Access To What We Are Standing In

"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." - Romans 5:1-2 ESV

This is such a loaded passage.

We have access to the grace we are standing in through (and because of) Jesus Christ.

Because of the fall people get disconnected from things they are standing in all the time. They lack access. They stand in a place but miss the beauty of their surroundings. They stand in a family but they are cut off from the warmth and connection of what a family is (or should be). They stand in marriages but lack intimacy.

We gain access to grace through Jesus Christ. We gain access to the knowledge that God is thinking kind thoughts about us. We are connected to the fact that we have favor with God based on the work and character of His Son. This access causes us to rejoice and have hope that God's 'glory' will be manifested in the world.

I see people get disconnected all the time. If the isolation happens and is sustained for long periods of time people start to get strange in their thinking. It is like they have spiritual oxygen deprivation.

Jesus is our access to intimacy. He is the master key that opens all doors. He is how we can have access to what is real and not imagined. Faith in Him can heal our other connections. Peace and justification come into our lives and we get restored over time.

"For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband..." - 1 Corinthians 7:14a ESV

Yes. Holiness can enter the home, workplace or nation because of one believing person who has access to what they are standing in.

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The Unequal Yoke

Wow. This next passage is an intense one. I see it as a plea from God for unity. He is acting like a husband who has found out that the mother of His children is having flirtatious interactions with another man and wants His family to remain whole out of love.

"We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians; our heart is wide open. You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. In return (I speak as to children) widen your hearts also. Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?" - 2 Corinthians 6:11-14 ESV

I see broken marriages that had an 'unequal yoke'. One person was pulling in a certain direction at a certain pace and the other one had something different happening in their life. One might have been strong and the other weak. One might have been 'a believer' in Christ and the other one was not. Perhaps the pace was too slow and it never seemed like the marriage was going anywhere and that was disappointing. There was intense compromise beyond what was tolerable.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." - Romans 8:1 ESV

I like what God communicates through the writer about a heart that is wide open. Grace is manifested that way. Grace gives room and can adjust the pace. Grace isn't restrictive. The writer isn't controlling in his communication.

It is a warning.

The Godless philosophy might look effective but it is going in a different direction. He might be handsome and affectionate and need you but eventually, the yoke will begin to chafe for you or for him. She might be soft and willing but will it last?

It is like God is pleading with people who have been hurt by His Church is some way and saying, 'I know they don't look like much. My Church may seem like a collection of broken toys and arrogant fools like my disciples were but I am bringing them along. Please come with me also. If you seek other lovers they are going to hurt you and it won't last. You will be hindered from realizing your potential.'

"Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." - 2 Corinthians 6:17-18 ESV

Ouch. It isn't that the person is unclean but the union is. It isn't that the reasoning is unsound it is that we can't sprinkle God on a method and make it holy as if by magic.

Some connections are breakable and others are not but I want to connect myself to grace in every way possible. The message. The imperfect people. The vehicles God is using like the Church, para-Church ministries and evangelism are places where we can connect to God and be yoked to things and people that fit our shoulders and move in God's direction and at His pace.

This may add extra strain to badly yoked relationships but it also may cause there to be a conversion. It is a risk but it is a risk worth taking.

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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.

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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.

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Fictional Families

I awoke with a clear idea in my mind. In this time we live in people are more involved with fictional relationships than they are with real connections. Television friendships have stolen the intimacy of real friendships. Doctors in fictional hospitals model dysfunction weekly. People know and care about who a singer is dating and was seen with on the 4th of July in an unhealthy way and it robs them.

Here is an interesting passage. I will give the context directly afterwards.

"But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler." - 1 Peter 4:15 ESV

That word 'meddler' is translated 'busybody' in the King James. The Greek word is allotriepiskopos (Strong's G244) and it is a combination of two concepts, stranger and overseer. It is an interesting list isn't it? The first steals life. The second steals property. The third corrupts order and the fourth exercises power over strange people.

Here is the context.

"Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" - 1 Peter 4:12-17 ESV

The fiery trial isn't the normal day to day one. It is the hurricane that strikes with fury. It is the flood that forces evacuation. It that day the fictions will fail us but the true connections have a chance of holding fast.

"Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:13-21 ESV

There is a divine attachment and detachment that we are made for as people. Do we care about real things and real people? Perhaps that can make us vulnerable. Real people can hurt us. The world is a crowded place filled with isolated people. Smart phones create social zombies with fast thumbs and slow tongues.

Real attachments create real anxieties also and God would be our buffer so that we don't worship people or relationships.

"But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband." - 1 Corinthians 7:28-34 ESV

God's grace is the balance.

God knows that wrong focus creates anxiety. Grace keeps us from being meddlers. We do not need to have control over strangers. It connects us but in a healthy way where God is in the middle as a buffer.

How strange it would sound if a public figure said in a public interview, 'Let's stop caring about who your favorite movie star is dating and start initiating Godly friendships with one another. That is none of your business. Let's evangelize people and get our heads out of our phones.' It would be scandalous.

God give us a new friend this week... not someone we meddle with... not some wrong connection that will cause anxiety... make us like salmon that swim against the current of our world... here and present be not 'of the world' in it's whims and obsessions... make us grace and mercy people who love and are involved in a healthy Godly way in what is real. We worship you and that is real worship. You are our anchor into what is lasting and actual. You are our God. Thank You Lord. We love you. You are the sun that lights our world. Illuminate our path today. We believe You will. Thank You God.

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The Way Into The Banquet

Have you ever felt insulated from truth?

We all perhaps have felt insulated from an idea. Maybe we have heard something and just felt like an outsider. We acknowledge what another person is saying but do not feel the conviction they feel.

An older person who is technologically challenged might say, 'Cell phones are stupid and they are ruining society! I'm never buying one.'

We nod and acknowledge that they have a point but as cell phone users we are insulated from that conviction. We can't reject it even if we see children crossing the street as they look down at a tiny screen. This technology is the water we swim in.

I often feel insulated from truth. I read my Bible and it doesn't sink in. I look at a passage that once filled me with wonder and feel nothing as I read it. It can be like walking down a hallway that has windows but no doors. I can see the beautiful thoughts but I don't experience them.

We need a bridge to reach Heaven's shores.

"So Jesus again said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture...' " - John 10:7-9 ESV

Jesus is our bridge. We can smell the banquet without Him but we can only taste it if He opens access to it..

"To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." - John 10:3-5 ESV

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one." - John 10:27-30 ESV

There are other voices that give access to other things. Jesus gives access to Gods things and closes off access to evil.

"O you who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!" - Psalm 97:10-12 ESV

"Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph." - Amos 5:14-15 KJV

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." - Matthew 5:43-48 ESV

Only Christ can give us this balance. If we hear His voice we can love what God loves and hate what God hates.  If we hear His voice we can love people even if they participate it things that we have decided to hate.

I don't want to live insulated from love or cut off from truth. I must hear my shepherd's voice. Behind that voice is my father's voice. If I hear my shepherd I find pasture. It is there that mercy becomes my bed and my banquet.

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Water Opens Passageways

If you are lost in the wilderness one good way to find civilization again is to follow a water source and see where the water is going. People often build structures near water.

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise." - Isaiah 43:19-21 ESV

I had an interesting thought about dead ends yesterday. In urban centers they are often created by a need for aesthetics or security. Alleys that go nowhere are often dirty places because things build up there. They are places to put storage or for garbage collection.

"Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word," - Ephesians 5:25-26 ESV

The word waters, washes and cuts a path in the wilderness.

" Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:" - Philippians 2:5 KJV

Grace thinking nourishes a marriage and creates  a flow and not a stagnant dead end.

People attend Churches and they ask, 'What missionaries do we support?' and the answer is, 'We don't do that because it's not in our budget.' They have reached a dead end.

A couple is dating and one day the concept of marriage comes up and a person says, 'I never want to get married.' the other sighs and realizes they have entered an alley with no exit. It's time to turn around or be trapped.

Jobs turn into dead ends. Many things do.

God's kingdom has no dead ends.

"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

There are always people to win and places to go. God wants to join with us and show us reproduction in the world. New friends. New adventure. A way in the wilderness.

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

God will give us a way when there seems to be no way.

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6a ESV

Yes. Jesus is our way to the Father and we become people formed by God to declare His praise. The words that come from the Book and our mouths open passages for people so that they can escape what is killing them and enter into the place where they are accepted and loved.

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Success Stories

How many success stories involve a more established person giving a less established person a chance? Many of them I would say.

All the talent and determination is the world can mean very little without a window of opportunity. For some that happens early in life and for others much later. Some never get that window or just plain miss it.

No doubt there is a natural success that involves fame and the realization of a skill or talent. Natural success involves resources, connections and security but there is a spiritual success that is set apart. It is holy and it involves God in a very intimate way.

"But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world." - 1 Timothy 6:6-7 ESV

How true that is.

I was in a music store last night looking at instruments for a young fellow I often see who walks by my work place. He used to have a guitar strapped to his back to go and busk (play for donations) down by the water where the people gather. I spoke to him the other day and he didn't have the guitar anymore. He said it got stolen. Who knows what really happened to it. Either way he is just begging now because he lost his dignified way to survive so I was out looking for a replacement I can afford to get it to him.

A couple of middle aged musicians were talking in the store about a younger companion and lamenting about how he was wasting his life in a chaste relationship with one girl going to Bible studies when he could be living up his youth and being with many women instead.

I couldn't help but think, 'Wow. That young musician they are talking about is making good decisions.'

It's all about who you know isn't it?

A person who knows Jesus has the most powerful and influential friend.

Because we know Jesus we are out looking for ways to help others succeed. We can introduce people to who we know and it can make all the difference for them.

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil." - John 3:16-19 ESV

God sent us a connection. He sent a person who Is the way, the truth and the life.

Whatever you do... Don't miss getting to know Him. He Is the One you need to succeed. Maybe you can get rich without Him. Maybe your talents will be developed without Him but there is no lasting peace without Him. There Is no eternal life without him. Without Him time will erase whatever mark you have made. If you know him things will be written in Heaven that will never be erased.

If you know Him you will make it. God's hands will make sure you make it.

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Dead To Death

Have you ever died to something? There may have been things we tried to die to but couldn't shake the connection. Others that we wanted desperately to hold onto but found them slipping away until they were no longer in our grasp. Perhaps we woke up one day to find that a connection has been severed and we had no part in it at all.

"Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him." - Romans 6:8-9 ESV

As far as Jesus is concerned death is dead. His connections to death and all the fear and grief associated with it are severed.

"For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God." - Romans 6:10 ESV

He went to the cross 'as sin' because the sin sins of the world were placed on Him just like the sins of the nation were placed on a sacrificial animal.

"And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness." - Leviticus 16:21-22 ESV

Now those sins are gone and Christ is dead 'to sin' and every imperfection. He is alive and associated with living whole things not dead broken things.

You might say, 'Well, Then He can't have much to do with me.' but the crazy thing is that we were with Him when that death happened. We passed through death with Him! As a man He represented all humanity.

"So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness...

Or do you not know, brothers - for I am speaking to those who know the law - that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives?" - Romans 6:11-13, 7:1 ESV

When something dies and is truly disconnected the rules that governed that relationship or association also get disconnected. The law served it's purpose for Israel. Grace is how living people associate. Grace is how God functions toward someone who has been raised from the dead and passed from death into life.

We are all troubled by connections that are unhealthy. We can and must consider ourselves dead to those things and those things dead to us because in Christ that death has already taken place to make way for life.

"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world... And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." - Galatians 6:14, 16-17 ESV

Paul was beaten because of His association with Christ and the message of grace but we can make the same claim of co-crucifixion. We can and we should because then we can be free to live.

It is mathematics. The King James translates verse 11 this way.

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:11 KJV

We make a 'reckoning' in our minds by faith that the connection is broken and God creates a dynamic that truly breaks the connection so that it can't dominate us.

Thank you God! Salvation is Your work. We believe in You and what You have done. We are free.

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Scaling Issues

I read recently about the business concept of 'scaling'. It is when a business can increase it's revenues while keeping it's costs steady. Growth disproportionate to investment. Online businesses have great potential for this to happen.

A paper book takes work and materials to produce. If there is demand or a new edition more must be printed and distributed it takes resources. An online book has an initial investment but one million copies can be sold almost as easily as one hundred can and new editions are easy to distribute. The revenue potential is much higher. Of course people are willing to pay more for a paper book than they are for a digital one.

Increased revenue sounds great but if something 'scales' too fast there are pitfalls. Things become impersonal very quickly. The reliability of your distribution can come into question. How do you handle all the potential correspondence or complaints? etc...

Aside from business we see scaling issues in our own lives. Perhaps lonely people would love to have more friends like a new business owner would like to have more customers.

How does a great grandparent keep track of all their grandchildren? In growing families do you buy everyone presents or do you switch to a different method? Can a Pastor know each person in his growing assembly?

Jesus seemed to have these issues also. At times He seems to say statements designed to thin out the crowd but those that remained grew in intimacy with Him.

The Trinity had plans to build a Church and that would require something new...

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." - John 16:7 KJV

"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever... But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." - John 14:16, 26 KJV

"But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:" - John 15:26 KJV

Is one of the reasons God sent the Holy Spirit to deal with scaling issues? It sure seems that way. Now God can be personal with each one of us. He can supply to all of us at once.

"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." - Hebrews 10:22-25 ESV

"And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all." - Ephesians 1:22-23 ESV

The Church is part of God's plan to cope with relationship scaling. Every relationship supplies something vital because the Holy Spirit is in the midst causing there to be a unique dynamic that can be found nowhere else.

God is good at everything. He is also a master businessman. He knows how to grow His startup business. We see that in the book of Acts. He also knows how to make his local startups a success and keep them personal and impactful.

"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." - James 4:8 ESV

The is a individual drawing near but that concept is also has a real world application that requires humility. Can we draw near to God's people?

Let's draw near to where the message is proclaimed and people who believe are gathering. Let's have our mind renewed and be connected in ways that don't leave us lonely or that thin out our resources because we are trying to sustain too many relationships without the proper resources.

Let's go to Church and worship in the midst of other worshipers. God sent His Spirit to be with us there in a special way.

"And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle." - Revelation 1:13 KJV

Where two or more are gathered He is there. God walks in the midst of His candlesticks, those assemblies that shine His light, and He is personal to each one of us there.

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Packing The Car To Go Home

Many people traveled to be with loved ones and then went home these last few days. Some are still there resting and enjoying one another and will travel over the next few days.

Jesus packed His car to go home by going to the cross and then ascending to Heaven. At Pentecost He sent us another great gift... The Holy Spirit was just what we needed. He would fill us completely and connect us fully to God. God wants closeness with the ones He loves. He wants it more than a few times a year. He wants an all the time closeness sprinkled with great events here and there.

I want this coming year to be a year of greater fuller connection with God, family and people who are strangers right now. Love can change strangers into friends and family.

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Reading Philippians Chapter Four

Reading Philippians chapter 4 this morning. I love when the Bible explains your thought life to you. It serves as a mirror for our mindset. We are made in God's image. He gets us... completes us.

This chapter, as I'm reading it, models a certain thought life. Thinking that connects the dots. The mold of Paul's mind matches our mold but his thinking is full and models what a full thought life looks like. Our world can be very disconnected but there are real lasting connections. We don't always feel them but once made they are there.

"Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life." - Philippians 4:1-3 ESV

Paul is far away but he is entreating people to be loving to one another from far away. He sees needs. He sees faces and knows that God remembers names.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." - Philippians 4:4-6 ESV

Joy that has reasonableness, Epieikes (Strong's G1933) in the Greek, a thinking filled with joy... the same thinking that has a mercy that rejoices against judgement. Thinking that reveals that God is close by and in the room. He is at hand. Needs are not ignored or magnified... after all God is at hand to talk to and interact with. Needs are handled by gifts. Gifts come from God.

"And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me - practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." - Philippians 4:7-9 ESV

The gift of God lets this happen. This does not come by effort. When the reality of the gift of a restored moment by moment relationship with God is bubbling in us casting down imaginations and thinking in purity is the result. We choose. Then we choose again... and again. Our choices paint a peaceful picture one brush stroke at a time.

"I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble." - Philippians 4:10-14 ESV

Connections with people become a gift. A well pleasing gift.

"And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:15-19 ESV

These are prison epistles. Paul is isolated physically but not intellectually. His thinking must be derived from a different place. He can not live in the things he sees all day long... good or bad. Sound familiar to anyone?

There is a river flowing under the ground. Paul is tasting of that flow. The tree with deep searching roots finds the water. It is a needed provision for when the heat comes.

"To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." - Philippians 4:20-23 ESV

Grace gives God glory. The flow of praise is directed towards God because we know we have nothing and deserve nothing. Justice would have rightfully condemned us but Christ took our hit at the cross. Every connections is a gift when you know that isolation is what you deserve.

So we greet every Saint. We are aware of the Heavenly care that God has and we become the conduit to express grace in a dark world that is blind to it. Paul had needs and the Church at Philippi remembered him and their love to him was an expression of God's love. That expression is a window into God's thought life. Jesus is the doorway but our love is a window.

Hey, May the grace of God be with you today. My love to everyone reading this.

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