Waiting Well

Psalm 27:13 -14

I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

Times of waiting are often some of the hardest times of our lives, aren’t they? They require so much strength and endurance as well as a daily, even hourly, decision to trust God. Perhaps we are carrying a heavy load and have to go just a bit farther…but how many times have we heard that said already? Or we have to be content a little longer alone though our hope for a friend or spouse doesn’t seem to be that much to ask. Or maybe we are stuck doing what seems to us endless and pointless. Examples could go on and on really.

I would hope as adults we would understand more easily that life is all about God’s timing, not our own. But daily I certainly struggle with impatience. There is a proper time for everything we are told in the book of Ecclesiastes. God weaves together so many factors in his perfect plan. How can we expect we to always get what we want now?

Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.

So much of waiting well includes trusting God. His way is always best and he sees every factor involved that we do not. We have to desire to want what God wants and love what God loves. And we must trust God’s processes. So much of what God is doing involves shaping our character and aligning us with his truth.

In our sinful world, what is valued is prideful independence, my preferences and getting all I deserve. What God values is our dependence on him, our submission to his will and our humility. Exact opposites. Because we are so stubborn to change, it does take elaborate plans to get us where we need to be. God never seems to be in a rush either. How often do we read of 40 years waiting here and there for the next phase of life in the Bible? 40 years is easily half of our current lifetime!

Recently I was reminded of how quickly God often does work when the timing is right. It is a joy to see all the circumstances falling into place in a way that can only be God’s doing. It’s so wonderful to see him get the glory as He should. We catch a glimpse of what He is doing and it’s just amazing. (Then ironically we struggle to keep up with his fast pace.)

I’ve found the hardest times of waiting for me seem to be when I feel I have a wonderful godly plan but nothing comes of it. It seems to me it’s something that should please God and maybe is something I wasn’t even open to in the past but there it sits as life goes on as usual. All I can see is lots of stop signs. Is it just God changing my heart desires I wonder? I wish I could say I understand but often I really don’t.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God orchestrates the goings-on of the whole world, all space and time, everything. I struggle to orchestrate my day! God is all knowing. He knows every thought, hope, and desire every person has or will have. We are open books to him. I often find there are huge parts of my own heart I don’t understand! There have been times in my life I was sure I was running down the best path ever at full speed only to find I got off course miles and miles back without having a clue. It is a very good thing that God is in control, not ourselves. He is perfect in every way and so wonderfully good. When he has us wait it is because that is what is best.

We do have many choices as we often are waiting in our lives. There is always beauty around us somewhere to enjoy and appreciate. Sometimes we are in the midst of the most beautiful, elaborate place that completely overwhelms our senses. Other times we must look for beauty and find it in places we never expected – a tiny plant growing in the crack of the sidewalk perhaps, an intriguing geometrical shadow made from the bars of my cell, the haunting screech of an owl I hear as as I wander lost in the dark and lonely woods.

God is always at work and we are never forgotten by him. We can always have hope. We may feel frustrated that we remain where we don’t want to be or that circumstances stay the same despite all our prayers. We cannot see what God is doing often. We may not even feel his presence. But God promises never to leave us or forsake us – and God never breaks a promise. So we do whatever that next thing is for his glory. Maybe we must ask God for help loving a difficult person around us. Or maybe we ask God to help us have a smile on our face as we do what we must do. At some point we may need to ask to be able to truly celebrate with a brother or sister that finally is done waiting themselves without feeling sorry for ourselves.

In the end all I can say is that God is wonderfully in the waiting too. He’s accomplishing all sorts of things behind the scenes in our character, in our desires, in those around us and in his amazing grand plans. The waiting times can be good times, even great times if we have the right viewpoint.

Regardless of how time seems to be passing, it is zipping by. Our days on earth are not many compared to eternity. We can endure because we have the Almighty God of the universe right here with us, sharing our load. God gives us the Holy Bible that overflows with examples of people that did have to wait and how God did help them endure the best way possible. The Bible helps us see that life is always about God’s perfect timing, not ours. We have Holy Spirit to remind us of who we are and who God is and that we are so very blessed. And thankfully God gives us people to walk this long road with so we can encourage one another and remind each other what is true.

So we wait and pray to God that we wait well. We pray that we glorify him in our waiting and that we help others as they wait too. We pray that we allow God to thoroughly prepare us to be ready to run fast and hard when he says it’s finally time to go because that day will come.

Guard Your Heart

I never used to understand the expression, “guard your heart”. Guard it why? And from what? It seemed random and really pretty pointless to me.

I get it now though. Life will teach us what it means one way or another. It’s a check and balance system we must use, more accurately that we ask God to use on us. Guarding our heart requires us to analyze what we are and are not passionate about. We learn to be aware of what we love and hate.

I’m glad we don’t have to guard our heart from God because it is great to be head over heels in love with God, to expect the world from him, to base every decision and hope on him. But we can easily find we love Him too little.

With everyone and everything else, though, we must be checking our hearts often. What or whom do I get super excited to be around? What is the highlight of my day? What would I give anything for? What would I never give up? Is there anything or anyone I would find life not worth living if I lost? What do I panic to have less of?

It’s not easy to keep things where they belong in our lives. It is worth it to analyze our hearts and give the decisions we need to make to God constantly. When things get out of order, we set ourselves up for heartbreak and hardship. What is creeping into God‘s place in my heart? That is called an idol – yes, even good things can end up an idol. Other things can too, like entertainment, food, or pleasure. Or my job, my hobby, or even myself.

And what about the people that need to be at the top of my priority list? Are they? Or have they been demoted down to the scraps of my time and attention? Where is my heart when it comes to all God loves? God loves people. He loves freeing people from sin and shame to find the true meaning of life. Do I care about others or what God loves?

It’s hard, I admit. Asking these questions can lead to hard answers I often wish were not true. But I like ______________. But I thought _____________was OK? But.

But God always knows best and what He readjusts will lead to greater peace and joy in our lives. It’s no fun to have what we would like to choose called an idol. It’s always hard to hear God say “no” or “less of”. But with time, we will understand.

The problem is what our hearts love most, we can’t always see accurately. We can justify our hopes, thoughts and actions so easily, hiding the truth from ourselves even. God always reveals truth with love because he is 100% truth and 100% love. As a song I like states, He loves us too much to give us lesser things. He sees the nooks and crannies of our hearts where we hide what we fear we will lose. Those secrets are known by Him already. It’s kind of a relief isn’t it? We can’t fool or outsmart God.

So, guard your heart. Really, just give the job to God because it’s His anyway! If you have no idea how to start, just ask God. He will bring to mind some good things to analyze. Notice what you most love and hate. Refuse to hide anything. Ask God the hard questions and really decide beforehand that you will obey whatever he says. No matter how you may feel right now, you’ll know greater peace and joy if you do it God’s way. We have to help each other remember this too because all of us can get confused and be deceived. That’s what God wants us to do as a Christian community….help out those we notice veering off the path and listen to them when they tell us that same thing.

Out At Sea

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Here we are floating in the ocean, unsure how we are going to survive or where we are going. We’re hungry, thirsty and all we know is desperation. This is the life we have before we are drawn to God and His salvation.

We must have once been either on land somewhere or on ship, but it’s all a guess. This is all we’ve known and we do our best to survive. A good day is having some fresh water to drink, or finding a larger piece of debris to float upon.

Our assumptions are right… that this wasn’t how it used to be. Before our choice to sin against God and choose ourselves over Him, we did live a good life on land. But no longer. Now we are stuck in this hopeless existence. 

God has made a way to live a life once again connected to Him, our source of hope and joy! When God offered His only Son, Jesus, to live on this earth and eventually die in our place on the cross, life changed forever. We can know a better life, one free of this constant desperation. When we accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our life, we are thrilled to see there really are ships dotting the horizon, one even coming our way.

The Christian life is one of purpose. We now are limited only by ourselves for we live day to day with the God of the impossible as our closest friend. We have the chance to know others and really be part of a community. 

I wish things were perfect at this point, but they are not. I have a new heart and life but I still live in this body of flesh with many sinful patterns and habits needing to be removed. God’s way is so much different than our way! Just having to take orders and answer to someone can be a challenge to many of us. We have to learn to completely trust God and obey Him absolutely. This community is full of people like myself, wanting to grow but often lacking quite a bit.

Ironically, the first major problem we find as we climb onto this ship and hear our first order is that of just remaining on the ship! Every time God says, ok, crew, time to get moving, a good chunk of us jump back into the water. It seems ridiculous, but it’s what we know…being in the water, struggling to swim. Once we’re back in the water, our minds clear again and we realize what a bad idea this was and keep an eye out for another vessel. I won’t do that anymore, we each resolve. God’s way is staying aboard that ship and doing as he says. Truthfully, some of us continue to jump overboard our whole lives. God doesn’t give up on those of us stuck in this crazy routine, but a lot of time gets wasted and I do think we miss out on many adventures and wonderful journeys. 

When we finally stop jumping ship, we have a chance to hear and obey God. If He says, We’re going to all row for awhile, we can choose to listen and obey. Some people do and other don’t. The ones oblivious to God seem to be tossed to and fro, causing difficulty for everyone else. Then there are the people that do go to their assigned spot but didn’t listen to the technique they need to use. So, they are rowing backward and not helping at all. Again, God is merciful. He understands our frailty and our struggles to listen and understand and obey. We are on the ship and we are going the right way at least. 

Time for a break God instructs. I’ll take this shift. Everyone go rest and have a meal. We have a challenging stretch coming up. He is so good to us! He is the perfect Father and Captain! He always has His glory and our good in mind. So, off we go, well most of us. We go sleep and get our hunger and thirst taken care of. But, as you probably guess by now, others don’t heed. Some refuse to stop rowing. They must work, always work. God expects them to earn their keep they think. He’s a hard master. So, they don’t rest, and they don’t get refreshed and unless they start to listen to God, they will have a very short and harsh life. Sadly all of that effort is for nothing in the end anyway. 

Everyone back in place, now in your secondary positions, God instructs. We all have different roles on the ship and they change up at times. This one is a position we are learning but not that great at yet. You’ll be watching as I take the ship through this part, God lets us know. It’s a relief too, because huge rocks are jutting out everywhere and it looks very dangerous. There He goes, navigating the ship flawlessly as we all sit and watch. Amazing, we all think. In our own strength, we would never have made it. Yet, there are still those rowing their little hearts out, paying no attention, and always some around in the water looking confused. 

We are instructed to go back to our original positions now and and are all rowing again. God sets the speed and we coordinate our oars as the ship cuts swiftly through the water. Not everyone though, some are wandering around the ship still and others refuse to go the pace God set. Some still are rowing backwards and others have passed out, having never taken their break earlier in the day. 

I think this is the Christian life as it really is. God goes where He pleases and we have a place in His plan. We can make things easier or more difficult for others and ourselves. We all have periods of wonderful obedience but there will be times we slip up and even jump ship. We can insist on our own foolish way and cause ourselves all sorts of problems. God is so gracious! But we aren’t always that gracious to one another, are we? It’s easy to judge, and become proud in our good times. It’s easy to turn away from those struggling and not lend that helping hand. 

Here are a couple lessons I’ve learned being in all these above places at times. First, listen to God, really listen. Our old patterns will not get us where we should be going. God’s ways and plans will often seem different and challenging, but they are always good. I don’t want to spend all my time flailing around in the ocean waiting for the next ship!

Second, we must trust God. Even as we become better shipsmen, we don’t know better than God. He’s brilliant! If He gives an order, it’s because it’s best. If it’s paddling or resting or changing our role, or whatever it is, we need to trust Him and obey.

Third, we aren’t in this alone. We can help those around us and encourage them. Maybe they won’t listen, but maybe they will. Even if we’re in some bad circumstances ourselves, we have the chance to say, hey, there’s hope! Do you know the Almighty God? If you do, do you know there will be another ship coming by soon and we can get back on it? I’ll help you. Here’s what I’ve experienced….

Fourth, mercy is crucial. When we see how full of grace and mercy God is to us all of the time, we should be encouraged to be the same. We all start in the same place, floating in the water confused!  We all have ups and downs and have or will experience every place I’ve mentioned. So, let’s be  gracious to those around us.

Knowing and Being Known By God

It’s hard enough to decide if we affect people around us. Are there people around us that long for our company, that miss us when we are not there? Does our presence or lack of it matter?

But dare we ask the Almighty God, the Creator of the Universe, this question?

Do we affect God? God needs nothing after all. He is an amazing community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit that is a complete unit, absolutely fulfilled, needing no one and nothing. So what can I even offer God I wonder. It’s easy to assume I have little worth and that He’s far off and unaffected by me. But that’s just not true.

As much as I try to fight it at times, there’s a desire in my heart, and every heart, to

know others and be known by others.

We may minimize this, but eventually we will come to find it’s as crucial to humans as needing food and water, at least if we want to thrive and know real love and joy. The same need is there for us to know and be known by God. It’s actually even more crucial, because the truth is, in our difficult world, He is the only being that we can truly say will never leave us or forsake us. Whether we are in a time of feast or famine, we still always have God.

The way we grow in our relationship with God has many similarities to the way we grow in our human relationships. It’s a give and take. We decide to risk and we choose to be vulnerable. God could force us to share. He could coerce us or guilt us. But, God only

invites us

to know Him and be known by Him. That has been hard for me to accept. God gives us a choice to know Him. He gives us a choice to open our hearts to Him as well. The end doesn’t justify the means with God. It has always mattered that we choose to open our hearts to Him., we choose to love Him, we choose to obey. God has never wanted robots. Once I understood that God respects the people He created (me!) and gives us the choice to know and love Him, I became much more excited to proceed in this relationship.

When we accept God’s gift of salvation and decide to submit to His Lordship, we get to partner with Him as He heals our hearts and transforms us to be more and more like Christ. We actually have to learn to even know ourselves! We aren’t only in the dark about Him and life, but we are in the dark about even ourselves. We need His help to continue to grow as children of God.  It may sound scary, but it’s actually a very cool process that we begin to look forward to. Once we’re in heaven, we won’t struggle any more with sin, and I can’t wait!!! But, until then, it’s a big process of

learning to say yes more and more to God, and no to our selfish selves.

I’d compare it to living life with a body full of disease. All our past mistakes, sins, wounds from others and ourselves…it has affected everything about us. As we allow God more and more into our lives, He graciously offers His healing touch. He tenderly transplants these diseased parts of our bodies with healthy ones. Compare it to having a needed heart transplant and being able to be active now without worrying about overdoing it and dying! Or it’s like finally having a kidney transplant and no longer needing that dialysis machine. It’s 100% worth it and we have to remember, we are talking about the only being in the universe that is absolutely good doing this. He is love itself. He is wisdom. We can trust Him. If we accept His invitation, ask for His help, it actually becomes a joy. We begin to get excited to know how God will change us to be more like Christ.

What’s the price, you ask? There is a sacrifice. We sacrifice pride, which seems to be in every cell in our body. We sacrifice our plans and our hopes to begin to line up with His plans for us, His hopes for us. It is a loss of some things, but you won’t regret it, not at all. It may be sad to give up those imitation jewels, a loss. But, what God gives us in return are the real jewels. He is so generous and kind. How can we ever really be disappointed in Him and His plans? If we trust, and hang in there until He completes what He’s doing, we will always be glad we did.

Being known by God is an amazing gift. And knowing God Himself as a Friend, and Counselor and Companion and Lover….it is what we were meant for.

Who Is Good?

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Ironically there really isn’t any good news unless we understand the very, very bad news first. All the ways the world tries to keep us pumped up with positive self-talk, and reasons we should love ourselves aren’t that helpful. When the world’s encouragement keeps us from the truth, it is actually very harmful!

It means very little to hear “the judge had mercy on you and you are now free”, unless you know the circumstances. Free from what? And what judge? And who cares anyway…I’m pursing my career and making money and doing my thing. I’m good. All good. Thanks but no thanks.

Luke 18:19 touches on the subject of goodness. A very religious man, very concerned with appearances and keeping rules, talks to Jesus and asks Him, the “good teacher” as he puts it, what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus knows the man’s heart already and knows he does not understand that He is God. To the ruler, Jesus is just a good teacher, helpful, an expert of the law perhaps. Jesus asks him, “‘Why do you call me good,'” not because Jesus isn’t good, but because He is THE ONLY ONE WHO IS GOOD. In this case, it is absolutely accurate and deserved, but the man does not even know what he is saying.

So…Who do I call good?

And what do I call myself? I’m sorry to say, since the fall of man, there is only one answer for what all people are: bad. Even in the womb, before I had a chance to do anything, I was a sinner. My DNA includes sin. Adam and Eve were given the chance to choose God, but they didn’t and neither would any of us had we been in their place. All people are born as enemies of the Almighty God. When we can admit that, we can finally begin to see the horrible situation we are in and understand the bad news, the REALLY BAD NEWS so we can get to the good news.

Before accepting Christ as my Savior, I wanted to be good. I made all sorts of efforts, for all kinds of reasons. But they only looked like filthy rags to God. Isaiah 64:6 says

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Before I accepted Christ as my Savior, my heart was still as black as dirt. No matter what I did, nothing changed that until Jesus entered the picture. Jesus did perfectly obey God the Father and He died on the cross for us. This is where hope enters the picture, finally.

God found another way to satisfy His absolutely just nature. He was sinned against and that needed to be punished. His only Son, Jesus, took that punishment for us and He died for us. God brought Him to life again to end the tragedy with victory and hope. The payment was made and now we have a fresh start with God if we have the mind and heart to care!

We once again have the chance to choose to obey God, just like Adam and Eve so long ago

Will we submit everything to Him, give all we are to Him finally because He is our creator, our redeemer, the lover of very souls? He has wonderful plans for us in this life and the one to come. We still live in a fallen and broken world, but we are no longer alone in it. We have a constant companion, friend, counselor and Lord to spend our days with and for. And now, finally, we can be seen as “good” again to God Himself, the one that matters most. The precious blood of His Son covers over our sinful nature. God sees those who repent and submit to Him as good, righteous, and forgiven. We are adopted into His family and are now His children. Life will be different from now on, but good. We give our lives, hearts, souls to God and we find He is wonderfully kind, merciful and just. He is truly the absolutely just and merciful judge.

So I end this with the same question I began it with.

Who is good?

Are you good? Am I?

I can now actually say yes, I am good.  It’s amazing. But it’s all because of God, not me. I owe Him everything for all He has done for me. He has done the same for you. If you haven’t made things right with Him, do it now. Run to the judge of the universe and ask for His mercy and forgiveness.

Yes, it’s the end of your life done your way for your reasons.

But it’s the start of God’s life in you, done God’s way for God’s reasons.

And that is a wonderful thing.

But Mom, You Can’t Even HEAR Me!

Nightmares of a Young Musician

Musicians aren’t always the best at appreciating the whole picture. I remember as a kid learning to play the flute, how disappointed I was when I heard recordings of our early concerts. Why, I could barely even HEAR the flutes most of the time!! This wasn’t right! I had worked so hard on my part, and in my head the ever important flutes were always featured. The rest of the band existed to accompany us! This must be pretty typical because I’ve heard many kids (….and adults!) say similar things.

As important as it is for musicians to be skilled at playing their instruments, the truth is it’s the whole song the director is perfecting. The Christian life is no different. We hopefully love our times of solos and features but maturity is wanting the whole song to sound as the composer intended. That includes long rests and sometimes hidden harmonies or complete “tacets” (having no part at all for a song or section).

How boring music would be if everyone constantly played. How our ears would crave simplicity and new textures. I have always appreciated the unique sounds composers come up with blending different instruments. Perhaps a French horn and a flute, or maybe a clarinet and an oboe play together. At times I can’t even figure out how a certain sound was created because it’s so unique! It’s no different with the way God orchestrates our lives, sometimes having us play loudly, other times having us accompany with soft whole notes.

And if we refuse to do what the composer asks? The song doesn’t sound as beautiful as it may have. It’s not only those that refuse to practice that cause trouble. Sometimes the best musicians insist on playing too loudly, believing that will be impressive or cover up what they notice isn’t sounding good. How heartbreaking yet necessary it is to hear a judge say ,”Someone is sticking out or overplaying. You must BLEND.”

So we watch our director and trust the end result will be amazing, regardless of how much or little we are featured.

Humility is just as important as skill for musicians…and all people really! Life isn’t just about me – it’s about

all of creation bringing glory to God.

What I can do, though, is practice. Practice, practice, practice and be ready for whatever music God chooses to play today.

Pride

I am always amazed at the connection pride has to so many of our problems. In younger years, I would have said, sure, pride is one of my many problem. Now I see it is THE problem.

I’m so sure my way isthe best way. Doesn’t the world revolve around me? Shouldn’t every person’s first concern be me, after all? I deserve to be happy! If this sounds a bit dramatic to you, you may not know yourself as well as you think either!

God knows me better than I know myself.

Why is it so hard to say this, much less believe it? God made me, after all! He knows my every thought, hope, desire, and fear – everything. I may try to hide things from him, but praise God, he loves me enough to point them out, forcing me to be honest with Him, and myself.

Not only does God know me, He knows what’s best for me, every moment of every day. That’s tough to always completely believe too, isn’t it? When he gives me an odd gift I don’t even want or takes away what I love, what then? Now sinful desires, ok I get that. But what about all the “good desires” God doesn’t grant? What about when we feel we are ready for his big and infinitely more meaningful purposes and instead we just continue to work our less than thrilling job and do our daily chores?

God is so merciful and gracious to each of us. That’s one thing I try to focus on if I’m in a huff about life – God is so kind. Hebrews 4:12–13 reminds us God is always at work in our lives and in the world.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

He is such an amazing surgeon as he deals with our struggles of sin and shame. He loves us too much to leave even the smallest bit of disease or infection to linger. He wants our hearts to be healthy, pure and full of peace. “I am fine, God,” we say. “Just leave it – I’m sure it will heal. Can’t we just move on?“

“No, not yet, there’s still work to be done,” the master surgeon says. Then he uses his exquisitely sharp tool, the Word of God, and divides the sick tissue from the healthy. He removes what is harming us at just the right time, in the most kind away. Regardless of what it looks like or feels like, his way is like no other. He knows what is best. If we will just surrender to him daily, we will soon see, he’s a genius. He finds solutions we could not have even imagined. And when the solution is actually the one we‘ve dreaded most of all, we find he comforts us so thoroughly, we can make it through.

So, pride must go. There’s just no place for it as God’s children. It comes in so many shapes and sizes. It can look so wise and noble and sacrificing. No wonder it’s the root of all problems and sin!

Can we say, your way is always best, God? My life and dreams and hopes and fears and all I am are yours to do with as you please? You must become greater and I must become less? Your will be done, regardless of what that means for myself?

Let’s start each day reminding ourselves of our true position in reality. All we have we were given. Nothing we could do or say could earn us the position God gives us. We are incredibly blessed but it is because of God and His goodness. And if we don’t feel incredibly blessed, we need to ask God for a new and real perspective of life. God opposes the proud, and left to ourselves, that’s what we naturally are. It’s never hopeless with God thankfully. Let’s pray that he continues his amazing job of transforming us into people of truth and joy, servants that deserve nothing, yet are given everything. The lowest of all, yet somehow truly the most blessed and loved.

Your will be done, precious Lord.

Like Wasps to a Light…

I love nature, but moreso when it is outside of my house. This morning, two wasps were zipping around my kitchen and gave me quite a scare. Before I could decide what to throw at them, they both became obsessed with the kitchen light, and within moments, that was the end of the wasps. The problem was solved without much effort from me. As I watched those wasps, what popped into my head was, “Wow, you’re going to fall for that one?” I did feel bad for them (once they were dead). They gave up so much, their freedom, their wasp families, their wasp things they do. Now they are in the pile of dead bugs in the kitchen light. What a waste.

What “light” might we be obsessing over instead of enjoying our lives as we should?

God has given us so much freedom, as well. We have freedom to explore, purposes to accomplish, adventures to experience. We feel we can give our attention to multiple things, but we can only walk one direction. Will we choose God’s paths and plans, or veer off the path to those other lights? It’s like Gollum’s warning in Lord of the Rings….“This way! Don’t follow the lights!”

Fame?   Wealth?   Power?   Pleasure? What draws us in?

“But, you don’t understand”…is what we say. “My circumstances are different. I really can’t help this situation. And really I deserve it.” We may be complex to ourselves, but we are an open book to God. He knows our hearts, our motives, and our propensity to sin. We aren’t a mystery to Him. He can easily sum us up and I think we’d be surprised how similar our struggles and temptations are.

Jesus, too, was tempted on this earth, and he did remain sinless and therefore can be our substitute, the perfect Lamb of God on which all the Father’s wrath for our sin, was poured. In this sacrifice, our grim future is remedied. An answer was given.

There is a brighter light that attracts us and it is Christ.

Christ far surpasses whatever momentary and partially fulfilling temptations we consider. We run to Him and find forgiveness and satisfaction. We find a new way.

Hebrews 4: 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

I’m not saying it’s easy, it isn’t. It’s a struggle every day to live as God requires. There are lights around us that do capture our attention, but we don’t have to continue staring at them. We choose to look to Jesus for salvation and forgiveness and then ongoing strength and power to live godly lives. He helps blind us to those lesser pursuits and instead focus on living holy and blameless lives as children of God.

The Truth About Self-Image

A Book Review on “The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness” by Timothy Keller

This is a very small book, so if you have half an hour, just skip my blog and read it!

All of us enter this sinful world on mission to build up our self-worth, our self-image. We are constantly comparing ourselves to one another in hopes of improving our “me resume.” It’s an exhausting and all-consuming way of life.

As Christians, forgiven for our sin, we do not need to continue this pointless endeavor….but most of us do anyway!

Keller says it’s not a problem of countering a high or low self-image, like the world insists. It’s a problem of ego. We are born with a huge ego which keeps me focused on me 24/7. Our ego is basically like a painfully over-inflated organ in our bodies that hurts when it’s too full, hurts when it’s empty, and never is satisfied.

We temporarily satiate our ego by deciding we are MORE than other people. We compare ourselves to others. We constantly judge everyone, including ourselves.

Am I more  _____________ than that person??? (Fill in the blank)

Funny, skinny, muscular, smart, wise, holy, wanted, requested, tall, short, happy, etc. What about my possessions? Are they better than others’ possessions? My job, my spouse, my yard, my book list, my account, my weekend plans, etc.

Sure, one day we may feel happy for a time because we feel we are MORE than others, a success. But the next day it’s a nose dive into despair because I got passed up for that promotion again, or my friend chose to have lunch with someone else, or I wasn’t chosen to head up the serving widows committee, or I look pudgy in this outfit. Today I’m a failure. It’s an ongoing trial we put ourselves in and spend the majority of our energies on.

The truth, says Keller, is that

the trial is over.

Jesus took on God’s wrath for our sin and disobedience. Jesus paid the penalty with His blood so now God can once again look at us and not see creatures of sin and wrath, but see beloved children of God We are covered by the perfect blood of Jesus and therefore are now righteous and accepted. End of story. No need to compare. No need to defend ourselves or justify our actions or spend our lives feeding our egos.

How do we make that transition to a life of freedom?  We get to know God better and we take what He says about us as truth. Keller bases his book on the passage in I Corinthians 3:21 – 4:7. Paul is confronting the believers that are fighting amongst themselves whether it was better to hear the gospel from Paul or Apollos. They are judging, and comparing, tearing one another down. What does it matter, Paul is saying. It’s the Gospel that matters! I Cor. 4:6-7 says, 

⁶ Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.⁷ For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

Don’t be puffed up, Paul says. We are all the same in God’s eyes, beloved children. God showers us with gifts as He sees fit. Don’t boast about what you have or are. Every person is what God made him to be, no more, no less. We should be thankful and humble creatures, living a free and joyful life.

It may not be a quick or easy change though. We’ll need to ask God for wisdom in seeing the many areas we are seeking other’s attention and praise in. We’ll need to filter our speech through God’s Word to find where we are wasting precious time and words impressing others or allowing others opinions to matter more than God’s opinion of us.

Keller assures us that the result is a life of freedom and joy, lessening anxiety about others’ opinions, less concern about our old fears of failure and embarrassment. He feels Paul’s life models one of true contentment and power, joy no matter the circumstance.

The River of the Heart

The ways of the heart… such an intriguing topic for me the past few years. God made people full of passion and that passion flows from our hearts, ideally toward Him! Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

I looked up the word “wellspring” and the definition is “the head or source of a spring, stream, river, etc. A source of support or supply of anything, especially when considered inexhaustible.” So our hearts are the source of our inexhaustible desires and passions, which can be a great thing. Yet Proverbs 4:23 also mentions us needing to guard our hearts. Why?

 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

We are fallen, and our desires are ONLY selfish, not a bit selfish, ONLY selfish. We are appalled at all the horrible things going on in our world, but all of that pain and suffering, all of that evil, comes from our selfish hearts. Loving and submitting to God not only holds no appeal to sinful man, it downright repulses us. I decide what to love and how to love it. I make my own rules. I, I, I, me, me, me…..Sin ruined Adam and Eve’s blessed life in the Garden of Eden and continues to prompt us on a wild goose chase to fill our empty hearts with what makes us feel good and worth something.

We want excitement, pleasure, admiration and power. We want, we seek, we dream and we desire….and as every human being knows, we are often disappointed and hurt. We either redouble our efforts and dig deeper into our bag of addictions and anesthetizers or we can try to deaden our hearts completely and pretend that is a fulfilling life.

This wellspring of our hearts is a spring just gushing out passion everywhere, unhindered and wasted. Before sin ruined everything, our passion had a very exact course toward God. There was no need or desire to go anywhere else. Life must have been fulfilling and joyful always.

But now we don’t want to be bothered with a God whose main concern is not ME. So, we take charge and dig out our own streams toward what we think is fulfilling… power, people, riches, jobs, hobbies, pleasures, following rules, looking generous or even religious. These grooves become deeper and deeper and the stream becomes more and more branched and weak.

Thankfully God steps in. He calls us to Himself and enables us to hear Him and respond to Him, if we choose to. I have a better way, He tells us. Would you like to know it?

Then He begins the difficult process of restoring the mess of our hearts. He starts with the very salvation of our souls, restoring us to Him, our Lord and Savior. He makes a nice, deep path toward Him, toward real fulfillment and purpose and love and protects us on both sides with strong, tall banks. God continues to work on our hearts throughout life and He does require our cooperation.

Only God’s wisdom and protection can keep us single-minded, single-hearted as it were, on course for Him. He guards our hearts continuously, building needed walls and regulating the water flow from the source to Him, the destination, to keep us purposely and intensely only pursuing him.

Psalm 139:23–24 Search me, oh God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

We need to daily ask Him to search our hearts because they are so volatile and fickle. What one day seems no problem, the next day may take a strangle-hold of our heart. One little influx of water runs over the edges of the bank, and isn’t that all it takes to catch our attention? One glimpse of an Internet picture, one sip, one burst of adrenaline, one pat on the back, and our heart go hurtling toward its new passion and obsession. I heard long ago that our hearts are perfect little idol making factories, and that is so true.

One more crucial aspect of asking God to guard our hearts is then listening to Him and obeying Him. No matter how horrible God’s requests seem at first, He always is good and knows what is best for us. I admit, at times I really struggle with some of the processes He has put me through. But I know eventually I will understand and be glad I trusted Him. God knows and loves us too much to ignore what can eventually destroy us and our relationship with Him. He wants all our passion and then He will tell us where that water should go next.

When’s the last time you heard His still small voice? Has it been awhile? When’s the last time you read His words in the Bible and they pierced your heart with conviction or love? Did you say, “Yes Lord, I’ll do that”? Or did you turn down His volume and say , “Nah, I didn’t hear a thing. I’m sure this is fine with God.” If you’re ready to hear more from the God that adores you and sent His very Son to die for you to live eterenally, tell him. Repent. Ask Him to show you what’s true and right and good and then make that decision to obey him, right now, and tomorrow, and every day the rest of your life.