Living Letters

You know, of course, that God is in the letter writing business too. He has given us His written Letter, the Bible, to instruct us in "the way that we should go." In addition, because He loved us, He sent His Son, the Living Word, to redeem us and to give us the example to follow as we live our lives. Moreover, Paul tells us that we ourselves are God's living letters, "known and read of all men . . . written . . . with the Spirit of the Living God."
That's a tremendous responsibility! The world's opinion of what God is like is based on what they "read" in me. In the eyes of the world--and they are avid readers--God is only as holy as I am. He is as loving and compassionate as I am; as truthful and honest as I am.
Christ told His disciples that His followers are the salt of the earth, the preservation agent in the world system. In other words, the natural tendency of the world is toward rottenness. The only thing that keeps mankind from getting worse and worse is the quality of the salt--or as Paul puts it, the "readability" of God's living letters.
How well are you and I doing in today's world? Well, just look around you at our society's value system and moral character. But don't just look at the world in general or at our nation--or even at the community in which you live. No, look closely at the people to whom God "mailed" you. Look at your home, your school, your church, your circle of friends. They reflect the kind of impact your "letter" is having on your world.

The Great Commission

I was trying to remember the Great Commission the Lord gave to the church before He went back to glory. What was it? "Go ye into all America and make Republicans of everyone." No, that doesn't sound right. "Make Democrats of . . ." no, that's not it. "Independ. . ." Bigger than that. "Go ye into all the world and make Americans of everybody." Man, that doesn't sound right either? Guess I'll have to go find a Bible somewhere and see what He actually told us should be our priority.

Reminders

A couple brief reminders: sorry for the repetition (not really, it's a teacher thing)

Jesus was the most evil sensitive person who ever lived--and the most compassionate. He knew the intolerable suffering evil produces in the lives of human beings now and for eternity. Do I look at those in the grip of sin and feel a deep compassion or do I have a judgmental attitude of self-righteousness?

Earthly pleasures were never designed to satisfy but to make us long for the life that can completely satisfy. Where am I investing my energy in search for satisfaction?

Foolish men reject the authority of God's Word. Who is the authority in my life's decisions?

I am God's servant, not His adviser. Does my life show that I am delighted in His control or that I'm trying to take control myself by relying on my own wisdom?

We are the light of the world in a great darkness. We are the salt of the earth in a world whose natural tendency is toward rottenness. Does my Christian walk provoke questions?

Under No Obligation

One of the lessons in the book of Job that we struggle with is that God is not obligated to explain to us what He's up to in our lives. My ego always imagines that I deserve to know, that He actually should be talking to me BEFORE He does anything. I assume that I'm His counselor and that He needs my input to get it right. The tragedy that occurs is that I then define God by looking at my circumstances instead of looking at my circumstances through the truth of who God has revealed Himself to be. The end result? A total loss of peace, the absence of joy, a complaining spirit--and man, is that contagious, and a doubting of His love for me. Talk about a miserable walk. And God is still going to do what He KNOWS is best for my life. "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." And it will be in His perfect timing.

The Role of Children

God has given you children that you can commit to Him, uphold in prayer, and trust completely to His perfect work in their lives--no matter how much you interfere. He has given your children time so that eventually as they grow older it will dawn on them how deeply you love and care for them. He has allowed you to love and to be loved that you might in some small way sense His great love for you.

The Fear of the Lord

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
"In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge"

That is not just "spiritual" wisdom. Unless one searches for wisdom and knowledge from a foundation of what the Creator God of the universe has revealed about His creation, Himself, and the nature of mankind, he will search in vain for understanding and wisdom.

God describes them this way:

"ever learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth."
"futile in their speculations. . . professing to be wise, they became fools"
"The fool has said in his heart that there is no God."

Who He Is

He is the sovereign God of the universe, the holy God of love. He is the God who never makes a mistake. His plan always glorifies Him. His plan for our life has been bathed in His love and concern for our well-being. He knows exactly what needs to happen and when it needs to happen in order for us to become victorious Christians in all things. When He is silent, or responds in a way we don't want Him too, or responds in a way we don't understand at all, it's not because He doesn't love us anymore or is picking on us. His wisdom and love know that this is precisely what needs to happen. His plan is perfect. His love inescapable. His sovereign will flawless. Even when everything seems lost and hopeless, we must rest in His wisdom, embrace His loving will. Then, the worst of times will be the best of times, we will sense His love more deeply, and our hearts will be filled with a joyful song.

Stiff-necked

One of the descriptives in the Bible that always causes me to reflect and practice self-examination is "stiff-necked." Stiff-necked people--they are God's people--respond to the difficulties of life by complaining that God isn't fair, by responding in self-defense to accusers, and by being completely oblivious to all the mercy and grace God has demonstrated in their lives on a daily basis. The great tragedy is that the trials in our lives are designed by God to have the exact opposite effect on our walk with Him. They should deepen our confidence in God's promise to meet all our needs and to provide us with all the strength we need to face each day--any day. They should encourage us to rest in His love for us and His promise that He knows our hearts and that He is the only one who's approval makes any difference at all. They should open our eyes to His daily blessings and the peace and joy that is ours when we just trust Him. Those "small" daily blessings are our assurance that He is doing all things for our good and for our transformation into His likeness. His desire is to make us "pliable," soft-hearted, able to be used by Him to encourage others to be faithful in tough times. Instead, in our selfish arrogance, we become stiff-necked--useless except as an example of those who being never satisfied with Him never find the best, the intimacy, He has planned for them: a life in the Christian wilderness. May God fill my heart with faith, hope, and love--a love for Him that makes obedience supernaturally natural in my daily walk--no matter what my circumstances.

His Expectations

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with malice. And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you."
God expects me to be forgiving, as forgiving as He was through the gift of His Son. He expects me to forgive those who have not sought my forgiveness nor even thought they needed to be forgiven. He expects me to forgive those who are unworthy of forgiveness. He expects me to forgive without demanding from the one forgiven some act to earn my forgiveness. He expects me to forgive freely, and fully and eternally--the slate wiped clean just as He nailed all my sins on His cross, every one of them. Why? The world must know that such forgiveness is available to all. And if I am not forgiving, my heart will be filled with the other things: bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. Such a heart has no joy, and such a heart is highly contagious.

Though I never sought forgiveness or even thought I needed it, though I was unworthy of forgiveness, though I could never earn forgiveness, God provided it freely through the death of His Son. Though my list of sins was unending, God provided forgiveness for them all, every one of them, through the death of His Son. The bedrock of the Christian faith is that Jesus paid it all, freely, fully, and eternally because He is love. When I accept that free gift of grace, I become a child of God for eternity.

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Self-defense

When I respond in self-defense I am giving evidence that I don't trust the righteous God, my Father, to keep His word to make things right at precisely the right time. I don't believe there can be a more powerful response to being hurt or even betrayed than to reach out a hand, touch someone on his or her shoulder and say simply: "No matter what, I love you and forgive you."

Key Words

I think one of the greatest hindrances to spiritual growth is that when we read Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" we think the key words are "I can," when the key words are "through Christ who." "I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, but yet not I, but Christ lives in me." Until I get down on my knees on a daily basis and cry out "I can't do anything with my life; I give all of me into your Spirit's power today. Please live in me all day long today."

Love in Action

     The love that God expects us to show to others is, as you've heard a thousand times before, not like the love that dominates the world in which we live.  It is a love that is possible only to the depth to which someone has submitted all that he is to the Spirit's control.  It is a labor of love, hard work.  Its greatest enemy is the love of self, a love that is demonstrated by one's love for the world and the things of the world.
     It is a spontaneous love.  Its reaction to need is compassion.  It doesn't ask, "How will my giving of myself, my goods, or my time inconvenience me.?"  It doesn't ask, "How will my loving others endanger me, my resources, or my future?"  It just responds in love to every need, great or small--cheerfully.
     It is an inclusive love.  All who come into contact with the Spirit-controlled Christian sense that love and are objects of its concern.  Rich or poor, young or old, Christian or non-Christian, obedient or disobedient, thankful or unthankful, all are loved.  Yet, it never condones sin in any may; never in an attempt to mitigate the consequences does it try to intervene when God is working so that the lesson that God intends to teach is undermined and made ineffectual.  It is a love that humbly and eagerly waits to embrace the struggling sinner and to insure them of God's eternal, inescapable love.  It is a love that they know well in their own struggles with disobedience.
     It is a fearless love.  Other people's opinions are of no concern.  Like their Savior, the rumors and innuendos that might try to squelch and to cheapen their love are of no avail.  It doesn't matter what others may say; all that matters is that those in need of love know they are indeed worthy of being loved.  "Dinner" with the tax collectors, harlots, non-practicing Christians, vagabonds of the street, or whoever is in need of acceptance and love is the highlight of the day.  They are only "paying" the unpayable debt of love that they received in Jesus.  It is a continual, infinite, eternal debt they willing remit.
     It is a forgiving love.  No one has hurt them so deeply that they cannot be forgiven.  No one has done something so stupid that it cannot be overlooked and "covered" with a forgiving heart.  "Love covers a multitude of sins."  No one's behavior annuls grace.  No one's behavior is too great to be beyond forgiveness.  Grace is greater than all sins.
     It is a spiritual love.  People are always more important than things.  It is a love that cannot be bought or sold.  It is non-manipulative.  It abhors self-image.  If those being loved reject or scorn that love, it only deepens and grows.  In tears it wishes that they would allow themselves to be sheltered under the wings of Spirit-engendered love.  It knows that it is a love relationship that produces obedience and not enforced obedience that produces love.  It knows that if people will just allows themselves to know and experience Christ's love, that obedience will cease to be a burden and become a source of joy.  It is a love that sees the people of God as His little children, His friends, the sheep of His pasture, the apple of His eye, the majestic ones who are His delight.  And through faith, seeing them thus--and themselves--as God sees them, their love for others is spontaneous, inclusive, fearless, and forgiving--a spiritual love.  The Spirit's love miraculously shining through them.

His Power

     Sometimes God displays His power like the brightness of the sun so that all can see.  Sometimes we call those displays miracles.  Historians like to call some of them coincidences, ironies, or unexpected, unforeseen consequences.  Skeptics like to call them dumb luck.  Those of us who see even the visible through eyes of faith know better.  We see God's hand, God's power at work.  We often do not fully understand--or don't understand at all--what He is up to, but we see evidence of His work.
     Yet, the most remarkable thing about God's power is that He so often hides His use of it.  He is sitting on His throne ruling His world, and we have no idea that He is working or where--or how.  But faith tells us that He is always working.  His power is just as dynamic in the details as it is in the "big" events of life and history.  His power is just as significant in the lives of individuals as it is in the history of nations.  Though His actions are unseen, I, by faith, can rest in the truth that He is not idle.  He is exercising His power in ways that I cannot see; yet, His power will result in His love and His glory being made manifest throughout His creation.
     So, though you cannot see, trust that He is working.  Live a life of delight.
     Though you cannot see, rest in His wisdom as it works.  Live a life of peace. free from worry.
     Though you cannot see, remember that He is sitting on His sovereign throne as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Live a life of hope.
     Though you cannot see, live a steadfast life so that the world can see your absolute, unwavering confidence in Him and the loving exercise of His holy power.

Significance

     We often struggle--I think--with recognizing the significance of our lives.  We are always questioning what difference it makes in the scheme of God's plan for the ages whether I do something or not.  We wonder how we as obscure unknown individuals in centuries of time can possibly make a difference.  Whose life will we touch who will go on to do something dynamic for God?  What choice of ours will determine the success or failure of the church and its mission?  How can the choices that I make as a chubby old bald guy in the twentieth century in Cardington, Ohio, possibly play a role in God's eternal plan for the ages?  Ever ask yourself such a question?  Minus the chubby old bald guy stuff, of course.
     You know what?  When we reach such a point in our reflective nature, we have lost our focus.  I know, there's the old, but true, concept that we never really know whose life we are touching and what impact our ministry will have on them and the church.  That's a good thought to have, but I still maintain that it's the wrong focus.  The significant of my choices--and thus, my life--has little to do with human qualifications and guidelines for measuring significance.  And isn't that what all those questions deal with?  Significance as man defines it?  You see, what gives my life significance is how God views my choices.  And His standard of significance is not how many people did I impact, how greatly did I impact them, or how marvelous an impact did I have on history, but did I love Him and thus keep His commandments.  Did I live a life of faith:  obeying Him and leaving the consequences in His hands?  He only asks for faithfulness, nothing else.  My life will be important and significant if, when I stand in His presence, He smiles and simply says, "Well done, good and faithful servant."  Keeping that moment in focus makes my every choice of eternal significance, vitally important, an act of love.  I am not called to change the world in some miraculous way; I am called to touch the heart of God with my loving obedience.  And each act of obedience touches His heart and brings Him joy.  Now, that's significance.

The Piety of Cain

There are many today still practicing the false piety of Cain. "God, you must accept my works!" Their arrogance, their religious unbelief, their absurd notion that God is under their authority is not just delusional, it's heart-breaking. And such people all too often, like Cain, also develop an intense hatred for those who are resting in the righteousness of Christ alone as the only hope for redemption. How should we respond? Love them by praying for them. God's grace can transform any Paul into a humble servant in His kingdom.

Genuine Love

Genuine love is only possible as the Spirit of God enables us to love others as He loves us. Any other "love" is not love at all. It reveals that our claim to be His disciple is fraudulent. We have no intention of denying ourselves. No one is more miserable than the believer who is full of himself instead full of Christ.

Relationships

     We often emphasize that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship one has with God through Jesus Christ.  And, of course, it is.  But there are different kinds of relationships.  The nation of Israel never learned that truth.  They were God's people, chosen and loved by Him, but they only saw a Master not a Lover.  They struggled and complained under the "burden" their Master had laid on them in the Law.  They never understood that the relationship He wanted was not a Master-slave relationship but an intimate husband-wife relationship.  Yes, He wanted obedience, but in order to shower them with blessings.  They would disobey and then give "sacrifices" of love, but it is not love unless it is in the bounds of obedience.  They never saw their sin and rebellion in the right way.  To them it was a sin against the Law.  What it actually was, was a sin against, a betrayal of, love.  They sinned against His love for them.  He loved them so completely that He empowered them to do so.  He loved them so patiently that they became apathetic toward His desires.  He loved so honestly that He disciplined them--with the tears of a broken heart flowing from His divine eyes, the eyes focused only on them, the "apple of His eye."
     He has not changed.  Until I understand how much He loves me, how greatly He desires to be my Lover, how fully He wants to bless my loving faithfulness and obedience, I will see my sin as merely a commandment broken or ignored not a heart broken or ignored.  I will have a relationship with God my Master, but I will not have the intimate relationship He wants with me as my "Husband."  I will not leave all behind and cling only to Him.  My obedience will not come from a heart that can't stand the thought of betraying His faithful love, but from a heart that feels burdened by a need for obedience.  I will not fully sense the oneness of our relationship: I am His and He is mine.  May God's Spirit give us the vision to see our Savior as He is--the Lover of our souls.  Then, we will truly begin to know Him.

True Power

We by God's grace and through His Spirit's power try--imperfectly--to teach and to be an example of Christ. The true power is not in our words or our example. The true power is "not by might, nor by strength," but by His Spirit. And He can use our feeble attempts to glorify Him, to actually, really and truly, glorify Him. And then He thanks us for letting Him use us. How incredible is that!

Known of God

     God knows me, all about me.  There is nothing about who I am that He does not know fully.  He is the omniscient, omnipresent God.  He knows everything and always has.  He is everywhere all the time.  God knows.
     When we forget that truth in our daily lives, we make two serious mistakes.  The first is that we become mechanical, external Christians.  Since an external righteousness is all that's needed to impress men, we slide into such a mindset and become artificial Christians.  Oh, we go through all the right motions and say all the right words, but our hearts are as cold as ice.  We may worship God externally to the delight of all, including ourselves, but we have no sense of His presence.  In our hearts we have other loves.  But God knows our hearts, and He will not accept our outward lies when our hearts are out of step with Him and His desires for our lives.  He wants a relationship, a relationship built on mutual love not crowd pleasing hypocrisy.  And remember, Jesus defined hypocrisy as doing all the right things for the wrong reason--to gain the praise of men.  To forget that God knows me is to admit that I don't know Him.  And that I only want Him on the fringes of my life.
     And sometimes this creeps into our prayers--one of the ways we communicate with Him and thus grow into a deeper relationship with Him.  I can't count the number of times I have prayed to God, and, instead of telling Him what I was really feeling, fed Him some spiritualized mumbo jumbo that was not  my heart's desire at all.  It's not as if He doesn't know my heart.  All I've done is tried to "snow" Him with dishonest communication--always a detriment to a deep, satisfying relationship.
     The second mistake we make when we forget that God knows us is that we often come to the wrong conclusion about His attitude toward us.  There are many disciples who love Him and are committed to serving Him, to obeying Him, to doing His will.  Yet, they often fail, make mistakes, and then imagine that He is angry and disappointed with them.  Not so.  The God who knows our hearts, knows that our deep desire is to please Him, and He is delighted with us--even when our humanity gets in the way of our commitment to Him.  The devil delights in making us think that God must be displeased with us, that we are out of His will and walking far from Him.  But if our heart's desire is to please Him, He is pleased with us.  He knows us.  He looks at the thoughts and intents of our hearts.
    God knows.  He can't be fooled.  If there is a gap between our theology and our heart's desire, He knows.  If our Christianity is superficial and we think He doesn't know it, we are self-deceived.  If our Christian walk flows from a heart that loves Him and desires to please Him and we think that He's disappointed with us because of our failures, we are self-deceived as well.
     May I never forget that He knows me.  The minute I do I make an idol of my own reasoning ability and feelings.  I have failed to understand and to know Him.  And to know and be known by Him is the path to the walk of faith that alone can please His loving heart.  Any other path is a path of thorns.

Tomorrow

God knows more about tomorrow than you do. And your tomorrow has already passed the test of His love. That doesn't mean it will be easy. It means He will use it to reveal more of Himself to you. "Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

Worry

Worry is misplaced faith; faith in ourselves.  Idolatry.
Worry makes us pray disbelieving.
Worry keeps us from making the decisions we know we need to make.
Worry allows us to be controlled by others and by our circumstances.
Worry grieves the Holy Spirit.
Worry robs us of our peace, undermines our patience with God and men.
Worry is often disguised as a care-free attitude.
Worry denies the goodness and love of God.
Worry makes no impact on God's sovereignty.  He will still do what is good for His people and what will glorify His name.    We'll just be miserable while He goes about His work in our lives.
Worry makes us insomniacs.
Worry keeps us from enjoying the wondrous things and people that God has brought into our lives.
Worry keeps us a step behind God's leading or rushing a mile ahead of His leading.
Worry is a path of thorns.
Worry is contagious.
Worry often keeps those we love from finding the joy that God intends for them to have.
Worry assumes responsibility for a future that is in God's hands.
Worry is ungodliness with discontentment and makes me spiritually bankrupt.
Worry turns an anthill into Mount Everest.  Life is cold, stormy, seemingly impossible to scale, and we have lost all contact with our Guide and His provisions.
Worry makes us hopeless not hopeful, faithless not faithful, loveless not unconditionally loving.
Worry believes that God blew it yesterday, has lost control of today, and has no idea about how to handle the future.

The Bible does not say:  "And now abides these four:  faith, hope, love, and worry.  And the greatest of these is worry."

The Bride

The relationship God nurtures with His people is not a Master-slave relationship motivated by "Do your duty," but a bridegroom-bride relationship enriched by a continual desire for increased intimacy. If you want to know how dangerous the first mind-set is, study the history of Israel in the Old Testament.

At Arm's Length

We sometimes have difficulty embracing God. Sometimes it's because we see things going on around us that we know God doesn't approve of; and yet, He doesn't seem to be doing anything about it. Sometimes it's because we have prayed about a real need, and His response has been silence. Sometimes it's because God answers our prayers, but it's not the answer we wanted. Sometimes it's because we see God working but in a way that doesn't seem to fit the theological box we have tried to stuff Him in. Whatever the reason, we often try to embrace God and hold Him away at the same time. Impatient, angry, and confused, we become frustrated with the God we love.
The dangers of such an attitude are obvious. We quit praying. We fail to sense His presence in our lives. We miss opportunities to praise Him. We become unteachable. We become even more frustrated because God goes on and does what He wants to do--and He doesn't even consult us. Who does He think He is?
And that's the cure to the problem: remembering who He is and what He is accomplishing. He is the sovereign God of the universe, the God of love. He is the God who never makes a mistake. His plan always glorifies Him--makes Him visible to the world. His plan for our lives has been bathed in His love and concern for our well-being. He knows exactly what needs to happen and when it needs to happen in order for us to become victorious Christians in all things. When He is silent, or responds in a way we don't want Him to, or responds in a way we don't understand at all, it is not because He no longer loves us or is picking on us. It is because in His wisdom and love this is precisely what is needed for His glory and our good. His plan is perfect. His love inescapable. His sovereign will flawless. What we must do, because we know who He is, is embrace Him even when everything seems lost and hopeless. Such an attitude of praise will not only magnify Him but lift our spirits as well. In the worst of times we will find ourselves filled with joy and confidence, wrapped in the everlasting arms of love. The worst of times will become the best of times. When the circumstances seem to suggest that He doesn't love us very much, we will sense His love more deeply than we have ever sensed it before. Our hearts will break forth in continuous song.

"Though the fig tree should not blossom,
And there is no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail,
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flocks should be cut off from the fold,
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
YET I will exult in the Lord,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds feet,
And makes me walk in high places.

To the choir director on my stringed instruments."

His Great Love

We must never forget the greatness of His love for us. Our love for Him is too often wavering, too often circumstance based. But that is not so of His love for us. It is more infinite than space, more eternal than time, and more powerful than the most devastating human failure.
When we struggle with our sin and failure to resist temptation, His love is making us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
When our faithfulness falters at any roadblock or disappointment, His love is making us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
When our sorrow and self-pity suffocates our joy, His love is making us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
When the darkness hides the purpose behind His leading in our lives, His love is making us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
When our strengths are revealed to all as great weaknesses, His love is making us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
When we hurt the last people on earth we would want to wound, His love is making us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
When those whose love we desire most despise our love, His love is making us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
When our circumstances are so far beyond our control that we can only sit and weep, His love is making us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
When the wickedness of the world and evil men takes our breath away, His love is making us more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

His conquering love forgives every sin every time.
His conquering love takes the last gasp of faith and moves mountains, shows us the four-lane highway on the other side of every roadblock.
His conquering love cherishes each tear and empathizes with our dusty frames bathing us with His presence and embrace.
His conquering love penetrates the darkness with the light of His Word so that we suddenly cry, "Oh, now I see."
His conquering love takes our weaknesses and exclaims, "Ah, now that's something I can really use to do My work and make My power known to men."
His conquering love gives to us people who love us at our worst so that we can in some small way realize the depth of His love for sinners like us.
His conquering love fills the emptiness and binds the brokenhearted.
His conquering love hears our cries for help and reminds us how easily He is found by those on their knees before His throne of grace.
His conquering love reminds us that a wicked world and wicked men are worth dying for and able to escape condemnation because of His great unconquerable love.

We are--in the darkest night, at our worst moment, at our weakest moment, blinded by tears of doubt and confusion, flat on our face in failure--"more than conquerors through Him that loved us."

The Patience of God

Have you ever really stopped to meditate on the patience of God? How many times for instance did He teach His disciples the same truths over and over again? And didn't He wait 120 years after He told Noah to build the ark before bringing The Flood? Think of it. The first time He judged the world, He waited until He had only one faithful family left on earth. And how many hundreds of years did He patiently try to bring His people Israel back to His love before He finally judged them? Even as the children of Israel wandered through the wilderness complaining all the way, He met every one of their physical needs and preserved their children for entrance into The Promised Land. And He has been waiting for 2000 years for man to repent after He sent them His Son to die for their sins. And how patient has He been with you and me and our stubborn streaks of rebellion? Or apathy? His patience is amazing, is it not?
Now, how about yours? And mine!? How patient are you with those who lack understanding and maturity? How patient are you in witnessing to those family members and friends who have over and over again shrugged off the gospel message? How patient are you with those who irritate you so much because they remind you of so much of yourself? It is patience that leads to repentance and changed lives. God says so. God demonstrates His confidence in patience every day that He waits to judge the world. And everyday that He waits to discipline His rebellious children. Do you really want those with whom you interact and those to whom you minister to become changed by the power of God through repentance? Then, you must imitate your Savior and your heavenly Father and lavish them with the patience of God. Nothing is more necessary or spiritually powerful.

Adjustment

I know my heart needs an adjustment when I am being used by Him to serve others, and I get irritated when they treat me like a servant.

Temptation

Temptation comes from our inner desire to worship ourselves. Satan offers us short cuts to God's blessings or paints for us a beautiful picture of what God "really" intends for us to have, and we jump at the chance to make it so. We are just as easily deceived as Eve was in the Garden. And we are just as deliberately disobedient as Adam was in the Garden. Sometimes the temptation is to do something God does not want us to do--the lust of the flesh. Sometimes the temptation is to have something God does not want us to have--the lust of the eyes. Sometimes the temptation is to be something God does not want us to be--the boastful pride of life. We reject our gift and our calling because it doesn't allow us to do things we desire to do, doesn't provide the stuff we want, and doesn't give us the prestige and self-image that we want for ourselves. We reject obedience, we reject contentment, and we reject humility. We refuse to trust God's promises: that obedience is the only way to please Him and to show our love; that He will supply all our need; that He has placed us just where He needs us, precisely when He needs us to be there.
And we all know the consequences of giving into temptation: broken fellowship with God, a guilty fear of God, a strain in our earthly relationships, and a tremendous struggle to find peace and contentment in our daily lives. We must remember that God calls us to be totally dependent on Him, to obey Him and leave the results in His hands, and to be satisfied with having what we have this day. There are no positives to partial obedience. There are no positives to materialism. There are no positives to resisting God's transforming work in your life--to allowing Him to use you as you are and where you are. Nothing is more destructive than the efforts we make to be the god of our own lives. When we try to turn stones into bread--even when we are hungry, when we desire to do something spectacular--even spiritually--so that people will take note of us, when we try to become the king over our own kingdom, we have become idolatrous. And behind every idol--even if the idol closely resembles our own image--is the worship of the devil himself.

Citizenship

We often forget where our true citizenship lies and who is the true "Father of our Country." We are aliens in a foreign country, ambassadors from a distinctly different kingdom, sojourners passing through. "Christian" and "American" are not synonyms. If we fall in love with the temporary country in which we now live, if we love the world and the things in the world, we cannot love our Father.
That does not mean, however, that I have no earthly responsibilities to my earthly country. Paul, in Romans 13, gives us four of them. (And keep in mind that Paul was talking about a empire decidedly anti-Christianity, and an empire that would one day execute him for his faith.) He first tells us to be in subjection to the ones in authority over us. They cannot do the things God has called them to do without our support. We are the pillars that hold them up as God's servants--which they are, even if they don't acknowledge it. They cannot do the things God expects them to do--encourage those who do good, put fear in the heart of those who contemplate evil, and wield the sword against those who choose to practice evil anyway, without our support. And, yes, God will hold them accountable for how well they fulfill those responsibilities. But that's His business, not mine.
The second thing I must do is do good. I must live a life that demonstrates righteousness. I must be the light and salt of my country. Although I cannot keep it from the inevitable, natural tendency toward moral decay that affects every culture, I can slow down the process, delay God's judgment, and, most importantly, continue to shine in a dark world. And as the culture becomes darker will the light be more or less noticeable, more or less attractive to those who are really seeking the Light of the World?
The third thing I must do is provide for my country the resources it needs to fulfill its responsibilities. If those resources are financial, I am commanded to pay my taxes. If those "resources" are right attitudes--honor and respect--I must pay those as well. What they do with the taxes is their responsibility before God. They are due the honor and respect, not because we think they deserve it, but because they are God's appointees--His servants.
The final thing I must do is love my neighbor as Christ loves me. I owe a debt of love to my Savior, and I "repay" it by loving those who live in my community. Grace means there is nothing I have to earn. It does not mean there is nothing I have to do. I cannot love the Lord my God with with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength without loving the people He has "assigned" to my care. And I must love them as He loves me--unconditionally, compassionately, with a heart ready to forgive, and using my physical resources to meet their physical needs. My relationships on earth are directly related to the depth of my relationship with Christ.
Why do I do these things? Because by not submitting, I am in rebellion against God who placed those who are in authority over me in their positions. Because my not doing good, I will not only live in fear, with a guilty conscious, always looking over my shoulder for the punishment to come, but I will also be hiding my light from those in desperate need of it. And, of course, by loving my neighbor, I fulfill the law of Christ and give evidence of my love for Him.
I must remember where Home is. I must remember to whom I owe my allegiance, my all, my obedience, my love. And I must remember that He has given me responsibilities that are crucial to His accomplishing His will in the earthly country to which He has assigned me as His ambassador. My citizenship is in Heaven. My work is in my community and in my earthly country of ministry.

A Quality Church

The quality of a church or ministry is not measured by the number of attenders, the size of the budget, or even how many programs it has. The quality of a church or ministry is measured by the spiritual depth of its members--their commitment to obedience, perseverance, and fidelity to God's Word. Too often today ministries try to do the Lord's work using the world's methods. In my opinion, when we are relying on the world's methods to do His work, we are no longer doing His work.

Criteria

A thought was put into my head today about criteria. The question was: What does Christ value? Who is it that God tells us we should take note of and strive to imitate because they are doers of the things God loves? Three people came immediately to mind: a child, Mary of Bethany, and the widow giving her offering. All three were commended by our Savior when He walked among men. What are their characteristics? The faith of the little child, the devotion of Mary, and the sacrifice of the widow all received our Savior's applause. He made a point of praising them in the presence of His disciples.
The application? If we want to be one of those whom our Savior meets with the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant," we must become like these. The little child was commended for his faith. What a child is told by His father he immediately believes and trusts. Simple faith is a dynamic faith. If we would only cling to the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. Mary had only one priority: to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn of Him. A devotion to Christ and the Word He has given us is essential to pleasing Him. The widow simply gave all that she had; no fanfare, no attempt to be recognized by men, just sacrificial trust. Perhaps you and I should spend some time today reflecting on the people Jesus honored during His ministry on earth. Wouldn't it be wise to do the things that are on His "list"--the things that make up His criteria--for faithful servants? You can begin by having the faith of a child, a simple faith that trusts the Father in all things. You can begin by spending time at Jesus' feet every spare moment you can find so that you can learn of Him. You can begin by being willing to sacrifice all for Him--without trying to draw attention to yourself. Trust demands that you let go of everything and put it in His care.
There will not be a moment in eternity more significant than the moment when you stand in His presence. Put aside the world's criteria and meditate on His. Make that moment the ultimate moment of joy.

Inseparable Commandments

There are lots of people in the world who claim to love God. They preach about it, they sing about it, they even write about it. But none of that is conclusive evidence of their love for God. I only love God as much as I love God's people. You can measure the depth of someone's love for God by how much they demonstrate their love for His kids. As John said, "how can you claim to love God whom you can't see, when you don't love His children whom you can see?"
The two great commandments are inseparable. As you love God with all your being, you must love your neighbor just as openly and deeply. As the Good Samaritan you must love regardless of the opinion the one in need of love has of you. You must love even if it means putting yourself at risk. To stop and help someone else in an area obviously frequented by violent thieves was not a wise choice in the eyes of the world. You must love even if you will never be thanked or rewarded for your act of love. Even if the one loved will never know that it was you who loved them. You must love with your stuff. If material things are needed to demonstrate your love, you must reach into your wallet and redeem with love the treasure that is in there.
Don't just tell people that you love God. Don't just sing it at the top of your lungs, even if you have the loveliest voice the world has ever heard. Don't just write about how much you love Him, even if you have a great gift of words. Show the world how much you love God by how much you lavish on His people. That alone is the evidence of how much you really do love Him.

Our Husband

God is not just our Master, nor is He just our Father; He is the eternal Lover of our souls--our Husband, our Bridegroom. And He is always a faithful Lover. Even when we commit adultery with the world and pursue other loves, He loves us fully. Even when we look at the blessings He has lavished on us and proudly imagine that they are ours because of how wonderful we are or because our other lovers have provided them for us, He loves us fully. Love the Lord with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, ALL your mind, ALL your strength. And love your neighbor as He loves you. His love lifted up for all to see will draw men and women to Him who are vainly searching in this loveless world for acceptance and approval. They, too, will find the Lover that loves them just the way they are and the Lover who will patiently draw them into a deeper understanding of His infinite love that is wider than wide, higher than high, deeper than deep, and longer than time. For God so loved the world . . .

Priorities

Make a list of your priorities. Behold! Those are the things that the enemy will use to try to push love, devotion, and obedience to God alone out of its rightful place--preeminence. Especially the good ones.

Tears

Some of the most dynamic men in Scripture were known for their tears. Let me give you two examples.

Joseph wept when his brothers betrayed him. He knew that they did not live lives that pleased God and their wickedness broke his heart.
Joseph wept when he heard the guilt his brothers had been living under, the constant fear of God's judgment that had dominated their lives since they had sold him into slavery.
Joseph wept when he got the opportunity to embrace his father and tell him how much he loved him.
Jesus wept when his brothers failed to understand and accept his forgiveness.
Jesus wept when his brothers failed to recognize the hand of God in turning evil into good.

Paul wept when he told his friends things that were profitable to them but perhaps not easy for them to hear.
Paul wept when he opened up God's Word and exhorted the churches.
Paul wept when he had to say goodbye to his friends for one last time even though he knew he could trust them to God. He would still miss them.
Paul wept when he thought of the false teachers who would attack the flock from within and without seeking to destroy and mislead.
Paul wept when he thought of those "enemies of the cross" who would try to add works as a necessity to salvation and diminish the grace of Calvary.

Tears. Do you know of two stronger men than Joseph and Paul? Do you know of two men more faithful to God despite the circumstances? They were men with broken hearts.

What do you weep over? Is your heart soft enough to weep? Do you weep with those who weep? Tears are a sign of strength. Nothing is more powerful than a tender heart toward others. If you do not contend for the faith with a broken heart, your ministry will produce other hearts just as cold and arrogant as yours.

Jacobs

"I Am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

I find comfort in the last guy--Jacob. Abraham's faith is way above mine. Isaac seemed to be such a quiet, gentle man--never acting in self-defense. But that rascal, schemer Jacob--I can identify with him. And God says, the Jacobs are my kids too. Whew.

Guileless

I think one of the disciples I would like to have had for a friend was Nathanael. I wonder if he was named after that Old Testament prophet who told David that the scoundrel he should be angry with was himself. "You are that man!" Tough job that prophet thing. I don't think any of them wrote a book on how to win friends and influence people. But what I like about the Apostle Nathanael was the testimony of Jesus concerning him: "A man in whom is no guile." Wow! Here was a man without a trace of "pretense" in his behavior. What you saw, was what you had. He told you exactly what he was thinking--no cunning, no half-truths, no attempt to manipulate, no guile. When I think of him, I always think of that proverb about friendship: "Iron sharpens iron." We all need friends like that, don't we? And we always need to be such a friend.

A Cymbal Solo

In the little epistle of III John we find two very different personalities. Gaius was a friend of John's whom John knew would be in excellent health if he was as healthy in body as he was in his soul. Quite a compliment if you stop to think about it. How healthy would you be if your body was as well as your soul--if you were as healthy physically as you are spiritually. 911. 911. 911.
The other guy was a man named Diatrophes, an arrogant man who "loved to have the preeminence." He assumed that God identified Himself with Diatrophes' plans. He was a man without Christ-like love--a man playing a cymbal solo according to I Corinthians 13.
Anyone trying to be noticed and recognized for his faithfulness and stand for God is a dangerous man to the cause of Christ. A lack of love and concern for others will soon be his most noticeable trait. Selfish ambition always ends up there even-especially--in the spiritual realm. If a man or woman is honestly standing firm for Christ as His servant, he or she won't need to tell anyone--and will be uncomfortable if pointed out as doing so.
Read III John sometime--it will only take a minute or two--and notice the attributes of Diatrophes: proud--the greatest lust of the flesh, filled with self-love, inhospitable, a talker of nonsense, malicious--sitting around with a rock in his pocket looking for someone--anyone--to throw it at, discontent--unless he was in a "fight," demanding that others be just as inhospitable and contentious as he was, divisive--separating himself from all those who weren't following--worshiping--him, and threatening--saying he would kick Gaius and anyone else out of the fellowship who he thought was being too loving.
An experiential knowledge of God--the indwelling and control of the Holy Spirit--makes one poor in spirit, not spiritually proud. The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth by shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts, not the love of self. Don't be a dissonant, cacophonic, cymbal soloist like Diatophes. You'll just give everyone a headache and a desire to get as far away from you as possible. In God's eyes you'll be useless, worthless, and hopeless. Everything you've always wanted to be, right? And even more dangerously, you'll think you're just the opposite.

Confession

An intimate walk with Christ has little to do with sin in our life, our failures. What keeps us from an intimate walk with Him is the arrogance of refusing to confess and repent of our sins. Pride. The lunacy of spiritual pride. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." "God be merciful to me a sinner!"

Hard Times

I know I am struggling with pride when I refuse the hard things God has called me to do. I refuse the will He has for my life and replace it with the will I think He should have for my life. And invariably my way is the "easy way out." It's anti endurance, anti perseverance, anti sacrifice. I want my life to be used in a way that I think will bring me fulfillment, and I chafe under the will He has for my life which is to be used to touch the lives of others (which, by the way, is the only way to find fulfillment). The hard things He calls me to do are the test of my love. Am I in love with me and what He can and should do for me or am I in love with Him? Can I climb the mountain with Abraham, with Isaac at my side, firewood strapped to his back, or will I doubt the promises of Jehovah-Jireh--The Lord Will Provide?

Revelation

     We study the Scriptures because they reveal to us the mind of God--His thoughts.  Contrary to the way many respond to the Word, God is not giving us His opinion.  What He is revealing to us is the truth.  If I am going to understand history, if I am going to understand the times in which I live, if I am going to understand the importance of this day, I must be a student of the Word.  I cannot think right without doing so.  Oh, I can if I want rely on my finite analysis of things and elevate my opinion above His, and even claim that I am brilliant for doing so, but the infinite omniscient God is not, I assure you, impressed with my human reasoning.  Wisdom, true knowledge, discernment are found in His Word.  If I think His thoughts are foolishness, the reason is clear.  "The natural--unsaved--man can not understand the thoughts of God; they are foolish to him because they are spiritually discerned."  And such spiritual discernment is crucial:  "Sanctify them through Thy Word; Thy Word is truth."
     We study the Scriptures because they reveal to us the heart of God.  The Word reveals to us what God loves and yes, like it or not, what God hates.  Scripture clearly delineates both.  If I am going to love right, I must know the heart of God.  If I am going to fully comprehend His great love for me demonstrated in our Savior's loving sacrifice on the cross, I must be a student of the Word.  Understanding such love is crucial to living a life of love.
     We study the Scriptures in order to know the will of God.  Life can have no meaningful purpose if it is not lived in accordance with His will.  I must understand what is His will for His people corporately, and I must know what is His will for me as an individual on a daily basis.  I have an indispensable role to play in the body of Christ.  And He has a will for my life lived moment by moment that His Word explains to me.  I must be a student of the Word to know His will.
     I cannot think right without knowing the mind of God revealed in His Word.  I cannot love right without understanding His heart as revealed in His Word.  I cannot live right without knowing the will of God as revealed in His Word.  Put another way, I will be spiritually weak and anemic without a steady diet of the milk and meat of the Word.  I cannot grow spiritually without it.  I cannot be strong in the Lord without it.  I cannot win the spiritual warfare without skill in wielding "the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God."
     And yet, I do not study the Word just to know His mind, His heart, and His will.  I study the Word of God to know Him.  "The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and faithfulness; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."
     To know Him is to love Him.  To love Him is to obey Him.  To obey Him is to abide in Him.  To abide in Him is to have a sense of His presence, a desire for His will, a trust in His goodness, and a life that "bears much fruit"--a life that is becoming more and more like Him in my daily walk.  To bear fruit is to live a fulfilled life that brings glory to His Name--to make the invisible God, full of grace and truth, visible to those around me.
     It all begins with my relationship with the Scriptures, the place where He, the Living Word, has chosen to reveal His mind, His heart, and His will.
     "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."  "O, taste and see, that the Lord is good!"

Active Passive

     Among the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5, we find both "active" and "passive" fruit.  Take, for example. the two qualities  of gentleness and meekness.  Gentleness is active.  It's your sensitivity to the needs of others evidenced by how you treat them.  God the Father and God the Son are both described as being Shepherds of the flock.  Can you think of a clearer picture of gentleness than that of our Lord sheltering the weak and frightened lamb close to His heart in the midst of the storm?  David, the shepherd, in Psalm 18:35 tells God, "Thy gentleness has made me great."
    Meekness, on the other hand, is passive.  It's your response to how people treat or mistreat you.  Jesus, as always, is our perfect example.  "Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously."
    Our Lord was always both gentle and meek--active and passive.

Strategy

Satan's strategy since the Garden hasn't changed: He tries to get us to doubt God's Word; he comes right out and tells us that it's not true; that's not what He meant; and he tells us that we don't need God to decide right and wrong, we can do that for ourselves.
"We assume that God, shares "our" sense of justice and morality, "our" views on love and sex, "our" politics and passions, "our" ideas of an evening well spent and a life worth living." (Leeman) God is not like us. We must agree with Him and His standards of righteousness as revealed in His Word by the Spirit. To what degree do I embrace His truth? When I don't agree with Him, I am being deceived. And the Deceiver is never more dangerous than when he comes as an angel of light.

Impressing People

     We humans are really into impressing people.  Unfortunately, such thinking seeps into our Christian value system as well.  We often become more concerned with Christian activity than with our relationship to Christ.  For example, we go to church every time the doors are open and participate in every activity the church offers, but we only have time for personal Bible study and prayer once or twice a week--or month--or . . . you know.  Our relationship to God and His Word is second-hand.  We forget that God is more concerned with our relationship to Him than in what we do for Him.  And besides, it's so much easier to impress men with how spiritual we are through activity than to impress God with our personal devotion to Him as our Friend.
    In reality, doing spiritual things for personal recognition is worldliness in one of its most dangerous forms.  When we become more concerned with appearing to be spiritual than with being spiritual, we fool ourselves into thinking we stand--when in actuality, we're headed for a disastrous fall.
     Paul suggests that such people are builders with wood, hay, and stumble.  Oh, hauling such things around on our backs is impressive and attention getting.  And it doesn't take a great deal of it to construct a fairly impressive house.  But one spark of adversity or disappointment and--whoosh--up in flames.
     That's not the kind of impression you want to make, is it?  Then build a personal relationship with God through His Word and prayer.

Paul

I am always encouraged and challenged when I see this word in the Bible: Paul

Challenged to keep praying. Even the gospels most ardent enemies can encounter Jesus and become transformed by His grace--"grace that is greater than all our sins."
Encouraged to remember that no one's past--not even mine--can keep someone from being used by God--and used mightily.
Challenged to show the grace necessary to encourage those with a "past" to "forget those things which are behind" and to let God use them and to not let men and their opinions stand in the way of serving Him.

Beauty from Ashes

In Isaiah 61:3 God tells us that He makes beauty from ashes. As we repent and admit our failures, our disappointments, and our shortcomings, God replaces them with His purity and loveliness. Those that have given such ashes in submission to the Father allow God to turn those yesterdays into beautiful todays filled with renewed fellowship and deepening intimacy with Him. Such Christians are indeed reflectors of the Light, of the beauty of God and His grace.

Comforters

     God has called us to be comforters.  But we must always remember that the road to such a ministry is one of discomfort.  God puts us through various trials to test our faith, to strengthen us, to increase our dependence on Him--and to make us comforters.  He comforts us in our tribulations that we might pass on His comfort to others.  We are not to be content to be receivers of His grace and peace, but to look for opportunities to be sharers of the grace and peace He has given us in difficult times.  The first thing we should look for when God allows us to go through times of testing are others who are going through the very same thing.  God has prepared us to reach out to those people with the comfort He has taught us.  It is not coincidence that God brings such people into our lives.  So the next time God reveals Himself to you in a time of testing; remember, He is about to send others your way who need to see Him in the same way, who need the same sense of His presence that He has given you.  Never forget that your trials are God's training ground for the ministry of comforting.  He is trusting you to be the source of encouragement His hurting children need.  The trials are His way of saying, "I need you."

The Beautiful

    What makes someone beautiful?

     First, the most beautiful person who ever lived was Jesus.  What then are the characteristics of beautiful people?  Beautiful people are enthralled by the flight of a sparrow.  Beautiful people rejoice at the presence of children, love their simple faith.  Beautiful people recognize the importance of a loaf of bread and a piece of fish to a hungry man.  Beautiful people are perfectly at ease in the storm or the calm.  Beautiful people cherish moments of conversation with a friend; in fact, they find that more "appetizing" than a good meal.  Beautiful people constantly encourage their friends and intercede on their behalf in prayer.  Beautiful people are concerned for the well-being of the friend who in a moment of weakness betrays their love and friendship.  Beautiful people defend the acts of devotion showered on them by a friend even if--especially if--the rest of their friends criticize the act.  Beautiful people weep with those who weep.  Beautiful people do everything to please God no matter what it may cost them.
     In addition, Jesus told us that the lily of the valley was more beautiful than Solomon on his most splendidly arrayed days.  And it simply radiates the beauty God has given it in the place where God has planted it.  To remove it from its place is to cause it to wither, to destroy its loveliness.  We, too, will never be beautiful in any place other than the place God puts us.
     And in Isaiah 61:3 God tells us that He makes beauty from ashes.  As we repent and admit our failures, our disappointments, and our shortcomings, God replaces them with His purity and loveliness.  Those that have given such ashes in submission to the Father allow God to turn those yesterdays into beautiful todays filled with renewed fellowship and deepening intimacy with Him.  Such Christians are indeed reflectors of the Light, the beauty of God and His grace.
     God has also given us "beautiful feet."  Those who leave "footprints" of God's gospel of peace wherever they go are beautiful people.  They bring the message of peace with God to others.  They are the peacemakers of God's universe.  They radiate peace in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.  No one can spend much time in their presence without seeing their beauty--God's beauty shining through them.
     So. you want to be beautiful?  Imitate Jesus.   Be content with the beauty God has given you and the people to whom He has called you to radiate His beauty.  Give Him the ashes and tears of your yesterdays that He might transform them into His beautiful masterpiece of grace.  Leave beautiful impressions of God's beauty with each step that you take, wherever He leads you.
     And you know what?  The older you get and the more your external beauty fades, the more beautiful you will become to those around you--to those who see the beautiful image of Him in you.

"Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All His wonderful passion and purity
O Thou Spirit Divine,
All my nature refine,
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me."

Panic

The true disciple knows that nothing happens in his life that catches God by surprise. God never panics--or even feels panicky. The disciple can rest--yes, confidently rest--in the One who is "too wise to make a mistake and too loving to be unkind."

Where

The true disciple seeks His leading, His guidance, on where and how he can use the gifts and talents and training that God has given him to touch the lives of others and to glorify the Giver. He does not seek to use those gifts, talents, and training to gain personal recognition, applause, and affirmation.

Moses

     Moses was meek.
     Mind-boggling.  Moses--the man who confronted the most powerful ruler of his day and then led at least two million murmuring, complaining people for forty years through the wilderness--was the meekest man on the face of the earth.  So says God.  And though meekness is not a virtue we would normally associate with leadership, obviously God does.  And if meekness is essential to godly leadership, we had better discover what meekness is.
     Meekness does not mean that we are to think of ourselves as useless or inadequate of inferior in some way.  It has been said of Moses that he spent forty years in Egypt thinking he was somebody, forty years in the wilderness thinking he was nobody, and finally, forty years learning that God is everything.  And that's the key to meekness; it doesn't matter who you are.  The significant thing is are you willing to give whatever you are to Him.  Once I submit all my talents and gifts--the ones that He's given me for the task He prepared for me--I'm ready to begin developing a meek spirit--a spirit essential to godly leadership and godly living and godly decision making.  For the meek person doesn't care what anyone thinks about what God is doing with and through him.  He knows that God is using him as He sees fit--and where He sees fit--to accomplish what's best in view of eternity.  Consequently, whether men are pleased or impressed with him is irrelevant.  As long as He's pleasing God, nothing else matters.
     Moses started out saying, "I can do it myself, my way.  God you've given me these great gifts and abilities.  Thanks, I can take it from here."  That's arrogance and self-deception, not meekness.  Naturally, Moses failed.  Off to the wilderness.  Then, Moses begged off:  "God, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?  Find somebody else."  That's weakness and cowardice, not meekness.  And that arouses God's anger.  As if Pharaoh could intimate God or thwart His plans.  Finally, Moses placed His faith in the character of God--the great I AM.  And he became Moses the meek--concerned with God's will and God's glory only.  He became Moses the dynamic leader, compassionate toward the people of God no matter what their level of disobedience or no matter what they thought of him.
     As Christ says, "Take my yoke upon you, learn of Me.  For I am meek and lowly in heart; and you will find rest unto your souls."  Submit all that you are or hope to be to Him in meekness, and He will, as Augustine said, "Make you a man of value, not merely a man of success."

His Gentleness

God, who knows me better than anyone ever can or will, loves me with all His heart. He is my gentle Shepherd. Each day He holds me in His arms when I tire, leads me to rest and energizes me with His sensitivity to my needs. His goodness and mercy inhabit my yesterdays; He has built a room for me in His heavenly home so He can always have His child with Him. His gentleness fills my days.

Evidence of Love

     The true disciple sees difficult circumstances as the evidence of God's love for him. God is, on occasion, trying to straighten him out before the consequences get worse. God is, much more often, giving him a vote of confidence, that his faith in God's character will be stronger than the trial. Whatever happens, he knows that when it's all over, he'll be more like Jesus than he used to be. And that alone makes it all worthwhile. Fire always purifies.
     The true disciple never demands that someone love him back.  "Love" is not a method to control others.  "Love" is not in any way related to "guilt."  He knows that love is a choice freely made and has nothing to do with the response of the one loved.  It is not that he doesn't want to be loved, that he would "mind" being loved, he just knows that it must be freely given or it's not really love at all.  If someone is going to love him because he deserves it, he knows they won't love him very long.

Discerning and Discernable

     The ability to properly identify someone or something is an essential character trait.  We call it discernment.  All Christians should be discerning.  In addition, all Christians should be discernible.  In nature, identifying species is usually easy.  For example, if an animal walks like a duck, eats like a duck, quacks like a duck, and enjoys being with other ducks, chances are it's a duck.  Or it a tree produces apples, it's probably an apple tree.  If it has acorns, it's probably an oak tree.  You can always identify a tree by its fruit.
     In the spiritual realm it's not such an easy task.  The guidelines, however, are similar.  One who is born of God develops the characteristics--the fruits--of God through the inner workings of the Holy Spirit in his life.  That's why non-Christians look at you and me expecting to see evidence of the life of Christ in us.  They have every right to do that.  Do we walk "in love, as Christ has loved us?"  Do we have an appetite for spiritual food?  Is our speech "with grace, seasoned with salt,"  our "yes, yes; No, no?"  Do we enjoy being around other Christians--"not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together?"  Are we producing the fruit of the Spirit?  If the Holy Spirit is in control of our lives, these are the traits He'll produce.
     Birth determines nature.  If you're a duck, waddle, quack, and eat those minnows.  If you're an apple tree, bring on the MacIntosh or the Red Delicious or the Winesap.  But, if you're a child of God, walk, talk, and hunger after spiritual food and fellowship with other Christians.
     Don't be confused with a duck.

God's Unconditional Love

Those believers who ignored and twisted the Bible's teaching on His coming again and gave unbelievers opportunity to mock His Word are totally, deeply, and unconditionally loved today by their Savior.

And this is still true: "At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord--to the glory of God the Father."

Daniel

     One of the remarkable things about Daniel--and there are a lot of remarkable things about Daniel--was that he viewed life as a whole.  What I mean by that is that he saw everything as related to the spiritual.  It didn't matter if it was his diet or his prayer life, he held faithfulness to God as essential in all areas.  The best evidence of that is found when the Persians under Darius tried to find some way to accuse him.  They all looked for something first in the area that they would have called secular--in the way he did his job as an administrator of the kingdom.  They knew he was religious--so, no doubt were they--but they were sure that his religion had no impact on his behavior "on the job."  But they were wrong.  They could find nothing to accuse him of.  He didn't do his job the way they did, looking for a way to get rich.  No bribes passed into Daniel's hands.  In addition, he didn't neglect any of the duties he was called on to perform.  Here is a man in his seventies still performing his duties to the utmost of his energies.  How many of us would be found faultless if others searched for something to accuse us of in the way we did our jobs?  Would they find no dishonesty in our behavior; no neglect on our part toward those things we were accountable to do?  The problem arises when we fail to see that our entire life is sacred.  As soon as we take God out of any area of our life, we have surrendered our integrity.  We have set aside "do all to the glory of God."  God expects us as believers, as His children, to leave an imprint of His presence wherever we are.  I am not a Christian and a lawyer, a Christian and a waitress, a Christian and a teacher, a Christian and an artist, a Christian and an athlete, a Christian and a father, a Christian and a son.  I am a Christian.  And in whatever area of my life I cease to act like one, I am in disobedience and my integrity will come into question.  Until I see my entire life as sacred, I am not a disciple.  For the disciple's first step is to deny himself.  How many steps down the road of discipleship have you taken today?

A Humanistic Church

God has not commissioned me to coerce or force unbelievers to act like Christians. He has called me to live a righteous life and to introduce unbelievers to God's love for them. His Spirit alone can transform lives. When the church's priority is to produce an ideal culture through human methods and human effort, they have become a humanistic church.

The Greatest Difference

The greatest difference between our Savior and the rest of us is simple to identify. He never met anyone without asking, "What can I do for you?" It was never all about Him. As we were told, He came to serve others not to be served.

Do I in every situation think first of how this choice will affect me or how it will affect the other person?

Do I pray in every situation that if anyone is taken advantage of, if anyone is hurt, let it be me?

Do I, like Jesus' attitude toward me, see people at their worst and think "How can I love them back into intimacy with me?" Or do I look for some way to get them out of my life.

Do I respond with empathy or pity to the sorrows and heartbreaks of others? In other words, do I feel pity for them or do I feel with them--empathy? Jesus took on human flesh so that He could feel with us--feel exactly what we were feeling in every situation.

Do I seek His leading, His guidance, on how I can use the gifts and training He has given me to positively influence the lives of others for His glory or do I seek to use my gifts and training to gain personal recognition, applause, and affirmation?

Do I worry about what society--or even the church--will think of me if I make certain choices or do I act on behalf of others regardless of man's approval?

Do I become embarrassed when people who are associated with me--friends or family--make choices that society and the church will look down on because I'm thinking that their choices will reflect on what people think of me? Or do I continue to love them and be a faithful friend regardless of other people's perspectives?

Do I see it as betrayal when friends make choices for their good that affect me negatively? Or do I rejoice in their good?

Do I go away from the place God has put me and the people to whom He has sent me as a minister, the people He has called me to love unconditionally, or do I wait until I am sent by Him to another place of ministry?

Do I readily forgive all wrongs, even those afflicted on me by the last people on earth who should be afflicting me--those whom God has sent to love me unconditionally? When I take up my cross to follow Him is my prayer always, "Father forgive them!"

Do I joyfully sacrifice my stuff so that others can obtain the stuff that they need?

Do I cringe when God takes away my independence from others and places me in a position of dependence on the love of others? Do I steal their joy in giving to me?

Am I becoming more and more like Him in my relationships with others or am I becoming more and more like me--more and more like the person I'd hoped I'd never be?

"Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus."

What Does Love Look Like?

"God is Love."

What does love look like?

Love looks hypocrisy in the face and calls it what it is.
Love listens to and answers the same question no matter how many times a disciple asks.
Love asks the one question He knows will force a young man to make a choice for the things of heaven or the things of earth.
Love responds to every need it meets in every way it can.
Love challenges the faith of a grieving mother to see how deeply she trusts. And when she does, commends her for her astounding faith--and answers her deepest need.
Love looks with concern on one who has betrayed Him.
Love prays a prayer He knows can't be answered and thus submits to the will of the Father, no matter what the personal cost and pain.
Love never responds in self-defense, but always affirms the truth.
Love forgives.
Love seeks out those who have hurt Him to be sure they know that He still loves them just as much as He did before--and that their failure does not disqualify them from serving others in His name.
Love fixes breakfast.
Love embraces the little child.
Love, when dying, is deeply concerned for those left behind, that they will be taken care of.
Love cries in the presence of broken-hearted friends.
Love defends devotion no matter who the critics are.
Love encourages the smallest act of faith.
Love never misses an opportunity to be a servant.
Love teaches.
Love is not concerned if His loving causes others to attack His reputation.
Love has no office hours.
Love spends time in prayer alone interceding for those loved.

Love walks, talks, lives and breathes. "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Are you love? God has called you to be--and empowered you to be.

Our Wants

Nothing more clearly gets in the way of our relationship to God than our wants. And, sadly, many of those "wants" are not bad things. They are just things that we believe we must have, along with having God, in order to be happy. God withholds them from us because He knows that they will not be enough to make us happy until our only priority is Him. And on those occasions when God gives us that thing we want, it becomes our god and a very poor substitute for Him it turns out to be. The most miserable people in the world are those who have everything they want, but not an intimate relationship with God.
Won't be happy until you have a husband or wife and a family? Until you are satisfied with only Him, marriage will never bring you happiness. Ask the woman at the well. Look around your church.
Won't be happy until you have a little cottage off in the woods? Until you are satisfied with only Him, your cottage in the woods won't bring you happiness. Your constant companion in that cottage will be you--just as unhappy as you were before you got there. Talk about an irritating roommate!
Won't be happy until you have that job that makes you financially secure? When you get that job, you'll stuff your money into all the safe places you can find, and it will never be enough. Money can't buy you a relationship with God. It can only buy you things and short term friends--prodigal son friends. And nothing is more temporary than things. Have you ever tried to have a relationship with a car? A house? A stock portfolio?
No one desires your happiness more than God. He wants you to enjoy all the things He intends to give you and to find joy in each day. But until you have reached the point that none of those things are needed as long as you have Him, happiness and joy will forever escape you.
And it all boils down to one simple question. How much do you trust Him? Or how deeply do you believe He loves you? Doesn't He know you even better than you know yourself? Doesn't He know what you need? Isn't He the giver of all good gifts? Then, why is it that He hasn't given you what you want? Exactly. He knows that when you have it, you will be even more miserable than you are now because whatever it is won't be nearly enough to satisfy your wants. Only a growing relationship with Him can do that. And only when that relationship is the only thing on your list of "wants."

"As a deer pants after the water, so my heart pants for You, my Lord."