Just live

"Blessed is the man, who having nothing to say, abstains from giving wordy evidence of the fact."

(George Eliot)

I will be the first to admit there have been times when my words came too freely, showing just how 'ignorant' I was on a particular topic. It is as though I thought having 'much to say' on a matter made me look like I actually understood it! I will be the first to admit now that I really knew very little in some of those areas where I had offered all of my 'lengthy discourse'! Whether it was the zeal of youth, or the pull of my pride, those days of having to give the longest, or loftiest of answers are not as important to me now. I find the simple truth in the hands of God does way more than the most profound of discourse from my mind and mouth.

The answer’s simple: Live right, speak the truth, despise exploitation, refuse bribes, reject violence, avoid evil amusements. This is how you raise your standard of living! A safe and stable way to live. A nourishing, satisfying way to live. (Isaiah 33 :15-16)

How do we 'raise our standard of living' and thereby decrease our need to give wordy evidence of the fact we really have what this world needs? I used to think the longest blogs would drive a point home, but have come to realize the best ones may actually be some of the shorter ones! Eliot said it well - we don't need 'wow' this world with our 'wisdom of words'. We 'wow' this world with the way we live, not necessarily the way we share our extensive wisdom!

Live right - make right choices, aligned with the Word of God and the principles laid out therein. We don't need to always share why our choice is the best because the evidence will be in how our lives are blessed when the right choices are made consistently. 

Speak the truth - not with volumes of words, but at the right moment, in the right manner, and to open ears. I think is taught in the words of Christ when he referenced not throwing our pearls before swine. Some are not ready to listen - others need only hear the hope we have and their lives are dynamically changed.

Despise exploitation - nothing is worse than someone doing or saying something because of selfish ambition or pursuit. Words often will reveal just how much 'selfish desire' is behind the actions one is proposing to take or has already taken.

Refuse bribes - stop to think for a moment about words as that which persuade or induce someone toward a particular action - we are to refuse the bribes that persuade to take any actions than those of love and right-living according to God's instructions laid out in the Word.

Reject violence - words can leave someone as though they have been 'treated roughly', can they not? Refuse to listen to them, but more importantly, refuse to be the one who is using words in such a manner.

Avoid evil amusements - words will reveal where we find our entertainment or diversions in life. When those 'amusements' are not upright, they pull us downward and others will be pulled with us. 

So, no need to declare how it is we will live - just live the way God asks of you and your life will declare it louder and better than any lengthy discourse you can bring! Just sayin!

Are you ignorant?

Confucius said, "Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." It might be uncomfortable to ask the question, but I will anyway - just how aware of your own ignorance are you? I looked at myself first when posing that question, so don't think I am meddling here. In truth, I really deny some of the areas of my life where I am ignorant - lacking in knowledge, untrained, unlearned. If I were to be truthful here, it isn't that I am lacking in the training as much as I am lacking in the learning! I repeat mistakes for this very reason. When the mistake is easily corrected, that may not be a big deal - when it is harder to correct or leaves lasting 'scars', it is a much bigger deal, isn't it? Ignorance can also be that we are unaware of something - an action we take when we might not even know what is behind that action or that we are taking it in the first place. Both are equally as important to consider today - if we remain 'ignorant' in any of these 'problem areas' within our lives, it is quite possible we will continue to fumble along making the same mistakes time and time again.

God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)

Really focus on that first sentence of our passage today - God overlooks our bumbling around as long as we don't 'know better', but as soon as we 'know better' - there is no room left for excuses. I know how to act and how to show respect to others - do I always act well around others? Not always - sometimes I get a little too self-focused, intent on what I want, and I forget to show others respect. Do I really forget, or do I choose to ignore what I know? It may be a little of both, but if we are truthful with ourselves here, we oftentimes know something isn't right and choose to ignore the 'niggling feeling' to avoid that path. In essence, we are being ignorant - unlearned, but the good news is that we aren't untrainable! We are capable of learning new actions - we just have to choose them.

The time is past for making excuses for our short-comings and self-centered actions - those things we have really not been paying much attention to in our lives that are causing us to live far below the standard of righteousness that God requires of his kids. That may be a hard statement for some of us to swallow - because we aren't ready to let go of what should have remained in our past. God calls for a radical life change. Did you realize 'radical' means 'the root of the matter'? Radical comes from the Latin word meaning to 'have roots' or 'forming roots'. A radical life change means we deal with the roots - not just the surface stuff. We look first at where our roots are planted. If not in 'good soil', then it may be time for a 'transplant'. 

We look next at where those roots have embraced things that impede their growth and focus on removing those things. It might be our roots are a little too tightly 'coiled around' something we didn't want to deal with and have just left buried for all the years. We grew roots, but we coiled them around and around that hard place in our lives until the 'stone' became a part of our lives. Being transplanted doesn't mean we let go of the stones - it might take some work to dislodge the stone from the roots! If we don't want to allow ignorance to be our 'norm' we have to embrace truth - not just listen to it, but actually do what truth says. Sometimes we treat truth as 'advice' - we can take it or leave it depending on our mood. Truth isn't advice - it is the 'foundation' that we need even when we don't know we need it. Just sayin!

Barricades

I’m feeling terrible—I couldn’t feel worse! Get me on my feet again. You promised, remember? When I told my story, you responded; train me well in your deep wisdom. Help me understand these things inside and out so I can ponder your miracle-wonders. My sad life’s dilapidated, a falling-down barn; build me up again by your Word. Barricade the road that goes Nowhere; grace me with your clear revelation. I choose the true road to Somewhere, I post your road signs at every curve and corner. I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me; God, don’t let me down! I’ll run the course you lay out for me if you’ll just show me how. (Psalm 119:30)

As we begin today, I really just want to focus on one portion of this passage - the idea of barricades being set up in our path. I have frequently been speaking with others only hear they are frustrated by all the things that seem to stand in their way as they try to head down a particular path. I often just sit back and listen, hearing regretful story one right after another - all indicating they are running into barriers of some kind as they attempt to pursue whatever it is they are on mission to accomplish. There are indeed times when barriers mean we are to just stop, turn around (detour), and take a totally different direction. I want us to consider something today that we may not have considered very closely - God might just be allowing a few barriers in our path to test our commitment to the path.

If we are not making wise choices with the path we are traveling, those barriers are likely to keep us from 'going down the road to Nowhere' - the place of regret and woe. If the choices we are making are actually lead us down the 'road to Somewhere' and are consistent with God's plan for our lives, those barriers we experience are not meant to stop us. They might just be meant to test our moxie - will we continue or turn back? Will they deter us totally, or build our faith to continue? Some of us are at the point of giving up on the course we know God plans for our lives, all because of the barricades. We see the delays as too much. Have you ever experienced a delay on the way to work, frustrating you because you had to take a different road or just be patient long enough for traffic to clear? I have experienced that on lots of occasions, only to find out the exact path I would have gone at exactly the time I would have crossed it ended up with a major accident on that roadway.

Do we complain when we see the 'barricades' in our path keeping us safe from some harm? Not usually. So, why do we complain when we don't understand the barricade's purpose? Why do we have such a hard time trusting God to keep us safe as we make our journey with him? It may just be that we are viewing those barricades as something to 'turn us back'. If we are on the right course, they aren't there to turn us back, but to prepare us for something that is likely about to come our way on that very course we are traveling. The delay or detour isn't meant to stop us - it is meant to prepare us. Don't view the barricades as defeat - see them as opportunities to lean in, get close to God, listening intently to how he is leading. You could begin to realize God isn't standing in your way - he is protecting your way! Just sayin!

Dustpan and broom or dust blower

Have you ever moved a piece of furniture only to be mortified by the huge volume of dust bunnies collected under it? I have and let me tell you - I had no idea how 'out of control' they had become! What allows the dust bunnies to collect? Isn't it the darkness? We don't see them, so we don't think about them. They were covered by something that allowed them to 'get out of control'. In the darkest places, they could multiply unnoticed. Furniture now moved - they are exposed. They have to be dealt with now, don't they? We don't just push the object back over them and ignore them - we break out the broom and dustpan, the mop and pail, or the vacuum. They have to be gone before we move anything back into that space. Is any wonder that sin can get a bit out of control in our lives when we ignore those dark places where it can multiply unnoticed?

God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him. If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin. If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—simply come clean about them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. (I John 1:5-10)

When we 'enter into' relationship with God, we are entering in light. What has once been 'covered over' by heavy stuff isn't covered any longer. There is no longer a place for those 'dust bunnies' of our selfish or foolish pursuits to exist and multiply. Sin must be exposed because pure light is revealing it - there are no hiding places where pure light exists. Not a trace of darkness can be found in relationship with Christ Jesus - only places of light - places of hope and health in our inner man. We no longer stumble around in the dark, hoping none of our 'dust bunnies' will be noticed. In fact, God takes special care to move all that stuff out of the way that has become 'hiding places' for our sinful deeds - foolishness is about to be 'swept up' and no longer 'swept under the carpet'.

I admitted I have dust bunnies - that is the first step to getting them cleaned up. If we want to actually enjoy a life free of sin, we need to admit we have some places where light hasn't actually been able to penetrate for a long, long time. It is time to 'move the furniture' in our lives so light can actually do its work of exposing. Then we have to allow the broom and dustpan to begin the work of removing the debris that exists in those hidden places in our lives. If you want to liken the broom and dustpan to something 'spiritual', you might think of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit. Each do their work of rounding up those 'dust bunnies' in our lives and ridding us of them once and for all. 

Have you ever used a yard blower? One thing I noticed about those objects is the extreme amount of force they exert to move the objects in front of them. Leaves go flying and dust is raised in wafts all around the one using that device. In truth, all it does is leave the dust in a brand new place! It never really removes the dust - it just upends it from where it was and moves it to a new location. How silly would it be to use a dust blower in our homes? We might have a crumb free floor in the kitchen, but did it remove the stains from dribbled coffee? We also now have crumbs in the living room because they had to go somewhere - they didn't just disappear! I don't know about you, but I want those crumbs gone, not just moved. Just sayin!

Just Don't

Ben Franklin told us, "When in doubt, don't". That isn't all that complex of a formula, is it? We complicate it so much by asking ourselves if the thing we are about to say or do is really all that bad; perhaps it is something God will look the other way on when we do it. The truth is that God doesn't look the other way - ever - so stop trying to talk yourself out of your guilt - just don't do it! 

Clean living before God and justice with our neighbors mean far more to God than religious performance. (Proverbs 21:3)

Far more than - this also says it all, doesn't it? What can you justify with your excuses? I have to ask - is it worth 'far more than' God's presence in your life? I can justify a couple fresh baked oatmeal cookies with "I will walk more this week" or "It is just once". Truth be told - I NEVER stop at a couple. That 'taste' lingers and I want one more - and then one more. The couple leads to a handful!

Sin is kind of like that - the taste lingers just long enough to excite our senses a bit. Then the guilt sets in. We prefer the 'tingle' of our senses to the enjoyment of saying or doing something that we justified as 'okay' at the moment, don't we? The sense of guilt produced by the engagement in whatever we should have left alone lingers probably just as much as the 'pleasure' we experienced in the moment of our indiscretion. 

Worse than that, we attempt to rectify our wrong living with church activities. We volunteer to watch the kiddos in the nursery - doing 'penance' for our wrong actions. We commit to lead a small group in our home, never really opening up about our struggles, but acting like we have absolutely no issues. What does all this religious activity really do? It masks what is hidden just beneath the surface - a sinful life, miserable, and guilt-ridden.

Clean living and justice - two hallmarks of a believer - but does that mean a believer is free of sin? If you have any knowledge of scripture at all, you will yell a loud "NO" to that one. It means we have an active life with Jesus, learning to listen to his voice more and more each day. We know when to not cross the line, but if we do, we also know where we return to find the forgiveness and restoration we so desperately need.

Does that mean we can sin indiscriminately? Just do wrong and then come back for grace time after time again? No, absolutely not - but grace is unending - it is there when we need it. It never gives us license to just 'do' then 'confess'. It gives us hope that restoration is ours if we 'slip up' on occasion, though. The taste of sin might be intriguing for a while, but if we will learn to listen to Franklin's advice, we might just find the 'taste' of sin is observed less and less in our lives. Just sayin!

Blessed when...

You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God. You’re blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him. That’s right—you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set. You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it. Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set; Then I’d never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel. I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways. I’m going to do what you tell me to do; don’t ever walk off and leave me. (Psalm 119:7)

It might be hard for some to appreciate the truth of God 'prescribing' the right way for each of us to live, especially when we think we know the best way to live for ourselves is really what we want above all things in life. When you go to the doctor with your chest on fire and head filled so full of congestion you can hardly see clearly, you might expect a 'prescription' for some sort of antibiotic, cough medicine, and even something to help you breathe a little better. You take that prescription to the local pharmacist, don't you? You take the pills or drink the liquid stuff provided, don't you? Why? You want to get rid of the pain, feel the relief, and enjoy being free to be 'back in the swing of things again'. If we are so willing to use those prescriptions given by the doctor here on earth, why are we so afraid or reluctant to use the one given by the Great Physician? The one that will set our entire life free of all the pain we squirrel away, the relief we need from the fears we have embraced, and the ability to walk free of all of sin's miserable pull. 

You and I are actually 'blessed' by embracing his prescription - salvation through Christ Jesus. We are blessed when we embrace his direction - opening his Word each day, taking in manageable portions, and allowing those portions to begin to 'feed' our lives with life and liberty. We are blessed when we begin to put one foot in front of the other in the direction he leads - no longer content to follow the masses, or strike out in our own independence in the way we think will lead to our 'happiness'. He 'prescribes' the best 'cure' for our lives, but we have to actually 'use' what we are given. We have to do more than know he has prescribed it. If you are like the majority of believers, you make fits and starts in this walk with Christ. Sometimes we are quite steady in our travels with him, while we stumble along at others. The important thing is to 'use' what we are given each step along the way.

Believe it or not, there is a 'pattern' to right living. Think about those prescriptions provided by your doctor when you were ill. You took the pills three times a day, before each meal, or spread out over a certain amount of hours. Some were to be taken with food, others on empty stomach. Some required you to avoid direct sun for a period of time, Still others required you to drink a full glass of water with them. You followed the 'directions' given because the 'pattern' prescribed was what would make you well, correct? Why is it any different with the 'pattern' God prescribes for our lives through is Word? The pattern established is purposeful - each application of truth will bring some element of God's grace and healing into a particular area of our lives - even when we don't realize we are not 'healthy' in those areas. That doctor prescribed multiple medications for your yucky cold because he knew you had more than just a simple cold. You needed congestion removed from your lungs, infection controlled in your nasal passages, and even relief for your ears because of all the clogging of those small tubes in there.

Blessed when...  Did you catch that? It is when we do what he asks or instructs that we are blessed - filled to the fullest, overflowing, and able to give out. Healthy people can be around others - sick people have to 'quarantine' from others - why? They are infectious - their illness can be spread. Wouldn't it be nice to have something other than 'illness' to give out from our lives? We can have that - through embracing the 'prescription' provided by God himself - the Great Physician - the Creator of all things. Just sayin!

Out with the old, in with the new

God, the one and only—I’ll wait as long as he says. Everything I need comes from him, so why not?  He’s solid rock under my feet,    breathing room for my soul, an impregnable castle:  I’m set for life. My help and glory are in God—granite-strength and safe-harbor-God—so trust him absolutely, people; lay your lives on the line for him.  God is a safe place to be.  (Psalms 62:1-3,7-8 MSG)

David had such a personal relationship with God. He was always "My God" to David.  He wasn't just the God of his Fathers, but he was up-close and personal with God. He had developed an intimacy with God, sharing freely of his own heart, and in turn, I believe God shared his heart with him. He points us to the "granite-strength" of God in many of his psalms. He also reminds us to consider the safety of God's protection and covering. These are not foreign concepts as taught and understood by David - somehow he came to know God as his "granite-strength" and "safe-harbor" - probably in the 'thick of life events'. I think David faced some tough stuff in life which exposed him to the inadequacies of his own strength as much as he experienced the need to "run for shelter" into the arms of one who could comfort like no other. We'd do well to take a lesson or two from this man - the man God honors with the words, "A man after my own heart". Maybe he was a man who actually wanted to live life with a "transplanted" heart! You know - the exchange of his own hardened heart with the heart beating afresh with the love and grace of God himself.  

There is much to be said about being at the point in life where you need a heart transplant. In fact, it is a most desperate condition. When the heart is not functioning well, nothing else in our body seems to function at capacity either. Without the constant and steady pumping of blood throughout our bodies, we have no life for our cells, no energy source for our brain, and no carrying capacity to transport toxins to the organs which will assist in their removal. The circulatory system is really like an intricate system of highways and byways - each carrying either life to or "garbage" away from some point within us! When these don't function well, it is worse than the traffic jams on a busy highway in rush-hour traffic! Transplant recipients will tell you that the "exchanged" organ means new life to them. There is renewed energy and capacity - often allowing actions once only dreamed of as possible. The same is true when we exchange our hardened and damaged "spiritual hearts" for the "vitality" of God's heart! We who were so used to producing nothing but death are infused with a newness of life. There is a vitality which gives us capacity beyond our imagining. 

"God is a safe place to be". I cannot improve upon this thought! Yet, we often choose "places" outside of his protection and care. We choose to live with "damaged hearts" instead of coming into his watchful care. Where the heart goes, so does all of our earthly activity.  If the heart is burdened and hurting - the activity we reflect will reveal the intensity of hurt and the crushing weight of the burden. We want new hearts, but we fear the transplant! We hold onto what barely works when offered newness and vitality.  Silly us! In a spiritual sense, the heart is made up of our emotions and is closely tied to our will. If we are used to dealing with our damaged emotions, those "highways" of "good emotions" become blocked by the bad emotions. We see only the traffic jam of the "bad" and not the wide open spaces of the "good". God is "granite-solid". Granite is one of the most durable of stones. It is also widely used due to the durability and impenetrability of the stone itself. I don't know about you, but when I need to make an exchange of this hardened heart for a new one, I want to be able to "stand" on the integrity of the one making the exchange possible. I want to know what I am receiving is "solid" and will stand the test of time! God has proven to be "rock solid" - time tested and true. When we really "get" this, we don't hesitate to "lay our lives on the line". Isn't that what a transplant recipient does? They lay their lives on the line - knowing one "sort of working heart" will be removed before there is any "space" created for another "working heart". To receive the new, they have to be willing to part with the old. To stand upon the solidness of God's grace, we need to be willing to lay our lives down.  Just sayin!

A telescope, microscope, and horoscope

Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything. (Colossians 2:9-10)

A telescope is used to make distant objects - sometimes quite far off from us - appear larger, so we think they are really closer than they are. The term 'telescope' can also be used to describe the placement of one slightly smaller object inside the other, allowing a larger object to be collapsed into a smaller space. Many people think God is so far off that he is not able to be reached. They feel the distance and try to contrive ways to bring him 'closer' without really changing their position. Isn't that the purpose of the telescope? It brings a far off object closer in appearance, but it never changes either the position of the person looking through it or the object of their focus, does it? It is sad to have to say this, but we cannot remain firmly footed in our sinful lives and expect a once a week visit to the local church to bring God closer to us. We never change our position - we just want it to appear that we have!

A microscope makes the most miniscule object appear to us - things that escape the naked eye or could not accurately be seen without the aid of the magnifying power of the lens. The sad fact is that most of us don't really 'see' God as he is - we don't fully appreciate him in all his power and passion. We get glimpses through is Word, but that is merely a microscope to describe what we need to come to experience ourselves. In high school I was introduced to the use of the microscope. We gathered up some pond water, added a few drops to a slide, then placed that slide under the lens of the scope. In short order we were gazing upon these little squirming 'lives' before us. What was so tiny so as to be totally missed otherwise was exposed under the lens. While I got to 'see' the tiny creatures, I never got to experience them. They didn't impact my life. God doesn't just desire to be 'known', he desires us to experience him. 

A horoscope is 'divined' by the use of a chart of the heavens, laying out the stars and planets, looking at certain 'positions' of these objects. I don't know about you, but we can make our minds believe almost anything if the things we 'hear' are something we want to hear. If we hear something contrary to what we want to hear, it can create fear or dread. The prediction of future events through the position of the stars and planets isn't how any of us should determine our behavior. Who created the stars and planets? If we can answer that affirmatively as "GOD", then why are we consulting the creation rather than the creator? God actually discouraged his creation (you and I) from using this type of 'prediction' (Deuteronomy 18:10-14; Isaiah 47:13; Micah 5:12). God ALONE knows the future - to attempt to divine the future through any other means than what is revealed by him to us through is Spirit, the Word of God, and biblical teaching is really dishonoring to God. Our behavior and actions are to align perfectly with his will revealed in his Word. 

God is there for our discovery - not through a telescope, microscope, or horoscope. He will require us to change our position - we draw near and he holds our his arms to welcome us in. He will reveal so much of himself that we won't be fearful we haven't experienced all he has to offer us. He won't allow us to bumble along without direction or purpose, but will open up our understanding and directed in our purpose. The only thing we need is a willing heart - say 'yes' to following Jesus and all the 'scopes' can be discarded. He is there for our discovery - plain and simple - experiencing the depth, breadth, and depth of his love and grace over and over again until we are overcome by it all. Just sayin!

In one ear...out the other

 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. (James 1:22-24)

I have been fooled by a good many things in this lifetime and there are still other things just waiting to dupe me at some point down the road, even my own folly. Since coming to Christ, I'd have to admit my own folly doesn't quite dupe me as it did once upon a time. In fact, even considering something kind of foolish now causes me a moment or two of pause and reflection. I have learned to consider my course - choose my steps a little better than I did in my youth. It certainly didn't come easily, though. Our folly has a loud and continually beckoning voice! It wants one way and that is its own way. Attempt to shut that voice down and you might just realize a battle is about to ensue. 

We all 'listen', but what we choose to listen to may differ quite a bit from day to day, hour to hour, and minute to minute. If you don't believe me, stop right now and think about what you are listening to in the background right now. Some of you have music playing softly, others have a TV announcing out something, and still others will hear the laughter of children at play. We are all 'listening' to some degree, but the 'degree' by which we choose to listen to God's direction in our lives may differ depending upon our distractions, fatigue, and even resolve. Listening is only a small part of this battle with folly - acting upon what we know to be right and true in spite of whatever distracting 'voice' it is we are listening to right now is hard work.

Mom always used that little phrase, "In one ear and out the other", oftentimes describing how it appeared I was listening to her as a young child. She would also use it to describe how I needed to 'dismiss quickly' some of the things I was hearing at school and in my social circles. Remember the words of our parents asking us if our friend jumped from a bridge would that mean we would too? Her aim was to get me to 'dismiss quickly' the things that were pure folly and totally unreasonable for me to be responding to - in one ear and out the other. God doesn't want us to treat his truth this way, though - he'd like us to allow that to get 'trapped inside our heads', until it has a chance to fully affect our hearts.

God knows this battle with foolishness is real for us, so he gives us a great 'clue' in how to deal with folly - listen well. Don't just give his truth a cursory glance and a temporary consideration. Experience it deeply - let it be 'mulled' within your spirit and soul until it begins to change the way we think and respond to folly's loud voice. Acting upon always follows hearing - I think we get that mixed up at times. We think we can just act obediently, then wonder why foolishness was the outcome. We didn't have all the information we needed in order to avoid those foolish steps. We didn't take time to listen intently - truth taking hold so that folly would be exposed for what it really is.

The next time you stand there just taking in things around you, allowing ever 'voice' to have a place in your life, stop and consider where that will get you. There is only one 'voice' we should be attentive to - God's. There is only one truth we should consider before we take any step forward - God's. Plain and simple - we need to stop letting his truth go in one ear and out the other. We need to ponder it over and over again until it begins to expose the folly of our souls. Then we will be able to form the 'actions' we need to take to avoid that folly once and for all in our lives. Just sayin!

Walking the runway

I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love. (John 15:10)

If following an example wasn't above Jesus, why do we think we can live independent of the examples God provides in our lives? Jesus reminded us he loved as his father loved him - he followed the example of what it was to truly love without condition - the way God loves all of us. He modeled unconditional love when he wasn't put off by the leper coming up beside him, or being touched by the woman all considered unclean and impure. He modeled that same love when he endured the beatings, was spat upon, and made his way willingly to the most brutal death you could imagine. He wasn't afraid to model - but he also wasn't afraid to follow a very solid and reliable model. Maybe the importance of modeling isn't fully understood by us, but I will admit it is oftentimes easier to do something when I have observed someone else do it first!

Isn't that what modeled behavior is anyway - someone else doing what we need to do ourselves, leading the way for us to understand how it is done? Even fashion models who glide down a runway, showing off the latest in fashions, turning this way and that? They are showing us how to wear the fashion, what it looks like on a living human body, and how it will accent certain features of our bodily framework. I am not 'model build' by any means, but I know the value of a living, breathing example! That dress looks so much different on a living model than it does on a store mannequin! The chance to see how it moves with the model and where it accentuates certain parts of the human frame gives me an indication of how it will really 'perform' in action.

The models of God's love that are given to us might just be provided because God knows we need to see how love really 'performs in action'. We could read all about love in the Bible, but that is like looking at the dress on a mannequin - we get the idea of what love is supposed to be like, but when we see it in action, up close and personal, we get a much better idea! Jesus tells us love was (and still is) modeled in each of his actions just as God the Father would love. I have to ask - have you observed this same unconditional love in others? If so, you have been privileged to see love in action so you can learn to love in a similar manner. In my realm of work, we have a phrase - see one, do one, teach one. In other words, see it modeled/done; then model/do it yourself; and be ready to teach someone how to do it next. Love unconditionally and see if it doesn't catch the interest of those around you - because when they see something that 'fits the frame' so well, they will want it for themselves. Just sayin!

A little more than Spring Cleaning needed

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. (Romans 5:1-2)

Do you ever get to the spot in your life where life is coming at you so fast you just cannot "pull it all together"? You feel like you are under a mountain of stuff and cannot seem to see any relief on the horizon, much less the solution to the present muddle your are dealing with. I doubt you are in that muddled mess alone! Sometimes we just need a good catharsis to clean out the "stuff" that buried us so deeply! If you have ever gone garage sale hopping, you might have wondered about the people who come, some just shopping for the bargain, but others on a very specific mission - finding the one item they desire or need. Either way, you seek out these sales to unburden the seller of the mounds of stuff they have likely accumulated for which they no longer have any use! You know it is those colorful signs, arrows, and promise of bargains that directs you to the destination. Whether we "stumble upon" the signs, or purposefully sought the destination by following them, we get there! What the seller hopes for is to unburden themselves - what we hope for is to take home the treasure we seek - maybe even one we didn't know we needed. I think salvation is a little bit like this. We hope to be unburdened from the stuff that "clogs up" our lives - God hopes to take the greatest treasure he could find home to be part of his family.

We enter into what God wants to do for us by faith. God has had this gift of grace prepared for us for a long time - we just have to reach out to take hold of it. It is like the people seeing the signs along the roadway to the sale - they had to turn first this way, then that, until they came to the destination of the sale. We often need to pay attention to the signs in life, placed carefully along the paths we travel, designed to draw us into the place we find the greatest treasure of our lives. God did all the preparation - he laid out the course, provided all the neat stuff we would come to experience, and he even prepared a way for us in advance of us even knowing we'd follow that path! When we pay attention to the signs and make the decision to actually follow them, we are doing so by faith. We don't know what awaits us at the final destination, but we trust it will be something awesome!

Sometimes we go about this whole salvation thing from the wrong perspective. We think we can clean up our own act and somehow unburden ourselves of the junk which has accumulated in our inner man. The problem is - we often justify a reason for holding onto the junk (after all, it may have a use down the road). Ever clean your closets and cabinets? You feel pretty good when you do, but trust me on this one - not everyone is thoroughly cleaned out, but many are devoid of the clutter and the "stuff" that we thought we might want to hold onto. Most of us need to realize we might have "cleaner inner cupboards" if we'd let God clean them out! The truth is, we justify the need for some "stuff" in our lives while God knows the "stuff" only clutters us with what only serves to 'complicate' our lives! God is all about creating "wide open spaces" in our lives. His goal in providing for our "emptying" is to allow us to enjoy the sensation of living unburdened (uncluttered). 

If you have ever lived in really close spaces for a period of time, then moved into a bigger space, you might just understand this a little better. When I was in the military, I crammed as much of my "life" into that 10 x 12 foot space as possible. Stereo, shelves, fridge, bunk, desk, chair, locker, and all my worldly belongings. It was crowded. Then I got married and we got a two-bedroom apartment off-base. We had so much space! Then, one day, we looked around and saw we not only filled the space of the two-bedroom apartment, we filled a small storage unit in the basement, as well! Aye! What we did was move from one "cluttered" space into another! Just bigger! That is how we are - we want to "handle" our clutter by getting a bigger space. God wants to clear us out - giving us "grace space". The place where we come to experience his love, enjoy his presence, and really live free of the clutter we have held onto so long. Clutter like unforgiveness, resentment, fear, doubt, and the like are not really that good to keep around. Instead of clutter, we come into God's "grace space" - and a mighty fine space it is! I have come to the conclusion - being "clutter-free" is best! Just sayin!

Filled gaps

Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that. (I Corinthians 1:7-9)

Wouldn't it be nice to "not need a thing"? To be so "set" in life, nothing we could buy or be given is really needed any longer. If you were to ask a child what they "needed", their list of "needs" would perhaps include the latest super-hero characters, a new building set, or an electric scooter/moped - they might include books, clothes of the latest fashions, or more. If you ask an adult, their "needs" would be a little loftier - like a new set of tires for the car, the full collection of new pots and pans for the kitchen, or the shiny new appliance down at the local retailer. We probably have been asked what we want, only to answer back, "I have everything I need. I don't need anything else." It is likely true - we have a lot of stuff! But "stuff" doesn't fill the most important gap in our lives!

You and I don't need a thing - because we've received all we need in the person of Christ. We've got it all! What we often fail to recognize is just how much we have been given in Christ. Some of us only look at Christ as "fire insurance" - a means to avoid hell in the hereafter, but not really having much 'use' for him in the here and now. Others of us see Christ as a nice person - filling us with good feelings on occasion. Still others see Christ as a means to an end - thinking being "in Christ" entitles us to some sort of place of privilege. The issue with each of these "views" is their lack of connection with the work of Christ in our lives. Jesus is indeed our "means" to avoid hell, but we miss out on so much more if all we do is buy a piece of property and never see it developed! 

We might experience some "warm fuzzies" once in a while because we have Christ in our lives - maybe because we experience peace for the first time, or come to a new understanding of his peace settling our fearful hearts in the midst of a place where we definitely needed his protection. To merely focus on the "warm feelings" knowing him produces never helps us to focus on living "above" our feelings. Seeing Jesus as our "sugar-daddy" (the one who we go to whenever we have a need and then expect it to be met just like that) makes us guilty of treating God as our servant - something totally backward to God's plan of us being his servants. All God's gifts are right in front of us. This is the focus, not just that we avoid hell, get warm feelings, or have God at our service. God desires for us see the thing right in front of our eyes which we have such a hard time focusing on correctly. We possess all the "gifts" we will ever need - we just have to become familiar with how they operate in our lives. God is right there alongside each of us - getting us started and seeing us become proficient in their use!

God gets us started - he also sees us through to the end. In many cases, we give God access to "get things started" in our lives, but I wonder how many times we don't leave things alone long enough to let him see it through to the end? We have the "warm fuzzy" experience - but then after life begins to kick up around us again, we don't remember the "warm fuzzy" as much as we "feel" the presence of the present issue. The work God began is still being "worked" - we are just not keenly aware of it if we are just focusing on the "feeling" of the moment. Chances are, the present issue is just another means to bring out something within us where God is focusing his attention. There are two actions of God on our behalf "after" he gives us the gifts: keeping us steady and on track. In giving us the gifts, he knows we need to know how to use them. I have some "toys" (the electronic type) which I have purchased over the years. I learn some of the basic stuff - like how to turn them on, get them to play the songs I want to hear, and the like. Yet, I never really use them to their full potential. I possess a smart phone and Alexa devices - both probably smarter than the user! I don't take the time to find out much about the "other stuff" they can do because I am comfortable with what they already do for me!

I wonder how many times we approach God's gifts this way - not really concerned with how much more they could be developed in us simply because we are content with what we have already experienced. If I only used my smart phone to make and receive calls, I really did not need a smart phone! If I use it to alert me to my next appointments, keep my grocery list in, and be a tickler of upcoming birthdays, I am getting the hang of using it, but still way below its potential. If I actually begin to explore the apps, I may begin to surf the web, purchase a meal on the way home which will be waiting for me as I arrive at the local restaurant pick-up window, and even regulate my home air conditioning for me while away. I am coming closer to using this device as its "designer" intended. Same with Alexa - controlling lights whenever I need them on or off, starting the coffee pot, or changing the channel on the TV at the sound of my voice. God gives us gifts which will only reveal their full potential in our lives when we really nuzzle up to him and learn how to apply them in our lives! Just as with my smart devices, we have to "use the apps and skills" he gives us! The "gaps" in our lives are best "filled" with the gifts of God. Just sayin!

What is your life message?

Did you ever stop to consider why it is the devil comes down so hard on you to convince you who you 'used to be' when you finally begin to believe just who you are in Christ Jesus? He isn't going to be happy when we figure out we are new creations and no longer who we 'used to be', but will use every opportunity to convince us who we were is really what we still are. Where we grow up, who we are surrounded with as we grow up, what we face in the way of encouragement or negative feedback - all these things make up who we believe ourselves to be and what we believe we are 'worth'. We could have been told we are really 'nothing', but God declares us to be 'everything' - but it can take us a long time to realize this. Inadequate, worthless, shameful, insecure - do these words ring true for any of you? They are the words we often hear in our moments of personal doubt and frustration. When we feel inadequate, we oftentimes over-compensate by trying hard to impress someone in our lives - living for the approval of people instead of living from the approval of God. God chose each of us to be part of his family - each of us are given gifts - even when we don't believe what we 'possess' is any form of a 'gift'. 

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

We all have a life message - we are called to live out that message. When we start to live like who we are now in Christ, the devil will be there to tell us who we are NOT. He will remind us of every place in our lives where we fall short of the glory of God in our lives. The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy - those are his three actions in this earth. Steal our joy and hope. Kill our desires and beliefs. Destroy our faith and freedom. Why? He doesn't want us to ever believe we are 'anything' in Christ. He wants us to live out of the discouragement of our hurts - the hurts of the past. He wants us to live in the shame of our past choices - because as long as we do, we are bound to our past and will never enjoy the freedom of our present path in Christ Jesus. If you have had to hit bottom before you ever looked up to find your freedom in Christ, don't let your enemy pull you back into that pit again - you never belonged there in the first place! You don't belong there now!

The enemy of our souls wants us to think we are 'nothing', but God declares us to be 'everything'. Let that sink in a bit - 'everything' is the farthest thing from 'nothing'. He wants us to live out of our hurt - but God wants us to live of our extreme HOPE - the hope we have in Christ Jesus. We are dead to sin - alive in Christ. As such we are alive - new in Christ Jesus - all things old are gone and all things are made new. We are called to better things that our past may have us believing, but when we let go of those 'limiting lies' of our past, we begin to realize just how free we are live in the newness we are called into - no longer bound by the brokenness of our past. Don't live out of the hurts of your past - let God take who you are today (in him) and use it to begin to live out the good works he has prepared in advance for you to do. You may not think that is possible, all because of your past, but IN CHRIST JESUS, all things are possible - even to see yourself as he sees you. No longer seeing yourself as your past declares about you - but seeing yourself as he sees you. Perfect, whole, beautiful, and full of grace. Just sayin! 

Know what NOT to fear

Plato reminded us: "Courage is knowing what NOT to fear." We all probably have those things that we are fearful of, don't we? Last night we had one of those horrendous dust storms with winds up to 70 mph and the many noises you hear when those gusts rip through your neighborhood can send your heart into palpitations! Thuds from pine cones and branches hitting the roof tops, clinks and clunks as small branches and leaves are driven into the windows at speeds that make them mini-missiles, and the noise of wind whipped lawn chairs skidding across the patio. Add to this excitement the timing of the storm at well after bedtime and you get the idea that sleep was not to come easily. Cell phone alerts blaring one out of slumber and then the horrific noise of those winds - my heart took a bit to return to normal rate and rhythm! Did I need to fear the storm? Not really, but I knew enough to appreciate the gravity of it. The yard would be left littered with all manner of debris and the roof stood a chance of shingle damage with that forceful of wind force. There was danger, but did I need to fear it? My house is built well, the trees are kept trimmed, and the things in the yard were fairly well secured. So, not really. Knowing what NOT to fear is most important, isn't it? So many times we think about what we should fear and forget about what we don't need to fear!

God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. (I John 4:18)

There is no room in love for fear - God is love, therefore if we are in him and he dwells within us, love resides there, as well. There is no room for fear to exist because love exists there first and foremost. Let that one sink in a bit today - God is love, you are embraced in that love, saturated in his grace - therefore there is nothing we should fear because love dispels all fear! If you weren't aware - fear cripples - it paralyzes us. Maybe not physically, but emotionally, spiritually, and relationally. We don't want to step out or step up because we are bound by the fear's hold. Emotions get the best of us at times, don't they? How many times have your emotions left you in a place of feeling really silly when you come to the final realization what they told you to fear was not really something to be fearful of after all? I have to be honest here - my emotions have told me to fear many a relationship, opportunity, or challenge - only to come to the realization neither were to be feared at all. I 'bought into' the fear because it played upon my emotions. Fear has a way of doing that - it builds and builds until it consumes our every emotion.

God isn't going to let us 'reside' in fear. In fact, he provides a residence that is free of fear - his presence. Our 'standing' in this world changes the moment we say 'yes' to Jesus. Our stand against the things we had come to fear apart from Christ also changes at that moment in time. Will our emotions seek to convince us there are still things we should fear? You bet - because they haven't learned to trust God yet with the outcome of all things. This is why God tells us not to rely upon the heart's direction - it will hold onto unrealistic and unfounded fear way too long. He tells us to trust him - the feelings follow the faith of trust. That is probably the hardest lesson for us to learn in this lifetime - feelings follow faith, not the other way around. We want to 'feel' something is 'right' and 'good' before we engage in the pursuit of that thing. God oftentimes wants us to engage even when we aren't 100% sure - because he knows our faith is built when we take those steps forward into those places we aren't all that certain about yet.

Hope and despair are two opposed emotions. Hope suggests we aren't all that fearful of the next steps to take. Despair indicates we are a little less secure in our steps forward. We might even feel like our feet are planted in cement because the fear that is inherent in despair is really rooted in us believing we have lost all hope - there will be nothing good to come of any steps forward. Despair makes us want to give up - to not even try. God isn't concerned with our 'trying' though - he is concerned with us 'doing'. Hope directs us to 'do' even if the 'doing' is uncomfortable, venturing into areas that we haven't explored before with God. Know WHAT to fear - know WHEN to fear - know WHO to fear. We never fear God. We never fear his timing. We never fear the outcome because he is in control. He is our sustainer and our strength - our defender and the one who will cause us to stand, even when we aren't 100% sure about the next steps we are to take. Just sayin!

Did you raise intelligent children?

Okay, so how many of you would say your parents raised intelligent children? How about your own kiddos - would you consider them to be intelligent children? Ask most parents that question and you would get an immediate response of a little bit taller posture, a grin appearing on their faces, and a quick "I think we did a pretty great job with them" might come forth. Ask a group of parents with wayward kiddos and you might just get a sulking glance and a little less positivity in their response. Intelligent children are not 'smart' in terms of book-learning, although that might help them get places in this world, but wise in terms of knowing when and how to be obedient to the right set of values or morals. I imagine there were times when my parents looked upon my actions and saw a child acting pretty foolishly - off doing her own thing, oblivious to the 'rules' by which I was to have made my choices. Yet, there were other times I know they looked upon my choices as wise and well-founded. It is pretty much a given that we will make bad choices in life, but what is the pattern of behavior we see? If the pattern is pretty much on the side of living obedient lives, I daresay we have raised 'intelligent children'.

Intelligent children listen to their parents; foolish children do their own thing. (Proverbs 13:1)

God asks for his kiddos to sit up at an attentive stance, taking notice of the things he values and declares to be 'treasures' in his kingdom - then learn to make choices that reinforce those values and keep those 'treasures' from being stolen away from us. Listening requires attentiveness - the basis of obedience is hearing what is being declared to be 'in' or 'out' of bounds for our lives. It requires some degree of willingness to put aside our own wants and wishes at times, but only because giving into every 'desire' of our heart isn't all that wise. There are some pretty silly things our hearts can direct us to do. Don't believe me? Just ask the last person you know who went through a relationship break-up what they were 'listening to' when they went head-long into that relationship. I doubt it was their spirit - it was more likely their emotions! Emotions are 'heart-based'.

God is after the heart - because he knows how much our heart can lead us astray. It pulls at our reason and exercises 'unreasonable' influence over our 'reason'. Hence, we label the behaviors that are primarily emotionally based as 'foolishness' most of the time. Those behaviors don't always work out as well as we had hoped - leaving us 'cleaning up' some form of mess in our lives. It is because we have chosen to do our 'own thing' that we are in the mess, but it isn't that God hasn't raised 'intelligent children'. It is because we have let go of that 'spiritual intelligence' for just a moment or two to pursue something our heart desired the most at that moment. We chose to follow a path of foolishness rather than stay on the harder path of obedience. Not one of us makes wise choices to consistently be obedient 100% of the time - not ONE. Not one of us is above doing our own thing from time to time - leading to foolish outcomes indeed.

If you were to ask me if I raised intelligent children, I'd have to say 'mostly'. There have been those moments when they chose to do their own thing, leading down paths I'd wished they never experienced. For the most part, they know the values and treasures they are to focus on first in their lives, but just like the rest of us, they don't always put those things first. The most we can do as parents is show our children what choices are wise and which ones are not. We can help them discover the values that God treasures and the things he declares of supreme worth. Can we make them always choose those things above their own desires? Absolutely not. We can model, train, and even lead - but we cannot choose for them. God just asks that we raise them to the best of the ability he gives us - then leave the rest to him. Obedience is a heart thing - they will choose with their own hearts and we might not always like their choices, but it doesn't mean we love them any less.

God knows we will choose with our own hearts - but it never means he loves us any less when we choose to follow a path of foolish choices for a period of time. It just means his grace will be needed even more so that we can be restored to the path of obedience once again. Just sayin!

Fight fire with fire? Not!

Over the last several years, the Arizona, California, and New Mexico forests have had their share of challenging fires. Some ignited by man, others ignited by nature, but all very damaging in their effects. Fire has a way of "catching" and "taking hold" quicker than we can imagine. A few week's ago, we had a fire in a neighboring area just outside of the town limits where I live. There were homes lost to the ravages of the licking flames - some for human dwelling, others for the creatures of the desert that made their sanctuary those scrub grasses, cacti, and now scarred juniper trees. The destruction of one spark resulted in the complete devastation of a huge area - leaving nothing but a 'fire scar'. Fire is indeed not a thing to be taken lightly, especially when it might be the result of the words we have spoken!

A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire.  (Proverbs 15:1 MSG)  

Temper-fires are those moments in time when we put on display the heat of our anger or misgiving - sudden outbursts - sparks of passion which can certainly "catch fire" quicker than we realize.  One thing for us to keep in mind is the condition of the mind behind this kind of "fire". It could be it has become a  habit - not a one time deal - but a well-practiced, frequently occurring way of responding to life events that don't go our way. These outbursts are really part of a person's disposition - it is our characteristic attitude when times get tough. It is important for us to realize we come to be known by the impact of the attitude we exhibit under pressure. Where the spirit goes, so do our emotion. Let emotions rule and you end up seeing flames where only a spark may have been! When we say a metal is "tempered", we are referring to a process of adding carbon to steel, so as to make it harder. The purpose of adding carbon to the steel is to make it "abrasive". I wonder if it would be okay to think of our "temper" as making us "hard" and a little "abrasive"? When we begin to see the influence of the "tempering" process, we might just want to see our "temper" become a thing of the past!

Solomon compared the "sharp tongue" as "kindling" a temper "fire". The way metal is tempered is through fire. The way sharpness is produced is by making the metal harder and harder. We will do well to realize the "harder tongued" are probably finding themselves in and out of the fire a lot! Tempering the metal is a process of heating up, cooling down, and heating up again. Isn't this an accurate description of a man's temper? It heats up, quickly cools, then reheats again - almost without warning! 
What are the attributes of a sharp tongue? One characteristic is criticism. The sharp-tongued are those who hurl criticisms quicker than compliments. Ever heard the adage - "it takes one to know one"? The one criticizing us might actually struggle with the same thing we do. They may be unable to see it, or admit it. Criticism is an action of passing judgment - something scripture quickly warns us not to engage in. There is only one judge - God. He is the only one who can see the "big picture", so he is the only one who can weigh the intentions of the heart and know if a man is right or wrong. Since criticism is a form of passing judgment without all the facts, it stands to reason how this can act as a "spark" which results in an all-out fire!  

Another characteristic of the sharp tongue is bitterness. This attribute is often not "seen" as much as it is "heard". Bitterness has a way of manifesting in our words first - actions follow. There is a stinging, almost piercing effect to bitter words. They often display hurt or betrayal. There is an intensity to them which almost comes across as hostile - maybe not toward you, but toward someone in the person's past or present who has done a number on them! Bitterness doesn't develop in a moment - it takes a period of time to take hold. You know, a fire doesn't just spring up - it takes time to take hold, but once it has a hold - watch out! The tendency of the sharp tongue to be sarcastic is another issue. Sarcasm is a form of "cutting words" which are usually masked behind other words. Regardless of how we try to mask the sarcasm, it mocks another. It conveys scorn and contempt. As a Girl Scout, I was taught to never "disrespect" the fire. In other words, be ever aware of the glowing embers. No fire was ever completely out just by kicking a little dirt over it. You had to smother it out! Sarcasm can continue to do great damage when it is "smoldering" and just waiting for the moment to take hold again - spouting out those cutting words as easily as a fire creates its cutting flames!

No wonder God warns us of the sharp tongue! No wonder he likens its effect to a "fire-starter". Remember this - you cannot go in and out of the flames too many times without becoming affected by the flames! At first, you might just bear the tell-traces of the fire, such as the smell of the smoke on your clothes. In time, you will begin to see evidence of the charring effect of the flames. Go in and out of the flames long enough and you will eventually find yourself "converted" by the flames - into something which gives hardness - carbon! Isn't carbon one of the main elements of coal? Don't we use coal to make even more flames? Anyone else seeing a repetitive cycle here? If we aren't the one with the sharp tongue, we likely know someone with one. Either way, God can douse the flames of the fire, but first he has to be joined by the "fire-fighting" team! You cannot do it alone - he must "captain" our fire brigade! Just sayin!

Bigger than life

What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every God-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him makes it. (Psalm 18:30)

I just returned from a road trip that didn't stretch across the loveliest of landscape, nor did it include the best of roadways. It seems every state has a different way of paving and differing priorities for how they will accomplish the task. Some places had potholes, rough surfaces, and barely visible striping dividing the lanes. Other places had that nice sound-proofing rubber overlay that made driving over those places quite nice. We all travel different types of roads, don't we? Some of us get way too many of those bumpy, under-maintained patches, relishing those moments when there is just a short break from dodging hazards and enjoying the ride. We desire the smooth patches, but we develop a certain sense of alertness when we might have to dodge this hazard or the next!

Whenever I travel to the high country, occasionally making my way out of the dry desert lands, I manage to encounter four-legged creatures that like to stand by the roadway and even dart across it from time to time. Those larger than life elk and sweet brown-eyed deer all look so innocent, but when they want to go from this patch of green grass to the next, there is no stopping them. People who drive around these animals all the time know their habits, but I do not. I always slow down, take notice of how they are acting, and observe for the slightest movement that indicates they are intending to dart. I love seeing them, but their presence makes me hyper-vigilant and attentive. Did you ever stop to consider the hazards in your path as those things that may just make you 'hyper-vigilant and attentive'?

Yes, God prepares straight and smooth patches for us, but even the patches that are a little rougher than we might like are 'road-tested' by God. He knows each of the hazards and helps us to become hyper-vigilant and attentive to their presence. We cannot ignore the reality that we sometimes travel paths God never intended for us to travel. Does that mean we aren't going to be alert to the hazards? Not necessarily, but we might not believe any exist just because we don't immediately see them. The thing about the elk and the deer by the roadways is that they 'blend in' with their surroundings so well. Their hides are made so they can hide! The hazards are there, they just don't reveal themselves all that easily to us.

I think that is why God asks us to take the paths he has prepared for us rather than launching off into territories he doesn't really want us to go into - the hazards may be pretty large and come at us unnoticed. If you have ever wanted an argument to support obedience, that may just be one of the best ones. We will always encounter hazards bigger than we'd like whenever we are traveling into areas of disobedience. They won't always be immediately apparent, but they are bigger than life nonetheless! Just sayin!

The badlands

Have you ever stood so close to a river bank, or perhaps the edge of a drop-off of some sort and then watched as the ground beneath you seems to just crack and fall away? In an instant that 'firm ground' you thought you were standing on was taken out from underneath you and you were slipping into an 'unknown' space. I have done both, finding myself covered in mud and wet to the core from slipping into the river, and sliding helplessly down a ravine on my backside until something could stop my descent. Footing is important - it grounds you. I recently explored the area known as "El Malpais" in New Mexico - the site of a large lava flow that has hardened over time. One thing that struck me about the landscape around me for miles and miles was the 'impenetrability' of that hardened lava flow. The floor of the desert was 'locked in' by that lava and as it hardened, it became what some may think of as 'impenetrable'. The most amazing thing has happened over time - there are cracks and crevices all beginning to be revealed. In this amazingly hardened place, what seemed impenetrable is not as 'rock solid' as one may have imagined.

You can’t find firm footing in a swamp, but life rooted in God stands firm. (Proverbs 12:3)

We sometimes take for granted that what appears to be 'rock solid' in our lives is going to remain that way forever and ever. If time and trials are the testers of our faith, then let me assure you there is always room for a little 'fissure' of sorts that can end up making what once seemed 'rock solid' give way. We have to guard against the 'fissures' to our faith. A fissure is really nothing more than the separation of parts. Whenever we allow even the slightest separation of ourselves from God's presence, we begin to feel the effects of the fissure. The distance begins to widen until there is so great of a gap that it seems anything could knock us off our solid footing. Do you know what I observed in those 'fissures' within the lava flows? Desert plants began to spring forth - spiny, prickly, and bitter plants. Where the 'cracks' came, so did 'opportunistic growth'. Sin is like that in our lives - allow a bit of separation between God and us and you will see sin take root.

Do you know what "El Malpais" stands for? The badlands. Do you know why the small rivers of lava flowed freely in this area? The shifting of Rio Grande rift - allowing a 'fissure' of sorts to be created that resulted in the damaging lava escape. Allow any 'shifting' to occur in our stand in Christ and a 'rift' will be created that allows what will ultimately bring damage into our lives to happen. What starts out small may one day consume us, locking us in and holding us beneath its weight. Lava flows in an 'opportunistic' manner - surfacing, then flowing wherever there is no resistance to that flow. What did the natives in that area have to do as the lava began flowing freely in their valley? They had to move to higher ground - out of the path of the lava flow. 

Some of us need to move to higher ground in our lives - out of the path of what will only produce what will come to be labeled as Badlands in our lives. We didn't intend for the fissure to occur, but we don't want to stand around and wait for the things oozing forth from those places of separation to consume us either. Move to better ground - higher ground - a firmer footing. Yes, the ground may harden around us, but it doesn't need to lock us into its hardness and barrenness. We can stand on firmer ground - free of these fissures and barren areas where only 'prickly ' and 'bitter' things can grow. As I stood gazing over those miles and miles of hardened black lava flow, I questioned what was captive deep within it. Not everything escaped unscathed - there were indeed captive victims that did not escape. 

We 'see' hardness and what appears to be very good footing at times, but not everything that appears one way will prove to be as it appears. Test your footing - test the integrity of the structure upon which you base your life. If there is any fissure forming - take action to get back to the place of strong and solid footing. If there has been a deep fissure created by one compromise after another - walk to higher ground today. Don't remain where spiny and prickly, bitter growth occurs. Rise above the barrenness of that 'solid-appearing' stand and enter into the glory of the truly solid foundation only found as we draw near to God himself. Just sayin!

Throw that bucket in again

Joyfully you’ll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation. And as you do it, you’ll say, “Give thanks to God. Call out his name. Ask him anything! Shout to the nations, tell them what he’s done, spread the news of his great reputation! (Isaiah 12:4)

Buckets pulled from the well of salvation? We don't think about where our 'refreshment' comes from sometimes - buckets of grace drawn from the deep wells of salvation are true refreshment to our souls. What is your main 'wellspring'? Honestly consider that question, my friends, for the wellspring we draw from the most frequently becomes that which either deeply refreshes or sadly disappoints. There can be 'tainted' wells from which we draw 'inspiration' for some of the foulest of actions we can imagine. There can also be life-giving wells where we draw in the deepest of refreshment. Both require us to draw from them - we aren't hooked up to them with an 'auto on/off' spigot. We must put down the bucket and draw from the well - whether we draw from the tainted or the good is our choice.

Look at how one draws from the wells of salvation - with pure joy. We find the greatest fulfillment (or perhaps the fullest of buckets) when we draw from the wells of grace. I never really had a well that I had to lower a bucket into and draw up water, but I have seen them. The water is found deep beneath the earth, the deeper the better the water. Thinking upon that idea for a moment, consider the 'depth' of the well from which you have been drawing from lately. It could be a quite shallow well - yielding some form of 'refreshment', but is it as 'thirst quenching' and 'pure' as the deepest well of his grace and love? Not likely. There is something that satisfies, but it isn't as pure as his deeply-drawn grace!

I live in a major metropolitan area, so our water is run through all kinds of chemical treatments before it reaches our tap. The water is 'hard' and needs to be filtered in order to get rid of some of the foulness of the taste those chemical add. The 'water' of God's grace needs nothing added to it - it runs pure and sweet right from the source - his heart. If you have ever tasted 'unfiltered' spring water, you know how cool and sweet it is. It refreshes without anything added to it - because it is so pure. God's grace is pure - nothing we do adds to it and it needs no 'filters' because it comes from the purest source. 

As we draw from his wells of grace, we find our souls begin to cry out for more. Why? Grace has an 'addictive' effect! We want more because there is nothing that satisfies us as deeply as his grace! We find our souls 'refreshed' - made new, transformed, and brought to life again. We find our spirits set on fire - not because his waters of grace put out our fire, but because the wash away all the things that get in the way of his fires burning within us. We find our bodies transformed because the very make up of our bodies if mostly water. As much as we need water for our bodies, there is equally as much need for his 'grace-filled buckets' filling us over and over again. Just sayin!

True Freedom is Not

Cicero said freedom was the power to live as one wishes. I have to challenge that idea a bit today, though. Freedom - true freedom - is not the ability to live as you wish - allowing every whim and fancy of your flesh to rule your life. Freedom is actually living within boundaries - knowing truth and allowing that truth to change how you make choices and what you allow as a response from within your being. Freedom involves the soulish parts of man, but it also is intensely founded on where our spirit man is anchored. If we have never said 'yes' to Jesus, allowing his freedom to be our true anchor, we are likely still living mostly soulish lives - self-centered, self-motivated, and self-fulfilling. We want what we want and we go after it. Cicero would have said we allow whatever force within us to direct our paths - Jesus says we deny self and listen to his voice, conducting our lives within a framework of goodness and grace.

That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God. (Romans 6:12-14)

Sin has a way of telling us there is no real freedom within boundaries, but I would like to challenge that a bit. Freedom doesn't mean an absence of boundaries - in fact, it is best found within the boundaries God establishes in his Word because there is no greater respecter of persons than God himself. If we have been inclined to follow our own desires and fulfill our own wishes in life, we might have realized we don't do a great job of 'respecting' ourselves. In fact, we do a whole of unwise things that don't really reveal a great deal of respect for who we are and what we can be. While living without rules seems like it might just be freedom, it isn't. Imagine a whole group of a hundred people in various cars or trucks of their choosing, all driving the freeway or highway around your home. Now, imagine no speed limits, no dividing lines, and no limitations on which way the traffic is to flow. Is that safe? No, the lines divide so as to give each a safe passage; the limits on speed have been calculated to allow for a good flow of traffic and safe transitions; and the traffic flow divided one way for those lanes is there to get us safely to our destination. Follow the rules and there is safety - live outside of them and there will be chaos.

So, since we’re out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we’re free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! (vs. 15-18)

Some acts destroy freedom, don't they? Think of the last truly selfish thing you did and ask yourself what that action really demonstrated. It is likely you might realize that action left others out, excluding them from the joy of the experience. It is also likely you might realize that one selfish action led to another and another until all the actions of the day or week were really self-focused. In the end, your 'desires' were fulfilled, but what about those around you? What impact did those actions have on others? If you don't think they impacted anyone else but yourself, think again. Freedom to act as we want never affects us alone - there is always someone else observing those actions and they are impacted by our choices. We set the example that it is okay to indulge self, allowing our actions to be dictated by whatever our emotions (feelings) demand. I have to ask a very telling question here - how many times have we 'acted' upon our desires only to feel disgusted by what we did or didn't do? It is likely our emotional actions left us feeling a little down on ourselves. Why? We realized doing 'what we wanted' didn't really produce the results we desired. 

Freedom isn't really living as we want, but rather living within the openness of God's grace and goodness. There are tons of things we can pursue in life, but not all of them will lead into the 'wideness' of God's goodness and grace. When those things we pursue are selfish in nature, they lead away from that 'wideness'. We may not think it will, but trust one who has engaged in many a selfish action in this lifetime - it doesn't really compute to true freedom. It actually makes you feel a little 'bound' and 'captive'. Just sayin!

Abandoned Not

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. 

(Aristotle Onassis)

Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life. (James 1:12)

Think about one of your 'darkest moments' right now. Maybe it was quite some time ago, or perhaps you are just coming out of that place right now. What did you experience as it started, went on for what seemed like an indefinite period of time, and when it finally ended? If your moment hasn't completely ended, you might just learn something from those of us who have seen the end. The darkest moments of our lives are a time of intense focus - they 're-center' us, don't they? There are hard feelings to endure through those times, and even some awful troubles that we have to overcome, but what we all have in common as we walk through these moments is there is no absence of hope as long as we take Jesus by the hand and allow him to bring us through.

Notice I said he would bring us through - not out of in an instant, but in the endurance of the dark moments - he walks with us through them. We meet the challenge and we only manage to 'stick it out' because we have him taking us through step-by-step. Days will seem darker than ever and our emotions will feel like they are about to do us in as we 'go under' for another round of what seems like unending tests and trials, but in that darkest place of emotional upheaval his hand hold tightly to ours. Leading, guiding, never letting us go into that darkness alone - never abandoning us to our grief, despair, or depression.

Our emotions will attempt to convince us otherwise, but God never abandons us in our darkest places. In fact, he is the ever-beckoning light that is breaking through time and time again when we seem to be 'going under' for who knows how many times. Sticking it out when all we feel is like we are going under again is hard for even the most dedicated believer - sticking it out alone is even harder. When we are going through those darkest moments it is easy to draw back, pull in, and be like snails secure in our own little shell of emotional turmoil. This is not going to help the 'darkness' because that shell only creates more darkness for us!

What we need more than anything in the darkest moments when our emotions are crushing us from the inside out is each other! We need that friend who will not allow us to slip into that darkness, feeling abandoned and all alone. That friend who will remind us we don't walk alone - spiritually and physically. God is with us spiritually - they are with us naturally. Did you ever stop to consider why Jesus didn't just call one disciple? He called twelve because he knew in the darkest moments when they would question everything they knew to be true they would need each other to remind each other of the truth! 

So, the lesson we most may need to learn from the darkest place may just be that we don't stand alone - even when we might believe our emotions that tell us otherwise - we aren't ever abandoned by God and he has provided those around us who will help us rise from the pit once again if we don't retreat from their help and strength! Just sayin!

Who's acting here?

 I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him. (Romans 12:3)

The more we try to figure ourselves out, the harder it gets. We do something and we attempt to get down to the rationale behind the action we exhibited. We don't do anything and we try to look deeper into the meaning of the inaction. We are always evaluating ourselves by the outcomes of what it is our action or inaction produces. Is this always the most valid way of evaluating ourselves, though? If we take our text today as truth, then we are clearly not to evaluate self by self - we are to evaluate self by what God does for us and who he is.

God is - what does that phrase conjure up in your mind? Some of us will answer the very 'pat' answers such as the God of the Universe, Creator of all things, and above all other gods. These are Sunday School answers, my friends. We need to get down to the brass tax here and begin to understand God for who he is to us by who he really is and what he has done for each of us. Yes, he created all things - that is an accurate answer, but it isn't the totality of who he is. 

The goodness of grace isn't something we should discount, for it is what makes each of us what we are - whole, complete, and more than just 'in tact'. We can manage to keep our lives 'in tact', but we have a much harder time with making our lives whole - through and through. We try to add 'wholeness' to our lives with some set of actions that we see as 'good' or 'worthy', but in essence we are just doing what we are supposed to be doing - nothing more.

We might want our lives to 'measure up' to some standard all of the time, but we cannot ever get to that point of 'measuring up' to what God can accomplish in us when we give him full access. Full access means nothing held back and that we actually stop 'doing' what we really cannot do for ourselves. Grace gives us footing - grounding, foundation, and purpose. His love keeps us secure and protected. His peace grants us strength where we lack it on our own. These are the things we come to know and appreciate about our God's actions in our lives once we stop acting and allow him to be the one to take action within! Just sayin!

Oh, you aren't all that big after all!

When the sun is just right, even the smallest subject can cast a huge shadow. The object seems to be 'larger that life', even though it is actually quite small. I stop for periods of time and consider things - sometimes stuff others might just not stop long enough, or consider important enough, to think on.  I began to "ponder" shadows as I am currently in a climate where the sun hasn't been out in days, so no shadows have been cast by the sun. The lights in the condo where I am staying are what affords the shadows right now and it is amazing what you can create from simple objects such as your hands and fingers when the lamplight is reflected upon the wall. As you look at the various shadows, you can ponder what you may be seeing and tell yourself many a story that way!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  (Psalm 23:4 NKJV)

Psalm 23 is one of the most "popular" psalms in the Bible because it is so frequently recited at the graveside - from times way back until common day.  As a means of some comfort, the loved ones are reminded God walks with both their loved ones and them, even in the valley of the SHADOW of death.  Now, I don't know if you have ever experienced any death in your life, but as a nurse, I have seen more than my share.  I don't ever recall a literal "shadow", but I certainly see the "results" of a shadow in these times! Shadows require some light, but they also require something to intersect with the light so that the shadow is cast. 

Shadows have a way of appearing out of almost nowhere, not in the absence of light, but because of the light!  No light - no shadow.  The dawning and brilliance of light brings the evidence of the shadows.  Interestingly, taken to the spiritual side of this equation, you will begin to see no shadow exists in your life apart from the light of Christ exposing it because your life 'intersects' with his. Shadows have a way of reflecting something which is really out of perspective.  Consider your shadow at noon.  Because the light of the sun is right overhead, your shadow is very small - kind of like a really squatty version of you!  At 4 p.m., your shadow may be very long, skinny and taller than reality!  Either way, the "perspective" is a skewed image of the real.  You really are not squatty and small - nor are you an elongated version capable of making headlines in the world record book!  In other words, shadows do not always reflect reality.

Since we understand shadows are based on the perspective we might have related to the "light" in our lives, God is reminding us to focus on the one who gives the light, not on the shadow cast because it does not reflect the reality of the circumstance.  Shadows reflect something real, but just out of right perspective.  A mirror does a much better job of reflecting an image, but it is still not three-dimensional and does not reflect reality.  A shadow only shows us one dimension - limited perspective of reality, just as the mirror. To only focus on the image we see in the mirror, or the one cast in the shadow, will lead us to interpret things from the limited perspective we have.  

We see the "hugeness" of the shadow and assume the "thing" we are viewing is greater than we can overcome.  Our psalmist reminds us, we walk THROUGH the valley of the shadow - it doesn't consume us, it doesn't hold us captive - we get through it when we focus on the light which illuminates and exposes the shadow, not the other way around.  We need the "three-dimensional" viewpoint - only God holds this vantage!  As we begin to see what "casts" the shadow, instead of the shadow, we gain perspective.  Look in the opposite direction of the shadow and you will see the light!

A shadow is merely a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by a body intercepting light.  Get it?  When we actually see something intercepted by light we are seeing the light "stopped" by something in its way.  The shadow is the result of the light coming into contact with the obstacle.  If all we see is the shadow, we will never really understand the object being reflected by the light.  We see some "image", but it may appear larger than life!  I wonder just how many things we "view" from the perspective of "larger than life" simply because we are considering the "shadow" and not the object itself?  Just sayin!

Loads worse than...

When I walk into the thick of trouble, keep me alive in the angry turmoil. With one hand strike my foes, With your other hand save me. Finish what you started in me, God. Your love is eternal—don’t quit on me now. (Psalm 138:7-8)

I am one of those individuals who likes to do things for myself, sometimes to my undoing what I have done a couple or more times until I get it right. It has been a hard thing for me to trust God with stuff I think I can handle on my own, but hear this confession for what it is worth - whenever I do it on my own, there is a whole lot of 'undoing' that needs to be done! I walk into the thick of trouble a lot of the time and forget who exactly is to be in control of the situation! If you are like me, you are ever so grateful when that one hand wards of the evil and the other one grabs you up and wraps you into those arms of protection so desperately needed.

God isn't finished with me yet - how about you? I would like to propose that if you are still breathing air in on this earth, God isn't finished with the work he has begun in you. That means we are all in this together, my friends - getting this dependency upon God rather than ourselves down pat. Until that time, we are likely to go through moments where we take things on we shouldn't, remembering all to late that God wanted us to trust him to guide us through that stuff rather than us doing and undoing it all ourselves. Our psalmist says it well - "keep me alive in the angry turmoil". Isn't a great deal of that angry turmoil the result of us having to 'undo' what we messed up in the first place?

Finish what you started depicts something else - God began something - got us off on the right foot - but then somewhere along the way we took over. He started us off right - but somewhere we made the choice to take things into our own hands and attempt to 'walk' without any really 'trustworthy direction' in our lives. I cannot cop a 'not guilty' plea on that one, for I am far more stubborn than you might think. If you look at the many things I have had to 'undo' in this lifetime, you will soon see there are many moments God started me out in the right direction, but somehow I took the reins and 'missed the mark'. At every one of those twists and turns, I have had to ask God to finish what he started.

Does he hold this against us? Not at all - in fact, he embraces us in his grace and sets us up again to move in the right direction. If you are sensing God's tremendous patience with some area in your life that you find you are constantly 'taking the reins out of his hand', don't be discouraged. He still has one hand outstretched to ward off the bad that could come from that mistaken trust in ourselves and his other one is wide open to grab each of us back up into his arms of grace. We might not appreciate his presence with us, but if he were not there, the 'angry turmoil' we might experience would be loads worse! Just sayin!