True Freedom?

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you."

- John 125:18-21

Jesus tells us that because the world hated Him, and because he chose us out of the world, that the world would hate us. Yet I look back over my life and I think about all of the time, talent and treasure I have personally invested in trying to influence and control how others have thought of me and I'm struck by how much of an offense that has been to God. It's as if I have said "I can walk in both worlds, even though You said I could not."

How much can my efforts impact how others think of me? How much can my efforts impact whether the sun comes up tomorrow, or whether the clouds will obscure the sun? The question now is what will I do moving forward? Is there a concern in me about how God Himself feels about me? Can I control that? NO! God has already decided that He is all-in with His Agape love for me. There wasn't anything that I did to influence that decision, nor could there be.

What a relief! What a lifting of burdens! The One who I should concern myself has already decided that He is all about loving me. I don't have to concern myself that His love is fickle, or that my actions could influence that love. In response to that Love, I can now be free to live in what Jesus means when He says "Maintain a living communion with Me, and I with you." (John 15:4, Wuest New Testament) I do not have to be afraid of God, nor do I have to be concerned with what everyone else thinks about me. Is that true freedom?

How about you?

• Do you spend your time, talent and treasure trying to control how the world perceives and receives you?
• Are you afraid of God?
• Are you hiding from the One who sees all outside of any constraints of time and space; the One who created you and knows you better than you know yourself?
• Is it time to refrain from dead works and let your true self be known?

What a great resolve for 2012.

This verse struck me today:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ - Ephesians 1:3 (NKJV)

I have every spiritual blessing (right now - the verse is past tense), and they are in the heavenly places in Christ. These blessings are, as we read this, in Christ. That means that when I am in Christ I have the opportunity to share and enjoy every spiritual blessing. What does "in Christ" mean? When I walk in His ways, doing those things that the Father does and saying the things that the Father says - like Jesus did?

The next verse that came to mind was this:

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. - Hebrews 11:3 (NKJV) I don't see the spiritual blessings that I have, but they exist in Christ, in the heavenly places. The spiritual blessings are not going to come about out of my activities (the things which are visible) but out of Christ - being and doing what the Father has for me to do, which is not visible - until I do them.

Okay...so what you might ask (and rightly so) "How do we live in the spiritual blessings in Christ in the heavenly places?" That was also my question, and this verse came to mind: - God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did - Romans 4:17b (NKJV) I believe God literally spoke the universe into being. (Gen 1:3, John 1:3, Heb 11:3 etc) and I think God is asking me (us?) to call those things that do not exist (walking regularly and daily in all spiritual blessings) as though they did. I think God wants us to speak His Word (yes, out loud) to our circumstances and create new realities (spiritual blessings) out of things not seen. It worked for Jesus in the desert when He was tempted by Satan...

Finally, if this seems too "out there" and perhaps unattainable, remember this: Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived. - 1 John 2:6 (MSG)

Summary

• I currently don't see "every spiritual blessing" evident in my life.
• Ask - "am I in Christ?"
• Call those things that do not exist (spiritual blessings) as though they did - in other words - ask God for the spiritual blessings to be displayed in your life, through you.
• Believe that those blessings will come from the heavenly realm - which you do not yet see
• Consciously try to be intimate with God - throughout the day and daily
• Live the life Jesus did...

What If?

I have a friend who is extremely funny. He makes me laugh when he imitates the voices of celebrities and includes current events and the topic of our conversation into his imitations. I have sometimes wished that I am as funny as he is.

I have a friend who is very bright. He thinks differently than I do about a variety of topics. He is much more analytical than I am. He can work in a level of detail that I simply cannot. Sometimes I wish that I thought the way that he does, or that I am as bright as he is.

I have a friend who is very athletic, even during middle age. He runs regularly, eats well and has recently lost about thirty pounds (and kept it off)! He is very disciplined in how often he exercises and what types of food he will (or will not) eat. Sometimes I wish I am in good physical shape like he is.

How about you? Do you see other people and wish you possess some of the best characteristics that they have? Do you see an attractive person and wish you had their good looks? Do you see an athlete and wish you could play the game the way they play? Do you see a singer and wish you could sing as well as they?

What about your skill sets? What about your strengths? What about your abilities? Have you considered that someone out there might be looking at you and wishing they could exhibit some of your unique abilities? Have you ever thought about that fact that God made you; that he made you just the way that you are - on purpose?

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. - Psalm 139:14a (NKJ)

What if you were specifically created to be where you are right now, for a specific purpose that God has ordained for you? Perhaps your skills, interests and talents were honed and crafted for such as time as this... What would change if you really believed that God made you perfectly; for a purpose?

Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you...” - Jeremiah 1:4,5 (NKJ)

God is not in heaven wondering "what exactly went awry when I made ____? It started out good, but then _____ happened and it got all messed up." Do you really think that God made a mistake creating you? That He gave you the wrong kinds of talents? That He gave you incorrect abilities? Do you think He somehow incorrectly measured your personality and gave you incomplete relationships? Is your view of God so small that these things are possible? That's similar to thinking that God's "recipe" for you is incorrect.

God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. - Romans 12:3b (NKJ)

The measure of faith He gave you is just right. The abilities He has given you...just right. Exactly right on your talents. Perfect and complete...In Him.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. - Philippians 4:13 (NKJ)

Give yourself a break. Take a look at your skills, your talents, your abilities. They are perfect for you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are not an accident. You are created for such a time as this. You are not weird or lacking in any way. You are extraordinary! God looks at you and says "I'm particularly fond of that one."

God is good. He's been good to you. He loves you and made you just the way that you are - for an extremely important role to play in His Kingdom. Don't look at others and wish you were like them. Thank God today for the gift that you are...just like you are.

Today's Observation...

Have you ever wondered why Atheists are so intent on proving Christianity to be wrong? Why is it that they spend so much time refuting someone they don't believe exists?

Do you find Christians writing books warning of the dangers of the Easter Bunny, and stating that believing in him would be 'psychotic?' I've yet to read a book written by a Christian author about Santa Claus who says that believing in Santa is 'fatuous' or would be 'nonsense.'

All of the examples I've written about above were comments about God written by noted Oxford atheist Richard Dawkins in his book "God Delusion." Why does he spend so much time refuting someone who he does not believe to exist? I'm just saying...

It's also fascinating to me to hear Dawkins speak about evolution and the 'choices' that evolution makes. Don't only people make choices? The aspect of 'chance' and time in evolution has taken God's place. What God used to do, now falls to randomness or chance. And they say that believing in God is nonsense...

Encourage Your Children to Try New Things and Yes, to Fail

Every parent wants the best for their children. We love our children and don’t want for them to hurt. As parents, we have experienced hurt in our lives and do not wish for our children to have to go through the same type of things we did or even different things. We don’t want them to fail.

When you hear the word “failure” what do you think of? Does the word 'failure' elicit a positive response or negative? Do you want to be associated with people who are considered failures? Do you want to be considered a failure?

Does failing elicit a response of shame from you? Are you ashamed of the failures in your life? Do you recoil inside yourself at the thought of the times that you have tried and failed? Shame says that you have failed, not just your action or effort has failed. It’s the personalization of the behavior into the totality of your person. Shame results in a personal loss of esteem or respect for you. Is shame your response to failing?

Do you look upon situations that come up in your life and decide that the possibility of failure is so great that you pass on the opportunity, even if that opportunity is a long-held dream?

Isn’t being considered a failure merely a matter of perspective? In the period from 1878 to 1880 Thomas Edison and his associates worked on at least three thousand different theories to develop an efficient incandescent lamp. At nearly any point along that timeline, someone could have described Edison’s attempts as that of being a failure. It has been widely communicated that Edison considered each of the thousands of unsuccessful attempts at finding an element for the light bulb as finding another way to not build a light bulb. He was not dissuaded from his belief that there was a successful material from which an electric light bulb element could be made and as a result, the electric light bulb. Thankfully, Edison did not think of his efforts at any point in the discovery process as a failure or we may not have the incandescent light bulb today.

Think of little Johnny who relentlessly wants to touch the grill while Dad is grilling. Dad tells Johnny over and over to not touch that grill, but Johnny seems undissuaded. What if Dad let Johnny touch the grill, just for a brief secpnd? Would Johnny learn that Dad wasn’t trying to keep him from the enjoyment of touching that grill, but from the pain? Has Johnny ultimately failed, or learned from his experience? Can we stop hovering over our children and allow them to fail in those instances where they will not by physically injured?

Many times, when we fail, we take a few steps back and regroup or retreat, often in those times that success is right around the corner. Often times we quit, in the face of success, which is imminent but unknown.

What if we took a different view of failure? What if we changed our view in the midst of our efforts from failure to not-yet succeeding? What if we taught our children to view failure as another way to not get something accomplished? What kind of things could our children learn? What could they experience as a function of the things that they tried? Could we grow a generation of children who viewed failure as a stepping-stone to ultimate success? Can we, as parents, not see our children’s success or failure as our success or failure? Could we let them learn from their efforts and not accept responsibility for their actions?

Does God allow His children to fail? The Bible states in Romans 5, 3-5 (NIV) that we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. God's way is different from our ways. We want comfort and ease, and that does not seem to be the path that God allows. He allows us to fail, as a way to realize our need for Him. Perhaps that pattern would be a good pattern for us to follow with our children, especially when we are there to help them to frame their setbacks, help them persevere, build character and develop the hope they will need to carry them through life.

I submit that we should encourage our children to try new things; to grow and yes, also allow them to fail. We could be there while they are still young and help them to re-frame their actions and encourage them to continue. We could reinforce that they have only failed when either they quit or they did not try at all. If we could do that for our children, think of what they could learn and how we as parents can affect not only their lives, but society as a whole for generations to come. Thomas Edison is our evidence.

Encourage your children to fail. It may ultimately lead to their success.

Prayer IS the Battle

I'm reading the new book on prayer by Philip Yancey. In the book, he talks about the prayer Jesus had in the Garden of Gethsemene. The comment was made that if Jesus was worked up enough to sweat blood while praying about what was going to come, what would He be like when the event actually happened? If He was freaking out then, what realistically could be expected of Him under the duress of the actual events?

Yet look what happened...Jesus was calm, cool and collected. He knew who He was, and what was expected of Him. He knew that He could call down legions of angels to His defense, but He did not. He did not defend Himself in the face of conflicting evidence. He settled the issue in prayer. He aligned Himself with His Father in prayer. ("...Not My will but Yours be done")

Look at what happened to the three who were with Him that night, but did not (or could not or would not) go to the extent of prayer that Jesus did that night. They weren't freaked out about the events to come. They didn't sweat blood in prayer that night. They were calm, cool and collected. What could one reasonably expect of them under duress (compared to how Jesus was acting)? One might expect them to be calm, cool and collected the next day, because they were in prayer, but that is not the case. All three of those present with Jesus that night fled in terror.


It seems to me that the battle was fought and won in prayer that night. The events the next day were the fruition of that prayer. Maybe it's time to view prayer differently... Maybe this is why prayer is so difficult for me. I don't see it as fighting the battle, I see prayer as a battle just to do.

Take a Vacation

"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10 (NIV)

I found out recently that the word "be still" has origins in the Latin which mean "to vacate." In other words, the verse could read something like the following (a Tex paraphrase)
"Take a vacation from you being God, and realize that I AM God"

This sounds a little like a parent speaking to a rebellious child. It sounds like me speaking to my children when I say things like "I know what you think you know better, but you don't."

As I stated this morning, being in an area in my life where I am not comfortable (or in control) is a struggle for me...yet these are the times that try me, and the times that God uses to guide me and father me and help me to realize that I can do and be more than I ever thought.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Believing that will allow God to father us without us fighting against Him.