Jesus

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THE VALUE OF SUFFERING

I have been wondering about what value might be in my current suffering.  My body is suffering through the aging process, and the trials and difficulties of life seem somewhat greater than in the past.  I am a little overwhelmed.  During prayer the other day, I felt encouraged to look in the book of 1 Peter.  This is what I found.

In 1 Peter chapter 4, Peter reminds us that Jesus suffered in his body.  Here are the first two verses of chapter 4 as they read in The Message:

Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him.  Think of your sufferings as a weaning from the old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way.  Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want.

I deduce from these words that my sufferings are helping me to get over myself, so to speak.  They are setting me free from the blinders of self pursuit and opening my eyes to the broader purpose of what God wants.  This passage is telling me the value of suffering.  I find it comforting to know that suffering has value.  It’s still suffering, nothing great about that, but there is an outcome that is valuable.

As I examine this idea of value in suffering, I comprehend the growth.  I now see the hand of God in my provision more readily than I have before.  My dependency on him has become more obvious.  My eyes are more directed toward him.  I am gaining from my suffering!  Now I am encouraged.   Walking through the current difficulties now seems a little easier.  I will focus on God, and relax in his strength.

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THE SOURCE OF LOVE

On Sunday we celebrated Valentine’s Day, the holiday of love.  The word love stimulates a flurry of images, but what is love?  When I first encountered love, I was willing to put aside all other things and become single focused.  Love was about receiving.  Now I know that love is giving as well as receiving.  I have learned that love is caring for and giving to someone else.  Love inspired me to step beyond self-concern and focus on the needs of another.  Love is about relationship.  Yet I wonder how love got into my heart.  Where did it come from?

This whole topic has been stirred by reading 1 John chapter 4, and I think it provides answers for the above questions.  The apostle John first tells us that Love comes from God (verse 7).  In verses 8 and 16 he states that God is love.  I conclude that the reason I have love in my heart is that God put it there.  In verse 19 John says, “We love because he first loved us.”  When I love someone, it is because God loves me.  I am, though imperfectly, a reflection of his love.

The Apostle Paul clarifies for us what love is in 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8, “Love is patient, Love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.”  Since God is love, these verses highlight his character.  God loves us with these attributes.

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)  God made the eternal declaration of his love for us via the cross.  The Bible tells us of his love, but on the cross he demonstrated his love.  The great source of love has given his love to us in an irrefutable act.  God loved us in this sacrificial way in order to restore our relationship with him.  His command to us, love one another.  May his great act of love grow and flourish in our hearts.

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WHAT JESUS DID

A couple of weeks ago my wife was reading to me from Revelations chapter 5. 

It starts:

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.  And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”  But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.  I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.  Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep!  See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.  He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals”

As I listened to these words the significance of what Jesus did on the cross expanded from an occurrence on the earth to a universal, infinite event.  Jesus’ work on the cross is pivotal in God’s plan for his creation, and Jesus alone is worthy to bring about our transition to eternal life.  Jesus’ sacrifice has blossomed in my understanding to something awesome and everlasting.  The cross will forever remain at the center of our existence.

Having this broader understanding has refreshed for me the coming Easter celebration.  Everything for Christians is centered upon Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection.  Nothing else can compare with this.  He alone is worthy to bring to us salvation and eternal life.  Everything of eternal significance rests on what Jesus did. 

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IT IS ALL HIS

Psalm 24:1  The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.

God’s World and Us is founded on the truth revealed in this scripture verse.  God owns us and everything we know.  This blog is dedicated to exploring our relationship with the owner and the daily lives we live out here on his earth.  Today, I want to focus on his ownership.

In the Parable of the Tenants, found in Matthew 21:33-46, Jesus tells of a landowner who built a vineyard and then rented it to some farmers. The farmers had an obligation to share the profits of the vineyard with the owner.  They betrayed their obligation and beat and killed his representatives when they came for the owner’s portion.  The farmers even killed his son when he came to them.  The parable is about the failure of the Jewish leaders to respond to God’s calling, and how he is going to turn his kingdom over to more faithful tenants.  As I read this parable, my thoughts were pervaded by the idea of being God’s tenant.

Since God created the earth and everything it, what I claim to own is actually his.  I am God’s tenant here on his earth.  He has set me up with the talents and abilities needed to accomplish the tasks he has set before me.  So I asked myself, what kind of a tenant am I?  Do I respect the owner and take good care of what he has given me, or do I use what he’s given me for my own benefit without regard for him?  Do I turn over the profit of my life, or do I take the credit?

As I process through these thoughts I find myself in need of repentance.  The things I possess, I think of as mine – rarely acknowledging the true owner.  I’ve taken a lot of credit for my accomplishments without mentioning my Lord to whom the credit is really due.  I am glad he is a generous and gracious owner who is slow to anger and abounding in love.  Thank you Heavenly Father for giving me such a great life.  Help me to be a humble and grateful tenant.

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REFLECTIONS ON 2015

With just a few hours of 2015 remaining, I am reflecting upon the hours of this year that have passed so quickly.  I am wondering by what standard I should measure these hours spent.  Work, leisure, parties, major events, and quiet moments have all traveled across my mind as I ride this train of memories looking to form a valuation of the year nearly gone.  I have chosen to ask myself this question. What did I give to this year, and what did I receive?  As I contemplated the answer to this question, one word seemed to surface on the lake of my considerations.

This word has surely defined the most notable increase of the year’s activities.  The time I spent with family and friends, on the job, and even my encounters with strangers was affected by this word.  Perhaps the greatest place this increase occurred was in my interactions with God my Father.  I am delighted to find this word so prominent, but I put forth no claim of accomplishment on my own.

The word, as you may have guessed, is love.  I have experienced a greater ability to give and receive love.  Surprisingly, with this greater ability has come peacefulness.  There is indeed a deeper peace in my heart.  I haven’t yet asked those around me if they’ve noticed this.  I may be self-deceived.  I know the peace is there, and I know I feel the love.  I hope it has shown.

This love and peace came about because I asked Jesus.  Looking over the year, I realize he answered my prayer.  I didn’t do anything different.  He worked it in my heart in his gentle, subtle way.  I continued to seek him, and he provided the difference.  I think that recognizing his love for me helped soften my heart.  This provided the larger capacity necessary for the increase.

Well, I certainly haven’t reached the pinnacle.  There is plenty of mountain left to climb, but I now know how it’s done.  Please join me this year in a quest for greater ability to love.  It will greatly please our Heavenly Father, and oh yes, we’ll have deeper peace in our hearts.

I pray God’s blessing for you and yours in 2016.

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UNDEFEATABLE POWER

There is an undefeatable power in the universe.  In fact he created the universe.  His power is wrought of love and is so far above man’s power that he can send his son as a helpless infant to the earth, and accomplish his plan.  Man and the demonic forces of evil could not stop him.  An earthly king could not kill him.  It goes like this, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  The Christmas Story is a story of the greatest love and the greatest power.  The baby in a manger, so gentle and mild, was a display of God’s wisdom and power that transcends our understanding.

If I was in charge of bringing Jesus to earth, I might amass a great army.  I’d post a 24 hour guard and develop a secure safe house with all the latest technology.  This is hilarious in comparison to the open manger.  God didn’t need my help.  He is all powerful.  He didn’t have to come with all guns blazing.  He came in love and tenderness.

The underlining truth is that God’s plan, for your life and mine, will be accomplished, and nothing can defeat his will.  Sometimes I feel as vulnerable as a babe in a manger, but I’m really as safe as the infant Jesus was.  I can trust God with everything.  The Christmas story fills me with great confidence.  It is a story of power displayed in love.  I worship God because he is higher than me, and his ways are higher than my ways.  I trust in his power; I trust in his love.  I pray that the love and power of the Christmas Story will bring you peace and comfort this season.

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CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS

This is a re-post from Christmas 2014.  I hope you enjoy it.

With the advent of Christmas we celebrate the greatest event that ever happened on the earth:  God entering time and taking on human flesh.  He spent time as one of us.  He walked beside us, and with his eventual death and resurrection, brought new and eternal life for all who would receive him.  This is worthy of celebration.  No other event on earth has stirred the hearts of men to such joyous celebration.  People all-over the earth celebrate this wondrous occasion.

Joining in celebration helps us focus on something bigger than our individual lives; something more real than the temporal.  Celebration sets a mood of happiness and oneness.  I remember singing in a community choir at Christmas.  Our hearts were lifted as we performed traditional Christmas music.  We experienced a oneness of joy and delight.

God wants us to enter into this celebration.  The angels celebrated that first night when Jesus was born, and we have ever since celebrated with them.  Let us continue the celebration of Jesus’ birth and the wonder of God’s plan for our salvation begun that glorious night.

 

                   A promise has been fulfilled

                   A reclamation for all the earth

                   A virgin has brought forth child

                   A most miraculous birth

                   A prophesy from ancient times

                   A hope that’s now achieved

                   A salvation realized

                   A redemption for Adam’s seed.

God bless you, and have a Merry Christmas!

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DECEITFULNESS OF WEALTH

When Jesus was explaining the parable of the sower to his disciples (Matthew 13:18-23) he used this phrase, the deceitfulness of wealth, when speaking of those who represent the seeds falling among the thorns.  In Matthew 13:22 Jesus said, “The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word making it unfruitful.”  This phrase caught my attention as I read through the passage, and I thought it worth a more in-depth look.

I frequently like to refer to The Message to expand a passage.  Here’s how verse 22 reads, “The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.”  (I love The Message.)  The words deceitfulness and illusions both give indication of something that is not really there.  We are lead to think there’s something there, but it is a deception.  Here in America, I believe the deceitfulness of wealth hinders us from fully participating in God’s kingdom.  Perhaps it is our greatest deception.

I remember, when my youngest daughter returned from a mission’s trip to Mexico, she was deeply impressed by how happy the people were in the village where she stayed.  She said to me, “Dad they live in shacks and have nothing, yet they are always cheerful and happy.”  It was a great experience for her.  She had the opportunity to realize that possessions don’t bring happiness.  It’s a deception.

As we celebrate this Christmas season let us not fall subject to the deception that it’s about getting more.  We already have what we need, Jesus.  We are celebrating God coming to earth, living among us, and giving his life for us.  What else could we need?  JOY TO THE WORLD!  THE LORD HAS COME!

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NO

No is an interesting word.  It is almost universally understood, but it is not our favorite word when spoken in response to a request.  However, no is a very useful word.  For instance, “No, you can’t play in the traffic,” is a valuable use of the word no.  When raising my children I often used no in response to their appeals.  They didn’t like it, but the no answer gave me time to think about the repercussions of their request.  They were delighted when the decision was reversed.

My Heavenly Father has said no to me a number of times.  I recall an incident some 25 years ago.  I had discovered an opportunity to apply for a teaching job on California’s central coast.  I love the central coast, and my wife grew up there.  So I applied for the position.  One night while I was waiting to hear from the school, I had a dream.  In the dream, my wife and I were on a roller-coaster. Before the thrill of the big drop, the tracks took a flat weaving diversion.  We had stopped the car and gotten out to redirect the tracks to go immediately to the drop. When I awoke, I knew this dream was from the Lord.  As I prayed, the Lord showed me that the dream indicated I was rushing ahead of his plan for us.  The next day, I got a call for an interview.  I declined.  I put the tracks back where they belonged and got back in the car.

The Lord had said no, but it was only for a season.  About ten years later, we had the opportunity to move to the central coast and spend a productive five years there.  We had finally reached the big drop.  Who knows what would have happened if I had ignored the Lord’s caution and moved there too soon?  Only he does.  Isn’t it good to know we have an all knowing father that says no?  He knows what is best for us, and we can trust him.  Even when he leads us down a difficult path, he walks beside us.  His path is the best path.  I don’t always like the direction he sends me, but I am always blessed when I follow him.

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BE MERCIFUL

“Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”

 Jude 22-23

 

The Church, the Body of Christ, has throughout the ages frequently missed the basic tenet of being merciful.    On the other hand the Church has been an instrument of mercy in society since its beginning.  It’s been a mixed bag.  In Luke 6:35-36 Jesus says,

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back.  Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

God has shown us mercy, and he desires us to be merciful.  I believe our ability to be merciful depends on our ability to receive mercy.  Humility is the key.

 

To receive mercy, I must first recognize my need for mercy.  When I know that I have sinned against God, there is then the recognition of the debt I owe to God.  Secondly, I need to humble myself and become aware that there is nothing I can do to repay this debt.  God is willing and has made the way to grant me mercy by forgiving my debt.  I don’t have to work for it.  It’s free.  That is hard for me because in my pride I want to do something to earn forgiveness.  However, by holding on to this idea of earning forgiveness, I will never even understand mercy.

 

Now you can see why it’s a mixed bag for the Church.  Our pride often gets in the way.  In Matthew 9:13 Jesus says to the Pharisees, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’”  And again in 12:7, “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.”  The Pharisees were caught up in a ritual of sacrifice that fed their pride allowing them to condemn others rather than show them mercy.  They were trying to pay their debt to God on their own merit.  They were blinded by pride and did not understand mercy.   Therefore, they could not extend mercy.

 

Mercy proceeds from a humble, forgiving heart.  This is God’s nature and his heart toward us.  By surrendering my will to God and allowing myself to be forgiven, I take the first step in understanding mercy.  I feel the burden of gilt lifted and the exhilaration of being free.  But, I must remember that I’m free and not fall prey to the lie that I must do something for this freedom.  That lie feeds my pride.  I must remain humble. Then in humble gratitude, I live under God’s mercy.  A life that is continually bathed in mercy emanates mercy.