One for all and all for One is not really about Musketeers

S - 1 Timothy 2:5-6 (NRSV): "For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all —this was attested at the right time."

O - The reality of One God and One mediator is not a religious issue pitting one religion against another. It is neither an ethnic issue nor a cultural issue. It is a spiritual issue which applies to all. All are the focus of this reality and of his activity; all are wanted and all are welcomed and all are provided for. All may come, whatever their religion, ethnicity or culture … and all must come the same way -- through Jesus who was himself human. In Christ there is neither Greek nor Jew, bond or free, male or female. The result of this ransom was not divine amnesty but complete adoption … heirs of God and coheirs with Christ.

A - Every person is included, wanted and welcomed in the ransom of Jesus. All already have their place secured. The issue is will we accept this; will we embrace the adoption into the family … not into the religion, the culture, the ethnicity but into the person and spirit of Jesus? The great commission was to make disciples of Jesus, not disciples of religion, culture or of ethnically inspired patterns. I didn't ask to be born and I didn't ask to be included in Jesus' sacrifice. These realities were decided for me. Since I am born and since I am included in his death I am now being called to join him in his indestructible life as his adopted sibling. This is to be the point of my life and the point of all efforts to make Jesus known. I want to live this out, speak this out, inspire this out and be a reason someone else believes. Interestingly enough, in the Scriptures another believing in Jesus is most often tied to the way one loves not the culture, religion or ethnicity in which they engage.

P - Only God and Only Mediator and Only Hope and Only Friend,
Thank you for this day and what it has held and will hold. Help me in my struggle which is; in the effort required; in the hope of transformation; in the joy of Spirit refreshing unto the good of all. Lord, you know how I am made and the way I take. Let me love you back and make you glad. Thank you for calling all to yourself and to your family. Thank you for letting me pray, live, hope and speak in Jesus' name.
Steve

Please Keep it Personal because it is!

S - Romans 5:8-11 (NLT): "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment. 10 For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God."

O - The earthly life, works, events and accomplishments of Jesus occurred in time, space and history because this is how we live and how he came among us. The problem with this mode of existence is that we are always vulnerable to objectifying these realities and thereby separating them (even unintentionally) from the person of Jesus. The cross, the blood, the empty tomb do not save us or make us "right with God" … Jesus does this. It is his blood, his cross, his empty tomb and he is life. Like the Scriptures, these all testify of him and we must come to him for life (vibrant, refreshing, irrepressible, eternal; cf. John 5:39-40).

A - Theology, philosophy, religion, culture all tend to impersonalize this very personal reality. It's not wrong to "plead the blood" or be "thankful for the cross" or "rejoice over the empty tomb" or be forever grateful for what Jesus "has done" … it is wrong to allow these realities to become in our minds, hearts, words and lives events which have become disconnected from the person of Jesus. Jesus is not a concept, principle or promise - he is a person who calls me, and the whole world, to himself to follow. In the rich reality of all the Lord has done, is doing and will do it is my assignment to keep it personal and to stay near the person of Jesus who is life.

P - Lord who is life,
Thank you for today - for all you are and for making all you are completely available to me (little, flawed and failed me) today and every day. Lord, I make myself completely available to you by choice though I already am such by design. I need you and beyond my need which is forever I want you to be my life … to live in and through me as you see fit. I welcome you, your will and your promises on earth like they do in heaven - completely, unhesitatingly and confidently knowing that you are working everything for good. Lord, let your life come into me and flow out of me that I might be a reason for another to believe.

Lord, I believe YOU!
Steve

What's Your Goal - Promise, Principle or Person?

S - Philippians 3:7-9, 12-14, 20-21 (NRSV): "Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. … Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. … But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself."

O - We do live in the bodies of humiliation, as fearfully and wonderfully made as we are; fundamentally all of us are way below the level and intention of our original creation. Body, soul and spirit really share the same tragic dilemma; hints of what we could and should have been and the complete inability to gain or maintain it. Jesus comes to change all this … but to do it in such a way that all may participate and all may have hope in this age and in all the ages to come. God bound all over to disobedience (not the way we started) so that he might have mercy on all (Romans 11:32). If Jesus is to have any friends from our race, then he will have to be the friend of sinners. Even the most zealous and self-disciplined among us is a sinner. So from our best to our worst we are called to forget it all to count it all loss; to regard as rubbish not just our sins but our successes in order that we may be found in him and in the only true/real/acceptable righteousness God desires and requires. This is a goal which we press on toward and make our own because Jesus has made us his own. While we do get to grow, to put off the old, to be strengthened in spirit, to be made new, we never fully escape the humiliation of our current condition … and neither do we escape the hope of transformation and the security of his love. Remembering our sins can discourage us unto a foreboding hopelessness. Remembering our better actions and patterns can inspire us to pride and a numbing loss of grace's amazing wonderment. The goal, the call, that for which we strain is not found in a "condition" or "pattern" or "enablement" but in a person. Jesus is the point, the goal, the reason, the righteousness, the power, the hope, the way, the truth and the life. And there is a day coming when he WILL transform and conform our bodies to the body of his glory … and O what a day that will be.

A - Forgetting all, remembering only Jesus. Straining for him not a condition, pattern or enablement. Making him my goal because he has made me his is the point and the only life-giving, life-sustaining, life-changing reality. Everything else, good and bad, pure and impure, righteous and evil is rubbish, refuse, loss. Anything which interferes with this pursuit is an interference none can afford … especially me:)! So, today while it's called today … my goal is clear!

P - Lord Who is the only Point,
I am not only amazed at the power and volume of your grace but it's resilient and indefatigable nature. Always more grace than sin; always grace for all; always ours for the asking; always ready to wash, refresh and set right again. This is a marvel and this grace is only available in you … be strong in the grace that is IN Christ Jesus. This grace is not available in a principle and does come work its work because I can recite a scripture or bible promise. This grace is the person who has made us/me his own and you say come to me. Lord, I come. Lord, there is so much for me to be thankful for in your blessing and kindness. There is so much which challenges me and still hurts me … forcing issues I want to be over and wounds which have yet to finish healing. It is a longer and harder process than I imagined or thought. Fortunately, you are able to do exceedingly, abundantly above whatever I may ask. And so, as I ask, wait, work, follow, hope, and believe I know my goal is not the healing, the rescue from challenge, the blessing received or any such thing. YOU are the goal and my goal. I have missed you often and even refused you on occasion … this is to my sad shame. But you have said to me and to all … come to me. Thank you for making me your own, your friend. Thank you for always being a friend to sinners.
Running to you,
Steve

Treating the Parasite We All Carry

S - Matthew 9:9-13 (NRSV): "As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.""

O - Jesus friend of sinners is a hard "concept" for religion … and since religion is culture and to be human is to have a culture guess what? Jesus friend of sinners, at some point and at more than one point, is going to be very hard on all of us--no exceptions. Somehow we have, imperceptibly to our conscious minds, created category after category after category of sinners. The first grouping we accept is the one we're in. Then hopefully, over time, we discover other categories which our culture can accept as the appropriate type of sinner to be friends with. What is a striking surprise is that even when we intentionally pursue the truth of the friendships Jesus is after, we still find categories or types of sinners which are religiously, culturally taboo. Fortunately, the good Doctor, Jesus, knows this to be true and so he gives us the prescription which is necessary to combat this serious cultural malady … a prescription which requires daily doses: Go (make a choice) and learn (intentionally pursue) the Lord's desire for mercy not sacrifice. The daily dose of this kingdom medicine will continue to knock down this very present spiritual parasite we all carry. The good Doctor knows we never stop needing him and so he refuses to be shocked when we have need all over again. He's not put off by the need, only by those who refuse the diagnosis and treatment. When we start considering ourselves "righteous" (even in Jesus' name and because of His grace) we risk missing his voice … he calls to sinners not to the righteous. Praise the Lord; praise the Lord let the earth hear his voice! He instructs us to start at mercy and lead with love … unto our own healing and the healing of the nations.

A - My assignment (prescription) is to embrace the learning curve of grace and mercy which I will never master but ... must be mastered by it. As I follow Jesus, who is the friend and doctor of sinners, he expects me to live out loud and to say out loud that which is his desire -- mercy not sacrifice.

P - Dear Lord Jesus,
I want to confess again my true status as a sinner in ongoing need of your grace. I make this confession because it is true and because I want desperately to hear your voice. Lord, since you are calling to sinners, please call to me; speak Lord, your servant is listening. Thank you for your patient and consistent dealings with all the categories I have and the larger number of categories I don't even know I have. Thank you that the remedy is awesomely powerful for them all and the prescription is the same. Show me the way you who are the way … I will follow.
Steve