Am I vindictive?

“You are judging me!” is a much over-used accusation.  Our value on self-expression has stolen our willingness to accept correction as well as our ability to speak honestly about right and wrong. Paradoxically, all this ‘freedom’ is actually causing the expansion of regulation.  Fearful of the chaos that will inevitability result from love of Self, we allow nameless, faceless agencies to impose regulation on just about every part of our lives!  We do not trust each other to make choices that will promote the general good so we clamor for laws to ‘protect’ us and our property.  Morality is overridden by emotional need so often that we do not trust people to do the ‘right thing’ to honor promises, keep vows, or fulfill contracts without coercion of the law.  Strangely, the nation that was built on freedom has allowed an unprecedented growth of police powers and imprisons a larger percentage of her population than any country in the world!  In October 2013, the incarceration rate stood at 716 per 100,000.  We have about 4.4 percent of the world's population, but we have 22 percent of the world's prisoners in our jails.

So what happened to us?  No single thread accounts for the sickness of American society, but a primary one is the loss of a sense of accountability to God that promotes choices of personal responsibility.  We discarded Judgment Day!  The portrait of God morphed from an Almighty Being of majestic holiness to a remote Deity, loving but detached, perhaps even impotent.  We are cut loose from the constraints that arise out an expectation that we will give an accounting to One who "judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart!”  But the Scripture is clear that  “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." (Hebrews 4:12-13, NIV)

The Proverb is inscrutable to the average American mind today but the truth it holds remains: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." (Proverbs 1:7, NKJV)  When God owns His rightful place in us, there is an order to life that flows from knowing both His mighty power and His immeasurable love!  We need to know that He cares for us and that He is unafraid to bring justice.  Without Judgment Day we will slip into unbridled sin and deep fear.  We will either live too passively in the face of evil, accepting it as irresistible; or we will become too violent, taking up our guns in a determined attempt to put an end to evil-doing.

Evil, in me and in my world, is real, not imagined.  It demands a Day of Judgment that will bring about justice.  If I cannot hope for justice when I see the bullies and tyrants of the world in temporary triumph, hope is gone. The only reasonable response would be to jump into the mad rush of self-expression to grab whatever momentary pleasure might be found, no matter the expense to others.  But, I hope for Judgment Day! Am I vindictive? Not at all.  Knowing that God, in perfect justice, will bring all to account gives me the ability to forgive as well as the motive to live a holy life.

You may rightly say, “Jerry, what makes you think you will not fall under His gaze, cut down by your own sins?”   Only one thing:  the grace I have received through Christ Jesus, my Savior!  Yes, Judgment Day makes the Gospel all that more wonderful. I sing joyfully that  “I once was lost, but now I’m found; was blind but now I see!”  Because, ‘T’was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved! How precious did that that grace appear, the hour I first believed!”

Are you unable to stand against evil?

Have you given up hope because of the seemingly flood of evil in this world?

Are you finding yourself angry and violent in response to the sins that visit such suffering on humanity?

Take hope and strength from God’s promise of Judgment! The words that close the Scripture in the final chapters of the Revelation can be horrific for those who do not grasp the gospel, but to me they are words of hope – for me and for the world.  A small excerpt is our word from the Word for today.  May they cause us to fear, to become wise, to take hold of Christ, and to pray for the defeat of evil!

" After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” (Revelation 19:1-2, NIV)

"And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time." (Revelation 20:1-3, NIV)

"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books." (Revelation 20:12, NIV)  "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea." (Revelation 21:1, NIV)

Glorious Day!

Revelation that brings Revolution!

Let this change everything for you today

We all have moments of sudden inspiration -  insight about someone, about a situation – that changes us.  We wonder why we did not see it before, don’t we?   Sometimes I awaken in the middle of night realizing that the solution to some problem is mine, Hallelujah!  Sometimes a friend offers their counsel and hands me the key that unlocks my understanding.  I am currently reading a book about walking with God in times of suffering.  I have paused more than once, grateful for the author’s wisdom that helps me unravel the snarls in my thoughts!

This passage from the Word offers light for life; revelation that leads to revolution!  "Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. …  "Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." (Romans 5:1-5, 11, NIV)

The key to a joyous life is a gift that God offers:  that we can be ‘justified,’ things set right between Him and us, when we accept His gift by faith. Alienation from our Father causes us to feel lonely, lost, without purpose or plan for life. "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). " (Ephesians 2:4-5, NKJV)  That truth transforms!  How?

“We have PEACE with God.”   When the Spirit comes to live in us, we lose the angst that causes us to fear the future, to dread death, to wonder why we exist.  We now know the Almighty God as “Father.”  He is approachable, loved and loving. We realize that He is our “Abba” – a familiar term meaning, Dad!

“We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God!”   That word “rejoice” can be translated alternately as “boast.”  No, not in a prideful way, but in a confident way based on relationship.  Yes, because He has set us right we get to bask in His reflected glory.  We can rightly do a little Name-dropping!  When we have the opportunity to spend some personal time with an accomplished individual, we like to tell people, don’t we?  About 30 years ago at a conference convened by the Billy Graham association, I was part of a small gathering of pastors that spent a couple of hours talking to Graham and key members of his team. It was a thrill to be around men who had done so much for the Kingdom of God, to hear their stories, to listen. I’m sure I told many people about that ‘glory.’   God, the King of Heaven, invites us to come near and then to carry His radiance back into the world; not because we are great, but because He is!

“We rejoice in our sufferings.”   When we KNOW we are right with God and part of His family the suffering that comes into our life gains new meaning; to the extent that we actually can find JOY in it.  God, our Father, can and does use the things that bring tears to make us into beings that bear the mark of His Person.  We learn to keep on going through tough times. We gain depth of character that makes us solid people.  And, we lose the attachment to superficial things, replacing love of stuff, reputation, and pleasure with the joyful hope of the promise of God!  Maybe that part is a little beyond you at this moment. If so, simply ask Him to help you to see it, to enter into rejoicing IN, not because of, suffering.

“We rejoice IN GOD, right now.”   Because we are justified, life changes NOW, not just in some future moment when we go to Heaven. The center out of which we live shifts from Self to Jesus. The focus of our life changes from time to eternity as we  become eternal being who are living in a temporal world.  No, we are not detached from reality; we are attached to an unseen but very real hope that makes everything better.

Take a few moments to read those key lines again. Do so prayerfully, letting faith build,  so that revelation will bring revolution.

Justified by Faith!

Peace with God!

Boasting in our relationship with Him, sharing His glory!

Rejoicing in the hard stuff!

Knowing that we are, NOW, made into eternal being with life that never ends.

Here is the word from the Word. "When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen." (Ephesians 3:14-21, NLT)

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I Stand Amazed (My Savior's Love)

I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus, the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me,

A sinner condemned unclean?

For me it was in the garden

He prayed, “not My will but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs,

But sweat drops of blood for mine.

In pity angels beheld Him

And came from the world of light

To comfort Him in the sorrows

He bore for my soul that night

He took my sins and my sorrows,

He made them His very own.

He bore the burden to Calvary

And suffered and died alone.

How marvelous, how wonderful!

And my song shall ever be.

How marvelous, how wonderful!

Is my Savior's love for me.

When with the ransomed in glory

His face I at last shall see,

'Twill be my joy through the ages,

To sing of His love for me!

Charles Hutchinson Gabriel

© Words: Public Domain

WE are more important than ME

WE are more important than ME

(Guest writer today – Sean A. Scott)

A friend of mine recently shared his struggle with me about relationships and how increasingly difficult they're becoming for him. He voiced his frustration and sincere questioning of whether or not what he wanted was as far "off" as he was made to feel.

His big struggle . . . wanting to be in a monogamous traditional marriage.

That's it.

He was tired of being in hip, open relationships that allowed for exploration. He shared how, in his world (professional, single, 30 something), it's frowned upon to marry; it's a sign of restriction and stifling constraint. Marriage is a place where male domination occurs and oppression reigns supreme; it limits personal expression and growth. It is a place where you cannot be who and what you want to be. It doesn't allow freedom, whether it be sexual, spiritual or emotional. In simple terms, marriage doesn't allow us to be EXACTLY who we want/need to be hence it's the wrong choice; we've evolved beyond its usefulness.

He shared that this grieves him because he doesn't care to dominate another, but instead, wants to simply share life with someone in a committed way; a way that two people "mirror each other," as he said. I get that. He had a hard time verbalizing exactly what it was he was feeling but what he did say made perfect sense to a married man of 11 years. (I think it would have resonated with many single men and women as well.) His desire was to find someone that didn't try to push you out for freedom sake but instead said your pain is mine, your joy is mine, your fear is mine so I'll live accordingly. My life will be in support of yours and yours of mine, intertwined and mutually beneficial for the other.

But the problem was that the women he meets seem to keep bringing the conversation back to the idea that we all must do what's best for ourselves and then focus on another. Each time, these relationships fall apart because self trumps sacrifice; it short circuits any chance at longevity for the relationship. And my buddy is left a little bit more broken and confused each time. He feels like he's missing something; that he doesn't "get" what everyone seems to be about.

I shared with him that, from my experience, the ONLY way to have a successful and long term relationship is the exact opposite! The finest moments in your marriage are when you decide that no matter how you feel at this moment, WE are more important than ME. It'll never last if you're forever trying to force, overshadow or convince your spouse that you are right; that your needs are the best needs, that your happiness is the most important. 

Instead, if you're mirroring each other, you'll do a dance. You'll move when you see that they need you to move. You'll stop when their eyes ask you to. You'll encourage them when the lines on their face are screaming for it. You'll say sorry before their mouth can form the words. Your desires turn into their desires and vice versa; it's the progression of the intermingling of souls. The conversation moved to how relationships and their structure have no set, clear cut form anymore. How the conversation always goes back to "whatever is best for you/makes you happy." I shared with him that my kids really helped bring the truth into crystal, clear view. In a few simple words, Selah brought that argument/temptation to rest in my heart.

Ever since she has been able to speak, each time she sees Natalie and I hug, her eyes light up! She stops whatever she is doing, squeals and runs between us, burying her little face in our legs and says with the conviction of an angel, "We're a family. We're a family, right?" In that moment, the child is teaching the adult. She was never told to say those words. She wasn't coerced into feeling the sentiment. The child, not yet saddled with baggage or marked with the many scars of life, KNOWS that every cell in her body is saying to her in that moment when she sees her parents embrace, "This is right. This is whole. This is good." Her simple words cut deep in that moment. They make your confused self realize that, yes, we are a family! We are for one another more than ourselves. We are committed to the other for all our days here on earth. Today isn't mine, it's ours.

Her words and actions aren't full of self satisfaction or ego, they're full of US!! Now that is truth screaming through her small lips! We haven't evolved past needing each other. Our best self isn't found on a planet of 1, where you are the center. Finding yourself, growing into who you should be, fulfilling your dreams, realizing your potential and gaining peace in your relationship is found in the simple action of saying, "I choose us, not me. We are a family."

So as I said to my buddy, you're not wrong. What your soul desires is not wrong. How do I know? My 4 year old daughter says so and I believe her.

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Jerry writing here …  The Spirit says it this way. May this word from the Word bless, encourage, and instruct you and me today.
"Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing.
So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.

Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives.

They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage. No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become “one flesh.” This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband." (Ephesians 5:22-33, The Message)