Cussin' and fightin' - full of peace? You choose.

Anxiety – it’s a curse,  a misuse of our ability to anticipate and plan. Some nights my eyes refuse to close in restful sleep while my mind does calculations about some personal challenge. What makes you anxious? Money, health, children, the future, sin?  Sometimes I excuse my anxiety, which usually surfaces in my life as short-temperedness or lack of faith, with a dismissive 'that is just who I am.' I have given myself a pass by pointing to the fact that I am wired as a "type A" do-er, a man who is action-oriented.  Thankfully, the Holy Spirit draws me towards a better choice. “Do the right thing, Jerry, and submit that situation to Jesus, the Master and Lord,” He whispers. What peace can be found in obedience, believe me.

The late Dr. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, a ministry that became a major force in the work of the Lord in the last 40 years, had many reasons to be stressed. He was head of an organization that was huge, that was always in need of funds, and that had thousands of associates on hundreds of campuses around the world. But, Dr. Bright was consistently a man of cheerful temperament, relaxed, and apparently beyond worry. His son reports on the moment when he came to understand why his Dad was this way, even under pressure. It was an interview with a reporter from a Christian magazine.
"Dr. Bright," the reporter asked, "share with us a problem from your life that the average Christian could relate to."
"I don't have any problems" Bright replied.
The reporter pressed, "Don't over-spiritualize this. We all have problems."

"Young man," Bright replied, "you need to understand that I understand that I am a slave of Jesus. A slave doesn't have any problems. The only thing a slave has to do is what his master tells him to do. He doesn't have to be successful. When you really understand that, all the of the sudden, you don't have any problems anymore. All you have are opportunities to see God work."

 - quoted in REV. Magazine, July/August, 2007

Anxiety is an expression of ego.  When it appears it reveals our assumption of being 'in charge.' Faith that is deep and wide, causes us to surrender our illusions of mastery of our lives and to live at peace in the Presence of God. I’m not excusing us from action, or inviting us to become passively lazy. We make choices that are consistent with faith.  We refuse to run ahead of the Lord. When we do, making decisions in our own wisdom: creating debt, taking on too much responsibility, etc. – we will become stressed.  We are very irresponsible if we decide, only after we are mired in our mess,  to throw it all on the Lord and expect that He should painlessly lead us out of the problems that we created for ourselves! Dr. Bright’s serenity was born in faith that preceded action. Does that mean we can't ask the Lord to help us with situations we created in ignorance or through willful expression of ego? No. He loves us even when we act in ways that are silly or sinful, however, it is so much better to trust Him.

As we wrap us this week, let’s give ourselves to the Lord. Pray out loud - "Lord God, I am your servant. I exist to do Your will. There is nothing I face today that will surprise You. Help me to listen and act, to fulfill your expectations, to carry out your purposes."

Sum up the things that are making you impatient, that are keeping you awake at night, that make you weary from worry, take a cue from Hezekiah. Write your worries down and take your letter to the Lord and pray - "Lord, these are my concerns. I want to meet them in the way that You desire, for You know all my tomorrows, and You know what is best for me in the light of eternity." And then, leave them there.

Here's a word from the Word to take with you today.
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:4-7, NIV)

____________________

Slow me down, Oh Lord, slow me down,

Help my heart to hear Your sound.

Speak into my life Lord, speak now,

Slow me down, Oh Lord, slow me down.

Clear my mind, Oh Lord, clear my mind.

Bring me peace that I cannot find.

Take my worldly thoughts, break my pride.

Clear my mind, Oh Lord, clear my mind.

Wake my soul, Oh Lord, wake my soul.

With this mess I’ve made make me whole.

Of this life called mine take control,

Wake my soul, Oh Lord, wake my soul.

Robbie Seay

Puttin' on a show

Puttin’ on a show

“Oh, Ga’wd … Hallleeeluuujaah.  Thank you, Jeeesuss.” No, I am not mocking, nor do I mean to be irreverent.  But, I have attended prayer meetings where I heard people praying in clichés, repeating stock phrase. It appears to be mindless exercise of religious motions, a kind of theatre.  The prophet Amos saw the people of Israel going through the motions of worship. He heard the Spirit’s response and it wasn’t very pleasant. “I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your hymns of praise! They are only noise to my ears. I will not listen to your music, no matter how lovely it is." (Amos 5:21-23, NLT)  Arresting, isn’t it?

Do you go through the motions of daily worship, only to offend God because your heart is not in it?  If the Spirit took the microphone at your church this Sunday, might He say, “Stop. You’re just making noise!”? What did the Lord God want from His people and from us?  He wants our worship wedded to our way of life.  "Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, a river of righteous living that will never run dry." (Amos 5:24, NLT)  God saw the injustice in Israel, the exploitation of the poor by the rich, the oppression of the powerless by the privileged.  He called on them to use their times of prayer to reflect on the way they were living; and to change.  

Puttin on a show, falling into religious ritual that is divorced from daily life, was not a sin unique to Israel. Isaiah saw the same sin in Judah. “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”  (29:13)  Jesus warned about “babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”  (Matthew 6:7)  His prescription for the sickness of heartless religion is still offered. "The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.”  (Mark 12:29-31, The Message)

Perhaps your conscience is hurting as you read this. (Mine was as I wrote it!)  You’re realizing how often you just slip into the ‘religion show.’  You sing songs you don’t understand or mean. You write a tithe check to your church without praying for the ministries you support. You open your Bible and read words you can’t remember even a minute after you put it away. You pray prayers that fall from your lips out of habit but leave the basic issues of your heart untouched.  The cure is not to try harder!   Curiously that is what we think we ought to do.  The real answer is to let the Spirit have access to all of you.  Just stop!  Jesus offers Himself to us. For those who are stuck in heartless religion, He says - "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3:20, NIV)

Get honest and tell Him you’re sick of saying the same old words.  Tell Him about the resentment you’re hiding inside, the habits that are hanging on. Confess your lack of desire for godly things, that you would rather go fishing than to church, rather serve yourself than serve others, that Heaven seems far away- earth’s pleasures immediate and alluring.  “Jerry, I can’t admit to those things.”  Why not?  He knows the real you and me better than you or I do.  If we own up to it, start telling ourselves the truth instead of covering it all over with religious noise, we will find Him present to comfort, faithful to forgive, and changing us from the inside out.  Loving Jesus is not a matter of doing religion better; it’s about loving Jesus, focusing on Him.

He’s waiting, knocking on door.  Will you invite Him in?

Carried away on gentle winds

When I was a teenager, I learned to fly airplanes.  Just after my 16^th birthday, one July morning, the flight instructor stepped out of the airplane and said, "Take it around the pattern three times while I observe from the ground!" It was solo flight time. A few weeks later, he sent me on my first “cross-country” flight.  No, not to California! For the first time, I would fly outside of the immediate area of my home airport. George and I plotted my course from Pittstown, NJ to Annville, PA, about an hour's flight time.

What a thrill when I pointed that little Cessna down the runway. As the ground fell away, I could see our farm off to the right. A moment later, I flew over my high school on the left;  then over the Delaware River. Caught up in the experience, I set my charts aside and flew on. I neglected a couple of checkpoints, feeling that as long as I kept my compass set to the heading that the chart indicated I would fine. After about 30 minutes, I realized that what I was seeing on the ground did not match the flight chart. I was flying over a city and that wasn't indicated along my flight path. I was lost!  In just a few moments with the help of radio vectors (remember this is pre-GPS!) I found that I was miles south of my planned flight course!   My adventure was a lesson in the effect of winds aloft! A light wind blowing out of the northwest had pushed my little airplane southerly, off course, with steady, but invisible force. I learned that even if my compass read my planned course heading it didn't necessarily mean that I was going to arrive at my destination. I had to correct my course against the prevailing winds.

Are you ‘on course’ in life, or have you drifted and lost your way?  Just because we set off in pursuit of a good goal and seem to be moving along in the right direction does not mean we will get there. Every day we need to do course correction. Prevailing winds of peer pressure, cultural influences, or economic issues can gently and certainly divert us from pursuit of our heavenly home.   When powerful winds blow- spiritual attack, failure of health, a spouse's infidelity - we feel the buffeting and realize the need for greater vigilance. However,  when the sun is shining and life is good the ‘winds aloft’ can carry us away.

The Bible tells us that “So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it." (Hebrews 2:1, NLT) Drifting away, pushed by the prevailing winds of life far off course from a godly way, is the greater danger.  A devoted disciple of Jesus does not just wake up one Monday morning and decide that he is done with the Christian life.  But, millions wake up and find their passion for Jesus has cooled as they tolerated 'little' disobediences in their life, or as they neglected spiritual disciplines for an extended season.  Over time that person loses their way because the ungodly influences move them almost imperceptibly from Christ and His love.

Don’t think I am telling you that you can save yourself by self-determination or self-reliance. Christ saves us and His Spirit guides us. We pray, today and each day – “Lord Jesus Christ, You are my Savior. Keep me on course. Help me to respond quickly to Your leading, to keep my heart attuned to your whispers.”  Like my onboard radio that brought me home that fateful day in 1971, the Spirit is a Beacon that draws us to our home.

Here's a word from the Word for you to think on today. Forgive me for the edits that make it fit my illustration of flight. “So watch your step,(flight path) friends. Make sure there's no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and (prevailing winds blowing through your life without your awareness to) throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as it's still God's Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn't slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on (stay on course towards) the sure thing we started out with, we're in this with Christ for the long haul."  (Hebrews 3:12-14, The Message)