Category: God

Authentic Authority

Evil spirits haunting a man in the synagogue knew Jesus and asked why He was interfering with them. That made those in attendance stop and stare in disbelief. Jesus had performed  miracles before, but a conversation with evil spirits? When He told the spirits to be quiet and come out of the man, the crowd heard something they hadn’t heard before. They heard a man speaking with authority and wanted to know where He got that authority.

Jesus and his companions went to the town of Capernaum. When the Sabbath day came, he went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, for he taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.

Suddenly, a man in the synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit began shouting, “Why are you interfering with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

Jesus cut him short. “Be quiet! Come out of the man,” he ordered. At that, the evil spirit screamed, threw the man into a convulsion, and then came out of him.

Amazement gripped the audience, and they began to discuss what had happened. “What sort of new teaching is this?” they asked excitedly. “It has such authority! Even evil spirits obey his orders!” The news about Jesus spread quickly throughout the entire region of Galilee. (Mark 1:21-28 NLT)

The crowds were used to being read to, lectured, and told how they should behave. They were not accustomed to hearing someone speak with God’s authority. Jesus exerted that authority to the evil spirits, and they obeyed Him because they had no choice. God gives me a choice because He wants my obedience to be out of love.

Religious leaders resented Jesus. They were, and wanted to remain, the authority when it came to God and His Word. Who did this rabbi think He was? To the Pharisees, authority meant control. To Christ, authority meant freedom. The evil sprits were forced to obey Christ’s commands, and He could make all of us obey in the same way, but He wants obedience born in freedom and carried out in love. That’s the way He obeyed, and it made a beautiful difference in the world.

Photo Credit:maxresdefault
Photo Credit:maxresdefault

The Best Witness of All

From start to finish, Psalm 103 reminds me that I can count on God’s lovingkindness. He forgives, redeems, crowns, fills, gives, and does all He does out of a deep love for me. That makes me want to praise Him with all that I am. It had the same effect upon David, a man truly after God’s own heart.

Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    may I never forget the good things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins
    and heals all my diseases.
He redeems me from death
    and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
He fills my life with good things.
    My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

The Lord gives righteousness
    and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

He revealed his character to Moses
    and his deeds to the people of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
    slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He will not constantly accuse us,
    nor remain angry forever.
He does not punish us for all our sins;
    he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
    is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
He has removed our sins as far from us
    as the east is from the west.
The Lord is like a father to his children,
    tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
For he knows how weak we are;
    he remembers we are only dust.
Our days on earth are like grass;
    like wildflowers, we bloom and die.
The wind blows, and we are gone—
    as though we had never been here.
But the love of the Lord remains forever
    with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children
   of those who are faithful to his covenant,
    of those who obey his commandments!

The Lord has made the heavens his throne;
    from there he rules over everything.

Praise the Lord, you angels,
    you mighty ones who carry out his plans,
    listening for each of his commands.
Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels
    who serve him and do his will!
Praise the Lord, everything he has created,
    everything in all his kingdom.

Let all that I am praise the Lord. (NLT)

How can I read Psalm 103 and not understand the extent of God’s love for me? If I don’t read it with all that I am, I can do just that. All that I am is His, and that means the good and the bad. Love accepts both, and no one loves as God does. He is love and knowing that enables me to see Him and me in the light of His Son’s precious love. David knew the Messiah’s love would come one day. He couldn’t wait, so he sought God’s heart in a brazen way. His psalms are beautiful witnesses to intimacy he sought and found.

God has armies of angels at His command. He made the heavens and rules over everything, but lovingkindness is His greatest strength. His Son’s precious love redefined power and changed the world. David was a man after God’s own heart, and his pursuit paid off. He found love where most found fear. His awe of God inspired this, and many other, beautiful songs of praise that make me want to love God the way he did. That’s the best witness of all!

Photo Credit: heartlight.org
Photo Credit: heartlight.org

To Clap or Not To Clap?

I grew up in a church where appearance was everything. The pipe organ was one of the largest in the state, but we didn’t dare clap when the organist finished his performance. It was God’s house, and clapping was not allowed! I didn’t understand, but I knew better than to cross that line. I couldn’t imagine what might happen if I made a slip at church. Punishment was severe enough at home, but an offense in the crimson coated sanctuary would surely be worse. It was God’s house, and He was to be feared. I shake my head and sigh when I think about the way God was presented to me as a child, but I smile and thank God that I know better now.

My granddaddy was a preacher who played the piano loudly and sang hymns of praise at the top of his lungs. He wasn’t anything like Dr. Robinson who looked down from his pulpit with an air of judgment that filled me with a sense of dread. Granddaddy was a jovial man with thick glasses and an impish smile. I loved him so much because he loved to play. We had contests and games and all sorts of delicious sweet treats when we went to his farm in the mountains of western North Carolina.

Daddy left the mountains after WWII and did his best to get away from the heritage I embrace. The church we attended was the biggest in town and nothing like the little church my father attended as a child. Hymns were sung loudly and with enthusiasm in that little mountain church. Worship was done with the whole body, and shouting was encouraged. Daddy wanted his daughters to have a different life, and I know that meant he wanted more for us than he had as a child. I just wish my first experience with worship had been more like the worship David describes in Psalm 47.

Come, everyone! Clap your hands!
    Shout to God with joyful praise!
For the Lord Most High is awesome.
    He is the great King of all the earth.
He subdues the nations before us,
    putting our enemies beneath our feet.
He chose the Promised Land as our inheritance,
    the proud possession of Jacob’s descendants, whom he loves. 

God has ascended with a mighty shout.
    The Lord has ascended with trumpets blaring.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
    sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King over all the earth.
    Praise him with a psalm.
God reigns above the nations,
    sitting on his holy throne.
The rulers of the world have gathered together
    with the people of the God of Abraham.
For all the kings of the earth belong to God.
    He is highly honored everywhere. (NLT)

I suppose the argument over clapping or not clapping in church will never be solved. It’s like whether or not to use hot sauce on food, a personal choice which should be honored. I worship with a congregation where folks clap and lift their hands in praise. I love it because I just can’t not clap in church. I know that isn’t grammatically correct, but it expresses my heart. Like David, I have the desire to worship with my whole heart. I respect folks who sit with hands held respectfully on their laps, but I can’t contain my joy in God’s presence. I enjoy being free to clap and shout and sing out loud. I guess I inherited Granddaddy Flave’s worship style, and I’m glad!

I understand that applause must be for God, and that’s exactly Who it’s for when I clap and raise my hands while singing praises to Him. I love messengers and musicians whose words and songs bring me closer to God. I applaud when my heart is moved, and it is for the connection I feel to God and to them in that moment. My clapping, singing, dancing, swaying, and arm lifting come from my deep love for God. Anyone who knows me, knows I am a hugger. I can’t help it, especially when it comes to God. I plan to jump into His arms and squeal with delight when I finally get to see Him face to face. Until then, I plan to sing and clap like David. I love this image of a clapping Jesus because it’s much better than the way I imagined Him as a child 😉

Photo Credit: thefunstons
Photo Credit: thefunstons

Get With the Program!

When Jesus told Simon and Andrew He would make them fishers of men, I wonder what was going through their minds. I may not know what they were thinking, but I do know what they did. They dropped their nets and followed Him.

Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed him.

A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men. Mark 1:14-20 (NLT)

Simon, Andrew, James, and John were going about their normal work routines when Jesus asked them to trust Him. The fishermen followed without flinching. When I read these verses, I envy their faith. Unlike them, I want to know the plan and see the map before I drop my net and leave my boat.

Years ago, I came into work to find a banged up old fishing boat sitting inside the building. I taught middle school, so I was accustomed to seeing strange things in the hallway; but this was a first. The boat was a prop for my principal’s newest motto, “Get in the boat!” As his campaign unfolded, we did our best to hide insubordinate grins and pretend to be as serious as he was about his newest epiphany. I’m afraid we weren’t successful and neither were the students. The boat disappeared along with the principal’s buoyant mood.

I thought about that silly boat when I visited the middle school yesterday. I also thought about Christ asking those dedicated men to get out of their boats and follow Him.  Change isn’t easy for middle schoolers, and it’s even more difficult for professional fishermen. My principal had good intentions when he put a boat in the hallway. He knew change was necessary for growth, and it took a lot of effort to get that boat through the front door. The middle schoolers didn’t get with his program because they knew it was designed to control them. If you know anything about middle school students, you know they don’t like being controlled.

Christ’s invitation involved a complete change of life for the men who stepped away from their boats and followed Him. He knew the work they would be doing could not be part time. They knew, when they followed Him, life as they knew it would be gone. The same is true for me when I choose to follow Jesus. Life, as I know it, has to go before I can live the life He desires.

Jesus didn’t ask His disciples to get with the program or get in the boat. He asked them to come away from the world they knew and trust Him to show them a new way of living. I wonder how those fishermen would have reacted if Jesus had brought an old fishing boat inside the building and asked them to get into it. I believe they would have gotten right in because they knew He knew what He was doing. They were willing to follow Him no matter where He led because what, where, when, and how didn’t matter anymore. They were only concerned with Who.

Get in the Boat!!
Get in the Boat!!

Religion or Relationship?

Christ’s love allows me to go from religion to relationship. Hebrews 8:5-13 describes how His precious love changes everything. God didn’t revise or amend His old covenant. His Son’s precious love forged a brand new one.

But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said:

“The day is coming, says the Lord,
    when I will make a new covenant
    with the people of Israel and Judah.
This covenant will not be like the one
    I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
    and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to my covenant,
    so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.
But this is the new covenant I will make
    with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds,
    and I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.
And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
    nor will they need to teach their relatives,
    saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
    will know me already.
And I will forgive their wickedness,
    and I will never again remember their sin

When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear. (NLT)

I’m preparing to move into a new home that is nothing like the one I’m in now. I’m going from 4000 square foot house sitting on top of a mountain to a tiny apartment downtown. I love the fact that my new home is a brand new house. New houses are wonderful, but new covenants can be uncomfortable.

Going from religion to relationship is difficult. Relationship is personal, and that means exposing my heart. God knows me, forgives me, and loves me. That makes the old way of relating obsolete. Religions cannot compete or compare with relationships, and no one understands that better than God. He prefers a loving family to a religious hierarchy. He always has, and He always will.
It’s difficult to do business with someone when you’re in love with them; that keeps love out of board rooms and office buildings. God didn’t, doesn’t, and never will run a business. He is love and sent His only Son to replace the “business” of religion with the love of relationship. Even the disciples didn’t completely get the point at first.  They wanted to know who would be in what position, but the resurrection made it crystal clear that Christ changed business as usual. Love had come down, and it was the new authority.
I wish we could all just love one another as God desires, but I know that won’t be possible as long as the world has a hold on us. God may have made a new covenant, but this world is still driven by business. I can allow myself to be driven by the world or let love do the driving. When I go with love, God opens the road and frees my heart in a way the world may not understand but does notice 🙂
Open Road

Attached at the Heart

1 Corinthians 7:29-31 invites me to look at my attachments and see how they affect my focus. Paul isn’t just talking about relationships in his letter to Corinth; he’s talking about accomplishments, regrets, possessions, or anything to which I may be too attached. There’s nothing wrong with a happy marriage, an engaging job, a time of grief, or nice things as long as my heart isn’t attached so tightly that my focus is misdirected.

But let me say this, dear brothers and sisters: The time that remains is very short. So from now on, those with wives should not focus only on their marriage. Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions. Those who use the things of the world should not become attached to them. For this world as we know it will soon pass away.(NLT)

Unhealthy attachments cause my heart to fuse, and fusion leads to confusion. God isn’t controlling, or I would be a mindless drone in His field or a heartless statue at His feet. God has the power to make me do exactly what He wants, but He will not use His power to make me love or obey Him. He knows obedience is worthless without free will, and love will never be forced or coerced.

Self differentiation is necessary for love to grow as God desires. Fusion appears to forge a powerful bond, but it only confines and defines in negative ways. Self differentiation frees my heart and leads to healthy connections. God is the ultimate example of self differentiation. He is the great “I Am.” He is who He is, and He wants me to be who He created me to be. That requires putting my focus upon His love and getting away from unhealthy attachments.

I love being a daughter, sister, mother, mother-in-law, Gigi, teacher, friend, etc., but if I cannot have an unhealthy attachment to any role. I am me, and if I fail to be the true me, no relationship, title, or possession will fill the void left in my heart. I believe it’s what Paul is trying to tell the Corinthians.  This world is not permanent, and nothing in it will last. Rather than making me sad, I should find great joy in knowing that the essence of my truest self isn’t about the things in this world. I am created for eternity, and I am free to live and love in a way that reflects that beautiful truth.

Heart in the Sand

God Friends

Psalm 62:5-8 paints a beautiful portrait of God. He’s a powerful fortress who protects me from my enemies and a trusted friend to whom I can pour out my heart and know that it will be heard and cherished. David knew that God has his back and his heart.

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
    for my hope is in him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation,
    my fortress where I will not be shaken.
My victory and honor come from God alone.
    He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.
O my people, trust in him at all times.
    Pour out your heart to him,
    for God is our refuge. (NLT)

David’s psalm reflects his love for and trust in God. In all his trials, he wasn’t shaken because He knew God not only protected him, but loved him dearly. I am fortunate to have family and friends who have my back and my heart. It’s a combination that reflects God’s love and provides a taste of what’s to come. God’s got my back, my front, my sides, my head, and my heart, but I don’t always remember that. When I do, I am able to wait quietly. Now, if I could only remember that all the time!

Waiting quietly has never been my strong suit, but I’m learning. There are times when I pour my heart out and talk to Him the way I would to my sisters or dear friends. He hears me when I cry. He hears me when I yell, and He hears me when I’m silent. I know I can tell Him everything anytime.

God made it clear last week that pouring out my heart and allowing others to pour out theirs to me is what love is all about. I have a few friends and three sweet sisters to whom I can pour out my heart. My heart is healed in their loving, nonjudgmental presence. None of them can replace God, but I like to call them God friends because they nudge me a little nearer to Him each time we connect.

Psalm 62

And God Changed His Mind

Jonah 3:1-5, 10 is a glimpse of the grace that results when God changes His mind. God never changes, but I love that He can and will change His mind. He can do whatever He wants to do, but; like Jonah, I find myself wanting Him to do what I want Him to do. That means sticking to the agenda and not embarrassing me with last minute changes.

Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.”

This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened. (NLT)

Jonah was an important man delivering the message that Nineveh was about to be destroyed. The people heard and repented, but that didn’t make Jonah happy. In fact, he was angry when God extended grace and let them live. That may sound strange, but it is human nature to hurt when humiliated. He wanted them to get what they deserved, and he wanted to be right! God wanted them to change, so he forgave them when they did.

Forgiveness heals as nothing else, and no one knows that better than God. I don’t know what happened to Jonah. We leave him sulking over a plant while God asks where his compassion is for the 120,000 people and the animals of Nineveh who would have perished. God spared Jonah’s life and the lives of the sailors who pleaded for mercy, but time in the belly of the big fish didn’t seem to sweeten Jonah’s disposition.

Jonah is a book of incredible love, but that love doesn’t come from Jonah. I hope he found compassion, and I hope he learned to extend and accept forgiveness. I know God forgave him, but that doesn’t  mean he accepted. He may not have recognized his need for it. Like the older son in the story of the Prodigal Son, Jonah may have had a hard time seeing those who don’t deserve forgiveness and grace getting it. None of us deserve God’s grace, love, mercy, or forgiveness, but that doesn’t stop Him.

God lets me get angry, and he allows me to sulk when things don’t turn out the way I want. I can’t be too hard on Jonah because I’ve been where he is, and it isn’t a pleasant place to be. I learned years ago that seriousness is a serious sin that disguises itself in many ways. The need to be right or the need to retaliate get in the way of true forgiveness and cause my journey to be a self righteous march rather than a walk in God’s kingdom. I’m learning to let God humble me with humor when the sin of seriousness creeps into my path. As a dear friend once told me, a little levity goes a long way 🙂

 

Photo Credit: MisfitWisdom
Photo Credit: MisfitWisdom

 

Just Because I Can….

1 Corinthians 6:12-20 is a sobering reminder for me to think about my body. If I focus upon keeping it happy, I’ll end up feeling good; but the feeling will soon give way to guilt or disappointment if I overindulge. I also have to be careful not to become its slave. Paul is straight forward in his letter to Corinth, but I handle his letter with kid gloves or ignore it completely because its message hits too close to home for comfort.

Food and/or sex tempt everyone. Christ knew about temptation and so did Paul. Both hope to help me see my body in a new way. I was very discouraged and disgusted when I got on the scales this morning and more so when I put on a pair of favorite jeans that no longer fit. This scripture was in my path, so I decided to stop ignoring it and listen to what God had to say.

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.

Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.”But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,  for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. (NLT)

It’s easy to look at these verses and only see sexual sin, but Paul is talking about anything that prostitutes my body. Food is beginning to do just that because I’m turning to it for comfort and paying the price for its comfort. Overeating, drinking too much, or anything that dishonors my body says I’m not grateful for God’s gift. My body is His temple, and I forget that far too often. I don’t belong to myself, and I need to remember that God  paid a premium price for me. I’m His.

Honoring God with my body does mean that I will not engage in sexual immorality, and that covers a great deal of territory. It also means I will not turn to food for gratification. I haven’t fasted in a very long time, so I’ve almost forgotten how clear and clean it makes me feel. I’m afraid I’ve fallen into a pattern of eating for eating’s sake. Mindless eating leads to numbness, and numbness leads to lethargy. I don’t want to fall into that trap because it steals the joy God has in store for me.

I want the unity Paul describes, and I won’t find it if I’m more interested in satisfying my body than being one with God’s. He wants me to enjoy life and all the goodness He provides. He doesn’t want to punish me; He wants to provide the very best. Paul’s cautions are not a lecture on morality unless I make them so. He is simply saying what I already know but ignore because I don’t want to change my comfortable habits.

God knows depending on food, sex, or anything else to satisfy my body distracts and causes me to wander from the path He knows will lead to the best life for me. It isn’t a life of want, it is a life where my wants wither and His will fills. What I want is always less than what He wants to give me. Just because I can do something, doesn’t mean I should. I never imagined Paul’s letter to Corinth might help me see eating in a new light, but that’s exactly what it did this morning 🙂

Food

Surgeon’s Scalpel

Hebrews 4:12-16 says God’s Word is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword. The word Paul uses describes an instrument very similar to a surgeon’s scalpel. There’s nothing sharper or more precise when it comes to cutting. Sharpness increases the precision and decreases the pain of an incision. I’ve never had surgery or seen a scalpel, but I know it is a powerful tool in the hands of a trained surgeon. It is designed to heal and help and so is God’s Word.

God’s Word isn’t a war sword or a butcher knife, but I’ve heard it used both ways. God’s Word, like a scalpel in skilled hands, cuts right between my soul and spirit. It separates the marrow from my bones, exposing my innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing is hidden from God, but He exposes those innermost thoughts and desires so I can see what He sees and begin to heal.

For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.(NLT)

Surgery is necessary when souls, spirits, minds, and hearts are hurting. Recovery is often difficult, but I can trust and relax in God’s capable hands. I can avoid His Word and keep hurting, or I can agree to let God heal my hurt. The choice is mine. Surgeons and God both know better than to operate on a moving, uncooperative target. Patients must be ready and willing before they can begin to help them heal.

Christ came to understand my weaknesses. He faced all trials I face and many more. He came away without sin so I could come boldly to God’s Word and let His Holy Spirit use it as an expert surgeon uses his scalpel. God’s mercy, grace, and love are unfailing, and His Word is more precise than the best laser or scalpel in the hands of the finest surgeon on earth. That makes me breathe a sigh of relief, relax into His Word, and let God do what He does best, heal.

Surgeon's Scalpel
Surgeon’s Scalpel