contrition

a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.

from Psalm 51

It is interesting, and actually rather disconcerting when one can be sailing along with little care (of course there are always deep concerns in this world) only to be hit by something unexpected which challenges one’s sense of well being in grace, I mean even one’s holiness, to the core. You’re left shaking inside, not at all reconciled to the development, realizing that you’re lost on this count. And apparently not as holy as you thought. Not that we should think that anything at all is anymore than a gift to us. But character transformation is to be occurring in Christ.

That is when it’s good to bring the matter to God in prayer and then just leave it sit. We can’t change ourselves. It is God who changes us. Of course we do change then, but that takes a working of God, nonetheless. Surely God wants us to sit with our sin, to realize our weakness and failure, indeed lostness at a certain point. And this may go on for a time. Before God gives us a certain sense in thought, conviction and movement by the Spirit toward new growth in Christ.

This all normally takes place in the context of relationships. God is interested in building up his people together because community and relationships are inherent in the God who is Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

So instead of “kicking against the goads”, I want to be willing to lay low, and be still during such times. Knowing that whatever I’m kicking against involves something that is not right nor holy in me. And that I need whatever change would come from God through Jesus in this. This can involve intervals of change, or a longer, drawn out process we’re working through. As we do so, we have this sense of God’s grace active and at work in our lives.

God does not despise a broken and contrite (or crushed, repentant) heart. Neither should we, and we should submit to God in this, and let him do his good work in our lives. In and through Jesus, together for the world.

 

love in Jesus trumping all

Oh yes, we have our political differences, don’t we. Our theological as well, sometimes pretty serious, though much of the time not really all that significant. Often in matters that are inherently disputable. But sometimes one does seem dead wrong. We think so much in terms of right and wrong. Even though life often makes it much harder to sort that out than we might think.

There is a love that has entered this world which can overcome all barriers. It is the love of God in Jesus. No matter what the barrier is, that love can work through it, indeed shatter it. And in that working, God’s salvation in Jesus can be made known. Not only in terms of entering in that salvation, but in living it out.

Most of the time how this is worked through may parallel a woman in labor pains before giving birth to her child. Or in watching a suspenseful even perhaps action filled movie. And there are those rare (from our vantage point) times when tragedy strikes in the midst of this; I’m thinking now of the Jim Elliot story, and the wonderful results that followed.

It isn’t just love I refer to here, but the love of God in Jesus no less. By faith we need to put ourselves in the posture by which this love can break through. Yes, even through our lives and into the lives of others. And in and through us all at the same time. Certainly of God through Jesus by the Spirit.

Yes, I’ve seen and am seeing this love break through and change situations. Indeed lives are changed, really all of our lives, through this amazing love of God in and through Jesus. I have to keep working at not resisting this love. Of remaining open, which means seeking to be sensitive to God, to his convicting work in my life, to his leading according to his word.

All barriers can be broken down. As in faith we let God in Jesus do the work of change which he alone can do. Helping us through together in Jesus. A help for the world, which loves to the very end.

each of us has our place

It is wonderful how the face of God can be on the most -in our minds- simple believers in what they do. Each of us in Jesus has our place. And it is a most wonderful place, a most wonderful work. Even in, and we can say especially in all our brokenness.

It is the place of following Jesus. Yes, in the community of God in Jesus. In mission, the mission of Jesus in and through Jesus for the world.

Not everyone is a top gifted artist, I’m thinking of musicians, etc. But there is room for the gift of everyone. In fact something of God is missing when the gift of anyone present is considered not good enough. Or that we must give priority always to the ones more gifted. Not the way of Jesus, or how the Spirit works.

In Christ’s body each member has their important work to do. Some indeed are hidden in what they do, but every bit as important for the healthy functioning of the body as a whole. Of course I’m talking about you and I. All of us, in Jesus.

This has plenty of ramifications for us in real life. Are we willing to submit to each other? Are we living self-sacrificially? Are we loving those that we ordinarily, left to ourselves, would not? Are we open to being changed, indeed wanting such change by God? All of this in following Jesus.

Yes, we need to take our place. And we also need to readily step aside, and get out of the way. Because we can be so easily out of place. But each of us indeed has a special place for the good of each other, for the good of all, in God’s will in Jesus in and for the world.

when waiting

Psalm 40 has come to mind lately, so I’ve been endeavoring to spend time in it, and meditate on it. What came to mind was the first verse, perhaps especially the first line:

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.

The psalm is a picture of danger and even despair. There is no hope for the psalmist apart from God. Is that where God wants to bring us as his people? I think so.

When patiently waiting for the Lord, as this psalm encourages us to do, lesser things fall by the wayside. What occupied us before doesn’t enter our minds now. We long for something else. Yes, deliverance in the words of the psalm. But not only from destruction or ruin, but to life in God.

But make no mistake about it, God puts us, or allows us to be in between a rock and a hard place. We are taken out of our comfort zone, away from our false comforts, so that we might finally know God’s comfort.

Do I like this? Yes and no. My experience is unsettling, and just downright uncomfortable. But I sense in it something good. Something quite humbling. God’s hand in my heart and life, at work to change me.

To change circumstances? That would be nice. Ultimately in the end we know that is so. But first and foremost a change in us. That no less is what’s needed, and that is what God is all about, and will do as we seek him, seek his face and his hand in our lives in the way of Jesus. In our own lives, along with others in Jesus for the world.

 

 

it is God’s work

Usually when I go to the nursing home, I do not feeling like going, which maybe says something about me that is not altogether good. But much more often than not I at least realize that it was good to be there. In fact at times I can be quite out of sorts, and find with the singing and spoken word, God is indeed present. It is God’s work. Of course not mine.

I wonder how I can apply that to circumstances of life which in themselves seem overwhelming. When all seems against me. When there is an undercurrent which would sweep me away into oblivion. Not that it’s all about circumstances, or those who dislike me. I am in the mix as well, and I am one who has not yet arrived, to be sure. Yet I certainly am among all in Jesus in whom God promises to complete the good work he has began.

“Where is your faith?” Jesus might ask me, and I think often would, if he were present as in the gospels. I think I limit God to my own ability, even responsibility. Yes, I am responsible, but no, it is not dependent on myself. All ends up being dependent on God in and through Jesus. So I look to God through Jesus to be my salvation, as well as our salvation, indeed the salvation of the entire world. To do what only he can do, which is more than all we can ask or imagine. That indeed he might be glorified in the church through Jesus now and forever.

hemmed in

The psalmist declares that God has hemmed them in behind and before, and layed his hand on them. In that word we would find comfort. But what if to get there, one finds one’s self hemmed in by difficult, indeed impossible circumstances? That one has no one to turn but to God for help?

I think God often does that with his children. Or at least at certain times with some of his children. For one reason or another, or for a number of reasons we feel hemmed in. Like the circumstances of life have us, and there’s no escape.

Our propensity would be to escape (with “the wings of a dove” in the words of another psalm), be done with the problem, and live happily ever after.

But God knows better. His ways are not ours. God wants to bring us more and more into the way of Jesus. It’s the way of salvation not only for us, but for all. Even for our enemies. As well as for all things in and through the new creation in Jesus.

I don’t like to feel hemmed in by circumstances, indeed by adversity. But I’ve found in the past that I’ve learned new lessons, gone into deeper depths in relation to God, especially have come out of such times with more of a sense of God hemming me in. Of God’s hand being on my life, indeed on the circumstances of my life as well. So that there could be a sense of peace and even fullness of joy.

But by and large I live more in the in-between places, not caring that much about it, except when again I get hemmed in so that there seems to be no breathing room. A good place once again to turn to the One who has all things in hand. To find his salvation in and through the way of Jesus. God’s blessing, that we might be a blessing to others.

process long term

Often we get caught up in matters which have varying degrees of importance in themselves. Sometimes it’s a case of doing well versus doing better, which involves wisdom and discernment. Other times we can be hoodwinked into what seemed good at the time, but was not.

We can get so caught up in the fury and tyranny of the moment and urgent. And in that we can lose what is most important, and thus really lose the wisdom that is ours in Jesus. Yes, we don’t want to be taken for a ride, but if we are, then we in Jesus must take care not to abandon the way of Jesus.

We must learn to process long term. Which for us in Jesus means maturity in him, together becoming like him. We’ll make mistakes along the way as to the best decisions to be made in life. That is inevitable, and we should try to learn from that and do better.

But we must not lose sight of the goal in the end. It is no less than the new humanity in Jesus, which we are to be part and parcel with. And this is nothing less than the process and journey of a lifetime. Into more and more conformity to God’s will in Jesus, which is Jesus-like. As we look forward to the result of God’s good working in all things, in and through Jesus for us and through us for the world.

rumblings

I think I hear rumblings. The world is shaking a bit, and has over the years sometimes quite a bit. Some more cataclysmic changes seem inevitable in years and decades to come, should Jesus tarry.

I have to wonder in all of this if God isn’t trying in just another way, to get the full attention of the human race. We have our gods, and kingdoms, and what God does and is doing and wants to do in and through Jesus and his kingdom come in him, often does not sit well with us.

In and through Jesus though, God’s will can prevail on our lives. And not only in our lives, but through them into the lives of others. Indeed God’s kingdom come in Jesus is not just meant for when Jesus returns. But for this world here and now. But not in the ways of the world, though in the midst of them.

Whatever happens, or if life goes on essentially as it is, may we in Jesus sense God’s calling to us, and may we find our place in that calling together in his ongoing kingdom work in this world.

by faith

We note in scripture that the witnesses who could attest to the reality of faith, were active in that faith. They did good as well as mighty works. Faith is often equated with belief. But true biblical faith cannot stop at belief to be genuine. In fact just as basic as belief is trust in a personal sense. We trust the God who gives us his promises in and through Jesus. And by those promises we live our lives, indeed a new life. Because that is what those promises involve, and what God gives, or moves us toward through their fulfillment.

Promises as in scriptural passages are indeed important.  But I want to look at promises in terms of the entire Story of scripture. I am not promised something to help me along in my own self-centered version of life. But I am given God’s promises in Jesus to be reoriented into no less than a completely new life. A life of following Jesus together with others as witnesses of the reality of faith, and the reality which makes that faith possible.

Yes, indeed faith is a matter of trust in God, though the point of Hebrews 11 seems to be a life lived, and acts done in that life. One finds themselves in no less than God’s work and working. And that indeed one’s entire life is changed, or that such faith tends toward, and indeed is intended to move us in that direction.

And again amazingly enough we find that we are involved and indeed in the flow, in fact even doing–the very work and works of God. I do ministry at a nursing home, as well as other ministry from time to time. I know that if it’s my work, no matter how well done, people will receive no benefit from God. The only kind of work I want to do is that which benefits people through God. But if I’m involved in the working of God, not dependent on me, that is what makes the difference! Then people will benefit, and I as well.

So by faith we carry on. Wanting to live faithfully and well according to God’s promises in Jesus and in following Jesus. That indeed our lives may be a blessing to others. Together in Jesus for the world.

we each have our part

Scot McKnight in his great new book, One.Life: Jesus Calls, We Follow, reminds us well how we each have our part in God’s work in Jesus. We often want to compare ourselves with others or with another, so that we can think that our work is insignificant. But no work of God is insignificant, because God is in it. And if God is in our work, then we need to do it with joy.

We can also learn to fully appreciate and simply enjoy God’s work through others. Their work in and with God–amazingly God does call human servants co-workers with him, or those who work together with him–cannot be duplicated by anyone. Nor can anyone duplicate the unique work God has for each of us together with him.

The human element in this work always enters, so that only what is of God is infallible. As we’re told in scripture, we have this treasure in jars of clay, so that the glory is of God, and not of ourselves. We are cracked and we’re ever learning to more and more conform in our living to the image of God through Christ. But in the most simple and fallible of us, who sincerely in love are endeavoring to walk with the Lord, and even in spite of ourselves, God’s glory is often made known, and all the more when our weakness is evident.

This is all to be part of a harmonious whole. We need to learn how to let each one have their part, so that we eventually blend together into a community of God which is a work of his love by the Spirit through Jesus.

As we enter into the season of Lent, let us consider how we have sinned against each other through an individualism which may be good as in useful in worldly terms, but is not in accord with God’s kingdom working in Jesus. Let us not put down the work God has given us to do, but let us seek to grow and do better in that work. All the while learning to see and appreciate more and more the work God has given to each one. As we together take up our cross and follow Jesus, living out his life through his death, in and for the world.