SEPTEMBER 24, 2017

“Decision-making based on emotional intuition, without the aid of reason to keep it in line, pretty much always sucks. You know who bases their entire lives on their emotions? Three-year-old kids. And dogs. You know what else three-year-olds and dogs do? Shit on the carpet.” 
― Mark Manson

ISAIAH 1-3

17Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.^a

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

plead the case of the widow. (1:17)

GALATIANS 2

 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”^e

JOURNAL 

What do I care most about? What are the true allegiances of my heart? Do I daily surrender to seeking God and glorifying him in all that I do?

Far too often the answer to that question are things other than God and his word. Too often my heart is tilted to the things that give me immediate benefit. Too often I am compelled to act in ways that benefit me in surface temporal ways. When I come before God through scripture I can easily discern my waywardness. I can easily see how I have followed roads that are not of God's design. This is the reason that coming to God each morning and throughout the day are absolutely necessary. It activates my God given ability to reason and see my emotions and fears for what they are. For to not leaves me solely to my emotions, fears and habits.

Thank you Father for your word, your spirit and another day to live and glorify you in building your Kingdom.

13“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

MATTHEW 7:13-14

SEPTEMBER 20, 2017

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.”
― Theodore Roosevelt

ECCLESIASTES 10-12

4If a ruler’s anger rises against you,

do not leave your post;

calmness can lay great offenses to rest. (10:4)

2 CORINTHIANS 11:16-33

 I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

JOURNAL 

Here Solomon confirms that staying calm and enduring anger is the path to resolution. Also Paul tells of all his sufferings in order to make the point that it is in the suffering that dependence on God is developed. It is in the conflict that strength is born. It is in the conflict that love is proven.

It is tempting to believe that the goal of life is security and pleasure. Yet everything in scripture confirms the opposite. Is this not the reason that we love athletics...they let us see the dilemma of life play out in front of our very eyes. Conflict and opposition are what create passion, excitement, teamwork and a sense of purpose. Working through the inevitable difficulties is the really good stuff. There is no hiding from missed field goals, interceptions, penalties, strikeouts, mistakes, injuries etc. The conflict is there and we watch as the participants deal with it. To engage and play is the only way to get better, it is the only way to really learn.

It is the same in life. Stepping into the fire, into the opportunities for failure and the inevitable difficulties of life is the key to living. It forces me to solve problems, use my talents and deepens my dependence on God and his wisdom.  It will also serve as a way to teach my boys and be a source of encouragement for those who go after me. My life is to be lived as a living sacrifice for the benefit of others and to the glory of God.

1Therefore, 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. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

ROMANS 12:1-2

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.” 
― Maya Angelou

ECCLESIASTES 7-9

7Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for God has already approved what you do. 8Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. (9:7-10)

2 CORINTHIANS 11:1-15

12And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

JOURNAL 

To read these verses in Ecclesiastes is sobering. To think that I may not have tomorrow and my time on earth is ticking away somehow hits me like cold water in the face. Why do I think that I am guaranteed anything other than this moment. I am not, it can all end in a flash and have I really made the most of this moment? Have I really lived it fully, or have I spent it in regret over yesterday and in worry over tomorrow? Have I spent it comforting myself or protecting myself from the realities of life? If the answer is any of these then my moment was wasted.

Love is an action, love is doing something, not sitting around pondering. Love risks, love bleeds...love does not waste time protecting itself. Love gives and nurtures and is willing to risk rejection and heartache and embarrassment just to connect and give to someone else.

There also is a point in living in the moment that I am not to berate myself for failures. Failures are necessary for learning. I will fail every day...therefore I will learn everyday. Really also failures are relative. Give myself permission to enjoy the day...to have fun, to turn this day and work into something memorable, good, light and loving. That is trusting God...that where I am, the life I'm living is not a mistake but rather God's sovereign will.

14What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

JAMES 2:14-17

SEPTEMBER 18, 2017

"4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."
― 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-7

ECCLESIASTES 4-6

10Whoever loves money never has enough;

whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.

This too is meaningless.

11As goods increase,

so do those who consume them.

And what benefit are they to the owners

except to feast their eyes on them? (5:10-11)

2 CORINTHIANS 10

17But, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”^b18For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

JOURNAL 

All of life is about learning to become content with who we are, who God is and coming to terms with what we offer the world. The one thing that we can always give regardless of talent or ability is love. To care for others and give them the love that we receive from God is the greatest blessing in life.

Yet what usually trips me up is when I start doubting God's love, and begin to look to man for validation and affirmation. It is such a losing game. For people can never love the way we want them to love. When I start venturing down this path...everything becomes tainted and grey. Yet when I am in the middle of God's love for me...everything is bright and alive and I feel a power and joy that really cannot be replaced.

I think this is why 1 Corinthians 13 and the description of love is so important. Not only can I look to it and see how miserably I fail to love in this way. But I also can look at it and realize that this kind of love is beyond the human race. It is truly Godly and only in God can we receive and give anything close to this capacity.  I can therefore let other humans off the hook to provide this for me. The tastes we get with each other are only because God is part of it.  It is only because he is working in and through us.

When I think about Jesus and the fact that he was the most loving, perfect human being to ever live and yet he was betrayed, questioned, spit on and abandoned. How can I ever expect to look to mankind to receive affirmation and validation when mankind failed so miserably in even giving it to Jesus. What I can do though is to seek God and his love and once accepted I can love and can give that love away. In doing so I can then recognize when another person is filled with this love. I can then connect in ways that brings us into the presence and fellowship of God. This is the church and it has nothing to do with a building or an alter or a choir...yet in this the miracle and holiness of God is experienced. It can be found anywhere that two human beings experience and connect in the love and grace of Christ.

20For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

MATTHEW 18:20

SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging does not require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.
― BRENE' BROWN

PROVERBS 25-27

19As water reflects the face,

so one’s life reflects the heart. (27:19)

2 CORINTHIANS 6

3We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

JOURNAL 

I have been reading Brene' Brown's new book. The whole idea that you belong nowhere but everywhere is radical but also is ingrained in biblical truth. We are here because we belong but our identity can never be derived from belonging to a particular group or sect of society. Identity is uniquely personal and can only come from our own uniqueness. It must be possessed yet derived from God. The verse in Corinthians presents multiple paradoxes and I love that this is the essence in being in the world but not of it. It is the paradox that to get your life you must give it up.

25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

31“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

34“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

LUKE 14:25-35