Uncluttering the closet

The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you. (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)

Have you ever purchased some piece of clothing, only to have it sit unworn in your closet? You thought you did a great job of finding a bargain, getting a style that is totally 'in' at the moment, but when you tried it on at home, it just didn't fit you right or you didn't have the right shirt to go with the trousers. God's 'new clothing' he provides us in grace isn't meant to just hang around unworn. It is what actually clothes us against this world's hardness and sin's tremendously tenacious pull. Leave it just 'hanging' and you go defenseless! Two things I'd like us to see from our passage today: 1) The 'new life' emerges, it doesn't just 'whammo' appear one day and all the old is magically gone - there is a little 'closet cleaning' that must be done on our part! 2) We are only capable of being ambassadors of the message of grace when we are willing to drop our differences with each other. 

While 'closet cleaning' is never an exciting job for any of us, there is something cathartic about doing the 'out with the old' and 'in with the new' thing. Some of the hardest 'closet cleaning' we will do is to settle our relationships with each other. We can 'pack away' a whole lot of 'unflattering' and 'unwanted' things in the 'closets' of our mind and heart. When God asks us to finally 'unpack' that stuff, he isn't just asking us to push it further back to make room for the new. He is asking us to actually go through the trouble and exert the energy to get those things out into the light of day, letting him show us how to 'rid ourselves' of them. You may have begun a bit of 'closet cleaning' this year, attempting to make a fresh start with some you have had relationship woes with, but it isn't going so well. That other individual wants to you cram it all back in and just deal with it on our own! When that happens, it doesn't mean we just retain possession of those things - we still let God help us rid ourselves of those thoughts and grudges.

Dropping a difference is likely not going to be at the top of our to do list today, but if God is prompting you right now about someone who you've not had the best of interactions with lately, why not allow him to help you deal with the differences in his grace and see just how freeing having an 'empty closet' can be. As we 'make room', he fills with all that will fit our frame so well. Just sayin!

That used to be a tight fit

You must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:18)

"I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us." (Anne Lamott) Do you understand grace? I know more about grace each and every day I live - simply because there isn't a moment that goes by where I don't need more of it! Grace isn't always 'understood' as much as it is 'appreciated'. We are wrapped in the healing power of grace, not so we can sin again, but so we can see our sin as forgiven and learn to live without sinning again.

All of this walk with Jesus is one of coming to 'appreciate' the extreme value of the work of grace in our lives. We discover new things about how grace does a work within us every day. We might not 'feel' grace at work but trust me on this one - if you are a child of God, grace isn't finished with you yet! Have you ever worn a garment that felt just a bit too tight, making it hard for you to really be comfortable in it? Then one day, you realize that the garment you had put to the back of your closet because of the discomfort now fits without that binding or uncomfortable feel any longer.

Grace is kind of like that - one day, the sin that so easily tripped us up and got us all in a muddle doesn't hold us captive any longer. What caused us so much discomfort at one time no longer has that same 'binding' power. As long as we attempted to deal with that sin in our own power, we were bound up in it - uncomfortable, ill at ease, and under the pressure of guilt. When grace did its work within us, what once caused us such unnecessary 'pressure' is gone! We know a new level of comfort because we are walking free of the 'extra weight' sin created in our lives. It may not be easy to see grace 'growing' within us, but we can definitely 'feel' the effect of it in the long run. Just sayin!

A life healed and whole

What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole. (I Peter 1:3)

This was one of those verses I'd remind mom of anytime she'd worry over her many aches and tremendously haunting neuropathic pain. We'd just sit for a bit and imagine her walking upright, without pain, able to see perfectly once again. She had a hard time imagining it, but she held onto that promise time and time again - life healed and whole. Sometimes all we have is the hope - we cannot let go of it no matter how long the answer may be delayed - because the day is surely coming! I don't know what you delay may be, but trust me on this one, the day is coming!

Too many times we think the 'future' begins at some point in the distant 'future', but as God reminds us - the future starts now. God's plans for us may not be at the point of fruition yet, but if we hold onto the promise of his purpose in our lives, we won't be disappointed. His plans will always come to pass - hold on. Whenever I feel like my 'hopes' are dipping a bit, I remind myself how blessed I am to have a God who loves me enough to fulfill his promises. I also remind myself that timing is everything - God's timing is way more important than mine. I may not see the things I am hoping for as evident right now, but is that any reason to doubt his plan? No, in fact it is a reason to ask God to help me continue to have my faith built up, made solid and sure, leaning heavily upon his arms as I wait.

Plans don't just 'happen' - they unfold. That is the nature of a plan - it is laid out, orchestrated, then put into action. I don't plan a vacation by just getting on the road and heading somewhere, who knows where. I plan the lodging, route to take, things I might do while there or along the way. Then I know the day I will leave, but I don't settle on the time to leave until closer to that day. I plan my wardrobe based on the weather forecast for that time away, but don't pack until the day before the trip. Plans in our real, ordinary, everyday life unfold - little by little. Why would we think God's plans would be any different? The future begins now, but the culmination of the thing we hope for so much may take some orchestration by God - and that takes time. Time for us to be ready. Time for the things that need to be put in place around us to be complete. Time - the four-letter word we have the hardest time reconciling! No matter the timing, a life healed and whole is my goal. How about you? Just askin...

This no longer 'fits'

A solid reputation requires a commitment to being honest. Deceitful people walk a treacherous, thorny path. Mom always said that my lies would "snowball". In other words, it was like rolling the tiny snowball into the bigger one which eventually became the biggest part of the snowman's body! The more you "roll around" in the lie, the more lies you attract and use to cover up the original one. Eventually, there is more effort in being dishonest than there ever would have been in maintaining your integrity and just coming clean about what it is you wanted to cover up in the first place. At the moment, a lie seems like an easy fix to a miserable situation, but in the end, the situation is made more miserable by the lies. No amount of "cover-up" actually stays covered up very long. Eventually some form of "heat" will cause the truth to surface - and when it does, the damage the lies have done to your reputation leave a bigger "hole" to fix.

We justify our actions by appearances; God examines our motives. Clean living before God and justice with our neighbors mean far more to God than religious performance. Arrogance and pride—distinguishing marks in the wicked—are just plain sin. (Proverbs 21:2-4)

Consider how we treat the poor or those who seem to have injustices done to them all the time. We could all probably forget that the "beggar" is really a person behind the sign. We see the "outward" but forget about the person behind the outward display. I think God wants us to consider the person and not only their "display" - for the person is the one with the true need for our touch, consideration, and empathy. Injustice is any event or circumstance which inflicts undeserved hurt. See beyond the "sign" in another's life and look for the ways we can turn-around the "hurts" they have experienced. The foolish man is really exhibiting some 'not so good' behavior which affects those around him. Fighting, quarrels, and insults leave their devastation behind wherever the fool has had his influence. The fool defies and challenges just for the sake of an argument without regard to the outcome or the cost. We have to guard against maintaining company with the fool - because they do damage without any concern for the damage inflicted. If you find yourself "downing" the hopes of another, you might just be venturing into the realm of the fool. Check yourself if this occurs, for you are not only damaging the delight of another but developing a bad reputation for yourself.

Reputation is both gained and maintained. What we might not realize is how it can also be "re-gained". It is through the work of Christ in our lives, taking apart the pieces which don't "fit" any longer after we give him control. In turn, he replaces these pieces with the type of actions which "fit". It is this "refitting" operation which reveals new evidence consistent with a change in character. This change in character is what gives us a renewed or new reputation in the eyes of others. If you have found yourself in the place of living with a damaged reputation because of past actions on your part, don't be discouraged. God's plan is to restore in ways you would never dream possible. You just need to give him the damaged parts and let him have his way in taking away what no longer "befits" the child of God and "outfitting" you with his character in turn. Just sayin!

No grit should remain

Only the person involved can know his own bitterness or joy—no one else can really share it. Laughter cannot mask a heavy heart. When the laughter ends, the grief remains. Only a simpleton believes everything he’s told! A prudent man understands the need for proof. A wise man is cautious and avoids danger; a fool plunges ahead with great confidence. A short-tempered man is a fool. He hates the man who is patient. The simpleton is crowned with folly; the wise man is crowned with knowledge. (Proverbs 14:10, 13, 15-18)

Whether we know it or not, we often bear our bitterness alone - although others may step in to attempt to help us bear it, it is primarily something we bear alone. We can experience great joy, but no one can fully experience it the same as we do. Emotions are really something others attempt to share with us and we with them, but in essence, the joy or bitterness of another is something we can never truthfully fully comprehend and experience in the same manner as the one experiencing it personally. Bitterness is a harsh emotion. I have a dark grey/black quartz kitchen sink and if I us an abrasive cleanser to clean it, I usually see something after having finished the cleaning - a residue. I don't wear gloves in the process, so I usually experience a little bit of an "after-taste" of the cleanser on my skin when I bring my hands to my face. Bitter things often leave an after-taste and a lot of residue in our lives. The after-taste and the residue are really experienced by the one with the bitterness - although others may see the mess left and get a little flavor of the issue which led up to the mess they see just by being around the bitter person.

Laughter is often used to attempt to conceal either the mess which has been left behind or the sourness which remains. Even after the laughter ends, a heaviness frequently returns - unspoken, but real to the one experiencing its weight. Things that are hard for us to bear, or wear us down, are never meant for us to bear alone. They aren't meant for us to hide deep within and never express. Try as we might, we really can never conceal what leaves a residue or gives a sharp after-taste anyway! The prudent carefully consider their steps unlike the fool who just believes everything he sees or is told. Now, consider how we might deal with bitterness in another. Brush the surface of that 'offended' area and we know something is hidden deeper because we experience the "grit" of bitterness. If we "listen" with our hearts to the 'concealing' laughter of the one who is really dealing with the mess left behind in their life by tragedy or misguided steps, we might just hear the extreme hurt and haunting emptiness bitterness has left in its path.

Laughter is an action or sound. In most circumstances we'd think it was linked to joy or excitement, but in some situations, it may just be a masking of something wearing the individual down on the inside. We use it as a tool to hide the real emotions we are experiencing. We have become quite proficient at concealing our emotions - using one thing or action to mask another. The wise will see beyond the action of laughter or the sound of "cheer" it may resemble. What they will experience when the laughter fades away is the "after-taste" of bitterness. If we really want to help another bear up under the weight they are experiencing, we need to cut past the laughter and get at what has left the residue - what brings the offensive after-taste in the first place. When we considered my sink, scrubbed a little raw by the cleanser, we might just have believed what remained is just a sign of the "cleanliness" of the sink. If we are truthful, the residue which remains isn't very attractive, nor is it pleasing to us because it rubs off on those who come into contact with it, the food rinsed in it, and neither is all that pleasant.

How do we deal with the cleanser's residue? Don't we rinse it time and time again until it has finally all found its way down the drain? Maybe we might just learn from this illustration as it applies to the residue of bitterness in our lives. We need a little more than the initial "cleansing" of those bitter feelings - we need the continual rinsing provided by the Word of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit until the remaining residue and sour after-taste is finally gone! We often don't see the residue because we believe the cleaning was all there was to the matter. A close friend may be the one who will actually point out the need for the "rinsing" of the residue! If they experience a bit of the 'grit' of bitterness, they might just say something - we need to hear what they say. Just sayin!

Gotta make a course change now

Some years ago, I saw this sign: God allows U-Turns. Profound statement, right? So many times, the roads we travel upon are marked with all kinds of restrictions - U-Turns being one of them. Isn't it good to know in God's grace, he allows U-Turns? Sometimes we don't pay as close attention to the things God tells us to focus on, getting ourselves down a road or two which don't "fit" the plan as well as we'd hoped. When we find ourselves traveling in the wrong direction, I wonder if we are bold enough to do a U-Turn? When the road is wide and no traffic seems to be coming, this seems a whole lot easier, does it not? But...get a little bit more traffic, take that road down to a two lane narrow passageway, with no shoulder or "wiggle room", and you might find a U-Turn a little more difficult. Why? Maneuvering room is limited! This is the way it is sometimes - we get ourselves on paths which allow very little maneuvering room! When we need to make a U-Turn, we find ourselves almost hesitant because the room needed is not always apparent to us.

You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. (Ephesians 4:20-24)

Why do we find ourselves requiring the U-Turn in the first place? Isn't it because we either missed something we intended to find in the first place, or we totally went the wrong way? Considering the two reasons for U-Turns, I guess we'd do well to avoid both - so why don't we? In the first instance, it is because we weren't paying close attention and something we were aiming for totally got missed along the way. In the second, we just made bad "turns" in life. Both are equally as frustrating - but the most frustrating part is how long it takes for us to find we missed our mark in the first place! Once we get that figured out, then we have to find the "appropriate" place in the road we are on where we figure we can make a "successful" U-Turn maneuver. Did you ever notice how hard those are when you are looking to make one? There just doesn't seem to be the right spot - so we find ourselves traveling just a little bit further out of our way because we need "maneuvering" room.

We can never assume that we are all paying close attention. We get to the destination, not because we paid close attention, but because God's grace "looped us around" to where we needed to be! We get good instructions, sometimes moment by moment, like from our little GPS units on the car. If we are at all distracted by the plethora of choices we have to choose from at certain intersections, it is easy to bear right, just not far enough right! We find ourselves going in the wrong direction because the directions were good, we just didn't follow them to the "t". We don't have any room for excuses. God makes a way for U-Turns, but it is quite clear in scripture he leaves no room for excuses when we need to make them. It is part of growing up to own up to our mistakes and to admit we have been going the wrong way or just plain not paying attention. It is also part of growing up to recognize the U-Turn doesn't really require all that much maneuvering room. Even in the tightest of spaces, it is possible. It may not be easy, but it is possible! This holds true when we need to make life changes which aren't easy. What we fail to recognize is what the sign says: God ALLOWS U-Turns. He has already made "provision" for the U-Turn! It is already "mapped out" for us - we just need to listen to his voice carefully as to when, where, and how to accomplish it!

God's grace provides the "maneuvering room". It also provides the "instruction" to help us through the turn. It is like he is out there directing the turns in our lives - hand signals carefully directing us into those tight and uncomfortable maneuvers which will get us back on track again. Conduct changes because there is a course change. Plain and simple. Conduct does not change because we stay on the wrong course, or completely ignore all the stops put in our path. In fact, conduct goes from bad to worse whenever we ignore the advice to make the U-Turn! A U-Turn is really a 180 degree turn. You head from where you are going into the completely opposite direction. This is the definition of repentance in scripture - a "180". To maneuver is to take the action to change direction. Therefore, a U-Turn is really a series of actions which change the direction of our lives. Repentance is often a series of actions which completely and radically change the direction of our choices. Considering this, maybe it is time we accept the wisdom of the words: God ALLOWS U-Turns. Just sayin!

Your Inside World

You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. (Matthew 5:8)

I just caught a short post on social media about a 'street takeover' in a local community here in which streets were blocked, vehicles were doing donuts around the intersection, a home was hit by gunfire, and people were just acting really dumb. Purity sometimes gets overlooked because we don't live in a very "pure" world, do we? It is hard to make pure choices when all around us we are bombarded with all manner of wrong choices. Purity is the freedom from anything which debases (reduces in quality or value), contaminates (adding/mixing in that which makes unclean), or pollutes (corrupts or defiles). Impurity is the "adding in" of something which does not belong. That which does not belong actually changes the consistency or integrity of what does. It may be hard to keep out that which does not belong, but we certainly need to do everything within our ability to do so!

But friends, that’s exactly who we are: children of God. And that’s only the beginning. Who knows how we’ll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we’ll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus’ life as a model for our own. (I John 3:2-3)

Purity of heart - mind, will, and emotions untainted by that which "adds in" the things that confuse, bring conflict in our motives, or sets us up to rely upon the unreliable. It is with pure hearts we are able to see God - for God is pure. Children like to emulate adults, don't they? They mimic behaviors they see in the adults they are frequently around. The same is true of a child of God - we mimic the behaviors of the one we behold the most frequently. If we are beholding Christ, we mimic his behaviors. If we are beholding others who are not like Christ, we might just begin to mimic their 'not so pure' behavior. Purity is the absence of something. We somehow think purity is the "adding" of something rather than allowing something to be removed. In scripture, this might be accomplished in the refiner's fire. The fire of the refiner burns hot, allowing the metals to melt, bringing to the surface the things which are "contaminants" in the metals - those things which will weaken the integrity and strength of the metal. We also see the idea of the threshing wheel - the place where the grain is turned over and over again until the grain is separated from the unusable part known as the chaff. The chaff is blown away, the wheat remains. There is also the winemaker observing his wine. As the grapes are crushed, the juices are extracted, leaving behind that which will only add bitterness and impurity to the finished product. All these speak to the idea of being free from something which contaminates, weakens, or renders less than useful.

Purity is the absence of the "contaminating" influences which impact our choices in life. Whenever we are faced with choices, we find ourselves "weighing" the choices. Why? One appears better than the other - it has some "merit" which makes us want to make one choice over the other. When we are making choices from a pure heart, they will be wise ones. When we have impurities in our heart (mind, will or emotions), we might just find ourselves making choices which don't produce the purest product in the end. Purity is actually the result of several things: Cleansing, Sifting, and Burning. We often think of cleansing as that which is accomplished through some process of scrubbing, sanitizing, or a sweeping away. God might just think of cleansing as any process which actually empties us. Empty vessels are readied to receive something afresh. Cleansing actually "freshens" us - readying us for the new thing God wants to do within.

Mom always had a sifter back in the day. We don't so much use them today. In fact, they are hard to find. The purpose of the sifter was to separate. The coarse parts of the flour were separated from the finer parts. This is exactly how God uses this process in our lives - he separates the coarser (unwholesome) parts from the finer parts. Not too many of us want to jump into the fire because the furnace is a "hot" place. If a farmer has a stump right in the middle of his field, he may work at removing that stump for a long time. Digging it out may not seem practical. Leaving it there allows for it regrow and is a hindrance to the plow. He will often resort to burning it out. He exposes it as much as possible and then burns it. As the burning process occurs, the stump is "consumed". In the consumption of the stump, it reduces in size and strength. The fire of God's Word is kind of like this in our lives - it consumes us, reducing anything which will present a hindrance to our spiritual, emotional, or relational health.

Purpose is the reason we exist, passion is what gives us the "umph" to fulfill our purpose, and purity is the basis by which we see God's purpose fully come alive in each and every aspect of our lives. Instead of resisting the cleansing, sifting, and burning in our lives, maybe we'd do well to embrace it as the means by which we come into what God fully purposes for us - the place where the inside and outside perfectly reflect his passion. Just sayin!

A little more than Spring Cleaning needed

By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. (Romans 5:1-2)

Do you ever get to the spot in your life where life is coming at you so fast you just cannot "pull it all together"? You feel like you are under a mountain of stuff and cannot seem to see any relief on the horizon, much less the solution to the present muddle your are dealing with. I doubt you are in that muddled mess alone! Sometimes we just need a good catharsis to clean out the "stuff" that buried us so deeply! If you have ever gone garage sale hopping, you might have wondered about the people who come, some just shopping for the bargain, but others on a very specific mission - finding the one item they desire or need. Either way, you seek out these sales to unburden the seller of the mounds of stuff they have likely accumulated for which they no longer have any use! You know it is those colorful signs, arrows, and promise of bargains that directs you to the destination. Whether we "stumble upon" the signs, or purposefully sought the destination by following them, we get there! What the seller hopes for is to unburden themselves - what we hope for is to take home the treasure we seek - maybe even one we didn't know we needed. I think salvation is a little bit like this. We hope to be unburdened from the stuff that "clogs up" our lives - God hopes to take the greatest treasure he could find home to be part of his family.

We enter into what God wants to do for us by faith. God has had this gift of grace prepared for us for a long time - we just have to reach out to take hold of it. It is like the people seeing the signs along the roadway to the sale - they had to turn first this way, then that, until they came to the destination of the sale. We often need to pay attention to the signs in life, placed carefully along the paths we travel, designed to draw us into the place we find the greatest treasure of our lives. God did all the preparation - he laid out the course, provided all the neat stuff we would come to experience, and he even prepared a way for us in advance of us even knowing we'd follow that path! When we pay attention to the signs and make the decision to actually follow them, we are doing so by faith. We don't know what awaits us at the final destination, but we trust it will be something awesome!

Sometimes we go about this whole salvation thing from the wrong perspective. We think we can clean up our own act and somehow unburden ourselves of the junk which has accumulated in our inner man. The problem is - we often justify a reason for holding onto the junk (after all, it may have a use down the road). Ever clean your closets and cabinets? You feel pretty good when you do, but trust me on this one - not everyone is thoroughly cleaned out, but many are devoid of the clutter and the "stuff" that we thought we might want to hold onto. Most of us need to realize we might have "cleaner inner cupboards" if we'd let God clean them out! The truth is, we justify the need for some "stuff" in our lives while God knows the "stuff" only clutters us with what only serves to 'complicate' our lives! God is all about creating "wide open spaces" in our lives. His goal in providing for our "emptying" is to allow us to enjoy the sensation of living unburdened (uncluttered). 

If you have ever lived in really close spaces for a period of time, then moved into a bigger space, you might just understand this a little better. When I was in the military, I crammed as much of my "life" into that 10 x 12 foot space as possible. Stereo, shelves, fridge, bunk, desk, chair, locker, and all my worldly belongings. It was crowded. Then I got married and we got a two-bedroom apartment off-base. We had so much space! Then, one day, we looked around and saw we not only filled the space of the two-bedroom apartment, we filled a small storage unit in the basement, as well! Aye! What we did was move from one "cluttered" space into another! Just bigger! That is how we are - we want to "handle" our clutter by getting a bigger space. God wants to clear us out - giving us "grace space". The place where we come to experience his love, enjoy his presence, and really live free of the clutter we have held onto so long. Clutter like unforgiveness, resentment, fear, doubt, and the like are not really that good to keep around. Instead of clutter, we come into God's "grace space" - and a mighty fine space it is! I have come to the conclusion - being "clutter-free" is best! Just sayin!

A stirring stick

The journey you travel - what does it look like for you today? Some of us have been on a dead-end journey for a while, kind of just going along, but not really getting to anywhere worth all the effort. It is indeed hard to correct a course when it has been going along for quite some time, even when it is not getting us to where we want to be, isn't it? It is like we get way too comfortable just plodding along on that journey - not really satisfied, but comfortable because we 'know' the course well. When we say 'yes' to Jesus, we find ourselves making some immediate course corrections, and others come along the way that we didn't even know we'd be asked to make, but we make them. The first ones may be a little easier than the latter - maybe because we are experiencing God's grace and redeeming power in a very special way at that point in our lives. When the latter course corrections have to come, we may not be as excited about them because they will be a little harder, getting at a little deeper stuff in our character that we have buried, denied, or even not really know was there. Those are the hard corrections, but they are also some of the most rewarding.

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. (I Peter 1:18-19)

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God - that pretty well sums it up, doesn't it? This 'deep consciousness' isn't just instantaneous in our lives. Conscious appreciation of all that God asks of us and how he works in our lives is kind of a 'learned thing'. You have to keep exposing yourself to it and then eventually it kind of 'sticks'. I watched a show the other night that was a little 'gross' in terms of what this African tribe does to stay well nourished in the barrenness of the desert. They actually 'blood-let' their cattle and mix that blood with the cow's milk and then drink it. While it absolutely made me gag to even think of such a thing, I observed something quite interesting. They took a stick and stirred the cow's blood vigorously for a good few minutes. During that time, the 'solid parts' of the blood began to congeal and stick to the sides of that stick. That congealed part was good food for the dogs, but it wasn't what they consumed. They consumed what was left - the 'purer' parts of the blood. The stick and stirring did something - it brought together the stuff that wasn't needed and then it could easily be removed from the mixture. 

In many ways, the consciousness we maintain in our journey with God is kind of like having a big stick constantly 'stirring up' the stuff in us that doesn't belong and needs to be removed from the 'mixture' in our lives. As we think upon his scriptures, enjoying quiet time in his presence, and then talk with him about the things he is showing us, the stick is stirring and the 'not so good parts' of our lives are beginning to cling together. In time, because of our continual consciousness of him and his presence, we can actually see the things being 'removed' from our lives that don't really serve any good purpose for our journey. The stirring of our lives is oftentimes something we resist - we don't like things being 'disrupted'. I have said this before, but it bears repeating - God disturbs our present because he is preparing us for our future. Out of chaos he brings order. We may not know what needs to be removed from our lives, but along the way, God stirs and stirs. In time, those things we have held onto for so long begin to 'hold onto' his 'stirring stick' and then at the point when he knows the things we need to let go of are firmly attached to the 'stirring stick', he takes them away and we are left with nothing but the best. It is hard to be 'stirred', but considering what happens when we are, I think the stirring process is kind of neat! Just sayin!

No April Fool Here

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (Romans 6:23)

Who tells you what to do? We probably all have persons in authority within our lives that give us tasks to complete and we go off in the direction of 'doing' whatever it is we are asked to do. Bosses are probably at the top of the list - they by nature of their position are guiding the work that gets done each day. If you are a child, parents are those individuals who remind the child of the bed needing to be made, teeth requiring a little scrubbing, and toilet paper that needs replacing when they use it all up. Traffic cops expect we will observe what they tell us to do, diverting this way or that, stopping when told and then proceeding when it is our 'turn' in line. Even in nature there are bigger, more dominant animals, birds, and reptiles that seem to be 'telling' those around them what to do. I observe the larger mourning doves ward off the sparrows until they have had their own fill at the feeders - the sparrows just watching on the fence line until it is 'their turn'. If sin has been at work in our lives, telling us to go this way or that, maybe it is time we listen to a different 'authority' in our lives.

It took a while for me to figure out that I didn't need to listen to that voice of temptation telling me what to do. How about you? No, I don't have this down pat, still listening to the 'wrong voice' on occasion, but I listen less and less to it as I recognize there is a new 'authority' in my life I need to listen to instead. Sin attempts to tell us what to do, but we don't have to listen, much less heed the urging to do whatever it is we are being prompted to engage in. There is indeed a great delight in listening to the 'right' voice! Who knew it would be so rewarding to listen tot he right voice - submit to the right authority - in our lives? I appreciate that God reminds us sin is like a task-master, making us work for it, but with no real reward at the end of all that work. If you find you have listened a little bit more to the urging of the one who urges you to take steps you know better than to take, maybe it is time to allow a change of authority in your life. Sin will rule as long as you allow it to rule - you actually have to 'unseat' that authority in your life and allow the authority of Christ to become the only thing 'seated' deep within your heart and mind.

A whole, healed, put together life - is there anyone reading this that doesn't honestly want this for themselves? I know I get tired of walking around with a bag of mixed emotions, heart hurting because of what I do that doesn't honor God, and dragging around all those feelings of guilt and remorse. So, instead of dragging those things around, I have come to recognize they signal me of a problem with who is the ultimate authority in my life at that moment. It is likely me and my own sinful desires that urge me to do things that aren't in God's plan for me. I listen to the wrong voice and it loads me up with all manner of stuff that I don't want to be loaded down with. So, I choose to listen with my spiritual ears, not just the ones attached to the sides of my head! I hear God's voice in the stillness of the times I allow him to be heard. You read that right - I 'allow' God to be heard by my heart, mind, will, and emotions. I have to make time to listen - intently, with determined heart, mindful of what is being spoken to me. Remember, God never said he would speak with the loudest and most demanding voice - that is likely the task-master known as sin!

The 'put together' me is not an easy project - there are a whole lot of 'missed steps' that God has to deal with when he speaks into my life. How about you? Does he bring correction to you, as well? If so, you need to remember you are only being 'corrected' because you are being intensely loved. God's correction is always designed to bring us out from under the task-master of sin in our lives - it is love in action, delivering us from a task-master with a very loud voice, but a very evil heart. Don't reject God's quiet corrections - they are 'love taps' to get us back under the correct authority in our lives. I like that God corrects me - when my words are harsh, actions are less than honorable, or thoughts wander into places of comparison that only feed pride and envy. A healed and put-together life is one that recognizes when the voice we listened to steered us down a wrong path and the voice we hear quietly correcting us is really the only one that speaks from a place of love - the ultimate place of authority! Just sayin!

Not just a 'make-do' repair

It was Ernest Hemingway who reminded us, "The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places." What are the 'broken places' of your life? Go ahead - for a moment or two - just ponder that one and begin to call those 'broken places' by name. You have them and you likely have attached some sort of 'name' to those broken places - like divorce, death, or defeat. You defined those broken places by an event or some outcome in life. Now, look again at those broken places and describe some of the strength that has come out of that place. What name does that strength bear? It was likely easier for us to put a name to our 'broken places' than it was to put a name to the strength that was worked into us because we were broken. We remember what 'broke us', but we oftentimes don't recall all that has happened in our lives that help to mend those broken places into even stronger ones.

A broken spirit is my sacrifice, God. You won’t despise a heart, God, that is broken and crushed. (Psalm 51:17)

Chances are that you can describe a strength of character that has come out of those broken places in your life -  a strength of character that is far outside whatever your 'natural response' would have been to those circumstances. What is character anyway? I think God would describe it as those things that we eventually put into our lives that some call 'habits'. When character has been developed, the results are 'reproducible' time and time again. Where God has turned broken places into a place that reflects his strong, moral character within a man or woman, the resulting action is this ability to 'reproduce' with consistency that right response to life's challenges. Instead of the 'broken place' dominating our lives, it becomes a springboard that launches us into new actions.

Sometimes we are guilty of allowing the broken places to shut us down - to cause us to just march in place for a while. Instead of becoming a springboard, they become wallow pits! To be free of the pit is our goal, but our heart is content to just wallow for a while. That is the problem with broken places - they can lure us into the wallow pit. You know who lives right next door to the broken place? That neighbor is the 'feel sorry for me' family! My BFF and I took a ride through a very old mining community this week. As we made our way through the old neighborhoods, one thing stood out to me. The clapboard and adobe buildings still stood and many were still with families in residence. Some were bolstered in very unsightly ways, but they still stood.

What did the bolsters do for those homes. They allowed all the broken places to just be 'shored up' a little so they home was in a 'make-do' kind of state of repair. The thing about God is that he isn't a 'make-do' kind of God. When he sets to repairing the broken places of our lives, we sometimes he is busy tearing down those places a little bit, exposing just how much damage has been done. Then he sets about to build us up stronger than we were before. This is why God asks us to bring our broken spirit to him - as a sacrifice laid completely on the altar. He wants to make those places stronger - not just 'healed'. He wants us to live in such a way that we don't need the bolsters - because the walls of our emotions, spirit, and mind are all whole again. Just sayin!