Impossible

Loving is so difficult! Sometimes it's because the people we are called to love are not so lovable. (They are way too much like us.) Sometimes the love they need is so difficult and challenging to give. Sometimes it's because the love God wants us to give doesn't seem to be very loving. Sometimes it's because the love we give is resented or, even worse, taken for granted. Sometimes our love is used to take advantage of us. Love is hard work--"a labor of love."
Yet, God tells us that the entire Christian walk can be summed up in two statements: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength." "Love your neighbor as I have loved you." And He adds--the second one is really just the first one stated in a different way. He, also, says "love your enemies." Didn't know that your enemies are also your neighbors?
We are called to love because He first loved us. We were not very lovable. The Son endured the cross for us. His love comes at times through discipline--and that's not much "fun." And how often do we resent His loving discipline? How often do we take His love for granted? How often have we taken advantage of His love? And still He loves us with all His heart and reminds us that His love for us is inescapable. And we are to love as He loves us.
One reason I struggle with loving others is because I forget that the people God has put into my life are there because He wants me to love them. Not someone else. Me. They are my love assignment. Another reason I struggle with loving others is because I love me more than I love them--and I believe the lie that I deserve to be loved by them, and if they're not doing that, why should I bother loving them? I, also, struggle with loving others when my love for Him grows cold. Tepid love makes God ill. I cannot love others when I become indifferent to the cross and the love He demonstrated there for me while I was yet a sinner.
Loving others will always be a labor--hard work. His love for me on the cross must always break my heart. My broken heart must be surrendered to Him so the Spirit can empower me to love "my assignments" so that they cannot deny that "God is love." My broken-hearted love must not demand to be loved back, must not be thwarted by rejection. And it must not grow cold when taken advantage of. Impossible, you say, (I say) to love like that! But that's why He gave us His Spirit so that we could be His Love made visible to all those He brings into our life. Surrender to the Spirit and discover the simplest most empowering truth to be a reality: "With God, all things are possible."

Gradual

The loss of spiritual power can be such a gradual thing--so slowly does it infect us that we fail to sense the subtle but deadly decline. We can even be blinded to its reality. God warns us of the danger with simple metaphors--clear, but simple: the drifting away of a boat from the dock, a moth slowly eating away in the back of a closet, the hairs on our head slowly turning gray one small strand at a time.
It all begins, I believe, with our embracing the lie that God is indifferent to our sin. We see grace as the freedom to live however we please--but such is not the case. Grace is the call to embrace righteous living, godly living. We grow in grace by obeying His commands, applying His principles to our lives, by trusting in His promises and finding them to be true. Grace, a license to sin? Paul cries out--and our heart and lives should cry out with Him--"God forbid!" God's grace sets us apart to holy lives in body and soul. The grace-filled disciple rejoices in daily confession--and the strength that it gives.
The second step toward a loss of spiritual power is the desire to live like the world around us. We see that life as being the real life when it is the most fraudulent existence a man or woman can pursue. And it is a never-ending, never-satisfying pursuit. There is a reason why the people of our county--"filled" with the offer of so many freedoms to do as one pleases--a limitless immorality--are so "filled" with neurotic, unhappy humans. And Christians who try to put just one foot into that world soon find themselves with both feet set firmly in the mire of misery--and wondering where their spiritual strength has gone. And often blaming Him for abandoning them. Where are your feet planted? Both of them?
I believe those attitudes--attitudes that slowly sap our lives of spiritual joy and strength--spring from a heart that sets its sights on what it wants rather than on the blessings that it already has. When my "wants" are more attractive to me than my "haves," the boat is drifting, the moth is gnawing away in the closet, the hairs are turning gray. And I find myself spiritually impotent, deprived of all joy, strength-less.
Think it couldn't happen to you? Examine your life. Are you finding His commandments grievous? Are you pursuing world-likeness? Are your "wants" destroying a heart of gratitude for your "haves"? The disciple slowly losing his or her strength finds loving obedience a burden, Christ-likeness shameful, joyful thanksgiving a sour taste in their mouths.
And there is no life in more danger than the life of the disciple turning away from the life of following Him--he or she becomes powerless, empty, joyless, without a sense of His presence, blind to grace, capable of committing any sin.
Please. Examine yourself. Daily.

The Beautiful

A beautiful, rich snow today. Deeper than it looked like from the doorwindow. Took some manual labor to clear out an area to cater to my feathered friends. It seemed as if there was a lot of "hurry up" in their chorus this morning--I was, I admit, a tad late. Probably leave me a lousy tip.
Though spring is a month away, I was meditating on the beauty that will soon begin to express itself throughout The Acres. The pussy willow by the pond--one of them--is already glorious. If it gets any bigger, I'll have to name in Redwood. We are surrounded by so much beauty--gifts to us from the Lord of Beauty. Yet, too often we fail to notice it or think that we have to go somewhere else to find it. He tells us to consider the lily of the field, the sparrow hopping along the sidewalk, the little child coming to sit on our lap, the wisdom seen in the gray hair of the elderly. No one loves life more than the Creator of it. He has even placed the beautiful in places where no one has ever seen it but Him. But we can see so much around us, and we need to pause, rejoice in it, wonder at it, praise and thank Him for such gifts.
And as gorgeous as a new snowfall in February, or the first crocus, or a cardinal sitting on a deep green fir, or the silver-white pussy willow blooms reflected against a gray sky, there are the beautiful portraits of life all around us that we too often fail to see as well. Is there anything more beautiful than a little child? Is there anything more beautiful than a little child laughing or crying in the arms of Mom and Dad? Is not the most beautiful woman on earth the silver-haired grandmother surrounded by her legacy, embracing them in her love, encouraging them by her faithful walk with Him--a walk that radiates His beauty through her eyes? Are not the stories and skills and work ethic passed down from grandfathers the most beautiful treasures on earth? We are so rich; and yet, we go through each day as if we are the poorest creatures on earth. His beauty does indeed surround us. He has saturated our lives with beauty, endowed us with beautiful family and friends, even filled our minds with beautiful memories. Each moment in our life is a masterpiece "painted" for us by the Lord of Life--the King of Beauty. Stop. Gaze. Dance in the beauty all around you. Sing the wonders of His love. He has given you a life filled with the richness of His beautiful presence.

The Tender-hearted

Tender-hearted.

Love that is reflected through tender persuasion.

These are the traits of one who is in Christ Jesus. The tender-hearted let everyone with whom they come in contact know that he or she matters--that they are important and easy to love through Christ. The follower of Christ tries to tenderly persuade others to come to Him for forgiveness and, having come to Him, to follow Him in obedience. They are never harsh in their actions or in their words. As a mother tenderly cares for her child, so the disciple tenderly cares for the needs of those God has placed in his or her life. They are spontaneous nurturers. And like a shepherd they tenderly search for the wandering lamb, and when found, they tenderly take him in the arms of love and bring him back to the safety of the fold. Bruised by their wanderings and nights lost on the hillsides of doubt and disobedience, they find only a tender forgiveness in the pursuing love of the shepherd. Tenderness springs from a sympathetic, empathetic, forgiving heart. Having been a wanderer himself, the tender-hearted is gentle, willing to stoop down and lift up the fallen. Since an eternal tenderness flows from the heart of God, let us view others as being more important than ourselves, view the needs of others as more important than our own. Let the mind of Christ exhibited in His servant's heart be expressed in our tenderness toward others.

There is no greater strength, no persuasive love, mightier or deeper than the touch of a tender heart.

Frustration

Understatement of the year: Life can be frustrating. What makes life frustrating is, unfortunately, my choices. I could spend a long time listing the decisions I've made that were not very bright, thought-out, or, dare I say, even rational. And, of course, there are the decisions I didn't make that were far from wise as well. What's the old saying? If you have to make a choice and don't, you've made a choice.
Too often I even blame my frustrations for my own decisions on others. Passing the blame is such an easy thing to do. Too bad it only adds to the frustration. Owning up to my frustrating choices is difficult to do. It requires humility and confession. Admitting that I've made a mistake, that my reasoning was self-centered, short-sighted, iniquitous, and materialistic does not come easily to my human pride. Sadly, one of those I blame all too often for the consequences of my choices and the frustrations that come with those choices is God. And that does wonders for my walk with Him--and deepens the frustrations.
So what to do when life seems overwhelming--frustrating, beyond our control? Confession is the place to begin. I cannot "walk in the light as He is in the light" without confession--agreeing with Him that my choices were sin, that the reason I find myself where I am is my fault not His--or anyone else's. I also find quiet reflection on His past goodness a remarkable antidote for frustration as well. My choices have never frustrated His will for my life. He has used some of my worst decisions to do the greatest good for me and for others that I love and care for. His love for me is inescapable, actively focused on doing good for me and using even my frustrating choices for His praise and glory. I could spend an even longer time listing His goodness to me than I could listing my wrong choices. Even my most egregious choices He has often used to create innumerable good things in my life as He draws me back into an even closer fellowship with Him.
And, of course, He knows my heart. Sometimes, believe it or not, my choices that have led to my frustrations have come from my heart's desire to please Him. I have a heart for God, but I keep getting in the way. What a release it is to rest in the loving truth that my God and my Savior looks on the heart. Man looks on the outside--including this man--but God knows my heart's desire. And, amazingly--He delights in my heart's desire. He constantly reminds me that He knows that I love Him--faults and all.
Finding life overwhelming, frustrating? Confess. Get out of the shadows and back into the light of His presence. Trust in His goodness. It doesn't say that just all the right things I do will work together for my good and His glory. But all things will. Just focus for a moment on your past, and you will see that that is undeniably so. He may even remind you of some beautiful things He has done for you that you didn't even see before! And rest in the marvelous truth that He knows and delights in your heart's desire to please Him.
He is always eager to forgive and take your hand in His to continue your journey together. He is always working His loving goodness into your life and using you to glorify Him. He is always looking into the depths of your heart and anxious to continue to use you in the furtherance of the kingdom. Let your frustrations be the source of your joy, your praise, and your faith. "And now abides these three faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love." And the greatest Lover is your glorious Savior.

On Guard

One sin we don't seem to focus on often may be the most deadly to a growing relationship with Him: Coveting. Paul tells us that the sin of coveting is idolatry in disguise--insidious disguise. Whatever it is we are coveting--material things, spiritual things, impossible things--they become enthroned in our hearts where only our love for Him should reign. What makes it such a temptation today is that our entire culture worships coveting. They try to sell it to us every day as a good thing--a great thing, a life-enhancing thing. And they can be very persuasive.
Often it is "just" things. We want the newest of everything, and in our innovation society, there are always newer things--better phones, the latest TV, a new car, a bigger house, the newest gadget, newest clothes, and on and on it goes. When we are driven to have these temporal things (they only last until the next new thing), and our contentment rests on having them, we are coveting. Such wanting undermines our relationship with Him. We have set up other gods before Him. The love of things becomes more important to us than our love for Him. Deadly. They are the wood and stones of today's idols. They cannot help you in anyway. They erect in your heart a throne to unquenchable appetites totally unable to fill your soul with His presence.
Too often we covet spiritual things. We look at someone else's gifts and talents, and we wish we had them. Why can't I sing like that? Why is their gift of evangelism so natural when mine is such a struggle? Why is their gift of hospitality so much more attractive than mine? Why do they seem to have grown so much spiritually while I'm just creeping along? And then we cast aspersions on the gifts He has given us. And then we compare ourselves to others spiritually and think He doesn't love us, certainly doesn't need us, is not interested in deepening His relationship with us. Sadly, we forget that each of us grows slowly in His timing--there is no such thing as instant spiritual maturity. Sadly, we forget that He has given us the gifts He has so that the body will be complete, be whole, work effectively in the growth of the kingdom. No one can take our place in the body. No one. We are that essential to the work. We are just as deeply loved as every other child of His. And what could be more detrimental to our relationship to Him than spiritual lust?
We, also, I'm afraid, covet the impossible. Why did God give me the life that I have? Why was I born in this place, with this family, with this work, with this status, having to endure my past, in fear of not having a secure future? Why me, Lord? Our past is out of our reach, our present is not what we wish it were--what it would be if we were planning it, our future is filled with fears that cry out that we doubt His love and His wisdom. We replace His throne of love residing in our hearts--the very empowering presence of the Spirit--with the idol of "Why me?" It's the idol we worship with grumbling and complaining, and then we wonder where the joy of our walk with Him has gone? Yes, we worship misery and being discontent instead of being Christ-in-the-room where He has placed us--where He needs us.

"Thou shalt not covet." "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." The same commandment expressed in different words. We become such idolaters.

The cure? How do we tear down those idols and walk joyfully in His presence? We worship Him with a heart of gratitude for all His provision. We walk daily in obedience with Him. We use the gifts He has given us to ensure the health of the body--the church. We cast off the evil of comparing ourselves to others because we are His creation--one-of-a-kind--the one-of-a-kind He needs right where He has placed us. We embrace our circumstances knowing--yes, knowing--that He has placed us where He needs us to be the example of His holy love to others, that He has given us the vocation we have because He has designed it to be our place of ministry.

John, the apostle of love, closes his first epistle with these beautiful words of wisdom--and command: "Little children, guard yourself from idols." No wonder he's called the apostle of love, the disciple whom Jesus loved--there was only room for one throne is his heart--His Savior reigned there.

On guard!

Focus

When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, he didn't say, "Look at all those awful sinners everywhere." What he said was, "Woe is me for I am undone." And then he cried out, "Lord, here am I. Send me.!" Are we so busy looking at the world and complaining to God that we haven't gazed at His holiness and marveled at the grace He's shown us.
If you meditate on His holiness, it's not the world's sin you'll be focusing on. And when my heart cries out, "Woe is me!" then He can use me, God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.