Humility?

America calls itself a Christian nation. If all who call themselves CHRISTians (Christ followers) would truly be emulating the Rabbi, the Teacher Jesus Christ-the one whom we derive our name, what would we look like? Make it personal, what would you and what would I look like?

If Jesus were physically walking with us today what would his followers be called to do?


Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26NLT)

Our lives would be marked with humility… The cross was an object of humility, pain, death, scorn and degradation. Andrew Murray wrote, “The call to humility has been too little regarded in the Church because its true nature and importance has been too little apprehended. It is not a something which we bring to God…it is simply the sense of entire nothingness, which comes when we see how truly God is all, and in which we make way for God to be all.” [i]
Jesus is not asking or suggesting but mandating, take up your cross daily and follow me.
“But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Mt 5:20NLT)
It is a daily surrendering, a daily acceptance that I am nothing without grasping…without taking hold of the truth that I am because of Jesus Christ.
Only God’s cleansing can generate a heart of true humility.

Our lives would be marked with hospitality… Our homes would be marked with hospitality not “Alarmed by XYZ Security Company”. It isn’t the size of our homes, the stuff in our homes, or the impressive spread on the dining table. Hospitality begins and ends with humility. Becoming a servant at heart with arms ready to serve and receive those who will never be able to repay. It is serving in Super-Sized portions grace and mercy, acceptance and forgiveness.
Only God can motivate a life of hospitality and it starts with humility.

Our lives would be marked with change…Priorities would change. We would not allow our wealth to identify us. Nor would it own our hearts and time. “turn from your selfish ways..” Lk 9:23; Mt. 19:21-30
Only God can motivate a heart of change and it starts with humility.

Our lives would be marked with unity…There would be no denominational divisions, barriers or jealousies Luke 9:49-50. We would stand ready to help, encourage and defend a fellow brother not matter his affiliation.
Only God can motivate a heart and desire for unity and it starts with humility.

Our lives would be marked with a holy pride…There would be an awareness of holiness, respect and marvel when sharing this message of hope, redemption, restoration, life, healing and deliverance. We would be a compass to those desperately seeking Truth pointing them always to the Father.
Only God can motivate a heart filled with His holy pride and it starts with humility.

Jesus didn’t call us to build dynasties; he called us to build relationships. This is the difference between being the organized church and being the body of Christ. I believe this is the mark of a CHRISTian…a follower of Jesus Christ.

A work in progress,
Kay

[i]
Humility by Andrew Murray, pg 14-15

Awaiting Further Instructions

As mentioned quite a few posts back I'm a fan of Lost.  I've been re-watching the series from the beginning with a friend who has never seen it.  Last night we got close to the end of Season 2.  I wont spoil it for those who have not seen it, but there is a small scene I would like to describe.

Two characters on a journey to find the meaning of something.  (I know this is the premise for many episodes but bear with me.)  Eko (a former Nigerian drug runner turned priest) and Locke (a former paralyzed box salesman turned great white hunter) trek through the jungle at the prompting of a dream Eko had.  As night closes in Eko tells John they are to make camp and await further instructions.

Have you ever felt like that?

I mean with your walk with God?  You're following him then you feel like you have to stop and figure out what is really going on.  What is the next step.  I know I've been there.  The problem was/is that many times we wait for further instructions and we never get them.  Or we don't want to hear them.  Or we were not supposed to stop to begin with.

Jesus told us a lot of things.  There were a lot of instructions and cues on how to live life.  Most of them were open ended.  Love one another.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.  Pick up your cross and follow me.  Love your enemies.  Remain in my Love.

Do it now...and continue to do it.

Read through the Gospels.  Look at the things Jesus told his disciples (an in turn us) to do.  Most of them are not a one and done thing.  He doesn't say "Get baptized."  He tells us to go baptize.  Not get a theological education but to go teach what Jesus taught.

Go.  Do.

The more we live our lives in connection with Jesus the more we hear his voice.  We can hear the audibles he calls out to us.  (I'm not saying literal audible instructions here) but the more we know Him, the more we know His voice.  The more we hear his voice, the more we can do through His power.

If you feel God leading you somewhere you don't need to wait for someone to tell you it's ok.  That's not permission to act blindly and recklessly.  What I'm saying is God speaks to us individually and corporately.  Don't wait to hear what God is telling you to do from someone else.  Pastor's and leaders are great.  But they are not substitutes for God.  There is a serious problem if your relationship with God is solely based on what a preacher tells you it is on a Sunday morning.

Hopefully none of your other relationships work that way.  Just imagine.  You're married.  You never see your spouse or hear from them.  The only way you communicate is by hearing what someone heard them say.  They can hear you all the time.  But you base your understanding of who they are by what someone else tells you.

Yeah.  That doesn't sound good to me either.

When I get married I want to be able to talk with my wife.  Hear what she is saying to me directly with my own ears.  I don't want to hear she loves me through my relatives or people she's known longer than me.  I mean I'll gladly accept that, but it's not enough.  I want to hear her say it.

God is the same way.  He is right next to us.  He can hear us.  He knows what is going on in our life.  We just have to open up and listen for him.  Learn his voice.  Learn to discern what he is telling us over what is just our own mind.  We do that through reading the scriptures and getting to know his voice.  Then we will know his voice when he gives us instructions.

Now don't get me wrong, pastors are incredible people.  The ones I've had the blessing of knowing.  I'm not trying to diminish what they do.  But I think it's time the Church woke up.  And listened to the voice of God himself and respond to him.

Jesus did tell the disciples to wait for further instructions at one point.  And I know there are times he tells us that too.  But remember that he gave us a lot of things that we can continuously do without waiting for instructions.

Feed the hungry.
Clothe the naked.
Care for the sick.
Visit the prisoner.
Love your neighbor.
Love your enemy.
Love God.
Take up your cross.
Follow Me.
Go.
Baptize.
Make disciples.
Teach.
Remember Me.

These are not items on a check list.  They are primary directives.  Stop waiting for further instructions and start on the ones we already have.

grace, peace & hope
-Bear

Abound

There is an oft quoted verse in Philippians that goes something like this:

"that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion,"

 I have heard this used many times in various ways.  Usually to encourage someone who is going through a transition or difficult time.  That God is doing something good through your life, and He will see you through to the end.

While I believe that sentiment is true, there is more to this than just that.

Let's look at the larger context, Philippians 1 verses 3-11: (emphasis mine)

I thank my God every time I remember you.  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.  God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

 What Paul is really saying that God will carry to completion is that their love will abound in knowledge and insight so they can discern what is best to be pure and blameless, filled with the fruit of righteousness...that comes through Jesus.

That comes through Jesus Christ.

That sounds a lot like something Jesus said.

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me."

 So let's look at that again.  Paul is not just saying that every good work will be continued on til the day of Christ Jesus.  He wants their love to abound.  What does that even mean?  Abound is a verb that means:

to occur or exist in great quantities or numbers, to be filled; teem

Love to be filled with knowledge and insight.  Knowledgeable and insightful love that can discern what is best and be pure and blameless.  Love filled with the fruit of righteousness.  A fruit that comes through Jesus.

 "Remain in me."

 The fruit of righteousness comes through Jesus.  By remaining in him.  To abound with Jesus.  To be filled with, to teem with Jesus.  To occur or exist in great quantities of Jesus.

That is what Paul is praying for.  That is the good work that will be carried on until the day of Christ.  That those who are partner to the good news of Jesus will be filled with Jesus.  And to be filled with Jesus bears fruit of righteousness.  That fruit will fall into the lives of people around us by the way we live our lives.

If we live our lives teeming with Jesus, we can't help but share him with others.  When the storms of life come, and we face trials the wind will show our "fruit" to those in our lives.  When we are shaken by disease the fruit of hope and joy that comes from Jesus will drop.  When we are attacked by enemies with words or threats, the fruit of kindness and forgiveness will fall.  When we are blighted with hate and anger and fear, it is the fruit of patience, peace and love that shows.

All that comes from Jesus.  And we don't show that fruit if we don't remain in him.  To use the old expression, The fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.  Let our tree be Jesus.  We are the branches.  Let his fruit fall from us.  Let his lessons and teachings and love be ripe in our lives.  Let his love and mercy and forgiveness abound within us.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear

Child of Weakness

Every now and then there are lyrics in songs I have sung hundreds of times that suddenly leap out at me and slap my spirit across it's ethereal face.  A year or two ago it was the carol, O Holy Night.  The line from that song that got me was, "til He arrived, and the soul felt its worth."

Wow.  Think about that for a second.

                                    The soul felt its worth.  When Jesus showed up.

How cool is that?  Yeah, pretty darn cool.  Yesterday it was the song, Jesus Paid It All, the Kristian Stanfill version.  Honestly, either version has the same lyric.  Both are great.  There were three words that leaped out of this song yesterday that really got my attention.  But they are only part of the full thought that redeems those three words.  Those words are of course, the title of this post.

I can hear the Savior say
Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness, watch and pray
Find in me thine all in all
Jesus paid it all
All to Him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
He washed it white as snow

I thought to myself as those lyrics escaped my lips, That is exactly what we are.  What I am.  We are all a child of weakness.  I started to think about my sins.  And they are legion: anger, jealousy, fear, lust, hate, rage, lies, gluttony, selfishness, laziness, fear, pride, self-righteousness, envy, greed, and all that impure stuff.

Fail sauce.  Weakness.

There are many things I am not proud of in my life.  I'm not going for full confessional here.  If you want to talk with me personally, you can email me through my profile and we'll talk.  Some people have been shocked when I've shared some of the things I've done.  I've heard comments such as, "You are not the person I thought you were," or "I'm seeing you in a whole different light."

Let that light be the light of Jesus.  Yes, I am full of sin.  This is not me bragging or trying to claim the title of chiefest of sinners.  Paul can take that one.  Some might look at my past and say, "Well, those things aren't so bad.  Everyone does that."  I hear that a lot.  Versions of "everyone is doing it," or "That's just how things are now."

When did jumping off the cliff with your friends become acceptable?

And when did parents, teachers, mentors and the rest decide they would jump too?  Why do we accept so much that is clearly not good.  Why do we tolerate the intolerable?

Because we are weak.  I know I am.  But that is where the rest of those lyrics come in.

Find in me thine all in all

Me there meaning Jesus.  Jesus is our strength.  The siblings Moses and Miriam sing this after crossing the Red Sea.  (Exodus 15)

The Lord is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation.

Think about that.  The Lord is our strength and song.  Is he?  Is he your strength?  Is he mine?  I can only answer for one of those questions.  And it's not yours.  In our weakness the strength of God will show through.  Moses didn't make the sea part.  God did.  Moses knew he couldn't do it.  It is beyond the strength of a human to do that.  But, God told him what to do.  His weakness allowed God's strength to be shown.

So can mine.  So can yours.

God's strength will carry us past our addictions.  He will lift us over our own pride.  He will break down the walls of depression and fear.  His strength transforms our weakness.  Our weakness with God's strength is an incredible story.  A story we can share with others around us.  To give them hope, to see their weakness and allow the strength of God into their lives.

One of my favorite passages of scripture is found in Joshua 1.  Joshua has taken on the responsibility of leading the Israelites after Moses' death.   God is telling Josh what's about to happen.  What he is going to do.  Joshua has already seen God do some amazing things.  But God still tells this guy, "be strong and courageous."  God tells him three times, and the people even chime in once to make sure it really sinks in.

This passage really took hold of my heart several years ago.  So much in fact that it's the basis for the tattoos I have (in Gaelic - Old Irish) on each arm.  On my left arm is the word Strength, because it is the weaker of my arms, and on the right is Courage because it is the arm I lead with.  Now I know tattoos aren't for anyone.  These words on my arm do not give me strength and courage.  But they remind me that I need strength and courage.  Like Moses, I know that I am weak.  But God is strong.  It is his strength and courage I look to when I see these words.

So in your weakness, like mine, turn to God's strength.  It's in him we find our "all in all."  He is the everything in everything.  He is.

grace, peace + hope
-Bear