Draw near and be filled

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 burgeons! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Did you realize we glance over words as we read text - mostly because our brains are good about picking them up without us really 'looking' for them - interpreting them quickly and then moving us onto the next ones. We don't have to read each individual word to get the "gist" of what is often being said, but we may miss out on something if we don't! This is why I insist on taking scripture "in context", rather than pulling out a verse or two and hanging my hat on it. The "context" gives us the substance we'd otherwise just "glance over". Paul lays out the basis of hope in Christ Jesus. He begins this chapter with a discussion about a particular hope we all have - resurrection. In fact, he goes so far as to proclaim we get new bodies! I don't know about you but having one free of aches and pains seems pretty awesome to me! Then he reminds us we don't get to "see" this "transition" from our earthly to our heavenly bodies right now, but it is a hope which keeps us going. Then he transitions to the point of telling us to keep a solemn remembrance of having to give an accounting 'one day' for our actions TODAY. It is the here and now where we need to focus, because today has a purpose - we have been given this day by God himself. We come upon this promise or hope of a new body, a resurrected spirit, beckoning us to allow the work of God in our lives today - so we capitalize and enjoy the fresh start we have been given in the here and now.

Newness of life - the old is gone, the new life is beckoning us to step out and take territory yet unclaimed in our lives. This is the condition we find ourselves in today as believers in Christ Jesus. Each new day is a chance to experience anew the goodness and fullness of God himself. It is only as we draw near to God's heart that we experience fully the newness God intends. God is reminding us it is the work of Christ to "bring us into" this newness he intends - it is not our own. This is where we often get things all mixed up - we think it is our responsibility to get the "old man" dead and the "new man" perfectly alive in us. Nope! It is his work! Our part is to yield to the hand which seeks to do the work of re-creating us.

You have heard me speak frequently about "connection" - for connection determines the output we have in life. If you buy a hose, but never connect it to the water faucet, what use is the hose. You could use it as a "rope" of sorts, but it was not made to be a rope. It was created to be a "conduit" of sorts - carrying something from point A to point B. To use it any other way is to veer from the "manufacturer's specifications" for the hose! The same is true of us - we were made for connection with God. To veer from this is to "void" the manufacturer's specifications for our lives! We can have a hose fully connected to the faucet and still not have it function as it should - simply because the faucet is still in the "off" position! Connection is only "valuable" when there is a free flow from that which we connect to in the first place! Just "knowing" God is not nearness - we might make the connection, but if we miss out on the "free-flow" of his grace, power, and purpose in our lives, we miss out on the whole purpose of the connection!

There are times when I hear people talking about needing a fresh start. Their lives just haven't "added up" to what they hoped for when they set out on a particular path, or perhaps the path they are traveling has become a little stale. This is part of growth - we want a new start at times because the old just hasn't "panned out" quite the way we hoped. Most of the time it is not because the path was wrong, it just doesn't excite us and cause us to "dig deep" any longer. We change jobs, find a new house, or even look for a new relationship - all in hopes of 'finding newness'. What we fail to recognize is that "newness" is only cultivated when there is "nearness". Accomplish the "nearness" part and the "newness" part will always be close behind! James 4:8 reminds us to draw near to God and he will draw near to us. The "nearness" gives us the connection - the newness is a result of the free flow of his grace into our hearts. The conduit is the spirit of man, connected to the Spirit of God. Rather than constantly flitting here and there looking for something to give us newness in life, we'd do well to draw near, becoming firmly attached to that which promises filling beyond our wildest dreams! Just sayin!

You 'wear' that differently

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for." (Matthew 5:5,7)

In the older translations the word for meek was used to indicate a person was humble and patient with others. Most of us really don't use the word "meek" or "meekness" in our vocabulary all that often today, opting for the more commonly used word "humble". Mercy seems to be something we pretty much understand - at least in theory, if not in perfect practice yet in our lives! Now, you may not have seen either word in these passages, but if you go to a more "traditional" translation, you will observe: 5 Blessed are the meek (the mild, patient, long-suffering), for they shall inherit the earth! and 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy! Jesus says we are blessed (happy, joyous) when we become content with just who we are. We enter into a state of no longer trying to keep up with everybody else, being settled into the place where God has us, and just enjoying it to the fullest. Meekness is really the result of being right where God wants us and doing exactly what God wants us to do. We find our behavior is the result of the inner working of God in our lives. There is an inward "tempering" of our spirit that helps us accept everything God is doing in our lives as "good" - even when it may not appear so on the surface. 

When we see meekness in another, we see the ability and willingness of the person to accept God's dealings without disputing them or putting up a ton of resistance. It is more than being "resigned" to what God is doing - it is being intentional in the pursuit of what he is doing, because we know the activity of his Spirit in us only produces the best results, even when the journey may get a little "rough". Meekness in today's vernacular is really what many will call "self-control". This trait is not weakness, or the absence of a backbone. It is the evidence of inward power - the type of power that does not come naturally to any of us. It is the result of the inner working of Christ in us. It is the reliance upon the limitless resources of his power within. When we exhibit true meekness we are showing less "self-assertiveness" or "self-interest". We are revealing "control" of self - not self in control. Many times people equate meekness with weakness - like someone just standing there and "taking it". It is just the opposite, for meekness is really "active participation" in resisting the urge to take control and doing things our own way.

Mercy is "partnered" with meekness simply because we learn the lessons of mercy most in the midst of learning the lessons of meekness! In fact, as we journey through the things God wants us to walk through with him in order for his power to be revealed in us, we find we need a whole lot of his mercy to embrace the actions of meekness being produced. Self will rise up repeatedly, resisting the actions of God - we need mercy to put self back into place! I think we believe mercy is just needed for dealing with sin in our lives. The truth be told, we need mercy each breath we breathe! Mercy is what helps us relate to the goodness of God and it is what helps others see the goodness of God in our lives. Mercy is the trait of being "cared for" and then sharing an equal amount of care for another when they most need it. It is the trait we sometimes equate with "empathy" - being compassionate with others who often struggle with exactly the same things you have or are presently struggling with. We often "behave" in a manner quite the opposite of being merciful, don't we? In fact, when we see the behavior in another, we often are critical of it. Letting God express his mercy in our lives is one thing - extending the same mercy to another takes it up a notch!

We need to continuously look at mercy in conjunction with meekness. When we begin to realize ALL go through the same struggles of dealing with our "determined self-will", we might begin to recognize the behavior in another as simply a manifestation of the same things we might have already "struggled through". We probably "resisted" a little at first, leaning heavily on God's grace to help us through, and we needed a whole lot more mercy each step we took toward breaking free of that struggle with our "self-will". As we actively participated with what God was doing in our lives, we began to see the evidence of God's "re-creating work" in us as meekness began to take root. In the course of time, responding to what God was doing became easier and we actually "resisted" less. The thing is, we all go through this similar "up and down" kind of struggle until the change is evident. Repeatedly we will need to lean upon the mercy of God and others. Repeatedly we will need to rely upon the "strength" of meekness learned in our last lessons to get us through our present. Meekness is really a "strength", not a weakness. Mercy is really the ability to live above being critical of self and others, because we all are going through the same stuff, the outward appearance of the struggle may just look a little different. Just sayin!

Go ahead - - - act out!

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God. My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love! (I John 4:7-12)

Love is the one character trait that stands as the loudest evidence of being born of God. It is impossible for a man or woman to be a child of God and not love, for where God dwells, there is love. There is something we can glean from examining God's love for us - his sacrificial, pursuing, and purposeful love. If we are honest, if God had not pursued us, we'd probably still be doing our own thing - not even realizing how 'lost' we truly are apart from his love! Love pursues what it sets its heart on - God set his heart upon us and therefore, he has pursued us since he made us! His love is sacrificial and purposeful - there is nothing quite like the sacrifice he paid for our sins - his dear Son. There is an "aim" to his love - to remove the damage sin has done within us. His love is purposeful, for purpose suggests intent and aim. Maybe this is what love is really like when we come to fully understand it - there is involvement of the full heart, total mind and whole spirit, not just emotions!

Look at the actions of love - what love "does". It sets about to set right what has been damaged through sin's presence in our lives. Maybe this doesn't seem all that significant at first, but throughout scripture we are told to remedy rifts in relationships, forgiving one another their faults, even when they don't "deserve" it or "seek" it. We are told to be peacekeepers, guarding our tongues so we don't speak rashly - constantly being aware of the power in our words. Even in our own lives, we are told to turn from what has pulled us down and left us empty, then to turn toward the only thing which can keep us standing and fill us to overflowing. We are called to be engaged in this work of "setting things right" - those things that have damaged each of us in some respect. 

Love exhibits loyalty. There is a faithfulness to love - not only in our words, but in our actions, as well. There is an allegiance which is inherent in love - the pledging of oneself to another. God did this as he pledged himself (and his Son) to pursuing us. The same should be true of each of us - we are to pursue not just those who give love in return, but those who have no idea what it is like to experience the level of commitment and allegiance which are characteristic of those who call themselves Christians. Loyalty is exhibited in actions - not in our words alone. There is a willingness to be there for the long haul. Nothing bespeaks love more than standing alongside someone even when they aren't at their "lovable best". Love is also very liberal. It is generous to a fault - it thinks outside of self and considers the needs of others first. Sometimes I think we consider living a "simple" life as kind of boring or lacking in excitement. The simpler my life becomes, the more I find I am able to be liberal in my love. Generous hearts are liberal in their love because they know by giving out, they get more than they'd ever be able to contain anyway! Liberality is not "on impulse" - it is a lifestyle. This lifestyle is born in the times of fellowship with Christ - enjoying his liberality in our lives first makes us more able to share with liberality in the end.

It listens to the Holy Spirit's leading. There is something foundational to love - truth. We only come into truth through the actions of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As we are led by the Holy Spirit INTO truth, it changes the way we interact with others - there is a level of consideration and compassion that is evident because his leading has created a changed heart. It is lowly in its actions. We don't use this word too much today in "conversation", but it really is another word for humble. Love is evident in a lowly heart, not because it thinks "low thoughts" about self, but because humility produces actions contrary to selfishness. When people begin to behave without selfish intent, love comes through. Love is indeed a trait we all need to have evident in our lives. Don't lose sight of what I said to begin with - it is the evidence that we have Christ in our lives - nothing speaks louder or more consistently to those who need lives set right than the love of God in full action in a believer's life. Just sayin!

Well-Dressed

Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath (passion, rage, bad temper) and resentment (anger, animosity) and quarreling (brawling, clamor, contention) and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, with all malice (spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind). And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32)

Most of the time, we are probably pretty helpful people, but have you ever just looked at someone and thought, "They made their bed, let them lie in it for a while"? If you have, then you are probably like me, struggling with kindness on occasion. There is a fine line between kindness and enabling. Sometimes I think we "stretch" this kindness thing way too far - almost enabling another to act in a certain manner repeatedly simply because they can count on our benevolence in the end. There is definitely a precarious "balance" we must consider when looking at the character trait of kindness - one which we might just come to call "tough love". In our passage, we find a list of do's and don'ts which we might have to consider in order to understand this concept of tough love. When Paul was writing to the Ephesian church, he had an intent in mind - they needed to learn to dwell together in unity. There was a lot of "melding" of different "styles" of religion back in the time he penned these words - some came from the orthodox Jewish background, others new to this whole "faith" thing kind of 'worshiped' in ways not previously considered 'holy' by the Jewish believers. Trying to get a group of people to come together, moving in the same direction, and then staying that way is really hard work! He penned some instructions of what we call "family life rules" - to be in this family, you and I have to be diligent to keep the "rules" which allow for the family to be strong and dynamic.

Here we see some things which clearly do not demonstrate a spirit of benevolence (kindness) - bitterness, indignation, wrath, resentment, quarreling, slander, and malice. A laundry list of "bad traits" which certainly do not lend themselves to keeping unity in any relationship experience! To this litany of "bad traits", there are traits which are to be "put on" in place of these "destructive" ones - usefulness, helpfulness, kindness, tenderness, and forgiveness. This is a principle frequently observed in scripture - you "put off" one thing, you "put on" another. To just "put off" leaves a void begging to be filled. If it is not filled with the right stuff, it gives room for the "wrong stuff" to refill the void and even to take over more "space" than it previously occupied. Kindness might be seen as mildness, gentleness, and affection. Put off bitterness or resentment / put on affection - it is impossible to have true affection for anyone when there is bitterness or resentment in your heart. At the root of affection is devotion - try devoting yourself to another you are holding a grudge against, and you absolutely cannot do it! Put off indignation, wrath, and malice / put on gentleness. When you think of gentleness, you have to go right to the core of this trait - mercy and grace. If you want to move toward that which produces peace in a relationship, you often have to extend a whole bunch of mercy and grace because we all do things which get at the other person once in a while!

I don't think kindness comes naturally to us - it is definitely a character trait which must be developed as the grace of God comes into our lives. The more we embrace grace ourselves, the more likely we are to extend it to others when they most need it. How do we get to the place where kindness becomes the normal way of responding to life's events and the people who create them? It goes back to the "action" of putting off and putting on. We must "rid" ourselves of the traits which actually do nothing to bring unity in relationships. We choose to "put on" anger - we can equally choose to "put on" kindness. It is like selecting the wardrobe we will wear for the day - it is a conscious decision. We select the pants, the corresponding top which compliments the pants, and then find the shoes which best complete the outfit. It is a "package deal" - the "outfit" works because each part compliments the other. It is the same with the character trait of kindness - it fits because it complements the other character traits it supports, like mildness, gentleness, and affection.

We often don't change our clothes until we realize they are soiled. The same is true of our relationship "traits" which we carry from one relationship to another - often unaware of how we have been soiled by what we have been through. Bitterness, resentment, and the like are really "acquired dirt" - we allow the "dirt" of a relationship gone awry to get worked into the "fibers" of our life. Before long, we are sporting filthy character "attire", often oblivious to just how dirty we have become. When we take a good look in the mirror, we see the filth. This is what a good look into scripture will do for us - it reveals the dirt which has become ingrained into the fibers of our character. Equally so, it also helps to show us what needs to be put on in the place of this "soiled" fabric of our lives. We just have to take the first look - God does the rest. No one changes what they cannot see - so getting a good look into God's mirror will help us realize what needs changing. Stay in the closet long enough with God and you will come out with an entirely new wardrobe! Just sayin!

Bullies cannot get us down

Train me, God, to walk straight; then I’ll follow your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind; then, undivided, I’ll worship in joyful fear. From the bottom of my heart I thank you, dear Lord; I’ve never kept secret what you’re up to. You’ve always been great toward me—what love! You snatched me from the brink of disaster! God, these bullies have reared their heads! A gang of thugs is after me— and they don’t care a thing about you. But you, O God, are both tender and kind, not easily angered, immense in love, and you never, never quit. So look me in the eye and show kindness, give your servant the strength to go on, save your dear, dear child! Make a show of how much you love me so the bullies who hate me will stand there slack-jawed, as you, God, gently and powerfully put me back on my feet. (Psalm 86:11-17)

Character traits are the things that actually "reflect" better than any "image" we see of ourselves in the mirror on our wall. Justice and Joyfulness are two such traits - ones that must be purposefully cultivated, or they just won't be there naturally. Justice is really another way of saying we live in such a manner so as to display right conduct, not just when it suits us, but all of the time in all of our dealings on this earth. We are to be equitable in treating others as God has treated us. This seems a little too easy for us to simply respond, "Check", and move on. Let me assure you, living "just" lives is a lot harder than some of the other traits we might develop over time! Because it deals with the behaviors of others, often in reflection of the way they have treated us, it is one of the hardest ones to master! In society today, the "bullies" are abounding. Do you know what a bully is? It is someone who "badgers" another person because they think the other person is actually WEAKER than they are! They see the other person as "smaller" or "less significant". Isn't this just the way people who don't serve the Lord see Christians? They almost shake their head in disbelief that we'd need some kind of "crutch" like Jesus to get through life! Let me assure those of you who might have been told Jesus was some "crutch" you needed in life - he is life itself, not just some "support" we lean upon because we are momentarily lame!

The times when "justice" becomes evident in our lives are those when our fellow men see an area of "weakness" in our lives as an opportunity to focus their attack. Most of us already know very well where our areas of weakness are, and we have something our enemy doesn't know about - God's strength manifest in the very spot our weakness shines through! Don't bemoan the bullying of your attackers - see their attack as the very moment God will be totally on display in your life. Justice will prevail - first in your own life, and then in your dealings with those who seek to intimidate, demean, tear down, cause havoc to abound, and just simply make your life miserable! Learn to rely upon the one thing which always remains consistent - even in your inconsistency. That one thing is God's character - his grace, kindness, gentleness and even his power. Ask God to set YOUR path straight - to have YOUR mind and heart put together, undivided and determined. This is where justice begins - with us being set straight! When our hearts and minds are blameless, we stand strong in the midst of whatever the "bullies" throw our way. We will not be dependent upon the circumstances of life in determining what gives US happiness in life - we will be joyful in the justice of God, first toward us, then toward our enemies. Go ahead, ask God - 'make a show of how much you love me, God'. Have you ever faced some of the toughest enemies of your life and prayed that God would just put himself on display in your life in all his fullness and glory? When you do, he is honored to answer that prayer!

Justice and joyfulness really are inter-related, just as so many of our other "character traits" come to be 'related'. Whenever we begin to see our weakness as God's opportunity, we also might just count on our "bullying" friends to see it as their opportunity to attack where we are the weakest. In those moments of attack, God is really putting us together, giving us the integrity to stand strong, and letting his justice shine through. In those times, we stand in joyful awe of what God does, how he uses us to shut down the bullies, and just how much power he puts on display where we only saw the extremes of weakness. Our psalmist notes it is God who will "put him back on his feet". This might just indicate every "pushing around" we get from the "bullying enemies" in our lives won't leave us standing quite as strong as we hoped. In those times, take heart - God is there to help you back onto your feet when you get 'pushed down'. Relationship "bullies" abound - some push us down a little more than we'd like. God stands at the ready to help us back up on our feet again. We only need to rely upon his outstretched hand to pull us up. Financial "bullies" taunt and toy with us - his providing hand is at the ready. Health "bullies" plague us with worries galore - his carefully tender hand is at the ready to soothe our pain and ease our worries. We do "get down" in life but remembering there is a difference between happiness and joyfulness may just be the key to where we look when we are "down". We may be down, but not for the count! Just sayin!

A brilliant display indeed

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. (Romans 12:9-12)

Integrity and Intensity don't seem to fit together all that well, but they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually complement each other. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it." God asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it). They are indeed integral to each other. At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within. I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye. In the most literal sense, integrity is a state of wholeness - speaking to the "entirety" of something. God is asking us to make our expression (action) of love complete - thorough, lacking nothing, completely undiminished in any way. Nothing stands in its way of expression. We may think of intensity as something which burns hot - has some gusto to it. It is a focusing of energies - what is produced is more powerful than when energies are unfocused. It includes the idea of height and depth - for something with intensity is sharpest when it is focused. For example, take a regular light bulb and put it in a lamp. The light gives a glow to the room. Now, put a spotlight bulb in the same socket and what happens? There is light for the whole room, but the intensity of light is in the direct line of the "focused" light of the bulb. What makes the bulbs different? They add a "mirror" effect to the spotlight bulb to get the light to focus in a direct path. Begin to think of intensity as being focused, intent, and directed.

Intensity and integrity come as we run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. We are repeatedly reminded the importance of focus - running from evil, turning toward what is good. The integrity we must maintain in doing this is as though our entire life depended upon this action. What we run toward determines the outcome of our pursuit; how we run toward it determines how quickly we will attain our pursuit. Are you getting how these two traits are related? Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. We all burn out at some time or another. Why? Maybe the pursuit was not right for us at the time - we were simply running after something, focusing our energies on it, without thought of whether it was the right thing for us, the right timing, or with the right intent. When we do this, we find ourselves kind of running on a hamster wheel - just spinning and spinning, but not really getting anywhere. There is nothing more exhausting than just spinning your wheels. How do we avoid burn-out? In the first place, burn-out is never God's fault - it is ours. We didn't keep the right focus. Being vigilant to consistently evaluate our focus is paramount to avoiding burn-out. When a pilot is going from point A to point B, his eyes are on the gauges - not just the wings of the plane. He could focus intently on the wings, but if he never notices he is nearly out of fuel, he will find those wings do him little good as he is plummeting toward earth! The gauges show him his air speed, the fuel remaining, the altitude he maintains, the pitch of his wings, and his direction. We have some similar "gauges" in our lives we'd do well to watch with diligence!

What gauges do we have? We have the gauge of our time - what are we giving our time toward? Most of us "spend" our time - God's method of operating is to "give" our time. We have the gauge of our emotions - when we find ourselves getting a little frazzled or fraying around the edges, it may just be time to pull back a little. We have the gauge of our inner spirit - giving us a little "check" here and there to remind us that our "prayer" (communication) gauge is a little low. We need to make connection with the one who refuels us - so when our prayer gauge sends off a warning light, we likely need to get connected again! These are just some examples of what we have been given as gauges. You will likely think of others. Let God show you those which often "scream" their warnings in your life the loudest. When you identify them, begin to see how they relate to your focus and your intent. Remember the light bulb? They both serve the purpose of casting light into the room. Each has an effect - but only one does it with intensity. The gauges can help us to focus so our intensity allows for a brilliant display of God's light from within. Just sayin!

How's your appetite?

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. (Matthew 5:6)

If hunger is one of your character traits, humility will follow, honor will be your adornment, honesty will be your way of doing business, hopefulness will spring from your heart, and holiness will be evident in your words and actions. Hunger really is an all-encompassing thing we cannot live without! We find Jesus climbing a small mountain or up onto a hillside. The crowds were gathering, and this gave him a position to speak to the vast crowd. He did not climb alone - those who were "apprenticed" to him, the committed, climbed with him. In other words, those who were in service with him. These were his disciples - those who would be in for the long haul. Then Jesus assumed a new "posture" as he began to teach - he sat down. This suggests a place of comfort and a time of personal sharing. As he began to teach, it wasn't the crowd he addressed his remarks toward, but rather his "climbing companions". It was those who were committed to the long haul he sat with that day - opening up his heart and sharing his treasured teachings. They were ready to receive from him - expectant for what he might share. This is the most important part of "hunger" - there is a desire to receive because there is an intensity of need. They come expectant to find that which will satisfy their hunger for truth. We cannot miss their posture - they sat down. This is more than a casual pursuit for them - it is not fast food! They are assuming a position which suggests they are there to receive - not just get a "quickie" infusion of spiritual advice! Then Jesus begins to "deliver" their "meal": “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." - This may not seem like the way to open up a good "meal" but think about what he is saying here - when you are hungry enough, you are empty! Emptiness is the opportunity for filling.

“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you." - loss leaves us empty, but through loss, we are free to embrace things new to us. Hunger is built in the times of loss - for we move from being comfortable, to beginning to seek something to satisfy the longing of our hearts. “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought." Hunger moves us because we are no longer content with the quick fixes or the tidbits of 'spiritual stuff' we take in to fill the space inside. It is not until we realize what really satisfies our hunger that we are content in "being filled". “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat." Hunger drives you because it is associated with a feeling of weakness. The body is uniquely designed to "crave" that which it needs most. The spirit of man is similarly created to "crave" that which satisfies the inner longings of a searching heart.

He reminds the disciples about weakness. I think this is because weakness is an innate part of hunger - it is the evidence of need. Until we recognize our need, we don't stop to be fed. Until the disciples sat down, they weren't in a position to really feast upon what Jesus would provide. I think the same is true for us - hunger drives us to his feet, but intensity of need (weakness) compels us to actually sit down long enough to take in what we have need of. Did you ever stop to consider the root word for hunger? It carries the meaning of being "dry" or "burning" with need. Hunger is a place of dryness. There is a burning for something more. In this respect, it brings us to the place of filling. Maybe this is why Jesus sandwiched this right between being empty, at a sense of loss, and ready to be filled with what really matters. “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for." When we are filled, we have something to give out - fullness actually produces something for others. “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." In being filled "inside", there is something evident "outside". “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family." There is just something about gathering around the place of nourishment, sharing a good meal with others, isn't there? In those moments, something happens - the doors open to communication, intimate exchanges occur. The place of filling actually becomes a place of exchange.

“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom." You may not want what you are fed, but in learning to appreciate the provision you receive, you learn to see it as the bounty which will sustain you. Hunger is a powerful thing - being in a position to be filled with what really satisfies is a matter of settling in for the feast. Hunger gets you to the table, but emptiness and weakness gets you to sit down long enough to be filled. Just sayin!

Now, that's awe-inspiring

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. (Colossians 3:15-17)

Have you ever been around someone who really has a grateful heart? Their gratitude just comes through in everything they do because it is a lifestyle, not just an attitude. Another word for gratitude is gratefulness. I sometimes call this being "grace-full". Grateful people have a way of exuding grace in some of the most unlikely ways, don't they? God is focusing us on something which keeps people together - "staying in tune with each other". In other words, we don't always choose our own path and just plunge down it without regard for the feelings and needs of another. We call this being "graceful" - there is a "beauty" inherent in the movements of people who are 'grace-full'. They look beyond themselves and see those God has placed in their path. They "give the Word of God room in their lives". What happens when God's Word actually gets into the nooks and crevices of our lives - it challenges us, convinces us, and eventually changes us. We become people full of grace!

A natural outflow of truly experiencing grace in your own life is to develop the complimentary trait of being grateful. Having been deeply affected by the grace of God, we find it affects us deeply and we have to give expression to things which touch us so deeply. If we are in the habit of burying our emotions, this expression of gratitude might be just a little muted, but it is there, nonetheless. Gratitude is really an attitude - it is not something conjured up - it stems from within. Grace moves upon us - gratitude comes from within us. It is the outflow of grace. I think of this as grace priming the pump for a tremendous outflow of amazement, awe, and adoration. Gratitude is the basis of worship - for we truly don't worship what we are not thankful for in our lives. Since gratitude is the basis of worship, we appreciate what we have, so when it is gone, we mourn its loss (we don't have an attitude of gratitude).

Gratitude is really based upon the actions of grace in our lives. As God moves upon us, we experience his movement - the "outflow" should be gratitude. Yet some of us have a tough time with this trait - our attitude kind of stinks. We get into this issue of "comparing" ourselves with others and when we see they "get" something better than we do, or seem to be "getting along" better, we get a little down in the dumps. This is the sad thing about comparing - it changes our attitude toward what it is we DO have! We have to "cultivate" this attitude of gratitude - it takes effort to maintain our focus on what God is doing in US and not looking to what he is doing in OTHERS! I can be encouraged by your blessing, but the very moment I begin to cross-over into the space where I start to wonder "why not me", I move into envy. Envy destroys gratitude, and it limits the actions of grace in our lives. It is to be guarded against. "Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life." (Galatians 6:4-5) Gratitude focuses on the grace we have been given, sinking deeply into the place of appreciating even the smallest hint of its work, and then enjoying it with all the gusto we have. We can be excited about what God is doing in the lives of others - in fact, we are told to celebrate with them. We just need to guard carefully our tendency to then drift into comparing what God is doing there with what he is doing in us! Grace is undeserved - gratitude is an expression of awe at receiving something other than what we deserved! Just sayin!

A little bridge building is required

You are right and you do right, God; your decisions are right on target. You rightly instruct us in how to live ever faithful to you. My rivals nearly did me in, they persistently ignored your commandments. Your promise has been tested through and through, and I, your servant, love it dearly. I’m too young to be important, but I don’t forget what you tell me. Your righteousness is eternally right, your revelation is the only truth. Even though troubles came down on me hard, your commands always gave me delight. The way you tell me to live is always right; help me understand it so I can live to the fullest. (Psalm 119:140-144)

I don't imagine it is many of us who can say we are true to our word - for we all struggle with this at times - no matter how much we live in a manner where we strive to consistently follow through on what we say we will do. We struggle with the "promises" we make God more than we do the ones we make to our fellow man. Scripture outlines two inter-related character traits: Faithfulness and Fullness. It is in learning to be faithful where we are led into quite a full life! I think we follow through on what is important to us. If we hear our doctor tell us we will be dead in a year unless we make some dramatic changes in the way we eat and exercise, I daresay most of us would be on Weight Watchers, Keto, or the treadmill by the end of the day! We "value" our time on this earth, so we will make the necessary adjustments to our way of living because we want more than a year! If the "thing" motivates us enough, we take whatever steps are required in order to realize the goal, don't we? This is exactly where the "rub" comes at times in our lives. We find certain "value" in some things because they have an immediate evidence of "return" - such as when we get our haircut in order to deal with our "dowdiness". The haircut lifts our spirits and makes us feel better about our appearance. When the "value" of something isn't immediate, we sometimes wane in our commitment to it because we don't see the "return" for quite some time.

Faithfulness is something God honors - scripture reminds us God is right and always does right - his decisions for our lives are right on target. Why do we struggle with his decisions so often? I think it may be the "immediacy" of the "return" we are struggling with more than the decision! Faithfulness is based on a certain steadiness of allegiance - commitment to a purpose, the ability to remain even when the going gets tough (or the results just don't seem to surface immediately). Faithfulness begins in the action of listening. What we are "willing" to hear often makes the determination of heart much easier. When we "hear" the doctor with both our mind and heart, we are moved to action. If we just hear it as a "suggestion" of change, we might just linger in our unhealthy lifestyle a little longer. God rightly instructs us on HOW to live faithful lives. Any good teacher will confirm that a student only learns when he takes what he hears and puts it into action. This is the "bridge" between knowledge and learning. We can possess knowledge but be devoid of real learning. God's desire is for the "bridge" to be made between knowledge and learning.

Why is it we can stand on God's promises? Isn't it because they have been tested and they stand true? Then why do we struggle with them so much? For example, Matthew 6:33 tells us one of God's promises is to be anxious for nothing - to seek first his purposes - and then we will have all our needs met (maybe not all our "wants", but definitely all our "needs"). How many times do we worry over where we will find the money to pay the next bill, what we will do when we lose our jobs, or when we will see an end to a certain uncomfortable circumstance? There are even "smaller" worries we take into our lives each and every day - not because we don't have the resources to see them met, but because we aren't making this "knowledge - learning" bridge. We have the knowledge of the promise - we just don't have the "connecting" bridge which makes it a fact in our hearts! Faithfulness is directly linked to fullness. When we have this "connection" between "hearing" and "doing", there is a certain "fullness" which is created in the deep places of our lives. Fullness is defined as containing all that can be held. The amazing thing about God is his ability to expand our capacity! When we think we have come to the place of holding all which can be held, he gives us more capacity! Not capacity for "stuff", but capacity for him! 

Maybe this is where we find our struggle with faithfulness - in seeking "stuff" instead of him. We "want", but our "want" is sometimes for stuff that actually limits our capacity for being filled! I think it can be said - capacity is directly linked to our willingness to be emptied. "The way you tell me to live is always right." Look at what comes next: "Help me understand it..." There is nothing God loves more than to hear us ask for his help with understanding his ways in our lives. I don't think he ever leaves us hanging when we do. In fact, he often begins to "piece together" the knowledge we possess until they are "learned". He is "piecing together" the very bridge which will become our lifeline in times of need. The "piecing together" process may seem a little tedious at times in our lives - seeming to not show immediate evidence of the "bridge" but be assured of this - no bridge is built without a good master plan. Every piece fits perfectly because there is a plan for it. We want a bridge - no matter how well constructed. God wants it to endure! In order to endure, sometimes there is a "clearing process" in order to lay the foundations of endurance. Empty vessels are God's choicest vessels, for it is the empty ones he can fill! Just sayin!

Treasure it

But he knows where I am and what I’ve done. He can cross-examine me all he wants, and I’ll pass the test with honors. I’ve followed him closely, my feet in his footprints, not once swerving from his way. I’ve obeyed every word he’s spoken, and not just obeyed his advice—I’ve treasured it. (Job 23:10-12)

Devotion is the character trait which really cannot be "seen" in the way we dress, what we drive, or the things we amass around us. It is "seen" more in the people we hang around with, the way we spend our time, and the attitude of heart which is exhibited in the actions we take toward others. Devotion is just a synonym for love, evident in where we find our foundation for life, who it is we emulate in our actions, and what it is we commit to without wavering. Devotion also determines our delight - there is very little in which we take delight that does not first begin with an appeal to our hearts. Throughout scripture, devotion is linked with determination - for what we come to value we develop a strong determination to obtain and make our own. God is always searching for even the smallest hint of us being willing to align with his heart. When he sees this tiny bud of devotion, he begins to nurture it until it becomes a fully adorned "tree" of dedication - anchored with three strongly attached roots of commitment, allegiance, and loyalty.

When our roots are solid, the growth produced and the ability to withstand the various influences which seek to uproot us are evident. If we "align" ourselves within "good soil", the chances of giving into every wind of change which comes across our lives is a little less likely. We will remain securely rooted in that which gives us "grounding". Even a tree firmly rooted will begin to grow "toward" the most influential "winds" in their life. This is where we need the "winds of devotion" to blow stronger than any other wind which might seek to change the course of our growth. One thing which consistently catches my attention is the way trees grow in various regions. Trees often give into the "prevailing" winds in their lives. Devotion occurs when we determine which "wind" we will accept as "prevailing" in our lives. We can give into the winds of the times, or even the winds of circumstance. Nothing makes us grow as strong, tall, and "equally balanced" as the gentle breezes of the Holy Spirit in our lives! When we are determined to grow, not toward the "loudest" winds, but toward the gentle breath of God, we have a much more balanced growth!

It is really the heart of God that each of us "delight" in the tender care of his watchful "gardening" of our lives. We need those withered "branches" lopped off - for they only take up space, hindering other growth from appearing. We need the soil "turned over" on occasion, because we only get new growth when the soil of our hearts finds new "oxygenation" on occasion! Delight is really a result of our determination and our devotion. I guess you sum all three of these into one word - desire! Job said it well, "I have not just obeyed his advice - I've enjoyed it - treasured it!" He had made a determination to make God his primary desire! He delighted in the counsel of God - determined to have it affect his course. He had devoted himself to God's plans - no matter how difficult they may have seemed at the moment (and heaven knows Job faced many a tough blow in life). He made no attempt to remove himself from being aligned with God's best - no matter that "all hell was breaking loose" around him. He was devoted, determined, and he took great delight in the things and choices which pleased the one he had the greatest desire to please - not himself, not his peers, but God! Now, that is something which "tickles" the heart of God! Just sayin!

Tossing and Turning

You’ve kept track of my every toss and turn through the sleepless nights, each tear entered in your ledger, each ache written in your book. (Psalm 56:8)

As I grow a bit older each year, I notice new 'aches and pains' that weren't there a few years back. I hear the creak and crackle of the joints. I don't sleep all the way through the night anymore and find I toss and turn a bit too much at times. It is good to know God isn't unaware of these changes - in fact, he is tracking them probably more than we are!

Sleepless nights aren't very frequent for me. In fact, I usually find it easy to get to sleep - it is falling back to sleep after I have awakened in the wee hours of the morning that is harder. I have noticed it is often in these times of being awake and 'tossing about' a bit that God speaks to me. He not only shows me things I need to address in my life, but it is amazing how he will spark a creative idea or help me 'fix' a problem I have been having with something I wanted to create.

Why is it that those quieter moments of the night are the times he speaks the loudest? The answer is in the first part of that question - we are finally quiet, and we are more apt to listen! Try as we might in our 'quiet time' with him each day, it is harder to get our minds to 'quiet down'. In the wee hours of the night when we are awakened and 'sleepless', it is dark, there are no 'extra distractions' to lure us away, and we find our minds are a bit less 'cluttered' with all the issues of the day.

I learned quite some time back to ask God why I was awake. It isn't a complaint I throw his way, but rather a simple request to see if there is a particular something he needs me to pay attention to in those quiet hours. It might be something about how I have been behaving, what I have been doing, or even something totally unrelated to me at all. He sometimes just asks me to pray - for you, for my family, the nation, or someone who I don't even know, but who needs prayers lifted on their behalf. 

It may not be prayer that is needed - it could be he wants to show you a solution that has previously eluded your thoughts because of all the chaos of the moment. I find God helps me come up with creative solutions, ideas for how to proceed with a project, and even gives me new ideas I had never considered. How about you? Have you noticed similar things happening in those 'awake' moments in the night? Maybe these are the moments that help us grow the most. Just sayin!

I'm challenging that...

You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that. (Matthew 5:43-45)

How on earth do we let our enemies bring out the best in us? That seems like an impossibility. If we are to allow them to bring out the best in us, we need a change in how we view the potential we have 'against' our enemies. It isn't that we are setting ourselves up 'against' them, resisting them and entering into war. We are 'embracing' them in a way they have no clue we are even capable of doing! Respond with the 'supple moves of prayer' and see how much difference this 'stance' can make when encountering our enemy's moves. They won't expect it. They won't even know we are doing it most of the time. They will begin to sense there is something 'amiss' with our response to their attack, though. They will expect a 'counter-attack' for certain, but they won't expect us to embrace their attack in prayer!

Prayer does more than you might imagine because it 'moves us out of ourselves'. It takes our thoughts away from how we 'feel' when attacked and allows God to begin to 'counter' the attack with his 'special moves'. There are no 'moves' we can make that are quite as effective, or to the point. God knows what will move our enemy. He knows what will shut-down their attack and send them running in the opposite direction. He also knows what will cause them to notice something within us that makes them just a bit more curious about the grace of God! He can use our prayers as a means to open the door for his grace in the lives of our enemies. Most of us don't even begin to think about God's grace being extended to our enemies while under attack, but God challenges us to get out of ourselves and allow his grace to get into us! In turn, his grace will begin to impact the lives of our enemies. 

I am going to be totally transparent here today - I seldom think to pray for my enemies as the 'first' maneuver. I admit to 'getting into myself' a bit too much when under attack. I want to 'counter' the attack with as much hurtfulness as my enemy has launched against me. Am I in this position of being a little bit too much 'into myself' while under attack? I don't think so, because some of you just felt a little twinge of guilt when I asked that question. I don't always understand the power of prayer because I don't always see the immediate answer to prayer. I do know it works - maybe not in the moment, but in the long-term. I do know prayer moves me into a place where I am able to remove myself from the 'feelings' associated with the attack of my enemy and into the place where God can talk clearly to me about the response I should have toward them. 

Prayer may not be our first thought when under attack, but I am praying God will help our enemies bring out the best in each of us, not the worst. In order to do that, we might just find ourselves taking things to God we never have before - things like our hurt feelings, our sense of 'injustice', and our pride. Who better to deal with those things than God himself? In turn, God will begin to change our 'point of reference' - helping us see how our enemy needs our prayers. One thing I noted when I began to embrace praying for my enemy - those prayer times usually begin with getting things right in ME long before they change to asking God to get things right in THEM. Just sayin!

Be true to yourself

Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it. (John 10:1-5)

There are character traits we often don't focus on as much as the outward ones we can see - those which make up who we are on the "inside". The "image" we portray is made up of both the external and internal traits. Character traits are more than skin deep and those which matter the most are those that are often barely visible, but most often have to be "felt" in order to be appreciated fully. Many of us go through life barely "alert" to our surroundings - seemingly taking up space and passing time in that space. It is kind of like we are asleep on our feet, numb to the world around us, and just "dulled" in some sense or another. There is more to alertness than being aware of what occupies our space, though. One who is fully alert is also very agile - able to move quickly. Jesus presents the illustration of someone climbing over the fence to gain access to the sheep pen compared to another who enters through the gate. The question posed - how do we recognize who really belongs? If we never were alert to "how" it is someone entered the pen, we likely have no clue if they truly belong! Alertness is key to "keeping guard over" our lives. When we aren't agile, able to make course changes quickly, we get stuck in the muck and mire of life. We also don't recognize who or what comes to occupy the space in our lives - creating chaos and clutter. Alertness is the sense of being fully aware and able to make swift judgment calls in order to avoid danger, stay free of clutter, and avoid the hazards in life.

Attentiveness pretty closely resembles alertness, but with one key difference - you are "present" in the moment. There is focus - on purpose. It might be easier for us to understand attentiveness by examining its antonyms - the exact "opposite" traits. If you are "inattentive", you are likely a little indifferent or apathetic to the circumstances. You can be alert to the situation without being attentive. Attentiveness involves being concerned about the circumstances - enough for you to focus yourself and stay on task with what is happening. Inattentive people don't actually feel the need to stay involved - they lose focus and drift. Attentiveness is the willingness to listen carefully to the voices we heed. Jesus said his sheep (you and I) know his voice - but we also are attentive (focused on) distinguishing his voice in the midst of all the other voices we hear! 

It is not by accident Jesus uses this illustration of sheep and the shepherd. Sheep are followers - they seem to attach to the "actions" of whatever catches their eye and then follow it, almost without thinking. This is why Jesus calls attention to the two other traits of the sheep because he knows alertness and attentiveness will keep the sheep safe. Sheep are true to themselves - they aren't trying to be goats, cows, or chickens. They are always going to be sheep - in need of a shepherd. Learning to not just be a "copy" of the sheep next door, but to be genuine and real in who you were created to be is important. Our Shepherd wants a flock of sheep which are not just carbon copies of the others in the "flock". He wants us to be uniquely who we were created to be. This is probably one of the hardest character traits for us to grab hold of because we are always comparing ourselves with the other "sheep" in the flock. The danger comes in not being true to ourselves - it opens the door to us never really fulfilling the purpose for which we were uniquely created. How does the shepherd know his sheep? By name! Not just by size, fluffiness of fleece, or the bleating of one's voice. He knows them by name! This suggests to me that the Shepherd cares enough to have a genuine relationship with us - to reciprocate with anything less would just not be right! Just sayin!

Ready for the hunt?

Whoever goes hunting for what is right and kind finds life itself—glorious life! (Proverbs 21:21)

I receive regular emails from our state Fish & Game department, allowing me to stay abreast of the stocking schedules. I also receive reminders about the various hunting seasons, although I am not a hunter. If you like to hunt, you know it is important to not only know when the season is about to open, but how urgent it is to prepare ahead of time. You must get drawn, acquire your tags, stock up the hunting equipment, and scout out the perfect spot to conduct the hunt. It takes some work, doesn't it? God asks for ALL of us to be 'spiritual hunters' - already having provided all we need to conduct the hunt. Our hunt is not for furry critters, but for what is right and kind. In other words, we set aside the pursuit of all that is wrong and impure, seeking only after what will bring glory and honor to God within our lives.

We 'hunt' for a lot of things in life - some more 'worthy' than others. The hunt is on for acceptance - desiring committed relationships. The hunt for appreciation is active in all of us - desiring to feel wanted, needed, and useful. The hunt for satisfaction keeps us moving in a certain path - based upon the hope we will find what will add 'value' into our lives. I know we all hunt, but do we always have successful hunts? If you know a hunter, they will tell you they can take all the right steps to prepare, get drawn for the hunt, have license and equipment in hand, and never see their desired target. Just being on the hunt doesn't ensure we will find what it is we are hunting.

When the 'hunt' is for righteousness and kindness, we are guaranteed we will hit the target each and every time. We may desire righteousness but have no idea how to 'prepare' for the hunt. We may desire kindness to be the mode of operation but find we aren't 'prepared' for the many unkind deeds we will face along the way. In both cases, the 'hunt' is successful when we are 'prepared' for what we will encounter in the 'hunt'. How do we prepare for finding righteousness revealed in our lives? We decide to daily seek God's wisdom and purpose for our lives. That means we make time for him a priority, not the last-minute choice of our day. Do you know how kindness is found? We extend it - even when it may not be deserved.

Prepare for the hunt and you won't be disappointed - this is God's 'guarantee' for those who seek him first. Notice God never says just bumble along and you will find what you are looking for. He asks us to 'be on the hunt' for righteousness and kindness in our lives. Active participation in this relationship with him is required. To passively engage with him is one thing, but to actively engage in relationship with him, making him the first priority of our day will yield a much bigger harvest of righteousness and kindness in our lives. Prepare for the hunt today. You might just be surprised how much easier it is to hit the 'target'. Just sayin!

Take it all in

Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God. (2 Corinthians 4:1-2)

To the degree you know real truth in your life, you will have equal assurance of heart and mind. In other words, if your "truth gauge" is on full, you stand fully-assured. If it is half-empty, your assurance in the midst of trial or test may waiver a little! Being on the "inside track" with God is essential if we are to stand strong in the midst of this present trial and all future ones to come! God has "generously" let us in on what he is doing. The word "generously" indicates a certain liberality on God's part to share his truth with his children - the very truth which will help us stand strong in the midst of trial. The purpose of the scripture is to change US - we are not supposed to be changing scripture to FIT us. We sometimes twist scripture or take it out of context so it will FIT our present beliefs and help us to justify our behavior at a particular time. The problem with this is apparent in what it does to skew the testimony of God's grace in our lives. Scripture is truth - truth sets the soul free - and anytime we twist it to FIT us instead of FREEING us, we are choosing to remain bound.

Truth: "experience" doesn't make a man or woman free from the past. We can "experience" a whole lot of good things in life - but "experience" alone doesn't have the power to set a bound soul free. Have you ever gone to some spiritual retreat of sorts, been so overwhelmed with a sense of well-being and "warm fuzzies" throughout the entire retreat experience, then returned home to find life is exactly the same? Nothing changed - you just "experienced" something, but experience alone didn't change you! Truth is the only thing with the capacity of change - pure and simple. God asks one thing of us - put truth on display in our lives. We often don't believe we are capable of displaying the truth, but truth brings grace and grace is meant to be on display in our lives - because grace speaks volumes to the hurting and bound souls around us! I haven't arrived at the place of perfection yet, but what grace God has worked into the pain-filled, sin-scarred areas of my life, I want to display, not out of pride, but because when others see what God can do, they will desire the same evidence in their life! Your life isn't all "worked out" yet, but what grace has "worked out" in your life is worthy of being on display, so don't hide it behind masks!

You may never really know when truth on display becomes the mechanism for change in the life of another, but if you never stand boldly in the truth you have been given, the truth which has changed your life, others will miss out on what God intended to share through you. Your life displays grace in a way uniquely your own - no one else can display the truth quite like you can. Sometimes we focus on what is not fully freed by truth yet in our lives, believing no one could be helped by what grace has already accomplished in us. The truth you have embraced may be the very truth another needs in order to be free. We get discouraged by what still needs to change in our lives instead of being grateful and grace-filled by what has already changed. Always looking inward is not a good idea, for we miss the beauty around us when we do. Some of us need to change our perspective - seeing what is on display right in front of us. The truth on display in another is an open door for truth to take root in us. Just sayin!

The means

I love you, God— you make me strong. God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight. My God—the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout. (Psalm 18:1-2)

I have been watching some old western shows lately. As I watched one yesterday, something of a 'message' came forth. There was this man who robbed a stagecoach, making off with gold, monies, and some jewels. He was wounded by one of the passengers as he rode off, but he made it to his destination - an outcropping of rocks with a hole large enough to stay inside. His horse was cleverly concealed in the craggy places, but horses being what they are, they like to drift a bit to where there is a bit of munching to be done. It was the horse that gave this man's location away. Found out by a young boy, he asks for help as he needs food and water. The 'message' from this story was one of hope. This man felt he had no other recourse in life than to continue his life of ill-gotten gain because he committed the crime once when he was a young boy. It was that one failure that made him think he could never return to his father and brothers - never be forgiven of his 'criminal act'. Instead of confessing his failure, he gave into it as an 'inevitable way of life'. It made me wonder how many of us give into actions that we believe to be an 'inevitable way of life' for us just because we failed at some earlier point in our life?

Even though his 'hiding place' was a doggone good one, he was 'found out' by the actions of his horse! Try as we might, we can hide our sins as deeply as possible, but sometimes it is something quite out of our control that 'finds us out'. He hid in the crags of the rocks, but those crags were not sufficient to hide his horse - the 'means' by which he performed his criminal actions. We try to hide the guilt of our sin, but as long as the 'means' of our sin remains, we will be found out! We need to deal with both our guilt (produced by our wrong actions) and the means by which we are given 'license' to perform those wrong actions. The 'crags' of our own making are never sufficient to really deal with our sin. They will conceal for a while, but when our wounds get deep enough and our defenses are lowered a bit, we may just find they no longer conceal our sin as well as we had hoped they would. The lowered defenses will allow our discovery. We need God's sanctuary - the sanctuary of grace. The only real 'hiding place' should be in God's presence - not to hide our sins, but to allow them to be dealt with and forgiven totally.

Do you know the end of the story for that gentleman? He heard clearly that one action, wrong as it may have been, did not need to define him. It didn't need to declare his future. He could be free of those wrong actions. He just needed to turn away from them and return to his father. Most of the time we think our actions are unforgiveable, but they aren't. They just need to be confessed and brought into the presence of grace. Do you know what confession really is? It is us making a 180-degree turn AWAY from that sin. We do an 'about-face' and walk away from it. In order for this man to be free of his sin, he had to accept the grace extended to him. The townsfolk forgave him - making him free to return home for the first time in a long time. We may think we have no 'means' of return, only the 'means' to continue to sin. The opposite is truer than you may realize, for God's grace is the 'means' by which you may walk away from your past and into your renewed future. Just sayin! 

We need sanctuary

And me? I’m singing your prowess, shouting at dawn your largesse, for you’ve been a safe place for me, a good place to hide. Strong God, I’m watching you do it, I can always count on you— God, my dependable love. (Psalm 59:16)

A safe place - do you have one? I have a safe place where I can be me, unwind in the way I enjoy, and just get downright comfy in my space. It is called home. I also have a safe place spiritually where I can be myself, unwind in the way I enjoy, while being quite comfortable in that 'space' - it is called God's presence. I am privileged to have two 'sanctuaries' of sorts - one quite physical, the other spiritual. Both bring evenness or balance to my emotions, rest to my body, and peace to my mind. Although both can give me a certain sense of 'sanctuary', the only place of true sanctuary is in Christ Jesus - in the presence of God. While some view a place of sanctuary as a place of communion with God, others see it as a place of 'protection', 'shelter', or 'refuge'. They may not have that 'safe place' in the physical sense where they are able to escape to when they need to, but they will always have this 'safe place' of sanctuary in God's presence no matter what their outward circumstances may be in the physical realm. 

Do you know where your greatest sanctuary really is? It is your heart. Did you ever wonder why God focuses on the heart so much in scripture? He knows it is where we commune with him and where it is we 'understand' or 'interpret' life. The heart is made up of mind, will, and emotions. When the 'sanctuary' of our mind is whole, undivided, and without chaos, we see things clearly. As the mind is uncluttered, the will knows what to do and how to respond. The emotions are settled, focused by the mind, and balance is maintained. When the heart is under  attack from things that seek to bring disturbance or chaos, the balance is upset. We commune with God in the heart - bringing mind, will, and emotions into perfect rest and order. No wonder Satan does so much to disturb our thoughts, influence our emotions, and sway our will! He knows the power of us understanding and living within the sanctuary of God's presence and peace.

We looked at being life-long learners yesterday - disciples of Christ. Consider this - a disciple is only possible when there is a teacher. We have lots of 'teaching choices' in life, don't we? We can embrace all manner of 'culturally relevant thought processes' or we can remain true to the ones proclaimed over and over throughout scripture. How do we sort out what really matters most in all these invading thoughts? It is in the sanctuary of our hearts. If God reigns in that sanctuary, the ones that should be embraced, believed, and lived will become clear, while those that will lead us astray will begin to be called out so they can be discarded. We need 'sanctuary' in God's presence - it is not optional. We find and enter into 'order' there. Just sayin!

Ideas need motivation

God’s wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don’t find it lying around on the surface. It’s not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. (I Corinthians 2:9)

Why do we study the Word of God? Isn't it because we want to get to know Jesus just a little bit better each day? We want to go 'deeper' in our relationship - not content to remain superficial in our devotion or dedication. We truly want to be disciples - ones who are taught and then who follow what it is they are taught. As I have said on numerous occasions, just being taught is one thing - actually following what we are taught is another. 

A disciple is more than a 'learner', though. A disciple is also a worshiper, servant to others, and one who is able to give witness to what God has done in their lives. We study to learn how God moves, what he desires of us, how he wants to use us, and even how to reveal his grace to others through our lives. We learn 'things about' God, but we also learn to 'experience' the heart of God. If you have ever had scripture move you to the point of tears, you probably have experienced the heart of God just a bit in that moment.

We don't find God's wisdom at some superficial level - we only find it when we dig a bit deeper ourselves. Why does God require us to 'dig in'? There is something in that investment of time, energy, and attention that happens deep within us. We begin to sense how the grace of God is changing something within - bringing us to the point of worshipers and witnesses. We are more than students (learners) at that point. We begin to be disciples of men - as Jesus put it to those he called all those years ago - we begin to be 'fishers of men'. 

Seeking hearts find deep satisfaction at the feet of Jesus. How many times have you desired something, but didn't know just what it was you wanted or needed? I can sit for periods of time knowing I desire to do something, but I am not sure what it is I should be doing. I have ideas, but I don't have the specific motivation to do something that matches those desires. It is in times of 'discipleship training' where we see our 'ideas' and 'motivations' begin to match up. We begin to walk out what we are taught. Don't forsake those times of deep searching - they are the times when God is taking your learning and turning it into movement. Just sayin!

Heart-Shattered Lives

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. (Psalm 51:16-17)

Many autos can be placed on "auto-pilot", but if we find our life on 'auto-pilot' mode, we probably are "going through the motions" in relationships, work, and even spiritual life. On autopilot, the deed is getting done, but it is without conscious effort and often without intention. It is rote - routine, without thought. We often find ourselves involved in lots of things we just do because we have to - making no real effort to be intentional in the thing we are doing. There are two things missing when we do: interest and involvement. I can make my bed by rote each morning, but when it comes to changing the sheets, it takes a bit more involvement and 'intentionality'. Living both with interest and involvement - two things God requires of us if we are to really get the most from our relationship with him. In the theater, actors and actresses "go through the motions" night after night, play-acting the scenes they have rehearsed over and over again. It almost becomes "rote" - something they can do without thought. There is a routine to it, but the audience often doesn't see it because it is all new to the onlooker. To the one "performing", the motions are familiar and come across polished to the onlooker. The problem: they are merely "play-acting", and this isn't real life!

God deals with us on the plane of real life! There is no room for "play-acting" when it comes to our relationship with him. Most of us try to "re-infuse" our lives with meaning, much like we fill up a gas tank in our car, wondering why we run out of gas just a short way down the road. The issue is we only focus on the "soulish" things in life which we can "fill up" our "tanks" and we miss out on the "spiritual" things in life. Those are the things only God has the capability of providing. We often hear words like, "I am so burned out". Why? Burnout is a result of us living by our own efforts, filling our own tanks - going through the motions instead of living with intention and purpose. "Heart-shattered lives ready for love..." God is allowing David to give us insight into what it is to have an "empty tank". We feel like life is falling to pieces around us (and sometimes right inside of us). We cannot get a handle on the pieces. We have just been living life by rote, truly not committed or intent on the outcome. We hit a wall - leaving us shattered, in pieces, grasping for some semblance of meaning. Your wall could be the loss of a job or a loved one, the brokenness of relationship or the pain of disease. There are lots of ways we begin to "break down" in life. Our tank is empty, and we need filling.

True worship (not just the motions of worship) is learned when the pieces begin to fall apart. I don't know why it is, but we humans have a hard time really engaging in life with intent and purpose until something "urges" us into paying attention again! It might be we just get too consumed by life, so we just flip on the autopilot to get through. The first time we do this, it is a little uncomfortable, but the more we "fly" on autopilot, the easier it gets to just go that route. Before long, we don't even pay attention to the destination - we just set off and go with the flow. I regularly take seasons of time to just "re-center" and "re-energize" my life. I do it because I know my tendency to just go through the motions if I don't. I "do" all the right stuff, but the "purposeful enjoyment" of the actions is missing. I don't think we always need a catastrophic event in life to alert us to our drift into autopilot. If we remain attentive to the need to "create a little space" in our lives, we can avoid many a devastating time when we just "run out of gas". Some call this "breathing room" - I call it "balance". We need balance - to have time each week to create a fresh connection with the things which matter. In time, we need a little longer "breathing room", perhaps accomplished with an occasional long weekend away. Then there are the longer vacations - those which really renew us on multiple planes. Regardless of the "span" of time, the creation of some "room" for balance in life is important in order to avoid the tendency to drift into the "routine" and "normal chaos" of a life too filled, but one which lacks intent or purpose.

Our human hearts work best when there is a little space maintained around them which doesn't become filled with stuff that doesn't belong there. Think of this 'space' as a small sack within our emotional hearts that must be filled. Fill it with anything which doesn't belong there, and it presses upon the heart until it stops functioning as it is designed. Our spiritual hearts only remain soft, pliable, and open to God's touch when they have a little space around them. Pride fills the spaces to capacity - humility leaves room for God to fill the space with what belongs. Just sayin!

Just askin....

I tell you the truth, if your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. All things will be possible for you. (Matthew 17:20)

Many of us come up against "mountains" in our lives and simply get defeated by the immense appearance of what lies ahead. We either climb it, dig through it, go around it, or get stuck because we see no way around it. Not too many of us can honestly say we just tell it to move! Yet, this is the most biblical way to deal with everything from the molehill to the mountain! Even when we are making a mountain out of a molehill - telling it to move is the best response! When we choose to climb the mountain, it is usually not because we see it as a challenge and just want to overcome this obstacle, but rather we cannot see over it, cannot imagine what may be on the other side of it, so we climb it. We have probably learned that "good things" in life are accomplished when we expend the effort to accomplish them. We have learned to rely upon taking the mountain instead of letting the mountain take us. The problem is, the climb may actually wear us out, leaving us exhausted by the climb, and sometimes even wounded beyond quick healing. There we are left without ever realizing the goal. The other part of climbing is the downward hike to get onto level ground again. The idea of getting to the top is only part of the climb! In choosing to climb it, we must also find our way down to the path again. We expend a whole lot of time and energies with this climbing thing!

We could choose to dig through it, because we somehow think unless we bore into the depths of the mountain, we will never know what made the mountain in our lives. Trust me, there are just some mountains you don't want to know that much about! They are just there, not for you to "explore", but to slow you down. In the time it takes to dig through them, exploring deep into the darkness of mountain, you are left with a whole lot of debris you must eventually deal with. The piles of stuff you "excavate" are really just contributing more debris into your life - not really helping you at all! We may choose to go around it, not really stopped by it, not up to the challenge of climbing it, and certainly not interested in exploring its vastness. If this were a small hill, that might be possible in a short span of time, but the larger the mountain, the longer and harder the walk will be. In walking around the mountain, it still exists - it has a way of taunting us in our walk. The journey is problematic at times because we sometimes lose perspective when we walk around the mountain - forgetting where we started and then not really keeping a perspective about where it is we should end! The result is a rut! We just keep walking in circles until we are dug into the rut!

We could choose to just get stuck by it. Those who see the mountain as an insurmountable object in their path deal with the fear of the mountain and that fear actually "stops them in their tracks". They just don't progress any further, taking not one more step to "deal with it". Instead, they camp out, resigned to the fact the mountain will always exist - it has always existed, it exists today, and it will always exist into our tomorrows. The real problem here is the sense of defeat this causes us and the lack of hope. None of these methods is the best way to deal with the mountain. No amount of determination and self-effort gets us over, through, around, or unstuck from its shadow. All these rely upon US, not God. They rely upon what it is we do, not in the possibilities of what God can do. The challenge to us today is to not look at our mountain as a "personal challenge"! Instead, we need to learn to look at those mountains as God's opportunities to expand our faith. God tells us it takes but a tiny particle of faith to consume the mountain instead of us being consumed by it! Remember this - God's presence will always consume the mountain - we can just watch in awe as he deals with what we cannot. Isn't it better to "tell it to move" than to have to move ourselves over it, through it, around it, or find we can no longer move because of it? Just askin!

Get up and move on

I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere. And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences. (Ephesians 4:2)

Devotion to God doesn't happen by accident - we have to actually 'get up' and 'move forward'. Two very specific actions that require more than just mental investment. They require movement on our part. To 'get up' one has to actually stop sitting right where they are at - there must be a change in position. Too many times we think we will manifest change in our lives all while we are taking little to no action to see change occur. To 'move forward' means we have to put one foot in front of the other. There can be no good growth where there is stagnancy. Yes, there may be growth, but it is muck and mire, not good growth!

A few weeks ago, they drained the canals around us and we noticed many things at the bottom of the canal that had no business being in the canal. Street signs, grocery carts, pylons, furniture pieces, and lots of dirt or debris of some sort. While the canal was full, the murkiness of the water made it impossible to know those things were down there. The catfish and carp probably loved all those things they could hide in, but those things actually created obstructions in the canals. It was apparent to us that a 'clean out' was necessary. In one small section of the canal, many small fish were busy growing, but due to the lack of water flow through that area, they all died in the murkiness of the stagnant waters.

That is the problem with stagnancy - it leads to us getting filled up with things that actually bring death, not life. We need the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives - the Word of God getting into places within us that would otherwise be untouched and unnoticed. We need 'movement' in order to see growth! The things that 'don't belong' are only exposed when there is a full 'clean out' of those areas - that may mean we stop totally, allow the clean-up to occur, then allow ourselves to be filled again. 'Sitting around' is the worst thing we can do. We only see life flourish when we are moving without all those 'obstacles' in our path - those obstacles are removed in times of purposeful 'clean-up'.

We may not be moving very well on the path God has called us to be on right now. Perhaps it is time we need to ask God to 'drain us' of the murkiness that has surrounded our lives and remove those obstacles that impede the flow of the Holy Spirit within us. Maybe we just need to get up from where we are and take the first step on the path we know God is asking us to travel. In humility, we need to ask for God's 'clean-up' and in discipline we need to act upon the truth we know God has shown us. Just sayin!

Are you a pack mule?

Pile your troubles on God’s shoulders—he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin. (Psalm 55:22)

Have you been all tied up in carrying your own load, my friends? I know I get there now and again, forgetting to lay down that load and just allowing more and more to be plopped on top of what already weighs me down. My load isn't too heavy - it is just that I wasn't meant to carry it! When we aren't meant to carry the load, it will always seem like a burden. Do you know what a pack mule is? It is bred for the purpose of carrying loads. It is less stubborn than a donkey, but hardier than a horse. They are surefooted, quite intelligent, and very cautious. That means they can carry the burden, while paying close attention to where they put their feet. A pack mule is bred to carry that burden - you are not. You may be intelligent, but do you always pay close attention, knowing exactly where you are going and how to get there? 

If you are anything like me, the answer to that one is 'no'. In fact, you probably stumble along like I do and find yourself out on the edge from time to time, not very surefooted and getting a little wigged-out by the footing crumbling away beneath you. That is because we weren't 'bred' to be carrying that burden! We were 'bred' to lay it down - to allow the one who is most able to carry it take it squarely upon HIS shoulders. We use pack mules because they are able to make the passage where we could not. Why do we resist allowing God to carry the burden while we struggle to make the passage we know full-well we are not going to make on our own? Maybe it is because we are as stubborn as a donkey!

Do you know where the mule has the greatest benefit? In the 'roadless regions' of the world. Do you ever feel like you are cutting a new path - in a place not traveled before? If we use a beast of burden for those 'roadless regions', why do we resist allowing God to take our burden when we are traveling 'regions' where we have never traveled before? It doesn't take a genius to acknowledge the foolishness of trying to bear the burden on a path we aren't equipped to travel with that weight upon our shoulders. It takes a humble person to admit they need help and therein is the 'rub'. We don't like to admit we cannot do it on our own. What silliness is it to bear up under what another actually desires to carry! Just sayin!

Let's get our 'WE' out of the way

But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly [humble] themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.” (John 4:24)

Who you are - a believer in Christ, as evidenced by the way you live - that is what matters - not the church affiliation you proclaim. It is clearly a matter of who we worship, not where we worship. Do we worship the Christ, the living Son of God? Do we serve him with our full devotion? If the answer is yes, then we are on the right path! It is a measure of how 'engaged' your spirit is in the pursuit of truth - not that you have the 'only truth', 'better truth', or the 'secret truth'. 

If we are followers of Christ, our lives are to be marked with simple and honest humility in worship. That means we live transparently before our God - in humility acknowledging our short-falls and then paying close attention to the help he grants to help us with those short-falls. How do we worship God? Can we do it in our own strength? No clearly, we cannot, for 'WE' gets in the way of worship. We need the Holy Spirit to show us how to worship - to bring our hearts and minds into submission so we can truly lay our lives open before Christ.

We go wrong when we think we can just enter into worship kind of 'blindly' - stumbling along in our own efforts. We turn that wrong pursuit around when we open ourselves to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Who we are will not be who we are tomorrow when we allow our teacher, the Holy Spirit, to guide us into true and open times of worship. Why? We will be led to the foot of the altar and it is there we will be changed. The way we live is transformed by how we worship - do you see that in this passage? 

Rather than settle for superficial worship - the kind where we say the words, but the heart isn't really behind them - let's begin to 'worship' as God intends. Let his Holy Spirit guide our withered and worn souls into the throne room of God. It is there we can find rest and peace for the weariness of our day. It is there we find the health and hope our spirit so craves. It is there we are renewed and restored. How is this possible? Because we bring what we are, complete with all our short-falls, chips, and dings, and allow the Holy Spirit to lay us bare. It may not be comfortable to worship this way, but when WE get out of the way, God is free to touch us exactly where we need his touch. Just sayin!