Comfort

"Following God may lead you into circumstances that are worse than what you have now."

How does that statement honestly make you feel? It doesn't take much Bible reading to know that statement is true without a doubt. But how do you feel about that truth when it is applied to your own life? Does it clash with where you want your life to go? Does it cause conflicts with your priorities?

The Constitution speaks to everyone having the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, for those of us in America, and many other places in the world, the pursuit of happiness has taken precedent. We really just want our lives to be...better...don't we? The question than becomes, how do we define better?

The American culture defines better as moving up the socioeconomic ladder. You know you are doing better in life if your standard of living is increasing, if you have more stuff, if you are living more comfortably. That is called progress. The problem is that Christians get caught up in that same game even if it is on a more subtle level. And for us...it's the furthest thing from progress. "But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ." (Philippians 3:7)

This sentence comes from "The Myth of a Christian Religion" - "The paradox of God's Kingdom - and it applies to all of life - is that the best thing we can do for ourselves is to decide NOT to live for ourselves." If you are a Christian this idea sounds familiar. "Whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:39)

We hear those words and the accompanying sermon or devotional and we nod our heads in agreement. Yes, yes...wise words. Well said. Then we proceed to go back to what we were doing and thinking the way we always had. This idea is so counter-cultural, so revolutionary, so opposed to how we typically operate that we can't even find a place in our brains, let alone our lives, for it to fit. People don't typically want to change the way they have thought and lived for decades...even if deep down they know it's right.

Ask a Christian about their plans for retirement and it's probably not too terribly different than a non-Christian response. We want to relax, enjoy a hobby, take the well deserved break that we have earned, that we have been working for all these years. Sure, we will still go to church and do some ministry stuff. We aren't abandoning God. We just want to finally be able to do more of what we want.

I was watching John Piper speak to a Pastors Conference in Phoenix (thanks bro). He was noting that their job was likely harder than that of many other pastors around the country because they were receiving a lot of people who were moving there for retirement. Many of their parishioners would have the mindset that their work was done and it was "their time" now. That isn't exactly the soil in which "sold out disciples" grow, now is it? Piper implored them to teach people not to waste their last 20 or 30 years fishing or playing golf. Why retire in Phoenix when you can retire in Baghdad, Iraq? Seems like a ridiculous question, doesn't it? But why not ask it? If you are really for Christ than you aren't living for yourself, and your life, whether in the early, middle or later stages, belongs to Him fully. Running the race with perseverance. Paul knew we would need perseverance to finish strong. There was no exception given.

Borrowing from that same Piper talk, he referenced Hebrews 10:32-34. There was a situation where believers had been thrown in prison and other believers had a choice to make - visit them and risk their life, family and property or lay low, go underground and live another day. What did they do? They stood their ground "in a great contest in the face of suffering." They "sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of their property". JOYFULLY ACCEPTED?!? We don't even like it when someone takes our parking space! And truth be told, we own that parking space just as much as we own our house, clothing and possessions. Yes, this is the paradox of the Christian faith. If our life isn't really our own, than we should not hesitate to go TOWARD affliction, TOWARD persecution, TOWARD suffering. Everything around us tells us to go away from those things and the human logic of that message, along with its convenience, is ever so enticing.

Tough teaching. Believe me, I know. I am not a big possessions guy but I do like my comfort. And I do like it sometimes at the expense of being open to asking God what He would have me do that would potentially detract from my pursuit of comfort.

Here is the good news and why we still have a chance to truly learn this and make it an integral part of our life here on earth. Why were the believers willing to sacrifice everything they had just to visit their brothers and sisters in prison? "Because you know that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions." We know in our heart of hearts that this isn't our home. We know that our treasure lies in heaven. Romans 8:18 - "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."

Perhaps even better is verse 17 where Paul informs us that the children of God are heirs with Christ...co-heirs. You know what that means? It means it is so incredibly ridiculous that we are one bit concerned with carving out our small piece of this world because...WE ARE GOING TO GET THE WHOLE THING!

It's just a matter of time.

Challenging Week

Battled a tough cold all week. Plus, whenever I would lay down to try and rest or sleep, I would start coughing and have to sit up and drink something to get it to stop. Then the cycle would repeat. It reminded me of being a kid with the nightly coughing fits and heading down to the kitchen for some 7-UP. Actually, I don't think I have had 7-UP since I was a kid, but I digress...

So I got an average of about 3 hours a sleep until last night when the Lord allowed a solid 7 1/2. Needless to say, I am a bit tired at the moment and will be calling it a night after NUMB3RS. It's not a repeat. Sweet.

But I was proud of myself this week. In the midst of that tough physical and mental background, I went to work every day, was fairly productive and made some money in my personal account. In fact, I was almost up 10% on the week. I always find that success in the face of adversity leads to satisfaction. It's kinda like going for a run only to find that the body isn't willing but yet you find a way to power through and do it in a whole-hearted manner. Those are great character building moments.

I tend to expect a lot from myself. It's nice when I can feel good about giving myself a pat on the back.

Good Keller Thoughts Today

I don't think there is another passage from which I have heard more teaching or read more devotionals. But Bill had a couple good lessons from Ephesians 6 today that I don't remember reading or hearing. It might just be that my brain is tired from a long week but I think they are worth jotting down.

"12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication."

If you notice, there is something special about the armor of God. THERE IS NOTHING TO PROTECT THE BACK! Do you know why? GOD'S CHILDREN DON'T TURN AND RUN WE FIGHT MOVING FORWARD, PRESSING FORWARD TO THE PRIZE. COWARDS RETREAT, GOD'S CHILDREN PRESS ON, KNOWING THAT WE HAVE ALREADY WON THE VICTORY AND THAT SATAN IS A DEFEATED FOE!

Also, the child of God only has ONE offensive weapon. The sword, God's Word! The Bible says, "It is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even to the dividing of soul and sprit, joints and marrow." It is the only weapon the child of God needs. There is AUTHORITY in the Word of God. There is POWER in the Word of God. When Jesus was confronted by satan He did't have a conversations with him, He QUOTED THE WORD OF GOD TO HIM! That is why there is nothing more needed to lead the lost to faith in Christ than God's Word. The Gospel "is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes!"

Comedy Break

Why so serious? This is one of the funniest SNL opening monologues I have ever seen.

Believe

I just finished watching "Miracle", which is the story of the US Olympic hockey team defeating the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics. It is deemed one of the greatest upsets of all time. The average age of the US team was 21. The Soviets were seasoned veterans. The US team had been together for 7 months. The Soviets had skated together up to 15 years. The Soviets had won gold in the 4 prior Winter Olympics. The US wasn't even expected to contend for a medal.

So why did the US win? They gave everything they had. The trained relentlessly to be the best conditioned team so they could skate with the Soviets for an entire game. I don't think they won on the ice that night. I think they won during the countless hours of practice and drills.

I see a lot of people, including myself at times, unwilling to give everything they have. For the most part, it's not that they are lazy or unmotivated. It's that they are scared. They are scared of the possibility that they will invest themselves fully in a cause only to fail. If you don't give all of yourself to something and it doesn't work out than you have a built in excuse. You didn't really put yourself on the line so you don't take the loss as hard. You didn't fully pursue with your heart so you aren't left devastated. At least that is their line of thinking.

However, I think that misses the point completely. Was it Sun Tzu who said that a battle is won before it is ever fought? Life is not found in the outcome. Life is found in the pursuit. By not giving yourself fully - to God, your relationships, your work, your health - you have already failed. People tend to be very results oriented and place way too much emphasis on their definition of success and failure. Success is putting your heart, body and soul on the line. Don't be afraid if your desired result doesn't come to fruition. Be afraid of a life lived half-heartedly and with regret.

What if the US team had lost 30 years ago? Their heads may have hung in disappointment for a bit. But I guarantee that when they looked back on that game many years later they wouldn't have had one regret. They gave everything they had. They held nothing back. They found excellence in their pursuit. They gained the respect and admiration of each other and of a country. They believed in their team and in their quest.

They had already won.

Follow up to Last Post

But the usual remedies involve some sort of shaping up on our part, some sort of face-lift whereby we clean up our act and start behaving as we should. Jews try to keep the Law. Buddhists follow the Eightfold Path. Muslims live by the Five Pillars. Christians try church attendance and moral living. It never works. It never will. For heaven’s sake—we’ve given it several thousand years. You’d think we’d have gotten somewhere. Of course, the reason all those treatments ultimately fail is that we quite misdiagnosed the disease. The problem is not in our behavior; the problem is in us. As Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matt. 15:19). We don’t need an upgrade. We need transformation. We need a miracle.

"Waking the Dead" - John Eldredge

Gospel vs. Religion

I know when God has something important for me to write because the spiritual battle heightens - my thoughts get fuzzy, my line of thinking less clear...even now I am struggling to get this down right.

This morning I am listening to Matt Chandler continue to preach from Colossians 1. Oh, is it good. So good. But he does talk fast and there is so much in there that I know I will need to listen to it again...and take notes this time. Toward the end he talks about the point where the Gospel veers away from religion.

Religion says, "Forgive your brother, feed the poor, be a better person and you and God can talk." The Gospel says, "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." If your ultimate goal is to fix your marriage or stop your addiction or be a better person you are in big trouble. Because what will likely happen, and I can personally attest to this, is you will attempt to walk the straight and narrow, you will knuckle down, you will strive for behavior modification...until you reach a point of stress, anger, weakness, where you fall back into your former pattern all over again and repeat the endless cycle.

Only when Jesus is your ultimate goal do you have any hope of lasting change. When we make Jesus our main pursuit, our main purpose...when we walk deeply with Him, when we understand his character more greatly, when we follow him more intimately...than we begin to see things the way He does. We begin to have a changed perspective, as well as a changed heart, when it comes to our marriage, our time, our money, our desires. It's the "new appetite" language that Piper talked about. Truly walking with God brings about NEW desires. That's how change comes about. We can't will it. Not for long anyway. If Christ isn't our ultimate goal, the best we can hope to do is exchange our current chains for different ones.

I love this line from the sermon..."God is not in love with some future version of you." God says, "Come to me NOW." Do you feel how freeing that is? It goes back to my occasional belief that I am not "good enough" to come to God for forgiveness and reconciliation after I have sinned. God isn't waiting on me to get my act together so we can hang out and finally get tight with one another. God is not in love with some future version of me. He loves me right here, right now. He loves me with all my issues and baggage and shortcomings and failures.

Religion says that isn't how it works. The Gospel vehemently disagrees.