Waiting in Love

7/31/2016

Isaiah 64.4 Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. – Isaiah, the Prophet

This particular verse is quoted in 1 Corinthians 2.9. In the Corinthian letter, it is quoted as: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him…” So, wait or love, God comes to the aid of His people.

I am finding that wait and love are key terms in the life of the believer, and key to our faith in God. We are to: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deut. 6.5) We are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Leviticus 19.18), and we are to: Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27.14). To love God and wait for Him is to do what He says and allow Him to do as He does in our lives.

Waiting is as simple as communication with God when I want to run ahead and act on my own behalf. Waiting is counter to what we humans do. Waiting looks foolish and naïve to those who don’t understand. Waiting is delicate and timely. Waiting is the surrender of my will for Him and allowing Him to act on my behalf.

And Love, what is love? For us true love is putting the needs of others before our own, and acting on their behalf, with that mindset. Love for God is simply doing, with a happy heart, those things He asks us to do. Jesus said, if you love Me, keep my commands. (John 14.15) His commands aren’t His laws; they are His commands as King: do what I say. Obedience is key.

Waiting is the act of not moving until commanded, and loving is the act of doing as commanded. That takes discipline, devotion, and determination to live accordingly.

I’m finding that reminding God of what He has said in crucial to my waiting and loving. I build my faith in Him by reminding Him of what He’s already told me He’s going to do. My faith is, He’s going to do it in His time with me acting as commanded in the meantime.

And the result? “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him…” We all have wants and needs and not all of them are selfish and wanton; some are actually innocent and needful. Our obligation is to make those known and to wait on God to bring them to pass. But in the meantime we are to do as He commands: Love Him, and love others; and live accordingly.

Father in Heaven. “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things You have prepared for those who love You…” May I live my life today accordingly. Amen.

Giddy

7/30/2016

Isaiah 62.5 As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. – Isaiah, the Prophet

The second part of Isaiah’s prophecy is about restoration, redemption, and rejoicing. God is not slow in getting things done, and He truly delights in His people. The above is a snapshot of what the coming day will look like: God rejoicing over His bride.

When is the last time you rejoiced? What was the moment like? Did you laugh, did you cry, did you just feel all welled up inside? Rejoicing is an experience of immense joy and happiness with a feeling of exuberance and well-being. It’s a feeling so good that one becomes giddy. When Isaiah said your God will rejoice over you, I thought, He’s gonna be giddy.

It’s hard for me to imagine that but it’s something worth thinking about and remembering: a giddy God.

I think our religion robs us of the giddiness of God – that rejoicing over us thing. I don’t know about you, but I was brought up believing God looked and acted a lot like my parents. And when I finally came to the point of accepting God, I found Him to be very different than I had imagined. (I loved my parents, but they were a poor substitute for God even though their work-load in caring for and disciplining me was a tall order.) I found God to be a Friend.

I know there are many who would say to me, Don’t get too familiar with Sonny-Jim, He is a God of wrath and judgment and damned are those who rebel against Him. Look guys, I get the whole judgment thing, but there is too much in Scripture that tells me Jesus loves me, and God rejoices over me to make me see God only as some powerful Deity with anger issues. (Especially against those I think have it coming!)

God’s Grand Experiment was not to set humanity up to fail, but to show us how much (unlike the gods of religion) He really likes and loves us. We just have to see things His way. His way is not our way. His thoughts are not our thoughts. He is going to bring His plan to fruition, and those who’ve believed Him are rejoiced over. It’s not a matter of good or bad; it’s about a giddy love that despite how miserable and failed we are, we’ve chosen to put all of our eggs in the God-basket. We’ve delighted to be God’s friend as well.

Rejoicing is loud laughter, giggling, smiling, hugging, slapping one another on the back and being: giddy. Religion has no place for giddiness. God does however… And God knows how to party!

Father, it’s a celebration that no human mind has ever conceived. It’s a party where everyone is honored, saluted, and gushed over. It’s a day when Your true feeling for Your people pour out like a heavy rain and we bathe in the glow of Your goodness, Your presence, and every tear is gone; and everyone is home. Thank You for the invitation in Jesus – what a day that will be! Amen

What Is and Will Always Be

7/29/2016

Isaiah 59.21 21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Isaiah was speaking of something that had not happened: the giving of the Holy Spirit. All the great prophet could do was speak as he saw, and he saw dimly. It wasn’t that he didn’t know what he was talking about; it’s he’d never seen what he was talking about. He spoke of a day off in the future.

God chose Israel to be His holy people. They were to be other, they were to be separate by their relationship with Him. That didn’t mean they were exclusive, it just meant that they were to live according to what God had taught them, and anyone who wanted to live with them needed to live like them: other, separate; in the world but no of the world.

At Pentecost (a word, meaning: fifty) after Jesus resurrection, the Holy Spirit came with power and presence, and God’s people, the Church, were filled with the Holy Spirit in a way never seen before, but prophesied by Old Testament prophets like Isaiah. The Holy Spirit came and stayed. What Isaiah said: “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you…” came true. And the Spirit’s presence is still here today in the lives and works of those of the modern Church.

God’s desire for His people has always been to gift them with Himself and to indwell their beings by Himself. God wants to live in the hearts of His people and rule and reign in them from there. God desires to do mighty works through the lives of ordinary, but obedient people by the presence of His Spirit within them. It’s very important that we remember that. The greatest God of God to man is Himself. And God desires that we stay connected to Him – forever.

I don’t understand how, I really don’t understand why, but I know that it is. God wants to use your personality and mine, in concert with His, to bring about life in a way that is not experienced in our natural beings. Normal man cannot comprehend the presence of God because he is not filled with God’s never-ending, never-absent Spirit.

“My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever…” That is God’s desire. He seeks eager willingness from us to live and cooperate with Him – forever. I want that too. I want that not on my standards, or the world’s, but on God’s, forever.

Father, I do not know why, I just know that it is. I haven’t an access to Your thoughts but I know they exist and I am glad they do. You told Isaiah what You were going to do and You did it, and I am glad. Life is more than just my interpretation, it is Your participation, in me and through me, and I would have life no other way. Use me this day to speak the words You have for me for the people You intend to hear them – I am Yours and You are mine – amen.

The Brown Paper Savior

7/28/2016

Isaiah 53.5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. – Isaiah

Reading Isaiah 53, we are greeted with these words: He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. That is the picture of the Savior. Who’d want to follow Someone like that!?

Years ago I wrote an essay entitled: Plain Paper Wrapping. Jesus came to us in plain paper wrapping. He wasn’t brightly colored and adorned with ribbons and bows; He came in poverty and obscurity. He didn’t lead the parade; He wasn’t even in the parade! But He was pierced for our sins; He was crushed for our sins; the punishment that was meant for us, was on Him, and He brought us peace and healing.

I watch the stars on TV during this election cycle make the claims they always make: I’m the one! Through me, we’re going to be great and successful: a chicken in every pot and a new car in every garage! Not one of them has confessed our national sins, nor offered to die in our stead for our apathetic affluence and selfishness. They might not be the prettiest, but the venues are fab!

But who leads us in national repentance? Who goes to God on our behalf and cries out: Lord, forgive them for they know not what they do? Who is looking to do the hard work of healing this nation and restoring a sense of national humility? (Paul, my gosh! What planet are you from!!!) The same one as you, the same one that needs a Healer.

Jesus did what no one else has ever done. Too bad He’s an old news-cycle. Too bad He doesn’t capture national headlines. He didn’t then and He wouldn’t now – it’s not His style to garner attention and adorn a national stage. But Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. He did it for a nation then and He will do it for a nation now – we just have to want Him to. He adorns the heart of those who seek Him.

Neither of our candidates today are beautiful people but they promise a beautiful life; and we so want our image of what we think they’re offering. They promise one thing; we take it as another. To each other they are the most vile and wretched people on the planet: to us they are Santa Claus, giving us the treasures and trinkets we think we deserve. Neither have borne our sins and our sorrows and made us whole. Only Jesus, the Brown Paper Savior could do that. He does that still. Is He enough?

Father, I pray for my nation. I pray You would humble us and help us to embrace what Jesus did for us and that somehow we would be an example to the world of what national repentance should be… I know, I’m asking for the moon. But thank You that You are still saving some today and may I be part of that effort – because of Jesus, the Brown Paper Savior… Amen.

Witnesses

7/27/2016

2 Peter 1.16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. – St. Peter

You know, the story of salvation has been much maligned; it’s man’s stubborn refusal to accept the truth. Peter said, Lookit, we saw it; we were right there when it happened! We couldn’t make this stuff up! But to this day, the Bible and Its Gospel are rejected as myths, legends, or cleverly devised stories.

When I was much younger I read through the Hobbit and the, Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Those were cleverly devised stories – I enjoyed them. So, even if the Bible is a cleverly devised bunch of stories written by 40 different authors, over a span of 1500 years, at least it ought to be entertaining – right? C’mon, can’t we give it that much credit? No?

Well then, that leads us to this: if the Bible is a bunch of cleverly devised stories and it isn’t entertaining, they why do so many people still read it? Oh, I see, so you’re saying they’re all dupes and weaklings trying to find some sort of pathetic reason or crutch to make it through this life because they cannot cope without it – right?

And if the Bible is a collection of clever stories, then why did Peter say he was an eyewitness to Jesus’ life? Was Peter simply lying? I mean, surely, if Peter said he was there and he wasn’t, then wasn’t he lying? Because a witness at a trial who claims to have seen what happened is either an inconvenient truth to the accused, or a well-received relief to the accused. We take the word of witnesses to bear out the prosecutions or defenses made at the trial – right?

And Peter went to his death proclaiming what he knew to be true. Who does that!? If it wasn’t true, then was he so deluded that he gave his life for a lie? That’s kookie-talk! And people have been dying for their faith in the Book for centuries – are they such miserably affected mentals who can’t make right from wrong? They have to be tragically deceived – right?

Or is it the other way around? Is the Bible true and mankind is the problem? Is it not man, who has by the Bible’s own account, rejected God? Even before we had all this sexy science telling us about everything in the world and the universe beyond? Was it not man who threw off the ruler-ship of God and declared he was going to make his own way? Isn’t that our reality today? Right?

The problem is with the heart. A bad heart is one that rejects truth, and makes claims of cleverly devised stories. A bad heart makes God out to be some dopey myth. A bad heart is one that rejects the majesty of nature and the glories of creation. A bad heart judges the Church for the charade he deems it to be; despite the good she does in this miserable and fallen world.

Father, the mystery of faith is an affront to man’s intellect. Father, may I be a doer of good and a follower of the faith no matter the reception of men and their excuses of why You cannot be true. I pray for Your people and I pray for Your Church, the glorious witnesses of Your love and presence in the lives of the humble and faithful on this earth. Amen.

God Portage

7/26/2016

Isaiah 46.1b, 4 1b The images that are carried about are burdensome, a burden for the weary.

4 Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. – God

In Isaiah 48.22 it says, “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” The word peace can also mean rest. Either way, the ways of the wicked are burdensome. They have to carry their own images and idols because those images and idols cannot carry themselves. I read this and thought: god portage – having to carry my own god.

In life, I’ve had to carry enough of my own stuff. I’ve never had to carry God, but I’m sure He’s put in His time carrying me. The thought of bearing my own god struck me as ridiculous this morning. Of all the crap I’m facing, I’ve got to carry you as well!? If you’re such a god, carry yourself!

Gods are supposed to do the heavy lifting. Gods are supposed to ease the burdens of men. The problem with gods is they are usually of our own making, and thereby need someone to carry their sorry butts. On top of all the worship and whining, my little ol’ gods demand I carry them as well. Yeesh!

But Isaiah said just three verses later: Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (Is. 46.4) Now that sounds better. I’m into a God who will carry me when I need carried (and that’s just about all of the time!) I think about older age and I don’t see a very pretty picture. I’m gonna hang onto this promise.

I don’t need to carry around God, I need Him to carry me – I’m stupid and foolish and prone to knee-jerking. I need Someone to help me when I do such foolishness. And I need to depend on Someone who will help me in my older days, the days of my frailty. I want to be carried, not because I am lazy, but because I need it. Thank You God that You’ve promised!

We’re not to live in the future but we’re to respect the fact that day after day it gets closer and closer. We’re to live in the moment and trust God for the next one. Fear can creep in and get us all wound up about thoughts of the future, but Jesus calls us to trust Him in our present moment. I think He said something like: Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matt. 6.34) Sounds like good advice to me.

I have two choices: I can carry around the little god of my own making, or I can allow God to carry me. I can worry about tomorrow, or, I can live in the moment and allow God to take care of my tomorrows; the choice is mine. Today, I’m about choiced-out: I need God. I need God to accept all of my cares because He cares about me. And He gives favor to the humble. Boy! Do I need that!

Father in Heaven, thank You for Your promises to keep me and carry me in my old age. I really need some of that right now; we’ll meet the gray days when they get here. Lord keep me from worry – which is sin. Help me to be grateful in the moment and trusting about the future; You’ve got my bases covered! - Amen

With Children or Animals

7/23/2016

Psalm 75. 2 You say, “I choose the appointed time; it is I who judge with equity.”

Have you ever wondered what the appointed time is? Let’s face it, there is an appointed time to be born and there is an appointed time to die. We only have so much sand in the hourglass of life. And the appointed time is when the last grain falls through. And in God’s realm (of which we are included) there is, from eternity, an appointed time for creation in every aspect.

It is God who chose the fullness (Galatians 4.4) of time for His Son to become a part of the human race as a child. There was an appointed hour in which the Son would be tried, charged, and executed for His choosing to do what God appointed Him to do. There was an appointed moment when the Son rose victoriously from the grave, and subsequently rose from this earth to rule in Heaven. All of these events happened at precisely the right moment.

But why?

My thought: when God proclaims, “I choose the appointed time…” it means that nothing is random, and all things are under His control and plan. God works within the evil and the good. Nothing escapes His view, and everything happens according to His timing. Our God who is outside of time, works within time to save those who believe, and to charge those who don’t.

In my thinking, there is a measure of all human activity and when that measure either fills up or runs out, God acts accordingly.

So, the trials we face, or the joys we experience are all cataloged in God’s perfect and complete plan. In Cinema, the old trope goes: never work with children or animals.* In other words, children or animals may do as planned – or – they may not. Certain things you can plan for – others you can’t. And you film according… God judges accordingly, but moves within His judgment at precisely the right moment.

One day, at just the right moment – at the moment of His choosing – the good will be judged, and so will the evil. (Genesis 15.16) And God, according to the above, will judge with equity; whatever we are accountable for, we will be judged for. Equity means we all will bring something to the judgment. Equity means we all will be accountable.

Will we have enough evidence to make a difference at the judgment? That is up to us…

Father, through Jesus Christ, all of us will stand and give an account at just the right moment, the moment of Your choosing. May my relationship with Jesus stand for something. Like the old king pled: look at what I have done according to You! Father, You are equitable with the evil and the good. I’m glad. Amen.

*Attributed to W.C. Fields

Here is Why

7/22/2016

1 Peter 1.7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. – St. Peter

I have had a rough week: things planned didn’t come through, promises made weren’t kept. And here it is, Friday, and I read the above. And I think: Oh, maybe that’s the reason. I got a “here’s why” moment. As I look back on what I’ve done this week I feel like God has said this morning, through Peter’s writing, here’s why:

Paul, [this week has] come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. And I said, “Oh!” (Or, Aha! or something like that…)

Our lives here on earth are not about here on earth but about there in Heaven which will result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. The Grand Experiment is not just about life on earth now, but really about endless life with Him, then. We aren’t living in tomorrow, but we’re living for tomorrow. That is why we live in faith.

Faith is the belief that all of this means something and will result in praise, glory, and honor someday. That praise, glory, and honor are worth more – in the future – than any plans made that didn’t come through now, or promises made that weren’t kept. Our faith is tremendously valuable because it secures for us praise, glory, and honor; that even though we may not be able to comprehend in our moments now, we’ll glory in it on that Day in the future.

Well, why live for the future Paul? Because it gives us hope, and really, that’s just the way it is. God has promised to those who belief, a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29). God is working with us and in us to get it: that as good as we think life is or can be on earth, it is immeasurably better with Him forever. And what brings this all together is a thing called faith, which is: of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire.

The purest gold, the greatest riches we know of, even though valued and highly sought after, all perish because they cannot deliver eternity. Earthly riches only go so far, and are impotent to deliver lasting satisfaction; like sugar: sweet but momentary.

Ah, but faith – faith is that ability to say: Lord, I know it’s been a crappy week but You are in control of my days and my weeks. I trust You that You know what I need and when I need it, so I am going to praise You for bringing me through the week and for giving me the strength and the health to do what I do knowing that You have promised to meet my needs and I can depend on that. In faith, I live because my faith is immeasurably valuable and precious. And faith is what pleases You.

Father, Thank You for this week but thank You more for this lesson: my faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—results in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Praise, glory, and honor from You to me for believing in You. Amen

A Sweating King

7/21/2016

2 Chronicles 32.5 Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the terraces of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.

It wasn’t without mistakes; Hezekiah worked hard, but his efforts weren’t flawless. I don’t want to call attention to his mistakes; I think I’d call attention to his work ethic. He worked hard. Hezekiah undertook a gargantuan task: turning the hearts of the people back to God. Isn’t that part of why we go to church every week? (Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you didn’t go…)

It says of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 18.5: Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. Given who he is compared to (David, Solomon, Uzziah, Jehoshaphat) Hezekiah gets a glowing review. Given what he was faced with (national apathy, spiritual apathy, the age of empires) Hezekiah worked hard. Not even Josiah gets the glowing commendations of Hezekiah. But Hezekiah worked hard – his motivation was God.

I suppose there was a little bit of David in Hezekiah: fearlessness in the face of these foreign kings who would make him a vassal. I suppose there was a bit of Solomon in him as well: rebuilding and fortifying the city. But Hezekiah had to make things go on his own and he, above all else, sought God with all his heart. There are no records of his wives and his children – he simply sought God.

Now, before we set up Hezekiah as some sort of superhuman, we need to remember he wasn’t without his mistakes. He wasn’t without his enemies. He wasn’t without his fears. But he was a man with God's heart, and in spite of the setbacks we know he had, he stood firm in his faith: God was his Rock and Anchor.

I think what stood out to me today was the short phrase: Then he worked hard… I think of a guy with his work ethic together, a mind for detail, and a vision of what needed to be done. But Hezekiah didn’t take his eyes off of the Lord. I admire that and want to emulate that as well.

In my lifetime, I’ve faced some difficult things and it strikes me as odd how often I’ve wanted to just take a break. I’ve gone through the motions and checked the boxes but I haven’t had to face an invading army or an arrogant emperor. But I have been called to work hard. Sometimes I couldn’t recognize what that even meant.

Working hard is not a sweating king – it’s an attitude of knowing what needs to be done and a resolve to do it. That may mean saying ‘no’ to some things. It may mean saying ‘yes’ to other things. But more than anything, it means more than just being busy. Busy-ness is often just an excuse to put off what really needs to get done. The question for me: where is my heart in what I do, and where do I see God in what I do? I think Hezekiah’s heart was in the right place and so was his honor of God.

Father God, renew my vision today of where my heart is, and where You are in what I do. May I be filled again with the motivation of: whatever your hands find to do, do it with all of your heart, and as unto God. It worked for Hezekiah – it can work for me. In You. By You. And for You. Amen

And So He Prospered

7/20/2016

2 Chronicles 31.20-21 20 This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. 21 In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

Hezekiah was just a man, but he was a man with a heart for God, and a heart for his people. As I read down through the accounts of the kings in Israel, it is remarkable how faithful some of them were despite the turmoil in the world around them; and it is tragic how unfaithful some of them were.

In Deuteronomy 28 we read a proclamation of God of blessings over His people if they obey Him: If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God… (Vv.1,2) What follows is a list of those blessings.

Largely, as a nation, Israel disobeyed the Lord and because they did, there were consequences. However, some of Israel’s kings were good and faithful, even though others were not. And so there was a slow erosion of the blessing of God because of their unfaithfulness. And sadly, the good never overcame the bad, and finally, all of Judah and Israel went into captivity. We’re seeing signs of that in our own nation today.

But, there is never a substitute for seeking the Lord, and working wholeheartedly in whatever situation one finds oneself. It seems that God is no longer in the nation-building business; but He is in the person-building business. God desires to befriend, personally, every person on the planet. And it appears that God will bless the humble, but oppose the proud (James 4.6,10). God blesses the one who seeks Him and works wholeheartedly with Him.

God’s blessing, however, is not always monetary or physical (like we like to believe). It may have been that way in times of old, but I think that’s only part of His blessing. Today, it seems God blesses us with things like peace, joy, and the intangibles of faith. (I only use the word intangible to mean: we can’t wrap our hands around His blessings, but we sure can wrap our hearts around them…)

Blessing is a sense of happiness and fulfillment that goes beyond the tangible. Yes, physical healing or monetary rescue are what we call blessings and those we deem as good. But God is more concerned with what is going on in our heart – what kind of people we really are: people of faith, or people of trinkets and treasures. Usually, blessing is the coming through of adversity, having learned something…

But the narrative of 2 Chronicles 31 it says of Hezekiah, and so he prospered. Prosperity needs to be inclusive of God in order to be of any worth. Hezekiah, as a leader, set the tone for blessing: he sought the Lord and worked wholeheartedly – that sounds to me like something to emulate.

Father, find in me a heart that seeks You and an ethic of work that accompanies. It’s You I seek, but I need to pay the bills as well. Thank You for the example of Hezekiah and how You prospered him in his endeavor to serve You, wholeheartedly. May I do the same. – Amen.

The Way of the Wise

7/19/2016

James 3.13-14 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.

I read this today and began to ask myself: what is the importance of wisdom? I saw that St. James said the wise are those who lead a good life, and do good things in humility. And then I saw that humility comes from wisdom. And then, I thought: God gives grace to the humble, but opposes the proud. I’m beginning to view humility in a different way…

True wisdom is not the accumulation of knowledge; true wisdom is the right application of that knowledge in life and spiritual things. Humility is the child of the wise.

Another thought I had today was this: who boasts about bitter envy and selfish ambition? That seems a bit over the top. But actually, we see it all the time in the lives and actions of the unwise; in their schemes, their plans, their ambitions to do as only they want to do. They boast, they proclaim.

I think ours is a world of dichotomy: a place of two kingdoms, and two worldviews. I believe there are the wise, and there are the foolish. I think there are the humble, and there are the proud. I have believed that the wise always have the right answer; today I see that the wise have the right life: a life of goodness and deeds done in humility. The wise don’t seek recognition, they seek the truth borne out in acts of kindness and goodness.

The humble are the wise in this world. The proud are the arrogant. 

Because we are a world, and our existence is in such a place, we see – often – that the worldly get their way. Their view of measurement is accumulation and boasting of what they have and do. Life on the planet is a life of possession, position, and production. If a worldly gets his way it’s all because he’s bought into the façade of possession, position, and production; he wants to be seen and he wants to be heard and valued because of who he is, and what he has and does. It’s all about appearances.

Not so the humble. Not so the heavenly. Not so the wise. To them, there are no trophies, treasures, and trinkets because these have no bearing on the one whose focus in not of this world, and the way it measures success. Their possession, position, and production are all measured in quiet and simple ways – the ways that say, I value you, and here’s how. Acts of love and kindness; fighting against the loud and noisy boastings of the worldly.

I had to think about this today. I had to ask myself, where do I fit in, in this world? Am I one who is wise; or one who is boasting? Have I boasted about my possessions, positions, or production? And if so, to what end? I think I like the humility of the wise. It is no less hard work than the arrogance of the proud; it is just using the same energy to make a different difference.

Father, may Your Spirit teach me and show me the different way – the way of the wise. May I seek to use my energy and efforts to make a heavenly difference in this hectic and harried world where such smallness is so sought after. Help me this day, to be wise and to think of others, serving them in their need. Forgive me of my boasting – amen.

Visible Belief

7/18/2016

James 2.18 18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. – St. James

I almost think old James got his words mixed up – he might’ve wanted to say, I have deeds, show me your faith. If this is an objection, then faith must be accompanied with deeds. There has to be some visible action that goes along with faith. That is his argument.

I wasn’t there ,and I can see what was inside his head, but I think we have inferred that James was making his case against the one who seemed to think that faith is simply belief – all mental – and no action.  So, this all boils down to visible belief.

Does what I do underscore what I believe? I think James was making that case although I think his wording might've been a little off. The argument in his epistle is for authenticity in the faith; favoritism is wrong in the light of love your neighbor as yourself. Certainly there are those in this life that we prefer, but there is no place for preference (in that light) among God’s people. If there is then where and who is our neighbor?

So, the test for James was: if you claim to have faith but cannot back it up with action, what is your faith really made of? Just head knowledge? And he said, the demons believe, but they sure don’t obey. Faith without action is dead.

I think he should’ve said: I have deeds, but you claim faith. Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by my deeds. The point is authenticity. If out of our mouth proclaims to be faith, then out of our life ought to be acts of kindness and love; the physical meeting of the needs of others. True religion, says James, is to care for widows and orphans in their need. That’s faith.

We do because we love. We love because we are loved. Our faith is simply belief in action (with actions). That, I think is the lesson James is trying to teach: get out there and do something that shows your faith…in action.

It is said, that St. Francis of Assissi said, Go into all the world and preach the gospel; if necessary use words. I think he got the lesson. I am to serve others with my life, in action, because that is the sum of my faith in Him who’s done so much for me.

Father, fill my life with action today. Show me where and how to serve and my I love my neighbor as myself – amen.

A Perfect Work

7/17/2016

James 1.4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – St. James

Perseverance – that blessed ability to keep on keeping on. Perseverance – the effort that makes one say: a year from now I’ll be glad I started today. Perseverance – the attitude that helps me keep what is really important, in focus. Perseverance – the investment that pays a yield of maturity and completion.

A friend of mine came into my office one day and wrote W.A.S.W.G.W.D. on my whiteboard. Of course I asked, Okay, I’ll bite. He replied: Wait and see what God will do. That, friends, is perseverance. It’s the mindset that no matter what happens, God is up to something, and what He does will be nothing short of mind-blowing. That is the God we serve.

The majority mentality seems to be, God is short on effort and production. Statements like, I prayed and nothing happened, seem to be the norm. But God is no genie – He doesn’t act like we want Him to because He doesn’t grant us our three wishes and then let us be. We like to think He is a genie, but that is just unbelief in who He really is, and what He really does for those He loves.

For just a moment, stop and think about what you’re facing. No, really, stop, quit reading, and think about what you’re facing. Got it? Okay. Now imagine there is no God involved. Imagine you’ve got to face, whatever it is, all on your own. Now return to reality and remember God is on your side and He is with you in whatever it is – or rather, you are with Him in whatever it is…

James said trials and tests cause us to do one of two things: either we stick it out with God – or we go it alone. W.A.S.W.G.W.D. The choice is ours to keep on keeping on, or to the heavy-lifting ourselves. Perseverance builds trust and keeps us positively focused on our relationship with God, not necessarily what He will do, or not do, on our behalf. God is no genie.

For just another moment, stop and think of where you’d like your relationship to go with God. Do you want it to be deeper and more intimate; or do you think God is better when He’s kept at a safe distance? God is infinite; never-ending. We are finite but we’ve been invited to enjoy Him in eternity. Words fail at how big, or lasting, eternity really is. Putting descriptors of time and space on eternity do it a disservice. Eternity is where God is and where He desires us to be, with Him, as well.

Eternity, is outside the realm of whatever it is we’re facing. And in eternity, none of what we’re facing today will matter. Only this will be important: we somehow let our issues push us into deeper relationship with God. We matured. We stuck it out – and we won the prize: God Himself.

Father, may I sing Your praises like a little song-bird today.  May I praise You for what I am facing, and that You are right there with me. May I praise You for what You’re doing to build perseverance into me; for that is my only hope: that You and I stick it out, together, forever. Thank You. Bless You. Lead me in the way Eternal. Amen.

That City

7/16/2016

Hebrews 13:14 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

In verse 5 of Hebrews 13, the writer said: “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have…”; then he went on to say the above. Our hearts long for peace. Our lives long for security. And God has promised those things but they are not for now in this world; at least not in the measure that God promises them in the future.

It is good to be content, but it is also helpful to have a longing. Looking for that city that is to come is a healthy longing; a healthy yearning. Contentment helps us live productively now, and fruitful longing helps us to keep keeping on. Hope is a wonderful thing.

I’ve told my wife that I want to go out to the ocean. I want to experience its magnitude, power, and presence. But I know that is only a brief experience and the ocean, in all its power and majesty, is not the answer to my longing for peace and security, and the absence of all that is wrong. My peace and security are found in Him – the one who promises a city where He is, and all wrong is gone. I want to go the ocean, but only for the purpose of thanking Him for making it, and letting me experience it. My longing though, is still for that city to come.

And so my days are filled with the things I do, my work, my passions, and my pleasures. But those things are not where I’m headed – I’m on my way to a city where He is. I’m on my way to His presence forever.

Isaiah the prophet wrote: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace    those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26.1-30) those verses describe those who long for that City to come.

Much is wrong in our world – just ask those in Nice, France – they’ll tell you. But all is not lost, and God promises a place to come where our longing to love and be loved will be fulfilled forever. We must, despite all that is wrong in our world, keep our focus and gaze toward that promised city for which we long where all our cares will be answered, and no more will there be wrong.

In the meantime, we live here in a broken and crumbling world of perceived power and struggle, but our gaze, our longing, is for that place where brokenness will be no more. I have to leave all the answers to God because He knows what is going on and only He knows how to deal with us, within it. He promises us a city. He’ll fulfill our longings there.

Father, the seeds of longing are scattered in this day and age when so much seems to be wrong. You are in control of all and You have promised me a place of peace and security forever. That is what I long for and that is why I look to You, and for You, in the midst of my days. I’m looking for that City where You are. Take me there – Amen.

The Different

7/15/2016

Hebrews 12.14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

In my understanding of the word holy, I’ve come to learn it means: other or different. The life with Christ should be different than the life apart from Him. We might read the verse this way: Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be different; without difference no one will see the Lord. What is it that makes a little Christ different?

Difference begins with how we see the world around us, and, how we view God. If God is our God that automatically makes us different. But there is more to the story. Difference is how we live with a right view of God. God makes a difference in how we see, how we talk, and how we live. He makes a difference in how we think. The Christian is not like the garden-variety human: he is different.

The different see others differently as well. They are not a threat, they are on a journey. They have something to add, but they haven’t made their destination yet. Others, to the different, are assets, not liabilities because they are made in the image of God. God has planted eternity in their hearts too. (Ecc.3.11) And though the sins of others are often grievous, they are sought with a different heart with a hope that they can, with God, somehow make a difference in this world.

I think we Christians labor too much over words like holy. I think we paint our words up in mysterious tones and cause people to think they know what it means, but they aren’t really sure. It’s called Christianese – a language spoken only in the Church that confuses and confounds the others who don’t speak it. And often, the ones who do speak it, (almost superstitiously) speak with words and phrases that are pressed into meanings that are vague and hard to understand. Like answering questions no one is asking.

It really boils down to this: who is your god? If God is your God, then you’re on the right track because He is the only God who has gone out of His way to draw you into relationship with Him. But a relationship with God is different. He speaks, we listen, and then we go and do as instructed. Simple. A different relationship is one of trust and obedience to the extreme because the different understands, will have it no other way.

Holiness is difference. Holiness is other. Holiness is recognizable because it is so noticeably different than religion or other human effort, because holiness is counter to all the world has to offer. Difference is ridiculed by the world as naïve and childish, but to the different, they’d have it no other way.

Father, because You are my Father, You make me different. But Lord, I don’t just want to be different, I want to be different and make a difference in the sphere in which I live. May I be radically different in my approach to You that I may make a radical difference in all I do and say, for Your sake, Amen.

The Different

7/15/2016

Hebrews 12.14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

In my understanding of the word holy, I’ve come to learn it means: other or different. The life with Christ should be different than the life apart from Him. We might read the verse this way: Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be different; without difference no one will see the Lord. What is it that makes a little Christ different?

Difference begins with how we see the world around us, and, how we view God. If God is our God that automatically makes us different. But there is more to the story. Difference is how we live with a right view of God. God makes a difference in how we see, how we talk, and how we live. He makes a difference in how we think. The Christian is not like the garden-variety human: he is different.

The different see others differently as well. They are not a threat, they are on a journey. They have something to add, but they haven’t made their destination yet. Others, to the different, are assets, not liabilities because they are made in the image of God. God has planted eternity in their hearts too. (Ecc.3.11) And though the sins of others are often grievous, they are sought with a different heart with a hope that they can, with God, somehow make a difference in this world.

I think we Christians labor too much over words like holy. I think we paint our words up in mysterious tones and cause people to think they know what it means, but they aren’t really sure. It’s called Christianese – a language spoken only in the Church that confuses and confounds the others who don’t speak it. And often the ones who do speak it, (almost superstitiously) speak with the words and phrases they use that are pressed into meanings that are vague and hard to understand. Like answering questions no one is asking.

It really boils down to this: who is your god? If God is your God, then you’re on the right track because He is the only God who has gone out of His way to draw you into relationship with Him. But a relationship with God is different. He speaks, we listen, and then we go and do as instructed. Simple. A different relationship is one of trust and obedience to the extreme because the different understands, will have it no other way.

Holiness is difference. Holiness is other. Holiness is recognizable because it is so noticeably different than religion or other human effort, because holiness is counter to all the world has to offer. Difference is ridiculed by the world as naïve and childish, but to the different, they’d have it no other way.

Father, because You are my Father, You make me different. But Lord, I don’t just want to be different, I want to be different and make a difference in the sphere in which I live. May I be radically different in my approach to You that I may make a radical difference in all I do and say, for Your sake, Amen.

Our Belief

7/12/2016

Hebrews 9.27-28 27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

It is said, if a person is born once, he will die once; but if a person is born twice, he will live twice. Jesus was born twice: once in life, and then again in eternity. Jesus is the Only One who was born again from the dead, that is the magnitude of His sacrifice for us. In our society today, fewer and fewer people believe that.

We are all destined to die once. The life we are given has an expiration date on it. But whether or not we live again depends on whether or not we accept Christ’s sacrifice for us. We are destined to die once; our old bodies are going to wear out and pass away. But the spiritual part of us will live forever. Don’t know how, just know that it does.

In Ecclesiastes 3.11, Solomon wrote: [God] has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. We are destined to be eternal, but only those who accept God’s way will be granted eternal life; those who don’t will have eternal death. No threat, no warning; just reality.

The gift of God to the one who believes is, Himself. In Him we live and move and have our being – for now. The gift of physical life now, prepares us for the gift of eternal life then; but only to the ones who believe it will be. Belief in what God has done is crucial. It is courageous. It is commanded.

It is not our belief that makes what God has done a reality, but it is our belief that gains us access into that reality. The Book is the Book, and the reality, the reality; but we must believe despite what all the world says against it.

So, Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. That’s a big statement. And only believers get it. When Jesus comes again, He is coming for the faithful who believe.

Friends, I believe. I believe, not for you, but for me. I pray for you, but I believe for me. I ask God to open your eyes, but I believe that what Jesus did, He did for me… and will do for you. Yes, I am going to die and face judgment. But I stand on the eternal sacrifice of Christ to defend me against the judgment of sin and death. Jesus was sacrificed once to open the way for His return with salvation for all who trust in Him. What’s done is done. Do we believe?

Father in Heaven, I do believe. I don’t carry malice or vengeful hatred for those who don’t; but I do believe. I await the Return that will bring salvation for those who are waiting for Him. Father, I believe. May I live that message, and share it with others. May they hear and believe for the Gospel is Your power to everyone who believes, and all lives matter to You. Amen.

The Friend-Principle

7/10/2016

John 15:13– 15“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” — St. John

Context is everything when it comes to reading and applying the Bible. Always, we need to keep in mind who is speaking, and to whom. We also need to know what is being said; and we need to allow the Spirit of God to apply to us what is needed for our enlightenment and enrichment: our teaching, rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness. (Cf. 2 Timothy 3)

So, in John 15 Jesus is speaking to His disciples and He tells them the above; He calls them His friends. Now then, because He calls then friends, does He call me friend? It’s worth asking. Jesus did have a unique and one of a kind relationship with these men, but does that relationship wash over onto me? Does Jesus call me friend?

Jesus said to them, “I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Jesus had conversations with those men which are not recorded in Scripture. So, in His revelations of what He learned from the Father, do we have enough of those revelations in Scripture to know what our part is in the process these two-thousand years later?

And when Jesus called them friends, He said He did so because friends are an elevated relationship; one of knowing the Master’s business. Do I know the Master’s business? Am I a friend? I think what He said initially gives me the answer: You are My friend(s) if you do what I command. Is that for them or me?

Context is everything, but implication helps. Jesus may have been telling His men who they were, but He was also telling us today (two-thousand years later) the same thing: the friend-principle is this: You are My friends if you do what I command. If I want to be Jesus’ friend, I do what He commands, explicitly, or implicitly through the teachings of the Bible.

Friendship with God is not rocket-science – it is simply loving God by His Holy Spirit, and loving people the same way. No degrees in theology necessary. No titles, or positions needed. Just love God and love others. Jesus commands are simply this: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. Wanna be a Jesus friend? Do that. Wanna know the Master’s business? Love Him, and love others.

Everything Jesus learned from the Father and revealed to them is the same message revealed to us today: love God and love others. If my focus is loving God and putting the needs of others above my own, then what can go wrong? If I see God as my Friend and me as His; and then I make a point of being a friend to everybody else, how can I go wrong? That’s what friends are for.

Father, Your business is simple and Your way is simpler yet: love You above all else, and love people more than self. Simple. Straightforward. Salvation. Amen.

The Jesus Picture

7/8/2016

Hebrews 5. 7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

I have a hard time picturing Jesus offering up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears. The word fervent strikes an odd conjure in me. I am more comfortable with Jesus meek and mild. Predictable. Safe. Tame. I have a tough time with Jesus fervent and wild. It’s because my Jesus picture is incomplete and I see Him how I want to see Him. (Maybe I'm afraid God wants me to act that way...)

The writer of the book of Hebrews must have had some good intel on Jesus. He must have had some accounts of the Lord that would curl my hair. His descriptor here in this short chapter is intense. I admit, a lot of days, my relationship with God lacks intensity. I’m thinking about making some changes.

There is a lady in my church that gets called on every once in a while to pray (during our times of corporate prayer) and when she does, her voice goes into fervent, and her eyes go into tears. I don’t think it’s just whipping oneself into a frenzy, I think it’s a condition of the heart. I think given the cultural and political landscape we find ourselves it is no time for anything less than fervent cries and tears.

Jesus was not immune to the culture and politics of His day. I think He was angry at the abuse and oppression by His own leaders against their people at the expense of the occupying Romans. I think Jesus was saddened and angered at the people’s lack of trust in God, and their own lack of fervent cries and tears except when someone was brutally cut down short in life and no one seemed to care.

Today, we have leaders who seem to be immune to the rules the rest of us have to live by. If we’re not careful we’ll usher in cataclysmic results: if so and so can do that, so can I! That won’t work, but surely some will try to exploit it. And today we seem to be in a racial frenzy, like we’re the evilest, oppressive people in the world. Skin color has become a weapon, not for change, but for division. Who is assaulting Heaven with loud cries and tears over that?

Jesus, a single simple man, came into His situation and cried out to God over it. There may be loud cries and tears out there somewhere, but it’s pretty quiet here in my little berg… The difference, to me, seems to be what Jesus did because of His reverent submission to His Father. God calls you and me to pray. I’m lacking, how about you?

Reverent submission is a part of the Jesus picture I do get. Jesus honored God by including Him in the conversation. Today, while it’s called today, needs to be for me, a day of reverent submission. I may not use loud cries and tears in my soundproof office (it used to be where counseling took place) but then again, I might. I’m challenged today, to up the volume, and increase the fervor. Reverently. Submissively. Is there anything too difficult for God?

Father, thank You for answering my prayer yesterday and I cry out to You again today. My prayer is, move me to move. If Jesus did, then it’s good enough for me too! Amen