Selfless

 

I like me and I’m quite sure you like you! The natural human way is to “Watch out for #1.”  Somebody gave me a paper that bears the heading “Dying to Self.”  A magnet holds it in place on the front of my refrigerator where the words on it challenge me.  Among other things it says:

• “When your advice is disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, and take it all in loving silence – that is dying to Self.”
• “When you never itch for praise after an accomplishment, when you can truly love to be unknown … that is dying to Self.”  

Tough words, aren’t they?

Here is one way that Jesus expresses a selfless life.  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." (Matthew 5:38-43, NIV)   As I read those words there is a part of me that responds by saying, “How sweetly impractical. Nobody can live that way.”  And, in saying that I sin because I am rejecting the wisdom of God!

So, how can we become selfless?

The key is to know Christ, not just as Teacher or Guide, but as Life!

Inspired by the Spirit, Paul reminds us (Christians!) that we cannot allow ourselves to keep living as those who do not know God "in the futility of their thinking.” (Ephesians 4:17-18, NIV)  So much of ‘conventional wisdom’ is formed by minds that leave God out of the picture.  Attempting to understand life and meaning without knowing that we are made to know, love, and serve God will lead us into chaos and confusion, spending our time and resources on trying to build a life that has no lasting foundation, feeling ever more hopeless. The cry of the person without hope in Christ is an echo of Solomon’s moan – “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!”  If we believe we are alone in the universe, left to care for ourselves, we will find Jesus’ words naïve, a path to misery.

When we are converted and the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us, we begin to understand that we are invited to be a part of God’s plan for the world.  He creates a desire in us to be used by God. When we pray “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done,” we mean it.  Our daily choices, our use of our money, our career, the way we interact with family and friend, grows out of the knowledge that we are “created in Christ Jesus for good works.” (Eph 2:10).  The person who knows his purpose understands selflessness. 

When a young person goes to see the recruiter for the military, he may have many reasons. Perhaps he’s looking for a job, or likes the idea of wearing the uniform, or thinks that he will find admiration of others. In boot camp he finds out that soldiering means being part of a unit, developing skills, and learning to take orders. The more elite the unit he joins the less of himself is allowed to exist. He learns to ‘die to self’ to that he can function effectively in the unit – learning to march, wearing a uniform.

The life of Selflessness that Jesus described allows His Light to shine through us.
“I” no longer hides “Him.” 

We cannot live as He asks purely by discipline or will. We must be changed from the inside out, loving Him so much that our devotion eclipses the impulse to protect self-interest. Jesus described the “dying to self”  in another place this way – “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24)  It not all pain, certainly not all loss. Selflessness lets us find a whole new kind of joy - “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it!” (Matthew 16:25)  Selflessness makes us fruitful, but with a cost.  Again, Jesus’ words - “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24)

What is your vision, the reason you live? Is it to carve out a niche of comfort for yourself? Is it to gain security, to achieve admiration?  Or, do you live to love God? Jesus’ words that ask us to lower our self-defenses and to let Him shine are costly, but the reward is rich.

Here is a word from the Word. Spend a few moments prayerfully thinking about this passage, with the prayer that the Spirit will make this ‘living truth.’
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me.
The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20, NIV)

_________________

Take My Life

(Chris Tomlin redoes the hymn and makes a beautiful prayer)

Take my life and let it be consecrated
Lord to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise

Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee 

Take my voice and let me sing
Always only for my King
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee

Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withhold
Take my intellect and use
Ev'ry power as You choose

Here am I all of me
Take my life it's all for Thee 

Take my will and make it Thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own
It shall be Thy royal throne
Take my love my Lord I pour
At Your feet its treasure store
Take myself and I will be
Ever only all for Thee

Chris Tomlin | Frances Ridley Havergal | Henri Abraham Cesar Malan | Louie Giglio

© 2003 sixsteps Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

worshiptogether.com songs (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)  CCLI License # 810055

Emotional Debt

 

Consumer debt is a tricky thing. Credit cards allow us to buy things we want today using tomorrow’s money; which not a great idea generally! Often the interest rate is high. Too many people get themselves buried in debt when they cannot pay anything but the minimum amount due. The interest continues to accumulate, compounding negatively.

Emotional debts can be like that, too. When we drag around old resentments, if we try to borrow tomorrow’s joy, we can find ourselves buried in emotional debt, a captive of unwise relational choices.

Jesus shows us a better way. In the Sermon on the Mount, we read these tough words that ask us to trust God to help us to make difficult decisions.  “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny." (Matthew 5:21-26, NIV)

The Lord reminds us that keeping our emotional accounts settled up is a critically important choice. We cannot justify our hate, our resentment, our bitterness towards others by saying, “Well, I didn’t kill them; even though I wish I could!”  He tells us that allowing ourselves to think of others with contempt is emotionally corrosive and drags us from God’s Holy Presence.

I can hear the objections that you are starting to raise. 
“But, Jerry, you don’t know that idiot I married; the pain he brought into my life.” I don’t but I’m sorry, truly.
Or worse, “Jerry, you don’t know how it feels to be the victim of a sexual predator.” I don’t and my heart breaks for that person who carries such a wound. 
“Jerry, you never met my boss. She never lets up on the criticism, making my life miserable.”  I feel for you, too, really!   

Carrying on life while hating that person who hurt you, refusing to let the debt go, makes the pain constant.

Jesus says that we, God’s children, can make a different choice - to forgive.  When we come to worship and memory of that old enemy comes to mind, He says, “Deal with it. Don’t put it off.”  We have the ability to choose in the matter of forgiveness. Our decision to forgive others not only gets us out of emotional debt, it also pleases God. Jesus taught us that “In prayer there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God, for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part." (Matthew 6:14-15, The Message)

Let me be clear. Forgiveness is not minimizing our pain, pretending that what happened to us does not matter, or trying to just ‘forget it.’  When Christians forgive, they release the debt of another to God, trusting His justice.

What does that kind of forgiveness look like?

It is modeled on God’s forgiveness!
God actively pursued sinful humanity. He entered the world, Jesus, God in flesh, to save the world from sin. Love was His sole motive. We forgive for love’s sake, actively letting offense go, and, where possible, pursuing reconciliation.

Forgiveness is not the same as reconciliation.
To live in peace with God we receive forgiveness and grace that leads to genuine repentance.  That allows us to be reconciled to our Father in Heaven, loving Him, knowing Him, living close to Him. Sometimes those we forgive do not change their ways, refuse to respond to our offer of grace. In that situation we need not feel guilty. Forgiveness is an individual's choice. Reconciliation requires active participation of both the offended and the offender.

Forgiveness cannot be conditional. 
Christians sometimes attempt a kind of half-forgiveness. “I’ll just ignore the offender. I won’t try to punish them but I’ll put them on probation.”  God does not put us on spiritual probation just watching for us to slip up again. The Scripture says that “He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  True forgiveness does not hold onto the debt or sabotage relationships.

Forgiveness is a process, not an event.
Forgiveness is an individual choice to give our hurt, our sense of debt, to God and trust Him for perfect justice! In that choice, we release the other person discover freedom from our anger. It is possible that we will feel the old hurt again, that the resentment will creep back into our mind. If it does, we forgive again… and again … in Jesus’ words “70x7!”

Are you buried in emotional debt? Do you find your joy sabotaged by resentment towards another, your ability to form loving relationships with people hindered by memories of past hurts?  Are you feuding with someone, offended by another's actions, dealing with anxiety over an unresolved dispute?   

Jesus says that the Spirit in us makes a new way possible – the way of forgiveness. It’s not easy, nor is it a ‘once and done’ moment. In the struggle to forgive you may find yourself praying in tears, asking the Holy Spirit to soften your heart. Tell Him how you feel, what you feel, why you think you're feeling that way.  Choose the path of discipleship, the Jesus Way, and "bless those who curse you!"   When you give the debt you carry to Him, a new sweetness of spirit will grow in you.  You will be free to be loving like our Father in Heaven.

Here's a word from the Word to ponder today.  It’s a story Jesus told about being forgiven and becoming one who forgives.  "Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” “No!” Jesus replied, “seventy times seven!" “For this reason, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. He couldn’t pay, so the king ordered that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. But the man fell down before the king and begged him, ‘Oh, sir, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’ Then the king was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient and I will pay it,’ he pleaded. But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt could be paid in full. “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him what had happened. Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny. “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters in your heart.”
(Matthew 18:21-35, NLT)

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O Love That Will Not Let Me Go

(This hymn is one of profound faith that makes forgiveness possible.)

 

O love that will not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee.

I give Thee back the life I owe,

That in Thine ocean depths its flow,

May richer fuller be.

 

O Light that followest all my way

I yield my flickering torch to Thee

My heart restores its borrowed ray

That in Thy sunshine's blaze its day

May brighter fairer be

 

O joy that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to Thee.

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain,

That morn shall tearless be.

 

O cross that lifted up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from Thee.

I lay in dust life's glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red,

Life that shall endless be.

 

Matheson, George / Peace, Albert Lister

© Public Domain

Are you beautifully whole?

 

Think about your life and the people who have helped to make you who you are. Some taught you formal lessons as your teachers. Perhaps it was someone you never knew except through the pages of a book or a podcast. Others influence through proximity. They are ‘around us’ and their ideas and values subtly transfer into our lives. I reminded my kids when they were growing up that the people with whom they chose to ‘hang out’ would have an influence on them. Your friends do, too, regardless of your age!

Jesus speaks to our influence in the world using two easily understood metaphors. The words are in His Sermon on the Mount. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:13-16, NIV)

Salt, for us, is mainly a flavoring in our food. The right amount makes that bowl of soup delicious. In Jesus’ day, salt was incredibly valuable. Having no refrigeration, salt was a primary preservative for their food. We best understand His word to us about our influence from that perspective. Christians are not just a bit of pleasant flavor in the world, they are the preservative influence, the people through whom the Spirit pushes back hatred, restraining evil. The role is not just a passive one, it is a robust calling that engages with the rot of sin.  Are you a person God can use to make a measurable difference in your world?

Light does so much more than dispel the darkness. I am glad that I can flip a switch and walk through a once darkened room, now lit up, without falling over the furniture. I am glad that the floodlight on the side of my house lets me come home in the dark of night and see if the local bear or skunk is hanging around my garage! I would not want to stumble into a close encounter with either of those creatures. But, light does more. Light brings out beauty! Think of the sun’s rays shining through the atmosphere at sunset. The colors created by the refracted light are a delight. So, too, Christian, as God, the Holy Spirit, fills us with light we shine into the world and bring beauty. Do you?  Are you cognizant of His presence and shining in a way that causes others to ‘see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven?’

A frequent phrase in my prayer, both public and private, is “Lord, by your Spirit working in me, help me to make a measurable influence in my world.”  My desire is to defeat the rot and reveal the beauty of life! The answer to that prayer requires that I choose to be involved, that I use my head and hands to serve others.  Sometimes that is accomplished with concern.  Note the weary or worn and offer a word of encouragement. Take time to speak with that person who spends life largely in the shadows. Are those life-changing choices?  Maybe not, but they are ‘salt and light’ choices. When you can wisely engage someone who is living a lie, chasing the wrong dream, or ignoring God by sharing the truth, in love, you are being salt and light.  Honestly, I’ll admit that life is simpler if I choose to remain ignorant of need, if I hide my eyes from suffering, if I choose not to see sin around me; but my Lord demands that I care.  

No matter how wise and gentle we are, as Christians, we must expect a reaction when we are genuinely practicing our faith. Jesus, who was Love Incarnate, provoked reactions ranging from adoration of a woman who washed His feet with her tears to hatred of Pharisees who plotted His death. Salt brings out the flavor of the soup and it stings when used to cleanse a wound. Light shows the way through the dark and it reveals hidden sins.  

So, are you having a measurable influence on your world?

When you’re around do people feel the love, see the light, and react?

Some will love you, some will hate you. That’s as it will be. Jesus was clear about this. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first." (John 15:18, NIV)

The word from the Word is that same text quoted before, this time from The Message, a contemporary paraphrase of the Gospel.  Jesus says, “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage. “Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:13-15, The Message)

Let’s make a measurable difference in our world for Christ – with consistently loving, holy lives, full of God’s beauty!

_____________________

 

Holy Spirit

 

There's nothing worth more that will ever come close

No thing can compare You're our living hope

Your Presence

 

I've tasted and seen of the sweetest of loves

Where my heart becomes free and my shame is undone

In Your Presence Lord

 

Holy Spirit You are welcome here

Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere

Your glory God is what our hearts long for

To be overcome by Your Presence Lord

 

Your Presence Lord

Your Presence Lord

Your Presence

Oh God how we love Your Presence Lord

 

Let us become more aware of Your Presence

Let us experience the glory of Your goodness (Lord)

 

Bryan and Katie Torwalt

© 2011 Capitol CMG Genesis (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

Jesus Culture Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055

Yahweh Shalom

 

The reality of the ‘next step’ settled on me yesterday.  In December, 2019, I began the process of preparing the church which I have served for 21 years for my stepping aside from the pulpit. Yesterday, the congregation elected  a man to that position who will begin his service, on September 1^st.  There is ample evidence that God has worked in amazingly wonderful ways over the intervening 18 months – with many participating in this process behind the scenes.  

 But, change is difficult for most of us, not the least for me, so I as the moment of decision approached I internalized anxiety. Until … I finally released the church and my future to Him anew.  I felt the whisper of the Spirit - "Let the peace of Christ rule your heart... live in peace... be thankful!" (Colossians 3;15) Don't you love it when God hands you a prescription for spiritual health? He invited me to receive His peace. I did, again. Before I left the church building my new Pastor prayed for me. I went home from the meeting, restful in heart, and fell into a deep and peaceful sleep. 

Peace can be an elusive quality of life. Pressure, problems, change, people, and challenges can give us knotted muscles, sleepless nights, and restless hearts. If we believe, as many do that peace is circumstantial- only found if we are able to change situation.  God promises that for the faithful there is a “which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.”  (Philippians 4:7) Will you choose to live in His promise?

The ancient Israelis named God in many ways. One was Yahweh Shalom - "the LORD is peace." Raiders from the neighboring country of Midian overpowered them driving them into the hills where they hid in caves. Desperation was everywhere! Gideon, who was a farmer, needed to feed his family in spite of the raids and attacks in Israel. So he ventured from the caves, down to the fields. Judges 6 tells that he was hiding out near a winepress, threshing grain, fearing for his life. Suddenly he felt aware of a Presence and heard a voice! "The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, "Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!" (Judges 6:12 NLT)

Gideon was anything but a mighty hero. He was desperately trying to avoid detection at that very moment. He asks "Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family." (Judges 6:15, NIV) He goes further and questions God's messenger about the desperate times that his people are experiencing. But, when he saw the evidence of God's power and received the promise of God with faith, Gideon's heart changed. "Ah, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" But the LORD said to him, "Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die." So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD is Peace. (Yahweh Shalom)" {Judges 6:22-24 NIV} That Hebrew word, shalom, is a rich one that speaks to a state of wholeness, serenity, and satisfaction.

Shalom is possible in any situation, IF we will choose, by faith, to live in the Presence of God. His Spirit produces a serenity that allows us to rise above situations that cause others to panic or to fall apart. Life's circumstances will rob us of the peace of God if we forget that He is Lord of all. If we attempt to exert control over situations, if we become a little ‘god’ attempting to impose a 'peace' of my own design, it likely that our frustration will deepen, our sense that life is beyond meaning will be overwhelmed.

God invites us to come to Him.  There we re-center our soul, waiting in quiet prayer.  He says “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:10, NIV)  We can, without words, let Him take charge, and find renewed peace.  My experience has taught me that even when the “situation” remains exactly the same, I am changed.

God does not ask us to detach ourselves from reality or that we live in foolish denial of reality. He sends us into this world as His people who are fully engaged with life. Our mission is to create beauty, to be bearers of His healing to the broken, and to resist evil wherever it brings death.  Though the task can exhaust us, we can live in peace! "Endure hardship like a good soldier," Paul says.  That endurance is not a stubborn refusal to retreat!  We endure because the Spirit lives in us, His strength steadies us, His voice speaks and quiets our fear.

Restless? Troubled? Uncertain?  That’s quite human. Take the invitation of Jesus and find a place to retreat into the Presence of God.
Meditate on His Word, commit yourself and your circumstances to Him.
Invite the Spirit to use you as a agent of the Kingdom of Heaven wherever life takes you throughout this day.

When you find yourself tensing up, feeling the pressure, breathe a prayer for peace—"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7 (NIV)

The word from the Word is my prayer for us as we begin a new week; one focused on Him.
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
(Ephesians 3:16-21, NIV)

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Wonderful Peace

Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Rolls a melody sweeter than psalm
In celestial-like strains it unceasingly falls
O'er my soul like an infinite calm

 

Peace peace wonderful peace
Coming down from the Father above
Sweep over my spirit forever I pray
In fathomless billows of love

 

What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace
Buried deep in the heart of my soul
So secure that no power can mine it away
While the years of eternity roll

 

Ah soul are you here without comfort and rest
Marching down the rough pathway of time
Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark
O accept this sweet peace so sublime

 

Warren D. Cornell

Public Domain