More Important than Light

S - John 1:1-5, 14 (NLT): "In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. He was in the beginning with God. He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn't make.  Life itself was in him, and this life gives light to everyone.  The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.  … So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness [Greek - grace and truth].  And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father."

O - Jesus' life is the true light which is shining, giving light to all and which the darkness (in all its forms and furry) cannot extinguish.  This Life, this only true Son comes among us and makes the way for all of us to become God's children … not just the result of his creative capacity but the wanted and cared for members of his ever expanding family and household.  Jesus is life and life is available to all and it is available to all the same way - in Jesus.  This life, irrepressible, eternal, vibrant, refreshing is exclusively available in Jesus and universally offered to all. It is possible to benefit from the light and miss the life.  It is impossible to have the life and miss the light. 

A - Jesus has not yet eliminated the darkness … he shines through it.  There will be a day when he will expel it all.  Until that day we have the light of his life shining so that we can follow and find our way.  Isaiah warns us about light sources other than the life of Jesus.  He says (Isaiah 50:10-11): "Who among you fears the LORD and obeys his servant? If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the LORD and rely on your God. But watch out, you who live in your own light and warm yourselves by your own fires. This is the reward you will receive from me: You will soon lie down in great torment." In this season of long and deep shadows and obscured vistas, I am called to the person of Jesus for life and the light his life provides.  I will refuse all other forms (even the lawful) for I have no desire to take my fate upon myself or gain the temporary comfort of my own light and warmth only to have it give way to great torment.  I choose to come near and stay near the life and true light and embrace and endure the current discomfort (often intense, seemingly unrelenting) and wait with him for his will and desire to be clearly seen and accomplished.  I am not content to merely enjoy his light, I want to be one in whom his life flows unto his glory and the good of all.

P - Lord who is Life,

Thank you for wanting us, and for wanting to have your very life in us and through us.  Lord, this day comes to me from you, your brilliance, power and goodness … crafted, designed and fully resourced to do exceedingly abundantly above all I am asking or imagining.  I welcome you and your day to carry the day in me and through me according to grace and for the sake of love.  Lord, I do want to be a faithful and trusted servant, an unfeigned friend, a child who brings you pleasure, a son who does your bidding not to prove worthy but because of love.  Lord, I turn to you because of love … because you have loved me first, and most and refused to change your mind.  I am asking, seeking, knocking for new wineskins, mulberry trees in the ocean and for that which is too wonderful for me.  I turn away from all other light and heat sources and say what is forever true and forever my desire: ONLY YOU!

Steve

20/20 in the 21st Century

S - 1 Corinthians 16:8-9 (NIV): "But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me. "
 

O - What is wrong with this picture? The combination of circumstances in Ephesus defy our 21st Century worldview.  How can the Lord set open a great door for effective (ἐνεργής: active, operative: - effectual, powerful) work AND allow great opposition (ἀντίκειμαι: to lie opposite, that is, be adverse [figuratively repugnant] to: - adversary, be contrary, oppose) at the same time? Doesn't one negate the other?  Doesn't opposition equate to  ineffectiveness or won't effectiveness eliminate opposition ... and here they are married together? What a minute, is this combination a constant in the life of Jesus? Didn't he say the students are not above their teacher and servants are not above their master?  Wow, 21st century "vision" seems pretty short-sighted from this perspective.  The problem isn't in this picture but in our culture's preconceived and erroneous ideals.

A - I am a resident of the 21st century and I come complete with all the attending issues implied, known and unknown. Fortunately for me (and for us all) Jesus came so that the blind would see.  I want to see clearly according to Jesus and God's Kingdom … unto all that he intends on earth.  I admit my need for my vision to healed day by day. Eyes that see, ears that hear and a heart that understands require his specific and ongoing interface with my life and world. Clear vision one day does not guarantee the same for the next.  Like his mercy being new every morning I need my vision healed every morning too.  This is life as he intends it to be lived. 

P - Lord who makes the seeing and the blind,

My vision seems weaker than usual today but you are strong, you are intent on giving me/us eyes that see and ears that hear and a heart that understands. And so Sovereign Strong, please touch my eyes, my ears and my heart today while it is called today.  Please, Lord, engage me according to your defiant mercy, relentless love and powerful grace.  Today I want to stay near, love you back and be a reason someone else might believe. Jesus, none like you!  Father, I am asking that my vision would be healed so that I will  not see myself or others like trees walking. Please expel the yeast of the Pharisees and infuse my life with the yeast of your kingdom. According to grace I will follow no matter where you lead and no matter what I face.
Steve

Seeing It as it Is

S - Mark 2:5-12 (NLT): "Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, "My son, your sins are forgiven." But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there said to themselves, "What? This is blasphemy! Who but God can forgive sins!" Jesus knew what they were discussing among themselves, so he said to them, "Why do you think this is blasphemy? Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man, `Your sins are forgiven' or `Get up, pick up your mat, and walk'? I will prove that I, the Son of Man, have the authority on earth to forgive sins." Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, "Stand up, take your mat, and go on home, because you are healed!" The man jumped up, took the mat, and pushed his way through the stunned onlookers. Then they all praised God. "We've never seen anything like this before!" they exclaimed."

O - Faith, authority, forgiveness and healing are all working in this occurrence. All of these essentials turn on, rest on and are validated by the person of Jesus. Jesus is 'Jesusing' at this moment. He could have simply healed, wowed the crowd and gone on with his teaching.  Instead, he draws us all in by bringing up the greatest issue for every human - sin.  He is about the Father's work, he is about the Kingdom's nearness, he is about God's love for the whole world.  This miracle and the dialogue which accompanies it is for believers and skeptics, for the strong and the helpless, for the well informed who are missing the point and for uninformed who aren't sure there is one, for participants and onlookers alike.  How generous.  How loving.  How marvelous … it really is too wonderful.  Jesus in his 'Jesusing' makes the way and leaves the room for any and all to come near, to believe and to stay near the one who has authority in all realms at all times. Repent (change and open up your mind) for the Kingdom of God is near!

A - Jesus exceeded the request and met the greatest needs of all, not just the needs of the man on the mat.  In my little world, I often and quite naturally fall into a one or the other mentality.  Sin or physical healing.  Talk for believers or talk for unbelievers.  The immediate and temporal or the spiritual and eternal. Jesus has no trouble, strain or lack in dealing with it all at the same time.  He wants me to know and have proof (eijvdw - have your eyes wide open and fully understand) that he is the authority and has authority (ejxousiva - jurisdiction, right, power, liberty, ability )… that I will live out loud in the confident, generous and limitless provision of heaven.  I need to open up and change my mind … the Kingdom of God and the Great King are at hand.

P - Lord of All and Lord of me,

I admit that I know more than I live out loud … that I falter in living the beauty and truth you have given to me in yourself, your word, your spirit and even in this fallen world.  Today, Lord, I woke up once again seeing people walking like trees and I am relying on you to touch my eyes so I may see clearly, wide open and with clarity.  In the face of that which seems futile or impossible or devastating you say don't be afraid, merely believe.  Lord I believe, help my unbelief.  Thank you for this day in which I get to live out the authority of your too wonderful for me person.  I really do love you back!
Steve

The Narrow Door: Trying Hard in Grace

S - Luke 13:22-27 (TLJ): "Jesus was teaching in every town and village. He continued to travel toward Jerusalem. Someone said to him, "Lord, how many people will be saved? Only a few?"  Jesus said, "The door to heaven is narrow. Try hard to enter it. Many people will want to enter there, but they will not be able to go in.  If a man locks the door of his house, you can stand outside and knock on the door, but he won't open it. You can say, 'Sir, open the door for us.' But he will answer, 'I don't know you. Where did you come from?'  Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you. You taught in the streets of our town.' The he will say to you, 'I don't know you. Where did you come from? Get away from me! You are all people who do wrong!'""

O - In this mixed up world there is this problem … not only are we always trying to determine who is "in" and who is "out" we're seriously and often way off on who that actually is.  I want to think I'm in, that I've entered the narrow door … but of course the Pharisees thought they were in and Jesus spent three years trying not only to convince them that they were out but to also come in. Why would Jesus tell us that not only is the door narrow but we must try hard to enter it and that there will be many who want to but won't? How hard is grace?  And, since all can come why would those who want in not be able to get in? The following thoughts are current in me:

1.       Grace is amazing but it is not accidental or haphazard.  The door is narrow because ONLY grace gains entrance not theology, lack of sinning or religious status.

2.       Grace isn't earned but it can be refused. We have to "try hard" because we must enter the narrow door every day, not just once somewhere in our "religious history." Jesus calls me/us every day to "enter the narrow door."

3.       I can want "in" among many other wants and some of those wants can easily be ahead of wanting in the narrow door.  Nothing/no one must be allowed to precede this "want" and need. Jesus makes this clear numerous times in his teaching the disciples and the crowds.

A - When it comes to determining who is "in" and who is "out" I am to be very quiet about conclusions--except for the 2x4 in my own eye.  The real issue for me/us is me/us not another. Am I entering the narrow door today? Am I trying hard so that nothing and no one precludes the undivided and pure devotion Jesus, who is the door, deserves?  Today while it is called today I need to remove the log from my own eye and turn into the door, narrow but welcoming, and try hard to go in.  Amazing!

P - Jesus who is the door,

Thank you for wanting all and for making the way for all and for inviting all to enter this specific portal of grace new every day.  Thank you for loving us at our worst and for working everything for good if we'll just love you back and stay called according to your purpose.  Today, I want to try hard and to do the work of believing … so that everything you have worked, dreamt, died and rose again for will transpire in me and through me according to grace.  Lord, I really do love you back!
Kata Karis*,
Steve

*Transliteration of Koine Greek for "according to grace"

Real Grace has to Stay Amazing

S - Galatians 5:4-6, 13-14 (NLT): "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.  … For you have been called to live in freedom--not freedom to satisfy your sinful nature, but freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

O - This reality, when and how we are made right with God, never changes.  Jesus did not give people who believe in him a "clean slate" that they are supposed to keep clean on their own from that day forward.  He did not give us a "jump start" and then make us responsible to "keep the car running."  We are made right and kept right only one way ...faith in Jesus.  Any other attempt, attitude or conclusion is worse than error … it is bondage unto death.   This is the freedom that keeps us free.  This is an amazing part of amazing grace.  Grace is not only how we start it is the ONLY way we stay.  Jesus sets us free to serve God and others according to love, a freedom we could never earn or work hard enough to keep.  Jesus keeps us.  His love and grace keeps us we don't keep ourselves. 

A - This reality which never changes is one which we all try and change many times along the way … even unintentionally.  Our logical minds and fallen natures combine to create formulaic ideals which masquerade as wisdom and righteousness. The written voice of God says "These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence (Colossians 2:22-23)." My/our propensity over time to this tragic mistake is another reason why we need each other, the written voice and the ongoing reality of personal relationship with Jesus.  If any observance of the law can make or keep us righteous enough for God then Jesus died for nothing.  I do not want my life to carry this message on earth or to be reflecting it to heaven.  Amazing grace needs to stay amazing in and through me and through all.

P - Lord who really is amazing,

Thank you for this day and for the relentless truth that I can never make or keep myself in the righteousness you require … and you don't want me to ever try.  You put and keep me there and this keeps me close to you - the place I really want and need to be.  I am so grateful that amazing grace stays amazing forever in my life and through my life for your glory and the good of all.  Forgive me for my lapses … toward myself in approval and toward others in disapproval.  Thank you for calling us/me to yourself so that we would have real life.  Lord, I come to stay because you made the way and you keep me.  No one is able to pull away from you those the Father has given you and you never push them out.  I rejoice in the security of your love and offer mine back to you.  Lord, I do love you back.  Let me make you glad and bring you glory.
In Them,
Steve

So, Can I Really be Trusted?

S - John 7:16-18, 23-24 (TLJ): "Jesus answered, "What I teach is not my own.  My teaching comes from the one who sent me. People who really want to do what God wants will know that my teaching comes from God.  They will know that this teaching is not my own.  If I taught my own ideas, I would just be trying to get honor for myself. But if I am trying to bring honor to the one who sent me, I can be trusted.  Anyone doing that is not going to lie. … Yes, you often circumcise baby boys on a Sabbath day.  This shows that someone can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the Law of Moses.  So why are you angry with me for healing a person's whole body on the Sabbath day? Stop judging by the way things look. Be fair and judge by what is really right."

O - Jesus really is the way and shows the way for us all.  He shows us how we are to "share" or "speak" or "teach" or "proclaim."  In our world (religious and secular) people use truths or principles all the time to affirm and move forward their own agendas.  Jesus is showing us that even this is a huge problem and the problem is one of trust.  It's not that all people are moving bad, wicked or evil agendas … it's that we are moving agendas at all.  What hangs in the balance is not doing a good thing or not but rather who can be trusted.  The little manipulation or alteration for appearances or mixed motives to accomplish something "good" is the bad yeast Jesus warns all of his followers about repeatedly.  We must take extreme care in assessing our own hearts, words and motives.  We are called to work with the Lord in that which is already doing NOT work for him with ideas we claim his authority for. It's really straight forward according to Jesus. When we work with him we can be trusted and when we work for him we can't.

A - The application here for me is huge.  I teach, share, speak all the time and I'm engaged in projects for the 2/3's world which require funding.  If "good" is the only measure I can do and say almost anything. If motives, agenda and working with Jesus are the measure I am limited AND can be completely trusted.  Of course, choosing the limitations of with Jesus ends like his requirement of losing my ends.  I find my life and am working with the confidence that I can ask him anything … and with him anything is possible.  Tenderly he does not require me to be flawless in the repelling of this yeast but blameless.  He will help me/us to learn, grow and become those who are consistently to be trusted.

P - Lord who is forever to be trusted,
Thank you for refusing to launch out on your own in your Father's name.  Thank you for warning us/me about this yeast, for forgiving it whenever we/I get infected and for calling us to grow, learn and become those who bear, according to grace, the strong family likeness of being trustworthy.  Lord, I do rely completely on you and want to me one you (and all others) can rely on as well.  With King David I say, teach me your ways and lead me in a straight path.
All my love,
Steve