Garbage in - garbage out

Be kind and honest and you will live a long life; others will respect you and treat you fairly. 

(Proverbs 21:21)

Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people. (Dennis Prager)

Aesop told us, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." Being kind and honest may not seem like actions that can move mountains, but I believe with all my heart as Aesop did, no good or kind action is ever wasted. If we want goodness in this world, we must begin to model goodness toward all people. 

I agree with Prager - how we treat others is so very important. We might not think our actions matter all that much, but they add up. One bad, harmful, or wrong action on our part may only seem like a 'drop in the bucket', but when it is compounded by the bad, harmful, or wrong actions of others who 'mimic' our actions, those 'drops' add up!

Integrity is something we live out - it is more than words. The sum total of all our actions reveals the most about what is inwardly transpiring within our heart and mind. One action alone may not reveal much about us, but when we begin to add them all up, there is much revealed about our character. What others 'see' when they look upon any of our hurtful actions may actually be giving them license to do similar bad actions.

Perhaps this is why God always emphasizes being on guard within our lives - allowing his Holy Spirit to temper or control what enters into our lives because it is what directly influences what comes out of our lives. Just sayin!

Be wiser than your former self

We have perhaps one or two truly close friendships in the course of our lifetime, those marked by true intimate knowledge of each other and a depth of commitment which spans all the hurdles of how silly we can act on occasion.  These relationships matter so much to us - we work to preserve them, defend them, and even bolster them whenever things are a little shaky. Try hard to do right and you will win friends - scriptural instruction - not scriptural "advice".  The difference between the two - one is just an opinion which we can take or leave; the other is a promise based on truth. Some of us don't always "do right", though. In the realm of our "best friends", there is some amount of grace which just keeps us together and might even bind us closer together when we don't always "hit the mark" when it comes to "trying to do right". Do right; Live right; and Act wisely - three truths we need to explore if we are to maintain those very special relationships God has given us on this earth.

Try hard to do right, and you will win friends; go looking for trouble, and you will find it. Live right, and you will eat from the life-giving tree. And if you act wisely, others will follow. (Proverbs 11:27, 30)

Do right - we certainly don't need instruction or reminding to "do wrong"! We find our way into the territory of "wrong" much easier than we find our way into the territory of "right"! We were born pretty egocentric and in being so egocentric from birth, we find the world rotating around us for a good period of time. What parents have a hard time with as we are getting a little older is this idea of helping us to see there are others in our world impacted by our actions!  When we won't share, someone is without a toy or piece of the cake. When we refuse to let someone go, they cannot get on with their other tasks which need to be completed. We maintain the "hold" on being the center of our world as long as others will allow it. When someone begins to "push that envelope" and they show us we are definitely NOT the center of attention we think we should be, we get our feelings all in a wad. The world around us needs to be acknowledged, the feelings of others require respect, and the moments of their lives matter as much as ours.  We are reminded to let go of "self" and seek out the opportunities to "make another feel special". Doing is the first step toward developing a pattern some call "living".

Live right - unlike "doing" right, living right means we actually find a path which is consistently focused on the right things. We begin to develop patterns of behavior which are marked with less and less self-centered actions. The "doing" becomes a habit - we find ourselves consistently "doing" - not having to "think it through" all the time because it comes more naturally to us now. With every "new habit" there is this starting point we might label as "doing" right. Add up all the "doing" and eventually you find yourself forming the new habit. In time, you don't even think about what it is you are doing because it comes as "second-nature" to you. It is "second-nature" to us, though! Our "primary-nature" is egocentric. It takes practiced effort to break that mold! This effort will eventually help us develop the habits which become "second-nature" to us and produce a consistency of behaviors which support "other-focused" activities. We find we want to include others in our lives - not because of what we "get out of it", but equally as much by what we can "give back" into those relationships.  Living right implies we make consistent choices which benefit not only self, but others, as well.

Act wisely - the choices we make behind the scenes matter because eventually they reveal themselves for all to see, no matter how well we think we have them covered up! Action comes from thought - we actually have some basis to all we do and how we live because we have been thinking about it for some time! If our actions are a little foolish, it is likely we are still a little too egocentric in our focus. We don't see others, nor do we see Christ right there in front of us as we make those unwise choices. If our actions are gravitating toward wiser ones, we might not fully understand how much those matter, but each wise action leads to the possibility we will act that way again - leading to us letting go of some of our egocentric "doing". Fools are marked by being all over the board in their commitments and even by being a little too egocentric (despite warnings to be otherwise). The wise are marked by the stability and sensibility of their actions - those which are "other-focused", not "self-focused". Wise people see themselves through the mirror of the truth and what is reflected back to them is used to help them lay down the actions which really are not reflecting back Christ in them! 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!

Acting a little inconsistent lately?

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9)

Let's face it, we act 'faulty' at times. We make dumb decisions because we like what we see and don't read the reviews very well. When we don't listen to wise counsel of others, we are prone to make mistakes. We might ACT faulty at times, but that doesn't make US faulty. It makes our decisions unwise, but it doesn't make US less in God's eyes. The sooner we separate the 'faulty act' from who we ARE, the better. We don't always think through our actions, but that doesn't change the fact that we are redeemed, blood-bought, clean and whole IN CHRIST JESUS. If we begin to look at the person as 'faulty', we are seeing them inaccurately.

I know too many individuals who somehow equate the entire 'worth' or 'value' of a person based on some action they may have taken. It as though that one act made the whole person 'faulty'. We ALL have those 'unthinking' moments when we speak out of turn, are a little too harsh with our words, or just plain do something less than stellar. When a person is struggling to make right decisions, they don't need judgment, they need forgiveness. 

The Lord's Prayer contains the words, "Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Forgive US our trespasses, but let me hold onto the trespasses of another, judging them as 'faulty' or 'flawed' or 'unworthy', is not the way God instructs us to act toward each other. God asks us to forgive as we have been forgiven. Forgiveness is always directed toward the person who committed the 'faulty act'. Restoration is about bringing both parties back into symbiotic relationship - not allowing the ACT to become how we see the person.

I don't know about you, but I have been 'faulty' in my actions a great many times and each of those times I have sought grace (unmerited favor, mercy). If those around me had judged ME as faulty and not my ACTION as faulty, I might never have received their forgiveness. I am grateful that our ACTIONS don't define us - CHRIST defines us - as beloved, whole individuals that sometimes need grace because we act inconsistent with who we really are. Just sayin!

More than deep sentiment

"All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action." (James Russell Lowell) I know a lot of people that reveal a whole lot of nice sentiment, but all that sentiment is rarely backed by any kind of action. Sentiment is a mental emotion - a feeling that is supposed to be tied to an action, but many times it stops right there with the 'thought' of taking a particular action. God calls his children into action - not just into 'mental thought' of right and loving actions.

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. (I John 3:18-19)

Show the truth of God's love by the actions of love in our lives. So, how does that work? Truth gets worked into our hearts not just by osmosis - it gets worked into the fibers of our hearts by the actions we take based upon the truth that has been revealed to us. Love is an outflow of the love of God within us - but it is possible to give 'lip service' to any truth without actually backing it with any of the actions that show we understand and appreciate that truth.

As we become the person God desires us to be, the first thing we need to realize is that God is a God of action, not inaction. God reveals his love to us in action. Creation was an action. Parting a sea was an action. Consuming an offering on the altar was an action. Jesus on the cross was an action. A stone rolled away and Jesus coming forth was an action. All of God's love and care is revealed in actions. Why should our love be anything less?

Sentiment is a feeling - if it never leads to an action of love, it is pretty much useless. On the other hand, love actually needs the 'sentiment' (emotion) behind it for it to be more than 'obligation'. We can take many an action without love - because we feel obliged to do it. Obligation means we feel 'bound by duty' - there is a necessity to carry out the action, but there is no real 'heart' behind it. God's children are called to have both - the 'feeling' and the 'action'. Not out of a sense of 'duty' or 'obligation' (that is rule-keeping), but out of a heart that is deeply in love with Jesus first and above all. Just sayin!

A heart willing to be directed

I’m determined to watch steps and tongue so they won’t land me in trouble. (Psalm 39:1)

If you have ever tried to "watch your steps", you might just have tripped over your own two feet! Worse yet, you are actually paying so close attention to your steps, you miss the post in front of you and run smack-dab into it! You probably notice this the most whenever you are trying to watch what you say - for words can be the toughest things to keep a rein on. At the moment we determine to watch our words, we can almost count on something slipping past our lips, out into the open space between us and the ones who will hear them, never to be in our control again! Determining we are going to influence our steps or control our tongue is silly because of our total inability to do either! We definitely need some influence outside of our own effort to get this stuff right, don't we? "But as I stood there in silence—not even speaking of good things—the turmoil within me grew worse." (Psalm 39:2) We stand our ground, keep our peace, but when surrounded by evil, the toughest thing to do is remain strong in our stand and to hold our peace when everything inside us is just beckoning to share a little of our thoughts about the matter! Perhaps the toughest struggle comes to us when we are faced with something we don't have the best feelings about and then we try to bring out some good feelings or speak forth some good words in the midst of the turmoil. I think this may just be because we don't want to be in-genuine, or hypocritical.

Is it possible to "watch our steps" when the road ahead is not very pleasant? What is it we can do to pay closer attention to our steps, but avoid the tendency to misstep? I think the "secret" to this is not in our desire, but in our action. As long as WE are taking the steps to walk straight, we probably won't realize how treacherous some of our steps actually are! We need the influence of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to guide our steps - to keep us on track - and to establish us on a strong foundation. OUR steps aren't consistent without the help of the Holy Spirit. He is our enabling force when we just don't know how to take the first step and he is our directing force when we might be about to change the course of our future stability with the step we are about to take. OUR ears and heart have more to do with the stability of our walk than we might actually realize. It is more than action - it is the right action which produces the outcomes we desire. Our ears must be attentive to listen for the still small voice of God - maybe in a word we glean in our time in daily study, maybe in a tiny whisper deep within our inner man that just "checks" us before we go any further. Our heart must be willing to be directed - otherwise the steps we take will be ours - directed by our self-will and independent determination.

Can we really "watch our tongue" when there are so many words just clamoring to get out? After all, the world needs to hear what it is we have to say, doesn't it? Maybe I could challenge us all a little on that one - not everything we think is worth speaking! Scripture often speaks of just being still and listening - something we might do well to engage in a little more frequently, huh? Listening is one of the toughest things because we just want to jump right in and shed a little of our "light" on the matter. The tongue needs more help than we may actually realize. Scripture bears witness to the fact of words being spoken and acting as the seed of thought which will determine our steps. Adam and Eve only took the first misstep AFTER the serpent spoke the words which placed a moment of doubt and a little confusion into the minds of the listener! The words we listen to will influence the words we choose to speak. In determining to keep a watch over our tongue, we are actually committing to keeping a watch over our ears, eyes, and other senses, as well. What we hear influences what we speak. What we see puts fresh thought into our minds which may not have been there before, influencing our speech in ways we may not imagine.

Lest we think we can do this on our own, let me just point us back to scripture. James 3 reminds us of the means of controlling our tongue. The idea of a bit in the mouth of the horse, or the rudder on the ship - each being able to control something more powerful than either the bit or the rudder would appear to control. We may not realize the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, often because we don't see him at work! Yet, he is like the bit in the mouth of the horse, pulling back a little until we sense his presence and begin to be aware of his influence. He is definitely like the rudder on the ship, slowly, but surely moving us toward the direction he wants to see us headed. We don't own the rudder or the bit - but we are influenced by them if they are in place in our lives! A ship without a rudder is like a man or woman without direction - aimlessly walking, purposeless in their speech. A rudder pointed in the wrong direction will run us aground. Therefore, we need someone other than ourselves doing the "steering" in our lives. Just sayin!

I am not thinking straight

The actions of men are the best interpreters of their thoughts. (James Joyce)

How do people around you appear to be acting these days? If you have a circle of friends like mine, their actions are pretty consistent, loving, and kind. If you look around you today, you may observe there are a whole lot of unkind actions being taken against individuals. There seems to be a lot of anger amongst people these days - leading to actions that are just not all that good around us. Actions are the direct result of what we think about the most. If fear is your main mode of operation, chances are you are allowing your thoughts to continually dwell on things well outside of your sphere of control. If you want to know what a man is thinking - just observe his actions!

Do not act like the sinful people of the world. Let God change your life. First of all, let Him give you a new mind. Then you will know what God wants you to do. And the things you do will be good and pleasing and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

It is hard to always control our actions, isn't it? It could be a direct result of how hard it actually is to control our thoughts! Thoughts have a way of getting away from us without us being any the wiser. We just let them 'drift' a little, not really paying attention, and before long we find ourselves repeatedly dwelling on things that we shouldn't be dabbling with at all. God's ask of us is that we allow him freedom to do a little 'thought control' in our lives. It isn't that he wants to brain wash us - he wants to help direct our thoughts toward the things that will bring about righteous and holy actions from our lives. 

I am an observer of people. I will sit in a room, watching people as they arrive, observing their body language, where they sit in respect to others in the room, and even their 'non-verbal' cues. In a matter of minutes I can usually begin to size up the crowd. Some people in that room may have become quite skilled at displaying the outward actions they want others to see, but trust me on this one - their inward thoughts will eventually betray their true desires and habits!

We all need a new mind because the one we have has been flawed by our sin nature. It isn't reliable! We need to remember this - God isn't going to move into areas of our thought life that we don't give him access into - he is going to wait for us to allow him in. Once he is given that access, though, we can count on him doing a little housekeeping! He isn't going to allow unclean, impure, or even "more or less harmless" thoughts dwell there any longer. He will reorder our thoughts so we see things from the correct perspective. In the process, we are likely to see a change in our actions - because rightly ordered thoughts will produce better actions from within. Just sayin!

Ready....Set....Love

God's goal for each of us is that our love would flourish – not just be evident, but be overwhelmingly, undeniably present in all our actions, speech, and emotions. We get the emotional part of love, but it is the words of love and actions of love that oftentimes don't quite measure up. Flourishing love is contagious love. Flourishing love is an active love – producing byproducts of its action in the lives of those it touches. This type of love is not in word only, but is a daily lived, sacrificial, unconditional reaching out of our lives for the benefit and well-being of others. We are encouraged to not only love, but to do it well - there is no 'half-way' when it comes to love. How many of us can truly say that we have learned to love well? We may be able to say that we have loved much, but loving well is a totally different story. 

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.  

(Philippians 1:9-11)

We are to learn to love appropriately – using specific “tests” of our motives, actions, and thought-life to guard us against loving in any other manner - avoiding the missed steps and 'half-way' commitments we so often find ourselves replicating. Scripture does not describe the love of a believer coming from the realm of emotions – scripture directs us to use our “head” or minds to test this love. A person given to simple reliance on the feelings of the heart (emotions) is easily swayed, often discouraged, and frequently misdirected in motive. I've said it before, but it bears repeating - emotions can be quite fickle!

Scripture emphasizes the importance of running our emotions through a “filter” – the filter of our minds. As we grow in Christ, our minds become daily storehouses of new thought, changed attitudes, and exchanged values. It is that renewed mind that scripture recommends we use as a “filter” to guide our emotions. Scripture is not saying that we can understand all that love is, but that we can exercise maturity in the display of our love when we are conscious of our actions, sensitive to the instability of our emotions, and conscientious to guard both. It is this type of life that becomes an attractive “billboard” of God’s grace – standing as examples of the impact of God on a sensitive heart.

God's goal is to see us grow in Christ in such a way that there is no denying the work of grace in our lives. There is no better way to evidence God’s grace than to display it in unconditional, sacrificial love for others - and not the half-way type, either. This type of love is not sentimental dribble, nor is it calculated, manipulative action aimed at a certain effect. It is an outpouring of the Spirit in our daily choices, guiding our daily actions, and creating a welcoming and accepting place for hurting people to find help. This image is reproduced in our action – action that exemplifies the sacrificial love of our Savior.

Yes, love has an emotional aspect, but the impact of love is felt in its action, not just in its emotion. We are invited (maybe even commanded) to focus more on the actions of love and less on the sentiment of love so that we might be instruments of God’s grace reaching out to those he has placed in our paths. Let us love well – displaying the attractiveness of God to all. Just lovin!

Your actions say???

Ghandi said, "Action expresses priorities." That being the case, what are your actions revealing about your priorities? Who do they say is "Number One" in your life? What do your actions reveal about your purpose and intent in life - focus, determination, and commitment? Right now I am planning on another fishing trip with my BFF, so I am pretty intent on getting the tackle box and rods all ready, gearing up for what we hope will prove to be a successful week of relaxation and angling. Mind you, it is more than five weeks away yet, but I am getting focused on it anyway! I also want to make some time to take my grand boys out into the great outdoors to do some fishing and just hanging with each other - so I am being purposeful about how to plan that since I need to do it at a time when someone is available to be with mom. I need renewal - so I take occasional periods of respite from care giving. I need to pour into the lives of these young men whatever wisdom they will take from me - so I need these uninterrupted times when we can just be with each other. All of our actions reveal our intent or priorities, so maybe we'd be better off looking at what we are "doing" and less at what we are "saying" we will do!

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. (Mark 12:30 ERV)

Since our actions reveal our priorities, my hope is that our actions betray our FIRST priority is this relationship-building that occurs when we spend time with Jesus. As others look at our lives, do they see Jesus as our top priority - do they see him coming through in our actions, no matter what they may be? If not, it might just be we are in line for a few "priority adjustments" to occur for us. If we don't do this adjustment ourselves, God arranges for us to be brought face-to-face with our priorities to ensure we make those needed adjustments! While God isn't opposed to us having fun, if fun is our top priority, dedicating all our free time to just having fun, then we might find the distraction of "fun" gets a little disturbed on occasion - so we will refocus. God also isn't opposed to us having good friends, but if we spend every waking moment with them and neglect family or other responsibilities as a result of the time we spend with them, we might just find God bringing us to a place where we have to "readjust our focus" a little.

I could give us lots of other examples, but I think we get the idea. The actions of our daily lives reveal so much about where our heart is - and Jesus wants our heart to be first with him, then clearly reaching out to take notice and care of the others he places in our lives. In time, when our priorities are rightly-aligned, we begin to see all these things "sort out" so as to make time for the things that re-energize us, such as the respite time, or the time we build into our lives where we just enjoy each other and things we like to do without any cares or concerns except that time we are together. It may be we find more time to volunteer, or give of ourselves - simply because our priorities are getting "better aligned" with what God sees as the "right alignment". If we have doubts about our "alignment", we need only go so far as scripture to know he "lines things up" this way:

1. God

2. Family

3. Church

4. Career

5. Community

You might put other words there to clarify each of these, but we'd all come to pretty much the same list. God is first, family comes next, our brothers and sisters in Christ need us next, and lastly, we have a career. We often invert this, putting career far above anything else, or getting so focused on what our church "needs" of us that we neglect our relationship with God. You might think this impossible since we are doing "church" things, but we can "do" a lot that reveals our mission in doing them isn't to be closer to Jesus, but to fulfill some obligation!

From time to time, set aside a little evaluation period to just look again at what your actions have been saying about your priorities. At present, my first priority after my relationship with Jesus is that of caring for my aging mom. Others in my family and my closest friendships come next, but mom's needs are many right now, so I have to find ways to purposefully balance these other demands. I don't have much time to volunteer at church or do much there, but at present, this is my focus. It isn't that we need to dabble in all the areas at the same time, we just need to be in balance with God at the top as we do! Just sayin!

Is your tank full?

Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all. (Alexander the Great)

People may be right in their own eyes, but the Lord examines their heart.  The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices. (Proverbs 21:2-3 NLT)

I wonder if we'd live our lives any differently if we really stopped to consider someone else's fate may be the result of either our actions or inactivity? If we had to do over the things we ended up seeing as "bad results" in our lives, would we? Or would we head aimlessly down that same path again at some point? Most of us would say that we'd definitely not make the same mistakes again - we'd do things quite differently if we were given a "second chance". The most unfortunate fact is that most of the time we don't get "do-overs" in this lifetime! This might actually mean we need to pretty much get it right the first time around!

There are times when grace allows for us to "do again" what needs to be done, but it doesn't always assure us of a chance to do something differently especially with the ones we may have hurt along the way. Those individuals may no longer be living, or they may not be a part of our lives any longer, making it impossible for us to "do over" something which left an offense unsettled between us. What then? Some counselors will tell you to use some method of bringing closure to that negative outcome such as writing the dead parent a letter and then ripping it up. In the letter, you sought their forgiveness, or perhaps you extended yours. Unfortunately, this only takes care of some of the hurt - it doesn't heal it all because we still have a whole lot of living yet to do.

God's grace is perfect - don't get me wrong - it helps us get to the place of a "clean slate", but it takes very careful attention to our wounds to actually see them through to full or total healing. The more we grow in our relationship with Jesus, the better our chances are of doing things right the first time, so all these "corrective steps" don't need to be taken and there aren't wounds formed in the first place. We become aware of our responses toward each other and in turn, we might just find we are "thinking before we speak", considering the consequences before we take that action, or noticing there is a gap that needs to be filled while also recognizing we have the resources needed to fill that gap. 

Too many times we believe our personal conduct only affects us. The opposite is quite true - this is why scripture warns us to consider the company we keep. Does that other individual in your life lead you toward right choices, or are their actions leading you into actions which you will later regret? If the latter is true, then you might reconsider why you are in that relationship with that individual in the first place. Sometimes it is because you are there to be a positive example, but you must constantly be on your guard to not let their negative actions pull you down that same path. It is a hard place to be for very long, and you need balancing relationships that foster the right actions, as well. All of us can be positive examples that help to guide others - especially if we live a life filled with grace and truth.

Fill the tank with the right stuff and the right "performance" is observed. Fill the tank with the wrong stuff and the opposite is quite true. Remember, as Alexander the Great said, the fate of others may just depend on what we are filling our tank with! Just sayin!

Learning to Love

Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "The giving of love is an education in itself." Oh, so true!  If you don't believe that then just try to love someone who has been acting "unlovely" for even a tenth of the time and you will see just how much YOU have to learn in order to do just that!  When another offends, the immediate response for most of us is to get our feeling hurt and maybe even to want to offend them right back. We want them to hurt as much as we are hurting - this is human nature. What a huge volume of education we receive from the Holy Spirit's still small voice reminding us that love is not always reciprocated, nor does it always respond immediately or in the ways we would desire!

Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. (Hebrews 10:24 NLT)

Let me just assure you that I am still in the "learning mode" when it comes to this whole "love" thing. I don't have this all figured out, and I don't think I have always received "top notch grades" on that report card! My feelings get hurt just like the next person's. My responses when feelings get control are probably equally as lame as the other person's. My intellect might tell me to do one thing, but my feelings tell me to do another, and then the Spirit of God within me tells me something totally different! Figuring out "how" to love is kind of a process of a whole lot of trial and error - I try a little of this and a little of that - hopefully connecting the dots a little, but sometimes completely messing it up. The good news is that I know I am not on this journey of learning alone! You are right there beside me!

A couple of things I have learned along the way are hopefully worth the sharing, though. First, when I get my feelings hurt it is usually because I expected more from someone or a situation. I have had to stop on more that one occasion to remind myself that those expectations may not have been all that achievable at that particular moment - especially when emotions have run a little too close to the edge for a while. What I find myself doing is adjusting my focus a little - so I see things from a more realistic vantage point. For example, if the two of us were totally stressed out at work and then we responded to each other in hasty comments or hurtful words because of how much "junk" we are carrying around from those circumstances, did we really mean to be that curt or hurtful in our words to each other? Probably not, but since we were carrying all that baggage that the other person didn't really understand we were carrying, we each had unrealistic expectations as to how we thought the other should have acted / reacted.

That leads me to the second thing I have learned - there is a timing issue when it comes to managing our emotions. There may be a moment when we just need to pause before we respond. That moment can make all the difference because we take that deep breath, recenter our thoughts, tamp down the embers of anger that may be starting to ignite, and then be able to speak with just a little less "irritation". Love requires us to not just respond, but to do so in a way that manages the relationship well - not in ways that adds fuel to an already out of control fire! When life has us tied up in knots, the last thing we want to do is pull the knots tighter! While this takes some "learning" on all of our parts, it is well-worth the "learn" to avoid the "burn"!

Lastly, I've found when I begin to look for ways to "motivate" each us toward love I am less focused on the things I have been focusing on that actually keep us from learning to love each other. I will be the first to admit, no one can motivate me - it something that comes from within - but those responses can be "cultivated". When someone else refuses to get angry, I find myself calming down, becoming more reasonable, and being willing to actually talk things through. When someone else responds in compassion to my harried responses, I find myself feeling like someone else cares what I am going through. Sometimes I have to do this a whole lot in my relationships, hardly realizing any "return on my investment" of "cultivating" actions. Yet, when I have refused to accept the anger of another, or the apathy of someone who has just lost their way, I find myself giving above and beyond what I ever thought was possible. It isn't me doing it, you know - it is Jesus in me helping with those responses. I never lose sight of that! Just sayin!

Alert and Thinking Straight

In medical assessment, one of the skills you are taught is to evaluate the mental "alertness" of your patient.  It goes a long way in assessing if the data is consistent with what you glean in the review of other information you might find in your assessment.  A patient who is less alert than their baseline assessment had been at a previous point might be under the untoward influence of a sedative, or perhaps have suffered a life-altering event such as stroke or bleed into their brain.  To be alert, one is to be fully awake and able to direct full attention toward something.  If the patient is awake, but drifts easily back to sleep, without being able to focus or concentrate on what you are asking them to do, the medical provider will begin to look for causes of this "drift" in attentiveness and alertness. It is this faculty which gives us our ability to make decisions, engage in thoughtful process, and even follow along with a train of thought someone else may be discussing. Without alertness, we are simply "there", but not really engaged in the moment.  To be less than alert places us at risk - for what we turn our attention toward is what we often pursue or become.  When we are unable to focus our attention, the dangers are often great!

Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how kind God will be to you when Jesus Christ appears.  Behave like obedient children. Don’t let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be.  Always live as God’s holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy.  That’s why the Scriptures say, “I am the holy God, and you must be holy too.” (I Peter 1:13-16 CEV)

Two commands:  Be alert and think straight.  At first these don't seem too difficult, but if you have ever tried to 'be alert' when you are just a little bit scattered in your thoughts, you might find it is kind of difficult.  On the other hand, even when you have your thoughts well-ordered, you might find yourself drifting out of alertness just because there are distractions all around.  The two work together, yet they are not entirely 'dependent' upon each other.  Just as the level of alertness keys me in to begin to assess other things which may be going on with you, such as reviewing recent medications you may have been given, or the presence of some traumatic event which may have altered your level of consciousness, the influences of life's demands place us at risk of decreased alertness and into circumstances where 'ordered' thought is more than a little bit difficult!

When we are alert, we are keenly aware of what is going on around us.  We may not know "everything" which is occurring, but we are "on alert" and begin to take in those things which we can see, hear, feel, etc.  We process this "data" and form certain opinions of how it is we are to use it, reject it, flee from it, etc.  If we possess the ability to "think straight" in those same moments, we often find we can trust the input to be "sorted" well and those things which should be embraced will be, as well as those which should be rejected will find their way quickly out of our minds and hearts.  Obedience is based a whole lot on being alert and thinking straight - for in embracing the "correct" stuff and rejecting the "lame" stuff, we are beginning to walk as we should - as obedient children of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Most of us don't consider ourselves as "holy" - we are just on the journey which leads to the incorporation of better choices, upright living, and honesty in our actions.  In some sense, we see this as being "less than holy", but in reality we are already declared to be holy - we are just in the process of learning to "walk this out" in our daily lives.  So, even when we don't "feel" holy, we are.  What God asks of us is to remain alert to the things which will "dissuade" us from making right choices - in other words - be alert!  Use some good "thinking skills" in making our choices - not allowing our minds to become so cluttered by life's demands that we just make spur of the moment choices which are not well thought out.  When we begin to live in such a way, the steps toward obedience are quicker and more reliable.

So, as we go about today's "living", we need to remember two things.  1) What consumes our thoughts will impact our choices.  If we are "on alert" to what can so easily consume our thoughts, we will be quicker to reject the stuff which is just going to add "clutter" to an already complicated amount of thought.  If we let our "alertness" drift, we might succumb to the loudest impressions we are exposed to - making our choices less than reliable and very inconsistent from what we would desire for our lives.  2) When our focus is fully awakened, we are "alert" to the possibilities of what stands in our midst.  Some of the time, we engage in life without bringing our focus into full "alertness" - we just go about life without really spending time to get our focus right in the first place.  This is why I start my day with study in the Word, over a cup of coffee, and in a quiet place.  I remove distractions, focus my attention, and let the level of "alertness" begin to bring order to my thoughts.  Anything less would place me at risk of hasty decisions, and not very reliable actions.  How about you?  Are you allowing your focus to be fully awakened? You might just be surprised what purpose you might discover in today's activities when you allow such an awakening!  Just sayin!

Yielding to the signs

We are in the midst of monsoon season in Arizona, bringing strong winds, sheeting rains, and all the damage these two create.  Coming home the other night was a little challenging as I found myself dodging downed trees, broken tree limbs, and lots of debris in the roadway.  I had to call the township to report the damage on two of the streets I traveled, hoping all other motorists would be able to navigate past these downed objects before they could get them cleared.  It would soon be dark and the damage was significant all around our area.  There were even downed street signs - some larger than life ones which mark the turn off on the freeways.  Now, that took some mighty strong wind to sheer them off at the base of their posts!  What happened to all those people counting on those signs to let them know they were at an intersection which required them to turn, or take a new path to get safely to their destination?  The signs served a purpose, but they were impeded by the storm.  As long as we have the right "postings" at the intersections of our lives, we are less likely to be confused about the direction we might take.  As soon as the storms disrupt our "postings", all things can go awry!

Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God’s righteousness doesn’t grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life. (James 1:19-21 MSG)

There are times when we just need to rely upon what we know as other "landmarks" in our lives - especially when the storms might have disturbed the normal "signs" we would count on to guide us safely to our destination.  In fact, we probably rely upon landmarks on our way to and from most of our destinations more than we think.  I know when I see the cell towers disguised as palm trees on the left of the freeway, I am nearing my turn-off for home. I also know when I see the large sign with a blue heart on it on my way to work, I am at the turn-off to get me to work.  I don't need the street signs to guide me because I have come to trust the landmarks.  If someone were to remove the cell tower or the hospital sign, I wonder what other landmarks might stand out in my memory?  We probably have way more committed to memory than we realize.

This might just be what our writer had in mind when he instructs us to keep these teachings / lessons "posted at all the intersections" of our life.  I don't think he was referring to literal "sign-posts" bearing these words, but the remembrance of these principles as we are challenged by life's ups and downs. The first "sign" we are to "heed" is that of listening.  It is the idea of not always needing to be the one heard, but to be willing to be the one doing the listening.  Not just for the words which might be spoken, but learning to listen with all our senses.  Did you ever stop to consider just how little is said in our words and how much is conveyed in our tone of voice, posture, actions, and the like?  If we solely rely upon what is said, we'd miss so much.  "Lead with your ears" is a change in our "normal" way of responding in life - because we want to lead with our words.  Instead, we are asked to be quiet, taking in what it is we are hearing and then allowing our senses to be in tune with what is being said.

The other night in the storm, the house was very quiet.  As mom prepared for bed, I sat alone in the living room.  Before long, I could hear a little bit of a dripping sound.  To my surprise, I found my windows had leaked!  That faint dripping was an indication the winds had been so strong as to allow water back in behind the vinyl facing and it was making small puddles on the windowsill.  It was only because I used my senses to guide me to the spot of these leaks that I discovered this potentially damaging issue.  They will all be sealed on Friday when the installers come back out to take care of the issue, but I would never have discovered this if I had not been silent long enough to hear.  I wonder what we miss because we lead with our voices rather than our ears?  Voice comes second to hearing - for it is only in hearing that we are able to reliably respond.

If we did a little more listening, a little less speaking, and a whole lot less "reacting" to what we think we heard, I wonder what this world might be like? Maybe there would be less strife in homes and more peace at the dinner table.  Maybe kids wouldn't struggle so with their self-esteem, but would feel loved, appreciated, and valued in their homes, schools, and peer groups. Maybe competing forces would see the needs of the "other side" and find ways to compromise a little here and there so everyone could "win" a little.  There is such potential to these instructions, if we'd just embrace them with our whole hearts.  

To sum it all up, we are reminded the place anger and bitterness is to find in our lives - trailing far, far behind!  Maybe this is possible when we learn to listen first, speak second (and only after a great deal of thought has gone into it), and then reveal by our actions that we have heard what has been said.  In consideration of how it is we might learn to put anger and bitterness in "last place" in our lives, we need to allow the word of God to cultivate the soil of our hearts.  As soil is cultivated, it is turned over.  Sometimes when things within our hearts are finally "turned over" a little, we can see just how much the soil of our hearts needed the cultivating!  There might be all kinds of rocks, acting as stumbling places; perhaps undermining roots, giving us more than a little bit of a strangle-hold; or even just plain old rock-solid hardness, untouched for so long that the coldness just exudes.

Regardless of the soil, God's word has the potential to cultivate it into richness and fruitfulness - but it is only through cultivation that this occurs. If you haven't seen a farmer turn the soil, maybe you should Google it!  It is is a process, to be sure!  One in which the soil doesn't come out looking the same as it did!  One in which large dirt masses soon become smaller, manageable, and yielded soil.  In the process, barren places become "growth-worthy".  Just sayin!

Heard or applied?

As with most of the proverbs, contrast is the tool by which life responses are evaluated.  Pride enters, destruction is close on its heels.  Haughtiness results in a fall; humility results in an increase in one's life.  Pride or haughtiness are set out as "wrong" paths for a Christian's life.  Wisdom and insight are presented as better than all the wealth we could accumulate. Trust in God and listening to wise instruction outweighs doing things our own way. God commends the wise, because they have come to the place of doing more than appreciating good teaching - they embrace it, putting it into application and then seeing the results of its application born out in the reputation they form.  Two paths may lead to the same destination - but only one is right. Contrasts are set forth in order to get us to evaluate our choices.  

Get wisdom—it’s worth more than money; choose insight over income every time.  The road of right living bypasses evil; watch your step and save your life.  First pride, then the crash—the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.  It pays to take life seriously; things work out when you trust in God.  A wise person gets known for insight; gracious words add to one’s reputation. (Proverbs 16:16-18, 20-21 MSG)

Pride comes through in so many of these contrasts, does it not?  Wherever there is this inordinate amount of "self-esteem" or conceit, things are surely not going to turn out well.  Delight or some form of elation over some action we have performed, a possession we come to own, or a relationship we enter into can turn from simple pleasure to a moment of "prideful" display quicker than we can bat an eye.  How do we guard against allowing pride to taint what God intends as good things within our lives?

I think it may just come from this idea of listening to instruction and learning to trust in God.  When we first begin to listen with the intention of applying instruction, we are learning to pay attention to things so as to "heed" the instruction.  We want to "catch" what is being taught - not just make good notes we can keep in a journal we will allow to gather dust over time.  When we are attuned to hear, we can be led.  When we are obeying his leading, we are prospering.  When we learn from him, our lives are secure.  When we rely on his ability, our ability seems way too limited and untrustworthy.  When we are good students of the precepts he teaches, our lives become strong and flourishing.  All action is based in trust, all trust is reinforced by action.

Sometimes we just need a little discretion in our actions - a little caution before we act.  This is especially true with any action involving speech. Really, God is trying to teach us to make responsible decisions - by learning to separate one choice from another.  This is the purpose of the contrasts - to help us see one choice and its outcome versus another choice and its consequence.  Not every thought needs to be spoken; not every action needs to have a counteraction.  We have to learn the caution we should exhibit in both our speech and action.  The contrast of wise words and those of a fool involves the "flavor" of the words and the "effect" they lend to the relationship.  Kind words are like honey, bringing energy to the relationship. Just the opposite is true of unkind words - they diminish the energy within the relationship.

An empty stomach is a powerful motivator, isn't it?  I wonder if we'd say the same thing about an empty spirit?  Does it motivate us to become students at the feet of Jesus, eager to embrace what he teaches and in taking it in, find nourishment for our souls and delight for our spirit?  God's comparisons set forth in the proverbs show us we might take a gamble on the outcome of our pursuits if we are unclear about what it is we are pursuing.  The most important question we can ask is not "what" we are pursuing, but "who" we are pursuing.  If our eyes are inwardly directed, we are likely pursuing things which will tickle our fancies.  If our eyes are outwardly directed, we are likely to pursue things which will please others around us, but may totally leave us feeling unfulfilled.  If our eyes are upwardly directed, we now enter a different plane of action - we move from self-direction or other-direction to divine-direction.

To gain wisdom, apply knowledge.  To grow strong, exercise your knowledge. To impact your actions, understand where they are based.  Contrasts set forth in order to help guide our steps and to keep us safe.  All a contrast does is to show us the differences between one thing and another - one action over another; one bit of "heard" knowledge over one bit of "applied" knowledge. Opposites are presented because they speak the loudest.  Just sayin!

A truly "plumb" heart

Nothing is more elusive than the approval of man.  Try as we might, we often fall short of what another expects of us - leaving us feeling like we haven't measured up and them experiencing disappointment.  Since it is so elusive, why do we spend so much time trying to "measure up" to some other man or woman's approval?  The approval of another is kind of like a well disguised snare in the path - we get caught up in it without even noticing we were headed in that direction!   The pathway to man's approval is pretty demanding, though.  It demands our time - often time we don't have to give. It demands our attention - often attention which is diverted from something which also requires our attention, but which will go without while we pursue something completely opposite.  It demands our energies - sucking us dry of that which really would be best utilized on a task designed by God for us.

To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.  (Psalm 18:25-26 NIV)

Most of the time, we can regroup from our time being squandered, our attentions a little distracted, or our energies a little depleted.  What we have a greater difficulty with is when our desire to please others begins to change our morals, or shape our convictions of heart to theirs.  Given enough time, the demands of others in our lives will do just this if we aren't "wise" to the "warping" of our convictions.  Wood doesn't warp overnight - as it dries, it curls right up and looses its straight or even surface.  The same is true with our heart convictions - they don't just change overnight because someone makes demands of us - they change little by little until we one day recognize they are no longer "plumb".

God is at work in our lives - all circumstances and encounters are an opportunity for him to shine through us.  Even the demands of another can be his tools to clarify our desires, focus our attention, and determine the course of our heart.  If you haven't figured this out yet, then here's the truth about how God works - he looks for our willingness, then he "checks" it with our choices.  He allows circumstances and people in our lives which will help us to clarify our choices.  If we are constantly following the whim and fancy of the one who makes the external demands of us, we are missing out on the opportunities to do what God requests of us.  God is gracious - others demand, he requests.  He is looking for willingness - then he works on our choices.

Yesterday, we spoke about a pure heart - one which is free of all the clutter that gets in the way of pursuing what God intends.  Now, think about that in light of what we read today.  A pure heart is aware that God is at work in their lives - even through the demanding people!  The kingdom of God (the dominion of his power) is within us.  It affects those around us when we remain true to that "reign".  A pure heart is not affected by the multitude of demands people are making - it remains consistently at ease and resists the pull to be twisted out of "plumb".  When we get our minds out of the muddle of the demands of another, we can begin to wrap our hearts around the settled peace of the reign of Christ within.

A word of caution:  Purity of heart is maintained easiest when we are partnered with those of similar heart desire.  What we fail to recognize many times is the distance between what our heart tells us and what our spirit requires of us.  Heart may aim to please all people - sending us into a spiral of frenzied task-driven performance.  A pure heart aims to please just one - Christ alone.  What we find in this pursuit is the ability to balance what we "do" for others with what God asks us to "be" in him.  "Treasure" is a matter of choice.  I saw this in the antique shops I visited recently.  The price tag on many items was out of this world and definitely not "reasonable" in my mind. Yet, many will pay the price because they have defined the item as a "treasure" they will pay any amount to attain.  Truthfully, there is but one treasure which impacts our heart, purifies our motives, and settles our minds - it is the treasure of drawing near to the heart of Christ.

If you are caught up in the frenzy of pleasing others, finding yourself pulled a little "out of plumb", and just circling in a holding pattern as it comes to your ability to move on, maybe it is time to do a little "detachment" from the demands which have pulled you this direction.  Just sayin!

Overalls anyone?

I saw a sign the other day which read, "Love is faith in overalls".  Let that one sink in a little, but don't lose sight of the image it conjures up, as well.  Think of you in overalls.  When I thought about overalls for a moment, I envisioned two types - the ones made of denim worn as the replacement to pants by a farmer, and the ones which slip over your clothes.  They are different, aren't they?  One is actually the "clothing" you wear - without them, you'd be a little naked.  The other is only a covering "over" our clothes - we don't actually take off our clothes, but are protecting what is underneath by this outer layer of cloth.  Now, back to our quote - which type of "overall" would you equate with love?  The type you wear "over" yourself, or the type which becomes what you might refer to as what really "clothes" you?

For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love. (Galations 5:6 MSG)

I think the author of our quote might really have been saying what Paul said here to the Galation church - faith expresses itself.  There is action to faith - not just some set of rules, ethereal beliefs, or standards by which we live.  There is a definite "outflow" from what is on the inside.  Paul was really dealing with the idea of the two sets of overalls - one merely covers over, the other becomes that which clothes us well.

We often attempt to equate love with something other than faith - but the two go hand in hand.  Our society has a very distorted idea about love, so understanding it from the perspective of scripture is important.  Love is not a set of emotions or something we "fall into".  It is indeed a deeply-rooted "outflow" of something within us.  If we remember this, we might be less inclined to "fall into" it, but rather allow it to "flow out" of us!

Paul's focus is on the interior of our lives.  The type of overalls I described the farmer wearing is worn very close to his body.  There is not a whole lot between his nakedness and the outside world!  I think this is the kind of faith God looks for in us - the kind which is not afraid to be genuine.  The world needs genuine people - those who admit their mistakes, don't give an air of perfection, but rather reveal both the genuineness of their humanity and the reality of their connection with Christ's forgiveness.  The farmer's overalls don't mask his nakedness.  I think of those overalls as doing what grace does in our lives - they provide a covering for our sin or nakedness.

Too many times, we seem to settle for just "covering up" the things which we think the world doesn't need to see.  We wear our "faith" like a pair of "coveralls" - merely covering over all the other "layers" of stuff underneath.  We never really get genuine with people - choosing instead to mask what it is we "wear" and "bear" under an outer protective barrier.  The one who dons the mechanic's coveralls wants nothing more than a barrier - hoping to strip them off and see everything just as it was when he put them on.  The problem is that we never really allow others to see us as we really are.

The farmer gets his overalls on knowing he might just get a little dirty, wet, and even a little sweaty in his daily dealings - he will be "real" in his activity and his activity will produce "real" outcomes which might just affect him a little, as well.  He also knows he can take these overalls off at the end of the day, bathe, and be as fresh as a daisy.  In other words, in being genuine, we might find ourselves affected by what we touch.  In the end, we can always return to the place of grace - the place of cleansing and renewal.  Love isn't afraid to get itself dirty - the genuine expression of faith in action.

Some time in the 70's bib overalls were "fashionable" for a brief period of time.  We chose to sport them as our clothing because they were "cool".  Some sewed all kinds of patches on them, making various statements.  Others embroidered things on them, jazzing them up.  Still others wore them just as they were.  They came in colors - not just the plain blue denim.  They were the "thing" we wore.  It was short-lived, as most fads are.  But...there is something I remember about those overalls - they were really comfortable to wear!  You felt very relaxed in them - movement was easy, there was plenty of room in them, and you just knew you could do almost anything in them. 

There is something about grace which allows us to move freely, almost as though we had "room" to be real.  When love is met with love, genuineness is easy.  Maybe it is time for us to consider which type of "love" we are "wearing" - the type which only covers over who we really are underneath, or the type which reveals the genuineness of our person.  Just sayin!

Bankrupt

Bankrupt:  Unable to satisfy any just claim made upon an individual; lacking in a particular thing or quality.  Today, as our economy tanks and our finances seem to be the focus of so many conversations, I'd like to take a moment to really focus on something we seldom spend much time thinking about - love.  We throw the word "love" around like it was a "thing" rather than a quality, or an outflow of a person's life.  For anyone who has been around a while, it is not uncommon to have heard some familiar passages quoted from the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians.  One of the best known:  "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." I'd like us to back up a little and focus on the third verse this morning.

So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.  (I Corinthians 13:3 MSG)

I think we have this concept of love which focuses more on some emotional experience.  In looking at what Paul describes for the Corinthian church, he begins with the idea of saying, believing, and doing - all devoid of meaning without the "backing" of love.  I think he may be focusing on the idea of "doing" without "meaning" what we are doing.  If you want a good illustration of this, think back to the last time you were somewhere and thought to yourself or even said to another, "I am here, but I'd rather be anywhere else!" The "doing" was happening, but the "meaning" was missing.  You were "at work", but you weren't really "into" work!  You were "in conversation", but you weren't really "involved" in conversation!

There is a void created every time we are "doing" without "meaning".  In life, we "do" a lot - I wonder how much "meaning" is behind all our "doing"?  It is the holiday season - a time of shopping for the "perfect" gift, wrapping it just "right", discovering the "hidden" gift under the tree, and all that comes with this mad exchange of gifts.  I wonder if we really are "doing" all that shopping with much "meaning" behind it?  Or is it just that we have to have something under the tree for each individual on our list?  The gift isn't made "perfect" by being crossed off our wishlist - it is made "perfect" in the meaning put into it by our actions!

Paul focuses on three things:  Saying, Believing, and Doing.  The words we say hold meaning - even if they are spoken in an absent-minded manner!  The beliefs we form, and allow to be formed as a result of our actions, matter.  The actions we take often reveal much more than our words or our beliefs!  In this same chapter, Paul goes on to elaborate on these three things with ideas such as:

- Love cares more for others than for self.  Link this to saying, and you see how he is focusing on not always having the last word.  When we value the opinion of others, we don't need the last word.  Link this to believing, and we begin to see the uniqueness of allowing another to develop their own understanding of things, prayerfully lifting them up so they will develop solid and consistent beliefs.  Link this to doing, and we see how our actions reveal the importance of another in our lives.

- Love doesn't revel when others grovel.  Link this to saying, and you will soon find yourself not waiting for another ask before you begin to respond to their need.  Link this to believing, and you will begin to focus on building another's beliefs through constantly reinforcing the right ones and helping them to eliminate the ones which act as stumbling blocks.  Link this to doing, and you will begin to lift another when they see themselves in any light other than as God sees them!

- Love always looks for the best.  Link this to saying, and you will begin to find words which build up, avoiding those which point out fault.  Link this to believing, and you will see others as God sees them - not as imperfect, but as perfect through Christ Jesus.  Link this to doing, and you will begin to bring out the best in another - even when they are struggling to get the best out of themselves!

Love is practical.  It is real.  It is tough, but anything genuine is always tougher than anything imagined!  I hope this holiday season is filled with all kinds of "saying", "believing", and "doing" which is "love-focused".  In other words, "meaning" is backing all we are saying, believing, and doing!  Just sayin!

Preparing for Tomorrow Today

The preparation of today makes us ready for tomorrow. Without the work of today, the events of today won't matter when tomorrow comes.   


^2-3 Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. 
(I Thessalonians 1:2-3 The Message)


When others look at your life, do they see evidence of your faith?  Do they see us laboring in love, or resisting every move we make?  Do they see us patient in our waiting, or chafing in anticipation?


Paul calls to mind three things about the believers at Thessalonica for which he thanks God.  These things are not arbitrary.  In fact, they speak volumes about the work which has begun in their lives.


First, their have evidence of their faith.  In James 2, Paul reminds us of the important fact of faith and actions working together - our actions making our faith complete.  In other words, we are expected to reveal Christ in our actions. He calls to mind the actions of Abraham, taking Isaac to the altar in response to God's request to offer him as a sacrifice.  


I don't believe for a moment God actually expected to see Isaac be burned alive on the altar!  He wanted to see if Abraham loved God for the gifts, or because he was God!  Sometimes our lives do very little to reveal our intense love and trust in God.  They are shallow because we don't really learn to rely upon God for the evidence of faith his transforming power will produce when we allow it to consume us.  As Abraham took the step toward the altar, son in hand, he was showing God just how much serving him mattered - it was all or nothing.  My pastor uses the saying "all in".  I have to ask - do our actions reveal we are "all in" with God?


Second, he points to their labor of love.  I wonder what our daily work would look like if we were actually laboring for Christ?  What difference would it make if we taught those students as though it were for Christ and not for a pay check; drove those big rigs as ambassadors of Christ and not as long-distance drivers; or if we washed those dishes as evidence of our love for Christ's blessing of a family instead as a means to an end of our day?  


Last, he focuses on their patience in waiting.  We often fall down here, don't we?  Waiting is tough work.  Exhibiting patience when we don't see the immediate evidence of what we are hoping for - even tougher!  Yet, in the waiting, much is being accomplished.  Just consider what it would be like if we received newborns in a pod instead of experiencing the long nine months of forming and transforming which occurs within the womb.  In the waiting, we move from our focus on self to the focus on another.  There is something accomplished in the waiting - but the difference is made in what we do with the wait!


Just some thoughts to ponder today.  Evidence of faith - is it the first thing someone sees when they look at us?  Labors of love - is the love of Christ foremost in our actions?  Patience in waiting - today is the preparation for tomorrow - what are we doing with today?

Salvation 101 - Part IV - Sin nature vs. sin action

^7-9 Really! There's no such thing as self-rescue, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. The cost of rescue is beyond our means, and even then it doesn't guarantee life forever, or insurance against the Black Hole.

(Psalm 49:7-9)

We have been exploring the scriptures that address our salvation experience and the fact that it is nothing we can earn or "work our way up to".  The keeping of commandments as outlined in scripture is not a system of works - do this and you will be like by God; don't do this and God will have no use for you.  The obedience of our heart, mind, and spirit is evidence that we love God and trust him - plain and simple.  When a parent tells a child not to touch the hot stove because it will hurt them - that is similar to a commandment.  It is shared with the child because the parent doesn't want to see the child hurt.  The same is true of the commandments (boundaries) established in scripture - they are God's plan to keep us from getting hurt!

Even with all the boundaries established for us, we still cross them from time to time!  It is kind of like telling a child that candy is not good for them and then finding out they emptied the candy dish the next time we look!  When we cross the boundaries established for us by God, we call this "sin".  Sin is different from having a sin nature.  The sin nature is what keeps us apart from God - we cannot fellowship with him with our unholy sin nature - we need that exchange of nature that happens in relationship with Christ.  Sin is entirely an action - it is totally based on the choices we make.  

One is the way we were born - born with a sin nature that has no potential of being "improved upon" by anything we "do".  It is only by the provision of grace and the blood of Jesus that God no longer sees our nature - he sees the nature of Christ in us.  That is why Paul tells us that it is "Christ in us" that is the hope of glory.  Sin is the outcome of making wrong choices.  Many of us think that the "action" of sin is not supposed to occur after salvation.  There is a misconceived idea that salvation will "deliver" us magically from all desire to sin.  Guess again!  The battle against wanting our own way, desiring what God tells us we should not have, is still there!

When we have this misconception of sin - that once we are "saved" we should no longer struggle with the desire to sin - we often feel very self-critical about the internal desires we experience that "pull us" toward crossing those boundaries.  We live with guilt, shame, and frustration, as a result.  Here this:  God loves us in spite of our sin!  He loved us before we were ever aware of our sin.  Now that we are aware of his love for us in Christ, why do we think he loves us any less when we compromise and fall into sin?  That is a lie we tell ourselves that Satan finds great joy in hearing over and over again!

We lose a lot when we compromise and enter into sinful behavior - but we don't lose relationship with God!  We are part of his family and we will be restored lovingly when we realize our sin and return for his grace!  The parable of the Prodigal Son is all about this concept of "recognition of sin" and "grace upon returning".  There is a principle taught in scripture of being "adopted" into the family of God at the point of our salvation experience.  We are given a "seal" of adoption (much like the official seal of the state in which an adoption is ratified that makes it legal and binding).  That seal is the Holy Spirit's work of creating within us evidence that we belong to God - we are part of his family and bear the mark of his family in our lives.

In the days the scriptures were written, a seal carried much weight.  It was the primary way of identifying that something was authentic - the real deal!  The mark of "family" that we bear in our lives as Christians means that when God looks at us he sees that we are the "real deal".  The struggles we have with sin do not change that!  So, can we "fall out of grace with God"?  Yep, I think we can anytime we add to the principles taught in scripture, creating our own religious system of works that hold people in bondage and don't allow them to experience the grace of God in its purest form - we call that a system of works or false religion.

Scripture is very plain - either you live by a system of works and apart from God, or you live by faith in the grace God provides and are embraced by him as his own.  One or the other, not both.  The system of works focuses on what we should NOT do.  The freedom of grace points us toward what we can do in Christ.  One limits us, the other gives us freedom.  One lifts us to God's bosom, the other pushes us further away.  One sees us as new creatures in Christ, the other sees only the evidence of our sin nature.

Yes, we will "sin" after we are brought into the family of God - but when we recognize our sin, confess it to God, turn away from it and allow him to do the work of restoration that grace affords, we draw closer to him and are not pushed away.  Sin is compromise - we cross the boundaries we probably should have observed in the first place.  Our God is a God of restoration - no other "penalty" for sin must be paid - the entire "penalty" for sin was paid on the Cross when Jesus hung there for our sin.  That includes the sin of yesterday and the sin of today - yep, even the sin of tomorrow.  Don't be willful in your sin, but when you do sin, confess it, bring it to God for forgiveness, and walk away a free person!  His grace is enough!