Thoughts from Matthew 4

1. Don't tell a stone to become food simply because I'm hungry and because I can.
2. Don't jump off a cliff to prove my protection from God even if He would send me protection.
3. Don't worship a false god to achieve a God given vision even if the end seems to justify the means...even if the results would be immediate.

Who am I listening to? If I listen to and follow the Spirit, I will not go wrong.  I must not be thoughtless about these things though, as there is a deceiver roaming, and that spirit must be denied and commanded away.

 

Truth about love

Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it.  If a man tried to buy love with all his wealth, his offer would be utterly scorned.  Song of Solomon 8:7 NLT

There is a truth about love.  It comes from the Author of Love.  And it applies to all kinds of love: family, friends, partners, etc.  It will likely not look a whole lot like the love defined on the screen, or even perhaps like the love felt and observed from one’s own family, friends and acquaintances – depending...  But it is the definition of love and has the characteristics that its Creator exudes.

True love flows and cannot be quenched, drowned or bought.  Its worth is beyond measure.

No love is truer or more powerful than the outstretched arms of the most powerful.  He hung there vulnerably, giving us the option to reject.

At times I hang, vulnerably, giving others the option to reject. Yet love is.  Its characteristics remain.  It flows.  It cannot be drowned or bought.  Truest love is not an artificial sweetener.  Truest love is beyond measure.  It can be rejected but never stopped.

Am I more impressed--

By my sin, than by the value of my salvation?

By the reality of evil, than by the ultimate, conquering power of good?

By my lack of direction, than by the immediate steps in front of me?

By the scarcity of time, than by the time I have right now?

By my prayers waiting for answers, than by the multitude of answers received?

By my lack of skills, than by my talents and abilities?

By the weight of uncompleted tasks, than by the satisfaction of tasks completed?

By what I don’t have, than by all I do have?

By my sin, than by the value of my salvation?

 

 

Love me and Jesus?

Perhaps there is no neutral ground.  As people get to know me they will either love me and love Jesus who is in me, or they will begin to despise me and Jesus.  If they are attracted to me they are consciously or sub-consciously attracted to the Jesus in me, for one cannot be separated from the other.  But if they are not being drawn to Christ, the more they get to know me, the more I will begin to repel them, simply by the aroma of Jesus in me.  (2 Cor. 2:16)

Which way things are headed will be most evident during difficult or cranky times, and can be almost undecipherable during glorious and lovely times.  Even relaters headed toward despising can have the ability to act lovingly if I do something wrong, for in that moment they can feel better about themselves in the presence of my fault.  But when the light of truth exposes their own wrongdoing, look out – they will become angry, and will likely lash out.

In terms of romantic attraction and love, when a man encounters me, there can be genuine attraction, but that attraction may be incapable, if not unwilling, to truly know and love me.  He doesn’t need to know me – what he sees on the surface is good enough – why mess with intimacy or authentic love?

I’ve learned there is a reason to walk away from me, beyond finding flaws with my personality, behaviors and appearance, even though such flaws are there.  One can leave me – physically and/or emotionally – because one has an issue with God.

Even with a generous amount of mutual connection going on, there is a bigger decision that must ultimately be made as you get to know me: will you love me and Jesus?

Love Is

Some friends and I are currently discussing the Bob Goff book Love Does. The title – while appropriate for this book – has caused me to ask: Is love best described as an action? While love in action is powerful, I’m thinking that first and foremost: Love Is. Love Is…a state of being. It is a vulnerable state. It is a circumcised heart.

Reading in Jeremiah this week, I paused at a passage about uncircumcised hearts (Jer. 9:25,26) and found myself thinking about circumcision. I’m sure biblical scholars have written much about this, but the question nagged at my mind: Why did God require the Israelite men of the Old Testament to have a surgical procedure – on their male sex organ - likely the most sensitive, vulnerable and private part of a man’s body? And then: why does God talk to Jeremiah about uncircumcised hearts? He talks about a circumcision in body but not in spirit (heart).

A likely characteristic of a circumcised heart came to me today as I considered, once again, how the desire for romantic love can lead to heartache. It’s really, really tempting, especially after heartbreak, to want to protect one’s self from the possibility of future heartbreak. Yet therein is the conflict.

If one protects – closes or puts up a wall around one’s heart – the authentic kind of love one longs for cannot be attained. You have to be willing to be vulnerable…to let your heart go under the knife, so to speak, and have its covering removed. One must allow the authentic heart to be known. (Do you ensure appropriate boundaries and a healthy amount of self protection? Absolutely. But can you insist on a guarantee against having your heart broken again? You cannot.)

“Who does this kind of love?” I cry! Certainly most men I’ve encountered – while eager to date, perhaps – do not seem willing, and certainly not eager, for any such openness of heart. I imagine many married couples I know do not share this openness of heart.

Yet, I am becoming convinced that the truest definition of love is a state of being. Love Is, is the brand of love I want to offer – to a romantic relationship – and to this world. Love Is, is vulnerable. It feels. (But I’m so afraid of feeling, Lord…)

God has shown me that I can risk this. He’s got my back – incredibly and miraculously, if necessary. I am safe. I am free to love.

Love does, for sure, but primarily: Love Is.

Awe or fear?

If you are following Christ, would you say you are more: 1) filled with awe, or 2) overwhelmed with fear?  When a crowd was following Jesus toward Jerusalem, it says in Mark: “…Jesus was walking ahead of them.  The disciples were filled with awe, and the people following behind were overwhelmed with fear.” (NLT 10:32)

As I move into the next phase of my destiny, I find I’m going between awe and fear a lot.  About every other day or two I’m filled with awe at God’s nearness, and at the details of where, and how, He is leading me.

When I asked Him, about exactly three years ago, to write a better story with my life – a story that would bring Him great glory – my faith was small, mustard-seed-size.  Now, only three short years later, I’m moved to tears as I type this, as I consider how He took me seriously (I did mean it), and how He has been working to do just that, I believe, as I walk with Him.

Yet, there are those every other days, when I’m not filled with much, or any, awe.  That’s when I’m one of those people who are still following Jesus, but I am behind the disciples, and overwhelmed with fear.  Those days I need to remember to move up closer to my Lord – to move out of the fear, and back into the awe zone.

And, of course, awe doesn’t mean “no pain.”  Who doubts the awe that surrounded Him on the painful cross, when He surrendered His life to the accompaniment of darkness, an earthquake, and a dramatically torn veil in the temple?  Yet, fear lurks just beyond the awe…  I so easily drift out of awe and into fear.

Drawing near to my Lord is where I want to be and where I’m always welcome.  It’s really up to me.  Am I going to be filled with His Spirit, walking in awe close to Him?  Or am I going to lag a bit behind – still a follower, but filled with fear as I shuffle along, barely able to glimpse my Lord up ahead?  Awe or fear – which is it going to be?

The new normal

A couple of weeks ago I sent the following paragraph to a friend.  It was in response to things taking place in our respective lives, and to her sending me the story of David and Goliath out of I Samuel.  She felt my reply needed to be in a blog.  So here it is:

We can, and need to, become comfortable with humanly unbelievable, incredibly uncanny, remarkably providential happenings.  And if it is too much for me to take in, then it’s more about me and less about God, and it needs to be all about Him.  And if it is all about Him…shouldn’t I expect remarkable things?  And evil retorts?  Incredible difficulties and fantastic successes – both?  This is the life of His believing child.  It should not surprise me…or overwhelm me.  It is the new normal because the wall is down and I am moving into the promised land of His promises.

As I read this again today, I’m so aware of life’s mixture of mundane and remarkable. Some days I’m the lonely shepherd boy, simply doing the work of tending sheep and desiring something much more exciting. And then the next day I’m still that shepherd boy, but now the adrenaline’s pumping as I face a scary, evil giant…or as God’s supernatural workings in my life have amazed me almost beyond comprehension.

This is the new normal.  May God grant me the ability to live it.