Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16
We live in a time that is actually quite scarey. The nation I live in (the USA) is being divided over a company that serves chicken sandwiches, when the rest of the world is watching their athletes compete in London. The issue has nothing to do with what this company serves but what charities they support. I am very concerned not because of the issue but because of the way in people are responding to each other. I am concerned so I pray.
For me prayer is more than just lifting our concerns to God, although our petitions are a very real part of prayer. Prayer is building a relationship with God. In my life I have been taught several things about prayer, but the greatest and most benifitial to me is interacting with scripture while I pray.
Today I meditate on a writing from Paul. Paul is often seen as the Apostle of division, which is sad because his writtings are filled with much grace and love. In this passage we are encouraged to lead a life worthy of our call, first. Have you considered what that life would look like? If I am calling myself a disciple or follower of Jesus what sort of life should I be living in my world today? Just as I write that question my mind instantly spins with half going to either side. I should stand firm on the values taught according to scripture on one side, and being loving, gracious, and accepting of all on the other. Wait!
Even within the scripture we are found divided, what should we do? Jesus did love the sinners and he did dispise sin, how was He able to handle this crazy discord of faith? He did so by relationships. He called people to follow Him. As they walked from place to place He taught and He lived out his teaching. If we were to really look deeply into His actions, He rarely got angry and when He did the anger was directed not at the people living in sin, but to the ones that claimed to be rightious. Why did he do this?
Paul continues to say, “with humility, gentleness, and patience bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” How are we doing here? I myself am getting irritated, I have called everyone hypocrites on social media, I did so with I believe rightious anger, but what did I accomplish? It is very difficult to bear one another in love. It is even harder to bear one another in love if we do not agree with one another on an issue. As I pray and meditate today I realize that this is what everything is about. It is not about who is right it is about how we love. How we speak, encourage, respond, and act toward those that oppose our values are very important.
I am sure many of those that know me are probably getting nervous and may think I am speaking out of both sides of my mouth, but I am not. I believe strongly that there are activities that will be seperate us from God, scripture is filled with these things which are know t us as sin. Sinfulness is missing the mark, or falling short of the standard. The question is what is the standard? Many may say that this is a crazy question the standard is set for us in scripture, my answer though is not the ten comandments. Those are not the total story. Our standard is Jesus Christ. If we do not live a life equal to Jesus we miss the mark. He lived and fulfilled the entire law, sinless. Yet he took on sin for us so that in Him we can stand before God clothed not in our own rightiousness but in Christ.
This is the most important issue. This is the ultimate goal, our job as followers of Christ is to teach each other to reflect Christ’s life more. To do this we should invest time teaching and encouraging people so they better understand the ways of Jesus. Along with that we should also forgive and be gracious toward those around us when their lifestyles fail to reflect the lifestyle Christ would have us live. There is no judgement in this, how could we judge others when we ourselves are also in need of grace, we ourselves fall short and sin. Our hope is not in ourselves but in the one who took on humanity and lived the perfect human life for us.
If we were to focus on Christ and reflect His ways in our interpersonal relationships we will stand firm, we will not be blown around by politics or doctrines, because Christ does not change. He stands firm for us all. Today I encourage you all to imagine Paul sitting beside you, speaking these words directly to you. Deeply reflect on the words spoke to you. Let the words illuminate your life and your lifestyle, and let us bear one another in love.
Scripture: Psalm 78:23-29
I realize that I have not written much over the past few weeks. It is a testiment of how easily our lives can spiral out of the disipline. What caused my spiral out of a rhythm of prayer. You might think it would be something sinister, but no it was nothing like that. It was simply a change in the rhythm of my life. I recently changed positions at my job outside the church. With this new position came a different schedule, then another change, and yet another. I know it sounds like an excuse but little things in our lives, things that in many ways are good, can drastically change the expression of our relationship with God.
Israel was met with a rhythm change several times in their history. They were nomads, slaves, nomads againg, warriors, farmers, traders, and exciles each of these lifesyle changes changed the way they related to the God that loved them and called them to be His people. This Psalm was remembering the past, remembering how their God carried them through a change in the rhythm of life.
What changed for them? They went from an enslaved people to a group wondering in the wilderness. Though they were basically free they still had to adjust to a radically different life. They we faced with challenges they did not anticipate this caused them to look back to those days of slavery with distorted vision. As slaves their most basic needs were met, at least they were had enough food. In the desert they did not know where their food would come from. They began to fall into a rhythm of complaining instead of praise, they quickly forgot the amazing exodus out of the land of bondage and began to focus on their base needs.
Life changes always require adjustment. I think this is the greatest treasure we recieve from the trail our spiritual ancestors walked. When they were hungrey God fed them with bread and meat, and when they were thirsty God provided the water through a stone. They forgot that God was in the exodus, they also forgot the promises He made to their fore fathers, God would provide an was providing. All they had to do to see His mighty hand was to change their perspective, and proceed in faith.
Life’s rhythm constantly changes, this requires us to adjust to it. These adjustments can be seen as trials, or we can see them in a more positive light. These changes can be like a dance with God leading, turning, and moving forward and back. We can train our spiritual lives to respond to these movements and respond, or we can step on toes and trip. (If I were really dancing steel toes would be required)
If you dance or if you do not the fact remains the same, as our lives change we must adjust. Jobs change, worship communities change, our political ideals change, even our families change, pretty much everything about our lives change daily. How we adjust to and respond to these changes reflect our relationship with God. I am not saying that if you struggle you are not trusting. Actually I am saying the opposite are we responding with trust as God throws us a different step and turn, or are we letting go of His hand and stomping our feet. To learn to dance we practice, trust, and follow the lead that is what this Psalm is about. Remember that God will provide through every twist and turn, Our job is to keep trusting and adjustin our movements to His.
Now you all witnessed a period of my own adjustment in the rhythm of life. A simple change in my job cycle caused a twist in my prayer cycle. I encourage you all to reflect on these scriptures, reflect on the history of these children of Israel and reflect on our own responces to the changes in life. I also encourage us all to be very mindful of our rhythm of prayer, it is through prayer our relationship with God and our ability to respond gracefully to others is built. So let us all dance with God in the rhythm of life.
Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-14
Do you understand everything that is going on around you? Do you understand how you got to work this morning, not the route but how you got there the inner workings of the vehicle transporting you and the civil engineering feats that created the roadways, rails, and pathways that the transportation device traversed? I am guessing that there is something mysterious going on beyond your understanding. There are basically two aspects to humanity the curious side and the side that just goes.
Children are driven by the curious mode. If you have ever hung out with a child you probably answered the question “why” around 100 times a day. A child uses aspect of themind that many of us have let go dormant. The child is on a quest of knowledge, and where they do not know they imagine. They observe and reflect, they act out and they write different stories to put themselves in. A child engages the mystories of life, no wonder Jesus says that to enter the Kingdom you must approach it lik a child.
The other side of humanity is more common in adults. The aspect of life that just goes, blindly along the way. Some might say it is living by faith, but let’s be honest it is a life of disengagement. It is a life where we stop pursuing the unknown and get comfortable in the areas we know. Now there are many adults that still live in the aspect of life as a child, they usually annoy those that have “grown up”. These adults are researchers, authors, artists, and even some businessmen and women.
God wants us to live engaged with life. Engage in the mystery of life, the mystery of God. It bring pleasure to seek out the mystery. I married an artist, with that being said things can get pretty intresting. I remember one of my son’s birthdays where she devised a treasure hunt for his gifts. My son ran all around the house seeking the mystery, each time he found a clue it sparked his desire to find even more. With each find was another clue. He went all over only to find his gift right where he started. The funny thing is that this was several years ago and he still keeps his most prized posessions in the shoe box covered in paper and decorated to resemble a wooden chest.
The mystery inspired my son to find his gifts, the mystery and the joy of the find drove my wife to create the story, and in that mystery we have one of the greatest family memories. Yet most of the time we do not engage the mystories, rarely do we engage in a quest to find the mysteries of God. Yet that is what he created us to do. He preordained this in our lives. Which is one of the mysteries, what does being chosen before the foundations of the world mean? I look at it like the quest my wife and I took my son on. We had the gifts and we already chosen to give him the gift, but the joy of receiving the gift came not in the gift but in the find.
Do we engage in the mystery of God or are we just “blindly” living a disengaged life? How many of us read scripture with anticipation of finding something amazing? Do we pray hoping to have some new aspect of God shown to us? Salvation is predestioned in Christ, meaning before the foundation of the world Jesus was preordained to provide redemption. That’s great and all but there the joy is not in the knowledge but the relationship and in the quest to know Christ. To find out who He is and who you are in Him.
Today I encourage you to stop just living, and start a quest to find God. Along the way you may find may other things, mainly yourself. Have fun!