Full

For almost a week now I've been reading through the book of Acts (continuing the L3 Journal Bible reading plan that my church provides) and I've been struck over and over by the example of the early Church.  Their effectiveness, boldness, faith, passion - basically, everything they did - is exciting to read about!


Even more than exciting, it's convicting to read as well.  Seriously.  When's the last time you saw a miracle?  Not that they don't happen - I believe they still do - but it's not an every day occurrence like seems to be the case in Acts.  So while the passionate, Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching side of me loves to read the book of Acts, at the same time my complacent, comfortable-where-I-am, safety-seeking side doesn't like to read it at all.  Conflict of interests...


Stephen is the man I encountered in today's reading.  If there was ever a person to make me feel convicted about how I currently live my life, it's Stephen.  He was "full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people."  He was called to the synagogue for a little argument and "they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking."  Talk about a man who is on fire for Christ!  He so frustrated the Hellenistic Jews who confronted him that they had to call in people to give false testimony about him just so that they could have something to hold against him.  As sad as it makes me to see people so against this man, it is absolutely an example worth living up to.  I  hope all believers today come to the point where they would be a modern day Stephen in the face of persecution.


One thing I noticed about Stephen that I just had to write down (before I forget!) - he is described as "full of grace and power."  Not "half full".  Not "half empty".  Not "a few little drops at the bottom of the cup that's mostly backwash anyway".  FULL.  As in, "if you touch this cup water is spilling out" full.  If I were writing the book of Acts, this is how I would have phrased it:

"Stephen was so full of the grace of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit that there was no room left inside of him for petty personal preferences or selfish ambitions or any desires that might take him away from the work that the Lord had for him to do here on this earth."

It took me reading this passage a couple of times before I got it, but once I did...well, let's just say I have a lot of work to do.  Let me rephrase, God has a lot of work left to do in me.  There's no way I can do this on my own.  There's no way I can fill myself with the power of God to the point of overflowing.  That's a work only He can do.  But it's a work that I desperately need Him to do.


Father, fill me up.  To overflowing.  Fill up the Church.  Help us spill out all over the world so that people will know and worship the name of Christ.

Quadragesima

Lent is coming soon and, while I'm not a typical observer of the tradition, I love the idea of giving up something in order to spend the forty days before Easter in prayer, anticipating Easter Sunday when we remember and celebrate Christ's death on the cross and resurrection from the grave.


To me, it's a chance to sacrifice (albeit temporarily) something I spend time doing and to spend that extra time remembering the permanent and ultimate sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.  A worthy endeavor, to say the least.


For some reason, it's a little over a month before that time is supposed to begin and I'm already thinking about Lent and what I want to give up during those 40 days.  I'm selfish, to be honest, and I want so badly to say "Look what I gave up!  Isn't that such a sacrifice?" (*pats self on back)  The problem is, that's not the attitude Christ had while here on earth and it's not the point of Lent.  I think that maybe God is trying to teach me that His plan is so much bigger than myself and that the world doesn't revolve around me.


So, I suppose I'm just posting this as a reminder not to forget the true meaning behind Lent and the posture of humility that Christ had during His time here on earth.  I know it seems like a long time from now, but wouldn't it be awesome if we were already in the right mindset before Lent and Easter get here?  Wouldn't it be awesome if we were praying and lifting that time up to the Lord, that He would be magnified during that time, that His name would be heard across the world as believers celebrate the single, perfect death that made eternal life a possibility?

Forever Reign

I keep hearing this song at church and it resonates in my heart every time.  For my first post of 2011, a new year and new decade, I'm just typing out the lyrics.  They make me re-evaluate so many things about my walk with the Lord and I hope that they also move you to action.  Read through them, ask some questions yourself.


Is God really your goodness and your love?  Your light and hope?  Your peace and truth?  Your joy and life?


Would you truly walk away from the wealth and material things of this world just for the love and light of God to reign in your life?

You are good, You are good

When there's nothing good in me

You are love, You are love

On display for all to see

You are light, You are light

When the darkness closes in

You are hope, You are hope

You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace

When my fear is crippling

You are true, You are true

Even in my wandering

You are joy, You are joy

You're the reason that I sing

You are life, You are life

In You death has lost its sting

Oh, I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more

Than my words will ever say

You are Lord, You are Lord

All creation will proclaim

You are here, You are here

In Your presence I'm made whole

You are God, You are God

Of all else I'm letting go

Oh, I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

Oh, I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

I'm running to Your arms, I'm running to Your arms

The riches of Your love will always be enough

Nothing compares to Your embrace

Light of the world forever reign

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

My heart will sing no other name

Jesus, Jesus

Altogether

Wow.  This feels almost unfamiliar.  It's been too long since I wrote anything down.  Maybe it's like riding a bike - I just need to get going.

We came to my parents' house for the night, and this morning while sipping my coffee I got the chance to read some of my dad's journals from a time in his life when things were not easy (to say the least) - but he was still faithful to seek the Lord and God was still faithful in His promises to my dad.  It's an awesome picture of struggling with life, asking tough questions of God, and seeing Him answer those questions - even if the answers were not exactly what was hoped for.  It's encouraging to know that the man I most look up to as I journey through life (spiritually and otherwise) has had struggles and seen God prove Himself faithful time and again.

This morning I also spent some time reading in the Psalms, 139 to be exact.  Verse 4 stood out to me, and as I thought about it conviction started to set in...

"Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether."

I've read this verse before, and having read James as well, it is not a new lesson for me to think about taming my tongue and thinking before I speak.  But 'altogether' still sticks out to me.  I realized as I read that God knows what I'll say before I speak it, that's true.  What convicts me today is that God also knows the intentions behind my words before I say them.  I can lie to myself and mislead other people all day long, but at the end of the day God knows why I chose to say (or not say) what I did.

He knows that I didn't speak truth when I had perfect opportunity - because I was scared.

He knows that I said something judgementally - even though I claim "I'm just concerned."

It's a hard thing to face your intentions, the hidden meanings behind what you do and say.  It's even harder to admit it online where anyone can judge me.  That's okay, though.  I'm glad the Psalm doesn't end there.  David continues,

"Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence? ... Search me, O God, and know my thoughts!  And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" (vs. 7, 23-24)

I'm praying that same prayer - God search me out.  Know me altogether.  Continue to convict and encourage me through Your Word.  Continue to inspire me through the stories of other believers who are further down the road than myself.

A Remnant

On occasions when I'm by myself and thinking about life, there have been some times where I've felt lonely.  It's the kind of lonely that Elijah felt in 1 Kings:

"I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.  For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away." (1 Kings 19:14)

Don't get me wrong - I'm not claiming to be a prophet or to have everything together.  That's not it at all.  I'm far from perfect and God has a lot of molding left to do in me.  I'm just saying that sometimes I really resonate with Elijah in this passage.  He's had to be the bearer of bad news (a drought for an unspecified amount of time), challenged and killed a whole slew of Baal prophets, and now Jezebel wants his head on a platter.  He feels like he's the only one left who believes in God.

Do you ever feel that way?  Maybe at work you're the only Christian...or at school you're the only one of your friends who stands up for the kid who's being bullied...or you have Christian friends who aren't living out their faith while you struggle to be genuine.  It can be quite discouraging...


Look at how God replied to Elijah, though - "Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." (vs.18)  Encouraging?  Yes!  God saw what Elijah could not - a remnant of people who were faithful to Him.  I've been reading in Revelation the last few days (in the L3 Journal) and I noticed a similar pattern.


In Revelation 2 and 3, there are 7 letters to 7 churches and almost all of them have a fault of some sort.  But in each of the 7 churches, Jesus sees and points out a faithful few.  They are the people of the church who are "faithful unto death" and who still "hold fast my name", who continue in "faithful endurance" and suffer "tribulation and poverty" for His name.  It's a beautiful picture of a world that is broken, even churches that are broken and people who have remained faithful.  They are the remnant.


And so I'm challenged today because, well...you and I?  We are those people.  We are the few.  We are the remnant.  Be encouraged today to live out your faith.  Keep pressing on in the effort to live for Christ, even when it seems that no one around you is with you in that effort, because God has set us apart for His purposes.

Overwhelmed

Overwhelmed - "to overcome completely in mind or feeling"
Burdened - "that which is borne with difficulty"


I feel overwhelmed and burdened lately.  It has been steadily growing in my heart.  It literally has been weighing on me, so much so that my countenance has been affected.


There's a problem with this world that I've recently had my eyes opened to.  I had heard of it but it had not really been on my list of priorities.  I had not been that concerned about it but it is urgent nonetheless.


Poverty.
Hunger.
Disease.
Death.


These things are running rampant across our planet.  In countries all over the world, millions and millions of people are dying because they are malnourished or because of preventable disease.  Millions of people don't have access to clean drinking water or a steady food supply.  Orphans are heading households full of other orphans because all of their parents have died with HIV/AIDS.


I won't get into the actual data, but just believe me - the situation in places around the world is so terrible that it's unbelievable, unfathomable, inexpressible.  Google it.  It will blow your mind at how staggering the problem is.


This burden I feel that the Lord has laid on my heart has two parts:


First, how many of these people could we feed?  Or clothe?  Or provide medicine for?  It seems like we're so caught up in the materialism of this world that we have forgotten the "least of these."  It seems like we're so wrapped up in being entertained by sports or music or movies or books that we've turned a blind eye to the real issues that are worth caring about.

"And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'" Matthew 25:40

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:  to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."  James 1:27

Are we (the Church) taking care of widows and orphans?  Are we providing for the "least of these"?  Are we "unstained from the world"?


Second (but most certainly foremost), how many of these people who are dying every day know the saving power of Jesus Christ?  How many of them have even heard the Gospel because we loved them enough to take it to them?

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'  Then I said, 'Here am I!  Send me.'"  Isaiah 6:8

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."  Matthew 28:19-20

We are all called to take the Gospel to the nations.  We must.  The situation is too desperate to not go.  The command of our Lord Jesus Christ is just that - a command.  There is no option.  In the words of David Platt, "We are the plan of God, and there is no plan B."


How many people will die without Christ while we (myself included) continue to live in disobedience to His command?

Questions

Have you read or heard the account of Jesus feeding the 4000?  Not the 5000, the 4000.  It's not one that I've read in a while, but that was part of my reading this morning.  Here's the beginning part:

"Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, 'I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.  And I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.'  And the disciples said to him, 'Where are we going to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?'"  Matthew 15:32-33

The question that the disciples ask is sticking with me today.  Like an itch I can't scratch.  In a good way.


I wrote in my Bible as I was reading - "had they not seen the 5000 fed?" - and I literally wonder about that very thing.  Just a few chapters ago, Matthew wrote down the account of Jesus feeding the 5000.  Which is interesting because if the disciples questioned Jesus then, and they did, then their questions were more than answered.  5000 people (women and children not included) were fed.  12 baskets full of food was left over!  Jesus provides for His people.  Case closed.  But then 4000 people (women and children not included) come along and what's the first thing the disciples say to Jesus?


"Jesus, we know you can meet this need!  We've seen it!"
"Pssh!  4000 people!  That's nothing!  My Jesus fed 5000 people last week - this is child's play!"
"Jesus, we collected food from everyone.  It's only 7 loaves and some fish, but we know you can multiply it.  Will you bless the food so we can feed these people?"


They didn't say any of these things.  They questioned.  They showed their lack of faith - yet again - that Jesus would accomplish the impossible.  "Where are we going to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?"  I can almost hear the whining.  Jesus has proved Himself time and time again to be a faithful, trustworthy provider.  And the disciples still hadn't learned the lesson.  They still questioned Him.


Here's the thing, though.  The reason this question bothers me so much, I think, is because it reminds me of...well...me.  I see it in myself all the time.  I see (and hear) myself questioning God and not putting the whole of my trust in Him.  I whine about my circumstances and forget that all along the way God has provided me with more blessing than I could ever deserve.  He's proved Himself a faithful, trustworthy provider time and again and yet I still question Him.  I still show my lack of faith.


I think about that account and I know how I would have responded to the disciples' question.  "Um.  I'm Jesus.  I just fed 5000 people with three loaves and two fish.  Oh, and after that I healed some people and did other miracles.  I think I can handle 4000."  But He didn't respond that way, did He?  He took the bread and fish, prayed thanks to God for them, and fed the 4000.  And again, Jesus proves His provision.  He proves His faithfulness, in spite of the faithlessness of the disciples.


It's the same in my life.  And yours.  He continues to prove His faithful, trustworthy provision time and time again - in spite of how faithless we can be.  Isn't it about time we trusted Him?

Redefining Normal

I started running this past summer.  Since I had never really run before, my distances were short and my breaks were many.  Now, I typically run 5 miles or more without stopping at all.  But, when I think back to it, it's almost funny.  I used to think that 3 miles was a long way. Now, 3 miles is just a normal run.  I used to think about running for more than an hour and it literally made me question my sanity.


Last Saturday, I went running with my pastor, Michael Manuel (who is incredibly encouraging, by the way - I wish I had been more encouraging to him during the run!), and we went a total of 8 miles.  Literally, after the 6 mile mark every step was further than I had ever been before.  It was exciting!  Anyway, while we were running, I commented that I used to think 3 miles was a long way and Michael said that all the time he has to redefine "normal."  Interestingly enough, it's been the same sort of thought process for me as well.


You see, here's the thing.  Normal a relative term, isn't it?  Normal just depends on the perspective of the viewer.  What is normal for me may be entirely crazy for you.  Does that make sense?


So, we continued running.  We finished.  But, my brain was still going 90-to-nothing.


Question:  What does a normal Christian look like?
Another question:  What should a normal Christian look like?


The Bible is very clear on the topic, actually.


"Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.'" Matthew 16:24


"And Jesus said to him, 'Leave the dead to bury their own dead.  But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.'"  Luke 9:60


"And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, 'You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'"  Mark 10:21


The things (and there are many more examples than what I've given) that Jesus called us to do as believers are things that look very crazy to the world.  They are things that make people stop and question our intentions.  They are things that may even make us stop and question our own sanity.  But, it's there.  In the Word.  Plain as day.


The point I'm (in a very roundabout way) getting to is this:  When I go out and run 8 miles some people will not understand what I'm doing or why, and will even look at me like I'm crazy, but it's a normal thing to me now.  What they think doesn't matter because it's not crazy to me.  What if we believed Jesus and acted on His calling in our lives to live in a way that some people won't understand, that they might say is crazy?


If we live that life long enough, if we pursue that end hard enough, we'll see it as a normal way of living.  We won't care any longer what people think or say because our definition of normal will have changed.  It's like Michael said - we've got to constantly be in the process of redefining the "normal" of our lives to be centered around what Jesus said our lives should look like.  Of course, that means you have to be willing to look pretty crazy to a lot of people.


So.  What's your definition of normal?

Needs

Growing up, one of the lessons my parents tried to impress upon us was the difference between needs and wants. For example, "Mom, I NEED that new shirt" or "I NEED to get that book, Dad!"  Their response?  "You don't NEED it.  You just WANT it..."

So, I was reading in my Bible yesterday morning (working my way through Matthew) and I came across this verse:

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Mt. 6:33

I've heard some people use that verse out of context and say that this means if we seek after God that He'll bless our lives and give us a bunch of stuff - the "prosperity gospel," if you will.  But that's not what Jesus was intending at all!

Did you notice the words "all these things" in that verse?  What was Jesus referring to?  Was He talking about all the things this world has to offer?  Look back up at the previous verses.  Jesus has just spent the last 8 verses talking about how birds don't worry about their next meal and lilies don't worry about their clothing, but God still feeds and clothes them.  Jesus says, "Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Christ is promising that if we seek after His kingdom and His righteousness, God will meet our needs - not our wants.  That means when we eat, we should be thankful that God provided our food. Or when we have clothing to wear, we should be thankful that we aren't walking around naked.

BUT, that also means that when we don't have the most stylish outfit in the room, the money to eat at the finest restaurants, the nicest car, the fanciest shoes, the biggest house, the latest technological advances - we should STILL BE THANKFUL to God for providing food for us to eat and clothes for us to wear.  God has provided more than enough to cover our needs. Everything else is just extra.  It's completely unmerited blessing and favor from God.

What right do we have to complain that we don't have the newest or nicest stuff...or, for that matter, about anything at all?


Keep this in mind the next time you think you think that you need something:  80% of the world's population lives on less than 10 dollars a day (that's almost 5 billion people, by the way).  Almost 1 billion people are suffering from malnutrition right now and 100 million of them will die this year because of it.  There are over 145 million orphans in the world and every 90 seconds one of them dies because of malnutrition.


I guess the question has nothing to do with our needs at all.  It has to do with the amount of suffering and injustice and starvation and poverty there is in the world.  It has to do with the fact that thousands of people die every day doomed to spend an eternity in hell because they haven't even heard the name of Jesus.


The question is what are we going to do about it?


Is that need more urgent than our needs?

Checking Out

Have you ever been so focused and excited about what God has planned for you in the future that you lost sight of what God had for you in the present?  It's like we mentally check out of our present and cease to be aware of how God is working around us because our minds have honed in on and focused solely on the future.


This subject keeps coming up in my conversations - partly because I see other people doing it, but mostly because I feel convicted about it myself.  Then, of course, Scripture has something to say about it.  And, yet again, it comes up in my daily time in the Word (proof that I need to be consistently reading the Bible).  This morning was a reading of Matthew 4, the predominant story of which is Jesus being tempted in the wilderness.  The devil tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread, to call on the angels to catch Him from falling, and even to bow down and worship him.


It's interesting to me to read this story in the mindset that I've been in lately because my response is not typical, for myself at least.  My first thought upon reading this passage today was, "What if Jesus had checked out?"


Think about it.  What if He had?  Would Jesus, being starving and tired from a 40 day trek through the wilderness, have responded the way that He did to the first temptation of meeting his own physical needs?  I know I wouldn't have.  I'd be so focused on my physical need that I would probably be happily munching away on some newly created bread before I even realized I'd given in to temptation!  And yet, how did Jesus respond?

And he answered, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (vs. 4)

My point is this:  If Jesus - knowing that He was going to eventually go up to heaven and be seated at the right hand of God - still focused on each day as a chance to glorify His Father in heaven, shouldn't we follow His example?


Yes, God has a plan for your life and your future.  Yes, it's exciting where He's taking you and what He's going to do through you to further His kingdom and glorify Himself.


BUT, if you get so caught up in a good thing that's coming that you miss out on great opportunities in the present to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ - what good is it?


It's a challenge for us all.  Don't check out!  We can't afford to miss a single chance to show Christ to someone in how we live today.