Have a Good Weak ... Seriously

S - Romans 14:1-4 (NIV): "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

O - According to Scripture, the weak one (ἀσθενέω: 1. to be weak, feeble, to be without strength, powerless; 2. to be weak in means, needy, poor; 3. to be feeble, sick) is the one who abstains.  According to religion the one who abstains is the strong and "holy" one.  The Kingdom is about acceptance and religion is about performance of the current list.  The Kingdom is about no comparisons while religion is all about them. Religion is all about judging and the Kingdom is all about standing. 

A - Like conviction and condemnation, religion and real Kingdom activity share/use the same facts.  The point is not "weak or strong" for we all are weak and he is strong. The kingdom is always life giving while religion can never give life.  I want/need to engage the strength of the King and his kingdom by believing, loving, accepting and standing. 

P - Lord who is strength and strength for us,

I praise you for calling us to accept each other because that is exactly how you treat each of us.  Help get out and keep out of my eye the beam of which you warn us.  Enable me to refuse judgment and engage your instruction unto the life that is really life.  I love you back,
Steve

Looking Good or Being Good?

S - Deuteronomy 32:1-4 (NLT): ""Listen, O heavens, and I will speak!  Hear, O earth, the words that I say! My teaching will fall on you like rain; my speech will settle like dew. My words will fall like rain on tender grass, like gentle showers on young plants. I will proclaim the name of the LORD; how glorious is our God! He is the Rock; his work is perfect.  Everything he does is just and fair.  He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!"

O - These are among the last words Moses will speak to corporate Israel.  The declaration which is gentle yet completely permeating all reality is this:  even when things are not looking good, God is being good.  He is glorious - awesomely brilliant, limitless in capacity and power, extreme in his goodness.  He is the Rock - he never changes … never forgets to me merciful and never forgets that we are frail as breath and just dust.  He is working - not engaging us as a hobby or dalliance or part time pro bono give back.  The Almighty God really is tender toward us and ruthless toward our enemies.  Rather than being governed by "looking good" he is completely dedicated to being good.  He is never threatened by those who may misperceive his decisions and is unintimidated by those who rail or resist. He is purposeful in everything he causes and in everything he allow … everything he does is just (literally of the truth) and fair (literally without evil, i.e. good).

A -  I can languish when things are looking bad and going poorly. I am often intimidated by the "resisters" and threatened by the accusers who use their own judgments and comparisons, often using the words of Scripture but altering their meaning.  Add to my weakness a fallen world and an absolutely brilliant, loving, limitless and merciful God and the opportunity for me to think that the Lord's goodness is not in play intensifies.  How do I reconcile his goodness with tragedy, trial, hardships and pain?  When it looks like he is not only inactive or passive but completely disinterested, what should my conclusion and my prayer life be?  For children, such inexplicable dilemmas are frequent as their parents orchestrate and shape their lives.  Jesus says "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in." The resolution is actually possible/required long before the circumstantial change and the information released to the intellect.  The resolution is all about presence - a child at rest on their mother's lap … the faithful God who does no wrong.  Will I accept, welcome and embrace this resolution OR try demanding one of my own making?  Today, I will trust the Lord.

P - Lord who is Lord,
Today I am seeing as a child.  Today I am trusting as your child.  Today I am rejoicing in the truth that you are always being good even when things are not looking good.  Lord, please fill my heart, mind, eyes, mouth, spirit, soul, hands and feet with faith.  Please engage me that I might be found as a child at rest on his mom's lap.  I am asking for open doors, open heavens and your open purse unto all that you've already had in mind. 
Steve

It Really is a Great Day for a Run

S - Luke 22:35-38 (NLT): "Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you out to preach the Good News and you did not have money, a traveler's bag, or extra clothing, did you lack anything?" "No," they replied. "But now," he said, "take your money and a traveler's bag. And if you don't have a sword, sell your clothes and buy one! For the time has come for this prophecy about me to be fulfilled: `He was counted among those who were rebels.' Yes, everything written about me by the prophets will come true." "Lord," they replied, "we have two swords among us." "That's enough," he said."

O - With or without a purse the Lord Jesus has made it very clear that his followers are not to worry about daily food and clothes.  Not only are they to NOT worry they are to NOT run after them because their Father in heaven knows these needs and will meet them.  In fact, he makes the point that it is the pagans who run after these things not the children (cf. Luke 12). The real issue is not found in having or not having a purse or sword but in trust.  Can Jesus send me out without a purse and I will go?  Can the Lord access the purse that I have however he wishes?  Trust is a fierce personal loyalty and this is Jesus' point. He is and ever will be fiercely loyal to us and calls all to be fiercely loyal to him.  Money is a great touchstone for trust … for we cannot serve God and money.  We trust one and not the other, we love one and not the other, and we cling to one and not the other.  Running to is the cadence of his kingdom. Running after is really running away.

A - Jan and I have lived this dynamic out both ways, with and without a purse.  It is interesting that the temptation to worry and run after is present in both scenarios. In both scenarios the remedy is the same … fierce personal loyalty to Jesus.  In both scenarios the purse vies for the loyalty only Jesus is worthy of.  In both scenarios we run.  The question is are we running to him or after the things we need?  I've learned I can be afraid with and without a purse.  King David offers the best response to this very human emotion.  The time I am afraid, I will trust in him.  That's the course I'm going to run and I'm looking for others who are doing the same; it’s always a better run together.

P - Lord who loves us,
Thank you for your promises and your care of our daily bread lives.  I admit that with and without a purse my limitations are more apparent and my propensity to worry increases.  The only change is in my awareness of limitations, not my actual capacity.  Lord, since I am always radically unable and limited and since you never are and since you want into all of life I throw open the doors of my heart and this day to you alone.  I want to run to you and with you.  I thank you for being the God of daily bread and for your fierce personal loyalty to me/us.  I turn to you in fierce personal loyalty and say, the time I am afraid I will trust in you!
Looking forward to the run,
Steve