The Proof of Genuine Faith

S - 1 Peter 1:2, 6-8 (NLT): "God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood. May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace. … So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him, you trust him; and even now you are happy with a glorious, inexpressible joy."

O - Faith is never proved genuine by what it obtains. It is only proved genuine by what it endures. This is because the focus and dynamic of faith is all about the Lord's person, not his activities. Genuine faith will be a reason for the Lord to do many things, wonderful and impossible things, on earth, in us and through us. It will require us to think, act and speak in certain ways but these ways are not a formula to obtain but rather the expressions of fierce personal loyalty to the Lord and to his greatness, to loving him back and staying called to his purpose come what may. Faith in Jesus is simply that - a vibrant trust in the person unto the glorious and inexpressible joy of his relentless love.

A - I am in a particularly intense season of following and believing, of seeking and asking of acts of obedience followed by acts of God and if God doesn't act I'm cooked. I am inspired and provoked by my history with the Lord and what I believe he has put in my heart to do with him. Currently I am in the "in between" of having left the boat but not yet completing my stroll on the water with him. I am asking and believing for his activity - no doubt in this. However along the way and in the ways of his work (and from my perspective delay) I am, we are, enduring. This enduring, this believing through the pressure and unknowns and fears is the proof of genuine faith. When, and I do mean WHEN the Lord does what I believe he has planned to do we will be "singing and dancing" but our receipt of this will not be the proof of our faith but a result of it. All things really are possible to him who believes but faith is only proved genuine in him who endures.

P - Lord who endured and who still endures,

Thank you for this day and my assignment in it. Thank you for this season which is both proving our faith as genuine and bringing about your will on earth as it happens in heaven. Thank you for the partnership of believing you. I do praise you for your written voice and for your speaking voice. I do love you back and pledge myself to your purpose even when I don't know what it is or don't like how it is currently unfolding into my life. Lord, you are the Lord and I yield again today to your awesome brilliance, unlimited power and extreme goodness. Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief:),

Steve

Don't Even Think About Swimming

S - Psalm 46:1-3; James 3:13, 17-18 (NLT): "God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear, even if earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! … If you are wise and understand God's ways, live a life of steady goodness so that only good deeds will pour forth. And if you don't brag about the good you do, then you will be truly wise! … But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no partiality and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness."


O - At some point God's ways involve risk, a danger which is very real and lethal, a trouble which is enormous. It is at such times God is ready to help. The threat is real and so is God. We are called to turn away from the fear inspired by the circumstance and turn into the fear (the wholesome dread of displeasing the one you love) inspired by his person, character, promises and power. Let the threat be whatever it is and do whatever it does … God is God and he is not only near he is ready to help. Since such undesirable situations are unavoidable for all who walk in his ways, what should our response be after we've asked for help? A life of steady goodness embracing, engaging and reflecting the wisdom which is from above since our help comes from the same place - and he is purposeful in everything he causes and in everything he allows. When the heat is turned up full, when the pressure is at its peak and the future is obscured and doubtful the followers of Jesus are called to steady goodness day by day based upon the fierce personal loyalty he gives and deserves ... and nothing is too difficult, nothing is impossible, nothing is too wonderful for him.

A - Like Peter, I am very willing to get out of the boat. Like Peter I am out of the boat and like Peter my attention shifts far too easily from Jesus to the winds and the waves. In this current adventure unto new wineskins I have sunk many times and been lifted up one time more than I have slipped beneath the waves. It seems that this is a prolonged walk upon the water and getting back into the boat is delayed. This is bad news for my weak and easily distracted self. The good news is I am out of the boat and out where Jesus does his "Jesusing" and this is really the best place to be, winds and waves included. My assignment is not to address the dynamic and threating forces swirling around me. My assignment is to keep my focus on Jesus and walk out, on the water, the steady goodness which reflects his wisdom and expresses the trust he deserves. When I fear the Lord I never have to be afraid.

P - Lord for whom nothing is too wonderful,

Thank you for this day and my assignment in it. Thank you for calling me out of the boat and for letting me walk on the water with you. I admit I have lost my focus so many times over this protracted stroll. I also admit that you have always lifted me back up out of the waters and kept me near. Lord, I want to live out loud the steady goodness which flows from your person into your kingdom, into your people and then out into the entire world. I acknowledge that out here there is no middle ground and your purpose has nothing to do with sink or swim. It is walking with you on the water - no swimming this time. Lord, I'd like to stop sinking … help me keep my focus where it belongs. Thank you for not assigning me to deal with the winds and the waves but with you. Lord, though my humanity longs to get back in the boat, my spirit soars to be with you on the water. Lead on Great King and only True Friend, Lord I believe thank you for helping my unbelief. I yield to your awesome brilliance, limitless power and extreme goodness. Lord, I do love you back.

Steve

What God Wants

S - Hebrews 10:1, 10-14 (NLT): "The old system in the law of Moses was only a shadow of the things to come, not the reality of the good things Christ has done for us. … And what God wants is for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. Under the old covenant, the priest stands before the altar day after day, offering sacrifices that can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as one sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down at the place of highest honor at God's right hand. There he waits until his enemies are humbled as a footstool under his feet. For by that one offering he perfected forever all those whom he is making holy. "

O - The Scripture says "made holy" and then "making holy" and question is which is it? Does the offering of Jesus mean we are made holy or being made holy? Clearly the old system did not make anyone such for it could never take away sins. But is the only focus of Jesus' sacrifice the absence of sin and guilt from heaven's perspective? Jesus sacrifice does more than bring to the believer a change in legal status … Jesus brings a change which "keeps on changing." The phrase used by Paul was being transformed from glory to glory. Our sins are taken away but this is not the conclusion of what Jesus has done or what means to be holy. Holy is more than righteous or free from sin, it is other world, not like this world, not like us and not like me. And what God wants is for us to be made holy by Jesus. From the first moment of faith in the Lord we are made holy and the work/process of being made holy is simultaneously engaged at the same time. I became a father the day my son was born, but I was also becoming, being made and growing into the reality of a father every day after that. The very first day of a teacher's career rightfully identifies them as a teacher, but over the years they grow and are being made teachers of the highest caliber. This is the beauty of the new way in Jesus. It is dynamic, interactive, relational and ongoing. Whatever the need or hope, Jesus has made the way, for all things are possible to him who believes, and he has made us holy and is making us holy … other world, not like this one.

A - Holy as a term, status and pursuit has been caught up and confused with religious activities, theological postulations and cultural opinions on behaviors. But this not what Jesus gave his life for and not what the Scriptures present us when it comes to this desire and requirement of God. Holy is that which we receive from Jesus exclusively and it is what he is making us to be, not in religious or theological expressions but in concrete and relational reality. Holy comes from another world (heaven) and is all about that other world which expresses itself in ways NOT like this one. Holy is not so much about what I don't do and more about what I do … and the doing is not like this world. Holy is loving my enemies, is losing my life, is surrendering my rights, is forgiving all, and showing mercy to those who don't deserve it. It is being a friend of sinners, engaging the needy around me, caring for the little, the weak, the awkward, the impaired. Holy comes out of us in terms of generosity, magnanimity, humility, patience, tenderness...for this is very much like heaven not at all like earth. With my sins dealt with once and for all in the sacrifice of Jesus he is insisting that I move from made ready for heaven to living like it.



P - Holy Lord, most Holy Lord Jesus,
Thank you for wanting me to be made holy and to be one you are making holy. I admit that both are underserved and impossible to me on my own. Dear Lord, I don't want to be on my own for anything let alone this awesome gift and assignment. Thank you for forgiving and cleansing all my sins; for paying the price to keep me in your kingdom, not just to get me in. Lord, today my assignment, by grace, is holy living: received from you and worked by you through me into tangible expressions toward you and all others. Lord, I am unequal to such a task and this is also the point. Your life takes you! Lord, cause your life to flow into me and out of me. Enable me to make the most of every opportunity and to engage the faith which pleases you … unto an expression of your holiness in and through my little life. Lord, let me be a reason someone else believes.

Steve

What, I Have to Wait? ... I Have to Wait How?

S - Hebrews 6:11-15 (NLT): "Our great desire is that you will keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and patience. For example, there was God's promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying: "I will certainly bless you richly, and I will multiply your descendants into countless millions." Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised."


O - In the throes of great difficulty these believers are being cautioned and encouraged to not surrender or turn away from the only life which is in Jesus - Jesus who is life. Like Abraham, they are being required to wait for God. To wait for God for no apparent reason except he has not yet acted … and this is exactly like Abraham. The waiting is neither of their making nor choosing. They will wait because they have no choice about it. They do, and we do, have the choice of HOW to wait. Abraham waited PATIENTLY. Abraham did not wait perfectly (e.g. Ismael) but he did wait patiently. The connection for all believers between faith and patience is unavoidable. What empowers our waiting unto patience? What actions can we, should we, engage in the gauntlet of waiting? What will protect our hearts so that we do not lose hope nor surrender the hope of what he has promised? Loving others is the key to keeping the heart free from becoming spiritually dull and indifferent (vs. 11-12). Jesus identified the superlatives (the Greatest Commandments) and connected two universal realities to them:
                             1. Do this and you will live.
                             2. All the Scriptures (every promise and principle) hang on these.
Jesus is life and he is really is the expert!

A - I cannot avoid waiting and I am not avoiding it. The awesome brilliance and sovereignty of the Lord converge to require it of me. The Lord is not obligated to dumb it down nor speed it up to accommodate my severe discomfort. Based upon the fierce personal loyalty (trust) he deserves I am simply (and rightly) expected to wait. He dignifies my very little and ignorant life with the choice of how I will wait not if I will. If I am going to choose to wait patiently then he has identified an essential element into a successful waiting … "loving others as long as life lasts." Waiting can be very distracting, energy draining and sleep depriving. Waiting, even patient waiting, can incite fear and inspire self-indulgent activities. When patient waiting is engaged I can (because of the power of amazing grace) turn away from the fixation of my "hope" and "need" to the plight of another and engage in tangible acts of love. I do this because the one who has promised concerning me is keeping his eye on me and that very promise he is working so brilliantly to fulfill … beyond what I hope or even imagine. This shift in focus and activity not only blesses the recipient, it brings much needed relief to me. With another in view (rather than my well-intended self), I am touched again with the life that is truly life and all his promises move closer to me and to fulfillment than they were before.

P - Most Holy and Loyal Lord,

Loyal to your word, work, creatures, friends and purpose. Thank you for calling me to not lose my focus on you and on others especially when so much is hanging in the balance for me and for what I think you are doing. Since you are doing it - it will be done. Since you have called me to do it with you, I will find my way to the fullness you intend. Along the way you have called me to love as I have been loved, to forgive and to show mercy as I have received such from you. I admit my current fixation, breath holding, and almost completely distracted existence and say … I will love you back AND love others as long as life lasts. I ask that you would help me NOT help you the way Abraham and Sarah did. I ask that I could wait patiently as he did and receive all that you intend - for the good of all and to make you glad. Lord, my assignment today is very clear - it really is the assignment of every day and every circumstance - to love you back and my neighbor as myself. Thank you for helping me refocus and "keep my eye on the ball" you are pitching with the intent of allowing me to "hit it out of the park." So, I will wait for you by loving others.

Steve

Right Answer Wrong Understanding

S - Mark 8:29-35 (NRSV): "He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him. Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things." He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it."

O - Peter got the right answer with the wrong understanding. Jesus' identity was labeled correctly but defined inaccurately. The result was Peter trying to "help" and ending up being rebuked. Peter's "help" comes on the heels of his "right answer" and his attempt to straighten the Lord out on correct messianic understanding. Jesus, forbids the twelve to openly identify him, announces to the world his impending rejection, murder and resurrection and then follows up this great news with the stringent delineation of what following requires and entails … self denial and loss on the front end with salvation and forever life on the back end. Jesus isn't calling me/all to follow him based on what he will do but based on who he is … whatever he may or may not do. This never changes. And the “who” he is is bigger than any one title, description or role.

Peter will ultimately and even wonderfully follow Jesus in the exact terms the Lord used. He will be required to not only adjust his expectations but his very way of life and death. His motive was good, his understanding was not completely inaccurate; it was however absolutely incomplete. The word always held the full description of the messiah's role but was never really seen until Jesus. The missing pieces weren't missing from God's prophetic voice but were missed by his people's poor hearing and muddled understanding. The gospel record consistently reveals Jesus helping the blind, deaf, and those muddled in life. This help is needed by all in the realm of the spirit and only by some in the realm of the physical. The healer still heals and has created a world which confirms his desire for us to be healthy. But like the early disciples, we must not reserve this role to the limited expectations of human physiology. The healer is ready to heal all and all need eyes, ears, heart and mind healed to see and understand the spirit's work, the Father's will and the Lord's person. We all start in the same place in this regard … Lord Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!

A - Right answers with wrong understanding is a fairly consistent malady we humans have. It's not that we’re completely wrong it’s just that we're absolutely incomplete in our understanding. Our need, my need (as proved by Peter after 3 years of following Jesus day by day) is to be healed … to have him touch (again and again) my eyes, my ears, my heart, my mind and my spirit. Also, I need to be careful in the applications of my current understanding. Not because such is wrong, but because it is, more than likely, incomplete. My safety, clear vision, right thinking and future hope all rest in the same place. Each day I must start in the same place, regardless of years following and information gained and experiences received … Jesus' touch, Jesus' mercy, Jesus' spirit on me is the only place of vision, truth and hope. He will forever defy all formula, though his promises and principles are true. The application rests in him alone and only in him. Today while it’s called today, is my vision clear, thinking right and hope secure? Physical healing is basically a onetime act … spiritual healing is day by day. The clear vision of today will not, just like grace and manna, be sufficient for tomorrow's needs. This shelf-life phenomenon is by design … unlimited in power today it becomes only a vague reflection of its true self tomorrow. Clear vision, thinking and real hope do not rest upon what I received yesterday but upon the Lord's provision for, and interaction with, me today. Thankfully, today while it’s called today I don't have to be flawless just blameless.

P - Lord,

My actual need is one of the few constants in my very little and very human life. Unfortunately, I vacillate dramatically in my recognition of this reality. You've been so good to me and you are so awesome and wonderful and your words will never fail that I'm often locked on to the right answer with the wrong meaning. I want your touch, your manna, your grace to find me, heal me, and feed me every day while it's called today. Lord, Son of David and Son of God, have mercy upon me a sinner. Help me to follow with the upfront responses your person deserves and to be slow to speak and quick to love in my dealings with all.

Help me again, to welcome you and your promises from afar. To trust, to live out the fierce personal loyalty you deserve and have consistently lived out toward me … unworthy though I am. I ask for open doors and open heavens and that your life will come into me and flow out of me and be a refreshing to all. I want to be a reason someone else believes. Help me know when to get my own donkey and when to wait. Help know how to step out this assignment for your glory and the good of all. Help me to hear, see, think and hope according to all that you are … unto everything your heart desires. In this new season for my Jan and for me … take us by the hand, tell us what to say and show us what to do. Our answer … my answer is yes!

Nai Kurie,

Steve

Forget the Fish, its the Jonah in Me

S - Jonah 3:10-4:3 (NLT): "When God saw that they had put a stop to their evil ways, he had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction he had threatened. 1 This change of plans upset Jonah, and he became very angry. 2 So he complained to the Lord about it: “Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people. 3 Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive because nothing I predicted is going to happen.”"

O - Jonah helps us see into the myopic worldview and self-view we share as fallen human beings. The issue for Jonah from the very first of his assignment from the Lord was all about control … Jonah was willing to do God's bidding as long as it met with his desired outcome. He didn't mind being the prophet … he didn't mind a sharp and pressing message … he didn't mind being sent to an intimidating pagan city … he DID mind God being God. And this is the issue for us all. Regardless of our length of time and assignment in his kingdom we can be so very quick to object based on our desire to know, be seen as right, to be efficient and effective and to make sure that others see as such. All of these facets will distill down to who will be in control. Our worldview must always give way to the King of the World. Our understanding must always give way to his awesome brilliance. Our circumstantial surrounds must always be seen in the light of his relentless love and unlimited power. Our actions must always be inspired by confidence in his extreme goodness for all. We are never in control and he always is … and he will not surrender it to us. It is never about us and always about him. The Good News is that he has turned his loving attention toward us.

A - The truth is I often have the same issue with the Lord that Jonah did. Mine may be in shorter duration, less dramatic in circumstance and a less apparent to the onlooker, but it is there nevertheless. The remedy remains the same … healed vision by the touch of Jesus to reshape me, my worldview and my self-view. He calls me to himself everyday and in each circumstance. He will walk point, engage the circumstance and make my assignment clear to me. I am to stay near, follow/obey and trust in his person. Reaffirming my unqualified trust in his person welcomes his spirit to enable me with eyes that see, a heart that understands and a connection with his person which is life. The Jonah in me wants to be right … but it is always a dead right. Jesus wants me to be right with him … and this always alive right.

P - Dear Lord of Life and Lord who is in control,
I admit my Jonah vision is often where I start … and I am so thankful that you want to heal me and my vision. Today is my only opportunity to trust, to love you back and to be healed. I do not want to attempt a deferral to tomorrow and I do not want to react to your brilliance based upon my very limited and flawed understanding. Lord, I understand that you are in control, are working everything for good and call me to work WITH you - even when I'm not clear on what or why you're doing what your doing and/or allowing what you are allowing. I do not want to cling to worthless idols (temporary power points or comforts) and forfeit the grace you've already apportioned to me. Lord, touch my eyes, ears, mind, spirit, attitude and heart again and again. Thank you for letting me come near and remain. I willingly yield to your awesome brilliance, unlimited power and extreme goodness.

I love you back,
Steve