The traffic light never gave me a green arrow to make a right hand turn.
In the checkout line at the grocery store I happened to pick the slowest moving line.
The hot water for my morning shower failed to heat up.
A girl in the gym kept snatching away the machines I was using in-between sets.
The dog pooped on the floor...again.
Today just seems to be one of those days. At every turn my patience has been put to the test. It is on days such as these that a private island sounds mighty fine.
I will admit to suffering from a shortage of patience. Please tell me I'm not alone in this ailment? I want to be patient. I long to be patient. I know patience is a virtue - and a delightful virtue at that! Who doesn't love a patient, slow-to-anger person? I see the value in patience and yet I am slow to master the principle. Be it in the grocery store line or in waiting for physical healing, my patience is often in too short a supply. Sure, I stick it out in the grocery line and wait my turn to purchase my items. I've waited for years for healing that has yet to come. But the simple act of waiting doesn't equal patience. Patience isn't just sticking it out. Patience is waiting with joy.
In my experience patience is an easily misunderstood word. If you've put up with any situation at all you are deemed "patient." I believe the standard for patience is much higher than getting through the annoyances, difficulties and long lines of life. The characteristic of patience is appropriately used when it is describing a person who exhibits peace, rest and contentment in the midst of the wait, long before the light at the end of the tunnel (or checkout) is even visible.
Patience is on full display in the life of a woman battling an incurable illness while wearing a smile and sharing kind, uplifting words to friends and family.
Patience is on display in the congested traffic while a driver sits, idle behind the wheel of their car singing to their favorite tune and dancing in their seat instead of counting the minutes tick by on the clock.
Patience is seen in the teacher who lovingly encourages the one student in the class who keeps struggling to understand the basic math principles that all the other students have already mastered.
Patience can be as simple as choosing to flip through a magazine in a long check-out line instead of staring down the conveyer belt, tapping your (my) foot and checking the time every thirty-two seconds.
Patience isn't a virtue that is magically attained. It is a decision, an act of obedience. You and I can choose to be impatient or we can choose to be patient. We can choose to be filled with joy or we can choose to let annoyances and life's disturbances get the better of us.
If we are going to follow the directive given in the Bible then we will choose to be patient out of obedience to God. The scriptures make it quite clear, "be patient in tribulation." (Romans 12:12). When anything - be it physical, emotional or spiritual - comes upon us that causes us to grow weary and antsy our go-to attitude, if we are obeying Christ, is to be patience and wait it out with hope and joy.
The great promise of patience is that it produces character. We are made stronger in faith when our patience is cultivated. It is in the waiting that our foundation built on Christ is made firmer and more stable. During the wait is when our hope is increased and made manifest.
Some days patience is going to feel like a struggle but it is worth the effort to overcome the struggle. Patience is a display of love and unity with Christ that pleases God and brings Him glory. When we are patient we are more like Christ and are united with Him more intimately. There is always a purpose in the pursuit of patience. God is using the tests of patience to mold us, shape us and make us more like Christ and less like the foot-tapping, heavy-sighing impatient woman (or man) in the grocery store checkout line.
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Silver Birthday
Twenty five. That's how many years I've been alive as of today. Yes, that's right. Today is my silver anniversary of birth. I know that precious metal celebrations are usually reserved for wedding anniversaries but I'm not married and might never be so I'm instituting precious metal symbolism into the anniversary of my birth.
Most birthdays, at least most birthdays since I've been over the age of fifteen, haven't felt like that big of deal. I wake up feeling the same as I did when I went to sleep. Aside from a cake and family get together I've never wanted to make a big fuss over my birthday. Nor have I gotten emotional over being a year older.
I don't intend to come across as a scrooge who doesn't enjoy merriment and celebration. I love to bake cakes for family birthday parties and I'm the loudest "happy birthday" singer in the crowd, I just don't make much of my own birthday. I don't require a special hat with the words "birthday girl" inscribed along the brim or a special sash made of bright colors and an abundance of sparkles and feathers. I'm more of a low-key type birthday girl.
Given my uneventful adult birthday past you may be surprised to find that my twenty fifth birthday has felt monumental. Surprised? Me too. I didn't expect to feel much of anything when I woke up this morning but somehow, for some reason the number "twenty five" hit me and gave me pause. Twenty five years is a quarter of a century. Twenty five years is the silver anniversary. Twenty five years is a big deal! Married couples celebrate with parties or special trips. They give each other gifts made of this precious metal. They receive cards displaying the sentiment, "Like silver, may your marriage continue to shine in splendor and radiance all of your days as you grow old together." Clearly, twenty five is a big deal. It is precious, just like silver.
Of course, every birthday and each day lived is precious. God doesn't make "throw away days" or "throw away birthdays" that are meaningless or unimportant. Yet, in all honesty, how many of us treat each day as if it were precious and worthy of celebration? I know I don't. But today on this twenty fifth birthday I stopped and took an account of my life and here's what I determined : It is precious. It is worth celebrating. Not because of anything I've done but because of what God has done and continues to do each day.
Over the past year God has proven to me just how precious I am by sustaining my body. At this very time last year I was slipping further into a flare up of multiple sclerosis. That flare up would last nearly eight months, stripping me of strength and even jeopardizing my ability to see. But God protected me and saw me through that ordeal. During nights when I thought my body was giving out in the middle of severe hot flashes and extreme muscle spasms, God preserved me. He did not carry me through all that pain and suffering for nothing. I was spared for a purpose. I was spared because I am precious to God.
Like silver, God has been polishing me. He has spent the last twenty five years polishing me and getting me ready for...only He knows what. That is the great mystery of being in the care of God. He has plans for you and me but He doesn't reveal them while He is preparing us for them. We simply must trust that all the uncomfortable rubbing, the years of being set apart in a drawer, the time spent in preparation, has a purpose.
God is getting me ready for the plans He has for me. Good, perfect, amazing plans. I'm twenty five years into that plan and every year it just gets more interesting and more unexpected. Every year there is a new layer to the cake, a new piece to the puzzle and new evidence that I am precious to God. Some days this polishing process is uncomfortable but in the end I know it is for my good because I am a treasured piece of silver in the hands of God and He is making me beautiful in His time.
Most birthdays, at least most birthdays since I've been over the age of fifteen, haven't felt like that big of deal. I wake up feeling the same as I did when I went to sleep. Aside from a cake and family get together I've never wanted to make a big fuss over my birthday. Nor have I gotten emotional over being a year older.
I don't intend to come across as a scrooge who doesn't enjoy merriment and celebration. I love to bake cakes for family birthday parties and I'm the loudest "happy birthday" singer in the crowd, I just don't make much of my own birthday. I don't require a special hat with the words "birthday girl" inscribed along the brim or a special sash made of bright colors and an abundance of sparkles and feathers. I'm more of a low-key type birthday girl.
Given my uneventful adult birthday past you may be surprised to find that my twenty fifth birthday has felt monumental. Surprised? Me too. I didn't expect to feel much of anything when I woke up this morning but somehow, for some reason the number "twenty five" hit me and gave me pause. Twenty five years is a quarter of a century. Twenty five years is the silver anniversary. Twenty five years is a big deal! Married couples celebrate with parties or special trips. They give each other gifts made of this precious metal. They receive cards displaying the sentiment, "Like silver, may your marriage continue to shine in splendor and radiance all of your days as you grow old together." Clearly, twenty five is a big deal. It is precious, just like silver.
Of course, every birthday and each day lived is precious. God doesn't make "throw away days" or "throw away birthdays" that are meaningless or unimportant. Yet, in all honesty, how many of us treat each day as if it were precious and worthy of celebration? I know I don't. But today on this twenty fifth birthday I stopped and took an account of my life and here's what I determined : It is precious. It is worth celebrating. Not because of anything I've done but because of what God has done and continues to do each day.
Over the past year God has proven to me just how precious I am by sustaining my body. At this very time last year I was slipping further into a flare up of multiple sclerosis. That flare up would last nearly eight months, stripping me of strength and even jeopardizing my ability to see. But God protected me and saw me through that ordeal. During nights when I thought my body was giving out in the middle of severe hot flashes and extreme muscle spasms, God preserved me. He did not carry me through all that pain and suffering for nothing. I was spared for a purpose. I was spared because I am precious to God.
Like silver, God has been polishing me. He has spent the last twenty five years polishing me and getting me ready for...only He knows what. That is the great mystery of being in the care of God. He has plans for you and me but He doesn't reveal them while He is preparing us for them. We simply must trust that all the uncomfortable rubbing, the years of being set apart in a drawer, the time spent in preparation, has a purpose.
God is getting me ready for the plans He has for me. Good, perfect, amazing plans. I'm twenty five years into that plan and every year it just gets more interesting and more unexpected. Every year there is a new layer to the cake, a new piece to the puzzle and new evidence that I am precious to God. Some days this polishing process is uncomfortable but in the end I know it is for my good because I am a treasured piece of silver in the hands of God and He is making me beautiful in His time.
Monday, April 6, 2015
My low, His High
I believe that it is when we are at our lowest that God can display His highest. This is a truth I am abundantly thankful for and one that I am holding onto with a death grip this morning.
Low is a kind word for my current state of physical being. As has been my dilemma for the past five years, my body's ability to understand what to do with food, how to digest and process it and most importantly, use it, is at one of its all-time lows. For the past week I have been in a state of severe malabsorption and the affects are taking a toll on my already tiny body. It doesn't take many days of malabsorption to start stripping away at the little cushion I have left. Already I have seen the gains I made disappear and the bones on my back reappear. It is beyond discouraging to have no control over such fundamental processes of the body like digestion, absorption and weight. One day my body will be processing food at least semi-normally and then, as if a switch goes off, the whole system is thrown into a state of fritz and my body has no idea how to handle its energy source. My body takes a nose dive as a result.
For me, this is what low feels like. Not everyone will experience low in this form. Having low be a low number on the scale, low energy level and low vibrancy of health is a very visible, physical low. I used to lament that this was my case of "low" because it is so unpredictable. I never know when the next shoe is going to drop, so to speak, and so I live with a perpetual question mark following me around like a shadow.
When the lows do hit I become a former shell of myself. I lose my energy and will to be active and involved in life. I go from wanting to volunteer, serve and be out around people, to wanting nothing more than alone time and separation from the outside world. Even the idea of being out mingling with people is enough to give me anxiety. I just don't have the energy to put on a smile and be the lively, spunky Stephanie that my friends and family once knew. When I'm low, I'm too low to pull that girl out of me. So instead I retreat into a shell like a hermit and wait out the storm.
And wait I do. Wait I have. Wait I will. Because waiting seems to be the name of this high-low game.
But back to what I said - I "used" to lament this low. I don't lament it anymore. At least, I don't wish it away or beg God to replace it with a low of a different color. I've learned that God uses my low to show His height. When I become this weak He always shows up to show me how strong He is. As difficult as these times of life are they have turned out to be seasons of deep intimacy with God and beautiful insights into who He is. He has used my lows to show up and show Himself and remind me that I am not wasting away into nothing, that He has me in the palm of His hand and somehow, miraculously, He will sustain me. And He has. He has this whole time.
If you were to have me step on a scale my weight would shock you. I'd even bet that you'd be trying to get me into the nearest car, bound for the nearest hospital. But I would use what little weight I have to fight back against any such transportation to any such destination. Because I am already under the care of the Great Physician. I know that to the outside world that might sound crazy and I must admit that sometimes it sounds crazy to me, too. How can this be care when I'm suffering? Maybe Paul asked the same question of God when he had a thorn in his flesh. But did that mean God wasn't protecting and sustaining Paul? Of course not. God carried Paul through hostile territories and saved him from prison and dictators who wanted him dead. And God did it all while Paul had a thorn in his flesh.
Far be it from me to tell God what I can and cannot handle. He knows me better than I know myself. I would have never in my wildest dreams (or nightmares) imagined that I could be alive and even somewhat active at this weight. If someone would have told me six years ago that this would be my weight today and that I would be able to run and help prepare Easter dinner for my family and volunteer at the City Mission every week I would have told them they were crazy. "At that weight I'd be dead!" I'm sure that would have been one of the forms of my response. But I'm not dead. I'm alive. I'm alive because God is sustaining me for a purpose. He has not brought me this far for nothing. He has not kept this tiny little being going for kicks! I was created with love and with a reason for being. God has a big plan for this little woman. The smaller I get, the bigger the plan because there will be more glory for God.
What glory is there for God if man never needed God's help? If I weren't dependent on God what testimony would that be to His greatness? To be of use to God I must be in great, dire need of God. And Heaven knows I am. For my every breath I am in great need. I am in dire need of God to show up every morning or else I don't believe I will be getting up. Apart from God I am literally nothing. Even when I am in these states of low I am being made stronger by being brought into a deeper dependence on God. I am learning how to lean entirely on Him. I have no where else to lean. I can't depend on myself. I can't even make my body absorb its food! I am helpless. But I am in the care of the Great Helper, Sustainer and Friend. God has taken care of me for almost twenty five years and He isn't done yet. These days I might be feeling low but I am resting in the peace of the Most High God.
Low is a kind word for my current state of physical being. As has been my dilemma for the past five years, my body's ability to understand what to do with food, how to digest and process it and most importantly, use it, is at one of its all-time lows. For the past week I have been in a state of severe malabsorption and the affects are taking a toll on my already tiny body. It doesn't take many days of malabsorption to start stripping away at the little cushion I have left. Already I have seen the gains I made disappear and the bones on my back reappear. It is beyond discouraging to have no control over such fundamental processes of the body like digestion, absorption and weight. One day my body will be processing food at least semi-normally and then, as if a switch goes off, the whole system is thrown into a state of fritz and my body has no idea how to handle its energy source. My body takes a nose dive as a result.
For me, this is what low feels like. Not everyone will experience low in this form. Having low be a low number on the scale, low energy level and low vibrancy of health is a very visible, physical low. I used to lament that this was my case of "low" because it is so unpredictable. I never know when the next shoe is going to drop, so to speak, and so I live with a perpetual question mark following me around like a shadow.
When the lows do hit I become a former shell of myself. I lose my energy and will to be active and involved in life. I go from wanting to volunteer, serve and be out around people, to wanting nothing more than alone time and separation from the outside world. Even the idea of being out mingling with people is enough to give me anxiety. I just don't have the energy to put on a smile and be the lively, spunky Stephanie that my friends and family once knew. When I'm low, I'm too low to pull that girl out of me. So instead I retreat into a shell like a hermit and wait out the storm.
And wait I do. Wait I have. Wait I will. Because waiting seems to be the name of this high-low game.
But back to what I said - I "used" to lament this low. I don't lament it anymore. At least, I don't wish it away or beg God to replace it with a low of a different color. I've learned that God uses my low to show His height. When I become this weak He always shows up to show me how strong He is. As difficult as these times of life are they have turned out to be seasons of deep intimacy with God and beautiful insights into who He is. He has used my lows to show up and show Himself and remind me that I am not wasting away into nothing, that He has me in the palm of His hand and somehow, miraculously, He will sustain me. And He has. He has this whole time.
If you were to have me step on a scale my weight would shock you. I'd even bet that you'd be trying to get me into the nearest car, bound for the nearest hospital. But I would use what little weight I have to fight back against any such transportation to any such destination. Because I am already under the care of the Great Physician. I know that to the outside world that might sound crazy and I must admit that sometimes it sounds crazy to me, too. How can this be care when I'm suffering? Maybe Paul asked the same question of God when he had a thorn in his flesh. But did that mean God wasn't protecting and sustaining Paul? Of course not. God carried Paul through hostile territories and saved him from prison and dictators who wanted him dead. And God did it all while Paul had a thorn in his flesh.
Far be it from me to tell God what I can and cannot handle. He knows me better than I know myself. I would have never in my wildest dreams (or nightmares) imagined that I could be alive and even somewhat active at this weight. If someone would have told me six years ago that this would be my weight today and that I would be able to run and help prepare Easter dinner for my family and volunteer at the City Mission every week I would have told them they were crazy. "At that weight I'd be dead!" I'm sure that would have been one of the forms of my response. But I'm not dead. I'm alive. I'm alive because God is sustaining me for a purpose. He has not brought me this far for nothing. He has not kept this tiny little being going for kicks! I was created with love and with a reason for being. God has a big plan for this little woman. The smaller I get, the bigger the plan because there will be more glory for God.
What glory is there for God if man never needed God's help? If I weren't dependent on God what testimony would that be to His greatness? To be of use to God I must be in great, dire need of God. And Heaven knows I am. For my every breath I am in great need. I am in dire need of God to show up every morning or else I don't believe I will be getting up. Apart from God I am literally nothing. Even when I am in these states of low I am being made stronger by being brought into a deeper dependence on God. I am learning how to lean entirely on Him. I have no where else to lean. I can't depend on myself. I can't even make my body absorb its food! I am helpless. But I am in the care of the Great Helper, Sustainer and Friend. God has taken care of me for almost twenty five years and He isn't done yet. These days I might be feeling low but I am resting in the peace of the Most High God.
Sunday, March 15, 2015
The Family Fold
Fatherless. Born never having a man to call Dad, a Father to trust or rely on. So many children come into the world innocent victims to irresponsibility and selfishness, leaving them without even the most basic of family structures. Their lives are forever impacted by an adult's choice to abdicate responsibility and abandon flesh and blood.
Where do the childless go? How does the fatherless child learn to be a man without an example? How can the lack a family structure be overcome?
By God alone.
On this earth there will be orphans, our world of sin makes that inevitable. Earthly parents walk away from their own flesh and blood, shattering the God-given family unit.
But that same child left orphaned by the world is not without hope. To all the orphaned, fatherless children there is the opportunity for adoption. In His Holy dwelling, God sits with great anticipation, ready to sign our papers of adoption.
The Bible is God's written plea for our adoption into His family. He pours out His desire to love us, shelter us, protect us and parent us with compassion and tender care. By sending Jesus Christ to earth He paid the ransom for us and bought us by laying down His life. There is no higher price to be paid for the life of a child. Earthly adoption isn't cheap. Heavenly adoption costs everything. That price has been paid in full. The check has been signed with the blood of the precious Lamb of God.
The adoption of God's children cost God everything but cost us nothing but our surrender to our new Father. Just like an earthly Father, we must heed to the commands of God, obey His rules and respect His authority. Just like an earthly adoption, the family will not be at peace and unity unless the child humbly submits to the structure of that new family.
In God's family there is a great privilege and inheritance to be had when we embrace our roles as sons and daughters. We become His children through faith and live victoriously by the indwelling of the Spirit that is given by our Heavenly Father. We become one with God through this instantaneous transaction. At once when we submit we become His children and that bond can never be broken. God will not suddenly rip up the papers, return us to a lonely orphanage and abandon His role as our protector. He is forever the "Father to the fatherless and the protector of the widow." (Psalm 68:5). Nothing we do can change that or make Him love us less.
If you were abandoned by your earthly Father before you ever knew his name... if you never felt unconditional love from a Father who was present but emotionally absent... if you were ever abused, neglected or mistreated by your earthly Father... you are not Fatherless. You are not without a perfect Father who knows how to love flawlessly and wholeheartedly. Your Father protects you and keeps you safe. Your Father corrects you out of love for you and the desire to raise you up in the way you should go.
No matter what earthly family you were born into, you can be a child of God. The Lord God wants to be your Daddy. He longs to have you run into His arms like a young child runs to greet her Father after a long absence as you cry "Abba". The God who made you wants to cradle you and raise you. The son-ship that you and I have in Jesus Christ shapes who we are and gives us a place in this world. In Jesus Christ we claim our great and holy birthright that comes only through the spiritual birth into the family of God.
Where do the childless go? How does the fatherless child learn to be a man without an example? How can the lack a family structure be overcome?
By God alone.
On this earth there will be orphans, our world of sin makes that inevitable. Earthly parents walk away from their own flesh and blood, shattering the God-given family unit.
But that same child left orphaned by the world is not without hope. To all the orphaned, fatherless children there is the opportunity for adoption. In His Holy dwelling, God sits with great anticipation, ready to sign our papers of adoption.
The Bible is God's written plea for our adoption into His family. He pours out His desire to love us, shelter us, protect us and parent us with compassion and tender care. By sending Jesus Christ to earth He paid the ransom for us and bought us by laying down His life. There is no higher price to be paid for the life of a child. Earthly adoption isn't cheap. Heavenly adoption costs everything. That price has been paid in full. The check has been signed with the blood of the precious Lamb of God.
The adoption of God's children cost God everything but cost us nothing but our surrender to our new Father. Just like an earthly Father, we must heed to the commands of God, obey His rules and respect His authority. Just like an earthly adoption, the family will not be at peace and unity unless the child humbly submits to the structure of that new family.
In God's family there is a great privilege and inheritance to be had when we embrace our roles as sons and daughters. We become His children through faith and live victoriously by the indwelling of the Spirit that is given by our Heavenly Father. We become one with God through this instantaneous transaction. At once when we submit we become His children and that bond can never be broken. God will not suddenly rip up the papers, return us to a lonely orphanage and abandon His role as our protector. He is forever the "Father to the fatherless and the protector of the widow." (Psalm 68:5). Nothing we do can change that or make Him love us less.
If you were abandoned by your earthly Father before you ever knew his name... if you never felt unconditional love from a Father who was present but emotionally absent... if you were ever abused, neglected or mistreated by your earthly Father... you are not Fatherless. You are not without a perfect Father who knows how to love flawlessly and wholeheartedly. Your Father protects you and keeps you safe. Your Father corrects you out of love for you and the desire to raise you up in the way you should go.
No matter what earthly family you were born into, you can be a child of God. The Lord God wants to be your Daddy. He longs to have you run into His arms like a young child runs to greet her Father after a long absence as you cry "Abba". The God who made you wants to cradle you and raise you. The son-ship that you and I have in Jesus Christ shapes who we are and gives us a place in this world. In Jesus Christ we claim our great and holy birthright that comes only through the spiritual birth into the family of God.
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Righteousness defined
Righteousness is one of those words that immediately sounds "churchy". It is assumed that if you're talking about being righteous then you must be the religious and judgmental sort. Immediately those who are concerned with being politically correct make a face akin to eating a Sour Patch Kid.
The word righteousness assumes that there is only one right way of doing things. If there is only one right way then it follows that all other ways are wrong. Well, lots of people are following those wrong ways and don't want to be told they are wrong. They want moral equivalency where everyone can do and think as they please. Righteousness is a slap in the face to that way of living.
A by-the-book definition of righteousness says that it is, "behavior that is morally justifiable or right." That is a broad definition of a word that, at its root, was never intended to be that far reaching. The Greek root was much more precise: what is deemed right by God. Righteousness is not a matter of opinion or personal preference. God has established what is right. He alone is the author of righteousness.
So it would be natural to ask the question, so how does God define righteousness? Whether or not it is a popular concept, righteousness is not a human creation. It is God ordained and God designed. to understand God's meaning and intent for righteousness we must look to His Word and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Beginning in the very first book of the Bible God begins explaining and showing what true righteousness is all about. He showed us through Joseph and Moses. Although they weren't perfect, far from it, they sought God's guidance and His forgiveness when they acted disobediently. Daniel was a picture of that same hunger and thirst for more of God, the creator and author of righteousness.
But all of these men fell short. They were imperfect pictures of living a Godly life. It is only Jesus Christ who could show us true righteousness and provide a way for us to live in His footsteps.
Many religions look at Jesus as a nice example, a friendly, kind, upright man who is to be admired. But the Bible makes it clear that He is infinitely more than a good example. Jesus is our salvation, our only redemption from unrighteousness, our only path way to justification. Jesus not only shows us how to live but He makes it possible for us to live according to the righteousness as it is defined by God. Through His sacrifice as the perfect Son of God He made our justification possible. It is only a perfect lamb that could save such a fallen, unrighteousness, sinful people. And that lamb is Jesus.
Only Jesus is perfect in righteousness. To be found righteous in the eyes of God we must be one with Jesus. We must die to self and be hidden in Christ to be hidden in His righteousness and His justice. Trying to do the right thing and live "morally" isn't enough. We will always fall short and we will never reach perfection. Our hope is found in the saving grace of Jesus who is perfect, spotless, blameless and always righteous. When we come to know the salvation of Jesus Christ then our eyes are opened to the wickedness of our hearts and the depravity of our morality. Compared to Jesus we are terrible, wretched and sinful. We need to be cleansed by His redeeming blood so that we can be showered in His righteousness and true morality.
As the song goes, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly trust in Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."
Our hope, our morality and our righteousness is not found in our own goodness or our own human striving. It is found in Christ alone where true righteousness has been bought with the blood of our perfect Savior.
The word righteousness assumes that there is only one right way of doing things. If there is only one right way then it follows that all other ways are wrong. Well, lots of people are following those wrong ways and don't want to be told they are wrong. They want moral equivalency where everyone can do and think as they please. Righteousness is a slap in the face to that way of living.
A by-the-book definition of righteousness says that it is, "behavior that is morally justifiable or right." That is a broad definition of a word that, at its root, was never intended to be that far reaching. The Greek root was much more precise: what is deemed right by God. Righteousness is not a matter of opinion or personal preference. God has established what is right. He alone is the author of righteousness.
So it would be natural to ask the question, so how does God define righteousness? Whether or not it is a popular concept, righteousness is not a human creation. It is God ordained and God designed. to understand God's meaning and intent for righteousness we must look to His Word and His Son, Jesus Christ.
Beginning in the very first book of the Bible God begins explaining and showing what true righteousness is all about. He showed us through Joseph and Moses. Although they weren't perfect, far from it, they sought God's guidance and His forgiveness when they acted disobediently. Daniel was a picture of that same hunger and thirst for more of God, the creator and author of righteousness.
But all of these men fell short. They were imperfect pictures of living a Godly life. It is only Jesus Christ who could show us true righteousness and provide a way for us to live in His footsteps.
Many religions look at Jesus as a nice example, a friendly, kind, upright man who is to be admired. But the Bible makes it clear that He is infinitely more than a good example. Jesus is our salvation, our only redemption from unrighteousness, our only path way to justification. Jesus not only shows us how to live but He makes it possible for us to live according to the righteousness as it is defined by God. Through His sacrifice as the perfect Son of God He made our justification possible. It is only a perfect lamb that could save such a fallen, unrighteousness, sinful people. And that lamb is Jesus.
Only Jesus is perfect in righteousness. To be found righteous in the eyes of God we must be one with Jesus. We must die to self and be hidden in Christ to be hidden in His righteousness and His justice. Trying to do the right thing and live "morally" isn't enough. We will always fall short and we will never reach perfection. Our hope is found in the saving grace of Jesus who is perfect, spotless, blameless and always righteous. When we come to know the salvation of Jesus Christ then our eyes are opened to the wickedness of our hearts and the depravity of our morality. Compared to Jesus we are terrible, wretched and sinful. We need to be cleansed by His redeeming blood so that we can be showered in His righteousness and true morality.
As the song goes, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly trust in Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."
Our hope, our morality and our righteousness is not found in our own goodness or our own human striving. It is found in Christ alone where true righteousness has been bought with the blood of our perfect Savior.
Thursday, February 12, 2015
Fear versus faith
"Lord if it's you...tell me to come to you on the water." (Matthew 14:28)
Those were the words of Peter spoken to Jesus. This exchange occurred while Peter was in a boat with his fellow disciples. They looked out on the water and saw a man approaching by foot, walking atop of the water. Suffice it to say this cowardly group of men were scared silly. They thought they were looking at a ghost. Jesus quickly put their fears to rest with the reassurance, "It is I."
Still apparently Peter was slightly skeptical. He told Jesus that he would come out on the water only if it was really Jesus. Well of course it was Jesus and of course He bid Peter to walk out onto the water.
Peter stepped out of the boat. He got that first part right. He took the first, critical step of faith but then he felt the wind and saw the waves and he was gripped by fear. As one version of this Biblical account states, "his courage caught in his throat." And we know what happened next. He started to sink. In that moment of terror Peter called out to God, "Master, save me!" Peter was all in for a walk on the water while he was in the boat but once he stepped out and felt the ocean's waves and fierce winds he panicked. Although Jesus was right there in front of him, Peter let the his mind's worries and concerns get the best of him.
Jesus reached out a hand and saved Peter. But he had a word for him too, "Oh you of little faith. Why did you doubt and dance back and force between following Me and heeding fear?"
Peter doesn't seem to respond. Maybe that is because he was rendered speechless in humiliation and shame. Jesus was right there in front of him, standing effortlessly on top of the water while the winds whipped around yet He was not sinking. The Lord who Peter had watched heal the sick, drive out demons and feed thousands with five loaves of bread and two fish, was right there, visible and telling Peter to come out of the boat and onto the water. Peter had every reason to trust that Jesus could keep him from sinking. Jesus had already proven that He was capable and willing to perform miracles. Keeping Peter afloat was not a challenge for Jesus. Yet when a gust of wind came Peter's faith was blown away.
When I read about Peter's lack of faith on the water I want to yell out, "Peter, stop flailing around! Get a grip! Jesus is right there, what do you have to worry about?"
And then I pause and realize how hypocritical it is of me to point a finger at Peter while I have succumbed to the same fear and sunk into an ocean of my own worries and concerns more times than I can count. A little fear, even just a momentary concern, soon becomes an overpowering wave, submerging me in a pool of doubt.
Peter was confident in Jesus until he was confronted with challenges. Then his faith faltered. He could have looked to Jesus and ignored the waves and wind. He could have said to the buffeting forces of nature, "You are no match for the Lord!" But he didn't say any of those things. He started to panic, started to flail and thrash about and before he knew it, he began to sink.
It is so easy to see the error in Peter's ways. He should have remained faithful and trusted that the Lord who called him out of the boat would keep him safe and above the waters. But Peter didn't trust and didn't keep the faith. Peter flailed.
Waves are going to buffet the believer. Anyone who steps out of the boat to follow Jesus is going to come under the siege of wind, rushing waters and foreboding clouds . But if Jesus has called you, He will sustain you. The Lord who healed with a touch of His hand, rose from the dead and is coming back again has the power to sustain you and me through the roughest storms of our lives if only we will keep the faith. God will keep us afloat. He will protect us from the winds and the waves. We never need to ask God if He will save us, He has already assured us He can and He will. The question is, will we put our faith in Him and be saved?
Winds will come and waves will hit us, yet with an abiding faith in Jesus Christ we need not fear that we will sink into the abyss. By the power of His mighty hand and everlasting mercy He will keep us afloat if we will keep our trust in Him alone.
Those were the words of Peter spoken to Jesus. This exchange occurred while Peter was in a boat with his fellow disciples. They looked out on the water and saw a man approaching by foot, walking atop of the water. Suffice it to say this cowardly group of men were scared silly. They thought they were looking at a ghost. Jesus quickly put their fears to rest with the reassurance, "It is I."
Still apparently Peter was slightly skeptical. He told Jesus that he would come out on the water only if it was really Jesus. Well of course it was Jesus and of course He bid Peter to walk out onto the water.
Peter stepped out of the boat. He got that first part right. He took the first, critical step of faith but then he felt the wind and saw the waves and he was gripped by fear. As one version of this Biblical account states, "his courage caught in his throat." And we know what happened next. He started to sink. In that moment of terror Peter called out to God, "Master, save me!" Peter was all in for a walk on the water while he was in the boat but once he stepped out and felt the ocean's waves and fierce winds he panicked. Although Jesus was right there in front of him, Peter let the his mind's worries and concerns get the best of him.
Jesus reached out a hand and saved Peter. But he had a word for him too, "Oh you of little faith. Why did you doubt and dance back and force between following Me and heeding fear?"
Peter doesn't seem to respond. Maybe that is because he was rendered speechless in humiliation and shame. Jesus was right there in front of him, standing effortlessly on top of the water while the winds whipped around yet He was not sinking. The Lord who Peter had watched heal the sick, drive out demons and feed thousands with five loaves of bread and two fish, was right there, visible and telling Peter to come out of the boat and onto the water. Peter had every reason to trust that Jesus could keep him from sinking. Jesus had already proven that He was capable and willing to perform miracles. Keeping Peter afloat was not a challenge for Jesus. Yet when a gust of wind came Peter's faith was blown away.
When I read about Peter's lack of faith on the water I want to yell out, "Peter, stop flailing around! Get a grip! Jesus is right there, what do you have to worry about?"
And then I pause and realize how hypocritical it is of me to point a finger at Peter while I have succumbed to the same fear and sunk into an ocean of my own worries and concerns more times than I can count. A little fear, even just a momentary concern, soon becomes an overpowering wave, submerging me in a pool of doubt.
Peter was confident in Jesus until he was confronted with challenges. Then his faith faltered. He could have looked to Jesus and ignored the waves and wind. He could have said to the buffeting forces of nature, "You are no match for the Lord!" But he didn't say any of those things. He started to panic, started to flail and thrash about and before he knew it, he began to sink.
It is so easy to see the error in Peter's ways. He should have remained faithful and trusted that the Lord who called him out of the boat would keep him safe and above the waters. But Peter didn't trust and didn't keep the faith. Peter flailed.
Waves are going to buffet the believer. Anyone who steps out of the boat to follow Jesus is going to come under the siege of wind, rushing waters and foreboding clouds . But if Jesus has called you, He will sustain you. The Lord who healed with a touch of His hand, rose from the dead and is coming back again has the power to sustain you and me through the roughest storms of our lives if only we will keep the faith. God will keep us afloat. He will protect us from the winds and the waves. We never need to ask God if He will save us, He has already assured us He can and He will. The question is, will we put our faith in Him and be saved?
Winds will come and waves will hit us, yet with an abiding faith in Jesus Christ we need not fear that we will sink into the abyss. By the power of His mighty hand and everlasting mercy He will keep us afloat if we will keep our trust in Him alone.
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Tangles, snarls and scissors
My three oldest nieces have long, full, curly heads of hair. Their curls range from curly Q's to soft waves but all are thick and full of volume. And often times, full of tangles. Those crazy snarls are the plight of the curly haired. Just like a rose has thorns, bouncy curls have tangles.
It used to be that my precious nieces turned into temper-tantrum throwing beasts when it came time to comb their hair. Just the sight of the plastic hair tool sent them running in the opposite direction, in search of the closest room with a lock. The daily ritual of combing out the huge snarls became so tedious that at some point their Mom threw in the towel altogether and let them live with a bed of tangles under the top layer of combed beauty.
But someday, all tangles must dealt with - be it in the hair on our heads or the webs we weave in our lives, tangles can't go on forever. The longer we ignore them the more severe the process of removal.
Just recently one of my nieces faced this stark reality when a tangle in her hair went without being untangled for so long that the only recourse was removal by scissors. A trip to the hair salon later and her snarls were only a memory, replaced with a shorter, smoother new style.
As with hair's tangles, life's tangles are best addressed early, before they grow out of control and need to be removed by force - or large scissors. Tangles never go away on their own. Time without detangled only creates more a knotted, matted mess.
The same is true with the tangles and knots of sin. Sin left unreported and unresolved leads to a life full of tangles and unruly knots. The removal process will only grow more taxing, tedious and painful with time. The bigger the knot, the longer we let that sin grow unchecked, the bigger of an ordeal it will be to remove it.
The only way to resolve the snarled mess of sin is to seek Christ, the "hairdresser of the soul and master of the scissors." He can break the chains of entanglements and restore spirits to a condition better than ever before. God might have to snip and clip to remove sin and waywardness but the results will always be the perfect cut.
From now on when I get a tangle I'm letting God take care of it with a comb before He has to go in with the scissors. I want to wear the style of forgiveness, renewal and redemption, not sin, rebellion and shame. With God as my stylist I need never live with the snarls of sin.
It used to be that my precious nieces turned into temper-tantrum throwing beasts when it came time to comb their hair. Just the sight of the plastic hair tool sent them running in the opposite direction, in search of the closest room with a lock. The daily ritual of combing out the huge snarls became so tedious that at some point their Mom threw in the towel altogether and let them live with a bed of tangles under the top layer of combed beauty.
But someday, all tangles must dealt with - be it in the hair on our heads or the webs we weave in our lives, tangles can't go on forever. The longer we ignore them the more severe the process of removal.
Just recently one of my nieces faced this stark reality when a tangle in her hair went without being untangled for so long that the only recourse was removal by scissors. A trip to the hair salon later and her snarls were only a memory, replaced with a shorter, smoother new style.
As with hair's tangles, life's tangles are best addressed early, before they grow out of control and need to be removed by force - or large scissors. Tangles never go away on their own. Time without detangled only creates more a knotted, matted mess.
The same is true with the tangles and knots of sin. Sin left unreported and unresolved leads to a life full of tangles and unruly knots. The removal process will only grow more taxing, tedious and painful with time. The bigger the knot, the longer we let that sin grow unchecked, the bigger of an ordeal it will be to remove it.
The only way to resolve the snarled mess of sin is to seek Christ, the "hairdresser of the soul and master of the scissors." He can break the chains of entanglements and restore spirits to a condition better than ever before. God might have to snip and clip to remove sin and waywardness but the results will always be the perfect cut.
From now on when I get a tangle I'm letting God take care of it with a comb before He has to go in with the scissors. I want to wear the style of forgiveness, renewal and redemption, not sin, rebellion and shame. With God as my stylist I need never live with the snarls of sin.
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