Welcome Home

I was thinking today about what it would be like for Jesus to return.  I had seen a few videos of military coming home and surprising their families and it got me thinking.  There's this warm feeling many get when a soldier shows up and the family realizes what's going on.  I believe that it's something that resonates in us all.  When people see each other for the first time in awhile, there is this immediate sense of joy, found in family.

I love how Jesus calls God His Father.  In that, I believe that family is a reflection of our relationship with God.  Right now, we are physically separated from Him, but much like a son who cries for joy when his dad shows up, one day we will experience that same joy when God arrives on the scene.

And we are told how our Heavenly dad will respond:

Revelation 21:4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.

When I read the first four verses of Revelation 21, I realize more than anything, that God is establishing an eternal family that will never end.  Our God is a God of family and He will arrive on the scene one day to gather His kids.  Many who believe wake up each day with that hope.

Returning to hope

Romans 12:9-13


9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.


When I think about church, this is what I would love to experience when I come to a gathering of believers.  Imagine a church where people sincerely love each other and devote themselves to one another for the sake of honoring Christ.  When people begin to put others above themselves, our lives begin to overlap and we form a fabric knitted together by the Holy Spirit as the body of Christ with the mission to glorify God.


I for one, have experienced this in a small group that I pretty much said goodbye to last week because of what I know God is calling me to do.  In that group, I felt the love of God in so many ways through these people.  People who encouraged me, pushed me forward and people I put myself out there for.  In this, God was teaching me even moreso how to love.  I am forever blessed by their company, time and attention.  I am closer to God because of their lives.  Through them, I was able to see Romans 12:9-13 acted out in my life.


Let me ask you this.  Have you experienced this in church?  Some have, but many haven't.  In fact, the opposite is true for so many.  The church has caused many people great pain.  So the question I had was, "How does this 'overlapping-of-lives-church' really happen?"  I now believe the answer is found in verse 12 and specifically, "Be joyful in hope".


I want to clear something up here.  In the English language, we say, "I hope it doesn't rain." or "I really hope my car starts."  As pointed out by Chip Ingram in his book r12, the word used in this context only means "wishful thinking".  In Romans 12:12 however, I looked up the word in the Greek and it literally means this:

hope (to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstract or concrete) or confidence:

- faith, hope.

So if I could expound on this passage to "be joyful in hope", it is saying that we are joyful in the confidence of the cross of Christ.  His grace is sufficient to save everyone who would follow Him and seek after Him.  Those four words say alot!

With the advent of the 80's and 90's, there has been this horrible teaching that has shifted our view where our faith has become more about our prosperity and happiness than it has been about hope. 

In talking with people over the past years however, this "relationship-with-God-based-on-happiness" teaching has unfortunately spread.  I have seen three basic stages people experience when painful seasons come, and they come for us all.  They are as follows: 

1. If a relationship with God is based on happiness (instead of hope) and that person begins to experience trials, I usually hear, "I think God is mad at me."  The person begins to feel ignored by God.


2. Then if the painful season continues, a person typically will say something like, "I don't think God loves me."  At this point, trust is shattered and this person is typically processing some form of betrayal.


3. And if that painful season lasts for a long time, their happiness whithers away to the point where they will say, "What God?  If He exists, He surely doesn't know me or love me."  With happiness long gone, a person will feel like that there is really no meaning to their lives.  God could not possibly be there because they haven't been happy in a very long time.

If I could say anything at this point, it would be that people don't do this on purpose.  I've done it in the past myself and have finally understood that life is not about my happiness, but His hope.  And the crazy thing is, when my life is about His hope, my happiness level shoots through the roof!  I found a passage where Jesus spells this out plainly.  In John 16:33, Jesus says this:

John 16:33
New International Version (NIV) 
³³ “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” 

I really had to stop and break this down and I believe it speaks volumes. When He says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.", Jesus is referring to the Gospel.  Salvation through Him. 

When He says, "In this world you will have trouble.", He is speaking to happiness.  We will not always be happy.  Trials and painful seasons will come.  I hate to speak the obvious here, but if you look at our world lately, it really does look painful and more trials are probably coming.


And then, just when it looks hopeless, Jesus defines hope to the tee.  I think this is the very definition of hope for all who put there trust in Jesus.  He defines it as, "But take heart! I have overcome the world.”


To bring this full circle, it is through this Biblical hope, this confidence, that we can love others beyond ourselves.  It is through hope that we can share the Gospel and give ourselves away.  It is through hope that we can face hard times and love uncommonly.  Not only that, God is most glorified in us when we demonstrate His hope and peace in our greatest of pains.  It is with His hope, that we love sincerely, give freely and care genuinely.

It is Well with My Soul

We actually sang this song in church and after a conversation with some friends, I wanted to remember the history behind the song.  In my mind, I actually tied both the song and our conversation together and did some research just to bore the masses here.

The song is penned by a man named Horatio Spafford in the late 1800's.  Mr. Spafford walked through a very difficult life to say the least.  In 1871, his four year old son died.  Shortly after that (same year), a historic Chicago fire ruined him financially.  In 1873, he was planning a trip to Europe with his family but sent them ahead by boat since he was dealing with zoning problems after the fire.  The ship carrying his family collided with a sailing ship and all four of Spafford's daughters died.  His wife Anna survived and sent him a now famous telegram that simply said "Saved alone...".

As Spafford sailed to his wife to comfort her, he penned the hymn "It is Well with My Soul" as he sailed near the area where his children had died.

If I stopped here, that would be enough for just about anyone.  But the story goes on.  The Spaffords later had three more children.  Another son died in infancy.  You would think at this point, that they would check out.  But not the Spaffords.  They moved to Jerusalem and founded a group called the American Colony whose sole purpose was to serve the poor.  The colony became the subject of the Nobel prize winning "Jerusalem" by Swedish novelist Selma Lagerlof.  Their love for God and their realization of His love for them brought God glory in a way they could never have realized.

You see, Horatio and Anna Spafford longed for a better country.  They knew that this life was temporary and they chose to give their lives to Christ despite their adversity.  They were "Heavenly minded".  It reminds me of this verse:

Hebrews 11:16
Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Tough times will come.  There is nothing concrete about our world.  It will change and in time, our lives will too.  The one constant that we have is that God loves us and will never leave us and He states it clearly in Hebrews 13

Hebrews 13:5b

Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you.

It is with that concrete foundation of eternal love, that we become heavenly minded and realize that our lives have been set into place to serve God, love God, and give ourselves to Him in all we do.

Romans 12:1
 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

We should be like the Spaffords and know that no matter what happens, we can say that "It is Well with My Soul" because God will never let us slip through His fingers.  I pray we are heavenly minded offering ourselves to God because of all He's done and for the love He will never relinquish.  I leave you with the words to hymn:

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to know,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

Is The Darkness Passing Away?

I was reading 1 John and I got stuck on 1 John 2:7-8 (NASB).  It states the following:

 ⁷ Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ⁸ On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.

I had to think about this one for awhile.  Especially the statement, "because the darkness is passing away".  I couldn't help but ask, "Is it really?"  When I look at our world today, it looks darker than ever and it seems to be getting even darker. 

As I continued on, I realized that 1 John 2 is really talking about two separate deaths.  There is one death that is happening within us as we "abide in the light" 

Verse 10 talks about this internal "passing away":

 ¹⁰ The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him

Then from verse 15 on, there is another death or "passing away" that seems to be occurring.  Verse 17 states this:

¹⁷ The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

We see that while darkness seems to be thriving, it doesn't take a scholar to see that this world is falling apart.  There there's that word I see again in verse 24:

 ²⁴ As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

So I hit the Greek for this one and most of the meanings are very similar:

"abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for)"

The message seems simple when we look at it, but it suggests a few things:

·         If we are told to "remain", it suggests that we are going to be tempted to walk away.  Whether it is what we are facing or what we are tempted by, we must make a conscious effort to "remain".  It won't just happen.  We must be purposeful in remaining. I love this verse:

Proverbs 4:23
²³ Watch over your heart with all diligence, 
For from it flow the springs of life. 

This implies that our heart will be tempted and we must guard it intentionally.

·         If we are to "endure", it means that there are times that it will be hard "to be in the Light".  There is a popular misconception that Christianity is easy.  It's not easy.  You may not be successful or have your "best life now."  Your faith may involve sacrifice or even suffering.  Jesus put this easy life thought to rest rather quickly:

John 16:33

³³These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Jesus states that it will be hard, but He never leaves us without hope.  He just promises that it will be worth it.

·         If you are to "stand", you may lose friends.  You may not be popular and your stand may require courage in facing fierce opposition.  I love this line from the movie Courageous:

A father says to his son, "What I want for you is that you seek the Lord, that you trust Him, even if it means you're standing alone." 

What would you do if everyone you knew turned their back on you because you trusted God?  Could you do it?  I believe it's harder than we think.

So I closed my Bible with a new appreciation for the word "abide".  The world is passing away.  The old me is passing away as I draw closer to Christ.  No matter what I face in this life, my biggest hope is that I abide in Christ, no matter what the cost.

The Problem with Weeds

Sunday, I had a great day with my wife. For one Sunday, we substituted a personal Bible Study and a hike in God's creation for our normal church service and we both loved the day. When we got home, I looked at my lawn and it was covered in weeds. In fact, there were almost as many weeds as there were grass. 

In my garage, there is weed killer that I need to spread, but quite honestly, I have not spread it yet. It was one of those things that I'm trying to get around to doing, but I haven't made it a priority.

I have learned that sometimes, I treat my life the same way. I see something small that is wrong in my life and I leave it alone. Unfortunately, it spreads and spreads until I realize much later than I would like, that my heart is really sick. You see, no one drinks alcohol to become an alcoholic. They let the effects of the alcohol spread until it's too late and then they can't let go. No one eats to become obese, but due to joy of food or coping with stress or sorrow, people find themselves with health problems due to obesity.

If I stopped here, this would be a pretty hopeless entry, but in my garage is weed killer. Unfortunately, now it will take an entire bag to free my lawn of weeds and maybe more than one application. The deeper we walk down a bad road, the harder it is to return to the light. It may take time. It may take a tremendous effort on our part to walk away free.

So my question today, what is festering in your heart? What can you quench now before it really grows into something you never wanted it to be? You see, the good thing about weeds is that we realize we need the "weed killer". It is difficult to handle life on our own, but God will clean our hearts if we ask.  He makes it clear what will happen to weeds:

Matthew 13:41
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.

You are the gardener of your heart. You till the ground and choose what is planted.  Start in the Bible.  It is the best how-to gardening guide.  Take the job seriously and keep the soil of your heart weed-free!
 
Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Now if I could just get those Dandelions out my yard...

God bless,
Dave

Following God on His Terms

In my Genesis studies, I ran across the story of Cain and Abel.  I wanted to share something with you that really hit me when I read this story.  God looks favorably on Abel's offering but not Cain's offering.  In Cain's anger, here is God's response:

Genesis 4:6-7

⁶ Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

God tells Cain how to gain His affection, but Cain will not accept God's counsel.  Cain instead, decided to get rid of the competition:

Genesis 4:8

⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”   While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

God obviously finds out of Cain's sin and curses him and tells Cain he must leave God's presence.  This is Cain's response:

Genesis 4:13-14

¹³ Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is more than I can bear. ¹⁴ Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 

 

In a way I've never read this before I realized a few things this time.  For one, Cain loved God.  Cain's jealousy was for God's attention.  Cain also stated that being driven from God's presence was more than he could bear.  He feared a lack of God's love, protection and favor.  

 

When I think about what Cain did and felt, I realized that at an emotional level, we sometimes do the same thing.  We try to love God on our terms.  We ask God to accept our sin and ask for His favor.  We seek His love yet we defy His will.

 

I must clear one thing up because it could start a theological debate if I don't.  This is not a means to earn grace.  Grace is a free gift to those who accept it.  However, when we choose to be Christians, we are choosing to follow Christ.  We follow after Him first in obedience and also in our love for Him.  Jesus makes it clear:

 

John 8:31

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. "

 

If we do what we want and call ourselves Christian, we are more Christ observers rather than Christ Followers. Of the two approaches, God shows favor to those who truly seek Him.  Hebrews states it nicely:

 

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

 

We cannot love God on our terms.  We must choose to learn how to love God as He wants us to love Him.  I believe anyone seeking God's favor should start here.  There is a real lesson we can take from Cain.  My hope is that we all seek to really know and love God as He truly is, on His terms, in His way.