It hurts!

Since Monday morning at 10 am, every move has involved discomfort. I lifted a small thing and somehow injured my lower back, making every move painful, causing me to think about how to best accomplish the smallest tasks. That pain has raised my awareness of the ordinary – like tying my shoes, picking up something on the floor!  Even more significantly, that small injury renewed my appreciation of being in a network of friends, a clear reminder that I am not self-sufficient.

The problem of pain is an old question in the world. “Why does God allow suffering? What purpose does pain serve?” At least part of the answer is that it is one of His ways to call us to pursue Him, to invite us to participate with Him in eternal work in this world. C. S. Lewis wrote that “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

When I am well-fed, healthy, and at peace in my world I can easily go day after day in a self-satisfied state. The troubles of others can slip out of view, the need to engage in worship become secondary to living the good life. Who needs God when the sun shines, life is rich, the kids are healthy, our marriage is happy, and our job secure? Jesus told a story about a successful man, who found himself with a good harvest. That man forgot the source of his blessings. He said to himself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”

This is the paradox of a blessed life. God loves to bless. He has created a world for us that is filled with good things, with beauty and abundance. As we enjoy those things, the common path is to forget Him, to grow selfish, to allow greed to possess us – and in the process to destroy the very blessings we could enjoy because we have forgotten the God who gave them to us in the first place.

Moses, the leader of the people of God, warned of the sin of self-sufficiency and pride. In a long song in Deuteronomy 32-32, there are these lines:
"But Israel soon became fat and unruly;
the people grew heavy, plump, and stuffed!
Then they abandoned the God who had made them;
they made light of the Rock of their salvation." (Deuteronomy 32:15, NLT)

Yes, pain is one of the tools God uses to shape us into His glory. His own Son, Jesus completed the work of saving the world with suffering. "In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering." (Hebrews 2:10, NIV)  Could we lose our desire for ignorant bliss long enough to consider that God loves us in such a way that He is willing to allow pain in our lives to turn our attention to greater things that we might leave behind our animal existence, pre-occupied with food, sleep, trinkets, and sex, and become His true children, creations on course for our heavenly home?

We might like to think ourselves noble enough that pain serves no purpose other than to make us miserable but in that we are deluded. Suffering can be purposeful, lifting us higher. If we are unwilling to experience it, we will pass through life without deeply engaging with our spouse, with fellow Christians, with true service. Why? Because to deeply engage will bring surely to some difficulty. To care, to love, is to create the possibility of disappointment and pain, which then challenges us to care even more, like our Father in heaven who loved us ‘while we were still sinners.’

Yes, it hurts! Faith can lead us to use the pain, instead of allowing it to make us bitter or cynical. Will you trust Him, hold onto Him when it seems too much?

Here is a word from the Word. May the Spirit give us eyes to see beyond today.
"All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.

So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God’s comfort." (2 Corinthians 1:3-7, NLT)

_________

Abba, form Your life in me.

If you must allow pain to chisel away the

Sinfulness and selfishness, then help my faith

to survive the trials.

Help me to long for You more than my own comfort,

to be willing to engage with the world in which I live

even at the expense of knowing pain, sharing the grief.

Jesus, the mystery of suffering is hard.

Whisper to the depths of my heart about how I am being

‘perfected’ through it, for God’s glory.

Amen.

For Real

A friend referred to Facebook™ as Fakebook. Her remark makes me smile because I know that by carefully posting select images and edited remarks, we can create an image about ourselves that bears little resemblance to reality. Not everyone does it, but the temptation is surely there to create an ‘enhanced’ *(fake) image. With our smartphones we can even digitally alter our pictures to make ourselves look better. Sometimes that is quite harmless but it can become an awful trap, a way to live a lie!

There are people who make their living as Image Coaches. They teach people how to project a public image that leads to better jobs, etc. There is nothing wrong with learning improved social skills, being coached to change habits that hinder our interactions with others. It is a tragic endeavor if a person only works on the outside appearance without dealing with core issues! For some, life is like a movie set.  Consciously, even unconsciously, they adopt whatever role they feel is necessary at a particular moment of life. The reality of their life matters little as long as they know the script written for them by others.  

Christian, don’t play that game!
Commit to living AUTHENTICALLY. Why?

God asks His people to be people of integrity. If we choose to appear to be somebody that we are not, we lie! Lying offends God and is terribly destructive. Perpetuating even a little bit of fraud requires increasing effort and more fraud, creating dishonesty that grows with a snowball effect.

Understand that at the root of image-building is an ancient sin - pride. If we go through the day constantly posing and preening like a little girl playing dress up in front of Mommy's mirror, we will be blind to those around us. We will not listen well. We will not be present and attentive.  

The truth will eventually emerge. We cannot conceal our real selves forever. Better to have been real all along, don't you think? Jesus said that the mouth is the overflow of the heart. Filter it, suppress it, but unless we change from the inside out, eventually we will be shown for who we really are.

Authentic Christians allow the Spirit of God to be in charge, dying to Self, so that ego cannot press them to serve an image. The Word tells us to "...serve each other in humility”, for “God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble.” (1 Peter 5:5, NLT)

On the night before His crucifixion Jesus’ disciples posing and striving for first place in their little group. Full of themselves and in love with their images of self-importance, none of them would serve, so Jesus got up from the Passover meal and took up the servant's towel and basin. He made His way from man to man, washing their filthy feet, in the custom of the hospitable household at that time.

His choice to take the place of the lowest, though He was the Greatest, shocked and offended those men. Peter protested, "You will never wash my feet!" But Jesus did. "After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because it is true. And since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you." (John 13:12-15, NLT) While some believers have turned that into a time of ritual foot washing in their gatherings, I believe that Jesus was inviting to us to something much more important - serving each other without considering whether such service is in keeping with our image!

There is a wonderful healing truth for our world of superficiality and image. It is the assurance that God loves us, not for what we have done or how attractive we may be; He loves us because we are! He knows exactly who you are, what you've done, how you think - and loves the real you.  He does desire change and promises the Spirit to transform but He loves us right where we are.

He can work through people who are real. If we are willing to pretend, pose, to live dishonestly, we sabotage the inner work of the Spirit that leads us to Truth. He can forgive our sins, heal our hurts, and give us spiritual gifts that overcome our innate weaknesses. He will maximize our strengths. But, first we must choose to be 'honest to God' real; not an easy task, nor a once and done choice. Authenticity flows out of daily surrender to the Spirit of God.

Here is a word from the Word today. James is clear. Let’s listen to his inspired wisdom. "Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget." (James 1:21-25, CEV)

_________

Who You Say I Am

Who am I that the highest King

Would welcome me

I was lost but He brought me in

Oh His love for me

Oh His love for me

Who the Son sets free

Oh is free indeed

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

Free at last

He has ransomed me

His grace runs deep

While I was a slave to sin

Jesus died for me

Yes He died for me

In my Father's house

There's a place for me

I'm a child of God

Yes I am

I am chosen not forsaken

I am who You say I am

You are for me not against me

I am who You say I am

 (Oh) (Yes) I am who You say I am

Ben Fielding | Reuben Morgan

© 2017 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Heartless?

“How could you say that I don’t love her, Pastor? I go to work, maintain a home for us, and come home every night.”  I knew that the marriage was troubled, not by infidelity, not by abuse, not by misuse of alcohol or drugs. It was dying of neglect! They were keeping a house, but failing to build a home, their lives seldom intersecting at any level resembling true intimacy.  Yet, when I suggested to that husband that he was not loving his wife as Christ loves the Church (our model!), he grew indignant. He was completely unable to understand that huge emotional debts were piling up that could collapse his marriage. The ‘heart’ was dying.  Was he ignorant about or indifferent to the pending calamity in his marriage? That I could not say.

Do you love Jesus well?  It’s not a silly question. Did you know it is possible to be living a moral life, giving regularly to your church, showing up in the church building a couple of times each month and yet know next to nothing of a deeply devout, truly intimate love of Christ Jesus?

Jesus spoke to a church that was doing the right things but lacking heart. His words, which I read this morning, left me in tears. Read them thoughtfully. “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth! You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. 

Then you will be rich. And also buy white garments so you will not be shamed by your nakedness. And buy ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I am the one who corrects and disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference. “Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends." (Revelation 3:15-20, NLT)

What He asks of us is not emotionalism, nor is it attempting to stir up some type of attachment to the things of the Lord. True love is expressed by a focus on the beloved, a choice to prioritize the relationship and to stay engaged with the other person. Feelings of intense connection will sometimes be stronger due to the many factors that effect our emotional state. Genuine love rises above the emotions, enjoying them when they are strong, but remaining steady through all of the up’s and down’s.

Do you ‘walk with Christ Jesus’ each day, inviting Him, through the Spirit, to be part of your thoughts, guiding your choices? Do you pause at regular intervals to listen and wait? Do you make His interests your interests? Do you share your needs and joys, petitioning and praising?

Our Christianity is meant to be so much more than a few words of devotion spoken during a Sunday morning gathering. He desires to be our Friend and our Lord, in addition to being our Savior for eternal life.

In John’s Gospel, there is a record of Jesus’ long conversation with His disciples at the Last Supper. In that talk He tells them that He is their Friend and reminds them that true friendship goes beyond being a buddy for some shared hobby. He asks for loyalty and obedience.  By those measures, can you call yourself a friend of Jesus?  The rewards that comes from building that kind of resilient relationship are many – peace, strength, hope, joy, faith – to name a few. There is a quality of life that moves a person beyond living for the next dinner, for some pleasure, from treating others as mere objects to be used for our own purposes.  Yes, our Friend makes us nobler people to show off His glory through us.

Take this word from the Word to heart today. Consider the way that you are using time given you, the resources God has placed in your hands, the things to which you are giving your heart … and then, choose Jesus! “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." (John 15:9-16, NIV)

_____________

What A Friend We Have In Jesus (Converse)

(The hymn by Jason Crabb)

What a friend we have in Jesus

All our sins and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer

O what peace we often forfeit

O what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations

Is there trouble anywhere

We should never be discouraged

Take it to the Lord in prayer

Can we find a friend so faithful

Who will all our sorrows share

Jesus knows our every weakness

Take it to the Lord in prayer

Are we weak and heavy laden

Cumbered with a load of care

Precious Savior still our refuge

Take it to the Lord in prayer

Do thy friends despise forsake thee

Take it to the Lord in prayer

In His arms He'll take and shield thee

Thou wilt find a solace there

Charles Crozat Converse
© Words: Public Domain

Delighted in you

Gio’s birthday was yesterday. He met me, with a shy smile, on the steps of his home, and his first question was “Pop, can I open my present now?” He saw a gift in his grandfather’s hand and, yes, like any little child, he wanted to know what surprise was in store for him. I was there to celebrate his 5^th birthday! No need to be indirect, to pretend indifference. It was my delight to hand him the package. He made it just inside the door, flopped to the floor, and smiled broadly when he saw what I had brought for him. Most likely I found more joy in the giving than Gio did in the receiving. Such is the nature of being a grandparent.

Our Father in Heaven delights in our asking and in the giving infinitely more than this grandfather delights in giving to his grandson.

Jesus, when speaking about our relationship with God, said “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matthew 7:9-11, NIV)  Just prior to those words, as He taught about prayer, Jesus instructed - “Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This isn’t a cat-and-mouse, hide-and-seek game we’re in." (Matthew 7:7-8, The Message)

When we are child-like (not childish!) in our relationship with God, we will come to Him with an open heart, eager to receive, quick to ask, and ready to trust. God doesn’t need to be convinced to love you. He is love and has prepared good gifts for this day. He is wise enough to know exactly what we need, when we need it.  Will we believe that and live in the assurance that comes from that kind of uncomplicated faith?

Need wisdom today? Ask Him.

Need strength to overcome temptation? Ask Him.

Need resources to meet some demands facing you this week? Ask Him.

Need help dealing with grief or pain? Ask Him.

Need courage? Ask Him.

Don’t get tangled up in the words or start to focus on whether or not you are worthy. Just open your heart and learn to talk with Him- presenting petitions, waiting in silent meditation, offering worship for Who He is, praising Him for life and breath. If you become aware of areas that are ungodly; someone you treated poorly, selfishness, preoccupation with getting over getting, a refusal to forgive … don’t make the mistake of hiding from Him, or keeping your requests for a day when you ‘feel’ that you are more deserving.  We never deserve anything from God but we always can receive all things from Him because He gives gifts, not rewards for good behavior.  Oh yes, there is a time for confession that is without excuse, acknowledgement of our sins and failures and a humble heart will never be met with a slap or a rejection. He loves to forgive, make us right, and give us help to be better.

So, this Monday morning, start the week by talking it over with your Abba! Here is a word from the Word. Be encouraged today.
"God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! " (Romans 8:14-17, The Message)

_____________

Good, Good Father

(Casting Crowns sings a great song about God’s love)

I've heard a thousand stories

Of what they think You’re like

But I've heard the tender whisper

Of love in the dead of night

You tell me that You’re pleased

And that I'm never alone

You're a Good Good Father

It's who You are

It's who You are

It's who You are

And I'm loved by You

It's who I am

It's who I am

It's who I am

I've seen many searching for answers

Far and wide

But I know we're all searching for answers

Only You provide

Because You know just what we need

Before we say a word

You are perfect in all of Your ways

You are perfect in all of Your ways

You are perfect in all of Your ways to us

Love so undeniable I can hardly speak

Peace so unexplainable I can hardly think

As You call me deeper still

As You call me deeper still

As You call me deeper still

Into love love love

Anthony Brown | Pat Barrett

© 2014 Capitol CMG Paragon (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Common Hymnal Publishing (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Housefires Sounds (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055