What Matters

11.10.2009

1 Corinthians 7:19b "...but what matters is the keeping of the commandments of God." New American Standard Bible

If God says to do something, it is wise to do it. If God says to cease from doing something, it is wise to cease. With all of the trappings of society around us – power, prestige, positions, possessions and performance – what really counts is obeying God; what really matters is where our heart is… at the end of it all, what matters, says Paul, is the keeping of the commandments of God.

Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Mt 11:29-30 NASB) What really matters is the keeping of the commandments of God and Jesus said it ain’t that tough.

So today, I’m going to go in the direction of God and seek to follow Him wherever and however He leads. What matters in my life today is the keeping of the commandments of God and taking the yoke (or the ways of Jesus) upon me and learning from Him. So to Him I offer my best and let His mercy and grace take care of the rest…

Father in Heaven,

What really matters in life is knowing You and walking in the light of Your ways. Help me this day to represent the Kingdom well and to reflect the light and the love You have placed within me. All that really matters today is walking according to Your commands and I seek Your grace to do just that – in Jesus’ Name, amen.

An Example Worth Following

11.9.2009

1 Co 4:16-17 16 Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. 17 For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. New American Standard Bible

Unruly. That’s the word that comes to my mind when I consider the Corinthian church. It seems they were like modern churches with everyone doing their own thing. They were factious, not focused; they were fractured, fragile, frail, and faulty. So Paul says to them, “Be imitators of me; follow my lead and do as I do! And for the very reason that you’re so unruly I’ve sent Timothy to help you get your act together!”

Why are churches so divisive? Why are churches so unruly? Perhaps it’s because they are made up of people – broken and fallen – and there is much to learn about the Kingdom of God and much to unlearn of the ways of earth. To do that requires an example worth following; someone who is right with God to say, "Therefore...be imitators of me."

I don’t think I am bold enough to say, “be imitators of me.” Following me might make you feel as if you were following a drunken drunk down the sidewalk – weaving from side to side and starting and stopping erratically. But you know, my calling is to be an example worth following (oh, and yours too if you claim Christ.) It’s a high and necessary standard, and one of which the church in every age has been in short supply.

Father in Heaven,

You call us to follow You and to share You with others – others who are broken and fallen. I pray to be an example that others can follow because in reality, right, wrong or otherwise I am an example to follow. I just pray to be a good one and one that brings honor and glory to Your Kingdom. Set me apart and use me toward that end I pray in Jesus’ Name, amen.

Foolish and Wise

11.8.2009

1 Corinthians 3:18 18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. New American Standard Bible

Paul used human terms to describe heavenly things. The foolishness he spoke of is not really foolishness but is called so by those who reject it. Humans cannot accept the humiliation of the Gospel even though by doing so they achieve the zenith of God’s intention for them and the reward of eternal life (something else they do no accept…); it’s the smartest thing any stupid person could ever do!

It’s all because mankind (generally) cannot, and will not accept the things of God – especially according to human wisdom which is foolishness to God.

But Paul was not writing to mankind generally, he was writing to specifically to believers to help them understand the magnitude of what they were involved in; and Paul warns them that they would be deemed foolish because of what they believed. The bottom line is this: to be thought of as a fool by those of the earth is of way less consequence than to be thought of as a fool by God.

I will be a fool for God because He reveals true wisdom to His kids and according to what I read, God’s foolishness is way wiser than man’s and in His foolishness is the power to save sinners like you and me; I’m gonna stick with that!

Father in Heaven,

Your foolishness is really wisdom for You do nothing foolish even though Your creatures think it so. Help me to preach the wisdom of God to those who will listen and to see them accept what is called foolishness on earth so that they may be called wise in heaven – I pray in Jesus’ Name, amen.

Through Love

11.7.2009

Galatians 5:6 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love. New American Standard Bible

The whole argument of the letter to the Galatians encompasses the issue of law and grace. It appears that Paul is reminding the Galatian believers that belief in God is not based on performance (i.e. keeping the law) but according to God’s promises that those who believe (or trust in Him) do so as a result of God’s divine favor; thus entering into relationship with God through love and not rules.

That concept was too hard for some Jews to accept; they had been too deeply immersed in their traditions and could not accept relationship with God apart from keeping one rule: circumcision. Paul countered that even if relationship with God hinged on keeping one rule, the obligation then was to keep all the rules – and that was simply not acceptable to the concept of faith by grace (See Ephesians 2.8ff) That’s why Paul could say “…neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.” In Christ it is all about God’s love which causes us to love others and thereby treat them accordingly. To love means to possess the divine ability to treat others the way God has treated us; period. Love is other-centered; rule-keeping is self-centered.

The rub comes when someone says you have to have rules (or laws) to know what is right and wrong. The answer to that is, one needs to walk by the Spirit in love to do what is pleasing to God (Gal. 5.16).

I am a law-breaker and a rule-bender. That’s just who I am. But Jesus came to set me free from that futile way of living and invites me to live in true relationship with Him and He is wise enough to guide me through life and teach me to live and to love as He does – law-free and other-centered.

Father in Heaven,

You never intended rules; You only ever intended love. May I learn to live as You live and to love as You love. May I know that the safe-guard for living is loving and as long as I maintain that I will be safe and effective in carrying out Your intentions for me. Father, help me to be super-sensitive when I wander off into lovelessness and set up rules to try to impose on others. True life is faith working through love and that is what I seek in Christ – May Your will be accomplished in me through Him, amen.

In Me

11.5.2009

Galatians 1:15-16a 15 "But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me..." New American Standard Bible

WARNING! MASSIVE STATEMENT ALERT! Paul does it again; he blows me away with his words and understanding. Having read Galatians more than a few times it never occurred to me that Paul identifies himself this way: called from birth; and, Jesus Christ revealed in him! I’m sorry folks, we’ll get to our destination in due time, but first we got to back up the bus.

Paul was called from birth. So am I and so is every person who believes because of a thing called the foreknowledge of God. Of course Paul was called from birth, he wasn’t called when he was saved because God’s intention all along was for this man to be a part of His Kingdom and serve Him there.

And then the biggie: “But when God…was pleased to reveal His Son in me…” Not ‘to me’ but ‘in me’. Wow! This is big! Paul was trying so hard to do what he thought religion had called him to do that he overlooked God IN HIM. So often we are trying to introduce Jesus to people when really we need to introduce Jesus in people. I’m telling ya, there's no way a sinner can ever identify his sin or his destitute condition and come to repentance without the presence of Christ within – it just ain’t gonna happen. And God does it in grace and pleasure! Wow!

So, Paul Turk, bring it all home, baby. All-rigthty then, here is what I think now: I have been called from birth to serve the living God and it is because from that moment, God placed Jesus in me and I ignored it for years – but not anymore. If anyone is going to give me meaning and purpose in life it’s Jesus and I am going to see myself every day as Paul saw himself: in Christ with Christ within. My identity is (and has always been) in Him. So no more wasting time…

Father in Heaven,

You were pleased in Your grace to reveal Jesus Christ in me because however You do it, You did it. Here is my confession and identity: I am not freewheeling out here on my own but I am a servant of Yours in Him because You put Him in me. Father, help me to see that truth every day in every way; and may my life’s purpose be accomplished in Him! I pray in His Name, amen.

And Peter

11.4.2009

Mark 16.7a 7a “But go, tell His disciples and Peter…” (NASB)

The crucifixion and resurrection have taken place and some of the women who followed Jesus go to the tomb to embalm Christ’s body. When they get there, an angel reports to them that Jesus is no longer there and gives them instructions to go tell His disciples and Peter what has happened. Notice that Peter is mentioned separately; Peter, I’m gathering is off by himself somewhere beating himself to death over his last recorded act before the crucifixion: pathetic personal and public denial of what and in Who he believed.

What do we do when we’re caught in a sin? Often (I think…I know I do), we try to hide and I think that’s what Peter was doing and why he’s mentioned separately, “…His disciples and Peter…” Peter was struggling enormously with what had happened and what he thought he believed; and now it was all messed up like a bunch of eggs that had been dropped to the ground – goo, shells, and yoke.

Indeed, sin is a separator but that is never God’s intention for us – sin or separation. We must cling to God in our fallenness and cling to one another as well. Paul teaches we must bear one another’s burdens (Gal. 6.2) and “…forgive and comfort [the sinner], otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.” (2 Cor. 2.7 NASB) But nowhere in the Bible are we taught to run off and hide when we sin. (That just might explain some absences from church and home group though…)

I’m to not sin; but when I do, I’m to deal with it and deal with it openly in the company of the saints, not in hiding. We need each other more than we know and we really need each other when we’ve pooped our pants and need cleansing and restoration – but that requires extreme courage, vulnerability, and great, great patience and love only supplied by Jesus Christ to collectively overcome an individual’s fault.

Father in Heaven,

You always intend for us to walk in holiness, righteousness, and compassionate, understanding forgiveness. That doesn’t erase consequences but it does leave the door wide open for cleansing and restoration. Help me to be one who loves my brother in spite of his sins and may I be loved in spite of mine that we both may bring glory to Your name by how we treat each other in times of great mess and distress – I pray in Jesus’ Name, amen.

The Final Say

11.3.2009

Mark 13:30 30 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. New American Standard Bible

Whatever we think about the current state of affairs in our world, God has the last word. Whoever we think might be in control of men or nations or whatever, God has the final say. There are many who think the end is upon us and Jesus said, “…this generation (or my Bible note says, ‘race’) will not pass away until all these things take place. It may get ugly and brutal but it doesn’t end until God says it ends and it doesn't appear to have ended yet...

I am to remain awake, alert and not allow myself to be deceived. That’s what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know any other way to do that than to read and apply God’s word and to go about doing the things God tells me to do. And I am to trust God that no matter how weird things get or appear to get, He’s the final say.

I will serve the Lord and not flinch at the announcements on the evening news. I will serve the Lord and seek to tell others about Him. I will serve the Lord and worship at His throne. My destiny is heaven and eternal life and I will live accordingly because no matter what happens to me – He has the final say.

Father in Heaven,

You hold all of who I am and what I have in the palm of Your hand and I will not fear. Yes the end is coming but You say when. Until then may I be about the business of testifying to the truth and helping others see You for who You are. I pray this in Jesus’ Name, amen.