little things

It’s the little things which can make all the difference. An encouraging word. A smile to let someone know they’re included.

On the other hand little things can be devastating. The cross word. A strong judgment made. Ignoring someone.

I have to wonder what little things Jesus did prior to his call when his disciples followed him. The call alone might be enough through God’s working to compel one to answer in the affirmative. In those days for a rabbi to invite someone to be his follower was indeed an honor. But I wonder if Jesus reached out in small ways to people to show God’s love to them. I think of the story when Jesus stopped at the tree Zacchaeus to tell him that he wanted to visit his house that day. Zacchaeus had made the decision to climb that tree, knowing he was too short to see Jesus over the crowds.

What little thing and things can I do today to make a difference in people’s lives? What may I be refusing to do that I ought to be doing? What about the small things that need to be done, that I’m not diligent to do. I know that at work, I’m nearly always searching for something else to do, and if I have time, I do it. But do I carry that attitude into my relationships with others, particularly family and friends. As well as that neighbor who just may be in need of some “small” thing I could do.

The Lord says in the prophets that he does not despise the day of small things. May we not despise them either, but be open to ways that we can do better and through Jesus together help someone toward “the way” and perhaps through God and with others make all the difference in the world.

 

holding on to wisdom

I find that at certain points when I am in great need of wisdom, I learn some important things pertaining to that situation, which can be a passing trouble, but most often seems to be a matter that I have to live with. And by and by I’m hit again with the same problem, and it seems I have to relearn what had helped me before.

That reminds me of the counsel Proverbs give us to hold on to wisdom. To guard it, since it indeed is our life. Living in the way God gives us depends on that.

Certainly we need to be reminded of truth, as scripture tells us. We can be quite forgetful. I find in my own life that all too often I have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, as to my own experience in learning. But that getting out of the trouble takes less time than before. I want to get to the place where I see less and less of certain problems because I hold on more and more to the wisdom God gives me to meet the problem in the first place.

At the same time our gathering in of wisdom is not static. We are to grow in it. So that what I had before, while it is important, is not what I’m to have now. I should be growing in my understanding from God, say in a given matter. Deepening in the understanding I have.

Of course this wisdom is personal at its heart. It is about my personal walk with God in this world, along with others of the community of God in Jesus. And that walk is both in love and for the world, so that it’s missional, as well. I’m not here for my own enjoyment, nor even just for my own benefit. If I stop there, I’ve lost wisdom altogether. I’m certainly off track.

And wisdom is not just intellectual. It is moral and spiritual. Certainly the head is included, but it is the heart and life in which wisdom is worked in and played out.

And so I want to hold on to wisdom. In the face of trouble, and perhaps even ongoing struggles, temptations, and issues which may never be resolved in this life. Holding on to wisdom along with others in Jesus in and for the world.

making do

Sometimes life throws a curve ball, maybe a change up, or a split finger if you’re into baseball. A good batter will go with the pitch, and in the words of my favorite baseball player when I was growing up, Tony Pérez, “I just tried to hit the ball hard,” in that Cuban accent of his.

We wish, we wish, we wish. We wish things were like they used to be. We want that same fastball we’ve grown accustomed to. We want life to be the same way. For such and such to have not happened. Maybe we regret a past decision we made. Or we don’t really like the new information or possibility.

Often what is good can become an idol. Or maybe we’re too dependent, or actually dependent in an unhealthy way on something. Whatever the case, we may end up stripped of it. Life goes on, and we either can go with it, or stay behind. The fact is though that it can never  be the same, regardless, so why do we hold on to it, or even wish for it?

It is hard, in fact impossible. We need the Lord’s help to let go of it. And as we do, we simply commit ourselves to the Lord’s grace and mercy. And we ask the Lord for wisdom. It is no less than the walk of faith which we must take. A walk that will come with surprises from God, to be sure. One step at a time, and step by step, day after day, over time.

In the mean time we learn to make do. To continue on strong in the faith, yes in our weakness. To look to God in Jesus by the Spirit to help us go on. Together with others in Jesus for the world.

second guessing myself

My wife, and most recently one of our pastors pointed out my need not to second guess myself. This was in the context of a difficult decision I had to make under considerable pressure, which on hindsight I saw problems with (as well as at the time). As well as seeing the good in the decision I made. As our pastor pointed out to me, it does no good to think, “If only.” I made the best decision I could at the time, and I must go on from this point (not completely her words, but the gist of them).

Yesterday there was another matter which now on hindsight I could second guess myself on. But I had prayed, and though it was difficult to do, I think it was a decision the Lord somehow was in. Or in his grace he will work in.

There are so many tough calls in life. What to do, what not to do. Including words which are among our most important acts in life.

The older I get the more important I see the support of the community in Jesus to help us go on from where we are, and grow to be a blessing. That includes sharing the difficulties we face with the decisions we have to make.

There are times though in which we need to take back what we’ve done, what we’ve said. We need to be sensitive as to where we may have offended someone because of words ill chosen, or an attitude neither honoring to the Lord, nor to them as a fellow human. Grace certainly needs to characterize our lives. As we have freely received from God’s hand through Jesus, we’re to freely give.

We do the best we can with much prayer, wanting to grow in all of that, and go on. Asking God to give us insight to do well and to make good decisions. And to learn not to second guess ourselves, but go on, trusting that God is with us in and through Jesus. And that he’ll work everything out to his glory and our good. We are in this together in Jesus and for the world.

imagination

Imagination seems controversial in some circles among evangelical Christians. Granted that Jesus nowhere tells his disciples to sit down and close their eyes, and use their imagination. We don’t read that elsewhere, though I think some of the gifts of the Spirit involve one being open to hear a word, or see a picture from God, looking to God for its interpretation, or meaning.

If we’re thinking of our own imaginations, then yes, that spells trouble. Scripture warns in the Old Testament of prophets who spoke out of their own imaginations, rather than from the Lord. But if God awakens our imagination through his word, and by the Spirit, to think of how something might be, I think that is entirely different.

The vision we have should be something of shalom, and according to God’s revelation given to us in scripture and realized in Jesus. What we imagine for a given situation may not work out that way, but it might surely have an impact on it. In ways we can’t see or imagine.

Of course we should never pretend to have the full picture, or even the right one. What we do have may come in part from our own imaginations. Enter the problem of those who are learning to prophesy, to really hear from God by the Spirit, to speak words into a given situation. There was even a school of the prophets in the Old Testament, I think during Elisha’s time, at least. People surely learning to hear from God so as to be able to speak God’s word. Prophecy in the New Testament is related though a bit different. But enough on that.

Actually I don’t think our human imagination is necessarily evil in and of itself if we submit it to God and to his word. Our own imagination since we are sinners can indeed be evil or skewed, but in Jesus, it would seem that imagination as part of our redeemed humanity can be a tool to help us see another possibility of how life could be in God’s will in Jesus, in a difficult situation.

When we read God’s promises in scripture, we need to be in prayer, asking God for insight as to what their application might be. And we need vision as to how this could bring change. And at least quite often some of the significant change will be in us, in own hearts, and out from that in our lives and actions.

Yes, an imagination in regard to a given situation, but also in regard to the bigger picture in some scenario. We seek to imagine from God God’s will for the here and now. A will we’re to live out together in Jesus in and for the world.

God’s consolation

We live in a troubled world, and when we are committed to follow Jesus, we run into more trouble. Remember his words and the context:

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

God’s consolation includes wisdom in knowing how to be as wise as serpents, yet as harmless as doves (again, Jesus’ words). We need that in this world, in fact it seems at times even in our relationships with other believers. It seems in our highly individualistic society, we’re hardly aware, much less committed to living as a body in unity in Jesus in this world. And yet the Spirit in us works to that end, while at the same time we’re told to make every effort to keep that unity of the Spirit.

Of course there will be spiritual battles out there. Perhaps largely under the radar- hardly known to us, once in a while- in our face.

God comes to us with wisdom and often with consolations. Sometimes, and maybe for some of us during some seasons, quite often, our perspectives are laden with fears about what might happen if we act faithfully. And sometimes we’re not sure just how to act to be faithful. Too often I’ve had it in my head in the past that this is plain like a science, but there’s an art to it as well. I’ve always thought it should be done in love, but sometimes just how to do it seems to have eluded me. Because it would not come across well when I did it, no matter how loving I tried to be, or at least humble in expressing it.

God brings consolation in the sense of wisdom over time. We want to be obedient, but not according to our understanding, but in the Jesus way. Submitting to him in every situation. Too often we think that we simply need to do something when within ourselves God’s work needs to be done. And for that to happen, we need to be open, to humble ourselves and listen, ready to repent and change. A change of heart, and then of life, of actions.

Of course inwardly we need to repent of any wrong we have inside or out which we’re aware of. And to pray the prayer of examen from the psalms that God would indeed search our hearts and know our anxious thoughts to see if anything offensive is in us, and then to lead us in the way everlasting. We need to take it slow in trying to correct a problem with another, and yet we need to be committed to that end.

God’s consolation. For us together in Jesus as his light of love even through us to and for the world.

following wisdom

While to search out a matter is the glory of kings (Proverbs 25:2), we all too often can fall prey to our own wisdom in doing so. Our own habits ingrained in us from years of practice.

The problem oftentimes in my own life, I think, is that I’ve followed my own wisdom, or depended on it, rather than seeking God’s wisdom, really finding it, and holding on to it, putting it into practice.

God’s wisdom actually covers all of life. When we ask God for it, he will give it, but we have to be open to receiving it. We have to look for it, and then we’ll begin to catch glimpses of it, or see it. And what ends up being just as important: we’ll need to begin to put it into practice. Over and over again. Which also means we’ll have to set aside our own way of doing things, our own way of solving the problem, our own wisdom.

This indeed will involve a new orientation of life, but it is part and parcel of the way of wisdom for us. It is found in Jesus who is the way, as well as wisdom to us. A wisdom we pursue in our lives, and together with others in Jesus in the way of Jesus for the world.

put to the test

In James we’re told to consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds, since we know that the testing of our faith works endurance in us. And that we must let endurance (or, perseverance, NIV) finish its work, that we may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

I don’t like being put to the test. Especially when I seem to have found a clearing, something toward resolution in a matter or two. It just seems that in this life there are tracks, indeed treks in which we have to walk on rather dangerous ground, with steep cliffs around us. Sometimes I can see how the testing can contribute to my maturity in Christ. Other times I can’t see it at all.

There’s also the question of the source of our testing. As we pray in the Lord’s/our Father prayer: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, or the evil one.” We must remember that regardless of the source of our testing, perhaps even a messenger of Satan to torment us, the Lord’s hand is on us through it all. Once again the Lord wants to prove himself to be our sufficiency, no matter what, come what may.

Testing in scripture has to do with refining and purifying us. We can’t grow ourselves up to be like Jesus. Although we do well to let the Lord do his work, by seeking everyday to follow him, even when it seems we have little or no footing to do so. But that is where the Lord wants to teach us, in a sense reach us, in ways we would never see or understand on our own.

What I’m trying to say in this post is basically is that while testing in itself is no fun at all, we need to count each testing pure joy, simply because we trust in the Lord that he is doing his good work to complete us. To make us more like himself.

I shouldn’t forget and neglect to mention here the directive to us in the James passage that if we lack wisdom, which is almost invariably so I would think, when in a trial, that we should ask God to give us needed wisdom. Knowing he indeed will, since he is a generous, open-handed God. Of course that wisdom is according to God’s will in Jesus. We have to be committed to God’s way in Jesus in all of this, which James takes as a given, or more precisely true, as the posture we must learn to take.

All of this together in Jesus, and as a witness through our changed lives to the world.

wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove

It’s sad we live in a world where we need to be wise as a serpent, and harmless as a dove. This is because we live in a world in which relationships are broken. Enemies are in place. Sad to say, even among the faithful, people sometimes live like enemies.

How do we navigate these waters? In the places in which there are no easy answers. When we’re in between a rock and a hard place. It’s not easy.

Jesus said there is a time to flee. Maybe an application of that would be to lay low as in dialing down meaning being quiet and removing one’s self from the problem as much as possible. A kind of fast (not a real fast, which biblically is about abstaining from food and sometimes water).

During that time we can confess our sins to God, asking God to search us, to search our hearts. It is nearly inevitable that when we’re sinned against we sin in return even if only in the heart. And sadly at times we may have started the cycle ourselves even if with nothing more than an attitude that was not loving in one instance.

Wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove. Both need to be kept in mind. And lived out. Of course the original context is about those proclaiming the gospel. But our lives are indeed to be a proclamation of this gospel in that we are to live out Jesus. Which means living out his death, burial and resurrection (see Rodney Reeves’ insightful book, Spirituality According to Paul: Imitating the Apostle of Christ). And indeed these hard places can be used by God to conform us to the image of Christ. As we wait for our change to come, together with others in Jesus, and for the world.

stilling the tongue

If we take scripture seriously, and we Christians say we do*, then we should place a premium on keeping a tight rein on our tongue. In fact James tells us unless we do that, our religion is worthless. Religion there I think simply having to do with the profession as well as practice of one’s faith. James has a section in which the destructiveness of the tongue is underscored. And Proverbs has plenty to say about what we say. Along with Jesus and the rest of scripture.

I am an open person. In earlier years to a fault, though more guarded overall as I get older, except for close friends and trusted people. Expressing my views, or exposing myself as to my struggles, weaknesses or failures–has often proved to be unwise. What is difficult is keeping one’s mouth shut when one has been or is being wronged. Rather than lashing out, or trying to defend one’s self.

There is a time to be silent and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes). Jesus concerning his sufferings, is said to have been silent as a sheep is before its shearers, that he did not open his mouth. We see that during the trial before his crucifixion. And yet at a certain point he did open his mouth in challenging and asking why he was being struck.

Christians in some quarters were once known as the quiet in the land. Indeed we’re told by Peter that we’re to mind our own business, work hard with our hands, so that our lives may gain the respect of outsiders. Instead we’re in an uproar over politics, or the world’s culture or beliefs. Vociferously insistently loud. It is a different dynamic to be sure, living in America. But does scripture no longer apply here, or more precisely how do we apply it? The world is still the world, along with the flesh and the devil. I fear we get caught up in a system of harmful verbiage. When rather we ought to be engaging the world first by how we live, as well as by gentle, respectful reasoning in dialog. As part of our witness. Not to deny the need also for proclamation at the right times.

But back to my own personal concern. I want to pray along with the psalmist that the Lord would set a guard over my lips. That I would not let my lips spew out what ends up being the fire of hell, however right I think my words are. That I will learn to entrust all things to God. And love those who have been hurtful, careless, or less than gracious in their own speech.

Rather I want to speak words of grace according to the truth that is in Jesus. Along with others in Jesus. And especially to God for his help. That I will know what to say, or will say what is helpful and wise, as well as gracious. With others in Jesus as we grow together toward maturity in him, as his witnesses before the world.

*That is not meant to be disparaging of others. I think of myself, and my own propensity to, as James says, hear the word, know what it’s saying, and yet not do it, and so deceive myself.