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To Know Him

Knowing God Post 6

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:4-5 

God is love.

In 1829 two men, robbed the United States Postal Service.   After a manhunt both were captured. Eventually both men were found guilty of six charges, and sentenced to execution by hanging, to be carried out on July 2,1830. The first man was executed on schedule, but the second man was not.

Powerful friends pleaded for mercy to the President, Andrew Jackson, on his behalf. President Jackson issued a formal pardon, dropping all charges. The president reduced the charges to a prison term of 20 years for his other crimes. Incredibly, the man refused the pardon!

When the case made its way to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice, John Marshall wrote, “A pardon is an act of grace, proceeding from the power entrusted with the execution of the laws…. delivery is not completed without acceptance. It may then be rejected by the person to whom it is tendered, and…we have no power in a court to force it on him.”

God who is love and is rich and mercy is offering us grace.  My friends we are guilty of sin.  The great teacher, the ten commandments, calls me to account.

1) “You shall have no other gods before me.”

2) “You shall not make for yourself an idol…” 

3) “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.”

4) “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…”

5) “Honor your father and your mother,…”

6) “You shall not murder.”

7) “You shall not commit adultery

8) “You shall not steal.”

9) “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor

10) “You shall not covet …”

Search your heart.  This is not simply about salvation though it may very well be.  Do not compare yourself to others but DO compare yourself to the King of Kings.  He sets the standard and calls us to demonstrate His love to others.  The body of Christ must repent from our arrogance and boldness in the sin that we do knowing that His love covers all our sins.  Turn to God and live for Him.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

1 John 1:8-10  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

The bottom line there are many different ways that I can break these commandments.  Sometimes I do so intentionally and other times I simply find myself doing them.  Regardless I need the Grace of God to be cleansed of these sins.  A constant prayer for this man of God is:

“Search me oh Lord.  Examine me in fine detail.  Show me ANYWHERE that I am falling short of Your ideal for my life.  Purify me from all sins.  I repent of my choices.  Turn me toward You every moment in every way.”

I know that God loves me no matter what, but I want to live a life that gives Him something to brag about.

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To Know Him

Knowing God Post 5

Psalm 36:5  Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,  your faithfulness to the skies.

As I look around the creation which includes culture and people in addition to the mountains, the beaches and all in between I see the love of a Savior that adores me.  He teaches me how to love my wife.  When I want to communicate to my wife that I love her I use flowers, chocolate, and words to express that love.  I wash dishes or make the bed or some other act to demonstrate that he means the world to me.  These are all the sorts of things Jesus created and does for us to share that He loves us.

Our Savior is always active in our world in order to announce that He wants a relationship with us.  It can be hard to believe.  But He loves me.  He is so far above me, yet He loves me.  I am almost breathless as I write this.  He is faithful to love unfaithful me.  He is the light that speaks into the darkness and offers an invitation to a new life.  It is in that moment where I have a crisis of belief.  I must decide if I am going to be faithful to His cal.  He has already decided.  He does not wait for me to be faithful. He is faithful to the outer limits.  I adjust my life to this call of love.  I love the difficult to love.  I love my enemies.  I choose the difficult right over the easy wrong.  Whatsoever He wants.  I adjust to Him; He does not adjust to my wishes.  This is how I can experience God.

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To Know Him

Knowing God Post 4   

Revelation 4:11  Because God created, he is the only one worthy of praise. 

Lest we forget.  In the middle of the Garden of Eden there were 2 trees.  The most famous of these two trees was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.  It was this tree that we were not to eat from and in doing so we were choosing death.  While not often considered, the knowledge given through the tree was not wholly evil.  Much of the knowledge was good.  But none of it was life producing.

The other tree we could have eaten from often referred to as the Tree of Life.  When we eat from the Tree of Life, we get life as God designed.  Life without sorrow, without death, without oppression or any other negative life event.  Life can be lived to the full with healthy relationships, healthy mind and body and healthy community development.

While there will come an opportunity to again choose in a similar vein, we can choose to eat from God’s Word daily.  His Word will sustain us and strengthen us.  It will give us a taste of life and hope.  Even today it can restore us to His design for our life.

Unfortunately, many today even within the church long to do things their own way and reject the way of the King. The tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is man’s wisdom, man’s ideas on how to live life.  Eating from this tree often seems good to us and may have some initial excitement, but always leads to hurt, pain and death.

Choose this day which tree you will eat from.  When you know Him, there really is no choice.  He is the only one worthy of praise.

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To Know Him

Knowing God Post 3

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

How much do you trust God?  For too many of us we give lip service to our trust.  We proclaim great trust when things go the way that we want them to go.  Athletes often praise God for wins and are silent in the losses.  Pastors praise God for the healing but are mute when the healing does not seem to appear.  When it appears that God is missing, we make excuses for Him.

Science works to make explanation and makes these powerful proclamations that they call undeniable truth that is overturned in the next generation.  Many fear the power of AI.  These powerful algorithms could be feared if people were predictable.  My experience is that people often make no sense.  Science says that smoking will lead to a whole host of health issues, yet people persist in their addiction and then are surprised when health troubles come to pass.  Somehow people feel that yelling will help them get their way.  My own body rarely makes sense.  I was hurt for no explainable reason and the evidence-based solution does not seem to work on me.  Others I talk to are also often confused by why life can be so hard and unpredictable.  AI will never keep up with the insanity of mankind, so I have little concern.

Our only real choice is to put our trust in the Creator who is at the beginning and the end.  He knows me deeply at a deeper than cellular level.  It is only the Creator who can repair me and bring long range healing.  If I know Him I can begin to trust Him.  If I can trust Him I know that I must praise Him with my whole being.  Let my voice present an offering of praise to the King of Kings.  Let my interactions with the lost draw people to Him.  Radiate my whole being like the face of Moses.  Build my trust.

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Setting the Captive Free

The church’s sign sits in a prominent location near the road where all those who drive by can easily read the message. The message this month reads, “We love hurting people.” What a wonderful message to send. If you are hurting, you will find love here. However, a different thought comes to mind. Some may read it as, “We hurt people, and we love that we do.” As I pondered this thought I began to realize the sign speaks truth.

Most of us do love those who are hurting. We genuinely want to help. We want to help those in poverty, in addiction, in the cycle – we love people who are hurting. On the other hand, our ideas and methods of helping is often not as helpful as we may have previously believed. Do we stop to consider the deeper questions? Will my $5 help this panhandler eat and be healthy, or will he be hungry again in a few hours? What if others are giving him money also? What will he do with the money? Will he use it for food or something else?

Will my paying for a hotel for the night benefit this person or will it create an unhealthy dependence? The hard truth is if I look at how I have “helped” people in the past, I realize I often did more harm than good. I didn’t ask good open-ended questions, I merely listened to the rehearsed story. I didn’t ask the tough but important questions about family, about previous employment, about friends, I merely listened to a rehearsed story and gave some money to “help” the individual and sometimes to appease my own ego.

Every time I give the money or pay for the hotel or simply buy the food without asking questions, I have fed into the problem. I have told this person they aren’t really worth my time, my effort, my relationship. Instead, I give money and I feel better because in the moment they feel better. Then I leave and do not think of the person or the consequences of my own actions and how it affected them. What if our handouts and providing hotel stay was causing a son or daughter to not reconnect with a mother or father who loved them? What if I’m enabling and not helping? What if my money was used to buy the “bad” drug from which they do not recover? Do I stop and think of that? Do you think of that? What if my refusal to hold a person (yes even a stranger) to some sort of accountability fed into a sense of worthlessness? When you and I just give a handout and do not ask for some sort of exchange, we tell an individual they have nothing to offer. They are worth only a handout. They are not worth believing in. Just writing those words sting! I love people. I want to help them, but I must be honest with myself. At times, I have not helped at all. Sure, I fed a meal; I gave a coat on a cold, winter’s day – but I didn’t really help the person. I didn’t ask questions? I didn’t build a bond. I didn’t provide an opportunity for them to earn their coat and they are left feeling as though they have nothing to offer.

Yes, the sign is correct, “We love hurting people.”

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To Know Him

Knowing God Post 2

      Genesis 1:31 God created and it was good.

 

For six days God unleashed the power of His creativity.  He set the earth and the heavens in place.  Look at the multitude of colors and shapes of his creation.  Systems were launched that have been running flawlessly ever since.  Look at the diversity of His creation.  Mountains, valleys and deserts were all made by the same awesome God.  When all was in place, at some point on day six after creating the last of the land animals, He unleashed His greatest masterpiece.

My friends, you are that masterpiece.  All of the rest of creation He simply spoke it into existence.  When He made man and woman He did so with His own hands.  He breathed the breath of life into them.  He made us in His own image and set us in the Garden of Eden where life was perfect.

On this side of the fall, it can be easy to dismiss the Garden.  There is so much in our world that seems far from perfection.  But that is not how it was supposed to be.  God created and it was good.  Your deepest inner being knows this but we have forgotten.  I encourage you to dig it up.  Take time to memorize the three verses below to force your heart and mind to meditate on the goodness of God’s creation.  Rediscover who He is.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”  Psalm 19:1

 

“Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” John 1:3

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

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To Know Him

Knowing God Post 1

 Psalm 104:1-20 (104:5)  He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved

Many in our world, even in the church, attempt to build a sense of stability in their lives in things of this world.  Among the problems with this is that there is not even one created thing that is permanent.  These things that we depend on for a moment of peace and pleasure are all passing away.

The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:17

In other words, if I trust in this home to make life stable and then there is a disaster that takes out my home my whole life is suddenly destabilized.  My emotions, my work, my family and pretty much everything that I hold dear becomes part of this challenge.  Trying to take on the rest of my life will be difficult because my stabilizer is gone.  However, what if my center is found in the Creator who set the Earth’s Foundation?  The same disaster comes after me.  With my feet on solid ground, I can take on the difficulties the storm of disaster has taken away from me.

My friends, for too many people we put our attention so much on the temporary that we fail to focus in on what really matters.  When I focus on the temporary and make them my god, I do not have the energy or desire to deal with the problems of my world.  However, when I make God my sure foundation and my one hope there is a sense of peace and stability that is unparalleled.  Seek to know God.

Of course this does not mean that there are not storms.  Some Jesus will calm, others He will allow us to endure.   Start with this foundational truth.  God is always with us.  When I don’t know what to say or do, He is there to lead me and guide me.  He is my hope when it feels like my heart I broken.  He is the shelter in the storm.  He is also applauding as I come through the storm stronger and more like Jesus than before.

Try this exercise this week.  Imagine that you have lost everything in your world.  Home, family, job, clothing, and all of those precious treasures.  Create the picture clearly, feel the emotions of the loss.  Then look around.  What did you leave out of the exercise?  There is likely some relationship or favorite item that you failed to put into the fire.  Then turn to God.  Look at Him and thank Him that He is all that you need.  When you really know Him, that will be enough.

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Setting the Captive Free

Setting the Captive Free (So you call yourself a Christian)

    “So you call yourself a Christian?”  The voice of the very high and very angry young man hits my heart like an arrow.  Perfectly aimed at my own insecurities.  “Well, I love Jesus.”  That was my best answer.  I had been accused multiple times of not being a Christians because I do not give them the answer that others want to hear.  If I don’t do what they want, I must not be a Christian.  Being a Christian is actually doing what Jesus wants me to do.  He is my master and not the guilt or shame of who I help or don’t help.  I get the accusation from other social workers, churches, and even pagan government officials.  I hear the question from those that are stealing, lying, or living out some sort of heinous sin.  Why do all of these people go for the jugular like that with such ease.  Many making the accusations don’t go to church, have never read the Bible, and could not pray their way out of a wet paper sack.  Yet the accusation still stings.  “Well, I do love Jesus.”

    Many years ago, Jesus rescued me from a life that was badly spinning out of control.  He first stabilized my life and then he helped me build a solid foundation.  Today He continues to build me up into the image of Christ Jesus.  I am a follower of Jesus.  Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination.  I work to love the lost, the hurt and desperate.  I love them enough to tell them to speak the truth in love.  Sin imprisons, sin kills, sin destroys hope.  Love sets free.  Love brings life, love creates hope.

    Today God might use me to speak truth into your life.  When I do it, it might sting a bit.  It might downright hurt.  But if I do not do so, if I disobey the Master our of fear of your judgement, I am not a Christian.  If I tell you the truth in love than the answer to your question is, “Yes I am a Christian.  Do you want to be one too?”

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Setting the Captive Free

Setting the Captive Free (Creating Heroes)

And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.  1 Samuel 22:2

     Today we would look at many of those that are poor and experiencing homelessness in much of the same way that we would look at these men.  These hurting and outcast men were drawn to David.  They were not good wholesome men.  Yet they were drawn to this man who was reported to have a heart like God’s.  These men were not drawn to a church service or a program.  They were drawn to a man who loved God first.

    This is a man who worshiped with his whole being.  When was the last time that you totally and completely gave yourself over to worship.  On at least one occasion his wife was embarrassed by his energy and enthusiasm.  Most of us check the box.  We sing a few songs. More accurately we lip synch a song or two.  If we are lucky we might clap or join in on the chorus.  But do we worship freely and with all of our heart.

    This was a man that was not held back by fear.  Most men that I know are owned by fear.  The more successful often the more fear.  Of course they are afraid they have much comfort to lose.  But David risked it all for the Kingdom of God.  Raising the sheep while not pleasant and often had its own downsides as all jobs do, was predictable.  There was nobody coming and giving him grief over estates or burning his cousin’s field.  No tempting women bathing on rooftops to lead a man astray.  But David took the risk.  He battled the lion, the bear, Goliath and countless armies.  David fought.  He was not a wimp.  He was a man of courage and boldness.

    This was a man who was flawed but knew how to repent.  His mistakes are historical facts that tarnished his overall record.  His sins cost him peace, cost him family and even cost him his own ability to confront sin in his own family.  But he strove to make things right.

    This man drew the outcasts to himself.  He does not look at them that way.  Instead he worked to help them transform into the men that God called them to be.  That would be the Mighty Men that we hear more about later in the scriptures.

     My friends the men and women who are currently our outcasts (the homeless, the addicted the returning citizens) they all have potential to be mighty men or women in our communities.  They can thrive but only if we help them to see themselves as something more than losers, addicts, felons or the like.  When you give them handouts you are treating them like people to be pitied.  Raise them up and offer them hope and let them know that your help is dependent on them coming out and becoming a part of the community where the give and take, strengthens us and empowers us to become better.

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Setting the Captive Free

Setting the Captive Free (Garbage)

Garbage is strewn all over the place.  Discarded, feces-stained clothing is scattered in assorted places.  What must be a case or more of water bottles some half-drunk are crushed and also part of the clutter.  Discarded dirty blankets are wind-blown around trees and cigarette butts both tobacco and marijuana are piled high.  Beer cans and hard liquor bottles decorate the landscape.

     Archaeologists that might stumble on this many years in the future would find the remains of canned goods, junk food wrappers and more.  Those experts would conclude that this location was an ancient trash dump from 2023.  In their attempts to learn about the inhabitants they would conclude that the people of this era were unhealthy and careless with their belongings.

    A week prior this was a thriving homeless camp.  It was filled with men and women that want to live lives on their own terms.  Though the community has a shelter that can provide for their needs they are trapped by their own addictions and rebellions.  They don’t like rules.  Ironically the camp also has rules though few are expressed.  Don’t steal from me.  Don’t lie to me.  Don’t tell anyone where I am, among others.  For the members of this camp the uber eats and free clothing supply has dried up.  Rumor has been received from the local do gooders that the members of this camp have been shoplifting at the local stores and driving away customers by pan handling in front of local retail shops.  Without unquestioning support, they had to move to another community and begin all over again.

    Meanwhile in a local church a small group is sharing the statistics.  “This week we were the hands and feet of Christ.  We gave out six cases of water, twenty meals, 10 blankets and the list of benevolence goes on.  When asked about outcomes they continue to list the outputs of meals, blankets and more.  No one asks if the “help” was in the eternal best interest of these campers?  No one asks if the “help” prevented these men and women from addressing their addictions or mental illnesses.  Nobody asks if the “help” was an actual long-term benefit to them.  Most telling is that nobody on the distribution team can tell you anything about these men and women.  They do not know their name, nor their story, nor their dreams.  After the report the church claps wildly for how loving and generous this church is and they go out to eat and give a sparing tip to the servers.  Nobody has changed.