Today's focus determines tomorrow's destination

...the Lord God knows how to save those who are devoted to him. He will save them when troubles come. (2 Peter 2:9)

We may not realize just how much God has his watchful eye upon us, or that he is hard at work protecting us from evil all around us, but he is right there, and he is 'at work'! God knows how to save us from ourselves, and he knows how to save us from all manner of evil that comes into our lives! When troubles come, look up. When anxiety reaches deep within your soul, praise God. When heartache seems to overwhelm every emotion, fall on your knees and pour your heart out to him. He is your Savior!

Several examples are given to us in the previous verses - examples of good men who served the Lord in very difficult circumstances. Noah served God with an unwavering heart, even in the face of evil people all around him. He lived a lifestyle that "told people about living right." Lot lived among vile and unholy people, who engaged in terrible acts of evil, all the while he "was greatly troubled by the morally bad lives of those evil people. This good man lived with those evil people every day, and his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard." In spite of it all, they served God and looked to him for their deliverance.

Everywhere we look, stressors abound. Everywhere we turn, evil is attempting to make an inroad. What can we do in the midst of such chaos? Live right, even when the crowds aren't. Live strong, even when the pressures seem to mount. Live with integrity, even when others are questioning why we live the way we do. In so doing, we welcome the presence of God into the 'chaos' of this evil world, and we become beacons of his grace and love to it. We may not see God at work, but we can trust that he is. We may not 'feel' God in our midst, but that doesn't mean he isn't there. 

God knows how to save those who are DEVOTED to him. The key to living in the midst of evil - live devoted to him. Zealous in our beliefs, loyal in our commitment to have no other god before him, and with affection that is genuine. Devoted individuals are constant in their focus - today's focus determines tomorrow's destination, so don't let your focus drift! Just sayin!

Here I am

Lord, you made me understand this: You don’t really want sacrifices and grain offerings. You don’t want burnt offerings and sin offerings. So I said, “Here I am, ready to do what was written about me in the book. My God, I am happy to do whatever you want. I never stop thinking about your teachings.” (Psalm 40:6-8)

At times, we might think God wants this or that from us, like an offering upon the altar of the Old Testament times. Things don't matter to God as much as our heart does. When he asked the people to bring a lamb or goat to offer in the Temple, it wasn't because he wanted the meat of the animal - he wanted to see the heart of the people - to see if they were willing to choose the best and dedicate it to God. All God asks of us is to choose him first - period. Nothing we 'bring' to him is of real or lasting value until he has our full heart!

The words, "Here I am", these are what God wants most. When the heart is behind those words, the world we live in changes. We begin to see things in a different light - his purposes become plain, his protective power is felt, and our lives take on an atmosphere of hope. When the people of old brought the sin offering, they were filled with hope that their sins would not be remembered against them. When we bring ourselves to the altar and ask God to forgive our sins, with truly contrite and open hearts, he instills a hope that we will finally live free of those things. 

Ready to do...all of life isn't about doing whatever we want to do when we want to do it. When we finally realize the sacrifice of a dedicated life means a change in the actions of that life, we are moving closer and closer to what God intends for us. Doing our 'own thing' might be okay for a while, but at some point, we will grow weary in following that path. When we place our lives on the altar of grace, we are asking God to change our priorities - to refocus our plans, so to speak. At first, this might seem a little uncomfortable because we had things 'all worked out' to be going one direction, but in time, the more we submit to his will, the easier it is to actually leave what we had 'worked out' and take on what he had planned for us from the beginning of time.

God doesn't stop teaching us as we grow in grace. In fact, his teachings become richer, more meaningful. We find ourselves actually craving the knowledge and wisdom contained within those teachings. Today it may seem like we don't really have that 'intensity' of dedication, but when we are willing to allow it to be developed within, laying down our lives upon the altar of grace, we are placing ourselves exactly where his work can begin. Just sayin!

God running this place?

There was one day when the Prophet Isaiah was speaking with the people, reporting on how Israel was finally at rest in the Promised Land, enjoying their feasts and festivals. There was worship in the land. They were finally 'settled' - no longer wandering hither and yon. The land was a blessing - providing for their needs in a great way. They were protected from attack - secure in their new homes. One of the best parts of the report was these words: "God runs this place and he'll keep us safe." When God is in control of our lives, we will be safe. If we take back that control, or just 'let it go' because we aren't paying attention, we will open the gates wide to disaster and destruction.

Just take a look at Zion, will you? Centering our worship in festival feasts! Feast your eyes on Jerusalem, a quiet and permanent place to live. No more pulling up stakes and moving on, no more patched-together lean-tos. Instead, God! God majestic, God himself the place in a country of broad rivers and streams, but rivers blocked to invading ships, off-limits to predatory pirates. For God makes all the decisions here. God is our king. God runs this place and he’ll keep us safe. (Isaiah 33:22)

We are often guilty of not continuing in the things God has provided within our lives. We read the Word, but do we take time to allow it to actually speak to us? We pray on occasion, but do we take time to listen to things he tells us throughout the day in those tiny prompts, lifting up prayers for him to be in control of those things? We hang out with friends, but do we invest in these relationships so they grow in Christ? Festivals and feasts are a good thing, but if they have become the center of our 'worship' relationship with Jesus, we are a bit out of sync with what God desires in the form of intimate relationship with us.

Does God 'run this place' and is he keeping it safe? The place? Your heart - your mind, will, and emotions. Your spirit - the place of our connection with Jesus. Is it possible to be a Christian and not have our mind surrendered to Jesus? Absolutely, and many of us actually hold onto thoughts that we know aren't right - they actually dishonor God and show how much we don't trust him. Can we determine to serve Christ and still have a struggle of the will? You betcha! The will is influenced by the mind and played upon by the emotions. Why do you think God put that scripture in his Word that reminds us the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak? (Matthew 26:41)

If God is truly 'running this place' (your heart, will, emotions), there will be a continual stirring within. You might think becoming a Christian means we will always know peace and contentment. God keeps us safe - but safety doesn't mean inactivity. When God is in control, maybe we will be stirred into activity when we'd rather be at rest. Obedience isn't always convenient, but when God is 'running this place', there will be a strength and security like no other. It is time to really 'be safe' - to go all in for Jesus once again. Just sayin!

You want this!

Companies do indeed invest big money into making sure that they are recognizable in the community they serve by the "brand" they have invested time, talent, and energies into creating. They flash their names and photos on billboards, run numerous commercials, wrap vehicles in their 'branding', and send out mailers advertising their product. All these efforts are aimed at one thing - getting us to notice their product and show an interest in it that rises above the interest we have for any other 'similar' product. It is kind of like what God said through Moses so many years ago - "Set yourselves apart..." God was telling us to be known by our "branding" - that which makes us uniquely different from those around us and makes people want what it is that we possess.

"Set yourselves apart for a holy life. Live a holy life, because I am God, your God. Do what I tell you; live the way I tell you. I am the God who makes you holy." (Leviticus 20:7-8)

In the advertising world, branding begins with having a quality product that others will want as there is no use in spending time and talent 'branding' something that is inferior or simply not useful to those who are your target 'users' of the product. If the product is shoddy, no matter how much you invest into "branding", it will be a waste of your efforts. The product must be top-notch - there is little use in investing big capital into branding something that is just not going to measure up. Branding involves being visible in the community - the idea is getting as many people to take notice, if even ever so slightly influencing their subconscious mind. The advertising gurus will probably assure us that the more your brand is exposed to the public, the better. Companies invest huge sums of monies and talent into getting their product before the public. Why? It cements the brand with an image. An image speaks more than a catchy advertising phrase. Why? People associate with what they see more than they do with what they hear. Branding involves a commitment to provide a product that the community REALLY needs. A market inundated with similar products that are not well-differentiated from other products finds that they will go for that product that requires the least investment on their part - especially if there is no difference appreciable.

From God's perspective, he is only creating quality products - our passage points out several characteristics that will ensure that our "product" passes the "quality" test. Doing what God tells us involves living as God tells us, so that we are ensured there will be a product that can neither be labeled as "shoddy", nor a waste of efforts. Obedience produces within us what all the efforts at self-improvement could not - life transformation. Nothing is more appealing to someone without hope than to see what having a solid basis for hope can produce. God also makes us visible to others - often while we are going through some 'life-change' in which he is moving in our lives to produce a consistent picture of his grace and restorative power. Our passage does not imply that we are to live on a commune and never associate with others. Being set apart does not mean that we get "weird". It carries the idea that we have something that makes us "unique" - we stand above the rest. There is clearly a place for association with others in the faith, but that should not be our only association. Others need to see Christ in us - that exposure to Christ may be the only exposure they may have.

Another important principle in branding a product is this idea of supply and demand. Where the demand is high, the assumption is that you are creating a product that someone really needs - a unique product that no one else offers, but that everyone needs. There are a lot of "religions" in the world - organized and informal. What sets a Christ-follower out as unique is the ability of being "holy" as God is holy. Holiness is evident in a life that is changed by the Spirit of God within. The ability to steer clear of the gossip chain, the tendency to shy away from coarse or off-color jokes, or the simplicity of making ethical choices because that is the way you have come to live - these seem simple enough, but they serve to set us apart from other "religions" in the world. It is more than doing good deeds for the sake of doing them - it is a matter of engaging in right conduct because that is what stems from the core of your inner man.

How do we live in such a way that others see something in us that makes them want what we have been given? We allow God to live in us - we allow him to make us holy (branding at its best!). Set apart lives are not "branded" in some weird way, but are uniquely beautiful and appealing to others who will want to be in relationship with the 'product' that has been produced. Others want what we have allowed to be worked out in our lives because they see a sense of hope for their own life. That is what God wants of us - to give the world hope. Hope is best understood when it is exemplified - there is a "product" people can connect with. Believe it or not, you are a "product" of God's grace. Let your life be displayed as set apart for his service, dedicated to his love, and uniquely touched by his grace. Others will be drawn to him through your example. Just sayin!

Abandon this

There are probably more than a few things in life we'd do well to just 'abandon' - because they are not meant for us to be carrying, working toward, or engaged in. The moment we abandon something, we leave it where it belongs - in the past. It isn't there to niggle at our time in the present. It cannot make demands of us any longer - because it isn't in the present! We don't 'occupy' a new space until that space is readied for that occupation. We prepare the space because it is important to do so before we move all manner of stuff into it. After the stuff is moved in, we might realize that we moved in a little bit too much stuff - leaving us with a sense of clutter and disorder. To 're-occupy' that space means we de-clutter and re-order. Occupation means we abandon something we may not have needed to "bring in".

When GOD, your God, ushers you into the land he promised through your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you, you’re going to walk into large, bustling cities you didn’t build, well-furnished houses you didn’t buy, come upon wells you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn’t plant. When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don’t forget how you got there – GOD brought you out of slavery in Egypt. Deeply respect GOD, your God. Serve and worship him exclusively. Carefully keep the commands of GOD, your God, all the requirements and regulation she gave you. Do what is right, do what is good in GOD’S sight so you’ll live a good life and be able to march in and take this pleasant land that GOD so solemnly promised through your ancestors, throwing out your enemies left and right – exactly as GOD said. (Deuteronomy 6: 10-12, 14-19)

As Israel was called to enter into the Promised Land, they were told to not do so in their own effort, or in a timid way. They were told to do so in the power and authority of the God they served – standing upon the firm foundation of his character. They were to enter and to occupy. Entering into a new space suggests a changing of position and the potential of going into something we might not be all that familiar with because we haven't experienced it before. Entry suggests making a new beginning – with the intention of taking possession of something new. It also carries the idea of being an active participant in that which God is doing - not just passively watching as others enjoy what God has provided for us to enjoy ourselves.

Occupying carries a slightly different meaning – it implies that we take ownership of that which we enter into. Occupation requires an engagement of our attention to that which we seek the ownership of – owners are more than onlookers – they actually enter into the experience of that which they own.
It is necessary to see the method of ownership that we enjoy as a follower of Christ – it is that of being “ushered into” possession of that which was once occupied, but has gone through a change of ownership, allowing for a new 'occupant' to enter in. God goes before – he is the forerunner who graciously escorts us into realms unknown – in spirit, emotion, and in physical experience. Since it is an occupied territory that we enter into – a change of ownership must occur. It is a dispossessing work – dispossessing sin and all that goes along with it; dispossessing ego and its demands. It is more than just “experiencing” for a period of time – it is a complete change of possession that is promised, begun, and completed. Look at all we enjoy – that which we did not prepare; that which we did not build; and that which we did not harvest.

As we rightly order our lives and begin to respond to him in obedient reverence, we are commanded to love the Lord with all we’ve got. This is not a partial commitment to give some of ourselves to him, but a commitment of our entire being to live in such a way that all we do, say and think is a manifestation of having him central in our lives. Love with every emotion we have, surrendered in abandoned adoration to him. Abandon really signifies a change of heart that is evident in our no longer trying to perform a certain way – it implies that we will be given to him in such a way that we give ourselves over to his governance unrestrained. Love him with all our soul – with every part of our being that makes us who or what we are. Love him with all our strength – all that we have capacity for, with every effort we can make, with unreserved service and adoration. Love him with whole-hearted commitment that dedicates the will to the fulfilling of the will of another.

We are then to live as examples to all who surround us – first to our families, then to those we contact in our communities each day. The dedication or occupation of our lives is to impact others. They are not to just “hear about” Christ, but they are to see him modeled in us. The riches of a child of God are never earned or self-constructed – they are a provision from a loving God in response to our dedication to his gracious love. Life in Christ is not a system of works – things done to gain approval or right-standing. Rather, it is a heartfelt response to an intensely gracious love that draws us in, wraps us in its presence, and relishes its effects in the inner core of our being. There is a vulnerability, or openness to possibilities beyond our imagining, that occurs when we are willing to lay it all down before him. Let us not be bound to our own efforts to live righteously– the possibilities contained within abandonment far outweigh the limitations of our abilities to live right. Living right is a natural outcome to abandoning our hearts to the one who creates that righteousness in us as his love is allowed to deeply affect the center of all we are. Just abandoning!

Dedicated in Peace

You will keep the peace, a perfect peace, for all who trust in You, for those who dedicate their hearts and minds to You.  (Isaiah 26:3)

There are times in life when the furthest thing from my life are peace and a sense of security.  When I was much younger, I was rear-ended by a rather large car while I stood stopped for a motorist a few cars ahead of me attempting to execute a left-hand turn from a busy roadway.  At a dead stop, when a "boat" of a car hits you at 45 miles per hour, you take a huge impact - even when you do know they attempted to stop, but way too late.  For months and months after that, whenever I heard the screeching of tires against pavement it elicited the same immediate tight response in my chest, heart rate rapidly rising, and a sense of dread coming over me.  In an instant I could go from being at peace to being in total panic - all over a sound!  What my mind processed when it heard that sound was "brace yourself for the impact" - despite the evidence to the contrary, my mind told my body to prepare and it did!  I didn't know peace because I had come to associate the sound with pain.  Some of us live day after day with the impression some particular action will always produce pain in our lives - leaving us without peace in relationships, fearful of taking a move in a new direction in our lives, or just plain "muddled up" on the inside so much so we cannot really enjoy life.  God's message to those of us who have come to "associate" some action with pain is this:  Peace comes to those who dedicate their hearts and minds to the Person of Peace.  

I like something my pastor says from time to time, but I am going to change it ever so slightly to fit the message today.  It goes something like this:  You can be at peace in the same pants that you are out of peace in!  (His version is that you can be happy in the same pants you got mad in)  We want to believe peace is because of the absence of some particular "thing" in our lives, all the while missing the point it is missing because we haven't allowed peace into either our minds or hearts - or both!  We get disturbed in either our minds (the place of our thinking) or our hearts (the place of our emotions).  Both are going to just wreak havoc in our lives when we don't have peace in one or both of them.  I think Isaiah may have given us the key to knowing peace in our minds and hearts, but we sometimes just gloss over it.  The one thing:  Trust.  We haven't allowed Jesus access to those damaging and controlling thoughts - so we keep reliving them. We don't give him access to our emotions - so we keep responding with unreasonable and unruly emotions at sometimes the slightest hint of 'danger' in our lives.

We don't dedicate ourselves to anyone we don't trust - we have to believe in their purpose, plan, provision, position, etc.  We might find we don't trust ourselves - making peace even more elusive because if we cannot trust us, it makes it almost impossible for us to trust anyone else outside of ourselves!  Let me assure you - I don't trust myself on occasion.  I don't trust myself to be honest to the core - knowing I have occasions when I would rather put on a mask (front) rather than being real with others.  I don't trust myself to always resist the stuff I should - knowing the desire resident within me can sometimes "override" reason and simply knowing I shouldn't do/say something.  This lack of trust in ourselves might just be why it is so important to put our trust in someone other than ourselves!  

What does it mean to "dedicate" one's heart and mind?  It means we set that object apart from the "usual" way it might be used and give it over to the "best" way it can be used. The mind might be used in many ways - some quite honorable, others not so much. The emotions can be used to bring us to the peak of elation, or the pit of despair, and all points in between.  As we think of dedicating (separating) our hearts and minds to God, we might want to "compartmentalize" our thinking or emotions into "good" and "bad". I have learned that what some may see as "bad" may not actually be "bad" - because those "bad" emotions can actually be early-warning signs I am headed in the wrong direction!  What I do know is this - when I put my heart and mind into God's control - allowing him to sort out emotions which keep me bound up, under pressure, out of the place of peace in my life, I "feel" better.  Not every day will be perfect, but I can be peaceful even where imperfection exists - knowing he has control of making the imperfect a thing of beauty when I give it to him.

What you dedicate (separate) your mind and emotions toward will determine the course they take in the long run.  Just sayin!

Cookies for the King

^1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

(Romans 12:1-2 The Message)

Consecration goes beyond the surface - in fact, it embraces all of our being when it is operational in our lives.  Consecration is simply the act of setting something apart for a specific use.  When we say that the chocolate chip cookies are just for daddy because they are his favorite cookies, we have the expectation that the one receiving enjoyment out of those cookies will be daddy.  The same is true when we say we have dedicated our lives to the service of our heavenly Father - he will receive the enjoyment our dedication brings.

Grace and mercy are two very powerful forces at work in our lives.  It is the "favor" of God and the "pardon" of God that is at work in us.  The first step in dedicating our lives to his service is to yield what he already owns!  We are in a kind of "territory dispute" with God most of the time.  We want to enjoy the liberty of his grace and release of his pardon, but when it comes to actually turning over the "deed" to our lives, we hesitate.  We are called to be separated UNTO God for his special work within and through us.  What we fail to recognize is that separation is completely voluntary.

In the off chance that I am not clear here, let me explain.  God never REQUIRES our dedication.  He is honored by it, but he never compels us to serve him.  WE choose whom we will serve.  What we fail to recognize is that by dedicating ourselves to him, we are really being set apart for the most awesome enjoyment that one could ever experience.  Just like daddy may savor those chocolate chip cookies that have been "dedicated" to him, our heavenly Father will savor our dedication - giving over our "right" to hold control of our lives into his hands.

The most awesome thing happens when we finally yield the control of our lives to Jesus - we begin to bear the image of that which we yield to.  Did you ever see two totally close friends and notice how much they "resemble" each other in their habits, ideals, and even in their communication?  "Likeness" actually occurs because of the frequency of contact that they have with one another.  

When we finally desire God's enjoyment of our lives more than our own enjoyment of our sin, God is honored to take what we yield to him.  But...he only takes what is yielded (dedicated / consecrated)!  There is a practice in the Old Testament that we don't see any longer in our church services - the practice of the altar sacrifices.  That is okay, since Jesus was the perfect sacrifice!  Yet, I think there was some value in seeing how the altar affected what was dedicated to God by being placed on it!

Every gift laid at the altar is affected by the altar.  I call this the "altering" effect of the "altar".  It is like putting those chocolate chip cookies in the cookie jar for the enjoyment of one person only - each time that jar is opened, the aroma of those cookies rises.  At the altar of God's grace and mercy, there is an aroma that reaches God's nostrils and invites him to enjoy that which has been dedicated to him.  Yet, at the altar, God awakens a sense of need in us, as well.  It is at the altar that we are acknowledging our dependence upon him.

One last note - the CALLED OF God are CALLED FOR God - his enjoyment alone.  He already paid the price for our souls at the cross.  When we yield the right to govern our lives (our will), we are truly giving evidence that we are willing to have that which controls us the most affected by the altar.  Paul refers to this as having our minds renewed.  I think he might have had the picture of the altar in mind - leaving no part of our self-will untouched by the fire of the Spirit.