So, you think you're ugly?

I have a thousand pictures of my late wife. Looking through them brings me comfort and often I post a few on Facebook, a way to remember her. Even as I do, I smile, knowing that she would protest if she were still alive. “Jerry, don’t post that one. I look … “ and she would make some objection about her hair, or her clothing, or the look on her face. Despite being a beautiful woman and quite photogenic, she generally disliked when I pointed the camera in her direction. Of course, being a tease, I did it often and now I am very thankful I did!

What do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you wish you were taller, thinner, more hair?  We are our own worst critics, aren’t we? 

Let’s shift the thought to the inner person.  Most likely there is some trait, habit, or characteristic that you see as a flaw. Maybe it’s your temper, or the hard time you have in crowds. Perhaps it is a tendency to be fearful or full of doubt. Perhaps it is a struggle with addiction. Or, it might be regret for some major failure, now long in the past that keeps dogging you right to this moment.  You have likely prayed to be changed, healed, delivered... right?  

It is good to ask our Abba (Father) for His help, His power – but often He asks us to walk with a limp! (More on that in a moment.) Sometimes He chooses not wipe away our ‘flaws.’ Instead, He invites us to trust Him in the middle of our messes. I have found that it is often the things we hate most about ourselves that tend to drive us to seek Him and that keep us faithful to Him. Indeed, my greatest ministry opportunities have grown out of my experience of His grace in those things I consider unpleasant!

At that very point of 'weakness' God has an opening into your life to do His greatest work in you and through you.

I asked a friend who's been struggling through a severe time of testing recently, "How's are you doing?" I wasn't just being polite. I've prayed for him regularly and trusted God with him for freedom. His reply showed amazing spiritual insight. I'll paraphrase his reply -- "Jerry, God's presence is nearer to me now and I am discovering so many new things." As we talked for a few moments, he told me how he still wants to be healed, but that he is much more ready to trust how God works in the middle of the problem, too!

Paul was extraordinarily used of God. Because of his gifts, he was subject to pride, which could have destroyed him so the Lord gave him another ‘gift,’ that kept him God-aware and Spirit-reliant. Here’s what he told us about that: "I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NLT)   

It is useless to speculate over Paul's 'thorn in the flesh' (NIV) but whatever it was, he disliked it enough to pray long and hard for healing. God said, "No! That thing is my gift to you to keep you leaning hard on my grace, not yourself.”  Suffering, as much as we hate it, can be God’s leash that keeps us from running headlong into soul destroying situations.

Remember Jacob, the patriarch in Genesis? He wrestled with a heavenly messenger at the ford of Jabbok all night long. The encounter left him a changed man and limping! His limp reminded him of God's Presence!

Human pride is such that we tend to create self-serving myths about our self- sufficiency, our 'deserving-ness,' our abilities. This is a temptation that takes hold of us when our bank account is full, when our health is good, when our kids are earning honors, and when no life-controlling sin is apparent. While we may not actually utter the prayer of the Pharisee, "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican” (Luke 18:11 KJV) but we easily slip into thinking something like it, don’t we?  In success and honor we can begin to believe our press releases and think - “What a good guy I am.  Isn’t the Lord lucky that I am on His team? God must surely bless me with more because I deserve it.” 

Self-righteousness stinks. It robs us of compassion. It ruins our relationship with God.It turns the fragrance of Christ’s grace into the stench of human religiosity. It turns us from child-like prayers of faith, to manipulative schemes to get our own way. It turns us into harsh judges who readily condemn others. “Why can’t they just get it right?” with the implied clause, “just like me.” We lack grace both inwardly and outwardly.

Go back to that thing in your life you would like to be rid of, that makes you feel pain, that drives you to your knees.  Prayerfully consider, with the help and insight of the Spirit, whether God is giving you a 'gift'  to keep you close to Him. Thank Him that He is greater than your weakness and present Him with your 'problem,' inviting Him to remove it or use it -- in keeping with His eternal purposes. “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”  As you discover more about Jesus and His wonderful love for you, watch His joy begin to fill your heart and mind.

Ponder this word from the Word. Really pray it through. Match His mercy to your pain. Let Him shine through the cracks of your life. “Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. 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. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been thrown down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us—trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us—he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us." (2 Corinthians 4:5-12, The Message)

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Days when you don’t have the strengthWondering if you ever could be loved,If they ever truly saw your heartThey’d see too much

 You're beautiful, You're beautiful,You are made so much more than all of this.You're beautiful, You're beautiful,You are treasured, You are sacred, You are His.You're beautiful!

I'm praying that you have the heart to find ‘Cause you are more than what is hurting you tonight For all the lies you've held inside so long And they are nothing in the shadow of the cross

 Before you ever took a breathLong the world beganOf all the wonders He possessedThere was one more preciousOf all the earth and skies aboveYou’re the one He madly lovesEnough to die!

 You’re beautiful, You’re beautifulIn His eyes!

Mercy Me

"I'm dying."

 I’m dying. Rather dramatic statement, isn’t it?  No, I don’t have any current medical condition (that I know of) that makes my demise imminent. In fact, my current life expectancy is about 22 years, according to a calculator posted by the Social Security Administration. But, as experience has taught me, things can change in an instant. Ben Franklin wryly observed that the only certainties are death and taxes.  Whether there are 22 years or 22 days left in this earthly journey, I am dying!  (News flash- so are you!)  Some of you are feeling some pity for me right now and thinking, “Jerry has spent too much time at the cemetery.”  Perhaps you are right. But, I prefer to think that I am living the wisdom of God.

What do we do with this knowledge of mortality? Will we allow ourselves to slip into a depression because of it?
Should we begin to chase the ephemeral pleasures of life ‘eating, drinking, and being merry’ desperately?
Or, should we soberly decide to live and love, making the most of every opportunity? The answer is obvious to me, but here is the counsel of the inspired Word.

James, brother of Jesus and pastor of First Church, Jerusalem, wrote "Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15, NLT)  Moses, prince of Egypt and leader of Israel, prayed - "Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. … You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. …  The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. …Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:1,3-4, 10, 12, NIV)

There are so many joys to be found in each day.
We can savor a meal, lovingly prepared.
We can let the love of friend and family enrich us.
We can do our work with diligence so that there is a legacy of something improved. 

In short, we invest our days, not just spend them! 
All the while, we keep our mind on eternity. In Christ, that knowledge loses any fear.  We can know we are held secure in His love, right with God, and ready to enter His Presence at any moment.  If we have lived well, keeping accounts paid, offering love, freely forgiving, taking advantage of no one – we can anticipate a rich reward from the One who sees all, knows all, and forgets nothing.

Dying? Yes, we are. For me it is not the dying thing that is so bad. It’s this aging! But that is for another blog.  Keep Heaven in your heart. Walk with God today and, sooner than you think, you will walk right over the edge of time and into His eternal life. Joy unspeakable!

Here is a word from the Word - "Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment," (Hebrews 9:27, NLT) … "so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house," (Hebrews 10:19-21, NLT)  "Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up." (Hebrews 12:1-3, NLT)

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Cornerstone

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

But wholly trust in Jesus' Name

Christ alone cornerstone

Weak made strong in the Saviour's love

Through the storm He is Lord

Lord of all

When darkness seems to hide His face

I rest on His unchanging grace

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil

My anchor holds within the veil

He is Lord Lord of all

When He shall come with trumpet sound

Oh may I then in Him be found

Dressed in His righteousness alone

Faultless stand before the throne

Edward Mote | Eric Liljero | Jonas Myrin | Reuben Morgan | William Batchelder Bradbury

© 2011 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

You are against everything

The doctor came into the exam room. “Hi, Minister. How’s the religion business?” I winced at his joke, but his next words made me squirm. “You’re one of those ‘I’m against everything people,’ aren’t you?” I know he was kidding me but the stereotype of evangelical Christians is not funny, nor is it often accurate.  How did evangelicals come to be known as being against everything?  We are called to live counter-culturally.

The great ‘sin’ in secular America is to be to hold standards, to believe that there is God to whom we are accountable, and that there are still choices to be made about what is right and wrong. We have returned to the moral chaos of the ancient land of Israel in which “all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)  Christians who love Scripture know that they do not own themselves, that they cannot claim absolute freedom, and that they must seek God respecting His will, regardless of personal cost. And that, dear friend, is an idea that is completely foreign to the modern secular mind.

Watching the political speeches of the last two weeks reveals how much work that Christians who love God and His Word have to do. There are glaring inconsistencies along the entire spectrum of American political thought.

• The ‘pro-life’ people insists on protection of the unborn, rightly so! At the same time, they fail to question ever bigger armies and the blatantly unjust application of the death penalty. How can one claim to be for life while urging a culture of death?
• One party makes much of protecting the freedoms of individuals to do whatever they desire in their private lives. At the same time that party seeks to censor the expression of anyone with strong moral convictions.  Their message is that a person can believe whatever he wants, as long as he keeps God out of it.  
• A majority of Evangelicals identify readily with a party that says it will support some of their moral convictions, but at the same time fails to engage in a real conversation about the best ways for our government to care for the least, the weak, the poor; a theme that is basic to Jesus’ message.  

Into this moral mess, Christian voices are to speak with wisdom, with discernment. 
Easy? No way. People to whom God gives His Spirit and Word are too often known for slogans, simple-mindedness, and being those ‘I’m against everything’ people. The caricature may be overdrawn but it is not undeserved!

Christians need to work harder at being thoughtful, known for their love for God and others. We can have strong moral convictions and still love people. When we express a pro-life position let’s put it into the context of care, offering to support women who find themselves in a desperate situation. Yes, in the end, we cannot waver and speaking for life will offend some.  When we take the position of supporting the marriage of a man and woman, which is right and moral, let’s make certain we are compassionate for those who are homosexual, understanding the difference between who a person is and what a person does. The issue of human sexuality is much too complex for a simple slogan. Saying things like “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” is not funny, nor helpful. It is a special kind of ignorant!

In the end, no matter how loving we may be, no matter how accepting of people we are, no matter how much we work at making our message and practices consistent – as followers of Jesus we must be prepared to be despised. Please do not use Jesus’ words as an excuse to be needlessly offensive, but when you find yourself at a place of irreconcilable difference, accept the disdain with joy!  

After calling us to love the poor, to lose ourselves in service, to be humble and meek, Jesus says – “Count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble." (Matthew 5:11-12, The Message)

Here is a word from Word.  “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you. “When that happens, remember this: Servants don’t get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them. “They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don’t know the One who sent me." (John 15:18-25, The Message)

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Shine, Jesus, Shine

Lord, the light of Your love is shining,In the midst of the darkness shining.Jesus, Light of the world, shine upon us,Set us free by the truth You now bring us.Shine on me, shine on me.

 As we gaze on Your kingly brightnessSo our faces display Your likeness,Ever changing from glory to glory.Mirrored here, may our lives tell Your story.Shine on me, shine on me.

 Shine, Jesus, shine!Fill this land with the Father's glory!Blaze, Spirit, blaze!Set our hearts on fire!Flow, river, flow!Flood the nations with grace and mercy!Send forth Your word, Lord,And let there be light!

Graham Kendrick © 1987 Make Way Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
CCLI License # 810055

"I love you!"

In recent interactions with a government agency that is supposedly dedicated to helping families who are in crisis, it became clear to me that many who are employed there had long forgotten the mission. They may have started with noble intentions to help, but for numerous reasons, they were now just ‘doing their job,’ filing the papers, making the appearances. The clients are just ‘cases.’  Worse than the lack of compassion is that fact that in an agency that has vast power over people who are disadvantaged, authority is all too often is used like a sledgehammer that destroys the lives of the very people that are supposedly being ‘helped.’  Where love is lost, people suffer!

I spoke with a couple recently who told a heartbreaking story of betrayal of faith and trust by “men of God.”  Tears stung my eyelids as I heard about the double betrayal. Not only did they have to deal with their hurt. They also experienced a refusal of the organization to take responsibility for the failure of one its own!  On the same day I read a book (Beyond the Call) about Robert Trimble, an Army pilot who was sent into Poland near the end of the second World War to retrieve American POW’s. The evil that Captain Trimble saw broke him, but he was even more dismayed by the politics of the time which led to Roosevelt and the US government to sellout Eastern Europe to Stalin and the Soviets to keep them in the war against the Nazis. Preserving the government’s mission became more important that the people who were forgotten!

It can happen to you, to me. “Love God, love others,” Jesus says. His words grow familiar. If we allow it, they lose their compelling power. The ‘efficient’ function of an organization can blind us to the people it is to serve. The ‘mission’ can take over so that we forget the reason for it.  Work is a necessary thing as we support our families. But, if we turn into ‘work-aholics’ that are gone for days, who are not really home even when we are in the house, we have forgotten the people that make our work a necessity.  The pursuit of the Holy and the Truth are commands of God, but if those things make us cruel, judgmental people who exclude those we believe to be ‘sinners’ or ‘in error’ from Him, our priorities are upside down!

Christian in this world let’s be people unashamed to love radically. Let’s commit ourselves to a love that is costly, compelling, and that sees the value of that one person!  Ponder anew this passage that calls us to a life that serves people; more than churches, more than companies, more than convenience! "This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence." (1 John 3:11-19, NIV)

Renew your understanding of the amazing grace and love of God. Jesus said that the Father knows you down to the smallest detail – ‘the very hairs on your head are numbered!’  Let that grip you. Living in the love of God keeps us loving others, even when it is hard, inefficient, or hugely costly.  Here is a word from the Word - "Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that." (Ephesians 5:1-2, The Message)

What’cha lookin’ at?

I was sad and mad at the same time; and scared, in a good way, by the subtle power of sin! It was another story of a good pastor going down in flames, removed from his pulpit for personal failure.  He founded a church 16 years ago that grew amazingly, last count being that on a given Sunday, he ministered the Word about 30, 000 people.  But, along the way the numbers became too important. The pursuit of success replaced his passion for Christ. He offered this confession, his own words – there was an “obsession to do everything possible to reach 100,000 and beyond, it has come at a personal cost in my own life and created a strain on my marriage.” The strain of ‘success’ turned a godly man into an alcoholic and the elders of the church, after many attempts to help him get it right, took action.

So, how’s your vision? It is possible to do right things for wrong reasons. Motives matter!

Jesus said “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding. “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘playactors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out. “And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?" (Matthew 6:1-5, The Message)

We all need vision.  What kind of person do I want to be? The kind of Dad, pastor, friend, neighbor that I am will flow out of the bundle of values, ideals, principles, and models that fill my mind. Those things form ‘vision.’ I begin to ‘see’ the life that I desire long before I live it. (And so do you!)  Formation of our vision is critical.  Where the Holy Spirit is welcomed, when the Word is loved, when our fellows are godly – a worthy vision can begin to take shape.  However, as my opening shows, we must refine and protect our vision. It can become twisted along the way, corrupted by bitterness of disappointment or reshaped around ego, especially when we find a measure of success!

Have you ever attempted to write a ‘vision statement’ for your life? Just about every year for the last two decades one of my annual practices is to take some time to think about who am I, who I want to be, the will of my Father, and the ways I am living.  I put all that together in a few simple paragraphs.  I print that page and keep it where I can read it and ask myself, “Are you keeping your vision intact and on point?”  Don’t underestimate the power of that exercise.

On this Monday morning, how about doing a little inner check-up? Prayerfully ask God, the Holy Spirit, to shine His light into your inner person. Invite Him to shape and refine your vision. Here is a word from the Word.

“I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!” (Eph 1:17-19 The Message)

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Be Thou my vision,

O Lord of my heart.

Naught be all else to me

Save that Thou art.

Thou my best thought,

By day or by night,

Waking or sleeping,

Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom,

Be Thou my true Word.

I ever with Thee

And Thou with me, Lord.

Thou my great Father,

I Thy true son.

Thou in me dwelling

And I with Thee one.

Riches I heed not

Nor man's empty praise;

Thou mine inheritance,

Now and always.

Thou and Thou only,

Be first in my heart.

High King of heaven.

My treasure, Thou art!

High King of heaven

When vict'ry is won,

May I reach heaven's joys;

O bright heaven's Sun!

Heart of my own heart,

Whatever befall,

Still be my vision,

O Ruler of all.

Be Thou My Vision

Eleanor Henrietta Hull | Mary Elizabeth Byrne

© Words: Public Domain