Insider or Outsider?

"Wash your hands!  It's time to eat."  Those were the words that were uttered before every meal as a child.  We now utter those same words to our girls.  I am thankful for clean hands when it comes to food.  Last week Abby was cooking dinner and forgot to wash her hands before she cooked the Mac-n-Cheese.  I joked with her that I like the dirt flavored noodles.  She hit me and and we laughed together.

I am thankful that when it comes to God that He doesn't utter the same thing, "Get washed up and then come to the table."  In other words, "Get your life together and cleaned then come follow me."  Check out this passage in Matthew 9.1-13:

Back in the boat, Jesus and the disciples recrossed the sea to Jesus' hometown.  They were hardly out of the boat when some men carried a paraplegic on a stretcher and set him down in front of them.  Jesus, impressed by their bold belief, said to the paraplegic, "Cheer up, son.  I forgive your sins."  Some religion scholars whispered, "Why, that's blasphemy!"

Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, "Why this gossipy whispering?  Which do you think is simpler: to say, 'I forgive your sins,' or, 'Get up and walk'?  Well, just so it's clear that I'm the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both..."  At this he turned to the paraplegic and said, "Get up.  Take your bed and go home."  And the man did it.  The crowd was awestruck, amazed and pleased that God had authorized Jesus to work among them this way.

Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes.  His name was Matthew.  Jesus said, "Come along with me."  Matthew stood up and followed him.

Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew's house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them.  When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus' followers.  "What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and riffraff?"

Jesus, overhearing, shot back, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick?  Go figure out what this Scripture means: 'I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.'" (MSG)

When Jesus called Peter, James, John and Andrew they were just fishermen, not scholars or seminary graduates.  They were normal, average, dirty men.  They were not religious but workers.  Jesus called them and they followed.  Then Jesus made them into who they were created to be and they influenced the world more for Christ than any religious person ever did.

The passage that Christ was referring to is found in Hosea 6.6, "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."

God is calling each of into a life a following Him.  It isn't about doing things, but rather being someone - a follower of Christ.  It in that following that we find fulfillment and purpose.  In that following we find that Christ will make us into who God wants us to be.  In that following - this being a follower - that we will make our most profound impact on the world we live in.

Are considered a follower of Christ, or a merely dabbling in religion?  If people were to examine your life would they consider you a follower of Christ?  Are you on the inside or outside?  I am thankful that God is more interested in the outsiders and the sick - for which I am among.

Really? This is Your plan? Really?!?

Plans - we all make them.  Life just interrupts most of them.  Many of our plans don't happen, and this causes great disappointment and frustration on our part.  Have you ever looked at your life and your plans and thought, "Really? This is Your plan?"

I know that according to Jeremiah 29.11 God has a plan for my life, a plan to prosper me and not to harm me.  But sometimes I wonder, "This is Your plan?  Really?"  This plan doesn't make sense.  It doesn't add up.  Check out the life of Joseph and see if you can relate at all:

When his brothers realized that their father loved him more than them, they grew to hate him (Joseph) -- they wouldn't even speak to him.  Joseph had a dream.  When he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.  He said, "Listen to this dream i had.  We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat.  All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine."(Gen 37.4-7 MSG)...

 ...He had another dream and told this one also to his brothers: "I dreamed another dream--the sun and moon and eleven starts bowed down to me!"  When he told it to his father and brothers, his father reprimanded him... (Gen 37.9-10 MSG)

Joseph had a dream of greatness.  God had given him a dream - a passion.  He shared that dream with the ones closest to him and was despised and  rejected.  Ultimately he was sold into slavery by his brothers (Gen 37.12-28).  Can you imagine Joseph's bewilderment and questions the first night he spent with this caravan?  Can you imagine the frustration when he was sold as a slave to Potiphar in Egypt (Gen 39.1)?  How do the events of the recent past match up with the dream of greatness and rulership?

I am sure that he questioned God in the night.  We don't have it written in the story anywhere, but Joseph was human, not super human.  He was a 17-19 year old young man when this was all happening.

Then he is thrown into prison for a false accusation of adultery (rape) with Potiphar's wife (Gen 39.2-23).  Again with the questions, frustrations, confusion and bewilderment- "What the heck?  Are You kidding me?  I was second in command of Potiphar's house.  My dream of being the ruler of somethings was coming to pass.  Now I'm sitting in prison being falsely accused.  I'm innocent I tell you."  Those have to be the thoughts and words of his prayers to God.  I know they would be mine - and yours if you were honest.

He spent over 2 years in prison before he was released, only to be tested by Pharoah with the interpretation of a dream (Gen 41.1-38).  "Are you kidding me?  More tests?  I've done the right thing at every turn.  I've tried to be a man of integrity and honor, and all that has been done is hardship and pain, frustration and heartache.  How does living for God really help any thing?"  These had to be his thoughts.

One thing that keeps sticking out to me in this story is, "As it turned out, God was with Joseph and things went very well with him." (Gen 39.2)  "But there in jail God was still with Joseph: He reached out in kindness to him; he put him on good terms with the head jailer." (Gen 39.19-23)  God was still with Joseph in all of this.  In this mess called life, God was with him.  Joseph was never alone.  "...because God was with him; whatever he did God made sure it worked out for the best." (Gen 39.23)

Even when life doesn't seem to match up with what you know, or better yet, think, should be happening, God is with you.  Even when we question God's plan we can rest assured that God is with us.  Our part in this is to do the next right thing.  That is what Joseph kept doing.  He did the next right thing in the midst of pain, suffering, hardship, trials.  He kept his hope in God, even though I know there were questions.  He kept his eyes on his Lord and Master.

So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "You're the man for us.  God has given you the inside story--no one is as qualified as you in experience and wisdom.  From now on, you're in charge of my affairs; all my people will report to you.  Only as king will I be over you." (Gen 41.39-40 MSG)...And Joseph took up his duties over the land of Egypt.  Joseph was thirty years old when he went to work for Pharaoh the king of Egypt. (Gen 41.45-46)

 There were 13 years from the dream to the realization of the dream.  God allowed, and I would dare say that it was God's will, for Joseph to be sold by his brothers and travel to Egypt.  If that event had never happened Joseph wouldn't have ever been in the position to save the people of God like he did when the famine hit.  If Potiphar's wife hadn't accused him and he had never been thrown in jail he would never have interpreted the dreams of the baker and cup bearer - then ultimately Pharaoh's dream.

God had a plan for Joseph.  The path didn't, and looking at it now still doesn't, make sense.  Some times in our lives the path doesn't make sense.  It doesn't seem to match up with what we think should happen.  We can rest assured that God is in control and He is with us.  We just keep doing the next right thing.  That is what we can learn from Joseph - do the next right thing and let God worry about the plan.

Feelings, nothing more than feelings!

Frustration - Boredom - Stress - Anxiety - Sorrow - Depression - Want.  These are all emotions that we have felt at some point in our lives.  Many times they come when our expectations don't match with our realities - when our professions don't match our passions.  What are we to do when our dreams collide with life - when our hopes crash into reality?

HOPE!

Check out this amazing passage from Romans 8.16-28 (MSG):

That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times.  The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next.  Everything in creation is being more or less held back.  God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead.  Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

All around us we observe a pregnant creation.  The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs.  But it's not only around us; it's within us.  The Spirit of God is arousing us within.  We're also feeling the birth pangs.  These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance.  That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother.  We are enlarged in the waiting.  We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us.  But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along.  If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter.   He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless signs, our aching groans.  He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God.  That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

This brings to my mind, "What am I living for?"  Am I just trying to survive down here on planet earth?  Am I just trying to get by? What, or better yet Who, am I living for?

This passage from Paul gives me great HOPE for the struggles that I face every day.  Some days are harder than others.  Some days are easier than others.  But each day can be lived with hope because I am looking forward to the day when I meet Jesus face-to-face.  The trials of this life make me want to live for the life-eternal that much more.  They make me hope that much more for Heaven desired.

I'll close with this question: Who/what are you living for?

i am not, but i know I Am

"Who am I? That the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt.  Who am I? That the Bright and Morning Star would choose to light the way, for my ever wandering heart.  Who am I? That the eyes that see my sin would look on me with love and watch me rise again.  Who am I?  That the voice that calmed the sea, would call out through the rain, and calm the storm in me.
Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done.  Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are." Casting Crowns - Who Am I

Who are you?  Who am I?  Identity is such a hard thing to figure out.  I am watching my daughters try to find their identity, try to find their place in this world.  We many times get our place confused.  We begin to think too highly of ourselves or achievements.  We, as my mom used to say to me, get too big for our britches.

John the Baptist was a great guy.  He never let his position go to his head.  He never forgot his place or God's place.  Check out this passage about John:

There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light.  He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in.  John was not himself the Light, he was there to show the way to the Light...(John 1.6-8)

...When Jews from Jerusalem sent a group of priests and officials to ask John who he was, he was completely honest.  He didn't evade the question.  He told the plain truth: "I am not the Messiah."  They pressed him, "Who, then?  Elijah?"

"I am not."

"The Prophet?"

"No."

Exasperated, they said, "Who, then?  We need an answer for those who sent us.  Tell us something -- anything! -- about yourself."

"I'm thunder in the desert: 'Make the road straight for God!  I'm doing what the prophet Isaiah preached.'" (John 1.19-23)

"I only baptize using water.  A person you don't recognize has taken his stand in your midst.  He comes after me, but he is not in second place to me.  I'm not even worthy to hold his coat for him." (John 1.26-27)

Today, you and I are the thunder in the desert.  We are the torrential down pour in this dry place.  We are the ones proclaiming the life and love of God the Father through Jesus the Son.  We get so caught up in our achievements and accomplishments that many times we look at God and say, "You sure are glad that I'm on your team!"  We think that we are the stuff.

We put ourselves ahead of God.  We lower Him to our position or station in life.  We begin to think that we are more than we are, simple mouth pieces proclaiming the Way.  He is not second place to us, we are second place to Him.

Today, as you meet people and go places, remember that you are the prophet for Christ -- the voice calling out in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the Lord!"

Freedom - part 3

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.  Thanks to God for giving us the freedom to choose to follow Him.  But it would be so much easier and less stressful if He just required obedience.  But then, it wouldn't be love.

Many times I fall into the trap of comparisons.  I look at my life as a child and compare that to what my children have now - they don't match up.  I compare my life to my friends and neighbors - they don't match up.  I compare my job to my mentors or friends - they don't match up.  I compare, and compare, and compare, but am found lacking.

I think a great movie is "A Knight's Tale".  It is about a peasant who takes up the life of a knight after he has died.  He is telling lies about his heritage and lineage, so that he can live out his dream of a knight.  He is found out and the villain tells him, "You have been weighed.  You have been measured.  And you have been found lacking."  I feel this way many times when it comes to my relationship with God.  I feel that I have been found lacking.

Check out this passage from Galatians 5.23-26:

Legalism is helpless in bringing this about (the life of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit); it only gets in the way.  Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed of for good -- crucified.

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every details of our lives.  That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse.  We have far more interesting things to do with our lives.  Each of us is an original.

The idea of freedom, which comes from salvation as a free gift, is something hard to grasp.  It is something that we don't just need to hold onto as a lofty goal.  It is something that should permeate every aspect of our lives.  It is something that should seep out every pore of our being.  Yes, freedom in Christ is a great concept and a wonderful, warm-and-fuzzy sentiment, but it needs to be so much more.

We have been set free from the law of sin and death.  We have been created for a purpose, an original, unique purpose.  We are masterpieces of God's craftsmanship.  But have we allowed this to come out in EVERY detail of our lives.  As one translation puts it: "work out your salvation with fear and trembling." 

We need to allow this to become more than just a concept, or goal.  It must become a way of life.  When we begin to truly understand how free we are in Christ, then we will stop living with the guilt and shame.  We will be less stressed and more happy.  This doesn't mean that we don't make lists or plans, but it means that we live according to God's plan and principles.

I don't know if any of this makes sense or answers any questions.  I think that many of these just raise more questions.  So "let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every details of our lives."

Freedom - part 2

This concept of freedom in Christ is hard to grasp.  It is hard to understand.  It is even harder to live.  As people we love the comfort of checklists.  My wife, early on in our marriage, tried to get me to make lists.  The problem was that I lost my list.  But lists are a great way to organize things.  They help us stay on track.  They also help us see where we aren't being effective or efficient in our lives.  The problem is that we then transfer this to our relationship with God.  If I managed my relationship with my wife and girls by a list, would that be truly considered love.  Or would it lessen my love expressions to just a "To Do" list.

Check out what Paul says about this free life in Galatians 5.16-23:

My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit.  Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness.  For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness.  These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day.  Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival,; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community.  I could go on.

This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know.  If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.

But what happens when we live God's way?  He brings gifts into our lives, must the same way that fruit appears in an orchard--things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity.  We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people.  We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

 Which picture represents your life--the life lived by the flesh or the one controlled by the Spirit?  Our freedom comes not from obedience, but our obedience comes from our freedom.  We are free to live life according to whatever way we want.  Are you living life your way or God's way?

Freedom - part 1

When I say this word I want to shout it out like William Wallace in the movie Braveheart, I just don't want to be in the position he was in as he screamed it for the last time.

Freedom is such a great word - such a great concept.  Are any of us really free though?  What does freedom look like?

Christ has set us free to live a free life.  So take your stand!  Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.  I am emphatic about this.  The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard-won gift of freedom is squandered.  I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law.

I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens.  When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace.  Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit.  For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything.  What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love. Galatians 5.1-6 (MSG)

Many of us have been set free in Christ, but we have chained ourselves to religion.  We are set to keep the laws of Quiet Times and verbiage of prayer language.  We think that if we keep these rules and regulations then God will love us more.  But what happens when we miss a day of Quiet Time?  I don't know about you, but I feel guilty.  I begin to beat myself up.  I think that I'm a sub-par Christian because of it.  I have lost my standing with God because I missed a check box.

Is this really freedom?  How does this match up with the life that God intends for me?  I'm not talking about the prosperity gospel, but I have been set free from the law of sin and death.  Christ's death on the cross paid the price for my freedom.  I should live free.

Many of us live life as a bird in a cage.  The owner comes along and opens the cage door to give the bird the freedom to fly and soar, as he was created to do.  But the bird stays in the comfort and security of the cage.  It might step out for a bit, but it will return to the cage and stay there with the door wide open. 

We are like that.  Christ has set us free but we remain in the cage because it is safe and secure.  The outside world is a scary place.  But we have been set free to soar with the wings of eagles.  This is done through our relationship with Jesus.  Freedom is simply put: faith expressed in love.