Remembering Why I Pray. . .

~ ckwills ~ Leave a comment

I want to be a Mary, but too often Martha wins the wrestling match. When I have the choice of intentionally sitting with God or doing stuff, I tend to default to busyness. If I’m honest with myself, one of the big reasons why is that when I stop and sit at the feet of Jesus, all the difficult circumstances in my life roar up from the murky depths, explode onto the surface, and start bobbing there, screaming at me to fix them. It was better while they were hidden in the abyss because I can’t fix them. They are too big, too overwhelming. So to avoid this helpless feeling, I avoid being still and sitting with God. Ugh!

So I need to remind myself why I pray.

The first and craziest reason to pray is exactly because I have unfixable problems in my life. I always forget that. But when I remember, it’s such a relief. Many times, I have struggled for days trying to figure out how to resolve a dogging issue, how to respond to someone, how to change something that needs changing, but I have no idea how. I come up with every solution a human being can conceive of, but none of them gives me any satisfaction in my heart. Then I remember to pray! And the first thing I feel is shame. Wow. How could I forget that God has answers I can’t conceive of? How could I put God last instead of first? How many decades of following Christ does it take for me to get this right? Shame, shame.

So after I’ve chastised myself, I pray. And I have to say that I’ve always received an answer that I didn’t conceive of. Sometimes it was a real fix to the problem — a way to respond, a solution to a dilemma. Sometimes it was God’s peace — the gift of a calm and comforting bubble to float in through the circumstances that won’t go away. And at other times, it was the fuel of grace to keep on keepin’ on.

When I reflect, I realize that another reason I pray is because God changes me into the image of His Son as I pray. I can start out angry, hurt, or betrayed, first asking God to “bless ’em with a brick.” But as I yield to God and pray about the situation and the person, I begin to have new and multi-dimensional insight into the person and the circumstance. Gradually, I start to see it all from God’s perspective instead of my own, and I find compassion and love growing in my heart. By the end my prayer has changed from a selfish one to one of love because God has made me more Christlike as I’ve prayed.

And the other reason I pray, when I remember, is because I really want to put God first. “Pray first.” That’s what I want my new motto to be. Why? Because praying invites God into every situation. Then I won’t have limited human results, but instead, infinite God-sized results. I want every circumstance, everything I do, and every errand I run submitted to God so I can intersect with the supernatural in my everyday life. When I pray, I see that happen.

And  when I remember to invite God into a situation, it reminds me to consciously be with Him. He is always with me, living in me, but can I say that I’m not always with Him? That’s how it feels anyway. But asking God to enter and take over the reins reminds me to enjoy His presence, to trust Him, and to rest in Him through it all.

So when I remember, that’s why I pray. Now, it’s time to quit talking to you and sit with my Redeemer.

What Happens When We Lift Our Feet…

~ ckwills ~ 3 Comments

Last night I listened to an Andy Stanley teaching in which he talked about the distractions that take up our time and reroute us away from the important things in life. He said that if we just lift up our feet, the culture will sweep us away with it.

I get that image. We’ve been at the beach, swimming in the ocean and enjoying ourselves. After a few minutes we plant our feet and look for our umbrella and beach chairs, only to spy them a hundred yards back from where we ended up. We were carried away, unaware, by the current.

The Lord told Hosea that “the land is guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the LORD” (1:2). No doubt that is true for America, but I’ve got to start with me. I am guilty of that “vile adultery.”

Hosea’s unfaithful wife said,

“I will go after my lovers,

who give me my food and my water,

my wool and my linen,

my oil and my drink” (2:5)

It’s all about the appetites we have and satisfying them. We want the treats, the clothes, the entertainment. We lift up our feet and — ka-boom! Suddenly we are carried away in the current. We don’t have to make any effort. We just have to quit planting our feet, just stop slogging against the strong current of culture, and we’re gone.

Yet, all that we need and desire, Jesus said He would give us, if we only seek Him first instead of seeking the stuff first. “The pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:32-33).

We all know that scripture. We’ve sung the chorus and bought the T-shirt. But do we live it?

I’ve recently come to recognize that the strong current in my life right now is what you’re reading this blog on — social media, the internet, and all the other distractions that happen when I sit down in this chair in front of my computer. It just takes a quick sit-down, and suddenly it’s 45 minutes later. I lifted my feet, the strong current carried me away, and I look up and realize I’m not where I want to be.

What about you? What is the powerful current that causes you to drift away from where you want to be? What is so appealing that it causes you to lift your planted feet and go after it? What is the number one thing that distracts you away from God right now?

Maybe we can agree together that, with God’s help and by His strength, we will keep our feet planted and chase after God first. Then we will let Him satisfy us not only with Himself, but with all the other “stuff” He promised and He knows we need.

So I’m getting up from this chair right about now….

What about you?

Surrendering to God: Chains or Yoke?

~ ckwills ~ 3 Comments

It’s the question of the ages: Why do people rebel against God?

Psalm 2 asks this very question, then goes on to describe us well:

Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.” (vv. 1-3)

We rebel against God because we don’t want to give up the power we have over our own lives. We are kings of our little domains. We rule over our own decisions. We want to keep our puny power. Our necks chafe at the shackle, our feet tire of dragging the chains of obedience to God. Instead, we want to break the chains and throw off the shackles and be free to do what we want, when we want, with whom we want.

At least, that’s how a part of us feels — that untamed, rebellious self that we keep hidden most of the time. That self will be with us as long as we live, and it will keep lying to us the whole time.

What is the truth, then? If not shackles and chains, then what? Let’s hear from Jesus Himself:

 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) 

What a difference there is between chains and a yoke! Look at the words Jesus uses to describe what it’s like to follow and obey Him: rest, learn, gentle, humble, easy, light. These words do not describe the experience of being chained and shackled. That is done against the will; the yoke is taken up willfully.

And if we do take His yoke upon us, surrender to His will and His ways, what will happen? Well, it won’t be chafing against the shackle or dragging chains. It will be rest from our weariness and burdens because He takes them upon Himself in the yoke. It won’t be forced labor, but gentle and humble learning from Jesus Himself. It won’t be chains, but an easy yoke that brings rest to our frenzied thoughts, our weary emotions, and our burdened hearts.

On my good days, when I feel myself rebelling against God in some area, I remind myself of God’s goodness and tell my rebel self, “Why wouldn’t I want to surrender to a good God? He has the best ahead for me. It will be better than what I want for myself right this minute. I can trust Him.”

If we see surrender to God as chains and shackles, we’ll bolt. If we see surrender as Jesus lifting the burdens from our shoulders and shouldering them Himself in His yoke, as teaching us to walk in step with Him, and as bringing us rest, we will gladly surrender.

So what will it be? How will you see surrender to God? Chains or yoke?

Do You Feel Like “Not Enough”? Good!

~ ckwills ~ 1 Comment

Everyone knows the story of the loaves and fishes in the Bible. It’s one of the few incidents in Jesus’ life that is recorded in all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). In it, Jesus and the disciples retreat to an isolated place for some R & R, but the crowd follows. Jesus has compassion on them (that sounds like Him  and teaches them until late in the day, at which point his disciples suggest that He send the people away to buy food for themselves in nearby villages. (I’m sure their own rumbling stomachs had something to do with their suggestion.)

Jesus tells His guys, “You give them something to eat.” Quite an outrageous request! They respond as we would have, shocked at the request, then mentally calculating the cost of such a dinner on the grounds. Impossible, they all but said. We would never have enough money to buy dinner for 5,000 plus. 

When we hear that small voice inside, feel that command from God forming in our spirit, do we immediately react with our practical senses as the disciples did? Outrageous! I could never do that! It could never happen, and here’s why. All the reasons come erupting violently out of our minds and emotions. Sometimes God’s commands, though glorious, are also scare-ious. They involve losing our reputation, stepping off cliffs (not literally), and likely humiliation and failure (in our own eyes). Impossible, and here’s the reasons!

However, Jesus ignored their reasons and asked them a simple question: “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

Hmmmmmm…… What does that have to do with anything? Five loaves and two fishes — that’s as good as having two ping pong paddles and five balls when it comes to feeding over 5,000 people. Neither one would do the trick.

Actually, loaves and fishes were better than ping pong paddles because they were the same type of stuff Jesus was looking for: food. But it was clearly NOT ENOUGH! (Yes, I’m shouting.).

But Jesus took what they had, gave thanks, and broke it. Then He gave it back to them to distribute to the 5,000 (read: to do as He commanded).

It occurs to me that Jesus looked at the disciples, and looks at us, and sighs to the Father, “Not enough.” Didn’t He even say to the disciples (not to us, mind you), “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” “Why are you afraid?” “Why are you talking about that when that’s not the point?” “Why are you worrying?” How could twelve faithless, bumbling disciples turn into 2.18 billion Christians? Impossible.

But Jesus gave thanks for us anyway, and broke us, and we multiplied!

In the same way, we also have enough of whatever He asks of us when we give thanks for the little we have, and allow ourselves to be broken.

At times I have laid out at the altar begging God to take a sledge hammer to my hard, hard heart. Break me. Make me useful to you. Do whatever it takes, and let this prayer override any other prayer I ever pray. I can’t do this. My heart is cold. I’m not enough. 

The good news is that we don’t have to rely on, have faith in, or be persuaded that what we have is enough to do the job. It is clearly NOT ENOUGH! (Shouting again). But that’s the good news. We thank God for what we have and give it to Him to break and multiply. We don’t have to do the miracle; He does the multiplying. He makes it all happen. We just thank Him and present it to Him. It’s up to Him to make NOT ENOUGH more than enough to accomplish His purposes.

That’s a relief to me because I can put faith in God’s side of the equation. It’s me I have trouble believing in. When I try to put my faith in my five loaves and two fishes, I despair. I cry. I wail and complain. I’m faithless.

But my part is very small. It’s just being willing and obedient. He has the big job of making the miracle happen.

And He’s got this. Yippee!!!

God’s Glory or Personal Glory?

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I like to read books about people’s visions of heaven. Of course, I take them all with a grain of salt, and I compare them to Scripture, but I do find them inspiring. The descriptions thrill me and help me keep my eyes on the prize. 

One book was particularly sobering. This young man was a military recruit in World War II, and he died of pneumonia in the barracks hospital during training. He saw his own body with the sheet pulled over his head. Then Jesus, the Man made of Light, came into the room, and the young man’s life started playing like a 3D movie around him. A question came from the living Light: What did you do with your life? Every response the young man made was met with the answer, That glorified you. Then came the next question: What have you done with your life to show Me? He grasped instantly that Jesus was asking what he had done with His life to show the world the unconditional love of Jesus. 

That scene has replayed in my mind many times. It has caused a knot in my stomach as I’ve struggled with how to live my life for God’s glory and not my own. That is the question, isn’t it? Our actions, our deeds, our words — they may be the same either way; but one way brings glory to God, the other is for personal glory. What is the difference? How do I live for God’s glory?

This week I read a scripture that shed some light on this for me. Let me put it in context. In the encounters Jesus has with the people and the Pharisees in John 6-8, He continually tells them that He isn’t acting on His own, that He is not doing His own will or saying His own words, but He is doing and saying only that which He receives from His Father. He tells them this over and over, hoping against hope that they will put their faith in Him.

Then, in John 7:17-18, Jesus says, 

Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 

It hit me. Doing and saying things that originate from me bring personal glory; doing and saying things that originate from God bring Him the glory. It’s so obvious that you are probably wondering what I’m so stunned about. Let me try to explain. 

Jesus always sought the Father, in order to receive from Him, and then He did and spoke what He heard the Father say or saw the Father do (John 5:19; 12:49-50). He spent time with God, received from Him, and broke that bread before the people. That brought glory to the Father, not to Himself. That is how we live our lives for God’s glory. 

Of course, that’s why the Father has given us the Holy Spirit. When we live out of the infinite resource of the Holy Spirit in us, we will bring glory to God by showing Him to the world. When we live out of our desires, our flesh, our thinking or our feelings —  then it’s all for personal glory or personal satisfaction.  

Have you noticed those times when you are living out of the Holy Spirit only? Your words, your actions, the great love you have for people — how it is from Him and not you? For me, this only happens when I spend more time with Him, when I’ve been filled with Him — saturated with the Spirit and not the world. Otherwise, I live out of my own desires, out of my own impulses — for my own glory. Lord, help me.

I can only end with a prayer.

Father, draw me to you as I’ve never been drawn before. Forgive me for all the times I’ve neglected being with You. Retrain me. Let the world fall away. Make my priorities right. Help me let go of my own agenda. I want to please you. I want to bring glory to You, to reveal You to the world, as You’ve asked. Just….. help.  

Complaining, Whining, and Joy

~ ckwills ~ 1 Comment

A couple days after Christmas, my husband and I took our five grandkids (ages 9 – 18) to the Magic Kingdom at Disney. We knew it would be crowded because it was during the Christmas holidays. That meant longer lines, missing some rides, and fighting crowds all day. During the hour drive there, I issued a challenge. Each of us got a tiny baggie with 10 dried beans in it. When anyone complained about anything, they had to give up a bean. The person with the most beans at the end of the day got $10.

The next thing we had to do was to define complaining. If someone said, “It’s raining,” or “It’s cold,” or “My arm hurts,” was that complaining or just stating a fact? Facts are ok; complaining is not. They decided on their own that complaining has to do with the tone of voice. We made my husband the judge on that. We also included teasing and poking each other as off limits, because that elicits a whiny response. 

By that evening, no one had lost a bean except me: I lost two beans. One of my granddaughters was walking on one toe, and I asked her if her feet were hurting. She said her heel hurt, but she wasn’t going to complain. And she said it with neutral emotion — just stating a fact, not resentful at all. 

We had the best time I can remember. It was joyful all day long, and it was a blast. 

Which leads me to something I saw in the Gospel of John last night in a class at church… In John chapter 5, Jesus asks a man who has been lame for 38 years if he wants to get well.

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

I wonder if that reply would have cost a bean. 

I only say that because, after Jesus healed him, Jesus ran into the man later and told him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

What did Jesus mean? We know that Jesus refuted the common belief then that someone’s sin caused disabilities, diseases, and even misfortune. We know this from the healing of the blind man in John 9:

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

So what sin was Jesus referring to with the man who had been lame, but was healed?

It hit me last night that Jesus might have been talking about the sin of complaining, of self-pity, of blaming. 

Now, none of us would judge the lame man for feeling sorry for himself and complaining; we can’t imagine what it would be like to have lived his life. We would agree that he had lots of reasons to feel self-pity, even bitter. Nevertheless, could it be that, no matter our circumstances, we are to praise and thank instead of complain and murmur?

I think back to the joyful day at Disney in which no one (but me!) complained or griped or whined or blamed. We loved providing that day for our grandkids, but it would have soured if there had been teasing and fighting and whining and complaining. Does God feel that way too about His kids? Have we really not been given enough to find something to thank Him for, to praise Him for?

This is on the front burner in my life right now. I give all of you permission to call me on this if you hear me complain! I want God to look at me with that joyful heart we had at Disney that day. What about you?

By the way, all the grandkids were so good, we gave all of them money!

 

The tender love of Jesus for His mother

Aside ~ ~ ckwills ~ 5 Comments

One reason I fell in love with Jesus is because He set women free. He honored and respected women, and He treated them as just as much potential citizens of heaven as men. He raised their status from chattel to equals, and we still see the impact of that today everywhere people have basically followed His teachings. Jesus loves women, and I love that because I am one!

The story of the wedding at Cana in John chapter 2 has always fascinated me. This story is not in any of the other gospels. And as I wonder why, I remember that John was the disciple Jesus assigned from the cross to take care of His mother, Mary. So John spent a lot of time with her over the years. He must have heard this story from her point of view, and that’s what I’ve been pondering.

To me, the miracle of turning water into wine at this wedding feast has always seemed so different from the other signs and miracles of Jesus. This week, the involvement of Jesus’ mother has caught my attention.

We know that Mary had been observing her firstborn son for thirty years. We don’t know all that Jesus did during that time, but John does say that this was His first miracle. This leads us to conclude that He had a normal life, “growing in favor with God and man.” Yet all this time, Mary was “pondering in her heart” all that had taken place surrounding Jesus: His conception, including the announcement from Gabriel that she would bear “the Son of God”; the prophetic words from Simeon and Anna at the dedication of baby Jesus in the temple, especially the words of Simeon that now he had seen God’s salvation, and that a sword would pierce Mary’s heart; the magi coming in splendor from the East, bringing luxurious gifts and worshiping the King of the Jews; the words of the twelve-year-old Jesus, found after three days in the temple courts, saying that he had to be about His “Father’s business.”

Now Jesus has become a rabbi and has disciples following Him. They were invited to the wedding along with Jesus. Mary sees all this, and continues to ponder, to wonder, to dream….. and to worry? Then a social crisis occurs at the wedding — no wine — and somehow Mary is involved enough that she goes to her eldest son and tells him the problem. I wonder, what is she expecting Him to do?

At first, Jesus seems to rebuff her, but still she tells the servants to do whatever He tells them. Then He calls the servants and instructs them to fill the jars with water and take a cup to the master of the banquet. Of course, when they do, the water turns into wine, the best wine of all.

The next moment is the one that fascinates me. As Mary sees what has happened, what Jesus has done, I can see everything falling into place in her mind. All her experiences, the prophecies, the angelic words — they all come into focus as she, for the first time, sees her Son as truly the Messiah. It must have been a tremendous moment — one of instant insight and revelation.

And in my mind’s eye, I can see the looks Jesus and His mother give each other. His, a tender look that said, “See, this is what it was all leading up to. This is what you suffered the humiliation of being an unwed mother for. This is what all the prophecies and signs pointed to. The time has come, and you are the one who nurtured me and wondered for all these years what it was all about. Here it is. The revealing of the Messiah, your Son, has come.” And Mary’s look, her gasp, her flash of understanding, her brand new love –not just for her Son — but for the Messiah of all mankind.

Jesus chose to honor His mother, Mary, through His first miracle. It was a simple miracle just for her. It was a great, big thank-you. It was tender and sweet and kind.

And I’m falling in love with Jesus all over again.

What Is Your Calling as a Christian?

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If you asked people what a true Christian is, I believe two characteristics would dominate the answers they would give. (Think Mother Teresa.)

  1. A Christian does good, is completely unselfish, and sacrifices himself for others.
  2. A Christian bears suffering and ill treatment with love and patience, and without retaliation.

Let’s look at this second characteristic as seen from the Apostle Peter’s eyes. Peter tells us that we were calledto suffer patiently (if necessary) for doing good (1 Peter 2:21). Peter shows us Christ’s suffering as our example.

Jesus was innocent. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth” (v. 22). He went around doing good, yet suffered for it. He was persecuted because His good actions exposed the sin in people and threatened the status quo.

We are called to react to any unjust suffering in the same way Jesus did. When Jesus was insulted and reviled (verbally abused with vile language), He did not revile in return. When He suffered, he did not threaten in return.

In what ways do we suffer in America today for doing good? Those standing up for the rights of the unborn, the poor, and the abused will sometimes suffer. But each of us is given the opportunity in everyday life to suffer unjustly. Perhaps it is being misunderstood, or being called to surrender a right. Maybe the Holy Spirit is calling us to remain silent, to not make a justified demand, or to not challenge a wrong committed against us. We could be called to pass up a chance to threaten retaliation, even if we only threaten in our minds and not our words.

What does Christ’s example teach us to do instead? Instead of retaliating or threatening, Christ “entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly” (v. 23). If the weight of our lives is truly cast upon Jesus, if we have been crucified with Christ, then we are able to entrust ourselves and the final outcome of our unjust suffering to Him.

We sometimes ask each other, “What is your calling?” Perhaps the answer isn’t a specific ministry, but is the way in which we do it. Perhaps showing love and patience and not retaliating in the face of unjust suffering is our calling.

Feeling Guilty? Get Clean!

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If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. — 1 John 1:9

Yesterday I spent too much time watching TV and eating. Perhaps you can relate. The movie marathons on TV and the leftovers in the fridge got the best of me. My husband can walk away from a TV show five minutes before it ends, and often does! He doesn’t need to know the ending. He says the people aren’t real anyway, so it doesn’t matter. But I have to know the ending. The progression of the story is the most important part, so I hang on till the bitter end.

So this morning, I’m mad at myself for wasting hours yesterday. I don’t like what I let into my mind and heart, just because I wanted to see how the story ended.

That’s why I’m so glad that God allowed me to hear a message this last week in which the speaker said that God uses imperfect people. That’s me! I’m sure I will be struggling against something in my life till the day I die. But at least I’m struggling. Your struggles are different from mine, but we all have them. And if we’re struggling, we’re still in the race!

This morning, I prayed 1 John 1:9, a well-worn scripture for me: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The first time this scripture came to life for me was when God used it to help me receive His forgiveness for getting divorced. I got it! God’s forgiveness was mine because His word promised it. It was glorious!

Today, the second half of that scripture came to life to me. As I asked for forgiveness for yesterday, praying that scripture, the part about being cleansed from all unrighteousness dropped into my spirit like an atomic bomb. I didn’t have to give my sin any more space in my mind. I didn’t have to allow one more thought about yesterday, or one more tiny shred of guilt. All my unrighteousness was cleansed. Yesterday no longer stood between God and me. I stood clean before Him, ready to pray, believe, tell others about Him, or whatever. I was clean. Period. Or as the British say, full stop.

Wow! I got it!

God doesn’t expect us to be perfect. Our perfection comes through being in Jesus Christ. He knows we’re imperfect, that we will fail, choose sin, make foolish choices. Everything in Him directs us away from that, but when it happens (not often, I hope!), we can be cleansed from it! Fully clean and restored to God.

Is there something in your life, something you’ve done or said, that is standing between you and God? Stop right now and pray 1 John 1:9 over it. Believe that God is true to His word, and receive 1) forgiveness and 2) cleansing. It all takes faith, doesn’t it? We have to believe we’re forgiven and cleansed, even if we still feel guilty. Just say no to the guilt! Say yes to God’s being faithful to His promise to forgive you and scrub you clean.

Then spend your time with God as if nothing had ever happened.

Gotta go and get back with my time with God.

Love you!

Dealing With Tough Times

~ ckwills ~ 3 Comments

Psalm 77

Have you ever felt as if a trying season in your life would never end? Or that you cry out to God for an answer, but none comes? Or maybe you’re in a dry season. Even though you’re seeking God, it feels like it’s been so long since you felt His love, since you had a little sign from Him that He sees and cares.

You are not alone. These times of distress are part of everyone’s life on this earth.

I always find it comforting to discover that exactly what I’m feeling or going through is described in the Psalms. Someone said that the Psalms invites the whole range of human emotions into the presence of God. Don’t you love that? David and the other writers of these songs to God just laid themselves out before God — bare, unvarnished, just telling it like it was. They honored God, but they weren’t religious; they didn’t try to dress up their bare emotions with religious language. In their reverence for God, they spilled their guts to Him. They didn’t shut Him out of the “dark night of the soul” they were experiencing. Instead, they invited Him in.

I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.
When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; 
at night I stretched out untiring hands 
and my soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered you, O God, and I groaned. . .

Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?

Do you relate? Have you asked those question in your heart, maybe not even daring to whisper them aloud? In this Psalm, the writer almost shouts them!

A line that sticks out to me says, “I remembered you, O God, and I groaned.” Oh, I can relate! Sometimes it’s too painful to remember God in bad times — to remember the wonderful seasons with God, the love, the closeness, the insights, the tenderness. Oh, where is all that now? I groan when I remember what it was like in past seasons of God’s favor.

Yet, remembering is exactly how we move past the present pain; it’s exactly how we are comforted.  The way out is doing the very thing we might recoil at!

Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. 
I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.

“The years of the right hand of the Most High” — don’t you love that phrase? So much time in our life history was spent enjoying the right hand of God — His great favor on us. So many good times, so many answered prayers, so many daily delights in Him, so many gasps at His goodness and faithfulness. The way out is actually remembering all those times, something that seems at first like it would open a wound, but actually is the healing balm.

What can you remember from the times when God was so real and close that you could hardly breathe? What about the stunning answers to prayers, even before you asked!? How about His mercy in even calling you — the amazing “broken road” that led you to Him? Or His work in you — how you used to be angry or bitter or addicted or even painfully shy, but now…. well, now, you’ve been transformed.

Dare to remember. Dare to rehearse His goodness, His works, His miracles. Roll them over in your mind. Recount them. Reread your journals. See how far you have come by His redeeming power. Consider the answered prayers from your past, the huge ones and the tiny ones. Thank Him for all the mighty deeds you’ve witnessed in your life. Then you will say with the psalmist, “What God is so great as our God?”

I double dog dare you!

 

 

 

 

 

Loving Our Enemies

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Luke 6

One of the greatest differences between Christianity and religions is the way we are called to treat our enemies. We are not called to destroy or even get back at our enemies, but rather to love them. What does that mean?

First of all, do you have an enemy? Someone with a grudge against you, real or perceived? Someone who has tried to hurt you? Someone who is trying to get back at you for something you did or said, real or perceived? Someone who is persecuting you, mocking you, or ridiculing you because of your faith? (Frankly, we probably don’t have enough enemies for this last reason, do we?)

Jesus said that loving those who love us, doing good to those who do good to us, lending to those who can repay — that’s easy, and doing that accrues no credit to our “spiritual account.” Even sinners do that, He said. Christians are called to go beyond that.

Do good to those who hate you.

Don’t retaliate if someone takes your personal property, your dignity, or even infringes on your personal liberty.

Don’t judge. This words comes from a word meaning “to separate.” Whenever we start thinking in terms of “us vs. them,” we are judging. We have separated ourselves from them. We stand in the place of a judge.

Don’t condemn. Don’t judge and sentence someone. What are some sentences we give out? silence? excluding them? the cold shoulder? mean words? refusing to forgive or reconcile?

Forgive. Let them loose. Release them. Set them free from your personal judging and sentencing.

Give. After you stop trying to extract some kind of payment from your enemy, then give to them. Be generous with your love and your mercy.  Jesus promised that with the same measure we use, it will be given back to us.

Jesus calls us hypocrites when we judge and condemn others, because we have even greater sins, greater faults than they do. He tells us to deal with our own faults first before condemning others. And since getting the logs out of our own eyes is a lifelong job, we will never get around to judging others!

So, why are we asked to do good to those who don’t do good to us? to love those who hate us? to forgive those who have wronged us? to let others infringe on our personal rights? That’s a fair question, one with an eternally minded answer.

We are asked to do all these things so we can show the world who our Father is, what His characteristics are, what His nature is like. He is good to all. He extends forgiveness for all who choose to receive it. He judged and sentenced Jesus so He wouldn’t have to judge and sentence us. He sends His rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. He is merciful.

So we are to be all those things also, so the world can see the Father in us, and turn, and be saved.

Are you up for the challenge?

Leadership Test

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Numbers 11-12

Are you a true leader? Let’s look at what Moses says to get a handle on what a true leader is like.

In just the second year of a 40-year journey, the Israelites (probably numbering at least 2 million) complained. They were palate-deprived, eating only manna…. missing the tastes of meat and melons and onions. This made the Lord “exceedingly angry,” which, in turn, troubled Moses. He felt the burden, asking God, “What have I done to displease you that you put the burden of all these people on me?. . . Where can I get meat for all these people?. . . I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me.”

God had a solution. He asked Moses to gather 70 elders from among the people. He told Moses, “I will take of the Spirit that is on you and put the Spirit on them. They will help you carry the burden of the people so that you will not have to carry it alone.” God set a time for them to go to the Tent of Meeting, and there the men received the Spirit and prophesied. Two of the men, however, didn’t show up (for some unknown reason). Yet they were found in the camp prophesying anyway. This upset Moses’ aide, Joshua, who wanted Moses to stop them.

Instead Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!”

Moses wanted the anointing multipled to many, to ALL. He did not covet leadership or authority. He had no ego, no desire to be honored or respected above others. He was not jealous that another would have the same Spirit he did. Instead, he wanted ALL to have the Spirit and be able to hear from God for themselves.

Miriam and Aaron (Moses’ siblings) also talked against Moses, saying, “Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? . . . Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” It’s so easy to feel that way when you are under authority, not in authority; under leadership, not in leadership. The tendency of the sinful nature is to exalt self.

Then comes the verse pointing out Moses’ character: “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” He wasn’t jealous for his own leadership. God, however, was angry, and punished Miriam (and also Aaron through seeing Miriam suffer). Yet, even after being challenged by his own brother and sister, Moses was so humble that he cried out on Miriam’s behalf, and God listened and healed her.

Those who aren’t leading, especially those who are under leaders, can become jealous of the leader and his authority. They can covet his power, and second-guess him continually.

Those who are true, humble leaders just want to be unburdened of it! They would love for everyone to have the anointing, the power, the Spirit, in order to govern themselves and hear from God themselves.

Do you pass this leadership test?