A seed alone

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. (John 12:24-26)

A kernel of wheat is planted and dies. That doesn't actually present a picture of a bountiful harvest, does it? Or maybe it does, because in dying, the seed actually brings forth an abundance of wheat. We might interpret this passage as a 'dud' seed being planted that really doesn't do what it is supposed to do, but Jesus makes it clear that in dying, the seed actually becomes 'fruitful'. There is much to be said about sacrificially laying down one's life for the betterment of another, but there was no greater 'fruitful' action than that of Jesus' death. Something we might not think about too often is just how willing we might be to actually let go of what we desire in order to see a greater purpose fulfilled through our lives.

Whenever we surrender our 'old selves' to the work of Christ within us, we are actually allowing 'old seed' to die off and new seed to take its place. We are embracing change when we embrace his 'seed' of new life. Death doesn't have to be an end; it can be a new beginning. As his life is embraced, our old ways of thinking and acting begin to change - the new beginning. Jesus spoke of service right along with this new seed being planted. The fruitfulness within our lives is frequently best seen when we are in service to others. You see, Christ wasn't afraid to call out his disciples, pointing out that if they wanted to truly follow him, they would be willing to lay down this world's agenda and take up his.

Something we might miss in this passage is the fact that one seed can 'remain alone'. It is a choice to surrender to the process of growth and fruitfulness. We can choose to remain inwardly focused, always attending to our own needs and desires, or we can look outward, observing the needs of those around us, and lay down our selfish passion to focus on self alone. When we do, we begin to see the fruit of his work within us ministering to the needs of others, bringing hope, joy, compassion, and love where it is most desperately needed. Just sayin!

We've got that in common!

If we say that we share in life with God and keep on living in the dark, we are lying and are not living by the truth. But if we live in the light, as God does, we share in life with each other. And the blood of his Son Jesus washes all our sins away. If we say that we have not sinned, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth isn’t in our hearts. But if we confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our sins away. (I John 1:5-9)

Sharing is a concept parents teach their kiddos from an early age. Sharing is really the action of each taking part in the use or enjoyment of what one of the parties in the group has. In some cultures, all things are put into common storage and then are distributed from the common resources to meet the needs of everyone in the community. We may consider "sharing" as what we do when we have a little of what someone else doesn't have, giving it to them so they can get use of it or enjoy it as much as we have. Either way, the idea of "common use" or "common benefit" from what one has to share is to be considered as something we should engage in. 

We come into the light Jesus that brings into an otherwise pretty dark existence. If you ever stop long enough to consider what it was like before you experienced Christ's light in your life, you probably stand amazed at all the ways he has "enhanced" your life in ways you never thought possible. His light did more than just brighten our darkness - it dispelled it from areas of our life we didn't even know there was darkness within! What we didn't possess, Christ brought - light and life. This life we now live is possible because of what Christ brings and "shares" in our life. The resource of his life is something we partake of not through any effort of our own, but all because of his effort. It is like the one who hunts or grows grain for the entire tribe in order that the entire community will partake of it. All did not work for it, but all enjoy it as it has been provided so there may be "common enjoyment" of it. We do not work for what we enjoy so much in this life with Jesus - it is given freely so all may come into common enjoyment of it.

We not only have new life in common, but we also have this "washing away of our sins" in common. We find ourselves grace-filled because of the actions of another on our behalf. As a child, mom had to wash me in the tub - simply because I could not see where I needed to be washed, nor did I realize the benefit of being in the tub. I was content to live in my dirty state - but she knew how much better I'd feel after the bath. I think Jesus kind of works that way in our lives at first - washing over us with his grace time and time again - not because we know where we need it to flow, but because he does! Grace has a way of creeping into the crevices of our lives - even where we don't realize we need it to go! Grace actually knows no bounds. It isn't shy about going into "dark places" in our lives - washing away the things which gathered there that no longer belong hidden. Grace doesn't uncover what is hidden to expose it so we will experience pain, but because we all have one thing in common as it comes to our sin - we need to be free of it and we cannot do it alone.

Grace can be trusted - even when the confession is hard. God affords to us from his vast resources in renewed grace for all past sins, present sins, and future sins. The truth is - we will continue to sin, maybe not in the same ways as we did 'before Christ', but until the day we find ourselves walking in his presence, we will still struggle with temptation and require grace to both overcome it and walk away from it. Grace isn't exactly light, but it is an adjunct to light. God's presence is the light we receive - his grace is the enabling force which helps us to walk in this light and to enjoy the freedom light brings. If you have ever stumbled a little in the dark of night, you know how "halting" your walk is when you don't know exactly what is in the room in respect to where you are. God's light is what removes the darkness, but his grace is what enables us to walk freely. We may not all speak the same language or go to the same church. We may not all dress alike, or even have the same interests in life. One thing is for sure - we all have sin in common and we all need to experience the freedom of his love, light, and grace. Just sayin!

A planted kernel

I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. (John 12:24-26)

Unless the kernel dies, there is no harvest. This is a principle farmers know quite well. A principle is a 'rule of action' that basically indicates when one condition is met, the other condition is met, as well. We might think we can bypass some of God's principles as we navigate through life, but you can trust me on this one - I have never observed one person being able to accomplish all that God desires for their life when they spend their time bypassing his principles!

Loss is something many of us almost fear. We might even 'pre-regret' that loss, because we anticipate the loss being so significant that we begin to bemoan that loss even before we experience it. When the thing we lose is replaced with something of even greater value, do we regret losing the original? Not hardly! In fact, we wished we lost it sooner! If the thing we 'lay down' is replaced with something that is flawed, kind of troublesome, and maybe even 'broken down', we might just desire to 'pick up' something that is perfect, new, and without flaw.

Lay down your imperfect life and take up his perfection. This is the principle being taught here - the 'kernel' of our life needs to be laid down - given in service to him. In so doing, we see the impact of that life of service. It is not a principle we understand well, for in this world seldom do we 'give away' something only to find we get something better in return. What do we love more - this world or God's presence? If we are a little too comfortable with the 'imperfection' of this world, we might feel entering into all the God has for us is a bit 'onerous'.

It is like experiencing death - but never forget - death brings life! We cannot experience resurrection life if we never experience death - maybe not a literal death, but a death to the appeal or draw this world's offerings have for us. A kernel in the silo is of little value, but a kernel planted in good soil will produce way more than one more kernel. The pursuit of this world's things and values actually is like keeping the kernel in the silo. Laying down those pursuits and taking up the offered new life of Christ is like being planted - we are about to experience growth beyond measure. Just sayin!

Refashioned Lives

Always be glad because of the Lord! I will say it again: Be glad. Always be gentle with others. The Lord will soon be here. Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel. (Philippians 4:5-7 CEV)

Gladness comes when we take pleasure in something. I like to find the perfect photo - the bee on the flower, leaf floating on water or maybe even the look of having caught a first fish on the face of a young child. It brings me pleasure to catch "just the right" moment. Gladness is a sense of heart where one experiences joy or pleasure. Gladness and happiness are very similar emotions - both based on finding pleasure in something or someone. Pleasure is really the capacity to enjoy what it is you have found. Our passage suggests a reason for gladness - because of the Lord! Simply put - we are possessed by him and he is re-purposing our lives. This should bring us great pleasure, for it brings him ultimate pleasure. 

His whole life has been dedicated to the purpose of finding lost lives, those cast off into the landfill of sin, and plucking that life from the place of rubble and rubbish. In taking up that life, he begins the work of re-crafting that life from one image to another. Jesus takes our lives and refashions them to resemble something other than what they once were. In so doing, beauty is produced - beauty that fills his ears, eyes and heart with praise! Jesus reminds us we are designed to be gentle giants. In essence, we know greatness simply because greatness dwells within us in the presence of Jesus. Although his presence brings access to great "power" within, he reminds us to be gentle with each other. Why? Love is his mode of operation - not the sword! Disciples are known by their love, not by the sword they carry!

We are to become stewards of prayer. A steward manages another person's property, acting as the "agent" of the other person. In reality, we are stewards of all Jesus gives us in his re-purposing of our lives. In turn, he calls us to lift both our own needs, and those of others in prayer - in reverent trust of the one who has re-created us for his purposes. We "steward" a life given back to us at the point of salvation - no longer demanding control, but realizing the one who owns our lives now has the right to ask us to live it for his glory and honor. In turn, he reminds us to stop worrying about things and people - instead, we are to bring them before him in prayer - as stewards of his grace, love, and mercy.

We are called to give thanks. When something is refashioned into something of usefulness, what is produced is a thing of purpose and beauty. We may not realize the original any longer because the "re-purposed" has more beauty than the original! Jesus makes our life which was once so confined to produce something of a beautiful melody for him in the form of thanksgiving, praise, and worship. We are called to think and feel differently. "Re-purposed" lives don't think the same way they once did. In fact, there is an exchange of thinking which occurs when we give our lives over to Jesus. Our thoughts begin to center on him, and in so doing, our emotions begin to be ordered into a new way of responding. Inner peace is a result of the melody of his grace and love played sweetly from the inner core of our being.

We may not see much we are glad for today simply because all we can see is the rubbish pile we have made of our lives. Herein is the beginning of our life's story - the damaged becomes new again - not in its former state, but in a new and glorious re-created, re-purposed life. A life fashioned by the hands of Jesus - to be used for his glory and honor. Nothing quite brings gladness in the same degree. Just sayin!

I need a little pampering!

It was C.S. Lewis that reminded us when we aim at heaven, we get earth thrown in, but when we aim at earth below, we end up with not much in return. If you haven't read much of what he has written, he is well worth the read. It was Lewis that also reminded us of the thing we call "self" - not being more than a "meeting place" of sorts for things that we refer to as "natural forces", "fears", and "desires" - some from within us, others from without. That "meeting place" is frequented by these things because of our upbringing, influences from around us, and even some of the "devils" we cannot really see but know must exist just because of all we experience. Probably one of the greatest things I remember from his writing is the statement: "The self you were really intended to be is something that lives not from nature, but from God." We might think we are a product of our environment, and we might just be correct, for when our "environment" is Christ's presence, we cannot help but become like him!

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5:8-11 NLT)

Many of us would hardly do any sacrificial deed for an enemy, let alone give our lives for one. We might do it for a friend, but one who is actually distanced from us, separated from us because of some great chasm - that requires something different than most of us possess naturally. It is important for us to realize it was while we "were still sinners" that God made a way for that chasm to be bridged through his Son. God didn't wait for us to get half our act cleaned up, or even all of it - he did it before we even realized our act needed any cleaning up! Stop for a moment and chew on that one, friend. Nothing we do gets us any closer to God - nothing we desire keeps us any further from him. We are a "product of the environment" into which we are "reborn" - we become like Christ because Christ draws us out of the environment we are languishing in apart from his grace and into the environment where we can begin to live anew by his grace.

As Lewis implied, our aim is not to live as close to earth as possible. It is to live as close to the heart of Jesus as we are invited to do through his grace! We don't choose the families into which we are born, raised, and nurtured on this earth. We don't even know the idea of "family" even exists until we are more than a couple years old and realize there are continual people around us we come to count on in some regard for food, warmth, and protection. Is it any wonder many new believer bumbles around for a while with this new life in Christ - trying to figure out what it is they have been "born into"? If we stop for a moment to think about it, we might just realize it is kind of like when we first recognized we were part of a family on this earth - there were others who cared for us, looked out for us, and ensured we were continually safe. As a believer, we walk through some of the same "questions" in our walk with Christ - we need to know we will be cared for, our needs will matter to him, and that we can be safe in his protection.

Those "feelings" of family begin to emerge the closer we get to his heart. His reassurances come over and over again to us as we draw closer, even when the times all around us seem to be challenging us on every side and in ways we never imagined probable. The closer we are to the heart of the Jesus, the more we tend to reflect his character in our lives - even when self resists a little because it doesn't get its own way. The self we become isn't reliant anymore upon upbringing and environment in the natural sense, but it is reliant upon who we now draw our strength and purpose from in the spiritual sense. If we struggle a little with detachment from the old way of living, that is to be expected. Closure has to occur in any "relationship" we have maintained. We had a "relationship" with our old self - and we pampered that person quite religiously! Now we need to embrace a relationship with the "new self" and begin to allow Christ to "pamper" the new creation we are becoming in him. One who is pampered is treated with excessive care and concern - something Christ can do very well when given full reign over our lives. Just sayin!

High speed or dial up?

I'd like to quote something my pastor has frequently said, but which I think bears repeating:  "Religion is US working OUR way to God.  Christianity is GOD working HIS way to us."  (Pastor Chad Moore)  There is really no more eloquent way to put it!  Our old way of doing business centered entirely around US keeping the rules and getting things straight.  Our new way of living is to allow God to make his way into our lives and to go about setting things right on our behalf.  Lest we think this involves absolutely nothing from us, let me set the record straight on that one.  As long as we are connected with Christ, sin speaks a "dead language" to us - it is like we hear it, but we don't respond to it because we don't understand it any longer.  The part we play is in maintaining the connection.  I use a wireless router when I am on my laptop.  This allows me the freedom to be on it in my kitchen, the front room, or even in the bedroom.  There have been times when I have fired up the laptop to work on my blog or to play a game only to find there is no connection to the internet.  The rest of the laptop works - it looks like it is working just fine.  It isn't until I go to access the internet that I experience the "no connection" screen.  Sometimes I think we look like we are all "fired up", running along at lightning speed, but on the inside, we are making no connection to what really helps us accomplish life at its fullest.  It is this connection which helps us fulfill our purpose, not just that we are breathing and our heart is beating!

Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin’s every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. 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.  (Romans 6:6-11 MSG)

Breath and a heartbeat is as fruitless as a laptop without internet connection! Sure, we can accomplish some things - like writing a draft of the blog - but we cannot finish it because the connection isn't there.  Maybe this is why we "start" so much in our walk only to find we fizzle out after a couple of weeks! We aren't making the right connection.  When the wireless router isn't quite sending the signal, I have to get up, go to the den, disconnect it from the power source, and then watch as it comes to life again.  What I have done is re-establish the connection.  It was there all along, but somehow it got scrambled, cut off a little, or just plain wasn't recognized as it needed to be. Therefore, it appeared to be "offline" when in fact the connectivity was three all along - just not "active".  Truth be told, we have connectivity "to" God, but sometimes we just lack the connectivity "with" God.  Signals are firing, but they aren't making the connection!

Two "connections" are referred to in our passage today - one is the connection with the "old life" and the other the "new life".  To understand which connection is occurring, you look at the fruit of what is produced.  When we are connecting to the "old life", we are at sin's beck and call.  Been there, done that, bought the shirt, and wore it out!  Then this "new life" connection began to take place.  It was like changing from dial up internet to super-fast high-speed!  The old "dial up" me had to sputter around, wasting time on this and that in hopes somehow I'd hit it lucky and connect with something which actually came close to the change I hoped for in life.  That is what a whole bunch of rule keeping is really like - just sputtering around hoping for something good to come out of what it is we are doing.  This "new life" connection affords me not just instant access to God, but also with his power to accomplish the things I only dreamed of accomplishing when I was trying to connect TO him using the old "dial up" me!

I like what Paul says about the old life being like a dead language.  There are quite a few of those nowadays.  For most, Latin is a dead language - we just don't go around speaking it as a primary language anymore.  Sure, a lot of medical terminology finds its roots in the Latin, but trust me, my patients would rather I tell them they have a cold and sore throat rather than hearing they have nasopharyngitis, rhinopharyngitis, or a case of acute coryza! Heavens, those all make us sound like we are going to die any day now!  Yes, Latin is still used in some circles (like science and the medical profession), but we don't go around spouting it to order a Big Mac and Fries at our local McDonald's!  For those who have accepted Christ as their personal Savior, sin's language is also a dead language - we might still hear it spoken, but we don't use it in our everyday activity any longer!  The less we connect to the old and the more we connect to the new, the more we see our life changing.  Sin's language is a pretty complex language.  Salvation's language is just the opposite - easy to grasp, quick to be spoken, and easy to share!

Connection to or connection with - which is it you find most appealing?  When I connect TO something or someone, I find an attachment formed.  When I connect WITH something or someone, I find a union formed.  There is a difference, isn't there?  If we find we are going through the motions of life, but lack the real power to live as we should, we probably are just opting for the first.  When we transition to connecting WITH God, we find the deeply rewarding "disconnect" from the old and the "fresh connection" to the new. Just sayin!

NOW is the time

Paul is one of my favorite New Testament people - his teachings are so down to earth and genuine.  He is not afraid to confront issues head on and he is compassionate in his efforts.  As he writes to the Church as Ephesus, he come to this idea of comparing the "old" life we lived "before Christ" and the "new" life we now live "after Christ".  In his opening words of this chapter, Paul lays out his premise for writing - the old way of life was stagnant.  Now, if you have ever tried to get clean in stagnant water, let me tell you, it leaves you feeling every bit as dirty as you did when you got in it!  You just don't might not realize it until you "dry out" a bit!  Then you realize how "ripe" you are!  Really, Paul wants us to recognize the "old way" of living as one of constantly "doing what we wanted to do".  We pursued the stuff we wanted to pursue - not really conscious of how much it was polluting us even further.  The new life is one of direct contrast - "dead lives", polluted beyond our ability to clean up, made new in Christ.  

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.   (Ephesians 2:7-10 The Message)

Paul reminds us this new life "puts us" in a new place - in the company of Jesus!  Our "associations" changed the moment we came to Christ.  We were taken from the place which "pollutes" into the place which not only promotes purity, but provides the means of purity!  Paul then goes on to use a very descriptive three-letter word most of us would skip over:  NOW.  Why is it we miss these little words with such significant impact?  I think we just rush on past them because we don't pause long enough to consider them.

Paul says, "NOW" God has us where he wants us.  It is not in the future we are finally where God wants us - you know, that day in eternity when we finally reach some form of "perfection" in our lives.  Nope, it is NOW.  This is the basis upon which he builds his next statements - we cannot miss it.  It is for the PRESENT - not the past or the future, but NOW.  Since we finally understand this, we can move on to explore what he tells us next.

Since God has us where he wants us - all by his actions on our behalf, I may add - he is free to do WITHIN us what he desires most.  The thing he desires most is to shower us with his grace.  NOW is the moment of GRACE.  NOW is the day of his KINDNESS.  Woohoo!  This should cause us to pause in order to consider just how awesome it is to be exactly where God has placed us!  He has us where he wants us in order to do what it is he wants to do within us!  Now, you may not think this place or time in your life is "exactly where God wants you", but if we read this passage correctly, we will see NO PLACE and NO TIME is without God's presence and purpose when we are brought into this new life with Christ!  

In moving on with this passage, we find that NOW is the time to TRUST.  It is not the time to fret, or to try to figure out your way out of the mess of your past.  It is the time to trust in the GRACE of the present.  It is God's joy to have us in a place where his grace can permeate every fiber of our being - making us "feel" the way he SEES us.  It takes a while for our feelings to catch up with God's image of us, doesn't it?  For a while we "feel" unworthy of his grace.  We struggle with the "pollution" of our past - feeling shame for past wrong deeds, dealing with guilt over missed opportunities, and just not associating anything of worth within us that would "warrant" God's grace.  This is the most amazing thing - GRACE is ALWAYS undeserved!  It is our part to TRUST God with his GRACE.  

NOW is the time to recognize God's purpose in moving us from our "polluted" old life into the "purity" of this new life.  It is to be on mission with him!  It is to allow him to do IN us what we could never do with any amount of effort on our own behalf.  It is to transform us until GRACE becomes not only what is showered UPON us, but that which oozes out of us in every interaction with others in this life.  NOW is the moment of allowing God's GRACE to to create within us what no amount of self-help can accomplish.  This little word has purpose - it is to focus us on the possibilities of this very moment, of this very next breath, of our very next interaction.  Couple NOW with GRACE and you will never be far from experiencing God's heart!

I cannot tell you how many times EACH and every day I need to experience God's GRACE.  The grace I allow to come within my life, creating in me the freshness and purity of his character within, will be that which is there to "give out" when the NOW produces challenges.  Paul tells us God has all the time in THIS world and the NEXT to continue to shower us with his GRACE.  Hmmmm....I find this a little interesting to consider we might continue to need his grace in the next!  Did you see this when you read the passage?  Or did you skip over it, too?  God knows we will continue to need his grace throughout all of eternity - because we cannot possibly stand in his presence without it!  What this tells me is that we are NEVER outside of the "NOW".  

Grace is not a thing of the past, or a mere hope of the future.  It is a reality of the present.  NOW is the moment of his grace.  The next moment of his grace may come in your next breath - who knows?  If we learn to live in the NOW, we will never be outside of his GRACE.  Just sayin....