Collision insured

Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. (I John 2:15-17)

I'd like us to consider something today which may be a little "revealing". Where do we feel most "at home"? Stop - really stop for just a moment to really consider this question. Where is it - or with whom or perhaps what - do you feel the most comfortable, able to be the freest, and where or with whom can you really let your hair down? Is it a place? If so, what are the characteristics of this place? Is it quiet, filled with comforting things like a warm rug, cup of coffee and a good book? Is it a person? If so, what is it about this person that actually makes you feel "at home" with them? Being 'at home' carries a different meaning for all of us, doesn't it? One thing in common in all things that make us feel 'at home' or 'at ease' is this concept of love - the lifting to a place of elevated importance in our lives of that thing or place or person.

For a moment, consider "being at home" as coming into your place of residence. You arrive after a day's work, or some venture out into the community to run your errands. What do you do first? For me, I put my purse away, kick of my shoes to allow my feet to breathe, and then make myself even more comfortable by changing out of the clothing I wore to work so that I am now wearing something I can really relax in. Imagine you coming into the house with me right after we both got off work. Would I do the same things? Likely not. Why? Simply because you are a guest in my home - you don't live here. So, I don't change - although I might kick off my shoes! Why is it we act differently when someone else is in our house? Isn't it because we don't have the same level of comfort or "intimacy" with this individual? It it was my BFF who was the one coming home with me, I'd go about my "regular" routine - simply because we have that level of comfort I am speaking about.

My thoughts gravitate to the "comfort" we have in the presence of our Lord - the one we have put in that place of elevated importance in our lives. I wonder if we invite him into our lives only at specific times, really not all that comfortable with him seeing us "as we are", but more as a guest in our home? Truth be told, we might just treat him this way more than we know. If we were really as comfortable in his love as he desires us to be, we would not hesitate to "let our hair down" with him. How many of us struggle to be totally honest with him, fearing he might actually discover something we don't want him to know? Jesus reminded his disciples that day so long ago of a very important point we should not miss this morning. We "make ourselves at home" IN his love or in something we love in this world. It is LOVE place in the right person that makes us "comfortable" to be open and honest. Jesus also says we are "at home" in his love when we are keeping his commands. Jesus actually gave very few "commands" - really two stick out above all the others. They are to love God with our whole heart and to love our neighbors.

Why are we "comfortable" with some places in our lives versus others? It is because they have become familiar to us. We are acquainted with the place because we have a "frequency" of association with the place. Why are we more "comfortable" with some individuals than others? It is because we have a frequency of association with them, as well. How do we get comfortable with the love of God? Isn't it by learning to turn our hearts to God more and more each day - by choosing to elevate him to that place of ultimate importance in our lives? Isn't is also by learning to be embraced by his love? His commands have an "embracing" effect - they don't constrict as much as they "comfort" us. They provide a place of security and safety. When Jesus told his disciples to remain intimately at home in his love, he was not suggesting a casual acquaintance with himself. He was revealing the sustaining power of being "comfortable" being who we really are with him - not worrying about being judged harshly (as his grace is sufficient for even our biggest sin), or being rejected by him (as his love for us outreaches any imaginable "argument" to the contrary our minds can imagine).

The words of a song I listen to frequently come to mind - the words describe the "hurting" and the "healer" colliding. There is nothing more that can be said about "coming home" to Christ's love - to having him elevated to the place of ultimate importance within us! It is there where our hurting and his healing "collide"! The self-imposed stress, and the cares of this world, melt away when we "collide" with the love of Christ. When two people "collide", what happens? There is CONTACT! So, if we want to get "more at home" in God's love, and less at home in the love of this world's things, we need to make CONTACT with in more often until it becomes a place of "comfort" to us! Just sayin!

Experience, then understand

Understanding and experiencing are related, but they can also come separately into one's life. We can experience something long before we understand it. The baby who touches something hot and then realizes it leaves a nasty sting may not understand how the heat came to be, or that it can be used for good, he just knows to stay away from it because it causes pain. The one who understands how 1,500 pieces of picture coated cardboard can all make a huge mural may not know how to fit those many pieces all together! When one actually understands AND experiences something, it is vastly different and there is a different appreciation for whatever it is they both understand and experience.

This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. 

(1 John 3:16 MSG)

To understand God's love, we actually need to begin by experiencing it. It is kind of hard to understand it without first having tasted it, felt it, and basked in it a while. The love of God is often felt or experienced in the lives of those he purposefully allows to grace our pathway. There are key individuals 'purposefully placed' into our lives in order for us to begin to experience the different aspects of his love - something we eventually will come to understand through the experience. The more we experience of his love, the more we want to understand it, but trust me on this one...it is harder to understand than it is to experience!

Why is that so true for us? I think it could just be how very different his love is from the very 'natural' types of love we experience within relationships here on this earth. Our 'natural' form of love is very 'conditional' - it honestly has some strings attached no matter how we slice or dice it. There is a give and take kind of rhythm to our natural love. We give a little, hoping to take a little, and the cycle continues. Give, give, and give again without ever taking anything in return and you will likely find yourself a little exasperated in the relationship. Why? We actually crave or need something "out of" the relationship - there is a desired 'exchange'.

God's love isn't all that different, though. He desires something 'out of' the relationship - our dedication, commitment, and worship. Yet, he pursues even long before we get to the point of understanding this is important within the relationship. We don't understand how much these things are needed to help the relationship grow deeper, but we are drawn to it because of how his love reaches into the places of our heart not reached by any other thing or person. We don't understand how he draws us, or even how he touches those places of our heart, but we know for certain that we are experiencing a form of love we don't find elsewhere.

Get to know a little of God's love by experiencing it. He doesn't expect you to understand it right off the bat - he just invites you to experience it. In the experience, there will come a desire to understand it - to fully appreciate it and bask in it fully. The place of understanding comes in the experiencing. Just sayin!

What's that I see?

Did you ever stop to think about what God's love really looks like? If you have noticed even one person in your circle of friends, perhaps you may have seen a glimpse of his love just because you noticed that person! Did you ever stop to think God's love is really displayed in his creation - his children? When we look at each other, we are capturing glimpses of his love.

Dear friends, if God loved us that much, then we should love each other. No person has ever seen God at any time. If we love each other, God lives in us. His love is made perfect in us. 1 John 4:11-12 NLV

God's love lives in us and is made perfect in us. That means that even one glimpse into the eyes of a child of God is a glimpse into the heart of God! What does his love look like? Maybe it looks like my grandson tenderly guiding my 100 year old mother down the sidewalk in order to bring her safely to where we were working and to allow her to get a little sunshine with us on a Saturday afternoon workday in the yard. Perhaps it looks like those bony fingers of an elder parent reaching out to you under the table, just to hold your hand in the quiet of the evening. Or maybe it looks like the wide open arms of that one friend you can confide anything to and know you are safe sharing it with her. Either way, each of these give you a glimpse into the heart of God!

Why do we struggle so much with 'knowing' the love of God when we are given so many glimpses into his heart through the hearts and actions of those he places in our lives? Maybe it is because we see the flaws in others quicker than we see the tender whispers of his love. Perhaps it is because we look with eyes expecting to see only a certain type of action as proof of his love. Or maybe it is that we just aren't looking at all! The moment we stop looking with critical eyes and focus instead on the small graces we see revealed in each person, we might just begin to see more of God's love in each other!

Love each other well. Don't let petty grievances and annoyances get in the way of seeing the love of God in each other. Don't limit your perception of God's love because of the imperfect ways we show our love to each other. Instead, see God's tender love being made perfect in the other person - one day at a time - maybe not all at once - but ever so surely, his love is being revealed! Just sayin!

Rubbing Shoulders With Love

1-2 Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that. (Ephesians 5:1-2 MSG)

Love like that...easier said than done, huh? The key to loving is watching how God loves and then imitating what he does. That doesn't make our love "imitation" - it makes it an invitation! We learn the "proper behavior" of being truly loving by observing all the aspects of how God expresses his love in and through our lives and the lives of others. We make love so complex, but God makes it appear pretty doggone easy - he just loves us - without condition, exactly as we are, without requiring anything of us. This is one reason we need to observe how he expresses love - because we don't have this one down at all!

We "learn love" by keeping company with the one who is love in every action, in all ways expressive of his great heart of love and compassion. When we keep company with the right individuals, we learn from them - we almost "morph" our behavior because their behavior begins to "rub off" on us. There is much to be said to rubbing shoulders enough with an individual that you finally and truthfully get to know them. This frequent contact actually begins to not only expose who they are to us, but it exposes parts of their character that we may take on as our own.

Extravagant love - I have spoken of this often - not because I don't have anything else to speak of, but because the extravagance of God's love is indeed beyond our initial comprehension. We get exposed to this extravagant way of loving more and more each encounter we have with him and with others who have been "rubbing shoulders" with him for a while. His love actually hasn't "morphed", but our attitude toward it probably has! We want to explore new facets of his extravagance and we find ourselves yearning to know more and more of this love. 

Nothing revealed his extravagance more than Christ's birth and that cruel death on the cross. Nothing reveals his extravagance more than the great care he takes in seeking each of us out - right where we are - just as we are. It is indeed wise to observe how we are loved and then allow that love to be replicated in us. Just sayin!

Memories

"Suffering passes, while love is eternal. That's a gift that you have received from God. Don't waste it." (Laura Ingalls Wilder)  I once heard it said it isn't the days in life which we really form memories around, it is more the moments in life which we latch onto and place carefully away in the recesses of our memories.  Days come and go, not really with much significance attached to any of them - they are kind of routine with no lasting memory.  Then there are those moments in time when we just will not forget the thrill, enjoyment, or perhaps the grief of that moment.  Speak with someone who has lost a loved one and they tend to remember the good things, not so much the suffering and tragedy which took the loved one from them.  Love is eternal - suffering passes - sometimes slower than we might like, but it does.  Yes, we shall endure hardship, but it is God's love which beckons us onward from the midst of hardship into the warmth of his tender arms.

He consoles us as we endure the pain and hardship of life so that we may draw from His comfort and share it with others in their own struggles. (2 Corinthians 1:4 VOICE)

Is it possible to waste the gift of love God has given us?  I think it might just be possible, but if we are careful to hold onto those memories, it is less likely to happen.  Pain and hardship won't escape us all the days of our lives - we are bound to come face-to-face with it at some time.  When we do, we can form awkwardly difficult memories of those moments, rehearsing them over and over again until they are burned into the recesses of our minds; or we can let them fade in time under the refreshing and renewal of God's love washing over those memories like water washes over the canyon's floor.  

Yes, those are deep places in our lives - places we didn't want to ever go - but places which house a beauty all their own.  It just takes his love to help us realize the canyon is not going to consume us, but help us to be built stronger.  What we draw from his comfort in those "canyon moments" are not things we are to hold to ourselves.  In the most literal sense, these are to become "shared learning".  Those around us also go through those "canyon moments" - maybe not exactly like ours, but deep places of what appears to be no escape.  The mind begins to see nothing but the walls of the canyon and feel the coldness of those walls all around them. Yet, when we come alongside, sharing the reality of how God can draw us out of the pain and struggle of that "canyon place", there is a spark of hope given which is often all another needs to begin to see a way out of that deep canyon.

When we console someone, we are actually helping to lessen their grief, sorrow, or disappointment.  It is usually something which comes out of some type of sharing of the memories we have associated with various moments in our lives.  Those who hold up those bad memories, never to share them with others, are probably not able to get beyond those memories themselves.  They need the help of another to see beyond the walls of the canyon of grief, disappointment, or sorrow those events have left in their lives.  God's love echoes within those canyon walls whenever we begin to share the ways God has touched us in our own canyon experiences. Those sounds of his voice begin to reverberate into the recesses of our companion's heart until we begin to see the effect of those words of love healing, restoring, and regenerating their heart.  

Sorrow, disappointment, and grief are not meant to be born alone.  We may want to pull away in those moments, but what we need most is the companionship of others who have been in those canyon places themselves.  In the moments which have elapsed between their loss and ours, there are likely great lessons of love and healing which have occurred. We draw from each of life's challenges, but we form memories of those things which helped us the most.  Isn't it about time we take those memories of God's love to those who need to also form those memories themselves?  Just askin?

What force awakens?

What is your controlling force?  With all the hype of the "force awakening", I wondered about what "force" may have the most influence in our lives today.  If we really stop to think about it, there is some type of "force" which motivates us each and everyday.  Sometimes it is the desire to accomplish some huge task which has been kind of left undone in our lives for way too long - like cleaning out our closet or those kitchen cabinets.  At other times, it is something more personal and kind of close to our heart - like seeing the fulfillment of a life-long dream.  A force is merely the physical power or strength possessed by a person to accomplish something.  If we stop long enough to consider what "force" is "awake" in us today, we might just determine the "force" is one of our own making and not quite what God intends for our lives - because love for Jesus is to be the dominant "force" in our lives!

You see, the controlling force in our lives is the love of the Anointed One. And our confession is this: One died for all; therefore, all have died. He died for us so that we will all live, not for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose from the dead. Because of all that God has done, we now have a new perspective. We used to show regard for people based on worldly standards and interests. No longer. We used to think of the Anointed the same way. No longer. Therefore, if anyone is united with the Anointed One, that person is a new creation. The old life is gone—and see—a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:14-17 VOICE)

We don't live for ourselves any longer - so if we are not being controlled by the "force" of Jesus' love within, we might need to have a readjustment!  If you think of a force as that which gives momentum to the object under the control of that force, it becomes pretty apparent why we want the love of God to be the "force" by which we are propelled!  In fact, any other "momentum" is just going to propel us in some direction, but it may not be the direction we ultimately want to be going.  A good thing to remember about the "force" of God's love within is that it isn't going to coerce us to follow it.  God's love is compelling, but it isn't manipulative or given to coercion. His love is put out there and then he waits to see if we will move toward it, embrace it as it embraces us, and then allow that love to become the dominant "motivator" in our lives.

The "force" which actually brings change into the lives of all who put their trust in it is really not a "force", but a relationship.  We don't enter into some "mythical" place of super-human power when we come into relationship with Jesus, but rather a "super-human power" invades every aspect of our mind, emotions, and spirit.  We find a new motivation for living which is not something from within, but is influencing our thoughts, responses, and our connection with others and God himself.  A force "awakened" within is likely to be something we yield to, is it not?  We find that thing stirring within us and we begin to think upon it more and more until it kind of pulls us into another "dimension" of living.  If that "force" is God's Spirit and his never-ending love, we are likely to be pulled into a dimension of living which is quite rewarding!

If we are to truly understand the "force" at work within each of God's children, we must begin to look at life from a new perspective - not our own, but God's.  He sees things a whole lot differently than we do most of the time.  We are limited by what we have seen in our past, what we behold at the present moment, and even what we can imagine for the future.  His "force" within isn't "subject" to those limitations, although we often hold back that force within because we are unwilling to be unleashed from that "finite" perspective.  As I have often said about our past, it is the one thing which seems to be the anchoring force we all hold onto on occasion - not willing to let it truly go.  The past can be the dominating force for many of us, awakening time and time again, until we somehow pay more attention to it than the present, and even to the exclusion of any hope for the future.

The force we listen to and allow to be awakened within us will eventually produce the "outcome" that force is capable of producing.  If that force is God's love, we are more likely to be urged out of the past and into the present, with an appreciation for the newness of life God has provided in the present.  Remember this - whatever force we allow to be awakened will eventually become the object of our attention. The force we make the object of our attention will eventually become the motivating force by which we allow every subsequent action to form.  If that force is God's love, the actions are sure to be trustworthy, for our good, and for the good of others.  If that force is some hold we make with the past sins of our lives, the actions produced will closely mimic the limits of those actions and the outcomes produced will leave us disappointed.

What force awakens in you today?  Is it the one true "force" which can give you clear perspective and drive the change within which will produce the outcomes which clearly show God's love is alive and well within you?  If not, perhaps today is the day for a change of "force"!  Just sayin!

If God is...

If God is on our side...words which really say it all.  What does it mean to truly stand with God on our side?  In the most literal sense, it means that nothing is bigger, stronger, more powerful, or with any greater authority than the one who stands with us through any and all storms, troubles, diseases, or threats.  It also means that no warring faction within us can ever win the war!  This is indeed good news for those of us who haven't quite learned to walk away from temptation when it comes our way, huh?  Although we may not have "drawn the line" far enough away from compromise the last time to actually avoid "opening the door" to sin, we have the one resident within us who helps us redraw the line a little further away the next time!  Most of us think we chose God, but in truth, he chose us.  It is like he stood on the field and specifically picked us out of the line up to become part of his team.  We weren't the ones choosing that day we said "yes" to Jesus.  God had already chosen us, but not because of our extreme talent like a talent scout might do in looking for a new ball player, but because of our extreme need.  You see, God's methods are much different than ours - he isn't concerned with surrounding himself with self-righteous people who need no help, but with sinners who just cannot make it without his grace!

If God is on our side, then tell me: whom should we fear?  If He did not spare His own Son, but handed Him over on our account, then don’t you think that He will graciously give us all things with Him? Can anyone be so bold as to level a charge against God’s chosen? Especially since God’s “not guilty” verdict is already declared. Who has the authority to condemn? Jesus the Anointed who died, but more importantly, conquered death when He was raised to sit at the right hand of God where He pleads on our behalf. So who can separate us? What can come between us and the love of God’s Anointed? Can troubles, hardships, persecution, hunger, poverty, danger, or even death? The answer is, absolutely nothing.   As the psalm says, "On Your behalf, our lives are endangered constantly; we are like sheep awaiting slaughter." But no matter what comes, we will always taste victory through Him who loved us. For I have every confidence that nothing—not death, life, heavenly messengers, dark spirits, the present, the future, spiritual powers, height, depth, nor any created thing—can come between us and the love of God revealed in the Anointed, Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39 VOICE)

Nothing can come between us and the love of God.  NO THING!  We have this to count on: the one who went before us through all manner of temptation as we are tempted with, we can stand against all manner of temptation - in his power.  My pastor shared four areas where we are tempted - using the acronym "HALT".  Hunger, Anger, Loneliness, and Trust. When I really thought that one through, he was right.  All aspects of temptation which come into our lives are based in one of these four "root-causes".  It may not be a physical hunger, but some hunger drives us closer to compromise.  In anger we make a whole lot of choices we later regret - especially when it comes to the choice of words we may utter!  When lonely and feeling a little less than loved, we give into all manner of unwanted compromise - settling for things and people in our lives we'd never think of settling for if we weren't plagued with loneliness.  Trust is at the core of so many of the compromises we engage in because we are really trying to figure out who it is we trust - ourselves or God.  Yep, he hit the nail on the head, didn't he?  

When scripture says nothing can come between us and the love of God, it means that even those compromising moments don't separate us from his love.  How is that possible?  We need only look as far as the rest of this passage - it is through the blood of Jesus that we experience the presence of God and it is by the blood of Jesus we are upheld in the constancy of that love.  Grace is only necessary for those who need undeserved favor.  Why do we need undeserved favor?  We compromise - that's why!  We don't get it right 100% of the time and we need grace to get us back on track and love to keep us there!  We might not resist hunger, anger, loneliness, and issues with trust all of the time, but we can be certain that his grace reaches down to pick us up each time we need it.  

No matter what comes - and the stuff of life certainly "comes" our way, doesn't it?  No passage of scripture is to be taken on its own, though.  We have to remember what Paul has been saying all along in this letter to the Roman church.  The basis of our faith is Jesus Christ and his "payment" for the penalty of sin on our behalf.  His life given freely is what gives us the ability to stand.  The one who places their faith in that truth is going to stand strong - plain and simple.  Death didn't hold him captive in the grave - he overcame even the most "permanent" of situations by the power of his Father's love.  Think on that one a little, my friends.  Even the most "permanent" of circumstances - death - didn't hold him back from completing his purpose in our lives.  His love would not allow his actions on our behalf to stop at the cross - it took him to the grave and back to the right hand of the Father in heaven - all on our account.  

If "NO-thing" kept him from revealing his love for us, then "NO-thing" can keep us from experiencing that love fully!  Our own desires and "less than well-planned compromises" might try to separate us, but grace reaches beyond every "slip up" or "ill-devised plan" to avoid compromise.  In our own strength, we don't stand a chance of completely avoiding compromise.  It wasn't "resistance" which helped Jesus to overcome everything which came against him - it was LOVE.  The love of the Father kept him and held him close.  This is something we can learn from, my friends.  God's love is what keeps us - calls us closer and helps us "draw the line" a little further from compromise the next time.  Isn't it about time we leaned into that love a little harder?  Just askin!

I cannot measure....

I think the majority of us want to live "strong lives" - not wanting to really reveal any of those weak points in our lives (or at least not too frequently and only with certain trusted friends).  I guess it goes without saying - our weaknesses don't always pick the most opportune times to reveal themselves, though!  Sometimes they are just "out there" for everyone to see and then we are left "holding the bag" so to speak.  They may come across when we are too outspoken about a matter, or we find fault with another over something we know very well is something we are trying to conceal in our own character.  The best way to live is "genuinely".  Yes, our weaknesses will show through when we choose this way of living, but so will the fact Christ lives deep within our hearts and is giving our lives a really solid foundation!  

I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you. (Ephesians 3:17-19 ERV)

Strong in love and built on love - two very dynamic truths about our lives we need to "feature" more often!  These are the two characteristics of our lives which we need to allow to shine through more and more each day.  As we do, our tendency to hide behind our strengths will become less important and we will not be afraid to acknowledge we have weaknesses!  It is time for us to understand the greatness of Christ's love - toward us and toward those who he brings across our path.

- The width of his love reached all the way across the cross and said, "This is for all of mankind."  In the 70's I found a little statue which I gave to my parents which was a humorous looking little man with his arms stretched wide open. The caption read, "I love you this much," a sentiment conveyed in the breadth of his arm span.  Jesus said, "I love you this much", in the width of his arm span across the beam of that cross all those years ago.  I have a photo of an old, gnarly tree without leaves on it.  The caption of the photo reads:  I asked Jesus, "How much do you love me?"  "This much," he answered.  And he stretched out his arms and died.

- The length of his love is everlasting.  From time in eternity, through time in eternity - our minds cannot comprehend the length of his love.  We measure things in the ticking of the clock, the passage of days, and the length of years. He measures things in the blink of his eye.  We simply cannot outlive his love, nor can we outlive his welcoming arms.  His love is ever-present, ever-reaching, and ever-lasting.

- The height of his love has amazed scholars, theologians, and the common man since the beginning of time.  Words have been penned about going up to the top of the mountain, the bottom of the sea, the width of the desert sands, and the expanse of the unknown universe beyond the searching of the naked eye - all to find evidence of his great care and love in each and every expanse.  His love is not measured in an "end point", but in the vastness of it being without end!

- The depth of his love reaches into the darkest and deepest places of our hurts, fears, and depravity.  It explores the quagmire of rebellion, hatred, and resentment buried deep in the recesses of our hearts.  It bores deeper than any psychoanalyst will ever be able to reach and does more in that exploration than hours on a therapist's couch will ever accomplish.  One look, one touch - enough to break open chains which have bound us in years of misery and set us free to reach new heights in him.

My prayer is similar to Paul's - that you may know this love.  My own experience with his love is ever-increasing.  Maybe this is why we are challenged to not measure it as we would normally measure "things", but to accept he has a width, depth, height, and length of his love which exceeds anything we could use to measure it!  We can simply learn to relish it, appreciate it, and in turn, share it! Just sharin!