Yes, I’m thankful

The essay title grabbed my attention - We Live Like Royalty and Don’t Know It.  The writer describes our 21^st century comforts in contrast to the way people lived in America just 200 years ago. Of Thomas Jefferson, he says “despite his wealth and status his home was so cold in winter that the ink in his pen sometimes froze, making it difficult for him to write to complain about the chill. Jefferson was rich and sophisticated, but his life was closer to the lives of people in the Iron Age than it was to ours.”  

We enjoy clean water, abundant food, great health care, longer and healthier lives … a long list of things that result from the growth of knowledge, the increase of wealth, and the construction of amazing systems that deliver most everything we need for living to us. (Let me quickly add that I know millions of people worldwide do NOT enjoy the comfort I know but that is a subject for another day.)

Here is what concerns me. Many of us are unsatisfied, ungrateful, and full of discontent in spite of it all. This is especially an issue for those of us who claim the Name of Christ Jesus, for we enjoy the greatest gift of all – God’s inexhaustible grace and mercy that provides life eternal!

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians begins with this – “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.”  That is more than a flourish of rhetoric. That is a declaration of truth!

Are you thankful, genuinely filled
with overflowing gratitude to God and others
that creates beauty and contentment
in you that spills from you onto others?

There is a place that we can find in God’s love changes us, supernaturally, from the inside out. Greed and envy die in the life of that person who knows the “joy of the Lord” as more than a phrase.

When envy starts to make an appearance, we must choose to begin to offer praise. At first it may a “sacrifice of praise,” but if we thank Him for Who He is, for His faithfulness to us, for the assurance that He provides all that we need for this day; we will find our soul resting in Him.
The Scripture says “I have learned to be content.” Yes, we must train ourselves, by prayer and thankfulness, to receive the provision of God for the day. The sinful nature will cause us to compare and then, largely, to complain.  When we whine about our lack, we cannot sing of our blessings. 

Here's a suggestion. In addition to a ‘prayer list’ how about making a ‘praise list?’ 

Write down things, big and small, for which you are grateful. That will change your perspective and free the Spirit to create a new kind of joy. Few things cause more problems among people than the ancient sin of envy. It masquerades as self-righteousness, criticism, holier-than-thou attitudes; ugly, divisive things that will destroy our peace with God.

Meditate on this word from the Word.
Let God settle your soul in contentment and go bless your world with His love!

"Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness." (1 Timothy 6:6-11, NIV)

Lord, teach us to give thanks – for Jesus, for Your love, for the Hope of eternal life, and for the myriad blessings we enjoy. Amen.
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(Video of this blog at this link)

“I’m a spiritual person.”

A young man and I talked at some length recently about his interest in God. He wondered how it was that I took up the vocation of Christian ministry and stayed with it for 45 years. I told him about my experience of Christ’s calling, about the rewards of sharing hope and life with others especially in times of crisis and assured him that God’s Spirit has a purpose for everyone. I could see his interest and he said, “I’m a spiritual person” and quickly added that “church” was not for him.

He is typical of many who want to know a life that has more depth than simply eating, drinking, and sleeping!  We are created to know and love God!  Blaise Pascal wrote these amazing lines in the 17^th century describing the longing for God. ”What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself”    (Pensees) 

Just being ‘spiritual,’ that is being somewhat aware of things beyond the physical world and attempting to be a ‘better’ human being cannot substitute for seeking to know God and finding Him in Christ, the Holy Scripture, and the Church.

I begin with Christ Jesus because He came, God in flesh, to make the love of our Creator known to us. John’s Gospel tells us that “all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. So the Word (Jesus) became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

We read His story in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and find amazing mercy, great love, and a seed of faith that grows into eternal life!  Trusting Jesus as our Savior is just the beginning.

To go beyond just being ‘spiritual’ we must begin to expand our knowledge of God by the careful reading and study of the Holy Scripture, for in those words which are the words of men who were inspired by the Spirit, we gain a richer understanding of Who God is and what He desires of us.  Paul wrote that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

Many rightly say that they are sometimes confused by the Bible, wondering what some passages mean, how they can interpret the ancient words into meaningful teaching for a 21^st century world.  That brings us to the Church!

The fullest experience of Christianity is not a “Lone Ranger” thing, at all! Many bring our American love of independence and self-sufficiency into their faith and are robbed of the best that God has for us. When we trust Jesus we are called into the Church, sometimes called ‘the Body of Christ.’

Not all local congregations do a good job of being ‘the Church.’ Some are more like a social club, or a community action committee, or a political party. Some have lost sight of the Spirit and practice a coldly formal ritualism that misses out on the vibrant life God desires for us. Some are more business than “Body” directed by authoritarian leaders to accomplish human aims.

The Church is living, a gathering of people who love Jesus and one another. The true model is ‘family’ with every person valued, loved, and contributing to the greater good of the Body. Indeed, this passage makes that very plain. Paul explains that “The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part.”  (1 Corinthians 12)

In a healthy Church we will find sound teaching, encouragement, a place to grow in character, steadiness, true worship, a mission to serve the world, healing for the soul and body, and much more. If we approach our relationship with the body of Christ as a ‘customer,’ seeking satisfaction of our own desires, we will never find God's will. We are called into the Church and commit ourselves to life-long service and love, for Christ’s sake. Sometimes it’s great and sometimes it is awful, but long-term we find a ‘home’ and a place that grounds us for life!

Do not settle for just being ‘spiritual!’  Seek to know God, through Christ Jesus, in the pages of the Holy Scripture, and in the richer, wider Body, the Church.

Here is a word from the Word. I aspire to this life. Do you? “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!  I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”  - Paul (Philippians 3)

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(Video of this blog at this link)