Following Jesus Son of God …

Within all the insecurity of the financial markets in the US and around the world, I have found some true encouragement and peace.  I wasn’t really looking for it; wasn’t really expecting it; wasn’t looking for meaning or wisdom or for something to blog.  It just happened. . .this strange sense of peace that shouldn’t have been there.

I mean, it’s not like things didn’t bother me somewhat, but I just wasn’t afraid, and in fact, weirdly enough have been strangely comforted.

I don’t know how well I will articulate this but I have such a sense of the presence of God in all of this.   And as I work my way through this I also sense the voice of God, speaking to us if we win out over anxiety long enough to listen.  “I am here.  Have been, always will be, like forever.”

Can you see how little even the big people are?  We can run corporations and even countries but we are not in control.  We are not.

Okay, I think I am getting closer to clarity.

We are not in control which can be the scary part, if it were not for the way God can show us in the center of this how he is in control.

I think that’s it.  Nothing is secure apart from God; everything is secure within God.

It is like shake everything up and what is not moving is God.  Because everything else is moving, stock markets are bouncing up and down, gasoline is less than $3 a gallon, countries around the world are trying to rescue their banks. . .

But God does not have to call his broker, come up with a contingency plan, refinance, run out to fill up the car while the price at the pump is lower than it has been for months. . .

Nope.  God is God.  And we are people.  And if we can believe him, he will turn the picture frame right side up so you can see what is really going on.

Yes and amen!  God B. God!  Amen again!

Have you not been paying attention?

Have you not been listening?

Haven’t you heard these stories all your life?

Don’t you understand the foundation of all things?
(22)  God sits high above the round ball of earth. The people look like mere ants.
He stretches out the skies like a canvas– yes, like a tent canvas to live under.

(23) He ignores what all the princes say and do. The rulers of the earth count for nothing.
(24)  Princes and rulers don’t amount to much. Like seeds barely rooted, just sprouted,
They shrivel when God blows on them. Like flecks of chaff, they’re gone with the wind.

(Isaiah 40:21-24 MSG)

Here is one thing that will happen as you continuously read through the Bible, especially if you read through in different translations.

Familiar texts will sneak up on you.

You will arrive at this familiar text from another direction without all the usual layering which comes from our highlighting marks, underlining and notes written in the margin.  Not that this is always bad but all our previous notes are sometimes more like baggage than helpful insight.

Some of you, very possibly many of you, don’t want to hear this, don’t like to hear this, but it is true.

All that well-worn Bible shows sometimes is just a person who has worn multiple paths through their Bibles because they stay in the familiar.  And, yes, if I have not stated it clearly enough, I am saying that many of our notations, underlining and highlighting are more harmful than good.

Sure, it is easier to find “what we believe” in a particular text of Scripture, but wouldn’t you really prefer hearing the voice of God, seeing the text more as God has displayed it?

Sometimes my wife and I take rides in the country.  Sometimes we just take a random route, this way, that way, not caring really where we are going, just enjoying the scenery.

We did this one day and as we were driving into a town, I could not figure out where we were.  But it was a very familiar place to us.  We had been there many, many times; we just hadn’t come in from that direction before, and we saw it much differently.

I have done this in my Bible reading; seeing texts as I never had before because I didn’t have all the “markers” telling me where I was and what everything meant before I even read it.

Here are some examples:  The beauty of life found in the book of Deuteronomy.  Finally understanding what we call “the beauty contest” in the book of Esther actually is.  Jesus making wine at a wedding feast that could actually get people high.  Taking every thought captive in 2 Corinthians 10, not taking every “bad” thought captive as we were always taught.  Too many instances of this for me to remember.

But two things at least have to happen.  One, we have to read the words of God regularly, and listen and think and meditate.  We need a regimen that reflects our stated professions of how wonderful God’s word is.  And, two, we have to be willing to be changed, or “perish the thought” have our minds changed.

We need to do less studying and more bowing down, taking the words of God in as life.

And that is living.

You have heard the country song, haven’t you?  “She thinks my tractor’s sexy.”

Well, that’s what she said.  Kinda’.  My wife, I mean. Saw me one day on that big CAT Tonka toy and liked what she saw.

I thought it was pretty cool anyway, especially since we have both been around for over a half century now and have been married for over 36 years.

But she still liked the look of her man up there on that big, old tractor.  Actually, an almost new Caterpillar 980H loader.  I have to admit that I enjoy operating my dream machine, and my sweetie thinking I look good in that air-assisted seat is just icing on the cake, or gravy on the tators.

See ya’ll later now.  You hear.

Beyond Pretend Home

Check it out.

Thank you very much!

Okay, so I’m playing a little bit with Scribefire, which by the way, have I mentioned this wonderful firefox add-on.  This is a must have if you blog.

I am very impressed; just keeps getting better.

Learn more here:   ScribeFire

http://www.voidtools.com/

This is a search engine recommended in either pc mag or pc world; low resource usage; and fast, fast, fast.

Just start typing in whatever you want to search for on your hard drive and there it is.

I mean this little program is excellent; I have stayed away from the Yahoo and Google toolbars because there is too much added that I neither want nor need.

If you want an excellent search tool FOR FREE almost forgot to mention that. . .then go to voidtools.com and download “Everything”

So many times we ask God for wisdom concerning. . .

We want to earnestly to do the right thing, the profitable thing, the good thing.

So what if God answered every question?  What if he gave us specific direction on everything?

What if life never went sideways?

God, should I take this job?   Lord, should I buy my son a car?  If so, which car should I buy?  Father, should I take a few days off work?  God, should I talk to Mary about. . .?

What if every time we asked, God gave us detailed, specific answers and direction?

I don’t know that this would be so great.  Would it really be faith?  I mean, we would need to trust him to carry out the details but there would be no more wrestling with life, growing in our understanding of the misdirection of life.

It would be easier, but we wouldn’t really get a feel for life as God wants us to experience.  We can’t forget that we are sojourners.  There really is more and much of our struggling and groaning brings the work of God into our lives.

And I think maybe I am learning that God is much more patient with us than we realize as he has a much bigger picture in view than we do.

Doing the right thing in a particular instant is good; becoming a merciful and powerful child of God is better.

God’s mercy and grace, love and sovereignty all weave through our decisions in life.

And I honestly wonder if God is telling me to appreciate the journey more than I am, to give myself a break when I don’t make every exact right decision.

To give myself the leeway that he does.  God calls it mercy, grace and love.

Definitions for “leeway”:

Not sure where I picked this up.  I mean, I know Mom and Dad taught this, but I don’t remember a specific instance.  It was just always there.  Treat others with respect and care before God.  And I saw them live it out beautifully, very beautifully.

I remember getting spanked for teasing a poorer girl in our town about cooties.  Mom showed me her “disapproval” on that one.

We were around African-Americans very little growing up, but we would not dare use a racial slur or display any disrespect.  That is if you valued a pain-free backside.

So with this as a background. . .my other friend’s comment surprised me.

“You aren’t going, are you?”  He was referring to my other new friend Phillip’s birthday party.

I was just beginning the seventh grade.  We had recently moved to the area, and I had several new friends.

Phillip invited me to  his birthday party, and, of course, I wanted to go.

Then my other friend’s question:  “You aren’t going, are you?”  As in Phillip is poor and not popular and you don’t want to be associated with that, do you?

Sure I did.  Mom and Dad wouldn’t have it any other way.

 (Philippians 2:3-4) Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; (4) do not {merely} look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

(Matthew 3:3 GW)  Isaiah the prophet spoke about this man when he said, “A voice cries out in the desert: ‘Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight!'”

Okay, not as dramatic as John the Baptist.

But I am a voice.

And you are a voice.

Is anyone hearing God when we speak?

Do we speak for God, or even better, do we allow God to speak through us?

We don’t have to be that smart or wise or even that spiritual.  Just live God’s words, follow Christ, walk with forever in view.

And somewhere along the way, some other person will hear God speak.

Your physical equipment, your personality. . .God’s voice.

Zap. . .phzzzzzz.  .  .the light of eternity penetrates your workplace or school or neighborhood.

Because you were in tune with your Creator and Redeemer someone heard God.

Groovy!

(Ephesians 1:11 MSG)  It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living,

I recently installed the latest Mac operating system – OS X 10.5.4 aka Leopard.  Much of the OS X appeal is in its visually stunning interface and effects.  I am speaking of the “wow” factor.

Just as in the Mazda commercials – the “wow” factor.  The beauty, speed and power of a fine automobile, wow.

Or a new home, beautiful clothing, an exotic vacation, a fantasy adventure at the movies, trekking through the hills and hollers with thousands of trees providing a surreal canopy transporting you to a world within this world.

Being immersed in the huge flat screen mounted on your wall with 7.1 surround.

Your sports team, your new girlfriend or new guy.

Drugs, alcohol. . .whatever takes you away from the fallenness of this world and gives you even a glimmer of hope.

Whatever scratches the itch that there is more.

Some things inherently wrong, others only wrong because of the illegitimate focus.

HERE IS WHAT I AM LEADING TO.

The only true “wow” factor that does not ultimately finalize in disappointment and tragedy is the glory of God.

Such a seemingly stodgy term that we simply do not understand because we have shellacked it with so many coats of religion and personal preference that it is dimmed and yellowed, made finite and drawn to earth by people ways and thoughts.

And the glory of God can only be seen as God presents it on the canvas of eternity.

All this itching and yearning, legitimate and illegitimate, finds its roots in this craving for something that was taken away from us in the Garden of Eden.   We lost it at the very beginning of human history when Adam and Eve sought the “wow” factor in something other than God, when they thought something else could fill that craving for more.

Since Eden we have searched for something to fill the void but we are too far away for anything to last.

(Romans 3:23 BBE)  For all have done wrong and are far from the glory of God;

Our ability for ultimate fulfillment, to be wowed without eventual disappointment escaped us in the rebellion in Genesis 3.  Since then, as humans,  all we can get are glimpses, tastes, hints, guesses as to what might satisfy the soul.

The feel of leather seats and the responsiveness of a turbo-charged engine and a smooth 6-speed transmission, an illicit sexual affair, being transported somewhere by some good marijuana, drinking in the satisfaction of our accomplishments and possessions, a shopping spree, the emotion of a religious experience, being immersed in the latest tech gear. . .

We need to remember what God told the people of Israel to remember – not to forget him and his teaching when life got good (Deuteronomy 8.11ff).

But as the song tells us “only Jesus satisfies the soul.”

Only through Jesus Christ can we be back on track for ultimate fulfillment, only in God can we taste life that does not eventually disappoint.

One day we will be wowed before the throne of God, and we will sing with the angels.

I would describe this meeting with God, but I cannot.  We get a few words in Scripture that at best outline the events, but we are incapable of describing what is so far beyond us at this time.

What we can and must do, however, is live with that moment in mind.  This is living to the glory of God – nothing replaces the vision of satisfaction and pleasure of being before God and having done some things right in this life that please him.  Nothing replaces a walk of faith, trusting in what we cannot see, pointing to that time when we see God.

We can allow nothing that provides the wow factor now to supercede that moment, to cause us to be misdirected in our lives because we are not living and breathing the life of God.

We can enjoy many of the things of this life, but we cannot allow them, or the pursuit of them, to direct our attention and devotion away from God.

I hope I’m listening to this.

By the way, this is why our worship needs to be real and true and before the throne of God.