AUGUST 23, 2016

“I think if I've learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.” 
― Jon Katz

PSALM 119:105-176

The Psalm states 

145I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord,

and I will obey your decrees.

146I call out to you; save me

and I will keep your statutes.

147I rise before dawn and cry for help;

I have put my hope in your word.

148My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,

that I may meditate on your promises.

149Hear my voice in accordance with your love;

preserve my life, Lord, according to your laws.

150Those who devise wicked schemes are near,

but they are far from your law.

151Yet you are near, Lord,

and all your commands are true.

152Long ago I learned from your statutes

that you established them to last forever.

1 CORINTHIANS 5

Paul warns the church at Corinth to be diligent in not letting pervasive continual sin becoming a part of their lives...

6Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

JOURNAL 

One of the toughest things as a parent is to lovingly discipline. It is hard, and requires a disciplined dedicated response to really do it the right way. The worst thing I can do as a parent is to ignore my child...ignore destructive behavior, pretend it doesn't exist, live in denial and hope it goes away by itself.

I think this is what Paul is warning the church about. It has been said that the opposite of love is not hate...it is apathy.  To discipline is loving to ignore is the worst form of insult. It's all about communication. Paul is communicating to the church and he really gets into some tough subjects. His warning is about letting someone who is a believer continue in obvious outright sin. 

Paul could just as easily be speaking about true friendship. For this is what it really comes down to. Between friends and even in a marriage. It is hard do fight for someone, to deal with their issues while also grappling with your own. Friendship, marriage, family...to really do it right is hard. It is messy and when I think about it...it is also the same in my own life. 

These are the tough deep struggles of the Christian Life, yet they are also where we meet Christ, who loves us through all of the mud and mire and is willing to step in, wipe our eyes, and restore us to relationship with the God of the Universe. This is our story, this is our hope, this is our joy...and to wade into it all with others committed to the same God, honest in their same struggles and dedicated to the best in each other...this is the Kingdom come. 

17A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

- PROVERBS 17:17

AUGUST 22, 2016

“Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.” 
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet

PSALM 119:49-104

The Psalm praises God's word and seeks it only for life and instruction...

89Your word, Lord, is eternal;

it stands firm in the heavens.

90Your faithfulness continues through all generations;

you established the earth, and it endures.

91Your laws endure to this day,

for all things serve you.

92If your law had not been my delight,

I would have perished in my affliction.

1 CORINTHIANS 4

Paul warns the church at Corinth to not become prideful and to remember the plight of the apostles...

 11To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

JOURNAL 

This passage in 1 Corinthians busts my chops. It calls me to remember that true blessings are not found in being honored. Paul is reminding the church that God's most faithful are considered "garbage" by the world. 

I think about the privilege with which I live in this country and it feels as if this letter is written directly to me. I need to never forget that while the pleasures and luxuries of my life are blessings, they can never compare to the love of God.  All of them are as "filthy rags" before the Cross. It is in this mindset that I also see my son's post on instagram and I am overwhelmed in God's grace and love...

AUGUST 21, 2016

“I asked her what was so scary about unmerited free grace? She replied something like this: "If I was saved by my good works -- then there would be a limit to what God could ask of me or put me through. I would be like a taxpayer with rights. I would have done my duty and now I would deserve a certain quality of life. But if it is really true that I am a sinner saved by sheer grace -- at God's infinite cost -- then there's nothing he cannot ask of me.” 
― Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith

PSALM 119:1-48

The Psalm praises God's word and seeks it only for life and instruction...

33Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,

that I may follow it to the end.^b

34Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law

and obey it with all my heart.

35Direct me in the path of your commands,

for there I find delight.

36Turn my heart toward your statutes

and not toward selfish gain. 

1 CORINTHIANS 3

Paul rebukes the church for quarreling over whose message they follow...

5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

JOURNAL 

Yesterday was a good day. However like a lot of days...when I look back on it the question I ask is what was accomplished? How did I live out my calling? Did I pursue God's mission for my life? Those are big hairy questions and I really don't like thinking on them or about them. Because it brings me to 3 basic questions: 1) Why am I here? 2) Where is my Hope? 3) What do I do? 

The answer from scripture is really not very complex...1) Because God created me 2) In the God who created me 3) Seek to obey him in every action and every moment.

Then why is it so hard? Why do I have such contrary and competing thoughts? Why am I not content to do this in every moment?

Then answer again from scripture is clear...Because we have rebelled from God, we have rejected God as God and either seek immortality in ourselves or in other people and things. Therefore our heart is divided and we battle this division every moment of every day. 

When I look and read and think on this it seems so simple. It seems that I could just keep this in my heart and I could live in contentment and peace all my days as I serve and obey God. Yet it just takes about 10 minutes and I will be venturing down my own path. 

It feels exhausting and hopeless, as if I will do nothing but fail and will never succeed in full obedience to God. Yet in these moments is where the power and beauty of scripture emerge...because God understands this, he forgives me time and time again. The beauty of the gospel is that it truly is all about grace and that every moment when I turn from him and go my own way...he is there patiently waiting to take me back. He is a the good father who will never reject me when I seek him. He will never turn me away when I turn back busted up and ragged and in pain. He knows, he understands and he paid the ultimate price to prove it.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

- LUKE 15:20-24

AUGUST 20, 2016

“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?’ It may be that, until some inordinate desire is identified and confronted, you will not be able to master your anger.” 
― Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

PSALM 116-118

God not man is our hope...

8It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in humans.

9It is better to take refuge in the Lord

than to trust in princes. (118:8-9)

1 CORINTHIANS 2

Paul points out that his power comes from God...

 3I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

JOURNAL 

One of the blessings of doing this every day, has been that I cannot avoid tough scripture. I can't dismiss it and flip to passages that are more encouraging. I have to deal with the tough ones. These last few have been revealing because Paul makes it very clear that the only allegiance acceptable for my heart is God. Anything and everything else is counterfeit.

Having grown up in the church, I have heard this most of my life. Yet I feel I am finally understanding this in ways that I never have before. Because when I consider my actions and the community and world I live in, I see how the tentacles of my faith reach and imbed themselves in so many things.

One of the chief counterfeits of my heart are people. For most of my life I have had unrealistic expectations and hope in friends, family, authority etc. What I have discovered over and over again is that people are flawed, people are not Gods and they were never intended to be trusted and counted on as such. To do so creates dependence and burdens that destroy relationships.

It is not that people and relationships are to be avoided...quite the opposite. It is just they are never to be viewed as a refuge for my heart. The Psalm could not be more clear. Only God can be a refuge. Everything else will fail and trusting in it for my identity and my ultimate hope will prove disappointing and will in the end do great damage.

This is sobering to realize but it is also freeing. It gives me the freedom to let people off the hook. It gives me the freedom to love them...not for what they can give me, but just because they are here and just because God put them in my life and heart. That is a freedom worth celebrating, that is a joy worth holding onto.

12What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.^c 

- 1 CORINTHIANS 2:12-13

AUGUST 19, 2016

“The only way to free ourselves from the destructive influence of counterfeit gods is to turn back to the true one. The living God, who revealed himself both at Mount Sinai and on the Cross, is the only Lord who, if you find him, can truly fulfill you, and, if you fail him, can truly forgive you.” 
― Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters

PSALM 112-115

There is something stronger than the darkness...

4Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,

for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. (112:4)

1 CORINTHIANS 1

God works in ways that defy human standards...

26Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him.

JOURNAL 

I have always loved the underdog. Sometimes probably too much. I confess, I often, while watching sporting events, will privately change allegiance mid game to pull for the one who is behind. I just love seeing a team, a person etc. overcome the odds. The Bible is full of those stories...here Paul even confirms that God makes fools of the wise by using the foolish. To me this is so cool and so troubling. 

Does this mean that God is not the God of the successful, the beautiful, the wealthy? Does this mean that God intends to destroy the "favored" and give to the foolish? Does this mean God is a socialist? 

I think the answer is yes and no. But it all comes down to the heart and who and what holds the number one position in the heart and life of the human in question. There is one thing that I have discovered over and over in scripture and that is the question that God asks of man. Who or what do you serve? It is the question of all questions. In essence God is asking...Who or what is your God? 

The answer to this question sets the entire course and future of every life. Until it is answered nothing else really matters. Joshua asks this of the Israelites when he tells them to "choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve". This question is not about lip service...because man is designed to serve a God. We will choose one to follow...it's how we were designed...if we abstain then the default will become an object, a person or lastly ourselves. Either of these 3 options will produce addiction, obsession or narcissism...neither of which have a favorable ending. 

It is more and more apparent that life is rigged in a way that choosing anything other than God ends up destroying the heart and soul. I think this is at the core of these verses...God makes good of anything that fully surrenders to him. No matter how the world judges it...because God is the ultimate redeemer. 

14“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

- JOSHUA 24:14-15