Reflections for January 2019

One thing for sure won't change in the new year:  the faithfulness of our God and Father.
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My word for the year:  "waiting."
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Neither the giving or receiving of applause is sin.  It's the heart's attitude and response to the applause that matters--in both the giving and the receiving.
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The difference between the ideal and the real is action--obedience and diligence.  Make it happen.
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God did not redeem us to set us free to live our lives.  He redeemed us to set s free to live His life.
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Remember as you continue your journey, as you continue to follow your Master and Savior, that "the way of the cross leads Home."  Closer Home with every step.
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The world will continue to make their lives more secure by trusting in temporary things.  May we live lives that reflect what we know to be true:  "More secure is no one ever than the loved ones of the Savior."
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The "bar has been raised."  John tells us that the commandment sets a new standard.  We are not just to love our neighbors as ourselves.  We are to love them as deeply, unconditionally, and sacrificially as He loves us.
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How do I know that all things work together for good?  The cross and the empty tomb.
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God gives us each new day so that we can "rejoice and be glad in it."  His mercies are new every morning.
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Unless I fully surrender to His will in all things, I will never be able to pray, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."  Even when there is no excuse for their not knowing.
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When we pray the prayer of surrender to His will: "Nevertheless, not my will but Yours," He strengthens us with His joy, surrounds us with His peace, and empowers us to love with a holy love. And we radiate that joy, that peace, and that love to all we come in contact with--His joy, His peace, His love. The prayer of surrender is essential to our transformation into His likeness.

Applause

Applause.


Nothing is more insidiously dangerous than the pursuit of the applause of men. Nothing is more temporary, more meaningless than the applause of men. And sadly it can creep into our spiritual walk. Jesus warned us that such a life as His disciples erases any chance of receiving His well-done and undermines our relationship with Him. The reason is obvious. When we do our "spiritual stuff" in order to impress men and gain their approval, we are actually worshiping... ourselves in His presence. We have set up an altar to ourselves in our hearts--His temple. Men applaud--and we are deceived into thinking that He is pleased with us. He is not--not in the least.
One of the saddest things associated with teaching in a Christian school is the number of students who graduate and then walk away from Him, from His love, from the cross. And some of those are students who were our leaders while at the school. They received applause for their "spiritual stuff" here. The problem came when they went out of our presence into a world that does not applaud the genuine disciple and His obedience to Christ and His call on their lives. No applause for serving Him? Applause for not serving Him. They pursue the applause.
Their "excuse" is that they have discovered the "real world." They have not. Their "real world" is a dark place filled with blind people pursuing a life devoid of satisfaction and meaning. A world that is so dark that it thinks its darkness is light. That is a a life of Illusion. Delusion. There is nothing "real" about it. All reality rests in and comes from a relationship with Christ--and can be found nowhere else. Nowhere.
We must remind our students that the "real world" they long to be a part of is a lie--an attractive lie, but a lie perpetrated by the one who is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. His lie, his "real world," kills. We must remind our students with our lives and our words that following Jesus brings joy, peace, and meaning to one's daily life. He is Truth. Following Him--and Him alone will not gain them the applause of men. It will gain them the "well-done" of the Lover of their souls. He is the One who lived in the so-called real world, despised its applause, and brought the inextinguishable light into the darkness. To pursue the applause of men is to walk in darkness, to encourage those in the darkness to believe that the darkness is light. To follow Him by faith--to please Him--is to shine a light in the darkness, to rescue the delusional from the path of eternal destruction, from an eternal life of separation from the presence of the Source of all that is really real. Jesus Christ.
Pray for your children, warn them of the applause of men, in word and in a life well-lived --the life of unwavering discipleship--demonstrate to them that such a life alone gives one meaning and purpose. Be sure they know what life is real and Whose applause will be worth it all.

Citizenship

As citizens of the heavenly kingdom, we have responsibilities to the one on earth where God has planted us:

Be in subjection--unless they tell you to violate God's commandments.
Give honor, custom, reverence.
Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's--pay those taxes.
Pray for all those in position of authority--not just the ones you like by the way. All.
Live a peaceful, dignified life.

Are you living as a good citizen--a disciple of the King of Kings--of His eternal kingdom? Our citizenship is in heaven--our responsibility to that kingdom is for today.

Leadership

God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. A humble ruler is dedicated to living a righteous life and to showing mercy to the poor. They are called to serve--not to be served. He or she also knows that God is the one who placed them in that position of authority--and He chooses the least not the greatest to fill those positions. Those who understand--embrace those truths--are the ones He can trust with "greatness." All glory belongs to Him. All.

Pleasing Him

Faith encounters opposition.
Faith demands a choice.
Faith knows He will deliver, but the method of deliverance is left fully up to Him.
Faith delivers in the trial, not from it.
Faith is unafraid of the mightiest earthly king.
Faith brings glory to Him.
Faith rests in a sense of His presence.

"Without faith it is impossible to please Him."

For Nothing

One of the commands we seem to struggle with from time to time is, "Be anxious for nothing." The heart of the king is in His hand. The nations of the world are like a drop in a bucket to Him--a big bucket. Any nation that rises to power has only done so because God intends to use them for His glory. And soon "the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Yes, that's a promise. And He is just as hands on in our individual lives as well. He shepherds us through each day. We always have access to His throne room--and He adores our prayers for help. He always shares our burdens with us; He pleads with us to give up our cares and worries by casting them on His omnipotent shoulders. He promises us rest to cure our weariness if we will do so. He rewards a mustard seed of faith. In the winds of adversity, He gives us eagle's wings so we can soar on those very winds into the heavenlies of His peace and His joy. When everything that can go wrong does go wrong, He gives us hind's feet to dance and sing on the mountains--to dance and sing in the confidence that He is our Savior. No one can takes us from His hands. Nothing can separate us from His love for us. Nothing at all. No one at all. He tells us to fret not about evil doers; they will reap what they sow. We, however, are free from condemnation; no longer objects of His wrath. So quit worrying. All these truths should motivate us to faithful living, to faithful discipleship each and every day. We can live by faith because we know who controls all the outcomes. And we know that He is our loving, faithful Father. Quit being anxious. Do what you know is right. Pray with thanksgiving. Radiate your confident joy that all will be well. His faithful children overcome the world.

This

My students often ask me, "Why do we need to pray if God already knows what we need?"  They miss the purpose of prayer.  Prayer is not trying to get God to change His will to fit your desires.  It's certainly not a way to fulfill your wants.  Neither do we pray to prove that God answers prayer--He answers every prayer His children pray to Him.  No, the purpose of prayer is to know God's will for your life and to embrace it--to surrender to the things He is bringing into your life to accomplish His purpose for your life--which is to transform you into His image so that you can be Christ-in-the-room wherever He sends you.  He as the Light of the World has passed on that responsibility to His disciples--His children.  So when I go to Him in prayer--and always be completely honest in presenting your requests to Him--and ask for physical needs or for circumstances to change or for whatever is on my heart, I can be sure that the "answer" He gives reveals exactly what I need to be transformed into His likeness.  If I don't get the physical things I pray for, it's because those physical things would be a detriment to my spiritual growth.  If I plead with Him to change my circumstances and He doesn't, it's because these trials are what I need to be conformed to His image--to become more like Him.  I have prayed weeping that God would change circumstances in my life, to allow anything to happen but "this one thing."  And His answer has been "this one thing" is what I'm going to use to make you more like Me so you can touch other lives with My presence.  He knows what I need.  I pray to understand that "this" is what I need, and then I must surrender to His will.  I must pray the prayer of My Savior.  "Father, let this cup pass from Me, but if not, nevertheless Thy will be done."  Yes, the purpose of prayer is to surrender to His will, to trust in His love, to trust in His wisdom, to deepen my commitment--my earnest desire--to be more like Him so that He can use me as a witness to His character--a living example of Him in the place He has planted me.
If I don't pray the prayer of surrender, I still must bear the cross.  But if I pray the prayer, nevertheless, Thy will be done,"  He changes me in three ways (at least).  Hebrews tells us that "for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the Father."  When I surrender to His will in the "this," He empowers me with His joy--the joy that empowered Him to endure the cross.  I become the joy of Jesus to those around me.  And in the "this," His joy enables me to bear the "this" for His glory.  I become a reflector of His joy.  I live a joyous life in the midst of the trial.
He, also, gives me His peace.  "In everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.  And the peace of God--which is beyond human comprehension--will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus."  And the peace of God teaches me to be content in every situation.  And contentment teaches me that "I can do all things through Christ who is my strength."  The surrender in those prayers?  They are prayed "with thanksgiving"--with a heart that knows that He knows what I need and that no matter what happens my heart and mind will be fortified with His peace--God's peace, the peace that humans can't comprehend.  In the midst of the "this," I can continue to love right and think right because I have prayed, "nevertheless, Thy will be done."  I become a reflector of His peace to all those around me.
The prayer of surrender transforms me into His likeness in another way.  It empowers me to love with a holy love.  It enables me to be able to pray--even for those people who are responsible for my cross, "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they do."  By surrendering to His will, I become a reflector of God's holy love to those around me--a love that forgives, a love that is not diminished by whatever the response to my love might be.
The purpose of prayer is surrender to His perfect will--even to the "this" He has brought into my life.  And the answer to that prayer of surrender is the fullness of joy, the guarding power of God's peace in my heart and mind, and the empowerment to have a heart like His heart--to love those in my life with a holy love--a love eager to forgive even when forgiveness is not even asked for. 
Is the deepest desire of your heart to be like Him?  Then, present the desires of your heart to Him.  And then pray, in complete surrender, "not my will but Yours."  He will transform you into a disciple that radiates His joy, His peace, and His love as you bear your cross daily and follow Him.  "Oh, to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer."

The Abundant Life

The "abundance" of the abundant life:

Cleansing through the Word
Spirit-empowered lives that bear fruit--that transform us into His likeness--glorifies Him--make the invisible God visible and His existence undeniable
Answered prayer
Humble dependence on Him--a ceasing of the impossible struggle to try to spiritualize the natural man through the flesh
Steadfast love
A deep sense of His love
The fullness of joy
The animosity of the world

Have a New Year

We are new creations in Christ Jesus.

Put off the old: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, idolatry, temper, rage, malice, slander, abusive speech, lies--all the things that pervert love.
Put on the new--compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness--all those things that deepen love

May the Spirit empower us to have a new year.