included this statement, GOD'S LOVE DOESN'T ALWAYS FIT OUR FRAMEWORK. I was talking about how strange it was that the text could say, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that Lazarus was sick He stayed where He was two more days." Does that make sense to you? If you know the rest of the story it shouldn't, because it then takes Jesus even longer to get to Lazarus and once He does, Lazarus has been dead for four days. How could Jesus love them and still wait? I mean, it just doesn't make sense.
Here's the gist of the point. God's love is so huge it's outside our framework for it. Here's the love of our Savior. John 3:16, for God so loved the world that He GAVE His only Son... and 1 John 3:16, we know what love is... Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. THAT'S God's love. Here's our love. We say, "I love you" to our spouse and children and the family dog and the pizza on the kitchen counter. We say, "I love you" to our spouse and then cheat on them in various forms. Every child is born innately knowing that mom and dad love them, and then Dad beats them or sexually abuses them and Mom yells and tells them they had it coming and not to say anything or the bad people will come and take them away. In Jr. and Sr. high schools its, "if you love me you will...(fill in the blank)" and then they say horrible things about the other whether they give in or not. Is it any wonder we are messed up when it comes to love?
Our framework for love is so jaded, so skewed, so messed up that we can't possibly fully understand a love that is so all-encompassing and unconditional that our actions and attitudes have no bearing on it whatsoever. God is the only person whose love is not dependent on what we do, what we say or how we (or He) feels. No one... NO ONE else can say that. Our love is absolutely affected by how we are treated by the ones we love- there are at times glimpses of incredible, supernatural love (as in the book, If I Perish) but we'll show this incredible love one minute and think something hateful the next. God doesn't do that.
So there I am, it's Sunday morning, I'm preaching - in the middle of this point and it hits me... Doesn't this principle fit every other aspect of our lives? How we view and interact with the world is affected by the framework through which we see it. Our experiences and successes and failures and understanding of love, forgiveness and kindness are all affected by what HAS happened to us. How others treated our failures and successes. Whether or not we experienced true forgiveness or unconditional kindness. If someone has been abused by another person who was "supposed" to love them, do you think they ever truly experience love without that memory creeping in?
Now, we're told to think outside the box if we want to succeed or be innovative (huge word in church leadership circles right now - see, I'm hip to what's happening) in our lives or business ventures or churches. The problem is, we can't. We absolutely can NOT think outside the box, outside our framework for viewing the world around us. We CAN, however, enlarge our box. We can move our box to cut out less of this and let in more of that, (think of your box as a window frame. If you stand directly in front of it, through your frame(work) you can see stuff, if you move one direction or another you see more of one thing and less of something else, get it?) but we're still looking at the world through the same framework. Trying to think outside the box is like telling your fish to think outside his tank. The only thing you can do is give him a bigger tank - he still won't be able to think "outside" it, but you've given him a larger framework in which to deal with his own fishy world.
God is infinite. We are not. God is perfect love. We love imperfectly. God is creative as part of His makeup. We have flashes of creativity.
I don't want to leave you depressed here. The Bible tells us that we see the world, God and others like we're looking in a mirror that is all foggy. We can see shapes and movement but it's hard to make out the details. But when we get to heaven we will see clearly - just as we are clearly seen (1 Cor 13:12). But don't get discouraged while you're here. Work to enlarge your framework, through study, through a deep awareness of the Holy Spirit's working in your life, through putting aside the deeds of the flesh and living a life of Christ with intention and purpose. The Bible says to, "pray for wisdom" which will enlarge your frame. Shift your focus so that you see more of Him and less of the world. But don't feel too bad if you can't "think outside the box," remember, no one can - except God. Here's to enlarging your framework and shifting your view (I'm memorizing Psalm 145 as a means to help this process!).
By the way, in the story of Jesus loving and waiting I mentioned in the opening, this is the same place where Jesus calls the four-day-dead Lazarus out of the grave and he listens and obeys - back to life. Bringing dead people back to life doesn't fit in our framework, so I'm really glad that God's work has no frame. And that He lets us participate in what He's doing, not because He needs us, but because He loves us.
Here's the gist of the point. God's love is so huge it's outside our framework for it. Here's the love of our Savior. John 3:16, for God so loved the world that He GAVE His only Son... and 1 John 3:16, we know what love is... Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. THAT'S God's love. Here's our love. We say, "I love you" to our spouse and children and the family dog and the pizza on the kitchen counter. We say, "I love you" to our spouse and then cheat on them in various forms. Every child is born innately knowing that mom and dad love them, and then Dad beats them or sexually abuses them and Mom yells and tells them they had it coming and not to say anything or the bad people will come and take them away. In Jr. and Sr. high schools its, "if you love me you will...(fill in the blank)" and then they say horrible things about the other whether they give in or not. Is it any wonder we are messed up when it comes to love?
Our framework for love is so jaded, so skewed, so messed up that we can't possibly fully understand a love that is so all-encompassing and unconditional that our actions and attitudes have no bearing on it whatsoever. God is the only person whose love is not dependent on what we do, what we say or how we (or He) feels. No one... NO ONE else can say that. Our love is absolutely affected by how we are treated by the ones we love- there are at times glimpses of incredible, supernatural love (as in the book, If I Perish) but we'll show this incredible love one minute and think something hateful the next. God doesn't do that.
So there I am, it's Sunday morning, I'm preaching - in the middle of this point and it hits me... Doesn't this principle fit every other aspect of our lives? How we view and interact with the world is affected by the framework through which we see it. Our experiences and successes and failures and understanding of love, forgiveness and kindness are all affected by what HAS happened to us. How others treated our failures and successes. Whether or not we experienced true forgiveness or unconditional kindness. If someone has been abused by another person who was "supposed" to love them, do you think they ever truly experience love without that memory creeping in?
Now, we're told to think outside the box if we want to succeed or be innovative (huge word in church leadership circles right now - see, I'm hip to what's happening) in our lives or business ventures or churches. The problem is, we can't. We absolutely can NOT think outside the box, outside our framework for viewing the world around us. We CAN, however, enlarge our box. We can move our box to cut out less of this and let in more of that, (think of your box as a window frame. If you stand directly in front of it, through your frame(work) you can see stuff, if you move one direction or another you see more of one thing and less of something else, get it?) but we're still looking at the world through the same framework. Trying to think outside the box is like telling your fish to think outside his tank. The only thing you can do is give him a bigger tank - he still won't be able to think "outside" it, but you've given him a larger framework in which to deal with his own fishy world.
God is infinite. We are not. God is perfect love. We love imperfectly. God is creative as part of His makeup. We have flashes of creativity.
I don't want to leave you depressed here. The Bible tells us that we see the world, God and others like we're looking in a mirror that is all foggy. We can see shapes and movement but it's hard to make out the details. But when we get to heaven we will see clearly - just as we are clearly seen (1 Cor 13:12). But don't get discouraged while you're here. Work to enlarge your framework, through study, through a deep awareness of the Holy Spirit's working in your life, through putting aside the deeds of the flesh and living a life of Christ with intention and purpose. The Bible says to, "pray for wisdom" which will enlarge your frame. Shift your focus so that you see more of Him and less of the world. But don't feel too bad if you can't "think outside the box," remember, no one can - except God. Here's to enlarging your framework and shifting your view (I'm memorizing Psalm 145 as a means to help this process!).
By the way, in the story of Jesus loving and waiting I mentioned in the opening, this is the same place where Jesus calls the four-day-dead Lazarus out of the grave and he listens and obeys - back to life. Bringing dead people back to life doesn't fit in our framework, so I'm really glad that God's work has no frame. And that He lets us participate in what He's doing, not because He needs us, but because He loves us.
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