Ask the Pastor – Just for YOU!
Hi, I’m waiting for you to send me a question about life, relationships, faith–you name it! This is called “Ask the Pastor–Just for You!” because it is.
I’ll be checking in regularly to see what questions you have. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Hi to all who have been reading the Bible with me over the past couple of years! As you have noticed, this year did NOT start out with any posts regarding the daily Bible readings. That’s because we are going to be launching a new through the Bible reading program at New Life (the church I serve as lead pastor) in the fall of this year (2020), and I don’t want to lead people though the first eight months of the year, and then challenge you to STOP reading and join New Life with the new program.
If you want to continue using the daily Bible summaries as you read through the Bible again this year, I would suggest you simply go back to the archives on January 1, 2019 and work your way through again. Another great idea would be to use the YouVersion Bible App, which has hundreds of Bible reading programs for you to use. I love YouVersion, and one of my favorite through the Bible programs they have is Professor Horner’s Bible Reading. It is an 8 month reading program rather than a full year, but what I like about it is you read from 10 different books of the Bible every day. When I first tried it many years ago, it was challenging. I thought it would be impossible to read from ten different books at one time, but it turned out to help with my overall understanding of the Bible once I had done it a few times.
I hope you will come back, because I’m going to try something new: Ask The Pastor – Just for YOU! It starts Monday, January 6, 2020. I hope you’ll join me.
In Hosea 5, the LORD pronounces judgment against both Israel and Judah for their “whoredom.” Again, the image that continues throughout the book of Hosea is the LORD as the faithful husband, and Israel and now Judah as the unfaithful wife, who have become prostitutes through their worship of idols. In His judgement, the LORD says at first, He will be as a moth and mold that will rot the nations, but then He turns to a much fiercer image: He will be a lion that will tear apart these nations.
In Hosea 6, we find the people of Judah and Israel do not repent. The LORD says they are like Adam who turned away from the LORD. Indeed, at one point we are all like Adam, but we must repent and turn away from our sin, because only then will we be restored. One of the most powerful statements in the chapter is this: For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offering. Hosea 6:6 (ESV) Hundreds of years later, the Apostle Paul would remind us in his letter to the Ephesian church that when we trust Jesus and grow in our maturity in His Spirit we speak the truth in love, precisely what the LORD wants from His people!
Hosea 7 continues the pronouncement against Israel for relying on other nations rather than their LORD. He compares them to a “cake half-turned,” or “half-baked.” They have no sense, they lack understanding, and they certainly lack the steadfast love the LORD requires. We see the nation is heading to destruction and continues in willful disobedience of their LORD.
As we return to Mark 9, we find one of the most incredible moments of Jesus’ life. He takes Peter, James and John up on a mountain and there, His appearance changes and He is visited by Moses and Elijah, two of the greatest men of Jewish history! Peter was so overcome by the experience, he suggested they make tents for each of the three, presumably so they could stay on the mountain top (literally) and relish the experience. But as with all of life, the mountain top experience didn’t last. They had to return to the valley. On the way down, Jesus told the three not to tell anyone about the experience until He had risen from the dead. They didn’t understand what He meant at that moment and wouldn’t understand until Jesus rose from the dead!
Once back in the valley, the four came upon the other nine disciples attempting to cast a demon out of a boy. They were unable to do so, so the father asked Jesus “if” He were able to do something. Jesus picked up on the “if,” and said all things are possible for those who believe. He then promptly healed the boy. We find Jesus disturbed, probably angry at the situation, because of the nine disciples’ inability to do such a “minor” act, and also see how powerful the Kingdom of God is when it breaks into our world. After this event, Jesus tells the disciples once again He is going to be crucified and rise from the dead. This time the twelve argue among themselves about who is the greatest. Jesus brings a child to the center of the group and points out this is the stuff of the Kingdom of God: being like a child.
As the chapter concludes, a couple of the disciples tell Jesus they found someone casting out demons in His name. They had told the man to stop, because he was not “one of them.” Jesus said not to stop anyone who does such things, because whoever is not against us if for us. This is an important principle. At times we find others whose group or theology might be different from ours, but if Jesus is their LORD and they are doing works in His name, then they are on our side. Finally, Jesus gives a warning about any who lead His “little ones” to sin. While the term “little ones” includes children, it includes all of us as we see from Jesus’ use of the word in other places. To Jesus, we are all “little ones,” and each of us is precious to Him. What a great blessing and comfort to know each of us is Jesus’ “little one.”
Having just completed Job, as we turn to Psalm 5, we see King David held the common view of his day that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. Job reminds us this is not always true, though it is generally true. King David calls on the LORD to remember his righteousness, and to judge his enemies’ wickedness toward him. We can do the same in our lives. The LORD’s code of justice is consistent and sure. As we call on the LORD to judge those who have hurt us, we have an additional step to take, because of Jesus’ coming in our lives: we are called to forgive our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. The principle of the LORD’s justice remains, and in addition to it we have the principle of forgiveness. King David understood forgiveness. As we’ll see when we get to Psalm 51, in particular, David knew his own need for forgiveness and called on the LORD for it. Yet, at other times, he was more likely to lean on the LORD’s justice than to ask for the LORD to forgive His enemies. That will always be our tendency. Forgiveness is the higher calling.
Psalm 6 finds King David crying out to the LORD for protection and deliverance from his enemies. This is no mild petition as he tells us he has cried out day and night and his couch was wet with his tears. David was going through a time of deep pain and affliction. But in the final verse he acknowledges the LORD will ultimately vindicate him. This is a common aspect of David’s psalms of lament, or psalms in which he begins with a strong cry to the LORD concerning his despair, his being abandoned, his sense of hopelessness. While many psalms start with this tone, nearly everyone ends with an affirmation of the LORD’s faithfulness, or an affirmation of praise to Him. As I was reminded many years ago in seminary, “Hopeless is not a Christian word.” While King David lived long before Jesus walked the earth, He, too, believed hope was the final word, because He believed in the goodness, faithfulness and steadfast love of the LORD.
In Psalm 7, King David cries out to the LORD to vindicate his righteousness, to examine his life and to judge the wicked. This is another common trend in the psalms, particularly the psalms of David. He asks the LORD to look into his life, to examine it for sin and fault and to judge what he finds. David does acknowledge the need to confess our sins in this psalm, and David’s process is helpful: Live in righteousness; confess our sins when we fail and receive God’s restoration.
Psalm 8 is a “creation psalm,” which means it offers us a picture of God’s majestic creation. Indeed, it starts with the words, “O LORD, our LORD, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens!” As the psalm continues, King David wonders at this reality: as wonderful and majestic as the LORD is, He has set humanity at the pinnacle of His creation. He has made us a little lower than the angels! That is an incredible reality. We aren’t divine. We aren’t majestic, and yet the LORD regards us so highly–amazing!
As we return to Matthew 26, it is the final “countdown” to Jesus’ crucifixion. Indeed, Jesus starts the chapter by telling His disciples He will be arrested and crucified. The events of the chapter are extensive. They start with a woman pouring an expensive bottle of perfume on Jesus, which starts a major discussion among the group. Some were upset at the “waste” of money, but Jesus made it clear the woman’s action was one of great love and sacrifice. It would be remembered throughout history, and it has. Judas left the group to conspire with the religious leaders to betray Jesus. Then the group celebrated what we call the Last Supper together. During that time, Jesus told the group one of them would betray Him. Each wondered if he was the one. Then Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper by reinterpreting the Passover meal as a time of remembrance of His establishing a new covenant between the LORD and people sealed in Jesus’ own blood. After the meal the group sang some hymns and went to the Mount of Olives. There, Jesus told them they would all desert Him. Peter promised he would never leave Jesus, even if it meant going to prison or death. Jesus told Peter He would deny Him three times. After this, Jesus told all the disciples to pray, and took Peter, James, and John to another place apart from the rest and asked them to pray for Him. Then Jesus went and prayed by Himself with His Heavenly Father. The gist of Jesus’ prayer was, “I don’t want to die on the cross, but if it’s Your will, then I’m ready.” After praying He returned to the three and found them sleeping. He roused them and told them to pray again. This sequence was repeated three times. Then Judas came with soldiers and they arrested Jesus. One of the disciples cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, but Jesus put a stop to that approach. He was arrested and taken for a “trial,” by the Jewish religious leaders. They had bribed false witnesses to testify against Jesus, but they couldn’t get their testimonies straight. Finally, Jesus was asked if He were the Son of God and said He was. This was all the religious leaders needed to condemn Him. Meanwhile, Peter had followed Jesus at a distance and was waiting outside with others. In the next period of time, a servant girl and others accused him of being one of Jesus’ followers. He denied it–three times. At the third denial, he remembered what Jesus said and went out and wept bitterly.
This rapid sequence of events to us, must have seemed like an eternity to Jesus. He knew He was heading to the cross, and we know from His prayer in Gethsemane He wasn’t looking forward to it. Jesus’ agony in the garden was not because He was afraid to die. He tells us in the Gospel of John that is why He came. He knew He would die, but the agony was caused because He knew He would be enduring the sin of the world on the cross, which would separate Him from His Heavenly Father. We cannot imagine such a situation, but we benefit from it infinitely. Jesus exchanged His innocent life for ours, and as a result, we are freed from sin and death now and forever! No wonder Jesus called the new lives we receive from Him being “born again,” in John 3. The change is so dramatic and so radical, nothing else could describe it.
1 Kings 21 offers us another example of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel’s evil. Ahab wanted a vineyard that belonged to a man named Naboth. The vineyard was close to Ahab’s palace and he wanted to turn it into a garden, but Naboth wouldn’t sell it, because he didn’t want to sell his family’s inheritance. Ahab went home and went to bed without dinner, pouting because he couldn’t have what he wanted. When Jezebel came in and saw Ahab’s actions, she asked him if he wasn’t the king in Israel? In other words, “Why not take what you want?” Jezebel went behind Ahab’s back, and had Naboth falsely accused before the elders of the people. His punishment for blasphemy against God and speaking against the king was to be stoned to death. After Naboth was dead, Jezebel took the vineyard and gave it to Ahab. As Ahab was looking over the vineyard, the LORD told Elijah to go and pronounce condemnation on Ahab, and on his whole family. When Ahab heard the judgment, even though he was the most wicked of all Israel’s kings, he repented. Because he repented, the LORD decided not to carry out the judgment against Ahab’s family until the time of Ahab’s son. We see here, God’s judgment is always tempered by His mercy. This is an important reality for each of us, because we all stand under God’s judgment, but in His mercy, He forgives us when we repent and return to Him.
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1 Kings 22 records the death of Ahab. It starts with Ahab allying himself with King Jehoshaphat of Judah to go to war against Syria. Before the battle, Jehoshaphat asked Ahab to consult the prophets. Ahab’s court prophets predicted victory in battle for Israel and Judah, but Jehoshaphat asked whether there was a prophet of the LORD who could be consulted. Ahab responded there was one, but he never prophesied anything good to him. Nevertheless, the prophet who was named Micaiah the son of Imlah was called. At first, he told Ahab victory would be his, but Ahab told Micaiah to tell the truth. At that point Micaiah told Ahab he would die in the battle and the army would be scattered. Ahab rejected the prophecy and had Micaiah placed back in prison until he returned. But Ahab didn’t return. He planned to trick the Syrian army by having Jehoshaphat dress up in his robes, while he dressed as a common soldier. The plan didn’t work. When the Syrians started chasing Jehoshaphat, he cried out, and they realized it wasn’t Ahab. One of the Syrian soldiers shot his bow “at random.” The arrow hit in a space between the sections of armor Ahab was wearing. He was mortally wounded and died later that day.
We also read a brief account of what Jehoshaphat did as King of Judah. He was a good king as his father Asa before him. He reigned 25 years in Judah, and we’re told the only thing he didn’t do as king that would have made his reign better was to remove the “high places,” where idol worship took place. Most of the good kings of Judah failed to eradicate false worship from Judah, and that would eventually be part of Judah’s downfall. At the end of the chapter, we’re told Ahaziah reigned in Israel after Ahab died. His reign was short, only two years.
As we turn to Matthew 5, we enter a section of the book known as “The Sermon on the Mount.” It includes Matthew 5-7, and is the longest extended section of Jesus’ teaching in any of the gospels. In it, Jesus sets before us the ethics of the Kingdom of God. As we read these chapters, we find ourselves thinking, “No one can do all this.” That is the conclusion Jesus intended for us to draw. To live out the Sermon on the Mount, we need the power of the Holy Spirit, a power which is available to all who trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Chapter 5 starts by telling us Jesus climbed up a mountain and his disciples followed Him. Once He arrived at the top, Jesus sat down and started teaching. His first teaching is what we call “The Beatitudes.” They are called that, because they pronounce blessing on those who carry out what we find. Jesus starts by saying those who are poor in spirit are blessed, because theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. To Jesus’ listeners, this would have been confusing. They would have thought the Kingdom of heaven belonged to those who were strong or rich in God’s Spirit. Jesus was pointing out we never seek Him or His Kingdom until we realize our own lack of spiritual growth, health, or strength. Each beatitude progresses through the development of the character necessary to be a citizen of heaven. Jesus pronounces a blessing for mourning, being merciful, being meek, being peacemakers, being pure in heart, and for suffering for righteousness sake, and ultimately for serving Jesus. The rewards for such behavior are great blessings.
The next lesson in the chapter is we are “the salt of the earth,” and “the light of the world.” Salt and light were vital in Jesus’ culture. Salt preserved food, healed wounds and added zest and flavor. Light made it possible to see in the dark. The spiritual character of salt and light are obvious, and Jesus told us when we display these character traits, people will see them and give the glory to God, our Heavenly Father. Jesus goes on to tell us He didn’t come to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them. His constant battles with the religious leaders of Israel could have led people to conclude Jesus was against the Law. He was not. He was for the fullness of the spirit of the Law being lived out in our lives. Jesus went on to illustrate His point by reinterpreting the commandment against murder, to include being angry with others; the commandment against adultery, to include mental acts of lust; and Jesus forbade swearing oaths, calling us to say a simple yes or no when we need to make a commitment. Jesus also spoke about “turning the other cheek,” and “going the second mile” in our lives. Jesus spoke in both figurative and literal terms here. His point was our righteousness must be based in our relationship with Him, and not in a cold carrying out of long lists of do’s and don’ts found in the Bible. Jesus called us to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and in the end, to be “perfect” even as our father in heaven is perfect. Of course, we cannot fulfill these new commands without the Holy Spirit working in and through us. Jesus knew that, and yet He gave us these instructions, before He died and rose again. As we read them, we ought to think, “I could never do that!” How can we avoid being angry with others, or thinking lustful thoughts, or be perfect? Short answer: We can’t. Not unless we have the power of God living in and through us. Thankfully, that happens when Jesus becomes Savior and Lord in our lives. Only then do we have His Spirit in us, and only then can we live out these commands victoriously!
[NOTE: For those who are continuing the 1-year Bible reading plan we started on April 1, 2018, just go to the end of this entry and you will find the Day 331 – 1 Corinthians 7-9; Matthew 18 summary!]
In Deuteronomy 30, God anticipates a day when the Israelites will turn from Him. He tells them even then if they will return to Him, if they will choose life and good over death and evil, He will restore them. Consistently through the pages of the Pentateuch, we find God giving choices to individuals and to the nation of Israel as a whole. The choices are always simple–not always easy, but always simple: choose life and good over death and evil. The reason the choices are not easy, even though life and good, are simple choices over death and evil, is death and evil often come wrapped up as if they were life and good, or at least as fun and enjoyment. I’ve always said if sin felt like a root canal, no one would sin. But sin often feels good in the moment. The Israelite nation and individual Israelites found this to be true throughout their history, as do we as we attempt to follow Jesus in the 21st century. The lesson we learn in Deuteronomy 30 is God is gracious and forgiving, so when we discover our bad choices and repent from them, God is there to take us back!
In Deuteronomy 31, Moses tells the people he is about to die, and God is replacing him with Joshua. This is made known to all the people, and Moses tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. (We will read these words again at the beginning of the Book of Joshua. The qualifications Joshua needed as Israel’s new leader were strength and courage.) In the remainder of the chapter, we read of God telling Moses the people will turn against Him and go “whoring” after other nations. God uses the image of sexual immorality and unfaithfulness for Israel’s breaking of faithfulness with Him. That tells us how intimately God thinks of His relationship with us. God tells Moses the words He was writing in this account would be a testimony against them. Once again, we are reminded how often words from the Old Testament hold truth for us. As we read these words, and all the words of the Bible, we are reminded how often we have been unfaithful to God. Indeed, we’re reminded throughout the Bible there is no one righteous not even one. Thankfully, the Bible also proclaims God’s grace and forgiveness from cover to cover. Without that truth, we all stand condemned and separated from God, but we have the truth of God’s grace and forgiveness along with the reality of our sin, and thus can always move forward in hope.
Deuteronomy 32 is known as “The Song of Moses.” It is a poignant combination of recalling God’s faithfulness to the people of Israel, and their unfaithfulness to Him in the past as well as their coming unfaithfulness in the future. When the song is complete, God gives Moses the opportunity to climb a mountain and see the Promised Land, but that is as close as Moses gets. His time to die has come, and he is reminded one more time, his unfaithfulness at Mariah was the reason he didn’t get to step foot into the Promised Land. After all Moses endured with the people of Israel, after all the times he interceded for them before God, it can seem a bit unfair that he didn’t get to go into the Promised Land. That’s because we would be comparing Moses’ faithfulness to the people of Israel. By that comparison Moses was “holy.” But God compared Moses’ faithfulness to Himself, and by that standard, no one is righteous. God is always just in whatever judgment He pronounces against us. Thankfully, His judgment is so often tempered with mercy.
As we return to John 3 for a second look, we see the extent of God’s mercy: He sent Jesus to die in our places. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin, so great is God’s love for us. All He calls us to do is “believe” in Jesus. This believing is no mere assent to the truth that Jesus is our Savior. It is an “all in” commitment to trust Jesus in every area of life, to surrender to Him as Lord. As the Israelites were unfaithful, even in the midst of God’s miraculous intervention, so we can be unfaithful even with God’s great demonstration of love through Jesus. The key is to repent when we sin, and to pray for God to deliver us from temptation so we might not sin. As the Apostle Paul will remind us in Romans, “How can we who died to sin continue to live in it?” Choosing life and good is always best for us. It is always simple, but not always easy. That’s why God’s grace and mercy abound. It’s also how we can live in victory in the midst of so many temptations to death and evil. God’s grace and mercy in Jesus provide us the power of His Spirit to overcome.
Day 331 – 1 Corinthians 7-9; Matthew 18
1 Corinthians 7 offers us the Apostle Paul’s “short course on marriage.” His bottom line is: Jesus is coming soon, so it’s better if you don’t get married. He then goes on to talk about those who are already married, those who are married to unbelievers, and those who aren’t married, but are going to sin if they don’t get married. In it all, Paul tells us if we get married, we “will have trouble.” Paul’s honesty is always apparent, but never more so than in this exposition of married. Paul gets quite practical in saying that a husband and wife are not to deprive each other sexually. He says that a believing husband or wife “sanctifies” their children. He concludes by once again reminding us that being unmarried assures of having more time and energy to focus on serving Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul deals with a matter that was quite important in his day, but not so much in ours: the eating of food sacrificed to idols. While the situation is different, the principles involved are instructive. Paul starts with an overarching principle: Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. In other words, we can become proud when we put the pursuit of knowledge before our practice of love. In the pursuit of truth, we must never forget to live it out in love. The next principle is: Don’t do anything that will cause a weaker brother or sister to stumble. In Paul’s day when a believer ate food sacrificed to an idol, a weaker brother or sister could see that and assume it was okay to not only eat the foot, but worship the idol. In our day, an example might be consuming alcohol. While there’s nothing wrong with having a glass of wine with a meal, or a beer while we watch a football game, a weaker brother or sister might see that and assume it’s okay to consume alcohol in excessive amounts. Having worked with so many people who are in recovery from the abuse of alcohol and other drugs, I maintain Paul’s advice and don’t consume alcohol at all. I don’t want to be a stumbling block for them, and I want them to know someone who goes through life voluntarily without using alcohol. While each of us will apply these principles in different ways, the key is to help those who are “weaker” to become stronger in their faith, by the way we live out our relationship with Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul offers a defense of his ministry. We don’t have the letter the Corinthians wrote to Paul, but he is defending himself from those who attacked his integrity. First, Paul offers a defense of his “right” to be paid for his ministry. He offers a number of examples of why he holds the right. But then he tells us he didn’t exercise the right. He didn’t receive a salary from the Corinthians. He paid his own way. Then he talked about his methods in ministering to Jews, Gentiles, the weak, and others. His method was to become like them to the degree he could to win them to Jesus, but he would not break the law of Jesus in doing so. The model is so important and so powerful. We must always become like those with whom we are ministering to the degree we can without sinning, to bring them to the Lord!
As we return to Matthew 18, we find the disciples arguing over who was the greatest among them. Jesus pointed out this was the wrong question to ask, because in Gods Kingdom the greatest are those who serve the most, those who are like “children.” Jesus then went on to warn us against causing others to sin. He then told us how precious we are to God by telling the Parable of the lost sheep. Next, He told us how to address those who have sinned against us. The method put simply is confront in love and call the brother or sister to repentance. Finally, Jesus offers an extended parable about how God shows us His forgiveness and expects us to forgive others. The parable ends with a strong condemnation of those who will not forgive, because of how much God has forgiven us.
Those of you who read my blog may be wondering whether the big 6-0 did me in, because my last post was on my 60th birthday, which was nearly a month ago. The reality is life has been piling on over the month of June, and I’m acknowledging now, what has already been true: I’m taking a break until September. Given a brief vacation upcoming in July and then a twelve day missions trip to Cambodia to follow, the remainder of the summer will be full.
In the meantime, I’m going to make a diligent effort to upgrade both the content and the distribution of Helping Leaders Lead Better, so it will be worth your while to join me on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays starting Wednesday, September 6, 2017. The focus will still be on church leaders, but as always best practices in leadership are transferable to all leaders. I am simply being practical in resourcing the group of leaders with whom I have the greatest affinity and the most in common.
God’s blessings on your July and August! See you in September…
As I reflect on the last week of my 50’s–and I’m now down to the last two days of my 50’s–the most significant development of this decade for me has been what happened during my spring retreat this year in early May. I’ve already recounted some of the impact from the retreat, but the most significant lasting aspect of that time, and one that is going to last into my 60’s in a powerful way, provided God gives me time in my 60’s is the reality that when Jesus told us we must “lost our souls, in order to find them,” and the necessity of “taking up our cross daily” He was talking about the daily necessity of “crucifying” our souls-our minds, emotions and wills–and letting the Holy Spirit “resurrect” them. I got this truth from Watchman Nee’s book The Normal Christian Life.
It has made such an impact in a short time. Over the past month, during my daily prayer time I have told God, “I lay my soul before you–mind, emotions and will. Crucify them so I will live in the power of Your Holy Spirit and not in my own, selfish will, feelings or intellect.” I don’t say it in exactly those words each day, but the point is I want God to be in charge of my mind, emotions and will, and not me. As I read and reflected on Nee’s point in The Normal Christian Life that each of the gospel writers records a different moment and context when Jesus told us we must lose our souls in order to find or save them, I realized He had understood a powerful, biblical concept I had somehow skipped over all these years. The reality in my life has been an understanding that the world (or I) have no need of my best, whether it be the best of my brain power, or the most passionate of my emotions or the most determined set of my will. What I need and what the world needs from me is to submit my brain power, my passion and my determined will to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Only then, does God’s will and purpose get done in and through me.
If we are going to be the best leaders we can at home, in the church, out in the world, wherever we’re leading, we must offer the folks we lead God’s best in us. God doesn’t want to wipe out our personalities, or our intellect, our emotions or our wills. God wasn’t to empower them in ways we will never accomplish apart from Him. Dr. Dick Eastman mentioned that a Korean pastor who toured the United States some years ago, visiting many of the larger churches was asked at the conclusion of his tour, “What did you think?” The pastor replied, “It is amazing what the American Church has been able to do…without God.”
Whoa. When I heard that I thought, “How often do I do something ‘without God,’ that is without submitting my soul to Him?” I am quite careful to pray before I preach, while I prepare messages and studies, and yet many times I was asking God to “baptize” my efforts, my study. The goal is not to empty our minds and not to study, not to work, but the difference I’m talking about is confessing to God that nothing good starts in or with me. My mind is always going to be tainted with sin, with selfishness, with a motivation to put me in a good light. Only when I offer my mind up to God, when I “crucify” it can He “resurrect” it through the Holy Spirit’s power and use it to His glory.
This change of emphasis has brought about such significant changes in just a month, that I list it as the most important development of my fifties. On a daily basis, I have been learning what it means to live with the Holy Spirit not just present but in charge of my soul. Do I fail at keeping Him in charge? Definitely! I am at the “conscious learned” stage in the process of learning to live with the Holy Spirit resurrecting my soul. (If you’re not familiar with the four stages of learning they are: 1) Unconscious unlearned (you don’t know you don’t know something.); 2) conscious unlearned (you know you don’t know something.); 3) conscious learned (you now know the information, or the process, but you have to think to implement it.) and; 4) unconscious learned (you can access the information or implement the process without thinking about it.) That means I need to think often about whether the Holy Spirit is in charge of a mental process I’m using to prepare a lesson, or a blog post, for example. One day, I’ll move on to the place where the Holy Spirit is guiding my soul without much conscious effort.
As you go about your day today, stop to consider whether you have given the Holy Spirit permission to guide your mind, emotions and will. Have you “crucified” them, lost your soul to use Jesus’ term, so that you can find them in Him? This is a crucial question, and makes incredible difference in how we approach nearly everything we do. That’s why I list it as the most important learning of my 50’s. I hope you learn or have learned it much sooner in your life.
Here’s to leading better, by taking the time to give the Holy Spirit control of your soul–today! (and everyday!)
It’s Memorial Day, the day we take time each year to remember and honor the heroes who gave the ultimate sacrifice, so we may enjoy so many amazing freedoms. Having visited a number of countries where the civil liberties most Americans take for granted are non-existent, and having seen the impact of not being able to gather public to worship, or to have a part in electing the leaders who govern, or to have ample supplies of food, housing, and other necessities of life, Memorial Day means more to me than it did as a child. Then it was just a day off school, a time to get out the boat for the first time, and have a picnic. Now, I’m reminded thousands and thousands of men and women from the 1700’s to our current day have given their lives as part of the United States Military in order that we might enjoy such experiences.
When I think of Memorial Day, I always think of one of my Mother’s cousins, whose name was Joe. Joe served in the army during the Viet Nam era. I remember seeing him after he had served his third tour of duty there. During his second tour, the jeep his was riding in had been hit by some type of bomb. The impact of the experience was visible when Joe wore a short sleeved shirt–there were “craters” in his arms where muscle had been ripped away by the shrapnel. Joe’s hearing was impaired greatly by the concussion of the bomb. In truth, Joe ought to have left the army with a military discharge after his recovery. But Joe convinced an army doctor that he was fit to serve one more tour. Joe wanted to go back, because he believed in what we were doing, believed in providing freedom not only for Americans, but for as many others as we could.
You may disagree with the purpose of the Viet Nam conflict. You may believe we ought never have been there. What you cannot do, is disagree with the degree of commitment and sacrifice of men and women such as Joe, who have given their service and their lives for us, for their fellow Americans, who they believed had the right to disagree with what they were doing, and were willing to die to maintain that right. As followers of Jesus, we may fall at any point along the spectrum from pacifists to militarists, but wherever we fall on the spectrum, I hope we understand love and commitment. If you’re prone to cynicism and you’re thinking, “Many of those people who died were there because they were drafted, or because they volunteered, and it was just a job for them.”
The thought holds truth, but even those who were drafted or who volunteered for a job, who died in action still gave their lives rather than run away from the obligation. I find that honorable and commendable. That’s why I welcomed the opportunity to say something about those who served during our worship services this weekend, and to offer a prayer of gratitude to God. It’s why I was glad to pause for a moment of silence at last night’s Pittsburgh Pirates game, when the announcer encouraged us to do so, and then to sing God Bless America. I recognize my first citizenship is in heaven, but as the New Testament reminds us many times we are to obey the governing authorities. My secondary citizenship as a citizen of the United States of America is a blessing that provides many opportunities the citizens of other nations only dream of having.
I hope you, too, have taken or will take a moment to remember those who served and gave their lives that we may have the freedom to express our opinions on anything and everything. God’s blessings on those whose families live with the loss of loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us.
Here’s to leading better by taking time pause and thank God for those who make it possible for us to live and serve Him freely–today!
Staying with the theme: Gleanings, as in ideas I gleaned from my retreat last week, today’s comes from the old expression, “Plan your work and work your plan.” The point of the statement is when we take the time to plan before we start our work, the work will be more effective than if we just have at it. One morning as I sat with my planner, thinking about what I was going to do that day, a thought came to me: If I plan “my” work and work “my” plan what in that statement has anything to do with God? If I’m a leader who follows Jesus wouldn’t it make more sense for me to to rely on God in the planning?”
As I thought about it, I played around with the wording until this sequence came to mind, which is actually a prayer: “God plan my work, and I’ll work your plan.” Immediately, it made sense. Yes, I’m a leader, and yes, I need to have a plan for my work in order to be more effective, but I want it to be God’s plan. The other advantage is it brings prayer to the planning process. Each day when I sit down to start my work, after my morning prayer time, I look over my schedule and calendar and offer the brief prayer, “God plan my work, and I’ll work your plan.” It’s making an impact on my focus. While I typically plan my week ahead on Saturday afternoon, I offer the brief prayer before that, and then each day.
I’ve never really been a great planner. I’m an activist and I want to get right to the work, but reminding myself to give God my schedule reminds me it’s His work I’m doing, and He has a better plan than I do. Maybe you already invite God to plan your work, but if you don’t I commend the idea to you. Taking the time to pause and get God to coordinate your efforts is a great way to focus your day on Him. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Here’s to leading better by taking the time to invite God to plan your work–today!