OCTOBER 13, 2017

“Only this is faith: to continue.” 
― Marty Rubin

ISAIAH 50-52

 Who are you that you fear mere mortals,

human beings who are but grass,

13that you forget the Lord your Maker,

who stretches out the heavens

and who lays the foundations of the earth,

that you live in constant terror every day

because of the wrath of the oppressor,

who is bent on destruction? (51:12-13)

1 THESSALONIANS 1

2We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. 3We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

JOURNAL 

Recently I was talking with a friend and he was discussing his golf game...he said that he usually isn't much fun to play with because he's only broken seventy a couple times but every time he plays he expects to shoot 67. While funny...isn't this also the problem most often in our lives? We expect perfection when perfection isn't possible. We expect or hope for  a "perfect life" when a perfect life by "our standards" has never existed.  For me this is what constantly gets me in trouble. I seem to always fail to forget that the only perfect life was still marred by poverty, perceived failure, scorn, ridicule, rejection, betrayal and undeserved death. 

So what is the point in trying, what is the point in pushing ourselves to be better and working to improve? If Jesus himself couldn't avoid all of the heartache's of life, then what hope do I have? I think this is where the goals of life become the ultimate problem. What is it that I am trying to achieve? Going back to the golf conversation...is the point of playing to shoot 67...then for me, or my friend, it's pointless to play. However if the goal is to get better, enjoy being outside, enjoy the fellowship then it's worth it. Because those goals can be achieved. 

If the goal of my life is to avoid pain, always win, and get everything I want...then I don't need to bother waking up tomorrow...it's not gonna happen. However if my goal is to walk with God, love others, get up when I fail, get better (no matter how small the improvement) and be grateful for the gift of another day...then those are attainable goals. 

This verse in Thessalonians really captures the point and the source of the energy and endurance to live this life.  For it is faith that is the motivation to work, love that is the energy to labor and hope in Christ that is the endurance to keep going.  I needed this today. I look outside and its so beautiful and I am reminded again that it really is an amazing wonderful world that I live in and another opportunity to walk with God in living out this day. 

13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

ROMANS 15:13

OCTOBER 12, 2017

“Opportunity is being in God's place, at God's time, following God's instructions, to obtain God's results.” 
― Bidemi Mark-Mordi

ISAIAH 48-49

10See, I have refined you, though not as silver;

I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. (48:10) 

COLOSSIANS 4

 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

JOURNAL 

Focusing on the moment is a hard concept only because we have the ability to think beyond the present moment. This ability is an amazing gift but can also be an awful distraction and detriment. It breeds irrational fears, delusions, fantasies etc. that can distract from the only thing we can truly control which is the here and now. 

Our only answer is to trust God with the future and focus on the here and now....

1There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace

ECCLESISASTES 3:1-8

OCTOBER 11, 2017

“When anything in life is an absolute requirement for your happiness and self-worth, it is essentially an ‘idol,’ something you are actually worshiping. When such a thing is threatened, your anger is absolute. Your anger is actually the way the idol keeps you in its service, in its chains. Therefore if you find that, despite all the efforts to forgive, your anger and bitterness cannot subside, you may need to look deeper and ask, ‘What am I defending? What is so important that I cannot live without?’
― Timothy J. Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

ISAIAH 45-47

8“Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,

lounging in your security

and saying to yourself,

‘I am, and there is none besides me. (47:8)

COLOSSIANS 3

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your^a life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.^b 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

JOURNAL 

Here is the amazing thing about scripture...it is truth in every way. I don't mean that from a  purely historical perspective...I mean it really more in the sense that the more I live life the more I realize that it bears out as true in all my interactions and circumstances. To truly seek God and his truth about my own life and the direction and focus of my day does 2 things.

1. It helps me to get outside of my own head and past and habits etc.
2. It allows me to put my trust in the God of the universe.

Therefore, whatever direction I recieve from God I can trust, regardless of the outcome. If I seek God and pursue his path and it ends up as a failure then I can see it as a failure that God will redeem. I can actually take joy in the failure because I know I followed God and he has something better up his sleeve that I just do not see in the moment. If I follow God and I have success then I can take joy in the success knowing it was ultimately from God. 

To live this way produces confidence, passion, discipline, courage and fortitude. It is the path of every true follower of God. It is how they have such courage in the midst of chaos and danger and death. They have it because they have sold out to trusting God above everything else...regardless of the outcome. They are no longer consumed with figuring out the path to security and pleasure, rather they are consumed with following God wherever he leads. 

To live this way is a cure for double-mindedness, doubt, insecurity, anxiety, fear, bitterness etc. To live this way is to free the mind and become an amazing human that has been infused with the spirit of God himself. 

43“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighborⁱ and hate your enemy.’ 44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

MATTHEW 5:43-48

OCTOBER 10, 2017

“Any person who only sticks with Christianity as long as things are going his or her way, is a stranger to the cross” 
― Timothy J. Keller

ISAIAH 43-44

I have made you, you are my servant;

Israel, I will not forget you.

22I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,

your sins like the morning mist.

Return to me,

for I have redeemed you.” (44:21-22) 

COLOSSIANS 2

9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh^b was put off when you were circumcised by^c Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead

JOURNAL 

There are times when I truly get the gospel and am overcome by God's redemption of my heart. Then there are times when I seem to forget it completely and I am swept away by the concerns of this world. I am overcome by the worries of today rather than the power and grace of God.  I guess the reality is that all men suffer from this flip-flop in thoughts and emotions. That ultimately is part of the faith journey and is why we are commanded to have compassion because all men fail and all men betray. It is the way of the world...yet the spirit of God lives within and God's spirit ultimately conquers all sin and all evil. This is the internal war of the mind and the heart. It is constantly being waged and God promises that his love and power will give us victory over the selfishness and death that battle for our hearts and minds.

12So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13No temptation^c has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted^d beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted,^e he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:12-13

OCTOBER 9, 2017

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” 
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

ISAIAH 41-42

 10So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (41:10)

COLOSSIANS 1

We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,^e 10so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you^f to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

JOURNAL 

So often the focus of life seems to dwell on either what we have or what we get. It seems to be a passive valuation of life. The one thing I have seen in scripture is that we are commanded to take an active role in life and that the things that really matter are in what we do not in what we get or what we have.  Paul in writing to the Colossians emphasizes that his desire is that they will receive the spirit in order to "live a life worthy of God", "pleasing him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work..." this spells it out what my life is to be consumed doing...it is laboring in love and living a life that honors God in action and deed. Paul says that God has already "rescued us" and that we are now living in the "kingdom of the son".  We are forgiven and redeemed! Not in the future...now.

How then am I living this out? Is my life reflective of God's kingdom? Is my existence active and passionate? Am I seeking to do or to get? Is my focus on consuming or giving? Every day, every moment is a gift and as a believer I have been made new in a way that changes my focus and my goal. I am to share this good news in loving others and taking an active existence in living out the love of God in all I do and say.

Man this is good news but it also changes the game...its the opposite of the goals and focus of our culture. We have a culture of accumulation however when tragedy strikes we see and know that what really matters are acts of love and sacrifice, not those of self-preservation and greed. What mattered in Las Vegas was recounted in the stories of sacrifice and love...it did not matter someone's social standing or what job they had or how much money they had in the bank. It did no matter what clothes they wore or how their hair looked. All that mattered was what they did in that moment.

It is a lesson in life and it reminds me that what really matters is what I do with each moment I'm given. I don't know how many I'll have, that is the part of life that is completely uncertain. Yet I do get to choose how I live it. I have a choice...do I live it content and active in God's love or in fear and desperation? According to scripture I have all I need to live a life that will honor God.  I have all I need to live a life that "bears fruit in every good work". I have been "strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might". There are no excuses...

11I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

PHILIPPIANS 4:11-13