How do I love Thee?

A line from a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning came to mind as I mused about loving God. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”  Love is both simple and complex, expressed some moments with fervor and in others with quiet perseverance.  Perhaps you are old enough to remember that song - "Love is a many-splendored thing!” It is!  My prayer is to ‘love God’ more not less, to avoid the rut of a familiar relationship as I pursue an ever renewed knowledge of the Holy One.  How do I love Thee?  It is a question worthy of our thoughts, a response of faith to the words of Jesus who taught us that loving God with “heart, soul, mind, and strength” is the core of life. 

I was formed in the Pentecostal traditions of Christianity so my first thought about loving God turns to the emotions. From my youth I absorbed the idea that loving Him will include laughter, tears, passionate prayers; a very personal engagement. When my tribe prays for spiritual renewal what they usually mean, though perhaps unconsciously, is that God will grant an emotional encounter with the Holy Spirit. Such moments are to be treasured. However, loving Him is so much more multi-faceted – including obedient service, steady discipline, studious understanding, and stillness.

Are you 'in love' with Christ Jesus?
If you define that only by applying the romantic ideals about love taught by our culture, you will be disappointed.  Yes, we should be passionate about loving our God. Christianity without passion just isn't Biblical! But, there is so much more. It is not really about YOU, but rather about HIM.

Loving God is first a response to HIS love for you.  We cannot just work ourselves into loving Him, nor can we somehow stir up a passion for the Holy in ourselves.  “We love,” John says, “because HE loved us first!”

My favorite teaching parable of Jesus is recounted in Luke 15. It is about the Father’s love for me! It isn’t a pretty story but it is oh so wonderful in what it means for you and me.  A selfish and rebellious son willing to abuse his father’s good heart demands his inheritance and goes off to ‘forget’ who he is.  In a short time he succeeded in making a mess of life. Only after he wasted his fortune and ruined his life, as he sat hungry and alone, in his job as a pig feeder, did he finally begin to grasp the immensity of his offense and the value of the home he had abandoned. 

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired men have food enough to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man.”  (Luke 15:17-19, NLT)  He expected judgment.  He found love! "And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him." That is compelling stuff! It defies logic, cannot be explained. It’s just love.

Yes, we love because HE loves us first, loving us to life, making possible our restoration to Himself at the cost of His Son’s life, promising us life in His forever home through the Resurrection.  We cannot love God apart from acceptance, through faith, of His grace and love. If we won’t start there with Him, with His love for us, our “love” will become an ugly imitation based in religious zealotry, duty,  attempted deals with Heaven, and calculations of appeasement.  God just wants us to respond to His declaration that He loves us and to weave that acceptance into every part of life, making it the foundation of every choice, every day.

Love is based in His covenant – it not a contract. God granted us life, not based on our performance but as a gift.  Engrave this truth in your mind and let this inspire love: "But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus. And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:4-7, NLT)

Ah, friend, do you love Him?

If we love Him, we will stop playing “let’s make a deal” with God.  Our theology of love will go way beyond the idea that if we believe some facts, then we get the key to Heaven.  Our love will be a tumultuous discovery of a Person, a weaving of His life into ours, surrender, acceptance. In the process, we will start to think as He does, acts as He wills; not because we must, but because we have become of His heart.

The word from the Word this Friday is a song of praise. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." (Ephesians 1:3-6, NIV)  

"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge … So, “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."  (Ephesians 3:16-19, NIV)\

Amen.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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My Song

Why should I sing of lesser things

And things that pass away

When I've a friend like Jesus now

To sing about each day

 

I have no song to sing

But that of Christ my King

To Him my praise I'll bring

Forevermore

His love beyond degree

His death that ransomed me

Now and eternally

I'll sing it o'er

I find no more delight

In other songs

My melody of love

To Christ belongs

I have no song to sing

But that of Christ my King

To Him my praise I'll bring

Forevermore

 

He is the theme of angel song

That fills the heav'ns above

Should I not join their chorus sweet

And praise the Lord I love

 

John W. Peterson

1954. Renewed 1982 John W. Peterson Music Company

CCLI License # 810055

 

Just a big kid?

One of my greatest joys is observing my children in their maturity, capable, strong, productive adults who are part of rich relationships, making bright places for those who live around them. Each is amazingly unique in personality and ability, but they are all truly grown up!

Oh yes, I loved when they were cute little kids who needed so much care and guidance. I liked their teenage years less when they looked like adults but still lacked true wisdom. I watched, with some trepidation, as they wandered into their 20’s offering counsel as needed and watching them learn maturity in trial and error.  Now they are in mid-life and I see mature people, who are living their best lives.  

What does your Heavenly Father see in you, my friend?
Does he see an infant, a growing but yet undeveloped young Christian, or does He delight in your spiritual maturity?

When I see a toddler having a tantrum, I smile indulgently knowing that a frustrated 2 year-old has a very limited ability to understand his own emotions or to exercise self-control.  When I see a man losing it my response is not nearly so charitable. That little girl who loves 5o ‘pretend’ at being a little princess is sweet and we smile at her innocence. A woman who is still lost in fantasy land is a sad person, for whom we feel pity. 

Do you know that it is quite possible to ‘grow up’ without becoming a mature adult?  Chronological age does not have a direct correlation to true maturity. Our bodies grow into adulthood without much conscious thought. True maturity is developed, cultivated, and learned.  In difficult moments, in times of confusion, when the world goes upside down we are all so thankful for the person who is the ‘adult in the room,’ the one who capable of seeing the situation, providing insight, steadiness, and courage, as they provide a guiding hand.

Maturity is marked by awareness of life, by understanding of our own strengths and weaknesses, by the ability to press through hard times, by self-control and wisdom. A mature person is capable of play, knows when to laugh and when to cry, and is, above all, a person who can be trusted to hold his place in the world – whatever comes. Maturity is demonstrated by a wholeness of person – with emotions, values, and spirituality aligned – that allows for a rich character to develop in us.

Here is the key question – am I maturing in Christ?

Paul, writing to the Christians of Corinth, lamented their immaturity. "Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:1, NIV)  Their community was marked by fighting over position, selfish displays of ‘spiritual’ gifts, and refusal to develop the character of Christ Jesus. God, by His Spirit, urged them to grow up and become useful to His purposes, not focused on themselves.  

 Peter also addressed the issue of spiritual immaturity.  I wonder if he was reflecting on his own immaturity and impulsiveness in the early days of his Christianity when he wrote this:  "make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:5-8, NLT)

The young pastor, Timothy, was struggling in his work in the church. He was intimidated by false teachers, facing critics from his congregation, and wobbly in his leadership. His mentor/spiritual father, Paul, urged him "Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next." (1 Timothy 4:7-8, NLT)  Train yourself for maturity!

We grow in maturity as we make those day to day choices that require deferred gratification, as we do ‘right things’ even when we do not want to do them, when we learn truth and apply it. What a rich harvest that wise maturity provides in our lives, sparing many a foolish decision, keeping us on course when we are tempted, and allowing us to lift others when they are stumbling under the weight of the world.  So, will we just ‘grow up’ or will we become mature in emotion, faith, love, and hope?

The word from the Word points to a critical part of developing real maturity.  The community of faith, mentors and leaders gifted by the Spirit, is our training ground. Christians are not solitary giants, they are strong together, when they give encouragement and share wisdom. "He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ," (Ephesians 4:11-12, NLT)   God calls us into His Church and gives us spiritual ministers so …"that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ. Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth." (Ephesians 4:13-14, NLT)

Ready? Let’s grow on into the beauty of maturity in Christ!

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Build My Life

 Worthy of ev'ry song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of ev'ry breath we could ever breathe
We live for You

Jesus the name above ev'ry other name
Jesus the only one who could ever save
Worthy of ev'ry breath we could ever breathe
We live for You We live for You

Holy there is no one like You
There is none beside You
Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are
And fill me with Your heart
And lead me in Your love to those around me

I will build my life upon Your love
It is a firm foundation
I will put my trust in You alone
And I will not be shaken

Brett Younker | Karl Martin | Kirby Kaple | Matt Redman | Pat Barrett

© 2016 Kaple Music; Capitol CMG Genesis; Housefires Sounds; Said And Done Music; sixsteps Music; Thankyou Music; Vamos Publishing; worshiptogether.com songs; Martin, Karl Andrew; Bethel Music Publishing

 

CCLI License # 810055

Joy In the Journey

Are you so focused on some goal, some destination, some accomplishment – that you have forgotten that there is joy to be found right here, right now? Bev and I drove across the United States in the Summer of 2011 and what a trip it was. We took our time, driving only 300 or 400 miles a day. We actually got off the interstate and ate in local little restaurants. We fully appreciated the beauty of the Moab desert as we drove along the Colorado River, stopping to gaze over that unique landscape. We walked a mountain meadow near the Continental Divide, breathing the air at those heights. There was even a kind of wonder in the wide and vast Great Plains. We knew we had to ‘get home’ but we let ourselves enjoy the trip! That is not always how I travel! Sometimes, I get ‘on the road’ with a single-mindedness. I drive fast through long days to ‘just get there.’ 

Let me ask you – how are you living your life? Are you letting yourself enjoy the journey or are you looking only to some future hope of happiness or anticipating trouble down the road?

Jesus wisely counsels us to live today. “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." (Matthew 6:34, The Message)  I promise you that your experience of life will be much richer and certainly more joyful when you choose to be fully present to the people and things that are happening all around you. 

Joy does not ‘just happen’ for the most part. We discover it as we are intentional in our ways.  As a little boy, I learned a Sunday School chorus: “Jesus, Others, and You; what a wonderful way to spell JOY.”  I didn’t really understand the profound truth of those simple words then, but I do now.  Put away Ego and selfishness. Turn upward and outward, giving yourself away.  When we let go of our tenacious grasp of our ‘plan,’ and give ourselves away, choosing to serve, refusing self-centeredness and replacing that we selfless serving, JOY grows inside out. 

The culture in which we live insists that our happiness can only be found if we are dedicated to Self.  We are told to “Find yourself.”  “Do what makes you happy.” The wisdom of God is exactly opposite. We are called into the Body of Christ where we can be most alive only when we deeply connected to others in interdependent relationships.   

Peter points to this radically different way of life when, by the Spirit, he tells us to “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.  Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4:9 NIV)  The word “hospitality” in that verse translates the original Greek text that speak of ‘loving the other.’  Hospitality is not just prepping a meal for someone in your home.  It is a choice to invite others into your life, to be a welcoming serving person, who is ‘enjoying the trip.’

Beyond that, Peter tells us to “use your gifts to serve!” Some use their gifts to gain influence. Some use them to find favor, others with the desire for applause.  If we want to find joy in the journey we will take God’s gifts to us – big and small – and give them ways - “faithfully administer”- Peter says.  The most joyful Christians that I know are those who are connected and who embrace opportunities God presents to them to make their world a better place.  Those who roll up their sleeves and get to work to serve Jesus, His Body, and the world in His Name have the potential to become content, fulfilled, steady people.  Oh yes, I am realist. Fatigue may come. Criticism will show up, especially from those doing the least. However, the “company of the committed”  are focused on Another’s praise. They are joyful, not because of great results or constant recognition, but because they love God and others.

This Monday morning as you go off to your responsibilities, pray to find joy in the journey.  Choose to accept and serve, to pause and reflect, to listen with true attention.  As you live with this awareness of God’s Presence and other’s needs, you will know a difference in your own life, a kind of joy that flows from the Spirit. Oh that others would say of us what Paul wrote of his friend, Philemon. "I myself have gained much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because your kindness has so often refreshed the hearts of God’s people." (Philemon 7, NLT)

Here is a word from the Word, a Psalm that uses ancient images to convey the joy of community.  Though they may be somewhat lost to us in their fullness, the sense of full joy still seeps through these words Read them, live them.  Find Joy today.

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard,running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore." (Psalm 133, NIV)

Oils, precious and refined, were poured on the heads of the priests symbolizing the Presence of God.  The fragrance spread to those watching. Everyone was enveloped in the experience, part of the rite even through the sense of smell!

Mount Hermon, the highest peak in Northern Israel, was the place from which the waters of the Jordan flowed, bringing life to the desert areas of Mount Zion in Jerusalem.  God gave the snowfall that fell on that high peak. As it melted and flowed down into the Jordan the whole region was watered, the fertility of the ground preserved.  All were blessed by something happening far away. When God's people work together, sharing grace, loving – it is the best of the best, spreading out to touch many lives.

Lord, spread the fragrance of Your goodness through our words and actions today. May we be a refreshing presence to those whose souls are parched.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Joy In The Journey

There is a joy in the journey

There's a light we can love on the way

There is a wonder and wildness to life

And freedom for those who obey

 

And all those who seek it shall find it

A pardon for all who believe

Hope for the hopeless

And sight for the blind

 

To all who've been born of the Spirit

And who share incarnation with Him

Who belong to eternity stranded in time

And weary of struggling with sin

 

Forget not the hope that's before you

And never stop counting the cost

Remember the hopelessness

When you were lost

 

And freedom for those who obey

 

Michael Card

© 1986 Birdwing Music; Mole End Music

CCLI License # 810055