Learning this all over again

Who can measure the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God? Who can understand his decisions or explain what he does? “Has anyone known the thoughts of the Lord or given him advice? Has anyone loaned something to the Lord that must be repaid?” Everything comes from the Lord. All things were made because of him and will return to him. Praise the Lord forever! Amen.  (Romans 11:33-36) 

If we are used to measuring things, such as the length of something, or the content within a particular container, after a while we all can pretty much eyeball something and tell just about how much is in that container or how long the object is.  Why?  We become so accustomed to the container or the object we are measuring we just know when we see it. It has to do with how frequently we observe that object. There are things I "know" because I have observed them over and over again until I developed an awareness.  I wonder if we can get to know God's ways of dealing in our lives in much the same manner and develop this "knowing" which helps us to be aware at any given moment when he is about to move, speak, challenge us?  I think it might just be possible we get to know him well enough we can appreciate his movement quicker. We might think we know things like God does, but let me just assure you - - - we have only begun to experience his wealth, appreciate his wisdom, and bask in his knowledge!

I think it is possible to get close enough to God's heart that we begin to understand his movement and interpret his actions a lot quicker or easier.  It is because of the frequency of contact we have with him - the multitude of opportunities we have to observe how he moves or acts - that we become "familiar" with these movements and actions. It isn't because we gain the "mind" of God and rise to his level of wisdom or knowledge - but we can see things through his eyes and begin to respond as he responds.  When we think of "measuring" something, we are usually speaking of the breadth, width, height, or capacity of that object. It is impossible to truly "measure" something which is limitless, endless, or without beginning or end! God's wealth, wisdom, and knowledge are simply limitless, endless, and without beginning or end!

In human terms, capacity is determined by ability. God's ability never changes - this is something we can never forget. His capacity never grows smaller, nor does it increase - it was and always will be limitless! Whenever we try to "box God in" by believing we have him all figured out in some way or another, he will certainly reveal himself far outside of that "box". Why? He doesn't want us to become so "accustomed" to his movements or actions in one area that we miss him totally when he moves or acts in a completely different one!

In life, some of what we receive isn't because we did much to obtain whatever we received, but we get all the benefits of whatever it is (God's wealth, wisdom, and knowledge) without having to do much to receive it. We employ life strategies by watching what others do. When we are walking with Jesus, we employ the knowledge he has, see the wisdom in the way he moves, and find the spiritual, emotional, and physical wealth in the actions he both takes and refrains from taking. We serve a limitless God - there is no end to his resources; no breadth to his love we can actually measure; no depth to his grace we can fathom; and no span to his reach we can possibly be outside of. Putting him in any "box" which says he has to operate in this way or that, perform this or that action, or just be here or there is just not going to help us to grow in our appreciation of his limitless power, grace, or love.  Just sayin!

Attended Well

Figs might not grow on the fig trees, and grapes might not grow on the vines. Olives might not grow on the olive trees, and food might not grow in the fields. There might not be any sheep in the pens or cattle in the barns. But I will still be glad in the Lord and rejoice in God my Savior. The Lord God gives me my strength. He helps me run fast like a deer. He leads me safely on the mountains. (Habakkuk 3:17-19)

None of us wants to hear of bad things happening, much less that we won't have food to eat, the land growing barren before us, the storehouses emptied of all reserve. Kind of sounds a little 'apocalyptic' doesn't it? Do 'lean times' mean we will trust God any less? I certainly hope not! The harder things get for us, the greater our faith is put to the test. The more it is tested, the more we find ourselves either turning into God, or running from what he is doing. The direction we take determines the outcome we will realize.

The Lord God gives me my strength. That one statement reveals more than we might first appreciate. Our strength isn't 'mustered up' in the lean or bad times. It comes because we serve a faithful God who delights in ensuring his children are 'attended well' in the worst of times. There is plenty of ugliness around us, but we don't have to get mired by it. There is a plethora of hurt everywhere we look, but we don't have to become the next victim. There is an abundance of misguided 'wisdom' given out from our airwaves and media outlets each day, but we don't have to let our hearts be burdened by the doom and gloom of their 'reports'. 

Why? Our strength is not our own. Our ability is not limited to that which we possess by nature. We have God's strength and ability to lead us forward, past all the negativity of the times, and straight into the goodness he will provide. One might think it is God's strength that is being tested in these difficult times, but his strength never wavers, so that cannot be it. The testing is meant to reveal where it is we find our rooting - will it be in the things of this world, or in the power and strength of the Almighty God? We might want to find a 'more friendly place' at the moment, but chances are the greatest amount of growth our 'roots' can realize is right where we find ourselves right now. Just saying!

A welcome like no other

 So he got up and returned to his father. The father looked off in the distance and saw the young man returning. He felt compassion for his son and ran out to him, enfolded him in an embrace, and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)

I was struck with a thought this morning about the father. The father never gave up on his son, though there was little sign that he had any intention of being 'made right' again. The father never gave up watching, though the road was long. The father never lost the intensity of love for his wayward son. I wondered for just a moment if God the Father was looking with such intensity of love for his Son's return to heaven's realm - if he stood, arms outstretched, heart filled with love, and took Jesus into his embrace. All that Jesus had endured, all he had experienced, not because of his own folly, but because there was absolutely no other way for US to know that same embrace unless he did!

We all experience the folly of sin because we are all sinners. Good deeds don't make us any less of a sinner. Kindness in our hearts doesn't buy us a 'passing grade' into eternity. Only the finished work of Christ - the 'non-prodigal son' could bring the freedom for all of us 'prodigals' to enjoy the open embrace of God's intense love. An embrace speaks volumes, as it suggests one being 'pressed to the chest' - the place of the heart. Jesus' sacrifice on our behalf made it possible for us to be 'accepted willingly' into the embrace of our holy and righteous God. No embrace will matter more than his - no 'welcome home' will ever be any sweeter than his. 

The prodigal had no idea what he 'gave up' when he decided to 'do things his own way'. He had no knowledge of just how bad things could get when one chose to embrace compromise after compromise in his life. Somehow, I think the father did and he knew how important it was for him to wait, watch, and be prepared with the warmest of welcomes the prodigal son could ever experience. We may never know how long God waits, watches, and keeps the welcoming embrace open for some of us, but we can trust that he does! Just sayin!

Pursued, not abandoned

Fools hate to be told they are wrong, so they refuse to ask wise people for advice. Intelligent people want more knowledge, but fools only want more nonsense. (Proverbs 15:12, 14)

Before we begin, let me assure you that I was a fool for a long, long time. I hated to be told I was wrong, refusing correction, not believing I could learn anything from the situations at hand. I continued in my folly until one day God asked me if I liked looking and behaving like a fool. As you might imagine, I even argued with God about my 'rightness' and the other guy's 'wrongness'. What a silly thing it is to argue with God! I recall the day when I finally laid that 'folly' and 'false front' before him, only to find I didn't really like the 'real me'. Perhaps that is why I tried to cover the real me up with all that folly! It was even hard for me to believe God could love me as I was, but he never stopped showing me how much he loved the 'real me'. In fact, it was the 'real me' (and you) he died for!

Fools hate to be told they are wrong. They don't like to be corrected. They struggle with being 'at fault' in circumstances where they haven't done things well and the consequences are beginning to 'hit the fan'. Some fools run the other way, while others just continue to engage in the folly, revealing to everyone that they lack the good judgment to stop, listen, and learn from their folly. The fool pursues the folly with ardent enthusiasm, not easily put off by the attempts at correcting their behavior, much less their way of thinking. I wonder if it is hard for God to really get hold of the fool's heart because the fool doesn't listen and doesn't believe anything is wrong with his behavior? The good news is that God never stops pursuing the fool - it just might take a while for the fool to come around to God's pursuit!

We can all engage in foolish behavior from time to time, but when we give ourselves over to such folly repeatedly, we begin to deceive ourselves into believing it is okay. The fool actually believes their own 'made up' perception of the situation. They have come to a place where they have even deceived their own heart into believing the 'made up' parts of their life. Maybe that is why God doesn't let them go but pursues them just a bit harder. Maybe they need his 'tough love' in order to realize their 'ardent enthusiasm' has really dug them into a very dark and lonely place. The more they dig, the harder God pursues! I am glad God doesn't abandon the fool to his own foolishness. Aren't you? Just askin!

Hey, is that really true?

Don’t stop the work of the Holy Spirit. Don’t treat prophecy like something that is not important. But test everything. Keep what is good, and stay away from everything that is evil. (I Thessalonians 5:20-22)

Don't stop the work of the Holy Spirit - just how might we do that in our own lives or the lives of others around us? We might not listen when he is giving us guidance, choosing our own plans or path. We could discount something he has shown another, making them question if they are really hearing from God at all. We might find ourselves disagreeing with truth simply because it doesn't 'fit' our present lifestyle or choices. Whenever we 'stop the work of the Holy Spirit', we might find ourselves walking away from truth and toward deception quicker than we think!

Test everything - does God really mean 'everything' when he says this? Yes, he does! Test what you hear before you put your full belief into it! I always tell someone if something doesn't quite line up with scripture, we have to rely upon the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to give us that final 'nudge' toward it, or that final 'tug' away from it. Many simply believe what they hear, failing to get into the scripture to see for themselves what it reveals about what is being taught. This is a dangerous way to live our lives because it sets us up for deception. Keep what is good - stay away from everything else!

The saying to 'chew up the meat and spit out the bones' holds true here. We are not going to swallow everything we hear - it might introduce things into our lives that will do us great harm. Why do you think God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers? It was for our safety - so we would have a 'filter' in our lives through which all teaching, instruction, and 'beliefs' could be 'tested'. It isn't that we aren't smart people - it is that we can be deceived easier than we might recognize. The work of God's Spirit within us is to bring confirmation, as well as to show us where there is a 'misalignment' between what we are forming beliefs around and God's truth. 

The closer we get to Jesus, the more our enemy wants to 'dissuade' us from that relationship. His tactic has been deception from the beginning of time, and he is too set in his ways to change that now! We need the protection of God's Spirit within to help us 'ferret out' any belief that is misaligned in ANY way with what God says to be true, upright, and holy. Just sayin!

It is a parallel thing

I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I'll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common. {I Corinthians 1:10}

We are all living life in parallel to each other. It can get a little messy to live life in parallel to anyone else, but it is not exactly easy to live life running in opposite directions of each other! When we seek to live life in parallel, we are commanded to do a couple of things - be considerate of one another and cultivate the "parallel life" as deeply as possible. We have to become familiar with the life circumstances the other person is presently experiencing, as well as those which have already shaped their lives. I have not experienced the hatred and contempt for one's race, color, or creed as others may have experienced firsthand. Does this mean I cannot walk in parallel with those who are different from me? Absolutely not! What it does mean is that I may have to "cultivate" that walk a bit.

To "get along" we must do more than just tolerate another's way of life or unique character qualities. It also means more than respecting them. It involves each of us remembering we are not different from each other in one important thing - we were all born sinners, in need of a Savior, and no man, woman, or child is without sin in their lives. Start there and we will find a good place to begin to cultivate our relationship with each other. There is no better place to begin to experience community than on "common ground". When we set out to cultivate soil, it is with the purpose of planting, which in turn is done to produce growth, resulting in something which can not only sustain us, but pass life onto others. To cultivate a life in parallel with each other, we find it takes more than a little work - it requires repeated passage over rough areas with such frequency that we eventually see the things which stand as barriers to growth. Soon we see they begin to break down into smaller and smaller pieces until one day the relationship is able to accept the seed, allowing rich and vibrant growth to come forth.

In a time when differences seem to be at the forefront of our news stories, media posts, and daily conversations, it is important to remember what we are to be cultivating. We are designees of God's grace and as such, we walk in parallel with others who may or may not have experienced that grace in all of its fullness yet. We cultivate growth within those areas of differences through the extension of grace. We may not see eye-to-eye or feel impassioned about every topic we will discuss, but we stand a better chance of getting to appreciate the perspective of the one who has walked that path if we are willing to extend a little grace into the relationship. Just sayin!

Grace Words

"Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come." (Henri Nouwen)

A gentle answer makes anger disappear, but a rough answer makes it grow. (Proverbs 15:1)

My words make a difference - all our words do! We cannot 'make words' and then expect they will just 'hang out there' indefinitely. At some point, our words will either build up or tear down. Our words will help someone navigate life's challenges wisely, or they will turn them in a direction that causes them to veer off course. Words have an impact - good, bad, or simply confusing - they all matter.

We might not think we have much to say, but when we speak, do our words come across in a loving manner? Do they encourage one who is holding back on something God is asking them to do? Are they able to sift through the meaningless to find the deeper meaning? Words spoken from the heart of God are always on target. God doesn't mess around with words. Even when Jesus used a parable to tell people about God's love and care, he did it because the 'story' made it easier to grasp the truth.

Words may have been spoken to you throughout your lifetime that you have come to believe as 'truth', but they are simply words that brought much confusion, distrust, and angst into your life. There are just times when God has to 'retell' the truth in your life in order to undo the things that weren't actually 'correct'. Whenever we hold onto any untruth about ourselves, God is going to 'retell' the story. Why? He loves us too much for us to believe any lie!

God's Word is truth. The words he speaks into our lives through those deeply in love with him reflect truth. The more we surround ourselves with truth, the less likely we are to believe 'rough answers' in our live. We will gravitate toward those that are gentle, reflecting the grace of God instead. May your home be filled with tons of 'grace words', my friends. They matter! Just sayin!

At the ready

How eager are you for the warm weather of summer? How much do you look forward to a special event like vacation or seeing friends you haven't visited with in a long while? What level of excitement does a promotion at work create within your heart? Does the birth of a newborn thrill your heart and make your day special? I wonder if we have the same 'eagerness' and 'excitement' about Christ's return to this earth a second time? We all know there were mixed emotions over his first coming, ranging from curiosity to unbelief. Will his second return be met with mixed emotions on our part, or anticipation of better things to come?

Christ also died only once as a sacrifice. In this way, he took God's punishment for the sins of many people. Christ will return to earth a second time, but that will not be as a sacrifice for sins. That time, he will come to save those people who are waiting patiently for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

The purpose of his first coming - to offer himself for the sins of mankind. The purpose of his second coming - to take those waiting patiently for his return home to rule and reign with him through all of eternity. What we may not realize is how comfortable we have become in this world. Chances are we likely have very 'settled' lives, complete with a place to live, perhaps a job to go to each day, and 'things' that bring us some level of ease and comfort. The warning to us today is to not become 'too comfortable' in this world and with what it has to offer us. We aren't bound to stay here forever!

The thing I would like us to consider this morning is how close our heart is to Jesus' heart. It could be that we 'say' our heart is close to his, but how we choose to use our time, what we tolerate as 'acceptable' in our lives, and even the company we keep will reveal if we are genuinely seeking Christ first in all areas of our lives. Get too comfortable here on this earth and it is easy to get too comfortable with the pull of sin's compromises. Get our focus on Jesus first in all things and we are less likely to be looking for 'fulfillment' or 'joy' in the things of this world. Christ is coming for those who are patiently waiting for his return. Don't let the distractions of this world come between you and Jesus, my friend. His return isn't far off and we ALL want to be 'at the ready' when he says, "Let's go!" Just sayin!

He isn't a quitter, so neither are we

God remembered us when we were down. His love never quits. Rescued us from the trampling boot. His love never quits. Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all. His love never quits. (Psalm 136:23-26)

We are reminded over and over again that God's love never quits - not less than twenty-six times in as many verses within this psalm. His - there is no other basis for our trust, nor our focus - it is him and him alone. Love - evident in nothing more revealing than his grace. NEVER - not just when the urge strikes him, but each and every time we need to see, feel, or experience it in some manner. Quits - as impossible as it is for God to lie, it is equally impossible for him to withhold his love from us. It is good to be reminded of things we have a tendency to forget, isn't it? Our mind wanders and finds distraction in the most unlikely places, all the while setting us up to forget who it is we have placed our trust in and to begin to fear whatever it is we face at the moment. 

God cannot forget us. His focus is not like ours - it is unlimited and without error. Forgetting can be accidental or intentional on our part, so we think God must have that same inability to always remember what he promises, or that he will choose to forget a promise. Scripture doesn't ever say God has "selective remembering" when it comes to us. It says he "cannot" forget us - not that he chooses to not forget us but finds it impossible to go against his character by not having us in his focus 24/7. God isn't just there for us in the "up" times. We go through ups and downs in our emotions and in every other sense - physical, relationship rollercoasters, and in our own thoughts about self or others. We have a tough time consistently recalling his love is always with us. His love is what is there for us when we are down, as much as when we are on top of the world.

Destructive forces cannot keep his love from reaching out to us. We are invaded by all manner of distracting and destructive thought. His love reaches beyond those forces and isn't going to cower when they come but it will reach out to us to lift us away from those forces. I remember being lifted over the yard fence which separated the neighbor's yard from ours as a small child. The storms of summer would come, bringing loud thunder which frightened me terribly. The flashes of lightening could have taken me down in an instant. As the storms raged, I came to count on one thing - the reaching arms of my mother. God's arms reach even farther than my mom's ever did - so why doubt, why fear, why panic? No one escapes his view. His vantage point sees ALL need - not just the loudest or most urgent, but all need. His love can be counted on to counteract our need - regardless of how big or small - they are his to manage and to fulfill. His love - based in grace - never fails. He never falls short. He never attempts and then comes up short. His grace is ever reaching, his love never failing. Chew upon that one today as you begin to think your issues are too small, or your need is too great. His love NEVER fails. Just sayin!

Do we trust his provision?

I had the opportunity this week to read through the account of God delivering the Israelites from their Egyptian overlords and what happened after their deliverance. One thing caught my attention quickly - how much they complained about what God was doing. They complained as they faced the Red Sea. They launched another complaint when they came across the bitter waters in the region of Marah. Even after God performed miracles to redeem them from their captors and take care of their basic need for potable water, they still found reason to complain when their bellies were empty! I don't know about you, but when God does something 'big' in my life, it makes me sit up and take notice. When he does something 'small' in my life, I might miss it until I see a bunch of 'small' things mount up to a 'big' thing, but I eventually find the opportunity to acknowledge what he has done. God isn't always going to work in the 'big' ways in our lives, but he will faithfully work in the 'small' details, arranging them so we are in the right place, at the right time, and with his presence around us. The hope is that we will have the right attitude toward what he has done and trust him for what he is continuing to do!

Then all the Israelites left Elim. They reached the western Sinai desert, between Elim and Mount Sinai, on the 15th day of the second month after leaving Egypt. Then the whole community of Israelites began complaining again. They complained to Moses and Aaron in the desert. They said, “It would have been better if the Lord had just killed us in the land of Egypt. At least there we had plenty to eat. We had all the food we needed. But now you have brought us out here into this desert to make us all die from hunger.” (Exodus 16:1-3)

Waters piled high so they could escape their enemies on dry ground - big intervention. Waters swallowed every soldier in pursuit of them - big intervention. Bad waters turned to fresh, drinkable water - big intervention. Fire by night, pillar of smoke by day to guide them - big intervention. Empty bellies and feeling a bit too 'hangry' and they seem to be clueless as to the provision God has ALREADY made, much less the one he is about to make. Is it possible for God to NOT know our needs? No! So, why would they complain when their bellies rumbled, and they didn't 'see' food around them? Human nature, I guess. Does God hear their complaints and say, "Well, I am done with you bunch of ungrateful people"? No, he sends manna and quail - enough to each and every member of the group, until their bellies were full. He sends instructions to take only what they could eat in one day, no more. Did they do it? Nope! Some were greedy and perhaps a little 'untrusting' of God's provision, so they took more than they needed for the day, only to find it full of worms and with a foul smell when they went back to it.

Sin is a bit like that foul smelling manna - worm-filled and sour smelling. It leaves whatever it touches 'unusable' due to the 'decaying' state it creates. Sin has a way of 'proliferating' - almost unnoticed. Get outside of God's will and the 'proliferation' of those compromises isn't far behind. Why? Sin has a way of causing us to be very self-focused and self-determined. Whenever 'self' takes the lead and demands its own way, compromise is sure to come. What amazes me is that God allowed the gathering of twice as much manna as they needed on the day prior to the Sabbath, so they wouldn't have to gather it on the Sabbath - but it did not get wormy or spoil. Whenever we are living within God's will, his provision is certain, and we need not worry. The 'proliferation' of sin isn't going to happen when we remain within his will. Step outside of it in our pride or greed, and what comes will bring nothing more than putrid decay into our lives. The 'big' or 'small' interventions of God are all the result of his care over our lives. We are called to remain faithful to do his will, no matter what. Just sayin!

Passing through bitter waters

Moses led the Israelites away from the Red Sea and into the desert of Shur. They traveled for three days in the desert. They could not find any water. Then they came to Marah. There was water at Marah, but it was too bitter to drink. (That is why the place was named Marah.) The people began complaining to Moses. They said, “Now what will we drink?” (Exodus 15:22-24)

God has just delivered you from some HUGE thing that was weighing heavily upon your shoulders, such as the bondage the Egyptians kept the Israelites under, and your immediate response to your deliverance is to sing praises to him. That sounds about right, doesn't it? Now, a few days or weeks pass by, and we find ourselves facing something much less challenging, but a hindrance, nonetheless. Our 'immediate' response in that moment is to praise God, right? Not always! If we are anything like the Israelites, when we face the first 'bump in the road' following God's mighty deliverance, will our response be to complain that we don't have whatever it is we need? I wish this were not true for all of us, but if you are anything like me, you probably have done it!

There is no drinkable water - although there is water. It was 'bitter', but it was still there. Could it have been filtered somehow, or boiled for their use? Probably, but their first response is to see the 'trouble' they face as "God not taking care of us" like he should be. Instead of turning to God to see what he would do, they rose up in complaint for their 'misfortune' in finding bitter water. As the saying goes, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade", may not have aptly applied here, but God knew what he was doing, even though they didn't! There is much God 'does' that we don't understand, isn't there? We find 'bitter waters' in our path and think it could never be God's place of provision. Even bitter waters can be God's provision - we just have to see how he will transform them for our good use.

The rest of the story: 'So Moses called to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a large piece of wood. When Moses put the wood in the water, the water became good to drink.... He said to him, “I am the Lord your God. If you listen to me and do what I say is right, and if you obey all my commands and laws, then I will not give you any of the sicknesses that I gave the Egyptians. I am the Lord who heals you.” Then the people traveled to Elim. At Elim there were twelve springs of water and 70 palm trees. So the people made their camp there near that water.' (vs. 25-27) The bitter waters behind them, the promise of good things before them, they came to a 'supply' greater than they imagined possible. 

That how it is with God. He brings us to a supply greater than we could ever imagine. We may go through the place of 'bitter waters' before we get to the springs of water and lush groves of provision, but we shouldn't complain about the bitterness along the way. The provision is there, we might not know how it will be provided, but we can count on it to come. Just sayin!

NEVER easy - but worthwhile

But the Lord has always loved his followers, and he will continue to love them forever and ever! He will be good to all their descendants, to those who are faithful to his agreement and who remember to obey his commands. (Psalm 103:17-18)

God's part - love us. Our part - obey him. Seems pretty easy, but it has presented more challenges for God's people down through the ages that we can shake a stick at! Why is obedience so hard? If we really want to be obedient to ALL that God asks of us, not just the 'easy stuff', then we need to understand obedience is a struggle of the will. Pride gets all balled up in the mess, as well. We want things to go the easiest way possible, don't we? Whenever something doesn't quite go as we hoped, do we bail? Do we double-down and put extra effort into it? Most of us find ourselves facing the difficulties of obedience with a bit of prideful will - we want it our way, but our way isn't always God's way.

I am so glad God's action of loving us isn't based upon our performance or the speed at which we 'come around' to doing things the way he asks us to do them! If it was, we'd all be doomed. God loved when not even one of us deserved that love. In fact, nothing we 'do' makes God love us anymore than he already does. The steps toward total obedience require us to look at the commitment required at each 'level' and weigh out if we are willing to do whatever is required. For me, God's requirement was that I lay down some things and then do some others. I didn't realize how much some of the things I was 'doing' were actually moving me further into compromise in my life. 

When he asked me to stop engaging in those activities or actions, he also asked me to begin others that I wasn't all that comfortable with. Sometimes God asks us to do things that are 'foreign' to us, like spend time in his Word, actually reading it, taking it in, journaling about what we have read, beginning to feed upon it ourselves instead of always being 'hand-fed' by someone else who has digested it for us. He may ask us to step into areas of ministry that we might not have seen as 'our calling' in life, such as working in the church nursery during one church service and attend a different service time in order that mothers and fathers can attend without the struggle of taking care of a wee one's needs.

God may ask us to begin to talk with each other about things that have been hard for us to deal with, such as relationship issues that have brought rifts or less than close feelings for each other. Being open to doing what he tells us to do when we don't think we have done anything to cause the rift is one of the hardest things. Why? Pride gets in the way of us seeing the value of the relationship over the 'value' of holding onto the wrongdoing or hurtful actions of another. Obedience is almost NEVER easy, but it comes with some of the greatest blessings we could ever want - especially the one that starts and ends with being loved by God! Obedience starts 'in God's love' and it ends 'in God's love'. We lay down our will because we are loved by him - we take up his will because we want to show our love in return. Just sayin!

Finding Communion

When others are happy, you should be happy with them. And when others are sad, you should be sad too. Live together in peace with each other. Don’t be proud, but be willing to be friends with people who are not important to others. Don’t think of yourself as smarter than everyone else. (Romans 12:15-16)

Live together in peace. Good idea, but tough to actually execute. We might set out to live at peace with others, finding our attempts at 'peaceful living' are met with resistance from all sides. Try as we might, living 'at peace' with each other is just not possible unless Christ is brought into the center of the 'living'. When Christ is central in the relationship, there will still be difficulties, but there is a power beyond our human reasoning or fickle emotions that helps us to bring resolution to the issues. We need to be willing to listen to one another, but dare I say we also need to be able to hear one another. This is where Christ does his work - he helps us to look beyond the surface (what one displays on the outside) and hear beyond the words (the emotion behind what is said).

As Christ left this earth, he commissioned his disciples to continue his work of reconciling the world to him. In so doing, the disciples encouraged the believers to put away differences, focusing on the unity of the faith. Unity is only possible where God's peace dwells. Plain and simple - we cannot 'create' peace in our own efforts. We will find ourselves always trying to please people if we do. God isn't after 'people-pleasers' - he is after peacemakers. That means we let him guide our thoughts, words, and actions so that we find ways of being a blessing in the lives of others, regardless of their ability or willingness to return the blessing. That might rub a few the wrong way because we have the idea that if we 'do unto others as we would have them do unto us' that they are kind of 'obligated' to return the blessing. Unfortunately, there is no 'obligation' for them to be kind or loving in return.

Pride gets in the way of being peacemakers, doesn't it? We might not realize how much we feel we deserve better than we are getting, but when that attitude begins to creep into our hearts and minds, we are going to lean toward the 'expectation' of kindness and love. Instead of it being a willing exchange between us, there comes this sense of 'obligation'. Obligation leads to unmet expectations, and the hard feelings that follow can soon lead to bitter feelings. This is why God reminds us to share in each other's sorrows and happy times. When we commit together to 'share all things in common', we are putting down our pride and allowing others to get to know us as we are. In so doing, we are developing genuine community. We may not put all our resources in common like they did in the early church, but when we begin to mesh our lives one with another, focusing on Christ first in all we do, we soon find the communion Christ intends for his followers. Just sayin!

We've got that in common!

If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth. But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away. If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. (I John 1:5-9)

Sharing is a concept parents teach their kiddos from an early age. Sharing is really the action of each taking part in the use or enjoyment of what one of the parties in the group has. In some cultures, all things are put into common storage and then are distributed from the common resources to meet the needs of everyone in the community. We may consider "sharing" as what we do when we have a little of what someone else doesn't have, giving it to them so they can get use of it or enjoy it as much as we have. Either way, the idea of "common use" or "common benefit" from what one has to share is to be considered as something we should engage in. 

We come into the light Jesus that brings into an otherwise pretty dark existence. If you ever stop long enough to consider what it was like before you experienced Christ's light in your life, you probably stand amazed at all the ways he has "enhanced" your life in ways you never thought possible. His light did more than just brighten our darkness - it dispelled it from areas of our life we didn't even know there was darkness within! What we didn't possess, Christ brought - light and life. This life we now live is possible because of what Christ brings and "shares" in our life. The resource of his life is something we partake of not through any effort of our own, but all because of his effort. It is like the one who hunts or grows grain for the entire tribe in order that the entire community will partake of it. All did not work for it, but all enjoy it as it has been provided so there may be "common enjoyment" of it. We do not work for what we enjoy so much in this life with Jesus - it is given freely so all may come into common enjoyment of it.

We not only have new life in common, but we also have this "washing away of our sins" in common. We find ourselves grace-filled because of the actions of another on our behalf. As a child, mom had to wash me in the tub - simply because I could not see where I needed to be washed, nor did I realize the benefit of being in the tub. I was content to live in my dirty state - but she knew how much better I'd feel after the bath. I think Jesus kind of works that way in our lives at first - washing over us with his grace time and time again - not because we know where we need it to flow, but because he does! Grace has a way of creeping into the crevices of our lives - even where we don't realize we need it to go! Grace actually knows no bounds. It isn't shy about going into "dark places" in our lives - washing away the things which gathered there that no longer belong hidden. Grace doesn't uncover what is hidden to expose it so we will experience pain, but because we all have one thing in common as it comes to our sin - we need to be free of it and we cannot do it alone.

Grace can be trusted - even when the confession is hard. God affords to us from his vast resources in renewed grace for all past sins, present sins, and future sins. The truth is - we will continue to sin, maybe not in the same ways as we did 'before Christ', but until the day we find ourselves walking in his presence, we will still struggle with temptation and require grace to both overcome it and walk away from it. Grace isn't exactly light, but it is an adjunct to light. God's presence is the light we receive - his grace is the enabling force which helps us to walk in this light and to enjoy the freedom light brings. If you have ever stumbled a little in the dark of night, you know how "halting" your walk is when you don't know exactly what is in the room in respect to where you are. God's light is what removes the darkness, but his grace is what enables us to walk freely. We may not all speak the same language or go to the same church. We may not all dress alike, or even have the same interests in life. One thing is for sure - we all have sin in common and we all need to experience the freedom of his love, light, and grace. Just sayin!

Utter and Total Confusion

Then the Egyptians—all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers—chased them into the middle of the sea. But just before dawn the Lord looked down on the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and he threw their forces into total confusion. He twisted their chariot wheels, making their chariots difficult to drive. “Let’s get out of here—away from these Israelites!” the Egyptians shouted. “The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt!” (Exodus 14:23-25)

We may never see the power of God on display such as the Israelites witnessed that day when they crossed over the Red Sea with waters piled high on each side, ground made dry for their passage. We might never encounter actual enemy forces hot on our trail, making way toward us in order to bring us to our demise. We may never see the actual pillar of fire or cloud of God's glory on display, clearly delineating the break from our past. Yet, we see God at work in our lives in many ways we may not fully recognize as God.

One of the things that captured my attention in this passage was the 'total confusion' the enemy experienced. God may not do a 'grand work' of displaying his power in our lives, but we can rest assured he will send our enemy into 'total confusion' when we speak forth the all-powerful name of Jesus. Our enemy cannot 'work through' the confusion God brings when we speak the name of Jesus. The powerful wind that dried up the Red Sea's bed and piled high the waters is nothing compared to what God is doing for us in 'places unseen' with the naked eye when we proclaim the majesty and power of Jesus.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians that Satan is the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. The spirit of those powers is at work in our world all around us. (Ephesians 2) We may not see the forces that come against us, but we can trust that God will bring 'utter and total confusion' to their plans, intent, and 'doings' in our lives. We are not subject to these evil powers but have the ability to counter their attack by speaking the name of Jesus. There is no more powerful name, for by his name all creation is subject to move into action! 

The next time you sense there are enemy forces attempting to hold you in some place of bondage, try speaking the name of Jesus. Pray in the power of his name, taking authority of the one who really has no authority over a child of God anymore. You could just see the utter and complete confusion that brings into the armies that stand in opposition to your forward progress! Just sayin!

The dividing wall

Then the angel of God, who had been leading the people of Israel, moved to the rear of the camp. The pillar of cloud also moved from the front and stood behind them. The cloud settled between the Egyptian and Israelite camps. As darkness fell, the cloud turned to fire, lighting up the night. But the Egyptians and Israelites did not approach each other all night. (Exodus 14:19-20)

In reading through the account of Moses and Egyptians standing at the shore of the Red Sea with the Egyptian armies approaching from their rear, I was caught by this account of God's protection. Moses had been telling the people God would defend them, that he'd be their place of safety as they left Egypt, but some did not realize he would do what he was about to do on their behalf. They complained, wanting to turn back, even if it meant being in bondage to the Egyptian people. It isn't uncommon to want to turn back when we realize the struggle ahead may take us into the unknown. In fact, we probably have all stood at our 'Red Sea' at one time or another, not really sure we want what lies ahead, but also not so happy with what lies behind. We are indeed dissatisfied or disappointed with our past, but we are very uncertain about our future, so we might just opt for the 'known' instead of trusting God with what is 'unknown'.

What I would like us to observe this morning is where God positions himself in this picture. He moved to the rear of the camp. Isn't that an odd place for the angel of God to be? Wouldn't we expect him to be out front, leading them onward, telling them to keep their eyes on him? The angel of God placed himself at the rear, effectively drawing a line between the Israelites and the Egyptians - so there was a boundary of sorts. Why is this important for us to see? While God positions the pillar of fire and cloud before them, he positions the angel behind them. Perhaps this was so they'd see they were surrounded with God's protective power. When we are tempted to 'turn back', maybe God sends something we don't fully see to act as a barrier between us and that 'history' we need to put in our rear-view mirror. We may not recognize it as the angel of God, but I think it may be as powerful!

God creates a barrier between the past and he prepares a cleared path into their future. Perhaps the barriers we have been pushing back are meant to keep us from turning back. If so, maybe it is time we recognize God doesn't want us going that way any longer and has a well-prepared path prepared for us just up ahead. Every step of obedience is always accomplished when we face forward and stop pushing back against the barriers to our past. Just sayin!

Is it okay to just stay here?

When the Israelites saw Pharaoh and his army coming toward them, they were very frightened and cried to the Lord for help. They said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Did you bring us out here in the desert to die? We could have died peacefully in Egypt; there were plenty of graves in Egypt. We told you this would happen! In Egypt we said, ‘Please don’t bother us. Let us stay and serve the Egyptians.’ It would have been better for us to stay and be slaves than to come out here and die in the desert.” But Moses answered, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t run away! Stand where you are and watch the Lord save you today. You will never see these Egyptians again. You will not have to do anything but stay calm. The Lord will do the fighting for you.” (Exodus 14:10-14)

There are a lot of times God brings us to a certain point in our lives and all we do is 'stand there and watch', hoping for the Lord to do all the work. The very next verse is God's directive to MOVE. In other words, don't just stand there, but engage yourself in what he is doing. Whenever God tells us to move, all the inaction on our part must cease. We may be scared, filled with all manner of emotional upheaval, but the call is to move, not stand still. 

Don't be afraid...don't run away. These are instructional words. Put fear far from you because God is going before you. Put your action into moving forward, not standing still, but allow the stillness of God's peace to be with you as you do. We might just want to stand still, or even turn back the way we came, but God isn't working 'back there'. He is working right where we are at in the here and now. The action required is forward movement - the attitude of heart required is peaceful trust.

How do we get to the place where we actually trust God enough to take that first 'big step' into the path he has prepared for us? Some will say that it is easier said than done, and you would be right on that account! Peace doesn't always come in the 'standing still', though. If you haven't noticed, we can feel the deepest peace when we finally step into what God has prepared for us. When we are finally taking that 'first step' onto the path God has prepared, there is a settling of all our insecurities and uncertainties. Why? Obedience pleases the heart of God like nothing else and where obedience is the course one takes, the heart and mind are sure to be rewarded with his gentle peace.

While Moses' instruction may seem to tell us to just stand there and watch, the original text actually uses words that tell us to remain still, stay calm, and be silent. Moses isn't telling them to stay rooted in their past, but to allow the stillness of God settle over them while they move into what God has prepared for them just ahead of where they are. Maybe God is asking some of us to be still, stay calm, and just be silent, but he isn't telling us to never take the big step! Just sayin!

No escaping him

The Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai: "Nineveh is a big city. I have heard about the many evil things the people are doing there. So go there and tell them to stop doing such evil things.” But Jonah tried to run away from the Lord. He went to Joppa and found a boat that was going to the faraway city of Tarshish. Jonah paid money for the trip and went on the boat. He wanted to travel with the people on this boat to Tarshish and run away from the Lord. (Jonah 1:1-3)

Have you ever tried to run away from God? If you are anything like Jonah, chances are there have been times when God has asked you to do something you didn't agree with, nor did you actually 'want' to do. It comes as no surprise to God that we would actually 'resist' when things aren't exactly as we thought they should be, or that he has a different plan than what we may have laid out for ourselves. It should also not surprise us that God knows when we will resist because our 'opinion' of the matter is different from his!

Don't lose sight of the fact that God actually chose Jonah - so he knew his heart, understood his bullheadedness, and wasn't put off by his thinking he knew better than God. To be perfectly honest here, there have been times in my own life when I thought I knew better than God, going off in the direction I chose instead of the one he had laid out pretty clearly before me. That never ended well for me! God's plans are sometimes contrary to ours, but when we don't yield to them, we may find ourselves facing way 'bigger' and 'darker' circumstances than we might ever have imagined possible.

I doubt Jonah expected the whale. Nor do I expect he appreciated the not so 'comfortable' situation he found himself in when he resisted God's direction. We cannot expect God to just let us go our own way, rebelling against his will, trying to put distance between his purpose and our determined resistance for very long. Eventually we will realize our misguided plans don't actually land us where we wanted to be. When we do, we need to stop running and actually begin to listen intently to the leading he gives.

Our rebellion took us places we didn't want to go and into experiences we didn't actually enjoy all that much, but God's grace stands ready to restore us once we have had enough of our folly. Just sayin!

Willing to make a difference?

It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference. (Tom Brokaw)

My brothers and sisters, God chose you to be free. But don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do what pleases your sinful selves. Instead, serve each other with love. (Galatians 5:13)

We can make a difference in BIG ways when we let God guide our steps, choose our interactions, and prepare us in advance of each day. What we choose to do with our lives will determine the outcome. Living for Jesus is more than living for oneself. When we choose to live for Jesus, we choose to live for all those he presents in our path!

We might find it hard to please everyone, but God isn't asking us to be 'people-pleasers'. He is asking us to learn the acts of service that will touch those around us. In essence, he is telling us to turn outward and stop always looking inward. It is easy to ask how something will affect us - it is quite different to ask how something has or is affecting someone else.

What is the hardest part of 'service'? Isn't it the willingness to see life through the eyes of another and then begin to find ways to make their circumstances just a bit better? It doesn't mean we give money, although we may be called up on to serve in that manner. It may mean we bring someone groceries, give them a lift to work while their car is at the shop, or even help them clean up their yard after a particularly bad storm. Service comes in various forms - we just need to be open to God's leading to serve one another.

God's plan is quite simple - unconditional, service-hearted, self-sacrificing love. This is what brings hurting communities together, helps families in need get a fresh start, and opens doors to deep and lasting relationships. It is what binds a community together, breaking down all kinds of barriers that would keep us apart. Service might just begin in your own home - sacrificially giving of oneself to another. It then leads us outward to our community. Our world isn't changed until we are each willing to step up and make a difference! Just sayin!

Pebble or Jewel?

I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

"Rough diamonds may sometimes be mistaken for worthless pebbles." (Thomas Browne) Worthless pebbles are sometimes kicked underfoot, tossed aside, or left unnoticed. Would it surprise you to know that is you took one of those 'worthless pebbles' to a jeweler and had him see what he sees within the stone, he might reveal something quite different than what you might have seen in it? In much the same manner, Jesus beholds each of us, rough, ragged, kind of beat up by life, nothing too much to look upon, but within each of us he sees a thing of extreme beauty and value. 

God has made us who we are - complete with all our quirks and idiosyncrasies. Nothing we have done has dissuaded him from realizing there was a design to our creation, a purpose for us to fulfill, and a means by which we are to fulfill that purpose. We are his creation and as such, we can stand assured he sees a gem inside of each of our crusty and battered shells! It is time that we begin to let Jesus define our value by what he sees and has purposed for each of us, not the world, the guy or gal next to us, or even our imagination.

Whenever we create an image of ourselves that differs from how God sees us, we are pursuing an image that won't lead to us fulfilling our purpose as God has planned for us. Too many times we focus on 'image' rather than 'character'. God's plan is for us to allow his character to be developed within us, then allow his character to begin to define and refine our image. Don't get that mixed up or you might just be in pursuit of what is nothing more than 'pebbles' and be missing out on what really could be 'jewels'. Just sayin!

What do your words really say?

Evil people use their words to hurt others, but the words from good people can save others from danger. (Proverbs 12:6)

Could we take a few moments today to consider the power of our words? We all know the Words of God recorded for us in scripture are all-powerful and give instruction each of us must embrace if we are to live godly lives. Do the words we speak reflect the wisdom of God? Do they indicate patience and grace when it is most needed? Do they create an atmosphere of safety and security for those who hear them? Words are more powerful than many might believe, but when we take time to consider them before we speak them, we can be assured they will be the ones that do more healing and helping than hindering and harming. 

Words reflect the heart - the heart being the seat of our emotions. We can embrace with words as well as with arms. We can hold someone up with words as well as with our physical strength. We can undo the misgivings of one's wavering faith with words of faith and deep-seated trust in God's ability. Did you realize that God has included over 120 passages in his Word dealing with the power of OUR words? If God felt the need to focus so intently on OUR words, shouldn't we?

As much as we might want to avoid words that convict us, we need to hear them. As many times as we might want to flee from words that are working on our conscience to bring us into a new place in our lives, we need to be still and just listen. God isn't finished speaking to us - his Word is alive, powerful, and able to do way more than we might imagine - but we must listen. Open minds require and open heart. Open hearts are useful in the hands of a might God. When we are open to his words being made alive in us, we will be open to being the instruments that bring the power of those words into the lives of those we touch today. Just sayin!

Confucius say...

But the wisdom that comes from God is like this: First, it is pure. It is also peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help people who have trouble and to do good for others. This wisdom is always fair and honest. People who work for peace in a peaceful way get the blessings that come from right living. (James 3:17-18)

Right living is not always what we see modeled around us, is it? At times, we observe others and know their actions are going to create havoc. There are even times we can feel ourselves 'winding up' and know very well that the outcome of that 'wind up' will not fare well for us! Confucius once said, "By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." We often revert to imitation because it is the easiest, but I also know from my own personal growth, experience has played a big part in how I view and react to life around me. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we always leaned toward reflection upon God's Word to give us wisdom for all of our actions?

God's wisdom comes in ways we may not even perceive until we come through on the other side of an encounter and realize we didn't respond as we might have expected. We 'handled' the situation with grace, dignity, and even a bit more gentleness than others may have thought it deserved. How did that happen? We allowed God's wisdom to lead us through, but only because we were prepared in advance to both hear and respond to that wisdom. Peaceful living isn't the result of just being passively launch out into our day. It is the result of taking time with Jesus, allowing him to take time with us, and then leaning into what he has shown us in those times of 'reflection' with him.

As Confucius said, reflection is the 'noblest', but we might just find it the hardest, too. Reflection requires us prioritizing the time we give toward discovering the truths God has for us. It requires the right frame of mind to lean in with the attitude of heart that is open to learning. I have read many a passage with the wrong frame of mind and left without even realizing what God was trying to teach me. Wisdom isn't 'accidental' - it is intentional. There is a purpose in coming to Jesus with our problems or worries, isn't there? There is a purpose in our coming to him to just learn a little more about how his grace works, how grace responds, or how grace moves beyond what one is experiencing into the place of seeing what God wants us to see in that moment. Just sayin!

A rut well-worn by our travels

So you must continue to live in a way that gives meaning to your salvation. Do this with fear and respect for God. Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it. (Philippians 3:12-13)

Sin has a way of wearing a path in our lives. We don't even realize it, but there is a 'groove' worn as we continue to follow the same old patterns. Much like the elephant pegged to the ground, sin wears away a groove we seem to just contentedly walk around within. We allow a worn path in our lives when we go through the process of the repetitive actions of a particular habit or sin. It may take a little effort to get out of the rut if we have been traveling in that rutted path for a long time. But...Jesus doesn't leave us in the rut, nor does he limit us in anyway. He totally removes all the reminders of the bondage - but we have to change our thought pattern about our bondage. We need to realize we are free! 

The elephant doesn't realize he is free - because he has accepted his position around that staked chain. If we want to be free, we need to be enabled to be free (shackles / bondage removed) and then we need to be "authorized" to take the steps outside of that place of bondage (enabled again and again until we learn to walk in our freedom). The elephant may need a little goading to move beyond the rutted pathway - we might just need the same! No freedom comes without a little work on our part. Jesus does the "lion's share" of the work - enabling us to be free and then authorizing us to live in that freedom. Our part is to take the first step into that freedom. 

No first step ever ends with just one step - we must continue to walk away from the rutted path. Until we learn to stop returning to the place of our bondage, we won't be truly free. Remember this - there is no stake or shackle left in that place, but the rut may remain. The shackles have been fully removed. When we return to the place of our bondage, it is because we remember it well. The rut isn't easily forgotten because it is so 'well-worn'. We need to have our remembrance changed! This is why God reminds us of the importance of the daily renewing of our thoughts - in order to begin to form a new view of our place of bondage - as something we don't really need or want to return to ever again. It would be silly for us to stand around in the same place forever just because it was a well-worn path when all the shackles have been removed which held us in that spot for so long. 

So, let's allow the Holy Spirit to change our remembrance of the spot of our bondage and help us to form new memories of our liberty! The path may have been well-worn by our frequent travels into that sinful pattern or habit, but God has provided a new path for us to travel. We just need to step out of the rut long enough to enjoy it! Just sayin!

The perimeter of sin

God is the one who enables you both to want and to actually live out his good purposes. (Philippians 2:13) 

When God enables us, he makes us able, giving us the power or ability, as well as the means by which to live holy and upright lives. Consider who is doing the enabling and we might just begin to see our course of action as different than what we might have originally believed it ever could be. On one hand, we work hard to obtain or realize a goal, without anyone really helping us realize that goal. On the other hand, when someone comes alongside, bringing talents we don't possess and apply those talents toward the end goal, we might just realize the project comes to fruition quicker and easier than if we struggled to do it alone. There is something about being enabled to do something which gives us a certain freedom or liberty to pursue it with a greater passion and purpose, isn't there?

Imagine your spiritual goals. You should have some, you know! If you don't, then maybe that is the place to start - with an honest conversation with God about what it is in your life that requires some adjustment in order to be a better example of his love and grace. Spiritual goals may seem a little lofty at first - like wanting to be free of some life-dominating sin or point of consistent compromise in your life. You might not imagine yourself fully "free" of those things, but you can "hope" there might be a point when you would be out from under their weight. At first, the impossibility of "being on the other side" of the habit, sinful pattern, or consistent compromise seems a little bit like you might never be "truly free", but you know scripture declares that you are not only "set free" but being continually "renewed" in that pattern of being "set free". This is referred to in two terms in theological circles: Salvation and Sanctification. Salvation makes you free (you are saved out of whatever it is you were in bondage to). Sanctification makes you continually free (helping you to live free of those bonds over and over again until you stop returning to the place of your bondage completely).

An elephant can be chained to the immediate ten-foot radius around a peg and a chain attached to his rear leg. For a while, he will pull and pull at that staked chain to attempt to be free. In time he will come to think his "freedom" only consists of the ten-foot radius around that pegged chain. In a while, he could even be unlocked from that chain, and he wouldn't move out of that area. Why? He has developed the pattern of bondage. He has accepted his confined place and no longer believes he can escape it. Sin is kind of like that in our lives - for a long time we might resist the hold it has on us and even chafe against it a little. Given enough struggling to be "free" of that sin and we might just come to the place we give up on ever being free. At salvation, the moment we say "yes" to Jesus, the chain is loosed, and the shackle is removed. If we only focus on the thing which held us in bondage for so long, we may never explore the freedom outside of that ten-foot radius! We will believe we are still bound - but if we get outside of that radius even just a little, we begin to experience life as it should be - free and full of good things God intends for us to enjoy fully.

God's plan is to remove the shackles AND the peg that held us in bondage. The evidence of bondage is long gone, but sometimes we continue to remember the peg and shackles as being there, making it almost impossible to escape 'sin's radius'. Remember, he not only 'unshackles' us, but he removes every trace of the thing that held us in the perimeter of sin. Just sayin!

We need logs

Our heart fire must be tended. What gets our attention gets tended - plain and simple. If we turn away from tending that spiritual fire, it is easy for it to begin to go out. Diligence must be maintained in ensuring we are consistent in tending it. Whenever we tend something, we are directing our attention toward the object we are tending - it means we narrow our focus to see just what we need to be paying attention to and then we do something about it. It is not enough to just look like we are tending our spiritual growth. We need to be actively engaged in taking care of our spiritual lives - not just passively going about life hoping God will help us to grow.

The fire must never go out, so put wood on it each morning. After this, you are to lay an animal on the altar next to the fat that you sacrifice to ask my blessing. Then send it all up in smoke to me. The altar fire must always be kept burning—it must never go out. (Leviticus 6:12-13)

 
Our heart fire must burn hot. The fire must have sufficient fuel, a "heat source", and sufficient oxygen to burn. Embers produce a heat source - fuel is another matter which requires our attention. If you have ever tried to keep a campfire or fireplace burning through the night, you know just how much wood it requires. There is quite a bit of planning which must be put into keeping the fire "hot" throughout the night hours. The store of wood has to be sufficient - it cannot be spindly branches - for those will be consumed way too quickly. Although they help stoke the fire as kindling to reignite the embers, they quickly are consumed and burn out. We need the "large logs" in order to keep the fire burning. This means we cannot expect to go through life on short bursts of "fuel" for our fire spiritually. We need to plan ahead for those larger "infusions" of life-giving fuel. It may mean we need to take time to really get into the meat of the Word, or just get time alone with God to listen attentively to what he has for us that day. 

Our heart has to be available. The altar was available to receive the sacrifices placed upon it - it had but one purpose - to receive the sacrifice. Our hearts have one purpose - to be the throne of God's grace and love in our lives. I think we often get so focused on how we dress, how our hair looks, and whether we drive the right car to make us look successful and forget all the while that the heart is really the most important part of what is "on display" in our lives. The altar stood there, ready to receive. I think this is what makes us effective in our day - to be ready to receive what God lays upon our hearts. Then we consume it fully and it becomes that sweet savor which emanates from our lives. Why would our heart have to be movable? The Israelites would stoke the coals, heap them into earthen jars, and then carry those burning hot embers to the next place they'd erect the altar. I think God looks for us to be ever ready to move when he says "move" and then to be ready to get down to business when he says to "stay". If the fire is abandoned, it will surely die out. God's fire within can be abandoned by our neglect - but if we are constantly alert to his voice, we will be ready to move when called upon and eager to "dig in" when he shows us it is time to just settle into what he has for us to do.

We have a role in keeping the fire burning in our lives - God may give the initial spark, but we tend it ever so carefully, my friends! Just sayin!

The altar fire

The fire must never go out, so put wood on it each morning. After this, you are to lay an animal on the altar next to the fat that you sacrifice to ask my blessing. Then send it all up in smoke to me. The altar fire must always be kept burning—it must never go out. (Leviticus 6:12-13) 

The Old Testament can be a bit hard to read through, especially since it seems like there are a lot of blood wars, blood sacrifices, bad things happening, and a whole lot of sinning going on! I see regular people, struggling to make a way in a regular world, and meeting with regular issues we all have to encounter. So, instead of slugging through, I look for the hidden truths and things we might otherwise overlook if we were just reading these chapters as "historical content". In the Book of Leviticus, much instruction was given to the priests on how they were to conduct their daily business in the offering of sacrifices.  In the instructions given to Moses for the priests, various sacrifices, dedicated holy days, and special feast days, we can find rich meaning pointing us toward the one who would become the ultimate blood sacrifice, making ultimate atonement once and for all for all of mankind's sins.  

As Moses is receiving some of these instructions from the Lord and passing them onto the Tribe of Levi (the Levite priests), we see the instruction to "tend the fire" of the altar - something which was never to go out. I don't know about you, but I have tended some fires in my day, and it was hard to keep it so that it never went out. You'd have to gather the wood, keep enough alongside the fire to tend it even when bad weather made it hard to do so, and then you'd have to stir the embers frequently enough to infuse the fire with that "stoking" heat it often needed to ignite afresh. I don't think this is too different from what has to happen in our own spiritual lives each and every day if we are to have a continual "burning" within our spirit which keeps us "on fire" in our relationship with Jesus.

The altar fire must never go out. It was to be tended - never left unattended. It had to be stoked - not left to burn down to ashes. It had to be able to consume what was placed upon the altar - so it had to burn hot. It had to be "mobile" or easily moved - as the Israelites were a "nomadic" people for quite a while until they settled into the land of Canaan. All of these important facts could easily be glossed over in this accounting of how the sacrifices were to be prepared and offered - but without fire, all the sacrifices would be nothing more than a rotting pile of flesh, putrid in the odor which it would give off, and festering with all manner of parasites and disease. I think this also speaks to the importance of fire - it had to be able to consume and turn what would otherwise be a rotting pile of mess into a savory delight.

God's fire must be ignited within us, but it must always be maintained. It isn't a 'purposeless' fire, though. It is the 'altar fire' - the place where our lives are transformed by the power of that fire. Just sayin!

Writing a new story

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. (Seneca)

So don’t remember what happened in earlier times. Don’t think about what happened a long time ago, because I am doing something new! (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Does the past seem to disappoint you? Sometimes the pain from the past lingers well into the present, making it almost impossible for us to escape the disappointment we have experienced. Disappointment doesn't always come from an action of another - it frequently is linked to some action we have taken ourselves. If someone else has brought the disappointment, it is well past the time to forgive and move on. If you have caused that deep disappointment, it is time you confess it, relinquish it to God, and begin to move forward, don't you think?

God's plan has always been to keep us focused forward, not on what lies behind. He isn't doing the 'new thing' in the past, he is doing it in the present. Forward-focused individuals find it difficult to hold onto things that only clutter their memories and flood their emotions with unhealthy hormones. They desire to be free, and they take steps to live free. Those who want to remain rear facing will only find the disappointment growing deeper and the anguish of emotional attachment to that disappointment growing, as well. No one should live bound to the past - it is history (HIS Story) - let him deal with it and rewrite the pages of your life as he sees you NOW.

Some other beginning's end - there is always an end, but sometimes it means we have to let go of the thing that has ended in order to be embraced by the new that has come. It is only as we let go that we are free to be embraced fully. Try being embraced by someone when your arms are full of a pile of linens. Can they fully embrace you? Not really. Can you return the embrace? Nope. So, in order to be fully embraced, you have to let go of what you are carrying. The disappointment of yesterday has absolutely no place in the new thing God is doing in your life today. It happened - it is over - now it is time to move on. Just sayin!

A blob of faith

You don’t know where the wind blows. And you don’t know how a baby grows in its mother’s womb. In the same way, you don’t know what God will do—and he makes everything happen. (Ecclesiastes 11:5)

We all have those seasons in life when we know stuff is happening, or about to happen, but we really aren't sure what all is about to come our way. We get a little frightened by the stuff we don't understand, try to make some assumptions about what we believe may be happening, and generally get ourselves all out of sorts when stuff gets harder than we'd like. Then along comes God's intervention and all of a sudden, almost without us noticing, things begin to sort themselves out and life gets a little easier. What we missed in all that in-between stage was the peace God wants us to walk in as we go THROUGH those seasons.

Today, we can use 3-D ultrasound to get an almost perfect picture of the baby's features. In the time this passage was recorded for us, a baby was concealed deep within the womb until the time of conception. At the time of birth, what was hidden from view was revealed. God is reminding us that we might not always see what he is doing, but he is at work. He is arranging things, multiplying other things, creating what is to come long before we ever see it revealed in our lives. The 'happenings' are behind the scenes and as with the development of the 3-D ultrasound, we aren't the kind of people content in 'not knowing', so we attempt to finagle our way to resolving things to the way we imagine them to be. 

God makes things happen, even when we don't see him at work. In the good or the bad, he has a mission in mind for each of us. We may not really like all the waiting to 'see what comes', but when we lean into his Word, allowing it to wash over us and bring us comfort, clarity, and consistency in our faith, we will do better in the 'in-between' stages of life. The baby starts out quite unrecognizable as a 'baby' - it is just a 'blob' of tissue coming together until one day features begin to be recognizable. In much the same way, God is at work with a 'blob of faith' within us, forming it this way and that through this event and that, until one day that 'blob' becomes recognizable as a deepening faith in his plan. Just sayin!

He made both

You formed the way I think and feel. You put me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way. I know how amazing that was! (Psalm 139:13-14)

If you ever want to discount your feelings, don't! God made those emotions, and he knows how you will respond with them when life gets tough, sends a surprise your way, or gets you excited for something new you are about to experience. He formed the way we think AND the way we feel. In other words, he knows how we will 'interpret' the things we are experiencing. To think God doesn't know the way our brains work is a really silly belief. To imagine God doesn't want us to acknowledge our emotional responses to life's moments is also very foolish. He made both and he isn't 'put off' by how we think or what we feel. He may want to help us think a little clearer and have less fluctuation in our emotions on occasion, but he isn't surprised by either!

The way we think can be influenced by many things, including our upbringing, mentors, media, and even our very own emotions. The way we respond (our emotions) isn't easily changed sometimes until we have a change in our way of thinking. If God formed the way we think, why does our thought life need some adjustment on occasion? It is because of the 'influences' other than God that we have allowed within our lives. Although we may not want to admit it, there are times when our thoughts are just not all that accurate, let alone all that honorable. Those are the times when we need Jesus' mind to help us get things back to the way God intends for them to be within our thought life. 

Since our thoughts influence our emotions and vice-versa, it is important to evaluate anytime we have a thought that seems a bit too 'harsh' or 'unreasonable' that evokes strong emotions that are also as harsh and unreasonable. The other night my phone alerted me to an 'Emergency Call' coming in from the Alexa at my daughter's home. Those voice activated devices are quite handy that way - allowing you to alert family if you are in need, or to call emergency services for immediate help. Since I was awakened from a sound sleep, I immediately texted back and awaited a response. None came. Do you know what my mind started doing? You got it - overdrive kicked in and emotions responded right along with the thoughts of doom and gloom!

Fortunately, the emergency alert was a glitch of some kind, and nothing was wrong. There was no emergency, all was well, and I should have been able to get right back to sleep after hearing my daughter's reassurances that all was well. Did that happen? Nope! My emotions were in high gear, my thoughts were all over the board, and it took a while for me to finally put those things to rest and allow my body to get back to rest. Mind and emotions are connected - allowing God access to one will certainly affect the other. Who better to bring clarity and peace than the one who made both? Just askin...

Hate Evil, Do Good

 Your love must be real. Hate what is evil. Do only what is good. Love each other in a way that makes you feel close like brothers and sisters. And give each other more honor than you give yourself. (Romans 12:9-10)

Sometimes it is way too easy to put on our 'public happy face' in the presence of what we know are unkind or evil actions, going about life as though all things within our life were wonderful all of the time, all the while struggling on the inside to just keep it together. The 'public happy face' fools no one, especially God. The more ingenuine we are with each other, the longer it will take for us to realize the healing we need so desperately require as a society. Real love for one another doesn't require the 'public happy face' to be worn. In fact, real love displayed means we are 'real' with each other - even when life is a bit messy, or our 'perfection' isn't quite measuring up that day, and evil seems to be gaining ground around us. 

Two very important instructions are given to us in this passage: 1) Hate what is evil; and 2) Do only what is good. Those are pretty tall orders, but when we begin to shun the evil things that bring discord and angst into our lives, we begin to move toward what brings depth, purpose, and purity. We might not realize the power of evil around us, but we can trust God to help us overcome its pull within our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit residing within us. Loving one another in the manner God desires requires us being genuine, even when all we see around us seems a bit 'messy' and less than 'perfect'. 

The prophet Amos what the first to record this instruction: "Seek good, not evil, that you may live." (Amos 5:15) We will sow discord and live ingenuine lives when we allow justice to be perverted and evil to abound. Evil actually requires the mask because the mask is how it entices us into 'relationship' with it. Hate evil - move away from it with all haste. Nothing good comes when evil is allowed to abound. Genuine people, living life as a community of believers can stand against evil of all kinds. Sometimes it feels like we are going against the mainstream of behavior in our world, but that is why it is so important to have genuine relationships where we can find strength and renewal, allowing God to do the work of transforming us into a mighty army of warriors for good and not evil. Just sayin!