"and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness' - and he was called a friend of God." - James 2:23 ESV
Have you 'ghosted' God or are you called His friend? Interesting. Last night we were talking about arguing with God and the craziness of it but how we can find ourselves in that place and how God is saying:
"Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David." - Isaiah 55:3 KJV
'Come unto Me'... that is our calling... I firmly believe that drawing near to Him because we respond to the clear need to do so is our 'calling'... it isn't what we do professionally or the ministry we feel drawn to... those are callings but this is 'the calling'... if we are angry at someone that isn't easy to do. It requires humility.
That action of moving towards God instead of away is the difference between spiritual life and death. Are our minds alive and moving in hope or are we spiraling into disappointment? Eternal life is linked to believing in Jesus as a 'one-time' thing but living life and living in life is all about drawing near... even when we are offended because we don't think God is being the right kind of friend in our relationship with Him.
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Showing posts with label Friendship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friendship. Show all posts
Friday, January 24, 2020
Friday, June 1, 2018
Aspects Of Divine Friendship
Just thinking about the 'positional' and 'experiential' aspects of divine friendship...
"You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another." - John 15:14-17 ESV
On one side of the coin Jesus 'called them' friends and when God says you are something it becomes reality if it wasn't before.
"And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light." - Genesis 1:3 ESV
Yes. Here we see Jesus say, 'There there be friendship.' and... poof... there was friendship. It wasn't because of their performance. Jesus' communication made it so. What He told them was 'friendship level' communication.
He was their friend but were they His friends? They were if they heeded His words. The Greek word for 'command' in verse 14 is entello (Strong's G1781) which is just 'telos' with a prefix. Telos is a word which signifies bringing something to a conclusion or it's intended purpose.
These commands are not tasks per se. They are 'ah ha' moments when we see the solution to the puzzle and act on it. We put the last jigsaw pieces in place because the structure has become clear. We finally figure out what that word is in the crossword puzzle. We had four out of eight letters but that fifth letter suddenly gave us the clue we needed and the word becomes clear so we write it in with ink and not just pencil.
If you have believed in Jesus God is your friend. He has been a friend to all mankind. He has demonstrated that friendship again and again but sending His Son to live among us and die on a tree for us was the ultimate proof.
For some today may be the first day they return the friendship and actively enter into it by believing in Jesus. Those who have already believed also have a choice. Will we walk with Him in an active knowledge of who He really is and live in 'experiential' friendship with God? Will we walk in the light not caring what it exposes about us because we trust the One we are walking with?
--
"You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another." - John 15:14-17 ESV
On one side of the coin Jesus 'called them' friends and when God says you are something it becomes reality if it wasn't before.
"And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light." - Genesis 1:3 ESV
Yes. Here we see Jesus say, 'There there be friendship.' and... poof... there was friendship. It wasn't because of their performance. Jesus' communication made it so. What He told them was 'friendship level' communication.
He was their friend but were they His friends? They were if they heeded His words. The Greek word for 'command' in verse 14 is entello (Strong's G1781) which is just 'telos' with a prefix. Telos is a word which signifies bringing something to a conclusion or it's intended purpose.
These commands are not tasks per se. They are 'ah ha' moments when we see the solution to the puzzle and act on it. We put the last jigsaw pieces in place because the structure has become clear. We finally figure out what that word is in the crossword puzzle. We had four out of eight letters but that fifth letter suddenly gave us the clue we needed and the word becomes clear so we write it in with ink and not just pencil.
If you have believed in Jesus God is your friend. He has been a friend to all mankind. He has demonstrated that friendship again and again but sending His Son to live among us and die on a tree for us was the ultimate proof.
For some today may be the first day they return the friendship and actively enter into it by believing in Jesus. Those who have already believed also have a choice. Will we walk with Him in an active knowledge of who He really is and live in 'experiential' friendship with God? Will we walk in the light not caring what it exposes about us because we trust the One we are walking with?
--
Wednesday, April 18, 2018
Bonds Formed In The Eye Of The Storm
I have been thinking on and off about 'friendship formation'. We have many acquaintances but strong friendship bonds seem to form more rarely.
The Apostle Paul describes himself and others like him as 'helpers of your joy' (see 2 Corinthians 1:24) and the Greek there is very interesting. The word 'helper' (synergos - Strong's G4904) is the word we get synergy from. The phrase 'your joy' is hymōn (Strong's G5216) chara (Strong's G5479). This joy isn't a feeling. It is rejoicing that happens because there is a reason to rejoice. The word could be translated 'the cause or occasion of joy'.
Here is the context. There is conflict in Corinth and Paul is correcting them and looking to God to find a balance out of love...
"For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. But I call God to witness against me - it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you." - 2 Corinthians 1:19 - 2:4 ESV
I am convinced that humor is intrinsically linked to pain and likewise friendship happens in shared conflict. People who survive something together have great friendship potential.
Grace Gospel preachers produce a 'field of friendship' around them because love is presented in the midst of the conflict that holiness produces in a fallen world.
People 'survived' encounters with Paul and His otherworldly message and became friends through that shared experience. They weren't necessarily friends with him. They became friends with God and each other.
Wartime produces the strongest bonds. That is why it is easier to make friends as children. Children are in the conflict of identity formation.
People want to avoid pain but the grapes need to be crushed in order for there to be wine. Likewise, love works in synergy with conflict to form friendships.
Grace is beautiful. It is God's unmerited favor expressed to mankind because of the work of Jesus Christ. A person who talks about it is going to stir things up but in the center of that storm there is an oasis that is 'an occasion of joy'. The lost are found and bonds are formed that can never be broken.
--
The Apostle Paul describes himself and others like him as 'helpers of your joy' (see 2 Corinthians 1:24) and the Greek there is very interesting. The word 'helper' (synergos - Strong's G4904) is the word we get synergy from. The phrase 'your joy' is hymōn (Strong's G5216) chara (Strong's G5479). This joy isn't a feeling. It is rejoicing that happens because there is a reason to rejoice. The word could be translated 'the cause or occasion of joy'.
Here is the context. There is conflict in Corinth and Paul is correcting them and looking to God to find a balance out of love...
"For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. But I call God to witness against me - it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you." - 2 Corinthians 1:19 - 2:4 ESV
I am convinced that humor is intrinsically linked to pain and likewise friendship happens in shared conflict. People who survive something together have great friendship potential.
Grace Gospel preachers produce a 'field of friendship' around them because love is presented in the midst of the conflict that holiness produces in a fallen world.
People 'survived' encounters with Paul and His otherworldly message and became friends through that shared experience. They weren't necessarily friends with him. They became friends with God and each other.
Wartime produces the strongest bonds. That is why it is easier to make friends as children. Children are in the conflict of identity formation.
People want to avoid pain but the grapes need to be crushed in order for there to be wine. Likewise, love works in synergy with conflict to form friendships.
Grace is beautiful. It is God's unmerited favor expressed to mankind because of the work of Jesus Christ. A person who talks about it is going to stir things up but in the center of that storm there is an oasis that is 'an occasion of joy'. The lost are found and bonds are formed that can never be broken.
--
Thursday, April 6, 2017
Dealing With People With Opposing Ideas - Part 1
I was thinking yesterday about the difference of people with opposing ideas versus enemies and how we must be careful to tell the difference and not be quick to declare someone an enemy.
"Now John answered and said, 'Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.' But Jesus said to him, 'Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.' Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, 'Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?' But He turned and rebuked them, and said, 'You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 'For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.' And they went to another village." - Luke 9:49-56 NKJV
Here is a passage that shows God dealing with a true enemy.
"To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers, who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, shooting from ambush at the blameless, shooting at him suddenly and without fear. They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk of laying snares secretly, thinking, 'Who can see them?' They search out injustice, saying, 'We have accomplished a diligent search.' For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep. But God shoots his arrow at them; they are wounded suddenly. They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; all who see them will wag their heads. Then all mankind fears; they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done. Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!" - Psalm 64:1-10 ESV
Slander is a great litmus test, isn't it? The Devil is called the accuser of the brethren for a reason.
Grace and the finished work never give us grounds to slander anyone. Pointing out error is one thing but we are still for the person even if we are on 'the other side of the fence' about certain issues.
God will shoot an arrow suddenly at our true adversaries in due season until then we battle not against flesh and blood and every soul has immeasurable value.
In the heat of conflict, I want to have the right Spirit. Sometimes that speaks louder than our words anyway.
--
"Now John answered and said, 'Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.' But Jesus said to him, 'Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.' Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, 'Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?' But He turned and rebuked them, and said, 'You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 'For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.' And they went to another village." - Luke 9:49-56 NKJV
Here is a passage that shows God dealing with a true enemy.
"To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers, who whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, shooting from ambush at the blameless, shooting at him suddenly and without fear. They hold fast to their evil purpose; they talk of laying snares secretly, thinking, 'Who can see them?' They search out injustice, saying, 'We have accomplished a diligent search.' For the inward mind and heart of a man are deep. But God shoots his arrow at them; they are wounded suddenly. They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them; all who see them will wag their heads. Then all mankind fears; they tell what God has brought about and ponder what he has done. Let the righteous one rejoice in the LORD and take refuge in him! Let all the upright in heart exult!" - Psalm 64:1-10 ESV
Slander is a great litmus test, isn't it? The Devil is called the accuser of the brethren for a reason.
Grace and the finished work never give us grounds to slander anyone. Pointing out error is one thing but we are still for the person even if we are on 'the other side of the fence' about certain issues.
God will shoot an arrow suddenly at our true adversaries in due season until then we battle not against flesh and blood and every soul has immeasurable value.
In the heat of conflict, I want to have the right Spirit. Sometimes that speaks louder than our words anyway.
--
Wednesday, March 8, 2017
The People We Know
The seventh volume of L. S. Chafer's 'Systematic Theology' is a 312 page book of doctrinal summaries. My friend Ray Kurowski has been reading this set of books and we talked recently about 'getting to' this volume in the set.
I decided to pull it off the shelf and start going through it again. Why? Because his life sharpens my life. He is an incredible guy. A man of faith.
I got thinking about all of the amazing people I know and have had the privilege of knowing.
My family and my wife's family blesses me so much. Each one of them means so much to me. I wouldn't know them if it were not for her. Now I pray every day for them and I'm part of their family and they are my family.
My old childhood friends from Roosevelt Island. What an eclectic bunch of amazing accomplished people. Some are not with us anymore. Others are artists, musicians and amazing people in a thousand different ways. I wish now I had more of a capacity for friendship as a child. Still our lives touched back them and are intertwined in some ways now. We share a history. We have a heritage.
Then there is my crazy Church family. Wow. If it were not for Jesus I would not know most of these people. I would have no reason to know them or for them to know me. They are gifts from God every one of them. Even the ones that have hurt me over the years. Relationships are like that joy and pain. Fun and trouble. Laughter and tears.
The books I read. The music I listen to. The God I worship. The thoughts I think and the memories that I think about are all shaped in some way by the people God has put in my path.
A man's life is shaped by accomplishment. We are just built that way. I have failed much more than succeeded. I have given up at times when I should have stuck it out and I have held on when I should have let go. Perhaps we all have. But, Oh the people I have met along the way are amazing people. God had a plan through it all.
In the end you and I will be a testimony of God's accomplishment not our own. We will revel in His glory if we have gotten to know Him through His Son. Our citizenship will be linked to that one crucial relationship. It will be the light that lights every other relationship forever.
This morning I lift the people I have known to God in prayer. He is the 'very present help'... He is the 'friend that sticks closer than a brother'... He is my lifeline to sanity and fraternity.
--
I decided to pull it off the shelf and start going through it again. Why? Because his life sharpens my life. He is an incredible guy. A man of faith.
I got thinking about all of the amazing people I know and have had the privilege of knowing.
My family and my wife's family blesses me so much. Each one of them means so much to me. I wouldn't know them if it were not for her. Now I pray every day for them and I'm part of their family and they are my family.
My old childhood friends from Roosevelt Island. What an eclectic bunch of amazing accomplished people. Some are not with us anymore. Others are artists, musicians and amazing people in a thousand different ways. I wish now I had more of a capacity for friendship as a child. Still our lives touched back them and are intertwined in some ways now. We share a history. We have a heritage.
Then there is my crazy Church family. Wow. If it were not for Jesus I would not know most of these people. I would have no reason to know them or for them to know me. They are gifts from God every one of them. Even the ones that have hurt me over the years. Relationships are like that joy and pain. Fun and trouble. Laughter and tears.
The books I read. The music I listen to. The God I worship. The thoughts I think and the memories that I think about are all shaped in some way by the people God has put in my path.
A man's life is shaped by accomplishment. We are just built that way. I have failed much more than succeeded. I have given up at times when I should have stuck it out and I have held on when I should have let go. Perhaps we all have. But, Oh the people I have met along the way are amazing people. God had a plan through it all.
In the end you and I will be a testimony of God's accomplishment not our own. We will revel in His glory if we have gotten to know Him through His Son. Our citizenship will be linked to that one crucial relationship. It will be the light that lights every other relationship forever.
This morning I lift the people I have known to God in prayer. He is the 'very present help'... He is the 'friend that sticks closer than a brother'... He is my lifeline to sanity and fraternity.
--
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Access Is Limited
Just sitting here thinking about Valentine's day and access to people. People want to be wanted... but access is limited. It should be limited but it gets limited in funny sometimes unhealthy ways.
Under the law God commanded Israel to keep personal access limited in certain ways. There were laws about sex. There were laws about nudity. There were laws about strangers to the land. Access was controlled.
"Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.' Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." - John 20:29-31 ESV
I think of the access that I have been given to God and I am truly humbled. I know more about Jesus than I do about most people even though I haven't seen Him face-to-face.
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV
By becoming a man he gained access to our perspective and He wants us to have access to His life. Amazing.
This morning I'm praying for the people in my circle who are looking for love in the wrong places and giving people access to their lives in hurtful ways. They have real needs and limited options. God help them. Then there are others that are so closed off that no one can get in... not even God.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 ESV
Jesus is the One who straightens all of this out. The whore finds love and stops giving themselves away and the prude finds love and opens up in healthy ways. Jesus gives rest. Jesus restores purity. Jesus fixes the access issue.
"A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed." - Song of Songs 4:12 ESV
May we live life with healthy boundaries. Locked off is some ways but open and accessible in others. Let our private and public lives glorify God.
Thank You God. You have sent Your Son to open doors to us that never would have been opened otherwise. It is a great privilege to have access to Your throne. Help us to live with great respect for people's privacy while at the same time inviting them to be involved in the spaces where we meet You. Open doors. Open hearts. Open places so that souls will be saved. Make us creative and sensitive people.
Thank You God.
--
Under the law God commanded Israel to keep personal access limited in certain ways. There were laws about sex. There were laws about nudity. There were laws about strangers to the land. Access was controlled.
"Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.' Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." - John 20:29-31 ESV
I think of the access that I have been given to God and I am truly humbled. I know more about Jesus than I do about most people even though I haven't seen Him face-to-face.
"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV
By becoming a man he gained access to our perspective and He wants us to have access to His life. Amazing.
This morning I'm praying for the people in my circle who are looking for love in the wrong places and giving people access to their lives in hurtful ways. They have real needs and limited options. God help them. Then there are others that are so closed off that no one can get in... not even God.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 ESV
Jesus is the One who straightens all of this out. The whore finds love and stops giving themselves away and the prude finds love and opens up in healthy ways. Jesus gives rest. Jesus restores purity. Jesus fixes the access issue.
"A garden locked is my sister, my bride, a spring locked, a fountain sealed." - Song of Songs 4:12 ESV
May we live life with healthy boundaries. Locked off is some ways but open and accessible in others. Let our private and public lives glorify God.
Thank You God. You have sent Your Son to open doors to us that never would have been opened otherwise. It is a great privilege to have access to Your throne. Help us to live with great respect for people's privacy while at the same time inviting them to be involved in the spaces where we meet You. Open doors. Open hearts. Open places so that souls will be saved. Make us creative and sensitive people.
Thank You God.
--
Monday, January 30, 2017
You Will Have Friends Now
"And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, 'Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.' And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled." - Mark 5:17-20 ESV
Go tell your friends?? How many friends do you think this man had? In the passage before he is described this way...
"And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him." - Mark 5:2-6 ESV
I think he ran to Jesus because Jesus was the one light in his very dark world.
"And crying out with a loud voice, he said, 'What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.' For he was saying to him, 'Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!' And Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' He replied, 'My name is Legion, for we are many.' And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, 'Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.' So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid." - Mark 5:7-15 ESV
Those people were so afraid of this man because of the history that they had with him... no friends there. He had burned those bridges. They were afraid of Jesus because this man seemed to behave around Christ and even that scared them.
'Go tell your friends.'
I love it.
This man was going to have friends again. Maybe for the first time in his life.
This man begged Jesus, He said, 'No, I want to come with you.'
But Jesus said, 'No, Not yet. Later. Now I need you here.'
Jesus was barred from Decapolis because of what happened to the pigs. This man had a mission and on this mission he was going to find friendship.
People abandon their calling to work a vocation and pursue pleasure but God has friends waiting out there. Really... He does... They won't be the friends we have chosen. They are the friends He has chosen.
When it is time for you to go home to Jesus you and I will gladly go but we are needed here now. That is why we are still alive. We are to go where Jesus has been outlawed. We go as transformed people. We go as cleansed maniacs. We go as trophies of grace.
--
Go tell your friends?? How many friends do you think this man had? In the passage before he is described this way...
"And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him." - Mark 5:2-6 ESV
I think he ran to Jesus because Jesus was the one light in his very dark world.
"And crying out with a loud voice, he said, 'What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.' For he was saying to him, 'Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!' And Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' He replied, 'My name is Legion, for we are many.' And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, 'Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.' So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid." - Mark 5:7-15 ESV
Those people were so afraid of this man because of the history that they had with him... no friends there. He had burned those bridges. They were afraid of Jesus because this man seemed to behave around Christ and even that scared them.
'Go tell your friends.'
I love it.
This man was going to have friends again. Maybe for the first time in his life.
This man begged Jesus, He said, 'No, I want to come with you.'
But Jesus said, 'No, Not yet. Later. Now I need you here.'
Jesus was barred from Decapolis because of what happened to the pigs. This man had a mission and on this mission he was going to find friendship.
People abandon their calling to work a vocation and pursue pleasure but God has friends waiting out there. Really... He does... They won't be the friends we have chosen. They are the friends He has chosen.
When it is time for you to go home to Jesus you and I will gladly go but we are needed here now. That is why we are still alive. We are to go where Jesus has been outlawed. We go as transformed people. We go as cleansed maniacs. We go as trophies of grace.
--
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
Live With The Loyal Friend
As I read this next passage this morning two concepts come to mind... friendship and loyalty...
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." - John 15:4-9 ESV
Our position and our experience can be so different, can't they? The passage above speaks to our experience. If we are cut off from nourishment we will wither like a branch on a tree but our mind can be nourished... our soul can be fed... our spirit can be renewed.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:2 ESV
God asks us to live with Him in our thinking. We are living in His thinking. He never forgets us.
"Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." - Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV
"The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us," - 1 Kings 8:57 ESV
"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5 ESV
Accusations come but will they get us to give up our residence? No. God is loyal. Jesus was and Is a friend who loves until the end. He gave up His life in friendship and He hasn't changed.
--
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love." - John 15:4-9 ESV
Our position and our experience can be so different, can't they? The passage above speaks to our experience. If we are cut off from nourishment we will wither like a branch on a tree but our mind can be nourished... our soul can be fed... our spirit can be renewed.
"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." - Romans 12:2 ESV
God asks us to live with Him in our thinking. We are living in His thinking. He never forgets us.
"Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you." - Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV
"The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us," - 1 Kings 8:57 ESV
"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5 ESV
Accusations come but will they get us to give up our residence? No. God is loyal. Jesus was and Is a friend who loves until the end. He gave up His life in friendship and He hasn't changed.
--
Friday, July 8, 2016
Knowing A Person
Knowing someone's value system is a key part of knowing them. Their value system is just below the surface of their actions. It is very possible to see someone everyday and joke with them but not know them very well. Then they say something that gives a glimpse of what is under the surface and the person is seen.
I think it is shocking that you can know someone for just a short times and become fast friends but with other people you spend years and years with them but never really know them.
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6 ESV
"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." - Hebrews 3:12-14 ESV
This morning I was musing about the difference between faith and 'hyper-spirituality'. A hyper-spiritual person reads meaning into every action and relationship. There are demons lurking in the shadows. God is doing this and He is not doing that.
The spiritual people I have known share a couple of qualities. Those qualities are expressed in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6. They recognize God's presence in situations and have knowledge and/or awareness of His value system. Spiritual people are friends of God. They may be to humble to admit it... but they are. They 'think with God' on some level.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV
A very simple minded person can be friends with a genius. The simple minded person can't know what a genius will do to solve a complex problem because the two don't think on the same level but the simple man can know his friend's character and value system and they can have oneness on a primal level.
I don't know what God is going to do today. His level of thinking is beyond me. I feel privileged to get glimpses. He tells me it pleases Him if I trust Him. He reveals that His value system is grace based. His merit system is based on His Son's perfect performance and not on my flawed performance.
"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." - 1 Corinthians 1:17 ESV
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." - Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Let's have a day (and weekend) where our words fall into two categories. Let's tell of the good news that God has a grace value system and let's build each other up in grace.
God Is here right now. He Is with you in Your room. That awareness is primary.
Knowing that we can ponder what He is like and then act on it and He will be very pleased that we are trusting Him. He is already pleased with us because of His Son but we can enter into that pleasure in our experience when we trust Him knowing something about what He values and cares about.
--
I think it is shocking that you can know someone for just a short times and become fast friends but with other people you spend years and years with them but never really know them.
"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6 ESV
"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." - Hebrews 3:12-14 ESV
This morning I was musing about the difference between faith and 'hyper-spirituality'. A hyper-spiritual person reads meaning into every action and relationship. There are demons lurking in the shadows. God is doing this and He is not doing that.
The spiritual people I have known share a couple of qualities. Those qualities are expressed in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 6. They recognize God's presence in situations and have knowledge and/or awareness of His value system. Spiritual people are friends of God. They may be to humble to admit it... but they are. They 'think with God' on some level.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV
A very simple minded person can be friends with a genius. The simple minded person can't know what a genius will do to solve a complex problem because the two don't think on the same level but the simple man can know his friend's character and value system and they can have oneness on a primal level.
I don't know what God is going to do today. His level of thinking is beyond me. I feel privileged to get glimpses. He tells me it pleases Him if I trust Him. He reveals that His value system is grace based. His merit system is based on His Son's perfect performance and not on my flawed performance.
"For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power." - 1 Corinthians 1:17 ESV
"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." - Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Let's have a day (and weekend) where our words fall into two categories. Let's tell of the good news that God has a grace value system and let's build each other up in grace.
God Is here right now. He Is with you in Your room. That awareness is primary.
Knowing that we can ponder what He is like and then act on it and He will be very pleased that we are trusting Him. He is already pleased with us because of His Son but we can enter into that pleasure in our experience when we trust Him knowing something about what He values and cares about.
--
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Ministers Of Reconciliation
"This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." - Matthew 15:8-9 ESV
Intimacy is an unusual thing isn't it?
In Genesis chapter 32 Jacob feared his brother Esau and sent waves of gifts to his brother to try and make their meeting amicable. Then at the end of the chapter Jacob wrestles with an angel all night until the angel cripples him. That wrestling match gave Jacob a capacity to meet his brother in chapter 33.
Some people let others into their lives foolishly and others have walls up. Intimacy can happen if there is a capacity for it and it can be lost if that capacity is lost.
We all have people in our lives that we just don't know how to get through to don't we? Perhaps there are people that don't know how to get through to us also.
"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.' He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.' " - John 21:15-18 ESV
Peter denied Jesus three times and now Jesus gives three questions to Peter that unravel his denials one by one but what interests me is this morning is Jesus pointing Peter to the care of his flock because that care is a call to intimacy. He is drawing Peter down a road of maturity.
Peter turns a corner much like Jacob does after his wrestling match.
I don't want to live a life 'Honoring God with my lips' but having my heart be somewhere else. God is waiting to be gracious with open arms and there is intimacy there in His embrace.
I'm praying this morning for a number of people who want reconciliation but just don't know how to find it. They struggle and send waves of gifts but the walls stay firmly in place.
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 ESV
Yes. God give us creativity. Your righteousness gives us the ability to be true to our self. Please lead us and make us beacons of reconciliation to You.
--
Intimacy is an unusual thing isn't it?
In Genesis chapter 32 Jacob feared his brother Esau and sent waves of gifts to his brother to try and make their meeting amicable. Then at the end of the chapter Jacob wrestles with an angel all night until the angel cripples him. That wrestling match gave Jacob a capacity to meet his brother in chapter 33.
Some people let others into their lives foolishly and others have walls up. Intimacy can happen if there is a capacity for it and it can be lost if that capacity is lost.
We all have people in our lives that we just don't know how to get through to don't we? Perhaps there are people that don't know how to get through to us also.
"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Feed my lambs.' He said to him a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' He said to him, 'Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.' He said to him, 'Tend my sheep.' He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' and he said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.' " - John 21:15-18 ESV
Peter denied Jesus three times and now Jesus gives three questions to Peter that unravel his denials one by one but what interests me is this morning is Jesus pointing Peter to the care of his flock because that care is a call to intimacy. He is drawing Peter down a road of maturity.
Peter turns a corner much like Jacob does after his wrestling match.
I don't want to live a life 'Honoring God with my lips' but having my heart be somewhere else. God is waiting to be gracious with open arms and there is intimacy there in His embrace.
I'm praying this morning for a number of people who want reconciliation but just don't know how to find it. They struggle and send waves of gifts but the walls stay firmly in place.
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." - 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 ESV
Yes. God give us creativity. Your righteousness gives us the ability to be true to our self. Please lead us and make us beacons of reconciliation to You.
--
Friday, March 25, 2016
Water Droplet Unions
What binds us to one another in groups is like surface tension. We gather in groups like a droplet of water gathers but we also can be scattered easily.
"For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' " - Matthew 26:31b ESV
Leadership can be a gathering force but it can also be a scattering one.
"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: "You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply." - Jeremiah 23:1-3 ESV
We see loving families that are tightly joined and it is a beautiful union based on love and commitment.
"He answered, 'Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.' " - Matthew 19:4-6 ESV
This is a great union.
"As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." - 1 Samuel 18:1 ESV
Jonathan was a friend to David when David was in trouble. David was anointed to be king but was hounded by Jonathan's father for years and years. King Saul was a scatterer but Jonathan was bound to the friendship.
"But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him." - 1 Corinthians 6:17 ESV
The Greek word translated joined is Kollao (Strong's G2853) and it speaks of a vegetable glue that was used in making sandals. Once this glue was applied the leather of the sole and material used to touch a person's foot was fused together so strongly that you would destroy the parts if you tried to remove them from each other.
As individuals we become fused to God in our human spirit at a certain moment in time.
"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5 ESV
"...you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree..." - Romans 11:24a ESV (a part of verse)
Israel is the cultivated tree that is connected by a heritage. Israel holds the bloodline of Messiah and the Church has been grafted into the base. The Church is not Israel but it is nourished by the root and the fruit is a result of being grafted in.
I have seen leadership that produces unity and it is beautiful. I have also experience leadership that divides and it is brutal. Nothing can separate us from God once we have been joined to Him. The moment we mix faith with what Jesus has done for us on the cross spiritual glue is applied to us and we have a new root system that will never fail us.
David was anointed to be king but when he was poor and needy Jonathan was a person that treated him like a king. David's mighty men got a reflection of the investment that David got from Jonathan.
I think this morning of our many group attachments that are like water droplets... family... work... groups of friends... Church life... let's be people that gather and not scatter. There may be real scattering forces in the mix but we can be ones that have a 'seek and save' mentality because God sought us and saved us.
--
"For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' " - Matthew 26:31b ESV
Leadership can be a gathering force but it can also be a scattering one.
"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" declares the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: "You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply." - Jeremiah 23:1-3 ESV
We see loving families that are tightly joined and it is a beautiful union based on love and commitment.
"He answered, 'Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, 'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.' " - Matthew 19:4-6 ESV
This is a great union.
"As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." - 1 Samuel 18:1 ESV
Jonathan was a friend to David when David was in trouble. David was anointed to be king but was hounded by Jonathan's father for years and years. King Saul was a scatterer but Jonathan was bound to the friendship.
"But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him." - 1 Corinthians 6:17 ESV
The Greek word translated joined is Kollao (Strong's G2853) and it speaks of a vegetable glue that was used in making sandals. Once this glue was applied the leather of the sole and material used to touch a person's foot was fused together so strongly that you would destroy the parts if you tried to remove them from each other.
As individuals we become fused to God in our human spirit at a certain moment in time.
"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5 ESV
"...you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree..." - Romans 11:24a ESV (a part of verse)
Israel is the cultivated tree that is connected by a heritage. Israel holds the bloodline of Messiah and the Church has been grafted into the base. The Church is not Israel but it is nourished by the root and the fruit is a result of being grafted in.
I have seen leadership that produces unity and it is beautiful. I have also experience leadership that divides and it is brutal. Nothing can separate us from God once we have been joined to Him. The moment we mix faith with what Jesus has done for us on the cross spiritual glue is applied to us and we have a new root system that will never fail us.
David was anointed to be king but when he was poor and needy Jonathan was a person that treated him like a king. David's mighty men got a reflection of the investment that David got from Jonathan.
I think this morning of our many group attachments that are like water droplets... family... work... groups of friends... Church life... let's be people that gather and not scatter. There may be real scattering forces in the mix but we can be ones that have a 'seek and save' mentality because God sought us and saved us.
--
Sunday, January 10, 2016
God Is For You
God is for you this morning.
"Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him." - Isaiah 30:18 ESV
"For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth." - Psalm 26:3 NKJV
"How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings." - Psalm 36:7 ESV
I'm picturing myself going to the DMV. It is a long tedious wait and the people there don't know me and they are a bit cold and self oriented. People are seen as numbers and inconveniences. But then you meet one warm happy person. They find out your name and they are kind to you and exude life in the midst of the dull exercise.
God is like that. He is kind. Once He meets us He remembers our name. He finds out what our favorite sandwich is. He champions the cause of our well being. He adopts us into His family and dusts us off when we fall down with humor and love.
"All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:27-30 ESV
Yes. God cares. The moment Jesus says, 'Father this is my friend.' We are welcomed into the family with open arms and never forgotten.
Perhaps you don't know God and think maybe He doesn't know you either. Call out to Jesus. He will make the introduction and you will find a forever friend in the maker of all things.
--
"Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him." - Isaiah 30:18 ESV
"For Your lovingkindness is before my eyes, And I have walked in Your truth." - Psalm 26:3 NKJV
"How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings." - Psalm 36:7 ESV
I'm picturing myself going to the DMV. It is a long tedious wait and the people there don't know me and they are a bit cold and self oriented. People are seen as numbers and inconveniences. But then you meet one warm happy person. They find out your name and they are kind to you and exude life in the midst of the dull exercise.
God is like that. He is kind. Once He meets us He remembers our name. He finds out what our favorite sandwich is. He champions the cause of our well being. He adopts us into His family and dusts us off when we fall down with humor and love.
"All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:27-30 ESV
Yes. God cares. The moment Jesus says, 'Father this is my friend.' We are welcomed into the family with open arms and never forgotten.
Perhaps you don't know God and think maybe He doesn't know you either. Call out to Jesus. He will make the introduction and you will find a forever friend in the maker of all things.
--
Friday, December 18, 2015
A Wise And Loyal Friend
It is great to have people that, 'Have your back.' and when they show up in a crisis it makes you breath a sigh of relief because you know you can trust their judgement and you know that they are for you and not against you.
Loyalty and wisdom is a great combination.
In my experience people who are against us are really out for themselves or have a cause that excludes us. We can see this in people's relationships with God in the scriptures also.
"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." - Matthew 12:30-32 ESV
Wow. What a strong statement. This transcends personal loyalty. Jesus was wise and always loyal to His Heavenly Father. That meant that He was always in tune with the Spirit of God.
"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." - John 16:7-11 ESV
People make many claims about what The Spirit of God is doing but it is given to us right here.
I think it's interesting that even though Jesus was and Is perfect He said that if people have a 'word against Him' that He wasn't going to hold those words against a person.
Let's have each others backs in situations as wise loyal spiritual people. That means being in tune to the Spirit of Love and Grace. We might not always agree with people but we can agree with God and that will make us into people who can handle things with discretion.
The weak and sick people were happy to see Jesus. He was a thorn in the side of those who were working their own angle.
"When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known." - Matthew 10:23-26 ESV
This is an end time prophecy but it has principles that apply to us now.
There are more homes to visit. I don't want to amplify attitudes that exclude, demean and attack. I just want to have people's back. There will be some that respond to that and see Jesus in it.
--
Loyalty and wisdom is a great combination.
In my experience people who are against us are really out for themselves or have a cause that excludes us. We can see this in people's relationships with God in the scriptures also.
"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come." - Matthew 12:30-32 ESV
Wow. What a strong statement. This transcends personal loyalty. Jesus was wise and always loyal to His Heavenly Father. That meant that He was always in tune with the Spirit of God.
"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged." - John 16:7-11 ESV
People make many claims about what The Spirit of God is doing but it is given to us right here.
I think it's interesting that even though Jesus was and Is perfect He said that if people have a 'word against Him' that He wasn't going to hold those words against a person.
Let's have each others backs in situations as wise loyal spiritual people. That means being in tune to the Spirit of Love and Grace. We might not always agree with people but we can agree with God and that will make us into people who can handle things with discretion.
The weak and sick people were happy to see Jesus. He was a thorn in the side of those who were working their own angle.
"When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known." - Matthew 10:23-26 ESV
This is an end time prophecy but it has principles that apply to us now.
There are more homes to visit. I don't want to amplify attitudes that exclude, demean and attack. I just want to have people's back. There will be some that respond to that and see Jesus in it.
--
Thursday, October 1, 2015
Friendship Among The Apostles
Peter, James and John were Jesus' close circle of friends. The twelve apostles were each special people to God and to each other. They all spent holidays together but these three seemed to be nearest Jesus. He was a man who came from Heaven and died in his early thirties. No wife or family to invest in... at least not yet in the traditional sense that we think about these relationships.
I sometimes wonder about these other men and what circles of close confidants they had.
"He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him." - Mark 3:16-19 ESV
James and John were brothers but the scripture doesn't speak of their age differences. Clearly they were brothers but they were close brothers.
"About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church." - Acts 12:1-5 ESV
Here we see the death of James recorded. It mentions specifically that this was John's brother and Peter was thrown in jail. What a time that must have been for John the Apostle. He must have been right in the center of those prayer meetings for Peter. They likely became a place for healing to begin for the loss of his brother.
I often look at and think about the 'people' individuals have (and don't have). Most folks have only a few people. A wife. A parent. A sibling. Maybe many friends but only a few close friends. You can't buy these people. It doesn't work that way. When I see someone go through a crisis like John went through when Jesus died and then his brother went to Heaven soon after I look to see if they have a circle of people and prayer seems to kick into high gear.
The Church became John's friend in his time of crisis but it is friendship that is different than the friendship we have with individuals. In a way it is representative friendship. God loves us through a group of people or a few individuals that emerge from the cloud of that group for a period of time to represent God's heart. Those interactions might bloom into close friendships and they also might not.
Jame wrote this in the epistle he penned sometime before his death in Acts chapter 12.
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' while you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there,' or, 'Sit down at my feet,' have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?" - James 1:27, 2:1-7 ESV
We can see the clear references to Church politics but can't we also see friendship mixed in there?
Grace is God's friendship to us and grace is our friendship given to people.
God loves us. He is our friend if we have believed in Jesus. A relationship has formed that not even death can separate. Jesus has pulled us in close if we have said 'Yes' to Him about what He has done for us and the rest of the humanity at the cross. He isn't going to leave us or forsake us.
"Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land." - Psalm 68:4-6 ESV
Maybe I'll just end like this.
"And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them." - Mark 9:2-3 ESV
Let's watch Jesus glow together. Even if it's just for a season. Let's have that kind of friendship and let's bring those who are trapped in prisons of different kinds out again through the power of our combined prayers. The solitary don't have to stay that way if we love each other and give grace as we have been given grace. A group can form where friendships can be born and the wounds of loss can be healed.
--
I sometimes wonder about these other men and what circles of close confidants they had.
"He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him." - Mark 3:16-19 ESV
James and John were brothers but the scripture doesn't speak of their age differences. Clearly they were brothers but they were close brothers.
"About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church." - Acts 12:1-5 ESV
Here we see the death of James recorded. It mentions specifically that this was John's brother and Peter was thrown in jail. What a time that must have been for John the Apostle. He must have been right in the center of those prayer meetings for Peter. They likely became a place for healing to begin for the loss of his brother.
I often look at and think about the 'people' individuals have (and don't have). Most folks have only a few people. A wife. A parent. A sibling. Maybe many friends but only a few close friends. You can't buy these people. It doesn't work that way. When I see someone go through a crisis like John went through when Jesus died and then his brother went to Heaven soon after I look to see if they have a circle of people and prayer seems to kick into high gear.
The Church became John's friend in his time of crisis but it is friendship that is different than the friendship we have with individuals. In a way it is representative friendship. God loves us through a group of people or a few individuals that emerge from the cloud of that group for a period of time to represent God's heart. Those interactions might bloom into close friendships and they also might not.
Jame wrote this in the epistle he penned sometime before his death in Acts chapter 12.
"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, 'You sit here in a good place,' while you say to the poor man, 'You stand over there,' or, 'Sit down at my feet,' have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?" - James 1:27, 2:1-7 ESV
We can see the clear references to Church politics but can't we also see friendship mixed in there?
Grace is God's friendship to us and grace is our friendship given to people.
God loves us. He is our friend if we have believed in Jesus. A relationship has formed that not even death can separate. Jesus has pulled us in close if we have said 'Yes' to Him about what He has done for us and the rest of the humanity at the cross. He isn't going to leave us or forsake us.
"Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him! Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land." - Psalm 68:4-6 ESV
Maybe I'll just end like this.
"And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them." - Mark 9:2-3 ESV
Let's watch Jesus glow together. Even if it's just for a season. Let's have that kind of friendship and let's bring those who are trapped in prisons of different kinds out again through the power of our combined prayers. The solitary don't have to stay that way if we love each other and give grace as we have been given grace. A group can form where friendships can be born and the wounds of loss can be healed.
--
Friday, August 7, 2015
A Way Through The Famine
I've been thinking about Joseph a lot the last few days and praying for those I know who are in tight spots.
Isn't it funny that after all that time in prison Joseph didn't have any buddies to bail out after he got out himself. The interpreter of dreams seems like he led a solitary life for long periods of time.
People can lead solitary lives. They work. They plan. They have aspirations that they may not discuss with many people that seem far removed from the life they see in front of them. Some of the hardest times of my life have been when I was out of work knowing that the only money I had in the world was what I had in my pocket and that was only going to last so long. Those are lonely times because you don't want to have to beg or borrow and you are not going to steal but more of something needs to come from somewhere.
Joseph's in prison life was somehow preparation for Joseph's throne life as second only to Pharaoh and manager of the food that would sustain that region through the famine.
Pharaoh dreamed his dream of cows and corn alone.
"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:" - Genesis 41:17 KJV
Pharaoh dreamed he was alone standing on the bank of the river. Joseph knew about being alone and he knew about dreams. Joseph dealt in dreams and it didn't win him any friends but when the going got tough Joseph knew where to turn. God was his friend.
Today, I had a little situation that looked like it could go badly. I cried out to God and I believe He listened and saved me. There was humor in it and everything. It was almost like he was teasing me in a playful way.
God was my friend today. He will be my friend tomorrow. That is grace... really it is
I sit here tonight alone in my thoughts (but connected to God by faith) lifting up marriages, children, job situations and complex issues to God I know that God will be gracious to the people I am praying for also. Some of the people will see His hand in their provision and others won't. That is between them and God... but I know who blesses people. I know who gives and takes away. I have gotten glimpses of His heart and reflections of His thoughts through the account of the life of His Son.
God has a way to get us through the famine.
Good wants to be with us in our solitary times. He wants us to be with Him. He loves us.
--
Isn't it funny that after all that time in prison Joseph didn't have any buddies to bail out after he got out himself. The interpreter of dreams seems like he led a solitary life for long periods of time.
People can lead solitary lives. They work. They plan. They have aspirations that they may not discuss with many people that seem far removed from the life they see in front of them. Some of the hardest times of my life have been when I was out of work knowing that the only money I had in the world was what I had in my pocket and that was only going to last so long. Those are lonely times because you don't want to have to beg or borrow and you are not going to steal but more of something needs to come from somewhere.
Joseph's in prison life was somehow preparation for Joseph's throne life as second only to Pharaoh and manager of the food that would sustain that region through the famine.
Pharaoh dreamed his dream of cows and corn alone.
"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river:" - Genesis 41:17 KJV
Pharaoh dreamed he was alone standing on the bank of the river. Joseph knew about being alone and he knew about dreams. Joseph dealt in dreams and it didn't win him any friends but when the going got tough Joseph knew where to turn. God was his friend.
Today, I had a little situation that looked like it could go badly. I cried out to God and I believe He listened and saved me. There was humor in it and everything. It was almost like he was teasing me in a playful way.
God was my friend today. He will be my friend tomorrow. That is grace... really it is
I sit here tonight alone in my thoughts (but connected to God by faith) lifting up marriages, children, job situations and complex issues to God I know that God will be gracious to the people I am praying for also. Some of the people will see His hand in their provision and others won't. That is between them and God... but I know who blesses people. I know who gives and takes away. I have gotten glimpses of His heart and reflections of His thoughts through the account of the life of His Son.
God has a way to get us through the famine.
Good wants to be with us in our solitary times. He wants us to be with Him. He loves us.
--
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Compassionate Living
The older I get the more I want for my friends and their children. I want people to prosper and have opportunities. I want lonely people to find a loving mate that doesn't isolate them from the friendship. I want people to be healthy. When I wish someone a happy birthday I want them to have a great rich year.
On the surface that may sound like a 'humble brag'... to say I want things for others.
'Gee, What a compassionate guy he is... I just want a better life for myself most of the time.'
Here is what Jesus says about my desire to see those that are close to me prosper.
"If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them... But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." - Luke 6:32, 35-36 ESV
The older I get the more I realize how selfish I truly am without Christ. My selfishness has just expanded to a more social selfishness. I don't want to worry about people. I don't want tragedy close to me. I want happy stories and cheerful pictures.
I read Luke 6 and I see just how ungracious and merciless I am without Christ because I don't want to love my enemies or do good to those that abuse me. I don't want to just kiss goodbye things that people take without asking. I want to be full and rich and Jesus says...
"Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you... But woe to you who are rich... Woe to you who are full... Woe to you who laugh now... Woe to you, when all people speak well of you..." - Luke 6:22a, 24a, 25a, 26a ESV
As we get older we realize that the people who care about us are more important then we thought because there really are only a few of those people and that is a sign of maturity but it is natural maturity not spiritual maturity.
Spiritual maturity is loving the ugly and unfriendly. It is helping the person who just wants to use you until the sugar runs out and then use someone else. It is seemingly throwing resources away with the hope that people who care little about you would see the God that loves them with an everlasting love.
I don't mention this to condemn anyone. I don't condemn myself. I just draw near to the fire. I cloth my nakedness with the robe of righteousness that has been given to me.
Jesus really did love the people beating Him. He gave and gave even though He often had nowhere to lay His head.
I need to be with that kind of love. I want to live my life loving like a child of the most high.
God, please fill me with your Spirit today. This can happen if you do it in me but that is the only way it can. Help God. I feel privileged to even be aware of your Love. You have lavished it on me. That is grace. Make me a merciful man today.
--
On the surface that may sound like a 'humble brag'... to say I want things for others.
'Gee, What a compassionate guy he is... I just want a better life for myself most of the time.'
Here is what Jesus says about my desire to see those that are close to me prosper.
"If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them... But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." - Luke 6:32, 35-36 ESV
The older I get the more I realize how selfish I truly am without Christ. My selfishness has just expanded to a more social selfishness. I don't want to worry about people. I don't want tragedy close to me. I want happy stories and cheerful pictures.
I read Luke 6 and I see just how ungracious and merciless I am without Christ because I don't want to love my enemies or do good to those that abuse me. I don't want to just kiss goodbye things that people take without asking. I want to be full and rich and Jesus says...
"Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you... But woe to you who are rich... Woe to you who are full... Woe to you who laugh now... Woe to you, when all people speak well of you..." - Luke 6:22a, 24a, 25a, 26a ESV
As we get older we realize that the people who care about us are more important then we thought because there really are only a few of those people and that is a sign of maturity but it is natural maturity not spiritual maturity.
Spiritual maturity is loving the ugly and unfriendly. It is helping the person who just wants to use you until the sugar runs out and then use someone else. It is seemingly throwing resources away with the hope that people who care little about you would see the God that loves them with an everlasting love.
I don't mention this to condemn anyone. I don't condemn myself. I just draw near to the fire. I cloth my nakedness with the robe of righteousness that has been given to me.
Jesus really did love the people beating Him. He gave and gave even though He often had nowhere to lay His head.
I need to be with that kind of love. I want to live my life loving like a child of the most high.
God, please fill me with your Spirit today. This can happen if you do it in me but that is the only way it can. Help God. I feel privileged to even be aware of your Love. You have lavished it on me. That is grace. Make me a merciful man today.
--
Friday, May 29, 2015
I Love My Friends
I'm very grateful to God for my friends and the shared experiences I have gotten to have with different people.
I'm reading John chapter 6 this morning and watching Jesus weed out His acquaintances. He had no middle ground. You were either for Him or against Him.
"When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?'
But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, 'Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.' (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.'
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him." - John 6:60-66 ESV
Ouch.
"So Jesus said to the Twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?'
Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.'
Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.' He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him." - John 6:67-71 ESV
Wow. Before this Jesus was talking about the need to 'eat His flesh and drink His blood' and He phrased it the way He did to purposely make trouble.
He wasn't tiptoeing around.
I love what Peter says. Peter is friend who was given by God the Father. Peter was eating and drinking the substance of who Christ was with open eyes. I think He was as offended by the thought of cannibalism as any of the people who left but Peter valued Christ in a way that caused Him to hold on anyways.
We don't have to be friends with everyone.
We make a choice to be a friend to people and it is a good choice to make but not everyone is our friend and that is fine. God is our friend.
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." - Proverbs 18:24 ESV
He isn't going to leave us. He also isn't afraid to tell us how it is as needed in situations. This love lack sentimentality but has tenderness, care and ironclad commitment.
--
I'm reading John chapter 6 this morning and watching Jesus weed out His acquaintances. He had no middle ground. You were either for Him or against Him.
"When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?'
But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, 'Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.' (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, 'This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.'
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him." - John 6:60-66 ESV
Ouch.
"So Jesus said to the Twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?'
Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.'
Jesus answered them, 'Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.' He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him." - John 6:67-71 ESV
Wow. Before this Jesus was talking about the need to 'eat His flesh and drink His blood' and He phrased it the way He did to purposely make trouble.
He wasn't tiptoeing around.
I love what Peter says. Peter is friend who was given by God the Father. Peter was eating and drinking the substance of who Christ was with open eyes. I think He was as offended by the thought of cannibalism as any of the people who left but Peter valued Christ in a way that caused Him to hold on anyways.
We don't have to be friends with everyone.
We make a choice to be a friend to people and it is a good choice to make but not everyone is our friend and that is fine. God is our friend.
"A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." - Proverbs 18:24 ESV
He isn't going to leave us. He also isn't afraid to tell us how it is as needed in situations. This love lack sentimentality but has tenderness, care and ironclad commitment.
--
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
The Third Cord
Thinking and praying... praying for marriages to make it... young couples and long standing marriages. Praying for mothers with young children. Praying for men who need to provide for families... that those men would have tender hearts and not be hardened by frustration or despair. I'm Lifting up small churches (small in size that is).
Isolation is not a good thing.
"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone" - Genesis 2:18a KJV
I look at these early verses written by Moses and it is easy to look at the content of what is being said but God is talking. Who is He talking to? In a way it is a picture of the Trinity. God is speaking in a committee meeting of sorts and saying, 'Man is triune like We are (body, soul and spirit) but he needs an expression of that in an external way also.'
Not only do we need to know we are not alone. We need reciprocating sounding boards that have God's mind. The trinity is one.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." - Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV
Ideas can isolate us. Right and wrong can. Distance can. Trouble can. We can be in a room full of people and still be alone. It is not good.
We are all individual triune beings on the inside and that is right. Our identity is not lost in the group if it is strong and healthy. We can go it alone if we must but that is not the ideal. That is not our final design.
"And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4 ESV
Our friendships need a third cord. Our marriages need one. God is that third cord. Fellowship is when God is in the midst.
So, I'm praying for people this morning. Some are people I haven't thought of in a long time. I'm not even sure if some of them are alive but still... I'm praying that there would be love that flows between people in potentially isolating situations. That love is so needed.
--
Isolation is not a good thing.
"And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone" - Genesis 2:18a KJV
I look at these early verses written by Moses and it is easy to look at the content of what is being said but God is talking. Who is He talking to? In a way it is a picture of the Trinity. God is speaking in a committee meeting of sorts and saying, 'Man is triune like We are (body, soul and spirit) but he needs an expression of that in an external way also.'
Not only do we need to know we are not alone. We need reciprocating sounding boards that have God's mind. The trinity is one.
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one." - Deuteronomy 6:4 ESV
Ideas can isolate us. Right and wrong can. Distance can. Trouble can. We can be in a room full of people and still be alone. It is not good.
We are all individual triune beings on the inside and that is right. Our identity is not lost in the group if it is strong and healthy. We can go it alone if we must but that is not the ideal. That is not our final design.
"And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him - a threefold cord is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4 ESV
Our friendships need a third cord. Our marriages need one. God is that third cord. Fellowship is when God is in the midst.
So, I'm praying for people this morning. Some are people I haven't thought of in a long time. I'm not even sure if some of them are alive but still... I'm praying that there would be love that flows between people in potentially isolating situations. That love is so needed.
--
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Comedy And Evangelism
The subject today is comedy and evangelism. Maybe most people wouldn't put those two words in the same sentence.
We need real friends, Godly ones, who have integrity and vision. People need real friends. Every time I come back from outreach it is reinforced more and more on my heart. I stand there with a stack of tracts in my hand and people look at you sideways because what your doing is unnatural. You are invading their space with something and many of them don't know if you are going to condemn them or lay something deep on them that they just aren't ready to hear.
I was thinking this morning about people's loyalty to comedians. People feel close to funny friendly people. We might say, 'People love to laugh and so people love comedians because they make them laugh.'. True but I think it goes deeper. People associate laughter with friendship and people want to love and be loved. Successful comedians use pain and shame skillfully. They laugh at it and invite the audience into the joke. They make fools of themselves or of others and provide the surface conditions of friendship. People miss them when they are gone even though they didn't know them. People feel close to them even though they can be lonely distant people in private.
Most surveys asking women about qualities they find attractive in men include a, 'Must make me laugh.' somewhere at the top of the list. There is security in that. A different kind of security than the financial kind but it is still security oriented. Some one who makes you laugh is your friend and friends shouldn't betray you should they?
"Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the LORD's instructions. They tell the seers, 'Stop seeing visions!' They tell the prophets, 'Don't tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your 'Holy One of Israel.' ' This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel: 'Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly - like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery - shattered so completely that there won't be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.' This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it." - Isaiah 30:8-15 NLT
Holiness is where we find true friendship. The King is full of joy but He does not always make us laugh. The prophet provides clarity and not just comedy. They might be funny or serious but they aren't superficial.
If you are popping movies into the VCR or it's more modern equivalent to find friendship in your dark times then maybe you are looking in the wrong place for comfort. Ouch. That is hard saying for some I know but it is false comfort. It is false friendship.
Back to outreach. When you are the fool with the stack of tracts in your hand. A different kind of fool. A vulnerable person reaching out and befriending someone in front of a store, or in a parking lot or in their doorway. Not to condemn them but to reach out and give them the hope that you have. You offer friendship of a different order to people. Deep loyal forever friendship.
It is sad that many people who evangelize are legalistic idiots. They are out because their condemning message drives them. I wish it wasn't that way.
I am just out there to befriend people... and more importantly to introduce people to God who is the best friend they could ever have. It is amazing to be out in some parking lot praying with someone as they pour out their heart saying things about their lives to me that I know many people who are close to them don't often or ever hear. I am broken sitting here and typing this with tears welling up in my eyes. It is miraculous in one way but it makes perfect sense in another. People aren't finding love in the places they are looking for it.
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." - Proverbs 17:17 ESV
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
God is our friend. Jesus is our friend. He doesn't always make us laugh but He gives us deep joy and He isn't angry and lonely in private.
We need real friends, Godly ones, who have integrity and vision. People need real friends. Every time I come back from outreach it is reinforced more and more on my heart. I stand there with a stack of tracts in my hand and people look at you sideways because what your doing is unnatural. You are invading their space with something and many of them don't know if you are going to condemn them or lay something deep on them that they just aren't ready to hear.
I was thinking this morning about people's loyalty to comedians. People feel close to funny friendly people. We might say, 'People love to laugh and so people love comedians because they make them laugh.'. True but I think it goes deeper. People associate laughter with friendship and people want to love and be loved. Successful comedians use pain and shame skillfully. They laugh at it and invite the audience into the joke. They make fools of themselves or of others and provide the surface conditions of friendship. People miss them when they are gone even though they didn't know them. People feel close to them even though they can be lonely distant people in private.
Most surveys asking women about qualities they find attractive in men include a, 'Must make me laugh.' somewhere at the top of the list. There is security in that. A different kind of security than the financial kind but it is still security oriented. Some one who makes you laugh is your friend and friends shouldn't betray you should they?
"Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the LORD's instructions. They tell the seers, 'Stop seeing visions!' They tell the prophets, 'Don't tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your 'Holy One of Israel.' ' This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel: 'Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly - like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery - shattered so completely that there won't be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.' This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: 'Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it." - Isaiah 30:8-15 NLT
Holiness is where we find true friendship. The King is full of joy but He does not always make us laugh. The prophet provides clarity and not just comedy. They might be funny or serious but they aren't superficial.
If you are popping movies into the VCR or it's more modern equivalent to find friendship in your dark times then maybe you are looking in the wrong place for comfort. Ouch. That is hard saying for some I know but it is false comfort. It is false friendship.
Back to outreach. When you are the fool with the stack of tracts in your hand. A different kind of fool. A vulnerable person reaching out and befriending someone in front of a store, or in a parking lot or in their doorway. Not to condemn them but to reach out and give them the hope that you have. You offer friendship of a different order to people. Deep loyal forever friendship.
It is sad that many people who evangelize are legalistic idiots. They are out because their condemning message drives them. I wish it wasn't that way.
I am just out there to befriend people... and more importantly to introduce people to God who is the best friend they could ever have. It is amazing to be out in some parking lot praying with someone as they pour out their heart saying things about their lives to me that I know many people who are close to them don't often or ever hear. I am broken sitting here and typing this with tears welling up in my eyes. It is miraculous in one way but it makes perfect sense in another. People aren't finding love in the places they are looking for it.
"A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." - Proverbs 17:17 ESV
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:19-20 ESV
God is our friend. Jesus is our friend. He doesn't always make us laugh but He gives us deep joy and He isn't angry and lonely in private.
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Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Confessing Him Before Men
Jesus isn't my friend because we have things in common. We didn't grow up together. It is not because we enjoyed the same things. I am not good for Him. He doesn't remain faithful to me because I am faithful to him. He is as much a friend to me when I am an idiot as when I have some ducks in a row. He is there for me when I am bad for myself and even when I am ugly to Him.
He is patient. He is good. He is kind. He is faithful. I have been impatient and unfaithful to Him many times but He does not change nor does He hold any of it against me. He never will either.
I get broken thinking about it. He is my hero and the people I know who shine forth His life are my heroes also. The hero's example can cause cowards to rise to the occasion in the situations that life often presents them with. Seeing who He is I am mystically transformed by the Spirit of God into a real man.
"And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God." - Luke 12:8-9 ESV
"So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." - Matthew 10:32-34 ESV
We are not on even footing with God unless we acknowledge His friendship... His grace. If we think we are friends because of what we are doing we are wrong. It is subtle form of denial but still a denial. It has never and is never going to be about us. He calls us friends because of what He did. He is the King and we are made royalty by our relationship to Him.
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." - Isaiah 53:7 KJV
It is natural thinking to love only those who love us. We protect ourselves because we have been hurt and lack the knowledge of our true protector. We flinch because of many blows. Oh, what a convicting thought that is but it is a true thought. When we deny friendship because of someones lack we become the very thing we hate.
God says:
"I will never leave you nor forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5b ESV
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me." - Isaiah 49:15-16 ESV
His gentleness makes us great. Grace softens us. We have a friend and anyone can make it if they have Jesus as their friend. Being with Him washes away the things that made us flinch to protect ourselves and we begin to reach out in love.
How many people need a friend like this? How many people need a person who will come alongside them and believe in them? Believing not because the person standing before them is good but because the person sitting on a throne in Heaven is good.
Today is another day. We can laugh and smile with people we like and who like us (If we have them that is) or we can leave the ninety-nine and go after the one who is lost and tell that lost one what a friend Jesus Is. The ninety-nine will be there when we get back.
--
He is patient. He is good. He is kind. He is faithful. I have been impatient and unfaithful to Him many times but He does not change nor does He hold any of it against me. He never will either.
I get broken thinking about it. He is my hero and the people I know who shine forth His life are my heroes also. The hero's example can cause cowards to rise to the occasion in the situations that life often presents them with. Seeing who He is I am mystically transformed by the Spirit of God into a real man.
"And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God." - Luke 12:8-9 ESV
"So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." - Matthew 10:32-34 ESV
We are not on even footing with God unless we acknowledge His friendship... His grace. If we think we are friends because of what we are doing we are wrong. It is subtle form of denial but still a denial. It has never and is never going to be about us. He calls us friends because of what He did. He is the King and we are made royalty by our relationship to Him.
"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." - Isaiah 53:7 KJV
It is natural thinking to love only those who love us. We protect ourselves because we have been hurt and lack the knowledge of our true protector. We flinch because of many blows. Oh, what a convicting thought that is but it is a true thought. When we deny friendship because of someones lack we become the very thing we hate.
God says:
"I will never leave you nor forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5b ESV
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me." - Isaiah 49:15-16 ESV
His gentleness makes us great. Grace softens us. We have a friend and anyone can make it if they have Jesus as their friend. Being with Him washes away the things that made us flinch to protect ourselves and we begin to reach out in love.
How many people need a friend like this? How many people need a person who will come alongside them and believe in them? Believing not because the person standing before them is good but because the person sitting on a throne in Heaven is good.
Today is another day. We can laugh and smile with people we like and who like us (If we have them that is) or we can leave the ninety-nine and go after the one who is lost and tell that lost one what a friend Jesus Is. The ninety-nine will be there when we get back.
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