Making things complicated?

Ever heard of the K.I.S.S. Principle of design? Now, don’t get offended. It stands for Keep It Simple Stupid.  Systems work best when they operate in the least complicated way. When Steve Jobs set about designing the IPhone™ he insisted on a design so clean, so intuitive, that no manual would be needed. He wanted someone to pick up the device and be able to use it immediately. He succeeded. Even a child can take a ‘smartphone’ in his hands and start to use it with no instruction!

God wants to know us and says that He is near and accessible.  When Moses spoke to the people of the Lord for one of the last times, he reminded them of this. "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess." (Deuteronomy 30:11-16, NIV)

Christian, that word remains for you and me. The Spirit of God lives in us, makes the Way plain to us, and asks for our obedience. We don’t have to travel to the far side of the world on a vision quest to find Him. We don’t have to go through esoteric rituals to unlock spiritual mysteries. God is here, now, active in our hearts.

Jesus endorsed that simplicity, teaching us to keep our hearts pure and our words a simple ‘Yes’ to God, the Spirit. He told those who came to Him wondering about how to please God that it came down to just two basic commands – “Love God wholehearted and love your neighbor as yourself.” "All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:40, NLT)  He reserved only scorn for those who tore up the Word of God looking for loopholes and minimal ways to remain in God’s favor.

This does not suggest that learning or theology is unimportant. Those who are blessed with hearts that are responsive to the Spirit and minds that are diligent in study bring benefit to us as teachers, helping us to gain insight. However, at the core of our faith there remains the pure truth summarized this way – Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!

Do you want to know the will of God in your life? Start with “yes” to the Spirit that has no reservation. Like Samuel of old, make your prayer “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.”

Living with a yielded heart allows us to know the Spirit’s leading, keeps us from “grieving” Him, and blesses us with revelation.

Here is a word from the Word. Lord, help us to have open ears, responsive hearts, and hands that move at Your direction. Amen

""But the way of getting right with God through faith says, “You don’t need to go to heaven” (to find Christ and bring him down to help you). And it says, “You don’t need to go to the place of the dead” (to bring Christ back to life again). Salvation that comes from trusting Christ—which is the message we preach—is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, “The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart. For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved." (Romans 10:9-10, NLT)

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Holy Spirit

(a song of adoration and invitation)

There's nothing worth more that will ever come close

No thing can compare You're our living hope

Your Presence

I've tasted and seen of the sweetest of loves

Where my heart becomes free and my shame is undone

In Your Presence Lord

Holy Spirit You are welcome here

Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere

Your glory God is what our hearts long for

To be overcome by Your Presence Lord

Your Presence Lord

Your Presence

Oh God how we love Your Presence Lord

Let us become more aware of Your Presence

Let us experience the glory of Your goodness (Lord)

Bryan Torwalt | Katie Torwalt

© 2011 Capitol CMG Genesis (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Jesus Culture Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Don't Tell Me!

Americans cherish their freedoms! Our wealthy society allows us many options that would be unimaginable in those places in the world where it can be a struggle just to survive. I am ever so thankful for those privileges that I enjoy in my day to day life.  There is a downside to our independence that is destroying us. Many will not allow even God Himself to reign. His will, His Word, His ways are ignored or rejected if they infringe on personal “happiness.”

More than a few Christians have told me, “I know what the Bible says, but I don’t accept that part.” The reason that follows usually has little to do with careful study or deep prayer. Usually it is more about what they believe they must do to be happy in life.  I’ve heard the following and more:

“Stay in this marriage?”

“No way. Life’s too short to waste it on her.” 

“Forgive that person who has offended me so terribly?” 

“You just don’t get it. I hope he has a miserable life and I’ll hate him ‘til he dies.”

“Serve sacrificially?”

“Pastor, I’ve got just one life and I’m going enjoy it to the full.”

Reading in Deuteronomy, in which Moses’ tells the people of Israel how they must live, I am reminded anew that God rules, I do not.  This little line stuck in my mind this morning, "You are not to do as we do here today, everyone as he sees fit," (Deuteronomy 12:8, NIV)  God’s people were to discover and obey His will. History tells us that they largely failed. He asked for single devotion; they pursued other gods. The book of Judges, written after they had settled in the Promised Land, reveals moral and spiritual chaos, closing with this sad note. “And, everyone did as he saw fit.” (Judges 21:25)

Is Jesus in charge of your heart, your mind, your life? Do you desire to know Him as Savior, but resist serving Him as Sovereign?

Peter tells us that we must "set apart Christ as Lord.” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV)  It must start in in each of our hearts. Christians have a reputation, often well deserved, for being judgmental of society’s sins while ignoring their own.  I am concerned about the moral depravity that I see all around me.  I am broken-hearted by the refusal to acknowledge the sacredness of life. The greed that keeps many in poverty weighs on me. But, before I start pointing at those ‘sinners,’ making public pronouncements of judgment, I must ask myself, “Is Jesus Lord of all of your life, Jerry?”  God wants integrity, desiring that my words and actions align, that I am willing to let Him lead even when His way is costly.

Let us not be one of those Christians who miserably surrenders, with much sighing and crying. When we ‘give in’ but without enthusiasm, doing what we know is right only because we must, we rob ourselves of the JOY of the Lord.  It’s like a child who only obeys to avoid consequences. The obedience is minimal, isn’t it?  When we delight ourselves in Christ, when we accept His way and will, by faith, as THE pathway to the fullest life possible, right here and now, our embrace of His authority will be born of true love.

Ponder this word from the Word today, disciple. It reveals the Way to life at its best.

“If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 

No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. In just a little while the world will not see me again, but you will. For I will live again, and you will, too. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them, and I will love them. And I will reveal myself to each one of them.” (John 14:15-21, NLT)

Jesus, be the Lord of life. Amen.

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Thrive

(Casting Crowns sings a great song about learning to thrive!)

Here in this worn and weary land

Where many a dream has died

Like a tree planted by the water

We will never run dry

So living water flowing through

God we thirst for more of You

Fill our hearts and flood our souls

With one desire

Just to know You and to make You known

We lift Your name on high

Shine like the sun make darkness run and hide

We know we were made for so much more

Than ordinary lives

It's time for us to more than just survive

We were made to thrive

Into Your Word we're digging deep

To know our Father's heart

Into the world we're reaching out

To show them who You are

Joy unspeakable

Faith unsinkable

Love unstoppable

Anything is possible

We were made to thrive

Mark Hall | Matthew West

© 2014 Atlas Holdings (Admin. by Atlas Music Publishing)

Highly Combustible Music (Admin. by Atlas Music Publishing)

House of Story Music Publishing (Admin. by Atlas Music Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

God’s Grandchildren?

My grandfathers were both men of faith, very different in personality but equally faithful to the Lord. Grandpa Scott, a Danish immigrant, came to faith as an adult, in a revival meeting in a tiny Iowa town. His heavily accented English as he led our church in prayer still echoes in my mind, though it’s been 55 years since I heard it. Grandpa Baker was a lay preacher. Back then the Pentecostal worship depended heavily on the ‘song leader.’  He stood before the 40 or 50 people in that building and – full of the Spirit – raised his voice in the Gospel songs that are etched into my memories … “There’s a new name written down in glory … when we all get to Heaven …” and so many more.  We all followed his lead, young and old, accompanied only by an upright piano to one side of the room. Oh my, did they worship – loudly, emotionally, and fervently!  And, they passed the faith to my father and mother, who, in turn, passed it to me.

I am grateful for that legacy but I know that their faith will not sustain me.
Each generation must have their own experience of the Spirit for God has no grandchildren.

In my readings in the early books of the Old Testament I came to the passage quoted by Jews of old and to this day . The "Shema Y'Israel," which is literally translated, "Hear, O Israel," is a declaration of the existence of One True God. "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."   The text continues with this directive - "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads." (Deuteronomy 6:4-8, NIV)

It is the God-given task of every generation to lay the foundation of the knowledge of God for the next, but we cannot save our children from their sins. Only God can transform a human heart! We present the Truth and if we are wise we also live it well! Kids have a wonderful hypocrisy detector that can sense the old 'do what I say, not what I do' nonsense at a very early age!  If there is a large gap between what we say we believe and how we actually live, the next generation is almost certain to decide that faith in God is unnecessary baggage, tradition to be discarded as empty rhetoric.  Disciple, our standard is not perfection. If that were true, the faith would have died long ago. We pray and act authentically, living faith, showing repentance, admitting doubt, and wrestling honestly to see growing holiness of heart and mind.

Know this! Even the best and godliest of parents, cannot replace the Savior for their children. God deals with each generation. We individually know the Spirit and we must respond to Him, to receive the regenerative life of the Spirit for ourselves. Now a grandfather, I pray for my grandchildren, my heart’s desire that each one will come to know Christ Jesus, finding in Him the joy and purpose of life in the Spirit. Do you pray for the Spirit to take hold of the heart and mind of your child, drawing her to the Cross and into a soul-transforming experience of the Spirit? A common misunderstanding among the churched is the belief that a good youth group or a solid Sunday School can replace consistent parental example and prayer! A good community of faith is an important part of the spiritual development of any person - young or old. However, when it comes to passing the faith to the next generation nothing can replace the examples of the fear of the Lord.

Are you passing the faith along, laying the foundation of the knowledge of God, living a life that invites the next generation to join the community of the people of God?

Here is a word from the Word. May it stir us to be people who invite the next generation to faith. "Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9, The Message)

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Great Is Thy Faithfulness

(it’s true! Worship at this link)

Great is Thy faithfulness

O God my Father

There is no shadow

Of turning with Thee

Thou changest not

Thy compassions they fail not

As Thou hast been

Thou forever wilt be

Great is Thy faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness

Morning by morning

New mercies I see

All I have needed

Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy faithfulness

Lord unto me

Summer and winter

And springtime and harvest

Sun moon and stars

In their courses above

Join with all nature

In manifold witness

To Thy great faithfulness

Mercy and love

Pardon for sin

And a peace that endureth

Thy own dear presence

To cheer and to guide

Strength for today

And bright hope for tomorrow

Blessings all mine

With ten thousand beside

Thomas Obediah Chisholm | William Marion Runyan

© Words: Public Domain