What's Hiding in There?

The Lovely Joanne and I just purchased a carpet cleaning machine to restore our old carpets a little. We vacuum regularly, with a good vacuum cleaner, so even with the cats, the carpets should be pretty clean. So we thought. You should have seen the amount of dirt and gunk that came out with the cleaner! (Or maybe not...) I expected some, but not that much!

The same can be true in my spiritual life, and yours too. We tend to know some

Friend of...

Carole King had a hit song back in 1971 called "You've Got a Friend." That song was popular because, well, who doesn't want a real friend? I listened to that song over and over, vowing to be a friend for others -- especially my girlfriend at the time -- and wishing

Lent: Drawing Near to God

Some take Lent as a time to beat themselves up for every sin they find. Perhaps they think that by being hard on themselves, God will be easier. Others take the course of long hours of prayer and self-examination. Some make sure to give up something dear to them, as a means of remembering where our true joy comes from. Ruth HaleyBarton describes this in her blog eReflections: "We allow some of the external

Sin Is...

Sin gets a lot of 'air time' in some churches, and sometimes in the debate between church and society. Quite often the subject gets reduced to a few sins that somebody is irritated about or thinks are the worst ones in society right now (and conveniently, sins of which they don't believe they're guilty, so they can feel better about themselves). Preaching about sin is popular with some, but will preaching about it reduce

Let Freedom Ring!

One of the most famous icons of America's independence is the Liberty Bell, which became a symbol of our country's annual celebrations, although it wasn't actually rung on July 4, 1776. The words of scripture on it are quoted from Leviticus 25:10, "Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." And truly, our founding fathers were pursuing the ideal of liberty. But I have to tell you, they missed the point of what real liberty is. What is it?

Liberty from oppressive rule, or freedom to make one's own choices, has

Jesus and Bungee-Jumping

A friend of mine posted on Facebook this morning, "If you want to be anxious today, pretend you're in control" quoting Michael Reeves. Pretending, of course, we never were in control and we never will be -- but we'll be miserable if we try. This reminds me of one of the points underneath the scripture I read this morning, Luke 4:9-12.  In this small segment, the devil takes Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, and tempts him to throw himself off, knowing that God must and will rescue him. Jesus responds rightly, "The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’" So what's behind this?  Is Jesus outlawing bungee-jumping,

Making Rough Places Smooth

Just about everybody has heard about John the Baptizer, the one who showed up out of the wilderness to start baptizing people in the Jordan river. John announced the

Pain and Good

This morning I pinched my finger in a cabinet door and yelped at the pain. Then I remembered what today is. Today is Good Friday in the Christian calendar. "What's so good

Temptation, Jesus and Our Identity

Because this is Lent, a time when we look at our temptations and sins more seriously, I'd like to excerpt what Dr. Joseph Tkach, president of Grace Communion International, wrote about temptation recently, for this shorter venue. I hope you find his words encouraging as I did:

Jesus’ first temptation involved the false assumption, I am what

SIlly Things We Think, #1: God Cannot Look on Evil

Have you ever heard someone say "God cannot look on evil" as a way to tell you that you are cut off from him because you have sinned?  Well, if that is true, it sets up a lot of problems and doesn't solve any. Here are a few of them:

--Jesus who was God, came into a world full of sin

Was Jesus a Victim?

Here's a wonderful explanation in detail that contracts Jesus and his personal sacrifice for you with the ancient mythological gods. Well worth reading! It's by my friend Gary Deddo.

http://update.gci.org/2014/04/dont-cry-for-jesus/

What do you think of it?

Lay those Burdens Down!

I read today yet another story of a person finally finding freedom from his past. As a child, he was victimized by more powerful people, abused in terrible ways. He carried the secret for decades, feeling shame for what had been done to him, feeling

Confession and Grace

We don't like accepting our weaknesses and sins (those we can admit, theoretically, that we might have). And we hope nobody else can see any, so we show up in public with our Public Face on. But God already knows what's wrong with each human, and he gives each one total forgiveness in Christ. And James 5:16 tells the church community, as we work together, "Confess

How to Get Empty, or Full

This weekend I preached from Mark 16:1-8, about the empty tomb, and the state of mind of the first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, women who were so "shocked ...trembling ...bewildered...frightened" that they couldn't tell anyone, at first, what they had seen.  I compared that to how unstoppable all the disciples of Jesus were, after they had seen the risen Lord and were absolutely sure of his resurrection and filled with the Holy Spirit.  The early church was unstoppable because the people were full of their Savior, and empty of anything else.  Then I challenged everyone to ask God to help them surrender whatever was making them feel empty, or not letting them be emptied of their burdens.  But how do you surrender all that?  Here are a few tools.

1.  Confess it to someone else and ask him or her to pray with you.  James 5:16 tells us "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed."  Sin and doubt only have power over you if you keep them secret.  When a loving brother or sister in Christ is praying with you, and encouraging you in times of weakness, the power of the old habit will be broken.  (Simply asking someone to "pray for me" isn't going to get very far, though, because that's still not admitting that you're not perfect, is it?  You'll probably have to get pretty specific.) 

2.  Ask God for clarity on why this doubt, sin, worry, unforgiveness -- or whatever -- has persisted.  (Your prayer partner may be of help here.)  Sometimes we find a false validation of our existence by holding on to anger at someone who has hurt us in the past.  Sometimes we don't want to let go of control because we don't see how much God has provided for us, so we don't trust him to continue to work out the problems in our lives (you know, those problems you can't resolve anyway...).  Clarity helps us let go.   

3.  Forgive other people, and yourself.  Sometimes I "kick myself around the block" because of something I said or did forty years ago -- and God forgave it, in Christ, long ago!  I can't go back and make it right, and I now have a loving relationship with the other person, so what's the point?  And God has forgiven the other person, so as Paul writes, "Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others" (Col. 3:13). Forgiving is a daily, sometimes a moment-by-moment choice, to release the other person to God, who alone can heal and help them; and it frees us to live in God's love. 

4.  Accept God's forgiveness and peace.  This is a form of surrender too.  It includes all the above, plus a deliberate decision to believe that what God has said and done for us is absolutely true, which means all our ideas to the contrary are false.  It can help to keep a list of scriptures that remind you who you truly are in Christ, such as John 1:12, 2 Cor 5:17-19, Eph. 2:10, Eph. 4:24, Col. 1:22, Col. 3:3, 1 Thess. 1:4, 1 Pet. 2:9-10, 1 John 5:18 etc. 

If you're struggling with doubt, fear or any other sin, try using these tools -- with all your might -- for 30 days and see what difference God's power makes.   And let me know how it goes.  I'll be praying for you!

God's Judgment: Restoration, not Revenge

One of the most inspiring and puzzling passages in the Gospels is when Jesus, after his resurrection, confronts Simon Peter on the beach of the Sea of Galilee (John 21).  Peter, we remember, had blustered about his courage and conviction to the point of dying for Jesus (John 13:36-38 and Mat. 26:31-35) then had denied the Master three times, as we read in John 18.  In John 20, Jesus speaks with all of the disciples together, and to Thomas directly, but leaves Peter alone.  How much had Peter's conscience been bothering him since that night of his denial?  How tortured was his thinking those ten days or so until the meeting at the shore?  Did he say "I'm going fishing" because he felt he was no longer qualified as a disciple of Jesus?

Simon knew -- or thought he knew -- he was in for some strong words, or much worse, when Jesus started talking to him that day.  So what did Jesus say?  "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others?"  That was a direct reference to Peter's earlier proclamation of his outstanding loyalty to Jesus.  "Do you love me?" Jesus asked, three times.  All three times, Peter responded that he did indeed love Jesus.  "Feed my sheep / Care for my lambs" were Jesus' responses. 

Would you or I have said it that way?  Well, there are plenty of times I've spent many words lecturing someone about their inability, lack of attention or commitment, and general ineptitude.  Jesus focused on restoration.  Jesus restored Peter as an apostle by confirming that he still loved and believed in this broken, messy man.  Was Peter judged by Jesus and found wanting?  Yes.  Was he corrected?  Without doubt, Peter felt corrected by Jesus.  But Jesus' judgment restored Peter to a place of service.  Peter's gratitude and love inspired him to serve his master the rest of his days, all the way to a brutal Roman execution for his preaching. 

By looking at this example, I don't want to diminish, in any way, God's righteous judgment against sin.  Yet Jesus didn't make Peter suffer additionally for sinning; Jesus had suffered for all sin, even for Peter's sin, on his cross, to restore all humanity's relationship with the Father.  The penalty was gone, and the restoration began, with Peter here as an example.   Our problem is, we don't believe it, and think we have to make it up to God somehow on our own strength, or suffer for our sins.  We need to repent of that wrong thinking.  What will our final judgment look like?  If this example is any indication, it will be far different than some courtroom drama.  God is after restoration, not revenge. 

One more question:  how is it, today, that Jesus wants to restore your relationship with him, and service to him, in spite of your faults?  It's worth asking him, and listening carefully for the answer.  

Pictures from the Old Testament: the Levitical System

Most nations around ancient Israel believed that they were ruled by unseen beings in the sky who controlled the weather, the fertility of people, animals and crops (and thus their lives, in an agricultural setting) and many other things.  The nations believed they had to appease those beings by any number of methods including sacrificing animals -- and sometimes humans, sometimes even their own children!  (See for instance 2 Kings 17:31.)  The problem was, one could never be certain of success; the weather might still be against you, your crops might still fail, etc.  You always had a little cloud of doubt hanging over your head.

The system God gave Israel was similar in many respects, at least to the casual observer. They had holy places, priests, altars, sacrifices of animals and grains, and even boxes that represented the presence of their god (that's why the Philistines captured the ark of the covenant in 1 Samuel 4).  But there were differences, and those differences assured the people of the forgiveness and faithfulness of Yahweh.  In addition, the whole Levitical system (the priests were all from the tribe of Levi) points directly to Jesus, our Savior. 

Here are just a few points, to illustrate:

• The 'sin offerings' described in Leviticus 4 and 5 are described as being effective:  "they will be forgiven" is used in 4:20, 4:26, 4:31, 4:35, and 5:10, 5:13, 5:16, 5:18, and in other places. 
• The offering had to be a 'male with no defects' (Lev. 1:3)
• The priest wears, on his turban, a seal engraved with the words "Holy to the LORD" which is taken to mean that he "may take on himself any guilt of the people of Israel when they consecrate their sacred offerings. He must always wear it on his forehead so the Lord will accept the people." (Ex. 28:36-68).
• The priest wears stones such as onyx and emerald, engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel: “In this way, Aaron will carry the names of the tribes of Israel on the sacred chestpiece over his heart when he goes into the Holy Place. This will be a continual reminder that he represents the people when he comes before the Lord." (Ex. 28:29) 

Jesus himself fulfilled all those things: 

• He is our high priest (Heb 9:11) the one bringing the offering, and he was also the offering itself.
• He had no sin of his own but carried our guilt (Heb. 9:14)
• He represented all the people, as did the high priest in Israel; and through his sacrifice on the cross, all sin is taken away for all people, forever (Heb. 9:24-28). 
• That offering is effective, not because of the blood of animals, but the blood of Jesus himself (Heb 10:4-10).

This is one more of those reasons why we say that we read the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, through the lens of Jesus Christ.  The sacrificial system of the Israelite nation did nothing to change peoples' hearts (Heb. 10:1-4) but only looked forward to the One who was to come.  Now, we live under the terms of the New Covenant, not the old one (Heb. 10:9) and are completely forgiven, even to the point of having a clean conscience.  That's what Jesus has given, not only to us, but every human who has ever lived! 

Weeds

I've been mowing lawns since I was about six years old, so pushing a lawnmower -- or growing grass that must be mowed -- has sort of lost its shine for me.  But because I love my wife (The Amazing Joanne) we have a lawn with grass, and I help work on it.  This morning, I pulled weeds for an hour while it was still more-or-less cool outside.  Adam was told in Genesis 3 after he rebelled in the perfect garden, "the ground is cursed because of you.  All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you..."  So every time I dig or pull weeds, I remember that note.  But it's not just the ground that grows harmful things; our minds and emotions do too. 

In Hebrews 12:15, we're told " Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many."  When we focus on a real or imagined hurt, and let that divide us from our friends and family, and from our family in Christ, we start believing that the hurt is more important than the relationship.  That's a lie!  But that lie has destroyed many friendships and family bonds. 

Hurting others, or letting ourselves be poisoned by hurt, are two very common kinds of weed.  There are many more:  lust, greed, envy, anger, selfish ambition, idolatry (anything ahead of God in our lives) and so on.  Galatians 5:16-21 tells us to be steered by the Spirit of God, not the fleshly pull that produces those weeds.

How do you destroy weeds?  In a lawn, pulling or digging them out is one way.  Another step is to feed the grass and make it so healthy that the weeds get choked out.  No, seriously -- if the grass is good and strong, and covers all the available soil, there won't be any way for weed seeds to get rooted and grow.  Gal. 5:22-26 gives us more:  "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"  Those are 'good grass,' the kind of thing God is himself, and that he wants in us.  It goes on to say "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives."  So, we're told to make sure we're really focusing on our Christian life, and that will produce the good results in life.  That's both pro-active, by choosing to focus on God, and reactive, because God will continue to 'fertilize and water us' with his Word and his Spirit.

It's easy enough to get tired, and then lose our focus or ambition to live our whole lives focused on Christ.  To let the TV or internet or idle ideas dominate our minds -- and that gives a spot for the weeds to take root.  Then, they start blocking out the good results God wants in us, like weeds block the sun from the grass.  So we need to keep on top of our day-to-day living, and let God water and fertilize us so our lives will be filled with the fruits of the Spirit -- not the weeds of the flesh. 

"God Doesn't Love Me"

"Yeah, I know, the Bible says 'God so loved the world' but that means the planet -- not people like me."  I know people who feel this way; who insist that it's impossible for God to love someone who is like they are.  The way some people act, it is certain they don't feel loved, or believe that God loves them. But is God's love for us true, whether or not we believe it?

Here's how Paul put it in Ephesians 1:  "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." This says that the Father committed himself a long time ago -- really, before time existed to measure 'a long time ago' -- to create us and bring us into his circle of love. And to create the mechanism for that inclusion, the Son (we know him now as Jesus Christ) committed to come into human flesh, to bring us to the Father through the Spirit's work. 

People hadn't been made yet, and the first sin hadn't been committed when all this planning took place. But because God (whom we know as Father, Son and Spirit) created us with the freedom to make choices, it was inevitable that somebody, sometime, would make the wrong choice and send us all down the wrong path. So the decision of God to love us and save us in spite of our sins was inevitable, right from the first.  It was part of the package.

That means this:  God already knows what kind of person you are, and loves you anyway.  Jesus, the Son of God in the flesh, loved you so much he went through the same meat-grinder of physical life that you go through, and then died to pay for all our lousy decisions (including the idea that God doesn't love us!) and then was brought back to life to give us life.  "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and since God himself is limitless, God's love is limitless,which means he loves you whether you're having a good day (or life) or a bad day (or life).  He created you and me out of love, and he intends to love us forever.

That's his story, and he's sticking to it.

Jesus' Temptations: Bread

For 40 long days -- almost six weeks -- Jesus was alone in the wilderness, fasting and being tempted by the devil.  There are three temptations listed in Luke 4:1-13 (and in a slightly different order, the same three in Matthew 4) but the text doesn't say these are the only three temptations Satan threw at him, just that these three are recorded for us.  There are many important meanings in this story; here are a few.

Forty days is probably a parallel to Moses' 40 days on the mountain fasting in God's presence (Deut. 9:9) and to Israel's 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.  For this time, Jesus was alone with no distractions from other people, alone in the presence of the Father and the Holy Spirit.  As he fasted, he was tempted by Satan, and came to the point of extreme hunger (v. 2).  Then Satan tempted him with the idea of making food for himself.  What was the big deal about that?
As a human, Jesus had experienced hunger before; but as the Son of God in the flesh, he showed several major truths by turning down this temptation.
1.  Jesus knew his mission on earth was to serve us, not himself; but Satan tempted him to rely on his power as God for his own needs.  In his ministry on earth, Jesus ministered in the power of the Spirit, doing the will of the Father and using his power as the Son of God many times -- but never for himself (compare for instance Matthew 26:53).  Here, Jesus taught selflessness.

2.  He trusted God to provide for him.  Eve, and Adam with her, were convinced by the serpent that God was holding out on them and they deserved more.  Israel in the wilderness, though being fed by God with miraculous manna, complained about it andwanted something 'better' -- part of their pattern of disbelief ( Numbers 11, for instance).  Jesus went through a more severe test -- no food at all -- and continued to trust that God would provide.
3.  Jesus was empty of food, yet filled with the Spirit.  By contrast, Israel "celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry" in worship of the golden calf.
 4.  Jesus showed by his choices that he was who his Father described at his baptism in Luke 3:22 -- “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”  Notice, this description is before the temptation, not as a result of his success in it. 

Jesus responded to Satan with the verse from Deut. 8:3, "people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."  That verse is a summary of Israel's entire wilderness experience, and in a way, Jesus' wilderness experience too.  He said that, not to command us to memorize Bible verses, but to say we must rely totally on God's provision for us -- 'hanging on to every word' as it were, for our daily life.
Fasting from something -- food and water, or just food, or from one thing we enjoy -- is a way to recognize how much we depend on God to give us life itself.  And when we lack something we think we must have, isn't that the most important time to decide that God, who has given us victory through Jesus Christ, will certainly provide everything else we truly need?

Leaves

The Lovely Joanne and I have spent parts of our day off, the last couple of weeks, raking leaves. (It's that time of year!) We only have a few medium-sized trees in our yard, but the lady down the street has this enormous maple that has shed about 20 bags so far and still going strong.

So who cares about leaves? I mean, won't they just decompose and add to the soil? That's what they do in the forest, right? We could all save a lot of effort. True, but surburbia isn't a forest. We have this thing about green grass, and lots of it; and lawns that look like the top of a billiard table don't grow in the middle of a forest. Those take lots of water, fertilizer and sunlight, which means keeping the leaves off. Besides that, there are sidewalks and mail carriers and neighbors to consider. Wet leaves get slippery, and there's no sense getting your ankle twisted when there's all that snow to shovel this winter.

Those who have followed this series for long know there's a spiritual point in here somewhere. And you'd be right! The scriptures show that we should 'be careful where we walk' (Psa. 119:59, Prov. 14:15, etc). They also show that God directs our steps (Prov. 15:9, 20:24) and that we should also follow the example of Jesus himself (1 Pet. 2:21) and 'walk as he walked' (1 John 1:6-7). So one could argue that keeping 'spiritual slippery leaves off the sidewalk' would be a good course of action. Watching out for sin, and actively putting God's word into our minds would help us avoid the buildup of sin.

And keeping an eye out for the dead leaves of sin or wasteful habits building up in our lives would be helpful too. Consider a similar thought in Mark 4:18-19 in the parable of the Sower: "The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced."

Make no mistake: our best efforts to understand and follow God in his word do not create or maintain our salvation. But the mind of Christ, the person of the Holy Spirit in us, helps us be aware of what's coming into our minds, and what's coming out of our mouths and in our actions. We ought to be responsive to that Spirit. We can have a truly fruitful spiritual life, and a happy one, or we can get lazy and let the leaves build up all over the place -- using leaves as the analogy for sin and unhealthy spiritual habits -- which leads to problems in our lives instead of the fruit God would have us bear.

God will sometimes get out the leaf rake of discipline (Heb 12:5-11) to help us see where we've slacked off in following Jesus. That just clears the way for more growth, even though at the time it's painful. If you want to meditate on that whole idea while you rake some leaves, I have a rake you can borrow.