Christ in You / You in Christ, Part 2

Last week I wrote that we already exist with God in a relationship of love and grace through the incarnation (coming to us and taking on our flesh) of Jesus as our Savior. That’s a fact, but our perspective matters: for example, I’ve noticed when I go to the beach, the ocean

Plants and People Grow

It's planting season in our part of Colorado, but even if you start seeds indoors under lights, it's a slow process. If you've ever gardened with children, you've seen them put

The Opposite Of...FHL

Faith, hope and love are three of the major themes of the Bible. Most of us assume that we start out our life with God bringing a little bit of each, and that after struggling through life, doing our best to grow in these, we are supposed to have FAITH, HOPE and LOVE in huge capital letters like the Hollywood sign. Here's the problem: it

Grace and Garbage

Since a big explosive event near our home last year, half a dozen homes have been repaired extensively. Tons of rubble have been hauled off in dumpsters, to make room for the new construction. In the same way, the Lord Jesus Christ is in

Bearing Fruit For a Long Time

A Chinese proverb asks "What's the best time to plant a tree?" The answer is "Twenty years ago!" Trees are symbols of stability and strength (Psa. 92:12), long life and contributing to one's surroundings (Psalm 1). Jesus uses a grapevine in John 15 to

Rooted to Be Fruited

We moderns think fruit comes out of a can or from a grocery store, so the illustration Jesus used of a vine in John 15 to describe bearing spiritual fruit is less clear than when people had more knowledge of agriculture. We might think it's about us (the branches) making fruit

What I Learned about Discipleship at the Gym

I don't like going to the gym.  Now, I don't mind work, and I get sweaty and tired fairly often, but that's usually from working in the garden or something else productive, as opposed to running in place on a treadmill. Then too, I get intimidated by the people at the gym who look in much better condition than I.  But I've realized that working out looks a lot like being a disciple of Jesus. How's that?

Do You Really?

"Do you want to get well?" That sound ridiculous, doesn't it? Jesus -- who in my estimation was never ridiculous -- asked that exact question of a crippled man. In John 5:1-15, Jesus encountered this man as he lay

Monks and Ordinary People

It sure would be nice to always feel close to God, wouldn't it?  I think we all would like that.  A long time ago, people who were especially passionate about connecting with God took a drastic step, to
live in a mountaintop, desert, or island 'retreat.'  Some lived in monasteries and convents with vows of silence, as a way to hear from God.  They created daily routines of prayers and readings and hymns, and discovered tools to stay more connected with God.  The impression grew up that these were 'the holy elite,' as though the only way to spiritual living was to become a monk or nun.

I'm glad to say the Lord invites all of us to connect deeply with him, and there aren't any 'elite.'  Paul tells us in Romans 12:2, "let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."  He wrote those words to ordinary people living in Rome -- the hotbed of immorality and evil practices -- without telling the people to 'leave civilization behind' and live elsewhere.  So if Romans can participate in spiritual transformation, all Christians can!

Those who lived in retreats learned, of course, that "wherever you are, you take yourself with you" so they still had the same personal sins and weaknesses, and still had to let the Lord transform their thinking and emotions.   Like craftsmen create tools for woodworking, dozens of different practices were discovered by these people, as they were led by the Holy Spirit to surrender their shortcomings and problems to God.  And what they learned can help us! 

Would you like to feel more connected with God, more often?  I'm going to write a series, off and on, highlighting some of those ancient and effective practices.  I'll learn by distilling and writing about them, and I hope you will learn too.  May the Lord bless our journey together! 

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.

Buds

Trees and shrubs are budding out. New life is bursting out all over. Must be spring!

I think God chose the spring of the year for the centerpiece of his plan - the death and resurrection of the Son of God to bring us new life - so the visual metaphor of new life everywhere would remind us of the new life we have in Jesus Christ.

The book of Colossians has a lot to say about this new life. In chapter 2, Paul tells us that God has given us life in Christ: "You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins." He starts chapter 3 by saying "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ..." and then gives some suggestions for living in a way that is focused on what Jesus Christ has done and where he is now (in heaven). In verse 10 he gives it a sort of summary: "Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him."

Plants and trees can only grow as they have good roots, getting nutrients from the soil that they can combine with the sunshine to produce branches and eventually fruit. Paul uses this metaphor too: "Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. " (2:7) Our source for nutrition and strength for a Christian life is -- no surprise! -- Jesus Christ. Being based on Christ is the only way we can follow what Paul says in 3:17: "And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father."

In its own mysterious way, new life is budding out in the trees and plants we see outside. In "God's mysterious plan, which is Christ himself" (Col. 2:2) we also get to have new life, new growth, and the fruit of the Spirit. As you enjoy the spring season, I hope that seeing the new life in plants will inspire you to thank God for the new life he has given us in the Son!

Change Is Coming (not just political)

The leaves on the trees are turning color, and some have dropped off; and the weather is a lot cooler than a month ago. The seasons are definitely changing. So is a lot of other stuff--mortgage rates, economic factors, gas prices. Pretty soon, the chairs in our governmental offices will have a different set of people sitting in them.

We like change. Change is the main theme of the US elections this fall. At the same time, we tend to resist it. But without change, we stop growing and die.

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, had an open friendship with God -- complete access to all the power and the wisdom in the universe. When they decided they could handle things on their own, and turned away from him, everything changed for the worse. It wasn't until a long time later that God sent his Son into the world to change everything back.

A lot of people of his day didn't like the changes Jesus, the Son of God, brought. They had everything worked out in their minds about the methods a person had to use to approach God, and didn't like the idea that he was bringing in a new system of trust. They did everything they could to convince him he should follow them instead, but in the end, they couldn't handle the idea that they might be wrong and need to change, so they killed him.

That didn't work out the way they wanted, either. He didn't stay dead. And his disciples changed from a bunch of uncertain, arguing trainees to powerful speakers who helped convince even more people that they needed to change too.

That was 2,000 years ago. Change is still important to our spiritual maturity. When we're faced with some way we don't measure up to the life of Jesus, we have something he wants us to change. That's okay; we get help with it (John 16:12-15, etc). And we get to look forward to one final change that will let us see God together: "But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown." (1 Cor. 15:51-52).

I'm really looking forward to that one.