Forgetting to be Faithful

forgetting those things which are behind
Phil 3:13

Part of being faithful is forgetting. No, I didn’t say “forgiving”… I said “forgetting” and the “ing” part is very important here. The Apostle Paul, who lived an amazing, faith-filled-life, is wonderful at telling us how we can live this kind of life as well. In his famous passage about “the prize of Christ Jesus”, Paul tells us part of walking out our faith involves a daily, on-going effort of forgetting. Paul did not say “forget” what is behind – he said “forgetting”. God purposefully inspired Paul to use a present tense word because He knows we need Him present-tensely every day!

In order to walk in freedom and live out our faith in a way that blesses others and brings us joy, hope and peace, God calls us over and over to take an active part—in this case “actively forgetting”. He knows our tendencies to rest on our past successes or stay stuck in our past failures so much that we are little present good. He knows He could tell us to forget and move on… but He also knows our minds tend to go right back there given the next opportunity. Instead, God tells us to be in a state of “forgetting” so the past (good or bad) does not prevent us from living this day to see all the new things God will do and do through us.

So what does “actively forgetting” look like? It means I acknowledge the tendency I have to live in the past. I don’t rest on my successes no matter my age or how long I have walked with Christ. I keep moving forward expecting God to do new, great things. If I have nothing new to add to my testimony, I have a problem because we serve an amazing God who constantly wants to work in and through us. This also means I don’t wallow in my failures and allow the enemy to hold me down with things God has already forgiven. Yes, you may have messed up but what Satan intends for evil God uses for good all the time when we repent and give it to Him. The question is: Are you ready for the new things God will do? Are you daily forgetting those things which are behind and expecting God to do new things? He is ready… are you?

Father- Thank you for forgiving me for so many things. I know the enemy wants to hold me down by reminding me of when I have failed you. Help me to take those thoughts captive and walk forward in the grace you have offered. Thank you for all you have done in my life…the mountaintop experiences. I cherish those things and my faith has grown because of it. But Father, I know you have new things to do in my life and you aren’t done writing my testimony. Please help me to not “rest” in yesterday’s successes. I know you aren’t done with me yet. I love you Lord. Amen.

Everything is permissable... but

“Everything is permissible for me"—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me"—but I will not be mastered by anything.
1 Cor 6:12

My family all sat together in our living room. I wish I could tell you the picture warmed my heart…but it didn’t. We were together but not “together”. A football game was on the television, two of us held laptops checking Fantasy Football scores, another played a game on Ipod touch and I held my Blackberry checking Facebook. The last bit of family conversation I could recall revolved around when to go play Xbox. I wish I could tell you this “family moment” was an unusual occurrence, but over the past few weekends it has been the norm at our house. I am not sure how we slipped into this kind of distracted, disengaged-kind-of-normal… but we have. Now mind you, none of us are doing anything immoral but it seems we have spent too much time lately on things that are permissible but not necessarily beneficial. I have to confess that I have even wondered if those permissible things (like Facebook) have started to “master” me. Yep, I do believe the Holy Spirit is trying to tell us something.

I am so thankful for the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit. He is so good to warn us when things start to get out of hand—not so we can fall into legalism but so we can experience the good things of God which are so much better than the worldly things which might consume and distract us. God gives His people freedom but He also gives us the Holy Spirit to guide us to walk freely in that freedom – not mastered by anything of this world. The enemy wants us to be so consumed, so distracted that we fail to hear the Holy Spirit and the enemy doesn’t just use sin in his arsenal. He also delights in tempting us to choose the permissible over the beneficial. As Christians and as parents, we need to slow down and listen to the Holy Spirit. We need to evaluate our lives, learn to balance our time, choose those things which are beneficial and eternal and teach our children to do so as well. When we do, we will be blessed in this life and the life to come.

Father: Thank you for your Holy Spirit. Thank you for giving us freedom, but thank you also for giving us guidance to choose your best in this life. Help me to hear your voice and walk in your ways. Help me to guide my family so they will learn to do follow you and not be mastered by those things which are not beneficial. I love you Lord. I need your guidance daily. May I live this day and spend my time loving others and bringing you glory. Amen.

God and Casseroles

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Heb 10:24-25

We learned from my brother-in-law last night that my sweet father-in-law has prostate cancer. We immediately tried to call my in-laws but could not reach them for hours. We finally got them late last night to find out they had been at church rehearsing with the choir…but we know they weren’t just singing. They had been being loved on by church family. For forty years this group of believers has loved each other through hard times like job losses, deaths, broken marriages and cancer diagnosis. They have celebrated weddings and new babies with casseroles and church showers. They pray for each other and for each other’s families and when we visit they love us like family too. So in this hard time… this church did what churches do well, they encourage and love one another with the love of Jesus. Once again God used the church to be His hands and His feet…His arms to hold and His voice to encourage us. I am so glad God has His people to be there in the day to day with my in-laws. I have no doubt that they will feel the love of Jesus daily through these people. I know, too, they have done the same for many others over the years.

Being part of a body of believers is vital to our ability to walk strong in the Lord. He created the church and He uses it to bless, comfort, and teach His children and He loves us through other people there. So often, I talk to sad, lonely, discouraged people who are trying to make it on their own. These lone rangers are easy targets for the enemy who is like a prowling lion looking for those who stray outside the fold. But not only are these lone rangers missing the encouragement of the church… the church is missing them. God gifts all His children with spiritual gifts to be used for the body of believers. (Yes, He gifted you!)

Life is hard and if you study Bible prophecy, it seems that it may only get harder. We need each other. God tells us to keep meeting together, to keep encouraging each other and all the more as we see the Day (of his return) approaching. Are you a part of a church? Do you have a group of believers to turn to when hard times come? Do you have a history with them so they know how to love on you? Do they know your favorite casserole? Are you sharing yourself and your spiritual gift with others? Don’t be a lone ranger…life is hard and God never intended for us to walk it alone.

Prayer: Father, thank you for your church. Thank you for loving us through the body of believers. Help me to be an active part and use the spiritual gifts you have given me. Help my children to experience the blessing of a church family and help me to help them see the perfect love of Christ among a group of imperfect people. As the years go by, I know I won’t always be there for them… but I know you can and will love them through others in your body. I love you Lord. Amen.

The Hard Stuff

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Gal 5:1

“Have you ever heard the Master say a hard word? If you have not, I question whether you have heard Him say anything,” the great preacher-teacher Oswald Chambers once said. I have to agree. As much as we would like to pick and choose parts of the Bible which give us hope and makes us feel good, we have to consider there are some hard parts which we can’t ignore in the Word of God.

How often do we want the peace of God which transcends all understanding but then we refuse to follow the Prince of Peace in those things which are not easy or which we don’t like or understand. Jesus asks His followers to do some hard things. He tells us to “love our enemy and turn the other cheek”. He tells us to forgive those who have hurt us. He tells us not to repay evil for evil. Instead, He asks us to take up our cross and follow Him and give our possessions and our time to those less fortunate or even to those who won’t appreciate us. Jesus tells us to obey Him despite our feelings. Following Jesus is not a “feel good, tell you what-you-want-to hear” religion. On the contrary, Jesus tells us following Him may make us feel like the oddball – He even tells us we are aliens and strangers here. But “here” is not our home. Some who have been called to pay the costliest of price - to die for the cause of Christ – must have held dearly to that truth until they drew their final breath. But few of us will be called to give our lives, yet we are all called to obedience in some hard things.

I wonder what hard thing the Savior asking from you? Have you drawn a line and said “anything but that”? I don’t know what your “that” is but I wonder if your “that” is what is holding you back from really knowing the Prince of Peace? If you are trusting Jesus as Lord for your salvation He must also be Lord (boss) of your life and your choices. ..even the hard ones. Are you ready to go to a new place with God? Are you ready to get past some hurts and hang-ups that have been plaguing you for too long? Are you ready to shake free from the yoke of slavery that comes from disobedience? Do you want real freedom? If so, follow Him in the hard and watch Him do a mighty work in and through you. You will reap a mountain of blessing and He is worth it…

Prayer: Lord, am I holding back from following you? Oh, search my heart and show me the hard things which you have asked and I have refused. Please forgive me for disobeying you. Give me the strength to lay down “my way” for your better way. Take my life Lord… all of it. I want the freedom that comes from following You in all things… even the hard ones. Strengthen these shaky knees and help me walk in your way. Amen.

Get up off the ground!

David got up from the ground
2 Samuel 12:20

Have you ever just blown it? Have you ever made a stupid mistake or flat-out sinned and are now dealing with the consequences? Now, consequences by nature are most often not fun or else we would call them “blessings”. Yet, even in our consequences God is merciful and abounding in grace. When we repent, when we run to Him, when ask for forgiveness and give Him our failure… He can and often does bring blessing in the midst of the consequences. Just look at David and Bathsheba. David sinned big time. You can read about his failure and consequences in 2 Samuel 11 and 12. You will see David’s repentance but you will also read where “David got up from the ground (12:20).” David did what David was good at… he ran back to God. In the midst of his “consequences” he also found God’s blessing. Our merciful Father blessed David and Bathsheba with a wise son--Solomon, and generations later… through this imperfect man God brought His perfect Son.

I wonder what God could bring from your failure (even your sin) if you would give it to Him. Run to His arms in repentance and ask Him to bring beauty from ashes. We are good at messing up things but someone wise once said “God can take our “messes” and bring “messages” but only when we give it all to Him and follow Him with everything we’ve got. Are you ready to lay your burdens down? Are you ready to trust God to use even your failures for His glory? There is nothing He cannot use when you lay it at His feet…and at His feet is where you find peace and rest.

Father, help me to see the sin in my life that the enemy wants to use to keep me down.. Help me to get up off the ground and walk towards you. Please take my failure, my sin…take it all and bring glory to Your Name. I know you and you alone can take what Satan intends for evil and use it for good. Please forgive me for cooperating with the evil one and help me to instead walk in your truth, your light and in obedience to You. For you are good and what you do is good. Amen.

Ignoring God

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
James 1:15

I knew I shouldn’t have waited so long. The weeds in my garden were almost as tall as the vegetable plants. I tried to gingerly pull them out but the weed roots were often entangled around the good plant. As the weeds came up so did the soil holding the vegetables in place. The poor little veggies fell over to the side and I worked to prop them back up. What should have been an easy job, now took hours of tedious, sweaty work.

God has taught me so much as I work in my garden. He has shown me about the harvest but this day He taught me about sin and what happens when we let it grow. Just like weeds, sin takes over when we allow it to remain in our lives. When we ignore sin it will overtake the fruit in our lives; and when we leave it to grow deep roots, it will choke the life right out of us. The easiest way to get rid of sin is to remove it when we first notice it. If we remove it quickly it doesn’t hurt us (and let’s face it --those around us) as deeply.

Many times I have heard the whisper of my Savior warning me to get rid of something, to walk away, to shut my mouth, to turn that off, to take the thought captive and on and on. Jesus is our helper and He is constantly looking out for us. He isn’t silent but sometimes we choose to ignore Him. The Bible says His “sheep know His voice” (John 10:4) but sometimes His sheep take off running in the wrong direction –right toward the wolves. Jesus tells us to flee from sin and He is quick to call us back when we are heading toward sin which will always hurt us. I know it is true and so do you. He is always right. The sooner we listen to Him, the sooner we remove the sin, the easier it will be to do so…and the much better off we will be! You got any weeds that need pulling?

Prayer: Oh Father, please show me the weeds – the sin I may be allowing to creep into my life. I know you want what is best for me and that you are my help to remove sin that hurts me and others around me. Help me to guard my life and follow you. I know you love me and you want what is best for me. Help me to hear your voice every day, in every area and follow you. I love you Lord. Amen.

Eighty-year-old slides to third

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Phil 1:20-21

Dressed in crisp white pants, a button down and polished dress shoes-- he was looking good. Forgetting his spiffy attire, the competitive side of my Dad took over as he joined the family wiffle ball game. Though arthritis has taken over, he easily smacked a good hit and ran with the graceful stride of a former college athlete. The throw was quick as Dad passed second and headed to third base. He had to beat that throw. I couldn’t believe my eyes as my eighty-year-old father slid into third! He slid! Kids and grandchildren surrounded him as he lay there a moment. He got up with a limp and a smile and no one dared suggest he was anything but safe.

I lay in bed that night pondering what my Dad had done. It is funny that some things are so a part of who we are that we don’t think twice before we act on those traits. For Dad, years of practice, focus, and love-of-the-game still dictate his behavior—despite his age. It just comes natural.

I want to have that kind of behavior-dictating passion about Jesus. I want it to come natural. I want passion that is so a part of who I am that I act like a Christian without even thinking. I want to have the kind of passion that throws caution to the wind and just lives to give glory to the Savior. I want to love the unlovely without thinking they are unlovely. I want to serve others without a thought of self. I want to boldly stand for the cause of Christ without considering the costs. I don’t want to hesitate. I don’t want to consider my safety, my happiness or my bank account. I want Jesus to be so a part of me that every word, every deed, every thought is of Him and for Him. I want Jesus to live so strongly in me that He dictates my behavior in such a natural way that others see Him and not me.

Prayer: Father, May your will be done in everything I do. May my words and my deeds point others to you. I owe you everything and I love you. May my love for you only grow stronger and may that love flow into the lives of others so that they may know you and give you glory. Amen.