Discipleship

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It All Has To Go!

I have a dream . . .  Oh, wait . . . That was someone else’s speech. 

I did have a dream the other night that made me think.  Oh, I should probably start with the statement that I hate snakes!  That is probably why this particular dream was so memorable and made me think and take notice.

They say that what and when you eat may have an effect on the dreams you have when you sleep.  I don’t know if that is true, but I had just had an incredible Greek food experience that evening.  (For more about that, see The Acropolis post.)  Probably more significant than what I ate is the fact that I was at a National Student Conference where Randy Garris spoke God’s Word and challenged us to simplify, to live “truly human” in wholeness as God created us, and to stand in an intersection in life shepherding people that have needs. 

Anyhow, I had this dream that made me think about the things I try to hold on to.  It also made me think about things that I tolerate, and shouldn’t, simply because to get rid of them would disrupt some of the things I enjoy.  In my dream, I was in a lovely park and found a small concrete bench where I could sit and enjoy the view and the beautiful flowers blooming all around me.  As I sat, there eventually came a slight noise from under the bench.  It was kind of like the air slowly leaking out of a tire.  I was a little curious as to what this noise could be, so I looked under the bench where there was a marvelous planting of tulips.  They were perfect!  They were so incredible that I could not help but get down to take some pictures and admire them even more closely.

That is when I saw it.  Out from between two of the most beautiful blooms there were, came a small head of a viper.  (Now, I don’t know anything about snakes to know one from another –did I mention I hate snakes– but in my dream I knew this was a viper.)  Now in real life, I run!  But in dreams, we sometimes do things differently.  In this dream, I miraculously sat there having a debate with myself.  I loved the flowers.  They were beautiful.  They looked perfect.  I wanted some good close-up pictures.  I didn’t like the snake.  I knew it was bad.  I didn’t want anything to do with it.  Yet, I kept telling myself, “It’s only one – and a small one at that.”  “I’m sure if I don’t bother it, it will leave me alone as well.”  “Maybe if I could just gently move the flowers a little bit away from the viper I could still enjoy them and get some great pictures – pictures without the snake in them!”  Fear kept me from reaching in.  Maybe if I just ignored it and walked around to the back side of the bench, the tulips would be just as beautiful and the snake would not be visible.  It was worth a try.

As I stepped around the end of the bench, I could hear the sound in my dream change.  That slow tire leak was becoming more persistent and increasingly louder.  The sound of many tire leaks, of a mighty rushing wind, filled my ears as I looked under this side of the bench and discovered the viper up front was probably just a baby that had slithered off from the overwhelming brood of them that had taken up residence under the back side of the little concrete bench!  Did I mention I hate snakes?  That was enough for me.  I woke up with this vivid picture in my mind.  A picture I would have liked to have never seen.  A picture that made me think, “That was wierd!” 

Unlike most of my dreams, this one didn’t disappear when I awoke.  It stayed with me, not in a frightening way but in a thoughtful way.  It made me think about how often in life do I have a similiar reaction when I see or experience something that attracts me.  Something that is good and pleasing.  Something that has just a small piece of bad or evil in it – you know, that TV show, that movie, that situation, that relationship that isn’t “that bad”.  I don’t know how often I have heard someone recommend a movie to me with the disclaimer, “You’ll have to overlook some of the language, but other than that it’s a good movie.”  Or, “There are a few scenes that are inappropriate, but overall it has a great story-line.” 

I think about my dream and the thought I had in it.  “It’s just a small viper, you do want to enjoy the tulips, don’t you?”  How often are the small “vipers” that show up in your life and mine just the tip of the real “brood of evil” that is lurking in the background just waiting for us to ignore the threat of even a “hint” of sin?

I pray that no matter how Satan may try to package evil and disguise it in ways that we think are manageable, we would see through the deceipt and tricks and realize that it all has to go!

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Daily Bread

Bread 

“‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed – or indeed only one.  Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'”  Luke 10:41-42

“Give us each day our daily bread.”  Luke 11:3

I find it interesting, that as Luke sat down to “write an orderly account” of the events of Jesus’ life on earth, that the teaching of Jesus on prayer immediately follows the account of His interaction with Mary and Martha.  When reading these two stories together, it raises the question when asking for daily bread, “What is the one thing that is needed?“

Most of us live a life full of choices.  So many choices that it becomes hard for us to pray for our daily bread because we can’t decide what it will be today.  Do I want literal bread, and if so, should it be white . . . or wheat . . . or oat . . . or some specialty variety?  Or perhaps I want my prayer for daily bread to be figurative.  But then what do I ask for?  . . . Steak & potatoes?  . . . Seafood?  . . . Italian?  . . . Chinese? . . . Some combination of my favorite foods?  We have such a hard time deciding, we often fail to ask for our daily bread – rather we settle with thanking God for the meal we decided on instead of asking Him to provide what we need.

Yet Jesus says there is one thing that is needed and Mary has chosen it.  What could be so powerful, so fulfilling, so necessary that Jesus commends Mary for choosing it?  We look at the text in Luke and we see that the one thing Mary did was she “sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.”  That is it?  Could Jesus Himself be the one thing that is needed?  While not clearly stated, the idea is evident that Martha was greatly worried about the “daily bread”.  The “preparations” for a guest surely would have included meals.  Yet Jesus makes it clear that the preparations were not nearly as important as listening to Him.

That brings us back to asking for our daily bread.  I have come to believe that Jesus is teaching a principle much greater than our simply giving a “thank you for the food” prayer at meals.  To live, truly live, what bread do we need on a daily basis?  In John 6:35, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  Our daily bread must be Jesus! 

Societies and cultures throughout history have relied on bread to sustain them when nothing else was available.  As a matter of fact, this teaching of Jesus in John 6 comes in response to the people who were bragging about Moses providing bread from heaven so the Israelites could live.  That is when Jesus replies that it was not Moses that gave bread to the people – it came from God.  God gives a true bread from heaven, a bread that gives life to the world.  That bread is Jesus.

In applying this principle, it is important that we ask, acknowledge, and thank God for providing all that sustains our physical bodies.  It is even more critical that we recognize our daily need for the true bread of heaven, Jesus.  We need to reach the point where we ask on a daily basis for Jesus to fill our life and to be our life.  To understand that without Jesus each day, we starve to death.  Then our focus changes when we pray,  “Give us today our daily bread.”  We pray more passionately, “Give me today Jesus!”

May Jesus be the bread that sustains us each day.

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Demanding Satisfaction

Satisfaction Guranteed SealSatisfaction Guaranteed!  Really? . . . Is that possible?  Can someone else guarantee your satisfaction, or mine?  How can satisfaction be promised when what satisfies you may not satisfy me?  How does a person enforce, or claim, this guarantee?  Is it possible to demand satisfaction and actually get it?  Is it possible to have such unrealistic expectations that you are never satisfied?

After each flight that I take, I fill out a survey for the airline regarding my satisfaction with the trip and their service.  One of the questions that I always laugh at, asks my opinon on the value received for the price paid.  As much as I search for the best price possible, I always think that I would have liked to have paid less.  I’ve not yet had a flight that I could truly say that I was satisfied with the price.  Does that mean the cost was unreasonable?  Not necessarily, but it may mean that my expectations were. 

True satisfaction seems to have a lot to do with contentment in spite of, not because of, expectations.  It is saying, “That is sufficient” and really meaning it.  “I know that I wanted something more and at less cost, but this is enough.”  True satisfaction is a mind-set, a decision, a committment on our part that must not rely on some other person or thing to bring us fulfillment. 

This can only come through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  It is in Jesus that we learn and know that His “grace is sufficient for you.”  It is enough.  It is plenty.  Jesus says in Matthew 6:32 that the pagans chase after the things they need to be satisfied, but it should not be that way with us.  He is to be our provider and our satisfaction.  “Then Jesus said, ‘I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'” (John 6:35)  This is a satisfaction that does not rely on our physical bodies being fed and provided for, but rather a dependance on our spiritual being, our soul, being nourished and cared for.  It allows us to sing, “I’m satisfied with just a cottage below, a little silver and a little gold.”  It also allows us to live satisfied without a cottage and with no silver or gold.  It is a satisfaction that comes not from demanding, but from surrendering. 

Demanding always says, “I want more!”  It never has enough.  Surrender says, “I give up!”  It recognizes that I don’t deserve anything, so whatever I do have is plenty.  Surrender to Jesus brings a true satisfaction because it allows us to rest in His grace and mercy.  It is there that we learn through the Holy Spirit a peace and contentment that cannot be understood outside of a relationship with Jesus. 

Are you demanding satisfaction in your home, your work, your church, your world, your life?  If so, it is time to quit demanding and surrender all of these areas to Jesus so that you can know true satisfaction.

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Greener Pastures

We’ve all heard the saying, “The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”  We’ve probably all thought that and believed that at various times in life as well. 

It is interesting that as often as I’ve heard that phrase used, I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone use it and actually mean it.  It is always in the context of, “you think it is that way but it really isn’t.”  They don’t mean the grass is greener, it just looks that way from this side. 

I’ve spent this past week out in the Pacific Northwest and as I’ve travelled in Washington and Oregon, I’ve thought the grass really does look greener out here.  So, what if the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.  What difference would that make?  Would it cause us to climb the fence?  Maybe even get off the fence and decide where we will walk?  Perhaps even be so bold as to investigate why the grass is greener?  No, for most people there is never a decision made, just a complaint that someone has it better than they do.

Yes, the grass is greener, the flowers are larger and more beautiful, the landscapes more lush out here than anything in northern Indiana in the summer.  But there is a price.  The price is rain.  Day after day of cloudy, gloomy, rainy weather.  Yes, there are days of sun to provide the energy for growth, but it is the rainy seasons of the northwest that bring with it a greenness that the hot, dry summers of Indiana can never produce.

Our spiritual lives can be similar.  We may see someone who appears to have an incredible connection with God and we wonder why they have that and we don’t.  Envy and jealousy begins to creep into our life as we allow thoughts of unfairness to dwell in our mind.  We close our mind to the “rain” that has filled a person’s life and caused them to draw nearer to God.  Even if we recognize the cloudy, dreary days that drew a person into a depth of relationship with God, we want a shortcut.  We want the result without the things necessary to bring it about. 

God has designed no shortcuts.  He says that if we want to be His disciple, we must take up our cross and follow Him.  Our faith must be tried and tested.  Our salvation must be worked out with fear and trembling.  It is work.  It is hardship.  It is not easy.  Yet, when accomplished, the peace, joy, and contentment that comes will always make the grass look greener on your side of the fence. 

May you be found walking in greener pastures because you faithfully pursue Christ at all costs.

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Elijah Prayers!

Dry mountain desert.“Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”   James 5:17-18.

How often do you pray the hard prayers? You know, the ones that are directed by God but will lead to hardship or difficulty for you. Elijah was able to pray for the rain to stop and then to restart 3 1/2 years later because he was praying in obedience to God. This period of drought and famine was hard on Elijah, as well as the rest of the nation. Yes, God provided for the needs of Elijah but it was not an easy time for him, or for anyone in the nation.

Elijah was just like us in his nature and human-ness. His prayers were not answered because of a supernatural ability that he had. He was not empowered with a miraculous gift of controlling the weather. No, what he had is something that is available to all of us. He had a close and personal relationship with the living God. He could pray big prayers and receive big answers because he knew God well enough to know what God wanted. He was so familiar with God’s character that he could pray relying on God to be faithful to who He is.

How often do we settle for small prayers because we don’t know God well enough to have confidence in asking for big things? Or have we settled for small prayers because we have prayed big prayers in the past only to receive small, or no, answers because we were praying according to our will and desires rather than God’s?

I pray that you pursue God with such passion and energy that you are able to more fully grasp the nature, character, and will of God so that you can pray Elijah prayers knowing that God will answer beyond what you can think or imagine. When we pray calling on the character and nature of God, while we remove all selfish motives and hindrances, God will answer in faithfulness and truth according to our desires for His will to be done. But be ready. While God’s answers are often big, they are not often easy. Nor are they without challenges and difficulty for us that our faith may increase and abound.

Since Elijah was a man just like us, may we be people just like Elijah!

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Prayer: In Secret or Visible?

  “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”  Matthew 6:5-6 

“Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.  Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.”  Daniel 6:10-11

These two passages give words to two different responses that I get when I lead, promote, and teach about Prayer Walks, Prayer Gatherings, and other prayer events.  They also point out the problem of pulling a verse or two about a specific subject out of the Bible and using them to prove a point without looking at all the Bible says about the topic in question.

I’ve had people object to the whole idea of doing prayer events and they often use the teaching of Jesus in Matthew regarding praying in secret rather than “to be seen by men”.  Unfortunately, they not only miss the point of what Impact is doing in promoting prayer-based ministry, they also miss the point Jesus is making.  In the sermon on the mount, Jesus is addressing motive and motivation in prayer. 

The comparison is between “hypocrites”, who’s only purpose is to be noticed, and “you”, who prays out of a motivation to know and be known by God.  Daniel is a good example of this.  He prays and is noticed.  The key is in determining why he prayed.  The passage above tells us that he did this “just as he had done before.”  Daniel wasn’t praying “to be seen by men”, men happened to see him because he was praying as usual.  The trap was set because Daniel’s prayer life was consistent and obvious to all.  His devotion and pursuit of God was consistent and unstoppable.  A law banning prayer to God did not stop him from praying, nor send him into hiding.  He wasn’t showing off, he was actively practicing his faith in God.

I pray.  I pray at home.  I pray in private.  I pray in public.  My desire is to live a lifestyle of prayer.  Sometimes that is seen, sometimes not.  The problem that Jesus talked about is if I begin looking for people to notice my praying and I hope to impress them by it.  The problem isn’t being noticed, it is wanting to be noticed.  Last night I was eating dinner at Red Robin in Seattle, Washington and prayed before the meal.  Our waiter noticed and commented on how he didn’t see that much any more.  It became an opportunity that may have been missed had I not prayed with our group.

So, is prayer to be done in secret or visibly?  Paul writes to the Thessalonians and tells them to “pray continually.”  This would be always!  The question isn’t, “do I pray when I am in secret or do I pray when I am in public?”  Rather, we need to ask, “why am I praying?”  Prayer that has God as our only audience is always appropriate.

May you and I be people of prayer – not to be noticed by others, but to know and be known by God.

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Growing Up!

How often have you wished that a child or person you know would “just grow up!”  We have a tendency to get frustrated when someone acts immature for their age.  Perhaps words or actions have made us think another person ought to be further along in maturity than what they were.

God wants us to grow up also.  Not only individually, but also as a body of believers.  Ephesians 4:15-16 states, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.  From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”  Paul states that it is by truth that we grow into our head, Jesus.  Truth spoken in love brings us to maturity in Christ.  As we individually grow into the head of Christ, He brings the entire body together.  The body of Christ will continue to grow as we keep putting into practice the things found in scripture.  As we focus on things such as found in this passage of scripture from Ephesians 4:11-16, God honors His promises and plans.  The action of a church body growing requires all to be involved.

So, what is your part?  The Bible teaches that the whole body grows as each part does its work.  Everyone God adds to His church has important work to do.  If the work God wants you to do isn’t being done, the entire body suffers.  Even the tasks that seem hidden or less glamorous are needed and important.  I remember when my daughter’s liver and kidneys shut down.  Even though they were  small unseen parts, the impact on the entire body was very obvious and very bad.  Likewise, your part in a local body of believers is not insignificant.  Doing your part makes a big difference to the growth of the body.

May all of us grow together and be built up in the love and truth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus.

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A Priceless Drive

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”  James 1:22

Road ConstructionI spent much of today driving from South Bend, Indiana to Cameron, Missouri – just north of Kansas City.  What a trip!  I left South Bend at 1:00 PM and arrived in Cameron at 11:00 PM my time, 10:00 PM local time.  With an hour out for a WalMart, meal, and fuel stop, it was still a long drive.  Let’s see if I can sumarize it well:

  • Driving – 500+ miles

  • Time – 10 hours

  • Fuel – $58

  • Meal, snacks, and Dr Pepper – $10

  • Listening to audio recordings of the entire books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke – Priceless!

The time seemed to pass quickly as I listened to these gospels.  So much so, that I can hardly wait for the drive home to continue this priceless listening.  Even the occasional construction zone – with speed limits reduced to 55 mph instead of 70 mph – were not an annoyance as it gave a little more time to soak in the Word.  I love God’s Word!  I love to read it, proclaim it, and listen to it.  Even more, I love to live it!  That is the most necessary part, and the most difficult part. 

James tells us that to merely listen to the Word, but not do what it says, is a fairly useless activity.  However, if we hear the Word and put it into practice, we will be blessed in what we do.  Just in case we are not sure what putting the Word into practice might look like, James gives us some straightforward examples in verses 26 and 27.  Controlling ourselves, particularly our tongue, is an outward display of a part of the fruit of God’s Spirit – self-control.  Practicing what we hear from God also involves loving our neighbor as ourself – caring for widows and orphans in their distress.  Not making excuses for why they might be in need, but caring for them with the love of Jesus.  Finally, James wants us to know that living the Word of God requires us to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world.  We must take captive every thought and hold it obedient to the will, love, and righteousness of God.  See, I said this was the hard part. 

Fortunately, as we expose ourselves to the Word of God through reading and listening, we have God’s Spirit within us to empower us to live it.  It is our choice.  Do we allow God’s Spirit to use His Word to convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgement?  As we do, do we adjust our actions, even our very thoughts, to align with God’s view of what is right, good, and proper? 

It was a great day for listening and I pray it was an even better day for preparing me to live the words I heard.

May God draw you to hearing His Word and empower you to live it.