Can't Sleep

Be still and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.
Psalm 46:10

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight
Proverbs 3:5-6

I rarely have trouble sleeping. When I wake up stressed over a project or life issue, I begin to doubt myself. Why did I volunteer for this? I don’t know what I’m doing! This is not going to turn out as I envisioned. How do I get this stuff done along with all the other stuff I feel like you’ve really called me to do, God? I am not gifted in event planning. Ok, maybe this was a mistake. Maybe this wasn’t your idea. So now what?

That’s what was on my mind at 5:00am this morning. At 5:20 I opened email. A friend had forwarded a piece with the above verses. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

This is not the first time God has sent flesh to get a message to me. The real kicker is those thoughts – be still, trust God – were also going through my mind as I lay restless in bed. But I was more focused on the negative thoughts.

Do you ever do that? You sense God trying to affirm and comfort but you prefer to struggle with the doubts. It’s pretty much a life long thing for me. Years ago, that character trait in me took me away from God completely. A miracle brought me back to him.

He was always there but I refused to listen to his still small voice. Refused is probably not the best word. It was more like aggressively debated it. Even that sounds nicer than the memory of my emotions during that period of my life. Now, my times of doubt don’t last as long because I know what it feels like to trust him. And that is exactly where I want to be.

Here area some other favorite verses that are coming to mind as I still my mind to listen to him

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;
I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14:27

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28

I can sleep because He will be exalted regardless of what I do. And that is really the purpose of life.

May the peace of Christ be with you today whether you face tasks of choice or life issues beyond your control.

Great Expectations

“The chief priests and the scribes were looking for some way to kill Jesus. However, they were afraid of the people.  Then Satan entered Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles.”  Luke 22:2-3 (GWT)

Have you ever wondered why high profile Christians get involved in stuff that hurts the reputation of the Church – the Body of Christ?

Or maybe it’s not a high profile Christian. Maybe it’s just someone you look to for your faith.

Let’s think about that. There are plenty of unbelievers (those who don’t believe Jesus is the Messiah, the only way to a relationship with God) doing wretched stuff, right? And, many of those unbelievers would like to destroy the influence of the Church so that they can live the way they want without being challenged. They are afraid of the Body of Christ. If they weren’t afraid, they wouldn’t care about things like Christian prayer in public schools.

Now, there have been attempts to destroy the Church since Jesus was born. Remember Herod’s attempt to kill him. (Matthew 2:13-16) That didn’t work. But Judas was an insider. That made a difference. And you can look at any church today that has had a split and see that the biggest damage comes from within the church, not outside.

So why did God impress on me to blog about this? Honestly, I’m not sure. But I think the more important verse is Luke 21:34 where Jesus has been talking about his return.

"But be on your guard. Don't let the sharp edge of your expectation get dulled by parties and drinking and shopping. Otherwise, that Day is going to take you by complete surprise, spring on you suddenly like a trap.” Luke 21:34 (MSG)

Are we really expecting Christ to return at any moment? Sometimes it seems that busyness of ministry has dulled our expectation.

 

Pressed, Persecuted and Perplexed

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Have you ever felt that way? It can be easy to get wrapped up in our circumstances. Sometimes it’s just the day to day stuff that gets pressed against a perplexing event. I’ve read the verses above to be reminded that nothing can destroy me because of God.

But today I read more in this section of scripture. Verse 10 says “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”

Do you see it? Verses 8 and 9 are not talking about unusual circumstances. Paul seems to be saying “look, this is the way it is or at least it should be.”

Do I always carry around in my body the death of Jesus? Uh, I don’t think so. It is those times when I feel pressed, perplexed, persecuted or struck down by stuff in this world that I cry out to Jesus, “Lord, help me here.”

It has been said that a person’s true character is revealed under pressure. What I heard from God today is that he expects His character to be revealed every day of my life.

Jesus was born in a barn. His family fled to a foreign country to avoid those seeking to kill him even as an infant. We don’t know much about his childhood but we do know that every day for about 3 ½ years he was pressed on every side and persecuted by those with great influence and authority. There are indications that he was perplexed by the disbelief and the actions of mankind. And, he eventually was struck down but certainly not destroyed.

I whimper over a few days, maybe a few weeks of tough circumstances that often have no eternal value and are completely about comfort in this life.

I want to offer my body to Christ every moment of the day. I hesitate to type this next thought. Do I really mean it? I want to be hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted and struck down so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in my body.

Why would I say such a crazy thing? Because I don’t want anyone to be confused about God’s incomparable power. There are many good causes to suffer for in this world. Christ didn’t suffer for what is seen. He suffered so that we could experience the unseen.

What’s pressing on you today?

Life for Life

They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it--men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

Joshua 6:21

Jericho is not the only place in the Old Testament that God instructed the Israelites to kill men, women and children. Why would a loving God require that?

The Israelites were far from perfect but God’s Spirit was with them. He guided them in the desert. He spoke to the prophets. He provided food. He even sent armies of angels. The Israelites lived by the Spirit around them.

I wonder… was God showing us throughout the Old Testament that physical life is nothing compared to the Spirit. John 6:63 says “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.”

In the Old Testament, God destroys those who threaten the physical and spiritual life of the Israelites. Just like in a movie today, the “bad” guys our killed off. The “good” guys survive. In this case, the only reason the Israelites are "good" is because Jehovah is their God.

In the New Testament, God takes us a step farther. A “good” guy is murdered. Jesus Christ, the only person without ever doing a “bad” thing is put to death as part of God’s plan. Wow. What a twist in the plot.

Could it be that God is teaching us again, that physical life is nothing compared to the Spirit? Only this time, he offers to give us the Spirit in exchange for what we think is life. That's an investment I would die for. How about you?

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

Matthew 6:21, 24

I Want to See

"What do you want me to do for you?" Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see."

Mark 10:51

Yesterday I wrote some thoughts on mercy based on the blind mans plea in Mark 10:47-50. The next verse sent me into some deep reflection this morning.

After we recognize our wretchedness and we face Jesus responding to our plea, what do we want him to do for us?

Now a lot of sermons are preached on our need to reverse that question and ask Jesus what we can do for him. But we can’t do a thing for Jesus until he does this one thing for us.

“Rabbi, I want to see.” Rabbi is a teacher. When we acknowledge someone as a teacher we are indicating they have the ability to influence our lives with insight we don’t have.

My daughter loves to do for others. This week she has been trying to do the right things but seems to get herself into more trouble because of the way she does the task. She will do exactly what I ask but she fails to see the result I expect.

We can be that way with Christ. Our desire to do for him can be great but if we don’t see things the way God sees them, then there is little chance that our service to him will be meaningful.

Oh Lord, give us eyes to see what you see.

Mercy, Me?

“When he heard that Jesus from Nazareth [was passing by], he began to shout, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ The people told him to be quiet. But he shouted even louder… Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him!’ They called the blind man and told him, ‘Cheer up! Get up! He's calling you.’ The blind man threw off his coat, jumped up, and went to Jesus.” Mark 10:47-50 (GWT)

Mercy, in the above passage, comes from a Greek word that means “kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.” Another definition referred to helping the wretched.

In our feel good about yourself culture, it seems we’ve lost the reality of our need for mercy. I hear a lot more about God’s grace than I do about his mercy. Oh, mercy is thrown in there but his grace is much more palatable.

Grace refers to that which gives pleasure. Mercy indicates our state of being.

We pat ourselves on the back for offering aid to those we see as miserable and afflicted. We want to offer them a more pleasurable existence. We live in a country of peace and can’t understand those who stir up war.

The truth is that we are as wretched as those who kill for political power or personal vengeance.

Maybe if we realized our position before God, we too would cry out “have mercy on me!” Then when he calls, we would throw off everything that slows us down, jump up and go to Jesus.

I want to have that much gratefulness for God’s mercy. Do you?

Life from a Tree

I’ve had a few great responses from my last blog. So I thought I’d add a few more thoughts.

John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came to give us Life. Was this the same “Life” available from the Tree of Life in the Garden? If not, how was it different?

In John 14:6, Jesus says he is “the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” I have always assumed that meant no one could ever come to the Father (past, present or future) except through Christ. Perhaps many religions have a problem with this for a good reason. Maybe there was (past tense) a different way but now Jesus is the way.

We constantly preach that Christianity is about relationship not legalistic acts of religion. Yet, we teach that sin originated with an act of disobedience.

Jesus points out to the Pharisees that God desires mercy not sacrifice when they are questioning his relationship with "sinners." Jesus quotes from Hosea 6 where the "mercy not sacrifice" statement compares Judah's unfaithfulness to Adam's sin. Unfaithfulness is an act of the heart not of the flesh - Jesus points that out as he talks about adultery in Matthew 5.

One thing that has puzzled me is why did God put the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden if he didn’t want Adam and Eve to eat from it?

Imagine this: Ok, Son, let’s create people. I’m going to test them right from the beginning. And because I know everything, I know they are going to mess up. But that’s ok. I’m going to send you to suffer a gruesome death to give them Life.

Does that match God’s character? But isn’t that what we teach?

Now imagine this description from God the Father to his Son:

Son, let’s create people. I want to make them very much like us but obviously they won’t be timeless like us because we are creating them. I want to give them the opportunity to live forever with us in a perfect world. A perfect world requires perfect unity. To have that unity we must offer them our spirit.

I love all the creatures we have brought to life but we have given them instincts for survival. I want mankind to have more than instincts. I want to give people the ability to reason with us.

Therefore, they must have a choice in the matter. I want them to be able to ask me questions and learn. I want to dialogue with them just like I do with you.

If they choose to become one with us, they will see everything from our perspective. A perspective of love. Their hearts will be filled with joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. They will have everything we have because they will become one with us.

If they attempt to understand things without us, it will be very difficult for them. This saddens me to think about. I want them to know everything we know but they must first understand the significance of Life.

Without Love, their perspective of knowledge will cause them to hunger for control. Knowledge without love will block their ability to see life beyond their physical existence. They will become the center of their own world.

It breaks my heart to know that some of them will want to live independent of my love for them. Many of them, though, will realize that independence is unfulfilling.

When they are ready, I will send you to them, son. You will walk among them. You will live just as they live. You will experience the life of freewill. You will have the fullness of my Spirit in you while you are in this human form. You will show them how to live by my Spirit.

Many will accept your words and desire to live in the Spirit. They will see you empty yourself of the physical life. Your blood – the source of physical life - will be poured out. Those who truly desire to be one with you will have great sorrow in this because they will recognize that they have valued knowledge more than Life with me.

The source of true Life is my Spirit. You will also give up my Spirit so that they will worship me, not just their knowledge of me. I will give you all my glory and you will surrender it all so that they can experience my glory in them. You are the Prince of Peace.

When you return from death, they will recognize that Life is much greater than knowledge. Then they will be open to receiving true Life. When you return to me in heaven, we will send my Spirit to live in those who have surrendered their physical life because of the life you surrendered for them.

Because of your sacrifice, Son, I will again offer mankind Life through my Spirit and Knowledge through my Word. Once again, they must take of the Life first. For my Words bring only war and death without my Spirit.

It is my desire that all mankind will choose Life. But we have created them so much like us they will be easily deceived into thinking they are equal to us. They will assume their perspective is our perspective. But our ways are much higher than theirs. We’ll show them this through parenting. They will be mothers and fathers of precious children.

I’m having fun with this. I could keep going but I’m way past my intended word count for this blog. So you finish these thoughts yourself.

We haven't changed much since Adam and Eve. We still have a choice: Knowledge or Life. Which one is your priority?