Conceived in love

“Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in. If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn’t think of such a thing. You’re at least decent to your own children. So don’t you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?" (Matthew 7:7-8 MSG)

Bargaining - it is kind of like "you scratch my back, and I will scratch yours". None of prayer is to be this way - for God isn't a bargaining type! Bargaining involves obtaining something, but at a price - maybe less than expected, but a price is paid. Jesus tells us to ask 'directly' - don't pussy-foot around with God in prayer. Be open, honest, and with a heart of sincerity make your request known. God knows your need already, but maybe acknowledging the need before him is the real purpose of prayer - so we come to understand how 'pure' our request is, or perhaps how 'muddied' it has become because of our selfish will or influence of the world around us.

To bargain is to make an agreement between two parties, setting out what each gives or gets, how one is to perform and what the other receives as a result of that performance. Prayer is not a time of 'defining' what God will give us - it is a time of understanding what we have already received! It is a "grace-time" in which God begins to allow us to 'settle into' the grace-filled answers he has for each of our needs. God has already given us everything we need in Christ Jesus - it is a matter of us recognizing what we have been given!

Although this passage is reminding us not to bargain with God in our prayer time, it is important to point out the key words of this passage - conceived in love. We need to remember that 'in Christ' we are made new - we take on 'new form'. As new creatures in Christ, we can begin to experience the life we have been given, but this is best experienced in the presence of the one who has conceived us in love! Prayer may actually be the way we come to experience newness - laying aside all the things that mattered to us before and realizing how truly blessed our life is in Christ Jesus.

As a result of our "conception", we can have boldness to come before the one who loves us so deeply. This is the crux of what Jesus was sharing that day so long ago - we are loved, cared for, and nothing escapes God's notice or attention. Just sayin!

Get some "pre-emergent"

Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. (Galatians 6:7-8 MSG)

Pearl Buck said, "Love dies only when growth stops." The growth one realizes in life is in direct proportion to the seeds planted. If the seeds are planted in response to God's leading, the harvest will indeed be worthy of all the time and effort put into it. We all "plant" in "response" to something - whatever it is we respond to, let it be that which produces only the best harvest!

We can tell a lot about who or what we are responding to in life by the harvest we realize from those seeds planted. The right seeds will yield things like growing, solid relationships; creative change that moves us away from something undesirable and toward that which builds us up. The wrong seeds will produce such things as anger, bitterness, mistrust, and even growing lust for the wrong stuff in life.

We might think it begins with the seed planted, but in reality it begins with the response we have toward either self or God. We deny self the right to choose the seed and we respond to the tug of God's Spirit as we plant. Will our lives be "weed free"? Probably not totally, because there is always "transference" of some of the "weed seeds" from others in life. 

I have a lawn that isn't actually "weed free". I do my best to not allow those seeds to take root, but honestly, I don't see the seeds until they have! It is kind of like that in our lives sometimes - we just don't realize what we have allowed to take root until we see something growing out of those seeds! We get weeds, not because we actively planted them, but because they were transferred into our lives through the actions of others. 

The way to deal with those "transferred" seeds is to have a diligent eye to spot the growth of those weeds when they are really small! There is one step even better - use some "pre-emergent". Several times a year, I put a pre-emergent on my lawn. Why? Even if the seeds get planted, it will continue to work to not allow them to grow into fully formed weeds capable of making more seed!

Pre-emergent might be hiding the Word of God in our hearts, so when untruth comes knocking, we don't welcome it in. It may take the form of spending regular and consistent time with others who challenge you to grow in the right ways in life. It could also be the times we just get quiet long enough to have God help us take notice of the things trying to "transfer" into our lives - either in thought, word, or deed. 

It isn't that we "get weeds" from good seed. We get weeds because we don't respond to them or their seeds when they are first trying to emerge! Just sayin!

Squeeze me - go ahead!

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (James 1:2-3 MSG)

What tests have you done rather well on recently? What challenges came at you that you just faced head on and mastered without even looking back? We remember and rehearse the ones we failed, or that did us in, right? Do we do a good enough job celebrating the ones we "pass"? It is likely we rehearse the failures way more than we celebrate the successes. Why? We aren't satisfied with the outcome! We want to see that altered in some way when that challenge is faced the next time - we want to get a much better "grade" on the test!

You know me...I had to look up the difference between these two words because I didn't really understand why God would tell us we'd face them. A test is defined as the means by which the presence, quality, or genuineness of anything is determined - it tests quality. A challenge is a contest of skill or strength - it defines whose strength or skill we are counting on more - ours or God's. The test might reveal the degree to which something is present, while the challenge reveals the degree to which we allow what is present to be manifest!

Have you ever traveled up a mountain in your car with groceries? I remember taking a trip with my BFF and as we ascended the mountainside grades, I could hear things in the bags / boxes of food items making noises. It wasn't that they were shifting in those boxes or bags, it was that there was this gradual pressure building in some of the items and they were expanding! The bag of chips went from being only halfway expanded to being like a pillow of air! The pressure caused them to expand, but thank goodness, not beyond their capacity!

Capacity "expansion" was "planned" as they packaged those chips, put the seals on the tops of yogurts, etc. They left room for the challenge the climb! I think God does the same thing with us - he seals us with his Holy Spirit, leaving lots and lots of room for expansion! The challenges may come, but we have "room" for the pressure to build a little. We have "expandable capacity" - readying us for the mounting pressure that seeks to change the "quality" of what resides within us. In other words, when our enemy challenges us with the test, he wants to see God "squeezed out of us"! Just sayin!

Oh, go fly a kite!

It was Vince Lombardi who said we'd accomplish a great many more things in life if we stopped thinking of them as "impossible". At times, I think we imagine ourselves as never making it to some destination we have in mind - especially when it comes to our walk with Jesus. We won't take the right steps, believe the right stuff, or make right decisions when it really matters. This is how we see ourselves at times and this can be quite defeating because sometimes we won't even try when we feel there is an "impossibility" in trying.

It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 MSG)

Lewis Mumford said, "A certain amount of opposition is a great help to man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind." Too many times we view the "hard stuff" as "opposition" in life. We don't want to face anything that "opposes" us because it suggests a degree of "difficulty" we dread. I can't tell you how many kites I have built in my lifetime, adjusting this or that on the kite, adding just a little longer tail, or trimming away a little, just to get that kite airborne and watch it sail so effortlessly in the sky. What most don't realize is all the effort was really "up front" of it sailing!

The first step in the right direction, in embracing new learning, is to face the opposition ahead of us. It may be the opposition of our own beliefs, fears, or pride. It could be a more "external" opposition we really cannot control all that well, but which we will have to face if we are to ever make forward progress. It is quite possible we have viewed things in our life as impossible for so long we no longer even imagine there will be a "first step". What comes of believing the impossible is possible? Is it false hope? No! It is the beginning of the kite's rise!

God exists. He cares for our needs. There is a connection between these two - "and". We may be convinced he exists, but are we equally convinced he cares for those who seek him? Seeking doesn't end the moment we say "yes" to Jesus. It begins! It is there that the winds which will carry us to new heights begin to blow. The kite rises in opposition to the wind - apart from the wind, the kite is a decorative object! We aren't in this world as mere decorative objects. We are to be kites soaring higher and higher, taking from the opposition we face the very thing we need to help us climb higher. Just sayin!

There will always be that "one tree"

But remember this—the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 TLB)

There are times we think the particular temptation we face in life is unique to just us. No one else could possibly be faced with the same degree or intensity of temptation as we are. Spoiler alert... there is no "new" or "unique" temptation known to man! At the center of it all is our will. At the most basic level we find it "our way" pitted against God's. We may see temptation different today than it was fifty years ago, but trust me on this - lust was still lust back then, lying has been around since Eden, and there isn't anything new under the sun!

The frustrating part is that we don't resist it! We might find temptation comes in a slightly different way from one day to the next, but the root of all sin begins within the will of man - there is a desire to demand one's own way. Resistance is harder at times than others. Be alone with your temptation, no one watching you, and your "degree" of resistance is much lower. Be in a crowd with your temptation, with all eyes on you, and suddenly your "degree" of resistance rises to astronomically powerful proportions! But...is it true resistance, or just embarrassment and pride that keep us from actually giving into that temptation in "public view"?

To resist with consistency, not just because we might be "caught in the act", is what we probably all desire, but have no idea how to attain. Notice again those words in our passage today - there is no promise of "zero" temptation, but rather a reliable and consistent way to bear up as temptation comes our way. As far back as Eden, the "two trees" have existed. Most of us would rather the "one tree" we shouldn't eat from be removed entirely from the garden and be so far out of our reach that we would never even see it! The reality is that the "one tree" is right there in the grove and it isn't going away.

What will change in the course of time is how much "focus" that "tree" gets in our life. This is how God changes us as we "bear up" under his power to resist the temptation. The "one tree" is still there (the temptation still exists), but because we are more focused on him we don't even feel the desire to go toward its branches any longer! Until we reach that point, those branches hold some "promise" to us, though. They have us convinced the "fruit" they offer will be "okay" for us, or even "desirable". Little by little, as we redirect our focus away from the "one tree" we aren't supposed to partake of, we find we begin to notice all he has provided which is more than fine for us to enjoy!

Escaping temptation isn't about the tree no longer existing - it is about the desire to partake of it changing so much that it no longer appeals to us. This is only possible as we change our focus - the resistance "against" temptation really begins when we begin to appreciate the many other ways God has chosen to bless us. There is a whole "garden" awaiting us - that "one tree" doesn't have to be our whole focus! Just sayin!

Don't you see the light?

In everything you do, stay away from complaining and arguing so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of people who are crooked and stubborn. Shine out among them like beacon lights, holding out to them the Word of Life.  (Philippians 2:14-15 TLB)

True confessions here...sometimes my "beacon" gets a little fogged over by my complaints and verbal agonizing over things not going my way, or that I just simply don't like. It is easy to slip into the complaint-mode, even kind of "second-nature" to some of us. Complaint takes on the issue as something we will "lament" or "object to". It is a subtle form of criticism that sometimes carries with it the idea we have been "wronged" or "put upon" as a result of someone else's actions. To be truthful with you, most of the complaining we do really doesn't accomplish a doggone thing, and may even make us more discontent than the original action did!

We are told to "shine out" as a beacon of light - holding out to all the Word of Life. Shining requires a degree of awareness to our own responses that we sometimes aren't all that keen on developing. I know I feel a certain "tug" in my spirit whenever I drift into the "complaint lane" in life. It is as though the Holy Spirit is saying, "You don't really want to go down that path, do you?" At times it easier to just go along with the crowd than it is to stand up for what we know to be true or right. At others, it is just easier to complain about what we don't understand, or maybe something that gives us a little bit of trepidation. 

Regardless of how we get into the "complaint lane" - by drifting slowly into it, or making a conscious decision to just get into it directly - we find our ability to be a 'beacon' gets a little less effective because people don't want to be around others who complain (or argue) all that much. Sure, there are pockets of people drawn to complaining and arguing - because it is in our nature to follow this course when we don't get our own way. Most of us would rather live above the conflict, though. God hears our complaints - even those spoken under our breath! 

I'd like us to realize something this morning - we shine a light one way or the other. If we avoid the complaining and arguing, we are shining the light in one direction. If we are giving into the complaining and/or arguing, we are still shining a light - it is just toward a different direction. The important thing to keep in mind is that others see the light - they are drawn to it because that is what light does. If it is shining in the right direction, the movement toward the light is less likely to cause others to be "tripped up" along the way. If it is shining in the wrong direction, the light may illuminate the pitfalls, but if that is the only path another sees, they may take it anyway! Maybe this is why we are reminded not to go down the path that encourages others to follow where they may stumble, too.  Just sayin!

That first step

I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit’s instructions.  He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won’t always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to. (Galatians 5:16 TLB)

"Oh, so NOW you tell me!"  Have you ever uttered those words AFTER you did something foolish and found yourself smack-dab in the middle of utter confusion, chaos, or calamity? "Yeah, I guess I have to admit, I wanted it REALLY bad." Maybe you have uttered those words, or similar, at the end of some "binge" that left you feeling a little bit "over-indulged". Most of us have those "moments" where we say to ourselves, "I should have known better...", but what we don't always realize is how much we could have avoided those "kick yourself in the seat of the pants" kind of moments by just listening (even a little bit) to begin with!

There are tons and tons of "advisers" in this thing called life. Some have official capacity such as boss, parent, or counselor. Other have influential capacity such as best friend, coworker, or media star. There are lots of influences that are "silent", coming at us in billboards, magazine articles, across the screens of our TVs, and the list could go on and on. Rest assured - God doesn't want us to be aimless. He wants us to have instruction - we might not always want to receive it, but he gives it to us nonetheless. The key to avoiding those "kick yourself" moments begins in listening, but it is motivated with the intent to obey.

As many will admit, intent is only a half-way answer to the obedience issue, though. There has to be some motivator, or something that encourages us to take the first step, then the second, third, and so on. When I had my knee replacement, that "first step" was pretty doggone painful, and there was more than a little fear behind that action. The moment I made up my mind to go for it, things were set in motion. Yes, it was agonizing at first, but the more I moved closer and closer to the edge of the bed, swinging that leg over to the floor, the more and more I realized the first step began with my will to move! 

Sometimes we have all the will to move us from one point to another, but we lack some type of encouragement to do it. As a nurse, I knew the worst thing for me was to just lay there in bed, leaving pressure on points it should not dwell, and creating a "stagnancy" in my lungs that could lead to pneumonia. Maybe my knowledge was a motivator. Maybe having surgery at a hospital were everyone under the sun knew me helped me be a little motivated. Perhaps it was the encouragement of my BFF. Or maybe it was that little voice that kept reminding me I was not taking that first step alone. 

Obedience is the first step in the right direction, not taken alone, but in union with the one who helps us know the right steps exist and they are the best ones for us to take! Obedience isn't an "alone" action, even when it feels like it is. It is always taken with intentional love moving us in that direction. Just sayin!

Crawling, are you?

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly. (R. Buckminster Fuller)

I think there are many butterflies waiting to emerge in this world! All the while, we are crawling around, on our way to becoming something of great beauty and majesty, but have no clue just how that will be accomplished. We do what we know to do - live the life of the caterpillar! I don't know if caterpillars "sense" the time has come for change, but I think God helps us to be able to "sense" there is a change occurring in our lives. It is his grace at work and we cannot deny something is happening, even when we don't know it is that we are taking on the beauty and freedom of the butterfly!

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you. (Romans 12:2 TLB)

I don't understand why God made the caterpillar. Why couldn't he just make the butterfly? Why can't butterflies give birth to other butterflies? We may never understand the "why" behind the caterpillar, but maybe it is just so we can ponder what it is to be one way and then in almost unrecognizable fashion, we are another. Maybe it is to help us realize we are not bound to our past - we can be a new creation. Perhaps it is to give us a tiny glimpse into the "soul" of our Creator - coming to know his desire to make old things new, beautiful, and free to soar!

The caterpillar way of living is pretty slow when it comes to making progress from one point to another. A couple of summer's back I took a southerly route to California. That route took me through some of the area of desert known for this "migration" of caterpillars (big ones). There was a patch of highway that was just yellow with their crawling little bodies. No matter how many would succumb to the passing of tire upon tire, they still came from one side of the desert on their way to some other point. Their slowness - their crawling speed - made them prey for not only the motor vehicles, but for the spying eye of the birds above.

It made me think about the times we need to get from one place in life to another - knowing the journey to be slow and maybe even subject to a little bit of an obstacle along the way. The slowness by which we progress is sometimes a measurement of how "bound" we are to this earth. We don't really know any other way of "progressing" than to just continue to crawl! Somehow, at the end of that journey, we curl up for a while inside a cozy little place with God and what emerges is this amazing "butterfly". God knows we desire to get to where we are going - he also knows we probably all desire to be making progress at a different pace than we have been making, but he lets us experience the pace of the old so we can fully enjoy the boundless freedom of the new! Just sayin!

Another hornet's nest

It was an old-timer clergyman, Billy Sunday, who said, "The devil says I am out, but the Lord says I am safe." There are times we listen to the words of those who don't have the right perspective on our "run" in life. We listen to them declare some "line drive" we make as "out", while God is saying to us it is "close", but still on the inside. It is good to knock one out to center field, but I know there are times we do well to get a line drive! We barely escape being "out" because of the grace of the one calling the outcomes in our lives!

I use God’s mighty weapons, not those made by men, to knock down the devil’s strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4 TLB)

We don't just skirt the strongholds of the devil in our lives - we have to knock them down completely. I know how I have sprayed a little hornet killer on a hornet's next from time to time and then wonder at why they are back. The fact is I never knocked down the nest completely, giving them a chance to return to the scene of the crime! They just build "annexes" to the structure nearby. The devil isn't about to give up any hold on us without a fight - he knows as long as he can call us "out" and we believe it even a little bit, he has a hold on us still. 

Strongholds require demolition. Demolition isn't a pretty picture sometimes. If I want to be rid of those pesky hornets hovering outside my door, I have to take some pretty bold steps. First, I get them to move out of the area, by spraying enough of the deterring chemical to stun them into submission. Are they gone? No, there are others still flying about somewhere who haven't returned to the nest yet! They are out gathering the resources they need to build the next annex! If I want to get rid of them, I need to demolish their hive - and that might mean I brave knocking it down with "live stuff" in there!

If you have ever made a hornet mad, you know what comes next. You do this little crazy mosh pit type, bone jarring, arms flailing kind of dance that you hope to goodness none of your neighbors witness! Then you turn tail and run. Why? Those small insects carry a big sting! You don't want the pain or aggravation of healing from one of those, so you do everything you can to avoid that bite. I wonder why we don't treat the devil with such a mindset? We kind of molly-coddle him a little too much and let him "hang around", taking tiny steps to rid ourselves of his "nuisance". All the while, we are ignoring his mighty big sting potential! 

The devil isn't going to leave us alone as long as we let him call the shots in life. As soon as we declare we are going to listen to no one other than God himself as the "umpire" who calls the shots, we get him as angry as a hive of wasps. Want to be rid of the fool? Then demolish his nest! Just sayin!

Why am I waiting again?

On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. (Psalm 138:3 ESV) 

When I pray, you answer me and encourage me by giving me the strength I need. (Psalm 138:3 TLB)

On the day - catch those words. There are times we think we are praying to a "brass sky" - words bouncing back at us and not making any "inroad" to the God of the universe. We pray and pray - sometimes imploring God for the very things we need - never really feeling like we are "getting anywhere". There is truth in these words, "On the day...", for it isn't that he didn't hear, we just don't see evidence he has heard! On the very day we pray, he answers. The answer may just not be as quickly, or as "overt" that we can "sense" it, but trust God's word on this one - he has answered!

Our strength to endure the wait is often what we receive without even knowing we have received it! I have experienced long waits between the prayer and the evidence of the answer, but there has not been one exception to the truth of God's strength repeatedly filling my life and helping me to take the steps of obedience I need to take until there is evidence of that answer fully in my life. That "infilling" of strength deep within our soul is often all the evidence we get that God has answered. Trust that strength even when you don't see the answer, my friends.

What can we be "doing" while we are awaiting the evidence of God's answer? This is probably one of the most "telling" questions that reveals the depth of our trust in the answer God is bringing. It is in the moments between the prayer and the answer being evident where we show how willing we are to trust God to produce the outcome and not work it out ourselves! Trust doesn't mean we don't do anything, but it does mean we only act upon what we know to be the things God expects of us. In other words, we continue to be faithful to "do" what he asks us to "do" all the time. It doesn't mean we "create" the answer, but that we work within the guidelines of what the scripture teaches. 

That means we continue to pray - for scripture tells us to pray and "importune". In other words, we aren't "re-praying" because we think God needs to hear it a different way or repeatedly, but that we pray in faith. We unburden our hearts before him and we speak with him about the doubts we have that are impacting that faith. We continue to trust - even when all the evidence tells us our prayer hasn't been "effective". We aren't "re-praying", we are sometimes talking with God about our temptation to "take over" to get the answer here and now! Just sayin!

Don't put it off

I saw something the other day that said, "We cannot put off living until we are ready." It was probably an advertisement for some financial business, promoting one's "readiness" for those "golden years", but it kind of bespoke how much we go about life and just don't really "live it". We miss moments because we are making plans for "some day". Moments won't come back to us - once spent, they are gone! Maybe that is why Facebook put those "reminders" up there on our feed to remind us of the moments we actually posted something that are now called "memories".

23 Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need! 2-3 He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honors him the most. 4 Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way.  5 You provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies. You have welcomed me as your guest; blessings overflow! 6 Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with you forever in your home. (Psalm 23 TLB)

Most of us would associate the words of Psalm 23 being read at the bedside of of loved ones who is in the final course of their lives. Those all too familiar words, "Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Yet, do we really walk without fear? Do we honestly feel those moments of meadow grass and quiet streams? Have we enjoyed them as much as humanly possible? Yes, I want God to guide us as we navigate any dark valley, especially the one that leads up to our last breath, but I also want us to really experience his presence in the moments of today's breaths!

God's goodness and unfailing love are often missed when the moments pass us by unnoticed. We forget to look, and then we miss it all! It is a sad thing to admit, but I have to "make moments" to spend with him, or life would consume all of me and there'd be nothing left to enjoy with him! I think this is a priority in my life - one others may not understand, but one which I guard very closely. Why? Those moments are not something to be "put off". There is strength to be found in them. There is substance that will help me to solve the issues ahead of me in the day I will face. There is even correction that needs to occur so that my day goes as it should, not as it would!

We might miss something in this psalm, so I want to focus us on it for just a moment. It says he "lets me" rest in the meadow grass. That means God's plan includes specific time where I just rest a little - not driving forward a hundred miles an hour all of the time - but just taking the foot off the gas a little while and resting. He also leads, but it is to places of quietness and refreshing. Whether he "let's" or "leads", both are intended for our good! Just sayin!

Influential, isn't he?

In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me and rescued me. He is for me! How can I be afraid? What can mere man do to me? 

(Psalm 118:5-6 TLB)

What can mere man to do me? That is a powerful question many of us never really take the time to explore. The more accurate question we may want to ask ourselves is, "What has mere man been doing to me?" What is it you have come to believe or accept simply because someone told you, or because of their "threats" you now behave a particular way in response to those threats? There is a fine line between our behavior and our beliefs - we aren't usually too far off in our behavior when it comes to these two things!

May I meddle for a moment this morning? Way too many of us have some "fear". We don't want to "rock the boat" at work because we fear we may lose our job even though we are clearly aware of practices or behaviors that have become "common place" that ought not to be accepted. We don't step up when we see a need in someone's life because we fear how it is they may receive our assistance, perhaps even becoming "too dependent" upon us as their "relief". We have accepted the way others see us and have told us we "are" rather than listening to the voice of God speaking clear truth into our lives as to who we "really are" because of his grace.

It seems "mere man" may be more of a concern in our lives than we might like to admit! There is an influence man exerts in our lives - even if we don't admit it right off, that influence may be what is keeping us "cemented" in certain actions within our daily life. What we accept as truth or "the way it is", even when we aren't really aware we are doing it, makes our choices of behavior that much more dependent upon the actions of others than upon the actions of God in our lives. Therein comes the rub - our god is man and not God! We fear man and don't reverence God by giving him the right place in our lives. His right place? Any place where truth begins to invade the space where the fear of man has occupied!

If the influence of another, or of the circumstances you find yourself in exert more influence in your life than God's Spirit is right now, then this is the wrong influence to be honoring or obeying. It is important for us to get the right perspective on what man or the circumstances can "really" do to us. God is God and he remains supreme to either that human influence or the influencing pressures of the circumstances! If we want to be free of their influence, we start looking to a different source for our influence! Just sayin!

Our choice, but he backs us up

14 Obey God because you are his children; don’t slip back into your old ways—doing evil because you knew no better. 15 But be holy now in everything you do, just as the Lord is holy, who invited you to be his child. 16 He himself has said, “You must be holy, for I am holy.” (I Peter 1:14-16 TLB)

If I were to ask you to describe what the word 'obey' means to you, I'd probably get mixed answers on this one. If you grew up in a home where phrases such as, "Children are best seen and not heard", or "You will eat that because there are starving children in Africa", you probably have a view of obedience to your parents as being very cautious of ever 'crossing the line' with their rules. Others of us may have pushed that line a little in our lifetimes, finding ourselves clearly on the other side of that parent's anger or disappointment when we did. We can see obedience as a 'do it right the first time' kind of thing, while others could see it as a 'do your best, no matter what' kind of thing. Obedience has come to be such a hard thing for so many in society, even to the point of striking that 'love, honor, and obey' phrase from wedding vows because the thought of 'obeying' was just too much! Obedience in the terms of how God sees it is restoration and then moving away from what caused us to require that restoration in the first place!

Restoration brought us back to the place where obedience is even possible. Restoration's work begins the process of placing us on a path where obedience is more than just 'doing it right the first time' because we 'have to', but because we actually want to. We feel a different desire to not engage in those acts of disobedience any longer - even though they still present us with a little bit of temptation or struggle. Maybe we get down on ourselves now and again because we feel these desires, or struggle with the 'potential' of pursuing some course of action we clearly should avoid. We chastise ourselves, believing even the thought of such actions is suggestive we are not being 'obedient'. The truth of the matter is that sometimes those desires will still create a little 'tension' in our lives for a while - because we haven't fully stopped desiring them yet - we still want our own way a little bit. 

Sometimes obedience is two steps in the right direction and one backward step in the 'not so right direction'. Despite that step backward, we are still on the pathway to 'perfect obedience' - we aren't there yet, but we are clearly on a different course in life and that is what matters! Restoration changes the course of our lives, but it doesn't always mean we don't deal with some of the original 'framework' that has been established in our lives. God isn't the 'heavenly parent' who 'demands' obedience of us like the 'sit there until you clean your plate' kind of obedience like an earthly parent may have required. He presents us with the right course and knows we have a free-will to choose to walk in it. He shows us how much he desires us to follow it, not because he insists on us walking no other course, but because he knows of the safety he has provided for us within that course! Obedience is an acknowledgement of his 'knowing best' what we need, how our desires can be met in the best possible way, and what it is that will draw us further away from what can bring us harm in life.

Obedience is not 'giving up' - it is 'letting in'. We let God's Spirit and presence into our lives and we begin to sense things differently as a result. We have both paths before us - one clearly leading in a direction we shouldn't travel, while the other may not be fully known, but which has been specifically prepared to keep us safe in the journey. God's Spirit is often the voice of reason seeking our 'obedience' to choose the latter. It is a choice - we make it - he backs it up! Just sayin!

Big Treasure

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth where they can erode away or may be stolen. Store them in heaven where they will never lose their value and are safe from thieves. If your profits are in heaven, your heart will be there too." (Matthew 6:19-21 TLB)

Someone once said our stumbles could be our greatest treasures. I pondered on that thought for just a while and began to really think about the times I have stumbled (and I don't have to think very far back to begin this journey!). What "treasures" came out of those moments? Sometimes it was the knowledge another stood right there with me, willing to go that extra length to see me "make right" what I was obviously making a pretty big mess of in the first place. At others, it was simply the knowledge I wasn't alone in the stumbling - others were tripping up on the exact same things! Yet, some of the greatest treasure I brought out of those times of stumbling were the ones that revealed just how much God's hand had been on me despite my choosing to take a path which would lead to my stumbling!

There are those who believe any path taken toward sin or compromise is really a path without God. The truth is that if we have said 'yes' to Jesus, it is impossible to travel that 'wrong path' without him right there alone with us. He is just not the one choosing the path at the moment - it doesn't mean he is any "less with us" as we go down it. As a young girl, I remember asking my dad about a pin he kept attached to the visor in the car. It went with us from one car to the next as the family traded in one to get another. It was the head and shoulders of a brass angel about two inches long, with her wings outstretched. In response, dad simply said she was there to protect us, that is until we exceeded the speed limit! At that point, she flew out the window! I never saw her 'fly', even when someone was clearly over the posted limit!

There are times we treat God as though he would "fly out the window" of our souls each time we speed down that pathway to compromise. In truth, he is holding onto us so tightly we don't collide with all those obstacles in our path as quickly as we might do should we be totally on our own! We don't realize he is still there, just like the 'angel pin' was still there on the visor. God isn't an 'abandoning' type - it is contrary to his perfect love to only 'be with us' when we are good and then leave us when we are not behaving so well! The greatest treasures have come in recognizing all the ways he didn't abandon me along that path - and how he helped me find my way back to the right one each and every time! Just sayin!

Harmony doesn't just "exist"

How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live in harmony! (Psalm 133:1 TLB)

What does harmony look like in your mind? In your heart? In your attitude? In your actions? Most would define harmony as the state of being united, without barriers or friction. In truth, harmony means much more - for it bespeaks a "congruity of parts" - where mind and heart are one; heart is reflected in one's attitude; and one's attitude directions all the actions that come forth so as to create a cohesiveness. Could it be possible to have harmony, but not to live in harmony? Yes, of course, for congruity of the parts doesn't always mean those parts will be all moving in the "right" direction!

While most of us would want to think of harmony as a state of tranquility, we all know to get to that "state" requires some traveling over some pretty rough roads at times! Tranquility is not something that just happens by accident - it requires a Creator, a Sustainer, and oftentimes, a Restrainer! The mind may desire to go in that direction more than anything else, but the desires of the heart need a little bit of restraint to actually get us headed in the right direction, especially where we feel we have been "wronged" within any relationship.

Harmony takes at least one Creator of that condition of mind and heart. It takes one party being willing to lay down their own agenda to listen, truly listen, to the desire of the other's heart. It would be best if both were pulling in the same direction here, but we all know harmony usually involves some "compromise" on the part of the one willing to take the first step. In the beginning, God created true harmony. Sin entered in and that condition of heart and mind was upset - it still had the capacity to exist, but their had to be an intervention in order to restore that harmony - Christ.

We have all we need, if we have Christ in control of our hearts, to realize true harmony within our relationships with each other - for it begins with true harmony with God. The heart and mind pull together under the Sustaining power of the Holy Spirit and we soon find our attitude begins to reflect the Restraining power of his presence, as well. It doesn't mean we are constantly biting our tongue, or compromising to meet the other person's demands. It means we learn to truly be quiet long enough to hear the heart of another and then realize where it is we can find mutual ground to travel! Just sayin!

Happy Valentine's Day

Follow God’s example in everything you do just as a much loved child imitates his father. Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ’s love for you was like sweet perfume to him. (Ephesians 5:1-2 TLB)

God is so ready to love us. He is simply waiting on us to be open to all the ways he wants to show us that love. The most important way he revealed his love was already done in Christ's death, but there are so very many more ways he stands ready to just encompass our lives with his perfect love! God's love isn't complicated like human love is. It reaches into places human love just wouldn't dare go and with such a tenacity that doesn't exist in the evidence I have observed with human love. 

Human love is conditional - as good as our human love is, there is a point where we give and give, but in some very basic place within ourselves we are at least hoping for a little bit of something in return, aren't we? Human love wanes where there is little to no "return" on the investment of that love. We find other venues to express that love - other parties become participants in that love - or worse yet, we learn to withhold it because we didn't get anything in return!

God doesn't withhold his love - even when we turn a cold shoulder his way. He doesn't move on when we take too long to respond to his overtures of love. He doesn't criticize us for not "getting" how much he loves us. He doesn't fake loving us even though we haven't been all that loving back to him. His love is genuine, not "conditioned" on our responses, and is persistent in its pursuit. His desire is that we get comfortable in the embrace of his love and then we learn how to embrace others with it!

Why did I turn to "love" as a subject this morning? Maybe it was because I was reminded of this whole "love thing" as I recently observed the shelves of Christmas decor coming down and the Valentine candies taking that place in my neighborhood grocery store. It was a reminder that human love is fleeting, but God's love is deeper and more reliable than any other form of love. His love goes beyond the red heart boxed chocolates kind of love - it goes to the red blood shed on a tree for us kind of love! Just sayin!

Ascending?

The Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu reminds us: "To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders." I wonder just how often we afford ourselves the luxury of really getting to the point we would say our minds are "still". I know this is a hard thing for me because my mind works overtime! I awake in the night, thoughts of some project emerging until I am ruminating on the solution. I am creating in my downtime - innovating in my sleep almost. Yet, I have learned the value of just getting still before the Lord and not allowing other things to creep into that space I create just for that time we will share the "stillness" together. I am never disappointed by the stillness because it is there I find my soul surrenders, my will is made bendable, and my spirit is given new glimpses into the very things I need to grasp.

Lord, I am not proud and haughty. I don’t think myself better than others. I don’t pretend to “know it all.”  I am quiet now before the Lord, just as a child who is weaned from the breast. Yes, my begging has been stilled. (Psalm 131:1-2 TLB)

Now, let me caution us just a little bit here. Stillness of mind doesn't mean we empty our minds of every thought - it means we take "captive" the thoughts that wander, giving way to the Lord's voice to be heard. It suggests more of a closer attention being paid than it does to a total lack of thought! Psalm 131 is considered one of the "Psalms of Ascent". These begin in the 120th Psalm and go through the 134th. A 200 foot wide stairway leads to the Temple doorway in Jerusalem. It is this "ascent" in which Israelite worshipers would "sing" the various Psalms of Ascent. Each psalm carrying a unique meaning and purpose as they ascended to the doorway. Beginning with Psalm 120, the one ascending acknowledges he has been away too long. He moves on in the 121st to admit he worries way too much, but that he needs to settle his thoughts and just trust in God's keeping power. He then rejoices in not being alone in his worship (Psalm 122) and that he needed to hear God's quiet, simple instructions (Psalm 123). 

It may be this great desire to hear those instructions that drives him onward, as often is the case when we are moving into God's presence. In ascending, he also acknowledges the greatness of God's power on his behalf (Psalm 124), and he celebrates the "security" he feels while ascending within the walls of Jerusalem (Psalm 125). Others might threaten his peace and safety, but within the walls of God's city he feels secure and "at home". What a great way to consider God's presence in our lives - as a place where we can feel not only secure, but totally and completely at home! He recounts how God has not been lacking in his compassion toward his people, caring for even their most basic of needs, never abandoning them to their own devices (Psalm 126). What a joy it is to know and trust that God is never going to abandon us to our own devices - to leave us subject to the many enemy attacks that would threaten to be our undoing in life.

As he continues to ascend, his soul is lifted, mind is focused, and heart is filled. Why? He recognizes the "rule of David", the then King of Israel, was only the beginning of another rule that would never end - the rule and reign of Christ Jesus, the Lord (Psalm 127). Amazingly, he references rest and sleep - the refreshing phases of life - as he ascends. Maybe this is what "stillness" actually does for us - it helps us get to the place we actually leave God's presence more refreshed or renewed than when we came! As we make our way higher, we find he focuses on attitude and behavior - how both are interrelated and find their greatest "release" when attitude is toward God's goodness in their lives and behavior is subject to his commands (Psalm 128). By the 129th Psalm, the "mood" of the psalm seems to change from one of remembrance, celebration, and trust to that of outlining why God's people kind of suffer at times. Why would this be here in one of the Psalms of Ascent? Perhaps it is to remind us how very "real" this climb is into God's presence. It isn't always perfect, nor is it always easy. We get things messed up and we oftentimes just need to have a "realigning" of our lives in order to help us continue as we should be moving. 

As we enter the 130th Psalm, we find three short verses. In these verses, the psalmist is reminded of the importance of confession. You might think confession began much earlier on the "climb", but as the mind is stilled and focused, we often find we can see a little easier where it is we are struggling the most. It is there we admit our need for help and our absolute trust in God to create all the ability we need to overcome in these areas. To end these psalms, we find the psalmist referring to the attitude of a child - the simplest of ways to approach God's presence is through a heart and mind of a child - curious, open, and willing to learn (Psalm 131). I will leave you with this thought today - the ascent may not be easy, but as we allow the stillness of God's peace to invade the chaos of our minds, souls, and spirits, we find we are able to open ourselves to hear, to learn. Just sayin!

Time to get rid of the rocker

32 1-2 What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven! What joys when sins are covered over! What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record.

3 There was a time when I wouldn’t admit what a sinner I was. But my dishonesty made me miserable and filled my days with frustration. 4 All day and all night your hand was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water on a sunny day 5 until I finally admitted all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them. I said to myself, “I will confess them to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

6 Now I say that each believer should confess his sins to God when he is aware of them, while there is time to be forgiven. Judgment will not touch him if he does. (Psalm 32:1-6 TLB)

How likely are you to admit you are a sinner? Hiding behind your dishonesty only makes you miserable - just as the writer of our psalm said. The truth sets each of us free. There is no better cure for misery than confession. There is no better vehicle for hope than grace. There is no better release than to actually lay it all out before God and allow him to really set you free! I have frequently said guilt is not really a short "trip" for many of us - it can be a lifetime journey for some! It could be we have become so accustomed to our guilt we just cannot believe there is any other possible way to "feel". 

I was kind of reminded of my need to take action the other day when I told a friend I did not accomplish the removal of a particular rocker from my mother's room that I feel is not all that safe for her any longer due to her lack of stability on her feet and how long it takes for her to gain stability upon rising from a chair now. In essence, she asked me what I was afraid of and suggested that mom couldn't spank me for doing it. The truth of the matter is that I will do this, but I want to give mom a chance to consider it as something of benefit to her. Aging is a hard enough thing and there is constant pressure on her to "give up" so many of the things she was accustomed to doing. 

The way we "feel" and adjust to those "feelings" is indeed important in this lifetime, but there are some some feelings we don't want to take too long to get used to - such as guilt! Guilt isn't something we want to accept as a long-term thing in our lives. We want to be sensitive to it, as I am trying to be sensitive to mom's need to adjust to her limitations, but we don't want to give guilt so much room that it takes over in our lives. We want to allow guilt to do what it was designed to do - drive us to our knees and seek God's grace to deal with whatever is giving us that guilt. While we cannot deny the feeling, we don't want to entertain it as a lifestyle!

We might not realize how much relief comes from dealing with our guilt as God designed. We probably haven't learned how much God desires to hear us acknowledge our sin before him and so we believe we have to deal with that guilt all on our own, or entertain it for way too long. God isn't going to "spank us" just like mom won't spank me for taking good care of her. He will embrace us and recognize that we have needs only he is capable of meeting. He will shower us with grace, as mom will shower me with grace as she adjusts to saying goodbye to this favorite little chair. As we let go of our favorite little sin, God has a big cushy "chair of grace" we can settle into. Just sayin!

A freedom like no other

7 For if you offered him thousands of rams and ten thousands of rivers of olive oil—would that please him? Would he be satisfied? If you sacrificed your oldest child, would that make him glad? Then would he forgive your sins? Of course not! 8 No, he has told you what he wants, and this is all it is: to be fair, just, merciful, and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:7-8 TLB)

I have often said we complicate this walk with Jesus way too much by adding a weight upon our shoulders of all kinds of "things" we imagine God must want us to do or bring or give. We get so bogged down under the burden of trying to meet whatever "demands" we believe God has of us that we miss totally it is just "us" he really craves! He wants time with us. He desires communion with our heart. He yearns to hear us tell him what is going on in our minds and hearts, and to allow him to unburden both!

We imagine huge offerings are needed - he already provided the "ONE" offering that accomplished it all. We create elaborate ways to worship him - he simply desires a complete honesty of heart and mind. We presume we need some type of "covering" for our sinfulness - he simply desires our nakedness. The desire of his heart is for us to walk humbly "with" him. It isn't that we "mask over" our weakness and need. It isn't that we create some elaborate way to make ourselves "presentable" to him. Sometimes the most vulnerable times are the hardest for us, but they are also the most rewarding.

Nakedness is feared by many - because it prevents disguise. When we are naked, all our flaws can no longer be hidden. This makes a good many uncomfortable. I think this is why we design such elaborate ways to come before God - because we are not comfortable with him really seeing all those flaws! The sad truth is that he doesn't see any flaw he hasn't already fallen deeply in love with, so attempting to hide what he already loves so tremendously is kind of silly!

There is an approach to God that is "uncomplicated" and free of all the encumbrances we so often see in "religion". It is the desire of God's heart that each of our hearts embrace this "uncomplicated" approach into his presence. It means we truly become comfortable being "naked" with God - humbly acknowledging we aren't perfect, that he doesn't demand our perfection, and that he has an intense love for us as completely "imperfect" people. If we'd get comfortable being "imperfect" before God, we might be surprised at how many ways we experience his perfection in our lives! 

It isn't that we walk humbly in and out of his presence. It is that we learn to walk humbly with his presence. This is different than how many of us walk with God, for we make the walk about the moments rather than about the lifestyle. God enjoys the moments of true nakedness of heart and mind as much as we come to, but he is most concerned for us to experience the lifestyle of open and honest nakedness - therein we find the true "freedom of soul" that causes our spirit to soar. Just sayin!

Another grace moment awaits

11 For the free gift of eternal salvation is now being offered to everyone; 12 and along with this gift comes the realization that God wants us to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures and to live good, God-fearing lives day after day, 13 looking forward to that wonderful time we’ve been expecting, when his glory shall be seen—the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. (Titus 2:11-13 TLB)

Have you watched one of those "infomercials" on TV and heard their hard-sell pitches to get you to buy their product? It isn't enough we get one of those non-stick magic pans for the low, low price of $29.99 - hold your hat - we get two (for an additional shipping and handling charge which is equal to almost as much as the cost of another pan). They show you ten meals in less than one minute, dazzling you will the hype of how this will make your life so much easier, while giving you the healthiest meal possible since God created the first apple tree! Life offers us the "hard sell" on a whole lot of stuff - God offers us the "soft sell" when it comes to our salvation. The gift is ours - there are no gimmicks or "fast-pitch" tactics to rope us in. It is truly the gift that keeps on giving, but it is also the gift we can enjoy time after time again - never really growing tired of ALL that the gift accomplishes in our lives!

God doesn't need the "hard sell" because what he offers is the genuine deal! There is no substitute "on the market" for what grace affords in our lives. We can try a whole lot of other "marketed" lifestyle changes, but the true change happens only once we receive the gift of grace. Grace brings us to the realization of needing to embrace a new way of living - it helps us to recognize our choices haven't been all that God-honoring, and maybe even a little bit "self-centered". In turn, that initial gift of grace brings us into a daily "inflow" of godliness - changing us day after day until we become more and more "models" of God's goodness.

Grace may not seem to make our lives "easier" because there is some degree of "work" involved in "maintaining" this gift - the connection we must maintain is oftentimes harder than we imagined, but the "dividends" of grace are multiplied multi-fold each day we work on that connection with God's grace! Each new moment of connection with his grace brings us to the realization change is likely necessary - though not easy. God doesn't "spruce up" this day-to-day walk requirement by telling us it is the best thing since sliced bread. He doesn't promise a two-for-one deal in order to "win us over". What he does is offer us genuine change - through grace - and then he asks us to walk out that change by taking daily and consistent steps of obedience. 

At this time of the year, many of us are already beginning to wane in commitment when it comes to our "resolutions". The exercise program is just proving to be too hard, or more difficult to "fit into our schedule" than we might have originally thought. The "healthy eating" program we launched is just way "too healthy" for us! The promise to spend more "quality time" with the family begins to get a little complicated when we realize it actually requires "time"! God's not going to let us get away with "waning" grace moments for very long, though. When we said "yes" to Jesus, he opened up a whole bunch of grace moments to us - now he expects us to actually walk in those moments. 

That means consistent obedience to the principles he teaches us through his Word, good pastoral teaching, and solid biblical advice from other believers. As we engage in those consistent steps of obedience, those "grace moments" become more and more fulfilling. Those moments may not seem like much when taken one by one, but as they all add up, there are huge dividends that come from those consistent moments with Jesus! Just sayin!