A mirror reflecting His majesty

 

Harry A. was a man who loved Jesus and it showed. There was nothing artificial or forced in his faith. He laughed heartily with others and he spread the love of God. He was a retired missionary who had served in hard places where Islam was the majority religion and Christians had to tred lightly. One of the things I loved about him was his little notebook in which he jotted down thoughts and impressions he felt were inspired by his conversation with the Holy Spirit. He would occasionally reach for it and say “let me tell you what the Lord and I have been discussing.” Then, he would share some insight he had gleaned from reading Scripture or meditation. Lest you think he was preachy or religious, let me quickly tell you that Harry was neither. I cannot remember a visit with Harry that wasn’t challenging, or inspiring, or comforting! He was an ambassador for his King.

Do you know how you become like another? There is just one way – spend time with that person! People start to ‘rub off’ on us when we sit at dinner with them in a Life Group, when we learn their stories, when we live through stormy times and triumphs with them.  Our associates will always influence us – to lift us up or pull us down. Harry’s life revealed Who he spent time with. He was like Jesus.

When others spend time with you is it obvious that you have spent time with Jesus?  I have been reading and studying the stories of the Acts.  When Peter and John were hauled before the ruling council of Jerusalem for a lengthy interrogation, that hostile group came to this conclusion: “these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13) His love, wisdom, strength, and character had become theirs.

You probably know people who try too hard to be like Jesus. Their words often are just repeated phrases of things they have read or from sermons they have heard. Their efforts come off like a parody of the Christian life. You can’t fake love; not for long anyway. You can’t fake the life of the Spirit because the fruit of His Presence only ripens in us when we spend time in the Son.

My prayer that others will see Jesus in me. Paul says this - "Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom … so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more." (2 Corinthians 3:17-18, NLT)  How amazing that ordinary people – you and I – can become mirrors that reflect the brightness of His majesty into our world.

Here’s a word from the Word. Let’s let Him shine today.

“All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us.”  The Message (2 Corinthians 4:5-7)

Spend some time with Him and let His love rub off on you.

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Forever Reign

You are good You are good

When there's nothing good in me

You are love You are love

On display for all to see

You are light You are light

When the darkness closes in

You are hope You are hope

You have covered all my sin

You are peace You are peace

When my fear is crippling

You are true You are true

Even in my wandering

You are joy You are joy

You're the reason that I sing

You are life You are life

In You death has lost its sting

 (Oh) I'm running to Your arms

I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

You are more You are more

Than my words will ever say

You are Lord You are Lord

All creation will proclaim

You are here You are here

In Your presence I'm made whole

You are God You are God

Of all else I'm letting go

My heart will sing no other Name

Jesus Jesus

Jason Ingram | Reuben Morgan

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Will you love me more if …

Did you see the news story yesterday about wealthy parents who hired a ‘consultant’ to get their kids admitted to prestigious universities? The allegations include bribes to coaches for places on athletics teams, fixed test results, and fake online profiles created to impress college admissions officers. It is a sad reflection of the drive to ‘succeed,’ the need to be ‘someone’ defined by letters and awards instead of inner character. Is this something new? Silly you, if you think so. It is sad that some deserving kid got pushed out of the place he had earned by the child of a family who used their wealth to buy a spot at the front of the line. Even more sad is what this kind of lying does to the heart of the student who knows she is living as a fraud.

Here is some good news – God does not love you more if you are taller, richer, faster, stronger, or smarter! You do not need to buy His favor or approval. Grace is a gift – freely available to all at Christ’s expense. What a revelation for us who live in a competitive world that creates the kind of insecurity that drives a few to try cheat their way to the front of the line. 

We desperately need a revelation of grace. Without it, we slide into religion that demands more and more of us as we vainly attempt to earn what we can only gain by faith.  Many years ago, during a trip to Latin America, I saw many towns with beautiful churches at their center.  Inside those buildings there was a common sight that broke my heart.  Poor people, mostly older women, crawled across rough stone pavement and splintery wooden floors to ornate altars that depicted God far above them, just out of reach. In many cases, the knees of those old women were bloodied by their effort. Their devotion was admirable, but terribly misguided. God isn’t impressed by bloody knees. We do not need to inflict pain on ourselves to gain His attention! The Word tells that we "have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:19-22, NIV)

While you won’t find many Americans crawling across a splintery floor to a church’s altar, the same misunderstanding of Who He is makes many of us believe that He is out of reach, that we need to give more, do more, or find someone with ‘pull’ to help us to gain His favor.

To be clear, our Christian discipleship demands much of us but not to earn God’s love. We serve from love and gratitude, fully assured of His acceptance. “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.” (Reclaiming Jesus’ Teaching on Discipleship, Dr. Dallas Willard)  The grace of God is no excuse for lack of reverence. There is a pseudo-grace to which some cling who have misunderstood the Gospel as much as those with bloodied knees. The Word describes them "godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." (Jude 4, NIV) Authentic faith deepens awe, replaces self-confidence with God-confidence, and grows a holiness in us that results from our walking ‘in the Spirit,’ relying on God’s promises that bring our lives into alignment with His purpose.

My earliest experience of Christianity was something like that of those who crawl to God. I thought that He was distant, angry, and bent on my destruction, restrained only by Jesus. In a season of brokenness, the Spirit caused me to re-examine the Scripture and what I saw in the Gospel of Christ was amazing, graceful, and liberating. The Lord brought maturity that revealed the joy of holy living. But, it was not Self trying harder, it was God, the Holy Spirit, living in me, and our partnership allows something supernatural to happen in me.

Disciple, do you somehow think that bloody knees bring greater blessing?
Are you asking God, “Will You love me more if …?”

Are you so trapped by the need to perform that you are willing to try short cuts, tempted by ‘fraudulent’ offers made by religious charlatans?

Hear the challenge of the word from the Word that Paul wrote to some Christians who had slipped back into mere religion after having known the revelation of grace.
"Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? … After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?  I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” (Galatians 3:1-6, NLT)

_________

Amazing grace,

How sweet the sound,

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but

Now I’m found,

Was blind but now I see!

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Prayer – raw and honest

Around 4:30 am, I awakened from a dream about my late wife, a poignant one about a road trip we took 4 months before she died. As is my custom, my waking moments were turned to my God in prayer, but coming after that dream, my prayers were emotional, angry even. “God, where were you when cancer showed up? What good can possibly be found in this ongoing grief I feel?” In a few moments, I found myself thanking Him for her eternal life, moving to a better frame of mind as I prayed for His strength for the day, that His love and grace would show through me.

Prayer need not always be high praise. Sometimes it is a raw, honest overflow of our innermost struggles. The best prayer is a conversation with our Father that engages Him where we are and allows Him to move us to where He desires us to be. Paul urges us to "Pray without ceasing!"  (1 Thess. 5.17) That does not mean we go to live in some holy place or that we recite The Lord’s Prayer endlessly.  Ceaseless prayer is a way of life, constant contact with our God. IF we only allow ourselves to pray nice prayers we will not keep lines of communication open. Our heart will chill towards Him, reverting to formal, heartless prayers only on special occasions.

Those with whom we are closest in life are given the privilege of seeing as we are. We will risk a disagreement with someone that we love because we trust that love to keep the relationship strong, in spite of differences. So, if we really love the Lord, we will live openly before Him – our sorrow, our joy, our hopes, our failures, our celebrations – all shared with Him in prayer.

I have counseled many about getting through those times of life when we are angry at God, when we do not want to talk to Him.  
How do we move beyond that kind of anger?

•          Use the words of another!  
When words fail me, I turn to the Psalms to pray some of David’s rich words. I sometimes borrow a song. Recently the ancient words of the hymn – “Be Thou My Vision” have been part of my prayers.

•          Let others pray for you!
Oh, I hope you have advocates on whom you can call for prayer. Hearing the voices of others lifted to God on your behalf is a blessed thing.

•          Pray simply, using a single phrase!   
“Lord, have mercy.” “Let Your kingdom come.” “Holy Spirit, come.” “Jesus!” God can fill in the gaps when our hearts are unable to shape our thoughts into long prayers.

•          Let the Spirit lead!  
The Word gives this promise of His Advocacy on our behalf.  "The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will." (Romans 8:26-27, NLT)  There is a time when we pray best by being silent: our hands and heart open to Him, listening, waiting, presented in adoration of His Holy Presence.

Prayer is not an option.  When we pray, we open up our lives to the power of God and, in ways that defy our understanding,  we become co-laborers in His work of building His Kingdom here on earth.  
Pray first, not last.
Pray often, not seldom. 
Pray boldly, not tentatively. 
Pray “faith-fully,” knowing that He is faithful, even when you cannot discern His ways or hear His voice.

Here’s the word from the Word. "But now, Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you.  Hear my prayer, O LORD, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping.  For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were." (Psalm 39:12, NIV) "You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book." (Psalm 56:8, NLT)

"I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help. For you have rescued me from death; you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light." (Psalm 56:12-13, NLT)

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Lord I Need You
(Pray along with Matt Maher at this link)

Lord, I come, I confess;

Bowing here, I find my rest,

And without You I fall apart.

You're the one that guides my heart.

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You.

Ev'ry hour I need You.

My one defense, my righteousness,

Oh God, how I need You.

Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more.

Where grace is found is where You are.

And where You are, Lord, I am free,

Holiness is Christ in me.

Where You are Lord, I am free,

Holiness is Christ in me.

So teach my song to rise to You,

When temptation comes my way.

And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You,

Jesus, You're my hope and stay.

And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You,

Jesus, You're my hope and stay.

Christy Nockels | Daniel Carson | Jesse Reeves | Kristian Stanfill | Matt Maher

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