Even as Chickens (no offense to poultry)

If you have enough time read Psalm 27.

The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

It seems strange how “scary” taking our faith seriously can seem at times.

Anything from growing in our spiritual disciplines (prayer, worship, bible reading, fasting, etc.) to being a more faithful steward of what we have been given to living a holier life – each one of these can bring with it a certain amount of fear – a reaction within us that says WHOA – I don’t know if I am ready to go there!

And yet why is this? Will adding on 15 minutes of prayer time really kill the rest of our day/week/year/life? Will letting go of a grudge cause us personal harm? Will tithing (giving 10% back to the Lord) really destroy us financially? (Okay – maybe this can be a more “legitimate” fear – but does tithing now mean I’m signing a 5 year can’t-get-out-of contract to do the same?) Will letting go of lust, gossiping, and coveting; facing my other addictions; repenting of my wayward ways really ruin who I am and what I hope to get out of life? (Not that fear is the only thing that gets in the way of these things, but it is often what gets in the way of even beginning to let the Lord work changes in these areas of our lives.)

The truth is that even though chances are pretty good that my life will only get better as I let the Lord better my life, nonetheless that fear often remains. Am I wrong in this??? What is the Lord urging you to do? Are you afraid?

When faced with the road before Him, Jesus said, “Now my heart is troubled…” John 12:27.

Did He not also fear that which was before Him?

Faith isn’t necessarily the absence of fear, but rather going forward even in the midst of it.

Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.

And if I can’t let go of the fear, at least, Lord, don’t let go of me as you walk me right through my fear in order to bring me out safely on the other side.

So, fine – we can be a scared people, but is that any reason to stay right here?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, if it were up to me I’d be too chicken to go or grow. By your grace shepherd me beyond my fears right to where you know I should be. In your name, Jesus. Amen.

Feeling Judged?

If you have enough time read Matthew 7.

‘Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ Matthew 7:1-2

I used take these words as a warning that if you judge someone else then God is going to judge you, so you’d better watch out how rough you are in your labeling of everyone else – unless of course you want God to be “rough” with you as well.

While there certainly is some truth in this (Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us), there is yet another truth that is also worth noting – the more (and rougher) I judge others, the more (and rougher) THEY judge me.

OR, maybe the MORE I feel and notice and am hurt by their judgments.

Do a personal experiment. Do you feel judged, criticized – do you feel watched, as though people are waiting for you to mess up? Well – if so, honestly (can we even be honest with ourselves in something like this?) look at how much you “notice” others and “their shortcomings”.

Instead of “waiting” for others to be less critical of me, what if I went first and just started, not just being “less critical”, but actually showering the praises and thanksgivings on everyone else – even and including the worst of those on “my list”?

Yikes! But who would hold them accountable for being a “screw-up” in life? Maybe we could allow the ONE who ultimately holds us accountable for the same – and by His grace marks us as innocent.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, as you did not come into the world to condemn the world but to save it, help me to know the difference and live it out in my own life as well. In your name. Amen.

Money Speaks?

If you have enough time read Acts 20.

‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ Acts 20:35

The mere “coincidence” that a feeling of uncomfortableness comes up when someone talks about how we should spend our money – and especially “the church” – in many ways bears witness to the hold we seem to let finances have on our lives.

A devotion about the “need to give” just doesn’t seem to ring as spiritual or even as practical as so many other possible topics for meditation. On the contrary many of us might like to try to read through such a devotion quickly (if at all), convince ourselves that no behavior change is necessary (or desired), and look forward to next week’s devotion about something more worth wrestling with – like, maybe, judging others.

Add on to this the fact that for married people the “need to give” is usually a joint decision and “since I’m already convinced that even if I wanted to change in this area my spouse would never go for it” a devotion on giving might seem to have as much hope as an electronic slice of canned ham (that would be spam for those who didn’t get my attempt at humor).

Nonetheless – here goes – and here goes bluntly:

For those of us who are waiting for our money to tell us it is okay to be generous – both in our giving of at least a tithe (10%) back to the Lord as well as our giving to others – it simply will never, ever, EVER happen.

Wait, wait, wait as we may, our money will NEVER (guaranteed!) say it is okay to give it away.

Why is this, you ask? Is it because our money always wants more, is never satisfied, always wanting to grow, grow, grow? Absolutely NOT! Not even close.

Rather the reason why our money will never give us the okay to let go of it is simply this: our money can’t talk. It has no mouth, no mind, no will.

Another attempt at corny humor you ask? Maybe, but not without pointing out an extremely important truth.

The truth is that the decision to give or not give cannot be blamed on our money. The Lord doesn’t call our money to be generous; He calls US.

If we are not giving, it would seem lunacy to turn to our money and blame it.

I share this not to shame us into generosity – for each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) and shame rarely if ever brings forth cheerfulness.

But rather the knowledge of this point is important so that we can recognize that if a change is to occur that change will not happen in our money, but in us.

WE are the ones He has come to change – and may we be ever changed until the image of the perfect God (the perfect Giver, Lover, Friend) is made perfect in us.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you died and rose for me – not for my money or my stuff – but for me. May your death and resurrection put the old me to death and rise me up anew in You – always. In your name. Amen.

Carpe Diem!

If you have enough time read Lamentations 1 (it’s hiding between Jeremiah and Ezekiel) and/or Hebrews 12.

She did not consider her future. Lamentations 1:9

Carpe Diem! Seize the day! So the saying goes.

And I suppose I agree – only – I have a question – which day are we supposed to seize?

Am I to live life as though today is all there is? This can sound great – until of course I wake up tomorrow and find out it wasn’t. This is what the people of Jerusalem did – always pretending that their future would not be affected by the way they lived in their present. And of course Lamentations isn’t called Lamentations because that future turned out the way they had hoped for.

At the same time, others of us can find ourselves living as though yesterday is all there is – as we find ourselves stuck in the pain others have caused us or in the guilt we’ve brought on ourselves. Instead of seizing the day we tend to be seized by the day instead.

Then there is Carpe Diem Cras – or seize the day tomorrow – which isn’t really about seizing the day at all but only putting off the seizing for another time.

But what if the day to seize now is our final day? What if I could reach out my hand far enough into the future and pick out that last day, whenever it might be, and bring it into the present – not to hasten its coming – but rather to live now in the light of what that day reveals? To seize that day today?

Granted the words are true that if the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’ 1 Corinthians 15:32

But if the dead are raised.

And not only raised but raised in and with and through the glory of the Son … would this not allow us to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us[?] Let[ting] us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God[?] Hebrews 12:1-2

Wherever I am, whomever I am with, whatever surrounds me – the good, the bad, and the ugly – to live today as though the promised day of victory in Jesus is already mine (it is, by the way) – and that this day of victory, in the end, is all that matters – how might considering my future affect my present? How might seizing that day affect my now on this day – and all that I do and say alone and with others and with HIM???

Seize it – for it is already yours!

Prayer: O Lord Jesus, help me to seize the day – that day – today, even as you have come to seize me. In your name. Amen.

Anticipating or Waiting

If you have enough time, read Psalm 130.

My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:6

I happened to be at Lutheran World Relief offices (www.lwr.org) this morning for a meeting and stayed for their daily devotion time. In the devotion the leader mentioned a difference between anticipating and waiting.

Expanding on what she talked about, anticipating is something we do when we know what is coming and maybe even when it will arrive. I may not have it yet but I am certain that it is on its way without delay. Anticipating gives us a growing sense of excitement as we look forward to that which we know is nearer and nearer to us each day. We anticipate the return of a loved one. We anticipate the celebration of our birthday and the presents we will get. We anticipate that vacation that will take us away from our daily hardships.

Waiting, on the other hand, seems something deeper and at times maybe even darker. Waiting might be what we do when we don’t know what is coming or when it would if it did. And yet we know that what is now cannot be the end – O please Lord, let it not be the end. Waiting, rather than giving us a growing sense of excitement, will often provide a growing sense of anxiety and maybe worry and fear, if not despair. We wait for the results from the test. We wait for the forgiveness of a loved one or the ability to give this forgiveness to someone else. We wait for life to finally turn around in our favor.

If I knew for certain that the Lord would make things good for me next month, or even next year – or even 10 years from now – if I knew this for certain – then I could much easier spend my time between now and then eagerly anticipating its arrival.

But if I have no sure and certain promise that my life then will be any better off than it is today – and indeed might even seem worse – without fully giving into despair – all I can do is wait. Wait. And wait.

Faith is tested in waiting. Trust is lived out in waiting.

Indeed, waiting is at times all we can do when what we thought were our faith and trust has run out.

Waiting (and maybe this is the key point) forces me back to HIM – not knowing what He might bring or when – whereas anticipating might often direct me to that which is coming, rather than to the ONE who brings it.

This season of Lent is a season of waiting – a season to remind us that much of life is lived in waiting – but also that our waiting, as hopeless as it might at different times seem, will not be in vain. For our waiting is not about looking forward to a specific event or happening or break in life (which may or may not happen) – our waiting is a reliance on the LORD – and the LORD lives!

Prayer: O Lord, help me in my waiting, to focus less on the life I would like to live and more on the ONE who is life – you, my Lord. In your name, Amen.