The importance of the pattern

We have all these great people around us as examples. Their lives tell us what faith means. So we, too, should run the race that is before us and never quit. We should remove from our lives anything that would slow us down and the sin that so often makes us fall. (Hebrews 12:1)

If you stop very long to consider some of the examples you have patterned your life after, you might just decide you fashion sense didn't improve, your financial situation really hasn't done much for you, and your relationship isn't any stronger than it was before. Why? They are 'faulty' patterns at best. We need to understand the importance of the 'pattern' before we just 'willy-nilly' follow it. I used to sew by pattern all of the time, but when I got confident enough, I often set out with the pattern and didn't follow the order of the instructions. That usually resulted in some seam ripping in the end! The importance of having both the pattern and the instructions cannot be negated!

The pattern gives us the 'pieces' we need to make our life, but the 'instructions' actually show us how the various pieces all fit together properly. If we look at our life examples again, we will see some very good things within those 'patterns', but they are only pieces of the whole. We need God's instructions on how to take those 'pieces' and use them within our lives in a way that brings our life together whole, complete in every way. Sometimes we find it hard to understand the instructions, much less figure out how to follow them. With some sewing patterns I used to get, if I neglected to really read the instructions from start to finish, I didn't understand the importance to the 'order' of the instructions.

God may not give us all his instructions at one time because he knows the importance of us following them in a particular order. He may not lead us to examples of those instructions all at one time, but he will unfold those 'patterned lives' before us intermittently so that we can see the instructions lived out in many different scenarios. Why? Life never comes at us the same way every day! There will be times when his instructions seem hard, but then we see the example he gives us of that instruction 'lived out' and we begin to see how the 'pieces' of his instruction guide us to live complete and holy lives. 

We each are unique, and we see God's instructions through the 'uniqueness' of our lives. Wouldn't it be a shame to waste the examples we are given, especially when we don't fully understand the importance of the instructions we have received in his Word? Just askin!

Not going down that rabbit hole again

Isn’t it obvious that conspirators lose out, while the thoughtful win love and trust? (Proverbs 14:22)

Some of the most 'obvious' things in life can be the most 'elusive' to us. Stop for a moment to consider what 'obvious' really means - available, accessible, discernable. Now, why is it that the stuff that is so easily available, quickly accessible, and totally discernable is hard for us to actually get our minds around? I think it might be that the enemy of our souls just doesn't want us to get hold of this stuff that God provides because he knows just how powerful it will be in our hands!

The thoughtful win love and trust. The mind is the starting point for all action - we have established that already in our studies together. If we want to know where we are headed, we need only look as far as our most dominant thoughts. Whatever it is we think the most upon is the direction our actions will be taken. Every now and again I think some thoughts that take me down a rabbit hole of doubt, worry, or just plain depression. If I don't want to go down that rabbit hole I need to change that thought pattern quickly. Seems obvious, doesn't it? Yet, some of the most 'obvious' stuff to us can be the most 'elusive'.

What is a conspirator and why did God warn us about the losses they would experience? It is someone who spends a great deal of time and energy plotting, looking for ways to betray others, and in truth, it is someone who ends up being a backstabber. No wonder they 'lose out' in life - their pathway is down a pretty ugly rabbit hole! The thoughtful are considerate of others - through deliberate choices. Don't miss that one - if we want to avoid the ugly rabbit hole, we make deliberate choices to stay out of the field where the rabbit dwells!

The most 'obvious' stuff in life should be the most transparent to us, but we sometimes miss what is right there in front of our faces. We trip over the obvious sometimes! Why? We refuse to see it. We refuse to acknowledge it. It is indisputable, but we refuse to acknowledge it. This is why we find ourselves struggling with our choices sometimes - we think truth has to be hard or elusive - surely truth could not be staring us right in the face. God doesn't make it hard to learn of his love or grace - it is right out there for us to see. He doesn't make it hard for us to know right from wrong - in fact, he gives us a conscience and the presence of the Holy Spirit within us so it can become 'obvious' to us.

We might think God's truths are 'elusive', but in truth they are quite 'obvious'. They are accessible, discernable, indisputable, palpable, and unmistakable. We don't need more than an open mind, yielded heart, and intent spirit to discover them. We do need a willing heart to embrace them. Will begins in the mind, so we need to set our minds in a different way of thinking sometimes - so the most dominant thoughts we are thinking are those that point us in the right direction. Maybe this is why God spends so much time training us to take control of our thoughts! Just sayin!

Follow the Pattern

What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. 

(2 Timothy 1:13-14)

May I ask what you 'keep safe' or 'guard' in your life? If you are a parent, it is likely you may have answered that your primary focus is to keep your little ones safe, harboring them against all harm as much as possible. If you are the owner of a company, you may say you are working hard to keep 'safe' that investment you made into that business and all the employees you have working within it. If you just got a brand new car, you might just admit to parking further away from the front door of the store because you want your car to be 'safe' from scratches and dings for as long as possible. We 'guard' or 'keep safe' a lot of different things in our lives, huh? Some are significant others, while others are things. Either way, there is a lot more attention paid to that which we desire to keep safe than to the people or things we really have no interest in protecting, right? That which is protected requires our attention. If we are to keep this 'good deposit' we have been entrusted with as we came into this life with Christ Jesus safe, we need to GUARD it against all things that may encourage us to just let it drift away.

Sound teaching creates patterns of behavior in those who adhere to that teaching. It is the reason we 'teach' anything - to see that pattern of behavior created in the lives of those we are instructing. God gives us the very best teaching in his Word with the desire that it creates patterns of behavior that will not only keep us safe, but that will keep others safe around us. Guarding that teaching - that 'good deposit' of 'patterns of behavior' we are to learn to walk in - this is partially our responsibility, but we also have the Holy Spirit in our lives to help 'guard' those truths. What would you identify as some of the 'good deposit' God has made in your life today? This may be a little harder question to answer than you may think because we aren't usually accustomed to 'recounting' what gets 'put into' our lives. We might for a moment in time, but then to actually go back and look at the books, so to speak, is not really as 'practiced' of a pattern for us. If we want to be sure we are 'guarding' the right stuff and not letting it get away from us, we need to pay attention to these things!

Patterns of behavior are rehearsed. They don't qualify as a 'pattern' if they aren't used over and over again. This is why we have a pattern - to guide us in making the same thing over and over again. If we want to have the godly behavior we learn at the feet of Jesus each day to become patterns within our lives, we have to do more than pay them casual attention. We need to allow the pattern to be established in our lives. This is like us allowing the creator to draw the pattern. Then we begin to 'trace the outline' of that pattern over and over again until we have seen the outcome of the pattern produced. This 'repetitive' action of going over and over the patterns God gives us to follow is what helps the behavior to develop. The behavior that God desires becomes a patterned behavior - the outline is there, and we adhere to it. When we veer from the pattern, we observe 'deviated behavior'. The 'thing' produced is a variation of the desired product. I know this because I have sometimes cut off little pieces of a cardboard pattern I use to trace outlines on wood I am about to cut. When I cut the tenth one with all those slight deviations in the pattern, the tenth one is significantly different from the first!

If we want consistency in our walk with Jesus, it begins by allowing the right pattern to be created within us. Then we allow that outline of behavior to be repetitively followed, not affording any opportunity for deviation at all. When we adhere to the pattern, the behavior will be consistent. Whenever we allow deviation or 'sloppiness' in following the pattern, we don't do as well with our consistency! Just sayin!

The right image

Did you ever dream of being someone else? You observe a famous sport's star performing so well in his sport and you begin to imagine all the glory and grandeur he enjoys. You see one of those shows on TV where what is depicted is some lifestyle of opulence and magnificence. You note the admiration a particular teacher receives from her students and you imagine being so well-liked someday by all those who you will touch in your profession. We all 'admire' another from time to time, or consider 'what it would be like' to live in their shoes. Did you ever stop to consider what it is like (truly like) to be the President of the United States, a U.S. Senator, or Prime Minister of a great nation? Imagine being the Son of God, come to earth, leaving behind your divinity, knowing that your entire purpose for being there was to endure the ridicule of people and the ultimate end of death on a cross. Not exactly the same image is created, is it? You might not want to walk in his sandals as much as you may want to walk in the shoes of the sports star or admired teacher!

If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! (Romans 8:31-32)

The rest of the passage that follows these two verses ends with a statement of fact: I'm absolutely convinced that nothing - nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable - absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us. Nothing and nobody - nothing in heaven, nor in hell - can remove us from the love of God! Whenever we begin to allow thoughts to enter into our mind that we can lose our relationship with Christ, we are really not considering the context of these verses. When we are doing this "questioning" of our salvation we begin to doubt OURSELVES - our worth as we are. No act of salvation is based on anything good in ourselves, any good deed our "self" can perform, so why do we allow the doubts we have about ourselves to be those that we focus upon? We are accepted exactly as we are - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

God has declared us worthy of his love. That is something that many struggle with - a sense of worthiness. This is because we equate worth with what someone has done or is doing / achieving. God insists that we do not determine our worthiness because whenever we do that we are getting into the realm of religious efforts and not intimate relationship with him. Whenever we feel we have to "prove" ourselves worthy of someone's love, we work overtime to convince them that we are worth loving. The simple fact is that we are intensely loved JUST THE WAY WE ARE! Romans 8:29-30 goes on to say that God knew what he was doing from the very beginning - deciding from the outset to shape our lives along the same lines as the life of his Son, Jesus. The fact is, Jesus is our "mirror". We see the original and intended shape of our lives IN HIM. It was all God's work that set us on a solid foundation - his intense love for us is the basis of that foundation. The fact is, God not only STARTS the project of restoring us to wholeness, he COMPLETES it! That means we can be assured that what has been declared "worthy" by God (that is you and me) will stand that way forever!

The part we play in the salvation experience is pretty limited. God calls, we listen. Our part is hearing and responding - he does the rest. Don't miss what I am saying here - we don't even seek - he seeks us, calling out to us so that we can find him in the midst of our chaotic mess of life! Our part is to just "hear"! It is in hearing that we come to a place of acceptance - we are no longer bound to our sin nature - there is an exchange of nature. Someone once asked me the question, "Which one of your sins did Jesus take to the cross that day on Calvary?" You know how we each are when it comes to admitting to this truth - we begin to list off this sin, and maybe that one! The fact is, Jesus took ALL our sins to the cross - those we had already committed and all that we might commit down the road. He didn't just die for the sins of our past - he knew there would still be struggles with sin in our future and he died for those, too. Our salvation is through a repeated gift of grace in our lives. Grace can never be added to - we don't ever add works to grace! Grace allows do-overs in life! His grace pursues us until we get it right! So, don't think of your salvation experience as a point in time, but as a progressive act of grace upon grace in your lives. It is in the extended grace that we become the image of the one we behold! Behold the right image of who we were meant to become and we will! Just sayin!

1000 pieces and counting

2 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.  4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:1-7 NLT)

It is a long passage this morning, but it is all good stuff! The stage is set with the words: "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins". Then the door opens to reveal the results of God's actions taken to counteract all our sinful actions. The most important thing within this passage is very easily "glossed over" - "You used to live..."  It doesn't say we continue to live, but that we used to live...past tense...a done deal. If we have been wondering if our walk with Jesus really "took hold" because we are continually struggling with some kind of sin or another, then let me just assure you - it did! It is no longer the spirit of the devil at work in our hearts - it is God's Spirit - and there is no greater power available to us to turn us away from sin than his indwelling Spirit.

I have spoken before about the power of that tiny word "but" - it cancels out everything that comes before it and focuses us squarely on what comes after. So, all that giving into sin and being ruled by our sinful desires, fueled by the enticements of the world, they are all behind us. Look at the passage again - we were raised - it is a finished work, my friends. Think for a moment about a jigsaw puzzle. On the outside of the box, what do you see? Isn't it an image of the finished work inside that box? Is the "stuff" inside the puzzle box a finished work? No - because there is a "fitting together" of the pieces which is required in order to have it resemble completely the image depicted on the outside of that box.

In much the same way, we are like puzzle pieces not yet fully fit together to resemble the image of Christ. The image is there, constantly reminding us of what it is that is being created each time a piece falls into place within our lives. As long as the pieces are moving into place, we are on the right track! They aren't all fit together yet, but they are sorted into "piles" much the same way we sort puzzle pieces into color or design before we go about trying to assemble them. The edges are important - because they form the framework in which we fit the pieces. There are some sections of the puzzle which are quite easily fit together - because the design is simple or the color is the only type of that sort in the whole puzzle.

In life, not all the pieces fit together as easy as some may. I think God gives us those "easy pieces" or sections of our life's puzzle that seem to "fit together" easily because he wants us to begin to see the resemblance we have to the image he sets before us - his Son. If I try to make the puzzle in the box resemble anything other than the image it is patterned after, the pieces don't fit. It is the same way with our life - the pieces fit best when they are held up to the pattern of Christ, then places into that pattern in just the right place at just the right time. We don't see how all these pieces of our life fit together - but thank God, we have a continual pattern before us to help guide us into that perfect fit! Just sayin!

And where does this piece go?

It is the time of year when students everywhere are graduating from their classes in high schools and universities - intent on making their way in this world.  Speeches will be read, mortar boards will be thrown, and parties will be had.  When it is all said and done, the let down as they enter into this "real world" can be tremendous.  Some will branch out in directions only their minds-eye can fathom, while others will follow the more traditional paths set by those who have gone before them.  The choice about which road to take is established in their hearts as independence begins to bring new opportunities into their path.  In time, they settle into the course they believe is the best for their lives.  I think we ALL have those moments of "graduation" in our lives, when we stand at a crossroads of sorts, choices laid out before us, and then having to choose which one we think will serve us the best.  If we choose well, the road ahead will be navigated with ease.  Choose unwisely and the incessant twists and turns can make a sane person mad!

This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.  (I Peter 2:21 MSG)

We are invited into life with Christ - a road many determine to be too narrow, too focused, and way to intense for their liking.  For those who choose this road, the journey proves to be quite awesome.  Sure, there is intensity at times, but the intensity only builds character.  We are invited into the kind of life Christ lived.  Do we really know what that entails?  I think we have glimpses of it in scripture, but when we take the first step down this path, do we really comprehend the way Christ lived as a means of how we will begin to live our lives today?  Not really.  We often just take the first step in faith and then wait to see what doors will open to us along the way.

The important part of the journey is the one who has already "made the way" for us to walk.  It was his intentional embracing of all the suffering he was faced with that actually provided the framework by which we learn to walk in this life today.  Here is the crux of the matter - we need to learn to follow the example which has been set for us!  When we have an example to follow, but choose to ignore it completely, seeing it as a "nice thing", but not "for us", we open ourselves up to all kinds of issues.  If you tried to sew a wedding dress from a bolt of fabric, just looking at a design you saw in a magazine, you would likely struggle a little with it turning out well.  What you need is the "pattern" to follow.  Try as you might, you can come "close" to recreating the image of what you see when you just "eyeball it", but when you have the pattern and follow it, you come a lot closer!

Jesus' example does two things for us - it shows us how to live, but it also shows us it CAN be done.  We often focus so much on the "I can't" of the circumstance - God's plan is for us to consider Christ first, and then focus on more of the "I CAN through Christ Jesus who lives in me".  It is like we follow the pattern - seeing the creation of something beautiful as a result.  There have been times when I have tried to sew a garment and the pattern comes with all these small pieces here and there.  They don't resemble much, but omit even one of them and the garment just doesn't look or hang as well on your frame.  Why?  All the pieces played a part - none was expendable.

In following Christ's example, we need to recognize that nothing he modeled was "expendable".  He took time to pray - because communication with his Father was important and provided a means of receiving not only help, but connection and peace.  He took time to fellowship - because he needed the strength of relationship and the companionship of those along for the journey. He took time to rest - because the journey is long and we are never at our best when we are spent.  He took time to notice the small stuff - because he knew if he let the small stuff pass him by, the big stuff would swallow up the enjoyment the small stuff provides.  We cannot discount anything he did as he walked this earth - because it all has meaning - nothing he portrayed is expendable!

When the journey is hard and the way seems unclear, we need to do what Jesus did - come away, take time to refocus, and then embrace the challenge. It isn't a magic formula we follow, but when we see the pattern unfolded before us, we need to recognize no part of what is displayed and provided is without a specific purpose in our lives.  Follow the pattern and you are more likely to produce a thing of beauty in the end.  Just sayin!

What pattern are you following?

With your very own hands you formed me; now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you.  When they see me waiting, expecting your Word, 
      those who fear you will take heart and be glad. 

(Psalm 119:73-74 The Message)

The term "take heart" means to gain strength and courage in a difficult situation.  David reminds us that the example we exhibit in the times of waiting on God to act has the potential of causing others to take heart - - to gain strength and courage for their own difficult circumstances.  In the midst of difficulty, what makes you stand strong?

According to our author, it is the confidence he has in the one who has created him.  It goes without saying that the one doing the "assembling" of the pieces of our lives is the best to address the pressures that come against those "pieces".  I have sewn a few things in my days.  By the time I finished with the assembly of those pieces, I knew everything about that garment.  I had touched the material so many times, turning it this way and then that way, until it was "formed" into what the pattern promised.  The key to the "forming" was in the "pattern" that I followed!

The same is true in life - - the key to us being "formed" well is in the "pattern" we are being formed to fit!  We are reminded repeatedly that we have but one pattern worth following - - Jesus Christ.  The one doing the "forming" is God himself - - the pattern he follows is his one and only Son, Jesus.  It stands to reason that God would know us "inside and out" just as I got to know the ins and outs of the garments I put together.  As his hands pass over the pieces of our lives, he is forming them into something that no longer resembles what they were before - - disconnected pieces without any recognizable form.

I marvel at the skill of God in taking those things within our lives that seem to have no recognizable purpose and then using them to become the very things that give stability and testimony within our lives.  The hands of God sometimes have to "pass over" the pieces of our lives many times before the "forming" work is complete.  There is a technique of making a french seam in sewing that allows the frayed edges to no longer be visible - - they are sewn within the framework of the seam in such a way that they stop their raveling!

God is all over that work of keeping us from "unraveling"!  His hands skillfully guide the parts that are given to "unraveling" into a protective "meshing" of the parts so that the unraveling no longer is a threat!  In his skillful way, he guides us through the "forming" process, stitching together the pieces we don't see value in.  It should never surprise us that God sees value in every stitch he places!  Nothing escapes his perfect touch.

In making those garments, I often wanted to leave out some of the pieces.  I just did not see the importance of that small piece of facing, or the hidden pieces of materials that would give "firmness" to the finished product.  The facing served to "tuck out of view" the edges - - in so doing, not only was a "prettier" image presented, but the edges that were raw were protected from further fraying!  The "interfacing" was placed within the structure of the garment because it added firmness and support.  In much the same way, God's Word provides firmness and support when it is allowed to be "sewn into" the structure of our lives.

We may not see what is taking form within our lives - - but when we trust the skill of the one doing the forming, we can stand strong.  In the forming process, others look on and take courage - - seeing that reliance on the skill of the Great Craftsman yields a finished product that mirrors the "pattern"!