Patience

Here's the basic situation:

I am in a hurry, and God is not.

And so, like He usually does, God has taken the events over the last few weeks and graciously reminded me why I need to grow in this area. This is an especially thorny one for me because I’m one of these people that try to pack the absolute most amount of accomplished "stuff" into any given sliver of time.

So, you’re probably thinking, time’s a wastin’, Bub. How about we just cut to the chase? Why be patient?

Here’s why:

Because God is training us.

Because we are on God’s timeline, not ours.

Because we are on God’s schedule, and not our own.

You and I, as sons and daughters of the Living God, are being trained (rehabilitated, really) into thinking, acting, speaking and living like citizens of a Kingdom we haven’t even seen yet.

In this present world, time is everything. But in that Kingdom, time is not an issue.

If God has made us alive, forgiven our sins and has in fact made us heirs to that Kingdom, then we have plenty of time. Actually, being made immortal through Christ, we now have infinite time.

And that’s why the management of time and the achievement of goals along a timeline must always take second place to what God has placed first: the transformation of you and I into the image of His Son, Jesus.

Jesus didn’t die for us to reach our goals. Jesus died so that we could reach His goals, and at the top of that List is for you and I to daily become more like Him.

And that takes time.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God,

to them who are the called according to his purpose.

For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Romans 8:28-29

Man, Overboard

Laodecia was a lukewarm church. They were spiritually lazy. They were content with this world. They were blind, they were careless and they were sloppy examples of Christians. Jesus found them a little nauseating to be around. That’s pretty bad.

We may often think to ourselves that we certainly don’t want to be like those early Christians, and rightly so. We don’t want to be spiritually lukewarm… but neither do most of us want to go overboard with the whole thing. I mean, there is a balance right? No point in getting weird with it! After all, that could turn people off from the Gospel.

Right?

What occurred to me today was that we could stand to go a little overboard. Truth be told, we have very likely not hit some reasonable “balance point” in our walk with Christ. We are likely not at the point where we’re actually offending people with Jesus. We should be much less concerned about “turning people off” by acting “too Christian” and much more concerned about camouflaging ourselves in the world and blending in too easily with the unsaved.

Taking Paul’s points from this past Sunday, let’s drive it on home.

In all honesty, are you going overboard, by craving the attention of God too much? Do you find you’re just going overboard by sharing your faith too much? How about just being obsessed with God’s Kingdom rather than this world; do you struggle with that? How many people do you know (in the church, mind you!) that are just going overboard by turning their needs over to God, or who’s giving is quite frankly out of control?

And are we really ready to confess to each other that we’re going a little overboard separating ourselves from a lost and dying world - or do we do the work of Satan by picking on those Christians who have separated? And do you know anybody who’s just gotten a little too Christ-like, and gone a bit overboard conforming to His image?

Food for thought: maybe the scale we’re using to gauge if we’re "going overboard" is a little off. Maybe the balances we’re using have gotten a little corroded with time, a little rusty with the world.

Its possible, just possible, that the sense of balance we might have in our lives from going “overboard” with Jesus may itself be... a little out of balance.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is

— His good, pleasing and perfect will.

Romans 12:2

What's So Great About Being Grateful?

Oddly enough, God actually commands to be grateful.

That's right, developing a grateful heart is actually commanded to believers in the Scripture. But becoming thankful to God and appreciative of what He does is no easy task for most of us. Because of our corrupted natures, it take practice and steady reminding to become and continue being simply thankful.

This is an important point, because living an ungrateful life can be mentally unsatisfying, emotionally exhausting and spiritually dangerous. If we lack thankfulness, over time we can become blind to God’s almost endless supply of blessings to us. And once blind to His blessings, we can easily fall into any number of derivative sins, including:

• giving ourselves instead of God the credit for his blessings
  
• feeling resentment towards God that we don’t have even more money and earthly treasures
  
• becoming selfish and not sharing what God has freely given us
  
• dedicating ourselves to the endless accumulation of the material things this life offers instead of keeping our ultimate focus on God and His Kingdom.
  

For those of us in Christ, thanksgiving isn’t just a good idea, it’s probably the most obvious and universal trait that all redeemed sinners MUST exhibit. Let me be clear: thankfulness is the natural result of God's voluntary and supernatural salvation of a comdemned and guilty heart. And while the benefits of being thankful are probably too deep for us to really understand, we know from experience that simple thankfulness brings peace to us, can enhance the joy of any given situation, keeps our weak and fickle hearts from aligning with the world system, and ultimately brings glory to God.

Amazing how powerful simply being grateful to God can be.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15

The End of the Beginning

This is not the end.
This is not even the beginning of the end.
But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

Winston Churchill

When God says we are to trust Him, He means fully. This is, of course, easier said than done. But when you review the options, or rather the alternatives, to trusting God, the field gets pretty narrow pretty fast. What can you trust in besides God?

Money? It’s been tried, and the results are disappointing.

Power? Too fleeting, and besides power is expensive. Power generally takes a lot of money.

Can you depend on your health? In a word, no. Health can be fickle.

The basic problem with all of these options is that they are linked (or actually locked) to time. Time will eventually diminish money, erode power, and weaken your health. In short, everything here is simply too temporary to depend on; time will eventually win against them all.

Compare all of these to the lasting nature of the Rock of Ages. If you feel sometimes like your walk with God is still in its infancy, then contrast the temporary nature of what you might be tempted to place your trust in this world to the everlasting nature of God. In Him and Him alone is found the peace, the security, and the sheer permanence we all crave.

Fully trusting God means fully aligning yourself with the reality of His permanence, and fully trusting God means detaching yourself, sometimes by force, from the unstable and temporary nature of this world and this life.

To finally come to the end of yourself is to come to the beginning of God.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Wisdom begins with Fear

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. (Prov. 1:10) 

With many it is often thought that wisdom is something that can be developed apart from God. If we possibly read enough, see enough and hear enough information, then in so doing we will become wise. That is totally false. One may become intellectual or knowledgeable but not wise. Solomon described wisdom as, "understanding words of insight, acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair, giving prudence to the simple and knowledge and discretion for the young." (Prov. 1:1-4) Simply put, one of the best definitions of wisdom I've heard is "Wisdom is seeing life from God's perspective."  

Wisdom ALWAYS begins with a healthy FEAR of God. Being that God is the one who decides what wisdom is and is not, He is also the one who decides where it originates. The truth is simple, for the creation not to consider, regard and stand in awe of the Creator is foolish. That is why the jump off point of wisdom is the recognition that God created all things, sees all things, knows all things and desires all things to stand in awe of HIM. Those that do not... well that's just silly... and that's not using wisdom. 

Lets do Breakfast part 5

As I sit here this morning I am thinking of one of the most intriguing stories that I've ever heard. It was the story my father had told me when I was younger, of the night that his first wife Pat, had died.  After a long fought and loosing battle with cancer, as she lie there moments before she died, in a somewhat sedated state to help her deal with the pain, Suddenly her face brightened and she looked straight up and said aloud with all the energy she could muster, "Jesus... Jesus... your so beautiful... your so beautiful... please take me with you."  Dad said, that in the few moments that followed, Pat took her last breath and went to be with Him. I can't help but to be amazed that The Creator of the Universe, the One who spoke that stars into existence, the one who was before all things, the one who sees all things, the one who created every generation of man, the one who keeps the universe in order and the one who came and humbled Himself before, allow those that He created to brutally beat, scourge and nail Him to a cross and then as promised...rise again, that HE would actually come to personally walk Pat home! That blows my mind! 

But, He is always looking for personal meetings.  He did it with His disciples as he choose them one by one even though they were not looking for Him. He did it with Saul as he was on the road to Damascus, going to persecute and murder people that followed Jesus. He did it with Peter, when He went looking for him after Peter had sold out and denied Him. He came and met with me when I was twelve years old, standing in my parents dining room. Then did it again when I was eighteen and strung out lying in rehab on a hot Friday night in July. And even as I type, He is attempting to meet with millions that may not be interested with meeting with Him.  The fact is He is waiting patiently to meet with you if you haven't already. He even says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with ME." (Rev. 3:20) As I think of meeting with all those men that fascinate, inspire and have my deepest respect I can often forget that it is all because HE CREATED them in HIS IMAGE. and as I long to meet with them HE longs to meet with me! There will never, ever be a breakfast that will top that.  

Lets do Breakfast part 4

I am not one you thinks highly of politicians. I believe that to be a representative of the people and to work for the people, one must be trustworthy, upright and respectable.  Few and far between fit that mold and as time progresses there seems to be even fewer. BUT, there is one that held the highest office in the land and did it with integrity, uprightness and statesmanship. It is that man that I will have my Thursday breakfast with.

Today I'm dining with the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.  Also nicknamed "the Gipper." He was born February, 6th 1911, in rural Illinois. As a teenager he was a lifeguard at a riverside beach, where it was recorded that he had rescued 77 people from drowning.  He had charisma, good looks and poise.  He became an a actor in 1937 and continued very successfully in that until 1961. It was on the set of the movie "Hellcats of the Navy" that he met his second wife Nancy Davis. It was reported that every year on Nancy's birthday, Ronald would send Nancy's mother flowers, thanking her for having Nancy.  In 1962 he began his political career and officially changed his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. In 1967 he ran and won the race for Governor in his home state of California, and fulfilled both terms in office until 1975.  At the age of 69 in the year of  1981 Ronald won the race for President of the United States and also fulfilled both terms until 1989. He fervently pursued tax and budget cuts, an economic policy that became known as "Reaganomics." He opposed vigorously "big government."  Reagan often fielded questions in front of his helicopter roaring in the background to avoid the press. Reagan had an influential presence.  As president he received his first hearing aid and hearing aid sales in America jumped by 40%. Sales of jelly beans sky rocketed when he simply told reporters that he liked them.  In 1981, 69 days after being in office, there was an assassination attempt on President Reagan's life where he was shot, the bullet just missing his heart. When asked by a reporter what had happened, he responded "I forgot to duck." We are just scratching the surface and there are many reasons I admire and respect Ronald Reagan. But again most of all was his love for Jesus.  There are far too many good stories to list but, Reagan led with humility before God and often prayed aloud "Lord make me an instrument of YOUR peace. Paul Kengor writes in his book, The Christan Faith of Ronald Reagan; From Sunday School to the Oval Office Occupant, "Rather than bringing himself to the church, President Reagan brought the church to his presidency." He was pro-family, pro-life and pro-Jesus. It's gonna be a great breakfast.