A view to the future

I guess its only fitting to be looking to the future a few minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve. I was doing some research a little earlier, and ran across this passage of scripture.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him. (Heb. 9:27-28)

This is reality. This is life in the big picture. Eternity. The life we live in this age is so short. You know how they make fun of small towns sometimes? "Yep... this town is so small, if you blink your eyes you might just miss it." Our life on earth is like that. If you blink your eyes... you just might miss it. Or, if you get caught up in the pursuit of the concerns and pleasures of this present dark world, you might not be alert to the gifts and callings of God in you for His kingdom. You just might miss out on the eternal rewards that were in God's heart for you.

"Christ... will appear a second time... to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him."

Living with eternity in mind. Living with our hearts set on seeing Him some day. "Eagerly waiting." Are we eagerly waiting for Him? Do we long for His return? Do we recognize that we live on a battlefield, that the majority of those around us are oblivious to Him, under the authority of the kingdom of darkness, and destined to be separated from God forever? Do we live each day as "steward of the mysteries of God"? Or are we simply consumed in the perpetual pursuit of more, bigger, and better? God has more, bigger, and better for us, but its not necessarily cars, and houses, and toys. He wants to put His love in our hearts in a way that causes us to value the things that He values. Jesus suffered "for the joy set before Him". He wants to reveal that joy to us, and allow us to share it in our heart. He wants to give us the grace to give of ourselves in the same way that He did. He wants to live His life in us and through us, but He did a really crazy thing. He left the final decision to us. Oh... He is drawing us to Himself every day. His Spirit is constantly working to persuade us to see things His way. But in the end, He wants us to freely choose to lock arms with Him in His loving purposes.

Its up to you and me. We can't do it in our own strength, but when we say "Yes" in our hearts, He will give us the grace to go forward. He is faithful.

Lord, give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and the heart to follow.

wow...

I read an old story this morning. We usually call it "the prodigal son". Its pretty simple, and yet loaded with meaning. The son asks for his inheritance early, the father gives it to him, the son blows it all living the party life, and finally finds himself flat broke, and living like a bum. Pretty sad story so far. Of course, some people wouldn't call it sad. They would use words like pathetic. They would say the son was a loser, and only reaping what he had sown. He had gotten what he deserved. That would be sort of the "conservative" point of view you might hear if you listen much to talk radio. There is some truth in that perspective. Not much mercy, though. The boy got what he deserved. Most of us don't usually want to get what we deserve. We do, however, like to point it out when others do. Annnnnnyway... the son really had made a mess of his life. And then the story starts to take an amazing turn.

"Then he came to his senses and ... got up and went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him affectionately."

While he was still far away, his father saw him... Its as though the Father was always watching the horizon, hoping to see His son's form off in the distance. When we are struggling with sin, He is always watching. But He is not looking for the perfect opportunity to swing the hammer of heaven and wipe us out. He is watching to see when our heart will turn back to Him.

The Father was "filled with compassion". He could easily have judged his son, and would have been right in his judgment...but He didn't. He doesn't. No matter how foolishly we have wasted our inheritance, His heart is always ready to show compassion if we return to Him.

He ran to his son... He didn't just wait for the son to finally make his way to Him. When he saw His son returning, He ran to him.

He embraced him and "kissed him affectionately". The son's foolishness had done nothing to diminish the passions of his Father's heart. That is amazing. Its not the way our human relationships typically work. Our love is usually much more conditional. "Do unto others as they have done unto you" is usually the way things happen. God's love for us is entirely different. It is the kind of love that sent Jesus to earth, to die on a cross. Its the kind of love that is always ready to take us back when we blow it. All we have to do is "come to our senses" and return to our Father. When we come to Him with a repentant heart, He is always ready to embrace us, and welcome us back to the safety and comfort of His house.

Amazing love.

He is good

I had breakfast with a bunch of guys this morning. Actually, we do it almost every Saturday. I look forward to this every week. It not an official "meeting". We just enjoy being together. It strengthens me. Being together with other guys who are trying to follow Jesus, and facing the same battles I face every day myself... it just strengthens my heart. We need each other. The life of a follower of Jesus was never meant to be solitary. The kingdom of God, by its very nature, is meant to be experienced by individuals sharing their lives together. We need to be able to stand alone with Him, but that is not supposed to be the norm. We can love God alone on a mountaintop, but we cant really love our neighbor that way. Oh, we can pray for them, but that is just the beginning. A central part of His purpose in creation was that we would share in His goodness and love together. "Where two or three are gathered... He is there." I am so thankful for that reality.

He is good...

unplanned

A short ramble of encouragement.

His Word is a light in the darkness.

Luk 21:5 And while some were speaking of the temple,
how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he
said, "As for these things that you see, the days
will come when there will not be left here one stone
upon another that will not be thrown down." And they
asked him, "Teacher, when will these things be, and what
will be the sign when these things are about to take place?"
And he said, "See that you are not led astray...

Luk 21:16 You will be delivered up even by parents
and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of
you they will put to death. You will be hated by all
for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish.

"some of you they will put to death...But not a hair
of your head will perish."

wow... the eternal perspective at its best...

As I was looking at Luke 21 a few minutes ago, my
heart was challenged by this next verse.

Luk 21:28 Now when these things begin to take place,
straighten up and raise your heads, because your
redemption is drawing near."

The context is one of final judgement and tribulation.
In the midst of that, Jesus tells us to lift our
heads, and be looking for Him. When this world is
shaken to its very foundations, our hope is drawing
near.

That is not a natural way to think.

I want a heart that cries, "Come Lord!"

I want that heart that Paul spoke of, that would
rather go be with Him, but will stay here for the
sake of serving His purpose on the earth.

I want a heart that is free from loving this world.

Jam 1:27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before
God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows
in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained
from the world.

Jam 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that
friendship with the world is enmity with God?
Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world
makes himself an enemy of God.

1Jo 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--
the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes
and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but
is from the world. And the world is passing away along
with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides
forever.

Help Lord.

I know He will.

Thankful

Well... how clever. A post about thankfulness on Thanksgiving! I'd bet I am the only one doing that today. But I just cant help it. I am freshly reminded this morning of how much I have to be thankful for. No... its not a list of all the stuff I have. And no, its not my family, and our good health. Its not my business, or that I live in the most prosperous nation in the history of the world. Of course I am thankful for all those things. Deeply thankful, although I often forget just how blessed I am. No, today I am thinking of the love of God. I felt impressed to read from Romans 4 this morning.

Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."

If someone stumbles across this who is not a follower of Jesus, that first part about Abraham will be gobbledygook. In fact, the last part about our blessedness wont mean much either. It might even offend them. "Lawless deeds? How dare you! Who are you to judge me???" I don't judge. Its not my job, and I am ill-equipped to do so. God judges the heart, and only he can see into it. But reality is this, we have all sinned. And we know it. We try our best to rid ourselves of the guilt. We deny the existence of God. We trace our ancestry back billions of years to our great great Uncle Amoeba. We try our best to philosophize away our inner sense of right and wrong. But at the end of the day, when we lay on our beds, we know. He is there. Watching. Waiting. Calling. "Come to Me." God called to Abraham and He called him His friend. He wants to do the same with each of us. Even greater than that, He calls us to be His sons and daughters.

He whispers, "Look around you." We see the beauty of the world we live in. The vastness, and yet the order. This is no accident. We look within. We ask questions. Why? There are so many whys. The questions tell me that there are answers. The questions tell me there is One who has those answers. The beauty around me tells me He is good. Sure, there is also ugliness and brokeness. War, poverty, hatred. The inevitable results of the creature telling the Creator to "take a hike". "What about sickness and disease?" I don't have a definitive answer for the questioning mind. I have answers that satisfy me, but they don't necessarily work for the unbelieving. Sometimes they are not very helpful for the believer either. I do know that evil is the exception, and not the rule. Mostly, I am in awe of the beauty and order. I know that the brokeness all goes back to mankind's rebellion against the wisdom of God. I know that when its all said and done, we will understand. We will see things through His eyes. We will know perfect peace. We will be embraced in perfect Love. We will find our Resting Place.

For now, I am in grateful awe of the mercy and kindness of God. Sin is unspeakably horrible and evil. It has brought thousands of years of suffering and darkness to mankind, and all of creation. It has brought incomprehensible pain to the heart of God. And yet... He loves us. He made a way to justly forgive our rebellion. He made a way to reconcile us back to Himself. We lived as His enemies, and He pursued us anyway. He laid down His life for us. And then He drew us to Himself, persuaded us to turn from our selfishness, to put our trust in Him, and to walk with Him as His children and friends.

I am thankful this morning. Far beyond these weak words...

First love

2Cor 5:6-11 ...we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.

The fear of the Lord. I can't escape the idea lately. Its not about being afraid of God. Its about really seeing Who it is that we have encountered. I love that I can call Him "Abba". I love that I am encouraged to "come boldly before the throne of grace". It's unspeakably awesome that He calls me "friend". But He is still God. Infinite, uncreated Creator of the universe. And we are told that we will stand before that throne as a judgment seat. We are told that our works will be judged. How we live our lives each day matters... it really matters. There is a perversion of the gospel that is rampant in our land. It says that our works are of no consequence. "Its all under grace." No accountability. It relies on a few passages of scripture taken out of context, and ignores many clear passages that tell us that God is after reality in our lives. Grace provides forgiveness of sin, and the opportunity for restoration of relationship. But we must have a repentant heart. We must have a sincere desire to have that relationship restored. "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." He calls us to be set apart, holy, unto Him. Our life is no longer our own. Before we meet Him, we are independent beings, doing our own thing. After we are born again, we are sons and daughters of God, servants of the King. We submit ourselves to His loving leadership. Modern American christianity often presents salvation as receiving a "Do not go to hell" pass. We still get to live our selfish, pleasure-seeking, materialistic lives. But now we get to go to heaven when its over. Heck of a deal. I am not standing back in judgment on people who have believed that message. My heart is grieved that people are being sold a bill of goods. I bought it myself for a number of years. I heard the true gospel when I was young, and embraced it for about ten years. Then the cares of this world took root in my heart, and slowly I gave in to compromise and willful sin. It didn't happen overnight. It was a little bit at a time. Drifting away. I allowed my beliefs to subtly shift to justify the deception that was taking over. Outwardly I still did all the right things. Church, small groups, avoiding all the really big sins. But my heart was growing cold and hard. I wanted more stuff, more and bigger and better. I wanted security. I wanted to make enough money to prevent me from ever having to trust God. Saving is good, but that savings can become an idol. It can become that thing in which I put my trust. The list of idols in American culture is almost endless.

So now I find myself crying out to God to renew my heart. I want my first love. I want to serve Him in the way in which He deserves. Its His grace and mercy once again that I find that cry rising in my heart. I wouldn't even know I was becoming blind if He didn't open my eyes to see it. But how will I respond? When I hear Him calling to me, will I follow after Him? Or will I just think about, and maybe talk about it over coffee with friends? Will I rise up and seek Him with all my heart? Its the most important question in my life.

Help Lord...

The kindness of God

Rom 2:3-8 So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on those who practice these things and then do them yourself, do you think you will escape God's judgment? Or do you think so little of the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that it is God's kindness that is leading you to repentance? But because of your stubborn and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. For he will repay everyone according to what that person has done: eternal life to those who strive for glory, honor, and immortality by patiently doing good; but wrath and fury for those who in their selfish pride refuse to believe the truth and practice wickedness instead.

Its late, so I will leave this for your own meditation.

"...do you think so little of the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that it is God's kindness that is leading you to repentance?" Ouch. The implications of that question are enormous, especially to contemporary American christianity. Especially to my life. More and more, I realize that my spirit has been dulled by cares of this world, and the natural temptation to turn the grace of God into an excuse for sin.

Sobering.

a psalm we all should know

We all have those times when the darkness is overwhelming. I love the Psalms, because we see the honest and real interactions of a man with his God. David had dark and difficult times like the rest of us, and we can learn from him how to pray when we find ourselves there.

Psa 143

Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!
Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
For the enemy has pursued my soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made me sit in darkness like those long dead.
Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.

I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.
I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O LORD! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit.
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have fled to you for refuge!

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life! In your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble!
And in your steadfast love you will cut off my enemies, and you will destroy all the adversaries of my soul, for I am your servant.

Thank you, Lord...

Testing

Deu 13:1-4 "If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.

So... the Lord allows false teachers in order to test us. And what is He looking for when watching our response to the test? He wants to see whether we love Him with all our heart and soul. And how does he know that about us? He looks to see whether we "fear Him and keep His commandments and obey His voice." "But that's Old Testament!" you say. "Legalism!" We have to remember what Paul wrote to Timothy when he was leading the church in Ephesus.

2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.

When he wrote that, the New Testament didn't exist. He was talking about the Torah. He was thinking of the Law and the prophets. Now we understand that Paul wasn't talking about keeping the Law as a means of attaining salvation. He makes that abundantly clear in all of His writings. But he also understood the "Old Testament" as the Word of God. It was the place where we would learn the ways of God, and as disciples of Jesus that is one of our goals in life. We want to understand His ways, and walk in them. The purpose of grace is to restore us to fellowship with God, and if we are truly in loving relationship with Him, our heart's desire will be to bring joy to His heart by walking with Him in His ways.

2Co 5:9 ...we make it our aim to please him.


Lord, give me a heart to please you and bless you in all my ways.

Wisdom

Deu 12:28 Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God.

Obedience. That is what Jesus calls us to. Not as an arrogant dictator, but as a loving father. When my children were young, I required complete obedience. When I said, "Don't play in the street," I wasn't out to deny them their rightful enjoyment of the superior pleasure of playing on asphalt rather than the grass in our yard. I was protecting them from danger they couldn't fully comprehend. Our life before God is like that. In his infinite wisdom and understanding, He knows what is best for us. His laws are not the unfair, restrictive rules of an almighty control freak. They are an expression of His love for us. Do we trust Him in that? Do we believe that everything He asks of us is His divine wisdom of what is best for us? Do we have faith in that? This kind of faith in His goodness and love will produce heartfelt and grateful obedience. Not the kind of obedience that is trying to get Him to like you. No, its the kind of obedience that flows out of confidence in His care over our lives. Its trusting that He is smarter than we are, and that if we obey Him, even when we don't really feel like it, things will "go well with you and your children after you forever." True faith will produce a life of restful obedience. It wont always be easy in the beginning, though. There will be those times when we really do think we know better than God what will make us happy and secure. There will be those times when everything in us cries out for some kind of pleasure that He has called us to say no to. There will be those times when we have to deny our own thoughts and desires, and simply trust Him by obeying His commands. When we do, He will always show Himself to be faithful and true. It may not be apparent in the first five minutes. It may take days or weeks or months, or sometimes even years for the truth to play itself out. But that's the life of faith. We have decided that He can be trusted, and therefore that obedience to His ways is always the right thing to do. Always.

Joh 14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Lord, help me to walk in that kind of faith.

Ruthless

Deu 12:1-9 "These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way. But you shall seek the place that the LORD your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the LORD your God has blessed you. "You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.

I know... thats a long passage. Its just hard to pull out one or two sentences. God, through Moses, called His people to be ruthless with idolatry. He called them to pursue Him and His ways with all their heart. He called them to the place of obedience, and to turn away from "everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes."

"For you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the Lord your God is giving you." Have we truly entered into that rest? Have we come into the inheritance He has prepared for us? We are called to rest from our own works, and to trust completely in "the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith". Jesus completed that work, and made a way for us to be reconciled back to God. But have we truly entered that rest? Have we torn down the altars, repented of our idolatry, and turned our hearts completely back to Him? "Repent and believe." Thats the message of Jesus, and Peter, and Paul. "He died so that we who live should no longer live for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf." No amount of good works will atone for our sins. He took care of that. He made a way to justly forgive our sins, and provide a way of restoring the broken relationship between God and the people He created. But its up to us to respond to the Holy Spirit's call to our heart. Grace doesn't give us the freedom to sin. It teaches us not to.

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

Has the passion of our God created a passion in our hearts to tear down the altars of sin and idolatry, and enter into all that He has in His heart for us?

"...one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

Lord... have your way.

Following Him

Mat 16:24-27 Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

Where is the fear of the Lord today? We ask people if they would like to go to heaven instead of hell, then pray a short, shallow prayer "accepting Jesus as their saviour", and then assure them that they now have a free pass into an eternity of bliss. Where exactly in the scriptures did we come up with this message?

Lord, have mercy. Open our eyes....

evolution

I ran across an article on Yahoo the other day about the potential disappearance from the planet of the Mexican garter snake. Below is a copy of my input to the discussion on the article. I don't really have time for this sort of thing, but random stuff pushes my buttons sometimes.

OH NO!!!! What will we do without Mexican garter snakes??? You know, its funny. The same people who freak out every time "natural selection" eliminates a species are the ones who are convinced that it is absolutely unquestionable science that their great great great great grandfather is an amoeba. If there is no ultimate purpose in life, then why the panic when a snake disappears? In a billion years "evolution" will have produced several new species to replace it. And besides, if there is no grand purpose to existence, who cares anyway? And isn't man's existence and influence on the environment just part of that never-ending evolutionary process? Why does man have to build his entire existence around not interfering with the lifestyles of snakes and owls and wolves? If there is no God, why does it matter? We are all just meaningless accidents in the cosmos. What difference does it make if we turn the planet into a wasteland? Now please understand... these are not my true opinions. These are simply the logical questions that follow the embrace of evolution as the source of life and meaning.

Again this morning I read a "letter to the editor" in our local newspaper about how the "theory" of evolution is hardcore proven science, and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. How can anyone possibly look around them, and think this is all an accident? I just don't understand it...

Lord, have mercy.

Completely?

1Th 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and
body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will
surely do it.

I was reading in 1 Thes. this morning, and when I got
to this verse it just stopped me in my tracks.
Vision, hope, questions. Paul believes that God's
purpose is to sanctify us completely. Our entire
being and life set aside for and to Him. Sounds like
there is more to this deal than heaven and hell. "And
may" your whole being be kept blameless at the coming
of our Lord. The fact that he uses the phrases "Now
may" and "And may" would seem to indicate that this
isnt a done deal. We are in a process... on a journey.
And its not over until we cross the finish line. "He
who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it."
Thats our hope. His faithfulness. If we will
persevere and keep our hearts open to Him, He will
"complete the work He has begun in us."

Gal 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our
sins to deliver us from the present evil age,
according to the will of our God and Father,

2Ti 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed
and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him
be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The priority of love

I recently read a post on another blog about some online sparring between two other bloggers about speaking in tongues. So this post is a blog about a blog about some other blogs. Hmmm... Too much time on our hands?

Anyway... I replied to the guy that I read, and thought I would include it here.

Sam,

I enjoyed your thoughts on tongues. Good stuff. I
also looked at the other blogs you mentioned. I have read both
before, but I can only take so much. I think most of
what is out there in the blogosphere grieves the heart
of God. I am not judging the individuals. In fact, I
would lean toward believing the best regarding their
intentions. But, I cant believe we waste valuable
time and bandwidth arguing about tongues. And, as you
well know, its not just tongues. Name your pet
theological position. Somebody out there will be
ready to fight you about it. We will fight to the
death to prove we are right, and destroy our brother
along the way. All the while, inner city children are
growing up in Kansas City and Chicago and Mobile
without any positive parental influence in their
lives. One day they will join a gang to find a sense
of belonging. They will probably have to do some sort
of serious crime to attain full membership. "Wow....
that's really horrible. I suppose I should do
something. But I am really sort of busy. I have this
blog, you see. And I have to make sure that everyone
in the world knows that speaking in tongues is of the
devil" ... or that its not.

Outside of the church, many see us as irrelevant. I can't imagine why.

In I Corinthians 13, Paul reminds us of our priorities.

1Co 13:8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. I believe he is talking about perfect love.

Lord, help us stop nit-picking each other, so we can show the world your perfect love.

where do I begin?

Its been a while. These are intense times. The world is in turmoil. The war in Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah. Spiritually, it seems that everyone I know is being dealt with in deep, penetrating ways. The Lord seems to be going for our hearts in ways that are more challenging than I can remember for a long time. Issues we have "put up with" for a long time are being exposed and called to account. Its not a time for religious games. This is a time for reality with God. We must let the Holy Spirit have His way with us. He wants to set our hearts free to serve our Father in love, and walk with Him in integrity. No more "pet sins" we coddle and hang on to.

No... I am not talking about some heavy-handed legal religion.

Just... reality. Honesty. Surrender to Jesus. Loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Giving Him "the reward of His suffering."

Lord, grant us a spirit of humility and repentance. You are worthy that we would live lives where, "it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Show me how to let you live more fully in and through me.

You are worthy.

Standing before Him

Being faithful is the cry of our heart. I have been encouraged lately by the idea of seeing the continuity of life. We don't "live" here on earth, and then "die" and go play a harp on a cloud. Eternal life has already begun. We walk with Him in His purposes by faith, and we will one day experience that in a clearer, fuller, deeper way. And we live in the hope and expectation of His return. How did He teach us to pray? "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven." The heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11 are said to have been looking for a better country. The wise virgins kept oil in their lamps. The wise stewards were able to give a return on the talents they had been entrusted with. How will we invest our time and money today? In temporal things that will someday burn in the fires of judgment... wood, hay, and stubble? Or are we living with eternity in mind, spending our time and money in a way that will bring a harvest of gold, silver, and precious jewels? I don't want to stand before the Lord with only ashes as my offering of gratitude, the fruit of my earthly life. I want to hear one thing when I stand before Him... "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master."

Just a short ramble....

Paul on grace

A collection of Paul's thoughts...

For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."...Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. …What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. …Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death… "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."…It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. …You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? … For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." … But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh... For... to live is Christ and to die is gain… Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, … whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, …forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. … our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;… the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority.

We forget

I was reading a book online this morning, and the author said something that hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. We forget who we are. Believers, I mean. Followers of Jesus. Those who have been redeemed by the blood that was spilled when He suffered and died on the cross. We forget who we are. And when we do, we live very ordinary lives. We follow the spirit of the world, and the lusts of the flesh and mind as though we had not been brought into the kingdom of heaven. We forget that we are now called sons and daughters of God.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.

Think about that. The Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe has called you his child. You were separated from Him by your selfishness and rebellion, and He made a way to righteously forgive you, and then adopted you as His child. Its who you are.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light... Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.


But we forget. We live like ordinary worldlings. Lord, help us live in the conscious awareness of who we are. Open our eyes to see that we are seated in the heavens with you, in training to rule and reign with you. We are called to walk in your perfect love; to receive it and experience it and live it out toward You and the world. We are called to put your kingdom on display for this world to see. There is no higher purpose in life on earth.

King of kings, Lord of lords... help us to walk in a manner worthy of the calling You have placed upon us.

Its the least we can do.

blessed

I was thinking a lot about my family this morning. They are truly the riches of my life on earth... hence, all the pictures.

Just sharing the wealth. (smile)