A Method in the Madness

S - Matthew 2:13-15 (NIV): "When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”"

O - Jesus is the focus of all the Scriptures (John 5:39-40).  The events of, and those surrounding, his birth fulfill prophecy after prophecy. Case in point, the second chapter of Matthew assumes one (his birth in Bethlehem) and describes the details of three others. The one noted above is found in Hosea 11:1. If we accept the source (God) and power (God) of prophecy fulfillment is never an issue.  What is an issue is timing (when) and method (how). The timing of Jesus' arrival was precise though unheralded (Galatians 4:4). Earth would not be able to predict, discover nor prevent his coming.  The method of fulfilling these prophecies (and almost all others) is what's a bit odd to our rational and religious minds. Jesus is called out of Egypt because Herod was trying to kill him.  Jesus is born in Bethlehem because Caesar issues a taxation decree (Luke 2:1-7). He will be called a Nazarene because Herod's son is a killer like his father and so heaven warns Joseph to avoid Judea (Matthew 2:22-23). This is why the work of God is always and only believing the person of Jesus and not a promise, plan, capacity, resource or principle (John 6:29). It's not that he isn't engaging all these dynamics; it's that we won't be able to keep up with HOW he'll do it.  Children are all about the presence of their parents not their methods.  Jesus tells the twelve and all (Matthew 18:2-3): “He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

A - Thankfully, Jesus confirms the "rumor" that God really does have a will on earth and we're in it. He isn't offering or calling us to know how or when but that he's on it and working it.  We are invited and called to come near and stay near his person/presence.  When considering God's methods the Scriptures give me/us this encouragement and instruction:

·         “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9 NIV)

·         "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5, 6 NIV)

·         "And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:27, 28 NIV)

This is how Jesus came, lived and left our planet.  This is how God's will works on earth like it does in heaven. This is how I get to live day by day, even while it is called today.

P - Lord Jesus,

How you came is how you send us out; how you lived and loved is how you call us to live and love.  You promise your very self to be with us and in us so that we can actually engage your will on earth like they do in heaven. You call me to lean on you, your person and presence, NOT my understanding … even my understanding of your promises, principles, plans and capacities.  Jesus, I lean into and on you.  I welcome your presence with me and in me. You lead and work; I follow and only work with you--never for you.  Today, while it's called today, I say yes to YOU!

All my love,

Steve

Life IN Focus

S - 2 Timothy 1:1, 2:1 (NIV): "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus … You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

O - The correspondence is from a "father" to a "son", from a senior to a junior, from a quarterback to a team member, from one dear friend and brother to another.  It is written after years of being together and in the shadow of Paul's impending "departure" … code for execution--unjust, undeserved (just like Jesus).  The focus of the letter remains the focus for both of their lives … Jesus.  Notice that life and grace are IN Jesus.  They are not in verses of Scripture; accurate theological conclusions or corporately agreed upon creeds.  Paul and Timothy did not serve a mission or method or goal. They served a person.  Grace and eternal life did not come to them via what Jesus said nor by prophetic insights or scriptural promises.  Life (eternal, vibrant, irrepressible) and grace (amazing, indefatigable, sufficient) are IN Jesus and come from Jesus. 

A - I am not saved by what Jesus said or by what I think he said.  I am saved by Jesus, crucified and raised from the dead.  Grace is not found in the Scriptures or in truthful conclusions from them … it is found exactly as life is found; One Source, One Hope, One Savior, One Friend of the whole world. Jesus never called one person to a cause … only to himself.  Follow Me is the call (money, missions (causes/projects) and methods all want to divide us). Today I will follow him who is life … receiving the grace that is in him.  Today will be a very good day! 

P - Lord who is life,

I am very grateful to be loved by you … first, most and forever.  I am very grateful to NOT be called to a cause or mission or goal. Today I run to you for life and welcome your life and grace to flow into and to come out of me.  I'll stay near and follow … all the rest is up to you.  I do love you back.  Whatever is in your heart to do today my answer is yes.  Jesus, I am yours.

Steve

No Background Check Allowed

S - Romans 3:27-31 (NIV): " Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law."

O - Since God is not just the God of Jews but the God of Gentiles he is also not just the God of Christians but of all.  Culture, religion (Christianity included), ethic moorings and genealogical decent are all non-starters.  They are not and never were the point.  This does not nullify the Scriptures (Old and New Testaments) it upholds them. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)."

A - Jesus tells the world (John 10:16): "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." No matter what "pen" I hail from … he has others that are not of the pen I'm from.  Jesus never called, and never calls, a person to a particular "sheep pen" … he calls all people to himself.  "Follow me" is his invitation and command. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27)."   I am very pleased to be following him and to be discovering so many other "pens" with those who are doing the same. Following the person of Jesus really is the point; this alone is the beginning and the end (cf. Matthew 4:18-19, John 21:21-22) because he is the beginning and the end.

P - Shepherd of the Sheep,

Today is my only day to follow, to stay near, to listen and to love you back.  I am excited to think of all the sheep following you across the breadth of the whole earth.  I'm grateful for all you're allowing me to see and do with you.  Today, only Friend and Shepherd of the whole world, please cause your life to come into me and out of me so that I might be a reason another could believe.

Grateful for the work of believing,

Steve

The Most Important Person to Influence

S - Luke 6:39-42 (NIV): "He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."

O - Jesus identified the primary purpose for God giving us Scripture (his written voice).  Interestingly enough it is not for preparing sermons, identifying sins and non-sins, etc. Jesus gives us the primary purpose in John 5:39-40: "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." Testifying to the person of Jesus is the primary use and purpose for Scriptures. In this parable, he indirectly affirms the second priority in the use of Scriptures while highlighting the most important person any of us can reach or influence.  The second focus for the use of Scriptures is found in SELF application; the plank out of my eye (cf. Luke 13:1-5). All of this converges in Jesus revealing to us his VIP list and the one who is at the top. The most important person he wants to touch and me/us to influence in any day and in every day is me/ourselves.

A - A facet of the yeast of the Pharisees is how one interacts with Scriptures.  The Pharisees use the words but refuse or lose the meaning; they are quick make an application to another but fail to self-apply.  They base their view of self and others on comparisons and how things appear rather than on the Scriptures and how things actually are.  Jesus warns me/us about this and I admit that I am vulnerable to such a sad self-deception.  Today I can and will keep the purpose and priority of Jesus and the Scriptures … the witness of his great person and the plank out of my own eye.  In both cases, the view is crystal clear!

P - Lord of all and Lord of me,

Today I need your help desperately … desperately if I'm to have clear vision of yourself, your word and myself.  I admit blindness, the capacity to compare and the tragic conclusion of a life trafficking in your words and missing the meaning.  Please enable me to get and keep out the plank in my own eye so I will be able to assist another with any speck which may be in theirs.  Today let me self-apply, reach, touch and influence myself according to your word unto the life that is really life … and that I might be a reason for another to believe.
I love you back,
Steve

Something or Nothing?

S - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (ISV): "If I speak in the languages of humans and angels but have no love, I have become a reverberating gong or a clashing cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all secrets and every form of knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have no love, I am nothing. Even if I give away everything that I have and sacrifice myself, but have no love, I gain nothing."

O - The truth is we can do a lot of things that genuinely bless others and simultaneously lack love.  Such acts are "something" to others but in reality are nothing to us and (according to Scripture) are actually leading us to become nothing (cf. ojvdei~: not even one thing).  Self-promotion, pride and arrogance, envy (i.e. competition) and a focus on appearances (how things look rather than how they actually are) all indicate a serious deficiency of love. This critical yet unseen factor, the love factor, is the key. Its lack guarantees an outcome no one really wants … gaining and becoming nothing.

A - As always, the point of this stellar insight is not for me to go around trying to determine another's motives or "love quotient". It is for me to be assessing, guarding and directing my own internal dynamics to the one who is Love and to be following him at all times.  Doing good is always good … but doing it in love will always end in a result larger than the sum of the parts.  Jesus wants me to believe and live in the truth that there really is NOTHING I can do today (and any day) that is more important than loving. 

P - Lord who is love,

Thank you for loving us/me first, most and for refusing to change your mind.  There is not one thing you've done or will ever do that is not completely inspired and sustained by love.  You are love. You are life.  Lord, please cause your life and love to come into and out of me so that all you've dreamt and planned for in my little sphere of existence will come to pass and that I may become all you've intended.  You lead and I follow.  I accept my primary assignment in this day: loving you with all my heart, mind, soul and strength and loving my neighbor as myself.  I do love you back and say lead on, I will follow unto the presence of love and the beauty of something rather than nothing.

Believing according to Jesus,

Steve

A Direct Connection - WOW

S - Hebrews 13:5-6 (NIV): "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you;      never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?""

O - Love for money (lawful, daily bread, meet the basic needs money) is directly connected to fear and specifically the fear of humans.  This is a great insight and great difficulty for us all.  Our world, secular and religious, shapes us to believe that we must take care of ourselves in a way which does not directly involve God in our daily bread realities.  Yet, Jesus specifically addresses this sad and tragic mindset on numerous occasions (cf. Luke 12; Matthew 6, etc.).  This warped love is easily identified in one of the factors which inspires it … the want for more; more for us, for our families and even for our God.  This want for lawful things discourages contentment in current circumstance, incites comparisons with others which is always counter to God's Kingdom, inspires us to independent actions (for Him) rather than interdependent living (with Him). Jesus will identify the only conflicting entity which will compete for our loyalty on a regular, daily basis.  He will unveil this in a conversation with the overtly religious, tithing people of his day.  Luke 16:13-15 records the words of Jesus and the setting he was in:  "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."

A - "No servant", i.e. no human, is a designation which includes ALL of us. I am more than susceptible to this "want" and the fear it is directly connected to.  The result is a form of separation from him who loves me/us most and is the One from whom all blessings flow.  All the gold and silver is his and he can give it to anyone he wishes.  Cash to live on, cash to travel on until reimbursement can happen, cash to give and bless others all want me to love them as I'm loving God.  Jesus tells me this cannot be done.  Money wants me to love it but it will never love me; it vies for both my attention and my loyalty. A phrase from Saul of Tarsus applies to this context of living: “I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." 

P - Lord of Daily Bread and Lord of me,

Thank you for so clearly identifying this subtle and deadly point of conflict.  I admit that the connection is direct and that I am susceptible to it … even in this day.  You call me to trust, to fierce personal loyalty.  You call me to rely on you even for daily bread issues … to never work or live for you but only with and in you.  I choose you back!!!  My life and times are in your hands … do what is in your heart to do. I do love you back. I will trust in you with all my heart and I will NOT lean on my own understanding.  I welcome you and your words about life on earth … unto new wineskins, mulberry trees in the ocean and that which is too wonderful for me.

Staying connected to you,

Steve

Note to Self: Shut-up and Love

S - Romans 14:3-4, 22, 15:7 (NIV): “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. … So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. … Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God."

O - Cultural (religious and secular) norms and preferences are not to be an issue among those who follow Jesus.  He affirmed, by his own living and teaching, that nothing in itself is "unclean". So, the Scriptures call us to GET a conviction NOT to GIVE one.  To keep WHATEVER we believe about these things to ourselves and God.  Why is it that we won't do this?  The measure of acceptance is NOT what culture says but what God says.  In Jesus, we are already accepted.  Scripture calls us to accept all others the way we've been accepted … unconditionally and completely.  Culture calls us to accept conditionally and to only approve those who agree with the prevailing opinion/practice.  Culture judges and divides. The Kingdom welcomes and accepts. Culture wants a uniformity it controls by fear.  The Kingdom wants unity it empowers by love.

A - The issues of cultural practice (eating and drinking, etc.) remain a topic of debate among those who claim to follow Jesus even though he (and the Scriptures) ended all controversy. In my entire life's experience I have never had a person "fall" or "stumble" because of any such practice. I have had numerous people assail me on behalf of unknown and unnamed others who "might be" offended.  Of course offended and stumbled aren't even vaguely related when it comes to life in God's Kingdom. They apply their "conviction” to me/others and then demand that all accept their conclusion while they reject those who do not agree it.  This does not please the Lord nor help the weak. I am going to believe Jesus and live his instructions day by day.  Scripture says (Colossians 2:16, 20-23): "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. … Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? 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."

 

P - Lord who welcomes all,

Thank you for wanting all to come and for instructing me to keep quiet about the matters that don't matterJ.  Your relentless and unconditional love has continued to find me, shape me, heal and release me and admit that you assigned me to love all others the same way you've loved me.  Today I will love you back and love my neighbor as myself … accepting all others and keeping quiet about others.  I yield to the unity inspired by love and refuse the uniformity which wants to control by fear.  This I say and do in Jesus' name.

Steve