Courageous Leadership

Luke 17: 1Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. 2It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3So watch yourselves.

“If your brother or sister^a sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.

I love teaching and serving with the youth in my church for so many reasons, but once in a while service has its difficulties.  Having to reprimand a misbehaving youth seems simple until one chooses to rebel against authority and avoid accountability.  Through the years I've witnessed several who chose to drop out of youth rather than submit to authority and these events always lead me to second guess my own behavior.  Was I unfair?  Did I over-react?  Knowing myself, both are likely.  Yet, when one particular youth is disruptive to the event, particularly if it is prayer or scripture reading, they deserve quick and decisive accountability.  Jesus expressed no patience with those who become stumbling blocks to others and it is very difficult to hold a misbehaving person accountable without becoming a stumbling block to them. 

The key is the continuance of the relationship is through repentance and forgiveness.  Note the conditional statement here which is often ignored in today's mindless rants on social media.  Yes we are commanded to forgive, but forgiveness demands repentance.  The person who was interrupting the event needs to own that sin as does one who rebukes disproportionately (IF a trusted witness bears testimony to an over-reaction.  Complaints by the original transgressor about mistreatment aren't a trustworthy source.) 

Its unfortunate that today's society shuns accountability as I fear many will be lost because of the stumbling blocks who are not held accountable.  So, while the current situation on my heart is not one in my own church, I pray for those in difficult leadership situations who are confronted with unrepentant interrupters.  I pray that this situation will not fester into a long-term stumbling block for anyone, that reason may follow, and fellowship be restored such that growth in Christ may continue for all involved. 

Birthday Reflections

Life is interesting.

We as humans are so very different from all other animals.  We don’t have to run in flocks or packs, but we can.  We don’t have to run alone, but we can.  Sometimes it is those in the pack that we have to be more fearful of than those outside the pack.  Sometimes it is the loneliness that we must be more fearful.  Somehow, we can be lonely in a group or we can be completely satisfied alone.  How confusing we are!

Everyone has their own birth; their own growth; their own pains/hurts/scars; their own regrets; their own successes; their own ambitions; their own motivation; their own love.  And it is very different than everyone else’s.  We are incredibly unique.  Every person is invaluable as a priceless work.  The most valuable part of each person is the part we can’t see.  It is the depth of someone’s soul – their spirit.  The wholeness of who they are that drives their actions and well-being.  It is the deeper dimension of a person beyond this world.

Yet, it is only the one living Creator who knows this or who can make the value of each person known.  Only the Spirit of God within us can truly satisfy us whether we are in a group or alone.  Only the healing hand of Jesus can heal our pains; replace our hurts; cover our scars.  We work in vain without the integral and inclusive love that God Himself is.  Without Him holding that part of us no one can see, that part that transcends our physical body, how can we be more than the simple result of the world’s stimuli as we try to survive each day?

Man is incomplete without the touch of the hand of God.  Man is incomplete without the breath of God upon His very soul.  Man is incomplete without the integral companionship of God – spirit-in-spirit. 

People either accept this reality or they rebel against it.  We all get to choose.  The depth of man is tested in this way.  First, he is asked to believe.  Then he is asked to sacrifice gifts.  Then he is asked to sacrifice through gifts and effort (time).  Lastly, he is asked to commit, even if it costs the whole world he knows.  All for something he cannot even show to another person.  He can only speak of it and be the result of that Godly internal Spirit.

I have never been more satisfied, more complete, than when God was close to me.  I could feel His presence.  I knew His hand was upon me and He had a real purpose for even me.  I have never been more broken, shattered, than when someone God created and loved was deeply hurt because I live.  They depended upon me and I was not complete enough to meet it.  One is satisfying in the fullness of love and one is the absence of love.

God alone completes us and it is my hope that everyone finds Him while they have the time.

Do YOU Believe

John 20:29  Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me."

I truly enjoy watching movies that I don't feel the need to apologize for and especially those that encourage my faith.  Risen is a great movie that challenges a mythical Roman Centurion's beliefs and generates good discussion among Christians and non-Christians alike. 
Among the many verses quoted as the movie tracks Jesus death, burial and resurrection through the experiences of the centurion, is John 20:29.  Jesus remarked to the centurion who was clearly shocked and amazed that the Jew He had just seen dead on a cross just a few days previous, was clearly very much alive and talking to him.  Yet he struggled in his belief.  Jesus simply defied all of his daily experiences with death and that impracticality made it nearly impossible to believe. 
How about you?  Do you believe?  Do you live like you believe?  We have the benefit of being raised in a Judeo-Christian culture that has adopted core Christian theology including a miraculous birth of the Messiah, the One who ultimately conquered sin and death for us all.  Then He sent Himself to live within those of us who believe.  That last fact is one I find that we don't fully comprehend today.  We pray for God to join us in places.  We sing songs about Holy Ground or meeting Jesus in places.  I like to recall circumstances including places where I enjoyed a moment in the Spirit, but I don't find many people who really live like they believe Jesus in the form of the Holy Spirit lives within them.  I find most of us believe we need to go somewhere or do something to "go to God."  This is false theology and leads us to live "on the fence" struggling like the centurion to truly live out an abundant life of faith in the One who became flesh like us, died for our sins, conquered death, and has now made His Holy Spirit available to live within us so that we are never apart from God. 
We need to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that for those of us who believe, God lives within us.  All the strength, knowledge, wisdom, and power of God is literally resident within us, yet we live life from a belief system of doubt, worry, and defeat.  We wonder how awesome it would have been to have seen and spoken with a risen Jesus, yet we carry Him with us every where we go and don't seem to fathom that reality.  Are you waiting on your next encounter with Christ?  Are you planning to go to a place to find Jesus?  Do you pray for God to join you in a place?  WHY?  He is with you ALWAYS.  He lives within you.  He can inspire, council, comfort, and help you always.  You must simply live as if you believe that simple fact. 
The Roman centurion had a very difficult time believing what his eyes and ears were clearly observing.  Today, we as Christians seem to struggle in a similar way with the reality of the Holy Spirit.  What if every Christian live every day KNOWING that Christ was in them, with them, and available to them each and every experience of each and every day? 

Old Time Religion

For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. – 2 Timothy 4:3-4

Isn’t this a verse for our times!  A time when the church puts aside clear teaching to have ministers that suit society and not the written Word of God.  A time when people are encouraged to live how they want to live, rather than live in faith, to make them happy.  A time when people of a race are encouraged by their church to promote racism and rebellion against those who keep the law.  A time when a primeval religion using beheadings and who treat women as slaves or lower class would be allowed to promote itself while the religion of peace, love, and forgiveness is obscured and opposed in all possible ways.

The people gather around them those who tell them what they want to hear. 

“Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!  Let Your face shine, that we may be saved!” – Ps 80:19

“Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?” – Ps 85:6

The time is now Christian.  “Come near to God and He will come near to you.  Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded” (James 4:8).  Let us not be double-minded with thoughts into the world and also into the Words of God, His sound doctrine.  Decide today that there is only one authority and one truth.  Draw near to God - “Seek and you will find”.  May God “Create in me a clean heart … and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps 51:10).

Maybe we need to sing the old songs again. 

Now give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
And it's good enough for me
…

Now it will take us all to heaven

It will take us all to heaven

It will take us all to heaven

And it’s good enough for me

O Lord, I pray that I would long for Your Words, Your sound doctrine and not want to only hear what I want to hear, but what You want to proclain.  Lord I pray that I would seek You in all things and crave for revival in my heart.  Lord, revive me again!  Amen.

Risen

This morning my mind is still reflecting on the movie Risen that we went to see last night.  I told Julie that overall, I was disappointed in the movie, maybe because it was very methodical and steadfast in its movement.  I almost used the word “slow”.  But I think this has more to do with my movie expectations set by others than what this movie’s intent was reaching towards.  If I compare it to War Room, I’d have to say it is a better movie production.  Although, that old woman’s prayer at the end of that movie will be very hard for anyone to top.

A key element in this movie is an unbeliever’s journey from killing Jesus to recognizing that He is much more than any other crucified person.  The difference between this man and any person today is he gets to see and talk with the risen Jesus.  The similarity is the draw of the believers to Jesus.  He is a man very tired of fighting and his only goal is to have a day without death.  He has become unmoved by death because he has seen so much of it.

I like the very personal aspect of the movie.  This is a man’s personal discovery of who Jesus is and it is the change within him.  It is his rejection of all his life values in the pursuit and his peace with it.

For me, seeing the reality of people walking with the risen Christ brings it home.  That really happened.  He did come back from the dead and walk with them.  They witnessed Jesus do miracles in their time with Him.  I’ve witnessed what I believe to be miracles, but they seem so subtle when compared to seeing a blind man see, the lame to walk, or a leper healed.  This doesn’t mean they are any less miraculous though.

Overall, the feel of the movie makes me ask the question: what barriers exist in my life that keep me from believing in Jesus as the son of God with every cell of my body and every fiber of my being?  Where does doubt live and what is the fear tied to that doubt?  For those of us who believe, we must know and not think we know.

There are some obvious draws to things we see and know today.  The Shawl of Turin makes a show and the portrayal of Jesus dead on the cross is a human replica of every Jesus on the cross in every Catholic Church that I have ever entered.  

God-Centered Universe

Have you ever considered what it means that all of Creation revolves around God?  This is a God-centered universe.  We tell one another we need to live God-centered lives.  What exactly does that mean?

Centuries ago, man thought the sun and the stars in the night sky revolved around the Earth.  (Many also thought that if you sailed to far in one direction, you’d fall off.)  Considering what we know today, doesn’t that seem so very ignorant?  Yet, at that time, I can assure you it wasn’t.  Ignorance was perceived as thinking the opposite, which turned out, was the truth. 

How can we open our minds to not get caught up in the worldly view that this is not a God-centered universe?  And even more, how can we open our minds to understand what a God-centered universe really means?  These are important questions as we continue to walk daily in a world where each person spins in their own solar system not recognizing that they are in a bigger galaxy and a bigger universe all revolving around something even bigger.  More importantly, most people don’t recognize that they are in a solar system revolving around something in their life at all, but that the world they see is revolving around them. 

The initial step is to realize that God is the only authority and that He and He alone authored the universe as it exists.  We must have faith and know that this is the truth.  No matter what happens, no matter what we see, hear, or sense in any other way, we must know this truth.  This leads us to recognize that everything God says to us and shows us is truth and can be nothing less.  Maybe we feel like that truth opposes our experience, our knowledge, our understanding, our wants, or our reasoning, but it doesn’t make it less true.  In fact, it SHOULD oppose everything we have learned from our world, or at least sinful man’s part in it.  Understanding God’s single authority and maintaining a very focused faith in Him and Him alone will lead us to a God-centered lifestyle.

However, understanding what a God-centered universe means is very difficult for me.  It requires me to think in ways I don’t understand and can’t imagination.  John Lennon did a good job of reaching into a society concept using imagination with his song “Imagine”.  Although the song is beautiful, I find that song to be very unchristian.  The world refuses to recognize that they will never accomplish anything of the sort without Jesus as the cornerstone.  It is the reality of a God-centered universe.  All things stand on the Messiah who brings us from the false world of a man-centered world into the reality of a God-centered world; from death to life.

If we think of our own individual dimensions, we can recognize that we are physical beings.  We also will admit that we are more than that.  There is an internal spirit or soul that is more than just our physical body.  In addition to those, we are our thoughts, our conscious.  God teaches that all things come from the heart of man which means our desires and actions are the result of our spirit or soul.  A God-centered life is one where the internal spirit is joined by God’s Spirit so He is the center of our desire.  From that Spirit, our thoughts and our physical actions can revolve.  This is the second step of seeing a God-centered universe following our decision in faith regarding God’s single authority.

Now, imagine every person with God’s Spirit guiding them everywhere, if you can.  I cannot.  However, I can see the order that this would bring to all things emotionally, functionally, relationally, and in regard to everyone’s fullness of life.  The world would be complete as the hole in each person’s internal voids are filled. 

With that concept in mind, walk out into this world and you’ll see God everywhere in everything at every moment.  He is reaching for people to draw them into the life that knows the reality of the God-centered world.  We look past it so often, yet His hand is everywhere.  We let the world pull us into the ignorance of man-centeredness too easily.  We are sailing on an ocean and we think if go further our ship will fall off the edge; we regress into a comfortable ignorance.  We must maintain our focus on the reality that God is at the center of everything and that no matter how hard man rebels against Him it is folly.  Who can say with authority that the Earth is not round?  It is foolishness to say that and it is just as foolish to say God doesn’t exist, or that He isn’t at the center of all that exists.

Dear Lord, help me to see You everywhere today and to join You where You lead me.  Help me to see and hear what I can only do through You.  Lead me to a life that desires and loves only to live with You at the center.  Thank you for including me in Your universe and bringing me out of death into life.  Amen.

Why do bad things happen

Gen 2:  15The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.   16And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Gen 3: 19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

I always wonder why bad things happen to seemingly undeserving people after all it seems like a God who loves us would want only good things for us.  I'm mindful, however, that Genesis chapter two reveals that God's intent all along was for us to simply live in his creation as obedient people in relationship with him.  Can you imagine literally walking with God in the cool of the evening? (Gen 3:8).  It wasn't until sin came into the world that our relationship with God was broken and death entered into creation.  We barely get into Genesis chapter four and barely into the second generation of mankind before we see the first innocent victim of murder.  Why does Abel die?  Did he deserve it?  I suppose one could argue that we all deserve death (Ro 2:23 and 6:23), but did Abel deserve to be murdered an apparently young man, it doesn't seem so.  Clearly Cain had the freedom of choice to act out of a jealous rage and kill his brother who was an apparently innocent victim. 
So I don't know exactly why bad things happen except long ago when sin entered an otherwise perfect creation, that sin set into motion an endless cycle of poor decisions by people throughout history which has consumed otherwise innocent victims in its wake. 
I'm comforted, however, that Romans 6:23 doesn't have a period after "the wages of sin is death."  Instead there is the singularly most important comma in all of history followed by a statement of hope in Christ.  We who have taken up the yoke of Christ have hope beyond all of the decisions we and those around us have made.  Christ has conquered death and offers us His victory.  So today rather than dwell on the negative, I choose to cling to the great promise Jesus made in John 14:1-4:1“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.^a If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?^b 3When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4And you know the way to where I am going.”

The New Morality

I read in a Reader’s Digest where a Miami Beach thief snatched a necklace from a tourist and took off.  He was arrested when he returned to berate the victim over his “fake” jewelry.  Such a thing is really hard to get my mind around as it by-passes logic, common sense, and my understanding of moral rights and wrongs in basic thinking.  Yet, I find myself in the same dilemma often when trying to understand today’s society.

How can someone who has stolen something from someone else believe it is that person’s fault that they can’t sell the jewelry for more money?  How can a man who texts lots of other women and commits adultery believe it’s his wife’s fault and that they, and I quote, “are just bad at relationships”.  How can someone believe that everyone of a certain skin color has an unequal advantage and they should be penalized for their skin color, or gender?  How can someone who receives free food, free cell phone, free rent and who doesn’t pay taxes believe other people should pay more?  How can anyone believe that someone who has committed a crime, been found guilty, and is in jail should have the right to do, well, anything?

And if we look around, these examples just pile up higher and higher and higher, so much in fact that I can’t contemplate them anymore so I stop looking at them in a seemingly apathetic manner.  But it’s not apathy, it’s an overwhelming inability to change the course of the ship’s direction.  The extent and infusion of this “new morality” regarding what is right and wrong, what is acceptable and unacceptable, is so deceptive, so corrosive, and so extensive that I can’t engage in a forward fight, but am entrenched to just defend what I know and to reassure myself what is truth.  It seems almost daily know that we have to remind ourselves we aren’t crazy.  The truth is still the truth. 

Today’s society wants us to believe that all truth is relative.  In other words, the truth for you might be different than the truth for me depending upon our heritage, our society, our family, or our experiences and more commonly in today’s society, our race (which I find mind-blowing considering we have a black President - race issues are 10x worse now than any time in my lifetime – so much for the celebration of equal achievement).  But this is false.  There is an absolute truth just as there is an absolute authority just as there is only one true living God. 

Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the truth”.  God is the truth.  He is the righteous – Him and Him alone.  The truth comes through God’s Word, His son Jesus, and through the Holy Spirit.  2 Timothy 3:16 says “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”  Jesus instructed in John 16:13), “When He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth … and He will disclose to you what is to come.” 

The simple solution to our society today is the adoption of God and His Word as our point-of-reference.  Our society has and continues in every possible way to move the cornerstone of the foundation of its existence.  It can and will fall.  The time table is set only by how quickly and forcibly that cornerstone is removed.  The answer is really that simple.  The answer has always been the same whether we want to believe it or not.

The answer is Jesus and it always will be.

Lord, please help me to desire to know Your Word, Your precepts, Your instruction.  Help me to listen to Your guidance and to follow Your Spirit in my heart.  Lead me to stand on Your right and wrong and to be able to sort out the world’s new morality so it does not corrupt me.  Protect me from this world.  In the only answer Jesus I pray.  Amen.

Fearless

Matthew Ayars, a missionary in Haiti and who is president of the Emmaus Biblical Seminary there and author of several books, wrote the following and I considered it worthy to re-post.  It comes to my mind that we live in a fearful time.  When over 60% of Americans believe their children will not live to the standard that they are currently living, people are fearful.  When a son in college has to receive a call and learn that his Mom, whom he has a very close relationship with, has died unexpectedly, he is fearful.  When we are forced to enter into new life circumstances for which we did not plan, whether it is death of loved ones, absence of loved ones, rejection of loved ones, pain from loved ones, or something else, we are fearful.  We must determine in our faith to be fearless.  God did not bring us this far to leave us now!

FEARLESS

The Bible is full of commands. The most popular commands of scripture are the Ten Commandments. Anyone who went to Sunday School as a child were probably taught the Ten Commandments.

There are other commands in the Bible as well. The Jewish tradition has at its core the 613 commands of the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament). That means that there are 613 commands in Genesis through Deuteronomy alone. That’s a lot of commands!

Of all the commands in the Bible, do you know which one appears more than any other? N.T. Wright says, “What do you think–‘Be good’? Be holy, for I am holy’? Or, negatively, ‘Don’t sin’? ‘Don’t be immoral’? No. The most frequent command in the Bible is: ‘Don’t be afraid’. Don’t be afraid. Fear not, Don’t be afraid.’” (Wright, Following Jesus, 56).

This may come as a surprise to some, and a refreshing reminder to others. We must not forget that at the heart of the Christian faith is fearlessness. God is adamant that his people be free from fear.

I believe that his reminder is timely in light of violence saturated current events as well as swelling efforts to deconstruct and expel the culture-defining moral core of contemporary Christian culture in the name of tolerance. The primary tool in the hands of the aggressive agenda for dramatic cultural reform associated with political correctness and sexualization of culture is fear and intimidation. Ironic, isn’t is, that the very thing that has been villianized for the sake of the cause has become the very tool employed to drive forward that same cause. Fear hasn’t been so near to us since World War II.

In the midst of the anxiety and concern, the Bible says to those whose lives are hidden in Christ, “Do not fear.” The Kingdom of God doesn’t advance by way of fear; rather, it advances by way of love, forgiveness, and reconciliation. God doesn’t scare people into doing his will. People do not obey Jesus because they fear him, they obey Jesus because they love him.

The cause of Christ does not intimidate and it does not make threats or ultimatums. The cause of Christ is marked by self-giving love. We look to the death of Christ as the ultimate testimony that he does, in fact, have our best interest at heart. He wants us to know more than anything else that he can be trusted because he loves us.

John says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 Jn 4:18).

Finally, N.T. Wright challenges us with this, “Let’s make no mistake about it: util you learn to live without fear you won’t find it easy to follow Jesus” (Wright, Following Jesus, 56).

Simple Prayer for Today

John 16:23  Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

I continue to reflect on some one-liners that I heard while working an Emmaus walk a couple of weeks ago.  One was "Pray your steps.  Your heart, head, and feet need to be in the same place."  At first, it wasn't clear what this person was talking about, but upon reflection, it is as simple as taking everything to God in prayer.  Everything we desire, think, and do each and every day should be subject to prayer and yielded to God.  Often we relegate our prayer lives to those things we cannot control: health and death, while we assume control of all the rest of the aspects of our busy lives.  Yet nothing in our life escapes God's attention nor is it unimportant to Him.  I believe we need to pray about all of our activities, desires, and thoughts such that God can reveal His will in everything. 
Today my prayer is simple and singularly focused on my friends Andrew, Ben and Diana.  Everything else in life right now has faded to the point of being unimportant and irrelevant.   I don't know exactly why tragedies occur especially in the lives of the undeserving, but I take the next step in confidence knowing that God loves them and is with them through all of life including this overwhelming event.  May He provide miraculous comfort and peace in the midst of this storm as He has done faithfully before.   

Quotable Quotes

1 John 3:16  This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

I heard a preacher the other day say "The root word of miser is miserable.  If you find yourself short on joy, open your hands in service to others."  What a counter-cultural thing to say and believe.  It seems to me that if you're feeling down and blue, one should focus on their own self-interests: read a book, go fishing or hunting, travel and escape the madness, go out and party - whatever your interest, you should pursue it to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get over your issues."  Yet this guy is telling me that being a miser, (one who selfishly keeps all they earn), is miserable. 
I know when I'm in a season of extreme busy-ness, its hard to get excited about volunteering to spend my remaining time in service to others.  Yet Jesus tells us to "lay down" our lives for others.  In fact, in John 15, we're told that our joy is only complete when we obey God and Jesus goes on to give us one command: love one another. 
I find this time of year following the extreme joy of the holiday season when the days are short and cold and its neither fishing nor hunting season, a time that can be kind of blue.  Perhaps this is the time to seek God's guidance as to how I'm to reach out to others in service and love.

Rainy Day

I must admit that when I first read this line of this poem, Rainy Day, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I wasn’t sure what “repining” meant.  Repining means to fret; to feel or express discontent.  I think this single line expresses a proper perspective on how we are to see our “rainy days”, where rainy days signifies those emotionally down days or lonely times.  Longfellow purposely directs his own sad heart instructing it to not repine, the sun is still shining whether he can see it or not.  How wise this is and what an excellent expression of the reality of God for us.

The Lord’s light always shines.  It never diminishes.  The Lord is and ever shall be.  It is important to recognize that although we think the world revolves around us, it doesn’t.  Those things that hurt us so badly aren’t really that important in the context of reality.  The Lord’s light still shines and it shines so brightly we can’t possibly look fully into it.  The same Lord who loves you just as you are and who calls you to come to Him, His light does not diminish. 

We get the opportunity to reach out to one another and to encourage one another.  We get to remind each other that “behind the clouds is the sun still shining”.  This happened to me on Thursday.  Out of nowhere, I got a text from someone I might only see once a year when he visits his father.  Although I have known him for many years, we never spend much time together.  I actually thought that the text was an accident, but after I read it, I knew it wasn’t, even if it was.

The text referenced Isaiah 61:1-3.  It said, “’The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because … He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, … to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.’  Christ came not only to forgive sins, but to heal our broken hearts.”  Why would I receive such a random text at such a random time from someone I see for only a few minutes every year or every other year?  It was, of course, God reassuring to me a message I needed to hear. 

We are the transport vehicles God can use to encourage one another.  We are able to testify of God’s faithfulness and in doing fan the fire of another’s faith that might be dwindling in their cloudy rainy day.  It is so very hard to want to do anything when you are emotionally exhausted.  Remember today that the sun is still shining above those clouds that are in your life.  And that sun is greater than everything that exists.  There is nothing that will keep God’s light from reaching you.

Dear Lord, please help me to see Your light today.  Help me to feel the warmth in my heart and the wrap of your arms over me.  Trade my ashes, mourning, and despair into beauty, joy, and praise.  Lead me away from repining in full knowledge and faith that you are forevermore and above all things that ever will be.  Through the light of Your Son I pray, Amen.

Self-Condemnation

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  And because you belong to Him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. – Romans 8:1-2 NLT

Condemnation is a curious thing.  It can be extremely damaging to ourselves and others.  I find that I am very self-condemning and I also see this in my son.  Julie and I found that there were times when he had done something wrong and we didn’t know about it, but we could tell by his demeanor.  He had self-condemned himself, yet he wasn’t willing to tell us what he did.  The only remedy was to get him to tell us or discover what it was.  In the meantime, our son was a completely miserable person, which I am actually grateful for.  This means he has a conscious.  Once any kind of punishment was done for his action, he would immediately return to the normal happy son we were used to having. 

The difficulty now is teaching him (or trying to guide when he lets us) to recognize when he is self-condemning and to seek a remedy.  Confront a person to make a wrong a right; do whatever it is you were supposed to do; ask for forgiveness for not doing what you were supposed to do; ask forgiveness for what you did; seek to do what is right; find a way to modify your behavior so you don’t do whatever you did do; etc.  The remedy might be different for each situation, but recognizing that you are a miserable person inside because you have some unresolved conflict within you is very important.  Refusing to do this can remove years of joy.  This may not mean you don’t have happy times, but it means you won’t live in them to the fullest as you could have because a person living with unresolved conflict will unconsciously believe they don’t deserve those good times.  Therefore, they can’t live completely into them.

This is ultimately solved in faith.  When I ask God to forgive my sins, all of them, do I really believe they are forgiven?  If not, then why do I ask - I need to find my sin resolvement elsewhere or I need to abolish my moral conscious of right and wrong.  The difficulty is that we remember our sin even if God does not.

“Jesus Himself has already paid the price for your sins, so stop condemning yourself! Today, when you look into the mirror, what do you see? Do you see yourself trapped in all your failings, mistakes, and sins? Or do you see what God sees? My dear friend, when God sees you today, He sees Jesus. Use your eyes of faith and believe that as Jesus is, so are you. In God’s eyes, you are righteous, you are favored, you are blessed, and you are healed. You are freed from all sin, all pangs of guilt, all forms of condemnation, and every bondage of addiction!”  ― Joseph Prince

It is essential to our well-being to accept in faith that God removes our sin when we ask.  We admit to ourselves our sin – yes, I did that – then we ask forgiveness with a heart that doesn’t want to do it – please God forgive me – then we accept His promise.  To do less is to deny that Jesus was the Son of God and that He died, was buried, and was resurrected.  Anytime we refuse to accept God’s forgiveness we proclaim that God does not love us.  … Yes, it’s that serious.  …  Accepting this gift of the life and death of Christ is the foundation of our faith.  Refusing to accept His forgiveness is refusing to believe in Jesus.

Lord, I pray today that I would accept your free gift of forgiveness for all my sins.  Lord, help me to accept Your power of grace in my life to remove those sins from me forever.  Deliver me out of self-condemnation so that I might love myself as much as You do, and so I can love others as much as You do.  Through Jesus alone I pray, Amen.

Let Me Be Singing

A portion of the lyrics from the song 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman.  I heard the song twice today.  I have to admit to being somewhat depressed or down since Saturday.  I’m not sure why, except to say it happens.  I guess we’re all human and the ride is a roller-coaster, up and down.  According to the grandmother in one of Julie’s favorite movies, Parenthood, the roller-coaster is the best ride.  The merry-go-round just does the same thing over and over, but the roller-coaster is thrilling.  At least, that’s the advice of a grandmother on a movie.

I find one of the greatest challenges is to find God at such times.  Although I know He promises He will never leave me, never forsake me, and never stops loving me, it is very hard to reverse that cloud that seems to hang over your mind and emotion.  I also know the Bible says to thank God for such times.  So, I tried to thank God for it.  I do know that if it weren’t for valleys, the mountaintops wouldn’t be so grand.  And once you got to the mountaintops, the valleys wouldn’t be so beautiful if they weren’t there.  It takes one to appreciate the other.

And so, having heard Mr. Redman’s song twice, I singled out that one stanza.  “It’s time to sing His song again, whatever may pass and whatever lies before me, let me be singing when the evening comes.”  May I be singing this evening and tomorrow morning.

I am also reminded of something I heard another preacher say, “The Lord didn’t bring you this far to leave you now.”  The only way we are capable of leaving God is if we choose to leave Him.  The Bible insures us that if we are looking for God, we’ll find Him. 

I pray today that I would be found singing the praises of God.  Mindful and conscious of the many blessings in my life and grateful for life itself.  I pray that God will find me looking for Him, that my hand will be outstretched reaching for His.  I pray that He has a purpose for me, even me, today and in all my days and that I am willing to follow Him in it.  May the praise of the God of glory be forever in my heart. Amen.  

Happiness Habit: Let It Go

Just wanted to re-post this devotion from Rick Warren today.  It is HERE or you can read it below.  If you have time, read some of the comments below it, particularly the long one from a woman in Uganda and the follow-up comments of support for her.

Happiness requires letting go and learning to forget. Worry won’t change the past, so forget what can’t be changed and focus on the future.

Philippians 3:13-14 says, “I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (NLT).

You only have a limited amount of energy. That’s why you get tired. That’s why you get fatigued. That’s why you get worn out.

Since you only have a limited supply of energy, I highly recommend you not waste any of it on the past. Every day, choose to focus your energy on what is in front of you and what lies ahead.

This habit is so important to your happiness, there are three traps you have to be aware of.

The trap of regret. You’ve got to let go of regrets. Are there things I wish I had done differently in life? Of course. But I can’t dwell on them because I can’t change them. Don’t waste any emotion on regrets.

The trap of resentment. Holding on to resentment doesn’t hurt anybody but you. Let it go! For your own sake, you must forgive. Do they deserve it? No. But do you deserve forgiveness from God? No. Those who experience grace are gracious.

The trap of tradition. Everything is constantly changing, and you cannot stop it. You have to decide whether to resist and resent those changes or to be happy. Happiness is a choice.

How you handle change in life reveals your spiritual maturity. When you’re guided by and anchored to eternity, change can take place all around you and you can choose to be happy.