Beautiful

This morning I was thinking about the crippled man who sat at the temple gate in Acts 3 begging for money.  As I was remembering the story, I began to sing, “He went walking and leaping and praising God, walking and leaping and praising God; in the name of Jesus Christ…”  I couldn’t remember the rest of the words, so I googled it, and refreshed not only my memory, but my spirit as I sang along.

I recalled hearing messages focusing on the Apostles, their message, the healing, and the transformed life.  But this morning I was reflecting on the people who were responsible for the crippled man’s Divine encounter, namely the people who carried him to the temple gate.

I don’t know if it was only one person or a bunch of people who carried the crippled man to the temple.  I don’t know if this act was done by a family member or friend.  I don’t know if the “friend” was paid from the alms the crippled man received or if the friend’s wages was love.  I don’t know if this action was done out of a sense of duty or was motivated by kindness.  I don’t know if this action was done in bitterness or if the person was moved by compassion.

But there is one thing that I know.  This crippled man was carried every day to this place by a nameless person or persons so he could beg.  If it wasn’t for this “invisible” person or persons, this man might not have even been in a beneficial place, much less, a place to have a Divine encounter.

As I reflect on the cripple man who sat at the temple gate named, “Beautiful,” I am reminded of Paul’s words in Romans 10:14-15:

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can they preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Isn’t this…Beautiful?

Must

Over the years I’ve heard a lot of teaching on sound or healthy doctrine.  This morning, as I thought about this, I wondered, “What are the essentials of my faith?  What do I have to believe and what must I do?”

One of the passages of scripture that came to mind was Acts 2:37, you know, the one before, “Repent and be baptized…”  When I turned to this text, I was surprised to find that the word “must” was not there.  I don’t know whether the word, “must” is found in any other version, but that wasn’t important to me.  The thought that captured my attention was the phrase, “What must I do?”

There were several verses of Scripture that came to mind.  Jesus said God “worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).  I hear Jesus saying that as a believer, I must be a fully authentic, transparent person.  Paul describes this as being a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1).

In order to worship or live in this way, the Hebrew writer says, “…anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).  I hear the Hebrew writer telling his audience that God must be a living reality in their day to day life.  Jesus said, “Whoever serves Me must follow Me” (John 12:26).  John adds, “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did” (I John 2:6).

In the past, whenever I’ve tried to live the kind of life that God expects me to live, I’ve encountered frustration, anger, and despair.  I used to try and console myself by saying, “I’m human.  I make mistakes.  I did the best I could.”  But somehow, these thoughts were not comforting.  In the midst of my anguish, I heard Jesus’ words, “You should not be surprised at My saying, “You must be born again” (John 3:7).  “Remain in Me, and I will remain in you.  No branch can bear fruit by itself: it must remain in the vine.  Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me” (John 15:4).

In His words, I heard that unless I recognize that I am at His mercy and am dependent on Him, I may as well be dead.  Since I’ve acknowledged this, I’ve been living a fuller, more abundant, and healthier life.

Discipline

The other day Robin and Lois visited a friend.  One of the things that they told me about was an incident between the mother and her son.  The son was having a conflict with his mother so the mother said, “I think you need a 15 minute time out.”  The son quickly responded with “10 minutes!”  The mother shot back, “20 minutes.”   Hoping to reduce his sentence, he shouted, “15 minutes!”  The mother declared, “25 minutes.”  The boy started to say something, but as he turned to his mother and as their eyes met, the gush of words stopped as his lips pressed together.  When their eyes met, it was as if the boy understood that if he persisted in this conversation, it would end in disaster for him.  Instead, the boy turned and went to his room.

Robin and Lois’ words painted a scene that would have made a wonderful Norman Rockwell portrait and it made me wish that I was there to behold it.  This morning it reminded me of what Solomon said in Proverbs 3:11:

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke because the LORD disciplines those He loves, as a father the son He delights in.  Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding…

How wonderful would it be for me, if when life happens, when things do not go my way, and when I don’t get what I want, that I would look into His eyes and see His face and accept His sovereignty in my life.  Life would be so much more peaceful.

Vision

All too often disorder comes knocking at my door.  It brings chaos, confusion, and a lot of drama with it.  In other words, all hell wants to break loose in my life.  Does anyone know what I’m talking about?

I know the Apostle Paul did.  He said, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death” (II Corinthians 1:8-9). 

I am so glad that the great apostle wrote these words because in these words he’s telling me that he was mortal, just like me.  I am also very grateful that he doesn’t leave us hanging, but went on to say, “But this happened so that we would not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

Isn’t that a relief?  When you hear these words, do you feel like a burden has been lifted from your souls?  I know I do.  I think this is the same thing that Jesus was telling Peter in Matthew 16:18, when He said, “You’re Peter.  Hell will not overcome My people which I’m building, on the foundation I’ve laid.”  Yeah, I know—that’s not an exact quote, but that’s what I hear Jesus saying and it makes perfect sense to me.

Going forward, what do we foresee for ourselves personally or collectively as a church that we belong to?  What do we think about our future?  Does it look bleak?  Do we have great ideas and wonderful dreams?  How confident are we in what we see?

I know one thing.  I want to have Moses’ vision.  After God promised the Israelites success (Exodus 33:1-2), Moses told God, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Exodus 33:15).  What I hear Moses telling God is that He’s more valuable to him than anything God gives.  Isn’t this a picture of what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind?

I think that Paul understood this as he prayed:

For this reason I kneel before the Father…I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

LORD, help me have this vision of You and help me to have Paul’s heart and join him in his prayer for all Your people.

Renewal

I don’t care what the celebrities or the “real people, not actors” claim, there really is no fountain of youth.  It doesn’t matter how many years we say that we’re celebrating our 29^th birthday, the reality is that we’re rotting away.  The Apostle Paul says it plainly, “Outwardly we are wasting away…”  It’s just a fact of life.  But as terminal as this may sound, Paul doesn’t put a period here.  In the same breath Paul says, “…yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (II Corinthians 4:16).  What does Paul mean when he says this?  What does it even look like? 

I’ve been blessed because I have a couple of examples in my life.  My friend Jim is ninety three years and counting.  Every time I speak with Jim, he tells me that God’s been good to him with a sparkle in his eyes.  I see the same sparkle and hear the same declaration from another friend whose name is also Jim.  While there’s a big difference in their ages and their life experiences are on the opposite ends of the spectrum, they both have tapped into the same wellspring of life.

To me, it’s obvious that they know the One who said, “Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am He, I am He who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain and I will rescue you” (Isaiah 46:4).  I hear the same adoration that Paul had with the Guy as he proclaimed, “Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

What I see and hear makes me long for what these men have.

Light and Momentary

Have you noticed that every year is more challenging than the last?  We struggle through illnesses, deaths, and yes, the ominous “aging odyssey”.  As we celebrate “one more birthday”, many of us are probably wondering what the future has in store for us.  The bottom line question is, “What does God have in mind for us?”

One thing that I’ve noticed as I read Scripture is that when the people of God faced adversity, it’s as if they were viewing their situation through binoculars—everything looked large and close up.  Yet when they looked at God, they turned the binoculars around and saw Him so small and so far away.  Scripture continually reminds us that we need to see God through the same lens we see our situation.

The first thing that I am reminded of is that our situation, individually or collectively is temporary, not permanent.  It is a chapter in our continuing story and not the epilogue, and it is short, not heavy.

I know.  I know.  I am not in your shoes going through the challenges that you’re facing.  I also hope that I don’t sound unkind or insensitive, but I am not the one who tells us this.  It is the Apostle Paul who says, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory…” (II Corinthians 4:17a).

One day as I read these words, I remembered thinking, “‘Light and momentary’...That’s easy for you to say, Paul.”  But as soon as that thought came to mind, I was reminded of Paul recounting his difficulties in II Corinthians 11:23-29.  As difficult as our trials are, I think that it is much more important to get a glimpse of what Paul is beholding, “eternal glory…”

I’m guessing that most of us do not meditate on this because, like the Old Timers from Maine, we have the sense, “You can’t get thayah from heyah.”  Rightly so.  Thomas was just as bewildered when he asked Jesus, “How can we know the way?” (John 14:5)

Jesus could have said, “What did I just say?  Thomas, are you paying attention?  Are you listening?”  Instead, Jesus answers, “I am the way…and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6).

It will not only take Divine power to take us to our eternal destination, but it will also take a miracle to give us an eternal point of view.  The Good News is that this is the message from Heaven.  Listen to what else Jesus has to say to His disciples in John’s Gospel:

 …I too will love them and show Myself to them” (14:21).  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you (14:26).  Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives (14:27).  No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine…apart from Me you can do nothing (15:4-5).  I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (15:11).   All this I have told you so that you will not fall away (16:1).  But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth…and He will tell you what is yet to come.  He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you (16:13-14). I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (16:33).

And Jesus continues to be our bridge, intercessor, and vehicle into the heavenly realm as He prays:

Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent (John 17:3). Righteous Father…I have made you known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love you have for Me may be in them and that I Myself may be in them (John 17:25).

The Walking Dead

How high must I turn up the volume to make a deaf man hear?   How much light must I add into a room to make a blind man see?  How much oxygen can I pump into a corpse to make it come to life?

Are these stupid questions?  Yet, this is how the Bible describes us before we came to know God.  Before they knew the LORD, Paul told the Ephesians, “…you were dead in your transgressions and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)

A corpse is powerless.  A corpse is hopeless to do anything because it is dead—it has no life. This is the helpless picture that Paul wants us to see as he goes on to say:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…”

–Ephesians 2:8-10

I don’t know if this is where the idea of zombies came from.  But this I know—apart from Jesus I have no life and the works that I do is dead.

What Is the Bible?

If I were to ask a hundred people, “What is the Bible,” I would not be surprised if I got a hundred and twenty-five different answers.  The reason for this is because I think that many people will have more than one answer to this question.  In fact, I also have more than one answer to this question.

To me, the Bible is a window to view God, a snapshot of God, an open door to God, a conversation starter with God.  In essence, I’d say the Bible is an invitation to engage God.  And it’s an invitation open to everyone.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re young or old; what class or nationality you belong to; or whether you’re educated or not because the Bible can speak to you right where you are, because the Bible transcends mankind.  In other words, God is different than that all of humanity.

Let me elaborate.  What were your feelings, thoughts, or actions the last time you were insulted?  Humiliated?  Cheated?  Threatened?  Lied to or lied about?  Criticized or verbally abused?  Physically assaulted?  How did your response compare to Jesus, as He was “tempted in all points as we are?”  As He was being treated with contempt, He prayed, “Father, forgive them for they do not what they are doing.”

I’m not sure what you think of these words, but I don’t think this is normal human behavior.  If you were being harmed intentionally, would you think kind and merciful thoughts about the offender?  Probably not.  That would be foolishness.

When I hear Jesus pray, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing,” It shocks me and I ask the question, “What kind of man is this?”  I mean, when I read the story of Jesus, He “looks” like a man.  He suffers like a man.  He bleeds like a man.  But when I see Him tempted in all points as we are—He does not respond like a man.  Then I see Him die like a man and then buried like a man.

When I read His story, it wouldn’t have surprised me if Jesus’ prayer on the cross was etched on His tombstone because it was a very noble act.  However, it’s not because there is no tombstone to be found because He has risen from the dead.  Instead, we are told to gather around a table and eat bread and drink wine as His memorial.   This gathering around His suffering should remind us that no matter how much drama and trauma there is in our lives, Jesus is alive in the Presence of the Father. And as He prayed for those around the cross, He is still interceding for us in our behalf and will continue to do so until the Holy Spirit brings us home safely.

Mid-Life Crisis

It seems to me that some people who go through a mid-life crisis at a very young age, and yet there are others who go through this crisis throughout their whole lives.  I believe this is so because mid-life crisis is nothing more than an identity crisis.  These tumultuous times are accompanied by questions as: “Who am I?”  “What’s my purpose?”  “What have I accomplished?”  Some people go through their whole lives not finding an answer to the meaning of their lives.  For those of us who have found the meaning of life, we should have good news for these people.

The meaning of life is not found in this world because we were not meant for this world.  We were created for God (Colossians 1:16) and we can only find true fulfillment and satisfaction when we are in relationship with Him.  Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).  (Just before Jesus makes this statement, He tells us why we don’t have a happy or contented life, “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”)

Paul understood it this way, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” (Philippians 3:8)  “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).

May we all capture the vision that Paul had.

Settlers

I think I know why the Children of Israel wandered in the desert for forty years.  It was because they settled.  It seems to me that the Israelites were told numerous times that God would give the land of Canaan to them, but they had to go and posses it (Deuteronomy 1:8, 21).  Instead, the Israelites settled for the Wilderness.

In the New Testament, Paul charges Timothy to, “Fight the good fight of faith” and “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” (I Timothy 6:12).  The Hebrew writer says, “Do not throw away your confidence…You need to persevere…you will receive what He has promised” (Hebrews 10:35-36).

In other words, don’t be a settler.  God offers us life—an abundant life (John 10:10, 4:14b).  Seize it.  Possess it.  Don’t let go.  Even Paul says, “I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).

Don’t settle for anything less.  Don’t even think about it.  If you do, the Hebrew writer has these words, “if he shrinks back, I [God] will not be pleased with him” and then he adds these empowering words, “But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved” (Hebrews 10:38b-39).