Sometimes I don't understand Jesus. He's just a little too 'out there' for me. He's famous for the Sermon on the Mount, but that is a challenging piece! I mean, he takes the old command "don't murder" which is fairly straightforward, and makes it impossible with "don't call anyone else an idiot." Is that fair? (Maybe he only said that because he didn't have to deal with the drivers around here.) Not only that, he tells us we should love, not only our neighbors and friends, but even our enemies. That can't be realistic, can it? Maybe he had something else
Showing posts with label maturity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maturity. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
What Brings Joy to the Holy Spirit?
Ephesians 4:30 says "And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live." Last Sunday looking at this verse, we asked questions like what brings grief to the Holy Spirit and why that is. The next interesting question was, "What
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
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
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Follow Jesus and Die (to Self)
Jesus told his followers something really shocking: "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me." (Luke (9:23). And in Luke 14:27, the saying is in reverse: "And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Relocated, Forgiven, Loved
I know people who have tried to get past a difficult time in their lives by relocating across the country. After unloading the moving truck, they stand in front of a mirror
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
"Are We There Yet?" Christian Life Is a Journey
I used to think the word "grace" was just a wimpy way of thinking about following Jesus -- so that people who couldn't obey
him well would hope to get grace instead. I thought that, on the rare occasions I didn't obey right, I could grovel before God and ask for grace 'just this once.' I was taught was that the whole idea of Christian life was to obey more, get sin out of my life (mostly by my own effort), and wean myself off the Lord's forgiveness as fast as possible until I didn't need grace at all. After all, Christ had gone to a lot of trouble at the cross to forgive me, and I didn't want to wear out my welcome by asking for grace all the time.
Finally, I began to understand that grace is how God relates to us all the time, out of his love for us, not because we can't obey perfectly but because we can't obey at all. (Even if we go through the motions of obedience, our motives are still impure.) Then, I began to enjoy receiving grace, but the problem was, I didn't realize that I wasn't giving grace to other people in my life. I was still the same selfish person who demanded performance from others while being glad God had already covered my lack of performance through Jesus. You might say I was just a teeny bit disconnected from reality.
The Lord finally started straightening out my messed-up ideas, through some very difficult situations in my life, and giving me some mature and loving Christians who mentored me and lovingly pointed out my hypocrisy. It has taken years but I'm happy to say I am beginning to see opportunities to give grace to others. At least some of the time.
All of this brings up the point that Christian life, becoming spiritually formed in the image of Jesus Christ, is a journey and not an event. We don't suddenly stop sinning by receiving the Holy Spirit, we don't instantly cast away every temptation after baptism, and a person doesn't mature instantly any more than a fine wine or cheese does. A journey means, among other things, being patient with the process, with ourselves, and with others as we journey together.
No, we're not there yet. But the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the ongoing fellowship of the Holy Spirit in our hearts (2 Cor. 13:14) will carry us there. We'll enjoy the ride a lot more if we relax, ask the Lord how the journey works, and help others enjoy it too.
May the Lord give you peace as you walk with him!
him well would hope to get grace instead. I thought that, on the rare occasions I didn't obey right, I could grovel before God and ask for grace 'just this once.' I was taught was that the whole idea of Christian life was to obey more, get sin out of my life (mostly by my own effort), and wean myself off the Lord's forgiveness as fast as possible until I didn't need grace at all. After all, Christ had gone to a lot of trouble at the cross to forgive me, and I didn't want to wear out my welcome by asking for grace all the time.
Finally, I began to understand that grace is how God relates to us all the time, out of his love for us, not because we can't obey perfectly but because we can't obey at all. (Even if we go through the motions of obedience, our motives are still impure.) Then, I began to enjoy receiving grace, but the problem was, I didn't realize that I wasn't giving grace to other people in my life. I was still the same selfish person who demanded performance from others while being glad God had already covered my lack of performance through Jesus. You might say I was just a teeny bit disconnected from reality.
The Lord finally started straightening out my messed-up ideas, through some very difficult situations in my life, and giving me some mature and loving Christians who mentored me and lovingly pointed out my hypocrisy. It has taken years but I'm happy to say I am beginning to see opportunities to give grace to others. At least some of the time.
All of this brings up the point that Christian life, becoming spiritually formed in the image of Jesus Christ, is a journey and not an event. We don't suddenly stop sinning by receiving the Holy Spirit, we don't instantly cast away every temptation after baptism, and a person doesn't mature instantly any more than a fine wine or cheese does. A journey means, among other things, being patient with the process, with ourselves, and with others as we journey together.
No, we're not there yet. But the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the ongoing fellowship of the Holy Spirit in our hearts (2 Cor. 13:14) will carry us there. We'll enjoy the ride a lot more if we relax, ask the Lord how the journey works, and help others enjoy it too.
May the Lord give you peace as you walk with him!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
God's Faithful Deliverance
I just noticed a parallel, brought out to me by a commentary, on two passages in the Book of Moses:
Gen. 8:1, 14 -- and God remembered Noah...and sent a wind...and the waters receded...and the ground was dry.
Ex. 2:24 -- and God remembered His covenant... 14:21 and sent a strong east wind and drove back the sea... 14:22 and the Israelites went through on dry ground.
In both stories, God "remembered" and "sent a wind" and the waters were pushed back and "dry ground" appeared for the people to walk on. Now, isn't that interesting...the same sequence (even though, in Exodus it's separated in time) of remembering -- taking note of and deciding it's time to act -- sending a wind, and the dry ground appearing for the people to walk on.
There are other places where God "remembers" or takes special note of something, and then takes action, sometimes an action that requires time and a sequence to complete; for instance, Gen. 30:22, where God 'remembered' Rachel, took note of her need and acted.
But in these two cases, the sequence includes a drying wind. Now, for Israel on the seashore, the strong wind was probably unpleasant -- the sand getting in their eyes, and perhaps in their food. Noah and the family may have had a bit of a rougher ride once that wind started. (I wonder if seasick elephants throw up?) But the wind came as an agent of God, and the good result came later. In both cases, He used the wind instead of just waving His hand or something.
Just a thought -- if a dry wind of distress or pain is blowing in your life right now, it could be in preparation for a greater miracle. If God has taken away something, perhaps it's so He can give you something else. That's how it's happened in my life, a dozen times that I can think of. As James 1:2-4 says, about trials:
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."
May God give you the strength and patience, from His store of grace, to ride out the wind of pain or loss or worry, whatever you're going through, so His greater miracle can become evident in you. And may you walk free, on dry ground.
Gen. 8:1, 14 -- and God remembered Noah...and sent a wind...and the waters receded...and the ground was dry.
Ex. 2:24 -- and God remembered His covenant... 14:21 and sent a strong east wind and drove back the sea... 14:22 and the Israelites went through on dry ground.
In both stories, God "remembered" and "sent a wind" and the waters were pushed back and "dry ground" appeared for the people to walk on. Now, isn't that interesting...the same sequence (even though, in Exodus it's separated in time) of remembering -- taking note of and deciding it's time to act -- sending a wind, and the dry ground appearing for the people to walk on.
There are other places where God "remembers" or takes special note of something, and then takes action, sometimes an action that requires time and a sequence to complete; for instance, Gen. 30:22, where God 'remembered' Rachel, took note of her need and acted.
But in these two cases, the sequence includes a drying wind. Now, for Israel on the seashore, the strong wind was probably unpleasant -- the sand getting in their eyes, and perhaps in their food. Noah and the family may have had a bit of a rougher ride once that wind started. (I wonder if seasick elephants throw up?) But the wind came as an agent of God, and the good result came later. In both cases, He used the wind instead of just waving His hand or something.
Just a thought -- if a dry wind of distress or pain is blowing in your life right now, it could be in preparation for a greater miracle. If God has taken away something, perhaps it's so He can give you something else. That's how it's happened in my life, a dozen times that I can think of. As James 1:2-4 says, about trials:
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."
May God give you the strength and patience, from His store of grace, to ride out the wind of pain or loss or worry, whatever you're going through, so His greater miracle can become evident in you. And may you walk free, on dry ground.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
More than These
Jesus said some tough things -- things we don't always like to remember, or teach. Like when he said we have to hate our relatives if we want to be his disciples: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:26, NIV) And being his disciple is what he has called all of us to do; so we should take his words seriously.
Hate, meaning really despise and be angry with? No, what Jesus said, in the lingo of the day, was that, in order to be his disciples, we have to love him so much that everything else fades into the background and doesn't mean anything to us, compared to him. The Message version reads this as "let go of" his family. So if you aren't willing to let go of even what is closest to you, you aren't really a disciple, because you're not paying enough attention to the Master.
Dallas Willard, in his classic book The Divine Conspiracy, explains this idea. He uses the analogy of a math teacher to his student: unless you learn addition and subtraction, fractions and decimals, no way are you going to learn algebra or trigonometry. If you don't have even the basics, how will you learn the real stuff?
Unless we are so focused on the Master that he is, without question, the most important issue in our lives, we won't really be discipled -- taught, instructed, led -- by him. Multi-tasking just isn't gonna make it with him. Being less than devoted won't work with Jesus. Focusing on temporary-life matters so much that eternal-life matters don't get much attention, means that Jesus doesn't matter as much as he should.
Okay, we still have to eat, and pay our taxes, and all that stuff. Living in a monastery isn't necessary for spiritual maturity. But here's a measure of focus: what's on your mind most often? For example, which thoughts are most frequent: ideas of self-protection and getting ahead, or hearing the Holy Spirit tell you how to love someone? Anger at someone who has offended you, or forgiveness and seeking God's wisdom in responding? Convinced of your own rightness, or seriously asking the Lord for correction?
Do you love Jesus more than these other people/things? I know I need to clean out some of the mental and emotional clutter, and focus on him, because I want to go deeper with the Master. Wanna go along?
Hate, meaning really despise and be angry with? No, what Jesus said, in the lingo of the day, was that, in order to be his disciples, we have to love him so much that everything else fades into the background and doesn't mean anything to us, compared to him. The Message version reads this as "let go of" his family. So if you aren't willing to let go of even what is closest to you, you aren't really a disciple, because you're not paying enough attention to the Master.
Dallas Willard, in his classic book The Divine Conspiracy, explains this idea. He uses the analogy of a math teacher to his student: unless you learn addition and subtraction, fractions and decimals, no way are you going to learn algebra or trigonometry. If you don't have even the basics, how will you learn the real stuff?
Unless we are so focused on the Master that he is, without question, the most important issue in our lives, we won't really be discipled -- taught, instructed, led -- by him. Multi-tasking just isn't gonna make it with him. Being less than devoted won't work with Jesus. Focusing on temporary-life matters so much that eternal-life matters don't get much attention, means that Jesus doesn't matter as much as he should.
Okay, we still have to eat, and pay our taxes, and all that stuff. Living in a monastery isn't necessary for spiritual maturity. But here's a measure of focus: what's on your mind most often? For example, which thoughts are most frequent: ideas of self-protection and getting ahead, or hearing the Holy Spirit tell you how to love someone? Anger at someone who has offended you, or forgiveness and seeking God's wisdom in responding? Convinced of your own rightness, or seriously asking the Lord for correction?
Do you love Jesus more than these other people/things? I know I need to clean out some of the mental and emotional clutter, and focus on him, because I want to go deeper with the Master. Wanna go along?
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