Sunday, July 30, 2017

What I See

7/30/2017

John 1.48 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” St. John

I have used a Bible reading regimen since 2002 – it’s called, S.O.A.P. It stands for, Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer. The thought process is simply: read through the Bible (Scripture) with some kind of plan and intentionality, and then journal appropriately to what I see (observe), how I can apply what I saw to my daily living, and then a prayer to God for the wherewithal to do what I saw and attempt to apply.  

This morning before I began reading I had the thought: don’t write about what you know, write about what you see. I know some stuff – everybody does. But the greater calling in life is to live by what you see, and then live, and love accordingly. The greatest calling in life, is to love, despite what you see. That is also the hardest part of life. To see people properly is to love them properly… 

Jesus was not who, or what, people wanted to see. That threw people. If Messiah is to be: all that, AND a bag of chips, why doesn’t He look like a Messiah. We need to understand that God doesn’t play by our rules. Ever. But we are more than welcome to play by His. 

So, in the story, a seeker of Jesus, a guy named Philip, calls out to his friend Nathanael and says, hey man, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael, knowing about Nazareth says, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael saw nothing good in Nazareth. 

And upon meeting Jesus, the Lord said: “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” To which Nathanael says: “How do you know me?” And Jesus replied, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Astounded, Nathanael says: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.” You know, what I see is this: God sees us. 

It doesn’t matter whether we’re under the fig tree, under the weight of anxiety, or the pressure of performance and production; God sees us. And like Nathanael, we need to embrace that knowledge. And now, because I see, I know that God is an inescapable part of life for every person on the planet. And because I know that, I know that He sees me. That ought to make me think about what I see and how I respond to what I see.  

My seeing sometimes influences my doing. Sometimes seeing someone in need, and while having the ability to help, not doing anything to help, shows that I am not seeing things as I should. God looks at me to see what it will take in my life to bring about eternal life. I at least ought to see others in the same way: Lord, how can I help this person (or these people) to see You for who You are? 

And that is my prayer: 

Father in Heaven, You see me for who You’ve created me to be. Help me to see my fellow man as works-in-progress, and to come alongside the willing and the unwilling to help them to see You for who You really are: “Lord, You are God; You are the king of the world!” Amen

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Perfect Peace

7/16/2017 

Isaiah 23.3 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. – St. Isaiah, the prophet 

Yesterday, in our little town, a 7-year old child was killed in a tragic traffic accident. As a community, we are in shock – how could one so young be taken so soon!? But he was.  

I think about those who witnessed the accident. I think about leaders and mentors who saw it all. I think about the law enforcement personnel and EMT’s who were first responders. I think about the counselors and pastors, who reached out to comfort and console. I think about the verse in Matthew:

“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.” (Matthew 2.18) 

I think about a mom, a dad, and grandparents, and aunts and uncles refusing to be comforted – someone precious to them is no more. 

Cathy and I prayed for those involved at all levels and we prayed for God’s comfort and consolation. And we prayed in frustration for what seems to be a senseless tragedy of one taken who, in our eyes, didn’t seem to deserve it.  

And then, I thought about God. And I thought: we’re all going to die at some point and the moment for all of us is fixed in some divine calendar. Some are born to live long, long lives. Others are born to last for a few minutes. And some are born for tragedy. But all of us are going to die at some point. 

Our frustration is we have no control over the when. And that is why the need for God and the great need for trusting in God: You, God, will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfastly set on You, because they trust in You… no matter what. That doesn’t erase human pain, nor does it explain the inexplicable. But it puts God in His rightful place: The One through Whom, and for Whom, all things are.  

We tend to forget that when tragedy strikes.  

Personally, I know the anguish of a child. I know this morning there is hurt and, perhaps anger beyond comprehension in those, “close to home”: the family of the child whose life was lost: a mom, a dad, siblings, relatives. But I know that the child was given a life that was only going to last so long, and then he was going to die. That is a harsh reality for all of us who seem to want to control the outcome… we never can – we never will. 

But the stark reality is also this: we can learn to trust God in all things. This isn’t the first child to die, nor will it be the last. But God is God over all circumstances and despite our suffering, He can be trusted. 

It may not soften the blow, but it does give us a place to land when we’ve been hit.  

My prayer is this tragedy will bring us together as people to remember how much we need God and how much we need each other – because the time for all of us, young and old, is limited…

Saturday, July 15, 2017

The Attitude of Discipline

7/15/2017 

Hebrews 12.5-6 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” 

I am an American. I live in a culture that seems to stress over health and fitness. You talk to the average American and he believes he is not in the best shape and could lose weight. Depending on who you talk to, depends on how they feel, but my experience is most of us believe we could stand more exercise, better eating, and we believe that our lives would somehow improve if we were just in better shape. 

I’m not sure we know what we’re saying when we say we wish we were in better shape, but I think I know what we mean: we wish we could find the discipline to make ourselves feel better about our pathetic physical selves so that when we watch the Bowflex® commercials, we don’t feel so guilty about Jillian Michaels’ drill sergeant-like, get-your-a**-going, attitude. Hold my beer, I’ll just change the channel 

The writer of Hebrews, quoting Proverbs 3, said: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” I thought about the taking lightly and wondered what that might mean and then I read: “…and don not lose heart… Now I know what he meant: Discipline is hard work. 

And necessary work. 

The discipline of the Lord is not dressed up in some tight-fitting workout outfit with a moderately attractive drill sergeant, dripping with sweaty sexuality, barking at us. The discipline of the Lord is love at its purest and finest; the pinnacle of divine intervention. 

To make light of the Lord’s discipline, is to belittle it, shun it, or avert our eyes from it. To lose heart, is to take God’s discipline as His invasive forcing of us to do what we don’t want to do; or His taking from us something that which we don’t want to give. The Lord’s discipline is anything but. 

It is true that God wants to train us. That doesn’t mean we’re pathetic (we are far worse than that), it does mean, however, that God will work with us if we’ll allow Him; and His work with us requires a good, willing, and cooperative attitude with Him in His work with us. Slackers need not apply. 

The Almighty thinks very highly of us and expects us to do the same with Him, and ourselves – especially when we begin to see His purpose in, for, and through us. God’s purposes for us require a commitment from us that makes Jillian look pushy and pathetic. She’s selling a product – God is giving life eternal. It takes discipline to receive God’s life – His life is infinitely different than we know. 

Father, work in me to help me to get what You are doing in me. David prayed: “…what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” We are, I am, a whole bunch more that we/I realize. Work in me whatever it takes to help me to get it. May Your will be done in my life, and may my attitude about it be happy, willing, and cooperative – amen

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

The Forgetting Process

7/5/2017 

Hebrews 2.1 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 

In the original texts, there were no chapters and verses assigned; the Epistles were simply written documents intended for the use and edification of the readers in various churches scattered throughout the region. Hebrews is an epistle – it was meant for Jewish Christians who may have wanted to revert back to Judaism for various reasons; persecution being one reason.  

The writer (we’re not sure who it was) told them: We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. I think that is sound advice for Christians to this day.  

The issue with paying attention is the issue of remembering and reminding. We’re to remember what was said and remind each other in the process. The writer said, we must pay the most careful attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away… That is exactly what happened to ancient Israel. 

In the prophet Hosea’s day, the nation of Israel (the northern ten tribes) had mostly forsaken the teachings and example of their forefathers and had fallen into a protracted estate of ambivalence toward God. They had vigorously adopted the rites of pagan religions, and had stopped doing what God had originally commanded them to do through Moses. They just quit… paying attention. 

I think ambivalence, apathy, and acquiescence are among the big three in ineffectiveness in our days – we just grow drained, disinterested and distracted. If ever there was a reason for paying the most careful attention, it is now because the ‘friction’ of forgetting is ever-present in our world.  

To be a child of God and a disciple of Christ means to give careful heed to what we have learned and to pay attention to what is happening in our lives as we follow Jesus. If there is something we are to do, it’s pretty clear in the instruction of the author of Hebrews: we’re to beware of how we’re living, and make sure that how we are, matches up with who we are, in Christ. 

Why go to church? Why have personal devotions? Why sing the songs of the faith? All of these things are supposed to enhance our faith, and retard the forgetting process. If we pay attention to what we have heard, then it follows that we will live what we have heard. Falling away is a very silent, invisible, odorless, painless process. It is enriched by not paying careful attention to who we are and why we are. 

Father in Heaven, help me to pay careful attention. Help me to make sure I am what I am in Jesus. Thank you for Church and Christian friends, but may they only serve to remind me to remember who I am in You. And may I remember to be about Your business today: I represent the King and the Kingdom. Amen

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Contention

7/2/2017 

Jude 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. – St. Jude 

Jesus had a half-brother named Jude. His name was probably Judah, or Judas but he was a believer in Christ. He was passionate in his faith and apparently held a non-apostolic position of leadership in the early Church. Jude wrote Jude. 

As was common in those days, the Christian moniker, ‘friends’ was used by the early believers to signify unity among themselves, and their partnership with Jesus (John 15.15 …I call you friends…) So, when Jude wrote, “Dear Friends”, he was writing to people who were friends of Jesus Christ as believers. Friendship with God is an important context for me. God desires to be our True Friend. 

So, Jude wanted to write and encourage his friends about their salvation, but felt compelled to write and urge to them about contend for their faith. Contend here means to struggle, or seek to overcome.  

Now, the struggle (or contention) is not against others but against the pull of the world, to live for the world, and daily living as more important than God, and godly living. I think one of the biggest bashes Christianity takes is the concept of godly living. Godly living is simply living in the presence of God and striving to do what He commands and directs as the right way to live in a wrong world. The world heralds that as hypocrisy. 

And no wonder – if the world sought godly living, then it wouldn’t contend for worldly living – living in a world apart from God. The worldly contend it is possible to live a full and rewarding life in this world apart from God; without the constraints (as they see it) of living for God. The worldly stop short at the threshold of self-accomplishment and self-aggrandizement.  

The Christian, on the other hand, may be tempted to stop short at the threshold of salvation thinking: I signed the card, I made the pledge, I got my name in the book, and I’m just gonna continue to live the best I can. Salvation isn’t just a letter-grade on a ledger; it’s relationship with God that comes no other way than through Jesus Christ and belief in Him – and daily life with Him. Life with Jesus is peace, promise, and presence in the midst of a world hostile to all that would usurp it’s culture of self. 

Contending for the faith, for the child of God, is a very real and serious thing because all else in this life contends to pull us away from our salvation: what we are saved from, and what we are saved to. Contending for the faith means living with purpose, power, and persistence in the things of the faith and the salvation we hold so dear. We do hold salvation dearly, don’t we?  

Living for Jesus a life that is true, [contending] to please Him in all that I do; yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free, this is the pathway of [salvation] for me. – Thomas O. Chisholm 

Father in Heaven, every day is a day of contention, contending for my faith. Give me the strength, the wisdom, and the vision to keep my eyes on the prize: You! Amen

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Knowing Our Desire

7/1/2017 

Isaiah 1.3 "The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, [My] people do not understand.” – St. Isaiah 

This morning in my devotions I read: “Delight yourself in Me, for I am the deepest Desire of your heart.” (Young, Sarah. Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence (p. 192). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.)

 I thought about that. I thought: how often do I fill my days seeking this or that? I think that way because I have been trained that way, and because of my training, I do as I do, and believe as I believe. What is sad is: I was not created to be my own god; I was not created to live a life apart from God. 

And Isaiah, the great preacher of Israel said, “The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, [My] people do not understand…” The simple animals get it – and often (very) I don’t.  

This isn’t about training as much as it is about retraining. The ox and the donkey have one small advantage: they’re hard-wired to get the simple concept of ownership and food. Their huge disadvantage is no freewill, and no knowledge of the God who created them. All they know is the simplicity of food, water, and husbandry. 

My devotions today were a paradigm shift in my thinking: we all have a deep desire; we’re hard-wired that way. What we don’t know (or what we ignore, and/or are distracted from) is the deepest desire of all humanness: the desire for God. The secular won’t buy that, nor will the atheist, nor the hedonist, nor the consumer. Only those that are taught and trained to hear and live by the voice of God will give heed to their deepest desire: the presence of God Himself. 

For the most part, we’re dumbed down to desiring the sparkles and glitters of this life. We accept the lie that this life and its limitations, doesn’t get any better than this… We accept short-sightedness believing all we see, is all there is. That’s the context of animals: dumb as oxen, stubborn as donkeys… Funny: we need the oxen and donkeys God has created!

God said: My people do not understand. The dumbest of His people are those who think, they are not His people – ah, but the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof… The dumbest and the poorest on earth are those who deny God. Our purpose in this life is to know God and enjoy (underscore that!) Him forever. That means we’re free from the confines of ownership and food – it means we choose to accept our deepest desire: the innate hunger in all of us for the power, presence, and promise of God. 

Oxen and donkeys know instinctively. We know innately. Knowing our desire is tantamount to knowing God. 

Father, that I know You is of magnitude that defies understanding. That my deepest desire is You, smacks vehemently against everything this world offers in place of You – religion, health, wealth, and happiness. As I go forth in these days, may my knowledge of this desire, and the presence of the Holy Spirit within me, be the filter of defense for all that vies for my attention. All of my fountains are in You – amen.