The defining principle undergirding living the christian life is self sacrifice. How serious one's commitment is to the savior is made obvious by how much one is willing to give. Jesus is the one who introduced the whole concept when he told His first followers "Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me."(Matt 10:36) First thoughts of this taking up of crosses generates images of Marine Corps drill sergeants, or for women, what's involved in the push to care for small children while holding down a full time job! The thought is "it will be hard, but doable." Take up my cross? How hard is that? I'll just clench my teeth and do it!
The bad news is, it's actually much worse than that! When Jesus spoke these words, the cross was the favored method of execution. One reason it was used was that besides killing the one suspended from it, it also made a public spectacle of their death agony. Witnesses of the event were also being taught what not to do by seeing what they had to look forward to if they repeated the same error! You were supposed to be very afraid of that happening! What kind of respect could be maintained by anyone involved in this extremity? You weren't supposed to want to repeat this, or God forbid, volunteer to go through it! Yet that is exactly what Jesus is saying we need to do! He's saying we need to die!
Further illumination on the spiritual meaning may be gained by comparison with another of Christ's analogies where He told Nicodemus, "You must be born again to enter the kingdom of heaven." If you remember the response of Nicodemus, he was bewildered, wondering aloud how such a physical reality could be accomplished!
What Jesus is speaking of is the total change of perception, perspective, and worldview that comes from leaving unbelief to live by faith. What Jesus is saying is that the old guy, the one affiliated with the world, has to die!He does not pass away quietly. A new creation, a bond servant of Christ, has to be born! It is done publicly as a witness to others!
A new mind will be obvious in all following behavior. Now comes the actual living of the faith written of with such sublime poetry in the Bible. "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."(Gal 6:14) "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith."(1 John 5:4) We are now free! "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are (born) in Christ Jesus......who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." (Rom 8:1,4) Let's celebrate because we have died and all things are now new!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
The Most Dangerous Prayer
When faced with the rigor of the daily ritual, most of us tend to have an escapist mentality. We find ways to "deal with the stress." Have you ever used daydreaming or imagination to make life more exiting? Yearned for an adventure? Wished you could have lived the life of a famous person?
Your adventure is at hand! Hidden beneath the surface of this material world, there are in operation vigorous forces clenched in the combat of the ages. Spiritual beings titanic in power clash in an upheaval to rival the most violent, convoluted plot of any of our spy or adventure films.
Where do we come into this story? Malevolent darkness and radiant messengers of mercy wait, poised for action, over the human form cast down on it's knees. The action of battle has been suspended to await the outcome of the whispered prayer issuing from the lips of the prostrate man. The outcome hangs on this moment of time.
What prayer is it that the dark princes dread, yet the powerful servants of God give their joyful attention to? Both sides know that the balance of power is about to shift. The ranks of the sons of God is about to be augumented. In abject weakness and need, a new soul is about to be born with the confession "Jesus, please be my Lord!"
The kingdom of God has won more territory in the most bitterly contested area of all, that of the human soul. In humbleness, the inheritance of one has changed from condemnation to priestly authority.
The time is at hand and the day is now to secure your place in God's victory! To participate in the great adventure, submit yourself to Jesus while the great drama still unfolds!
Your adventure is at hand! Hidden beneath the surface of this material world, there are in operation vigorous forces clenched in the combat of the ages. Spiritual beings titanic in power clash in an upheaval to rival the most violent, convoluted plot of any of our spy or adventure films.
Where do we come into this story? Malevolent darkness and radiant messengers of mercy wait, poised for action, over the human form cast down on it's knees. The action of battle has been suspended to await the outcome of the whispered prayer issuing from the lips of the prostrate man. The outcome hangs on this moment of time.
What prayer is it that the dark princes dread, yet the powerful servants of God give their joyful attention to? Both sides know that the balance of power is about to shift. The ranks of the sons of God is about to be augumented. In abject weakness and need, a new soul is about to be born with the confession "Jesus, please be my Lord!"
The kingdom of God has won more territory in the most bitterly contested area of all, that of the human soul. In humbleness, the inheritance of one has changed from condemnation to priestly authority.
The time is at hand and the day is now to secure your place in God's victory! To participate in the great adventure, submit yourself to Jesus while the great drama still unfolds!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Pride
Anyone who has listened to what God has to say on the subject of pride is aware that His perspective is completely alien to our own. Our wisdom has sayings such as "Keep your head up" and " They can take everything from you but your pride". A merely human view equates pride with a love of one's self and sees it as an essential foundation of loving others. However, without God, acts of loving and giving become choices to be weighed in the balances. Without God, our first priority is always ourselves. Without God, our own needs always outweigh our available resourses, therefore the needs of others get left behind.
Anger and resentment are the harvest of a world of neediness. In this enviroment of brutal competition, pride is a defense mechanism. It is how I tell myself that I am better than you. It is why I see myself as more worthy and deserving of your love and devotion than you are worthy and deserving of mine. Pride is my wall of protection around my pain and vulnerability so I can keep you from robbing me of my resources. Pride's operational dysfunction is it's isolationist agenda.
Such a worldview sees God at the top of the heap of evildoers, who by virtue of a strength greater than our own, makes arrogant demands of us. Unfortunately, when we chose to shut God out , we imprison ourselves in an abject poverty of existence, in a living death. A natural mind cannot, on its own, comprehend the principals of the realities of God. Him who's heart is a fortress of pride will not yield to love in the face of all the persuasions at the disposal of diety.
This is the reality of who God is, that He made Himself into nothing and took on the form of a servant, the form of a man. As a man, he was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross! (Phil 2:8,9) This is the mind of Christ, that when he gave a demonstration how we are to treat each other, he washed the feet of his disciples! This is the way He works, when he informed His disciples that the one who wants to be first in His kingdom must be the servant of all the others, as Jesus Himself is.
God says that He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble. (Proverbs 3:34) If He allows us to reap the bitter harvest of pride while we yet draw breath, then He will be assisting us to open our eyes to our lifeless condition so we may approach Him with humility (to learn from Him). Perhaps He might grant us a glimpse of the depthless value of this love that He offers us! Perhaps we might learn to imitate this inexhaustible fountainhead of love and humility.
Anger and resentment are the harvest of a world of neediness. In this enviroment of brutal competition, pride is a defense mechanism. It is how I tell myself that I am better than you. It is why I see myself as more worthy and deserving of your love and devotion than you are worthy and deserving of mine. Pride is my wall of protection around my pain and vulnerability so I can keep you from robbing me of my resources. Pride's operational dysfunction is it's isolationist agenda.
Such a worldview sees God at the top of the heap of evildoers, who by virtue of a strength greater than our own, makes arrogant demands of us. Unfortunately, when we chose to shut God out , we imprison ourselves in an abject poverty of existence, in a living death. A natural mind cannot, on its own, comprehend the principals of the realities of God. Him who's heart is a fortress of pride will not yield to love in the face of all the persuasions at the disposal of diety.
This is the reality of who God is, that He made Himself into nothing and took on the form of a servant, the form of a man. As a man, he was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross! (Phil 2:8,9) This is the mind of Christ, that when he gave a demonstration how we are to treat each other, he washed the feet of his disciples! This is the way He works, when he informed His disciples that the one who wants to be first in His kingdom must be the servant of all the others, as Jesus Himself is.
God says that He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble. (Proverbs 3:34) If He allows us to reap the bitter harvest of pride while we yet draw breath, then He will be assisting us to open our eyes to our lifeless condition so we may approach Him with humility (to learn from Him). Perhaps He might grant us a glimpse of the depthless value of this love that He offers us! Perhaps we might learn to imitate this inexhaustible fountainhead of love and humility.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Matt 24: What's THAT All About?
I saw a debate online on a christian website that I frequent about Matthew 24 and 25. What struck me as really odd was that when Christ, in chapter 24, talks about two being in a field, one will be taken and one left, the interpetation being applied was those taken, are taken to be judged! That this being taken is a BAD thing. I've always been taught that these verses depict the rapture, the "blessed hope".
In chapter 24 of Matthew, Jesus' answer, to three questions from the disciples, are recorded. They wanted to know "When will these things happen?", "What will be the sign of your coming?", and "What will be the signs of the end of the age?".
I believe Matthew 24 is a multiple application prophesy. I believe Christ spoke of the temple's destruction in 70 AD, as well as the general signs of His approaching return, along with the rapture and the tribulation which immediately follows. It's been almost two thousand years already, but He expects us to be ready and waiting, even after all this time! I believe that those taken are taken in the rapture, and then begins the terrible "day of the Lord", which everybody will definitely want to miss!
In chapter 24 of Matthew, Jesus' answer, to three questions from the disciples, are recorded. They wanted to know "When will these things happen?", "What will be the sign of your coming?", and "What will be the signs of the end of the age?".
I believe Matthew 24 is a multiple application prophesy. I believe Christ spoke of the temple's destruction in 70 AD, as well as the general signs of His approaching return, along with the rapture and the tribulation which immediately follows. It's been almost two thousand years already, but He expects us to be ready and waiting, even after all this time! I believe that those taken are taken in the rapture, and then begins the terrible "day of the Lord", which everybody will definitely want to miss!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
In the Midst of the Storm
No matter where our journey takes us in this material world, there will always be a cacophony of voices vying for our attention. They are competing for our loyalty, and ultimately, for our soul. It's an issue of ownership. Who owns the rights to our soul?
We are the ones who make that decision of what is to be given precedence. Yet, each time we give of ourselves, there are consequences. No life is free from suffering and turmoil. Every living soul, at some point in their lives, will reach the end of their strength and cry out, "How can I get peace in my life?!" How we deal with this pressure will determine whether we are gaining a higher viewpoint in our understanding, or will have to shut down and go into hiding to escape from the fear.
When we step out in faith, into the very teeth of the storm, with our trust firmly fixed on our Savior, with our only defense a stubborn resolve to follow Him, we learn astonishing truths. In the morning, when the winds have abated, and the sun has come out, we will see around us the brokeness and debris left over from evil's devastating anger. We are safe and His will is what has been accomplished! The Almighty Warrior has been victorious! The forces of evil, by rebelling against Him, have only served to bring about what He has already determined will be. So we are victorious also, because He brings us with Him! From out of the midst of the battle, we have gained more of Him, for He was there with us all along!
By these realizations, our soul is unchained. What other response can we give? He has opened the door to "joy unspeakable and full of glory!"(1 Peter 1:8) In the very weathering of the conflict, we have gained a sense of how total is our security in Him. Our peace comes out of having emerged from hiding, to going out where He calls us. We know Him. We trust Him. So then He, Himself, is our peace! (Ephesians 2:14)
We are the ones who make that decision of what is to be given precedence. Yet, each time we give of ourselves, there are consequences. No life is free from suffering and turmoil. Every living soul, at some point in their lives, will reach the end of their strength and cry out, "How can I get peace in my life?!" How we deal with this pressure will determine whether we are gaining a higher viewpoint in our understanding, or will have to shut down and go into hiding to escape from the fear.
When we step out in faith, into the very teeth of the storm, with our trust firmly fixed on our Savior, with our only defense a stubborn resolve to follow Him, we learn astonishing truths. In the morning, when the winds have abated, and the sun has come out, we will see around us the brokeness and debris left over from evil's devastating anger. We are safe and His will is what has been accomplished! The Almighty Warrior has been victorious! The forces of evil, by rebelling against Him, have only served to bring about what He has already determined will be. So we are victorious also, because He brings us with Him! From out of the midst of the battle, we have gained more of Him, for He was there with us all along!
By these realizations, our soul is unchained. What other response can we give? He has opened the door to "joy unspeakable and full of glory!"(1 Peter 1:8) In the very weathering of the conflict, we have gained a sense of how total is our security in Him. Our peace comes out of having emerged from hiding, to going out where He calls us. We know Him. We trust Him. So then He, Himself, is our peace! (Ephesians 2:14)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
On Fruits and Flakes
Which one are you?
a fruit or a flake?
Which kind of trouble
do you like to make?
For workloads and deadlines
instead of crying,
do you make silly faces
when hands are flying?
Or are you the one,
when time runs short,
who can't be found,
to give support?
Faced with issues
do you strike a pose?
for others amusement,
make up silly prose?
Or when confronted
do your eyes roam?
'cause the lights are on,
but nobodys home?
Are you the one,
after the emails are sent,
that realizes they have
no title or content?
Or do friends languish
left without knowing
if you're alive or if
your indifference is showing?
If you're a fruit
others may scoff,
but being a flake means
you've been cast off!
Bad jokes may be followed
by head shaking and sighing,
but none can forget
the odd one who keeps trying!
a fruit or a flake?
Which kind of trouble
do you like to make?
For workloads and deadlines
instead of crying,
do you make silly faces
when hands are flying?
Or are you the one,
when time runs short,
who can't be found,
to give support?
Faced with issues
do you strike a pose?
for others amusement,
make up silly prose?
Or when confronted
do your eyes roam?
'cause the lights are on,
but nobodys home?
Are you the one,
after the emails are sent,
that realizes they have
no title or content?
Or do friends languish
left without knowing
if you're alive or if
your indifference is showing?
If you're a fruit
others may scoff,
but being a flake means
you've been cast off!
Bad jokes may be followed
by head shaking and sighing,
but none can forget
the odd one who keeps trying!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Go Home Again
Who do you trust? All of us have issues with it. The longer you've been around, the more rules you accumulate about who doesn't deserve it. We didn't start life so cynically. We all remember with fondness the earnest sincerity of our youth. Yet a child's trust is actually just innocence, that which has no knowledge or experience, and therefore is lacking in wisdom and direction. The original state of being trusting has been idealized as that home which has been lost to us forever. We cannot make it back on our own. We've wandered too far away and no longer remember the road which takes us back.
Trust is opening up and exposing our true selves. It means to be vulnerable. Nobody wants to give away, to just anybody, that which is sacred, and it is plainly unwise to do so. Yet Jesus said, "Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."(Matt 18:2)
Jesus, Himself, is the pivot point where we can change directions. He is that fulcrum through which change moves mountains. In Him, our skepticism and weakness are given strength enough to make the decision to trust again. In Him only is our burned out shell of innocence ressurected into new life, to be forever after called faith. We are no longer the innocent, but something better because we believe. After we make that choice to follow Him, we become the wise, because we now see clearly in His light. Now our trust is for Him.
Promises Kept
Through Christ, my heart, by trust, was freed,
Later tripped up again by need.
Everyone needs a place to start
learning how to give all their heart.
But those who start to trust in man
are burned by fire and cannot stand.
There's only One who does not sin.
Glorious Son, unlike other men.
The only one with love so deep
that never fails, His promises to keep.
But human beings, like chaff in the wind,
chasing in circles, much effort they spend
to follow things that pass away,
then wonder why in pain they stay.
By fear and denial my heart was driven,
but I'll never regret the love I've given.
Love never fails or fades away,
though innocence may die, day by day.
In Him, my trauma is turned around,
by sacrifice I am gaining ground!
For innocence lost, I won't cry twice,
because for Him, it's worth any price!
To gain the goal of greatest good
to see His kingdom advanced, I would
keep my focus on Him, to stay on track,
because, for me, He kept nothing back!
In His service, I'd venture much,
Do anything, to feel His touch!
Remember the one who keeps His promise?
In praising Him, I find my bliss!
Trust is opening up and exposing our true selves. It means to be vulnerable. Nobody wants to give away, to just anybody, that which is sacred, and it is plainly unwise to do so. Yet Jesus said, "Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."(Matt 18:2)
Jesus, Himself, is the pivot point where we can change directions. He is that fulcrum through which change moves mountains. In Him, our skepticism and weakness are given strength enough to make the decision to trust again. In Him only is our burned out shell of innocence ressurected into new life, to be forever after called faith. We are no longer the innocent, but something better because we believe. After we make that choice to follow Him, we become the wise, because we now see clearly in His light. Now our trust is for Him.
Promises Kept
Through Christ, my heart, by trust, was freed,
Later tripped up again by need.
Everyone needs a place to start
learning how to give all their heart.
But those who start to trust in man
are burned by fire and cannot stand.
There's only One who does not sin.
Glorious Son, unlike other men.
The only one with love so deep
that never fails, His promises to keep.
But human beings, like chaff in the wind,
chasing in circles, much effort they spend
to follow things that pass away,
then wonder why in pain they stay.
By fear and denial my heart was driven,
but I'll never regret the love I've given.
Love never fails or fades away,
though innocence may die, day by day.
In Him, my trauma is turned around,
by sacrifice I am gaining ground!
For innocence lost, I won't cry twice,
because for Him, it's worth any price!
To gain the goal of greatest good
to see His kingdom advanced, I would
keep my focus on Him, to stay on track,
because, for me, He kept nothing back!
In His service, I'd venture much,
Do anything, to feel His touch!
Remember the one who keeps His promise?
In praising Him, I find my bliss!
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