Yes, Love Does: A Word from the WORD on Doing

Have you ever purchased something, opened the package, popped in the two "D" batteries (not included), flipped on the switch, and whalla . . . nothing?  It looked fine on the outside but didn't do anything.  It was made for a purpose but it was useless.

I was listening to the radio this week and came upon an interview with Bob Goff, author of the book "Love Does."  Bob is also the founder of "Restore International," a nonprofit human rights organization that operates in Uganda and India. It spurred me to look into what God's Word says about "doing." It's easy to talk, easy to plan, and easy to coast but it's much harder to actually do something, accomplish something, for God.  What does "doing" look like in the life of a believer?  

Psalm 34:15 says, "Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it."

Paul says it this way, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Then there is the well known verse from James chapter two, "Faith without works is dead."

Jesus said in Luke 6:26-28, "But to those who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

Apparently, when Jesus got to this part of his message, many had begun to tune him out.  So he prefaced this statement with "to those who are listening."  Are you listening?  If you've gotten this far I'll assume you are and tell you first that I am a lousy doer.  I'm full of good intentions but doing doesn't come easy.  Why?  Three things:

Self, Self, and Self.  

Why do we look like Christians but get so little accomplished for the Kingdom of God?

Self.

That is why the title of Bob's book "Love does"  resonates with me.  When you love someone you preferentially do things for them, sacrificially giving up something of your own: your time, your money, your possessions, etc.  We spend so much time in the pursuit of happiness that we miss our opportunity to love and thus "do" for others. When we begin to be more selfless we begin to operate in the Spirit and not in the flesh.  We start to look more like Jesus.

Take a moment today to look at your agenda;  maybe today's agenda, maybe the agenda for the week or even your plans for this year.  Do they focus on you and your happiness or do they look outward to others?  What is it that you can DO?  Pray, feed, clothe, hug, nurture, share the gospel, encourage, listen, mentor, rescue, protect, defend, forgive?  Maybe a little of each.  Ask God for direction and discernment.  He prepared these things in advance so you (we) just need to do them when they show up.  As we do, I believe the Lord will expand our territory and our influence.  That's why humble people like Mother Theresa can affect so many for Christ.  She was special because she chose to love and, in love, to DO.  You to can be special in your service for Christ and can affect many but you have to start doing.  Careful because this may actually involve doing for someone who hates you, offends you, or has harmed you.  OK, now go and do.


Peace,


David

Are Your Roots Close Enough to the Living Water?

   

When I was about four years old I was in the grocery store with my mother.  It was about the age I started feeling a growing sense of independence and so I began to wander a little farther from her hip.  Then it happened!  My eyes caught a glimpse of that small section of the grocery store tucked between the kitchen utensils and the paper plates - the toy section!  You know, the yo-yo's, little parachute soldiers, those flashing squishy balls, and miniature, magnetic checkers.  I was in heaven!  I couldn't have been there for more than four minutes when I looked down the aisle, first one way then the next.  It couldn't be!  But it was! MY MOM WAS GONE!!.  She was nowhere to be seen.  "MOM!!!",  I screamed as I ran down the aisle and around the corner, smack into a kind, old lady who grabbed me gently by the hand just about the time my mother came around the other corner. Relief! No doubt I stayed in close proximity to her for the rest of the trip.

prox-im-i-ty

noun
      1. nearness in space, time, or relationship.


We like to be close to things we enjoy, things we need, or things that bring us security.  I was recently watching a seminar about coyote hunting (OK, I'm a little redneck) and the speaker was talking about how eastern coyotes stick close to cover, not wanting to go out into open fields.  They Like proximity to thick grass, tree lines, or other cover because they know if they wander too far away from them they might die.

We've all seen pictures of a stream meandering through the desert; sand as far as you can see; white, lifeless sand except along the water's edge where green plants paint the path of the stream like a green snake on a white floor.  Why?  Well it's obvious that if plants get too far from the river their roots will not be long enough to find water.  The result:  they first whither then they die.

I have seen in my own life that when I'm distant from God my life starts to look more like a desert place and less like a place of grow and life.  I can do man sized things and I may even look successful from the viewpoint of the world but inside I begin to whither. God spoke these words through the prophet Jeremiah:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord.  That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.  They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.  But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8

When we wander from God our spiritual lives begin to fade.  It's often a subtle thing but the Devil is good at making us comfortable with the slow fade.  It's so insidious that we might not see it until it all comes crashing down like a house of cards.   What might this look like?  Well, for many it might just be "the business of life"; work, school, sports, hobbies, politics, video games, etc. We wake up and do life with a little bit of God sprinkled in on Sundays for an hour or two.  We acknowledge that God is God and that Jesus is Lord but our lives are not abiding in him. For others it might be a slow fade into a life of sin. Either way, it's like a tree picked up and moved too far from the living water of the stream. 

     Jesus gave us an equally powerful analogy along with a command in John chapter 15:

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:3-5

Jesus uses strong, directed words without ambiguity.  "Remain in me … must remain … unless you remain … If you remain … apart from me you can do nothing." He used qualifiers, "Unless and if".  He reveals a truth that we need to hear.  Although, we may appear to be doing things when we are not in him, we are in reality doing "nothing".  The worldly things will be absolutely fruitless.

I want to urge you, as I usually do, to examine yourself.  Are you really abiding in HIM?  Are you really seeking his counsel in all you do?  Are you starting your day in prayer and listening for his direction on a moment by moment basis?  You see, a vibrant, fruit laden branch isn't attached to the vine once in a while but constantly, 24/7.  Stay close to Jesus. Don't wander too far because in the spiritual sense you are like the four year old in the grocery store.  You need your parent.  You aren't as wise as you think you are and the temptation of the toy section is very strong.  If we stay close we will not fear when the drought comes, fall when temptation comes, or fail when we are asked to produce fruit for his kingdom.

Peace,

David
     


   

Pride? Me? Nah: The Danger of a Prideful Heart

I've seen it many times with a front row seat at the base of a big oak tree, a gobbler (a male, wild turkey) making his way to a hen.  He starts out cautiously at first, feathers down, not looking all that different from his potential mate, but once his eyes make contact with her it happens.  He gets puffed up, tail feathers spread out in a beautiful fan, and he begins to strut.  Back and forth he struts in a display meant to impress.  What's he saying?  "Look at me!  Aren't I something awesome?  See how big and handsome I am?  I'm bigger than the gobbler over there  so focus your attention on ME."  But you know the reality of it?  It's just air, the same skinny turkey with a whole lot of fluff.  In this situation it's natural and it's part of reproduction but it's a great analogy for the sin of all sins - human pride.

I took a little time today to do a word search in the Bible for pride, proud, haughty, and arrogant.  It was astounding!  It was incredibly humbling.  It was a word for me and it is a word for you.  I could just list off the scripture verses that describe God's view of and his reaction to pride but it would take a small book to do that.  When you're finished with this post you might want to go to Biblegateway Keyword Search and type in "pride". You'll be humbled too.  But for now I want to give you a little taste of what you'll find.

When most of us think of sin (if we think of sin at all) we think of murder, lust, adultery, lying, or stealing.  But I believe that one sin is at the root of all of them and one sin God hates above all else - PRIDE.  Why is that? Because pride is our way of attempting to make ourselves like a god.  We attempt to put ourselves on a throne,  But guess what?  It's just a bunch of hot air.  We like the gobbler are not really that big or impressive.  Actually, we're really quite broken and weak.  But before you say "Me?  I'm actually quite humble." be careful because pride can often be a subtle but equally dangerous sin.

Let me give you a couple verses that demonstrate, with no ambiguity, how God feels about pride:

Psalm 101:5

"Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate."

Proverbs 16:5

"The Lord detests all the proud of heart.  Be sure of this, they will not go unpunished."

So what's the big deal?  Pride?  Really?  It can't be as bad as the other sins. But it is.  It leads to a false sense that we don't really need God.  Even if we are believers we can begin to feel like we are something special either because we're part of the "saved" group or because we're doing great things for God.  What happens when we start to get puffed up like God predicted Israel would do?

Deuteronomy 8:13-15

"When your herds and your flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

Pride gone unchecked will lead to separation from God and ultimately a crash and burn.  Hear this verse about King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:16:

"But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride lead to his downfall.  He was unfaithful to the Lord his God . . . "

Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

Sure pride can be overt.  We've all seen or know someone who talks big, walks big, and thinks they are "God's gift to mankind".  Hollywood is full of them but I know God is just as concerned with his children, believers in His Son, believers who harbor little tentacles of pride that can undermine the working of the Holy Spirit through them.  God was concerned that the Apostle Paul would become prideful because of the position he had been given and because of the great revelations God had shown him.  Apparently Paul was unable to self contain his pride so God gave him a "thorn in the flesh"

2 Corinthians 12:7

"Therefore, in order to keep me from being conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me."

WOW!  God let Satan "torment" Paul to prevent him from becoming prideful.  He must really hate pride!

Before we close let's do a little self-examination for pride in our lives.  See if any of these thoughts or actions creep up in your life:

1)  When someone talks about their kid, maybe a sporting accomplishment or school grade, does you mind immediately turn to your kid and how they compare.  Do you feel 100% excited for them or do you lose a little of it in competitiveness?  That's pride.

2)  When you serve in church or in some ministry and someone talks about their service to God do your thoughts and maybe even your words turn to your accomplishments and your godliness?  Be truthful. We are competitive, even when it comes to serving God.  It's pride.

3)  When you go to the gym, run a few miles, decide which shirt will make you look the best or when you take that one extra look in the mirror in the morning, what is you motive?  Is it just to keep your God given body healthy or is it to impress man (or woman)

Be brutally honest with yourself.  It's OK. You're not alone.  We ALL harbor pride in our hearts.  The key is to be honest, identify it, acknowledge it before God and pray for humility. Remember that Jesus, the only son of the Most High God, through whom all things were made, came from heaven and was born in a dirty manger.  On his knees he washed the feet of his disciples. On the cross he was nailed and died.  He who had no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.  That is humble. That is beautiful.

I'll leave you with this:

Psalm 149:4

"For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory."

If you want to wear a crown given by God himself seek humility.  As in all my blogs, this message was first to me and to my prideful heart. I pray it touches yours.

Peace,

David

The God on the Shelf - Who is God to You?

Who is God to you?  Really.  I mean on any given day at any particular moment who is God to you.  Now the reality is that God is who God is regardless of what you think of him but who he is to you determines how you live and how you die. You might initially give me a laundry list of the usual Christian responses:

"He is my heavenly Father."
"He is my friend."
"He is my guide."
"He is my Lord."

I'd like to give you a picture of what I believe most of us have done with God and maybe what you're doing right now.  Be careful not to put up your shield of defense right away. Instead meditate on this and let it do its work in you.  I think we all can see a little of ourselves in this.

God is often a god on the shelf; a definable, compartmentalized, usable god.  We put him on three different shelves depending on where we need him.

First, is what I see as the work shelf.  It's like a shelf in a workshop, carrying a cordless drill, a belt sander, and a couple hammers. Oh yeah, and a tiny god. He sits on our work shelf silent and lifeless until we have a job for him to do. We go about our days and weeks with little or no acknowledgment  of his presence and we rarely if ever look at him in awe of who he is.  That is, until we need a little financial help, maybe maybe we're in legal trouble, or in a relationship struggle.  It's time to go to the shelf, dust him off and see it he can get the job done.  We cry out, "Why God? Why this or that and why me?  Help me please!" When the situation passes we place him back on the shelf in case we need him in the future.  Off we go,

The second shelf is more like a mantle above the fireplace.  It's a place where we keep our trophies and various awards.  It's the shelf of religiosity of pride.  It's where we place God to show others that we have him. It may look like a weekly trip to church where we really don't meet God or truly worship him. It may look like the donations we can tell our accountant about at tax time.  However, like the god of the workshop, this god is also lifeless and doesn't play any real part in the minute by minute reality of our lives.

The last shelf is like a shelf in the medicine cabinet or vanity. Like the mantle place god this is also a god of religion but based less on pride and more on guilt.  We look in the mirror and see a blemish a rash or a sore.  We are sick or just don't look very good. We open the mirror pull out the little Bandaid god or the makeup god and cover up the blemish.  This god doesn't heal the wound or make us younger, it just makes us look better.  Then back in the cabinet, on the shelf and the mirror closes.

Before you say, "Not me!!" think carefully about your typical day.  How does it start?  Does it start in prayer, in worship, in acknowledging Him?  How do you make the hundreds of decisions you make every day?  Is God  . . . GOD . . . in your life?  I mean a living, all powerful, all knowing, ever present, eternal, Holy, loving, creator GOD in your life?  Because whether we act like it, live like it, or acknowledge it, that's who he is.

God loves you (cordless drills, trophies, and mascara can't love). God can do amazing things in you, through you, and for you.  He is El Shaddai "God All Mighty", Elohim "God the Creator".  You see a hammer can't create.  It can only create if it is carried.  God needs no help.  He is there to help in times of need but not as a part time god on a shelf.  He is Yahweh-rapha "The God who Heals".  He heals our insides and outsides, not just covering up the wound but healing it. Jesus died so that we might have life.  He made blind eyes to see, deaf ears to hear, lame legs to walk, and brought the dead to life. If God has at times been a shelf god in your life (as he has in mine) ask him to forgive you and walk with him in a new way today.

Peace, David

A Wasted Prescription

OK, it's been a while, a long while. I was dry for a spell but driving home today I felt compelled to share a lesson God showed me this week.  It's a lesson I learned as I watched someone with a serious problem.  I know deep down that the lesson is for me and I bet it's for you as well.  The story goes like this:

A young man came into my office with a large infection of the right side of his face.  It was about half the size of a tennis ball and the skin over it was red.  The paperwork on his chart indicated he'd been in the emergency room the night prior and was given a prescription for an antibiotic so I asked, "Did you start the antibiotic last night?"  "No. I didn't fill the prescription." the man replied with a look of guilt.

What!!  A man was in pain, swollen, and afraid. He drives to the ER looking for help and receives a prescription.

The definition of "prescription"

1)  a medicine or remedy that is prescribed

2) a recommendation that is authoritatively put forward

The man leaves that place of help with the prescription in hand then doesn't take the medicine.

Isn't that just like us:

"God help me!!"  God gives us his Word, his commandments, his call for repentance, his call to love, his call to forgive, his call to worship, his call to be holy, his call to trust . . . . . Jesus.  Then after we receive the prescription in hand we look at it, set it down somewhere and go about our lives sick, broken, scared, and possibly eternally dead.  We are that man!

In 2 Kings chapter 5 we read of Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Aram,  Naaman was a "valiant soldier" but he had one problem.  He had leprosy.  There was a servant girl taken captive from Israel who served Naaman's wife.  This young girl urged Naaman's wife to send him to Samaria to see a prophet she believed could heal him.  Naaman, with his king's blessing, a note from the king to the king of Israel, and a boat load of  gold and silver went off to find his cure.  Naaman shows up at the door of Elisha but when he knocks he only gets to see Elisha's messenger who delivers this message (the prescription):

"Go wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed."

So what did Naaman do?  Well, I would hope after this long trip and with this great desire to be healed he would RUN to the Jordan and do as the man said. But, instead he went away angry saying,

"I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, waive his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy.  Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better that all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in then and be cleansed?"

He didn't like the cure. The water was too muddy.  The prophet didn't meet him at the door.  He actually had to DO something not just stand there and receive the cure.  Dip SEVEN times!! Why not once?  Thankfully, at the urging of his servants, Naaman lowered his pride, walked down to the muddy Jordan and dunked himself in seven times.  Out he came after number seven, his skin "clean like that of a young boy."

Today, if you are in a place where you know you need God's help (that should be everyone who is reading this), take the prescription God has given you and receive healing.  "What is that prescription?" you ask.

Well it might be a number of things but I know the first one is the same one given to the jailer who asked "What must I do to be saved?":

Rx - Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.

After that, God may give you any number of different prescriptions for your predicament.

"Be holy because I am holy"  1 Peter 1:16

"But you must return to your God; maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always." Hosea 12:6

Love your neighbor as yourself."  Matthew 22:39

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven."  Luke 6:37

Whatever prescription the Lord puts in your hand, please don't wad it up and set it aside.  Get it filled and take it as prescribed.  Sometimes it tastes bad going down and it may be very expensive but it will ALWAYS accomplish the cure that the Lord desires to bring to you.

Peace in Christ,  David

Are You Living a Tarzan Life? One Vine to the Next

Those of you who are old enough to remember the original Tarzan recall how he would grab a vine and swing down through the trees and when he got to the top of the arc he’d grab the next vine, swing down and grab the next, and so on.   He was traveling vine to vine.  One vine wasn’t enough to get him where he wanted to go.  It didn’t fully satisfy his need or fulfill his desire.  One day to the next, one destination to the next, one “save Jane from the villain” to the next, Tarzan would go vine to vine. Each vine might have been a little different, one a little longer, one a little thinner but ultimately they were just vines and when Tarzan looked back in time all the vines were but a blur. 

It’s kind of like that in so many areas of life.  We spend time planning a meal and even more time in its preparation. We sit down to eat and twenty minutes later it’s gone and soon we prepare for the next.  We live meal to meal.  We bathe in the morning and the next day we’re in need of a bath.  We pick up our paycheck on Friday (if we’re blessed to have a job these days) and one or two weeks later we pick up the next.  We live paycheck to paycheck.  It seems we’re swinging vine to vine and it has a way of making life seem like a treadmill or like one of those exercise wheels in your hamster’s cage; he runs but really gets nowhere.

Every once in a while I lay in bed at night and get this weird feeling that time is flying by and I’ve been running on the hamster’s wheel.  Get up, shower, shave, get dressed, grab a cup of coffee, drive to work, do the job, get in the truck, drive home, hug my wife, super-secret-handshake the boys, mow the lawn, eat dinner, help with the dishes, get the kids ready for bed, say prayers, brush my teeth, crawl in bed, read for twelve minutes, and fall asleep.  Get up and start over.  All of a sudden three months have gone by. All of a sudden three years have gone by.  All of a sudden life has gone by.

I think that’s how King Solomon felt when he wrote Ecclesiastes.  After all his toil and after all his indulging he looked back and felt a sense of meaninglessness.  But I also think there are many people who are so busy swinging on their vines or are so busy running on their hamster wheels they never even notice that they aren’t really going anywhere.  Sure, maybe they have built a bigger house or bought a shiny new car but in a little while those things will look like old vines that they’ve swung on before.

God is showing me that, although I need to eat, sleep, and earn a living, without him and the promise of eternity there is an emptiness to life.  Without the promise of eternal life we are just slowly moving through time to an ultimate nothingness.  No wonder people who have been taught by secular educators that we are the random product of time and chance, coming from nowhere and going to nowhere, choose to end their lives when they are in a moment of despair.  I think it may be the same for those who believe in reincarnation and the “circle of life”.  If this life isn’t working out, check out and try the next one. 

The Bible tells us that we are created in the image of God and that this life is in preparation for the next.  What we believe here and what we do with that belief matters, not just now, but forever.  Jesus told his followers to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness then all the rest will be added unto you.”  He promised to be the bread of life so that we would never be hungry.  He promised to be living water so we would never be thirsty.  He promised to be the vine so that we would always be connected to our source of life.  He promised to be our Sheppard so that we would always have safe pasture.  He promised to be resurrection and the life so that there would never be an end to life.  When Jesus rose from the dead he validated his promises and gave us meaning and hope.

As you go from vine to vine in life take a moment to pause and ask yourself "Why am I swinging and to where am I going?"  God’s plan is not that we swing for self-satisfaction or worldly gain but that we do so for him and by his power.  Jesus told his disciples to “Follow me.” Stop swinging for a second and ask God for direction.  I’ll do the same.

Peace, David