Drive them all out

Perhaps you will think to yourselves, ‘How can we ever conquer these nations that are so much more powerful than we are?’ But don’t be afraid of them! Just remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the land of Egypt. Remember the great terrors the Lord your God sent against them. You saw it all with your own eyes! And remember the miraculous signs and wonders, and the strong hand and powerful arm with which he brought you out of Egypt. The Lord your God will use this same power against all the people you fear. (Deuteronomy 7:17-19)

As the small nation of Israelites was about to inherit the land God had promised to them, he gives them the instruction to destroy all the inhabitants of the land, one by one, and even destroy their places of worship. Many of these nations had much more advanced military might, strong leaders of their armies, and ruthless kings. Yet, God's instruction is clear - destroy them all, one by one, until none remain - and remember - remember the way God intervened to bring your deliverance from Egypt. As we face some of our toughest enemies it is good to 'remember'. To recall the things God has already done for us and recall the promise he gives to be with us always. It seems like God is saying there will be times when everything in front of us looks bigger than life, but when we take time to remember all he did when we faced things 'bigger than life' in our past, we might just find the courage to move forward in his powerful presence.

Just remember... Remember the moment he stopped your car from spinning out of control on an icy roadway. Remember the time when your finances seemed to be smaller than your need, but every need was met without ever missing even one payment on one bill. Remember the time your child's fever was so high and you prayed so long through the night to find them well, hungry, and ready to face the day with smiles the next morning. Remember the struggle with that one sin you indulged so often and the moment you realized it had no pull on you ever again. Remember... God isn't done yet - whatever lies ahead is not greater than what has come before. He was with you then - he is with you now - he will be with you with each new challenge you face.

Memory is a powerful thing when it is used as God intends - to recall the times he has revealed himself more powerful than our worst fears, bigger than our worst nightmares, and stronger than our toughest enemies. Maybe this is why God tells us to remember - because we want to remember the power of our enemies and not the supreme goodness and care of our great God. When we shift the focus from what we remember as fearful and intimidating toward what is gracious and good, we begin to see that God goes before us, stands united with us, and surrounds us with armies mightier than any we face that he commands us to 'drive out'. So, don't just stand there - start driving them all out! The tougher they are, the harder they will fall under God's mighty hand. Just sayin!

Let love be the force

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. (Martin Luther King, Jr)

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!" (Matthew 5:43-44)

Probably one of the toughest things we encounter is the desire to actually 'be nice' or 'do nice things' toward our enemies. Why is that so hard for us? We feel wronged, leading us to feel a little bit like we aren't important to that other person, or that we deserved better. We want to let them know how much they have hurt us - how much their 'negative impact' has left us feeling like we were 'less than' or 'didn't matter' in their eyes - at least from the way we took their actions to mean. Jesus reminds those of us who have said 'yes' to him that it is responsibility to not only love our 'nice neighbors' or the 'friends we actually like', but to love our ENEMIES and then pray for those who 'persecute us'. 

The 'Enemy-to-Friend' pathway that King described isn't going to be easy - it might even come with some sacrifices on our part that we didn't think we had to make! Whenever someone is pursuing us with any form of harassing or 'oppressive' treatment, we most likely don't feel like we would ever want to pray for them. Their actions have been hurtful, and we would rather avoid them than ever encounter them again. We can spend our entire lives 'running away' from hurtful people, but will it ever do us much good? Not likely, for hurtful people will always be there - we have to learn how Jesus wants us to deal with their hurt. If I read this correctly, he wants us to take those hurts to him in prayer, releasing the individual and their actions toward us into his hands. Then we love them back.

It is that 'loving them back' part that is hardest, because our natural response might just be to strike back. Do we have to respond back with hurtful words? No, we can use words of grace. How do we learn the words of grace God would want us to speak? I think it comes as we pray for them, but especially when we lean into the inward prompting of the Holy Spirit in the moment. Our nature will want to rise up, but God's presence within us will tell us to settle into his peace and then allow his peace to shine through. It won't be the easiest path to take when retaliation is our immediate desire, but when we ask God to help, he will show us how to manifest grace. Remember, grace is never deserved - but it is can always be given. Just sayin!

Life Hack #29: Pay it Forward, Not Backward

Life Hack #29:

Like it or not, we all have at least one enemy in this lifetime. It is an honest part of human nature to want to see some harm come to your enemy. The very word "enemy" suggests someone who is your opponent, operating with some type of antagonistic behavior that makes the two of you adversaries. To want good for your enemy is counter intuitive. They are out to harm you - so why should you be out to bless them? Yet, we are not to revel in their fall, nor celebrate their collapse. We are to leave their "outcome" to God - something harder said than done!

Don’t laugh when your enemy falls; don’t crow over his collapse. God might see, and become very provoked, and then take pity on his plight. (Proverbs 24:17-18)

Enemies can be personal adversaries - such as someone bent on making your life miserable - all attacks aimed at you alone. They can also be generally around us - such as public officials who don't represent the needs, wants, or beliefs of the public they are designed to serve. The clear instructions are that we need to be very, very careful in our dealings with our enemies. This isn't just because we could get hurt by their attacks, but because God's business is to take care of their wrong-doing - ours is to pray for them, bless them, and serve them as much as physically, emotionally, and spiritually possible.

There are several examples in scripture worth mentioning as it pertains to dealing with the enemy. A woman caught red handed in adultery had many accusers. Those who did the accusing sought to end her life - by the once practiced punishment of stoning. She is at their mercy - and they have no intention of extending any! This is often the case when our own actions may have not been the best - our enemies capitalize on our failures and make them a point to take advantage of us whenever possible. Jesus did something we could learn from. Instead of pointing out that the woman needed mercy, he allowed her enemies to come to the conclusion they were not without faults in their own lives. In so doing, through his simple statement of "Let the one without sin among you cast the first stone", he silenced her enemies. God has the "insight" into what is at the core of our enemy's behavior, and he knows how to silence him! Best to leave it in his hands!

A woman believing she'd never have a child of her own sought to ensure some offspring to ensure the continuation of the family line, allowing a slave woman to bring forth a son for her husband. Her name? Sarah. Her husband? Abraham. The outcome of this rash decision was a son born to Hagar, a servant woman. In time, Sarah did bear a child - in God's timing. In rather short order, the child grew and became the heir apparent to the inheritance of his father. Animosity grew between Hagar and Sarah. Sarah regretted her decision to encourage Abraham to father a child with the servant; Hagar resented all the attention and favor shown to the child born out of Sarah and Abraham's union. 

This is one of those cases where our own actions actually create the enemy we deal with. We all have done something similar through choices we have made which we later regret. God's actions on our part are no different - he has a way of extending grace where it is most needed, but the consequences of our having gone our own way might still be there to "haunt" us for quite some time. Rash, poorly planned decisions cost us, but God is in the business of restoring even what becomes our greatest nightmare. God may not have desired the results we reaped through our decisions, but he certainly has a way of restoring what we cannot "undo" on our own!

The point God makes is that we are not to "deal with" our enemies - HE is. We are not to relish their downfall - but remember them in prayer. We are not to return negative with negative - but to bless them. The only way we will ever do this is when we hold tightly to God's hands and allow him to walk us through it. He may not deal with our enemies as we "think" he should but trust me - God always deals with them in a way which is right, just, and in just the right timing. We have to stand on that and trust he knows best - even when we think they are getting off "too light". We will need mercy more times than we can count. When we behave poorly, do we want God being quick to extend mercy, or to bring swift judgment? Just askin!

Embrace with Grace

As long as we live among other human beings on this earth, people will do things which just give us more than a little trouble.  It is part of living and dealing with other humans - we are not all going to see things exactly the same way all of the time, not matter how closely we resemble each other, so there will be conflict.  Something I say or do will eventually cause you to get a little ruffled - it is part of us both being human.  This "revelation" changed my perspective on how it is I deal with people in my life.  You see, I can choose to focus on what they are doing which gives me concern, or I can choose to focus on the fact they are another human being Christ loved enough to die for, therefore I am being a little too self-centered if I only see the "issue" they are creating and not the person behind the issue.  When we focus on the issue, we lose sight of the person.

Forget about the wrong things people do to you. Don’t try to get even. Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:8 ERV)

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies. Pray for those who treat you badly.  (Matthew 5:43-44 ERV)

Words penned so many years ago, given in the time Moses was leading the people of Israel through the wilderness into the Promised Land of Canaan were again reiterated as Christ walked this earth.  Why?  They not only bear repeating, they bear "re-living".  They are "solid" theology!  We may not go into all out warfare with another who we don't see eye-to-eye with, but we do and say some pretty silly things at times.  We respond to them in ways we wouldn't want them to respond to us, but we don't seem to realize how important our actions are.  As I was considering these passages this morning, I recalled the other passage sometimes referred to as "The Golden Rule" - the one which reminds us to treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves.

So, in looking at these passages, a couple of things really struck me as good "relationship principles" which we can probably all learn from:

- People will treat us badly - we can count on it.  Not everyone in this life will be as "in tune" with what they say or do as we think they should be.  On occasion, they will blurt out dumb stuff and it will hurt us.  At other times, they will not connect-the-dots and will blunder into things they could have taken a few "hints" from us about and avoided.  It is just part of being human and unique individuals at the same time.  We don't all see things exactly the same, nor do we respond to situations in the same manner.  These differences will create friction on occasion and we need to be prepared ahead of time with how to deal with them when they do!

- Getting even is just not the wisest of responses to someone else treating us poorly or being insensitive to our needs or wants.  It might very well be a "justifiable" response to some of the silly stuff people do on occasion, but it isn't the response God want or expects from his kids.  In fact, he asks us to embrace them - not to push them further away.  When God asks us to pray for our enemies and not be heck-bent on getting even, he is reminding us of the importance of embracing them with grace.  Grace allows us to not focus on the issue, but see the person behind the issue.

- We are to neglect the taking up of the argument.  This is what is meant by forgetting about the wrong things people do to us.  Many an argument would have been avoided in my own life if I could have just neglected the intense desire to "take the bait".  I daresay this is one of the challenges we all face - bait is bait and we are sometimes like "dumb animals" who wander into the trap kind of focused more on the bait than the signs it is a trap!  Words have a way of "baiting us into" arguments.  They are out there, kind of taunting us.  We can either choose to latch onto them and begin the fight of our lives as we are being reeled in, or we can ignore the bait and avoid the hook!

We don't have much say over what another says or does, but we do have the control over what we do with what they say or do.  The choice is ours - but I hope we will choose to live at peace with them, embracing them in grace until we love them so much they just don't say or do it anymore!  Just sayin!

Another word picture

Do you ever come across those sayings in the Bible that you just cannot figure out?  In one sense, you look at what is said, thinking it might mean one thing, but in the time it was written it meant something entirely different. We aren't sheep herders by trade in the Middle East living about 2,000-3,000 years ago, so some of the practices and things said about shepherds just don't make a whole lot of sense.  We think the term, "...the sheep know his voice..." is referring to some form of obedience on the part of Christ's followers.  In one sense, it could imply this, but in reality, the shepherd would take the newborn lamb, sling it across his shoulders, carrying it there for a period of time until it got used to his voice.  Then he'd set it down to walk with the rest of the sheep.  In those days, they didn't herd sheep with horses and lots of sheep dogs.  They simply called for the sheep, and because they knew the shepherds tone of voice, they followed.  A little different meaning when you understand the background, right?  The knowledge of "word pictures" and their symbolism is important to help us interpret passages of scripture correctly.

If your enemies are hungry, give them something to eat.  And if they are thirsty, give them something to drink.  This will be the same as piling burning coals on their heads.  And the Lord will reward you.  (Proverbs 25:21-22 CEV)

Today's "word picture" is that of giving our enemies food and drink to satisfy their hunger and thirst.  Not top of my list in how I would want to treat an enemy.  We are told to consider their needs and then to meet them. It becomes apparent that God is reminding us to not hold grudges, to rise above the circumstances, and to trust him with the work of retaliation (if there is to be any at all).  Then we come to this word picture of "piling burning coals on their heads" and we are back to trying to figure out what is really being said here because piling hot coals on someone's head actually could burn them! God has just told us to treat our enemies in an "uncommon" manner - by feeding them and giving them drink - meeting their needs.  Now he wants us to pile hot coals on their head?  What's up with that?

In the times this was written, a man's fire was everything.  It was what gave his home light, warmed the chilly rock and clay walls at night, and provided a means to cook his food.  Without the fire, the home would be in danger of having their basic needs neglected.  In asking us to pile burning coals on their heads, God was asking us to be sensitive to the basic needs of our enemies, returning their lack of kindness with the most basic of kindnesses.  Food, drink, and a means to provide what was needed for their household.  In the times of yesteryear, the people would have large, thick ceramic bowls which would fit nicely on their heads.  They could go to one neighbor, procure some of the hot coals from their fire, and restart their own by bringing back a bowl of those coals.  This word picture is just another way of reminding us to care for our enemies as though they were our closest friends.

Why?  I think God knows how much this "kind" treatment will baffle our enemies.  You see, our enemies expect us to return an unkindness with bitterness, hurtfulness, and even anger.  They do not expect us to return their plethora of unkindness with kindnesses due to a close friend!  In turn, they not only cannot figure us out, but they get a little convicted by the return of kindness.  Our kindness is like a two-edged sword:  It keeps us from developing unwholesome thoughts and attitudes toward our enemies; and it baffles the hearts of those who seek to do us wrong.  When God tells us to feed, provide drink, and give hot coals to our enemies, he is actually telling us to take up a "weapon" in our arsenal of love which will bring our enemies face-to-face with God's grace in action!  Who knew!

Now, lest you think I have this all figured out and get this down perfectly each time someone does something to me which is hurtful and unkind, I don't!  I am still learning this whole process, as well.  We are in this boat together, my friends.  I don't think this is the easiest principle to learn - because retaliation is much easier!  As humans, we drift to the easiest first!  Then God has to undo what we have done!   Whenever we respond as God is asking, he doesn't have any "undoing" to do on our part - in fact, he can "do again" what we have done in kindness and baffle our enemies even more!  So, as we are learning this "kindness for unkindness" life lesson, just know this - our enemies are going to be more confused by our kindness than our anger; more "offset" by our giving spirit than our retaliation; and more inclined to wonder about this thing called grace than in finding more ways to hurt us!  Kindness shuts down their unkindness - maybe not the first time, but when it is repeated time and time again, they have to walk away in defeat.  They did not accomplish what they set out to accomplish - for blessing was not what they wanted to accomplish!  Just sayin!

Got any enemies?

Ever wonder how to get your enemies to settle down and live at peace with you?  I have and in fact, I have jumped through many a hoop I thought would "settle the pack", but in fact did nothing more than just entertain them - giving them more to poke fun at.  During a particularly challenging season in my life in my career, I learned something though.  In the darkness of that season, lasting about half a year, I was daily challenged as a leader, criticized for decisions made, and even received threatening and demeaning letters of accusation, some bordering on threats.  The times were challenging and I came close to throwing in the towel several times, almost thinking walking away was the best means to an end.  Yet, in the darkness of the hour, I learned something which I have held onto - my reputation may be criticized, torn apart, and even drug through the mud, but my "life" could not be challenged. Why?  Simply put - I chose to live my life in a manner pleasing to God - trusting my life would speak louder than any words in my defense.  The most profound defense I could muster would not compare with a life lived in alignment with God's Word, under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, and continually worshipful in his presence.  

When people’s lives please the Lord, even their enemies are at peace with them.  (Proverbs 16:7 NLT)

What had I learned in that season of testing?  

First, and probably foremost, I learned to not "manage" my own reputation, but allow God to manage it for me.  A life lived in alignment with his principles and committed to modeling the behaviors of a child of God was all I could muster some days - it was challenging enough in the face of such opposition, but absolutely necessary in order to not give up.  As long as my life was managed by him, my reputation was also in his control - regardless of what others might be saying or how they might be trying to mar it. Remember this - live for ONE and all the other voices you hear will not really matter in the long run.  ONE voice is strongest - ONE hand holds you the closest.  You don't "manage" your life - HE does.  You don't "manage" your reputation - it is made when you allow HIS life to be lived through you.

Second, the toughest battle was with my mind.  What I chose to focus on the most became key to how I handled the hurled accusations and demeaning criticisms.  It wasn't that "I" was strong, it was that "HE" was strong through me - to filter out those things which were untrue and to embrace those which were.  Even our worst enemies speak words of truth sometimes in their accusations and criticisms - so when I focused on Christ first, those words filtered through him - pointing out the truths right along with the untruths. Those things I could "own up to" and allow God to correct, I did.  Those things which I could not, I let go.  In choosing to focus on God's Spirit within to filter through those thoughts before they took root in my mind, I was ensuring an accurate "picture" of how things really were.

Third, peace is a matter of perspective, not a result of the circumstances you are in at the moment.  Although the circumstances create havoc and seem to disturb what some may view as "peace", peace is a determination of heart, mind, will, and emotions - get those in right alignment and others have less opportunity to disturb your peace.  Outwardly all kinds of unkind things were happening.  Inwardly all kinds of peaceful things were occurring.  Why? The determination of heart, mind, will and emotions to allow God to maintain my perspective - not me!  We get things all "balled up" whenever we try to maintain perspective alone - because emotions get involved, playing on our mind, impacting our will, and driving our heart.

Last, enemies are not always "made" - sometimes they just "are".  That might sound a little silly to begin with, but hear me out.  We cannot "make" anyone act a certain way - they choose to on their own.  Our actions may influence their decisions to act a certain way, but it is entirely their choice to act!  All we control is our actions - theirs are simply not under our control.  When we keep our focus right, we are not responsible for the actions of another - our lives are not to be fluctuating to match the perspective of our enemies.  We are to remain consistent and allow God to deal with their perspective.  Only he can turn their heads and hearts - not us!  Just sayin!

Bringing out the best

 "To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person."

(Luke 6:27 The Message)

Okay, am I really alone here, or do others have a hard time really praying for their enemies?  That whole thing about loving your enemies is a kind of ethereal idea to most of us.  As a matter of fact, it is the furthest thing from our minds when we feel them breathing down our throats, giving us a hard time, or gossiping behind our backs!  But....

God's Word is explicitly clear - if we are ready to hear the truth, that is.  Love 'em!  In other words, be merciful just as our heavenly Father is merciful.  One of the reasons we find it so hard to "love 'em" is because they just aren't all that lovable!  Face it, the idea of loving our enemies, praying for them, and even giving them the shirt off our back is kind of repulsive considering how they act toward us!

Why does God even bring this up in the Word?  Why did Jesus find it so important to model this principle while here on this earth?  I think he was trying to live out an object lesson for us.  The truth is that we were enemies of God, alienated from him by our sin, when he chose to love us!  The main thing we are asked to do when we are asked to love our enemies is to lay down "self" - with all its righteous demands to be treated with dignity, honored for doing good, etc.  Honestly, that is hard because we are dealing with what we feel are our "rights" here.

Yet, Jesus did just that - laying down his "right" to be treated with dignity, honored for the tremendous good he was doing.  He saw beyond his "right" to be honored because of his deity and took on the form of human man.  He looked beyond his "right" to be treated well because of his tremendous good deeds (healing the sick, setting the captive free).  He looked beyond "self" in order to see US!

That is what God is asking of us - to look beyond ourselves long enough to see others around us.  We may not be "tickled pink" by what we see, but if we really look hard enough, we will find that God will put that enemy as a burden on our hearts instead of a drain on our energies!  The instruction is that God will allow them to bring out the best in us, if we are willing to have that occur.  

How can our enemies bring out the best in us?  Well, we could unpack that for days, but here are just a few ideas for you to ponder:

- By focusing on their needs, instead of our "rights", we are showing them that they matter to us and to God.  Our enemies don't have the guts to outdo the love of God manifest in our lives.  They will find it impossible to return good when faced with evil - but they will be challenged by what they see us doing when we do!

- By allowing them to see Jesus in us, his unconditional love and his merciful forgiveness, we are pointing them to the grace of God.  It is much easier for us to desire what we see that somebody else is truly enjoying.  When others see that the grace of God is operational and truly enjoyed in your life, there is a hint of desire planted deep within their hearts for that same enjoyment of such unconditional love and mercy.

- By showing them that you will invest in them what they probably do not "deserve", you are pointing them to the cross of Christ in incremental measures.  That is what grace does - it motivates the heart to share what others cannot experience apart from Christ.  Our "rights" can take backseat to grace if we will allow that grace to bubble to the surface often enough.

- By loving even when we are not loved in return, we are showing the love of God for a world that had no desire to embrace him.  It is a common thing to do good to those that treat you well, embrace you warmly, etc.  It is an uncommon thing to embrace those who would stab you in the back, or leave you hanging on a tree!  

It may not be easy, and I daresay that I struggle with this, as well.  Yet, in learning to lay down our "rights" to be honored, treated well, etc., we are really learning to love as God loves.  In turn, we usually are rewarded with much more than we'd ever enjoy by simply sticking with what we feel we have a "right" to in the first place!  

God's rewards are ALWAYS better than anything we could possibly imagine.  The command to us is to let our enemies bring out the best in us.  My prayer for us today is that God will show us exactly how to do that in those troubling relationships we each have.  I don't know exactly how we will do it, but God does, so I will trust him to reveal how to embrace our enemies as he embraces us!

God's Dependable Love

^16-17 And me? I'm singing your prowess, shouting at cockcrow your largesse,
   For you've been a safe place for me, a good place to hide.  Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you—God, my dependable love.

(Psalm 59:16-17)

Understanding the background of this Psalm might help us understand these words even more clearly.  David, as King of Israel, was in heated battle with the Edomites in the Valley of Salt.  The Edomites were descendants of Esau, one of the sons of Jacob.  Esau is probably best known as the son who sold his birthright for a pot of stew (Genesis 25).  As the firstborn of Jacob, he had the full right to the inheritance of his father (a double portion).  In a time of weakness, hungry and weary, he "sold out" to his twin brother.  

Esau's family became a band of nomadic raiders settling in the region just south of the Dead Sea - the land that Israel would realistically pass through on their way to Canaan as they existed Egypt.  Edom is recorded in Scripture as the people that would not allow the passage of Israel through their land, causing them to detour around Edom on their journey.  King Saul mounted a huge attack against Edom during his reign and 40 years later, King David, along with Joab, his General of the Armies, destroys 10,000 of the military men of Edom.  

This huge battle is what is celebrated in this Psalm.  David cries out:  I am singing of your prowess, shouting of your largesse!  He is overcome with the protection of his God and the safety he has enjoyed in the battle - a battle that could have easily overrun his troops and caused huge casualties to his kingdom.  

To David, God has been a safe place to hide - a good place for him to find refuge.  Some might think that David is a little cowardly by these words, but in fact, these are words that describe the condition of his heart.  He faced his fears in the midst of battles that seemed insurmountable by placing them in the hands of his great God.  When David brings his fears to God, he stands back and watches as God repeatedly intervenes in ways that would have been impossible through natural skill or military might.

I know that we probably don't face huge armies today, wielding all kinds of weaponry, preparing to charge at us with all their military might (although some reading this might be in service to our country, facing just this type of an enemy).  We DO face "armies" of forces just waiting to see our destruction.  Those forces are the armies doubt, bitterness, deception, lust, pride, etc.  Enemies that stand against us, filling us with fear and unbelief.  To us, they seem insurmountable.  To God, they are grains of sand - irritating, but totally removable!

Maybe you find yourself in the place today where you could say, "I have been trying to do this all on my own, God!  I have been trying to figure a way out of this bondage, but am just not getting it!"  If that is the case, you have an opportunity today to take your inabilities to God - then stand back and watch what he does with the heart that yields to his plans.  Most of the battle is not in the "sin", but in the laying down of our will.  When we finally lay down our will, step back and begin to watch, God begins to move.

I am praying for you today - to be able to lay down what you have been holding onto so tightly; to be able to take a step back; and to have your eyes opened to how God will move once you do.  As your eyes are opened to God's graces refilling you with his peace, setting you free from your resentments, taking you to new heights in his love, I am confident you will sing out with David:  I am singing of your prowess; I can always count on you, my God!