The 18" Gap

That 18 inches that separates my head from my heart is sometimes a great chasm! You know what I mean? We ‘know’ and understand a truth but we may not love that truth. That chasm is a place of inner conflict. We may know that God holds our life securely in His hands and yet experience times when we are anxious. We may know that life’s greatest treasure is Christ, our Lord, but still covet lesser things.  We may know it is the will of God that we love and struggle to love the unlovely.

Paul, that man of God who walked in the Spirit, knew the inner conflict. He wrote (from the paraphrase The Message) “I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.”  (Romans 7:19-23)  This revelation is shared with us so that we can excuse ourselves from holy living, so that we can grow comfortable with our failures.  We learn this so that our faith will grow and our focus shift from SELF to SPIRIT.

If we live ‘religiously’ keeping a constant score of good and bad, measuring ourselves in comparison to other Believers, or using punishment alone to try to bring ourselves into conformity with Christ’s desire for our lives, the cycle of despair will only deepen. Why? Because just when we think that something is overcome and banished, something will trigger us and failure will find us again.  The only One who can close the gap between our head and our heart is Jesus Christ, with a supernatural work. Here is how Paul says it: "Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin." (Romans 7:24-25, NLT)

The heart of Christianity is not religious works we do. Our hope is centered on a profound faith in Christ Jesus Who entered the Creation, walked alongside of us, and defeated sin’s Curse on our behalf.  The frustration of fruitlessness that sin brought into the world is replaced by the fulfillment of fruitfulness found in the Spirit’s life in us. So many Believers make a common mistake. After finding hope in Jesus at some desperately low point in life, coming to Him with open heart, falling into His love like a child, when life starts to come together, they revert to religion, subtly convinced of their own goodness. Though they find restoration with God in faith, they attempt to live the Christian life by their own wisdom and will. And, the inner conflict rages!

The first Christians in Galatia followed that pattern and Paul angrily challenges them. "Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? You have suffered so much for the Good News. Surely it was not in vain, was it? Are you now going to just throw it all away? I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law of Moses? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. In the same way, “Abraham believed God, so God declared him righteous because of his faith.” (Galatians 3:3-6, NLT)

Many Christians are struggling in this season when church, Bible studies, and small groups are not as available. They are slipping, failing to do the things that they know are part of discipleship. You may be one of those people, your head and heart in different places, torn between two worlds. Focus on Christ! Do not hide the failures or attempt to cover them up with ‘good’ deeds or lofty prayers. Admit, to God, to yourself, to a faithful Christian friend, that you are struggling and trust the grace of God that is ‘greater than all our sin.’  (By the way, we can and we must learn new ways to share our Christlife, to encourage one another. COVID cannot be allowed to steal the fellowship from us.)

The amazing fact is that Christ’s strength on our behalf operates in the very place of our weakness. Why?  "Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. … For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:4-10, NIV)  He makes us His masterpieces, showing off His mercy and grace in us, once wrecks, now trophies. Truth, my friend!

So, here is a word from the Word about how we can live when we remain ‘in Christ,’ trusting His grace, inviting the Spirit to be at work. It is not misery. The battle is over as far as Heaven is concerned. "With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death." (Romans 8:1-2, The Message)  May this truth travel that long road from your head to your heart, transforming you in the process.

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Be Thou My Vision (Slane)

(worship with this great hymn)

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, and 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 , 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

Eleanor Henrietta Hull © Words: Public Domain

A shortcut to stupidity

Some of the most regrettable moments of my life resulted from making decisions based on incomplete information. When I assume I know more than I actually do, when I think I know what another is thinking, when I stop listening because I think I have understood the situation, the likelihood that I will say something stupid increases sharply. Why, oh why, is it so difficult to say, “Help me to understand”?  

Right now, our world needs a lot more good listeners, people who will honestly say, “tell me more.” Mostly we are shouting at each other from entrenched positions, incapable of understanding. We are convinced that OUR view is the RIGHT one. Fear drives us even deeper into our defensive response and the divide grows daily. 

Christian, we can, we must, do better; for God’s sake. Remember this, listening to another is not the same as agreeing with another.  Many are being cut off, their words not even allowed to be heard, as if the act of saying words out loud turns them into absolute truth.  A real dialogue, an exchange of ideas, an openness to conversation lays a foundation of understanding.

This is a real issue for those of us who claim to be followers of Jesus. We need to lead the way to deep conversations, inviting others to talk, with the hope that it will open up a channel of real communication. If we hope to be able to share our love of Jesus, to invite others to know Him, we will put away our megaphones and sit down at the table.

Ever made the leap to a conclusion so certain that you just knew the obvious?  What actually is said,  what a person intended to say, and what we think we heard,  are frequently unrelated tales.   Our state of mind influences the information taken in by our senses, doesn't it?   If we are fatigued, discouraged, or angry – a word of criticism can sound like an awful condemnation. When we have already set our agenda going into a conversation, we will too quickly assume that everybody thinks the same thing.  Their questions will feel like resistance and, failing true dialogue, the seeds of conflict are planted! God’s wisdom instructs us. "He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires." (James 1:18-20, NIV)  (Re-read those lines, especially the last sentence.)

It may be that our fundamental worldview is flawed so that we come to the wrong conclusion, misjudge another, or even blame God!  Jesus disciples had been trained by their religious leaders, wrongly, to think that if someone was suffering, there was a direct line of cause and effect. One day, when they saw a blind man, they judged. “Who sinned?” they asked. The only reason a person could be blind, they assumed, was because of somebody’s failure. The truth was very different, as they learned from the Master. " As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.  "Rabbi," his disciples asked him, "why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?" "It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins," Jesus answered.  "This happened so the power of God could be seen in him."   (John 9:1-5, NLT)  Imagine their shock when they tried to accept that God has allowed the man to be blind for His own purposes. It just did not fit with their understanding of the world.

Are you and I creating obstacles to real communication and discovery of God’s will with our assumption that what we ‘know’ is flawless or complete? May God give us grace to approach difficult situations, threatening ideas with these kinds of questions: "Why did you do that?"  "What did you mean?"  "How do you feel?"  These are simple questions, left unasked and therefore,  unanswered, too often. Listening is love! Peter says, "Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything." (1 Peter 4:8, The Message) " Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner. " (1 Peter 4:12-13, The Message)

In this critical time in our land the Devil is using the age-old strategy of 'divide and conquer.'  Christian, let’s fall to our knees and pour out our fears to the Lord. Let’s ask Him to secure us – heart and mind – in His great love. Then, let’s go out to love and listen.  We need not abandon all of our convictions, go soft in the head about wisdom, or affirm every idea that we hear. But WE MUST show the love of Jesus and I am fairly certain that does not start with snarling at those who threaten us or posting a rant on our Facebook timeline.

I am inspired by Jesus’ radical story of acceptance repeated for us in Luke 15. A young man broke his father’s heart, ran off to waste his life, and came to the conclusion he was worthless, beyond redemption. He came up with a plan to go home, but not as a son. “I’ll just work on the farm so I have enough to eat.”  Conventional wisdom was and is “He made his bed now he’ll have to lie in it.” But the heart of God is revealed in the response of the father. Our word from the Word for today are these radical words of love. "So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

Ready for it? Here it is … “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate." (Luke 15:20-24, NIV) Son, you are beloved, forgiven, restored.  Isn’t that a scandalous love?

Oh Father, give me Your heart.
Teach me how to love as You love,

To reach past my own sense of right and just

To find forgiveness, reconciliation, and new life.

Amen

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When God Ran

Almighty God the great I Am

Immovable Rock omnipotent

Powerful awesome Lord

Victorious Warrior

Commanding King of kings mighty Conqueror

And the only time

The only time I ever saw Him run

(Was) when He ran to me

Took me in His arms

Held my head to His chest

Said My son's come home again

Lifted my face

Wiped the tears from my eyes

With forgiveness in His voice

He said son do you know

I still love you

He caught me by surprise

(He brought me to my knees)

When God ran

After I left home I knew I'd broken His heart

I wondered then if things

Would ever be the same but one night

I remembered His love for me

And down that dusty road ahead I could see

It's the only time

The only time I ever saw Him run

I saw Him run to me

And then I ran to Him

I was so ashamed all alone and far away

But now I know He's been waiting for this day

(And then) He ran to me

Took me in His arms

Held my head to His chest

Said My son's come home again

Lifted my face

Wiped the tears from my eyes

With forgiveness in His voice

(I felt His love call me again)

He said son He said son

My son do you know I still love you

He ran to me

When God ran

Benny Hester | John Parenti

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