I Hate Poetery

Seriously! Apparently any little one or two liner that comes to someone's mind...that doesn't even rhyme...they call it poetry and it kills me every time (hehe). I took a college class that focused on poetry and I hated every minute of it. But just a few hours ago, I stumbled on this verse in in Ecclesiastes (1:7):

All streams run to the sea,
  but the sea is not full;
to the place where the streams flow,
  there they flow again.

He's writes this to explain how lame can be. It's kinda like that hamster running in the wheel...going nowhere, but this time, even nature itself is doing the same thing. The crazy thing is that of all the streams feeding into the ocean...THE OCEAN IS NEVER FULL! Instead the water starts going down the stream, ends up in the ocean, it evaporates, and rains down right back into the flippin stream to do it all over again!

This really helps me understand how truly meaningless everything the world has to offer. We can fill ourselves up with video games, relationships, good times, etc. but when some time passes by, it's as if nothing really happened. We are no more "full" than when we started. Think about all the streams flowing into the ocean! We can try to get "full" from thousands of different sources, but none of them will deliver fulfillment. We will always be wanting more, probably thinking that the next stream is going to be the one.

For about 12 chapters, the author of Ecclesiastes, who by the way had all the wealth you could imagine, like 800 concubines (if you don't know what that is, look it up in the dictionary), and anything else one could have in the year 900 b.c. (they couldn't miss the x-box because it wasn't a twinkle in his mothers eye, but whatever they did have, he had it). But at the very end, I mean the very end of his little book, the author says something really bold. He says, "The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with​ every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Fearing and obeying God is the one thing that doesn’t just flow in and through you. Fearing and obeying God brings results, it fulfills, it lasts FOREVER. Forever is a long time away for most of us, but what do we want to do: continue trying to be filled up by the rivers in our lives, that only leave us wanting more? Or do we want to fill up from the Source of all that is good, from the One who said, “I am THE way and THE truth and THE LIFE?

Being Led and Actually Following

It's pretty clear that God's trying to tell me something specific. Last week I read through Romans which, at its center (chapter 8) has some of the greatest stuff in the Bible: If we live according to the Spirit we will desire things according to the Spirit, but if we live according to the flesh we will desire things according to the flesh.

Now this week I'm reading through Galatians and it basically has the same thing: "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another..." (Galatians 5:16-17).

This is messing me up! Right when I read this Galatians verse, I though of Holly's and my trip back from California (where we hung out with the coolest, oldest people in the world) and at one point, God made a thought enter my mind saying, "You should pray with your wife." I then thought that it would be a great idea to do that. Then...nothing. I began thinking about something else and shrugged off my thoughts of prayer. But here's the cool thing...literally minutes later Holly asked me if we could pray together!

It was at that point that I realized that I failed. God wanted to use me to bring my family before his throne and worship Him together, but I was not walking according to the Spirit. I kinda thought that I had been walking according to the Spirit simply because I had a good thought about praying, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Literally, my flesh set its desire against the Spirit...and my flesh won.

So, what the smack do I do now? Certainly, confession, repentance, and renewal are a part of it. James 5:16 says, "Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." In Luke 5:32 Jesus says, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance." Finally David says in Psalm 51:9, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me."

Repentance is great and all (I DID IT! if you went to CALM last Sunday, you'll get this :) but is there a way we can NOT sin; NOT be led by our flesh? In thinking of this, I think of an old Cherokee story:

A father was teaching his son about the two wolves that are in a battle over each man. One wolf is good and will bring a man honor. The other wolf is bad and will bring dishonor. To this the boy responds, "How do I know which one will win?" And the father told the boy, "The one which you feed."

Just like these wolves who are in a battle over every man, so is our flesh in a battle with our Spirit. Just as the wolf who gets fed will overcome the other, so also does the Spirit or the flesh overcome the other as we feed it.

More thoughts on God's will

I would honestly venture to say that God's will for each and every human life is to conform more to the image of Jesus Christ (Rom 8:29). If this is the case, then questions like, "Does God want me to go to this school or that school?" are not really the right questions. So when you find yourself in any situation where you're not sure what God's will is, here are some questions to consider:

Will option "x" increase my faith in God?
Will option "x" make me more loving?
Will option "x" make me more forgiving?
Will option "x" make me more humble?
Will option "x" make me more merciful?
Will option "x" make me more of an evangelist?
Will option "x" make me more bold?
Will option "x" make me more gracious?
etc.

Basically, because it is most definitely God's will for us to become more conformed to the image of Christ, we can say that whatever option we have that God can (and probably will) use to transform us more to the image of His Son is our best option and more often that not will be God's will.

Clearly this "formula," which I hate calling it, has boundaries. For example, it would make me more like Christ to stop world poverty, cure all diseases, encourage every believer, and still have time to watch The Office, Thursdays @ 9pm on NBC. But clearly, this is not God's will for me. There's no possible way I could tackle all of these in one lifetime. (I could however pursue one or more of these little by little)

The only thing that may be stopping us from finding God's will this way is that we don't fully know who Jesus Christ is, or maybe we forgot. Either way, READ THE GOSPELS! Be always finding out who Jesus is.

There's also another "formula" that can be included in the "conform-to-the-image-of-Christ" formula which I heard from a greatly respected pastor, Pastor Vance Pittman (if you ever read this, sorry if I butchered this...), who laid this out: when you have a word from the Word, peace about a future decision, when you have prayed (earnestly), and when situations align for a particular decision, then you probably have found God's will.

Did we all get that?

We must be in the Word; the Bible! if we want to hear clearly from God
We must have a "peace that transcends all understanding" (Phil 4:7)
We must be in PRAYER about our decision (Phil 4:6)
Finally, situations must allow for us to make the decision (1 Cor 16:5-9)

God works powerfully through each of these.

Led by the Spirit?

I’m still trying to figure out why Paul would write Romans 8:5-8 to “all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints” (Rom. 1:7). There is no command in Romans 8:5-8. It’s just an observation: “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.” To sum up the rest, a mind set on the flesh = death and is hostile to God and cannot please Him. A mind set on the Spirit = life & peace.

Maybe Paul said it because he wanted to encourage the Church in Rome. Later Paul tells them flat out that they are “not in the flesh but in the Spirit.” Therefore, they must have had their minds on the things of the Spirit. Right?

I’ve got to be honest. Although I place all of my faith, hope, and trust in Jesus and therefore know that He saved me from sin and death and has given me assurance of this by giving me His Spirit, I often times don’t have my mind on the things of the Spirit. How can this be?

On the other hand, it is very clear to me when I don’t live according to the Spirit. It feels like guilt. It feels like I’m out of place. Maybe, just maybe, could this be a mind which has been transformed by the Spirit? Could the very experience of guilt and misplacement before God be the Spirit inside of me telling me to come back to God? When I’m knee deep in my shame, and guilt has overcome me and there’s no where to go but to God, is that one way that God continues to show me His undeserving grace and mercy?

I can say this for sure, God’s love certainly leads me to repentance. And this is definitely a work of the Spirit. Nothing brings me more peace; nothing makes me feel more alive than unending, undeserving love, grace, and forgiveness.

    Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
        and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
    For the Lord is a God of justice;
        blessed are all those who wait for him.

                                                        - Isaiah 30:18

Halloween Caroling?

I've got to know what people think about Halloween Caroling. It sounds just at awesome as it does stupid at the same time! Check out some of the songs we could sing (or hum if there's no words):

This is Halloween by The Citizens of Halloween

Halloween (the movie) Theme Song

Thriller by Michael Jackson

The Devil Went Down to Georgia by The Charlie Daniels Band

The X Files Theme Song by 101 Strings Orchestra

Red Right Hand by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

God's will

It's always been frustrating trying to know or at least understand God's will. What am I supposed to do now? Where is God leading me? Do I choose this course or that course? Do I curse at my parents or just deal with it? (obviously the last one's an easy one :)

But what if these are all the wrong questions? What if God's will is sooo much bigger than any single decision we make? What if for every situation we find ourselves in; any opportunity that presences itself; every relationship we have to develop, God has one and only one will for us?

Romans 8:29 says, "[God] predestined [us] to be conformed to the image of His Son" (ESV)

Or as another translation says, "He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son" (The Message)

So, how can I be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ?

Maybe this is the one and only question; maybe this is the dominating will of God for every decision we make; maybe for every situation we find ourselves in; every opportunity that presences itself; every relationship we have to develop, God will for us is to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.