Here is the original DIGGIT article I wrote in 2005 expanding on sermon notes taken during one of Pastor Timothy Paul Jones messages at First Bapt. Church Rolling Hills in Tulsa, OK
DIGGIT-Do I Glorify God In This?
I would like to propose a small modification to and a thorough answer to the question Christians and non-believers alike often ask themselves -What Would Jesus Do?
I believe a follow-up question is called for- Do I Glorify God In This? or ‘DIGGIT’. If we examine the life of Christ, I believe we will find this is how to be perfect as our Father is perfect, ref. Matthew. 5:44-48, and John 17:20-23, to be one with the Father as Jesus was, and we can truly "take up my cross and follow Him", as Jesus asked and commanded us to. Jesus’ life was a life of perfect obedience, He never chose self over His Father’s wishes, and I as a Christian am asked to do no more, and no less. In Phillipians 2, Paul writes about this, as Christ humbled Himself and took on the form of a servent, obedient even to a death on a cross. I believe we are not asked by our Savior to do things we are unable to do, and that we are not equipped to do, the common adage "the devil made me do it" or "I am only human, I can't be like Jesus, I will sin", are cop-outs if we are to take the Word at His Word. If this is an honest answer, that obedience is all, but everything we are asked to do to follow Christ, which will give glory to God, the logical next question is "How do I know and discern what obedience is as I walk this earth during my life here?" In 1 John 2:6, we are told that "He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked." Instead of " What Would Jesus Do?" , I would like to encourage believers to ask 'What Did Jesus Do?' and that means to 'Walk Like Jesus Walked'.
If you do not currently have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, having had a specific time and place where you have made Him Savior and Lord of your life, asking that His finished, atoning death on account of His shed blood covering your sins, I would propose that John’s gospel be the starting point to discover what Jesus did, as He lived His live in obedience to His Father's Will, prefaced by a prayer, that God would give me wisdom and understanding of His Word, and if He is real, and this book is really His revelation to me, that He would reveal Himself and His Son, that I would know Him, honor Him, and give Him glory. After John’s gospel, follow with the rest of the New Testament and the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, to see how Jesus walked with and obeyed His Father on this earth and what believers in Christ are asked to obey, that we might glorify God, as our Father as Jesus did, and see that He and His Son are one, and both are God.
In addition to reading the Bible to discover God’s will and instruction for our lives, we are told that Jesus "as was his custom" spent daily time in prayer with His Father, and we are again, asked to do no more and no less than follow His example. Daily time in prayer, as a priority and necessity for our lives, will certainly glorify God. If we are reading the Word to see how we are called to live life on this earth, and praying daily , there may be a third thing we need to do to be obedient to God, and thus , give Him glory. That would be to obey anything He specifically reveals to us that we need to do, whether to witness to a certain person that is brought across our daily path, to pray for a certain person that He puts on our heart and mind during the course of our day, or whatever He reveals to us individually that we ourselves are asked to do.
The idea that all believers are called to full time Christian service, 24/7/365, whether we are on a paid ministry staff or in business for ministry purposes, or a stay at home mom or dad, or whatever our position in life is, answers another question-How can I glorify God doing what I do?? It would be easy if I were…….fill in the blank with Billy Graham, Steven Curtis Chapman, anyone who is recognized as a servant of God, serving Him daily through an obvious ministry. We are all called to a life of ministry, and cannot compartmentalize our lives into business, personal, and spiritual portions, we are called to a whole life to be lived Holy, set apart for God’s service and to glorify God in all aspects of our life, how we deal with our neighbor, our family, our co-workers, boss, etc, etc.
When we do not measure ourselves with other peoples ministries, or what it looks like they do for God, or how holy they are, but only are accountable for what God is asking of us, suddenly our lives in obedience are simplified. If we are reading the Word daily, spending time in prayer daily, living a life submissive to the Father’s wishes, not our own, and obeying any of the little things God has laid on our hearts that we need to do at this point and time in our life, we have nothing more to do to know that we glorify God, and are daily taking up our cross and following Jesus as we are commanded to do. I remind myself daily to be content resting in obedience, for there is nothing more to do than obey what we are asked to do.
I believe the cross was only one thing to Jesus- obeying what the Father asked of him, nothing more and nothing less, and in that perspective, we can do the same thing. We are not asked to offer our life as a sacrifice for the sins of many, as Christ was, but we are asked to obey what the Father asks of us, and that we can do. Praise God that He does not ask us to do what we cannot, or are not equipped to do, what kind of Father would ask his children to do that? We are told that God is a kind father, and will not give his children a stone when asked for bread, or a serpent when asked for a fish? The New Testament reveals God for the first time as His children’s Father, and then tells us what a good father is like. We are told to pray to "Our Father in heaven, hallowed or glorified to all who hear it, be Your name". Can you imagine the wonder, and stop dead in your tracks new paradigm this was for the hearers of this prayer? No longer striving to be worthy to be called Abraham’s child, as the upper crust of Jewish religiosity would prop their selves, but now as God’s own child! Now we are told to come to God as a little child, not a tither, not a law keeper, not someone with goods/things/treasures to offer God, but as a little child with needs we cannot meet ourselves, holding up open hands asking for what we never can obtain ourselves, and can never repay, that only can be given graciously and mercifully.
Jesus walked this earth and faced temptation in every way just as we are, and never quenched or grieved the Holy Spirit that dwealt in Him, and is promised to dwell in all believers following their new birth in Christ. Jesus walked in the fruit of the spirit and not in the desires of the flesh, and we are to walk in the same manner, as Galations 5:16-25 describes. Daily we should have these evidences in our life of our walk with Jesus and His Father. All believers are to have these evident and visible in their character and actions, they are not selectively given, like spiritual gifts.
When we walk in obedience, we are what we were created to be. I am greatly blessed to have a Godly wife, for whom I want to be a Godly husband, I want to be the Christ serving daddy my two girls need to show them faith and love in action, I want to be the loving son to my mom and dad, who raised me in a household of love and where the presence of God daily was in the midst of our life. I want to be the brother God made me to be, the uncle my niece and nephew and their children need to show Jesus to them, the brother in the Lord my church family needs, the co-worker my workplace needs to see honor Jesus every moment of every day in the stress and temptation of our American way of life, and so it goes. Instead of driving myself to tears or rage because of how intensely I wish to be all these things to all these people, when I glorify God by obedience, we just are all those things. If I could ask one thing of my Lord and Savior, it would be to walk in perfect obedience, taking every thought captive to the mind of Christ every second of every waking moment of this life. I would not have to worry about striving to balance these relationships of my life, and how to prioritize who I am, I would just be the child of God He made me to be, walking in the fruit of the Spirit, and knowing the peace of Christ every moment of my life. My scripture reference for this is Ephesians 1:3-5. Jesus never failed to be holy, setting Himself apart to serving the Father, and again, that is what we are asked to walk in daily. What a concept, to realize that when we are right with God in relationship, we will be right with those He puts in our daily walk, and Satan is defeated once again.
I believe the peace of Christ that He promises to give us is just this, that when we obey the Father in what He is asking of us, the rest of the concerns of the world cease to matter, if we know we are obedient, we are who God has made and called us to be. John 14:27 shares this promise from Jesus to the disciples, on the night when they were taught so many things, and shared His peace of oneness with the Father that comes from obedience with them. Without the need or temptation to worry about how other people respond or if they respond, and to resist Satan's lie that we judge our life's success on what others think or what other people do, or how they respond, our life is, and we just are, wholly His, and in that, we are all those things we want so badly to be, without having a struggle to equip ourselves or educate ourselves, we recognize that when we walk step by step, as Rich Mullins would write, " Step by step You lead me, and I will follow You all of my days". The confession, " Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you", minute by minute is on our lips and heart and mind, and we rest in that obedience, knowing our Father is pleased, because He sees His obedient Son, Jesus, when He looks at our life. John 14: 15-18 says this again, as when we follow the commandments of Jesus, we are showing Him our love for and oneness with Him. Jesus gave comfort to those closest to Him, on the night He knew they would replay in their minds over and over again, recalling His words and promises to them, preparing them to walk without His physical presence, but to walk through the Comforter with Him for the rest of their lives, once it was revealed to them who was with them, and would never leave, nor forsake them.
We then are asked to love others the same way God loves us, by loving unconditionally, and forgiving when forgiveness is not due, but is given freely, again, because we are asked and commanded to do so, so that the God we serve is modeled and glorified to those we come in contact with here in our earthly walk. What a difference would be made in the world if believers in God and His son, Jesus Christ, lived that way-a life of obedience, giving God the glory He is worthy of and deserves, and that leads us back to What Would Jesus Do? He never did anything or said anything that did not give glory to His Father, and that is His call to us, I believe. It is a call to be answered, and that we can answer, as believers we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.
I believe the doing of all things strengthens us, as Philippians. 4:13 refers to, when we walk with Him, as well as being a checkpoint for us in our daily lives, if we find ourselves not doing all things, we are not in Christ, and need to repent, confess our sins, be refilled by the Holy Spirit, and continue the life of obedience we are called to, doing what Jesus would, glorifying God in all we do and don’t do, say and don’t say. If we will take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 calls us to, we will live a life that glorifies God. It is God’s will for us , and will cause revolution around us, turning the world upside down, as the first century church did, see Acts 17:6, they did nothing more, and nothing less than this-living a life that glorified God, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, until being united with Him forever when we are called home by our Father to that place His Son has lovingly gone to prepare for us.
Now I believe the answer to the question WWJD is clear, DIGGIT?, and we can, it is our choice, and our Father's will that we make it so.
So, WLJL-Walk Like Jesus Walked and peace of Christ to you.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
How Is Your Walk Today?
Following another Tuesday evening delving into the book of Genesis with Chris and Philip, and working through Chapter 6, the story of God calling Noah to build an ark brought to my attention one constant comment I find repeated in these first 6 chapters of the Bible.
There are four people who are identified to have had the pleasure to "walk with God".
The first two of these would be Adam and Eve, naked and unashamed, not only in front of each other, but in front of God, as they had the habit of walking in the evening with their Creator before the Fall .
The third is Enoch, who we are told walked with God and then was not, for God took him.
The fourth is Noah, of whom it is said that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and that he walked with God.
As I have tried these past almost 5 months to daily walk with God, following Jesus and striving to take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, and asking that I might have the eyes of Christ, seeing those brought to my path as He would, and have the ears of Christ, to hear our Father's voice clearly, as well as the voices and sounds of those brought to my daily path, the feet of Christ to go wherever He was led by our Father, I have had some good minutes, moments, but far fewer than in retrospect I wish I did.
I have chosen to sit, sleep, relax, entertain myself, eat myself into a catfish coma, but to say that I have walked with God daily for more than moments at a time, or that I have pursued Him with a vengeance, or lived each day as if it were my last, or the last of those brought to my path, seeking to save those who are lost and dying, would be many things, but alas, not the truth.
I walked away from my job as the air export manager this spring, waking up on 01April, a Friday morning, to begin a journey in which I have as one of my daily pursuits to walk with God, seeking Him with my whole heart, and asking Him to draw me close to Him, and that I would obey quickly what His asks of me. What I have found is that, at least for this 52 year old, once again, even though I am rarely the follower of Jesus I tell my Father I am going to be, He is always there every time I turn back to him, waiting to see me through, He don't ask why it took so long, He just says welcome back my little one, every time I turn.
My family and I recently watched the movie 'UP' again, and more often I am like Dug, easily distracted from the task at hand, and immediately at the sighting of a 4 legged bushy tailed rodent, the good intentions of the waking moments of the day are turned to distraction as opposed to both hands on the plow, yoked to Jesus, who still calls me daily, all that are burdened and heavy laden, come to the Man of No Reputation, who offers rest and abundant life, if you will only come and follow, walking with Him wherever the path may lead.
Only Enoch was to have a life with no regrets it seems, it must be good to be Enoch, taken without tasting death on this earth to walk with his Lord always. Adam and Eve must have walked with the Lord following getting chased from the Garden of Eden, as their child Abel knew how to bring a lamb to God, offering shed blood to atone for his sin. Don't you know that was a lesson to never forget, having mom and dad show you the skins that were provided by their Creator after their own weak efforts to hide death and sin with works of their own hands? I bet those aprons of leaves were also at hand, as a reminder, also never forgotten, that even though their walk with God would never be the same as before, with death now daily present in their dying bodies? Where grace was not needed originally, being naked and unashamed and pure and perfect as made, now thanksgiving and praise and worship were offered at the direction of their Lord. God in His grace had supplied a covering for their shame and shown the proper way to come to Him through the blood of a lamb.
Today, no current praise or worship song moves me like The Revelation Song, based on descriptions found in the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, about the scene revealed to John the Revelator taking place in Heaven, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come. With all creation I sing, praise to the King of Kings, He is my everything, and I will adore Him. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, holy, holy is He, sing a new song, to Him who sits on Heavens mercy seat.
Day by day, I get up, and thank God for another chance to choose to walk with Him, following the example given by His Son, who moment by moment, also chose to walk with Him, day by day, forsaking the world to seek and save those that are lost.
That is our call as the body of Christ today, to walk like Jesus walked, in obedience to His Father's call and direction. Jesus died and rose again so that we may have life and life abundant, walking as He did, with our Father. When we follow this call, we identify with those who walked before us with their Creator and Lord, whether Adam or Eve or Enoch or Noah. And one day, just as Enoch was found to be not on this earth, for God took him, we are told that in the twinkling of an eye, we will meet Jesus in the sky, to be forever in His presence.
Let us encourage each other and share the true truth given us and revealed through Holy Scripture, that mankind is sinful totally, but thank God that Jesus saves and makes old things new, and desires a personal walk daily moment by moment with us. We are declared His workmanship, created for good works that are already established for us to walk in, and are called to be salt and light in a dark and dying world, this is our hope, built on nothing less than the finished work of Jesus Christ and the blood He shed on the cross, covering our death and sin, just as in a garden thousands of years ago, when a real Adam and real Eve were shown their Father loved them just where they were, and loved them too much to leave them there, but supplied a lamb, declaring for all to see, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, holy, holy is He!
There are four people who are identified to have had the pleasure to "walk with God".
The first two of these would be Adam and Eve, naked and unashamed, not only in front of each other, but in front of God, as they had the habit of walking in the evening with their Creator before the Fall .
The third is Enoch, who we are told walked with God and then was not, for God took him.
The fourth is Noah, of whom it is said that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and that he walked with God.
As I have tried these past almost 5 months to daily walk with God, following Jesus and striving to take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, and asking that I might have the eyes of Christ, seeing those brought to my path as He would, and have the ears of Christ, to hear our Father's voice clearly, as well as the voices and sounds of those brought to my daily path, the feet of Christ to go wherever He was led by our Father, I have had some good minutes, moments, but far fewer than in retrospect I wish I did.
I have chosen to sit, sleep, relax, entertain myself, eat myself into a catfish coma, but to say that I have walked with God daily for more than moments at a time, or that I have pursued Him with a vengeance, or lived each day as if it were my last, or the last of those brought to my path, seeking to save those who are lost and dying, would be many things, but alas, not the truth.
I walked away from my job as the air export manager this spring, waking up on 01April, a Friday morning, to begin a journey in which I have as one of my daily pursuits to walk with God, seeking Him with my whole heart, and asking Him to draw me close to Him, and that I would obey quickly what His asks of me. What I have found is that, at least for this 52 year old, once again, even though I am rarely the follower of Jesus I tell my Father I am going to be, He is always there every time I turn back to him, waiting to see me through, He don't ask why it took so long, He just says welcome back my little one, every time I turn.
My family and I recently watched the movie 'UP' again, and more often I am like Dug, easily distracted from the task at hand, and immediately at the sighting of a 4 legged bushy tailed rodent, the good intentions of the waking moments of the day are turned to distraction as opposed to both hands on the plow, yoked to Jesus, who still calls me daily, all that are burdened and heavy laden, come to the Man of No Reputation, who offers rest and abundant life, if you will only come and follow, walking with Him wherever the path may lead.
Only Enoch was to have a life with no regrets it seems, it must be good to be Enoch, taken without tasting death on this earth to walk with his Lord always. Adam and Eve must have walked with the Lord following getting chased from the Garden of Eden, as their child Abel knew how to bring a lamb to God, offering shed blood to atone for his sin. Don't you know that was a lesson to never forget, having mom and dad show you the skins that were provided by their Creator after their own weak efforts to hide death and sin with works of their own hands? I bet those aprons of leaves were also at hand, as a reminder, also never forgotten, that even though their walk with God would never be the same as before, with death now daily present in their dying bodies? Where grace was not needed originally, being naked and unashamed and pure and perfect as made, now thanksgiving and praise and worship were offered at the direction of their Lord. God in His grace had supplied a covering for their shame and shown the proper way to come to Him through the blood of a lamb.
Today, no current praise or worship song moves me like The Revelation Song, based on descriptions found in the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, about the scene revealed to John the Revelator taking place in Heaven, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come. With all creation I sing, praise to the King of Kings, He is my everything, and I will adore Him. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, holy, holy is He, sing a new song, to Him who sits on Heavens mercy seat.
Day by day, I get up, and thank God for another chance to choose to walk with Him, following the example given by His Son, who moment by moment, also chose to walk with Him, day by day, forsaking the world to seek and save those that are lost.
That is our call as the body of Christ today, to walk like Jesus walked, in obedience to His Father's call and direction. Jesus died and rose again so that we may have life and life abundant, walking as He did, with our Father. When we follow this call, we identify with those who walked before us with their Creator and Lord, whether Adam or Eve or Enoch or Noah. And one day, just as Enoch was found to be not on this earth, for God took him, we are told that in the twinkling of an eye, we will meet Jesus in the sky, to be forever in His presence.
Let us encourage each other and share the true truth given us and revealed through Holy Scripture, that mankind is sinful totally, but thank God that Jesus saves and makes old things new, and desires a personal walk daily moment by moment with us. We are declared His workmanship, created for good works that are already established for us to walk in, and are called to be salt and light in a dark and dying world, this is our hope, built on nothing less than the finished work of Jesus Christ and the blood He shed on the cross, covering our death and sin, just as in a garden thousands of years ago, when a real Adam and real Eve were shown their Father loved them just where they were, and loved them too much to leave them there, but supplied a lamb, declaring for all to see, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, holy, holy is He!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
I Will Seek You In The Morning?
I have just rediscovered a bit of the joy of my first love, how great it is to start my day on my face, rejoicing that God has chosen to let me have another day on this planet He created in the Milky Way galaxy.
Loving to sleep in, and being a night owl too, always trying to squeeze in another task or read the next page or chapter, does not lend itself to living life as bounding out of bed daily, as 260 lbs generally just doesn't bound, but that is a work in progress (thanks to the treadmill I now plugged in by the freezer in our garage, having icy pops available within arms reach in the Oklahoma summer is a lovely thing!)
Several years ago in my Christian walk, I was struggling with when to schedule my daily quiet time, and the immediate answer to my prayer was for radio station to break out in Rich Mullin's Sometimes by Step. The familiar chorus "I will seek You in the morning, and I will learn to walk in Your ways, step by step you lead me, and I will follow You all of my days", to which my immediate response was like Indiana Jones seeing the snakes in aircraft as we were introduced to Indy's phobia of snakes early on, "Morning?!? I hate getting up early , and even more trying to read and absorb early in the day, what a sense of humor our Creator has.
Now , my favorite time with my Lord is in the shower, reminding me that Christ's finished work on the Cross has made me clean indeed, as I have bowed my knee and asked Him to be Savior and Lord, the Lord part coming on 01JAN1989 , following the Savior profession at the age of 6 . I kneel in the warm comfort of water massaging tired, almost 52 yr old neck and upper back muscles, and profess how thankful that my standing with my Lord is not based on my ability to perform, but a free gift, that I cannot buy, earn, or deserve, but is graciously given, even at a time when I was not called friend of God, but one who like Peter, denied Him daily.
Today, I am reminded of Rich and Beaker, sitting together I am sure , under the starry night or hundred in a grassy place in Kansas, loving their Creator and wondering at the words and chords coming into this world for the first time, and am thankful that I can offer their efforts to my Lord as my own " and I will follow you all of my days, I will follow you all of my days, and step by step You lead me, and I will follow you all of my days", that is my prayer, moment by moment, to walk like Jesus did, step by step where He saw His Father at work in the lives of whoever was brought to a daily path in a place where the same stars shone one night upon the baby in a manger, Creator of our Universe, coming to offer a chance to be clean to any who will bow the knee, and confess, Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise You.
Some day I will sing this with Rich and other brothers and sisters in Jesus, and hear a hammered dulcimer once again in the hands of a ragamuffin, brought to praise by the awesome, furious, raging fury we call the Love of God.
Loving to sleep in, and being a night owl too, always trying to squeeze in another task or read the next page or chapter, does not lend itself to living life as bounding out of bed daily, as 260 lbs generally just doesn't bound, but that is a work in progress (thanks to the treadmill I now plugged in by the freezer in our garage, having icy pops available within arms reach in the Oklahoma summer is a lovely thing!)
Several years ago in my Christian walk, I was struggling with when to schedule my daily quiet time, and the immediate answer to my prayer was for radio station to break out in Rich Mullin's Sometimes by Step. The familiar chorus "I will seek You in the morning, and I will learn to walk in Your ways, step by step you lead me, and I will follow You all of my days", to which my immediate response was like Indiana Jones seeing the snakes in aircraft as we were introduced to Indy's phobia of snakes early on, "Morning?!? I hate getting up early , and even more trying to read and absorb early in the day, what a sense of humor our Creator has.
Now , my favorite time with my Lord is in the shower, reminding me that Christ's finished work on the Cross has made me clean indeed, as I have bowed my knee and asked Him to be Savior and Lord, the Lord part coming on 01JAN1989 , following the Savior profession at the age of 6 . I kneel in the warm comfort of water massaging tired, almost 52 yr old neck and upper back muscles, and profess how thankful that my standing with my Lord is not based on my ability to perform, but a free gift, that I cannot buy, earn, or deserve, but is graciously given, even at a time when I was not called friend of God, but one who like Peter, denied Him daily.
Today, I am reminded of Rich and Beaker, sitting together I am sure , under the starry night or hundred in a grassy place in Kansas, loving their Creator and wondering at the words and chords coming into this world for the first time, and am thankful that I can offer their efforts to my Lord as my own " and I will follow you all of my days, I will follow you all of my days, and step by step You lead me, and I will follow you all of my days", that is my prayer, moment by moment, to walk like Jesus did, step by step where He saw His Father at work in the lives of whoever was brought to a daily path in a place where the same stars shone one night upon the baby in a manger, Creator of our Universe, coming to offer a chance to be clean to any who will bow the knee, and confess, Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise You.
Some day I will sing this with Rich and other brothers and sisters in Jesus, and hear a hammered dulcimer once again in the hands of a ragamuffin, brought to praise by the awesome, furious, raging fury we call the Love of God.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
A Passover dinner with my Master?
Today I continue the step by step process of beginning a ministry that I pray God will make my primary source of sustaining my family, and if not, it will be a part time passion for the rest of my life, not a sometime or spare time hobby as I have lazily pursued at my leisure these past 7 years.
As I am moment to moment seeking strength and renewal as I have some good 15 minute spans, maybe a good hour now and them, but daily, I am still not giving my whole self in seeking the Lord I say I want to serve, and get so easily distracted it makes me crazy at times. In those moments, trying to get the slot car back on the track and off the carpet, I love to read the 6 chapters in John's Gospel that take us from when Jesus washed the feet of those gathered with him that night for the Passover meal to when they departed for the garden to pray.
So many things taught in those short hours, how thankful I am that this is part of what God providentially inspired to be recorded as Holy Scripture, when I struggle, and know I have a battle facing me that I am not feeling up to fight, I get an unearthly calm in my self after meditating on these verses.
I believe the peace of Christ that He promises to give us is just this, that when we obey the Father in what He is asking of us, the rest of the concerns of the world cease to matter, if we know we are obedient, we are who God has made and called us to be. John 14:27 shares this promise from Jesus to the disciples, on the night when they were taught so many things, and shared His peace of oneness with the Father that comes from obedience with them. Without the need or temptation to worry about how other people respond or if they respond, and to resist Satan's lie that we judge our life's success on what others think or what other people do, or how they respond, our life is, and we just are, wholly His, and in that, we are all those things we want so badly to be, without having a struggle to equip ourselves or educate ourselves, we recognize that when we walk step by step, as Rich Mullins would write, " Step by step You lead me, and I will follow You all of my days". The confession, " Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you", minute by minute is on our lips and heart and mind, and we rest in that obedience, knowing our Father is pleased, because He sees His obedient Son, Jesus, when He looks at our life.
John 14: 15-18 says this again, as when we follow the commandments of Jesus, we are showing Him our love for and oneness with Him. Jesus gave comfort to those closest to Him, on the night He knew they would replay in their minds over and over again, recalling His words and promises to them, preparing them to walk without His physical presence, but to walk through the Comforter with Him for the rest of their lives, once it was revealed to them who was with them, and would never leave, nor forsake them.
We then are asked to love others the same way God loves us, by loving unconditionally, and forgiving when forgiveness is not due, but is given freely, again, because we are asked and commanded to do so, so that the God we serve is modeled and glorified to those we come in contact with here in our earthly walk. What a difference would be made in the world if believers in God and His son, Jesus Christ, lived that way-a life of obedience, giving God the glory He is worthy of and deserves, and that leads us back to What Would Jesus Do? He never did anything or said anything that did not give glory to His Father, and that is His call to us, I believe. It is a call to be answered, and that we can answer, as believers we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.
I believe the doing of all things strengthens us, as Phillipians. 4:13 refers to, when we walk with Him, as well as being a checkpoint for us in our daily lives, if we find ourselves not doing all things, we are not in Christ, and need to repent, confess our sins, be refilled by the Holy Spirit, and continue the life of obedience we are called to, doing what Jesus would, glorifying God in all we do and don’t do, say and don’t say. If we will take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 calls us to, we will live a life that glorifies God. It is God’s will for us , and will cause revolution around us, turning the world upside down, as the first century church did, see Acts 17:6, they did nothing more, and nothing less than this-living a life that glorified God, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, until being united with Him forever when we are called home by our Father to that place His Son has lovingly gone to prepare for us.
As I am moment to moment seeking strength and renewal as I have some good 15 minute spans, maybe a good hour now and them, but daily, I am still not giving my whole self in seeking the Lord I say I want to serve, and get so easily distracted it makes me crazy at times. In those moments, trying to get the slot car back on the track and off the carpet, I love to read the 6 chapters in John's Gospel that take us from when Jesus washed the feet of those gathered with him that night for the Passover meal to when they departed for the garden to pray.
So many things taught in those short hours, how thankful I am that this is part of what God providentially inspired to be recorded as Holy Scripture, when I struggle, and know I have a battle facing me that I am not feeling up to fight, I get an unearthly calm in my self after meditating on these verses.
I believe the peace of Christ that He promises to give us is just this, that when we obey the Father in what He is asking of us, the rest of the concerns of the world cease to matter, if we know we are obedient, we are who God has made and called us to be. John 14:27 shares this promise from Jesus to the disciples, on the night when they were taught so many things, and shared His peace of oneness with the Father that comes from obedience with them. Without the need or temptation to worry about how other people respond or if they respond, and to resist Satan's lie that we judge our life's success on what others think or what other people do, or how they respond, our life is, and we just are, wholly His, and in that, we are all those things we want so badly to be, without having a struggle to equip ourselves or educate ourselves, we recognize that when we walk step by step, as Rich Mullins would write, " Step by step You lead me, and I will follow You all of my days". The confession, " Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you", minute by minute is on our lips and heart and mind, and we rest in that obedience, knowing our Father is pleased, because He sees His obedient Son, Jesus, when He looks at our life.
John 14: 15-18 says this again, as when we follow the commandments of Jesus, we are showing Him our love for and oneness with Him. Jesus gave comfort to those closest to Him, on the night He knew they would replay in their minds over and over again, recalling His words and promises to them, preparing them to walk without His physical presence, but to walk through the Comforter with Him for the rest of their lives, once it was revealed to them who was with them, and would never leave, nor forsake them.
We then are asked to love others the same way God loves us, by loving unconditionally, and forgiving when forgiveness is not due, but is given freely, again, because we are asked and commanded to do so, so that the God we serve is modeled and glorified to those we come in contact with here in our earthly walk. What a difference would be made in the world if believers in God and His son, Jesus Christ, lived that way-a life of obedience, giving God the glory He is worthy of and deserves, and that leads us back to What Would Jesus Do? He never did anything or said anything that did not give glory to His Father, and that is His call to us, I believe. It is a call to be answered, and that we can answer, as believers we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.
I believe the doing of all things strengthens us, as Phillipians. 4:13 refers to, when we walk with Him, as well as being a checkpoint for us in our daily lives, if we find ourselves not doing all things, we are not in Christ, and need to repent, confess our sins, be refilled by the Holy Spirit, and continue the life of obedience we are called to, doing what Jesus would, glorifying God in all we do and don’t do, say and don’t say. If we will take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 calls us to, we will live a life that glorifies God. It is God’s will for us , and will cause revolution around us, turning the world upside down, as the first century church did, see Acts 17:6, they did nothing more, and nothing less than this-living a life that glorified God, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, until being united with Him forever when we are called home by our Father to that place His Son has lovingly gone to prepare for us.
Friday, February 18, 2011
What is your whole heart?
I was challenged this week in a way that I praise God for, but at the same time am so humbled during my days that I cannot begin to count the times tears came to my eyes at the realization of how much my God loves me despite my disobedience and continues to bless me even though I have done nothing to earn it.
My pastor was teaching this past Sunday on the 10th commandment, thou shalt not covet, and just what we in our daily walk need to be on the lookout for in living out this on a daily basis.
After the message, I shared thoughts of a favorite author, Francis Schaeffer, that all the commandments could be seen to flow out of this one, and that is one of my fundamentals of the DIGGIT philosophy of striving to live a life of obedience as Jesus did, totally walking in the fruit of the Spirit, never grieving or quenching the Spirit, and glorifying His Father with His whole life, living Holy, a life separated from personal want and desire, only seeking to please His Father, our Father if we name the name of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
When I get my DIGGIT devotional published, the sub title will be "Resting in Obedience". The companion thought that goes with Schaeffer's premise and Bro. Clayton's lesson Sunday is that to DIGGIT we need to rest in contentment with God's supply and provision in our lives. I love Tony Nolan's illustration that we are like vandal's taking a spray paint can to God's Word when we put ourselves on the throne that should only belong to our Creator, Jesus Christ, and this Sunday God showed me again how true this is.
When we covet, we are telling God, "no thanks God, your supply is not what I need, You have failed to give me what is needed for my happiness and I won't be content until I get some of this, that and the other thing that would make my life better. Whether a spouse that doesn't continue to be appreciated as special and God's help mate for life, just for us, with the precise and exact qualities needed for the "two to become one flesh", modeled after Christ and His Church, His Bride in the New Testament, there is the root of adultery. (one of my favorite blues tunes is "Tell The Truth", I like the Darrell Mansfield version in particular, with the great chorus "tell the truth, don't tell me no lies, you're 'sposed to love your neighbor, not your neighbor's wife") What sin cannot be found rooted in this mocking of God's provision, that He is not the one true God, we need to have others before Him? Stealing what we cannot have because it will make us happy and fulfilled?
I see daily so many beauties on television and in the flesh, and satan would have me comparing all the parts, lips, eyes, legs, feet, and all the glories of women in between, and my solution to sinning is to thank God that I can recoginze beauty, and recognize Him as the Creator, and to then pray for the subject of my gaze, that she is born again and close to her Savior, that she would seek Him with her whole heart, and that God would draw her close to Him, and supply her with Christian men in her life to live as Christian men are called to, looking at younger women as sisters, and older women as mothers, the Word is clear, sex and sisters and mothers are not to be mixed in any way, and satan's efforts to get us thinking otherwise, how this would feel, or taste, or smell, is the same tired old tempting that lured Eve and Adam to the tree in the garden, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, all to be made better if we just let our mind's play over the curves and thoughts that easily entice us when we do not take every thought captive to the mind of Christ.
God gave me the realization that we are to have not only the mind of Christ by letting His Holy Spirit reign and taking every thought captive to the mind of Christ, but to have the ears and eyes and hands of Christ, to hear the needs and cries of those hurting around us, to see without lusting and stripping naked those in our field of vision, and to touch a lost and dying world with compassion, to hold doors open, to push a shopping cart up a slope, to have the mouth of Christ, and encourage and bless and accept those brought to our daily walk, instead of lies and deception as satan would lure us to.
During this teaching on coveting, God showed me three things I am to give Him, this me personally, so that I can seek Him with my whole heart. I am being asked to give up sports, politics, and flesh, radio, television, and internet, so that I can not be lazy , and study to show myself approved, ready to give an account and reason for my faith when asked. This is hard, I have two good Christian radio stations, KXOJ and Air One, positive alternatives, to the sports talk and political talk that is so prevelant, and that gets my blood moving, and takes my eyes off the One who gave His life that I might live.
This is the week's personal challenge to me that I am facing, some days went well, but knowing the SI Swimsuit edition is out never fails to be a challenge for me, but I make satan pay by if I fail and I have and unfortunately will again, strive to add a name to the list of women I pray for when confronted by satan with lust and those in the heart adulteries that God sees as sin, I will be a prayer warrior for Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, the porn stars of Charlie Sheen, girls of SI, the Kardashians, and all the others that I do daily battle with to not surf for pictures and stories, but to lift them up in prayer, asking God to send blood bought, bible believing Christians into their lives, to love them to the foot of the cross, and that they will be the next story of salvation and life change, like Stephen Baldwin, or Brian Welch, or Pete Maravich, or Kirk Cameron or the countless other celebrities who have come to realize that all their stuff doesn't satisfy, and why are the poor content in their poverty so often? How are they content with their little, and all the riches of the world will fall away, like the rich man Luke describes and Tony Nolan spoke about during the Winterjam 2010 tour, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose your soul? I love those God calls to clearly present His truth, and it is all of us, II Cor. 5:17-21 tells us we all have been given the ministry of reconciliation, and praise God, He has called us to nothing less than be peacemakers , with each other, and with God Himself, to tell people of the heart disease they have, fatal and eternal, but the most Famous person in the Universe, the Creator Himself, came to Earth as a baby in a manger, and today is calling to you "I have the only matching heart that can cure your illness, let me exchange my life for yours, and come to know life as you have never known it.
Praise God that I can glorify Him, and that some days I have a good 15 minutes, some days good hours,, and sometimes the better part of a morning or afternoon, but that I am loved no more or less due to how I obey, I am made clean by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and once re-born and a new creation, my feet may get dirty, and I may be slow to get them washed off, but God sees His Son's blood covering my dirt and sin, and calls me His Child, and I am made to rest in that contentment of a little child basking in the gaze of his parent, and to rest in obedience when walking as Christ walked, daily in prayer and the Word of God on His mind and lips constantly, and turning the world upside down, our walk will do no less, because it is God that gives the increase and saves, we may lead others to Christ, but then it is up to them to choose, contentment is only a prayer away.
My pastor was teaching this past Sunday on the 10th commandment, thou shalt not covet, and just what we in our daily walk need to be on the lookout for in living out this on a daily basis.
After the message, I shared thoughts of a favorite author, Francis Schaeffer, that all the commandments could be seen to flow out of this one, and that is one of my fundamentals of the DIGGIT philosophy of striving to live a life of obedience as Jesus did, totally walking in the fruit of the Spirit, never grieving or quenching the Spirit, and glorifying His Father with His whole life, living Holy, a life separated from personal want and desire, only seeking to please His Father, our Father if we name the name of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
When I get my DIGGIT devotional published, the sub title will be "Resting in Obedience". The companion thought that goes with Schaeffer's premise and Bro. Clayton's lesson Sunday is that to DIGGIT we need to rest in contentment with God's supply and provision in our lives. I love Tony Nolan's illustration that we are like vandal's taking a spray paint can to God's Word when we put ourselves on the throne that should only belong to our Creator, Jesus Christ, and this Sunday God showed me again how true this is.
When we covet, we are telling God, "no thanks God, your supply is not what I need, You have failed to give me what is needed for my happiness and I won't be content until I get some of this, that and the other thing that would make my life better. Whether a spouse that doesn't continue to be appreciated as special and God's help mate for life, just for us, with the precise and exact qualities needed for the "two to become one flesh", modeled after Christ and His Church, His Bride in the New Testament, there is the root of adultery. (one of my favorite blues tunes is "Tell The Truth", I like the Darrell Mansfield version in particular, with the great chorus "tell the truth, don't tell me no lies, you're 'sposed to love your neighbor, not your neighbor's wife") What sin cannot be found rooted in this mocking of God's provision, that He is not the one true God, we need to have others before Him? Stealing what we cannot have because it will make us happy and fulfilled?
I see daily so many beauties on television and in the flesh, and satan would have me comparing all the parts, lips, eyes, legs, feet, and all the glories of women in between, and my solution to sinning is to thank God that I can recoginze beauty, and recognize Him as the Creator, and to then pray for the subject of my gaze, that she is born again and close to her Savior, that she would seek Him with her whole heart, and that God would draw her close to Him, and supply her with Christian men in her life to live as Christian men are called to, looking at younger women as sisters, and older women as mothers, the Word is clear, sex and sisters and mothers are not to be mixed in any way, and satan's efforts to get us thinking otherwise, how this would feel, or taste, or smell, is the same tired old tempting that lured Eve and Adam to the tree in the garden, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, all to be made better if we just let our mind's play over the curves and thoughts that easily entice us when we do not take every thought captive to the mind of Christ.
God gave me the realization that we are to have not only the mind of Christ by letting His Holy Spirit reign and taking every thought captive to the mind of Christ, but to have the ears and eyes and hands of Christ, to hear the needs and cries of those hurting around us, to see without lusting and stripping naked those in our field of vision, and to touch a lost and dying world with compassion, to hold doors open, to push a shopping cart up a slope, to have the mouth of Christ, and encourage and bless and accept those brought to our daily walk, instead of lies and deception as satan would lure us to.
During this teaching on coveting, God showed me three things I am to give Him, this me personally, so that I can seek Him with my whole heart. I am being asked to give up sports, politics, and flesh, radio, television, and internet, so that I can not be lazy , and study to show myself approved, ready to give an account and reason for my faith when asked. This is hard, I have two good Christian radio stations, KXOJ and Air One, positive alternatives, to the sports talk and political talk that is so prevelant, and that gets my blood moving, and takes my eyes off the One who gave His life that I might live.
This is the week's personal challenge to me that I am facing, some days went well, but knowing the SI Swimsuit edition is out never fails to be a challenge for me, but I make satan pay by if I fail and I have and unfortunately will again, strive to add a name to the list of women I pray for when confronted by satan with lust and those in the heart adulteries that God sees as sin, I will be a prayer warrior for Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, the porn stars of Charlie Sheen, girls of SI, the Kardashians, and all the others that I do daily battle with to not surf for pictures and stories, but to lift them up in prayer, asking God to send blood bought, bible believing Christians into their lives, to love them to the foot of the cross, and that they will be the next story of salvation and life change, like Stephen Baldwin, or Brian Welch, or Pete Maravich, or Kirk Cameron or the countless other celebrities who have come to realize that all their stuff doesn't satisfy, and why are the poor content in their poverty so often? How are they content with their little, and all the riches of the world will fall away, like the rich man Luke describes and Tony Nolan spoke about during the Winterjam 2010 tour, what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose your soul? I love those God calls to clearly present His truth, and it is all of us, II Cor. 5:17-21 tells us we all have been given the ministry of reconciliation, and praise God, He has called us to nothing less than be peacemakers , with each other, and with God Himself, to tell people of the heart disease they have, fatal and eternal, but the most Famous person in the Universe, the Creator Himself, came to Earth as a baby in a manger, and today is calling to you "I have the only matching heart that can cure your illness, let me exchange my life for yours, and come to know life as you have never known it.
Praise God that I can glorify Him, and that some days I have a good 15 minutes, some days good hours,, and sometimes the better part of a morning or afternoon, but that I am loved no more or less due to how I obey, I am made clean by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and once re-born and a new creation, my feet may get dirty, and I may be slow to get them washed off, but God sees His Son's blood covering my dirt and sin, and calls me His Child, and I am made to rest in that contentment of a little child basking in the gaze of his parent, and to rest in obedience when walking as Christ walked, daily in prayer and the Word of God on His mind and lips constantly, and turning the world upside down, our walk will do no less, because it is God that gives the increase and saves, we may lead others to Christ, but then it is up to them to choose, contentment is only a prayer away.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
He is not silent, and does not mind repeating Himself
I am so thankful to have a Lord and Savior that is so patient as a good parent is to their little children. Sometimes I think we get to expect so much of our kids as we know their potential, and often take it personally I think when they show their childishness.
Today I have again been made aware that the simple things I have been asked to do by God apart from praying and seeking Him daily with my whole heart, and reading His Word daily as part of that seeking, have not changed, and He is still waiting patiently on me to try Him at His Word.
I am blessed to be part of a great body of believers at my home church, and staff that always has at their heart the soul of both believer and unbeliever alike. Clayton, Anthony and Brad all strive to approach each service like it is the last time we may be together this way, and with our praise and worship, and teaching of God's Word, if this is the last time we have a chance to dedicate or rededicate our lives to the service of Jesus Christ, and to find Him in the least of these that life brings our way daily, we can offer ourselves wholly, and look forward to hearing, "Well done, enter into the joy of your Master".
Today I have been invited to attend afuneral by a dear friend, who I do not regularly speak to or visit these past few years, but if we are together, it is as if no time has passed from the days we spoke daily, and often saw each other daily. His son has passed on to eternity at age 31, so young, but having lived a lifetime in those 31 years. My friend is the first soul I and another believer could identify as having made a decision to make Christ Lord and Savior of their life due to our witness, and seeing God make and mold him as He wished, with spiritual gifts, and talents, and take a man and make him into a vessel used by the Master's hand frequently, generous and compassionate, having been allowed to lead his own father to the Lord and be a blessing to many others, lets me approach this day of having a father say goodbye to his son with a bit less sorrow and tears than many other days. This father showed his son Christ in offering a home and stability and loving kindness in the face of rejection and rebellion, and never stopped trying to love his son to the foot of the cross of Christ. I am blessed to call him friend, and spirtual brother, my little child in Christ I have been blessed with.
I believe our life is to be a life of obedience, simply, and that we should measure our days by how our walk with Jesus was that day, not what we see, or hear or feel, but just resting in obedience. Resting in obedience is peace giving, as also is resting in being content with what our Lord has given us in our walk on this planet of His Creation. When we rest in our Father's supply, we do not covet, and have no sin in our life, just as Christ did during His walk on this dirt circle we call Earth.
What a calling, to the peace of Christ that passes all understanding, and that allows us to be called Brother by the Son of God!
Today I have again been made aware that the simple things I have been asked to do by God apart from praying and seeking Him daily with my whole heart, and reading His Word daily as part of that seeking, have not changed, and He is still waiting patiently on me to try Him at His Word.
I am blessed to be part of a great body of believers at my home church, and staff that always has at their heart the soul of both believer and unbeliever alike. Clayton, Anthony and Brad all strive to approach each service like it is the last time we may be together this way, and with our praise and worship, and teaching of God's Word, if this is the last time we have a chance to dedicate or rededicate our lives to the service of Jesus Christ, and to find Him in the least of these that life brings our way daily, we can offer ourselves wholly, and look forward to hearing, "Well done, enter into the joy of your Master".
Today I have been invited to attend afuneral by a dear friend, who I do not regularly speak to or visit these past few years, but if we are together, it is as if no time has passed from the days we spoke daily, and often saw each other daily. His son has passed on to eternity at age 31, so young, but having lived a lifetime in those 31 years. My friend is the first soul I and another believer could identify as having made a decision to make Christ Lord and Savior of their life due to our witness, and seeing God make and mold him as He wished, with spiritual gifts, and talents, and take a man and make him into a vessel used by the Master's hand frequently, generous and compassionate, having been allowed to lead his own father to the Lord and be a blessing to many others, lets me approach this day of having a father say goodbye to his son with a bit less sorrow and tears than many other days. This father showed his son Christ in offering a home and stability and loving kindness in the face of rejection and rebellion, and never stopped trying to love his son to the foot of the cross of Christ. I am blessed to call him friend, and spirtual brother, my little child in Christ I have been blessed with.
I believe our life is to be a life of obedience, simply, and that we should measure our days by how our walk with Jesus was that day, not what we see, or hear or feel, but just resting in obedience. Resting in obedience is peace giving, as also is resting in being content with what our Lord has given us in our walk on this planet of His Creation. When we rest in our Father's supply, we do not covet, and have no sin in our life, just as Christ did during His walk on this dirt circle we call Earth.
What a calling, to the peace of Christ that passes all understanding, and that allows us to be called Brother by the Son of God!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
God's Word Reigns Supreme
Welcome to sunny Oklahoma today, where Bartlesville was serving a frosty low of -28 F. this morning, and Nowata a nose rattling -31F ! As I took Jericho out this morning at about 0745, the morning air that greeted my face only registered a balmy -7 F, so I said a quick thank you Lord that I live in Tulsa, and not 50 miles or so to the North. A true air temp of -31 F? In Oklahoma?
As I prepared to face another day I wondered, how will today be played out? What people will God bring across my path? I believe there are no random events in our lives, that the people and events that we encounter daily are part of our challenge to walk as Jesus walked, glorifying God with every moment of our being. Each day is given to us, no one is owed anything, I have been told that two things in life are certain, death and taxes, but that was quickly dismissed, as you don't have to pay taxes, you can choose to go to jail. I believe you can better state if any two things are certain, they are that we each will die, and that we will live until we die.
This is told us in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 16-21, in the parable of the rich fool. In another passage from the New Testament, the revelation that our life is just a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow is revealed in the epistle of James, chapter 4, verses 13-17 . If we take this to heart, the first question to my mind is how will I make a difference, and know that my life matters in any eternal sense?
I am greatly blessed with a loving wife, two children that run to me each night as I arrive home, parents still living at 90 and 89, a great calico cat named Zoey, and an enthusiastic little black minature schnauzer, Jericho. If I chose to , finding my meaning in the love and affection that greets me daily would be possible. But that begs the question, what if I find as did Job that one day, all his blessings are seemingly gone? He gets grilled by alleged "friends" to simply confess the sin he must have committed, as only evil people living sinful lives get slammed the way he was, losing material goods, and family, and respect of said "friends", as they sought to restore Job by encouraging a confession. But all Job had to confess was obedience, that he was righteous in God's eyes, and agreed with God, saying "naked came I from the womb and so will I return. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord". The loving words from his wife that followed were that Job should curse God and die. But I think we can learn something valuable from Job's story.
When we bring God obedience with our words and deeds, He is glorified, His Name is lifted up, His greatness is proclaimed, and Satan is defeated. Remember Satan's accusation to God regarding Job? "Of course Job loves you, you give him all the good stuff, beautiful large family, the adoration of peers, the cool toys, great image, huge standing in the community, fine clothes, and great food" (don't you know Andrew Zimmern was on the prowl to get a piece of Job's culture and experience the good life and food of the Middle East in that tent?) God allowed the stuff and trappings of life to be taken, but Job was left knowing he still walked with his God just as before, and that his eternity was secure, to be forever with the Lord.
To be able to daily be content and find our esteem and reason for being in simply obeying what God is asking us to do, right where we are, being who He has made us to be, with the personality and temperment and spiritual gifts given uniquely to you and I, perfect in the eyes of our Creator, an instrument for His use whenever He would pickup us up and have us walk in the good works created from before the foundations of the world, that He has created for us, and all we need to do is be His obedient little child and do what our Father asks us to.
In this obedience, we don't have to try to be who we want to be , i.e. the perfect wife, son, daughter, father, shop owner, cook, teacher, uncle, god parent, brother, sister, cousin, uncle, nephew and so on, when we are walking in obedience to the Father's will, we are Christlike and He sees His perfect Son in our walk, just as we are found righteous due to the blood of Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, covering our sins, so that when our Creator and Father looks at us, He sees Jesus, a life that glorified His Father relentlessly, furiously, with the raging pursuing fury we call the love of God .(yes, I love Rich Mullins music and will quote his and other songs often in our talks together)
I long to hear well done, good and faithful servent, enter into the rest of your master, and will only be in that place if I am walking as Jesus walked daily, moment by moment, that is my goal and purpose in life, whatever God would use me for, and do with my words and deeds, in His Hands, my little fishes and loaves feed a multitude, they bring sight to the blind, they raise the lame to walk and dead to walk. When we walk like Jesus walked, people will be drawn to the Christ in our life, not knowing why or what they find attractive, but having to come, to the Man of No Reputation, who loves with relentless affection, and who calls all us poor in spirit, just as we are, come to the Man of No Reputation (thank you Rick Elias for hearing the voice of God and penning that song)
As I prepared to face another day I wondered, how will today be played out? What people will God bring across my path? I believe there are no random events in our lives, that the people and events that we encounter daily are part of our challenge to walk as Jesus walked, glorifying God with every moment of our being. Each day is given to us, no one is owed anything, I have been told that two things in life are certain, death and taxes, but that was quickly dismissed, as you don't have to pay taxes, you can choose to go to jail. I believe you can better state if any two things are certain, they are that we each will die, and that we will live until we die.
This is told us in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verses 16-21, in the parable of the rich fool. In another passage from the New Testament, the revelation that our life is just a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow is revealed in the epistle of James, chapter 4, verses 13-17 . If we take this to heart, the first question to my mind is how will I make a difference, and know that my life matters in any eternal sense?
I am greatly blessed with a loving wife, two children that run to me each night as I arrive home, parents still living at 90 and 89, a great calico cat named Zoey, and an enthusiastic little black minature schnauzer, Jericho. If I chose to , finding my meaning in the love and affection that greets me daily would be possible. But that begs the question, what if I find as did Job that one day, all his blessings are seemingly gone? He gets grilled by alleged "friends" to simply confess the sin he must have committed, as only evil people living sinful lives get slammed the way he was, losing material goods, and family, and respect of said "friends", as they sought to restore Job by encouraging a confession. But all Job had to confess was obedience, that he was righteous in God's eyes, and agreed with God, saying "naked came I from the womb and so will I return. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord". The loving words from his wife that followed were that Job should curse God and die. But I think we can learn something valuable from Job's story.
When we bring God obedience with our words and deeds, He is glorified, His Name is lifted up, His greatness is proclaimed, and Satan is defeated. Remember Satan's accusation to God regarding Job? "Of course Job loves you, you give him all the good stuff, beautiful large family, the adoration of peers, the cool toys, great image, huge standing in the community, fine clothes, and great food" (don't you know Andrew Zimmern was on the prowl to get a piece of Job's culture and experience the good life and food of the Middle East in that tent?) God allowed the stuff and trappings of life to be taken, but Job was left knowing he still walked with his God just as before, and that his eternity was secure, to be forever with the Lord.
To be able to daily be content and find our esteem and reason for being in simply obeying what God is asking us to do, right where we are, being who He has made us to be, with the personality and temperment and spiritual gifts given uniquely to you and I, perfect in the eyes of our Creator, an instrument for His use whenever He would pickup us up and have us walk in the good works created from before the foundations of the world, that He has created for us, and all we need to do is be His obedient little child and do what our Father asks us to.
In this obedience, we don't have to try to be who we want to be , i.e. the perfect wife, son, daughter, father, shop owner, cook, teacher, uncle, god parent, brother, sister, cousin, uncle, nephew and so on, when we are walking in obedience to the Father's will, we are Christlike and He sees His perfect Son in our walk, just as we are found righteous due to the blood of Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, covering our sins, so that when our Creator and Father looks at us, He sees Jesus, a life that glorified His Father relentlessly, furiously, with the raging pursuing fury we call the love of God .(yes, I love Rich Mullins music and will quote his and other songs often in our talks together)
I long to hear well done, good and faithful servent, enter into the rest of your master, and will only be in that place if I am walking as Jesus walked daily, moment by moment, that is my goal and purpose in life, whatever God would use me for, and do with my words and deeds, in His Hands, my little fishes and loaves feed a multitude, they bring sight to the blind, they raise the lame to walk and dead to walk. When we walk like Jesus walked, people will be drawn to the Christ in our life, not knowing why or what they find attractive, but having to come, to the Man of No Reputation, who loves with relentless affection, and who calls all us poor in spirit, just as we are, come to the Man of No Reputation (thank you Rick Elias for hearing the voice of God and penning that song)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Welcome to the DIGGIT blog
Today begins a journey of daily transparency in front of all that God would lead to these words as I share my thoughts, convictions, questions, and truth as I believe it revealed to me as I strive to walk as my Lord Jesus Christ walked, perfect in obedience to His and my Father's will, now that we are both His children.
As the days go by, hopefully, we will learn and grow in what I believe it means to Do What Jesus Did, or DWJD, which I believe can be our daily guide for living, so that we are perfect as Jesus was perfect, and in our life see that we can choose to walk perfectly, always giving God glory, revealing who God the Father is, lifting up and proclaiming His name, showing the people He brings into our daily life something that relentlessly draws them to the Christ in born again believers.
One of my former pastors, Bro. Jonathan Pedersen, shared a truth one morning that again challenged me as I had been challenged after reading a Christian classic written by Charles Sheldon, "In His Steps".
Several years earlier, I became aware of Sheldon's book, and was greatly moved and challenged as I read illustrations of how different people in society, religious and non-religious, viewed each other, and themselves. The concept of simple obedience to the call of Christ, to make moment by moment decisions consciously asking ourselves to imagine Christ facing our world and situations, and to imitate Him regardless of the consequence, as we encounter life on planet Earth, seems too easy. I heard God throw out a challenge to me, "pleasure or obedience?" The idea of seeking daily, moment by moment, what it means for a modern disciple of Jesus Christ, asking " What would Jesus do?" before making any decision in my private or business life, really made me ponder who am I, in thoughts as well as words and actions, and whether I had taken every thought captive to the mind of Christ as we professing Christians are challenged to do in II Cor. 10:5. One morning, either during a personal devotion time, or a sermon at my home church (as my notes were not dated, I cannot positively state which), I thought another question is required to get to WWJD, and that was simply "do I glorify God in this?"
In that moment I realized Jesus never failed to give glory to God, never quenching the Spirit, never grieving the Spirit, and always having the Fruit of the Spirit perfectly manifested in the human life He lived. Knowing that we are told that Jesus was in all ways tempted as we are, but without sin(Heb. 4:15), I realized my pastor had shared a huge truth, it is my choice anytime I sin, as Flip Wilson's character Geraldine said so many times, "the devil made me do it, honey!", might be side splitting humor, but had no place in our Christian walk. The consequence of this realization has come to be humility, as the Holy Spirit convicts me of all the sin I commit, I realize that I am the man who put Jesus on the cross, he died for this or that particular sin of the moment, and that I could truly choose to walk in His steps, it is my choice.
I have two precious children, both girls, and in my efforts to be a good Christian father, am always asking them to do simple things that repetitively do not get done. I have patience behind the wheel of my car, waiting on traffic, driving the speed limit, driving the people nuts that say " I just can't drive the speed limit" all the while with a fish or cross bumper sticker on their car, while I meddle in their walk by pointing out we are not pointing to Christ by not obeying the local laws of the land, regardless of the top speed or fun of wrapping out to the redline that 2nd to 3rd shift, but let me have multiple failures by my children of what I rightly identify as simple requests that are for their benefit, and the dad amp's volume gets cranked to 12 with overdrive (yes, I do play guitar, as we get to know each other, you will hear about the Sonrise Jack Band and my walk these last 18 years with my brother in Jesus Mike Casey, one of the best songwriters and guitarists many of you have not yet had the pleasure to experience). I get loud, to ensure attention is paid and immediately, and get a good rant going that often brings tears to these dear children.
Normally, within 15 minutes, if not 5, God has brought me to my knees, showing me that my children are just like their father, choosing not to do the simple task given, rather finding pleasure and taking time to put myself on the throne of my life, taking a can of spray paint ( apologies to Tony Nolan) to my Father's to do list given personally to help me grow into His image, and say "not today, not now, maybe later if I think about it after I get my priority taken care of".
My God is so faithful to show me my sin, so I can confess, agreeing with Him what His standard is that Christ walked and talked and lived 24/7 while on this earth that we walk now, 2000 years later, but still nothing has changed, do we glorify God in this?
This maybe your speech, it may be your thoughts, it may be your actions, it may be internal, it may be external, it may take money, it may take time, it may take painful physical effort, or it may be humbling yourself, choosing to submit your will and always seeing Christ in the least of these around us, and esteeming these least of these above ourselves, so that God can give us a seat of honor, and reward us later, when no one else sees, but we know that goal, to have "well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the glory of the Lord" the sound that hits your ears, as you knees and face are on the ground, thankful to be in the presence of our Creator, knowing that the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone makes us worthy to be called Children of the King, and the brother's and sister's of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
As the days go by, hopefully, we will learn and grow in what I believe it means to Do What Jesus Did, or DWJD, which I believe can be our daily guide for living, so that we are perfect as Jesus was perfect, and in our life see that we can choose to walk perfectly, always giving God glory, revealing who God the Father is, lifting up and proclaiming His name, showing the people He brings into our daily life something that relentlessly draws them to the Christ in born again believers.
One of my former pastors, Bro. Jonathan Pedersen, shared a truth one morning that again challenged me as I had been challenged after reading a Christian classic written by Charles Sheldon, "In His Steps".
Several years earlier, I became aware of Sheldon's book, and was greatly moved and challenged as I read illustrations of how different people in society, religious and non-religious, viewed each other, and themselves. The concept of simple obedience to the call of Christ, to make moment by moment decisions consciously asking ourselves to imagine Christ facing our world and situations, and to imitate Him regardless of the consequence, as we encounter life on planet Earth, seems too easy. I heard God throw out a challenge to me, "pleasure or obedience?" The idea of seeking daily, moment by moment, what it means for a modern disciple of Jesus Christ, asking " What would Jesus do?" before making any decision in my private or business life, really made me ponder who am I, in thoughts as well as words and actions, and whether I had taken every thought captive to the mind of Christ as we professing Christians are challenged to do in II Cor. 10:5. One morning, either during a personal devotion time, or a sermon at my home church (as my notes were not dated, I cannot positively state which), I thought another question is required to get to WWJD, and that was simply "do I glorify God in this?"
In that moment I realized Jesus never failed to give glory to God, never quenching the Spirit, never grieving the Spirit, and always having the Fruit of the Spirit perfectly manifested in the human life He lived. Knowing that we are told that Jesus was in all ways tempted as we are, but without sin(Heb. 4:15), I realized my pastor had shared a huge truth, it is my choice anytime I sin, as Flip Wilson's character Geraldine said so many times, "the devil made me do it, honey!", might be side splitting humor, but had no place in our Christian walk. The consequence of this realization has come to be humility, as the Holy Spirit convicts me of all the sin I commit, I realize that I am the man who put Jesus on the cross, he died for this or that particular sin of the moment, and that I could truly choose to walk in His steps, it is my choice.
I have two precious children, both girls, and in my efforts to be a good Christian father, am always asking them to do simple things that repetitively do not get done. I have patience behind the wheel of my car, waiting on traffic, driving the speed limit, driving the people nuts that say " I just can't drive the speed limit" all the while with a fish or cross bumper sticker on their car, while I meddle in their walk by pointing out we are not pointing to Christ by not obeying the local laws of the land, regardless of the top speed or fun of wrapping out to the redline that 2nd to 3rd shift, but let me have multiple failures by my children of what I rightly identify as simple requests that are for their benefit, and the dad amp's volume gets cranked to 12 with overdrive (yes, I do play guitar, as we get to know each other, you will hear about the Sonrise Jack Band and my walk these last 18 years with my brother in Jesus Mike Casey, one of the best songwriters and guitarists many of you have not yet had the pleasure to experience). I get loud, to ensure attention is paid and immediately, and get a good rant going that often brings tears to these dear children.
Normally, within 15 minutes, if not 5, God has brought me to my knees, showing me that my children are just like their father, choosing not to do the simple task given, rather finding pleasure and taking time to put myself on the throne of my life, taking a can of spray paint ( apologies to Tony Nolan) to my Father's to do list given personally to help me grow into His image, and say "not today, not now, maybe later if I think about it after I get my priority taken care of".
My God is so faithful to show me my sin, so I can confess, agreeing with Him what His standard is that Christ walked and talked and lived 24/7 while on this earth that we walk now, 2000 years later, but still nothing has changed, do we glorify God in this?
This maybe your speech, it may be your thoughts, it may be your actions, it may be internal, it may be external, it may take money, it may take time, it may take painful physical effort, or it may be humbling yourself, choosing to submit your will and always seeing Christ in the least of these around us, and esteeming these least of these above ourselves, so that God can give us a seat of honor, and reward us later, when no one else sees, but we know that goal, to have "well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the glory of the Lord" the sound that hits your ears, as you knees and face are on the ground, thankful to be in the presence of our Creator, knowing that the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone makes us worthy to be called Children of the King, and the brother's and sister's of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
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