Together

Five of us sat down in a small room. We talked, argued, listened, talked some more ... and prayed together. They were real prayers. Aren't all prayers real communication with God? No.

• Some are sermons in disguise (Lord, our Pastor needs to be more open to your Spirit's work, for we know that in Ephesians it says, ... blah, blah!).
  
  Others are gossip dressed up (And Jesus, give Al the strength he needs to overcome his awful habits, you know Lord, he drinks too much... blah, blah!).
  
  Some are news broadcasts wrapped in Old English (Father, thou knowest that my daughter hast made the Dean's list and I thankest Thee that Thou hast blest her... blah, blah!).

But we had none of that in that gathering. We were a group of guys with open hearts, yearning to touch God and be touched by His Spirit. Being together and willing to hear each other's prayers helped to keep us honest and focused.

Sometimes together is hard! Occasionally God gives us a partner for ministry who is something less than a saint - perhaps vain, or immature, or just foolish. Sometimes He puts us in groups that wander, meandering toward a decision by the longest path possible. Sometimes He places us in a group that calls us on our hypocrisy! Ouch, that one hurts - because no one likes to have his pretensions punctured with honest insight. Sometimes He places us among people with whom we have no 'chemistry' and we have to stick with them bonded by the Spirit - you know - like being the one country music lover in a group that loves rock 'n roll!

Sometimes together is blissful! The meeting starts and the problem that has not yielded an answer to us for weeks, is solved by an insightful suggestion made by someone sitting across the table. The church service begins and the songs of the saints become the Wind beneath our wings (sorry, couldn't resist that). As prayers are offered, the light touch of another Christian and the sound of her voice asking the Lord God to meet our need, can be more comforting than almost anything in this world.

Together is never optional! This passage is so familiar, you may be tempted to skim through it. Please don't! Read it carefully.
"The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up only one body. So it is with the body of Christ.... the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am only an ear and not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? ... In fact, some of the parts that seem weakest and least important are really the most necessary. And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect from the eyes of others those parts that should not be seen, while other parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together in such a way that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other equally." (1 Corinthians 12:12,16,22-25 NLT)

So, dear Believer, choose together. Turn the 'me' in your life into choice for the 'we' of together. The Lord's command is -
"Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25, NLT)

The Message says it like this: Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do!
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I truly hope that I'll see you on Sunday, in worship, at 10 AM - as we gather TOGETHER.

A life untended, aimless days

The chaos that surrounds us demands that we impose order! Ordering your world requires that you pay attention to the details, that you mind the little things. For example, ever note a lawn that is mowed regularly, but the corners aren't trimmed, the edges along the flower beds are untouched? The details left undone make the whole job look bad. Keeping the big picture in sight is also important, but it is very unlikely that we will accomplish the BIG dreams of our lives if we live in constant chaos produced by our inattention to day to day management.

Let me illustrate my point practically--

• Does the 'big picture' of your life include a life-time marriage full of love? A spouse feels loved and cherished when you care enough to pick up your socks, clean up the kitchen, and call when you're delayed in traffic. Yes, little things, but the stuff of life. Know this: a wonderfully intimate marriage cannot be sustained on a yearly vacation and a weekend get-a-way now and then. Love is sustained by the morning kiss, the evening hug, the little things that say, "You are important to me, in this moment."
  
  
• Want to balance your checkbook and enjoy financial freedom? One author warns about the 'coffee stop' factor that ruins many a household budget. His point? You can make a cup of coffee to take for your commute to work that will cost you a few cents, or you can stop every morning at Dunkin' Donuts and spend $2. Seems like a little thing until you compute the yearly cost to discover that those cups of coffee add $500 a year to your budget! $2 here, 50 cents there... and before long you have major uncounted expenses. My Dad had a funny phrase about details -- he would say, "Mind the pennies and the mice!" It's a farmer's saying. A profitable farmer notes the little expenses and eliminates the small creatures that eat away the margin.
  
  
• What to stop living on a treadmill of frantic activity that keeps you from doing what you dream about? Buy a schedule book and learn to use it! Paradoxically, the more ordered your daily life, the more time - long term- you will discover is available to do what you really need to do. A person can save hours of time IF she will take one hour to create a plan at the beginning of the week that eliminates duplication and wasted time. Ever see a person who shows up at every meeting trailing papers, breathless from trying to make copies at the last moment, and still shuffling through folders trying to get ready? Imagine the reduction in stress IF that same individual took a hour's focused time the day before to put all the stuff together needed for the meeting.
  

Great Christians tend the little things. Major sins and failures do not happen in a moment. Lives disintegrate, one little lapse at a time. Billy Graham, whose integrity is legendary, made a simple covenant at the outset of his ministry, that spared him from having to deal with a temptation that has ruined a lot of great men. He promised his wife and ministry partners - "I won't be alone with a woman other than my wife, not riding in a car, not in a hotel room, not ever." He made the decision before a problem ever existed!

Make a priority decision to do the 'little things' that are needed- not to prove anything to God, not to comfort yourself with attention to meaningless detail, but to open your heart and mind to the flow of the Spirit.

• Put going to church high on your weekly schedule.
• Pick up your Bible every day.
• Give from the top of your paycheck, not the left-overs.
• Pray before you watch TV.
• Do ministry before you play.

OK, I can hear your objections. "Jerry, that sounds like a lot of duty, like religious exercise." Could be, if you choose to glorify the act instead of seeing those things (and others certainly) as means of discovering God's presence and purpose in your life. John Ortberg writes, "Spiritual disciplines are to Christian life, what warm-ups are to a basketball game! A player’s vigorous performance in warm-ups indicates nothing about his skills to play, but if he fails to do warm-ups, the level of his play will certainly be affected."

Here's a word from the Word - let it go deep in your mind today. "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air." (1 Corinthians 9:24-26, NIV)

The Gold Standard

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How to lose your joy

Bev and I walk a circuit through our neighborhood several times each week enjoying the sunshine, and hopefully, helping ourselves stay healthy. On one of those walks last week, I took note of a very big boat next to a large, beautiful house. I heard a little voice in my head, "Don't you wish you could afford a toy like that?" I listened to the voice and soon, a chorus formed in my brain that sang about the things I didn't have, loudly and insistently. Once envy found a place to take root, it grew like a weed until I verbalized to my wife, "Sometimes I wish I had pursued a path in life that would have allowed me to give more things to you and the kids!" What a noble way to say, "I'm envious!" The truth of my sinful envy was hidden behind a screen of supposed altruism.

Apparently envy was the temptation of the week for me, because it tried to make a comeback several times - in different disguises each time. My experience with this monster proved the wisdom of Proverbs 14:30- "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." (NIV) As long as I entertained envy and the chorus of discontentment, there was no rest for my mind!

Because envy is a hidden sin (at least, at first!) we tend not to take it seriously. The Bible takes envy very seriously and Paul includes envy in the same catalog of sins as "sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness." - Galatians 5. Wow! As I entertained that voice, I was standing in not so great company, wasn't I?

What's the problem with a little envy? What does it hurt to want what someone else has? James is to the point -- "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice." (James 3:16, NIV) Remember Joseph, the favored son of Jacob? His father gave him a privileged place in the family and showered him with gifts. (Not too wise, but the subject for another TFTD!) Joseph older brothers envied him and, given the opportunity, sold their brother into slavery and lied to their father that Joseph was dead. That's the kind of thing envy can produce.

Envy is a shortcut to Misery Street. It will destroy a marriage, a family, a church; yes, our joy. The old phrase tells us that the 'grass is greener on the other side of the fence.' Envy colors our vision and we are unable to see the blessings that are ours.

What's the cure? Thankfulness, overflowing gratitude. The seductive song of envy is no match for the sweet melodies of praise. If I had answered the little voice that reminded me that I could not afford an expensive toy like that big boat with a song of praise for the grace of God which is mine in abundance, envy would have run away that day. Eventually I won the victory, by choosing to offer a sacrifice of praise. My 'thankful for' list became quite long in a short time! And my sanity returned!

Here's a word from the Word to take with you today, and to remember next time the envy monster whispers in your ear....
Then I realized how bitter I had become,
how pained I had been by all I had seen.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant—
I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
23 Yet I still belong to you;
you are holding my right hand.
24 You will keep on guiding me with your counsel,
leading me to a glorious destiny.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
I desire you more than anything on earth.
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart;
he is mine forever.
-- Psalm 73:21-26 (NLT)

Good diet, healthy life

Why are some Christians more loving to others, dedicated to the things of God, consistent and faithful, generous, kind? Why are God's purposes and holiness so evident in some and invisible in others?

It's not personality! Sometimes you'll hear somebody excuse their continuing lack of spiritual growth by saying, "I'm just not that kind of person. It's harder for me." That excuse makes me smile. What is 'that kind of person?' Is there really a personality profile for better Christians. Of course not!

It's not just training. Certainly having good teachers and models helps us grow in grace, but there are those who grew up in godless homes, who attend churches where the teaching is abysmal, who become wonderful Christians.

Great Christians are made that way by the work of the Holy Spirit. "Ah," you say, "It isn't up to me, so if God wants me to become a holy, kind, loving, gentle, faithful Believer, then it will happen." True, yet not true. It is true that you and I cannot rid ourselves of traits of Adam's nature. No amount of guilt, punishment, or regulation of our behavior can produce the character of Christ in us. Most of us have tried to be better people, time and again, and ultimately failed. We succeed for a while, then we fail and the sense of guilt only deepens. God works in us to bring us the knowledge that we can live better than we do and of our failure to be who He wants us to be - in the circumstances of life, by letting us see His work in another person, by allowing tragedy to enter our lives, and many other ways. He stimulates our appetite for Himself in the most curious ways.

Creating spiritual hunger in us is God's part! How we satisfy that hunger is our choice! Too often we temporarily fill the hunger with something other than God and there are plenty of things are offered that will supposedly satisfy our needs. Ever hear the phrase, you are what you eat? Spiritually, it is true.

Yesterday I felt hungry, but I didn't feel like making a salad, or preparing a meal, so I reached for a bowl of potato chips. They were good, full of oils and salty, and - for the moment - made my hunger disappear temporarily. But, the 'junk food' did not satisfy the way a good balanced meal would. Similarly, we can temporarily turn off the sensations of our "God-hunger" with pleasure, success, materialism, sensual stimulation, achievements, and such things. These things are not necessarily evil but they are not meals that satisfy the soul. A steady diet of Desperate Housewives (a current TV hit in case you didn't know), overspending to own more things, or even reading religious books and/or watching Christian TV (an oxymoron, I think) will never make a strong Believer who is full of the Spirit and Wholesomeness of God.

But, if we will turn to God, and open up our lives to His Presence, He will feed us with real food for the soul. Jesus talked of this food saying, "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." (John 6:33-35, NKJV) As He feeds us, there will be a genuine transformation of character.

If we what to be changed from the inside out, we need to eat the True Bread offered to us. What does that mean?

It means responding to those inner promptings and obeying God. It means setting aside time to pray and meditate that allows His Message to penetrate deeply into us. It means forming close ties with others who are real seekers so we are encouraged. "Jerry, that sounds a lot like doing things to change myself." If self-improvement is your motive, genuine transformation will not occur. If feeding your soul hunger with God is your motive, then change is inevitable! Jesus promised, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matthew 5:6, NIV) The Message, a contemporary translation says, “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat." (Matthew 5:6, The Message)

Colossians points out the inter-play between God's provision for our transformation and our responsibility for creating opportunities for it to take place. Take this thought with you today....

"... your real life is hidden with Christ in God. ... So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual sin, impurity, lust, and shameful desires. Don’t be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry. ... you have stripped off your old evil nature and all its wicked deeds.
In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you. ...

Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ... And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. ... And always be thankful.

Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. ...
Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father." (Colossians 3:3-17, NLT)