It's Gonna Be Okay

Here we are, the followers of Jesus, fully exposed before our Creator. I'd say warts and all, but that's not nearly strong enough. Describing what's still wrong with us as "warts" is like saying the Titanic had a leak. I used to think I was doing okay except for two or three issues I was working on plus maybe a blind-spot or two I hadn't seen yet. Now I'm not so sure of myself, not so sure that my blind-spots don't vastly outnumber my known-spots.

There is so much still in us that is profoundly unlike Him. I recognize now that much of what remains unchanged inside of me is deeply incompatible with eternity in heaven, deeply incompatible with the wonder and perfection of His essence. Yes, if you're a true born-again follower of Jesus, you're fully forgiven just as I am, but neither of us is through being changed. Don't fool yourself: if you're still in this life, you have only begun being changed.

His Best for You

I really want His best for you. I would love to hear your story someday, as much or as little as you wanted to share. Your story would be safe with me. But God already knows it all, even the parts you don't know yourself, the parts you've forgotten or misunderstood or buried or have no chance of fully understanding. He even knows the secret shameful parts that you've tried so hard to hide.  

Before God Made Man: The Prequel

In the way I imagine God's story, eternity -- whatever it is and however it works -- goes both forwards and backwards. Now, I'm convinced that eternity must have much more to it than forwards and backwards, but from our limited one-dimensional experience of time, forwards and backwards is all we know so it's all I can write about.

 

How I Imagine It

God's heart is full of love, love that bubbles over and craves release, love that chuckles and sings and dances to its own rhythm. That love isn't just something He carries around; it's who He is, woven inseparably into every fiber and thread of His being. 

 

An Itty-Bitty God

It can't be helped: a stunted view of God results in stunted faith and a weak Christian walk. Here are some thoughts on that subject.

On a recent Sunday morning, I heard a quote from Louie Giglio, the Pastor of Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I'm going to take the liberty of repeating that quote here.

When God is not greatly praised, it's only because we don't think He's that great of a God. When our worship is small, it's because our concept of God is small. When we offer God little-bitty sacrifices, it's because we've somehow reduced Him in our hearts to a little-bitty God.

We lose sight of the reality of all realities: There's an infinite, limitless God high and exalted on His throne, ruling with all power and authority over the heavens and earth.

A God-focused Church

In this Post, the word "Church" refers to the Body of Christ (that is, people who are true followers of Jesus Christ), not the building. In this Post, I want to talk about how a local church's (and denomination's) leadership and habits -- that is, its way of doing things and understanding things, whether those ways are new or inherited -- can either cooperate with or hinder the work of God in people's lives. In this Post, you may recognize the church you attend. You may also get a better idea about the kind of Church you want to be a part of.

Traditions and Programs

Church Traditions and Programs can be good. They can even be really good. But they can also be stinkers that keep God from doing what He wants in your midst. Scripture makes it clear that there are two kinds of traditions: godly traditions that should be kept, and ungodly traditions that should be abandoned.

Whether any tradition or program is good, bad, or indifferent, He is never encompassed by it. One may line up nicely with what He's doing. Another may box you in and keep you from His best. But whether a way of doing things is good, bad, or simply mediocre, He is never boxed-in by it. Never!

So here's the warning: Beware of a man's ideas masquerading as what God says or wants to do. Just because a church tradition or program is treated as if it always has been and always will be God's idea doesn't make it so.

God may choose for a season or even longer to do His work alongside a church’s program, but that doesn't automatically mean He's endorsing the program; He might be, and He might not be. What if He's moving in spite of the program?

This is His Story, We are His Song

There is a wonderful Fanny Crosby hymn written more than a hundred years ago titled "Blessed Assurance". The chorus says, "This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long." Maybe you've heard it.

I didn't think of that hymn until after the title for this Post had already hit me. But hey, it works. Just for the fun of it, I'll paste the lyrics to the hymn at the bottom of this Post. If you know the tune, sing it! The full song is all over the Internet, so Google it if you'd like to hear it.

Okay, now down to business.

Scripture tells us that Jesus is The Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2) and that
All things were made by Him and through Him and for Him. (Col. 1:16)

It was His idea to start all of this. I'm talking about the big "All": all of life, all of the universe, all of the past, all of the future. Back before the beginning of time, it was His idea and His story. He has never ceased to own the story and He never will.

God in a Box, Dog in a Pickup

When I was a young man in the Lord, my devotion was strong but my limited understanding of His ways limited my walk with Him. It was as though my life was a nice sedan; I was driving and had God close, Him sitting and watching from the backseat. Pretty neat, I thought. Most people are driving around by themselves, but I have God in my car! I can ask Him for help anytime I need it. "Lord, there's a turn coming up; should I go left or right?"  "Lord, we're hitting a bumpy patch in the road; can you help out here?" I thought that was pretty good, and it was, far better than most folks have it.

But then, in a few short years, I fell into some very difficult circumstances. They were really my fault, but I chose to blame the Lord. Why did He let this happen? In my heart, my nice sedan morphed into a long bus and I moved Him all the way into the last row. It was as though I was saying, "Lord, you messed that up. Since it's obvious I can't really count on You, I'm taking over from here on out. You stay way back there and I'll let you know when I need you."

Pure Heart, Simple Truth

(This was originally published on April 2, 2013. This is a revision of that original Post.) 

Folks who's hearts are hardened against God can’t make much sense of His truth. Because they don’t want to surrender to Him, they struggle with His truth. They'll say that the Bible doesn’t make sense, so they can’t believe in Him. But that’s backwards. Refusal to surrender comes first; that’s the reason their hearts won’t let them believe. Deep in their hearts, hidden even from themselves, they choose lies over surrender.

In effect they're saying to God, "Reveal Yourself to me and then I'll think about giving my life to You."  I believe Jesus Christ requires a very different approach. He says to a person, "Have a heart that's ready to yield and then I'll reveal Myself."
 
He is always ready to reveal Himself to someone who is yielded and tender towards Him. That's not a direct quote from Scripture, but the thought is definitely Scriptural.
 
If you don’t get anything else from this message, get this: Our Saviour, Jesus Christ, has many things to share with a tender, pure heart that He cannot share with a hardened heart.

The Sin that Condemns

This statement may upset a few folks who prefer a more rigid theological discussion, but I can't think of a better way to say it.

When you boil it down, there is only one sin that, at the final judgement, inevitably results in eternal condemnation. That's not a theological statement, but rather a practical statement of how it's going to work out.

I'm not saying that it's okay to commit sin as long as you don't commit this one sin. Sin is anything that falls short of God's perfection and essence, whether it's an attitude or heart pattern, something you did, or something you didn't do that God thinks you should have.

All sin is ugly and horribly wrong. Any sin and every sin makes you incompatible with God because it means that your essence is incompatible with His essence. Any sin and every sin will be judged. But all sin can be forgiven, except for this one.

Too Far Gone?

Are you beyond forgiveness? Are you too far gone for God to fix or to even want to fix?

Many feel like God's forgiveness is for other folks, but not them. What they have done is too bad, too wrong, to be forgiven by God. Others feel like they need no forgiveness from God. They have little awareness of the "wrongness" in their lives. Those folks need to wake up, but that's another topic for another day.

The Bible has a word for anything that falls short of God's character and nature. That word is sin. The list of things we've done that fall short is a list of our sins. But beneath that list is a corrupt, unholy essence. So here's the question for today: are your sinful acts and the corrupt essence that is their foundation too much for God?

No Matter What, I Win

"All things work together for good..." Romans 8:28 is a frequently quoted, frequently preached passage of Scripture. Unfortunately, it's often made to sound as though when something bad happens to one of His children, God nudges one of the angels and says "You know, Bob (for example) had a bad day. Let's turn his lemons into lemonade."

That's a nice thought, and occasionally it seems to work that way, but that really isn't at all what Romans 8:28 is about. In context, this passage tells us the mystery of what He is up to long term. In fact, He's so determined that the mystery of what He's up to will happen that He uses three very powerful words to describe His determination. In the next couple of verses, He says that you are Called to this mystery, you are Predestined for this mystery, and you are Foreknown for this mystery. In my mind, the words He chooses make this much more than a promise. He is flat out stating a fact: I WILL do this.

Take a deep breath, because this mystery is stunning in its simplicity and almost beyond belief in its extravagance. It is totally over-the-top and unimaginably incredible. Now, what is the mystery that He's going to do?

More Than Forgiveness!

Have you ever noticed that when you pick up a coin, you pick up both sides? You can't pick up just the head's side, you can't pick up just get the tail's side. It's the same with being a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

The head's side of the disciple's coin is God's forgiveness. His forgiveness is ours for the asking, based on what Jesus accomplished on the Cross. But if God's plan stopped there -- and it doesn't!...but if it did -- leaving me unchanged, I would go through eternity being forgiven but miserable because I'd still be the same old me in the midst of a beautifully holy heaven.

That's why the tail's side of the disciple's coin is there. The tail's side is God's transformation, kick-started by repentance. The tail's side finishes the process started by the head's side. The tail's side is an inseparable part of the bargain. If you've really taken the coin, total transformation has already started, even though there's still a very long way to go.

Dreams of Love

Sometimes, even the strongest of us need to be reminded that we are not alone. So remember this: Whatever else is going on in this physical, human realm, God is always closer to you than you are to yourself. That's a line from A.W. Tozer, and it's always stuck with me. It's an amazing statement and it's absolutely true.

Think about it. He is always closer to you than you are to yourself.

Now recognize that He also arranges for some of His children to think about you, pray for you, miss you, love you, and crave His very best for you. You are not alone, though you may feel lonely.

A Simple Prayer on a Sunday Afternoon

Father, You know my needs and You know the list of things I'm concerned about. I give them all to You. Take my list and rewrite it as you see fit. You may change all of it if You want. In the list you write for me, please oh please! make it include a full-blown love relationship with You! Let me care so much about Your happiness that Your dreams and passions overwhelm me, becoming my dreams and passions. Let me lose myself in them. Whatever that may mean and however it may turn out, do it and don't leave me like You find me now.Complete the good work you have begun in me, write your laws and ways on my heart and mind, and perfect that which concerns me. Let every one of your heart's desires for goodness and the work of faith with power occupy all of who I am. Amen.

I find these words easier to say than to mean. They're even harder to wrap my mind around. I pray them anyway, asking Him to let the concept behind the prayer make itself at home in me, becoming the rule in the center of who I am.

Make this your prayer. I already pray it for you. It may seem scary at first, but the reality is that a prayer like this is probably the safest prayer you can make.