In the Reality of Its Truth

11.9.2010

1 Co 6:3 3 Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! ESV

What if we really believed what the Bible said about us? What if we lived out our lives in the reality of its truth?

This morning Paul’s question to the Corinthians hit me like a bucket of cold water. I admit it; I don’t often think about questions like, “Do you not know that we are to judge angels?” To which I would respond, ‘Really!?’ It seems like questions like this and the others he asks of the Corinthians point to another kind of life that I don’t often (rarely, almost never) consider. I’m not sure what judging angels is, or what it entails; but it appears that it needs to happen and God is raising up a nation of judges to do such a work. Wow!

What if I really believed the Bible and what it says about me? What if I lived out my days on earth in the reality of its truth? What if I began to live now in such a way so that God could teach me about what it is I’m to do in the next life? What if I were to live today with the mindset of, “Oh yeah, the Bible does say that!”

This morning, I’m looking at life a little differently. This morning, the magnitude of my sin and failure isn’t quite so impressive. This morning, I see that God indeed has big plans for me (and everyone else) and I need to be aware of them, and desperately need His help to fulfill them, (or better yet) to cooperate with Him as He fulfills them in me…

Father in Heaven,
Lord, help me to get it that there is way more to this life than I usually see. Help me to see that Your plans for me and my brothers and sisters goes way beyond what we can hope for or imagine. Help me to live in the reality of what You say about me in Your word – it sounds like I have a big job to fulfill later. Amen.

Expert or Shoddy

11.8.2010

Let each one take care how he builds upon it. I Corinthians 3.10b

What a difference a few months can make. I last spent time in 1 Corinthians back in March of this year. My perspective has changed so much is such a short period of time.

Let each one take care how he builds upon it – upon the foundation of Christ and the teachings of the New Testament and how he tells the story. Paul wasn’t being arrogant; he was showing the importance of telling the story and living the life effectively. We believers are to be about the business of imparting the glory, goodness, greatness, and grace of God. That’s what we do. Paul likened that to building upon a foundation. We can do a good job of it… or we can do shoddy work. The bottom line is that each one’s work will be shown for what it is: expert or slap-together.

Let each one take care how he builds upon it – today is a wake up call to inspect and detect what and how I’m building. We all need grace. We all need God’s guidance. We all need discipline. In one way or another we all need God’s help. But I’m thinking about how I use God’s help and what I’ll do with it as I get it – expert or shoddy. And I’m thinking about what it will be like to present it back to God: enduring or ashes.

Father in Heaven,
You are helping me to see that I can in fact do all things through Christ in my quest of presenting my life back to You having accomplished something with it for Your pleasure and glory. May I trust You this day and may I find strength through Your Spirit as I impart the good things You’ve given me and as I build my life and ministry upon the foundation of Jesus Christ – in His Name, amen.

Trust without Blame

11.7.2010

Job 32:3 3 He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong. ESV

Isn’t this the way it seems to sometimes go – one is frustrated, angered or irritated at another and though a finger can’t be placed upon the cause of the frustration, it remains without cause – just because.

Job’s friends knew there had to be more to Job’s story than he was letting on – he had to have done something wrong in order to receive such treatment – they reasoned that the magnitude of his misery was surely because he’d screwed up major in some way and he just wasn’t owning up to it. Elihu (see Job 32.1ff) saw the injustice of not coming up with a reason for blame; and to blame without cause was just plain wrong.

But, you know, sometimes stuff just happens; nobody knows why and nobody did anything wrong. Life is laid out for us according to God’s wisdom and He doesn’t have to account for anything we consider to be ‘wrong’. We may have a part, but we don’t have all of His perspective.

Another consideration is this: learning to live by trusting God and not trying to please Him; not putting the cart before the horse. And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Heb 11:6 ESV) Trusting always precedes pleasing – always. Instead of incessantly looking for answers or someone to blame, my response must be, “Lord, though I don’t understand why, I trust You; and believe that all You do, You do it in love, for my good and Your glory.” Trust without blame.

Father in Heaven,
Lord, though I always don’t understand why, I trust You; and believe that all You do, You do it in love for my good and Your glory – through Jesus Christ, amen.

Whatsit Gonna Be?

11.6.2010

Galatians 3:22 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? ESV

One of the greatest lies foisted upon mankind is this: one comes to God in faith only to spend the rest of his days living according to the rules – trying to please God. Few truly realize that God is only pleased by faith.

God didn’t make Himself known to men so that He could adapt to their culture; He made Himself known that they would adapt to His. Paul made the point to the Galatians that the key that unlocked the door to true relationship with God was the point of hearing the truth, not keeping the demands of Jewish Law. God’s grace breathes freedom; the Law imprisons with regulation.

It seems that governments nowadays try to outdo one another by coming up with ridiculous laws and regulations that are impossible to keep; the more stringent, constricting, and crushing, the better. Faith allows sloppiness and messiness because that is how people are and how relationship with them is. Law cannot tolerate sloppy and messy and tries by rule to eradicate humanness and the unpredictable. Endless regulation ignores everydayness and demands flawless perfection. That is so not God who calls us to peace and freedom being who we’re going to be through loving and living faith in His Son.

So Paul’s question to me is this: Pablo, did you come to know God by keeping the rules and presenting yourself as a rule-keeper or did you hear the truth and did it set you free to walk in a loving trust relationship with Him? His second question is: now that you’ve come to faith, do you have to live by the rules to keep it?

Father in Heaven,
I have believed the Law for so long; I too now cry, Abba Father, trusting that I am set free from trying to please You by keeping the rules; and living simply in the freedom I have in Jesus Christ to love You. Amen.

The Belief Business

11.4.2010

Mark 16:20 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs. ESV

This is a fitting summary to Mark’s gospel – while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs. It is no different today; the Lord works with us and the accompanying sign is that people believe the message that He lives.

The New Testament is full of accounts of miraculous events; one after another. Sometimes it seems that we don’t see many events like that in our day and we’re left to wonder if God has gotten out of the miracle business. Personally, I don’t think He ever was in the miracle business – I think He’s always been in the Belief Business. The fact that the disciples became preachers and went out and preached everywhere is a sign in and of itself that something dramatic had changed in their lives – their belief was living proof of God’s presence in them and with them.

The religious rulers demanded that Jesus take Himself down from the cross (Mark 15.31,32). Their demand was, perform Jesus and we will believe! I think there are a lot of people with the same mentality: Do something special for me God and I will believe! I’m not sure God kowtows to demands.

On the other hand, what would our neighbors, family, friends and co-workers (or fellow students) think if we went out and preached [the Kingdom of God] everywhere? Would they think we’d lost our minds or that the Lord was working with us?

Today my sole focus must be upon Jesus as His disciple and I must work with Him as He works with me that the message may be proclaimed and somehow some will come to faith as a result – that’s a miracle!

Lord Jesus,
My day is Your day; my time is Your time. Use me today, Lord and work with me to proclaim the greatest miracle of all – that You love sinners and desire to save them from the destruction of their sins and befriend them for all eternity – amen.

A God Who Reaches Out to Me

11.3.2010

Job 25:4 4 How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure? ESV

Call me weird, but when I read this verse today I answered, “Only through Jesus, Bildad, only through Jesus.” Bil knew about sin. He’d committed some and some had been committed against him; to him it was just a part of life. And it is, it is a part of life. And sin separates man from God. And if that is all there is then Bildad (and others like him) can ask questions like, “How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?” Bildad looked at life only through the lens of, it is what it is and there ain’t no changing it… To me, Bildad sums up what I would call the futility of faith.

Futile faith is really no faith at all. Futile faith is focused more on futility than it is on faith. Futile faith says it will never change and expects nothing more. Futile faith is really faith in futility. Futile faith is fed when one really, really, really wants God to act their way and all He does is act His way. Futile faith imprisons God to impotence because He won’t perform in a particular manner; i.e. the way I want Him to… So God is relegated to uselessness because He won’t (or can’t) give me what I want. Who needs a God who won’t consider my plight? Ah, the fickle, foolish, frail, faulty, fallen self and its futile demands.

Bildad could not accept that God could or would ever reach out to people; they were just too bad. In Bildad’s eyes (and perhaps rightly so) people got whatever the got because they deserved it. Bildad couldn’t understand a compassionate Deity. A deity of retribution, punishment, and judgment? Yes, but a God who loves people despite their brokenness? Never! Only through Jesus, Bildad, only through Jesus.

I am grateful for Jesus today. I am grateful for a God who reaches out to me because at times I simply cannot reach out to Him.

Father in Heaven,
You reached out for me because You knew I couldn’t and wouldn’t on my own. Today, I pray for Your touch and peace that I may walk with You in grateful humility that You are indeed my God and through Your Son, I am indeed made pure – in His Name, amen.

My Answer Makes the Difference

11.2.2010

Mark 11:33 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” ESV

Playing mental chess with God is a loss; God knows all the moves and knows what questions to ask and reveals our deepest character. God doesn’t really want to play who can outwit who anyway; He’s more interested in becoming our Friend. Many question the authority of God; many more question the authority of the Church. It seems to be a big human deal to know who is in charge and when God claims He is, mankind retorts, Says who!?”

Then the question becomes, well if God isn’t in charge, then who is? Who is in charge; the government? The problem arises when we are wronged and want justice. The problem arises when we cannot get along (and we’re good at that!) So who then is in charge and by what authority do we live? To say I don’t know is a horrible cop-out. I don’t know really means I am. But when I am is on the throne then it’s dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, and only the strong survive. What kind of a world is that?

It’s better for me that I know who is in charge and by whose authority I live than to say I don’t know. My knowing doesn’t erase man’s inhumanity to man, but it does provide consequences for those who insist they don’t know; and reward for those who say they do. And the question for me to live by is this: Who rules my life, God or me? My answer to that makes all the difference.

Father in Heaven,
I do know. I know Who is in charge, You are. I know that all things are under Your control regardless of how I perceive them and I know that I am loved and accepted by You. Help me to live today in peace knowing You are in complete control of all things and that Your eternal purposes are being worked out for the benefit of Your people by Your love, power and great goodness – amen.