It's Not About Me

"Let us go on... and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be." – Hebrews 6:1

Last night, Julie and I were in conversation with a parent of a 16-year old.  She told us a story of how she was riding in the car with her daughter driving with her permit.  Someone in a car ahead of them threw out a cigarette butt slightly in their direction.  (Which I believe should be considered littering and fined.  If you’ve ever tried to pick up trash on a portion of the highway, you quickly realize there are too many cigarette butts to pick up.)  Her daughter exclaimed to her asking if she saw that person throw that trash at her.  Her daughter thought that person specifically threw it out at her on purpose.

We all laughed because we all know that is ludicrous.  No person in the car adjacent to you cares about you in any way except in how you can get out of their way.  But for her daughter, her teenage mind has this idea that she is so important that a person throwing a cigarette butt out the window remotely in her direction is doing it purposefully at her.  She should not be condemned however as most teenagers think in a like manner of extremisms.

It brings to light a topic that I believe our society pushes and it’s a trap too many fall into.  While we may gawk and gaze unbelievingly at others who embody this concept, if we look carefully into our lives we will see that there are small areas within us where we are susceptible to it.  This is, of course, the “It’s all about me” concept where our actions and attitudes reflect that we make ourselves the center of the universe to make us happy.  It’s a me-centered world.  Society pushes this very directly. It tell us in any way it can that this is your one life so go live it the way you want to so you are happy.  …  Consequences of those actions?  Well, that’s just people who are against you.  If they were for you, they’d want whatever you want to make yourself happy.

Everyone wants to be a teenager again. 

I don’t want to be a teenager again.  I want to be a wise old guy with a gentle, kind, loving spirit that only wants to help those whom I am in contact.  I’ve got a long way to go.  But in order for me to get there, those attributes of kindness, gentleness, and love are fruits of the Spirit of God within me.  So, to become whom I hope to be, I’ve got to live a God-centered life.  That means, “It’s NOT all about me.”  I want to be spiritually mature and that means doing what God says and believing that those things are what is best for me, not what I think will make me happy.

Max Lucado wrote a book by that very title, It’s Not about Me: Rescue from the Life We Thought Would Make Us Happy.  I haven’t read it, but it sounds like it addresses this head-on.  Rick Warren comments on Day 1 of the Purpose Driven Life, “It’s not about me.”  Two very prominent Christian authors and pastors recognizing this very same attack from society.  We would be wise to consider its effect on our thoughts, attitudes, and actions.

Dear Lord, show me where in my thoughts, attitudes, or actions I am all about me.  Help me to be able to find Your purpose in those areas so You are the center of everything in my life.  I pray that the fruit of Your Spirit would show to those around me.  Through Christ I pray, Amen.

Red Sea

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.  The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” – Exodus 14:13-14

I find that statement by Moses very inspiring.  The three verses before this is the Israelites complaining with dire hysteria that they are going to die and were better off as slaves.  And Moses, fully confident and believing in the delivery of them by the Lord says this before he knows what God will do.  That is faith.  That is the kind of faith I want to carry within me at all times.  No matter what the problem or conflict is, I want to be able to say confidently that the Lord is fighting for me and if I will be still I will see the deliverance He brings me.

With that, the Lord parts the Red Sea and the Israelites walk across on dry land.  Mercy and grace are extended to the Israelites, even in their panic and unbelief.  Once across, the Lord crushes the enemies of His people with the very Red Sea He parted.

I find it not mere coincidence that the body of water parted is the Red Sea.  The Lord sent Jesus to live with the Israelites.  He extended mercy and grace to them in their unbelief.  However, this time He provided a red sea that saves those who believe in Him.  That red sea is the blood Jesus bled as He died.  Jesus is willing to substitute that death, His shed life, for all our sins and God is willing to accept it.  It is only by walking in the red sea that we are saved, not by walking on the dry land beneath it.

Jesus fought for us and all we have to do is be still and know the Lord delivered us.  We are delivered today, tomorrow and for all eternity.  Stand firm on this.  Know it confidently.  Believe as Moses did, in the midst of doubt, panic and hysteria, know that the Lord delivers you. 

I hear the Savior say,

“Thy strength indeed is small;

Child of weakness, watch and pray,

Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

Lord, help me today to walk in Your sacrifice for me.  Help me to have a full faith that I am not left alone, that You are with me at all times, every hour, every minute, every second.  You will deliver Your son today and everyday.  Thank you for saving me, a sinner.  Though the blood of Christ my redeemer I pray, Amen.

Where Are You?

After the original and first sin, God walked through the garden and to the man, “Where are you?” After the first murder, God asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

We are a conniving ruthless bunch that hides, especially when confronted with our own disobedience.  The only strength we seem capable of conjuring up is to be defensive about our own disobedience and determination to do it.  Except when we are confronted with God Himself.  Everything changes when that happens. 

Adam’s response to God was weak.  He tells God why he is hiding, but immediately blames the woman.  He is, at least, talking honestly with God.  This is more than Cain does.  Cain doesn’t tell the truth.  So from Adam’s sin to Cain’s sin, man has eroded to not telling God the truth, but to being defiantly determined in his lies.  For Adam, the presence of God was enough for him to speak openly to Him.  For Cain, only the power of God caused him to plead for mercy. 

We are hardheaded.  We want our way.  We want to determine what will make us happy.  We prefer not to be disciplined and to not sacrifice.  We prefer for others to serve us.  We want to rule ourselves.  We don’t want anyone telling us what to do.  …  How very childish we are!

From the beginning, man was unable to not do the one thing God instructed him not to do.  Man has the internal spirit whose desire is to be its own authority and to not desire God above himself.  The only way to overcome that is to have a new spirit.  Fortunately, God thought about that.  How can we not be what we are?  How can we be something different?  How can we do what we know is right?  Only by allowing God’s Spirit to rule ours.  Only by submitting to what we know is right through His Word.  This is accepting God’s authority over our perceived authority (which really doesn’t exist). 

If we want to be different than Adam, then we need to be in God’s presence at all times.  We need God’s Spirit to have dominion over our mind and hand as it reasons to sin or acts to do it.  If we want to be different than Cain, then we need to beg for the grace and power of God to so change our ability to sin that we can’t do it.  We must plead for God to conquer our desires with His strength.  Adam can walk with God and be a new man; Cain must be conquered by God.

Which heart do I have today?  I pray that my heart is as Adam’s, seeking to walk with God, to simply be in His presence and all is well, for His presence to complete me.  If there is a part of my heart as Cain’s, I pray for God to crush it to dust so that it no longer exists.  May there be no part within me that offends the presence of Almighty God.  Amen.

Glorious Sunrise

For His anger lasts only a moment,
    but His favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning. – Psalm 30:5

I have been committed in conversations with Julie that we are not going to live this year depressed.  We are not going to let the nagging, constantly drag-us-down, family of mine ruin our days.  We will not allow their actions or inactions determine our fullness of heart and steal our joy.  It is time to cut those strings and let it float away.  God will bring it together correctly if and when decisions are made to put Him first and that is out of our hands and cannot be forced.

I remind her and myself, we are following God.  We have put His precepts first, even when the world told us to do otherwise.  We have dedicated ourselves to believing His way is the right way no matter how badly we mess it up.  Because we are following in faith, His goodness makes us good.  We are not evil and we do not seek to hurt others in any way.  We only want others to know God is real and alive like we do.

It is a shame that we have to remind ourselves of this about ourselves, but if we don’t, I find I get depressed.  I find I start second-guessing and wondering if I’m just completely out-of-my-mind.  The mind game wears us down and we start to crumble sometimes. 

C.H. Spurgeon wrote, “Be patient! The Husbandman waits until He reaps His harvest.  Be patient; for you know who has said, 'Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.'"

David’s assurance here is encouraging.  “God’s favor lasts a lifetime.”  What a wonderful characteristic of God.  He doesn’t leave us; He is always there and He wants what is best for us, forever!  And although we may have been in times of sorrow from pain, it is only for a brief season.  The rejoicing from the arrival of God’s glory that is with us always comes fresh and anew as a sunrise. 

Again, Spurgeon wrote, “Let us go on boldly; if the night be never so dark, the morning cometh, which is more than they can say who are shut up in the darkness of hell.  Do you know what it is thus to live on the future - to live on expectation - to antedate heaven?  Happy believer, to have so sure, so comforting a hope.  It may be all dark now, but it will soon be light; it may be all trial now, but it will soon be all happiness.” 

We am looking anxiously for that sunrise.  Our hearts are about to explode with anticipation and our eyes are searching earnestly.  Oh God, come and fill our hearts to overflowing!  Give us the grace and power to persevere to that glorious morning!

Clean Hands & Pure Heart

³ Who may climb the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ Only those whose hands and hearts are pure,
    who do not worship idols
    and never tell lies.
⁵ They will receive the Lord’s blessing
    and have a right relationship with God their savior. – Psalm 24:3-5

My hands and my heart are not pure.  Never have been.  If I am left to myself, I will corrupt myself and everyone around me.  It is distressing to know how painfully evil I am.  I will never be allowed to stand with God. … Except that God knew this before He even made me.  He knew I would not rule over my heart to only follow Him in all things from my birth.  So He loved me enough to send His Son Jesus to live and to live that perfect life that I cannot.  Yet Jesus was requested by God to die so that I might not die in relationship with Him.  Because of that and my belief in it as reality, my hands and my heart are seen by God as pure and I may stand in His holy place.

The Christian band Mercy Me sings the song “Give Us Clean Hands” and it is written around these verses.

We bow our Hearts
We bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
Oh Lord we cast down our idols

So give us clean hands
Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
…
And God let us be
A generation that seeks
That seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob

My thoughts this morning are on the devotion I read for today from Billy Graham.  Unfortunately, my thoughts are also on those who tirelessly pretend, who purposely do not see, and who consciously refuse the truth.  I am weary from those who tell lies to others and themselves so often that they believe them.  They lift themselves up with no concern for those who do not idol them.  I pray for my heart to only want for them to hear God clearly and to not want to destroy them.  I do pray earnestly now, however, for God to destroy their lingering connections to me so they will no longer disturb my walk with Him.  May any person against me be against God.

I pray this morning that the desires of my heart are the desires of God; that His Spirit would rule over it.  I pray this morning that the thoughts in my mind would be the thoughts of God; that His Spirit would rule over them.  Do not let me fall into worship over anything but You my Lord.  "Create in me a pure heart, O God" (Ps 51:10).  Guide me so I do not desire anything for anyone else except what You desire for them.  Help me to not seek anything over others.  Lord, deliver Your servant from those who seek to tear down and to destroy, who worship idols and don’t follow Your voice.  Bind them so that they will see clearly, even if they don’t want to, that You are the One true living God and You and You alone stand over Your children and bless them and protect them.  I pray that everyone will clearly see that You are my God and Savior and You are the One true living God and there is no other!  Amen.

Signs

Acts 2:42-43 42They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  43Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.

Signs, signs everywhere they're signs!
Do we see signs of God at work today?  Sometimes I wonder.  With all the terrible news today, where is God?  Do we see Him at work anywhere?  What about me?  Can't he see that I need His help?  Doesn't He understand I need direction?  Why can't He speak more loudly and clearly?
I guess I'm truly getting old as I notice that I often repeat myself.  Two things that I often repeat to those around me: to my coworkers: "it doesn't take any brains to be a critic, anyone can bash someone else's original thoughts and designs" and to my Sunday School class "recognizing God at work is a skill that, like other skills, requires development."  So how are these two related?
I've noticed lately that as I emerge out of this season that my 10 year old nephew calls "the only time of year that you can be totally self-centered and not be criticized for it" that I depart church with a critical spirit.  I didn't like the music selection, or I thought the service was choppy or worse, asking what the church has to offer my single adult daughter.  My approach to each day is similar: I'm not expecting to see God at work, I'm not looking for Him to be revealed, and I don't put any effort into personal worship, and so I don't. 
Things are a little different, however, when I escape the busy-ness of the world, crawl up a tree, and wait on Bambi's daddy to walk by.  With some quiet time, I spend time in prayer.  Often I start in prayer for myself, but with time I notice that my prayers are for others.  Sure, I confess that I pray just to see deer, but often I pray that others would do so, then I begin to really get down to the heart of the matter and pray for people's hearts and souls.  Often, if I sit in a small shooting house, I read scripture or a devotion (There's even one for hunters by Steve Chapman called "A look at Life from a Deer Stand").  I've noticed that the trip home after a day spent in God's creation devoting and worshiping, my thoughts are not critical, but of how I might be called to help others in their struggles. 
Lately, I've been crying out to God for direction regarding some decisions Reja and I need to make and I have been critical that God hasn't just dropped a straightforward answer in my lap.  I'm mindful, however, that my critical spirit is one of self-centeredness and yet I'm expecting an answer from God.  I need to shift my focus from what I want, to be sensitive to what He has to say.  He may have other issues of more importance that need attention.  He may have already given me an answer, I simply don't want to execute it as it is hard and requires adjustments in my lifestyle.  In fact, as I reflect, there have been signs, I just didn't want to leave my self-centered world and focus on His message. 
Now as we work through the season of physical makeovers, I think I need a Spiritual makeover first.  I've used the Holidays as an excuse to be lazy and self-centered and its reflected in my attitude.  I need to refocus, acknowledge the signs of God at work, and join Him. 

My Brother's Keeper

⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?  ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?  But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”  While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” – Genesis 4:6-10

How many times does this identical scene play out in every human relationship?  Our sin nature first wants to get what it wants, then it shoves us into a position of confrontations where we must decide to answer honestly or not, then it eventually requires our delivery to authority.

Cain is downcast because God has not accepted his offering of less than his best.  His answer is to kill the guy who has given his best.  He didn’t immediately offer his best, but sought to bring down the guy who did it with the right heart.  Isn’t this something we see all the time in people?  Instead of accepting their reality of doing less than their best or doing what is right, they would rather tear down people who are doing it right so they don’t look so bad or so they don’t have to do what is right because they don’t want to. 

For parents, this is Parenting 101.  Before you are ready as a parent and when your precious child is way too young, it is evident that they want what they want and will cry out with fake cries to get it.  They might throw a tantrum to see if you will yield to their wants.  They might hold their breath or fake some other crisis.  But the truth is they want your authority which tells them what they can and can’t have.  Cain is no different and neither is anyone who consciously does what they know God specifically instructs not to do.  He wanted God’s authority to decide whose heart giving what sacrifice was worthy.

Cain simply could not accept that his heart condition, one that gave to God what he wanted to and not the very best of what he had, was not good.  But we immediately see that the heart that is unthankful and not grateful for the very life he had as a blessing from a loving God was willing to disrespect all life, including the life of his brother.  Jealousy, envy, despising, hate, and an abnormal love for himself led him to commit the worst of sins, the destruction of life that can only be given by God.

The crux of this event is when God, the perfect Father, specifically ask Cain where is Abel.  Cain is confronted with his very sin.  He can fall on his knees and ask God to forgive his heart condition, something God has already made him aware.  He can say the truth, “I killed him and he is in the field.”  Or, he cannot step into his reality and pretend it doesn’t exist, “I don’t know, am I my brother’s keeper?”  God did not avoid this conflict, but Cain avoided the truth until God wouldn’t allow it anymore. 

If you keep reading you see where Cain pleads with God for mercy believing his punishment is too severe.  Here he is, having killed Abel, and yet he believes his punishment is too severe.  He never asks for forgiveness.  Again, I see so many parallels to people today.  We are no different than when we were created, we just have technology and there are more of us.

I pray today that I will be willing to give God my first fruits, my very best.  I pray that I will be thankful and grateful for everything, for the very life I get to live today, as it is more than I deserve.  I pray that when I have sinned, I am willing to be confronted and to accept it, and to respond with a heart that wants to be where God wants it to be.  Though the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus I pray.  Amen.

Just Tell me what to Do!

Jer 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

I wish I had it all together and could make perfect decisions in every circumstance.  Alas, I do not and cannot.  I need to hear from God.  I need guidance in several situations and am having difficulty discerning my own desires and the noise of this world from God's still small voice.  I know He can drown out the world and my own predetermined notions.  I need him  to shout with a bullhorn.  I need him to create an uncontrollable urge within me.
People tell me that God gave me a brain and I'm to use it.  Well, it was my brain that got me to where I am!  I need to work and live differently.  I need to interact with others differently.  People also tell me that needing to hear from God is a lack of faith.  Ok, then I don't have much faith.  What I do know is that I need to make better decisions and I know who knows how to make them perfectly.  I need to know where to take the next step.  I need to learn how to distinguish God's voice from the many in my head. 

Do Unto Others

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!  So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. – Matthew 7:9-12

This is one of my favorite portions of Scripture.  Jesus show the reality of our goodness as compared to God’s, but by doing so indicates how much greater is God’s love for us than we can love even our own children.  He also indicates how much more than our desire to give to our own children does God want to give to us.  This has always been so encouraging to me because my logical brain understands the scale of it and I can relate so directly to the desire to give to my children.

No matter what we have done or said.  No matter how we have felt before.  No matter who has rejected us or accepted us.  No matter how great or small we are in this world.  God loves us as His children and wants to give to us.

The last verse in this portion is incredible.  Jesus says this one verse sums up all the words of the Jewish law and all the words of the Prophets.  That is an incredible summation.  “In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”  In essence, love others where they are, no matter where they are.

The world's motto is "Do unto others and run!"  (Coincidentally, this was a magnet on my grandfather Buck's refrigerator.  It was my brother's.  My sister's said "Stop and smell the roses."  Mine said "Whatever your lot is in life, build something on it.")  But that is directly opposed to this summation given by Jesus.

If you want people to be nice to you, be nice to them.  If you want friends, be friendly.  If you want accountability, be accountable.  If you want to be loved, love.  If you want others to show you Christ, show them Christ.  If you want kindness, be kind.  If you want gentleness, be gentle.  If you want peace, be peaceful.  …  Show to others what you hope people will show to you. … Forgiveness, compassion, joy, peace, love, etc.

Let’s be purposeful today in how we see and treat others, thinking about them before we think of ourselves.  In doing this, we will live out God’s purpose in all the words of the Law and His prophets.

Rejoice Always

Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: rejoice! – Philippians 4:4

The only way to rejoice is to have joy.  The very definition of rejoice is to show great joy.  We must have joy to rejoice.  Therefore, we must have joy always.  The children’s song says:

I’ve got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart

Where?

Down in my heart

I’ve got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart

Where?

Down in my heart to stay

Somehow I don’t believe that heaven is a place that is not rejoicing.  I only imagine that there is joy everywhere as every person is completed in their relationships first with the Lord and second with everyone else.  I do not see heaven as a place of downhearted people with their eyes cast low.  Therefore we must ask ourselves, if there is much joy in heaven, why are we not overcome with more joy in our lives? 

Jesus taught us many things about heaven.  Ultimately, it seems apparent from His teachings that heaven is where the presence of the Lord abides.  We are taught that the Spirit of God abides in our hearts when we accept that Jesus is God’s Son, He came and lived in the flesh with us, He suffered and died on a Cross for our sins and was resurrected.  If we truly believe this and have faith in God’s Word, then we must accept that His Spirit came into our hearts.  If His Spirit is in our hearts, then how are we not full of joy?

I know that we live too close to this world as Christians.  We allow the temporary things in this life interfere with the eternal things that we are a part of as believers.  As members of God’s eternal home, family with God’s only begotten Son, and carriers of His Spirit, we should be full in our hearts and above this temporary world that works so very hard to drag us away from every fragment of God in our life.

There are temporary evil people with human power in this world, but there is an eternal all-powerful loving God in this world and in every part of Creation.  There are those who want to enslave us, discourage us, use us, and hate us, but there is the one true living God who frees us, encourages us, delivers us, and loves us eternally forever and ever. 

There simply is no amount of negative descriptions that we can list that are contained in our world that we cannot list more positive descriptions that we can list that are contained within a loving God who gives generously.  He always overcomes the world – always.  And we are to always be rejoicing – always.

Brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. – Philippians 4:8

Being joyful is a conscious decision to alter our attitude.  It means deciding that there is beauty, love, peace, kindness, and gentleness in our world because God is in our world.  It means deciding that these things will be a part of our heart and our actions.  It means putting our trials and the actions of others in context, knowing that Jesus has overcome the world.  It is another facet of our faith.  We must believe that Jesus has overcome the world, then we can be rejoicing at all times, not matter what happens or what anyone does.  Nothing can undo what God has done and He did it for even me.

Galatians 5:22 tells us that one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy.  Praise God today.  Let His Spirit produce this fruit of joy in your life and let Him overcome the world in your soul.  Let Him sweep away all the dirt this world tries to bury down in your heart to keep you from being joyful and rejoice – always!

Partakers of His Suffering

Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. – 1 Peter 4:12-13 (Message)

I just wish I didn’t need so much refining.  Maybe if I learned these spiritual lessons quicker and better I wouldn’t constantly be in difficulties.  Obviously I am a poor student.  Although true, I say these things in jest.  God has us where we are, how we are, when we are, and who we are so our faith will grow and/or the faith of others around us will grow (assuming we are actively trying to submit our heart to God and follow Jesus).

Oswald Chambers comments the following regarding our experiencing the sufferings that Christ experienced as referenced in verse 13.

“If you are going to be used by God, He will take you through a number of experiences that are not meant for you personally at all.  They are designed to make you useful in His hands, and to enable you to understand what takes place in the lives of others.  

“The sufferings of Christ were not those of ordinary people. He suffered ‘according to the will of God’ (1 Peter 4:19), having a different point of view of suffering from ours.  It is only through our relationship with Jesus Christ that we can understand what God is after in His dealings with us.  When it comes to suffering, it is part of our Christian culture to want to know God’s purpose beforehand.  ... God’s way is always the way of suffering— the way of the ‘long road home.’

“Are we partakers of Christ’s sufferings?  Are we prepared for God to stamp out our personal ambitions? Are we prepared for God to destroy our individual decisions by supernaturally transforming them?  It will mean not knowing why God is taking us that way, because knowing would make us spiritually proud. We never realize at the time what God is putting us through— we go through it more or less without understanding.  Then suddenly we come to a place of enlightenment, and realize— ‘God has strengthened me and I didn’t even know it!’”

Am I ready for God’s grace and power to work in that part of me that wants to be hurt, that deserves to be hurt, that seeks revenge, and that wants to not love?  Am I willing for God to supernaturally transform those natural tendencies into His thoughts, His actions, and His love?  Jesus suffered brutally before He was put on the Cross.  Brutally.  Yet, as He hung there, He prayed to God to forgive them “for they know not what they do”.   And so it is with us.  Those around us are the same.  Am I willing to do as Jesus did and ask God to forgive them?  If I am, it is only through God’s grace and power that I can.  

I must be willing to follow Jesus, otherwise I am dying and not living.  God specifically wants us to live and only in Him is there life.  I pray that we would all be about the Father's business today.  And may we see our suffering in joy, knowing that He has great lessons for us and we are living ever closer to our Savior.

His Grace and Power

In order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10 (NIV)

Paul says in the beginning of this passage that he was given a problem, “a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me”.  Why did he have this problem?  The NIV says to keep him from being conceited; the NLT says to keep him from being proud; the Message says to keep him from getting the big head; and the KJV says “lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance”.   The dictionary defines conceited as excessively proud of oneself or vain. 

So Paul has this problem after he has been in contact with a man with great revelations and he seems to hint that he himself has seen great signs of God, but to avoid anyone’s lifting him up he will not discuss them.  And also, God allowed this problem to exist in his life and would not remove it although Paul had complete faith in God’s ability to remove it.  He tells us that he prayed for it to be removed three separate times.  Paul was also a righteous man doing the will of God and the Bible tells us in James 5:16 “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”  Yet God didn’t heal him. 

However, his prayers did provide much.  He learned through the experience that he could rejoice in his infirmities.  Yes, that is correct, he learned to be thankful for his problem because it showed him that God’s “power is made perfect in weakness”.  Paul had a problem and he didn’t want to endure it, but he learned to endure it through God’s grace and power.  The same grace and power that will take each of us from this world to heaven.  The same grace and power that raised Jesus from the grave.  The same grace and power in His Spirit living inside of every Christian who believes in Jesus as the only Son of the one true living God. 

Where in my life do I need to show grace but don’t want to?  What situation is in my life needs my forgiveness although it isn’t requested or merited?  What actions has God put on my heart to show to others but I can’t do them?  If I will “do them anyway” as Mother Teresa’s famous poem says, I have to believe Paul that God will do them through me in His grace and power.  And when I see His grace and power doing what I know I don’t want to do, then I can thankful for that problem because it reveals God’s grace and power.  This is another step of faith.  It is so much easier to type than to actually do.

We see this all the time in people who have been through terrible events.  They survive only to be grateful and thankful to God.  How can that be except they saw such depths of God’s grace and power that carried them through those events?  They testify, much as Paul does here, about how God arrived at exactly the right time to do what they could not do, and they are changed forever because of it. 

My personal reflection of these verses is that Paul's problem was his sin nature and he found within himself something he knew shouldn't be there.  He prayed for it to leave him but it wouldn't.  The presence of it made him realize that he was as every other man, a sinner.  He then felt unworthy to be a messenger of God.  Yet in this he realized that God's grace and power overcomes his sin.  He was the same man as before, forgiven.  God could still work His grace and power through him.  Just as those who testify of God's deliverance through great events, Paul testifies of God's deliverance through that "sin that doth so easily beset us" (Hebrews 12:1).  But, the interpretation of what the problem was is up to each person as they read the text and the lesson applies to both concepts.

I pray that we seek God’s grace and power in all areas of our life, especially in our problems, so that we can be thankful for them and watch Him work in miraculous ways.  Then we can testify at God’s deliverance and hand working in our life and be witnesses to His work.

Agh!

Ecc 1:8 Everything is wearisome beyond description. No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not content.
Ecc 2:11 But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless--like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.
Pro 19: 23 The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
John 14:23 Jesus replied, "All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.

My grandmother used to say "the hurrier I go, the behinder I get."  I feel that rather poignantly lately.  There's so much to do and so little time in which to accomplish it.  Admittedly, some of my current busy-ness is self-induced with it being the peak of hunting season, yet an afternoon spent quietly sitting in the woods often seems to be the only respite I get.  My 10 year old nephew told me over the Christmas holidays that Christmas is the only season in which one can be totally self-centered and not be criticized for it.  Perhaps the stress and dissatisfaction that I currently feel is because I bought into that belief and have departed the holidays feeling exhausted, a little empty, and intimidated by all the current demands I face. 
It seems useful when feeling overwhelmed to remember that our accomplishments are only temporary and really don't bring long-lasting contentment.  Instead of seeking joy and peace in what I can do for myself, I need to focus on what God has already done for me and how He is calling me to join Him in His work.  After all, His work has eternal value which feeds and satisfies the deepest desires of our hearts.  Perhaps if I focus on loving God and His people rather than what the season holds for me, I will "rest content."
So in this busy season, perhaps I need to not focus on what I can get off my plate, but what God is calling me to add to it.  It seems backwards, but perhaps the stress and dissatisfaction isn't because I'm doing too much, its that I'm doing too much that has no eternal value.  Instead of praying that God will ease my schedule, perhaps I need to pray that He will add to it and as I follow in obedience I will reap the reward of contentment. 
 

Moving First in Relationships

⁵ Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. ⁶ But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. ⁷ And quarreling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time.

⁸ So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. ⁹ Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.”

¹⁰ Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) ¹¹ So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: ¹² Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. ¹³ Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. – Genesis 13:5-13

I find this action by Abram in the midst of what could have been a family fight interesting.  Abram had been called by God to go to a land he did not know.  He had to go only on faith.  Hebrews 11:8 says, “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”  So Abram finally gets to where God has him to go.  It is the Promised Land where his people would live.  God tells Abram a few verses later (14-15) “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west.  All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever.”

Yet it is Abram that goes to Lot when their herdsmen are having trouble to select where he wants to go first.  It would seem natural that Abram would select where he wanted to live since this was the land God had promised for him to live and he had traveled from his home, blindly following God, to this land.  Also, Abram was older, he was Lot’s uncle.  Clearly, Abram should choose where he wanted to live and tell Lot where he was going to live.  That’s my logic.  But that wasn’t what he did.

Abram went to Lot first and said that it was wrong for their herdsmen to quarrel.  To prevent that, he offers Lot to select where he wanted to live, then states that he will go wherever Lot doesn’t select.  All for the sake of not having a disagreement between them.  It is an incredibly humble action.  It turns out to be the right action as Lot was only looking at the land with his eyes and not with a heart pursuing God’s will.  He goes to a land of wicked people.  Soon he is captured and Abram has to go and rescue him.

In the book Pursuing the Will of God, Jack Hayford writes that Abram doesn’t have to endure the hardships of bitterness and unforgiveness because of his actions here.  He writes, “The cost of release from that prison [of bitterness and unforgiveness] is a deep humbling of ourselves before the Lord and before those who have wronged us.  It is a willingness to bear the pain.  A willingness to forgive.  A willingness to pay the full price to redeem a relationship.  Jesus knows all about it.”

Even if we’ve done nothing wrong.  Even if we’re 100% right.  Sometimes the only way to restore a relationship is to sacrifice all of ourselves, whether they ever accept it or not, in order to have a relationship.  This is only Biblical since this is what Jesus did for me.

No Greater Love

 

Let’s take a quick study of Jesus as He teaches about love.   In John 15:13, He says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.”  Yet in Matthew 12:29-31, Jesus answers the question “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”

If the greatest commandment is to love God with all that you are and the next is to love your neighbors/friends as yourself, how can the greatest love be to lay down your life for your friends?  Is Jesus saying we must die to show the greatest love and that somehow dying is linked to loving Him and our friends? 

Oswald Chambers clarifies this with the comments, “What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, viz., sacrifice our lives.  Not ‘I am willing to go to death with Thee,’ but, ‘I am willing to be identified with Thy death so that I may sacrifice my life to God.’  We seem to think that God wants us to give up things! ... God nowhere tells us to give up things for the sake of giving them up.  He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having, viz., life with Himself.”

I think Jesus is saying that loving God with all that we are requires us to believe that everything He directs in our lives, our actions, our internal thoughts, our repentance, and our focus on what’s importance, changes as we die to what we want and live to what He wants.  This is the sacrifice of our life.  People try this all the time in their own effort and they fail often.  It is only by being close to God that we are changed because our desires change.  When the desires of our heart change to only wanting what God puts in there, we are changed dramatically.  Most importantly, it comes without our effort.  I personally believe that if we can get that first greatest commandment right, the second will come naturally – we won’t have to force it. 

This also means that we believe that loving God and inheriting His direction, His thoughts, and His characteristics is what is best for our friends.  We unwavering believe that more God anywhere, especially within us, is the best thing for the world.  And so, if we sacrifice ourselves, identifying through the death and resurrection of Jesus, and submit as Jesus did to God’s will in our life, we are showing the greatest love for our friends.

The best thing and the most love I could ever show towards anyone, is to be closer to God.  The next best thing and most love I could ever show them, is to encourage them to be closer to God.

Physical Balance

Luke 3: 22and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

Yesterday Pastor Dave Barkalow used this passage to talk about balance in our physical lives.  He opened with a question regarding how many in the congregation at First Church in FWB felt that life was "out of balance" for whatever reason.  I and several others around me immediately identified with and affirmed Dave's suspicion that many of us feel overwhelmed by the many challenges for us, particularly just after the hectic holidays.  For this sermon, he used the occasion of Jesus' baptism per the annual church calendar and homed in on the unique use of the term "bodily form" in this case referring to the Holy Spirit and reminded us that Jesus was obviously also present in bodily form.  He went on to take us through Psalms 139 observing the care God went to to knit us together physically.  Finally he homed in on the necessity to be good stewards of all of God's creation including our physical bodies. 
I confess that I've never been very disciplined regarding my physical health.  Reja and I both work and we've never been disciplined about meal planning.  Treating supper as a post-work pickup game results in poor eating habits, usually eating too much of the wrong thing.  I've felt for some time that I needed to change my habits and help plan and prepare meals ahead of time so healthy options exist when I get home at 6:30 or 7:00 starving and stressed.  So, its good to experience confirmation of a call and accountability to that call from God directly in the sermon.  Not only does it speak directly to a growth area in my life that requires attention, but it also reminds me that God still speaks to His people.  When one realizes that God is actively speaking (in this case He sounded remarkably like Dave Barkalow!), the sermon becomes not just a teaching session, but also a worship experience. 
I've got some work to do and it won't occur immediately as changing 30 year old habits don't just happen overnight.  It's good to be reminded, however, that it was God who knit us together and God who walks with us offering perfect solutions to each and every circumstance.  I pray that I remain sensitive to His voice as He guides me.   

Go in My Way

¹³ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; ¹⁵ but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶ because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:13-16

I’ve heard sermons on this text and they usually end up referring to 2 Corinthians 5:17 which says, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  The thought is that when you were saved, you became a different person, or at least that is the way I always understood it when I was young.  Actually, it never really made sense to me.  I remember wondering, how am I a new person?  I would especially wonder this when I’d go home from church and do the same thing I used to do the day after church as a supposedly saved person.  I mean, I understood the basics of it, I wasn’t supposed to do those things I knew I shouldn’t do, but heck I already knew that just from being taught right from wrong.  So, my only reasoning was just that as a saved person I was new to heaven, you know “born again”.  Being born makes you new, right?

The text in 1 Peter clarifies this being new for me.  The one part of being new that matters more than the rest as we live daily is “are the desires of our heart new?”  Every morning we should have a new desire for the Lord and the characteristics of the Lord.  The Lord is so fulfilling and so satisfying as His Spirit completes us that it is only natural to desire more of Him in each new day.  This single aspect of my heart’s content is the speedometer on my dashboard of life that I try to pay the most attention.  If this “speed” goes to low then I’m in trouble and something isn’t right in my thoughts or actions.  The “speed” can’t go to high, the faster the better.  Every day should have a new desire for the righteousness of God within me.

We are instructed here to be mindful that the former lusts were done in our ignorance.  Anything done outside of God’s instruction is ignorance as it is done in our own authority.  Proverbs specifically tells us “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”  The first step to knowing God is to realize that “God is God and I am man”, as Stephen Curtis Chapman sings.  So, if we claim any knowledge of God, then we won’t live as we formally did, in our sins. 

Finally, we are told “as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct”.  We are to be as He is, because of who He is.  The Lord says in Leviticus 20:7 to “be holy, for I am the Lord our God.”  We are to be set apart, without fault, a display of His characteristics because He is our God and He is holy.  We are His children, His prize, and His love.  He wants us to be what is best for all of Creation, Him.  This is what the world needs, more of Him, everywhere He can be makes it better.

We are to be holy in all our conduct because we have a new heart that desires Him first and not ourselves first.  We are to be holy in all our conduct because we know that He is the one true living God and we are not Him.  We are to be holy in all our conduct because we are His children and our Father is holy.

If our earthly father came to us and said, “I want you to go and be productive as a good citizen because I’ve showed you what attitude to have, I’ve taught you how to be productive, and you’ve got my name and that’s how we should be.”  Would we feel prepared to enter the world?  Certainly more than someone who didn’t have those gifts and confident encouragement.  God says the same to us here.  My Spirit is in your heart, my words are in your mind, you are My child with My name, go and conduct yourself in My way.”