Today's lesson:
Do your best to avoid office gossip. Even the
people you like in the office are normally negative about things going
on there. It's kind of how people like to unite I'm seeing. But keep a
positive attitude about everyone. Don't get sucked in. Avoid it because
you also don't want to know too much of what is going on, especially
coming from one person. You never know what the truth is and you can
form opinions around what they say.
Today's wrap up: --Stay chill, don't speak ill.--
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Fake It Til You Break It
Even with all the reality shows, the constant catch phrases, and advice to be
real and 2-legit-2-quit, do you ever get the feeling that people are faking it?
On Facebook, Twitter, and especially TV. So many seem to have these happy
little lives, and they claim to be proud of so much. But I can't help but
wonder—I think they might be faking it.
We live in a world of great actors. Illusionists even. People that might have even become so good at selling lies that they start to believe the false reality themselves. There are some people I know that I straight just do not trust. And for good reason. (No one reading this right now I'm sure.) And maybe you don't trust me. That's fine. Don't tell me though.
I know some people that I could be standing in the middle of a thunderstorm with, and they could tell me it is raining, and I trust them so little that my present logic would have to conclude that it was in fact not raining as my clothes get soaked wet.
On Facebook, we only post our best pictures and the coolest events we go to. It's basically a big pile of half truth. It is anything but reality.
Maybe you can call me cynical, and I wouldn’t be able to argue much. I could say, “Well, mama didn’t raise no fool.” And you could say, “That’s improper grammar.” You could also label me as someone who doesn’t have a lot of hope in people. I wish I could say that I’m willing to be in everyone’s corner and that universal supportiveness is something that I have down, but if I’m being honest with you, I don’t think I’m always the best cheerleader. Have you seen me in a skirt? Gross.
But if I could ask you to disregard your opinion of what some of my self-issues are for a bit, you’ve got to admit that most of us are pretty good at disguising things. It’s like we’re all in a game of hide-and-go-seek, and we’ve found the perfect spot to hide. (Which if you don’t know, that spot is under the sink in the cupboards.) Even though some of us can’t say two words of Shakespeare on a stage, it doesn’t mean we’re not good actors.
Why do we feel the need to wear masks and promote false reality? Why the constant pressure to add up to society’s standards? We all face it, and we all feel it. In an America that constantly preaches to “Be yourself,” we figure our best self is the self that looks like all the other selves.
The people that say “I don’t care what people think of me” most likely care what you think of them enough to tell you that they don’t care what you think. (You may have to read that last sentence twice, but trust me it makes sense.) We care. And we want to keep up.
But why do we want to?
Perhaps it is the thrill of a Facebook status change. The excitement of being included. The same way it felt in elementary school when you weren't picked last for dodgeball. There is a rush. There is a high. There is joy in similarity. There is comfort in commonality. It’s the feeling you get when you’re in a movie theater laughing at the same joke with 150 other people that you don’t know, but it feels good that you all have the same sense of humor, even if it’s just for a moment.
I'm not going to act like I haven't done it. Not too long ago when I was unemployed, I had people asking me all the time the dreaded question of “How are things going?” In many, many moments my honest answer would have been “Bad. Horrible. I hate life right now. I’m very jealous of other people. I think God is laughing at me.” But who wants to hear that? I didn’t want to hear myself say the truth. So I would pick at any inkling of hope I could pull out of the weeds and act like it was something better than it was.
I wasn’t lying, but I was trying my hardest to keep up with who I thought people wanted me to be, and worse, who I thought I should be. I was embarrassed. Ashamed that I couldn’t pull off the American Dream. I didn’t want people to know that you could suck at life so badly while trying so hard. Yeah, embarrassing.
I’m not the only one to do that, though. We present the world a false reality, and unfortunately many times we think it looks like a good place to be, and we subconsciously start living in that new world. (It’s taking everything in me right now to not allude to “Inception.”)
We wear the masks. We shine our shoes. We look the part. We practice our speeches about how everything is just as it should be. And by doing so, the places we should be most real become the places where we hide the most. The ones we need to be the most real with become the ones that we skew the truth to the most. But make no mistake, fake personalities and fake realities will produce fake relationships.
I’m not against positive thinking and relentless optimism; I’m actually 100% for it. What I am against is lying to ourselves. I am against being ashamed of the very trials that are defining moments in our lives. I am against the thought that if you face any sort of conflict or struggle then you are doing something wrong in life. I am against hiding the wounds we were never meant to hide. I am against keeping in the pain that someone else going through the same situation needs to see so they know they are not alone.
If you’ve read this far, I thank you. If you haven’t then you are not reading this. But for those that are not Christians, I am telling you now I am about to start talking about Jesus. Deal with it. I have to read all of your statuses about politics and equality. If you shut out my views right now you are doing exactly what you say you are against. (Ahhhh yeaaahhhh. That’s a mother-in-law quality guilt trip right there.)
When did having it all together become the goal of life? When did weakness become embarrassing? In fact, the Apostle Paul even went so far as to boast in his weakness. (2 Corinthians 11:30) I used to hear that God doesn’t want you to be embarrassed, but I’ve since concluded that that is bad doctrine. In fact, if my life is any form of proof, I feel I can say that God will allow you to be embarrassed quite a bit, because nothing will kill your pride faster than a nice fall on your face.
If you think humility is for chumps then you are dead wrong. Constant success never changes a man for the good. How many arrogant people do we have to see fall and fail before we realize that chasing after the same image will bring about the same results?
Broken people need broken people.
How do I know?
Isaiah 53:2-3
“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
It’s amazing that we have a God who exchanged majesty for suffering, a King who was rejected by the ones he loved, and a Savior who knows the deepest of sorrows. He not only rescues us, he relates with us.
It actually takes a lot of strength to show your weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
We live in a world of great actors. Illusionists even. People that might have even become so good at selling lies that they start to believe the false reality themselves. There are some people I know that I straight just do not trust. And for good reason. (No one reading this right now I'm sure.) And maybe you don't trust me. That's fine. Don't tell me though.
I know some people that I could be standing in the middle of a thunderstorm with, and they could tell me it is raining, and I trust them so little that my present logic would have to conclude that it was in fact not raining as my clothes get soaked wet.
On Facebook, we only post our best pictures and the coolest events we go to. It's basically a big pile of half truth. It is anything but reality.
Maybe you can call me cynical, and I wouldn’t be able to argue much. I could say, “Well, mama didn’t raise no fool.” And you could say, “That’s improper grammar.” You could also label me as someone who doesn’t have a lot of hope in people. I wish I could say that I’m willing to be in everyone’s corner and that universal supportiveness is something that I have down, but if I’m being honest with you, I don’t think I’m always the best cheerleader. Have you seen me in a skirt? Gross.
But if I could ask you to disregard your opinion of what some of my self-issues are for a bit, you’ve got to admit that most of us are pretty good at disguising things. It’s like we’re all in a game of hide-and-go-seek, and we’ve found the perfect spot to hide. (Which if you don’t know, that spot is under the sink in the cupboards.) Even though some of us can’t say two words of Shakespeare on a stage, it doesn’t mean we’re not good actors.
Why do we feel the need to wear masks and promote false reality? Why the constant pressure to add up to society’s standards? We all face it, and we all feel it. In an America that constantly preaches to “Be yourself,” we figure our best self is the self that looks like all the other selves.
The people that say “I don’t care what people think of me” most likely care what you think of them enough to tell you that they don’t care what you think. (You may have to read that last sentence twice, but trust me it makes sense.) We care. And we want to keep up.
But why do we want to?
Perhaps it is the thrill of a Facebook status change. The excitement of being included. The same way it felt in elementary school when you weren't picked last for dodgeball. There is a rush. There is a high. There is joy in similarity. There is comfort in commonality. It’s the feeling you get when you’re in a movie theater laughing at the same joke with 150 other people that you don’t know, but it feels good that you all have the same sense of humor, even if it’s just for a moment.
I'm not going to act like I haven't done it. Not too long ago when I was unemployed, I had people asking me all the time the dreaded question of “How are things going?” In many, many moments my honest answer would have been “Bad. Horrible. I hate life right now. I’m very jealous of other people. I think God is laughing at me.” But who wants to hear that? I didn’t want to hear myself say the truth. So I would pick at any inkling of hope I could pull out of the weeds and act like it was something better than it was.
I wasn’t lying, but I was trying my hardest to keep up with who I thought people wanted me to be, and worse, who I thought I should be. I was embarrassed. Ashamed that I couldn’t pull off the American Dream. I didn’t want people to know that you could suck at life so badly while trying so hard. Yeah, embarrassing.
I’m not the only one to do that, though. We present the world a false reality, and unfortunately many times we think it looks like a good place to be, and we subconsciously start living in that new world. (It’s taking everything in me right now to not allude to “Inception.”)
We wear the masks. We shine our shoes. We look the part. We practice our speeches about how everything is just as it should be. And by doing so, the places we should be most real become the places where we hide the most. The ones we need to be the most real with become the ones that we skew the truth to the most. But make no mistake, fake personalities and fake realities will produce fake relationships.
I’m not against positive thinking and relentless optimism; I’m actually 100% for it. What I am against is lying to ourselves. I am against being ashamed of the very trials that are defining moments in our lives. I am against the thought that if you face any sort of conflict or struggle then you are doing something wrong in life. I am against hiding the wounds we were never meant to hide. I am against keeping in the pain that someone else going through the same situation needs to see so they know they are not alone.
If you’ve read this far, I thank you. If you haven’t then you are not reading this. But for those that are not Christians, I am telling you now I am about to start talking about Jesus. Deal with it. I have to read all of your statuses about politics and equality. If you shut out my views right now you are doing exactly what you say you are against. (Ahhhh yeaaahhhh. That’s a mother-in-law quality guilt trip right there.)
When did having it all together become the goal of life? When did weakness become embarrassing? In fact, the Apostle Paul even went so far as to boast in his weakness. (2 Corinthians 11:30) I used to hear that God doesn’t want you to be embarrassed, but I’ve since concluded that that is bad doctrine. In fact, if my life is any form of proof, I feel I can say that God will allow you to be embarrassed quite a bit, because nothing will kill your pride faster than a nice fall on your face.
If you think humility is for chumps then you are dead wrong. Constant success never changes a man for the good. How many arrogant people do we have to see fall and fail before we realize that chasing after the same image will bring about the same results?
Broken people need broken people.
How do I know?
Isaiah 53:2-3
“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
It’s amazing that we have a God who exchanged majesty for suffering, a King who was rejected by the ones he loved, and a Savior who knows the deepest of sorrows. He not only rescues us, he relates with us.
It actually takes a lot of strength to show your weakness.
2 Corinthians 12:9
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Endure
October 20, 2011
Today I woke up quite annoyed. Was it because of the sound of a wood chipper outside my window shredding through what sounded like an entire tree? Not so much. Was it because I had a bad dream? I don’t think so because I can’t really remember my dreams from last night. I do, however, remember waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if I was actually awake or dreaming, and if I was dreaming I was probably going to be really upset that I was using the bathroom.
No, I woke up today annoyed that I wasn’t going to work. What an American thing to think, huh? But yeah, I was upset. I was told I would be working at this job full time for weeks, and I was really enjoying it at first, but it has not turned out to be what I was told it would be, and today was further proof as I found myself done with my work for the week, and also done making money for the week.
It’s been a frustrating few years for me to say the least. Nothing has quite gone according to plan, or anywhere near the plan.
So like a great man of faith, I reluctantly and without even the weakest desire opened up my Bible, only because I just knew I should. I’ve been reading through the Psalms and today I read Psalm 74. It seems to me that I’m not the first person in the world to have felt like I am feeling.
Psalm 74:1,9
“Why have you rejected us forever, O God? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? – We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.”
That stuff is IN the Bible. That’s real life. And here’s something straight out of my journal this morning:
Maybe this is just my own Psalm that is similar to that one as I write out my frustrations. It honestly sucks right now and I have no hope. And if I feel like I’m getting hope it just scares me because I know it’s not going to work out. I feel like I should now never tell anyone about anything going on until it actually happens because I’m so sick of having to follow up with “It didn’t work out.” And right now, nothing has worked out. If this is a fistfight, I feel like I haven’t given a solid punch in forever. I just keep taking the blows.
At the risk of being a huge nerd, I am going to reference The Dark Knight right now, because this is what has been going through my mind for the past few days, and it fits so just go with.
In the film, Bruce Wayne is about to reveal that he is Batman because he feels responsible for the deaths of the people the Joker is killing, because he said he would kill someone every day until Batman came forward. Bruce asks Alfred, “What would you have me do?” Alfred replies, “Endure, Master Wayne. Take it.”
And this thought has been going through my mind constantly. Endure.
Maybe it will get better, so endure.
Maybe it will never get better, so endure.
I really don’t know too much of what is an absolute guarantee when it comes to life and faith in God. Some may tell you that you will be delivered from any conflict or trial, but I don’t know if that’s a guarantee. What about the martyrs who die for their faith in Jesus? They were not delivered. The men and women locked in prison walls that God never breaks down. They are not delivered, but they endure. There are men and women of faith fighting through cancer and another life-taking diseases, crying out to a God who has healed countless people but is not healing them. They endure.
If you’ve never prayed a Psalm 74, I don’t know if this can make much sense to you right now. I’ve never had cancer or been in prison, but face down in tears I’ve prayed, “Why have you rejected me forever, O God? I am given no miraculous signs and I don’t know how long this will be.” I’ve thought so many times that things were about to change, and then they did not. But somehow I endure, and it simply cannot be by my own strength.
Matthew 24:12-13
“Lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
James 1:12
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
Interesting. These verses give us some guarantees, but there aren’t any guarantees for freedom in this life. Jesus did not say, “He who endures until the end… of the year.”
The end? Death? Maybe some fights do not end until we end.
God may never deliver you in front of your family and friends. I don’t know if it is a guarantee that if you struggle for a while in life, eventually something will click and you will be rewarded and redeemed in life for what you went through.
You may never feel justified in this world, but maybe this is not the world that God is preparing you for.
Romans 8:18
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
What is coming in the next world cannot even be compared to this present one. I don’t think it should be called an “afterlife” because for those who believe, heaven is where life truly begins.
Endure, saints. Endure! God would not let you bear it if he did not think you could take it. Our Father, who is in heaven, looks upon us from eternity’s view. Eternity will reveal more to us than we can imagine, and it will reveal more in us than we ever knew was there.
I’ve seen God move mountains, and I’ve seen mountains crumble onto men. I have only come to realize that it is not my place to understand it all; it is my job to follow. You can stand there with your fist to the sky and demand God give you justice, which I’ve done, but I’ve found that it only produces more unrest and pain. If I have to be at odds with the world, then I want to be at peace with God.
Endure. Take it. I can guarantee you eternity will prove worth it.
Today I woke up quite annoyed. Was it because of the sound of a wood chipper outside my window shredding through what sounded like an entire tree? Not so much. Was it because I had a bad dream? I don’t think so because I can’t really remember my dreams from last night. I do, however, remember waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if I was actually awake or dreaming, and if I was dreaming I was probably going to be really upset that I was using the bathroom.
No, I woke up today annoyed that I wasn’t going to work. What an American thing to think, huh? But yeah, I was upset. I was told I would be working at this job full time for weeks, and I was really enjoying it at first, but it has not turned out to be what I was told it would be, and today was further proof as I found myself done with my work for the week, and also done making money for the week.
It’s been a frustrating few years for me to say the least. Nothing has quite gone according to plan, or anywhere near the plan.
So like a great man of faith, I reluctantly and without even the weakest desire opened up my Bible, only because I just knew I should. I’ve been reading through the Psalms and today I read Psalm 74. It seems to me that I’m not the first person in the world to have felt like I am feeling.
Psalm 74:1,9
“Why have you rejected us forever, O God? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture? – We are given no miraculous signs; no prophets are left, and none of us knows how long this will be.”
That stuff is IN the Bible. That’s real life. And here’s something straight out of my journal this morning:
Maybe this is just my own Psalm that is similar to that one as I write out my frustrations. It honestly sucks right now and I have no hope. And if I feel like I’m getting hope it just scares me because I know it’s not going to work out. I feel like I should now never tell anyone about anything going on until it actually happens because I’m so sick of having to follow up with “It didn’t work out.” And right now, nothing has worked out. If this is a fistfight, I feel like I haven’t given a solid punch in forever. I just keep taking the blows.
At the risk of being a huge nerd, I am going to reference The Dark Knight right now, because this is what has been going through my mind for the past few days, and it fits so just go with.
In the film, Bruce Wayne is about to reveal that he is Batman because he feels responsible for the deaths of the people the Joker is killing, because he said he would kill someone every day until Batman came forward. Bruce asks Alfred, “What would you have me do?” Alfred replies, “Endure, Master Wayne. Take it.”
And this thought has been going through my mind constantly. Endure.
Maybe it will get better, so endure.
Maybe it will never get better, so endure.
I really don’t know too much of what is an absolute guarantee when it comes to life and faith in God. Some may tell you that you will be delivered from any conflict or trial, but I don’t know if that’s a guarantee. What about the martyrs who die for their faith in Jesus? They were not delivered. The men and women locked in prison walls that God never breaks down. They are not delivered, but they endure. There are men and women of faith fighting through cancer and another life-taking diseases, crying out to a God who has healed countless people but is not healing them. They endure.
If you’ve never prayed a Psalm 74, I don’t know if this can make much sense to you right now. I’ve never had cancer or been in prison, but face down in tears I’ve prayed, “Why have you rejected me forever, O God? I am given no miraculous signs and I don’t know how long this will be.” I’ve thought so many times that things were about to change, and then they did not. But somehow I endure, and it simply cannot be by my own strength.
Matthew 24:12-13
“Lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
James 1:12
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
Interesting. These verses give us some guarantees, but there aren’t any guarantees for freedom in this life. Jesus did not say, “He who endures until the end… of the year.”
The end? Death? Maybe some fights do not end until we end.
God may never deliver you in front of your family and friends. I don’t know if it is a guarantee that if you struggle for a while in life, eventually something will click and you will be rewarded and redeemed in life for what you went through.
You may never feel justified in this world, but maybe this is not the world that God is preparing you for.
Romans 8:18
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”
What is coming in the next world cannot even be compared to this present one. I don’t think it should be called an “afterlife” because for those who believe, heaven is where life truly begins.
Endure, saints. Endure! God would not let you bear it if he did not think you could take it. Our Father, who is in heaven, looks upon us from eternity’s view. Eternity will reveal more to us than we can imagine, and it will reveal more in us than we ever knew was there.
I’ve seen God move mountains, and I’ve seen mountains crumble onto men. I have only come to realize that it is not my place to understand it all; it is my job to follow. You can stand there with your fist to the sky and demand God give you justice, which I’ve done, but I’ve found that it only produces more unrest and pain. If I have to be at odds with the world, then I want to be at peace with God.
Endure. Take it. I can guarantee you eternity will prove worth it.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
2 Psalms, 1 God
I love David. No not like that. King David, by the way. Although I do have a friend named David that I love… anyways… I love his writings and his life. I relate so much to him.
I’ve been reading through the Psalms and today this struck me about Psalm 21 and 22. I’ve said in my journal entries before that it seems like every other page is a different emotional trip for me. Some days I’m super excited, happy, and at peace. Some days I sound so depressed. Well, David makes me feel a little bit better about myself, and a little more normal.
Let’s just look at the beginnings of Psalm 21 and 22 to show what I mean.
Psalm 21:1-2
O Lord, the king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips.
Psalm 22:1-2
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
It almost sounds like David is praying to two different Gods. One that is super attentive to him and gives him whatever he asks for, and another that doesn’t seem to care much about his needs and has perhaps even walked away from him.
So what does this tell us? Does David have multiple personality disorder? Is God playing some kind of good cop/bad cop thing?
What it tells me is that this is just real life. Sometimes your emotions will shift greatly from one page to another, because our days shift in their troubles from one day to another. Jesus even said it himself, “Each day has enough troubles of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)
We must also remember that just because the days are changing and the seasons are shifting, it does not mean that God is doing the same. God is just as much loving David in Psalm 22 and he is in Psalm 21. He is just as faithful in Psalm 22 as he is in Psalm 21.
You can say, “Well, I don’t feel like God is being loving towards me, he won’t even answer me when I call out,” but just because you don’t feel like he’s loving you, it doesn’t mean that he isn’t. We humans can’t even begin to know what the full extent of love looks like.
Some days are easier than others, that’s just the way it is. But God is worthy of praise and thanksgiving in all moments and days. And maybe that’s what David knew better than most.
Psalm 22:26
“They who seek the Lord will praise him.”
Not praising the Lord much? You’re probably not seeking him. This was a very big shot in the chest for me. True worshipers worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23), not in feelings. If you seek the Lord you will praise him. So seek the Lord.
I’ve been reading through the Psalms and today this struck me about Psalm 21 and 22. I’ve said in my journal entries before that it seems like every other page is a different emotional trip for me. Some days I’m super excited, happy, and at peace. Some days I sound so depressed. Well, David makes me feel a little bit better about myself, and a little more normal.
Let’s just look at the beginnings of Psalm 21 and 22 to show what I mean.
Psalm 21:1-2
O Lord, the king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips.
Psalm 22:1-2
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent.
It almost sounds like David is praying to two different Gods. One that is super attentive to him and gives him whatever he asks for, and another that doesn’t seem to care much about his needs and has perhaps even walked away from him.
So what does this tell us? Does David have multiple personality disorder? Is God playing some kind of good cop/bad cop thing?
What it tells me is that this is just real life. Sometimes your emotions will shift greatly from one page to another, because our days shift in their troubles from one day to another. Jesus even said it himself, “Each day has enough troubles of its own.” (Matthew 6:34)
We must also remember that just because the days are changing and the seasons are shifting, it does not mean that God is doing the same. God is just as much loving David in Psalm 22 and he is in Psalm 21. He is just as faithful in Psalm 22 as he is in Psalm 21.
You can say, “Well, I don’t feel like God is being loving towards me, he won’t even answer me when I call out,” but just because you don’t feel like he’s loving you, it doesn’t mean that he isn’t. We humans can’t even begin to know what the full extent of love looks like.
Some days are easier than others, that’s just the way it is. But God is worthy of praise and thanksgiving in all moments and days. And maybe that’s what David knew better than most.
Psalm 22:26
“They who seek the Lord will praise him.”
Not praising the Lord much? You’re probably not seeking him. This was a very big shot in the chest for me. True worshipers worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23), not in feelings. If you seek the Lord you will praise him. So seek the Lord.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Weak Strength
2 Corinthians 12:7-9
“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
I think my anxiousness, frustration, and fear are pretty clear signs that I am not on the same tracks as God.
After spending some time repenting this morning, I realized just how weak I am. But God, being the wise and merciful teacher he is, showed me that I am just like he wants me to be: weak, and conscious of my weakness.
I know many people are the first part (weak), but finishing up the second part is where we can so easily miss it, as I have so many times.
A person who is not conscious of their weakness believes that the outcomes of life are based on their abilities and actions, not on God. They might be aware of God, and even give thanks to God for their blessings, but in their mind they think it was because of their hard work and determination, will power, etc… It always comes back to how hard they worked. I believe a person that is not conscious of their weakness asks many questions about how hard one is really trying with things in life, and makes more suggestions for them to do than they make offers to pray for them.
So many times I get so frustrated and discouraged, and the reason is that I have lost sight of the importance of my weakness and total dependence on God. And perhaps that’s why I have been going through it so much. God wants me to get this down, and this is what it takes to get it.
A real Christian should be weak and conscious of their weakness. I’m beginning to understand why Paul says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
The weaker we are, the more glory the Lord receives. It doesn’t seem to make sense, does it? But it’s true. The Lord even says that weakness is what gives God the chance to show us not just power, but perfect power.
2 Corinthians 12:9
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
A person who understands their weakness will walk in more freedom than the wisest and strongest people in the world, because they won’t feel the weight of believing that everything in their life depends on their actions. They realize it is up to the work and grace of God to bring about anything good in their lives.
James 1:17
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
Now I’m not saying this is a call to sit around the rest of your life and do nothing; you don’t know you are weak until you actually try to lift something or do something else. Make efforts. Do stuff. But remember your weakness as a human, and remember your strength as a child of God. We’ve got to learn to see both at the same time. Maybe that’s why God gave us two eyes.
God is some kind of chemist, isn’t he? Always mixing things, like weakness and strength, but somehow it just works.
2 Corinthians 12:10
“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
I think my anxiousness, frustration, and fear are pretty clear signs that I am not on the same tracks as God.
After spending some time repenting this morning, I realized just how weak I am. But God, being the wise and merciful teacher he is, showed me that I am just like he wants me to be: weak, and conscious of my weakness.
I know many people are the first part (weak), but finishing up the second part is where we can so easily miss it, as I have so many times.
A person who is not conscious of their weakness believes that the outcomes of life are based on their abilities and actions, not on God. They might be aware of God, and even give thanks to God for their blessings, but in their mind they think it was because of their hard work and determination, will power, etc… It always comes back to how hard they worked. I believe a person that is not conscious of their weakness asks many questions about how hard one is really trying with things in life, and makes more suggestions for them to do than they make offers to pray for them.
So many times I get so frustrated and discouraged, and the reason is that I have lost sight of the importance of my weakness and total dependence on God. And perhaps that’s why I have been going through it so much. God wants me to get this down, and this is what it takes to get it.
A real Christian should be weak and conscious of their weakness. I’m beginning to understand why Paul says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)
The weaker we are, the more glory the Lord receives. It doesn’t seem to make sense, does it? But it’s true. The Lord even says that weakness is what gives God the chance to show us not just power, but perfect power.
2 Corinthians 12:9
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
A person who understands their weakness will walk in more freedom than the wisest and strongest people in the world, because they won’t feel the weight of believing that everything in their life depends on their actions. They realize it is up to the work and grace of God to bring about anything good in their lives.
James 1:17
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
Now I’m not saying this is a call to sit around the rest of your life and do nothing; you don’t know you are weak until you actually try to lift something or do something else. Make efforts. Do stuff. But remember your weakness as a human, and remember your strength as a child of God. We’ve got to learn to see both at the same time. Maybe that’s why God gave us two eyes.
God is some kind of chemist, isn’t he? Always mixing things, like weakness and strength, but somehow it just works.
2 Corinthians 12:10
“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Guilt and Love
Read Luke 22:47-62 before you read this post.
This morning I was reading in Luke 22 about Jesus’ arrest and Peter denying him. Such a heartbreaking story. We all like to think that if we were Peter we wouldn’t have denied Christ, but I am not so sure I wouldn’t have.
I’ve denied him so many times in my life. Denied his way by not waiting and listening to him. Denied his convictions and willfully sinned. He commanded us to “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him,” (Matthew 16:24) but I have done just the opposite. I’ve denied him, taken up my desires, and followed them to where they would lead.
Luke 22:61 is so sad. I can see it in my mind’s eye. Peter had just lived up to Jesus’ prophecy about how he would deny Jesus three times, and then the rooster crowed.
“The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him… And he went outside and wept bitterly.”
Could you imagine the Savior of the world, on his way to the greatest human suffering of all time to save you from your sins, starring you in the eye right after you disowned him? Man, this story has so much weight to it. No wonder Peter went outside and wept.
The Gospel of Luke doesn’t talk about it, but the 21st chapter of Gospel of John tells us how Jesus reinstates Peter on a beach one morning after his resurrection. Jesus asks him three times if he loves him. Peter wasn’t an idiot; he knew what the three times meant. Jesus asks him if he loves him, then gives him instructions to feed and take care of his “sheep.”
Jesus chose the man who had just rejected him when the pressure was on to be the man he builds his church on. Jesus had told him earlier, too, that the devil had desired to sift Peter like wheat, but Jesus had prayed for him that he wouldn’t fail (Luke 22:31-32).
It is my personal thinking that Peter never forgot the face of Jesus on the night he looked at him right after he denied him. I don’t know how you could forget something like that. But if that was all Peter remembered then he would have just moved forward in guilt. All his works for the church would have been fueled by his guilt and inner regret.
When we are motivated by regret, I don’t believe we are moving in the power of God, because “there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those that are in Christ Jesus!” (Romans 8:1) None! Only the Son of God can set you free like that.
Peter didn’t go forth in ministry by being pushed on by his own regret and guilt; the Savior’s love, forgiveness, and call is what motivated him onward. And Peter moved forward under the power of Christ, and under his encouragement.
I don’t think Peter ever forgot the face of Jesus on the night he denied him, but more importantly, I don’t think he ever forgot the words of Jesus that morning on the beach.
We cannot serve the Lord out of guilt, regret, or sense of what we owe him. It makes it a game of works to be accepted by God. We serve the Lord because he loves us, and he has called us.
There is no scale with God where we have to fill up our side with works to balance out all that he’s done for us or given us, his side of the scale will always incomprehensibly outweigh ours.
He loves you. He desires you. You can’t earn love like that. You just can’t. Jesus desires those that deny him; he calls those that curse him. You can’t earn relentless love like that. His love is a fire that consumes our past mistakes, sins, and regrets until there is nothing left but his grace, truth, and love.
Jesus loves me, this I know.
This morning I was reading in Luke 22 about Jesus’ arrest and Peter denying him. Such a heartbreaking story. We all like to think that if we were Peter we wouldn’t have denied Christ, but I am not so sure I wouldn’t have.
I’ve denied him so many times in my life. Denied his way by not waiting and listening to him. Denied his convictions and willfully sinned. He commanded us to “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him,” (Matthew 16:24) but I have done just the opposite. I’ve denied him, taken up my desires, and followed them to where they would lead.
Luke 22:61 is so sad. I can see it in my mind’s eye. Peter had just lived up to Jesus’ prophecy about how he would deny Jesus three times, and then the rooster crowed.
“The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him… And he went outside and wept bitterly.”
Could you imagine the Savior of the world, on his way to the greatest human suffering of all time to save you from your sins, starring you in the eye right after you disowned him? Man, this story has so much weight to it. No wonder Peter went outside and wept.
The Gospel of Luke doesn’t talk about it, but the 21st chapter of Gospel of John tells us how Jesus reinstates Peter on a beach one morning after his resurrection. Jesus asks him three times if he loves him. Peter wasn’t an idiot; he knew what the three times meant. Jesus asks him if he loves him, then gives him instructions to feed and take care of his “sheep.”
Jesus chose the man who had just rejected him when the pressure was on to be the man he builds his church on. Jesus had told him earlier, too, that the devil had desired to sift Peter like wheat, but Jesus had prayed for him that he wouldn’t fail (Luke 22:31-32).
It is my personal thinking that Peter never forgot the face of Jesus on the night he looked at him right after he denied him. I don’t know how you could forget something like that. But if that was all Peter remembered then he would have just moved forward in guilt. All his works for the church would have been fueled by his guilt and inner regret.
When we are motivated by regret, I don’t believe we are moving in the power of God, because “there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those that are in Christ Jesus!” (Romans 8:1) None! Only the Son of God can set you free like that.
Peter didn’t go forth in ministry by being pushed on by his own regret and guilt; the Savior’s love, forgiveness, and call is what motivated him onward. And Peter moved forward under the power of Christ, and under his encouragement.
I don’t think Peter ever forgot the face of Jesus on the night he denied him, but more importantly, I don’t think he ever forgot the words of Jesus that morning on the beach.
We cannot serve the Lord out of guilt, regret, or sense of what we owe him. It makes it a game of works to be accepted by God. We serve the Lord because he loves us, and he has called us.
There is no scale with God where we have to fill up our side with works to balance out all that he’s done for us or given us, his side of the scale will always incomprehensibly outweigh ours.
He loves you. He desires you. You can’t earn love like that. You just can’t. Jesus desires those that deny him; he calls those that curse him. You can’t earn relentless love like that. His love is a fire that consumes our past mistakes, sins, and regrets until there is nothing left but his grace, truth, and love.
Jesus loves me, this I know.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Faith, Failure, and Hope.
Do you ever get scared to pray prayers because you’re afraid God is going to answer them immediately? I’ll give you an example I’m kind of embarrassed of. I don’t pray for patience anymore. I honestly don’t because I’m scared God is going to cause my car to break down, or somebody will rob me, or someone will ask me if I can watch their brat 8-year-old who has found the only remaining bottles of Surge left on the planet and drank them right before I came over. I’m only 25, but quite frankly I don’t feel like I have the nerves left to learn patience anymore. Obviously, I am way wrong and have much more to learn in patience, and plenty more nerves left to burn out. I’d just rather pray for “supernatural patience.” You know, the kind God just downloads into your soul and you get it. Like Keanu Reeves learned kung fu in the Matrix.
But as you’ve probably learned, as have I, it doesn’t usually work like that. Life is full of lessons that can only be learned on the streets pain and in the schools of hard knocks. Mr. Rogers did his best while I was growing up, but there are some things that expressionless puppets can’t teach you. Who knew?
Yeah, I am afraid to pray, sometimes. Am I the only one who ever treats God like he’s this fortune teller/genie thing that is just waiting for me to screw up the magic words only for it to only result in the exact opposite of what I want to happen? I have somehow done it. I’ve minimized my Almighty God down to a bad made for TV movie.
I know the verses like Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God,” and Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” But it is a whole other challenge to actually believe them and implement them into your mind. Isn’t it funny how we can know things are true and still not believe them? We’ve been conditioned to be doubters.
Every time I go visit my mom in Ft. Pierce, FL thereI usually try to go to the jetty at the beach and pray at night. It’s pretty much pitch black there so many of my prayers are to not get shanked and robbed. After that fear subsides I just look at the ocean and talk to God. That’s right Sunday School teachers, I am praying with my eyes open. I’ll return all my Bible bucks if you want. But not the candy, I earned it.
One night I was out there and I was praying and just thinking about the future and my life. Places I felt like I’ve failed. Areas I wish I could change but can’t. Overall frustrations with being a young man in pursuit of God. Now you can say that God no longer speaks, or that we can’t really ever know that it is God, but I would like to clearly state that I believe God still does speak to his children. I felt like the Lord told me that night that I have become a doubter. He told me that I was always looking over my shoulder waiting for something to break or to lose something I loved. I’ve become good at praising God through the hard times, and maybe so much so that I forget the blessings the Lord has promised his people. I’ve had some things in my life happen to make me kind of not the wide-eyed, optimistic believer that I once was. Some of it is part of the maturity process of getting out of new born faith in God, and some of it is just not of God.
I guess I’ve just become someone who is tired of getting his hopes up and being let down. So better to just be surprised than disappointed, right? While that might make sense in some worldly wisdom form, I don’t think it is how a God follower’s mentality should be. And the Lord cut me to the core that night.
People love a good underdog story, but no one wants to be in the beginning of one. We love the story of Joseph in Genesis, look at how glorious it ended! Second in command of all of Egypt!? Come on somebody praise the Lord! Can I get an “amen?” And yes, that is one of my favorite stories. The guy went through hell and God exalted him. We all want to be Joseph from Genesis 41, but no one wants to be Joseph from chapters 37-40. Having your own brothers throw you in a pit, getting taken out of the pit and sold as a slave, turning down sex and getting accused of rape, put in prison, and helping people in prison who get out and forget about you for years. No one wants to be that guy.
The world is quick to look at a chapter 37 Joseph and call him a failure. Give up man. It’s over. Quit trusting in your God that doesn’t bless you. Give up on your “dreams,” they were just dreams.
But if they would only wait until chapter 41. If they would only consider the end of the road. If we would only consider that maybe it is all a part of a process bigger than ourselves and bigger than our weak minds. That maybe God HAS indeed heard every single prayer we’ve prayed and seen every single tear we’ve cried. And maybe, just maybe, he knows and loves his precious children like he says he does.
One of my favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 13:12.
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
This verse clearly states that we just won’t understand some things. Many times we can see that God is up to something, but we just don’t know what it is fully. We get so frustrated that we don’t know the whole story or every detail of the work being done, but honestly, we’re just not going to know some things. At least not right now. But soon, we will see it face to face. We will see the completeness of the love of God and we will understand it. We will know fully. We really will get it.
The frustration of not knowing can lead to doubt. One time I felt so confused about things going on in my life and I was becoming convinced that I must have totally been missing God because I was confused, and God is “not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).” Then I heard the Lord say, “You’re not confused; you’re just discouraged.”
If I feel like God is not being faithful, it’s because I don’t know what faith really is.
If I feel like God is not being good, it’s because I don’t know what good really is.
If I feel like God is not being loving its because I don’t know what love really is.
God is not a magician; he is the Creator. God is not a genie; he is the Good Shepherd. As my friend Mike once put it, “A really Good Shepherd.” It is all part of the journey in faith. Learning to bet it all on God. Accepting the hard times but trusting that the Way actually knows the way.
Pray on, prayer.
But as you’ve probably learned, as have I, it doesn’t usually work like that. Life is full of lessons that can only be learned on the streets pain and in the schools of hard knocks. Mr. Rogers did his best while I was growing up, but there are some things that expressionless puppets can’t teach you. Who knew?
Yeah, I am afraid to pray, sometimes. Am I the only one who ever treats God like he’s this fortune teller/genie thing that is just waiting for me to screw up the magic words only for it to only result in the exact opposite of what I want to happen? I have somehow done it. I’ve minimized my Almighty God down to a bad made for TV movie.
I know the verses like Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God,” and Psalm 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” But it is a whole other challenge to actually believe them and implement them into your mind. Isn’t it funny how we can know things are true and still not believe them? We’ve been conditioned to be doubters.
Every time I go visit my mom in Ft. Pierce, FL thereI usually try to go to the jetty at the beach and pray at night. It’s pretty much pitch black there so many of my prayers are to not get shanked and robbed. After that fear subsides I just look at the ocean and talk to God. That’s right Sunday School teachers, I am praying with my eyes open. I’ll return all my Bible bucks if you want. But not the candy, I earned it.
One night I was out there and I was praying and just thinking about the future and my life. Places I felt like I’ve failed. Areas I wish I could change but can’t. Overall frustrations with being a young man in pursuit of God. Now you can say that God no longer speaks, or that we can’t really ever know that it is God, but I would like to clearly state that I believe God still does speak to his children. I felt like the Lord told me that night that I have become a doubter. He told me that I was always looking over my shoulder waiting for something to break or to lose something I loved. I’ve become good at praising God through the hard times, and maybe so much so that I forget the blessings the Lord has promised his people. I’ve had some things in my life happen to make me kind of not the wide-eyed, optimistic believer that I once was. Some of it is part of the maturity process of getting out of new born faith in God, and some of it is just not of God.
I guess I’ve just become someone who is tired of getting his hopes up and being let down. So better to just be surprised than disappointed, right? While that might make sense in some worldly wisdom form, I don’t think it is how a God follower’s mentality should be. And the Lord cut me to the core that night.
People love a good underdog story, but no one wants to be in the beginning of one. We love the story of Joseph in Genesis, look at how glorious it ended! Second in command of all of Egypt!? Come on somebody praise the Lord! Can I get an “amen?” And yes, that is one of my favorite stories. The guy went through hell and God exalted him. We all want to be Joseph from Genesis 41, but no one wants to be Joseph from chapters 37-40. Having your own brothers throw you in a pit, getting taken out of the pit and sold as a slave, turning down sex and getting accused of rape, put in prison, and helping people in prison who get out and forget about you for years. No one wants to be that guy.
The world is quick to look at a chapter 37 Joseph and call him a failure. Give up man. It’s over. Quit trusting in your God that doesn’t bless you. Give up on your “dreams,” they were just dreams.
But if they would only wait until chapter 41. If they would only consider the end of the road. If we would only consider that maybe it is all a part of a process bigger than ourselves and bigger than our weak minds. That maybe God HAS indeed heard every single prayer we’ve prayed and seen every single tear we’ve cried. And maybe, just maybe, he knows and loves his precious children like he says he does.
One of my favorite verses is 1 Corinthians 13:12.
“Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”
This verse clearly states that we just won’t understand some things. Many times we can see that God is up to something, but we just don’t know what it is fully. We get so frustrated that we don’t know the whole story or every detail of the work being done, but honestly, we’re just not going to know some things. At least not right now. But soon, we will see it face to face. We will see the completeness of the love of God and we will understand it. We will know fully. We really will get it.
The frustration of not knowing can lead to doubt. One time I felt so confused about things going on in my life and I was becoming convinced that I must have totally been missing God because I was confused, and God is “not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).” Then I heard the Lord say, “You’re not confused; you’re just discouraged.”
If I feel like God is not being faithful, it’s because I don’t know what faith really is.
If I feel like God is not being good, it’s because I don’t know what good really is.
If I feel like God is not being loving its because I don’t know what love really is.
God is not a magician; he is the Creator. God is not a genie; he is the Good Shepherd. As my friend Mike once put it, “A really Good Shepherd.” It is all part of the journey in faith. Learning to bet it all on God. Accepting the hard times but trusting that the Way actually knows the way.
Pray on, prayer.
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