Christian Blog Archives - Page 3 of 12

May 28, 2024May 28, 2024

Crazy Love

Crazy Love is the name of my favorite coffee shop. Its genesis is scripture and the crazy pursuit of God toward us foolish humans. It got me thinking about love. Not the visceral reaction to lust. I was thinking about how God ingrained in us the desire to love and be loved. Have you ever been deeply in love, real love, crazy love? The love that stops your heart and makes you say and do stupid things. A love that makes you want to do anything to please the one you love.

Again, it is not trivial acts like gifts, romantic dinners, and vacations. I’m talking about real love—the type that makes you wash the dishes, take out the trash, and hold the door open. You know you are in love when doing the mundane is your love language. Have you experienced the type of love whose genesis is a deep understanding of the emotional needs of the one you love? It is not about winning their affection but showing yours. It is selfless.

“A wise lover regards not so much the gift of him who loves as the love of him who gives.” – Thomas Kempis.

Song of Solomon 8:6-7, “Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.”

WILD LOVE AS A FORCE

Love is a force that transcends time, culture, and belief systems. It has the power to heal, inspire, and transform lives. What is it like to love someone so much that you will subject yourself to enormous emotional pain? Physical pain is understandable; there is a source and maybe a remedy. Emotional pain is irrational, without a focus, and its only remedy is time. We all have experienced the dark side of love. We all have a first crazy love or an unrequited love that gave us that moment that stood still, life stopped, and we couldn’t breathe. As painful as it was, we crave it again. We want to feel desperate love. But at the same time, we fear its control.

1 John 4:8, “Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love.”

I have been with friends who have lost the love of their lives; the pain was suffocating. Many suffer from long-lasting depression. But, the degree of pain is directly proportional to the level of love. If they had not loved deeply, there would be no pain. The pain they feel is a blessing created by the love they have had the joy to experience. No love, no pain. Great love, great pain.

“Grief, I’ve learned, is really just love. It’s all the love you want to give but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” ― Jamie Anderson.

PASSIONATE LOVE AS AN EXPERIENCE

I remember the great loves of my life; most were flawed, nothing more than a chemical reaction. If I allow myself, I can still feel the pain of their departure. Secretly, I crave that feeling again, not the pain but the love. I will accept the pain to experience the love.

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

That is how God loves you. God will take out the trash and hold the door open for you. He has given his life that you might live. God isn’t a lover who showers you with trifling gifts to make you happy. He is tied into the very heart of your emotional needs. The pain He feels at your transgression must be immense. Imagine Him taking all that pain for every person that ever lived. Great love, great pain.

1 Peter 4:8, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

I don’t think we take the time to think about how much He loves us. We intellectually understand that He loved us to the point of death, but we haven’t tied it to our experience. We somehow think the love God has embedded in us differs from His. God made us in His image; why would it be different? Why would God’s pain in our absence be less than our human experience?

PURE LOVE AS A SALVE

Colossians 3:14, “Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

Next time God is an inconvenience or maybe too much work, think of the pain you are causing Him. Not because you have transgressed, He can deal with that, but because He lost your love. God yearns for our love just as we yearn to love and be loved. But He does it for eight billion people and still counting.

Pray Without Ceasing

Pray without ceasing. I must confess I do not understand prayer. I know God answers prayer because I have seen it repeatedly. But I see the macro-level outcome, not the micro-level decision-making. Here is my analogy of experiencing prayer. I am watching this great painter paint a masterpiece, marveling at the use of color and space. I see this image slowly appear. In the end, I see what the painter had in mind. But I never see what the painter thinks as they move the brush around the canvas. I do not see their intent or motivation. Is the image they had the same as the image I see?

1 Thessalonians 5:17. "Pray without ceasing."

That is what prayer looks like to me. I can look at my past and see God moving in my life. I see outcomes I could not predict or imagine come to fruition. But what I do not see in the actual act of answered prayer. I know God is working in my life, but to what end? Again, at a macro level, this all makes sense. God created me to glorify Him. That is the macro-level view. And maybe that is all I am to care about.

The greatest tragedy of life is not unanswered prayer but unoffered prayer. – F.B. Meyer, British pastor, author, and evangelist

MICRO-LEVEL PRAYER

But at the micro-level, what are the mechanisms that drive the outcome? This conundrum boils down to predestination and free will. It is that weird and complex interaction between God knowing everything before it happens and me getting a chance to change my future by deciding. This contradiction is baffling at best and downright irritating at its worst. I must admit that part of this is the control aspect of my personality. I have no problem giving up control if I know what the controlling entity plans to do, I do not even have to agree with what they plan to do if I can anticipate the outcome. God’s not like that. God understands our limitations. He knows that we can not foresee the eternal impact of His decisions. I guess He doesn’t want to get involved with endless answers of “why?”

Romans 12:12, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."

PRAYER WORKS

So, prayer works. I can tell you hundreds, if not thousands, of answered prayers, all in hindsight. I can walk you through my life from early childhood, pointing out the mile markers God placed there. He did this long before I had a relationship with Him. God created me with a purpose. Somehow, I must live up to that purpose, but He already knows my decision. Sorry, I’m getting a headache.

If prayer works, even without my understanding, what does that mean? Pray without ceasing. First, prayer changes me. It allows me to go over issues with God and receive His wisdom. Sometimes, that wisdom is peace with the outcome before I know it. Sometimes, I know He listens and cares deeply about what I am going through. He empathizes with my situation and that I can not see its impact on eternity. I leave prayer at peace.

Jeremiah 33:3, "Call to me and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known."

Second, I must pray. I know of people and situations I cannot keep to myself. I know God already knows and has a plan, but I cannot keep quiet. My soul needs to vent and cry out. It isn’t about getting what I want or changing God’s mind; it is about compassion, love, and uncertainty. If I keep it bottled up, it will fester into a viral cancer, destroying who God made me. Prayer is the pressure value that allows me to move forward.

Philippians 4:6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Lastly, pray when you have no words. When life covers you like a dense fog, and you are left sightless, let your Spirit speak. God does not leave us on an island to fend for ourselves. He knows our weaknesses.

Romans 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."

PRAY WITHOUT CEASING

Brother Lawrence, a lay brother in a Carmelite monastery in Paris, wrote in his book “The Practice of the Presence of God” that we should cultivate a constant awareness of God’s presence in everyday life, creating continual conversation with God, making every moment an opportunity for communion with the Divine.

We see blessings in the rear-view mirror. Sometimes, we will not see them this side of heaven. God is wonderful and mysterious. He cares deeply about you and the issues in your life, even the tiny, mundane issues. God saw all of it as He formed you. God knows your idiosyncrasies; God created them. He knows your fears and phobias. God gave you a way around them. We find this out through prayer.

Matthew 6:6, "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

April 16, 2024April 15, 2024

What is Your Gibeonite?

What is your Gibeonite? A Gibeonite is something that seems trivial to you at the time but weakens your dependence on God. There is an exciting storyline in the Old Testament concerning the Gibeonites. The story spans over a thousand years. Here it is paraphrased:

God told Joshua to eliminate all the foreigners in the land he was to possess on the other side of the Jordan. The Gibeonite, seeing the power of the Israelites after the fall of both Jericho and Ai, devised a plan to deceive Joshua, causing him to make a covenant with them before God (Joshua 9-10). God did not punish Joshua and the Israelites but honored Joshua’s covenant. Even the five Kings were not allowed to wipe out the Gibeonites. But when Saul tried to wipe out the Gibeonite years later (2 Samuel 21-22), God punished him by having five of Saul’s sons hung by the Gibeonites. Five hundred years after that, Melatiah the Gibeonite and other men of Gibeon helped Nehemiah rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 3). There is a story behind this that has everyday application.

Joshua 9:3,4,6 "However, when the people of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they resorted to a ruse:… they went to Joshua in the camp at Gilgal and said to him and the Israelites, "We have come from a distant country; make a treaty with us."

2 Samuel 21-22, "So David asked the Lord for help, and the Lord answered, "Saul and his family are guilty of murder, because he had the Gibeonites killed."

Nehemiah 3:7, "Next to them, repairs were made by men from Gibeon and Mizpah—Melatiah of Gibeon and Jadon of Meronoth."

This storyline is an interesting discussion topic for your Christian friends. Several nuances within the story create interesting conversation: For example, why did the Gibeonites only mention the military achievements of the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan and not the more current successes at Jericho and Ai? God honored Joshua’s prayer to hold the sun in the mid-day sky so he could complete the battle. Does God change His mind based on prayer?

Application

Your commitments can develop you or destroy you, but either way, they will define you. – Rick Warren

What is your Gibeonite? But today, my thoughts are on how this story plays out in my life. I go to the Lord when I have a big problem or circumstance I can not handle. I seek His council and the council of believers for wisdom, discernment, guidance, and patience. I seek out His will for this situation. At the same time, I may be dealing with a repetitive, monotonous, and mundane issue like dealing with a family member or friend. Maybe it is acquiring something I do not feel is life-altering, like a car or vacation. Do I take the same approach for both?

John 14:14, "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."

The Gibeonites convinced Joshua that they were not a threat. Joshua seems to think that the decision is mundane; they are not part of the tribes that God has asked him to wipe out. He does not seek God’s advice. Joshua makes a covenant with them; he commits. Even though Joshua disobeyed God, God honors that commitment even when it produces wrong results, such as the false prophet Hananiah.

First Observation: Consequences

Proverbs 29:15, "The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother."

One of the first things we observe is that God will honor our good intentions when we try to do the right thing. But he will not protect us from the natural consequences. There are a lot of decisions we can make in our lives that do not have eternal consequences, but they may have earthly consequences. For example, taking the wrong job may challenge our ability to maintain a Christian lifestyle due to stress and anxiety. Still, if we stay true to God’s word, it will not affect our salvation. God will allow us to experience what it is like to not consult God before deciding. It is one of the ways He helps us understand the significance of His presence in all things, even the trivial.

Second Observation: Steadfastness

2 Samuel 21:2, “The Gibeonites were not Israelites; they were descendants of the Amorites. The people of Israel had promised not to kill them, but Saul had tried to kill them because he wanted Israel and Judah to control all the land."

The original covenant that Joshua made with the Gibeonites was around 1400 BC. Saul attempted to wipe out the Gibeonites in the early 1000 BC, four hundred years later. God still honored Joshua’s covenant. Saul’s children paid the price for Saul’s actions. God views commitments as important. When you commit, as a Christian, you are mirroring God. People will judge Christianity by your actions. God takes this seriously. He may disagree with your commitment, but He will expect you to honor it, including the consequences.

Psalm 33:11, "The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations."

Third Observation: Redemption

The Gibeonites help Nehemiah rebuild the wall around Jerusalem. Nehemiah rebuilt the wall around 540 BC. Nearly a thousand years later, God uses Jushua’s covenant to rebuild the wall around His broken city. God is a master at making lemonade out of lemons. If our heart is right, God will make things right. We should not dwell in the past. Every one of us makes terrible decisions. God understands that about us. God will fix what we broke if our intentions are pure.

Luke 18:27, "Jesus replied, "There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything."

Of course, we can avoid all of this by always taking everything to God in prayer. Nothing is mundane or trivial to God. He enjoys that we respect His wisdom and seek His guidance.

1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Pray without ceasing."

March 19, 2024March 14, 2024

Peter Went Fishing

Peter went fishing. Sometimes, that is the best thing to do.

John 21:3, "Simon Peter said, "I'm going fishing." "We'll come, too," they all said.  So they went out in the boat."

I listened to a sermon last Easter, and this verse stood out. I thought, how human of Peter. It is interesting what we do to clarify our thinking; we gravitate to our comfort zone.

After Christ’s Crucifixion, He appeared to the disciples in the upper room to receive the holy spirit. Even though the disciples, Peter included, saw Jesus alive and touched the scars, it didn’t seem real. The disciples were heartbroken and disillusioned. They thought they had followed the savior of the world only to see Him crucified. How would a dead man, resurrected or not, free them from Roman rule? They didn’t know what was next. They knew Christ was the beginning of something great but didn’t understand what that was.

John 6:15, "Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrew again to the hillside by himself."

Peter did what we all do: gravitate back to what we know. We find busy work to occupy our time until we figure out what’s next.

HOW DOES GOD USE THESE MOMENTS

Interestingly, this passage brought back two memories for Peter: good and not-so-good. First, the good: Peter first met Jesus when he was fishing. He had fished all night, not caught anything, and Jesus asked him to throw his net again. Jesus’ request of Peter was precisely what happened the second time when Peter went fishing after the Crucifixion. The second memory is Jesus cooking fish over a charcoal fire on the beach. Peter might have remembered the last time he smelled a charcoal fire; he denied Christ three times.

I firmly believe God does not waste energy; everything has a purpose. When Peter was at his lowest point, God returned two essential images. The first was the joy of meeting Jesus and his immediate dedication to Him. This image had to lift his spirits. The second was the image of his weakness. It was a backward glimpse of what the world would be like if Peter didn’t believe. It brought back all of the pain he felt when that rooster crowed.

I can’t speak for Peter, but for me, it would have reinforced why I have to hold on to the goodness of Christ’s promise and run from my weaknesses. It would be both a push and a pull: push away from doubt, pull closer to faith.

WHAT TO DO WHEN LIFE DOESN’T SEEM FAIR

James 1:3, "knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance."

“No matter what storm you face, you need to know that God loves you. He has not abandoned you.” – Franklin Graham.

We tend to go fishing. We want to break away from the uncertainty and draw close to something we know and understand. That is OK for a time, but it doesn’t produce results like Peter. It is nothing more than a temporary holding place to regroup.

Like Peter, we need to be reminded of the past. We need to remind ourselves of the great things God has done for us and through us. The glory of the past leads us toward the future. We also need to be reminded of what it is like to deny Christ. As dark as the world can seem, it is nothing compared to separation from Christ. To live without hope has to be the darkness within darkness.

Romans 8:35, "Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"

HAPPY ENDINGS

Christ built His church on the rock named Peter. If you are willing, He will raise you out of the malaise of your life. He will use all you have gone through to create an even brighter future than you could have imagined.

Matthew 16:18, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."

God may not create a worldwide revival through you, but what He will build through you, the gates of Hades, will not overcome it. The power you have at your disposal is incredible; we sometimes lose that. When things don’t go as we think they should, we forget the redeeming power of Christ’s resurrection.

Whenever you feel the darkness closing in, remember Peter. You and Peter have a lot in common.

John 16:33, "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.  In the world, you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

February 13, 2024February 24, 2024

God-Given Gifts

God-given gifts, do we understand the difference between Spiritual gifts and natural gifts? Do we think they are the same? An interesting discussion came up the other day, and it was a subject that seemed so intuitive that I’d never brought it up. What is intuitive to me may not be to someone else—an example. I saw an article in an outdoor magazine (ezine); it showed a tree with a yellow, blue, and red paint stripe. The headline said (paraphrase), “Knowing what this means can save your life.” My initial thought was, if you don’t know what that means, what are you doing in the woods? Then, I recalled that I was not born with that knowledge; someone else gave it to me at some point.

1 Corinthians 2:12, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God.”

God prepares leaders with a specific place and task in mind. Training methods are adapted to the mission, and natural and spiritual gifts are given with a clear purpose. – J. Oswald Sanders

Natural Gifts

I spend many waking hours thinking about and talking to others about living within God’s purpose for our lives. It is the most critical aspect of finding happiness, purpose, and meaning. When I think about the elements of my design and the story God has written about my life, I think of talent, passion, resources, opportunities, and experiences. God provides these building blocks as mileposts on our journey, our God-given natural gifts. But we have a choice on how to use them. We can use them to help others and glorify Christ, or we can use them for worldly success and fame. Only one of those will bring happiness, purpose, and meaning; the other leads to hunger.

1 Corinthians 2:14, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

I’ve mentioned before that the Bushman of the Kalahari Desert has a saying: There are two hungers: the little hunger for food and the great hunger for meaning. We spend most of our lives feeding the little hunger while the great hunger starve. In many cases, we use our God-given natural gifts to chase self-interest to satisfy the great hunger. When we do not achieve a sense of meaning, we try harder. We lead a life of quiet desperation, sometimes cloaked in worldly success. Eventually, the great hunger dies of neglect.

Spiritual Gifts

Your spiritual gifts were not given for your own benefit but for the benefit of others, just as other people were given gifts for your benefit. – Rick Warren

The magic sauce is Spiritual Gifts. Spiritual gifts are divine enablements for ministry given by the Holy Spirit. It is what God brings to you once you come to know Him. The God-given spirit inside you comes alive. It guides you to another level of awareness. You become less self-focused and more other-focused. But what is different about Spiritual gifts than natural gifts?

1 Corinthians 12:7, “But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Spiritual gifts are the God-given gifts that the Spirit bestows on us so that we can expand God’s Kingdom. In 1 Corinthians, it mentions apostles, second prophets, third teachers, miracles, gifts of healing, helping, guidance, and different kinds of tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:28, “And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.”

I think of it this way: more conventionally. Some of us are very good at memorizing and recalling Bible verses; some are very good at heart-to-heart conversations; maybe storytelling is your thing; others are good public speakers or teachers. We should use these gifts to expand the Kingdom within our natural gifts. If your vocation and talent is teaching in a school system, do you use it to teach at church? Is public speaking an aspect of your job? Do you also use it to spread the Gospel on mission trips, locally or internationally? If you are a project manager at work, do you use it to help plan Christian outreach?

Another source of information on Spiritual Gifts is Tim Keller’s explanation, “Decerning and Exercising Spiritual Gifts.”

The Blessing and the Curse

I was given my first management position at 14, detasselling corn. You must have lived on a large midwestern United States farm to know what that is, but it’s irrelevant to the story. It seemed that I eventually managed people in almost every job I have had. Sometimes, I thought it was my curse; I liked being a worker bee. When I left work, I wanted to be given a job and left alone to do it. But that wasn’t God’s plan for me. Once I accepted that it was one of my natural and spiritual gifts, I started seeking to be good at it, which made me like it. It didn’t take long before I led a mission trip and helped to organize volunteers. My natural gift was also one of my Spiritual gifts when I applied it to expanding the Kingdom. We can have more than one.

Romans 12:6, “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly.”

I know some teachers want to get away from teaching outside of school; I get that. But if your spiritual gift is teaching, teach others about Christ, find a way. If you are a nurse, a very demanding job, looking after people when not working may not be in your wheelhouse. If compassion is your Spiritual gift, find a way to use it.

In Summary

Your natural and spiritual gifts do not have to be used similarly. Doing something repetitively will make you proficient but may not indicate your actual natural gift. The desire to make more money can lead us to proficiencies in ungifted areas. I know a lot of managers or “leaders” who are not gifted; they have just done the job long enough to get promoted.

We all have God-given attributes bestowed on us at our creation that we can use as we wish. A great secular songwriter is a great songwriter because of God’s natural gift. We must overlay our natural gifts with our Spiritual gifts to glorify God.

Start where you are, do anything you can do, and do everything you can until you find something you must do! That something is probably your spiritual gift. – Jim George

February 6, 2024February 3, 2024

Give a Man a Fish

Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day; teach him to fish and eat for a lifetime. These words seem Christ-like; one would think they were a biblical principle. Because the New Testament is grounded in the lives of the disciples and many fishermen, it seems natural that this would have a Biblical perspective. But it is not. Chinese philosopher Confucius is said to have penned these words, but no record exists. This phrase has been my mantra since creating my first company. It has always seemed like the right way to do things.

Philippians 2:4: “Let each of you look not only to his interests but also to the interests of others.”

Give a Man a Fish

In the book “When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor… and Yourself,” This helping stage is called relief; it provides immediate assistance or charity to address immediate suffering. One of the biggest mistakes Western cultures make when helping others is providing relief when they need rehabilitation. Why does Western culture do this? Well, it is easier and faster.

Think of an experience you have had in your town. It is easier to give someone a few dollars for food than to help them find a job. Worse yet, help them acquire a skill that leads to a job. By doing something, we avoid the guilt of doing nothing. When you meet an immediate need, you see the relief on their faces: instant gratification. You can go back to your home knowing you made a difference.

The problem is that someone will need to eat again and again. Life is uncertain, and there is no guarantee that you or someone like you will be there for the next meal.

1 John 3:17, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?”

There always exists a need for relief. It is typically short-term and specific. A tsunami hits a remote village, wiping out its infrastructure. Water, food, and electricity are all required quickly to serve the inflicted. There is a time to give a man a fish, but it should be while you teach them to fish for themselves.

Teach a Man to Fish

Ephesians 4:2, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.”

Self-respect is the most important gift you give to someone. In Regi Campell’s book Radical Wisdom, Regi says, “Give a man a dime a day for thirty days, then stop. He will resent you for the rest of your life.” This quote seems like an overstatement, but the intent is genuine. Give a person a better standard of living, then take away the support and see what happens.

In the book, “When Helping Hurts…” this stage of helping is called rehabilitation. It emphasizes the importance of education, empowerment, and self-sufficiency. Instead of relying on external help, teaching someone a skill (in this case, fishing) enables the recipient to fend for themselves in the long run. It promotes independence, sustainability, and the ability to meet future needs without continual external assistance.

It gives people a life with their heads held high. It gives them the self-respect needed to carry on. But it has a price greater than money. It requires a long-term plan, volunteers who will return over the months or years, willing local participants, and patience. We are a quick-fix society; we don’t play the long game. Our donors want to see results.

Romans 15:1, “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”

The Fisherman Teaching Others

When a person who has learned how to fish decides to teach others, you have the material for long-term change for the better. The last stage is development. John F. Kennedy is credited with saying, “All ships rise on the same tide.” he may have taken it from a New England Chamber of Commerce slogan. An interconnectedness of people or entities within a community, society, or economy requires teamwork to grow. The larger the middle class, the more robust the economy. As each community member becomes self-reliant, the whole community becomes self-reliant. In many cases, these communities start reaching out to other communities. The program becomes viral.

If you are going to help, really help. Don’t create a co-dependency. It is easy to become an idol in someone’s eyes if their need for you is strong enough.

Matthew 25:35-40, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, I was a stranger, and you welcomed me, I was naked, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you visited me, I was in prison, and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

January 30, 2024January 28, 2024

Understanding and Pursuing God’s Plan

One of our most important challenges is how to pursue God’s plan for our lives. It is not easy to understand its origin and journey. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine from Honduras. We talked about her children and the life decisions they are facing. Her children are young adults. The challenge is figuring out their path in life. They each have passion but do not feel their passions are their purpose.

A point of reference: In Genesis 13, Abram gave Lot the choice of any land. Lot chose the well-watered, fertile land, but with it came Sodom. Abram took the less attractive but with God’s blessing. When we make choices, don’t look at the most attractive; seek guidance from the Lord.

Understanding our Purpose

Understanding purpose is an exciting subject. One can follow a dream that is not part of God’s plan created for them and find success from a worldly standard. I know that from experience. When driving myself along a worldly path, I achieved reasonable success regarding money, power, and position, but I was never content. I was using all the skills and resources provided by God, but not for their intended purpose. This pursuit left a hole in my life that no level of success could fill. This hole drove me to higher levels of worldly success as I attempted to reach satisfaction. With all my success, I did not have meaning and purpose; I had a vocation that I had become good at. A small caveat: just because you are good at something does not mean it is your God-given purpose in life. It might mean that you have done it so long that you have learned to do it proficiently.

Colossians 1:16, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

In the book Discovering Our Spiritual Identity by Trevor Hudson, he discusses the concept of being created for God and God’s pleasure. I’ve always viewed the concept of God’s pleasure as the macro-level cloud that all Christians should strive to achieve. The concept is that we have lived a life that pleases God, or we haven’t. Hudson’s concept is that we are created uniquely, within that greater concept, for a specific pleasure God has foreseen. The idea is that when he created us, he instilled in us a purpose that pointed directly toward something that pleased Him. Each of us is part of a tapestry that displays an image pleasing to God, but we each have our specific element within the overall picture.

Sustainability

Several concerns always arise when we try to understand God’s plan for ourselves. The first is, can it sustain us? If our passion is writing, painting, public speaking, music, or whatever, can we make a living at it? What kind of kingdom impact could we have if it does not sustain us? In a modern world, this is always a valid question. What good is a passion if it can not support the person with the passion? The passion dies out.

A couple of things come to mind when I hear this; the first is that Paul was a tent maker. Paul sustained his ministry by making tents. Regardless of our life purpose, we may sometimes have to make tents.

Acts 18:3-5, “They made tents for a living. Paul did the same kind of work, so he stayed with them, and they worked together.”

Tent-making is about sustaining ourselves to pursue our God-directed passion and purpose. We may make tents all our lives or during a transition period, but we all have tent-making seasons.

The second is that when we pursue God’s will, He will give us resources. When I look for a mechanic to work on my car, I look for someone passionate about cars. I want someone who will look after my property as if it were his own. He will fix my car correctly, not because I ask, but because it is his passion.

When you chase God’s plan for your life, people will gravitate to you because of your passion. That is not to say you will achieve success as the world defines success, but that you will have an impact that dwarfs worldly success.

Philippians 4:19, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

God does not send you down a path unprepared. He wants you to succeed, and He would not have given you purpose if that purpose was to fail.

Trials

John 16:33, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Even as Christ was part of the triune God and understood His mission, he still found it challenging. Christ was part of the Godhead that knew at creation that His sacrifice was required to save man, yet He prayed that it would pass from Him; Christ was part man.

Mark 14:36, “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Do not think that chasing God’s passion for your life will be painless; it will not. There will be times of doubt, anxiety, and depression. We live in a fallen world. The last thing Satan wants is for you to be part of God’s pleasure.

1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

The only reassurance I can give you from a worldly perspective is my own experience. During my worldly success, I never felt I was making a difference in my life, my family’s, or the world. I was not living; I was existing. I was treading water, waiting for the end. Now, I have meaning and purpose. I do not worry about my success; I worry about obedience. I am not transformed out of this world; I must still deal with worldly issues. But I am secure in that I have a legacy, yet unseen by me, but still existing through eternity.

Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

January 23, 2024January 17, 2024

Do We live for God or With God?

Do we live for God or with God? We all go through seasons of doubt. It is those times when we think God does not love us enough to carry us through. We feel we have let Him down, or maybe we are too disappointing for Him to care about us. God has said our salvation is free for the asking but is love? We desire the unbounded, incredible, fill-me-until-burst love that gives our life meaning and purpose. It is validation that we matter.

Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

I, like everyone else, go through those times. I used to live a life entirely dedicated to myself. It wasn’t a conscious decision; it was life in a broken world. I am a high type “A” personality. I like rhythm and cadence in my life. Plan your work, work your plan. When I lived for myself, I thought I had a good idea of my destination. I knew the point on the horizon I was driving toward; at least, I thought I did. When I didn’t see progress, I could analyze my plan, adjust, and move forward. I got stuck occasionally, but I understood where I was. I just needed to determine the next step. Life was not easy, but it was understandable. I was raised that I was never a victim except for my own actions. I was the captain of my destiny.

Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

Introspection

Then Christ came into my life. He lifted the burden of achievement from my life, giving me permission and acceptance when I felt I hadn’t achieved my potential. He gave me a purpose greater than myself. But He is an invisible God. God’s ways are always true and right; they are the very definition of His existence. It is my perception of that truth that haunts me. If I get what I want, when I want, I am blessed. When God’s timing or direction isn’t what I expect, I have lost His favor or disappointed Him somehow. But God is always true and right.

Hebrews 6:10, “God always does what is right. He will not forget the work you did to help the Christians and the work you are still doing to help them. This shows your love for Christ.”

For me, this year is a year of introspection. Not the easy kind that can be achieved through a few kind words and determination. It is the hard kind, full of self-doubt, deep dives into my wants and desires, requiring me to deal with my emotions, emotions I would prefer to leave dormant. It took time and effort to bury these deep inside me even more effort to bring them back to life.

Living For God

“The sin underneath all our sins is to trust the lie of the serpent that we cannot trust the love and grace of Christ and must take matters into our own hands” ~ Martin Luther.

It started with a simple question: Do I live for God or with God? Living for God is easy to understand. It is following all the laws, being kind and compassionate, and going on mission trips, doing everything I think would make God love me more. It is me trying to make a partial payment of the cost of my salvation.

Deuteronomy 6:17, “You should diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you.”

Living for God believes that God has a credit system that allows for the ebb and tide of His emotions toward us. It believes that salvation is free to all who believe in Christ’s redemptive power, but love is different. Love is something that I must earn through behavior. It proves to God that I love Him; therefore, He can feel free to love me. Living for God makes us feel good at times and rejected at other times. Mission trips earn us credits and angry words debits. It is the quid pro quo of Christianity.

That is my life. What is my motivation? Do I do what I do because it is true and right?

Living With God

Living with God is being in synch with His desires. It is doing what we do because it is who we are. God cannot love us more. His love is unconditional. God’s love for us is pure, without constraint, and beyond our understanding. Our actions do not affect God’s love and desire for us.

1 John 3:1, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The world does not know us because it did not know him.”

This season of my life is about believing that God loves me unconditionally. It is about understanding what it means to live with God, not just for God. I find it difficult to understand what it means to put myself aside and live a life with God. I have a long history of living for God. It is a pattern that I understand. I have become accustomed to the highs and lows of earning God’s love. Now, I must learn to live like Jesus, not for Jesus. That is a significant next step for me. I need to think like I am part of Him; he is not a third party evaluating my actions.

“There will always be someone willing to hurt you, put you down, gossip about you, belittle your accomplishments, and judge your soul. It is a fact that we all must face. However, if you realize that God is a best friend that stands beside you when others cast stones, you will never be afraid, never feel worthless, and never feel alone.” ~ Shannon Alder

Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

A great resource on this subject is: “Reimagining the Way You Relate to God” by Skye Jethani

January 16, 2024January 13, 2024

Are we Seeking The Truth or Validation

Another part of my life that needs evaluation this coming year is my perception of seeking the truth or validation. In the last half-century, I have seen the normalization of division. This division is now evolving into anger and sometimes violence toward others. It started with the benign postmodern concept that you have your truth, and I have mine. This concept started as a peaceful way of avoiding conflict. We did not have to agree; you believe what you want, and I will believe what I want.

Ephesians 4:2, "Always be humble and gentle.  Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love."

God’s truth always agrees with itself. – Richard Sibbes

Validation

The “unexpected consequence” of this type of thinking is a division of thought. Groups of people started drifting away from each other. We gravitate toward those who think like we do, engaging in group intelligence, crowd wisdom, groupthink, and deindividuation. We stop looking for truth and start looking for validation, instead pursuing anything that makes us feel better about our opinions and avoiding anything that conflicts with them. It is called confirmation bias and is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values.

We exasperate this by passing on our opinions about politics, war, global warming, social justice, and religion, to name a few, as truths because it is all we know. In this, we become intolerant of those who think differently wanting to educate them on our truth. But are we seeking the truth or validation? Interestingly, God warned us about this thousands of years ago.

Matthew 12:36, "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak."

It is natural to have an opinion. It is virtuous to have that opinion grounded in scripture. Sometimes, finding a scriptural foundation for a worldly issue is challenging. In those cases, it is important to tread lightly. The issue is not so much the validity of your opinion, although that is important, as it is spreading that opinion. We treat ordinary conversation as just that, while many conversations are just gossip. We attempt to convince someone that our opinion is more than our opinion, but the truth. Having them accept our “truth” validates our opinion. And in that, we feel validated.

James 1:26, "If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless."

Truth

This year, I am trying to avoid careless talk, this includes careless self-talk. The more I entertain a careless thought, the more I am convinced it is true. One of the activities I need to engage more is understanding the other side. I don’t like this because I don’t like what they say, I don’t like their logic, and more importantly, I’m afraid they will make sense. Sometimes, your friends will lie to you, and sometimes, your enemies will tell the truth. I need to find common ground and then evaluate the differences. To accomplish this, I must be willing to open up with those who do not share my beliefs and values. If I can understand why they don’t, I may better understand how to present my view more positively. I must accept that sometimes we don’t have enough information to know the truth. In those situations, I need to keep my opinion to myself.

Ephesians 4:29-32, "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

We are Christians created in the image of God. It is a demanding standard to live up to, but it is what we were created to do. We are the peacemakers. It is not about abandoning our principles or values but finding a positive approach to speaking the truth.

Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

January 9, 2024January 4, 2024

A New Creature in the New Year

I want to be a new creature in the New Year. Actually, I don’t really want to be a new creature; I want to learn to recognize the new creature that already exists. I have to find a way of breaking out of the worldly view of human value. This quid pro quo evaluation approach, which works so well in the marketplace, doesn’t work spiritually.

Self Perception

God used events in our lives to shape us; our sin sparks some of those events. Memories of our past can sometimes feel like shackles holding us to failures, regrets, ignorance, foolishness, and sin. God does not want us to live with an image of unworthiness. This year, let us all try to cast off those shackles and strive to see ourselves as God sees us: a new creature in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

I bring this up because it is one of my great weaknesses. Many times, I live in the past. Echoes of events long past ricochet through my brain like they were yesterday. With all the intellectual knowledge I have gained about Christ’s love and acceptance of me, I still can not reconcile why. The scale never balances. I always fall short. My heart finds it hard to accept the concept of a God so compassionate that He would forgive all that I have done, some of it willingly and knowingly.

Romans 3:23-24, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Path to Improvement

We traditionally go into the new year to improve who we are, looking at the last year to determine weak spots that need reinforcing. We create plans and goals to make ourselves better. Some of us see the historic trend of sin in our lives that never seems to change. We don’t always sin in the same way, but we continue to sin differently. We see this behavior as beyond our ability to correct it, so we allow it to continue to haunt us. It is easier to dwell on the controllable, even when we don’t control it. Over ninety percent of all New Year’s Resolutions fail, but we try.

God’s Resolution

God makes this proclamation in Isaiah:

Isaiah 43:19, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

If my past life isn’t a wilderness and a wasteland, I don’t know what it is. The old me didn’t start to defy God. I was just ignorant of how much I meant to Him. Because I was ignorant, I wasted my life on earthly treasures with no eternal value. When God sent His son for my redemption, He did something new. He created a pathway from the old me to His throne. God demonstrated His love for me. That started a paradigm shift. God’s vision of my value far exceeded my own. My worldview couldn’t reconcile the difference.

Because of this, I continue to devaluate myself when I consider the price paid to redeem me. In many cases, it causes me to try to earn the difference. I want to work off my salvation. When I realize this, I become distressed because this is impossible.

Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works so that no one can boast.”

Moving forward is about finding a way to put the past behind us in this new year, just as God has. We, maybe only me, need to see ourselves as God sees us, created in His image. We must go forward this year confident, with firm knowledge, that God loves us unconditionally.

“Let go of the past so that God can open the door to your future.” – Joyce Meyer

Ephesians 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ, for he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love.”

Then, we can lose weight, exercise more, spend more time with loved ones, and become the superstar we know we can be.