Die and Live

We were buried with Him . . . that just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . even so we also should walk in newness of life —Romans 6:4

Oswald Chambers says, "No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a 'white funeral'-the burial of the old life.  If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a 'white funeral,' a death with only one resurrection-a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ.  Nothing can defeat a life like this.  It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him."

I am reminded of the movie Castaway where Chuck Noland (Tom Hanks) says, "I couldn't even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had power over nothing.  And that's when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow, that I had to stay alive.  Somehow. I had to keep breathing.  Even though there was no reason to hope. ... I know what I have to do now.  I gotta keep breathing.  Because tomorrow the sun will rise.  Who knows what the tide could bring?"  There is no way that any of us can kill ourselves in a way that is acceptable to those around us or to God.  So, we, like this movie character, have power over nothing.  If I am to die, God needs to kill me in a way He sees fit.  If I am to live, He has to do the living.  

Oswald continues, "Have you really come to your last days?  You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them?  You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement.  Death means you stop being.  You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. ... It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death.  It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3)."  

We can't be a "new creature" if we are the same person.  The hard reality is, no matter how hard we make a humanly change within ourselves, we are going to hurt someone God created and loves.  The new life, the new creature, has to be made by the Creator.  Somehow I have to quit living and God has to be the only life.  I can be no more.  "This is the will of God, your sanctification ..." (1 Thessalonians 4:3).  

This is a difficult theological concept to practice.  I know how to say all the church sayings regarding this on how to live, but how really do you die and bury yourself and keep physically living?  "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).  Paul understood this and he craved that everyone would know Jesus, despite of himself.  How can we ever reach such a goal of Christ living through us?  It seems so impossible, but then "with God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26b).

Like Chuck, we gotta keep breathing because the Son did rise.  We have a hope.  And who know what the tide will bring tomorrow?  Jesus says, it will be a new life!

Love, love, love

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:7

I believe this is one of Tony Dungy's best devotions so far in this Uncommon devotional guide.  He starts by saying, "There is no clearer showcase of your character than your relationships - the way you treat others and expect them to treat you."  I've never thought about what is a person's showcase of character.  The thought is an interesting concept.  If character can be defined as who you are when no one is looking, then how you treat your close relationships is in a way who you are when the rest of the world isn't looking? 

I am reminded of an Andy Griffith episode where a couple fights constantly in their marriage but are very kind and generous to everyone else.  Andy gets them to stop and to be nice to each other but they start then to be ornery and short-fused to everyone else.  He finally says, "What looks like wrestling to some is playing to others."  And he gets them to go back to fighting with each other so they'll be nice.

I know I don't understand much in this area.  The character of someone can be perceived differently by the view of different people standing in different locations.  Perception by definition is dependent upon location and viewpoint.  The important element of perception is to see the Biblical view, but even then it is imperative to give someone the benefit of the doubt, as inevitably as I have experienced time and again, while it may appear they are doing something out of character there is some justifiable reason for it and they are really doing the greater good.  Julie and I talk about this often and have learned to not think we can see everything behind someone's actions.

"I think a lot of people are confused about relationships, especially marriage. ... Many moms and dads either weren't around or didn't demonstrate how to truly love someone else."  I think this is true, but I want to be careful not to use it as an excuse.  Maybe someone had the perfect example to follow, but then they married someone that is a lot different than their father/mother.  Obviously the dynamics of their relationship will be different, however the basics of loving the other in a Biblical defined way should stay the same.  I never saw such a relationship when I was growing up.  The best example might be a few of my Aunts and Uncles, but seeing a relationship from the outside is not the same as from the inside.  I feel like I've had to learn everything from the ground up and I find it to be pretty scary but roller coasters are sometimes, they are also exhilarating.

"And those who look to the church to clear up the confusion are often disappointed, finding either misinterpretations of Scripture that overemphasize 'head of household' control or misinterpretations of Christ that depict Him as passive and weak and expecting us to be that way too."  The book The Way of the Wild Heart by John Eldredge discusses this topic very well.  I certainly don't think I can add anything to what he describes.

"Love means making every decision with the other person's well-being in mind."  This is the best sentence in this devotion.  If only I could make this concept of thinking and action habitual.  If I could make it the first thought, my first action, how much might my character change!  How much more would the people around me benefit!

"Be active in the lives of others - your spouse, your family members, and your friends.  Talk to them and, more important, listen to them.  Invest your time and attention.  Be interested in them, be supportive, and be involved.  Real love changes lives - including yours."  I'm reminded of the saying, "People don't  care how much you know until they know how much you care."  This could be restated to say, "People don't care how much God loves them unless they see a Godly love in you."  

Feb 6

1 Corinthians 13: ⁷ Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]. (AMP)

 

This is perhaps one of the best devotions so far.  Having raised teenagers and seen them interact, develop and foster relationships has shown me how important it is to coach up kids in the difference between agape, phileo, Storge (love in family, rarely if ever used in New Testament), eros.  I'm sure there is one for love of material things, but I've never known it.  Anyway, I've found it invaluable to be able to "bin" these different forms of love to help Ryan sort out his feelings for young ladies.  Mentoring him has taught me much about the importance of truly showing agape to my family so that it is modeled for him as I think it is the most difficult to understand. 

I like the emphasis in this devotion on getting this right at home and with closest friends.  It also highlighted something I'm guilty of which is frequently treating strangers and casual acquaintances more lovingly than those who are supposed to be closest to me.  I've learned that I don't have true agape in me apart from God.  To truly love my wife like Christ loves the church requires God presence to overcome my self-centeredness and flow through me. 

Split Vision (Dobson)

Today's devotion for Married Couples by The Dobsons is also about how we speak.  I thought I'd repost it here since today's devotions are also on foul language.  It is notable that foul language is not just cursing, but can be damaging words meant to destroy and belittle another.

Split Vision

“A wise man’s heart guides his mouth.”  
Proverbs 16:23

Isn’t it curious how in the midst of a nasty family argument we can shake our bad mood the instant the telephone rings or a neighbor knocks on the door? Have you ever been brought up short by a small voice questioning such a sudden turn to peaches and cream after twenty minutes of fire and brimstone? Sometimes we treat those we love the worst, and kids are quick to recognize this hypocrisy.

Mark Hatfield, a longtime senator from Oregon and the father of four, said his wife once stung him by saying, “I just wish you were as patient with your children as you are with your constituents.” He isn’t alone. We’re all guilty at times of what might be called “split vision”— treating acquaintances with forbearance while losing patience or even heaping contempt on those under our own roof. We assume the worst. We pounce on every shortcoming. We never miss an opportunity to harangue. In the process, we wound the people we care about most.

It’s time we cut one another a little slack at home. If we say our spouses, children, and parents are the most significant people in our lives, we can prove it by showing them the same kindnesses we would bestow on our most honored guests.

Just between us . . .

• Are we as patient with each other at home as we are with guests and strangers?
• Why do you think we can be so hard on each other?
• How can we encourage each other to avoid this kind of “split vision”?

Father, open our eyes to see one another the way You do. Forgive us for the laziness and selfishness that so easily sour our family relationships. Help us guard our words and actions so that we may be pleasing in Your sight. Amen.

• Illustration from Quiet Times with the one You Love by Art Hunt (Sisters, Ore.: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 1998).

This devotional is taken from Night Light for Couples. Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

No Corrupt Word

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. ... Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. - Ephesians 4:29, 31

 ... to be spiritually minded is life and peace - Romans 8:6b

Foul language is exactly that, foul.  It is foul to our senses.  Julie and I found that once we had children we were very sensitive to bad language.  I'm still not sure what surprises more about people who use that kind of language around kids, the fact that they actually use it around kids or the fact that they aren't aware they are using it around kids.  Now, I'm offended if they use it around me.  I want to ask them to show some respect for society.  But, often I just politely ask them to keep their voice down or to please not use that language.

The unfortunate aspect of this in our society is our entertainment industry puts this language in every movie, and lots of it.  There are many movies that we thought we'd like but the language was so bad we couldn't watch it, and there really was no reason to put that much in the movie.  Overall, that much forced listening to language makes us NUMB (Julie take notice - another aspect for the Numb work) to it and we start accepting some now and a little later.  Before we know it, we don't even notice the small words.

Obviously this is used consistently in sports.  I've always admired those coaches that set the bar high for themselves and their players.  They don't use those words and they don't accept them from their players.  The most well run programs won't let most of their players talk to the media until they get their language and ability to respond to questions well practiced and in control.  This protects the players and the program's image.  As Christians we must make sure we are part of a well run program and we don't speak in bitterness, wrath, anger to anyone.  This protects our witness and the Christian image.

The Jesus Calling devotion says this: Ask the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Living God, within to order your day and control your thoughts for the mind controlled by the Spirit is Life and Peace (Romans 8:6b).

I need to focus and pray specifically for the Holy Spirit within me to control my thoughts.  If my thoughts are controlled by the Spirit, then so my words will be also.

Feb 5

Ephesians 4:²⁹ Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. (NIV)

 

This is very appropriate today because I'm mad and got very little sleep last night.  I'm mad at numerous people both above and below me at work.  Therefore it is good to be reminded that "only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs..." is the Godly standard.  I've got numerous people that simply aren't performing as they should and they're getting belligerent about it.  Rather than blowing up and ripping them a new one, It is good to be reminded that I need to set clear expectations, identify where they are falling short, and provide measureable standards for improvement.  This takes work.  Ugh!

 

I'm so glad to see this devotion.  One of the reasons Ryan quit football is that his head coach believed in and fostered the idea that foul language is just part of the game.  Ryan has always been a good kid, at least in this regard, and he was quite disillusioned by the head coach leading FCA one minute and using the Lord's name in vain the next.  This highlights to me the importance of ALWAYS being on guard about my own witness.  I know I am of no real importance in this world, but I do know that if it suits people, they will use my behavior and character to justify their own sins.  It's not right, but I know it happens, especially with my own kids. 

 

Lord I pray for your overwhelming guidance today.  I'm tired, frustrated, and short tempered.  I need your Holy Spirit to be an all-consuming fire in my mind and heart today such that it flows into action.  Give me courage and insight to be direct, pointed, and clear. Help me attack problems, not people.  If possible, please give me an opportunity to continue in fellowship with my coworkers, but give me clear guidance as to how to solve so many very real problems.  Give me divine intervention in time today such that it is multiplied and my seemingly insurmountable tasks become focused and achievable.  Clearly define what you would have me do in each and every step such that I waste no time doing things outside of your will.  Forgive me of my anger and frustration that cost me a nights sleep and give me strength to overcome my physical exhaustion and seek your still small voice.  Finally, give me patience where mine is totally exhausted and help me to focus my energy on issues at hand and not store up frustration to unleash on those undeserving.   

Feb 3

Luke 10:30-33³⁰ Jesus, ^[a]taking him up, replied, A certain man was going from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him of his clothes and belongings and beat him and went their way, [^[b]unconcernedly] leaving him half dead, as it happened.³¹ Now by ^[c]coincidence a certain priest was going down along that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.³² A Levite likewise came down to the place and saw him, and passed by on the other side [of the road].³³ But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled along, came down to where he was; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity and sympathy [for him], (AMP)

 

To me, this has always been the classic lesson in what Jesus meant when He issued the command "do not judge" in Luke 6:37.  I think Tony does a good job of highlighting what it really means to judge.  Prior to WWII, we had looked upon blacks as unable to do so many skilled jobs to include piloting airplanes.  Clearly, this "judgement" was in error.  I think, however, that Christ was talking about something wherein the stakes are much higher, our spiritual health.  To me, this passage has always been about not looking at someone and deciding that they are unworthy of the gospel message.  This is clearly articulated in the story of the good Samaritan wherein the "best society had to offer" refused to get involved in the dirty work of helping someone genuinely in need of physical assistance.  We aren't commanded to stay in the comfort of our homes, church buildings, or workplaces and discuss or have meetings about the lost, we are to get out and help them find Christ. 

 

I find that Satan has turned this whole principle around today and is trying to convince us that we can't judge sin.  Looking at a person and deciding that because of their skin color they are unable to be taught advanced skills is to judge incorrectly.  Working with a person of sub-par intelligence and determining that they are unable to learn skills is not judgement, it is discernment.  Similarly, looking at someone and determining that they are unworthy of the gospel message is to bring judgement upon ourselves.  Seeing someone commit a sin is an observation and the sinner has pronounced judgement upon themselves.  In fact, scripture says that when our brother sins against us, we are to confront them in that sin.  We don't teach this skill of accountability and reconciliation in the church anymore.  Instead, we teach a lesson of tolerance to the point that we must accept sinful behavior or we don't love someone.  Clearly a lie by Satan to undermine a core mission of the church and individuals. 

 

The message for me in this is I've got to 1) learn that not everyone struggles with the sins that I do nor do I struggle with the sins that they do, but we may not be inherently different; and 2) just because someone is different (physically, politically, ideologically, etc) doesn't mean that I have any less obligation to love them and share the good news of Chris with them.  I confess that I struggle with today's fashion in this regard.  There are so many needy people today.  Many call attention to themselves through outlandish fashion, piercings, and tattoos and to me they become spectacles.  I confess that I often rush to judgement that these people are somehow beneath me in some way (you can see it in my choice of words as I already categorized them as "needy").  This is a problem at my core.  I am not at the place where I view everyone as equal. 

His Ways are not My Ways

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9

Tony Dungy says in his Uncommon devotional, “God calls us to be faithful, not ‘successful.’”  God does call us to be faithful, but my view of success has to not be the world’s view of success.  I believe I can be very successful, in the parameters of my faith in God, and faithful.  The world may not deem my life successful in accordance with their terms, but how could they since they are using a different measurement. 

Dungy continues, “The only thing that’s really important is that His purposes are accomplished.  He wants hearts to change – including ours – and lives to be impacted, even when the results aren’t visible to anyone.”  In my limited study of Jesus, it is apparent to me that He had no other purpose except the spiritual condition of mankind.  In all His interactions with people, He continually taught and spoke in terms of how they might could see God more clearly.  And His death was so all people could have access to the same Father that taught Him, led Him, spoke with Him, and was with Him. 

By the world’s standards, Jesus didn’t rule anything, He didn’t conquer any lands (visible), He didn’t write anything down, He just lived and died and a lot of people wrote about Him.  But by God’s standard, He rules above all, He conquered death and Satan, He poured Himself into the disciples who lived His message and wrote it down and it remains over 2,000 years later as the most popular book on the planet, and He died and rose again for all mankind.

If I can pour the qualities of Christ into a person through teaching and example, no one will write about it, but I believe I will have been very successful.  And so much more if it is two or even more.  My purpose is to be a failed man with a faith in a God who cannot and will not fail.  I am to take Him my weakness, and receive His peace.  I am to know that He has a purpose for all to know Him and I am to put my eyes and heart on Him and show others.  His way is to use a broken vessel and I have to trust Him with me.

The Greater Sin

In the book Hearts of Fire in the Voice of the Martyrs series, there is a story of a family who is in post WWII Romania.  And as Christian Jews, they have just been “freed” from the concentration camps of Germany to a post-war communist Russia who is rounding up all religious persons (unless they confess in the government religion) and sending them to hard labor prisons.

In this prison this woman, Sabina, whom the story centers on meets two young daughters of a Christian man who was sent to prison for telling gospel stories to children.  In their efforts to make ends meet and care for their 15 year old brother they end up in prostitution with urgings of officials.  She is broken as she has ended up in the prison also and her brother went mentally crazy from the discovery.

As she tells Sabina her story and as Sabina consuls her and encourages her in the Lord and in His forgiveness, she wonders in her story about what was the greater sin.  Her thoughts are written as “Every day I prayed for the tormented girl, and eventually the poor girl was able to release her guilt.  I kept thinking of how she and her sister had sinned to get bread for their family.  Perhaps the greater sin, I decided, belonged to Christians of the free world who had not taken the time to send food that would have saved them.”

Undoubtedly, that is the greater sin.  Who are we not giving of Christ’s free food of salvation today?  What generosity have we been called to with our riches that we aren’t sharing today?  Where are we to share our physical gifts of money, time, and ability today? 

May we not commit the greater sin!

Feb 4

Isaiah 55:6-9

⁶ Seek, inquire for, and require the Lord while He may be found [claiming Him by necessity and by right]; call upon Him while He is near.

⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have love, pity, and mercy for him, and to our God, for He will multiply to him His abundant pardon.

⁸ For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord.

⁹ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. (AMP)

 

 When I opened to this page, my attention fell to tomorrow's text, so I'm ahead of myself.  This verse was one that had a huge impact on my dad about a year before he died.  I included vs 6&7 just to include the context of seeking Him.  Dad had become so convinced and convicted that today's church, including ours, had lost its way because we had become too focused on our own agenda including what we were going to do for God.  I've never forgotten the long discussion we had one weekend when we came to Montgomery, AL to visit me while I was in school there and our conversation during the whole visit was dominated by these verses.  That conversation changed me and my thinking about how we approach God and His ways and will.  It also brought into focus one of satan's traps - planning, visioning, brainstorming, and "doing something for God." 

 

I could write quite a lengthy treatise on my thoughts regarding these verses.  Of more importance, it think, is the change God made in me because of that time in my Dad's life that he was burdened by their message.  I'm thankful the friends and mentors God places in my life.  I've found that sometimes these include those you would normally look to such as pastors, but more often it is people like my Dad who are struggling to work out their own faith that impact me in a measureable way.  I pray that I can have a similar impact to those God has placed in my life. 

I Face Nothing Alone

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? – Romans 8:31

While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:18

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now see the One who sees me.” – Genesis 16:13

Again from the Jesus Calling devotional book for today.  “You face nothing alone – nothing!  When you feel anxious, know that you are focusing on the visible world and leaving Jesus out of the picture.”  “Do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.”  “Jesus will get you safely through this day and every day.  …  Each day is a precious gift … receive today’s gift gratefully … as you savor this gift, you find Jesus.”

It bears repeating, you face nothing alone – nothing.  Our God sees us and is for us.  May we know He is with us today and that we are not on His tomorrow’s agenda but today’s and everyday’s.  I FACE NOTHING ALONE – NOTHING.

Dear Lord, help me see with my spiritual eyes first today, thankful, grateful, and watching intently for where you are working.  May my eyes be better than 20/20, but 20/10.  Help me to focus on what I don’t see physically but know is there: You!  May I be anxious only upon missing where I will see You work or hear Your call.  Thank you for affirming to me that I am never alone, nor do I face anything alone.  You are with me.  Amen.

February 2, 2014

In Your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. – Psalm 18:29

For He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. 
They will bear you up in their hands, that you do not strike your foot against a stone. – Psalm 91:11-12

For we walk by faith, not by sight. – 2 Corinthians 5:7

In today’s Jesus Calling devotional book by Sarah Young, the call is to follow Jesus one step at a time and that is all that He requires of me.  “Keep your mind on the present journey, enjoying His Presence” she writes.  I might see mountains looming that we are to scale, but how can I look at them and say I can’t do it.  I don’t even know which way the path leads; it might easily go around the mountains, “walk by faith, not by sight”.  But if it does go over, Jesus promises that He will equip me thoroughly for those cliffs, “with my God I can scale any wall” and “He will give His angels charge concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.”

I learned while hiking mountains, that when you don’t think you can climb anymore you are not focused on the right thing.  Instead of looking at the top of the mountain, which is your true goal, focus on the next step. The size of the step doesn’t matter.  What matters is you take the next step and don’t fall down.  You might have to rest every 10 steps or every 10 minutes, but focus on your next step – put your next step directly in front of the last one on the trail (if there is one).  Then, before you know it, you look up and you are really close to the top.

I tend to lose focus way to easily following Jesus.  He calls for me to go this way and I look up and try to figure out why.  Do I really need to know?  Do I think I can figure out His plan?  Do I need to have a purpose larger than His?  Who do I think I am not immediately replying with “Yes Sir!”  I need to be more focused on the path because I’m so clumsy I’ll trip over a pebble on the path, much less be able to know the extent of the path or understand it.

Recently, Michele Womble, a missionary in Novosibirsk, Russia, posted on her site about her experience having a hysterectomy there in Siberia.  She describes very well how walking that path behind Jesus not knowing the why or what will happen, but trusting Jesus and staying on the path was for her during this time.  When I commented to her about it, she said “I’m still amazed at how it was suddenly so clear when we hadn’t even considered that option before.  But so often God tells us the way to go when we get to it, not ahead of time.”

… one step at a time Jesus, one step at a time …