Never, never, never

"Change is the end result of all true learning." (Leo Buscaglia) As I listened to a gospel song the other day, I actually learned something. We use the word 'always' to describe God's faithfulness, but could it be that the better word we should use is 'never'? As in:

“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5) - we are never left on our own, to work out our own misery or find our own way in life.

"He will never give up on you. Never forget that." (I Corinthians 1:9) - we might feel like it is time to give up, but there is never a right time to give up or give in - God wants us to never forget that he isn't about to give up on us - no matter what.

"If we give up on him, he does not give up—for there’s no way he can be false to himself." (2 Timothy 2:13) - God can never be anything but what he is and that is faithful, loving, tenderhearted, and longsuffering.

"Your kingdom is a kingdom eternal; you never get voted out of office. God always does what he says,
and is gracious in everything he does." (Psalm 145:13) - we may try to deny he is present or that he is in control of our lives, but he never will violate one of his promises.

"We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love." (I John 4:16-18) - his love never fails and the hope his love gives us should never fail to lift our hearts. His love, resident within us, has no fear - only trust, hope, and freedom.

I could go on and on about God's 'never' promises, but I think you get the idea. We often think 'always' is the best way to describe his grace, but maybe the best way is to say 'his grace will never fail', 'his mercy will never be too far away', and 'his faithfulness towards us will never run dry'. Just sayin!

Driven toward truth

As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands. (Psalm 119:143) 

The late Walt Disney said, "It is kind of fun to do the impossible." With God, much of what we see as impossible is really not, but that doesn't minimize the fact that the impossible comes with its own stress and pressure. There is a certain 'stress' within faith - trust requires stepping outside of our comfort zone from time to time. When we do, the pressure that can bear down on us can almost overwhelm us. This is why we must press into our relationship with Jesus even harder during these times. 

Someone once told me to enjoy that stress and feel that pressure. Why? It meant I was going to see God work within my life in ways I had never experienced before. So, I took that advice and actually took a different attitude toward all that pressure as the 'impossible' closed in around me. Do you know what happened? Before long, the 'attitude' I had assumed actually began to change my focus away from the mounting pressures and stress toward God's goodness, protection, and provision. I saw things within the Word of God that I hadn't seen before - things that helped me navigate unfamiliar territory. I enjoyed my quiet time with Jesus just a bit more because I could find renewed peace and settled emotions in those times.

Pressures and stressors abound - especially when we are faced with the 'impossible'. Some have tried to tell me we experience stress because we aren't trusting God deep enough. I have to challenge this because if that were the case, we'd never be out from under great stress and tremendous pressure! We can always trust God more, go a little deeper in our relationship with him, and have our eyes opened to truth in new ways. As our psalmist reminds us, pressure and stress should always drive us toward truth - to a firm foundation upon which we can stand strong when the winds of change are coming at us like a gale force wind. 

Truth has a way of dispelling myth and misplaced trust. When we want security and peace more than we want pressure and stress, we might just be drifting into a bit of complacency in our walk with Jesus. To experience growth requires pressure and stress. We might not know how powerful time in his Word can be until we begin to feel the pressure drive us into it just a bit deeper. We might not know how peace-filled our lives can be in the midst of trials galore until we begin to worship and lift our hearts in praise to him. When we least feel like getting truth is likely when we need it the most. Just sayin!

A force to be reckoned with

I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. (John 17:15-18)

Jesus did not do the 'easy thing' and ask his Father to just deliver us from this world, so we'd never have to face the challenges inherent in living on this earth. He asked his Father to keep us safe from the evil one. Notice that Jesus knows there has been a change of 'citizenship' - no longer belonging to this world, but to the Kingdom of God. It might be a bit like a dual citizenship, though. We are still living in this world, doing the things we must do in this world, such as working at a job, paying our bills, and being good neighbors. We are also enjoying the privilege of being part of the family of God - participating with him as part of this family, doing the things we must do as part of his family such as supporting one another, praying for those we might label as 'enemies', and sharing the gospel message with those who need to hear it. We are "IN" this world, but we are no longer "OF" this world. We are "IN" the family of God, but we don't always fulfill the things "OF" his family mission. Jesus prayed that his Father would make us holy - not by some magical swish of a 'spiritual magic wand', but by his truth. In other words, get truth deep into our hearts and let it do the rest! 

We are being sent, but not before we have been prepared. This is why it is so important to allow the Word of God to get into the very fibers of our being - affecting us deeply until we understand our 'mission' and 'calling' as a child in the family of God. Too many times, we expect to be 'delivered from' the things that seem to give us our greatest challenges, but God's plan is to use his Word to wash over us, cleansing us, and setting us on a firm foundation. Do you know what the term 'terra firma' means? It means 'solid ground'. God is at work 'in' each of us, so that he can soon be at work 'through' each of us. As he sets us on 'solid ground' individually, we are prepared to face our greatest enemy as a unified army of believers. Solid ground isn't won when it comes to the 'footing' and 'foothold' that God gives his kids. It is given because we have come under his leadership and march against our enemy as a unified force. Our family mission is unity - living at harmony with each other. Our family purpose may just be to push the enemy as far away from us as he can possibly be removed - and when we can no longer push him back ourselves, God does the rest of the pushing. Truth deposited deep within our inner man becomes the means by which 'unholy' people are made into 'holy' people God can use to be 'on mission' with him.

We may resist the times when God wants to get his truth deep into our hearts, but he won't give up on depositing bits and pieces of his truth until we lay hold of it as he intends. He won't give up on making us into a 'force' to be reckoned with on this earth. Just sayin!

A crumbling pillar

Finally Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives! The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.” Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram. So Abram settled in the land of Canaan, and Lot moved his tents to a place near Sodom and settled among the cities of the plain. But the people of this area were extremely wicked and constantly sinned against the Lord. (Genesis 13:8-13)

Abraham and Lot realized great increase in flocks, herds, silver, and gold - so much so that it was possible arguments were breaking out among the keepers of the flocks and herds as to watering holes and grazing lands. One wanted this grazing land, while the other wanted the same piece of land. One wanted that watering hole, and the other wanted it, too. The 'closeness' was getting to be too much for the 'wealth' of these two men to remain that close to each other in the land. So, they come to an agreement - one would choose all the land to the left, the other to the right. A brief 'survey' of the land by Lot had him quickly enthralled by the lush pastures, deep watering holes, and beauty of the landscape he beheld. The whole valley would be his - he would select that which looked the most inviting and 'best' for his livestock. Isn't it just like us to look upon something, becoming more enthralled by what we see as 'good' without ever looking beyond what we see on the surface? 

Lot headed toward Sodom - a land we would soon come to understand as 'full of sin' and about to undergo God's judgment because of the depravity of their sin. What had 'surface beauty' really had a 'hidden ugliness' that would soon become the undoing of Lot and his family. Sin has a way of 'masking' its true character until we are so engulfed in its presence that we find it is quite hard to escape it. Abraham did not take the best for himself but left the choice of the land to Lot. Did this mean he didn't look upon Sodom's landscape and see a thing of beauty himself? We don't know that, but we do know he was a man of his word. He told Lot he'd let him choose the division of the land, and he did just that. As the nephew of Abraham, he should have deferred the decision to Abraham. I wonder if anything would have happened differently if he did? We will never know, but we do see the consequences of only looking at the superficial and the resulting loss it brings.

Sin doesn't roll out a red carpet for us, but it certainly does a great deal to hide what is just beyond the 'good stuff' we see with our eyes. Visual appeal is one of Satan's most used 'tricks' to lure us into places and actions we would be best to avoid. Maybe this is why scripture warns us: "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." (I John 2:15-17) The one look can create a craving we find hard to resist - just like Lot began to crave the goodness of the lush pastures and well-watered places for his herds and flocks. The lust of the eyes is something we need to ask God's help to recognize quickly, so we aren't found moving closer and closer to entering into sin's 'locale'.

The rest of the story? Lot and his wife actually settled too close to Sodom and became accustomed to the activities that went on there. This is how sin works - it moves us closer and closer to its 'hub' until we find it hard not to 'conform' to the things we see and hear. We might not 'indulge' in the action of some given to the sinfulness all around us, but we certainly don't do much to counteract it! Were it not for Abraham's appeal to save Lot from the coming judgment, he might have been brought to total ruin. Looking at what sin does to our hearts, we see Lot's wife - looking back, longing for what she had in the most sinful place she could have dwelt. Sin has a way of getting us to constantly 'look back' and long for what we had, but we fail to see that what awaits us when our hearts are so 'given over' to sin is that we become crumbling pillars, unable to stand in the presence of a holy and powerful God. Sin might lure us in with promises of goodness, but the end of sin is judgment. All the goodness sin held out to lure us in will never keep us standing in the presence of a holy and just God. Just sayin!

Ready to 'join up'

Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world. (Psalm 46:10)

I have a hard time being 'still'. It is as though there has to be some 'activity' going on, even if it is thought. I spend a good deal of time thinking on things, then I usually take action after learning what I can from thinking on the subject. I think about what is for dinner, plan a menu in my head, and then execute the preparation of the meal. I think on my next woodworking project, plan the tools I will use, bits and blades needed, any finishes I will utilize, and the types of woods I will incorporate into it. Then I execute the steps to see what I envisioned created. It is never wrong to just 'be still' - for in the stillness, we often 'hear' much clearer and 'plan' much better than we do without all that thought!

To 'be still', one might imagine we need to cease all movement, but there can be movement in stillness. I have observed a creek so still that you'd think there was no movement at all, yet the water is stagnant, nor is it really 'still' - it is just moving at a very steady, but 'still' pace. Based on this observation, I might have believed being 'still' meant there was nothing to be heard, but even in the 'stillness' of that little creek, there were things to be heard. Birds sang from the treetops, wind gently moved the leaves above, and an occasional cricket chirp could be heard. Not all 'stillness' means absolute silence - it just may mean we get 'silent' enough to really listen and observe.

I have been watching how horses are tamed. It is amazing to me to see the purpose in making them 'move' around the corral time and time again until they are ready to 'join up'. Maybe being 'still' means we stop resisting. We lay down our reluctance, give up on our 'wild plans', and come close enough to the one who wants that relationship with us. The horse eventually does this - settling down, realizing they can trust the person in the corral with them, and they just 'settle'. Reluctance means we are not willing to be obedient to God's plan yet, so we might just resist 'settling down' into the stillness he asks for because we aren't quite ready to 'join up' with him. 

When we finally get 'still enough' to listen and observe, chances are we will be convicted of any place in our lives where we are a little too 'reluctant' to move into obedience to what God desires for us. This is the moment for action - conviction leading to confession and confession leading to repentance. We lay down our 'wild ways' and 'incessant circling' in order to settle into a trusting relationship with Jesus. The moment of 'joining up' comes when the horse 'stills' and just stands near the one in the corral with him. We cannot 'join up' until we trust fully the one who is asking us to come near to him. How about you? Have you been circling the corral of obedience in your life? Are you finally ready to 'join up'? Is it time to just 'be still' and know that he is God? Just askin!

Why this test?

So Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering on Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them walked on together, Isaac turned to Abraham and said, “Father?” Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “We have the fire and the wood,” the boy said, “but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” “God will provide a sheep for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham answered. And they both walked on together. When they arrived at the place where God had told him to go, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood on it. Then he tied his son, Isaac, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. And Abraham picked up the knife to kill his son as a sacrifice. At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!” “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” (Genesis 22:6-12)

The long-awaited heir - a sacrifice to the Lord? How could this be required of Abraham? Yet, when God asked him to 'go and sacrifice him as an offering', Abraham did not hesitate. No, he didn't want to kill his son. No, he didn't want to lose what he had waited so long to realize in his life. But...he loved God above all this world offered and would do as he was asked - not because he 'had' to, but because he 'desired' to do all God asked. I wonder how deep our faith would be if we were asked to do something similar - offer up to God something we held so dear? Would we hold back? Would we hesitate a bit, but then go and do as we were asked? Or would we respond with immediate obedience? I have to be honest - I have done a whole lot of the hesitating, but whenever my heart gets to the point where I desire obedience over my own pleasure or desires, the faithfulness of God has always been there!

Imagine the faith it took for Abraham to take what he held so dear and prepare to do as he was asked. He had to find the wood, go out until he found the mountain God showed him to ascend for the offering, and then take his dearest thing to that place. All the while, what would his emotions have been going through? They were probably pulling at his heartstrings! This was his son, but his heart was God's, so he probably prayed that God would have his way in his life - even if it required the greatest sacrifice of all. Is our heart God's first? Are we willing to set our gaze on him and then not look back? Are we willing to prepare for what may be the hardest thing God asks us to do, knowing we might just struggle with the 'emotion' of it all? When we have a surrendered heart, the journey may not be easy, but it is one where trust is inherent in each step we take along the way.

What do you think happened to Abraham when he heard God's voice through that angel? Might it have been extreme relief? As a father, it probably was, but as a child of God, it might have been something like, "Ah, I knew you'd provide what I would have gladly given, God!" At the very moment where compromise could have ended it all, God knew the matter of obedience was settled in Abraham's heart. Maybe we are being asked to take that step of obedience, but will we hesitate? Will we hold back? Will we be willing to 'go all the way', even if it costs us what we hold the dearest? When our heart is so set on obedience, God will ALWAYS be there as we take each step to prepare for the journey, as well as when we reach that 'final destination' of our faith. We take each struggle of emotion and lay it at his feet, then put one foot in front of the other, believing without wavering. When we might not see him the clearest, we can feel him the closest! God might test our faith from time to time, but it may be so we can see just how faithful he is and always will be in our lives. Just sayin!

A little improvisation

Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar. So Sarai said to Abram, “The Lord has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) (Genesis 16:1-3)

Have you ever gotten ahead of God's plan? You know what I mean - anxious for something to happen, so you just 'improvise' a bit to see if you 'can get things going'. Whenever I have done this, things go from bad to worse in no time at all! Why? God isn't in my 'improvisation' - he had another thing planned and I just stepped out of it. The good news is that whenever we make our own plans and take our own steps to see God's will fulfilled, he isn't going to let us muddle in that mess too long. He will show us where we need correction and then wait for us to actually stop our plans and step into his.

Abraham didn't wait - he allowed an 'improvised plan' to guide his actions - actions that would have a lasting effect on people for generations. The sad truth is that our 'immediate improvised plans' usually have a lasting effect of some sort. We may not see it today, but somewhere down the road, what we 'cooked up' to be the 'answer' to our needs or desires will come back to haunt us. Sin's outcome isn't always immediate - we may not see the result of our sin until some time has passed, but we will see it!

Some may think Abraham taking Hagar so he could finally have an heir was not all that 'wrong' - especially since God had promised him heir upon heir. The timing was off, the method was not right, and the outcome was not at all what God intended. Did Abraham have an heir? Yes, but the enmity between Hagar and Sarah, much less the enmity that would surface between his 'heir' and his future heirs would be greater than any might imagine. When we get outside of God's timing or his means of fulfilling his plans, we usually begin to see and feel the effects of our sin.

Sarah may have wanted to 'help' God - speeding along the process of having a much-anticipated heir. God's plans need no hurrying. They come in the right time. Trusting in God's timing is hard, but staying within his boundaries while we wait can be even more difficult. Abraham had been given Sarah in marriage - she was God's choice for Abraham. She was God's choice from which the heir would come. Going outside of the 'marriage boundary' was not in the plan. 

The good news is that even when we get outside of God's plans or timing, there is restoration. Will the results of our 'improvisation' still be there? Many times, the answer to that question is 'yes'. Will God help us through the difficulty that 'improvisation' creates? Yes, and he will help us with those consequences, but he may not always remove them! Just sayin!

Leaving that comfort zone

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—his livestock and all the people he had taken into his household at Haran—and headed for the land of Canaan. When they arrived in Canaan, Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites. (Genesis 12:1-6)

Most of us would admit to having some form of a 'comfort zone' in which we live, work, relate, or drive. We just don't like to get out of that 'zone' all that often, but when we do, we sometimes face fear, a lack of trust, or a bit of overwhelming dread at what we might see or face outside of that 'zone'. Put yourself in Abraham's shoes. The son of Terah, a man who moved his entire family to a foreign land - moving them away from Ur of the Chaldeans into a territory headed for Canaan but choosing to stop in Haran and settle there with his family. So many of us stop before we ever reach our destination - all because we see something more appealing, or we just cannot push that far outside of our comfort zone. One day, God spoke to Abraham that it was time to get up and move - to leave this 'native country' - all his relatives and extended family were to be left behind. The extended family was everything in those days, so this was a drastic move on his part. Yet, he was choosing to follow God - a choice that will oftentimes challenge us to leave our 'comfort zone'.

When God asks me to do something, I have a tendency to want to know the 'what', 'why', and 'where' of his request. How about you? Isn't it hard to just 'trust God' at times? That artificial 'bubble' we call our 'comfort zone' isn't that easy to leave at times, is it? Abraham didn't exactly know where he was going - all he knew was that it would be a 'land that I will show you'. He had to trust God for the destination to be revealed somewhere along the way - or perhaps when he finally arrived wherever he was headed. All he knew was that he was to begin moving in the direction God showed him. There will always be times when God tells us to 'move' and we would rather not go until we know for certain what awaits us along the way. It is called a 'test of faith'! When God asks us to move, do we hesitate? Do we plunge in headlong and just hope for the best? Or do we move, listening and observing carefully along the way, so we don't miss out on what God has planned for us in the journey?

Do you know how far the journey was for Abraham? It was better than 2,000 miles away from where he was that day when God asked him to move. There will be times when God asks us to move beyond our comfort zone, but we could never imagine just 'how far' that movement would take us! If we drag our feet, make excuses for why we cannot go now, or just plain reject the notion of ever moving beyond our comfort zone, what could we be giving up? Give up a job - reach out to a neighbor with the gospel - become part of a new church start-up - the list could go on, but you get the idea. God may ask us to 'leave' something we have become quite comfortable with or within, but if we do so, what are the possibilities we may discover along the way? Leaving our comfort zone requires faith, but it also requires a ton of obedience. Just sayin!

Where is God in your life?

It was an Iranian poet by the name of Saadi who said, "I fear God and next to God, I mostly fear them that fear him not." Ponder that one for just a moment and it might ring true in your ears today. Those who don't fear God are all around us, oftentimes creating such upheaval and havoc that the world has no chance to be at rest for any length of time. Ray Comfort once said, "When men don't fear God, they give themselves to evil." There were no truer words spoken. 

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him! Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need. Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:8-10)

The lack of reverence some show toward our holy God is sometimes hard for me to understand. How can they look around at all that he created and not see his profound goodness? How can they strive for some 'goodness' in this world, but totally eliminate God from the mix? As with all decisions we make, the one we make about who should control our lives, guide our steps, and help with all our interactions in this world is one we each make on our own. We either choose God first, or we put something else in his place. 

This past week, I heard of a letter sent to some polling place announcing that the elections should be shut down because "we are in charge now". That could evoke some fear in others, but I just have to dig in a bit closer to God's protective refuge and allow his peace to permeate my soul. I have no idea who the 'we' are in that letter, but I know who the "I AM" is that controls my life. That is all I need to know - God is my one true place of safety - he is in control even when it seems like everything else around me is running a bit wonky.

Where is God in your life? If you immediately answer that with 'at the center of all I say and do', take just a moment to ask yourself, "Is he really?" Is there anything or any ideal you place first when things are running well in your life? Do you press into his presence and get into his Word as much when things are running smoothly and there is no conflict or pressure? Or do you find yourself pressing in a bit harder when the pressures mount and drifting a bit when they lessen? 

At the center of all conflict, you will find man has put God aside. He has chosen to put himself in God's place, if even for just a bit, so that his own will and determination might take center stage for a while. If man continues to do this long enough, he comes to believe HE is himself god! Choose to put God first in all your decisions and you will soon realize the folly of believing your own wisdom and strength could ever measure up to God's, much less surpass it! Just sayin!

Is this God's will?

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. (I John 2:15-16)

At times, people will ask me how they can know if a particular decision is 'in God's will'. I have found that using this verse as a guide to 'weed out' the ones that really aren't the best for us has helped me. If the craving is for some form of physical pleasure, I take a moment longer to consider the choice. If it is just because I see everyone is on the bandwagon to get something, I step back and wait to see if that 'thing' or 'activity' really is necessary or is just a nicety. If those two don't stop me in my tracks, I consider just how much my pride is motivating a particular decision. If it seems that pride is pushing me forward, I step back even further because I know pride comes before a downward trend!

It amazes me how much the enemy of our souls uses these three things to get us wrapped up in 'stuff' and 'relationships' that we just didn't need or shouldn't have pursued in the first place. The eyes take it all in, the emotions get us all wrapped up in knots over it, and our pride is just too heck-bent on getting its own way! Stop long enough to consider what you are allowing in through your 'eye gate' and you might just find you need to stop looking. Contemplate something long enough, allowing your emotions to override common sense and you might just end up regretting the choice all together. Get even the tiniest bit of pride behind your emotions or lust of the eyes and you might just be a goner!

The very next verse says, "And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." (v 17) Those things are elusive and oftentimes quite deceptive. Learning to do what please God begins by recognizing when we are getting caught up in one of those three traps we just discussed. The more we recognize behavior or choices that don't bring honor to God or edify our spirits, the quicker we will be to recognize the right choice or behavior. God doesn't make it hard for us to know his will, but he does know how much we struggle to recognize the things that are NOT of his will. Whenever our 'rational thought' gets put into the mix, the 'irrational behavior' is just around the corner. Sometimes the will of God doesn't seem all that 'rational', but we may just have to stop listening to our intellect and start listening to the still small voice of the Spirit within who urges us toward right behavior. Just sayin!

Stop and watch

God’s voice is glorious in the thunder. We can’t even imagine the greatness of his power. He directs the snow to fall on the earth and tells the rain to pour down. Then everyone stops working so they can watch his power. (Job 37:5-7)

If you have ever been in the midst of a thunderstorm, you might have just sat and listened as the drops of rain came down and the winds billowed a bit. The patter of the drops on the rooftop aren't all that threatening, but when the huge crack of thunder comes and the sky lights up with lightening, it is another thing. As a wee kid, I'd be outside playing when the winds would start, but they didn't faze me. As soon as I heard that first rumble of thunder, I bolted to the fence line and called to mom. Why? I wanted deliverance from the storm! Within a matter of minutes, mom's arms would be around me and we would be safe inside the protection of the house. The rains came, the winds blew, lightening crisscrossed the sky, and some of the louder thundering even shook the panes in the windows, but I was safe, no longer 'in the storm', but an observer of it all. 

In much the same manner, the storms of life will come, and we will call out for deliverance from the fright of it all. At first, the winds may not really faze us or change our course of action, but as the thunder begins to roll, we head for our place of safety. If that place of refuge is not in Christ, chances are we become a bit more fearful of the blustering storm than we should be. Without Christ, the storm doesn't just threaten us, it causes us to run for cover and then to fret about the outcome. As a kid, I didn't fret about the outcome of the worst of the storms because I was secure within the house and mom was there with me. As a child of God, I don't fret the worst of life's storms because I am secure in his presence and under his watchful care no matter how big the 'bluster' might become. How about you? Do you have that place of safety where you can just 'stop everything and watch his power'? 

Do you know how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds? Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill? (vs 15-16) We don't know how God moves as much as we know he is with us. We don't understand all he uses to control the storm, but we sense his movement even when we don't see any hope of it passing. He exercises such perfection and skill at navigating us through the storm, giving us peace in that place of refuge we find in him, and he allows us to simply observe his action on our behalf. We don't have to understand all that is happening around us - good, bad, or a mix of both. We just need to know who it is that is in control of the storm - God. 

We might want to attempt to control it ourselves with words that aren't all that powerful, actions that aren't all the effectual, or thoughts that don't change a thing we are experiencing. The more we try to control the storm, the worse the terror of it all becomes. To know peace in the midst of chaos, one must reach up for the security of his refuge, just like a little girl reaches for the security of her momma's arms and the strength of the walls that surround her on a stormy day. We only 'feel secure' when we 'are secure' - secure to stop and watch the glory of his majesty on display in our lives. Just sayin!

Confess, but repent

Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. (Isaiah 1:16-17)

I remember undertaking the task of repainting a dock on an empty pond at a Girl Scout camp in Southern California. You have to scrape the old paint before you put on the new, but you also have to use a very thick, oil-based paint to redo the dock. Why? It helps preserve it from rotting. As my friend and I undertook the task, the weather got warmer as the day progressed, the task was less than interesting at some point, and we got a little mischievous at some point. We were at the point of applying the paint when all of a sudden, an all-out 'let's paint each other' rebellious attitude overtook us. There we were, swiping oil-based blue marine paint across each other's faces, arms, legs, and even our painting clothes. We were a mess by the end, but we had a few good laughs along the way. But then...we realized that the paint would not wash off! It required turpentine to remove it! As you can imagine, it took us way longer to remove that stuff than it did to have that momentary insanity we called 'fun'. That is how sin is - it is momentary, but with a very lasting effect that is almost impossible for us to remove ourselves.

Wash yourselves and be clean was almost impossible - we each needed the assistance of the other to remove all the signs of the paint. Even then, we weren't without telltale signs of having undergone the folly of the day, for our skin was reddened, dry, and very irritated from all the scrubbing with turpentine! Sin isn't easy to remove from our lives - there will be telltale signs of it if all we do is endeavor to wash ourselves clean from its nastiness. We need God's help to be truly clean - “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool." (vs 18) There is only so much we can do for ourselves - such as confession of our sin and repentance (turning away from it). We require a good deal 'scrubbing up' that isn't possible alone. We need God to remove the very evident sign of sin in our lives - completely, without harm, and as only his blood can do. We needed the aid of turpentine to be 'clean' from the marine paint. God needed only one thing to leave us perfectly clean - the blood of his Son, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.

Confession is one part of 'being cleansed'. We also need repentance in order to really 'walk clean'. Repentance is more than just asking God for forgiveness - it means those sins are no longer our pursuit. We 'put them out of sight', not by masking over them, but by having God's help to remove ourselves from their influence any longer. Eventually, the paint on the brushes dried and we could no longer pursue the folly of flinging paint at each other. Sin doesn't quite behave the same way, though. It lingers and wants to get us all dirty again. If we are to be free of its 'attachment' to us any longer, we need to walk away from it. We do this by first having a change of thinking about the pursuit of that sin. Since all action begins with thought, whether we believe it or not, our thinking requires change if we are to walk away from the pursuit of that sin. When we change our mind, we change our behavior. If you put down the paint brush, no more paint will be hurled your way! Confession allows us to get out the words that show we no longer want to pursue that sin, while repentance incorporates new actions, so we won't go that direction any longer. Just saying!

Under what standard will you walk

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14-15)

Confucius said if he walked with two men, he'd look at the positive example in one of them and imitate that behavior, while seeking to eliminate the negative behavior he observed while walking with the other man. I daresay that is a dangerous way to live our lives because choosing any 'standard' other than God to base our decision about what character needs to be built in our lives is living by a 'low standard'. We can see the negative traits or behavior in another and seek to eliminate similar behavior in our own, but no one is made 'well' spiritually by just eliminating what is negative and embracing what they see as positive.

God called Israel to choose to serve him - to not set their standard of living by the culture they were immersed within. They would have been in cultures where false gods were erected and worshipped. They would have seen many pagan practices that were sometimes quite vile and unwholesome. The question Joshua put before them on that day was one of 'choice' or what some of us have come to call 'preference'. Will you prefer to serve the one true God, or some other form of 'god' created by human mind and hand? It is a question of what we will hold as our example - man or God himself. 

Put away forever any other standard other than God himself - choose to serve him and him alone. This is the instruction. Too many times, we hold up examples of 'goodness' and 'evil' around us, thinking we could emulate the behavior of one and eliminate the behavior of the other just by our own power or inner will. The matter is a bit more complicated than that - for our examples are all a bit flawed when we choose any example other than Christ. Yes, we can learn from positive examples, and even observe negative ones and choose not to walk down that path in our lives. We might just lack the 'know-how' to live as God wants us to live, though.

For that, we need what is written in God's Word - just as the nation of Israel needed God's instructions so many years ago. There is no true measure by which we can see the good or evil as well as that which we find contained within the Word. We might find ourselves following a 'lower standard' than God desires for those who would choose to serve him if we choose any other standard than his Word. Just sayin!

Applying what we know

If you stop learning, you will forget what you already know. (Proverbs 19:27)

It has been a good day whenever I learn something new. Ever had to learn a lesson you just didn't want to learn? I have - too many times to count! Those are the ones that are tough to learn, but necessary if we are to grow up into strong and "survivable" creatures. I had to learn to brush my teeth, or decay would ensue. I had to learn to tie my shoes because I would trip over the laces if untied. These were probably some of the easier lessons to learn in this life - the ones I can say I have mastered. Then there are the tougher ones - like learning to keep my mouth shut at times when less words are better than more, or how to navigate risky relationship paths that need to be traversed, but which are pocked with all kinds of landmines! You know those lessons I am referring to - for you have your own. In those moments, it would be easiest to just stop learning - to say the learning would be too hard. Yet, if we want to grow up into strong and "survivable" creatures, we need to learn even the tough ones!

The hardest part of learning is being teachable. The idea of being teachable implies we are willing to be exposed to risk. It is indeed risky business to put ourselves out there - to be in the places of uncertainty where we see our abilities put to the test. I used to dread it when a teacher would call on me for an answer. Why? It was putting me in out there - I was required to show how well I had been listening and it often revealed my ability to "learn" the stuff they had taught! This was easy when it came to the things I actually enjoyed learning, but for the harder stuff - it wasn't so fun. Learning comes by study, instruction, and experience. Study is when we spend time getting into the facts about something we are interested in learning. Instruction is more of the example by which we learn - we see something modeled and then we try to replicate what we have seen. Experience is when we actually take the parts we study and the stuff we have seen modeled and put them together into the practical expression of that "skill".

To be truly teachable, one has to be willing to incorporate all three parts of learning into their day. Leaving out any of these parts is going to "skew" what it is we will learn. If we don't study, we won't have all the facts we need to make good decisions as to how to act, where or when to take action, or even when it is best to just wait a little to observe the outcome. When I was taking chemistry classes, I learned about acids and bases. One is quite "benign", and the other is quite "harsh". Acids can cause a huge reaction when mixed with things which "interact" with the "harshness" of this product. Although bases seem quite benign, they have a way of interacting with other "harsher" products - bringing "balance" to the equation. Too much of one or the other can actually result in something quite unpleasant. I remember stinking up the science lab with something akin to the smell of rotten eggs with a particular sulfur reaction!

If we don't ever have the chance to see the object of our learning modeled, it might be harder to grasp it. This is probably why cookbooks and cooking websites are filled with all those delightful photos of how the meal should look when you have it all done. Learning to have the meat, potatoes, and veggies all finish at the same time is quite a different matter, though! One must apply some of the knowledge they have learned by both "modeled" behavior/actions and what they find in the books (studied learning). This is why the recipe will give us those instructions on how long something takes to reach the desired level of perfection, not just the instructions on how to bread it, fry it, and serve it. The instructions have been provided so we can model the same "perfection" as they produced in the photograph!

When we take our studies and combine them with modeled behavior or actions, we have a better chance of actually producing "similar" outcomes. Here is the word of warning - we might just not produce the "exact" same outcomes - it might only be similar. Until we repeatedly produce the same reliable outcome each and every time, we cannot say we have gone to the level of being experienced with the learning. Experience is the level where we finish what we start and do so with pretty reliable consistency. Most of life is about learning the lessons - we just have to combine the skills of study, instruction, and experience. In time, we will master those things we are willing to apply ourselves to - we just have to be consistent in our application! Just sayin!

Know, Go, Show

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." (John C. Maxwell)

Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side—leaders whose decrees permit injustice? (Psalm 94:20)

The more we attempt to justify 'bad leadership' in any form, the more we will slip into all manner of injustice, impurity, and unwholesomeness. How is it possible for a leader to create such a mess in the lives of so many? Easy - people get behind the leader because of charisma or popularity, without even looking deeper into the integrity of the leader's heart. Unjust leaders might declare that God is on their side, but when the heart of a man has never really submitted to the authority and leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is charismatic at best. As Maxwell points out, a leader with integrity will not only know the way to walk, but he will also consistently go that way, and is able to show others how to find that way themselves. 

To know, one must be exposed to truth. This is the first great trait of a leader of integrity. He is not walking in his own devices but has placed truth at the forefront of his mind, allowing it to affect all his actions. Leaders are called upon to learn a great many things, but I daresay the greatest 'learning' that can be done is done while his Bible is open, his heart is in tune with God's, and his ears are attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit in his life. Perhaps the making of a great leader begins in the quietness of his own time alone with Jesus, but that 'alone time' overflows into all he does as he goes throughout his day.

To go, one must know the path he is to travel. It would be foolish to set out on a journey without any real understanding of where you were going, what you might encounter along the way, and how it is you might need to prepare yourself for what is ahead. We have leaders who 'set out' on a course, but when there are obstacles or unforeseen circumstances that stand in the way, they change direction at the first sign of difficulty. With a constantly changing course, we seldom get to any particular destination! We might be moving, but what does that movement really accomplish?

To show, one must realize there is more wisdom in walking the talk than in any form of 'directive' one might issue. The example a leader sets is perhaps his most valuable tool. It reveals what he believes and how much his beliefs influence his actions. Beliefs held are one thing, but beliefs modeled are quite another. One might say the mark of a good leader is being a 'role model' for others who are looking to align with their vision. A vision is only as good as the leader who is able to show others the way. We are all called to be leaders of one form or another. Will we be leaders who know, go, and show? Just askin!

Not at 100% yet

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. (2 Peter 1:5-9)

How many things can we say we really make every effort to develop in our lives? I played guitar for a while, but I never made an effort to become very good at it. I did some jewelry making in high school, but it never continued once I was out of school. I did a little leather working, but that too fell by the wayside. I went to Bible College, but never pastored a church. It did open a door in my heart to a deeper study of the Word of God, though. There are some things we 'pursue', but never really 'finish', while there are others we desire to finish well, no matter the cost. Let your faith be one of those things that you 'finish well', no matter the cost.

Godliness doesn't 'just happen' - it is a lifelong pursuit, complete with our stumbles and bumbles, ups and downs, and renewed commitments all along the way. Faith is 'built upon' all throughout our lives. We may not ever get to the point where we feel like it is 100% complete - but we never give up on learning the lessons of faith God wants to teach us along the way. We have been cleansed from a life of sin - but we don't always live like we are! We have begun the walk, but we haven't finished it yet. Grow in God - faith leads to a set of different choices (moral excellence being the pursuit). 

As we discover what God says to us in his Word, we begin to see that our lives need to be affected at a very deep level by those standards he has laid out so carefully for us. As we learn to make right choices one-by-one, we discover there are also 'wrong choices' we make along the way. We learn to bring those wrong one to him and seek his renewal and restoration as we repent of our sins. Then we might just discover the wrong ones were made because we didn't embrace what God told us in the first place - so we take that knowledge and use it to allow change to come in our heart and minds.

Growth requires incremental change. I think we get a little confused on that one - believing that coming to Christ brought about all the change we will need in this lifetime. Evil still abounds around us - we must choose moral excellence each time we are confronted by it. Self-control must guide our actions, and sometimes we even need to experience a little 'godly endurance' through all the upheaval and chaos that evil brings into our lives. The struggles don't end - there is just a different way of dealing with them, walking through them, and coming out on the other side of them. It is this closeness of relationship with Jesus that makes the difference. Just sayin!

Live beyond feelings

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)

We might not 'feel' like we have what it takes to live godly lives, make right choices, and be at peace with ourselves, much less others. Those feelings can be overwhelming at times, almost stifling any forward movement we desire to make in our spiritual lives. Truth be told, we sometimes need to engage in a little 'self-talk' to tell our feelings to take a hike! If we relied upon how we 'felt' everyday, many of us would never make it out of bed! God has given us everything - not just some of the stuff, but all of whatever it is we need in order to live godly lives. If we can just remind ourselves of this whenever we feel like we cannot put one foot in front of the other, feeling like every decision to live according to his principles is just 'too difficult', we might just get beyond those feelings a little quicker. Why do you suppose God told us to get scripture into our hearts and minds? He knew we'd need it to counter the 'feelings' that lead us down a contrary path on occasion.

All we need for godly living - received by entering into his family, bolstered within his family, and shared because we are in family. As we come to know him, we get placed within the family of God. We no longer walk alone, but according to the grace of God dwelling within us. How do we come to 'know' anyone on this earth? Isn't it because we spend time with them? If we spend only a meager amount of time with Jesus each day, do we think we will have a deep and lasting relationship with him? If we spend very little time with his family of believers, who will we 'do life' with instead? God gives us all we need and that includes the determination of heart and mind to live beyond our feelings. If you ever went to work on a day when you just didn't 'feel like it', you chose something other than what you were feeling and acted upon that choice instead. Sometimes we have to act 'beyond' or 'above' those feelings we have of not being able to walk this Christ-filled life. Yes, we made mistakes and we blundered, but those feelings of guilt or shame don't have control over us - God's grace does.

Living beyond our feelings begins when we remind ourselves that his grace and power is greater than our 'feelings'. By his divine power might just become the most important words within this passage for some of us. We don't take our next steps without his divine power. We don't overcome our lackluster feelings or doldrums by any other means than his divine power. Don't know what the doldrums are? It is the state of inactivity - of stagnation - that can hold us back and keep us from entering into what God intends for each of us. If that is where you find yourself from time to time, take heart - God has given you his divine power to move beyond the stagnancy of heart that has kept you mired down. We just need to allow his power to begin to 'talk over' the voice of our 'feelings'. Just sayin!

Divided Loyalty?

And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. (I Peter 5:5-6)

Elder or younger - all relate to one another in humility - this is God's plan. Pride gets the dander up quicker than anything else and it disrupts any movement toward unity or peace faster than a speeding train. Elder isn't to "lord it over", nor is younger to challenge the authority set over them. If we'd just get this right, maybe we'd stand half a chance at changing the course of this world!

When our 'loyalty' is divided between God and this world, chaos is sure to ensue. Look at what James tells us, "Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world." (James 4:8) We can be caught up in this world's attractions, but they only serve to pull us away from God and each other. 

Where to humble people reside? Under the might power of the God who indwells their spirit. How do we realize this type of 'closeness' to God? We spend time with him - giving him priority in our lives. This might be why Peter reminds us that when we correctly submit to the authority placed over our lives, there seems to be a peace that permeates our gatherings. Choose to live outside of that authority and the disorder this brings is palpable.

Could it be that the disorder we feel at times in our lives is an indicator there is something wrong with where we have placed ourselves? Perhaps we are submitting to an authority who has no right to 'rule' - ourselves. We follow our own lusts and desires, then wonder why our world seems to be a little more chaotic than usual. Repent of that misplaced loyalty and we find order returns. No matter what we believe about our ability to 'live right', apart from God, we only make 'half-wise' decisions.

Worries and cares go hand-in-hand with living outside of the authority of God in our lives. When we correctly align our heart, soul, and mind with his authority, the cares we used to carry all on our own are born by him. We find our load gets a little lighter and our way a little clearer. The wise are never afraid to admit they need a leader - the proud resist every attempt to 'align' their lives under any authority other than they own. Just sayin!

Will they always understand?

Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong! (I Peter 3:13-17)

Have you ever done the 'right thing' only to have others criticize your efforts, or worse yet, not even notice that you did it? We can 'do right' and have all the 'wrong' motives for doing it. We can 'do right' with the 'right motives' and still be misunderstood by others, or not have our efforts acknowledged or appreciated. Does it make it any less important to continuously choose the right attitude and the right actions? Nope, sorry, it does not. A clear conscience is much better than the praise we might receive from the other person anyway. Be eager to do good - but don't always look for a 'good reward' from this world when you have done it. This world doesn't always understand 'right actions' done in the love and grace of God. It doesn't always recognize that we belong to Christ and our actions are 'formed' by the Spirit of God that lives within us. When they are criticizing our actions, they are really dissing Jesus!

Gentleness and respect in the face of criticism is often the furthest desire from how our hearts would like to respond. Yet, Jesus asks us to take a moment to be conscious of his power to respond with grace and peace. To be 'gentle' when the first desire of our hearts is to 'strike out' because we are misunderstood or under-appreciated is only possible when God's Spirit is given control of our thoughts, words, and actions. We might want to hurl back accusations or actions that show our disgust of the other person's behavior, but that is not our best course of action! We will suffer at times, even when we 'do good' - but when we suffer for having made wrong choices, is it possible the 'criticism' we receive is really a reminder we have made a wrong choice? Maybe God is using the words or actions of the other person to show us we did not do a very good job with the circumstances when we responded the way we did.

What's to be learned from our passage today? First, we aren't above the criticism of those who don't recognize Jesus behind the actions. They may not even realize that the grace we extend isn't something we 'naturally' come by but is 'worked out within us' in those times we spend with Jesus preparing for our day. Second, we are responsible for our own attitude and actions, not those of others. Their actions and attitude are between them and God. Did they affect us by their attitude or actions? Yes, but God doesn't expect us to change them - he asks us to never waver in doing good, even when we are misunderstood. Lastly, we only learn to 'do good' when we know what God requires of us. We get to know how to make 'good choices' because we have taken time to get to know how Christ acted when he was faced with similar choices. The more we get to know Christ, the closer our attitude and actions will be to his. The outflow of love and grace that comes from spending time with him is palpable. Will it always be understood as more than us being 'goody two-shoes'? Nope, but Jesus didn't always do things because his actions would be understood - he did those things because they were the right thing to do! Just sayin!

Be Jesus

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will grant you his blessing.  For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. (I Peter 3:8-11)

We improve our relationship to Jesus through time in the Word and in prayer. We can get down to improving our relationship with others only after we get our relationship with Christ right. Mom always used to say I was to treat others as I wanted them to treat me - the Golden Rule. The only way to treat others right is to be sure the 'rightness of our heart' is maintained through time with Jesus. Try as we might, we cannot control what another says or thinks - even though we may be trying to do that for them. A wise counselor once told me I could never be another person's conscience, nor could I ever improve their behavior or attitude - that was the work of the Holy Spirit, not me. I could focus on the attitude I maintained and the behavior I exhibited - period. I will say there is power in being a positive example, though!

If you have ever tried to be kind when someone else is being a little bit of a bugger, it isn't all that easy! In fact, you might just want to be a bugger right back! It took me a long time to realize my attitude was all I could control. The more I took it to Christ, spending time exploring what he said in his Word, and what he was saying to me, the less I wanted to correct that other person's behavior. Why? Mine was enough to handle! Is it difficult to respond to criticism with grace? Yes, it can be, but when we listen 'between the lines' of what is being said, we sometimes find elements of truth that expose just a bit about ourselves or the circumstances we didn't really see on the surface. Some of the worst arguments have begun in my life because I never stopped to consider if there was any truth to what the other person was saying!

It is hard to stop to listen when an argument is beginning to raise your hackles, but somewhere within the two worlds that are colliding in a barrage of words and attitudes, there might be a little bit of truth we need to hear. It took a lot of time with Jesus to change my attitude toward some individuals - time well spent, I might add. When I allowed him to point out things I needed to work on instead of always focusing on why the other individual was 'wrong' or 'misled' in the situation, my attitude began to change toward the other individual. Gracious words began to replace hateful ones. Acts of service began to replace begrudging duty. Change like this within relationship is only possible when we get the first part of all relationship correct - Jesus in the center. The other individual may not even know Jesus, but your example may be the exact thing that draws them into a relationship with him of their own. Just sayin!

No denying it

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen. (I Peter 5:8-11)

At times, we believe we are the only ones under attack. It as though all the world goes on around us, busy with their business, and there we are right in the midst of the worst kind of attack. We feel alone, like nobody knows we are there, much less that we are struggling to just keep our heads above water. What is one of the greatest tactics in our enemy's arsenal? The feeling that we are alone - that we cannot share the burden we are bearing with anyone else. Our instruction today is quite clear - we will all experience suffering from time to time - but we are not alone in the battle. There are other believers, put alongside us expressly for the purpose of helping us stay alert and stand firm in the midst of what otherwise would be a losing battle. When we realize we are not experiencing these things alone, we might just see the advantage to forming a 'gang' to deal with the attack! We might call this 'gang warfare'. It is when we stand as united force against all the 'crap' our enemy is hurling our way. Our battles may not be identical, but we all have the same enemy! It could just be time for us to unite in our battles. 

God called us to be a 'body of believers' who stand firm against the enemy's attacks, but we oftentimes attempt to do this all on our own. What a foolish maneuver on our part. We won't avoid the suffering, but we might just find restoration coming quicker when we are battling together. If we are afraid, or too prideful to admit we are facing the battle of our lives, we may just find ourselves overwhelmed in the midst of the battle. No single soldier wins the battle - it takes a united front. Perhaps this is why God establishes us in community - so we can form a solid wall of resistance against our enemy. Support is important, but it seldom comes to those too proud to admit they need it. Oh, maybe that is the real issue at hand today. Maybe we find ourselves struggling with our pride - unwilling to allow others to see our flaws and failures. My flaws are out there, my friends - they are no longer hidden. I hide behind whatever I could for way too long. It did me no good - in fact, it actually did me more harm than good. How? The more I tried to deny my faults, the farther away I was from what I needed most for my rescue, restoration, and strength!

The attacks are real. The temptations are never-ending. The moments of weakness come, Words are spoken without thought, Frustrations are allowed to overtake the moment. Before long, we find what we had worked so hard on our own to avoid has come to a full head right there in front of us. Then we have to begin the 'mop-up' and we even attempt to do that on our own! Whatever made us think we'd resist alone, let alone be able to 'clean up' the mess left behind in our lives all in our own power? God gives us good, Bible-believing friendships for a reason. It is time we bring out the 'big guns' to fight the battle. The 'big guns'? Community! We need each other's strength when ours is wavering. We need one another's perspective when all we see is our own limited view. We need the combined learning of each other's experiences and God-given answers to help us sort out truth from our enemy's lies. We cannot, and should not, live without each other. We are not 'we' until we are open to living open lives before each other. Just sayin!

We'll never make peace with ourselves

C.S. Lewis reminds us, "God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing." I think we look a whole lot of places for happiness - from within relationships to the things we purchase. We look for peace but find circumstances and attitudes that don't really support it. How are we to find peace if it is so elusive? Romans 8:5-7 tells us, "Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will." Perhaps the only way we find true and lasting peace is to allow peace to actually enter into each of us by saying 'yes' to Jesus!

The sinful nature wants to dominate us - to invade our thoughts, form our attitudes, and influence our actions. Allowing our sinful nature to be at the helm in our lives will surely never produce peace - it is at war with God! No wonder Jesus promised us the gift of his Spirit residing within, for we need his direction to defeat negative and damaging thought. Until our thought life is dealt with, all the work we do to 'create peace' in our lives, let alone seek happiness, will be worthless. I don't know about you, but I don't like seeking worthless things. I once heard someone say we had to make peace with ourselves before we could find peace in this world. I would challenge that thought and say until we make peace with God, allowing him to replace our sinful nature with his new nature, we won't really ever know true and lasting peace.

Thomas Merten tells us, "We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God." All the efforts of mankind to 'find' peace in a set of circumstances, believing if we 'fashion things just right', we will be at peace with each other is kind of 'pie in the sky' thinking. We are never going to find peace with each other until we find peace with God - period. What is one of the biggest things that keeps us from finding peace with God? It is likely our pride. We don't believe we have the need for him in our lives - it is as though we see him as a 'crutch' some need to lean upon, but not us. I have had several knee injuries in my lifetime, resorting to the use of crutches to allow healing to occur. I will tell you this - were it not for the 'crutch' supporting the weight of my body, my leg would never have healed!

Sometimes we need to admit we don't know what we don't know. Those who think they have no need for God in their lives are really deceived - either by themselves or by the thoughts of others. All of mankind was made with a 'hollow space' where God's Spirit should dwell. To lean into our own pride and say we have no need for God to fill that space because we can 'fill it' some other way is foolishness. Remember, the fool is the one saying he has no need for God. (Psalm 14:1) If you have ever had one of those toolboxes that have all the cut-out shapes for each of the tools, you know you cannot put a hammer into the slot for the socket wrench - it doesn't fit. So, why would we ever try to put something else into the 'space' in our lives that was made specifically for God's presence? Just askin...

We've got the map

Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails! (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

How well are we revealing God's love to those we live with and serve on a daily basis?  After all, there is no specific 'day' to focus on these character traits - it is just expected every single day of our lives!  For most of us, this thing called "love" is like one of those "match games" you see online these days where you have to align the right sequence of candies or jewels.  There are little hidden bears or objects behind those colorful squares - waiting to be uncovered - reliant upon your skill and reasoning.  If the hidden is to be uncovered, you must be very, very "calculated" in your moves.  Sometimes I think we approach loving each other in this same way - we make "calculated moves" hoping we will reveal what we are looking for, but making many a move which doesn't prove to uncover what it is we were imagining was underneath.  Yep, love requires some "skill", but it isn't as "calculated" as some may think! To truly understand love, we have to turn to the one who exemplified love in the first place - Christ Jesus himself.  

Love isn't so much about the "calculated risks" we take, but about the person we allow to shine through us as we respond to the movement around us.  In life, we move one way, but we don't always control what comes back our way. This is where we need the ability to be loving like we see repeatedly in examining the life of Christ.  He was consistently kind and patient - even when ridiculed, spat upon, and nailed to the cross.  He was not jealous of those who had more than he did, lived in better houses than his, or even had a bigger "church" than his!  He didn't get all uppity when he knew the answers to the problems at hand.  He also didn't push his way through or over others to get noticed.  

I don't want us to think love is just something which we just "happen" to get right on occasion. - Yep - there are some calculated risks we take - when we go out on the line for something we believe in or someone we care about.  Yep - there are some hidden things in relationship that give us challenge after challenge to attempt to uncover.  Yep - there are times when we will get to the point of thinking we will never get past the place where we find ourselves today.  But...we can take a lesson from the one who has taken the risks, is able to uncover the hidden, and who knows the way out of the difficult places.  Christ comes alongside to show us the way to love each other. He has already walked through everything we are facing today. How is it Christ can help us with this thing called "love" - he has already lived it out for us and left us a road map to follow in his Word!  Just sayin!

Lament then repent

I tell myself, “I am finished! I can’t count on the Lord to do anything for me.” Just thinking of my troubles and my lonely wandering makes me miserable. That’s all I ever think about, and I am depressed. Then I remember something that fills me with hope. The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. Deep in my heart I say, “The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!” (Lamentations 3:18-24)

Most likely we have all had at least one of those moments when you looked yourself in the mirror and gave yourself a stern talking to in order to bring correction to your attitude, behavior, or direction you've been taking in life.  We may be shy about admitting we actually talk to ourselves, especially if we could be labeled as a little "touched in the head" for that type of activity! Nonetheless, the things we tell ourselves in those moments of self-talk can be very "corrective" to our behavior.  I think God often lets us talk things out so we can become aware of the answer he wants to bring forth.  In a matter of minutes, we find ourselves coming to conclusions which bring clarity, give us hope, and move us in a new direction.  Why?  God helped us remember we might be "finished" with something which frustrates us or gives us too much worry, but he isn't!  He has something special planned if we will just accept the mercies he has prepared for us.

As I was listening to a song on the radio yesterday, I was reminded of this passage.  The theme of the song was the fresh start God gives us no matter how many times we have to make that same start!  The artist recounted how he used to think he had to count the days he remained "sin-free".  You know what he means don't you - the belief that we aren't really growing or changing in the right direction unless we actually make it a full day without engaging in that particular sin we are seeking to overcome.  His revelation was a blessing as he recounted that God doesn't ask us to count the days, but to know we always have a fresh start even when we slip up.  God's mercies are truly new each and every morning - or as many times in the day as we need to ask for them!  This is indeed the good news of God's grace! His mercies never fail - his kindness never dries up or withers away.  His grace is there time and time again - even when we think there could not possibly be anymore of it left for our particular shortcoming! The Lamentations give us an insight into something we often do when we realize our rebellion and sinful actions have taken us into a place of great despair.  At first, we complain - not really willing ourselves to take responsibility for our actions, but "lamenting" or "complaining" about the circumstances we find ourselves in.  Then as we continue with our lament, we find ourselves converting at some point to the place where we recognize we have a part to play in where we find ourselves standing and the circumstances with which we are faced. 

The lamenting leads to the place of repentance.  At first, we think the walls are caving in around us.  Then as we talk a little longer, we realize our despair over "our" loss is really based in the way we might have been acting or responding which was less than desirable.  Somewhere between our whining and complaining about where we are, the light bulb comes on. We realize God doesn't stop listening just because we start lamenting! He brings us through our lament into the place where we find we are ready to repent!  As we recognize our involvement in the present mess we are in, we come to the place of asking for God's forgiveness - reaching out for the one thing we know we can count on again and again - his mercies!  If we are honest, the "talk" changes a little each time. When we allow God to take our lamenting and turn it into a place where we admit our need for his mercy, His mercies make all things new - each and every time! At the moment of confession we find his mercy.  At the point of mercy, we find a way "out" of what got us deep into the lamenting in the first place.  We might not get it right the next time or even the next twenty times we try, but each time we come to him his mercies are consistent and their "process" is the same. The "process" I am referring to is that of renewal.  His mercies make all things new - it is as though we never slipped in the first place!  WE don't understand this - so we have this thing called shame attached to our repeated failures. God does understand his mercy and he has this thing called forgiveness which he attaches to each failure.  The thing is - when God attaches forgiveness to the failure, it is like the failure is gone.  All he sees is his Son in us - nothing else! This is what mercy does - it exchanges the lament we bring with the glory he provides.  Just sayin!

Stripped Naked

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

I think some don't like to explore the Word of God for themselves, rarely opening their Bible, merely going through life on the 'second-hand exposure' to God's Word because they are a little intimidated by it. Why do you suppose that is? If we were honest here, some might admit to not really knowing where to start - thinking there must be a 'plan' on how to read it, but not sure of the plan. Others will admit they have 'started' reading it, more like little spurts here and there, but it was not very 'clear' to them, so they just stopped. Trust me on this - Satan is most pleased whenever we find any excuse to not get into God's Word than when we dedicate ourselves to consistent time in it! 

Why? He knows the power of those Words - the power to expose what has been hidden. If we come into some knowledge we didn't possess before, we might just begin to rely upon God's truth more than his lies. That bugs the heck out of him! He will do everything at his disposal to keep us out of God's Word because he doesn't want us to be part of the opposition. He is most content when we put up very little resistance to his temptations and his 'illusions' of truth. As soon as the Word of God gets into us, we become a force to be reckoned with - a threat to his rule on this earth. 

God's Word is alive and powerful - it has creative power. It also has 'destructive' power - dividing right from wrong, exposing what has been hidden, and dealing with what needs to go. Our commitment to get into God's Word isn't to be taken half-heartedly. It is the very thing we need to get at our innermost thoughts - those things that we have come to believe that need to be exposed to truth because they aren't true at all. There are lies we have told ourselves and others that have been told to us. We embraced them as truth, never putting them to the test to find out what God says about the matter. 

In time, those innermost thoughts became desires and desires acted upon might just have become sins we have had to deal with time and time again in our lives. No wonder God tells us to get into his Word. He wants us to be free - no longer bound by what should never have entrapped us in the first place. Let his Word get into you even just a bit - consistently taking in portions of it until you begin to feel like things once hidden are being stripped naked. When this happens, don't be surprised when God's power takes over. His Word is at work and your heart will never be the same again. Just sayin!

We need revival

T. S. Eliot asks, "Where is all the knowledge we lost with information?" God reminds us, "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." (Proverbs 1:7) Knowing 'more' doesn't always make us any wiser in our choices, does it? In fact, a good many of our choices are simply made because others are making that choice. We are influenced by what we see, hear, and come to accept as truth. When knowledge turns us away from God's truth, we will make unwise choices. When knowledge is the result of embracing truth, we find our steps are more certain and our choices are actually narrowed quite a bit.

Information abounds, but knowledge that comes from a deep, intimate relationship with Jesus seems to be lacking in many cases. Our nation struggles because of the 'information overload' we receive each day, but there is little truth contained within that 'load'. Most of us hunger for truth - simply because we have come to hear so many untruths over the last few decades, with each passing year bringing more confusion and less 'foundational truth'. Maybe I am on a soapbox this morning, but I see information coming at us from all sides and yet we often choose to ignore what scripture plainly says regarding the issue at hand. 

What is the answer? This world needs a 'revival' of truth. Acts of aggression are all around us, some in full support of them, while others feel it is wrong. Bullying is a 'real thing' that doctors are taught to actually screen for in their exam of kids these days. Whole fields of study have emerged simply because society 'labels' individuals, aims threats at them, and gives others fuel for their own aggressive acts. Until we recognize the evil around us as just that - evil - we will never be able to curb the increasing tide of negative and harmful influence all around us. The world needs more than another 'great leader' - it needs more 'great servants'. 

The answer is for us to be examples - to not only hear the Word of God, but to become 'doers' of the Word. We must stand with those who cannot stand alone. We must bind up the wounds of those who have been affected by the aggression of others. We must be agents of peace and reconciliation. What does it mean to reconcile? It isn't that we bow to whatever is not desired - giving into it. It is that we 'win over' those who do not know Christ as their Lord and Savior by being good examples of his grace and love in an otherwise very negative and hostile world. Just sayin!

A book's cover

Love the Lord and hate evil! God protects his loyal people and rescues them from violence. If you obey and do right, a light will show you the way and fill you with happiness. You are the Lord’s people! So celebrate and praise the only God. (Psalm 97:10-12)

In all our struggling to do as this says, we find ourselves challenged with prejudices galore, fears of things which don't exactly "fit" our definition of "normal", and just plain silly misconceptions.  Fear makes us do really weird things and isolates those who are struggling. We need to move past the fear and let God guide our actions. We have to move past some of our prejudged ideas about others. It may not be the things we know which hurt us and others, but the things we don't know but have come to accept as "truth", even when it isn't truth at all.

Sometimes we allow the "hype" about the issue or the person to cloud our own judgment and an even more dangerous thing happens - we shut out God's concern for the one who has been caught in the tragedy of the issue. I don't know about you, but I have seen a whole lot of things I definitely classify as "evil" in my lifespan. Tragedies which leave families broken apart, children without parents, and lives in shambles. Losses so great a person doesn't think there is a way back from the depths of despair left in their wake. Hearts so ruined by botched relationships, wrong life choices, and crazily conceived plans. These are the evils I have seen and nothing can put a label on any of them as "unrecoverable" or "unworthy" of God's intervention and his love! Yet, if we allow our "preconceived" ideas of "how" or "why" these things have happened in the lives of these individuals, we will clearly miss out on being the channel of God's love and maybe even becoming the channel of his intervention by which these lives are changed!

I insulate myself from some of the hateful things people say and do these days - just because I don't want to be caught up in their messed up way of believing. I didn't believe it possible for one church who calls themselves "Christian" to protest against another church who is also "Christian", but it happens all the time. I didn't believe it possible for people who say they love Christ to exclude others who have yet to come into relationship with Christ because they don't "fit" into the lifestyle or belief system they claim to, but it happens all the time. Yes, I clearly realize there are "churches" out there which preach a message contrary to the Gospel - the Good News of Jesus Christ. Yes, I realize there are groups of individuals so consumed with their own ideas of right and wrong who "cherry-pick" what they will believe in the scriptures. Yes, I believe there are people who don't welcome sinners because their "sin" is one they believe is "unpardonable".  

Here's what I have come to accept as truth: God is the ONLY judge of what is unpardonable! I cannot make that determination. I CAN see clearly when someone is living contrary to the message of the Gospel of Christ. I can honestly say that I believe God still reaches out for even these! After all, isn't that the message Christ preached: For God so loved the WORLD that he gave his Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in him might have eternal life. The message doesn't stop there, though. Maybe we'd do well to consider the "rest of the story", as Paul Harvey would have said. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to SAVE them! (John 3:17) Rather than condemning each other, maybe we'd be better served allowing God's love to show us the good in others - where it is they might help us to learn something new about this God we serve. Maybe then we'd be less likely to "prejudge" anyone and be open to loving as God loves. Just sayin!

Imperfection is an opportunity

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5)

Jean de la Bruyere reminds us, "Out of difficulties grow miracles." What miracle are you waiting on? It could just be that at the end of these present troubles, a miracle will have begun. I want to say that life without trials or problems is never going to produce anything that really matters. Why? They are the foundation for the development of our character. A life without solidly grounded character isn't really all that fulfilling - in fact, it can be downright disappointing. Trials or problems emerge, not to confound us and weaken us, but to really help us understand where we turn when we need help. Do we turn to our own strengths and abilities, or do we turn our focus toward God and allow him to bring things into focus for us? Too many times, I did the former, but nothing good came from those problems until I turned them over to God. I needed to get my eyes off of the problem (me) and get them on God. Why did I infer the problem was me? In all honesty, I was the one getting myself into those binds, so when you looked at the root of all of those problems, you'd see my pride, stubbornness, or fear.

Those problems didn't defeat me, though. They shouldn't defeat you, either. Why? They are allowed because there is something within our character that needs a little work. Some mental or moral quality just isn't up to par in our lives, so God uses whatever it takes to expose what needs to change. Some call these qualities our 'temperament' - the sum of all the good and bad stuff that make us act the way we do. I have some pretty good strengths, such as being organized, a planner, and thorough in my work. I have some not so 'perfect' stuff in my character make-up, as well. When you add that I can be demanding, too harsh in my answers, and a bit too judgmental of others, the good doesn't always outweigh the 'imperfect' side of my character. I needed God to show me what 'parts' of my temperament needed his attention, so the good parts could flourish. We all have those good and bad parts - but without God's help in identifying them, we just flounder around in a muddle of problems wondering why there is no end to it all. When some of those areas of my character began to change, it was indeed a miracle in the making!

When the Holy Spirit fills our lives with God's love, there is a revelation of those things within each of us that don't exactly 'line up' with that love or his grace. Those are areas we might not want to focus on all that much, because they are 'problematic'. God isn't content to just 'push them to the back' in our hearts but wants to bring them forward so he can help us recognize when those things are leading our heart and not him. Pride keeps us from admitting we have those areas of 'opportunity' in our lives. The first thing God may deal with is that overarching issue of pride, but if we think he deals with it once and it is gone, we have another thing coming. Pride is at the root of a good many of our 'not so perfect' character traits. It will be dealt with time after time, until one day it is no longer leading our actions. We might not see the miracle instantaneously, but when God sets to work bringing forth the good, it will happen. Just sayin!

Curtains anyone?

Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. (Galatians 6:1-3)

Would you help a friend clean their house after they had surgery? Most likely. Would you prepare a meal for someone after they just brought their newborn baby home from the hospital? Sure. Would you sit by a friend who was deeply saddened after the loss of a loved one? Absolutely. Would you be open to hearing about your friend's greatest struggle? That one may be a little harder to answer, because when you say you are willing to do it, you open yourself up to being a little vulnerable yourself. How can we become vulnerable when someone else is sharing their pain or struggle? It happens when we let our guard down just enough to get a little bit 'real' with the other person. To 'get real' with them, we must 'get real' with ourselves first. Too many people go through life 'covering up' what they feel is 'uncomely' or 'uncomfortable' and 'messy' in their lives. In turn, there is very little opportunity for us to help each other walk out our issues together. Why? People who are not willing to be vulnerable just continue in their own struggles and mess, making it hard for them to actually be of any help to others with similar issues.

When was the last time you were willing to share your 'mess' with another? If you find you have a hard time actually recalling a time, you most likely have been living behind a curtain most of your life. You find it hard to open up, thinking others will judge you because of your failures, quirks, or misgivings. You talk a good talk, but your walk isn't really all that genuine. God's words to us today are quite clear - we need to gently and humble 'get into each other's lives'. Why? To help both of us get on and stay on the right path! Share the burdens you bear - easier said than done. When we are surrounded by godly people who love Jesus first in their lives, we find this gets easier. Why? They aren't judgmental like the world might be. They might even share how they have similar experiences that they have walked through, aren't all that perfect themselves, and how deeply they need to be connected with others in order to walk out this 'salvation experience'. We don't ever grow alone - we need connection. Who's your most 'vulnerable' connection? Chances are that connection didn't happen by mistake. It was divinely arranged by a loving and caring God who knew you'd need each other to walk things out in this life here on earth. 

We probably crave connection more than we know. I went years without a close friend, living a very lonely life. When I finally made some connections with others who seemed to be walking through similar struggles, I realized I was not in this alone. I knew I could learn from them, and they came to count on learning from me. The 'curtain' had to go, though. We could not hide if we were to heal. Healing always requires an 'uncovering' of the nastiness and then a careful washing away of all that 'mess' that doesn't belong there any longer. Just sayin!

Through a servant's eyes

Jesus and his disciples went to his home in Capernaum. After they were inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about along the way?” They had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest, and so they did not answer. After Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, “If you want the place of honor, you must become a slave and serve others!” (Mark 9:33-35)

We might encounter things in scripture that seem a little bit "counter-intuitive" - making it a little more difficult to really understand the intention of the passage.  Things like "stop stealing and get a job to earn your way in life" seem like easy commands to really understand - they are straight-forward and to the point.  When Jesus tells his disciples that the place of honor goes to those who will serve others, this is a little harder to grasp because the culture of the time didn't give the place of honor to the "slave" in their midst.  The slave was there for the sole purpose of ensuring the needs of those he served were met.  They weren't to think of themselves or their needs, but the one they served and whatever they would require for their comfort, protection, and well-being.  When Jesus says we move to a place of honor through service, and we get to know Jesus a little better when we embrace those who society really doesn't give much honor. God's way of doing things are much different than ours.

We cannot trust our own judgment to always be "intuitively correct".  We don't always consider things in light of God's way of seeing things. So, we need reminders about how God sees things - like the importance of putting pride aside and embracing those others.  Anne Frank said, "No one has ever become poor by giving."  Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another."  Gordon B. Hinckley said, "The best antidote I know for worry is work. The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired. One of the great ironies of life is this: He or she who serves almost always benefits more than he or she who is served." Serving others is important because we actually get more out of it than we ever would imagine.  We don't serve to "get", but in serving we definitely "get"!  We don't give to get, but in giving we get.  We don't reach out to carry the burden of another because we want them to carry ours, but in so doing, we often feel the weight of our own burdens lighten, as well.

The way our world sees things may not be exactly the way God sees them, so trusting God with the truths he declares is important because we don't have solid examples of these truths around us all the time.  When God says service yields honor - we don't always see this in society, do we?  Sometimes people serve in military service and return home to be given anything but honor.  At other times, people serve in places of public employment, only to be looked down upon as doing the jobs which are menial and "less than honorable".  I don't know about you, but every time I crawl between the sheets of a clean bed in a hotel room, or enjoy a shower in the freshly cleaned shower, I appreciate the "service" of the one who made that bed and scrubbed that shower until it gleamed!  When I see the miles and miles of back and forth walking a waitress puts on her feet each day, cleaning up cracker crumbs and tidbits of food left by diners galore, I cannot but stand in awe of their service.  

Leo Buscaglia, a Professor of Special Education, emphasized the value and worth of those society often thought of as "challenged" and sometimes as even "damaged goods". He is quoted as saying, "It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something.  May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely."  I like this!  I like his "view" on living for "something" - something which matters - which really "counts" in the end.  The thing is - what really "counts" in God's eyes doesn't always "count" the same way here on this earth.  So, we need to be less concerned with how other people think about what we "do" and how we "serve", but what God wants us to do and how he wants us to serve.  Only then will we be fulfilling the place God has for us in this walk we call life!  Just sayin!