New Wine Skins

Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. (Thomas A. Edison)

We must not get tired of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eternal life at the right time. We must not give up. (Galatians 6:9)

It is easy to grow weary, much harder to regain momentum when we have been stagnant way too long! We will face trials - challenges beyond our 'natural' reasoning, ability, or strength. What we do when we stand face-to-face with those challenges makes all the difference! Will we turn and run? Will we stand up and fight in our own strength? Or will we turn to Christ for wisdom, renewal, and increased capacity?

Sometimes we think the only thing we need when facing a hard challenge is to have more strength. More 'ability' to handle it. More 'intel' about the situation. The truth is that we might just need more capacity! Old wine skins were never meant to hold new wine. Why? As time passed, the new wine would expand until it burst from the old wine skin. God isn't trying to make us 'burst' spiritually, mentally, or even physically. He may be trying to put us into a new wine skin!

In basic training, one of my Drill Sergeants used to tell us all the time: "Giving up is not an option!" It wasn't optional - we needed to dig deeper, find some inner strength, push beyond our weariness, and move on. Those long road marches, physical training drills, long days at the obstacle courses, and even the 'after hour' boot polishing and uniform ironing were enough to do a sane person in! But...giving up was not optional! May I just say this to those of us who are facing challenges way beyond what seems 'natural' for us to handle today: "Giving up is not optional!"

Christ beckons us onward - not with the same old techniques as we used in the past. He is beckoning us into 'new wine skins' - we haven't been this way before and we need to allow him to 'outfit' us for the journey. Capacity isn't often part of our prayers when going through tough stuff, but maybe it should move up on our list. Just sayin!

Jam or Peanut Butter - you decide

Capacity is determined by what is attempting to enter the vessel and the vessel's "space" to hold what is entering. For example, if we have a used jar of peanut butter that has not been scraped clean and washed out, there are remnants of peanut butter in there. For all intents and purposes, we'd say the peanut butter jar was empty - we can easily cast it away as no longer of use to us. No matter how much we attempt to fill that "empty" jar with something else (like jam), that jar would never be totally full of the jam because it still was partially filled with the peanut butter. It may not be much peanut butter, but it still affects the taste of the jam and it takes up space that the jam would like to have enjoyed. Christ is kind of like the jam in our lives - wanting to fill the empty spaces of our lives, but he is competing with the peanut butter - remnants of our old ways of doing things, responding to things, and things we have held onto that we just don't want to part with.

The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit. (I Corinthians 2:14-16)

Capacity is defined as the ability to both receive and contain. The part of our 'self' that might be labeled as un-spiritual cannot receive the gifts of God's Spirit - things like truth, wisdom, and insight into God's ways. Why? To our human nature, these things are silly - they just don't make sense - they are counter-intuitive for us. For example, if you are an engineer and you are speaking with another engineer about how something is constructed (like a bridge), the force it can withstand under pressure, and the specifics of its design, you probably both understand each other. If you are like me, you are thinking, "I just want to cross that bridge - I don't really need to know how it is made in order to do that, do I?" The "details" seem silly to me because they don't "apply" to me - I have no interest in receiving that detail - I want merely to cross that bridge! Many times all we want is to 'cross some bridge' from un-spiritual into spiritual, without much thought as to how much of the un-spiritual is still within us, making it harder for us to embrace the spiritual.

To the one who has not invited the Spirit of God into their lives, the truths shared are nice, but they have no real relevance. They are not received because there is no "use" for them. To the one who has invited the Spirit of God to oversee their lives, giving constant guidance and tutelage, those truths, no matter how small are like that lovely tasting jam - they ooze into every crevasse they have access to and begin to affect that space. The challenge comes in getting all the "peanut butter" out of our "jars"! We cannot contain all God wants us to contain until we make way to have the "vessel" fully cleaned out. We sometimes try to embrace spiritual truths without really allowing the Spirit to deal with the things that need to be removed / cleaned up along the way. Try washing an "empty" jar that has contained peanut butter - that stuff gets into the tiniest nooks and crannies of that jar - making it hard to get all the peanut butter out on our own! You really have to work hard to get it completely clean (unless you have a dishwasher that does the work for you!). That is how it is when we "try" to clean ourselves up after coming to Christ - attempting to deal with the things that entice us to make wrong choices, but they are just hanging on to us like they belong there within us.

The key is to allow the one who has the ability to thoroughly clean the vessel to do that work - just as we'd rely on the dishwasher to remove the peanut butter! If we want capacity for the things of God, we need his Spirit to clean out our vessel of those things that "take up space" without really serving any purpose anymore. I cannot say what those may be for you - but I know that his Spirit will be faithful to point them out and remove them when he is given full access to your life. So, you might want to ask this question: Are you settling for "some" jam with a little of your left-over peanut butter? Or are you desirous of only pure jam in your vessel? If you choose the pure jam, you will need to turn the vessel over to him in order to allow it to be emptied so that your capacity is expanded to receive it fully. God wants full access - not to compete with the "left-overs" of our live's choices and things we have trusted in at some point in the past. Just sayin!

Not yet at capacity

Rivers run into the sea, but the sea is never full. (Ecclesiastes 1:7 NLT)

If you have ever stopped to just "ponder" something like where all the waters of the streams and rivers flow from or to, you might just observe what King Solomon so poetically described above. Rivers run - toward the sea they make their flow - yet the sea never seems to be "too full" to contain anymore. A pond or river may overflow their banks, becoming filled beyond capacity, but the sea - it never seems to reveal any resistance to be filled time and time again. Is it quite possible that we might just be like the seas? Filled time and time again, yet never truly full.

What a joy it is to come to the realization of being filled - yet being filled is never the end for us. Filling leads to refilling and I think that leads to the expansion of capacity beyond measure. This is how God's economy works - it is expansive! It goes beyond what we have immediate need of today to be sure we have "in route" what it is we will need for tomorrow. Just as the rivers run to the sea, so God is making provision time and time again, without us even noticing that he has things "in motion". 

Enoch Powell gives us just a little different perspective on this: "If my ship sails from sight, it doesn't mean my journey ends, it simply means the river bends." There are times when we think our supply has come to an end - because we don't see it coming our direction any longer. It really is an illusion we must overcome, though. The "river" of God's provision never ends - it might bend a little - making us take a different course to realize it is still very much there, but it never ends! Even when it seems to come to a terminal point - it is really just a new starting spot!

We can never be "full enough" as it comes to God's grace, nor his love. We can never be "unable to contain", for with his provision comes the capacity to contain. This is the difference between us trying to cram more into our lives of our own "doing" versus allowing God to bring into our lives what will only increase our capacity a little bit more. I don't understand how the sea holds the billions and billions of gallons of water it does, nor how it can contain anymore as it comes to its shores. I do know that somehow God brings perfect balance - just as he does in each of our lives. We may not understand how he brings that balance, but we can trust that he will! Just sayin!

"At", "to" or "beyond"?

The moments come into our days when we might just doubt God's presence with us - those moments of stress so great we think our heart is about to explode within.  Stress is an actual "physical force" exerted on one thing by another.  I'd like us to consider it also as a "spiritual force", "emotional force", and "mental force" which exerts some type of pressure or "forceful action" which brings about this impression of being "strained" to almost the point of breaking.  As these conditions exist, we are often faced with the tremendous challenge of keeping our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus and what he is doing in that moment within our "exertion".  A rubber band is a good thing to have in our junk drawers.  When we need to bind one thing to another, we want one of those around.  Yet, we have all experienced the truth of a rubber band stretched beyond the point of "no return" - that moment in time when it just breaks away and leaves us with a whole lot of sting!  What happened?  It met the point of maximum stretch - as much force as could be exerted and still have it maintain its usefulness or purpose.  At that "added" little stress, the band broke.  It no longer was able to endure the stress of the stretch because it was not made to go beyond that particular stretch.  It is just like when we have pressure exerted upon us and we are certain the next little stretch is going to the one which is our breaking point.  The moments in time when we are "stretched" to what we believe to be our capacity are often not truly times of being stretched beyond our capacity.  Instead, they are times when God is taking us to our next level of capacity!

Why am I so sad? Why am I so upset? I tell myself, “Wait for God’s help! You will again be able to praise him, your God, the one who will save you.” (Psalm 42:11 ERV)

"To" and "beyond" are two entirely different concepts.  "To" capacity means we come to the point we cannot possibly "contain" anything else.  It is kind of like the glass being full to the brim.  The thing within is just not going to take much more in the way of input before it begins to seep out of the glass.  If you have ever poured a soda into a glass of ice, you know the "bubbling up" effect of those gaseous bubbles within the soda.  The foaming effect may even come up beyond the edges of the glass.  What happens when we see this effect?  We slow down the pouring, don't we?  Why?  We know the soda needs time to allow those bubbles to "settle".  In just a few seconds we can begin to pour again at a slower pace, eventually bringing the cup to capacity with soda.  If we stopped when we saw the bubbles rising over the surface of the cup, we'd only get a partial cup of soda, right?  We want our cup brought "to" capacity so we get a full drink!  We all understand the "to" capacity concepts, but have you ever opened a box of crackers or cereal which stood say 10 inches high and found content inside which was merely 8 inches high? Manufacturers would call this "settling" - the box was once filled to capacity, but as movement occurs, the content settles down into the nooks and crannies which were not entirely filled, leaving the impression of a less than full box.  Yet, this box is still filled "to" capacity - at the time of "stress" when the box was initially under "pressure" to be filled and sealed, it was "at" or "to" capacity.  In a short period of time, it becomes quite evident that there was an ability for the box to go "beyond" capacity!

God is in the "business" of bringing us "to" capacity, but also in helping us recognize we can go "beyond" our perception of capacity when we allow him to take over the process of being "filled" or "stretched".  Any good athlete will tell you of the importance of getting a good "stretch" before beginning their particular sport.  Why?  Those initial stretches not only "warm up" the muscles, giving them a little more "elasticity", but they actually serve to "make room" for the added stress those muscles will be under during the activity to come.  Much as muscles only grow when put under stress, our mind only embraces new truth when we apply it toward learning the truth (we allow it to be stretched to a new capacity).  "Capacity" is almost always a matter of perception.  I saw an illustration of this once which really made this clear to me.  A large jar was filled with marbles.  Not only did the jar look like it could not contain anything else, but it was just about to overflow.  Then something revealed how much "capacity" was really left.  Slowly and with calculated accuracy, sand was added to the jar.  That sand settled into the places "in between" the marbles until the jar again looked like it was filled "to" capacity. My perception of "capacity" changed - the jar was not "to" capacity with just the marbles in it.  But...when I saw water beginning to slowly be added to the jar after the sand, I saw something quite amazing - the jar was indeed not anywhere close to capacity!  In fact, even when the water was almost to the top, something happened - settling of the sand and marbles, revealing "more capacity" than originally believed possible!

What happened in this illustration is what often happens to us when we are feeling like ware "stretched" and "stressed" to capacity.  We are like the jar of marbles - filled to the top with what we "feel" we can handle.  In those times, we wax and wane in our perceptions of the circumstances we find ourselves in with attitudes ranging from "Don't give me any more!" to "I'm done!"  What happens next is what continues to amaze me - God shows us just how much more "capacity" we have when we allow him to be the one to fill us a little fuller!  When the water was added to the jar, not only did "settling" occur, revealing additional "space" or "capacity", but small air pockets were eventually revealed - those pesky things which once they come to the surface are soon dissipated and leaving us with capacity for more!  This is often the case in our times of greatest "stress" or "stretch" - we have "pesky" things which need to get to the surface and it isn't until we are placed in this point of being "stretched to capacity" that we realize they have been taking up "valuable space" in our lives!  As they rise to the surface, God can help us to quickly "dissipate" them so we have even more capacity for what he desires to bring into our lives.  Yep, we all have "full jars of marbles", and some even have lots of sand added.  Most of us never get to the point of letting God fill us to the greatest capacity we have simply because we insist we are already "at" capacity - trusting our perceptions of our "capacity" over his!  Just sayin!

Energy and Enthusiasm - got any?

Enthusiasm and Energy - two character traits which often define the progress we make in life.  Lack enthusiasm or energy and any task you take on will seem like a drudgery, weighing you down with its burden.  Sometimes we possess energy, but lack enthusiasm.  When we do, we have all the "burn" we need for the long-haul, but we just don't have the "umph" behind it to make the "haul" enjoyable.  We can also have all the enthusiasm in the world, but lack the energy because it has been sucked out of us by all the other stuff we also have "enthusiasm" for in life!  These two work hand-in-hand, as do many of our other "character traits" we have explored over the past several days.  Today's list is our "E" List - Enthusiasm and Energy.

I readily admit that the Jews are impressively energetic regarding God—but they are doing everything exactly backward. They don’t seem to realize that this comprehensive setting-things-right that is salvation is God’s business, and a most flourishing business it is. Right across the street they set up their own salvation shops and noisily hawk their wares. After all these years of refusing to really deal with God on his terms, insisting instead on making their own deals, they have nothing to show for it.  (Romans 10:2-3 MSG)

Paul writes to the Roman church, Jewish believers struggling with their faith.  Why?  They have all kinds of enthusiasm and energy - he said they are "impressively energetic" regarding God.  They are also commended for their "flourishing business" of trying to live as they should.  So, why is it he zeros in on their enthusiasm?  It is misdirected!  They have come to count on the energies they exert and their enthusiastic following of the rules as their means of "getting things done" with God!  

Enthusiasm is a "controlling" or "consuming" possession of our minds by any interest - and where the mind goes, there goes the heart!  So, enthusiasm is not always a good thing when it is misdirected!  We can be enthusiastic (consumed and controlled) by the "stuff" which will really get us nowhere in life!  To help us understand enthusiasm, we might want to know what the exact opposite is - indifference.  So, enthusiasm is a very good thing - but we need to make sure it is based in something of value - making the expenditure of our energies worthwhile.

Energy is really the capacity for activity.  As I have said, we can be very enthusiastic, but have absolutely no remaining capacity for activity!  Why?  Perhaps it is because we have allowed to many "leeches" in life to drain us of our energies!  What "leeches" energy from your life?  It could be those "tasks" you have taken on which others asked you to perform, but which make absolutely no sense for you to be doing.  It could be those relationships which seem to do nothing more than drain you of all things good (we call them "high maintenance" relationships).  Sometimes we have to "empty" ourselves in order to have more "capacity".

Back in the day when nickle-cadmium batteries first came out on the market, many of us made the mistake of keeping those devices plugged into the charger almost all the time when the device was not in use.  At that time, we probably thought we were actually doing the right thing - so we'd have the device "at the ready" when we needed it.  What we learned over time was in order for the device to function as it should, it had to be pretty well drained of capacity in order to "take a full charge".  I wonder if this might just be true in our spiritual lives?  Do we need to "learn" how to take a full-charge in the correct manner?  Do we need to "drain" ourselves of all which "takes up room" and makes us "appear" to "carry a charge", then be refilled to capacity with what really "gives us a charge"?  

Control determines what consumes - give a video game to the child and see how long the batteries last!  They "get into" the game and before long, the device is drained of energy.  Now, if you hook that same game up to an AC adapter, what happens?  They can play on and on!  Hmmm...perhaps we need to figure out where our "source" of charge comes in life!  If we are always needing a "recharge" because we run down quickly, it may because something "consumes" our capacity way too quickly.  Or perhaps we are only carrying half a charge in the first place because we have never fully "drained ourselves" of the things which get in the way of us having "full capacity"!  Just sayin!

Peanut Butter and Honey

^14-16The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit.

(I Corinthians 2:14-16)

Capacity is determined by what is attempting to enter the vessel and the vessel's "space" to hold what is entering.  For example, if we have a used jar of peanut butter that has not been scraped clean and washed out, there are remnants of peanut butter in there.  For all intends and purposes, we'd say the peanut butter jar was empty.  No matter how much we attempt to fill that "empty" jar with something else (like honey), that jar would never be totally full of the honey because it still was partly full of the peanut butter.  It may not be much peanut butter, but it still affects the taste of the honey and it takes up space that the honey would like to have enjoyed.

Capacity is defined as the ability to both receive and contain.  Paul tells us that the un-spiritual self cannot receive the gifts of God's Spirit - things like truth, wisdom, and insight into God's ways.  Why?  To our human nature, these things are silly - they just don't make sense.  For example, if you are an engineer and you are speaking with another engineer about how something is constructed (like a bridge), the force it can withstand under pressure, and the specifics of its design, you probably both understand each other.  If you are like me, you are thinking, "I just want to cross that bridge - I don't really need to know how it is made in order to do that, do I?"  The "details" seem silly to me because they don't "apply" to me - I have no interest in receiving that detail just to cross that bridge!  

So it is with spiritual truth - to the one who has not invited the Spirit of God into their lives, the truths shared are nice, but they have no real relevance.  They are not received because there is no "use" for them.  To the one who has invited the Spirit of God to oversee their lives, giving constant guidance and tutelage, those truths, no matter how small are like honey - they ooze into every crevasse they have access to and begin to affect that space.  The challenge comes in getting all the "peanut butter" out of our "jars"!

We cannot contain all God wants us to contain until we have the "vessel" fully cleaned out.  We sometimes try to embrace spiritual truths without really allowing the Spirit to deal with the things that need to be removed / cleaned up along the way.  Try washing an "empty" jar that has contained peanut butter - that stuff gets into the tiniest nooks and crannies of that jar!   You really have to work hard to get it completely clean (unless you have a dishwasher that does the work for you!).  That is how it is when we "try" to clean ourselves up after coming to Christ - attempting to deal with the things that entice us to make wrong choices, but they are just hanging on to us like they belong.  

The key is to allow the one who has the ability to thoroughly clean the vessel to do that work - just as we'd rely on the dishwasher to remove the peanut butter!  If we want capacity for the things of God, we need his Spirit to clean out our vessel of those things that "take up space" without really serving any purpose anymore.  I cannot say what those may be for you - but I know that his Spirit will be faithful to point them out and remove them when he is given full access to your life.

So, you might want to ask this question:  Are you settling for "some" honey with a little of your left-over peanut butter?  Or are you desirous of only pure honey in your vessel?  If you choose the pure honey, you will need to turn the vessel over to him in order to allow it to be emptied so that your capacity is expanded.  God wants full access - not to compete with the "left-overs".