The best proof

Dr. Joyce Brothers reminds us, "The best proof of love is trust." Let those words sink in just a bit - don't just skim over them. The best PROOF of LOVE is TRUST. Three very important words because love requires proof and the only proof that really matters is when you know you can count on the person you love. If we are to do more than just 'survive' in this world, we need to master this thing we call love. We take each other for granted - expecting so much from one another - not really appreciating the person behind the actions. Trust is based upon more than 'follow-through' - it is based upon the motivation of the heart (the spirit behind the actions). We can trust God because he did more than 'follow-through' on a couple of promises to us. He did more than just 'be there' in our lives. He showed us we could trust in him - he gave us the 'proof' of his love through his Son.

Everything in the world is about to be wrapped up, so take nothing for granted. Stay wide-awake in prayer. Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes! (I Peter 4:7-11)

Love each other as though your life depended upon it. Do we invest that much of ourselves in the relationships we have been given? I am asking because I know I have been guilty over the years of 'being in relationship', but not really giving of myself in a way that cost me anything all that valuable. I was 'there', but I was not really invested. It takes a lot to invest in the life of another - sometimes more than we might be willing to give. One thing you might not have considers is that when you finally take the step to be a 'trustworthy' friend, the relationship changes. You are making an investment and that is going to change the whole tenor of the relationship. Your relationship will move from a purely superficial "let's have fun together" level into one that actually begins to 'cost' you a bit of yourself.

How is it we develop this kind of love? Some may tell us it requires us letting our guard down a bit so others can finally get close to us. Many will say relationships only work when both are equally committed. Others will suggest we need to invest time into the relationship. These are both good suggestions, but without trust, the relationship will go no further than a superficial level. Why? Trust is what holds us together when everything around us is trying to pull us apart. How is trust built? Most will point to the aspect of 'following-through' on your word, but it is way more than just doing what you promise to do. It might just be the aspects of grace we exhibit toward one another that really bespeak our trust. 

Grace overlooks more than small offenses - it works to restore the relationship quickly, so the rift grows no bigger over time. Whenever I repair a tear in fabric, I always go way beyond the beginning and end of the tear. Why? I know that ear made that portion of the fabric just a bit weaker, so I 'bolster' both ends of the tear to prevent it from tearing out again. In must the same way, we 'bolster' a rent in relationship with grace that perhaps goes beyond what looks like the immediate offense. We may use our words to draw us back together, but then we use our ongoing actions that go just a bit further, so the rift is repaired with greater integrity. It is that 'going beyond' the initial steps of grace that keep us together over the long haul. Just sayin!

Is change possible?

But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! (I Corinthians 15:55-57)

Long passage, I know, but there are tons of exciting things within those three verses! What's more, Paul gives us the important message that we don't need to understand all that God does in this gift of eternal life, we just need to accept it! If he would not fully understand it, I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself for 'not getting' some of the things God has done on our behalf and continues to do throughout the ages. 

We are changed. The beginning of the change happens the moment we say 'yes' to Jesus, but the change is never done until the final trumpet sound. Some will go to their grave, still not 'changed' fully, but they get the last word over death through resurrection! Changed from perished to imperishable - imagine that - no more worries, aches, pains, creaking bones, or arthritic joints. Changed - in the blink of an eye. We all want that type of change right now in our lives, but change is gradual for a reason - it builds our faith. 

Nothing can hold us back. Not the present troubles or trial. Not the grave, nor the fiery chamber. If nothing can hold us back, why do we bemoan our present troubles? I think we get so focused on the trouble we forget who has the trouble already worked out fully. As Paul said, we may not understand this stuff fully yet, but just wait for to see what God will do in the end!

Rules don't bring us into victorious living. They bind us more than they set us free. Rules are good because they emphasize a certain way of living. We follow the rule to brush our teeth because we don't want to gum our food. We follow the rule to wear clothing in public because we value the gift of our bodies. Rules can be excessively binding at times - especially when they are focused on us doing the work of breaking free of our sin nature. One action accomplished that - abolishing the need for all that 'self-help' work we may be inclined to engage in. 

Sin, guilt, and death have been abolished. We need not fear any of these. This is something we forget from time to time. We get focused on the 'bad choice' we have made and think we will never be free of our sin. The guilt haunts us like a dark shadow. We feel as though we will go to the grave bound by it. Clearly, we haven't heard or believed the message contained in these verses! Sin cannot hold us. Guilt cannot plague us. Death will not have the last word. So, let's get our focus right. There is nothing that stands in the way of our total change - nothing! Just sayin!

Measured Words

No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world. (Robin Williams)

Dear friend, listen well to my words; tune your ears to my voice. Keep my message in plain view at all times. Concentrate! Learn it by heart! Those who discover these words live, really live; body and soul, they’re bursting with health. (Proverbs 4:20-22)

The more talk, the less truth; the wise measure their words. (Proverbs 10:19)

There is much 'said' in this world today - much is 'believed' - much will not bear true under testing, though. Words and ideas can change the world, but heaven help us if we are speaking the words that will lead us astray in anyway. The wise measure their words - what does that mean to you? Words have a 'measurement' to them. They have an 'extent' - sometimes going beyond the intended meaning into the imagined meaning. They may actually be 'amplified' in the ears of the hearer - taken to heart - made real in the imagination. Words are indeed powerful. Is it any wonder why God gave us HIS words to ponder each and every day of our lives? They are the words that create the ideas that can actually change this world for the better!

We stand no chance of seeing the creation of wholesome ideas when the words we hear bring fear or emotional distress. What about the words we hear each day that just create more and more ambivalence toward someone or something? They are also 'creative' words, but what they create is just the opposite as those words of God that bring hope, peace, and clarity into confused and searching hearts. Words can incite and they can settle. They can build up and tear down. What powerful tools they are, especially when spoken with wisdom and grace. God asks us to learn his word - to commit it to our memory - not because he wants us to become 'reciters' of those words as much as he wants us to use them to guide our actions.

The words we speak fuel the ideas we will 'manufacture' in our minds. The more our minds focus on what is being 'created' within them, the more we will pursue those ideas - almost as though we were 'birthing' them into action. This is why God directs us to use our words wisely - to measure them - to ponder their extent and power. Listen first to his Words - then ponder them over and over again. This is what it means to commit them to memory - the pondering (mulling over) of them repeatedly. As we do, our ideas go through a process of being influenced by what it is we are pondering. The 'creative power' of his Word, in a mind that has been purified by the Word of God, can produce great things in a world that desperately needs peace, unification, and hope. Just sayin!

Become, don't dwell

Become wise, dear child, and make me happy; then nothing the world throws my way will upset me. (Proverbs 27:11)

Scripture teaches wisdom is something we acquire over time. Most of our wisdom comes through what we refer to as the "school of hard knocks". You know exactly where you learned some of the lessons you have learned, while there are times when you really could not say it was one place or time when the learning happened - it came in the "course of time". The point is, we don't stop "becoming wise" at any one point in life. The process of acquiring wisdom is to be a continual thing. Every opportunity presented is an opportunity to incorporate some knew knowledge or application of truth. We just need to use what we "amass" and let it affect how we make decisions in the future. This seems to be the point of our struggle - in using what we already know to help us avoid mistakes. I could save millions of dollars, but if I never used any of it to make my life better or enjoyable, how foolish would that be? This may not come as a surprise to you, but your success in any given matter is NEVER final, but we often accept our failures as final. Why is that? We hold onto one success until the next opportunity comes along, then when we master that challenge, we call it a success. Let us fail, sometimes even one time, and all we see is the failure! 

I have recognized we all have the capacity to start out well, but then end miserably. If you have ever dieted, you probably recognize this as truth! It took me a long time to realize failure was just another opportunity for God's grace to help me get back up again. It was his grace which actually made me strong enough to even desire to try again. Maybe this is where you find yourself today - thinking failure is final - but if you look closely in the midst of what you have come to accept as your failure, you will see this little thing called "grace". Each failure could be one of two things - either a stumbling block that keeps tripping us up, or a stepping-stone to the next chance for success. The choice is in how we view the failure. We can either view it as a permanent, final thing, or we can see it as a temporary "set-back" on the road to obedience! In success or failure, there are lessons. When we invest wisely and see our monies grow, we view our savings plan as "wise" or a "success". When we invest poorly, not exercising diligence to ensure the growth of our monies, we label our endeavors as a "failure". These two labels have the potential of "sticking" - but one thing we control is what we will do with every failure - either use it as a stumbling-block or choose to step over it in the process of moving on.

If we view our failures as final, we anchor ourselves to the failure in some way. We allow the "stone" to become a dead weight in our lives. It becomes a heavy burden we carry - like a pack-full of regrets. The memory of "what could have been" is a powerful tool in our enemy's arsenal! The present thought of "what is only possible through grace" is a more powerful tool in God's arsenal! Which one are you gonna believe? The failure is final, or the failure is a stepping-stone to success? It is a matter of us choosing the right use for the stone! Some of us have a tendency to not only trip over our failures, but then we pick them up, carrying them around like a dead weight around our necks. All they do is weigh us down and throw us off balance! Failure is not a permanent thing! It is not a weight we are meant to carry. It is an opportunity for us to embrace grace, attain wisdom, and learn to walk again. We grieve for our losses and celebrate our gains. Gains or losses don't have to be our focus, though. When God is our primary focus, each gain or loss has the equal potential to produce wisdom - applied knowledge and understanding. Wisdom is the ability to accept grace, apply the knowledge learned, and then "go again". Many of us don't believe God gives "do-overs", but I don't believe this to be true. No failure is final - the principle of grace is really the opportunity to "do-over" - maybe not in the same way, but with a new tidbit of knowledge, a new drive, and a new focus. One thing is certain - we can fail, but we don't have to let failure define our course. Just sayin!

Handle life properly

Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ, and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in. (C. S. Lewis)

We all have those moments when we are thinking about what WE want. We get lonely and desire the closeness of another. We feel anger over things that bug us and want revenge. We have messed things up so badly and see no way out, but desire it so greatly. We find ourselves in the pit and want a ladder to climb our way out. We look all around for any other answer, but we know the one and only answer to each of these issues is Christ Jesus. We seek answers, but we don't go to the one who knows the answer ever before we pose the question.

I love to do God’s will so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind I want to be God’s willing servant, but instead I find myself still enslaved to sin. So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature? Thank God! It has been done by Jesus Christ our Lord. He has set me free. (Romans 7:22-25)

We know that reality of the 'war' within - the one that pits self against Jesus. 'Self' demands its own way - Christ is right there asking for us to just look to him for his way. We don't realize that we are slaves to our 'self' nature - the thing that poses demands and demands over and over again. Our mind can be the greatest place of our struggle - thinking one thing but knowing another. Yup, we KNOW the right thing to do, but we struggle with doing it because our minds want something else entirely. All because WE think it will be better.

Looking to Christ when we are struggling with this walk with him may not be the easiest thing for us to do, but the more we look to him, the less our 'self' will demand its own way. We all have questions about how to live this Christian life, so ask them. There is no room for doubts within us, but they exist - be bold to share them with Christ. There is no room for unforgiveness within us, but it exists - only Christ can help us let go of that hurt and pain that leads to that desire to hold onto the bitterness. God doesn't want us to be unthinking - he wants us to bring our thoughts to him so he can rightly order them.

Doubts handled properly can become a stronger faith. Refusal to hold onto what only becomes a cancerous growth within us actually helps us to become more loving. We don't get to these points in life without Christ. WE want to be free, but WE don't move from the place where we are bound. It is only as WE get up, turn around, look squarely into the Word of God, listen to the voice of Christ, and take step after step that we can be free. We doubt we will ever be free but let me assure you of this - without taking the first step forward, we will always be bound. Just sayin!

A house or a home?

Home is any four walls that enclose the right person. (Helen Rowland)

Take notice that Ms. Rowland did not say the right home makes the person. I think we spend way too much time focusing on the walls, bricks, mortar, and furnishings, sometimes to the neglect of the individual who resides within. The 'right person' within the four walls - regardless of their color, condition, or size - that is what makes a home. Perhaps it is time we focus on becoming the 'right person' instead of on having the 'right home'.

I will try to walk a blameless path, but how I need your help, especially in my own home, where I long to act as I should. (Psalm 101:2)

What are you inside the walls of your home? How do you act there? Is there a difference from the way you act 'in public' view? There are times each of us 'acts' just a little differently when our 'public face' is on versus when we are within the confines of our own 'personal space'. I know we have to be professional in the workplace, presentable in public, and polite with peers. That isn't what I am talking about here. I am referring to the genuineness of our character - within the walls of our home and outside those walls.

Become the right person inside those walls and you will be the right person without them! Spend time with the right person within those walls and you will be transformed! Jesus isn't just to be a guest in our house - he is to be a welcomed family member - the leader of the family. If you are a family of one like me, it is good to know there is someone else in control; that I don't have to do it all on my own. Who we become really depends on who we welcome into our home. 

A 'welcome' member of our family is received with pleasure - there is enjoyment in their presence. They are cherished and desired. We are grateful for their presence and delight in what they bring into our home. Can you say this is how you treat Jesus within your home? If so, you know how much his presence actually begins to change the way you make decisions, the things you dwell upon in your thought life, and the words you accept as truth. Jesus never asked to be a visitor - he asked to be welcomed, appreciated, cherished, and desired more than anything else in our lives. 

The walls don't make the home - it is the person within those walls. When that person is guided by the Holy Spirit, built up by the Word of God, and overflowing with heartfelt worship, the home is being built. Not from without, but from within. Just sayin!

More than a few issues

A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. (Matthew 7:17-20)

We all have a purpose in life. According to scripture, our lives are supposed to bear fruit - something is to be "reproduced" from each of our lives. From the moment God told Adam and Eve to be "fruitful and multiply" mankind has been focused on "bearing fruit" - more than just physical offspring, but fruit of all kinds. With the labor of his hands, mankind brought forth crops and harvests beyond measure. With the investment of his time and talent, mankind ensured the mentoring of the next generation. Mankind is continually bearing fruit of one kind or another. It probably goes without saying some fruit is not exactly good fruit. I live in Arizona, so I am used to seeing these "ornamental orange trees" all over the place. People plant them because they grow well here, produce healthy green leaves and eventually produce the beautiful oranges. The only problem - their fruit is worthless! It is so tart you cannot eat it! It is for looks and not for intake. It looks similar to real oranges but lacks the quality!

In order to be able to evaluate the type of fruit we are producing we must be able to see the good and bad of "self". The "good" and "bad" of self is really not something we "judge" very well on our own. We need the clarity of the scripture and the conviction of the Holy Spirit to actually understand our "self". At times, we are bearing good fruit. When we are not bearing such 'good fruit', we need the help of others to actually see what it is we are struggling with. When I am learning something new it is good to have someone watch me for a couple of times. When they see me do something the wrong way, I want them to be quick to point it out. I do this because I want to be producing my best work. We need others who will help us see our "blind spots", don't we? If we don't have those faithful friends, now is the time to find them! One thing I have observed about myself is this tendency to not even try something if I feel I won't be good at it. Sometimes it is my pride which holds me back, at others it is my fear. I just don't like to fail. Nothing ventured is nothing gained, right? If I want to see fruit in my life, I have to take the first step toward whatever will produce the fruit. The individual failures in our lives will be there - you know, those tiny compromises we make along the way. At first, you don't see the real issue. You will look back at some point and you don't want to see a whole lot of "issues" which really could have easily been taken care of earlier.

In life, we have lots of times when we lose interest - lose focus - or just plain lose our way. God's hope is that we will learn from our losses! Here is something I have figured out - so if it speaks to you - learn from my missed opportunities: WE always play some part in each loss! We might want to point the finger at someone else, but truth be told, we play some part (big or small) in each loss! We will continue to repeat our losses unless we examine them, find their causes, understand our part in them, and then do things differently the next time. Fruitful people are concerned with the fruit produced. They are directed toward something more than "ornamental" fruit - they want fruit which provides deep satisfaction. The way to the production of this type of fruit is riddled with all kinds of failure - but it is what we do with the failure that matters. We have limited fruit-bearing capacity outside of the grace of God in our lives. It is the tender graces of God in our lives that redirect our attention, help us to hold onto the things which produce the loveliest of fruit in our lives, and learn the lessons from those "difficult issues" along the way. Just sayin!

Needed: One Rowing Partner

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. (Havelock Ellis)

Since we have such a huge crowd of men of faith watching us from the grandstands, let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back, and especially those sins that wrap themselves so tightly around our feet and trip us up; and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1)

We make moment-by-moment decisions to let go or hold onto whatever makes us feel good, validates our feelings, or determine to be of some value to us. To be painfully truthful with you, I have held onto some things I would have been better off letting go of, determined somethings to be of great worth that really had very little worth, and listened to my emotions way too much in this lifetime. Those things only served to trip me up - keeping me in a place I didn't want to be. When I finally let go of what I thought was so important to hold onto, I found myself pursuing God with a greater focus and a deeper love.

Why is it we hold onto things? I know we don't always know the thing we hold onto so tightly is going to do us so much harm, or keep us from pursuing things that would be more beneficial in our lives, but we hold on for dear life. We get 'wrapped up' in stuff that keeps us bound in the muck and mire of life, all the while missing the point that what we are holding onto is more of an anchor than an oar. For some of us, it is time to let go. We have held onto past hurts, bad memories, limiting thoughts, and dark secrets. It may not be evident to you that these things exist, but if you are not moving forward, you are probably stuck.

As Ellis said, it is both letting go and holding on that must be balanced, but what I know from my own experience is that it isn't always clear what I should hold onto and what needs to go. I have had to ask God on more than one occasion to show me very clearly if what I was holding onto was actually deterring my progress forward. Was that hurt ever dealt with and forgiveness given? Was the perceived threat ever acknowledged as no real threat at all because God was in control all the time? Did that thing I thought would give me a sense of worth really just mislead me into some dead end? 

Be very cautious when you pray for God to reveal any anchors, though. You must be willing to not just be set free from the anchor - you must also be willing to take up the oars. A boat set free from the anchor will just drift if there is no one to take up the oars. God expects us to put in the effort to be free from the place where we have been so deeply anchored - to 'take up the oars' and move on. That may be the sticking point for many of us, because 'rowing' isn't easy, but know this - two can row much better than one! Ask God to bring you a 'rowing partner' to help you. You might just find the one he brings to your aid knows now just how to row, but the direction you should be rowing! Just sayin!

Avoidance issues

Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. (James 4:1-2)

Conflict comes from a bunch of differing sources - external or from within - our own minds and bodies presenting us with challenges beyond number. Most of us feel a little challenged by the continuation of some of these conflicts - either in relationships, in terms of what we desire, or just in what it is we are surrounded with every day. Let's consider the things which lead to conflict and their "antidote". We have some sort of conflict when we sense we are losing an element of control we'd rather not give up. Face it, control is a big deal to most of us. All the way to the grave we will struggle with wanting some little thing we can control! Whenever anyone asks for us to relinquish our control, it usually gets our juices flowing! The opposite of control is helplessness or powerlessness. No one wants to feel either of these emotions. What is the antidote? Cooperation. Whenever we find ourselves holding onto the one thing we believe we must control, we often find we aren't really being asked to give up something which we cannot live without! In scripture this is referred to as "submission" - we willingly let go of some things in order to embrace something better. We place ourselves under the authority of another - Jesus. It is then that we find it less concerning to always be in control, for his plan usually is a whole lot better than ours.

Conflict is opened up whenever we become too obsessive about any one thing and neglect something else in return. Obsession actually puts "blinders" on us - causing us to have tunnel vision - only seeing one solution, one opinion which matters, one opportunity worth taking. Then our obsession begins to affect others. We may think our obsession is only affecting us, but trust me, nothing you obsess about will ever affect only you - others will always be affected by your obsession because we become preoccupied with it. The antidote to this "tunnel vision" obsession? Occupation. We have to determine what will occupy the space in our minds, the attention of our hearts, and the energies of our bodies. God calls for us to be occupied with him - when this occurs, the attitude of our thoughts changes. The way our thoughts go determines the actions of both our bodies and emotions! Neediness is a definite source of conflict. Needy people seem to suck the very life from you, much like a leach! Needy people actually drive people away. When an individual determines to have the world rotate around them and their needs, others will eventually find some source of irritation and conflict with this. The antidote? Noticing others. A needy person doesn't really take notice of those outside of their own little world. Their focus is internal - not external. Learning to notice others - their needs, hopes, and feelings - will go a long way in diminishing your focus on your own need.

Trust is probably one of the biggest sources of conflict we struggle with, because it is something given by us, but broken by another. We don't have control over what another does with our trust - we just give it and hope they won't trample all over it. Whenever trust is broken, it takes a long time to get back to the place of building trust in relationship again. This is true in our spiritual lives, physical relationships, and just about every relationship we have. The antidote? Truth. We have to learn to live truthfully - truth begets trust. We aren't always perfect - but when truth becomes the "norm" in our relationships, we don't always lose the trust we have in another. Conflict also comes when someone doesn't take responsibility, or they acts "irresponsibly" with something you have entrusted to them. Responsibility and trust really go hand-in-hand. When another refuses to "own up to" and take responsibility for their actions, we get a little irritated. The antidote? Respect. When we respect God, we will "own up" to our failures. When we respect others, we will be more inclined to take responsibility for "our part" in a particular action. When we respect ourselves, we will be less likely to act irresponsibly with what God has provided in our lives.

Missed opportunities are a constant source of conflict in relationship. Some opportunities come once in a lifetime, others come back to us at a later point. We never really know when one missed opportunity will open the door for conflict. More importantly, we never really know when the missed opportunity will be the last. Opportunities to do good in the life of another, to speak truth into the relationship, and to encounter the tough things which almost lurk like the elephant in the room all present themselves. What we choose to do with those opportunities makes the difference between the building up of relationships or the entry of conflict into them. The antidote? Openness. We have to be focused on the opportunities and remain open to the "work" it takes to sometimes see these opportunities come to a place of fullness in our relationships. We all have limits. Cross them and conflict is inevitable. I have a limit on how much "noise" and "hubbub" I can handle in a day. Cross that limit and I become what others label as "moody" and pull inward. It is my way of dealing with the source of what could easily become conflict if I allowed it to. Instead of entering into conflict when my limits are met, I retreat! Others just let it all out! The antidote? Listening. Most of the time, others give us a clear-cut clue we are encroaching upon their limits. If we will just learn to listen, we can often avoid "crossing the line" into what others have declared to be the "outer limits" of their patience or efforts. Conflict will come - we can all learn to be better at avoiding conflict. Just sayin!

Go ahead, sit a while

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. (St. Augustine)

God’s eye is on those who respect him, the ones who are looking for his love. He’s ready to come to their rescue in bad times; in lean times he keeps body and soul together. We’re depending on God; he’s everything we need. What’s more, our hearts brim with joy since we’ve taken for our own his holy name. Love us, God, with all you’ve got—that’s what we’re depending on. (Psalm 33:18-22)

If we are to ask God to love us with all he's got, wouldn't it be reasonable for him to ask us to do the same toward him? We look for his love - do you ever wonder if he looks for yours, as well? I imagine he sits there, attentive for our knock, and eager to just have us sit with him a while. We've already received the invitation - we don't need to await another. What's more - the invitation isn't 'generic' - it is ours.

How do we show God love? We revere him - trust his ways, listen attentively to his voice, keep his commands, and honestly confess our shortcomings to him quickly. I think we have more than enough ways to 'show' our love - in action and not word alone. Do we consistently reveal our love? If you are anything like me, it has to be continuously 'rekindled'. It doesn't mean I don't love God anymore - it just means I allow things to take up the time I really intended to dedicate to him alone.

When we 'respect' God, we show it by deferring to his plans when we might have different ones in mind. This may be one of the hardest things for those of us who are 'planners'. We make our lists, plot a mental plan, and set out in the direction we intend to follow. Then along comes this little urging within to just stop what we are doing and listen to his voice. If you have ever been there, you know how hard it can be to 'shut down' your plans and just wait on him, entering into his presence, and listening intently.

We want to get things done - God wants us to give things to him. We want to spend every waking moment in activity - God wants us to 'waste' a little time with him before all the busy begins to take us away. We don't always appreciate how much this action of just 'wasting time with Jesus' really isn't a waste at all. It is a time of refreshing before we get into the thick of the battle. It builds us up, clarifies our plans, and gives us light into areas previously held in darkness within those plans. Just sayin!

We get there by going there

Dr. Seuss reminds us, "Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." So many times, we focus on the 'end' of things and forget all that happened in between the beginning and the end - the 'going through' part. We get through something, look back a bit, celebrate or mourn, depending on the occurrence, and then we commit to our memories something from that experience. It won't be the full details, but we will latch onto some part of it as the memory we will keep. If it was a happy occasion, we may not have wanted it to end. If it was just the opposite, we are probably grateful to have it over once and for all. Either way, it isn't the end that made the difference for us - it was the 'going through' that did.

If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God. (I Peter 3:13-18)

Do you think you can stop what you are going through? You might be able to devise an escape, but in the end, you will likely face something quite similar again. We can celebrate the toughest of things all because we 'go through' them with Christ. We 'get through' with attentive hearts, not side-tracked minds. We celebrate the beginning, middle, and end because we kept Chris central in it all. We were vigilant, determined, and obedient. We continually allowed the cleansing of our hearts, ordering of our thoughts, and balancing of our emotions - and we got through. Christ already went through it all - came out the other side of that tomb - celebrated the victory. 

We know life will not always be easy, but we can always find something good in the worst of circumstances when we have made Christ our focus through it all. How do we keep Christ first when the times we are facing are less than 'celebratory'? It requires a very 'conscious' effort on our part to remove our focus from what we are 'going through' and to place it squarely on his having 'gone through' it all for us already. When the emotions want to drift into dread, doubt, or distrust - ADORE him. When the mind wants to constantly rehearse the difficulties - ADORE him. When the spirit grows weary and the body weakens with each new day - ADORE him. 

ADORE him - delight in him; celebrate his goodness; relish his grace. ADORE him - treasure his guidance, honor him by using the wisdom he brings, and revere his truth. ADORE him - center your thoughts on his love, open your arms to his embrace, and settle into his peace. The way we 'get through' is by 'going through' WITH him - worshiping (adoring) him each step of the way. It may not look like we are ever going to make it, but by trusting in his grace, we shall. Just sayin!

Hope in the midst of dryness

Remember every road that God led you on for those forty years in the wilderness, pushing you to your limits, testing you so that he would know what you were made of, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He put you through hard times. He made you go hungry. Then he fed you with manna, something neither you nor your parents knew anything about, so you would learn that men and women don’t live by bread only; we live by every word that comes from God’s mouth. Your clothes didn’t wear out and your feet didn’t blister those forty years. You learned deep in your heart that God disciplines you in the same ways a father disciplines his child. (Deuteronomy 8: 2-5)

Remembering means that we go through a process of thinking of something again and again. In the process, we bring our attention to something we want to be aware of - bringing what exists in the unconscious mind back into the conscious mind. I remember my first "solo" bike ride - but mostly because I have scars to show for it! I remember the birth of my two children, but not every excruciating moment! I recall the meal I had for dinner last night - but it carries no significance to me. There are times when we remember stuff in a way that is not the actual way things "went down". We have "fabricated" our own "truth" of the event in the memory. If you have ever been on a mountain-top experience for a while, you likely have some pretty fond memories of those moments in time. On the other hand, if you have also endured the dryness of the desert times on your way to the mountain-top, you might just have some pretty significant memories of those experiences which almost did you in.

Every road is the opportunity for a memory. Every desert experience is a moment in time when God directed his attention toward something in us which needed to get exposed - some good, some not so much. In the dryness and barrenness of the desert, what we really have deep in our hearts just seems to get revealed. The desert has a way of magnifying what is really buried deep within. Maybe this is the purpose of the desert - so our hearts get some time to reveal their true selves! Probably the most significant part of our memories is "what" we hold onto from these experiences. The tidbits of truth, moments of hope, revealed truths - we don't hold onto the "entirety" of the desert experience in our memory, just the memorable moments. Some might refer to these as those "teachable" moments. Others call them their "AHA" moments. Whatever you may call them, they are the times when something of significant revelation occurred. A part of you was revealed - God enlightened you to not only yourself, but to his grace to change that part into what he actually envisioned for us. These are the moments we create a "memory" about because they speak to us of the growth produced even in the barren places of our lives.

Most don't recall the tests of obedience, yet the desert is full of them. In the midst of the desert, God is calling for some element of obedient response from us. We usually hold onto the "results" of the steps of obedience but forget the actual moments of distress which brought the revelation of where our obedience was being called for. We don't think about "how" we got from step A to step B - we just know we got there! I think God instructed Israel to remember ALL the roads they traveled in the desert because each had a significance in their overall growth. In the midst of the test, there is a whole lot of silence. The desert provides silence. Why? To give you time to process your thought - to bring into your conscious mind what has been stored away in your unconscious mind.  You don't see or hear much, but you become very conscious of what is working in your mind! I think this is important for us to recognize because we sometimes think God isn't in the desert, but really, he is just giving us time to realize what we already know! The desert just brings it to the surface a little clearer! The desert has a way of bringing out the fruit. You might not think this possible because you only see the barrenness, sense the quietness, and resist the "heat" of the desert experience. In the midst of the desert, God is showing us what matters - what we can hold onto. So, rather than resist the "dryness", maybe it is time to allow it to bring out what we already know, but maybe haven't brought into the forefront of our memory in a while! Just sayin!

Negotiation Table

Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. (Philippians 1:28-29)

Sitting Bull said, "Let us put our minds together and see what life we can make for our children." It was a wise aim, but one I feel might have left us somewhere along the way. Unity is a hard thing to create, much less maintain. Unity actually requires only one agenda and when we humans get involved, there are always going to be differing agendas. How is it we put down our own agendas and take up Christ's? How can we still maintain our individuality and be part of a group bigger purpose? It comes not in 'giving up' our agenda, but by 'picking up' the agenda of Christ. The more we listen to his teaching and align both mind and heart with that teaching, we find our own self-guided agendas take the backseat.

Do you know why others are drawn to the message of Christ? It is because they see the message lived out in your life. The most powerful message Christ can use is a changed life. The hardest thing for us to allow is change. The mind demands its own way. The heart twists us up in emotional upheaval every time we don't get our own way. It is a constant push and pull struggle that is very real. The hope we have is that when we put down our agenda long enough to embrace his, we are transported into a place of greater peace, deeper reward, and lasting joy. If that doesn't appeal to us, it should! Sitting Bull wanted a better life for his offspring - the future generations of leaders that would come after him. Do we want any less?

I think Sitting Bull had one thing wrong in his wish, though. He wanted our minds to come together. God wants our spirits to lead the way - not our minds or hearts. Both of those are pretty unreliable and will oftentimes demand their own way. Our spirit, united with the Spirit of God, is the only thing to be trusted to guide us in the right direction. When we lean into God's Word, it gets at misguided thoughts and fickle emotions. When we listen to his Spirit within, we find our choices are not always about ourselves, but consider what others will need or desire. God's plan for unity begins in the spiritual realm - not at the negotiation tables. While man 'negotiates', God orchestrates. Isn't it about time we lay down our own agendas and consider the one God has for us - unity with him in Christ Jesus? Just askin!

Not perfect - how about you?

True humility and fear of the Lord lead to riches, honor, and long life. (Proverbs 22:4)

True humility - this suggests to me there might just be a form of humility which is not genuine or real at all. It is that type of humility where one "pretends" to be submissive to the will of another, but really there is a little (or a lot) of resistance going on. It is like the age-old adage of us sitting down on the outside but standing up on the inside! Humility is often thought of as being modest or a little bit inferior to another. Humility is really a spirit of deference. It is the respectful and courteous regard of others in our lives - the willingness to take the back seat or to play second fiddle, so to speak. It is the condition of no longer pretending but being real with each other. A truly humble person is not afraid to be themselves around others or God. There are a lot of ways we don't show our humility. One of the most evident is when we say we know everything there is to know about a certain circumstance or issue in our lives. We actually shut the door on growth whenever we are so determined to maintain the "pretense" of knowing it all. There is a danger in being a know-it-all kind of person - it is in never learning from our mistakes! We allow history to continue to repeat itself whenever we are unwilling or unable to accept direction in our failure. Thinking we can handle it ourselves or that we know exactly how to "fix" the problem will keep us from getting the help we really need. Correction requires more than common sense sometimes! Not everything we learn comes through common sense - sometimes it comes because we get still long enough to realize we don't actually know it all!

Humility identifies with someone other than yourself. As long as my viewpoint is turned inwardly, I cannot see what others see, nor can I learn from what they have learned. Learning to identify with other people - truly connecting with them at the heart, mind and spirit levels - opens the door for us to learn their lessons. I don't know about you, but if I can save a little hardship in my own life by learning from it in yours, I am all for that! Some of us are always looking for others who are exactly at our same level of maturity, spiritually / emotionally / or intellectually. I have learned the most from those who had already mastered the skills! I also learn quicker when I have the opportunity to help another walk through where I have already walked! We need to connect with each other in order to grow. The opposite of humility is a condition we could label as arrogance. It is the condition of feeling and acting superior to another. It may be that we dress better, drive a better car, or don't have the same issues in life. Regardless of the reason for the sense of "superiority", the arrogant man or woman actually alienates others rather than drawing them closer. God reminds us it is the humble who receive honor - not the arrogant. The arrogant may "feel special", but the true honor goes to the humble. If everything in life is done as a matter of "showing" oneself as superior to another, it will be a miserable existence. Humble people are not afraid to help another get the honor! When humility is the course of your life, you actually look for opportunities for another to be successful!

One of the hardest things to do is admit your inability. Humble people don't fret it! They are honest to the core - knowing the only way to find help is to admit they actually need it! Arrogant people won't share these inabilities because there is a pretense which must be maintained. When we are willing to let go of the pretense, we actually open the door for the help we so desperately need. Failure is a part of life - get over it! You cannot go through life masking your failure - in time, it will become evident - you can only bury it for so long. Scripture reminds us God actually "opposes" the proud but gives grace to the humble. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be on the side of the field where I look across and see God as my opposition! It is hard to let go of needing to "be right" all the time, but when we do, we realize we begin to gain the wisdom we so desperately require in order to move beyond our failures. Just sayin!

The wrong stuff

For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8)

Let's stop this morning to consider what it is we truly love. It is probably easier for you and I to make a list of what it is we truly dislike or hate than it is to make one for the things we truly love! I don't like brussel sprouts, but I wouldn't say I "hate" them. I don't like liver - I think I could say I definitely don't like lamb - and I think I could even say I don't like lightening storms - but I cannot truly say I "hate" any of these. Hate is a strong word - one which I discouraged my kids from using as they were growing up. In reality, when we are saying we "hate" something, we are stating we almost have a hostility toward it. In laying out my list of what I don't really like, I am really saying I have a little aversion to the taste or the effect of the occurrence. I is not a strong repulsion to them or that I loathe them. I could eat brussel sprouts - but honestly, you'd have to give me a really good reason to eat liver! I wonder how many times we really look at how we use this word "hate" in our vocabulary and if we really have the true "feelings" of hatred toward whatever it is we have labeled as "hated" in our lives? God wants us to hate evil - to have such a strong aversion to evil so as to avoid it at all cost. I think this is something we can get our minds around. We understand why God wants us to detest evil - it destroys us and others, so he wants us to develop an aversion to all types of evil in our lives. 

How does this 'aversion' happen? How do we know what it is God actually calls "evil"? These are good questions. God did a pretty good job of outlining the things we should avoid in the scriptures - in fact, the Word of God was given to us as a means of instructing us in how to make right choices. If we still have questions after we search it out within the pages of these sixty-six books we call the Bible, then we still have prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to guide us. If all else seems to leave us devoid of a clear answer, we have discovered we also have this little thing called conscience. We have a whole lot of ways to identify the stuff God "hates" - but no tool is of value unless it is used! The right tool makes all the difference in accomplishing the task! We are people defined by what it is we love, as well as what it is we hate. To truly love something means we are drawn toward it. To truly hate something means we are repulsed and repelled away from it. I can honestly say I hate what I see illegal substances do to destroy the lives of those who get hooked on them. I can just as honestly say I love it when a man or woman finds their way to freedom from their addiction. We move toward what we love and move away from what we hate. We invest in what we love and starve whatever it is we hate. This makes it a little easier to maybe understand what it is God loves and hates. He is drawn toward spending time with us - so he must love us. He was willing to invest his greatest joy - his Son Jesus - so he must love us. He is repulsed by anything that takes our eyes off of him, so maybe we should think of those as the things he "hates". 

We can "tolerate" a whole lot of stuff in this life. To tolerate something means we kind of allow it to exist - without really doing much with it or even to get rid of it. I tolerate a few weeds in my grass, simply because I don't want to spend hours and hours on my hands and knees weeding them all out. The things I choose to tolerate in my life often determine what I will get in this life or get out of this life. Think on that one for a moment. If we tolerate even the slightest bit of hatred toward another, what is the "return" on what it is we have tolerated. Hatred breeds more hatred. Unfortunately, when we tolerate the wrong stuff - the stuff God tells us he is repulsed by - we allow it to take root in our lives. This is why it is important to not just "tolerate" a little compromise. A little compromise can become a huge issue somewhere down the road. We consider something subjectively and objectively. Subjective information is what you tell me. Objective information is what I see, feel, hear, or sense. I hear you tell me you are run down, feeling a little moody, and generally not feeling yourself. I then look for the objective findings such as swollen glands, too many hours at work, or poor eating habits. In life, we need both the subjective and objective "assessments". We need the balance of what it is we know to be the set of "values" we can use to evaluate things against (God's Word) and then the evaluation of our subjective "feelings" and "actions" against what it is God declares. To simply rely upon our subjective feelings will lead to subjective actions - both of which are dependent entirely upon the situation. Objective evaluation looks beyond the situation and gives us a "constant" by which it is we can evaluate our actions. God cares about us enough to give us a set of "constants" by which we may evaluate life. If we want an accurate assessment of what it is we are to love and hate in life, we must consider the "constants" in his Word. If we realize some things are not in alignment with what he says to love or hate, we can make adjustments, so we aren't tolerating the wrong stuff. Just sayin!

Another risky move

This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. (I John 3:16)

Disappearing love - does that sound like the state of so many homes these days? Did you know that in the US there were 5 marriages per thousand in the two-year span from 2020-2021, with 3 of those 5 ending in divorce within the same time span (and that is only 45 states reporting statistics)? Our homes were hard hit with the pandemic, weren't they? Relationships still developed, but they didn't withstand the pressure. It is tough to love someone, especially when there are external forces at work to tear the relationship apart! It is equally tough to love someone when we are so caught up in our own lives that we don't see the needs of others around us. Do we always recognize the need in another's life? Not likely. Are we sensitive to the 'unspoken words' that could give us clues as to their state of mind, attitude of heart, or waning willpower to go on with whatever is ahead of them? Not always. Do we always possess the 'means' by which to meet the need we see? Sometimes, but not with any consistency. As much as is possible, we are to remain sensitive to the needs around us - then work to see them met if it is within our means to accomplish it. 

Sometimes all that is missing is our willingness to ask God to make us sensitive to the needs around us. It isn't that we don't possess the means by which to see those needs met as much as it is not being 'in tune' with those we are surrounded by each day. We don't recognize their withdrawal or see their downcast eyes and drooping posture. We don't look deep enough to see the happiness displayed is only a cleverly worn mask disguising a much deeper sense of loss, grief, or misplaced trust. There are times when all that is needed is a warm hug, a quieted spirit and a listening ear. At others, it will be time to roll up one's sleeves and get a little dirty in the process. If we don't want to see God's love disappear, we must be open to being shown where it is we can express his love and by what means we are to do it.

Asking to be sensitive to the needs of others is risky business for some, as it means we must lay down our own agenda and be open to taking on the agenda of another. Perhaps this is why so many struggle with this true kind of love - sacrifice being the furthest thing from one's mind in a culture that relishes building up oneself. I don't really think this kind of sacrificial love comes naturally to any of us, but when we are born into the family of God, I think the seed of this love begins to put down roots deep within us. We begin to see others with a little bit more clarity and have a developing sense of God's plan to use us to meet the needs around us. As we are faithful to do what little we can, God helps us be sensitive to even greater needs - but not without giving us the ability to begin to meet those needs, as well. It may mean we lay down something we were pursuing and take up a different kind of pursuit - one that focuses less on ourselves and more on others. Just sayin!

Choose the right stuff

My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths. When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life. (Proverbs 4:10-15)

We begin a lot of things, but how many of them do we actually finish? In terms of finishing, we don't do as well as we do with the beginning part! To finish well, we need to have not only tenacity, but we need to have set out on an endeavor we find worthwhile and rewarding. If the thing we set out to do is so overbearing and adds burden instead of delight, we get bogged down and often lay it aside because it is "too hard". It is like when we say we will read the Bible in a year. We find ourselves reading for the sake of reading - not really taking time to savor the truth contained within. We plug on through the "boring" chapters, get excited about checking off the finished portions, and then look at how much still lays ahead. The issue is not so much in the starting, it is in the finishing. How we finish is as important as that we actually finish! Consider what you have committed to in life. If you are to fulfill your commitments, you need to be aware of how your choices will affect what it is you choose to remember and what it is you will let go of as you journey through life. You and I also need to figure out who or what it is we will allow to reign in our lives. If that isn't enough, we need to keep in mind that there are things that will need to be released - relinquished completely because they have no part in the "ending" even though we might have been holding onto them in the beginning or picked them up along the way.

All choices we make result in some form of action. These actions produce memory - good or bad, pleasing or disagreeable, fruitful or wasteful. The choices we make impact the memories we will have of the journey. Most of us focus on the "stuff" in the journey - not the memories we are forming along the way. These very memories may present us with problems or provision in the future. We might observe Job in scripture, having gone through a lot - losing home, family, livestock, land. He was covered in some kind of disgusting skin disorder which left him sitting on a pile of poop, scraping the disgusting skin lesions with a shard of pottery. What memories do you think he may have been able to make in those moments? He could choose to hold onto the memories of how much misery he went through, the pain of the losses, or the agony of the disease. Yet, as we view the end of his life, we see he chose not to hold onto any of those awful memories. He chose to hold onto the memories of God walking him through each of those agonizingly tough areas! Nothing is more powerful than our memory during times of stress, uncomfortable ordeal, and hardship. What we choose to hold onto in the recesses of our brain may actually be the determining factor between just finishing the tough times and finishing those times quite well.

If you have ever gone through stuff maybe more than a little challenging, you probably have struggled with the tendency to want to "talk about" the stuff a lot. In other words, you choose to focus on the issues at hand by "rehearsing" the issues over and over. There is so much power in our words - what we choose to rehearse in our words often becomes the thing we believe in our hearts! Maybe this is why God instructs us to hide his Word in our hearts and to recall it in times of testing and trial. When we rehearse the right stuff, we often don't get into the misery of the moment so much. We elevate our perspective through the words we choose to speak! All of us have "history" and sometimes we tend to be a little histrionic. We get all wigged out by the things which have happened to us and what we have had to go through in life. Sometimes we just need to let go of this stuff if we are ever to move on. Some of our history isn't helping us finish - it is holding us back! To move on, we have to let go! Actions move us - just like the wind moves the leaves on the tree. You may not "see" the wind, but you see the evidence of the action of the wind. The same is true of some of the things which we choose to hold onto in life - we don't always see them, but we see the results in the actions which are produced. Therefore, learning to maintain the right perspective in the midst of the "stuff" we journey through and taking control of what it is we will choose to remember is important to producing the right actions (the right movement) in our lives. Just sayin!

Look up, look around, trust what is within

Winston Churchill reminded us, "If you are going through hell, keep going." There is quite a bit of wisdom in that one! We might want to give up, but hell isn't our stomping ground! It may seem a bit like we are doomed to be there, but the truth of the matter is that we are to move through to the other side of whatever misery it is we are calling our 'hell' at this moment. God reminds us, "As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us." (Colossians 1:10-12)

There is a strength not our own that we rely upon when in the midst of something bigger than our capacity, or harder than our capabilities. It is God's strength we press into - the strength that keeps us moving forward - out of the hell we are enduring and into the grace we are bound for in the end. God makes us strong enough to endure the tough places - not just the easy places. We go through the tougher stuff with a hope - there is something bright and beautiful on the other side of it. If that seems a bit too 'Pollyanna' for some, I will not apologize. God's not going to allow anything to stand in the way of our 'moving through', but we may be stuck where we are because we have been trying to 'move through' without tapping into the strength he gives us. In the midst of 'hell', we learn some pretty valuable lessons. We learn more and more how God works! We may also learn just how ineffectively WE work. 

Today isn't a 'cheer from the sidelines' for those enduring hardship - it is a rally call. A call to get up, get moving, and get through. I recount the toughest week of my life in Basic Training when we had to 'endure' all the 'final exam' type tests. The hardest for me was that final day of physical endurance testing. We did sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, and ran the mile - just to name a few. Combat boots and full fatigues didn't make any of it easy. The sheer number of each demanding test was so hard because there was absolutely no break in between each leg of the test. That run came at the end of all the other demanding physical endurance tests - a run that almost was my undoing. I wanted to quit - just sit down, rest a bit, and get my 'second wind'. What I didn't realize at the time was that the purpose was to show me there would be times in warfare when a 'second wind' opportunity would not be possible. I had to muster that 'internal will' to finish.

Many of us think we 'muster' that will all on our own, but the thing we don't recognize is God's Spirit within driving us forward when we don't want to go on any further. I could have sat down, taken the 'no pass' grade, and washed out of Basic Training. I could have cheated and taken a short-cut when no one was looking. There was no honor in either of those choices, though. Somewhere around the three-quarter mile mark, I put lifted my very tired head and asked God for the help. I had been looking at the beating of my boots upon the worn path, but when I lifted my eyes to see the trees around me, the sky above me, and the finish in front of me, a 'second wind' came. You may not think you will ever make it through this present 'hell', but maybe God is about to bring that 'second wind' that will drive you forward. Look up, look around, and trust what is within you. You are bound for the finish line, my friend. Just sayin!

Feeling a little 'diminished'?

Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (Hebrews 12:2)

Does your faith ever feel like it is dwindling? There is one thing we can do whenever this happens - go look at Christ did when his faith was battered and worn by life's demands. He withdrew into prayer - times to talk with his Father one-on-one. He got with his good friends to share ideas, hear their stories, and feel their support. He sat down and ate at rest with those he enjoyed company with. He did what he knew to do and left the rest to God.

We will find these times of 'flagging faith' no matter how well we are walking with God - it is only natural to be challenged at times - it is how our faith actually has a chance to grow! If you get frustrated with yourself whenever you face these 'faith-diminished' moments, you are less likely to be open to 'how' God 'fixes' our faith in those moments. We won't recognize the value of close friendships that actually bolster us in our faith when we listen to their encouragement, hear their similar stories of challenge, and see how they continue on. We won't take time away to get our hearts and minds right with God.

This verse begins with, "Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it." We don't have to stay in our 'diminished-faith' position - we are being cheered on, as everything around us is changing, in anticipation of us actually moving beyond the changes we are see all around us. God remains faithful - his plan is certain. God is constant, even when everything around us is changing - when our faith is challenged, it isn't that God is changing, he is just changing us.

Considering the various examples we are given in life actually serves to pump faith into our souls. Hearing the faith-memories of our close relations might just challenge us to consider the present stuff we are experiencing in a new light - seeing it through their eyes just a bit differently. Listening intently to what God is telling us in times of prayer, worship, and study in his Word opens us up to see our 'faith-diminished' position as a 'launching pad' to our next leap of faith instead of an anchor that holds us back. Just sayin!

How about a little clear thinking here?

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.

(Leo Buscaglia)

That word is for someone today - not sure who - but you will know it when you hear it. Worry robs so many of us of today's joy - not because it has any power of its own, but because we give it the power to rob us. Worry is a state of mind, heart, will, and emotions. It diminishes our drive, deflects our focus, and demeans our hopes. If you are a 'worrier', it is time to remember we are called to be 'warriors', not worriers. 

Dear friend, guard Clear Thinking and Common Sense with your life; don’t for a minute lose sight of them. They’ll keep your soul alive and well, they’ll keep you fit and attractive. You’ll travel safely, you’ll neither tire nor trip. You’ll take afternoon naps without a worry, you’ll enjoy a good night’s sleep. No need to panic over alarms or surprises, or predictions that doomsday’s just around the corner, Because God will be right there with you; he’ll keep you safe and sound. (Proverbs 3:21-26)

Clear thinking and common sense often escape us when we allow worry to become the predominant theme of our lives. When worry worms its way into our minds, all our thoughts go to the worst and away from the best (our hopes). Our hearts are burdened down by the 'what ifs' instead of believing in the 'what's possible' in Christ Jesus. The will becomes swayed by the challenge instead of embracing the 'hardness' of the moment.

How is it we overcome worry - moving from being 'worriers' to the place we face life's challenges as 'warriors'? If we are to understand worry at its core, we need to clearly face the fact it is because we have misplaced our trust. We are placing all our trust in what we can do, or what another human might be able to accomplish. We forget the very Son of God is the one who saves us from the things set on destroying us! Eyes on self or others will surely end up in worries galore - eyes on Jesus and his ability will send worries scurrying.

Warriors don't pick up sword and shield to fight in their own power - they count on their Commander in Chief to direct their course of action. Why would we think we could face these things that cause us so much concern in our own strength and capabilities? It isn't until we lay them at the foot of the cross that we are finally able to take up our sword and shield effectively, my friends. Just sayin!

The sticking point

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always “me first,” doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, puts up with anything, trusts God always, always looks for the best, never looks back, but keeps going to the end. (I Corinthians 13:3-7)

Love is tough business - even under the "best" of circumstances. In fact, I think it is one of the toughest things for us to receive and even harder for us to give away - that is, when we do it well! Many times, we "love", but it is definitely not "well". We have all those strings attached, kind of doing our own thing, but never really investing in each other as we should. In the roughest spots, it is put to the test, and we sometimes don't come out smelling so pretty, do we? In order to love as God tells us to love, we might have to change the way we have been doing this 'love one another' thing to align with what he reminds us love actually is and is not. Does it surprise you the list begins with "never giving up"? This is where it begins - with commitment. In fact, anything worth having and keeping in life is based on the commitment we make to it. So, what better place to begin than with our commitment? The other stuff that comes after this is really the evidence of our commitment! Love doesn't hide behind some false facade. It is real, genuine to the core. If we want to understand what love is, we have to get real with ourselves, others, and especially God.

Ever use guilt as a "tactic" to get someone to do something? We have all probably done it at one time or another. Whenever we "use" guilt as a means of "getting what we want", we are really saying to the other person, "I matter more than you do", or maybe we are saying, "I want to control everything". Either way, WE are at the center of the universe! Guess what? God is the only one who deserves that honor! Commitment begins by being real, getting heart/mind/body in right order, and coming under the authority of Christ in our lives. When that occurs - there is no room for us to be in control or to manipulate anyone (even God) to get our own way. We have all heard it said, "Love is patient". Now, try acting that out in real life! It isn't always easy to be patient when another is being over-demanding, acting ridiculous, or just plain mean, is it? Nope, in fact if we were truthful on this one, we want to beat them silly at times! Guess what? Patience is our problem - not theirs! We get "impatient" whenever we expect another to perform the way we imagine they will. God brings the other person to the place they should be - not me! It has been a tough thing to learn, but once I finally got this straight in my mind, I actually stopped being so impatient with others.

When we are in competition with another, we seldom operate in the realm of kindness! Thinking back to the last time you were operating in anything less than true kindness, what would you say was at the root of your "unkindness"? In most cases, it was because we didn't "win". All of life is sort of based on some sort of "win" or "lose" competition, isn't it? I giggle at drivers who edge up to my bumper, narrowly squeezing between my car and the one beside me, then zoom to cut in front of me, only to find themselves sitting directly in front of me at the stoplight! All they have to show for their "competition" is being first to stop! Fear and the losing of control leads to a whole lot of competition. Whenever we want to win so badly, we usually move into a position of not caring about another's well-being. 

If we get our commitment right - recognizing God is in control of the other person - and then begin to focus on the other person as we should, we find ourselves being a whole lot less "self-attentive". All of these characteristics are really the result of being overly "self-attentive" or "self-focused". Add not being easily angered and you have a full "package deal" of getting your eyes off self and onto another. Anger gets its start in some "right" of ours being "violated". If we lay down our "rights" at the feet of Jesus, we find we demand a whole lot less of others and rely upon what it is he will bring into the relationship. Love doesn't quit and it operates in maturity. Is not quitting the same as commitment? Not really. Commitment is the starting point - the "sticking" point is when we determine to not be swayed by our emotions, learning to rely upon the maturity Christ gives us through time in his Word and at his feet. Issues will come up anytime there is a relationship between two people - learning to stop focusing on the issues and keeping our focus on Christ is really evidence of the determination to never quit! Just sayin!

Not what, but who

As I raised my children, my one main concern was not what they would do in this world, but who they would be. As I see my grandsons becoming young men, the same aim exists. It isn't what we do in this lifetime as much as who we become. What we 'do' may seem very important to some but trust me on this one - - - we can 'do' all kinds of 'good' stuff and 'be' doggone 'wrong' in our heart while doing it!

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

Sin cannot tell us how to live - but it sure presents a whole lot of options! We find ourselves focused on the wrong stuff in life whenever we listen to the tug of our flesh - the desires to 'do' being the driving force behind that tug. We want our independence, don't we? We sometimes equate 'doing' with 'being', but there is something of significance we need to understand. We can 'do' without 'being', but we cannot 'be' and not 'do'. 

What we DO is a result of who we are - Christ followers, intensely in love with him, obedient to his commands, and listening intently to his voice. If there is any doubt that your 'doing' changes after making the decision to follow Jesus this way, just look at the myriad of examples in scripture and living amongst you. There is a movement away from grudgingly 'doing' the things we are asked to do - a movement toward 'doing' because who we 'are' creates the desire to 'do' things differently.

We focus on the wrong stuff sometimes. Too many times we get down on ourselves because of our disappointing 'actions' and focus very little on what it is within us that actually made us take those actions. If we were to stop long enough to just 'be' with Christ and get to know him just a bit better each day, we may just see our actions changing. Sin can't tell us how to live - but sometimes we have to stop focusing so much on what we do wrong and more on who makes us right. Just sayin!

The theorem of light

We have all the light we need, we just need to put it in practice.

(Albert Pike)

“I am the world’s Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in.” (Jesus)

(John 8:12)

Many folks go through life looking for the next great revelation, all the while possessing so much knowledge and using very little of it. I knew all kinds of stuff in school, but actually used about 1/10th of it in real life! Physics is a blur; trigonometry was likely a waste of my time; and calculus never got used even one time. Geometry helps me with some 'area' and 'angle' questions in my woodshop; algebra actually helped me when I calculated drug dosages; and biology helps me keep my garden growing. I still only use a tiny fraction of any of those subjects that I say did me some good to study. We can be 'knowledge-rich' and 'wisdom-poor' at times. We have 'light' and still we seek something to deal with the 'darkness'.

Christ expects us to use the light we have been given in him - the light of his presence dispelling all manner of darkness from our lives. We sometimes don't embrace light - choosing to stumble around in darkness in areas of our lives we have declared 'off-limits' to God. Guess what? God isn't going to let darkness win! We may want to be free of those 'dark areas' of our lives where we have made bad choices, settled for something we knew we didn't really want to embrace, or those moments of indiscretion that led us into greater moments until we felt like there was no escape. 

Am I able to recite even one of those theorems I learned in geometry class? Nope, but I know you can make a hexagon from wood if you cut at a 30-degree angle! I know Jesus wants to be engaged in my daily life, but do I always welcome his direction? Nope, but I trust him to keep me from drifting too far to the right or left with my independent decisions. His truth is light - like one of those theorems I learned in geometry - it can be trusted. If I know the theorem and never use it, is it valuable to me? Not really. If I use the theorem related to 'polygons', I can find the angle of the hexagon. If I use the Word of God by actually applying it to my life, I might not walk around with those dark areas any longer!

We only benefit from what we 'use' in our lives. We might have all other kinds of 'knowledge' we keep stored away somewhere, but when we incorporate the 'light of God's Word' into our lives in any area of our lives, it isn't 'wasted truth'. It is practical knowledge we find useful to us time and time again. Just sayin!

Never walk away

Everybody wants to do something to help, but nobody wants to be first. 

(Pearl Bailey)

Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God’s hand for that person. Don’t tell your neighbor “Maybe some other time” or “Try me tomorrow” when the money’s right there in your pocket. Don’t figure ways of taking advantage of your neighbor when he’s sitting there trusting and unsuspecting. (Proverbs 3:27-29)

Your hand is God's hand - can we just ponder that one for a moment or two? What was the last thing your hand did for someone other than yourself? It goes without saying, we may deny ourselves very little, all the while oblivious to the need that could be right there next to us. Never walk away - that is a pretty direct command, but I will be the first to admit, I've done it. If it is within our ability, why don't we take the next step and meet the need? Maybe it is like Bailey said and we don't want to be the one to take the 'first step'.

I know some will focus on the words "deserves help" in this passage but let me be the first to warn us against judging who 'deserves' our help. Yes, I am very sensitive to the fact there are a lot of people with signs on street corners who are neither homeless nor out of work. Perhaps I am a little 'skeptical' that every 'reported need' isn't really a reality these days as there are many who have found this 'panhandling gig' pays better than getting a 9-5 job. There are ways to meet the needs of those with genuine need - we may just have to be a little more sensitive to hear God's urging and a bit more willing to do what he asks of us.

If our hand is God's hand, where should that hand be 'employed' today? This is the real question set forth in our passage. It isn't 'if we see a need' - it is 'when we see that need'. There will always be needs we can meet, but we may not immediately recognize them. Have you ever received a note from someone telling you how much your words meant to them when they were going through something in their lives? How about hearing someone recount something you had done kind of 'spur of the moment' and telling you how much that met a specific need? You were being God's hand and probably didn't even know it.

We might not think of this passage as one of God's 'major commands', like the Ten Commandments outlined in the Old Testament. Love your neighbor is a pretty consistent command throughout all of scripture and was the one command Jesus modeled as he walked this earth. Love God and love others - worship God and help others. This is the crux of all the commandments. Just sayin!

It might just hurt...

Of all possessions a friend is the most precious. (Herodotus)

God-friendship is for God-worshipers; They are the ones he confides in. (Psalm 25:14)

Friendship with God is desirable - in fact, it is the best 'friendship' we can find in life. We all know the value of a good friend - someone we can confide in, sharing both our doubts and hopes openly. It is a different type of relationship we have with God, though. We share our most intimate confidences with him - at least that is what we believe we are doing. Have you ever wanted to talk with him about something that was just eating at you, but you were 'afraid' he might react to whatever you want to tell him in a way you might not like? It isn't that you don't trust him, it is that you don't trust yourself to respond to his wisdom in the way that he expects.

God isn't going to ask us to do something that will hurt us. If we are honest, we are afraid what he asks will cause us some degree of 'pain', so we don't discuss the subject at hand. We mask over it as though it weren't there. I haven't found that to work very well in my own relationship with him. In fact, whenever I try to mask over something we need to be talking about, he keeps bringing me back around to that very subject! It is like I cannot escape it until it out in the open with him. He didn't want me to feel 'pain' by bringing that thing out into the open with him - he wanted me to feel his 'peace' and 'grace' to deal with it - openly and honestly.

Yes, it may hurt to be that open with God - but we may just need to let ourselves get a little 'hurt' if we are to experience the health we need. No surgeon promises we won't experience some pain - they tell us they will do their best to control it. God asks us to open up to him, but he never promises us he won't 'meddle in our business' just a bit when we do. If we are honest here, we don't like God to 'meddle' sometimes. We want all the 'perks' of this relationship with him without him getting into those areas we don't want 'meddled with'. God isn't 'meddling' - he is asking us to no longer fear his presence in those areas.

We may not understand this desire for transparency with him because every time we have tried to be transparent with others on this earth, we have found ourselves hurt. If we 'judge' God's response to the things we need share with him by what we experienced in our earthly relationships, we will likely never open up fully. It may cause us a bit of angst at first - being this honest with him - but if we are consistent in maintaining openness with him, his grace will guide us into some pretty awesome depth of relationship 'in' and 'with' him. Just sayin!