Groan or Glory?

It’s Monday! Does that make you groan, a reminder that you have to get back to work?  The grind can wear us down. The situation and/or people where we do our work can be difficult. But, (Ah you knew that was coming, didn’t you?) we who know Christ and who are filled with His Spirit are enabled, by Him, to embrace all of life with enthusiasm. Yesterday was Pentecost Sunday, the day that Christians remember the birth of the Church and the Spirit’s arrival on those first Believers in Jerusalem.  Jesus had instructed them to wait … prayerfully. "When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them. " (Acts 2:1-4, The Message)  What glory! Those people went out from the Upper Room and turned the world upside down in a single generation. Can this be our experience, too?

Pentecost was just not for then. We, too, are people who are filled with the Spirit, Who makes genuine enthusiasm for life possible!  Interestingly, the word ‘enthusiasm’ is transliterated from the koine Greek - ‘enthousiazein’ meaning “filled with God, to have God within!”  People full of passion, who created joy in the world where they lived, were said to be full of God!   Christian, that is not a metaphor. We are filled with God’s Spirit. He lives in us. He can change our drab lives into a thing of beauty. He can take our disappointments and give us hope. He meets us in our struggles and prepares a way for us to overcome. He enables us to respond to those who wrong us with divine love and profound forgiveness. Yes, He makes us people who are enthusiastic about life.

Enthusiasm is not just an attitude, it is an overflow.

Enthusiastic people invest effort doing what they do like nobody else could do it. Spirit-filled people share in God's creative power, His joy in what He created, and He becomes the model for the way to live – as they breathe in His presence.  "Come on, Jerry" some of you are thinking.  "Get real.  If I did that where I work, people would think I'd lost my mind.  My job is grind.  I am unappreciated.  I am invisible." There is no denying that misery abounds in our world where sin frustrates, where selfishness hinders.  But, our experience is not just sunny attitudes and naïve optimism. We can be full of God’s Holy Spirit, people made new and different – inside out.

Let’s make this practical. Instead of dragging yourself out of bed, pouring a cup of coffee down your throat, and grumbling your way to work; change your pattern. First thing, turn your heart and mind to the Lord. Invite Him to do His work in you.  Get up earlier than your kids to find 15 minutes of quiet with Him. Carve an extra 15 minutes of time with the Lord before you walk into the shop or office. When frustration mounts in traffic or that most irritating person shows up at your side again, silently thank God that He is with you right in that moment. And yes, instead of leaving the house with the drone of daily “news” in your ears, focus on being ‘full of God,’ enthused!  We honor the Lord when we do what we do without complaint, with joy, to the best of our abilities - as though we are working directly for Jesus Christ Himself. (which we are, by the way)  

I propose an experiment...  

Try to live in this way consistently for the next couple of weeks.  

Pray all the way to work - for a Spirit-filled heart and mind,

for an attitude of joy, for creativity, for humility that says,

"I'll do whatever it takes, no matter what others do." 

See what happens as you are enthused - full of God!

Here is the word from the Word -"Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light." (Colossians 1:10-12, NLT)

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Take My Life

(an old hymn, redone by Chris Tomlin.
Make it your prayer today.)

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

Are you a salty Christian?

Recently someone was criticizing the Christian Church as a waste of resources, serving no visible purpose.  The observation made me think about our mission in this world. The church doesn’t always get it right, sometimes does lose her way when flawed human beings forget God. But, it isn’t all that difficult to imagine what kind of world it would be without the persistent influence for good that comes from people and places that are committed to the love of the Lord.  Evil is always lurking and where it is without restraint, terrible suffering follows.

Jesus described the functional nature of His church this way:  “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." (Matthew 5:13-15, NIV) In the ancient world salt was a critical preservative ingredient for food supplies. Just a little salt prevented decay. In the dark of night, even a tiny light makes a big difference.

Christ’s church ‘salts’ the world with love that pushes back hatred, with pursuit of justice that defends the weak, with hope that replaces despair! Do Christians do those things perfectly? I wish! Churches get corrupt, Christians lose their ‘saltiness.’  And yet, even with the awful chapters of Christian history (about which we must be honest), we simply cannot imagine what the world would be apart from the message of Jesus.

Want to be a salty Christian? 

• Be a person of prayer, regularly tuning your heart to the voice of the Spirit, lifting your vision to eternal perspectives. 
• Be a person of wisdom, drawing on the Spirit to demonstrate a life of principle, being able to offer solid counsel.
• Be a person of compassion who sees need and liberally offers support to those who fall on hard times.
• Be a hopeful person, who knows that this life is short, but whose true life is anchored in the salvation of Christ Jesus.

Pray that there will be such a measurable influence, such a quality of life in you, that others will say ‘thank God’ when they think of you. I believe that is Jesus meant when He says, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden… let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." (Matthew 5:14,16, NLT)

If we are filled with the Spirit, overflowing with ‘living water’ we won’t have to announce our good works or demand recognition in order to have the influence God desires. We will be content to do the work He’s called us to do; quietly, persistently, and effectively.

Here’s a word from the Word. God help us to receive it, believe it, and live it.
" In light of all this, here’s what I want you to do. … I want you to get out there and walk—better yet, run!—on the road God called you to travel. I don’t want any of you sitting around on your hands. I don’t want anyone strolling off, down some path that goes nowhere." (Ephesians 4:1, The Message) "I insist—and God backs me up on this—that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd." (Ephesians 4:17, The Message) "Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside." (Ephesians 4:22-23, The Message) "Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents." (Ephesians 5:1, The Message)

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Unstoppable God
(He is! And He empowers you.)

Heaven thundered

And the world was born

Life begins and ends

In the dust You formed

Faith commanded

And the mountains moved

Fear is losing ground

To our hope in You

Unstoppable God

Let Your glory go on and on

Impossible things

In Your name they shall be done (oh)

Freedom conquered

All our chains undone

Sin defeated

Jesus has overcome

Mercy triumphed

When the third day dawned

Darkness was denied

When the stone was gone

Nothing shall be impossible

Your kingdom reigns unstoppable

We'll shout Your praise forevermore

Jesus our God unstoppable

Chris Brown | Steven Furtick | Wade Joye

© 2014 Be Essential Songs (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

Elevation Worship Publishing (Admin. by Essential Music Publishing LLC)

CCLI License # 810055

Do your words mean much?

Yesterday I signed an agreement, a contract. My name, a scribble a line on a pieice of paper, indicates a promise, representing my intentions. Barring catastrophe, I will keep my word! Doing what I say, when I say I will do it, to the best of my ability is a strong value for me.  Doing an on-time job, with excellence, is admirable in my eyes!

God seeks faithfulness in us. He is not much impressed with pious words that are not backed up by real obedience. Jesus told a story about two sons to help us to understand this.  “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go. Which of the two was obeying his father?” They replied, “The first, of course.” Then Jesus explained his meaning: “I assure you, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do." (Matthew 21:28-31, NLT)    

It’s a strange sort of story, isn’t it? One son appears the rebel, but he repents and reveals a heart tender towards his father. The other looks like the good son but his heart is corrupt, full of self-will!

Friend, do your Monday actions match your Sunday songs?  
Do you sometimes wrestle with the Lord’s will but yield to Him to do what He asks?

The richest experience of the Spirit is found when surrender Self, prioritizing the call of God to do what He asks – when it is convenient and when it is costly, when we feel like and when we don’t, when it is exciting and when it is ‘just the right thing to do.’   Don’t be surprised by the fact that sometimes prayer, scripture intake, and service are not all that thrilling. Real life has many days when we do what needs to be done regardless of how we feel in the moment. 

Chasing novel spiritual experiences will make us basically worthless to the Kingdom of God!  Jesus’ words at the end of that story are shocking. He says that the most flagrant sinners whose hearts turn to God in true repentance discover the rewards of the Kingdom!

I want to be clear about something.  Faithfulness in service is not the same as trying to earn our salvation by good works! We are saved by the grace of God, shown in Christ Jesus. But, our grace awakening will have observable consequence in life that goes beyond saying “I’m saved.” We are restored to our Father, learn to delight in what He desires, and surrender our hands and heart to His service.

Here is a word from the Word. “Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance—isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’ " (Matthew 7:21-23, The Message)

_________

Abba, help me to align my rhetoric with my actions.

Reveal hypocrisy to me, places where I say things I do not do,

Situations where I make promises I do not keep.

Give me a long view of life that reaches to eternity,

A willingness to wait for the rewards of faithfulness promised.

May I find real joy in knowing that I am living in obedience,

Quietly persisting in service, without seeking applause.

I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen