Category: God

Carrying the Wrong Cross

I was brought up believing that carrying my cross was accepting the ailments and heartbreaks in life and drudging forward. I shake my head and sigh when I think of the time between my old and new testaments. Jesus carried His cross, and I must carry mine. He loved and trusted God with all His heart, mind, soul, and strength. Crosses are about obedience and trust, and no one understands that better than Jesus.

A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

“But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’

“Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

“Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!” (Luke 14:25-35 NLT)

Christ didn’t have to take up His cross and carry it. He chose to. He didn’t have to die. He chose to. Obedience is up to me; it’s my cross. I used to think I had to save others. Again, I’m shaking my head in disbelief. Trying to carry Christ’s cross instead of my own left me depleted and discouraged. Carrying the wrong cross is a common problem among Christ’s followers, and it leads to frustration and violence.

An older gentleman told me last week that Christians were going to have to start fighting. I reminded him that the Crusades didn’t go well. He insisted that we had to do something about muslims in our country. He is a good man at heart, so I was surprised by his words. I was disappointed that he thought I would appreciate his ideas of violence toward muslims. When we try to take up Christ’s cross, frustration leads to anger and violence.

I don’t want to be a flavorless follower, and I don’t want to join an angry mob. Jesus was not on either end of that spectrum. His love was at the center of His cross, and His love must be at the center of mine. It is up to me to obey God, but I cannot do that on my own. Christ’s precious love keeps my heart and my walk centered and focused upon God’s love. I didn’t hear that love in the conversation last week, but I hear it in His words.

The cost of carrying my cross is giving up my need to carry Christ’s cross and obeying when I’m not sure where He is leading me. Discipleship is never easy, but it isn’t as hard as carrying Christ’s cross for Him. He already carried His cross, so I only need to worry about carrying mine, and He will help me with that.

Help

 


Possessing Perfection

Paul pleads with the Philippians to stay focused and not forget the progress they have made. He shares his desire to press on in hopes they will do the same. He knows he won’t reach perfection until he is with Christ, but that doesn’t stop him from reaching for it. Paul wants “to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead.” So do I, but before I can experience a resurrection, I have to die to self.

I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. (Philippians 3:10-16 NLT)

Paul sees the progress made by the Philippians slipping away in the midst of arguments. Possessing perfection is not the goal; pressing in the direction of Christ is. Following Jesus is about transformation, and that means becoming spiritually mature. Growing up. Holiness is the goal, and that does not mean perfection. The word  translated as ‘holy’ means maturity, ripeness, or readiness in Greek. Christ wants us to be ripe, not perfect.

Those who follow Christ argue over the inane. I can give myself a different name, adhere to a different doctrine, try a new denomination,  and take pride in my piety or my mess. It doesn’t matter which end of the spectrum I come from, I still must press toward Christ’s love. Perfection is in His precious love. It possesses my heart in a powerful way that makes me want to love as He loves.

Christ is perfect so I don’t have to be. God is a loving Father who loves His children and wants them to grow in His Son’s precious love. That’s as perfect as it gets in this world.

Photo Credit: Anne Bradshaw
Photo Credit: Anne Bradshaw

I’m More Hungry!!

Jesus knows why the crowds are following Him. He fed them, and they want more. My granddaughter, Lillyann, is always hungry, and so am I. My father said I was born hungry and would die hungry. I told him that was true, and I planned to eat all I could in between. I frequently tell Lilly that she has just eaten when she tells me she’s hungry. Her response is, “But Gigi, I’m more hungry!!” I have to smile because I can relate.

I feel for the folks following Jesus because I imagine they were physically hungry. Food is a basic need, and Christ understood. He also knew they needed more than the fishes and loaves He had given them. He wanted them to be hungry in a different way. He wanted them to find the love God had for them.

The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. (John 6:22-26 NLT)

I don’t think Jesus was angry with the people, but I do believe He was frustrated by their lack of understanding. I used to read my Bible through in a year, and it blessed me. I don’t do that anymore because the structure took away the joy of feeding on God’s Word. It became a task I had to do rather than a wonderful, unexpected, meal. Now, I relax and let God lay the “food” I need before me. I use the lectionary for guidance, but I keep my heart open for all the food God has for me. God places scriptures in my path in many ways, and I’m filled beautifully or humbly depending upon the passages and the lessons God has for me.

I’m learning to relax and enjoy the fare God provides. It’s never what I expect and often not what I want to hear, but it’s always exactly what I need. I love that about God’s Word. It’s alive as no other literature I have ever read, and I’ve read a lot of literature. The scriptures are never the same when I digest them because I am never the same when I read them.

My heart is hungry, and I pray it always will be. Jesus told His disciples to feed His sheep because He knew they would always be hungry.

Hungry

Love’s Legacy

My legacy will become my son’s inheritance when I die, so what I leave behind is very important to me. The rich fool in Christ’s parable has a legacy that will most likely consume his heirs the way it consumed him. The value of a life is measured in many ways, but I measure mine by what I treasure. Such was the case of the rich fool.

Jesus tried to warn the man of his folly, but I doubt he listened. Few of us do. Greed is a cruel master that cuts off communication with the ones closest to its victim. Riches have a way of getting in the way of relationship, and Jesus is trying to show that to the son asking Him for help with his brother.

Then someone called from the crowd, “Teacher, please tell my brother to divide our father’s estate with me.”

Jesus replied, “Friend, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that?” Then he said, “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.”

Then he told them a story: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods.  And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’

“Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” (Luke 12:13-21 NLT)

Riches make a fool of the wisest man, but lust and love go in opposite directions. A heart cannot serve both. Lust disguises itself as love, successfully fooling many. In Christ’s story, God recognizes the trap ensnaring the rich fool and tries to warn him before it is too late. Jesus is hoping to do the same for the two brothers and for us.

Love is the true measure of a rich life. It cannot be stored or counted; but it is the only thing I can count on. The riches of the man in Christ’s parable will most likely go to someone like the arguing brothers, and the legacy of lust will be passed to the next generation.

God’s legacy is love. Christ is His heir, and His precious love allows me to share that inheritance. The value of my inheritance grows if I share it with others, but it dwindles when I keep it for myself. The sons are worried that one will receive more than the other, and many of God’s children have the same fear when it comes to approval and love. God’s love is for all, and it grows as it is shared. That’s the biggest difference between a legacy of lust and a legacy of love is that lust divides while love multiplies.

I hope Christ’s precious love is the legacy I leave for my son and his beautiful family. It’s the only thing I can carry with me into eternity and leave behind in the hearts of those I love.

Photo Credit: yayabme.wix.com
Photo Credit: yayabme.wix.com

Follow My Heart

To treasure is to love or value greatly. If you want to find my treasure, follow my heart. It’s tempting to store up earthly treasure, but Jesus warns that earthly treasures are physical in nature and do not last. He suggests a different treasure that involves a change of heart.

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.  Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.”

“Your eye is a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is good, your whole body is filled with light. But when your eye is bad, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!”

“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:19-24)

In The Message, Eugene Peterson translates verses 22-23 this way:

“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!

I can relate to the terrible image in verse 23 because I pulled the blinds and stayed hidden in the dark for too long. God is opening my eyes wide in wonder and taking the blinds off my heart so I can see the true treasure of His Son’s precious love.

Dark cellars are safe places for hearts and treasures. I learned to hide my heart at a very early age and kept it hidden for most of my life. Jesus knows love only grows in openness, and I’m learning the same.

If you had followed my heart during most of my life, you would find a safe, dark cellar. If you follow it now, you’ll find an open window.

Photo Credit: twomaisons
Photo Credit: twomaisons

Leisure Born in Stillness

Isaiah assures those seeking deliverance that God has delivered before, and He will deliver again. That brings a sweet stillness to my heart.

“Listen to me, all who hope for deliverance—
    all who seek the Lord!
Consider the rock from which you were cut,
    the quarry from which you were mined.
Yes, think about Abraham, your ancestor,
    and Sarah, who gave birth to your nation.
Abraham was only one man when I called him.
    But when I blessed him, he became a great nation.”

The Lord will comfort Israel again
    and have pity on her ruins.
Her desert will blossom like Eden,
    her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord.
Joy and gladness will be found there.
    Songs of thanksgiving will fill the air.

“Listen to me, my people.
    Hear me, Israel,
for my law will be proclaimed,
    and my justice will become a light to the nations.
My mercy and justice are coming soon.
    My salvation is on the way.
    My strong arm will bring justice to the nations.
All distant lands will look to me
    and wait in hope for my powerful arm.
Look up to the skies above,
    and gaze down on the earth below.
For the skies will disappear like smoke,
    and the earth will wear out like a piece of clothing.
The people of the earth will die like flies,
    but my salvation lasts forever.
    My righteous rule will never end!

“Listen to me, you who know right from wrong,
    you who cherish my law in your hearts.
Do not be afraid of people’s scorn,
    nor fear their insults.
For the moth will devour them as it devours clothing.
    The worm will eat at them as it eats wool.
But my righteousness will last forever.
    My salvation will continue from generation to generation.”

(Isaiah 51:1-8 NLT)

We’ve all heard a pep talk that begins with, “Remember who you are! Remember where you’ve been…You’ve done it before, and you can do it again!!”

Isaiah is saying, “Remember Who God is! Remember what He has done! He’s done it before, and He will do it again!!” By reminding Israel of the Rock from which they are forged, he brings calm to their troubled hearts.

Isaiah knew the earth would wear out and the people would die. Christ knew the same. His righteousness lasts forever, and His salvation continues from generation to generation. If I really believe that, I can live my life in a different way. I can be still and recognize God.

January has been a time of stillness. Being still hasn’t been easy, but the results have been amazing. I have a new sense of direction that doesn’t involve a new plan, agenda, or project.

I’m not sure what’s in store for February, but I hope to carry the stillness of January into it. Isaiah reminds me that the world isn’t all there is, and I have a loving God watching over me. That helps me find peace in the chaos and do what God places in my path with a leisure born in stillness.

Stillness in a Busy World Photo Credit: Joan Jerkovich
Stillness in a Busy World
Photo Credit: Joan Jerkovich

Absolutely!!!

Psalm 111 is filled with absolutes. As a middle school teacher, I warned my students about the dangers of overusing absolutes. If you know anything about middle school students, you know their world is absolutely wonderful or horrible depending upon the day, hour, or minute. Never, forever, always, all, none, everything, and nothing are ingrained into their vocabularies and their lives, and they love to pepper those words with exclamation points!! David used absolutes in his psalms because no other words will do when it comes to describing God.

Praise the Lord!

I will thank the Lord with all my heart
    as I meet with his godly people.
How amazing are the deeds of the Lord!
    All who delight in him should ponder them.
Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty.
    His righteousness never fails.
He causes us to remember his wonderful works.
    How gracious and merciful is our Lord!
He gives food to those who fear him;
    he always remembers his covenant.
He has shown his great power to his people
    by giving them the lands of other nations.
All he does is just and good,
    and all his commandments are trustworthy.
They are forever true,
    to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.
He has paid a full ransom for his people.
    He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
    What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has!
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.
    All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.

Praise him forever! (NLT)

Psalm 111 shows why middle school students seek absolutes. We are all comforted by them, but they are rare in this world. My granddaughter Lilly is five, and she helped me start the week with an important absolute. She frequently spends the night with me, and we have the sweetest pillow talk. On Monday night, when she finished her prayer, I told her God loved her and so did I.

She said, “What about when I’m silly?”

I said, “God still loves you.”

“What about when I’m not nice?”

“He still loves you.”

“What about when I’m mean?”

“He still love you.”

“Gigi, when does God not love me?”

“Never.”

“God never loves me!”

“No, Lilly, there is never a time when God doesn’t love you.”

“Cool.”

“Yes, very cool!!”

My middle school students continued to use absolutes with abandon, and exclamation points filled their writing. They were searching for boundaries in their own lives, and their writing reflected a longing for something that is always true. So are we all.

David found his Absolute, and I’ve found mine. God will never leave me!! He always keeps His promises!!! He loves me, and He always will!!! Those absolutes bring comfort and hope. I’m working on loving God with all of my heart all of the time. I fall short, but God is always there to help me get back on the right track. He never tires of picking me up or helping me obey when I stumble and fall, and that gives me the courage to go forward.

Having an Absolute makes the journey a joy because I know when I fall from the high wires I get myself onto, God’s love is always there.

Photo Credit: Life Magazine
Photo Credit: Life Magazine

Love is the Answer

Folks who claim to have all the answers when it comes to God or religion don’t make effective missionaries, teachers, or ministers. In his letter to Corinth, Paul is offering advice regarding food that has been offered to idols. His point is the same point Christ conveyed to His followers. Rely on love rather than knowledge.

Now regarding your question about food that has been offered to idols. Yes, we know that “we all have knowledge” about this issue. But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes. (1 Corinthians 8:1-3 NLT)

Knowlege is easy to acquire and easier to spread around. Love doesn’t come easily, and sharing it takes a great deal of strength and courage. That’s true for individuals, and it’s true for the church. The church is a family, not an organization or a university. It is a group of imperfect people who are willing to risk everything for love.

No one enjoys learning or research more than I do, but I make sure to keep knowledge in its place. Love comes first, and that means giving up my need to know and be right. Love cannot be defined or described, but it can be shared. Love isn’t about facts; it’s about being recognized. Those who love me, know and recognize me with delight. In verse eight, Paul told the folks at Corinth, “the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes.” Those are powerful words.

Knowing and knowledge are not the same. Knowing and loving go hand in hand. Love allows me to know God, myself, and others. I get sidetracked by ego or lost in lust when I rely on my head knowledge instead of my heart knowing. A heart full of love is a heart filled with God. Paul isn’t saying to give up knowledge. He simply wants, what God wants, for me to put love first. When I do that, wisdom replaces knowledge, and love leads the way.

A Heart Full of Love

The Complacent Church

Comfort Zone

Hebrews 10:32-39 is a sobering reminder of the suffering early Christians endured. I’ve never been persecuted for my religious beliefs, so I can’t imagine their suffering. I must be mindful that many are still suffering because of their faith. As I write this, my heart goes out to all who have, are, and will continue to die because they are unwilling to deny what they believe. I’ve often wondered how I would react if my life depended upon denying my God. What if my son or his family were in danger of death because of my faith. Would I allow them to die or would I deny Christ. Peter was sure he would never betray Christ, but he did three times within hours of telling Jesus face to face that he would die before denying Him. In his letter to the Hebrews, Paul asked them to remember when they first learned about Christ. That’s good advice for all of us.

Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.

So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

“For in just a little while,
    the Coming One will come and not delay.
And my righteous ones will live by faith.
    But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”

But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved. (NLT)

Paul knew a complacent church was more dangerous than a persecuted one. Christians in the United States are the most complacent on the planet and have been for a very long time. If we spent a tenth of the time we spend arguing about politics in whole-hearted worship, our country and our world would have a very different opinion of us. There are better things waiting for all of us, things that will last forever. The problem with the complacent church is that they like the way things are now. Easy. Comfortable.

I don’t want Christians in this country to ever be persecuted. God forbid that anyone anywhere should have to die because of their religious beliefs. I’m just saying that complacency kills more effectively than a bullet to the heart. When a Christian becomes complacent, only those nearest to them notice. Some even see it as a step in the right direction. The honeymoon is over, so we can get back to business as usual.

I believe Christ uses a bride to describe His church because a bride is anything but complacent. Her love and eager anticipation keep her heart focused upon love. Keeping my heart in honeymoon mode keeps me where God wants me to be. The only way to cure complacency is remembering when I first fell in love and being mindful of the suffering of the early church and the persecuted church of today.

Marriage counselors tell complacent couples to think back to their courtship days , remember what made them fall in love in the first place, and do it again. That’s a great strategy for Christ’s bride, as well.

Complacency

Does That Sound Like Me?

The language is Deuteronomy 18 may be harsh, but Moses clearly conveys God’s unwillingness to tolerate His name being used inappropriately. That isn’t only about adding His name to curses for emphasis. That is never appropriate, but it isn’t the biggest misuse of God’s name. Prophets, preachers, messengers, and all Christians must be mindful of using God for our purposes rather than His. When we do that, we become false prophets.

Moses continued, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. For this is what you yourselves requested of the Lord your God when you were assembled at Mount Sinai. You said, ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore or see this blazing fire, for we will die.’

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘What they have said is right. I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him. I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages the prophet proclaims on my behalf. But any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks in the name of another god must die.’ (Deuteronomy 18:15-20 NLT)

The best way to discern false prophecy is to put the words of the prophet into God’s mouth and see how they sound. When I’m confused by false teaching, I ask the Holy Spirit for help. God quietly asks, “Does that sound like Me?” I almost always grin and say, “No, it doesn’t, Lord.”

The times I don’t grin and see the truth are times when I’m trying to convince myself. I want to be right. I want to retaliate. I want revenge. I want others to see my point. I want others to know how hard I work. God waits patiently for me to hear His truth; but His voice is the soft one, so the other voices must die down before I can hear His.

Moses knew the difficulty of hearing God, and he knew it was even harder to get the Israelites to hear God’s message from Him. The work of a prophet is the most difficult in the world. It’s tempting to use the position for personal gain, power, or sympathy. The false gods are powerful ones that are easy to hear. Satan always agrees and and says exactly what we want to hear. False prophets do the same.

Prophets are human. They make mistakes and feel the same emotions we all feel. God’s messengers make a beautiful difference in the world by giving hope to His children. They feed His sheep. When prophets do anything else, they are treading in very dangerous waters. God knows false gods are tempting, but He also knows their message will hurt His children. He doesn’t like for His children to be hurt, and that is especially true when the harm done is in His name. Every parent can relate to that. We know the dangers our children face, and we worry about the temptations in their paths.

God will not be used or abused by false prophets and teachers. I don’t believe verse 20 means God will strike down and kill those who use His name falsely. Otherwise, there would be no humans left on this planet. I think it means the words of false prophets must die before I can hear His truth.

I can’t discern false prophets without the help of the Holy Spirit. Evil’s greatest power is disguising itself as good. The truth isn’t always easy to hear, but the words of those who say what I want to hear is like sweet honey until it finds its way into my heart. There it becomes a bitter pill. False prophets hide the resentment and jealousy in their own hearts. Their messages are their messages, and they leave me as depleted as they are.

God’s messengers love Him and speak His truth with a love that makes me want to love Him too. Their messages feed and fill me with a sense of wonder that nudges me a little nearer to God.

A close relationship with Christ helps me see the wolf lurking under the sheep’s clothing of a false prophet, and it also helps me flush out any wolves who may be roaming around in my own heart.

false-prophet