Learning How to Love

One of the beautiful things about life is the change we can know inside-out as we allow our outlook and actions to be bettered by what we experience. Someone said reality checks never bounce. I wish this were true for many; I believe when we fail to profit personally and love more fervently for the things we encounter in our lives, the reality checks of life do bounce.
Our relationships are the context in which we learn to love. Our friends provide us magnifying glass vision into the sinners we are, showing us how bent we are on ensuring things go our way. Later when we marry, our spouse gives us microscope vision into our tendency to return love rather than show it regardless. If that's not enough, with the coming of children we're provided electron level vision into our selfishness-our commitment to personal comfort.
With children comes to privilege to really engage our need to love as a matter of choice. My children are easy to help in some ways but difficult to nurture in others. They are a case study in love; it's easy to like them on the ways they enrich my life and frown on them for the inconvenience they often bring. I'm learning more that the thrill and tire of child rearing is GOD'S way of really training me how to love. My Blaise is quick to say thank you, you're welcome, give loving head leans and wet kisses. On the other hand, he hates to listen and is as stubborn as a mule-he will not be denied what he wants. He is such an opportunity for me to learn what love means. Love is a beautiful choice that looks beyond the seen, choosing someone-not just the the good they do. We choose to love others for their place as heirs of the image of the Eternal. My Coen has such a huge heart-he's always concerned that daddy's okay, not used or taken advantage of-he has no greater joy found than in hugging me and playing with me. Yet, he questions everything and can win every argument. He will not rest until he's proven his case. I've learned that the seeming stubborn bents of both of my boys are beautiful. They are God's preparation of them for the difficult days they'll encounter ahead. Their strong love and innate stubbornness will help them bide difficult people and desperate times. I can say that my opportunity to be woven into their lives has been a wonderful case study in what it means to love.

A Traveler's Guidebook 2

Israel-Israel's leader Joshua- had done the unthinkable. Giddy from the splash of victory they'd experienced  ambushing Ai; Joshua fell for the Gibeonites' disguise and went into league with them. Israel would now serve the needs of the Gibeonites. Joshua's failure to tap God's guidance before making a monumental decision brought both baggage and setbacks in Israel's Canaanite conquest. You'd think this was the end of the story; but our failings are new beginnings in God's mind. For this horrible day of neglect was the backdrop for a day like no other in Israel. Disobedient Joshua would say, "Sun, stand still!"; Israel would wreak havoc on the enemies before them and in the countryside of Canaan. God, Himself would give a glimpse of future Revelation judgment, raining down big hailstones on Israel's foes as they fled by Beth-Horon. God prides Himself in His speciality. He sees us not for our failings but for who we are-family. As a good Father, He delights in giving us good for our evil. It brings Him no greater joy than to enlarge our lives with blessing, when we least deserve them. Know this, that though your choices matter to God; ultimately, you matter more to Him. You are His delight, for you've entered His family by trust in His Son. We're never truly worthy of the favor He shows.  Every good thing given from above is given in spite of us and not because of our good performance. Mercy is yours today as well. Don't focus on your personal unworthiness but rather His worth and His way with His children. Hallelujah! 

A Traveler's Guidebook 1

Traveling is challenging. It's hard to decide what to bring and what to leave. Baggage weighs you down as you travel just as leaving essentials  brings regret later. Israel had just conquered Ai after first losing 36 men battling Ai because Achan coveted. As they moved forward some men, who seemed from a far country met them and lured into agreeing not to hurt them, when Israel failed to seek God's counsel in the matter. Soon, Israel discovered they'd agreed to protect their neighbors, the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites proved to be added baggage for Israel as they traveled forward. When we neglect seeing and seeking God's face and channel His wisdom before making life decisions, we too will find our bags get heavier than they should be-we'll be weighed down as we travel. Israel would not only have to fight for the Gibeonites but they'd have the added burden of having the Gibeonites in house for years to come. Travel light today by tapping God's word for guidance and strength. Extra baggage does not make for carefree days.

A relationship like no other

God's raising Christ from the dead was His way of saying, "I am God and I approve and accept not only the sacrifice my Son gave in dying, but also all who trust Jesus' sacrifice alone as their only all-access pass into the family of God." I hope you've been adopted into the most wonderful family on earth, the family of God. Begin a relationship with God if you haven't-today!

Uncovering the heart behind Jefferson Bethke's controversial words

I'm so happy Jefferson Bethke has come clean, apologizing for his rap, which downed hypocrisy in religion. Because of my experiences with people steeped in tradition, defined more by their religious practice than their relationship with Christ; my initial response was Amen to his between-the-lines cry for real religion. I agree with what he sought to promote, a heart Christianity, which shows itself in a life of integrity. We need be careful to live by the religion of the heart, a growing relationship with Christ.
1. Our outward show of Christianity needs to be the kind that draws others to Christ, not ourselves. 
Christ performed miracles and received worship but lived to be in His Father's presence. His miracles were a mere medium to help others, not help himself to their praise and adulation. The moment we become so sold on our brand of Christianity that we exclude others, failing to live inclusively within the body of Christ, is the moment we placate others within the body, not winning the world by our love.
2.  Our purpose must be to bind the broken and guide the blind.
Christ priority was the real physical needs of people. Yes, men roamed without Shepherd; but His first concern was showing he cared. As His heart for them became evident, He felt permission to speak words of salvation to them. There were times when His way with people way outside this grid; for example, his dealings with the woman of Samaria, who he dealt with sarcastically before bringing her to the realization that her needs were met in Him. But Christ's way generally is caring words, helpful deeds, before transforming message. It's high time we take great care to spread love in and out of the household of faith, so they may know and experience Christ by our love.
3. We need to speak clearly especially when we cry against hypocrisy.
Christ was radical, calling out pretense in religion. Five of the six types of Pharisees were the false kind, who were privy to his words of judgment. Steeped in tradition, a far cry from the giving life, He lived by; Christ excoriated the Pharisees for their white-walled religion. He spoke lucidly decrying their practice of faith to the exclusion of possessing true faith. It was their show of God, without heart for God that compelled Him to cry against their virtueless religion. Jefferson's cry and the outcry of many against his plea for true Christianity reminded me much of the angst Christ encountered as He seemed to belittle the very religion the Pharisees practiced; Jefferson's heart is pure gold and his words have already  bettered our church's teens. Where Jefferson failed I believe is in his use of the word "religion." The more we decry  "religion" rather than promoting the worth of true religion: the more we'll turn the unreached against the idea of religion in any form, even heart religion, a real, transforming relationship with Christ that helps others in Christ's church and touches the broken in society at large. 
God heart is that we be clear LED light, which radiates through our planet with the life of Christ. To be a light to others is to expose their darkness too. God help us be clean as we live in true union with Him, manning Christ's mission well, not bringing offense to the cross by our conduct.

Tebow: Religious show or Da Truth

So much to muse on this week but the Tebow phenomenon is the topic of choice. Living in a world of self-made men, where God's name is given voice to appear humble when victorious; Tebow is a great cup of tea. With Tebow, God isn't a genie in a bottle or frosting on the cake-God is life and victory for him. Tebow has a deep realization that his time in preparation and prowess as a football player are just part of his fulfilling his life purpose. His life is for God's glory. Admittedly, his praise song singing and open prayer seem ostentatious and better done in private; but the truth is Tebow does those things for him, more than he does it for us. The praise songs lift and lighten his spirit; prayer clears his head. Many criticize his show of faith, but Tebow needs to do what helps him succeed. I think the reason his overt, righteous ways don't sit well with us has to do with the failures of many who have worn their religion on their sleeves. I believe Tebow's rise is not on accident. His Justin Bieber-like peak has placed God front and center-for all to see. The transforming impact faith can have is evident to all and more importantly, many are forced to consider just how different their lives could be for placing their faith in God's power. I thank God for the impact of Tebow's life, more than his show of faith. I understand that were he not willing to show his Christianity; God wouldn't be the talking point of the world right now.

The Fear Factor

The images that rise when the phrase "fear God" is raised aren't the most accurate. The fear of God is actually the Christian's secret key to wise, fulfilled living. In Exodus 9:9-18, Moses knew the rich reality of what it meant to be in the very presence of God. He went eighty days needing neither food nor water on Mt. Horeb; God spoke to him there as man speaks with man-His revelation, The Ten Commandments. If Moses could comment on His time there with God. I believe He'd say that he felt at ease in God's presence but a little on edge for having tasted of the greatness and grandeur of God. To live in God's fear is to live awakened to the reality that this world is God's space, He sees all, knows all, and is never fooled. It's to live changed by our place in God's space. Our change begins with the revelation we receive for understanding His fear. The everywhere, at every time picture of God we glean leaves us transformed and transported into holy living. His fear makes for remedy it brings us clear vision, it's a place of provision. His fear also makes for rest, for with God on our heart's throne, our cares are as good as owned, we cast them on Him, He cares for us. No better place to live than in Godly fear.

Great prayer

“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one's heart, it's pleasures, and it's pains, to a dear friend. 

Tell him your troubles, that he may comfort you; tell him your joys, that he may sober them; tell him your longings, that he may purify them; tell him your dislikes, that he may help you conquer them; talk to him of your temptations, that he may shield you from them; show him the wounds of your heart, that he may heal them; lay bare your indifference to good, your depraved tastes for evil, your instability. Tell him how self-love makes you unjust to others, how vanity tempts you to be insincere, how pride disguises you to yourself and others.

If you thus pour out your weaknesses, needs, troubles, there will be no lack of what to say. You will never exhaust the subject. It is continually being renewed. People who have no secrets from each other never want for subject of conversation. They do not weigh their words, for there is nothing to be held back, neither do they seek for something to say. They talk out of the abundance of their heart, without consideration they say just what they think. Blessed are they who attain to such familiar, unreserved intercourse with God.”
Francois De La Mothe Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambrai

Celebrating my Odessa; we've had a wonderful wedding anniversary

How I love you, for trusting that time and God's plan would weave you together with me, hand in hand
How I love you, for waiting the winding moments through, knowing in time I'd be with you
How I love thee, for pushing aside other options, you loved me alone, saw the day of our nuptials
How I love thee, for daring to seize this clergyman's hand, embracing a future precarious, precipitous, others-centered and grand
How I love thee for resonating a joy that's in reach, you happy hurting hearts with your laughter that heals
Your simplicity yet self-belief allow you to spread healing 
On considering other options, you gave alone gave my life meaning
Your kindness and innocence separated you from the crowd
You will to see His face, be a mirror of God
Your life gives a sheer glimpse of joy lightening duty
You do your work with head wit, but heart grace is your story
As a mother you transfer an in-touch picture of God, above yet in reach, He's a God we can hold 
You lighten the lives of those, meeting yours lost in their shadows 
You pour healing oil into their murky mud puddles
You immerse me daily in your radiant, sweet smile, you add luster to my life through the madness of life's miles
You simplify me in my sophistication, ease my frustration
Run me playfully through our house, tickling me till it hurts
You encourage me each moment with your heart that believes 
You trust in our future, you believe God is for me 
Your passion to live true to His change in you is infectious
As others follow, they'll glow as they relish His radiance
A life, aglow and alive, you luminesce His love
Your hearty, rich life is a gift from above.

Un-Complicate through contentment to seize the season

Christmas time is a period of paradoxes. What we thought would happen didn't; what did happen surprised us. God made Christmas a time to reorient us and reaffirm His way, where we live with the needs of other as focal, not our own. It's humorous that many times the costliest gift brings the least pleasure; the most fun toy gets ditched for its packing box; we get greater joy from giving to others than from receiving the very things we relished. I believe God meant Christmas to be a time of contrasts. This time makes us understand what God deems important. In short, Christmas is meant to simplify our lives. By year end, we tend to become more demanding and more complicated. You may notice that with each passing Christmas, things go more and more not the way we planned. God's great concern is that we live our moments with preparation but with simplicity. Because He knows how prone we are to pride and over-sophistication; He ensures things don't go our way again and again to keep us filled with child-like glee and grace over his surprises, wholly content with a life of trust in Him. It's amazing how better we're able to relate with others and rain happiness  into their lives by choosing the causeway of ongoing transparency and simple beauty. God appeared a Babe, a lesson in contrast. A Babe, a little boy-talk about burnt expectations. Through the Babe, the One depending on a 13 year old for His very livelihood, we gain a pixilated picture of the life God intends for us. We need never grow out of walking with God for our existence, joy, fulfillment, and our needs. The moment we start holding our own is when God moves to empty our life fridge, forcing us to trust Him implicitly to provide our need. Un-complicate is God's call; allow the disappointments and surprises of this season to place you in the fetal position, dependent on God, alive only through total trust in Him.

The designated gift wrapper and Gift who made all the difference

In every family, there is one special agent who has the title "designated gift wrapper." In my family, I've achieved this rank through no merit of my own but by God's grace. Seriously, if my wife could she'd buy gift cards only as presents and make me wrap my own, pysch?! An earnest look above through the mirror of The Book displays heaven's designed wrapper Christ, coming wrapped a Babe. He came to experience humanity in its gain and pain. Yes, He came to bear the mockery and reproach of false friends, to shoulder the load of human failure-past, present, and future; but in His heart He had to experience life first as a helpless, blissful baby. Christ was the only designated wrapper and Gift (don't try this at home) worthy to die in our stead and give life eternal. He came on His own-a Baby-knowing apart from His Gift man would stand bare and broken before God. His Gift was accepted by the Father so that our trust in Him, the only worthy Gift, would guarantee our acceptance into a living, transforming relationship with God, let it begin, let it begin... Take time today and tomorrow to thank Him for trading the red carpet treatment of heaven for life as a fugitive for most of His earthly pilgrimage. His miracles may have made for fleeting rock-star status with the masses; but with the "well-churched"  Pharisees He was still enemy One. His time as a baby turned quickly to  the blood, sweat, and tears of forming followers as He  poured Himself into His chosen twelve. His status marginalized Him from the masses, prodding Him to prayerfully minister to His heartbeat, Israel, you, and me in solitary retreat. He contemplated Calvary more than ever as His status made for more alone time with His Father. He truly experienced life in  its highs and lows. He came a willing Gift but experienced life its full fury to rescue a sinner like me. Now, knowing our pain He remains the Gift that keeps giving, empathy-infused and focused on filling our needs. I trust you'll either begin a relationship with Him or continue to know the encouragement which follows our knowing He knows our pain,  lived it, and is capable to carry us merrily to Glory on eagle's wings. Merry Christmas, my glass is raised to your having a dream-drenched, prayer-bolstered new year. 

Winning World War Me starts with me and continues only through the support of others

Life is designed to help us lose confidence in our power to live it on our own. At the saddle of our lives is Christ's rightful place, where He leads and moves us into the more He has for us. At Massah and Meribah, God allowed the parched throats of the children of Israel to help move them past their quarreling unbelief into quiet confidence in His care. Later, when fronted by the children of Amalek; they would come to terms with their primary struggle in life, overcoming their own sinful flesh, a lesson pictured in the battle which ensued.
It turned out that whenever Moses raised his hands, Israel was winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, Amalek was winning. Exodus 17:11 (The Message) 
We're powerless to win World War Me, without our hands and hearts raised to God in prayer, heart expectation that God will move to meet our needs. Israel pummeled Amalek when Moses' hands were raised to God in trust. Interestingly, Moses was unable to keep His arms raised to heaven for help by himself. He needed the support of those near him, because prayer is not mere preparation for the battle, it is where the battle is won. Winning World War You begins with our prayerful trust in God's power but continues only with the prayerful support of others woven into our journey as our trust wanes weekly. Scripture teaches that our daily victory is a team effort, we need others believing God with us for what God alone can do. How imperative it is then that we live with hand and heart raised to God, believing Him for grace to live above our sinful inclinations. But of greater importance is our need to surround ourselves weekly with a core of Christ followers, who rally  us to remain confident in God's power to live the daily victory in His plan for us.

It's all in your perspective

The challenge of living oft times is keeping the right perspective; as perspective is ultra-important to a painter, it is essential as we seek to live life in the equilibrium God's ever-present Spirit provides. Israel's journey into freedom from Eqyptian captivity was nothing short of a roller coaster ride as is our lives. Leaving Egypt, Egypt knew exhilaration as they left with much loot; their new iPads, Kindles, and XBoxes reminded them God cared enough to provide their needs and wants. But without warning, in the shadows were 600 of Pharoah's elite warriors huffing and puffing and ready to return Israel to slave labor. Quick to complain, they decried Moses for robbing them a better burial place, saying Egypt had enough fair-sized cemeteries. Why did he have to play with their emotions, giving them false hope of freedom as two million strong they neared the moving waters of the Red Sea. Their move from renewed faith  to primal fear was spawned by their failure to remember the One behind the different seasons of their  lives. God would mercifully move them beyond the boundary of the Red Sea, burying Pharoah's faithful behind them. Again, they knew exhilaration; but a lesson unlearned is a lesson to be relearned. Soon they neared Marah and felt the parched dry of life in the wilderness. When they reached for water they found it bitter. In God's plan they experienced the flip side of exhilaration-exhaustion. Marah waters were bitter; soon the thirsty turned angry, blaming Moses, the religious way to blame God. At Marah, they'd learn a timely lesson, for the stream that was bitter was made better by a tree, when the tree was placed into it. Calvary's tree is where we find renewal, for there our perspective is enlightened and we view life for what it is a beautiful roller coaster ride with highs and lows designed to make us a people of Spirit-infused equilibrium. God is behind your journey. With this perspective even your failings will make sense as you feel what they've made you. I hope this encounter with God takes you from wandering and worry to wistful trust in a God, who hand-crafted your destiny before you were a thought. To make you all you can be, He has to invade your life with blessings and burdens to better you. Know that Marah is just part of the dessert road to Elim. After Marah's lesson, Israel would know rest and renewal at Elim where water was bountiful and jacuzzis plenty. Bear your Marah today; find glee as you ride life's roller coaster, through exhilaration, exhaustion, and all in between. God is at the engine of our life, engineering you through your experiences. Your perspective of your life means everything; it'll determine your disposition through plenty, through pain. 
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 NLT

Recovery re-imagined transports us to Christ's empty tomb with 3D glasses

I've woken today to the wonder of what Christ's resurrection means. True it is the season where we remember His coming; but in His coming we find the seed of His giving, enabling life. Christ gave Himself once for all; His death on Calvary was a forecast of His resurrection to come, for the God-man could not be held by death. When He rose from the dead, the gateway to personal recovery was opened for all see, feel, and relish. Scripture helps us re-imagine recovery through God's eyes. God's road to recovery begins in our choice to stand broken by the cross then run strong in the unchained power of His resurrection. It's time we re-image recovery. All of us find ourselves held by chains. Whether we're floored by pride or personal excess; Resurrection Road is a throughway we must traverse weekly if we're to live free from what easily binds. A ready view of the resurrection proves life-altering and empowering. By its nature, Christ's resurrection was immediate and transforming. The stillness of death was lost in the untethered brightness and true Glory of God, alive. Everything changed when Christ rose alive. The church would find its fuse to turn a stone-hearted world upside down; for the the curse of death was reversed as Christ knew restored life by fulfilling His Father's mission. 
As Christ's living His Father's mission was a guarantee of favor and power: your living your Father's mission is a grant of favor and power in your living. Faith alone in the resurrection power of Christ is a sure pathway to recovery today. As Christ stepped from death's darkness into the excitement and expectancy of the coming Church Age;  we must step out of darkness into the new beginnings in God's choosing for us.  Each step down Resurrection Road begins with belief in what Christ did, which bears further down our road to recovery. As we feel the story of how Christ's trust in His Father's mission raised Him to new heights of life and restored glory; we'll feel our potential to relive that power daily. The resurrection power of Christ is our only sufficient reserve of strength and grace to walk in victory. When we lose sight of this all-important reserve, choosing instead to man life on our own; our strength fails and we're reduced to reliance on His resurrection power, which alone can save. Will you begin broken at the cross then feel Christ's quality life replace your lostness as you choose to live again.

The good, grateful life is God living through us

An honest appraisal of the lost and  Christian world leads us to a sad realization. Many roam as strangers craving release.

and say to him, 'God, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you with this message, "Release my people so that they can worship me in the wilderness." So far you haven't listened. Exodus 7:16

We live in a world on the run where the desire to have more, be more, and do more dominates. The pull to mirror modern-day ways lures many into living to impress. This lure tends to bring with it financial, relational, and spiritual luggage, which scar irreparably.  Release me is the silent cry of many in search of the good life, particularly in urban areas. 
The cry is the same in Christians. Quickly we forget our status and stature as citizens of a better country, heaven, falling rather for the glitz and fancies of this life. In our passion to reach others through the River running through us, God, and our relevant lives; we oft get enchanted by the world's Turkish Delight, allowing its treats to hook us. Believers also fall under the "doing" spell where they forget the secret of authenticity, a life knit with God, which overflows in passionate heart and help to a lost world. Not careful we settle instead for the "right path," living defined by our fidelity to Christ's commands and our call to service. Though this is necessary, without the backdrop of a relationship with Christ, which runs deep; our service will be be loveless, self-serving, and fleeting.
Release me is the recurring cry of many desiring to stay current. 
Renew me becomes the cry of those opting to do God's will and work their way.
The fix to wrongful enchantment in unbeliever and believer,alike, the fountain the believer lost in "Martha Syndrome" craves is found in Jesus.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 ESV
Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Matthew 11:29  MSG
Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Matthew 11:30 MSG
Find your fix and fountain of fulfillment today in the reservoir of a  personal relationship with Jesus.
We can graduate into thankful, selfless living if we'll allow our souls  to tap and touch the refreshment ours in Christ.
As Christ is given free rein to live His life through us the rest is history.

Thrive at what you do though it isn't what you planned to do

Most would agree that we spend most of lives doing something we didn't see ourselves doing. The challenge of our lives then is to do what God deals us heartily and creatively regardless of our feelings regarding what we do. The Tim Tebow story has riveted me. How about Timmy taking it to the Jets last night. His story resonates with me in a special way because I share his belief system as a fellow Christian. Tim could easily have been a tight end or wide receiver in the NFL, but time proved that he'd be a quarterback in high school, through college, and remarkably now as a Denver Bronco. As a quarterback, Tim is unorthodox and lacks the fine-tuned pocket presence and throwing motion, which define greats like Elway. Heart and will trump ability most days. As we struggle with what we do daily, wishing at times we were doing something more in keeping with our gifting; we need to wear an attitude of willingness accepting our present calling. I'm thankful Tim didn't choose to moan his lack of pure throwing motion or his disinclination to even throw the ball; Tim knows he thrives best when he accepts the gifts, specially granted him by God, using them to man his life mission. It's the same with us, it's not where you are in life but what you do about where you are. We can choose to live the poor outlook of most, living wishing we were more gifted at what we do or we can bloom where we're planted, growing where we are. To thrive in life will require our being content with our God-given place in life. Live and grow where God has you now and find yourself a thriving, normal person others want to emulate.

Close to Grace, we can live gainfully in a true garden state

Magical, whimsical, enrapturing are the words that capture the bliss felt around a couple, who live in true union each day. God created man to spill over with the joy close union with Him brings. Somehow in Eden Adam and Eve disdained the gain God gifted them in His rich grace by their carnal curiosity, tasting of the wrong tree, a mistake, which damned man to eternal  loss "were it not for Grace." Glee and innocent sheen radiated from Adam and Eve as they traversed the garden living true to God's goodness; but when they failed to treasure their true union with God failure quickly followed. Grace provides us the privilege of gain, life in the true garden state. It's a state where intimacy with Christ shows itself in innocence-pure, uninhibited freedom. Adam and Eve's fail in the garden was not true reality; it was anything but God's design for man. Thankfully, Grace wasn't trumped by their failure and grace flowed from the Second Adam, Christ, Who redeemed us; restoring us the possibility of intimacy with God. As Adam and Eve lived loss, when they got away from living overtaken by the gift, the game-changer Grace is; we too need to treasure God's grace and live in the garden state that is Grace. The garden state is a place of intimate union with Christ, where close to Him love, purity, and strength permeates through us. As a close couple lives unashamed, fulfilled, and free in their mutual union; our call is to live changed by the innocence knowing God brings. Our lives too can be a garden and wellspring of enrichment to others as we feature Grace
daily, allowing it to be the guidepost in all we are. Live in the true garden state today.

There's a secret to strengthening your witness

      
An eye-opening reality has overwhelmed me lately. After served for years in contexts, where your first focus in interacting with others was finding out where they'd spend their eternity; I often lost sight of how needy the world was around me. In my passion to "save men from the burning"; I often glossed over their need, believing their placing their trust in Christ was first and foundational to their needs being met. But is this so? A close look at the ministries of Jesus and Paul shows how easily we get the cart before the horse. Their ministries were geared to the needs-material, emotional, and spiritual- of the people around them. The reality is that people generally need to feel our compassion first before they can be gripped with the cold truth that they are in jeopardy of eternal judgement. As we feel the compassion of Christ-healing and helping-the heartbeat of Paul to-not neglecting the poor and needy-our hearts are turned toward the needy masses, who flock our society. Helpless widows; homeless former successes, and unloved children roam our roadways-sheep needing to feel the touch of us, His hands and feet. I'm all for the Gospel message spilling out of us regularly and clearly, for many times, accepted, it helps people climb out of their crises; but just giving the Gospel proves many times the easy way. The challenge of Christian living is not telling the Gospel message but radiating it in ways, which stir others to trust its truth and go on to radiate the reality of its truth. Our challenge is to assume a posture of surrender to the way of the Master, meeting the needs of those around us, Who was inclined to first touch others with the Gospel before He talk about its potential impact.
He picks up the poor from out of the dirt, rescues the wretched who've been thrown out with the trash, Seats them among the honored guests, a place of honor among the brightest and best.  Ps. 113:7,8 (The Message)
"I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it." ~ Thomas Aquinas

Are you a "God-chaser" or just plain elusive

As Christians we've been given freedom at great cost. The cross was nothing short of guaranteed liberty to please God. However in intentionally seeking to please God, many set unreasonable standards by which they and others will please God, leading an unbelieving world to see Christianity as cold religion and not life-changing relationship. Brought into freedom in Christ, it is tempting to not see freedom in Christ for how full-orbed it is. It's not just freedom to fulfill Christ's demands but freedom to relish life in its beauty and fulness, freedom to know blessing and bless others as we live "under rank," in allegiance to our Master. Many Christians cross the line of faith having endured hard lives in unbelief, where they craved the drunk state, gambled till they lost much, and lived for fallen fantasies. On getting saved, these people are candidates for lives defined by their personal preferences. Instead of being advocates for godly balance, they tend to impose strict codes on themselves and others. Though their life rules may be reasonable for them because of their personal weaknesses, those life rules may  not be best for everyone. Too often people in the world look at the fabricated codes of believers, which may frown on social drinking, fun dancing, light gambling and wonder who wrote the rules, us or God. Our featuring our brand of Christianity and our powerlessness to Scripturally excoriate these practices make us law-givers in the minds of unbelievers or attune young Christians. The time has come for discipleship to be more organic. It's high time people are led to God rather than "accepted Christian norms." Our focus needs to be compelling people in our sphere of their appointment with Christ beyond the grave. The reality of seeing Christ after death and His grand design to make hearts His home are real time catalysts, stirring people to ponder their relationship with God. Our lives need to effervesce "truth,  beauty, justice, community." If we're to win others to faith in Christ; it'll not be by our rigid code of conduct; rather it'll be by living lives enlivened by active relationship with Christ. People don't care for your code, they care for your fulfillment Source. Our faith is the envy of our neighbors, when it makes us more neighborly, not elusive. My neighbor, who lives for drugs won't be drawn to Christ by what I do or don't do but by how the Christ I possess changes my way with him. Too often we placate others by our commitment to our own "right regimen," which many times is of our own making, not God's. People out there have a misconstrued concept of what Christianity is many times because Christianity is often misrepresented as a list of "do's" and "dont's." We have a responsibility as Christians to represent the true heart change Christ brings when He enters the heart at salvation. He enlivens the heart filling it with heavenly desires and a built-in Control, His Spirit, Who moves us down paths best for us. In love with Christ, we'll have no heart for fallen addictions; we'll be the story of hearts with crowded space, hearts full of who Christ is and beating with Kingdom desire, hearts which enjoy responsibly things in this world, for while they relish this world's good they wait longingly for another World. Don't force your rules for living onto others; instead lead them into the good life, the life which embraces in trust the work Christ did on Calvary with a spirit of love and personal duty. The love of Christ and what it does in one's heart has a way of leading people into lives which live to honor it. Transformation by Christ's selfless work on Calvary alone is the way to lead a life holy, alive and transported, in His eyes.

But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God's instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you - 1 Pet. 2:9 MSG
His inside-out difference runs deeper than what we do or don't do. Its all about the privilege of daily dates with Him, a lifestyle of true union with Him which is lifestyle transforming.

Where are you living in the "do zone" or the "done zone"

But they became anxious when they were brought into Joseph's home, thinking, "It's the money; he thinks we ran off with the money on our first trip down here. And now he's got us where he wants us-he's going to turn us into slaves and confiscate our donkeys." Genesis 43:18 (Message)
Joaeph's way with his brothers after they'd treated him as if he were an enemy pictures well the way God deals with his family. We're inclined to believe that our right versus wrong performance is our pass into God's presence; but the truth is nothing we do can guarantee access into God's presence. God is entirely holy and only the perfect can attain to lifetime privileges of His favor. Through belief in Christ to salvation though, we can be made perfect, bought and brought into a lifelong relationship with Christ, where we live not to earn favor with God but as living proof of our love for Him. As Joseph's brothers sat afraid eating at their brother's table in fear of his avenging their hurting him; many Christians sit in God's presence, fearing His holy side, living with their performance constantly in view rather than allowing God's immeasurable love to be catalyst and control in all they are and do. The call is to live in the love of God, allowing His holy devotion to us to leave us so spellbound and changed that we live to reciprocate His great love. Our concept of God has great bearing on the way we live; as Christians we may find ourselves seeking to live in the "do zone" where we do all we can to earn God's merit; or we may live in the "done zone," where we allow His love to show itself as life-changing in our experience, a love that changes inside-out. When we seek to please God, we fail; when God's love compels us we live pleasing Him.