Jesus’ Brutal Honesty

As I read the beatitudes, I am struck by how brutally honest Jesus was. This was the worst recruiting speech ever! I can almost picture the disciples begging Jesus to stop and talk about more positive things. Instead He talks about how people who are poor, hungry, meek, and persecuted are blessed by God. This must have been incredibly shocking to the people of that time. They were raised to believe that if you were good, God gave you good things. If you were getting bad things out of life, it must mean that you had sin in your life. So how can Jesus say that you are blessed even when bad things are happening?

This is even more shocking when Jesus says that those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed by God. Israelis of that time had been raised on the teaching that the only reason there were being oppressed and persecuted by the Romans was that there was sin in the nation of Israel. Jesus is basically saying that you can do everything right and still be persecuted. In other words, our outward circumstances are not necessarily indicative of our spiritual state.

I love the fact that Jesus did not try to soften this truth. He does not hem and haw around the facts. He just tells it the way it is. You can be a good person, in right relationship with God, living a holy life and still experience pain in this life. BUT you are still blessed! When times are tough, hold on to the One who was brutally honest with you. He told you it would be tough but He promised to be with you and to bring you through.

I Deserve It???

I have a confession to make: I think I am better than a lot of people. There it is. It sounds so ugly when it is out in the open like that. I would never actually say it and when I think about it, I know it is not true. As a matter of fact, I can’t stand people who think they are better than other people (do I think I am better than people who think they are better than other people???). Ironically, if you told me I thought I was better than someone else, I would argue with you to no end denying it. The problem is that I am guilty of having this nasty, ugly attitude deep in my heart.

Now, it does not manifest in me the same way it does in some people. In me, it manifests through my constant whining, complaining, and feeling sorry for myself. Things are hard right now in my life a from time to time I find myself sinking down into the pit of self pity. “why does life have to be so hard?” Why me, Lord?” When will things change?” etc…

A few days ago, the Lord really convicted me about this. I was reading Matthew 20:1-16. In that passage Jesus tells a story about a guy who goes out and hires some men to do some work for him. They agree on a price and the men go to work. Throughout the day, the owner hires more men. He even hired some who only worked 1 hour. At the end of the day, the owner payed everyone the same amount whether they worked 1 hour or 8. Those who worked the longest were upset because they thought they deserved more (most of us would agree). The owner says, “Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my money or are you jealous because I am generous?” As I read that I realized that, when I start whining, I am just like the guys who worked the whole day. I am telling God that I deserve better. I worked harder, I sacrificed more, I should get more… What kind of attitude is that?

Here is the rub; when I complain, I am really saying I deserve good things in my life more than those who have them. In effect, I am saying I am better than they are. I can complain about having too much work when I have at least 4 good friends who have lost their jobs in the last month. I am upset about problems with my son but a good friends of mine lost his son a year ago. I have an incredible wife but have a friend who lost his wife and 4 more friends whose husbands have left them to raise children alone in the past year. All of these people would love to have my problems. Funny how I never stop to wonder if they deserve my blessings more than I do… No, I always look at what other have and I don’t instead of being thankful for what I DO have. Lord, help me!

Here is the truth. I don’t want what I deserve. I know the terrible things I have done that I keep buried deep in my past. I know the people I have hurt. I know the ugliness that still dwells in my heart. what I deserve is absolutely nothing. Actually, what I deserve is to pay for the terrible tings I have done. I never seem to want that part of what I deserve…Thank God, Jesus took the punishment I deserved!

He didn’t just take the punishment I deserved, He blessed me with things I don’t deserve. Every blessing I have is just that, a blessing from GOD. Not payment for being good sometimes. The gifts He has given me are completely unearned. I pray I will get my attitude turned around to be thankful for what I have instead of always comparing myself to others and demanding more.

Living death

As I read through Acts chapters 20 & 21 I am struck by the determination of Paul. Over a period of a couple months or more Paul is trying to get to Jerusalem. Every step of the way he is warned that he will be put in chains and suffer when he gets there. But Paul responds repeatedly that he is not only willing to suffer but to die for the Lord.

What strikes me is that Paul is not making one grand gesture. It is one thing to stand up in the moment and sacrifice your life. It is another to get up day after day and move toward certain pain, suffering, and death. I think It is much easier to die for Jesus than it is to live for Him. If we are really ready to die for Him, why is it so hard to get up day after day and endure the hardships of life?

I admit that many times I get worn down and don’t want to go on. Things get hard and I start whining and complaining. I start pouting and asking why God doesn’t love me enough to make the world exactly the way I want it to be. I pray that someday I can develope the attitude of Paul who could get up day after day and say, “not only will I face the hardship of today, I will do tomorrow and the next day. If nothing ever changes, I will go on serving Jesus until the day I die.” Another way to say it would be that I will give up my life every single day until I give up my life: Or as Jesus said, “Take up your cross daily and follow Me…”

Hanging Out In Painful Places

GOD has been bringing me back to a small, seemingly insignificant passage in the book of Acts. In chapter 16, Paul starts out on his second missionary journey: And, wait for it… Goes to Lystra! Wow! Do you see how exciting that is? No? Well, maybe if you realize that Lystra was the last place he visited on his first missionary journey. Now do you see it? How about if I remind you that it was in Lystra that a mob threw large stones at Paul’s head until they were all convinced that he was dead. They were so sure he was dead, they drug him out of the city and threw him in the dump. But God raised him up and he immediately went back into the city. Now, when he is ready to go out on another mission trip, he makes a beeline for the place where they almost succeeded in killing him.

So, why did Paul go back there? I don’t think it was the nice weather. He may have had some friends but he certainly had more enemies there. It wasn’t on the way to anywhere. I think he went back there to face his pain and his fear. It is human nature to avoid painful places and people. Paul was showing us how to confront the painful places in our lives.

Whenever the enemy hurts us, his goal is always to get us to quit. If he can’t get us to quit, he will settle for hurting us so badly that we will not walk in the fullness of God’s plan. He tries to create places in our lives that we are afraid to even think about. Paul refused to live in that kind of bondage. He confronted the very place of his greatest pain. We must be a people who will not back down. We must go forward and deal with the painful places. We might even need to go back and vacation there until the fear is gone.

Oh, another thing stands out about this. It is in Lystra that Paul find Timothy who become his protégé and friend for many years to come. Many times it is in the painful places of our life that we find the greatest blessing. GOD loves to build on our scars. When we confront our pain and let God heal us, HE just loves to use those scars as a foundation for blessing and future ministry. We will miss out on all of that if we run away and avoid our pain.

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.