Need more than jokes!

Yesterday, while visiting our Christian school, two cute little girls came to me before the chapel began and asked if I would play a Vacation Bible School song that they love.  A few seconds later there were 20 kids dancing, laughing, loving life. I let myself be a child for a few moments, caught up in the spontaneous joy that kids seem to find more easily than those of us who are weighed down with responsibility.  I love to laugh! Life is full of moments that invite a smile, if we will take time to see them!

The Bible teaches me that joy is mine, through Christ, regardless of the circumstances of my life! When sadness is threatening to overwhelm me,  when failures appear to far outweigh successes, when disappointments march into my life one after another – there is a resource for me that drives away the darkness, that gives me joy.  Yes, I turn to prayer.  When we gather in church for worship, I feel the Spirit moving in me and I often there are  tears wetting my cheeks. Are they from a broken heart?  No, they are actually deep emotion, a kind of joy that comes from knowing the amazing love of my Abba.  Others, young and old alike, tell me that they experience the same thing as we worship, feeling peace and relief in their world, and letting tears of joy fall.

This is the joy of the Lord. Nehemiah, the rebuilder of Jerusalem, called the people of God together to read them the Law.  As they heard it, they realized the depth of their sin and they began to weep.  The priests instructed “the people said to them all, “This day is sacred to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”  (Nehemiah 8:8-12, NIV)

What is this ‘joy of the Lord?’ 

• It is the conviction that despite difficulties, we live under the watchful eye of our Heavenly Father.  Many things test that conviction, don’t they?  For a time this past weekend, as I watched the news of the horrific shooting at that Texas church, my faith was battered as I wondered aloud, “O God, where were You in that moment?”  I no immediate answer, but I hold onto the fact that He was there to receive those who died into His Presence.
• Then, too, the joy of the Lord grows out of our assurance that there is more to life than what we can see at this moment.  We find rest while waiting for Him to make a way where there seems to be no way.
• And, there is the knowledge that we live in His covenant of grace.  There is “no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  I need not live in regret and guilt because I am forgiven and at peace with my God.

In the Spirit’s life, we find joy!  Let me encourage you to ‘choose joy’ this Friday morning.

If you are sorrowful today, know this  - there is no sin in sorrow!  Grief has many causes. Perhaps you are wrestling with temptation to the point of exhaustion.  Or, maybe you are frustrated with something that won’t yield to your best efforts at finding a solution.  Rejection by another is a deep wound in the soul.  Missed expectations can make skies gray and become fertile soil for bitterness.  There is joy in Jesus for you. He sees, He will keep His promise, He loves you. Declare those things and pray for renewed faith that makes them the truth you live by. The “joy of the Lord is your strength.” 

Instead of making a joke of it all, or hiding your disappointment bravely, find a place of worship.  Remember not all worship happens in a church, though I hope you’ll find your way there each week.  Find a place alone with the Lord. Tell Him, aloud and honestly about your need. Follow up that petition with thanksgiving for Who He is! If tears flow, let them, for they are a language that the Man of Sorrows understands.  Joy will find you as the Spirit fills you.

Make this word from the Word your confession so that the joy of the Lord will overtake your sorrow.  "Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness." (Isaiah 51:11, NLT)

________

Joy To The World (Antioch)

Joy to the world the Lord is come

Let earth receive her King

Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room

And heav'n and nature sing

And heav'n and nature sing

And heav'n and heav'n and nature sing

Joy to the earth the Savior reigns

Let men their songs employ

While fields and floods

Rocks hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat the sounding joy

Repeat repeat the sounding joy

No more let sins and sorrows grow

Nor thorns infest the ground

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found

Far as the curse is found

Far as far as the curse is found

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His love

And wonders of His love

And wonders wonders of His love

George Frideric Handel | Isaac Watts

© Words: Public Domain

Jerry D. Scott, Pastor

Faith Discovery Church

www.FaithDiscovery.com

Open Heart, Open Home

When I stepped into the home, I instantly felt a ‘welcome.’  It was not the décor or a fancy meal spread on the table.  The people knew the gift of hospitality. Their words and actions were in sync and said, “We’re glad you are here.” The evening passed quickly and I did not want to leave. They were warm and open, making me feel like a part of their family.  

Christ’s church is called to be hospitable, like the home I just described. One of the strengths of the Christian community should be the warm acceptance that is found among us because of the overflowing love of God that fills us. We acknowledge that to be true, but do we live it? Are the strongest bonds in our lives made with those of ‘like precious faith’?  

 I cannot imagine life without my Christian family.  As a child, my second home was among the believers of our little church.  When I was a teenager, the place I found most safe was when I was with those who loved God.  I found my wife at church. She, like me, was a person who loved God’s people.  I have ‘done life’ with Christians, my efforts for the Kingdom of God multiplied by working with others who share the passion for God’s work.  Most recently, in my time of loss and sorrow, the family of faith has been my refuge.

Being hospitable is so much more than inviting someone over to dinner once. It is a way of life that is welcoming, loving, serving, connected.  Repeatedly, the Bible urges us to have open hearts towards others. Paul tells us to “Always be eager to practice hospitality.” (Romans 12:13).  He says that one of the basic qualities of a Christian leader is that “he must be hospitable.” (Titus 1:8)  Peter tells us to "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling." (1 Peter 4:9, NIV)

John wrote a little letter to one of the churches he led that was a commendation of a leader who was hospitable and a rebuke of one who was a ‘hospitality buster!’  The shortest book of the New Testament, 3 John is a reminder of the importance of sharing our lives with others, giving high priority to Christian fellowship.  

 To Gaius, he wrote: "Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible. They’ve made a full report back to the church here, a message about your love. It’s good work you’re doing, helping these travelers on their way, hospitality worthy of God himself!" (3 John 5-6, The Message)   Are you making faith visible – to your extended family, to your children, to the larger world – in the way that you love and welcome other Christians, doing life together, making those connections strong; being hospitable?

Another man in that same little church was rebuked this way. "Diotrephes, who loves being in charge, denigrates my counsel. If I come, you can be sure I’ll hold him to account for spreading vicious rumors about us. As if that weren’t bad enough, he not only refuses hospitality to traveling Christians but tries to stop others from welcoming them. Worse yet, instead of inviting them in he throws them out." (3 John 9-10, The Message)   This local leader apparently had his own little cult of admirers and he was not going to let anyone in.  He had determined that it would be a closed club, exclusive, and unwelcoming. John does not give us much detail but we could infer that Diotrephes may have thought he was ‘protecting’ others by building walls. Whatever the reason, his failure to be welcoming, warm, and loving found a rebuke that has been read by millions of Christians through the ages!

I encourage you to get connected. Our busy lives do not make much room for fellowship with Believers unless we are intentional, unless we are willing to set aside some good things to pursue the best things, unless we are enveloped in the love of God that will make us loving people.   

Rod Dreher observes "The first Christians gained converts not because their arguments were better than those of the pagans but because people saw in them and their communities, something good and beautiful -- and they wanted it. This led them to the truth. Apologetics, then and now, has a limited role." -  The Benedict Option   It is not our great sermons, our polished rational reasons for faith, that ultimately win the most people to Christ.  It is the quality of our love, the beautiful communities that the Spirit makes possible.  And, honestly, they are far too few in our time.

Our family lore tells me that my paternal grandfather accepted Christ as Savior as the result of the preaching of a young woman in a tent revival that was being held in their community a long time ago. But, it was the love of a little church that drew him into the community of faith. When he was in a terrible car accident that left him unable to work his farm for months, the little church he was a part of came together and took care of his farm and family. Those acts of hospitality cemented Grandpa’s faith in place, making it strong and life-long.  (His legacy is a powerful part of why I know Christ as my Savior today.)

Let’s renew our commitment to being hospitable, welcoming, warm, open-hearted people. Here is a word from the Word. "This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God. My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!" (1 John 4:9-12, The Message)

Lord, use it to transform our church into a beautiful fellowship of hospitable people, for the glory of Christ. Amen.

Are your prayers too polite?

The young man in the airport talked too loudly, sharing details of his life that made those of us within earshot uncomfortable.  I wondered if he was intoxicated, at first. Then, I decided to go sit by him while we waited to board the aircraft. It was soon clear that he was just a kid with some social adjustment problems, who did not get the cues that most of us understand. So, I listened and smiled, cringing in embarrassment for him as he shared things I did not need to know.   In contrast, I think of times in my living room, when I am among close friends. It is appropriate to engage in conversations that flow around deep feelings, hopes, dreams, life.  

So, what do your prayers reveal about your relationship with your Heavenly Father?

Is He someone you know well, Whom you trust? 

Or, are your prayers polite and formal?

Philip Yancey, in his book, Prayer, Does It Make Any Difference? - insists that Biblical prayer is different from the prayers that are heard in the average church on Sunday morning. "The church I attend reserves a time in which people in the pews can voice aloud their prayers.  Over the years, I have hard hundreds of these prayers and with very few exceptions, the word polite applies.  One, however, stand out in my memory because of its raw emotion.  In a clear, but wavering, voice a young woman began with the words, "God, I hated you after the rape!  How could you let this happen to me?"   The congregation abruptly fell silent;  no more rustling of paper, or shifting in their seats.  "And I hated the people in the church who tried to comfort me.  I didn't want comfort, I wanted revenge.  I wanted to hurt back, I thank you God that you didn't give up on me, and neither did some of these people.  You kept after me until I came back to you.  Now I ask that you heal the scars in my soul." - {Christianity Today, October, 2006} Raw, intense, personal – and for many – unthinkable! 

Yet, if we read David’s prayers in the Psalms, for example, we find similar emotions. Ever prayed like this?  "O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage! Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me. Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins. My guilt overwhelms me— it is a burden too heavy to bear. . . . My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind. . . . Do not abandon me, O Lord. Do not stand at a distance, my God." (Psalm 38:1-4, 10, 21, NLT)

Moses, who was given the arduous task of shaping a slave people into a nation that would be the people of God, grew angry with their constant complaints and rebellion.   This man of God grew frustrated beyond measure.  He prayed,  “Why are you treating me, your servant, so miserably? What did I do to deserve the burden of a people like this? Are they my children? Am I their father? Is that why you have told me to carry them in my arms—like a nurse carries a baby—to the land you swore to give their ancestors? Where am I supposed to get meat for all these people? They keep complaining and saying, ‘Give us meat!’ I can’t carry all these people by myself! The load is far too heavy! I’d rather you killed me than treat me like this. Please spare me this misery!” (Numbers 11:10-15, NLT)

Abraham, when he heard of God's plan to destroy Sodom, bargained with God. "Would you spare the city if I can find 50 righteous people in it?  How about 40, maybe 30?"    “I know I’m trying your patience, Master, but how about for twenty?” “I won’t destroy it for twenty.” (Genesis 18:31, The Message)

Jesus, in the garden the night before His crucifixion, begged the Father, "Is there another way?  Please let this cup pass from me!" 

My point today is not that we have to insult God, complain when we pray, or strive for some fake authenticity!  I have heard those prayers, too.  When someone tries too hard to be more intimate with the Lord than they are, their prayers make me as uncomfortable as that young man who did not understand the social code that prevails in a public place.  Prayers that pretend a deeper intimacy than actually exists come off as forced, phony, and hollow.
God invites us to come to Him, as we are, where we are.   

We bring our joy, our disappointment, our confusion, our sins, our temptations, our victories.  We praise, petition, and worship.

God wants to know us and I am convinced that we do not honor Him by concealing our true feelings in prayer!  Jesus' counsel to us is to ‘go into our prayer closet rather than standing on the street corners’ when we pray. There, alone with God, we get real. We can, like Jacob, wrestle with Him!  He'll win, but we will learn in the process - about ourselves and about Him.  He's not intimidated by our hard questions.   We only sin if we dismiss God from our lives with an arrogant, "I can do it myself" kind of prayer.   There is no sin in asking boldly, in praying honestly, in telling our Lord we're not on the same page, singing from the same hymnal, as He is.   Here's the truth - He knows what's hidden in the corners of our mind!   When we pray only nice and polite prayers the only one being spared the truth is us!

Raw emotions are terrifying, because they threaten our sense of control.  But, I can say from my own experiences of prayer, when I let go and let myself get real with God, angry enough to physically tremble, broken enough to sob, joyful enough to sing loudly -  I get up from my face knowing that He's touched me.  I go out from those prayers knowing I am not alone, walking with my Friend. Anyone who saw me or heard me praying in those moments, might well conclude I'd taken leave of my sanity, but God - who knows me better than anyone in the world, loves me through the stormy prayers.

Pray with intensity.  Love God by sharing your true heart; with all its sins and grief and joy,  with Him.  He will love you for it.  

Here's a word from the Word on which to meditate today- "Since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16, NIV)

Now, go find a place alone and spend some time with the One who knows you best and loves you most.

______________

Lord You Have My Heart

Lord You have my heart

And I will search for Yours

Jesus take my life and lead me on

Lord You have my heart

And I will search for Yours

Let me be to You a sacrifice

And I will praise You Lord

And I will sing of love come down

And as You show Your face

We'll see Your glory here

Martin Smith

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