What Are YOU Waiting For?

It is funny to read in 2 Peter that people were already questioning YOUR return to earth way back then. They were saying, “where is the promise of HIS coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were before from the beginning of creation…” (3:4). If the first generation of the church was asking what was taking so long, how much more those of us waiting 2,000 years later! The interesting thing is that YOU answered the question all the way back then. We spend so much time trying to prove that such and such prophesy has to be fulfilled before YOU can return but in this passage, YOU told us what YOU are waiting for.

Peter writes that (YOU are) not slow in keeping (YOUR) promises as some count slowness, but (are) patient toward (us). Not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (9). YOUR patience and mercy are holding YOU back from returning before more people have the chance to know YOU. It is not about prophesy and history. It is all about YOUR wanting to see less people spend their eternity apart from YOU.

That means that if I want to move things along, I need to lead more people toward YOU. There is nothing I can do about the mark of the beast or the antichrist. But I can help bring about the culmination of history by partnering with YOU to help people know YOU.

Effective and Fruitful

For many years I have taught that there are two reasons for our existence. More specifically, there is a reason for our existence and a reason that we continue to live on this earth. We exist to know and love YOU, LORD. But we are still here on earth to lead others toward knowing YOU. If the only purpose was to know YOU, why don’t we immediately go to be with YOU when we get saved? Why leave us here? As I was reading 2 Pet 1:8 today, I saw these two parts or purposes clearly. Peter tells us, “If these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Peter is saying that there is still a reason for us to be here once we know YOU. While we are still here, we are expected to be effective and fruitful.

So what kind of fruit are we to bear? Is Peter talking about spiritual fruit? No, he just listed the qualities we normally associate with spiritual fruit (Vv. 5-7) and told us that those qualities are to keep us from being ineffective and unfruitful. So this fruit must be leading more people toward YOU. Once we come to know YOU, it is no longer just about YOU and us. It is about YOU, us, and everyone else.

Of course to lead others toward knowing YOU, we must develop the qualities that Peter listed. We need faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love (Vv. 5-7). If we focus on knowing You. Your Holy Spirit will produce these qualities in us. And the natural outgrowth of knowing You and growing in these qualities is bearing fruit, leading others toward YOU. Lord, I want to fulfill both my purposes. I want to be effective and fruitful.

Unjust Suffering

There is a very interesting passage in 1 Peter 2 :19-20 “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly…when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called…” You just can’t get any more countercultural than that. We are raised to look out for number one. We are supposed to stand up for our rights and make sure no one takes advantage of us. Suffering unjustly is the worst possible thing in our culture. But it is gracious in the sight of God. So who am I trying to impress? Those I want to think I am tough or the creator of the universe? Who do I trust? My ability to defend myself or God’s ability to redeem even unjust suffering? Who am I trying to imitate, The rich, tough, and powerful, or Jesus who suffered unjustly for me?

This is really hard. I am all about what I deserve. I know how much money I think I should make. I know how much respect I think others should show me. But if I really want abundant life, I have to lay that all down, take up my cross and follow Jesus. Even when my flesh is screaming that this makes no sense. After all, flesh screams when it is being crucified. Lord, give me the strength to endure and walk in YOUR victory.

Flee Forward

As I continue to study the book of Acts slowly, I continue to be struck by certain things. Right now I am studying Paul’s second missionary journey and two things keep happening in every city he visits. First, he is faced with opposition, usually from religious people: And second, Paul flees for his life; but he always flees forward.

I am not so much amazed that Paul faced opposition in every city he visited as I am amazed at how we can read about it and then be shocked when we face opposition. It seems that we are shocked that people would be mean to us when we are trying to serve God. Everyone was mean to Paul, not to mention how they treated Jesus. But we think God doesn’t love us anymore if we have any conflict whatsoever. Who are we following? If the One we are following was killed, should we be surprised that everyone does not just agree with us and behave properly. How can we think we should not be treated badly because we are children of God when the SOn of God was crucified?

The kicker is that whenever Paul faced opposition, which usually involved mobs attacking him and sometimes throwing large rocks at his head, he always ran forward. He would flee the city but he would not go home. He always went deeper into the enemy’s territory. When someone is mean to me, I usually shrink back to a place of safety. Paul did not shrink back, he went forward. Trouble in Phillipi, go 100 miles further away from home and safety and start preaching again. Mobs in Thessolonica, go another 60 miles further to Berea. Persecution there, go on to Athens. It is almost as if Paul knows that the enemy’s real purpose is to turn him back, so he goes forward. Whenever the enemy attacks us, it is to make us turn back. If we really want to rub his nose in it, we should press further into the things of God. We need to be the kind of people who flee from opposition. Only let us flee forward into the enemy’s territory. No turning back.

My Brother’s Slave

I am amazed at the way James, the brother of Jesus opens his letter. If I was writing to a bunch of people and I wanted them to listen to what I had to say, I would open with something like, “James the brother of God, the one who knows Him better than anyone, acknowledged leader of the church in Jerusalem…” Instead, James simply says, “James a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” The only title he claims is servant. Actually, he calls himself a slave. There was no such thing as a hired servant in those days, you bought your “servants” at the slave market. So James is calling himself his brother’s slave. Talk about humility!

This attitude seems to differ with much of the teaching I hear these days. We are always trying to talk about who we are in Christ. It doesn’t matter who I am in Christ. What matters is who Christ is in me! I am a slave, He is everything. I don’t need to pump myself up with pop-psychology, self esteem building words. I choose the words of James, I am a slave. This doesn’t mean I walk around with a woe is me attitude. It is better to be slave to the king than to be owner of nothing. He is the best master in the universe. He cares for His slaves!

Lord, help me find myself in You. Help me humble myself and trust You. Simply being Your slave is better than anything this world has to offer.

Believing For Dead Stuff

Faith is an interesting thing. The moment we have what we had faith for, it is no longer faith. It does not take faith to call God our provider when we do not have any unpaid bills. It does not take faith to call Him our healer when we are healthy. It takes faith to rely on God when things do not appear to be under control. In Heb. 11:19 it says that Abraham had faith when he offered up Isaac because “he considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead…” In other words, Abraham had faith when circumstances seemed to be going against the promise and vision that God had put in his heart. He had faith that even if the vision died, God could raise it back from the dead. Faith is believing that even if it looks like everything is falling apart, God is still in control and there is nothing, not even death, that can put the final nail in the coffin of His promises for His people. I have had some promises and visions that seem to have died but I believe that God can raise them from the dead. Again I am haunted by the words of Erwin McManus who said, “If the cross teaches us anything, it teaches us that sometimes God comes through after we’ve been killed.”

Lord, give me the kind of faith to believe even when everything seems to be dead. Nothing, not even death, can make things too hard for YOU. I trust that YOU are in control even when I can’t see it.

Two For One

Everyone likes to get two for one. Buy one, get one free… That’s good stuff! The problem is when we get two for one in theology. We want to know what THE ONE point of the gospel is but God gives us two equally important points to hold in balance. I have been thinking about this lately because I have been studying the book of Acts for the past year and a half. I have noticed that almost every time the apostles preach they preach about the cross AND the resurrection.

For many years I was taught that the Catholics have Jesus still on the cross but we Protestants have empty crosses emphasizing the resurrection. We are supposed to pick one and focus on it right? Then why do the apostles dwell on both the cross AND the resurrection? Are the Catholics or the Protestants right? Maybe we are both wrong…

There is danger in only emphasizing the cross OR the resurrection. If we only dwell on the cross, we become very depressing people. We become all about suffering and hardship. We become judgmental of those who are not suffering as much as we are. We also live our lives with an overwhelming sense of guilt. After all, we crucified Him. If we sin again, we crucify Him all over again.

If we dwell on only the resurrection, we become quite self-centered. It is all about victory and success and overcoming. We begin to judge those who have struggles. We think that the gospel is all about what we can get from God. After all Jesus became poor so we can be rich…

This is why God always seems to combine the message of the cross AND the resurrection. Life is not all struggle and it is not all victory. We need both aspects of Christ’s work to balance this. Sometimes, as Erwin McManus says, “If the cross teaches us anything, it teaches us that sometimes God comes through after we’ve been killed.” The cross tells us that we follow the One Who suffered and gave His life for others. The resurrection tells us that no matter what we are facing, it is not the end. There is hope.

Lord, help me keep both aspects of Your work in mind in everything I do. Don’t let me get out of balance. Help me filter everything through this theological twofer.

Differing Definitions

Have you ever noticed that sometimes when God says something, it does not quiet mean what we think it means? Many times God uses certain words and we assume they mean what we want them to mean instead of finding out what HE means. A great example is when Paul tells us that God will supply all our needs… Most of the time I my definition of need is very different from God’s. I would save myself much consternation if I accepted HIS definition instead of trying to redefine the word to mean what I want it to mean.

There is another powerful example of these different definitions found in Hebrew 5:17, In the days of HIS flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to HIM WHO was able to save HIM from death, and HE was heard because of HIS reverence. Now, usually when I hear that God heard my prayer, I think it means HE will do what I want HIM to do. Read the verse again and you will notice that that is not what God means when HE says He hears our prayers. Jesus was crying out to the ONE WHO could save HIM from death. HE was heard: He still died… The fact that GOD hears us doesn’t mean we will get what we want. And if we don’t get what we want, it isn’t because HE is upset with us. HE was pleased with Jesus but HE still had to die. Faith is believing that GOD has heard my cry and is in control: It is not believing that my cosmic jeanie god will do whatever I demand. HE may hear our cry, be pleased with us, and still not do what we want. Again, I can save myself much heartache by allowing GOD to mean what HE says instead of always trying to make what HE says mean what I want it to mean.

Patient Enough to Hear God

Very often I get frustrated with trying to hear the voice of God. Each day I pray and I try to quiet my spirit and listen to what HE is saying. Often, I hear little truths that excite my spirit and bring joy and peace. Many of these truths are typed in this blog. But, I don’t often hear “the big one.” We all want to hear the big one. Something like, “I created you to do…” “Go to… and do…” etc… (I know, that was a lot of … s for one run on sentence…). I want the shaking room, the audible voice, the burning bush but it doesn’t seem to happen.

Then the other day I was reading the story of the burning bush and noticed a few things. The first thing that was that the burning bush didn’t happen to Moses every day either. Many times I think that the people in the Bible experienced miracles and the audible voice of God all the time. After all, that is what happens in all the stories so it should be happening in my life all the time, right? The problem with this thinking is that the Bible records the highlights. It would be really boring if Moses recorded his diary everyday. ‘Got up today. It was hot. The sheep stink. Think I will lead them toward that funny looking rock in the east today…’ I often forget that that little piece of thin paper I can see through and where the ink from my marker bleeds through
represents 40 years of Moses’ life that was a lot more like mine than like the day the bush caught fire.For 40 years there was nothing worth writing about in his life!!! For 40 years he lived in the desert and worked for his father-in-law. He didn’t even own his own sheep. For 40 years he knew he was called to be the deliverer of Israel but was light years away from being that. But he kept getting up and doing what God gave him to do even though he probably hated doing it. Could I be patient enough to do what God has given me to do for 40 years without understanding the point or seeing the hope for the future? I know I can’t. That is the sad part. It was only after another boring, long, hot day of doing nothing of significance that Moses heard God’s voice.

A big part of the problem is that God is outside of time and I am not. HE stands outside of the timeline and sees the whole thing at once. HE sees my yesterday, now, and tomorrow all at once. So when I am whining about not seeing how today can amount to anything, HE stand there and says, “I see the answer. Just hang on a minute, it is coming.” Therein lies another problem for me. God can say, “wait a minute” but HIS minutes are much longer than mine. The Bible says to HIM a day is like thousand years and a thousand years like a day. So an hour to God is 41 years and 4 months to me (I am not being literal here, only illustrating that time is different to God). HIS minute is like 251 days and 21 hours to me. A second is 4 days and 4 hours. If I could get this deep down in my spirit, I could be patient enough to hear God speak to me.

Alas, most of the time I am not patient enough. I cry out because from my perspective things will never change. That points out another problem with my puny little brain. I tend to look at things and extrapolate the worst possible outcome. God looks at things and projects the best possible outcome. HIS outcome will be better than I could ever think or ask if I could just be patient enough to hear HIM. After all, faith and fear are two sides of the same coin. They both project our vision of the future. Fear projects the worst, faith projects the best. I am called to look in faith. Not faith that the circumstances will work out how I think they should but faith in the ONE WHO stands outside of time and sees how HE will work things out for my good. In other words, faith is not nagging God into doing something but holding on to the God Who is doing something.

This all hinges on the question of whether or not I can hold on long enough to hear God speak and see God work. I often say, “I can’t take it any longer.” When I say that, I might as well say, “God You are a liar.” The Bible says that HE will not allow me to be tempted/tested beyond that which I can handle. So, if HE leaves me in it, I must be able to handle it. HE has more faith in me than I do.

Lord, give me the strength to hold on. YOU are the key to all of this. If I know YOU are there, I can go through anything. If I know YOU are in control, I can trust that YOU will work things out for my good, whatever that might look like.

Rights or Freedom?

The other day I read a really weird story in the Bible.I know, I know, I will need to be more specific than that: There are a lot of strange stories in the Bible. But this one is not actually spelled out in the Bible. It is the back story behind a letter. It takes place while Paul is in prison. He meets a man in this prison and leads him to the Lord. Then he finds out that the man was a runaway slave. Coincidentally, the slave, Onesimus, belonged to another man, Philemon, that Paul had led to the Lord. So Paul insists that the slave go back to his master. He writes a nice letter using guilt better than just about anyone to make sure the master takes the slave back without hurting him. Paul even offers to pay anything the slave may owe the master or that he may have stolen. Very nice of him, don’t you think? But I still have a hard time with the fact that Paul sent the runaway slave back to his SLAVERY. What is up with that?

I believe Paul is more concerned for the slave’s spiritual freedom than his physical freedom. Onesimus would be free spiritually if he submitted and did the right thing even when it was incredibly hard. Paul chose not to make a political statement by resisting slavery at that moment. He knew that when an individual fights for his/her rights they usually becomes so independent that they tell God what to do. Whenever we defend our own rights, it creates bitterness in our hearts. Bitterness is more dangerous than outward injustice. Bitterness can kill us inside where it matters, injustice can’t. Whenever I start thinking in terms of what I deserve, I become hard and dry in my spirit. Maybe I am struggling for the wrong kind of freedom. Maybe I need to fight for  spiritual freedom and let God deal with the injustice that has been done to me.

I know there is a time to stand up against the system. I know there is a time for political statement. Without the Word of God, slavery would still be widespread in the world. We all need to stand up together against injustice. But maybe it is not for ME to defend MY rights.  I need to stand up for YOUR rights but demanding my own makes me self-centered and angry.

Whatever the implications of this little letter in the back of our Bible, it does show that spiritual freedom is more important than physical freedom. My flesh does not like that. But maybe that is why my flesh needs to be crucified daily. Lord, help me understand that the softness of my heart is more important than being right and more important than making sure everyone else treats me right.