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.

I Gotta Know Who I Am

This is the last in the series of posts about how Jesus connected to world by humbling Himself, making Himself a slave, and serving the world. If this is how Jesus lived, shouldn’t His followers follow?

In John 13 we see a very interesting story. We all know the story. It is the one where Jesus washes His disciple’s feet. Read it one more time, “3 Jesus knew that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. 4 So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He had around Him.” Usually, we are so grossed out by the foot washing thing that we miss verse 3. Before Jesus started wash camel poo out from between grown men’s toes, John tells us HE knew who HE was, where He came from, and where He was going. We cannot serve without understanding these things.

Jesus knew the Father had given HIM authority. Do we know that? I am not talking about authority to boss people around or to command the seas to be still. The authority here is the authority to serve. It is the authority of being a son. Jesus knew He was the Father’s son. HE had nothing to prove to anybody. The reason I can’t serve is that I am afraid someone will treat me like a servant. I am always concerned about my position. Jesus didn’t worry about HIS position so HE could freely serve. If I really understand that I am the son of the Father and HE loves me no matter what, I can humble myself. You can treat me how you want to, it won’t change who I am.

Jesus also knew where HE came from and where HE was going. Many times, I don’t know where I am going but I do know WHO I am trying to follow. I know I am going to be with HIM. I can lay down my life and stop demanding my rights and respect because I am am following the ONE WHO showed me how. There is freedom there. There is life there.

My life will be much fuller when I stop trying to impress people. I will be free when I stop trying to fight for my position in the hierarchy. I will be truly and fully alive when I realize my worth comes from being a son of the Living God and not from how you treat me or judge me. After all, the true test of a servant is how we act when we are treated like a servant. Jesus filled the role; Will I?

Serving is the Point

A couple weeks ago I did a talk on how Jesus connected to the world. I believe the Lord would have all HIS followers follow him in connecting to the world the same way HE did. So how did HE do it? He connected by serving the world and according to Paul, we all need an attitude adjustment to learn to serve the way Jesus did.

Another reason we have a hard time following Jesus as He made HIMself a slave to others is that we think service is just a minor point. There is only one (BIG) problem; when we read Jesus’ words, we find that service is THE point. The goal is to become a slave to others. We read in Matthew 20:25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave– 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” James & John’s mother had just asked Jesus if they could be 2nd & 3rd in command. They wanted to most important positions in the kingdom that were left since “God” was already taken. Jesus explains that the point is to become a servant/ slave, not to work your way into being the boss. This is not minor, it is important.

We sometimes think that serving is just something we did early on in our walk with Jesus but now we have “paid our dues.” We would not say it but we think we are too important to serve others any more. I once served as the “Minister of Helps” in a church. That meant I painted the ten rental houses the church owned. Then I became the Youth Pastor of the same church. They paid me $100/month and I paid them $350/ month to live in one of the rental houses that they owned free and clear. That pastor believed that everyone should pay their dues in ministry. But that was just something you did until you got important enough to be served by some other kids paying his dues. The danger in this thinking is not about paying a pastor, it is the thought that there comes a time when you stop being a servant. When did Jesus stop being a servant? If HE didn’t stop until HE went back to heaven, should I stop before I go to heaven? When I think I am too important to do a certain job, I am missing the mark of the high calling of God for my life! When I do just enough to get by in any area of my life, I am falling short of HIS abundant life for me. Servanthood is the high calling; it is abundant life; it is the point.

Serving Is Spiritual

A couple weeks ago I did a talk on how Jesus connected to the world. I believe the Lord would have all HIS followers follow him in connecting to the world the same way HE did. So how did HE do it? He connected by serving the world and according to Paul, we all need an attitude adjustment to learn to serve the way Jesus did.

One reason it is so hard to follow Jesus as HE took on the form of a slave and served others is that we don’t really think serving is very spiritual. I have always been a part of a Pentecostal tradition where we ridicule workers. For many years I have heard the story of Mary & Martha (Luke 10:38-41). Preachers always seem to beat poor Martha up for working so hard. Mary is made out to be the good one because she sat at Jesus’ feet. Then one day I read a book by Tommy Tenney titled Chasing God and Serving Man. Tenney points out that although Jesus said Mary had chosen the “better part,” HE still ate the dinner Martha made. HE did not tell Martha to stop working. HE told her to stop whining about Mary. Then HE probably asked her to add some more salt. In other words, serving is spiritual too.

Then there is John 11:5 where the Bible says that Jesus loved Lazerus and Martha and her sister… Don’t tell me that the person who sits at Jesus’ feet is more spiritual and more loved than the one who serves. Jesus came to this world to show us how to live abundantly full lives. HE modeled it for us. It consisted of times of prayer AND times of serving people. No wonder our lives are empty and meaningless when all we think HE has called us to is a life where we do our thing all week and then go to “worship” for a couple hours (remember, I am Pentecostal. I have never been in a one hour service in my life) on Sunday. We think we have really grown spiritually if we have quiet time every day before we do our own thing and focus on our needs. The truth is we need to be in HIS presence to get the strength to live as voluntary slaves to others. Only there is abundant life to be found.