Once is not Enough

S - Mark 1:15 (ISV): "He [Jesus] said, The time in now! The Kingdom of God is near! Repent, and keep believing the gospel."

O - Repent (literally 'change the way you think') is not a onetime activity related exclusively to past sins and theological conclusions on the true identity of Jesus.  Though it includes such, the change in thinking Jesus came for and comes for when two or three gather in his name is an ongoing dynamic of interface with the person who is the gospel (Jesus) and the words, actions, attitudes and optic such an exchange creates in us. Our part in the intentional recalibration and alignment with the Kingdom of God and its nearness. His part is the transformational power and process which enables us to think like Jesus, speak, love, act and live like him.  The time for such an exchange and interaction is always "now." The result will be out of this world in this world … where heaven literally touches earth.

A - The question for this day for me is not have I believed in the past but am I believing right now?  In the current circumstance, status and situation I'm in, am I intentionally turning into the person of Jesus, the Kingdom of which he is the king and the reality of its nearness? Simply, am I choosing to give my all to think like Jesus, speak, act and love like Jesus? The time for this is always now and when we/I do we find him always near … and in his company nothing is impossible, too difficult or too wonderful for him to do.

P - Lord is the Gospel and who is near,

I admit that my natural (lawful) thinking patterns are not like yours.  I also admit that you want into them all unto the transformation of my entire life to be what you've dreamt and intended it to be all along.  Jesus, I welcome you to engage me however you wish and am choosing to engage the change of thinking which embraces you and the nearness of your kingdom.  Lord, I am all in … and holding nothing back.  Do everything it's in your heart to do.  My answer is yes. I do love back. I choose to keep believing.

Glad for your nearness,

Steve

Building According to Specs

S - Luke 6:46-49 (NIV): "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

O - Jesus is the message from heaven, the Gospel, the exact picture of his Father.  His words were not his own (John 12:49-50) and his words were NOT limited to things "spiritual" and "eternal".  Jesus speaks plainly about money, daily bread, enemies, forgiveness, judging others, etc., all things of earth.  He instructs his followers of his priorities and his desires for our lives here not just here after. So, the question of Jesus remains: why do you call me Lord and then ignore, deny or excuse yourselves from what I plainly say?  Can we really throw another human being "under the bus" of needing to succeed (secularly or religiously) and think all is well?  Can I worry about and run after what I'm going to eat, wear and store up and not have it drastically hurt my soul, my relationship with God and the building of my life on earth (Matthew 6:25-34)? Jesus' question to Nicodemus remains connected to this picture of wise and foolish builders: how will you believe me about heaven if you won't believe me about earth (John 3:12)?

A - Like the spiritual leaders of Jesus' day most of the leaders of my day don't really believe Jesus and his Father about earth.  They claim to believe. They talk about the kingdom and heaven and hell … but their lives betray the truth that they do not believe Jesus about earth.  As a result I was trained to do the same; to very selectively believe Jesus about earth and to always reserve the blinders of "knowing better" than he does about how "it really works on earth."  I am not angry or unforgiving toward those who taught me this because it's what others taught them; and they were doing the best they knew. According to Jesus, when the blind lead the blind they both end up in the ditch.  The REAL issue for me is the beam, the plank, the 2X4 in my vision.  How will I live today on earth? Will I believe the words of Jesus about earth and not just about heaven?  Will I do what he says or simply continue to give lip service to his Lordship? I will say yes to the person and words of Jesus about heaven and about earth. I will build according to his specifications. I will do what he says. 

P - Lord Jesus,

Thank you for calling me/us to yourself and not just to a place or a principle.  Thank you for being the message and for giving specific instructions about how I am to work with you in the building of my life on earth.  I admit that my primary purpose today is loving you and my neighbor. I admit that the work is believing you and that the only ensign of being your disciple is loving. I admit that I cannot run after what I'm going to eat, wear and store-up and follow you at the same time.  Today, you are already working with your Father and already have in mind what you're going to do.  I accept your grace-filled invitation to work with you.  Lead on, teach on, transform my little life.

I love you back,

Steve

Houston--Earth has a Problem

S - Psalm 81:11, 13 (NIV): "But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. … If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!"

O - Above are two of the three times in this brief psalm where the problem of listening is identified.  The failure in listening was not a lack of hearing the words but of believing the words heard.  Israel would not believe the words and ways of God on earth.  They would claim the authority of the words but not do them.  This is the perennial problem with humans and culture (secular and religious).  It is the yeast of the Pharisees, Sadducees and Herod which ruins the entire batch.

A - The application to my life and to all who claim to follow Jesus is starkly clear.  His question to Nicodemus is the question to all who will follow: How will you believe me about heaven if you will not believe me about earth? (John 3:12). Believing Jesus about earth encompasses the listening of Psalm 81 … not only claiming or using the words but actually living them out on planet earth.  Jesus left his followers only one instruction, commandment, which if we'd do would let the entire world know that the Father sent him and that we were indeed his followers.  The assignment?  Love each other (John 13:34-35; 17:23). 21 centuries later we still won't do it.  Today, my assignment remains the same. To listen, to believe, means that today there is nothing more important for me to do than love; to love God with all my heart, mind, soul and strength and my neighbor (7.2 billion minus 1) as myself.  I welcome the insight and wisdom of this Psalm.  I will listen, believe and live out loud on earth the words of Jesus about earth. 

P - You who are the Message sent from Heaven,

Today I will believe you about earth and not just about heaven.  Today I will accept, embrace and engage my primary assignment; the commandment you gave all who follow you … to love you back with all my heart, mind, soul and strength and all others as myself.  I admit that I am prone to claim the words and refuse the meaning. I am asking for the help you promise all who believe … transformation not mere reformation. Jesus, I love you back and am listening.

Steve

Picture ID Required

S - Daniel 9:2-3, 18-19 (NIV): "in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition … Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."

O - These are the concluding lines of Daniel's prayer, inspired by the discovery via Jeremiah that 70 years was the period assigned to Israel's consequence. This prayer is prayed about a year before Cyrus gave the order for the Jews to return (i.e. it's year 69 of 70). Bluntly, with or without Daniel's prayer Cyrus will give the order and the return will begin. Culture (religious theology and secular history) wants to present this petition as a pleading for God to do what he's already said he would rather than an agreement for what God has already promised to do. And herein lies a huge problem; one so immense and pervasive it will take the arrival of Jesus (who is the message from heaven) to confront and contradict it.  The prayer as petition presents a God who is distant, disinterested and stingy. The prayer as agreement presents a God who is near and vitally interested. Daniel's "pleading" comes from the depth of what he is feeling not the person or character of the God to whom he prays.  Jesus tells us that God and his kingdom are not far away (if I should die before I wake …) but very near.  Surrounded by the Roman Empire at its worst Jesus says (Luke 12:6-7) "Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

A - Jesus wants me (and all) to change the way I/we think, speak, pray, act and love; to literally repent. He says “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me." If my picture of the Father is not identical to the picture of Jesus I have the wrong the picture.  The Father of Jesus and the Father of Religious Thought are NOT the same person. It's a confrontation Jesus had with the religious leaders and people of his day and it's one still in process. Today, and every day, I'll believe Jesus and pursue the thinking, living, speaking he identifies and examples. He instructs (Luke 6:35-36): "But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."  I will follow, pray to, serve, believe and love the God and Father of Jesus who is kind, generous and near! 

P - Father of Jesus and Father of me,

Thank you for wanting to be my Father and me to be your child.  Thank you for sending Jesus who is both your message to the world and the exact representation of your person.  I welcome you and all you already intended do, all you're already doing on earth like in heaven.  I choose to repent, to refuse a picture of you which is not identical to Jesus.  Thank you for wanting us at our worst. I need, accept and want to be a conveyor of your relentless love, defiant mercy, overwhelming grace and transforming power. I yield to your awesome brilliance, limitless power and extreme goodness.

In Jesus' name,

Steve

Welcome, Come Right This Way ...

S - Luke 7:37-38, 47-48 (NIV): "When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.  … Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.  Then Jesus said to her, "Your sins are forgiven."

O - What was it about Jesus that made this particular sinful woman think she could (let alone should) do what she did?  How did she ever conclude that her actions would not only be tolerated but accepted and affirmed by the only human being known to be sinless? According to Jesus, both the woman and the Pharisee were sinners.  Interestingly enough, Jesus is willing to be friends with both of them.  The ultimate distinguishing feature would not be their lifestyles, histories or religious moorings. The difference would be found in their response to person of Jesus. The basis of the exchange between them all was love not moral agreement, theological rubrics or religious formulas.  Jesus, friend of sinners.  Jesus the same yesterday, today and forever.

A - Today there is only one purpose for my life and the lives of all who are following Jesus: love God with all the heart, mind, soul and strength and our neighbors as ourselves.  According to Jesus all the law and prophets are filled in this, everything depends on this and if we'll do this we will live forever.  My world (secular and religious) wants me to believe that there are occasions and exceptions to this; certain very important settings and circumstances where I may "temporarily" set aside the greatest imperative.  Jesus doesn't want me to believe that at all.  I will believe Jesus, love him back and love my neighbor (anyone who is not me) today while it's called today.

P - Lord God,

Thank you that you want me to think that I am wanted by heaven.  You want me/ us (no matter where we've been or what we've done) to come near and stay near according to love. I admit that you call me to yourself according to love and ask, instruct, insist that love be my primary purpose above all others and that the only real work to which you call us is the work of believing you … your beautiful, accessible, irrepressible person.  I give myself to you and to all you already have in mind.  I do love you back and remain amazed at you and your relentless love for all.

Loving much,

Steve 

Sent the Same Way

S - John 20:21-23 (TLJ): "Then Jesus said again, 'Peace be with you. It was the Father who sent me, and I am now sending you in the same way.' Then he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, their sins are forgiven. If there is anyone whose sins you don't forgive, their sins are not forgiven.'"

O - In what "way" was Jesus sent by the Father?  Certainly in and by the Spirit. Yet, the immediate application of the Spirit's presence was connected to forgiving sins rather than demonstrating the Spirit's gifts of power. The issue of forgiving or not forgiving sins was not empowering the disciples to "send someone to hell" by refusing forgiveness; but a commission to never refuse to forgive.  It's an assignment with a caution not an enablement with a threat. The way of Jesus is the way of unflickering forgiveness; relentless love; defiant mercy.

A - Jesus is the way and he calls me to follow him in that same way … the way he was sent by his Father.  It is not the way of this world (secular and religious). The way of this world is always afraid of something and the way of Jesus and his Father is the way which fears nothing and always loves all.  This how Jesus was sent … not to condemn, not to judge (and he's even THE Judge), but to serve, forgive, love and call all to come near and stay near.  Today I will come near, stay near and follow him in the way that IS Jesus. It's the only way the Father sends.

P - You Who leads, sends and is with us always,

Today is in your hands and so am I; whatever the circumstances and/or logistics coming my way the way remains the same.  I choose you, your way, you who are the way.  I want to start at love, lead with mercy and then face the facts (mine and others).  I choose to forgive any and all and admit that this alone is the marker of my own forgiveness.  Thank you for tying the forgiveness of heaven to my forgiving on earth … it is most helpful.  You lead; I'll follow unto the life that is really life.

All my love,

Steve

Forget the Ball; Keep Your Eye on the Sparrow

S - Job 35:1-8 (NIV): "Then Elihu said: "Do you think this is just? You say, 'I will be cleared by God.' Yet you ask him, 'What profit is it to me, and what do I gain by not sinning?' "I would like to reply to you and to your friends with you.  Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. If you sin, how does that affect him? If your sins are many, what does that do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness affects only a man like yourself, and your righteousness only the sons of men."

O - Elihu captures the bi-polar experience of humans when the misery of God’s mysterious and brilliant ways overtakes them.  Surrounded by the difficulties of inexplicable circumstances we humans vacillate between utter despair (I quit following because it's futile) and God's character and unfailing love (He loves me and is working everything for good). He also identifies the reality of God's insular existence and his unflinching decision to not live in it.  By nature he has no need and there is no one/nothing that can unilaterally affect him. Yet, this story will conclude with the beauty of God's ongoing connection with and commitment to the creatures/humans he has made.  He is insular by nature and yet he chooses to directly interface with his creation. Jesus asks (Luke 12:6-7):"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

A - God Almighty, Heaven, Jesus and the Scriptures all confirm that regardless of how things may currently appear, we are not alone, not on our own and not our own.  This will be Job's discovery and experience and this continues to be mine. Not once or twice but repeatedly.  I have been in the bi-polar dynamics described and my opinion is that I will be in them again.  Not only so, but I will not be in them alone and God is not offended when this wild swing from one extreme to the other is "rocking my world."  I used to think the goal was getting to such a state that I would never be subject to such fits.  While the frequency may diminish over time … this is not the point.  A lack of despair can come from sources other than confidence in God (e.g. emotional collapse/shut down, current human resource to overcome the situation "without God", ignorance/naiveté, etc.). The "goal" is the same regardless of boon or battle, undeserved challenge or unexpected blessing. Today I will not be the master of all my circumstances but I can choose where and how I will live.  Today, I will abide in him, in his love and in his words unto the life that is really life.  He is for us, with us and will not change his mind.  Today I will live in the confident reality that I am loved and not alone; that I am loved and not on my own; and that I am loved and not my own.

P - Lord who is love and is near,

I thank you for being the author of every day and for committing to work every thing in it for good. I admit (according to your awesome brilliance, limitless power and extreme goodness) that you are purposeful in everything you cause and in everything you allow.  I choose (according to the grace that is in Jesus) to abide in you, your words and your love … unto new wineskins, mulberry trees in the ocean and to that which is too wonderful for me.  I love you back and say YES to all that is in your heart and mind to do.  I will follow and stay near … all the rest I leave where it belongs … your will on earth like it happens in heaven. I'll watch for you and when my vision is weak I'll look for and keep my eyes on the sparrows.

Steve