Alone With God

 I’ve had both of my knees replaced this past year.  After each operation, I’ve been getting up between 1 and 3 every morning.  This has been my normal for the past 9 months and I have been extremely blessed.  You probably have heard the expression, “ungodly hour.”   Well, I have found that God is present and very active during this time.  When most people are getting up in the morning, I’ve spent almost a whole day with God.  By the time that the sun rises, God has revealed Himself to me in the details of life; I am able to recognize His voice in the rhetoric, chatter, and gossip in the masses; I am able to see His hands as He conducts the cosmos; and I am able to hear that gentle whisper amidst the chaos and confusion in my heart and mind.

Some people may think that I am bragging, but I would not be the least bit surprised if this is almost everyone’s experience.  No, not waking up in the wee hours of the morning, but standing in the Presence of God.

Peter tells his audience, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1:3).  I love this verse.  (Actually, I love a lot of verses, but this is the one that is closest to me this morning). 

When Peter says, “His divine power,” Peter is telling us that God is the source.  God is not a resource, but He is the cause or origin of everything.  James tells us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father…” (James 1:17) who is not stingy (James 1:5).  This is also what Peter says, “His divine power has given us everything we need…”

God doesn’t cater to our moaning, groaning, and whining; however, God does provide for us all the resources and essentials we need to live out the life God desires for us “through the knowledge of Him who called us…”

God wants us to be intimate with Him through Jesus.  God’s not satisfied with us having facts and information about Him.  God wants to share His life with us.  He wants us to do life with Him.

God continues to call us.  Can you hear His voice amidst the busyness, distractions, and the drama of life?  Shhh…Listen.  “Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened…”

Common Ground

Earlier, I shared some of the differences between Robin and I.  Some of you might have come to the conclusion that the differences between Robin and I are numerous, and you are correct.  The differences between Robin and I far exceed our similarities.  However, Robin and I do have some things in common.  Here are some things that we agree upon:

 

1.      ‘I’ am not the boss.  Robin and I continually remind ourselves that ‘I’ am not the one in charge.  We have yielded to the Biblical idea of submitting to each other.  We agree that the Biblical picture of our relationship is that individually we are of one body and our greatest concern should be for the health and welfare of the whole body, not just one part of the body.

 

2. Jesus is the boss. Submitting to each other and preferring each other is not good enough to hold us together.  There has to be a standard as to what wholesomeness looks like.  A body that is separated from its head is not a pretty picture no matter how well it’s dressed up.

 

3. Confession is the breath that we exhale. If we are not the boss then we do not set the rules.  The idea that we could be wrong should not overthrow the idea that Jesus is always right.  If we do not willingly acknowledge our weakness today, we are assured that one day we will be forced to bow down and confess the sovereignty of Jesus. 

 

4. Forgiveness is the blood that runs through our veins.  If forgiveness does not flow through us, then we are zombies—we are dead in our sins.  Eternal life does not begin after you physically die, but when we receive a blood transfusion.

 

Again, this is not an exhaustive list, but this is a list of some of the things that we agree on.  There’s one more thing that I want to add to this list of things we agree on.  Robin and I agree that our differences puts a strain on our relationship and the fact that Robin was born on Pearl Harbor Day (December 7^th) is significant in our conclusion.

 

Let me remind you that the differences between Robin and I far exceeds the similarities between us.  Here’s the question of the day: “Do you think that the things that Robin and I have in common are strong enough to hold us together?”

Polar Opposites

 

Robin and I are polar opposites.  Robin’s birthday is in December and my birthday is in January.  She was born in Maine and I was born in Hawaii.  The culture that I came from reads and writes in columns and from right to left.  Robin’s culture taught her to read and write in horizontal rows form left to right.  Robin is an extrovert.  I am an introvert.  Robin is spontaneous.   I have to think things through.  I like watching sports.  Robin likes watching “Say yes to the dress.”  I could say more, but I think I’ve said enough to give you the impression that Robin and I are different—very different.  On second thought, let me give you one more detail.  That is, Robin and I have recently celebrated our 40^th anniversary.

 

Having said all of the above, I’d like to ask you a few questions.  First, with the information that I gave you concerning Robin and myself, is this enough proof for the idea that opposites attract?  Second, do you think our personality types are what holds us together?

 

While you’re reflecting on these questions, let me ask you a few other questions.  What happens when you put a Democrat (or Liberal) and a Republican (a Conservative) in the same room to discuss politics?  How does it work out when a Christian discusses religion with a Muslim?  What do you think the outcome would be of an encounter between polar opposites involving gender, theology, race, and class?

 

I don’t know what your answers are because you’re over there and I’m over here, but if you’re like me, I think your answers would reflect more on the side of conflict than unity.  Here’s my bottom line question.  In any situation, what are the ingredients of unity?

Thanksgiving

When Paul tells the Thessalonians to “Give thanks in all circumstances” (I Thessalonians 5:18), do we think he meant for us to be thankful in every situation?  Do we believe that it’s even possible to be grateful in all settings of life?  I know that it’s not in my nature to have a sense of gratitude when things do not go my way, but Paul’s not finished with his thought; he goes on to say, “for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

As I reflected on this passage of Scripture, I remembered a scene from Jesus’ life.  In John 11, we are told of a sorrowful situation—the death of Jesus’ friend, Lazarus.

In the story Jesus was surrounded by grief, complaints, anger, misunderstanding, confusion, accusations and unbelief.  Remember what Jesus said in the midst of this turmoil as He stood before Lazarus’ gravesite?  Jesus said out loud, “Father, I thank You…”

Jesus was not thanking God for the pain and suffering that everyone was experiencing, but Jesus offered thanks because, “…You have heard Me.”

What Jesus shows us is that even in our deepest, darkest hour, God is close and He hears us.  Jesus is not finished yet.  Jesus goes on, “I knew that You always hear Me, but I say this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

Just as Jesus repeats His message throughout this story, I am grateful that Scripture repeats itself in hopes that we too will hear the One who says, “I am the resurrection and the life.  The One who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die” then asks the question, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)

Our answer to Jesus’ question will give us the answers to the questions of thanksgiving.

Missions & Evangelism

I heard of a church who had a sign above their exit door which read, “You are now entering the mission field.”  I always thought that was good, but I’ve come to realize that mission work begins closer to home.

 God’s first mission is me.  I need to be evangelized. I need renewal and revival.  I need Good News in my life.  I need to enter into my “prayer closet” because I need to be reminded of the Presence of God in my life.

 Like Elijah in his depression (I Kings 19), I need realignment, recalibration, and readjustment to be converted, reconciled, and conformed to the Person and work of God.  Once I am in harmony with God, then I can “Go!” and be a missionary to my fellow workers, my family, and the Household of God.

 I don’t have to feel ready, sure or good about myself, but I do have to know what He says.  Once I am anchored in Him, I can leave my prayer closest and be a missionary in my home, at my job, and at the place where I worship.

 Everyone needs to be evangelized.  Everyone needs relief, comfort, and hope.  Everyone needs to hear that God loves them and that He is bigger than life (John 16:33) and greater than our hearts (I John 3:20).  Isn’t that Good News that we can share?

 

Languages of the World

We just finished our discussion on “Christian Speech” on Wednesday nights.  Dennis led our discussion and talked about how important our words are and equally as important, if not more, is our ability to listen.  In other words, the way we communicate is important and Christians are the means to bring God’s message to the world.

 Another idea that we could have discussed more is the Christian’s skill to learn and discern the languages of the world.  For example, I looked up “Yankee” on the internet because of my encounters with them and was curious as to how it was defined.  On one of the web site, this is what I found:

 To foreigners, a Yankee is an American.
To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner.
To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander.
To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter.
And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast

 I know this is far fetched, but to someone, I might be considered to be a “Yankee.”  Why is this important?  If I am having a serious and important conversation with an individual, I don’t want this perception to sidetrack me from addressing a bigger concern.

 When I first moved to Connecticut, and encountered a few Yankees and came to the conclusion that Yankees were rude, crude, arrogant, and loud.  In the culture that I was brought up in, this behavior was totally unacceptable.  How did I learn to understand and discern the language of a Yankee?  I married one.