Beast of Burden?

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden. 

(Corrie Ten Boom)

Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)

There are far too many burdens being carried by people today that they were never created to carry. Some are of our own making, while others are really cast upon us because someone in our life didn't do what they were supposed to, leaving us to bear something we never thought we'd be carrying. A new year is a great time to consider what it is we have been 'carrying' that perhaps wasn't intended for us to carry. God's plan from the beginning was that every 'burden' was to be 'unloaded' at the feet of Jesus - nothing being too hard for him.

What happens when we carry a burden? We all know they can make us tire easily and even make our mental capacity a little too 'crammed full' for our liking. What we may not realize is how the burden we are carrying, even the ones we know are our responsibility, is that they actually change the way we 'walk'. Consider the beast of burden known as the mule - created solely to carry burdens but doing it a bit too grudgingly at times. We've all likely seen or heard of the mule that becomes too 'dug in' that the one asking for it to move forward has a struggle on their hands. I wonder if God is asking any of us to move forward today, but the burden we are carrying is making us 'dig in deeper' in our stubbornness, refusing to move at all?

Even the beast of burden doesn't carry the burden forever. At some point, it is unloaded, perhaps to be 'reloaded' again with a new burden, but it has a period of rest from burdens. God doesn't want us to be burdened, unloaded and burdened again. He wants us to be 'unloaded' once and for all. The responsibilities we consider to be burdens in our life may just feel like a burden because we have become so accustomed to bearing up under something we weren't supposed to bear ourselves! For example, parenting may be a burden right now, but what other burdens are we carrying that are actually making us feel that way? Sometimes we need to unload at the feet of Jesus and feel what it is like to be burden-free again. Then the things we know are our responsibilities may just feel a little less like a burden and a whole lot more like a blessing. Just sayin!

Bridging the Gap

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. (Ephesians 1:7-10)

A "direct reason" for something occurring - we need to know this, don't we? In fact, if we were to look at the origin of the word 'because', we find it stems from the term "by cause". "Because" sets out the reason for something occurring - some action happening. "Therefore" refers to some set of facts already established acting as the reason we can move to the next thought or action. These words are rich in meaning, as they give us a point of reference for the "reason" we can believe or act upon what it is we are reading. It would be so much easier for God to say it is "because I said so" - but do we really "get" it? Not usually. We don't understand the "why" yet and we are creatures who need to know the "why"! We need the dots connected - it helps us take steps when we see one action leading to another.

We are declared "free" in many different ways. We are free from condemnation, guilt, our sin, the penalty for our sin, our past, and even the limits of our inabilities. Why is it we live so far "below" our level of freedom? We haven't really thought of the "because" by which our freedom became a reality and how reliable that "because" really is! Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah - blood poured out on the altar of the Cross - we are free people. The "why" behind our freedom - the blood of Christ, shed on our behalf, applied to the Cross at Calvary - the purchase of our freedom from sin and the penalty for that sin. It was by the blood of Christ that our understanding of God's grace was opened - it was the blood that made a way possible for us to share in this understanding.

Adam and Eve only saw the two trees - one of life, the other of good and evil. Which do you imagine Satan wanted them to taste of first? If they tasted of the one called "life" - do you think they'd have been inclined to experience good and evil? Not likely! He presented them with the one that would open their eyes to experimenting with good and evil - knowing full well God would not allow them to experience eternal life without a means of restoring them to their innocence! Freedom was totally compromised that day in the garden - freedom was returned to us that day on Calvary. Freedom was the farthest thing from our reach without the intervention of the Cross. Once the Cross provided the "bridge" for our freedom, we were free to cross over and taste of the tree of life. What we could not experience without the Cross was provided free of charge, unearned by any of our own effort. 

If we could see luscious trees full of ripe fruit on the other side of a ravine, hunger deeply set into the fabric of our being, all while we stand in the barrenness of desert land, would we be prone to use the bridge provided to cross over to the other side? Probably so! Why? It makes sense, it satisfies a need, and we'd be considered silly if we just ignored what was right in front of us. So many of us live in the barrenness of the desert rather than using the bridge provided to cross over to the fullness available in Christ Jesus. It isn't because we are comfortable in our present state - but BECAUSE we haven't trusted the bridge provided for US!

Some of us hesitate to fully cross the bridge between past (bondage) and present (freedom). We are stuck in our ways - settling instead for the barrenness of the desert. We don't make the connection with what God has provided and what it is we so desperately need. BECAUSE you have been born with a sin nature, you need a means by which to "bridge" the gap between your sinfulness and God's righteousness. BECAUSE you have no means by which to bridge this gap yourself, God has provided completely free of charge a means by which the gap can be closed - Jesus. BECAUSE of every action Christ took on our behalf, the way has been provided for our total freedom. BECAUSE of his provision, we are declared free. BECAUSE we take the bridge provided, we ARE free! You and I ARE free - not just walking toward freedom, but totally and completely free. What God has declared to be free is free indeed. Isn't it silly to stay in the barrenness of our bondage when we have been granted so much in Christ Jesus? Just asking!

You are beautiful - inside and out

Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God.... (I Peter 3:3-5)

I might just burst your bubble today - that new hairstyle is nice, but your real beauty comes from within. The more 'beauty' your heart develops, the greater the true beauty within your life will begin to shine forth. This type of 'beauty' is only possible for those who have said a resounding 'yes' to Jesus' authority in their lives - not a casual acquaintance with him, but a deeply committed relationship with him. Some have used this passage to say we should not wear make-up, dye our hair, or adorn ourselves with jewelry, but this was not the meaning. The goal of these verses is summed up in the beginning of verse 5: They put their trust in Jesus. This is the only thing that will produce lasting beauty when all the other forms of 'adornment' begin to fade. A gentle and quiet spirit is not the byproduct of anything this world has to offer us. It is the byproduct of spending time with Jesus. The beauty produced in just a few dedicated moments with him in the quiet of your day can surpass all the masking of any beauty product, tuck, or peel you can find on this earth. We search for beauty in various places, but it is found at the foot of the cross. The moments we spend with him each day begin to soften our hearts - clarify our minds - and settle our emotions. Nothing produces such a beautiful 'adornment' as these three!

Was does it mean to put our trust in God? It means we stop trusting in the things 'we' can do for ourselves, and we begin to trust in the things God has already done for us. I had to see how the dictionary actually defined beauty and this was the first definition I found: the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest). That part about a 'meaningful design' caught my attention. Why? I think God has given each of us a 'meaningful design' that only he can create and complete within us. That 'design' doesn't come together by casual encounter, but by consistent contact and submission to the one who loves us so much. Our 'design' is realized at the cross - it is completed with each contact we have with the one who makes all of life 'meaningful' - Jesus. So, get your true beauty on today by taking the best of your day and spending it with him. Your heart, mind, and will will be transformed so that the highest spiritual, mental, and physical qualities are manifest. Just sayin!

Be an eagle, not a chicken

I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone. Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense and fortress. Why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come? (Psalm 62:1-2)

Joyce Meyer says, "The eagle has no fear of adversity. We need to be like the eagle and have a fearless spirit of a conqueror." As you might imagine, standing 'silently' in the midst of situations where you can be pretty apprehensive or that evoke the 'fight or flight' response is doggone hard. While fear has a 'paralyzing' effect in most of us, we experience and immediate 'ramping up' of all those stress hormones that make us ready to bolt. Adversity comes our way, and we just don't know what to do with it. Is that really true? Don't we know we are supposed to take it to the Lord and allow him to show us how it is to be dealt with? Yes, we 'know' that, but do we actually believe it and stand firm in it when that adversity is 'tap, tap, tapping' at the door of our hearts and minds?

Tense with fear - that pretty much describes what those stress hormones manage to do to us just about every time we face something we are unfamiliar with, or that presents a challenge bigger than we think we can handle. The mind and body go into overdrive to convince us we are about to be eaten alive! The eagle has no fear of adversity - what do you think that means? Eagles are pretty much known to be the 'king' of birds everywhere. Throughout scripture, they symbolize strength, power, and authority. As an American, I know the eagle symbolizes freedom. Soaring high above the earth, they are majestic and mighty.

The eagle faces adversity after adversity and overcomes. The eagle doesn't hide from the storm - it uses the power of the wind to soar even higher and higher until it is gliding on the current of the storm. When storms come our way, do we soar or hide? As the eagle climbs to higher and higher heights, his body is growing stronger and stronger as he tears through the adversity of the storm. Eagles nest high up in the crags of the cliffs - high above threats and worries. Their nests are sturdy and sheltering. They have excellent vision - what we see as clear at 5 feet, they can see as clearly at 20 feet! Their vision is focused and intent - something that gives the advantage.

Be like an eagle and soar. See clearly when others only see things as a little 'blurry' or 'out of focus'. Be safe above all the hubbub of the day - you are 'nested' well in the crag of the rock of the Lord God himself. Just sayin!

A little game of hide & seek

No one can hide where I cannot see him,” says the Lord. “I fill all of heaven and earth,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:24)

As a young child, I used to play 'hide & seek' with neighborhood friends. It was a grand game because we lived in a neighborhood comprised of huge trees, fenced yards, grandiose rose gardens, and a shed or chicken coop in every back yard! In case you didn't catch my drift there, what made it a spectacular game is that there were innumerable ways to hide. To deal with the tendency of one to go the extra mile to hide out so they wouldn't be found, we'd set some limits like not climbing trees or venturing further away from the starting spot more than one house's distance. That meant there may be four yards to be searched, but there were times we'd say no one could leave the yard of the home where the game was being played. What we did by 'limiting' it to one home's yard was limit the hiding places and save whoever was 'it' from having to run hither and yon to find each of us. We still found great hiding places, but with all those limits on where we could hide, we were usually 'found out' in rather short order. 

There are innumerable ways to attempt to hide from God, but all of those ways are really not very effective, are they? The more we give of ourselves to God, the more we find our 'hiding places' shrinking - making it harder and harder to 'hide' from God. We still try, don't we? We find ourselves 'playing games' with him, hoping we won't have our sin discovered. In the end, we find the boundaries get smaller, the hiding places become less and less effective, and he already knows the best ones we have created! It is impossible to find a way to 'hide' from God what he already knows, but we try. The more we 'try', the worse we feel. The worse we feel, the harder we try to hunker down, so we won't 'get caught'. This life with God isn't a typical childhood 'hide & seek' game - it is a 'come to me and be free' game. In the childhood game, we waited until we thought the coast was clear, then we ran like mad to whatever we had designated as 'home' and hoped we'd make it there before whoever was seeking us would get there! We were free when we made it to home base. God's plan is that we realize that when we 'expose' ourselves, we don't have to run. We are free because we exposed ourselves to him! Just sayin!

Verified by Grace

Every time I think of you—and I think of you often!—I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There’s no end to what has happened in you—it’s beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives. (I Corinthians 1:4-5)

Free and open access - wouldn't it be nice to have that type of access to everything we need in life? We could just walk into the bank and the manager would be right there to welcome us in, taking care of each of our needs. We could call the city buildings and there would be no phone trees to navigate through, or automated systems to push our buttons! I am so grateful for the free and open access I have to God - through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus! No 'phone trees' or 'buttons to push' - no sense that anyone else matters more than me. How about you? Do you sense this free and open access you have with him? If you have said a grateful 'yes' to Jesus - you have it!

I would like us to focus on the next part of this passage - the 'no end to what has happened to you' part. Think on that one for just a bit and you will likely begin to succumb to the sense of God's grace extended not once, but time and time again until your life began to finally be set right in him. Grace has a way of overwhelming us when we begin to ponder the magnitude of it within our lives. Grace extended to not only forgive our past sins, but to deal with the lingering desires. Grace opened up to us so we could experience the settling peace of his presence within us. Grace that ushers us along, step by step, until we come out of what has had us bound and into what now lets us live free.

Beyond speech - beyond knowledge - this pretty much describes the work of Christ in our lives through grace. Our past is grace. Our present is grace. Our future is grace. Let that sink in a bit - there is no end to this work within us. There is no end to what has and is happening within our lives as Christ's love envelops us and his Spirit creates newness where only death existed. This is why Christianity is not a 'stagnant' or 'one-time' experience. It is a living and breathing existence with and in him. Evidence of his grace-filled work is there - we may not see it at first, but it is! Free in him. Alive in him. Verified by his grace. Let that be your thought today - "I am verified by grace". Just thinkin....

A full resume

Oscar Wilde reminds us: "The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future." If you think of yourself as a saint, you are likely living on some past accomplishment as your sense of 'sainthood'. If you consider yourself as a sinner, you know your past and present can be riddled with some pretty gnarly stuff that you'd like nothing more than to be rid of - in fact, you count on being 'rid of it' through the finished work of Christ on your behalf! You know you have a future because your past and your present are both in his hands and under his care. Wilde also told us 'experience is the name we give our mistakes'. How many of us have a resume full of those? I do! Mistakes galore and more - all lined up, in perfect order, they can be labeled as a great deal of 'experience moments' where I made an unwise choice, followed it up with other unwise actions, and then somehow God brought me out of the muddle of it all and let me call it 'experience'. An experience I would rather not repeat is a better way to describe it!

Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer captive to sin’s demands... When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did. That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God. So, since we’re out from under the old tyranny, does that mean we can live any old way we want? Since we’re free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it’s your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! (Romans 6:6-18)

Old way - not always the best. New way - not always the easiest. In between way - definitely not the best way. I guess we are in a bit of a muddle, huh? We could go on living the old way, but we give up our freedom if we do. We could go on living right smack in the middle - getting the choices right once in a while, but still finding the appeal of the old way of living drawing us back - yo-yo's when it comes to living righteously. We won't be very free there, nor satisfied with the outcomes, but amassing lots and lots of 'experience' additions on our resume of life. I don't need a long resume to impress others - I need a short one! One that says I have been bought out of slavery by the best, taught to live uprightly by the best, and now am making the best choices I can make. Period. 

Freedom that never quits, or your last free act - which sounds more appealing to you? When we are dead to something, we are not connected to a life-source any longer. I recently observed a bunch of dead trees along a patch of land in the depth of the Arizona desert. I wondered as to their 'demise' because they would have likely been the type of drought-hardy trees common to the dessert, but now they were nothing more than overgrown dried up twigs. Some had been cut down, obviously used for some firewood or other thing. Others just stood there all withered, bark gone, weathering in the hot sun. Why did they die? No life source remained - it could have been drought, disease, pestilence - but they were no longer connected to a life source. When we separate - even for a moment - from our life-source in Christ, sin is free to enter in. Where sin enters, death is not far behind.

Offer yourselves to - this suggests we play a very active part in the choice of where we find our life-source, doesn't it? We 'plant ourselves' firmly in the soil that will produce life for all of time, or we allow our roots to take hold in a place much less secure, but giving us the impression life is actually possible. Instead, we find death will soon ensue. Life isn't really possible outside of Christ - we may look like we are living, but true life comes only when we are in a place of absolute and total freedom. Period. Moments of freedom are possible when we try to live one foot in the grave of sin and one foot in the life soil of Christ's salvation, but trust me on this - one cannot live that way for long - sin will eventually suck us into that grave! We will have lots and lots of 'experience' to add to our resume of mistakes, but is that what we want on our resume? Just askin!

Truly experience the ride

Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed with me and the way I’m leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels. This isn’t, you realize, pie in the sky by and by. Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with their own eyes the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:23-24)

I am less likely to get lost if I know where I am going. If I understand what is expected before I set out on a journey, I am less likely to attempt to escape the hardship of the journey than when I am caught totally unaware at some blind turn. I guess Jesus knew that about us - we need some idea of what is ahead if we are to even take the first step. I don't know about you, but if I want to let him lead, I have to do a whole lot of letting go and that isn't always that comfortable. I remember a good friend of the family taking me out on this huge rope swing that was attached way up in a gigantic oak tree. The swing went way out (and I mean way out) over this huge canyon. The drop was gigantic and it was super-scary, but oh so awesome. I remember him telling me to just enjoy the ride. In essence, he was telling me to let him keep me safe as he swung me out there. My body was securely placed between the rope and his - I was safe. Sometimes God does the same thing with us - he asks us to just trust him with what seems like some pretty scary stuff - to let him take the lead. What we do next makes all the difference in how we experience the ride!

What good would it do to get everything we want and then lose it? That is a very good question and perhaps one we should use as a 'check and balance' kind of question from time to time. There are times when we find ourselves swinging out over huge canyons - about to wet ourselves from the fear of it all - but in a brief moment God asks us to just trust. We don't want the scary stuff, but without it we don't realize the good stuff just beyond. As I looked down into the depths of that vast canyon, do you know what I saw? Beauty all around! There was so much to be taken in that my senses were overwhelmed with the beauty of it all, but before I enjoyed the beauty I had to trust the one who was taking me for the ride. We try so hard to get 'everything' - thinking we want this or that - but in the end, what beauty was added in the 'getting'? Our lives are not something to be trifled with - they are a gift from the creator of all things. We twitter away our lives trying to 'get everything we want' in life, only to find the ride revealed nothing of the beauty we hoped for. Why? We led and he did not.

We go through life getting things backwards - trying hard repeatedly instead of letting go, holding onto what God tells us won't get us to the place we desire to experience. We want it all, but we don't want to submit to the methods God uses to give it all to us. I don't know about you, but this struggle is real in my life. I want God's best, but I used to think I had to get it by my own efforts somehow. The moment I realized he was telling me to just get securely between him and the rope, the ride would be much more enjoyable. He'd have the control and I would enjoy the outcome. I don't who else needs to hear this today, but hear it clearly - we can TRY all we want, but if we ever want to see something DONE then we need to trust the one who has already done it! Just sayin!

Whose are you?

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. (Ephesians 1:7)

Abundantly free - how many of us live as though we were set free and now live free? Most of us struggle with some form of guilt (because we did something wrong) or shame (because we believe we are bad because we have done wrong). Guilt is meant to drive us to a place of repentance; shame just keeps us believing we will never 'measure up' and will always be lacking in some way. Either way, we are likely not living free if we are given to constant feelings of guilt and shame. We are never going to prove our worth in our own efforts. We cannot do all things - reinforcing our shame that we will never 'be enough'. 

We have all sinned - we are all inadequate in and of ourselves. Our 'misdeeds' have both penalties and punishments 'chalked up' as 'demerits' on our chalkboard of score-keeping throughout our lives. We only see the chalk marks - God only sees the blood of Christ that permanently erased the marks. We believe the lie we are not valuable - because we have sin in our lives. We live within the lie - outwardly we live as free, but inwardly we are enslaved to our sense of shame - disgusted by our sinful deeds. To move beyond shame, we need to stop looking ourselves and start looking squarely at Jesus. When we change that focus, we stop seeing our misdeeds as 'demerits' on the board and we see the blood of Jesus that erased them all.

He thought of everything - provided for everything we could possibly need - including our release from the shame we have embraced because of our misdeeds. Shame is part of our identity - we take on the misdeed as something that defines us. Guilt tells us to go to Christ and confess the misdeed, but shame holds onto the misdeed as part of who we are at the core of our being. The truth is quite the opposite - for our identity is defined by whose we are - Christ's first love. Our identity is based in another, not in our actions. Christ reminds us we will never fix the problems of our lives - they were already fixed to the cross by the nails that bound him there on our behalf.

We don't live 'barely free' - we live 'abundantly free'. How? In Christ we are new creations - our identity is changed at the very core. The misdeed's guilt is taken away - the identity we now associate with is HIS identity within us. Stop focusing on the old identity of the sinful man or woman we have been and begin to see the new identity we live within because we have given ourselves to Christ Jesus as his first love. Healing from our shame is only possible as we move from focusing on who we are and what we did; focusing on who he is and what he did. His 'doing' sets us 'abundantly free' - his 'being' sets us 'abundantly free' from our past identity. Just sayin!

The Great Beyond

The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling, a scrubby plant in a parched field. There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried— our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost. We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong, on him, on him. (Isaiah 53:3-4)

If you have ever thought all the 'things wrong with you' are a bit much for anyone to actually love or 'handle', think again. Christ actually took all our disfigurements and ALL the things wrong with us upon himself - carrying those pains to the cross. He took the punishment that made us whole. Think about the intensity of that love for a moment. Nothing he deserved, but everything he did just because his heart loves us so very much. 

Our disfigurements - most of us think of these as the things that 'scar' our lives. Why do scars occur? Isn't because there has been some injury that resulted in the scar. I have lots of physical scars, but far more emotional scars than I'd like to count. Did you realize a disfigurement is also any manner in which our life has been 'malformed' over time? The things that misshape our lives are numerous, but none of them has to create a 'permanent' malformation. 

I have trees in the rear of my house that have been 'malformed' by the winds - some almost twisted beyond what we imagine could support the weight of that great tree any longer. Yet, they stand. Why? They are rooted and their 'malformation' doesn't matter when they are rooted. They continue to grow beyond their 'malformed' parts. Christ doesn't just help us grow in our malformed way - helps us grow beyond our malformation - actually taking that malformed condition of our hearts and minds upon himself and replacing them with what will helps us grow strong BEYOND that malformed part of our lives.

All the things wrong with us - none of us has probably finished counting those things yet, have we? What's wrong in your life? Is it easily identified, or elusively hidden in the recesses of your heart and mind? Regardless of how easily it is identified, Christ bore all those wrongs upon his heart as he went to the cross. He didn't cast them down, trying to be free of them, but rather 'bore up' under their weight until the work of you and I being free of them was accomplished. 

Our mind and heart can be free of those wrongs, but there is nothing worse that Satan could imagine possible for us. His desire is for us to continue to believe there is no freedom from our disfigurements - malformations of character. His tactic is to continue to fuel the fire of our doubts and fears so that our minds and hearts will continue to see nothing more than the wrongs we have committed and believe there is no way of escape. BEYOND the malformation - this is where Christ made a way for us to live - not WITHIN those malformed parts of our character.

How about it - do you want to live BEYOND those malformed areas of your character? Malformed by the wrong choices you have made - memories fueled over and over until the remembrance of those bad choices about crush you with their intensity. It is time to live BEYOND them - time to let the finished work of the cross have the last say over those memories. Give them to Christ - he already owns them because he already carried them on his heart all the way to the cross and the grave. He arose so we could live BEYOND, not WITHIN. Just sayin!

In and Under Authority, but Absolutely Free

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. (Galatians 5:22-23)

I have run into people over the years that ask why I chose to follow Christ. They aren't asking because they are curious so much, but because their 'view' of being a 'Christ-follower' means I must be a total 'rule follower'. As such, I must not have a very interesting life because I am 'limited' in what I can do, where I can go, who I can hang around with, and when I can do it. While I like having the 'boundaries' rules establish for my life, do I ever cross those lines? You can rest assured, I am not the best 'rule follower', but I do love Jesus with my whole heart. Do I struggle with the rules at times - yes, and so do you! When we choose to live God's way, we are making a choice to live in a way that reveals a change in the 'ultimate authority' in our lives. We are turning our authority to live as we want over to him. Does he allow us to go fishing on Sunday? Yes, and he even helps us enjoy the day with good weather and perhaps a catch or two. Does he allow us to hang out with others who don't know him like we do? Yes, and he even asks us to be a light in their world. Does he sometimes ask me to refrain from doing something in the timing I'd like to do it in? Yes, but I also know his timing has proven to be much better than mine anyway. So, I am not 'limited' by my choice to follow Jesus - in fact, my life is better than it ever was apart from being in relationship with him!

What happens when we live God's way? A pretty pointed question is posed for us today - because it starts with this change in the 'ultimate authority' over our lives. It is us choosing to allow God to be that authority and I mean a daily, moment-by-moment choosing. We don't make that choice one day back in 1972 when our lives were pretty much falling apart, but we make that choice each and every day to walk under his authority. Yes, there was a day when we felt this exchange of 'leadership' over our lives was necessary, but it is also a daily choice to remain under that leadership. You know what one of the most telling signs of his authority in my life was? The ability to make loyal commitments - no longer feeling like I had nothing to offer in relationship - feeling like I had to 'force myself' upon others to get them to like me. Now, that may seem a little bit awkward to admit, but I actually was a very insecure individual, constantly feeling like I had to impress, stand out, be the class clown, getting attention anyway I could. When God took over the authority of my life, I realized something different going on deep within my emotions. I began to 'settle into' the way God had made me. I began to realize there was no longer any need to be 'insecure' because I was magnificent exactly the way he made me. 

God's way of living is in 'liberty', not bondage. What is competition? Isn't it by its very nature a sense of having to be in 'bondage' to some end goal? It is a contest to come out on top all of the time. If we are always trying to be the king of the hill, we forget what it is like to just be content to be playing the game! I didn't run to compete any longer - I ran because I enjoyed the burst of energy as I made my way down the track. I didn't create works of art because I wanted to be noticed - I created because I had ideas and they needed an outlet of expression. I didn't talk to be noticed - I shared because I genuinely cared to hear another's ideas, too. God's way of living is being free to be exactly who God has created us to be, not some artificial or 'bound' expression of ourselves. God's plan for you and I is that we live free - in him, under his authority, but there is no better place to actually experience total freedom! Just sayin!

Coffin Life is No Life

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. (James Baldwin)

The more we attempt to 'live within' our masks - rather they protect us from things we'd rather not know, or cover over things we already know all too well - those masks aren't really going to do their job very well in the end. Some people use their careers as the 'mask they live within' - useless busywork that seems to really be getting them nowhere in the end. Others will use their humor as the 'mask they live within' - seeing sarcasm and pointing out the foolishness of others as a way of taking the eyes off of themselves. We can become masters of 'living within' our masks if we allow ourselves to escape into those things. Yes, you read that correctly - we 'allow ourselves' to escape the reality of life by 'living within' some mask we have created. That 'masked place' is really a place of hiding and God asks us to rip off the cover, exposing us to the full light of his grace. The 'full light of his grace' - don't miss that - his light doesn't expose to embarrass, but rather to bring into the full arena of grace's touch.

Don’t waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It’s a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light! So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! (Ephesians 5:11-16)

Love doesn't 'expose' to embarrass, but rather to allow the freedom to be healed, whole, and perfect in the grace of God. Fear places us behind those 'masks' we attempt to 'live within'. Ever try to live perfectly behind a mask? It is almost impossible because there is always something attempting to pull us out of that place of 'artificial comfort' we have created for ourselves. The truth is that our 'artificial comfort' is something that is able to be 'acted upon' in order to bring a level of chaos that will constantly be attempting to disturb that level of comfort we feel within those masks we are attempting to live within. Our comfort is 'acted upon' in attempt to 'steal away' that comfort - creating a place of what becomes a very 'uncomfortable exposure' we neither planned, nor eagerly embrace.

The masks we 'live within' actually become as coffins for us - they securely fasten us in a place where there is a lack of true life. They bury us under what can oftentimes 'cut off our life breath' - so we are isolated, apart from others, under the weight of oppressive feelings and thoughts. The thoughts we are thinking are no longer free to 'live without' the confines of that coffin. God's love actually releases us from the coffin - giving not only life breath again, but the freedom to truly live outside the confines of the mask. Baldwin said it well - we live with a fear that we cannot live without those masks. I believe the moment we choose to be released from the coffin of our chosen self-isolation, God squarely deals with that fear - placing us fully in the place where we can experience fully his love and grace.

We waste a good deal of our lives 'living within the masks' we create to deal with something we fear deeply. The only way for the weight of the 'coffin lid' to be lifted is by the hand of grace - the only way for us to climb out of that coffin is to take hold of that hand. We may never think we can be free of that 'coffin' created by our fears, but we are never free living within that coffin, either! So, what is the harm in trusting God to show us the way out of our fears - the way to live without the mask? Just askin!

A little spring cleaning?

Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be—you get a fresh start, your slate’s wiped clean. Count yourself lucky—God holds nothing against you and you’re holding nothing back from him. When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans. The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up. Then I let it all out; I said, “I’ll come clean about my failures to God.” Suddenly the pressure was gone—my guilt dissolved, my sin disappeared. These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray; when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts we’ll be on high ground, untouched. God’s my island hideaway, keeps danger far from the shore, throws garlands of hosannas around my neck. Let me give you some good advice; I’m looking you in the eye and giving it to you straight: “Don’t be ornery like a horse or mule that needs bit and bridle to stay on track.” God-defiers are always in trouble; God-affirmers find themselves loved every time they turn around. (Psalm 32)

As I grew up, there were times when I backed myself into a few corners - lying to cover up something I did, but didn't want my parents to know I did. You may not have ever felt 'cornered' before, but I can recount one such occasion when I got into my grandma's stash of 'All-Sorts' licorice candy. That may not seem like a big deal to you, but it was one of her favorites so it was not really for my consumption. I was encountered by mom as she returned home, asking why I had been in the candy. She hadn't even stepped into the room where it was kept, nor opened the drawer in the hutch - so how on earth had my 'sin' been discovered? That saying about parents having eyes in the back of their heads took on a whole new meaning that day! She kept asking me over and over again why I had eaten my grandma's candy. I kept maintaining I had not, but somehow she knew I had! I was cornered. Little did I know it didn't take eyes in the back of her head to tell - the smell of licorice on one's breath is a dead give-away - let alone the tell-tale black tongue! I laugh at that now, thinking how ridiculous it was to maintain my 'innocence' when the truth was all so apparent. I wonder how many times we maintain we are 'innocent' when we are clearly in the wrong - just not really feeling like we want to admit our 'wrong-doing' for fear of the consequences?

The good news for all of us is that God doesn't 'back us into a corner' just to make us squirm. He knows our sin is eating away at us - guilt weighing heavily on our hearts - all the while looking for a way of 'escape'. We are the ones that back ourselves into that 'guilt corner', my friends! God is just there to do what any good parent will do - help us find a way out of the corner and back into the good graces of his arms. Mom didn't ground me, nor did she give me extra chores. My 'way out' of the corner was to go to grandma and let her know I had consumed nearly half of her favorite candies. Do you know what grandma did? She hugged me, thanked me for my honesty, and warned me I might not want to be far from the restroom for the next couple of hours! I had no idea what that much licorice would do to a gal!!! God's forgiveness is there - we just get 'cornered' by our sin and we think there is no way out, so we keep attempting to cover up what is so very obvious. Silly us - trying to conceal what is so apparent. We are indeed like the 'ornery horse or mule' that needs the bit and bridle - almost needing to be 'drug out' of the corner in order to realize how liberating the freedom from our sinful shame can be.

Keep sin bottled up inside - allowing that guilt to eat away at you over and over again - inventing one more cover-up to attempt to conceal it and you will find yourself in a truly miserable place. The 'corner' is no place to dwell. What goes to the corners in your rooms? Look closely - there are dust bunnies, gathered tufts of fallen hairs, perhaps even a few dead bugs that found their way into your home. Does light get into the corners very well? Not usually - but when it does, we see all the 'mess' there. The corner is no place for 'good people' to dwell - it is filled with all manner of yucky stuff. Isn't it about time we allowed ourselves a little 'breathing room' from our guilt and shame? We won't find it buried under the dust of our sin - we find it as the corners are swept clean. Just sayin!

Not just barely free

I have to admit - at times I keep score. Not so much in your life, but in mine. I keep score of the things I do that are right steps toward a healthier lifestyle. I keep score of the steps I take in a day by wearing a smart watch. These are pretty 'harmless' things to keep score of in our lives, but when we start to 'keep score' of times we fail to take the right steps, we are doing just the opposite of what Christ does on our behalf. God doesn't 'chalk one up' on our 'account of misdeeds' just because we make a bad choice. We don't earn merits and demerits in some 'heavenly accounting system'. Prayer, going to church, reading our Bible - good actions, but they don't 'even out' the score when we do dumb stuff! In fact, it isn't about evening out any score - it is about all the demerits going away because God only sees the side of us that reflects the 'merits' of Christ!

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. (Ephesians 1:9-10)

The good news we are looking at today is this idea of living more than 'just barely free'. I once read the story of how the circus trained the large elephants to 'stay' where they were supposed to stay. At first, they drove long stakes into the ground and secured the back leg of the elephant to the stake with a length of chain. It allowed the elephant to maneuver just so much, then it would feel the tug to not go any further. In time, the more the elephant got used to the 'distance' they could go while secured to the chain, the less the elephant resisted or pulled against the chain. As time went on, the chains became unnecessary because the elephant learned the 'distance' he was allowed to maneuver and he stayed put.

I kind of look at God's plan for our lives as kind of 'restrictive' at first. As new Christians, we look at all the 'rules' it seems we are supposed to live by - some 'rules' such as go to church, read your Bible, have a 'quiet time' with Jesus every day aren't particularly onerous 'rules' per se, but then there are the ones we struggle with a little bit more that present a little bit of a 'tug' that 'restricts' us somewhat. They kind of rub us the wrong way at first. I could elaborate on a lot of those things people consider God's 'rules', but I will just look at a couple to make this point. 

The 'rule' to turn the other cheek comes to mind - one that is harder to do in the moment when all we want to do is defend ourselves or retaliate. Why are we told to turn the other cheek? It represents the grace of God - when least deserved, totally unearned, grace is given. The 'rule' to 'forgive seventy times seven' is not just designed to 'keep the peace' in relationship. It is exemplary of the unconditional love of God. These are more than 'rules' - at first, they are like the 'chain' that holds the elephant - harder for us than we might like it to be. The more we allow those 'rules' to guide our actions, the less we notice there is even a 'rule' being kept. It becomes our way of life. 

We don't live 'bound' in Christ, even when we find ourselves 'keeping the rules'. We have learned the value of remaining within the 'boundaries' set by those 'rules'. The distance we can go without getting outside of those rules isn't what matters, it is that we remain securely in the place of safety those 'rules' create for us. The elephant doesn't notice he is no longer chained - he just enjoys being safe where he is placed and lives to the fullest right where he stands. Maybe we need to take a lesson from the elephant today - live more than 'just barely free' constantly chafing against the 'rules' - learn to appreciate those rules are just there for our safety and provision. Just sayin!

Through and through

The reality test of discipleship: Living out in your daily life exactly what Jesus tells us. All the world is into the fad of reality shows. At every turn of the day, new ideas for reality shows spring up - everything from being marooned on an island to trudging across country without anything at all to your name, dancing with famous people (whether you have rhythm or not), or making an absolute fool of yourself in the name of entertainment. These shows often push the envelope and exhibit the basest of human nature - it is truly "no hold barred" as far as they are concerned. People eat it up! Why? Perhaps because we are living "posthumously" through those on the screen - not really wanting our life's calamities portrayed for all to see, but associating with the ones we see up on that screen. Maybe we want validation that we are not any worse than others. Regardless the reason, the shows are prospering - they are big business these days. Not all that makes it in 'big business' is really all that refreshing or rewarding, though.

Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. "If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you." Surprised, they said, "But we're descendants of Abraham. We've never been slaves to anyone. How can you say, 'The truth will free you'?" Jesus said, "I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can't come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through. (John 8:31-35)

There is one "reality test" that would never make it to the top reality show ideas, though - the test of walking daily as a disciple of Christ. I imagine some would see this as too "tame" for the widescreen. Still others might see it as too "ordinary" or "mundane". I feel sorry for those who would make that judgment without ever experiencing the reality of the walk. In fact, they'd discover that there is nothing "ordinary" about a walk with Christ. It is challenging at every turn. There is more dedication required in one simple act of obedience than all the challenges of the reality show realm could combine! There is more 'test of the will' in each step of transparent truth about one's self than any journey on these shows. This walk is not for the weak of heart - it requires determination, commitment, and endurance - all the things our hearts have more than a little trouble with. The neat thing is that if we lack any of these, Jesus provides what we need!

The result of discipleship: We will experience the truth. As with the reality show programs, there is an end result - something that is desired as an end result. The disciple of Christ is to be transformed into the image of Christ. There is to be an exchange of nature - resulting in the revelation of Christ through us. Truth is freeing - even when we don't know we are bound! The Pharisees were questioning Jesus about the reality of his ministry when he spoke these words about being free or bound. He was called upon to explain who he was, what he was all about and what he was doing on this earth. In response, he challenges them toward discipleship and reminds them that they need to be free of their bonds of sin. Now, if you know anything about the Pharisees, you probably know that this did not sit well with them!

You see, we don't realize the benefits of the "result" until we have a revelation of the "resistance" put up to keep us from ever realizing those results. Sin is resistance - we are resisting the control of God in our lives, choosing our own way over his. In turn, we get all bound up in sin. At every turn there is "resistance" in our lives. If we experience enough resistance, we often reach out for different "results". Jesus promises the result that really matters - being set free from all that brings resistance into our lives. The reward of discipleship is that the truth will make us free. As with the reality shows of the widescreen, there is a reward to those who choose the path of discipleship. The truth makes us free! If you are struggling with the walk of a disciple today, I challenge you to see that the reality is that you lack nothing to enjoy both the results and rewards of discipleship. Everything you need is revealed in Jesus - he is the truth that will set you free. Just sayin!

Pulling those corset laces tighter?

A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked.  For the Lord God is our sun and our shield.  He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in you. 

(Psalm 84:10-12 NLT)

No good thing goes undiscovered when we are walking in the presence of the Most High God. In fact, whatever we most need is discovered as we lean into his presence and allow his presence to really "get into" us. Yes, God indwells us, but sometimes we forget to really "breathe" - resting in his presence, allowing him to be all we need for the moment. We give lip-service to him being our "all-in-all", but then we act contrary to that lip-service by not being willing to rest in his presence, waiting on his settling influence to help us sort out our next steps.

For just a moment, imagine an old-fashioned corset of yesteryear - one of those lace up jobs that bound a woman in so tightly. The laces would be pulled so tight that it was almost impossible for the individual to take a deep breath. While bound up, the wearer could not bend without stays digging in, constantly reminding the wearer just how "bound" she was. Yes, she looked rather "put together" while wearing such a binding garment, but she wasn't free to actually be her true self because she was always reminded she was "maintaining" an image of what she wasn't truly.

God's presence doesn't act like a corset, my friends. Indeed, his presence is a liberating and entirely freeing thing. There is a freedom of movement in his presence - nothing like that which the "corset of religion" places upon us. Religion places the corset of rules and regulations - God's presence affords the freedom of relationship through grace. There are times we crawl back into the corset, allowing those rules and regulations we think will give us some privilege in his presence to bind us up and keep us from really relating to him. No rule or regulation gives us any greater sense of his presence, or any higher place in his courts of grace. 

There are lots of "corsets" we don in our lives - ranging from the corset of mistrust to that of envy and bitterness. All have an equally binding effect, and all constantly keep us from freely breathing in his presence. They affect our peace and rather than turning to him to have that corset removed once and for all, we sometimes just remove a stay here and there, thinking that will do it for us. Yes, there is some relief, but we are still bound! Until the laces are undone, entirely removed from their hooks, and the corset is removed from around us, we aren't truly free! His desire is for us to experience his presence "corset free" - not bound by any sin, nor restricted by any set of religious rules. Just sayin!

Are you compulsive?

A compulsion is a strong, oftentimes irresistible impulse to perform some particular action often contrary to what you know to be right or justified.  If you don't struggle with any compulsive behaviors EVER in your life, you probably are not normal.  Compulsive behaviors are part of all of humanity - some to higher degrees than others.  There are those who go to the excess - known as obsessive compulsive.  Then there are just those of us who know things are not right for us to be doing, but we just go ahead and do them anyway, despite the inward struggle occurring which is attempting to warn us not to pursue that particular course of action.  Compulsions are "fed" or "denied" - by our response to their "pulling" effect.  When we deny them, we are starving them and hoping they will fade away, giving us no more problems later on.  When we feed them, we often don't know how hard it will be to resist the urge the next time.  Learning how to control our compulsions is important if we are to live freely, animated, and motivated by God's Spirit.

My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?  (Galations 5:16-18 MSG)

Over the past week, I have been spending some time helping us get to know the way our body, soul, and spirit interact together.  It is my hope that we begin to see not everything the body senses is worthy of us acting upon, and that not every emotion can be trusted to steer us straight.  We need the balancing influence of the spirit connected to God's Spirit.  The compulsions of selfishness we all deal with are part of our human nature - our body and soul being the driving forces behind these compulsions.  When we correctly identify the driving force behind our compulsions, we might just find the key to overcoming their "pull".

To live freely requires us being animated by God's Spirit - motivated by something other than our own compulsions.  Truthfully, a compulsion is a motivator - it drives us forward and leads us into action.  We want our actions to be God-directed, not self-directed.  We accomplish this by tuning into the Spirit of God in the realm of our spirit - allowing the decision to act to be filtered through our spirit prior to acting.  Since God's Spirit communes with ours, we have an excellent means of "filtering out" the compulsive actions if we remember to use this filter!

Since we all struggle with compulsions - irrational and irresistible desires - we can also learn from how others have faced those same tendencies and overcome the need to pursue them.  This is the importance of "community" or "family" which scripture speaks so much about.  It is not a formula which works, it is learning how others have found strength in the Word, learned how to apply that Word to their circumstances, etc.  As we share with each other, we learn from the experiences of others.  My daughter loves to shop - finding bargains here and there.  She also loves to give and bless others through her giving.  She had to learn that not every "bargain" is a necessary purchase. When she partnered with her husband, a more "balanced" shopper and a "saver", she learned there were priorities to how their monies were spent. They struck a balance because one was learning from the other - one learned to save, the other learned the beauty of giving.  A perfect balance.

God desires us to live within the freedom we have been given - we just need to learn to use the "tools" we are given which help us to remain free and living totally animated by his Spirit.  We need communion with him, good relationships with others who will hold us accountable, and the time to really get to know the Word.  When we have these tools in hand, we are ready to filter things our body and soul has to deal with through our spirit - allowing the Spirit of God to give us the thumbs up or down as to the action we should take.  Just sayin!

Confined?

Small spaces can be quite confining.  I have learned much about caves, caverns, and the formation of stalagmites and stalactites over the past few years as I have explored several unique and totally amazing caverns and cave systems on recent vacations.  The magnificence and beauty of these spaces buried way underground is truly awe-inspiring.  In those moments of taking in those beautiful displays of crystalline-like beauty, I just wanted to break out in hymns of praise like "How Great Thou Art"!  My "tours" of these caves has been guided because I am not an experiences spelunker, so I restrained myself.  Yet, I did breathe in deeply and just sigh loudly at the amazing beauty of our heavenly Father's creative power - even when it is buried deep within the hidden spaces of this earth.  Being some 200-250 feet below ground didn't even concern me, but there are others who would absolutely freak out if I told them we'd be "going underground" today.  Why? They cannot stand the thought of being in confined spaces.  In those confined spaces of those caves, there was something I realized - we often feel very "confined" in our lives, but it is not the way God wants us to live.  As we returned to ground level again, the openness of what we experience when life is lived "above ground" is absolutely necessary!

I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!  (2 Corinthians 6:11-13 MSG)

"Below ground" we find confined spaces, often providing pressure we don't necessarily see, but it is there nonetheless.  Confined spaces are limited - there is a restriction in what "fits".  There is also a limit on what goes in and what comes out.  When we are feeling "confined", we feel as though we are unable to leave the place we are in - it is as though it has a hold on us.  Truth be told, we live much more "confined" lives than God would want us to live. We just don't bring into the "open" what he declares to be free!  "Above ground" we enjoy the freedom of open spaces and fresh air.  The pressure is different above ground, isn't it?  There is still pressure, but it is not as "confining" because the walls don't seem to hold it in.  Walls confine - remove the walls and what seems so limiting takes on a different light!

What do the caves all have in common?  A lack of light.  Until light is "brought into" the confining spaces of those caves, there is no light - the spaces are dark, dank, and overwhelmingly confining.  As soon as light begins to be brought into those spaces, some of the most confining "feeling" spaces begin to open up into the widest expanses you might discover - but they are still "below ground".  When the light is spent, the spaces return to darkness once again and the impression of impending confinement can return.  Maybe this is why it is so important to God that we allow his light to bring into the open what has been confined "under pressure" deep within each of us.

Wide-open, spacious life - what does that signify to you?  I have been in the city and the country, in the primitive lands and the developed, in the third-world and the modern world.  Having lived in Alaska, I have experienced the "wide-open" and seen the majesty of God's handiwork in the night storms. The landscape seemingly changing overnight.  I think God may just work this way in our lives once in a while - bringing a change of "landscape" into our lives in ways our minds cannot understand or fully take in at the speed it is happening.  We'd go to bed at night, awake seven hours later, and the entire land would just be glistening with the newness of freshly fallen snow. As dawn would break upon the new snow, the tiny crystals would begin to sparkle and gleam under the warmth of the breaking light.

Maybe this is what God does for us in bringing what is "under ground" in our lives out into the openness of his light.  In those caves, I appreciated the glimmer of sparkling crystalline-like formations, but when they were brought to the surface, exposed to the light of day - WOW!  The many facets of their beauty were able to be admired in a new way.  Confined, they had beauty - but exposed in the "above ground" view, they took on majesty and splendor not previously recognized!  Some of us have a tendency to life life in a "small way" - not really aware of God's intention for us to live in a "grand way" as he sets us free from all which confines us.  We need to allow lasting light to bring out the beauty of what he has been creating "under pressure" in the confines of our inner life.

It is only when what has been created "under pressure" is allowed to surface and be exposed to the brilliance of his light that it shines as it should!  Just sayin!

Pushed or pulled?

Hold the high ground - it is the best and most successful position!  Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "If you would lift me up, you must be on higher ground."  He had something there, don't ya think?  For someone to lift another, they have to have a position which allows them to pull, not push another!  Think about it - you can only push or boost another up when you are at a point lower than they are.  If you are at a point higher, you can pull.  To push really means you are putting pressure against - so as to move what seems to be immovable.  To pull means you draw toward - so as to bring closer to where you are.  I think there is something to be said for being pulled, rather than always having to be pushed!

All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you. Friends, stay where you were called to be. God is there. Hold the high ground with him at your side.  (I Corinthians 7:23-24 MSG)

Old habits die hard, don't they?  In fact, we might find they never really "die".  There is some niggling memory of every old habit we might have had - it may no longer have any appeal to us, even seeming a little repulsive to us now, but there is a hint of memory which reminds us of its existence.  Since we have memory of the old, it might just be easier to "slip back" into the old than we realize.  Usually this "slippage" is not on purpose, but rather is because we weren't paying close enough attention to what was going on around us.  This is probably why God cautions us to "consider" our ways.  To consider means we contemplate, meditate upon - in other words, think things through over and over again.  Once he helps us break our ties with the past, he doesn't want us to remunerate the past memories, but to think on the new over and over.  In replacing the old with the new, we break the ties with the old.

There is a danger in receiving counsel without comparing it to the source of all counsel - God himself.  God gives us counsel in his Word on almost every topic you can imagine - those he doesn't speak to plainly, we can usually simply use the principles taught in scripture to know whether the counsel is good or not so worthy of our attention.  There will always be those who give counsel freely - not really considering what their "opinions" will add to the confusion some may experience in their own minds already.  These "opinionated" counselors are doing nothing more than lending confusion to the mix.  As Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he was giving them wisdom - to keep them on the higher ground.  Why?  Slippage is easy - staying in a position where you can lift another is harder, but it is the place of advantage!

Look at his counsel - it is out of old habit we slip back into being what we don't want to be, or doing what all the others are doing.  We stop considering the best and just go with the easiest.  Habit is almost involuntary - it doesn't take much thought.  I think Paul is challenging believers to put thought into their actions - to determine to live on purpose, not by some involuntary motions.  Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do."  So, true!  What is almost more important, and I think what Paul may actually be driving at here, is that what we repeat gets repeated by others.  I affect more than me, you affect more than you.  

I don't often quote Warren Buffett, but he did say something I found quite profound:  "Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken."  Think on this one - too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.  Since Paul is dealing with our ties to the past, he is reminding us of how easy it is to become enslaved again to the things we have been freed from, simply because we don't realize the binding force until it is often too late.  As I opened today, I considered two positions - being pulled and being pushed.  Going back to those two, I want to focus a moment on being pushed.  You see, there was something in the definition which I don't want to gloss over.  The idea of being pushed is related to being immovable.  We have dug in and are content to be where we are.  Sometimes we need a little push, especially when we have become immovable - stalled in some rut.  The tendency to remain in a rut is too great, so we need some pushing at times.  

I think Paul may have been dealing with both those of us who need a little push at times, and those of us with the capacity to do a little pulling, by our example, words, and faith.  If you have found "higher ground" than some, you are in a position to pull - to elevate, to draw toward.  If you are struggling in some rut, you have the capacity to be pushed, but guess what?  Someone has to be behind you to push!  So, even being in a position of being pushed is really being on a little higher ground than another!  Just sayin!