Can I Be Thankful in Hard Times?

This week is the week that we have set aside a day to be thankful for the blessings we have received.  I have to keep reminding my children that this is not “Turkey day”, but Thanksgiving. We are not celebrating the turkey, just the blessing of having the turkey (all 17 lbs worth in my house).

These past few years have been difficult on many- we have war, recession, unemployment, H1N1, foreclosures and many other things that impact our lives.  For some people, they might find it a struggle to smile, and give heartfelt thanks this year. Now you might say, “but aren’t we supposed to give thanks in all things”?  Well yes we are, but in the real world, with real hurt and real struggle, being truly thankful at times is not just a matter of obeying a command.  To be truly thankful we often have to move past hurt feelings, grief, disappointment, unfulfilled dreams, a drained bank account, wayward children, lost jobs, ….  and discover in the middle of this pile the nuggets of God’s work to focus our attention on. That is not always easy.

This year has been a tremendous mixed bag for me. God has been so faithful to us, but He has been faithful in the middle of very difficult year. I could easily take the rest of this blog to tell you of all my struggles and pain- the passing of my mom being the hardest things I have ever endured- but that is life. Life has bumps, hills, potholes, sinkholes, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods- just stuff and lots of it.

I like the lyrics to a song by Darryl Worley “Sounds Like Life to Me“.  

Got a call last night from an old friend’s wife
Said I hate to bother you
Johnny Ray fell off the wagon
He’s been gone all afternoon
I know my buddy so I drove to Skully’s
And found him at the bar
I say hey man, what’s going on
He said I don’t know where to start

Sarah’s old car’s about to fall apart
And the washer quit last week
We had to put momma in the nursing home
And the baby’s cutting teeth
I didn’t get much work this week
And I got bills to pay
I said I know this ain’t what you wanna hear
But it’s what I’m gonna say

Sounds like life to me it ain’t no fantasy
It’s just a common case of everyday reality
Man I know it’s tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk you’re caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me

Well his face turned red and he shook his head
He said you don’t understand
Three kids and a wife depend on me
And I’m just one man
To top it off I just found out
That Sarah’s 2 months late
I said hey bartender set us up a round
We need to celebrate

Sounds like life to me plain old destiny
Yeah the only thing for certain is uncertainty
You gotta hold on tight just enjoy the ride
Get used to all this unpredictability
Sounds like life

I particularly like the last part- the only thing for certain is uncertainty, you have to hold on tight just enjoy the ride, get used to all this unpredictability, sounds like life to me.  Life is uncertain. Life is full of situations that we wish never would have happened. Life is full of times we wish we could go back and change. Life is also full of beautiful times, beautiful things and beautiful people. Life happens, but in the midst of life we have to find the beautiful things to feed our faith. This is not sappy optimism or stick your fingers in your ears and pretend like nothing is happening, this is a deliberate choice to choose to focus my attention upon God and His goodness rather than the evils and pains of this world. It’s not as if we are not acknowledging our pain, I just choose not to stay there.

When my mom passed away this past April, I was devastated. It has taken me a whole lot longer to move forward than I could have imagined. The hurt was deep. My mom has always been a source of strength for me and knew how to encourage me at just the right time in just the right way. She showed me how to live life, even in difficult times, with grace and resilience.  I not only lost my mom, but a great part of my support. I had the wonderful privilege of speaking at her service. As we closed the service in prayer these words flowed across my lips that I had no idea would come, but I will never forget. “Lord, I wished this day would never come. I would have wanted another day, another week, another year, another lifetime with my mom… but Lord I am so thankful today for every day that you gave me with her. My life is so much richer because you blessed me with her…”.  That is the one thought that has really helped me- “my life is so much richer because you blessed me with her”. 

No one promised us on this side of heaven that good things last forever, in fact the Bible tells us that this world, and all that is in it, including us, is passing away. But drawing from that well of pain emerged a beautiful thought, I have been blessed. I did not earn it, deserve it, work for it, God placed this beautiful and strong woman as my mother, and I am thankful. Now I could choose to focus on what I don’t have anymore, her presence with me, but death is unfortunately a part of life. I can fuss at the unfairness of it all. I could wallow in misery saying no one understands me. But my experience is not uncommon to the normal course of life. Death comes. It is a part of living in this world. If I would let it, the bad things of this life could drive me into depression, anger, sadness, helplessness… but that would not be living a life of faith. Faith focuses on God’s work, even when life seems dark and oppressive.

I suppose we could spend our short time here in misery and frustrated, like much of the world does, because it does not have enough, it can keep what is has and it can’t figure out how to maintain perfect happiness… or we can see that the world is an imperfect place, face our troubles, thumb our nose at the devil and give God thanks for what we have in this world and beyond.

Here is what I mean… my wife is not perfect, but I am eternally grateful that God has blessed me with her and her many ways of blessing me and encouraging me;  my kids aren’t perfect, but I am thankful for them and grateful God has given me the opportunity, and privilege, to parent them and see them grow into young men and women; my finances are far from perfect, but I am grateful for what i do have- we have not gone hungry a single day, the roof is over our head and the heat is on;  my health is not perfect, the pill bottles in the bathroom tell me so, but I am grateful I have the health to experience this life God has given me and serve Him; I am not where I wanted to be at my age, certainly not where I envisioned myself being, but I am grateful for what I look around and do see in my life; and mostly… I am not perfect, but God still chooses to love me, forgive me, have patience with me, comfort me…. yea, I could choose to be miserable because this world is an imperfect place (and by the way, one reason the world is imperfect is because you and I are in it), but I would rather look up and be thankful for all that I do have.

Can I maintain perfect happiness in this world- no, and Jesus even told me so…

John 16:33 (NLT)

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world

Notice the surety with which Jesus speaks- you will have trials and sorrows, not may have, could have, or it’s a possibility… you will have. This life is going to put it on all of us, so how we respond is an individual choice. In our hard times we can choose to throw our pity party, we can wallow in our PLOM syndrome (Poor Lil’ Ol’ Me), we can throw a temper tantrum and roll on the ground… or we can choose to rise above. Make the choice that Jesus made.  So where do we see Jesus giving thanks in His difficult times? Look at this verse…

Luke 22:19

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me”

As Jesus faced the cross and was, in His last moments, teaching His disciples about the meaning of His death, He gave thanks. Thanks for what? Thanks for the fulfillment of God’s plan. Thanks for the relationship that was going to be born through this pain. Thanks for the faith that many would show in Him. Thanks for the eternal difference that He was about to make… But that also meant that He was going to endure suffering, and He thanked the Father anyway.

Now you and I will probably never face a cross, but the example has been set for us. Even in the difficulties, find the places and pieces to be thankful for.  Our common human experience tells us that we all are going to experience difficulty, some maybe more than others, but as Christians we also share a common truth- God is good.  Take some time this week to journal or think about just how good God has been- not how difficult life is- and you will have a happier Thanksgiving. 

I pray that this holiday will be filled with blessings for you and your family and that as you reflect on the goodness of God in the midst of your life, that your faith will be lifted and your joy more full.

What are we giving the world to believe?

Just a short note, but I had to share from my Bible reading today…

John 10
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” 42 And many believed in Him there.

Jesus said that the proof of Him being the Messiah, and God Himself, was the works that He did. Twice in the passage He points them to the works that He is doing. When He goes to the place that John is baptizing the people say that it is the works that He is doing that made them believe.

Interesting to note that the Jews were not concerned about his works, but that He claimed to be equal with God. There would be no proving that He is the Messiah. Jesus had healed, raised the dead and yet they would not believe. Yet the people who were genuinely turning to God pointed to those very works as the reason for believing in Jesus as the Messiah.

It can seem confusing at first, but Jesus did not change His approach to convince those who were questioning Him– it is my works, not my theological arguments that will win the day.  They asked Him straightforwardly, tell us if you are the Messiah, all Jesus did was point to His works and told them to believe.

What works are we showing to the world around us so that they will believe?  It seems as if we have spent a lot of time trying to argue the world into heaven. Yet when confronted with the straightforward question- are you the Messiah, Jesus pointed to His works.

If the world came to the church today and asked, “Is your religion real?  Is Jesus the Savior?”  Would we seek to argue them into believing…  or could we take a step back and point to our works- individually, the powerful difference Jesus Christ has made in our lives and corporately as the body of Christ working in our world- to show them the truth?

The world says, “I’ll believe it when I see it” and we often we tell them, “that is not faith”.  Jesus however looked at the people and said, “you have seen it, now believe”.  The Jews did not believe, the followers of John did believe, but at least the proof was on the table, evident to all to accept or reject.  Could we be more effective in reaching this world if we put more proof on the table?

 

Is recession any match for the Kingdom of God?

I was reading my Bible a few days ago when this verse arrested my attention….

Matthew 12:28
But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

In this passage Jesus was having a lively discussion with the Pharisees about whether or not He was from God or the Devil. Interesting because Jesus would call the Pharisees sons of the Devil. But what hit me about this verse is the last phrase, “the Kingdom of God has come upon you”.

Think for a moment about the model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples… “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven”.  That phrase has been a mystery for many. How do we pray for God’s Kingdom to come on earth?  How do we get the Kingdom to show up on earth?  In these days of financial crisis, foreclosure, unemployment, H1N1 flu…how do we fulfill this prayer?  In modern terms we would say, “OK, what do I need to do to get this done?”

What did Jesus do right before He said that the Kingdom had come?  He was casting demons and healing someone…

Matthew 12
²² Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. ²³ And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

He drove out demons. He caused a blind man to see. He caused a mute man to speak. He was exercising His authority to destroy evil, to conquer pain and to overcome the world which lies under sway of the evil one. Jesus brought the Kingdom of God to bear upon the earth, not in the nice places or in the comfortable confines of air-conditioning and a padded pew. He brought it to bear where the world hurts. Then He announced to everyone, what you have seen here is the Kingdom of God at work. Does the world hurt today?  Obviously yes. Then where is the Kingdom at work and how do we make it work?

The bringing of the Kingdom was what He sent out His disciples to do with the power that He gave them…

Luke 10
¹ After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. ² Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. ³ Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves…. ⁸ Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. ⁹ And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’ ¹² But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.

When He sent out the disciples (and note it is not the 12 but “others” who were part of the crowd that followed Him), He told them

1) There are a lot of people that can be won to the Kingdom and they are ready, but only a few people to do the work

2) The world is not necessarily a friendly place to do this work, there will be wolves out there, much like we face today

3) But go to the people, heal them, minister to them, and tell them the Kingdom is here.

4) Again..there are going to be people that reject you, your work, and your message.

5) Take heart though, God will know what you have done and hold them accountable for rejecting the Kingdom

Twice He tells them that ministry will be tough. But twice He tells them to remind the people they encounter that the Kingdom of God has come to them.  But what are they going to do so that people will know the Kingdom has come near?  What evidence will they provide?  They will heal the sick. They will minister to people who are in need. Jesus sort of said it this way, “the well have no need of a physician… I have come to heal, to help, to share, to give hope, to establish a relationship with the Father… to those who are in need.”

You don’t have to look hard to find those in need. The world is “full” of the emptiness that needs create. With recession in full swing, do you sense the emptiness of our world who is suffering from panic, worry, stress, pain, frustration, hopelessness?  Suicide rates are up. Domestic violence incidents are up. Homeless rates are up. The class of working poor is growing. When Jesus walked the earth, He met those people head on. He walked among the hurting. He ate with the outcast. And He brought the Kingdom of God to them…and He expects us to do the same today.

Let’s ask a question of ourselves… can we, as the church, say to the world today, “The Kingdom has come near to you”?

Think about the power of that statement. The Kingdom of God has come to bear on the life of people who are separated from God, hurting in this world, pained physically and emotionally—that is incredibly powerful. Think about what Romans 14 says, that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Could the world you live in use a little more righteousness?  I think yes. Could the people that you know use more peace in their life?  Most definitely.  Does the world have enough joy?  Not yet.

Imagine today that the church, God’s people who bear the banner of His Kingdom, would be known as people who bring righteousness, peace and joy to the world. Do you think we might reach a few more people?  Would Christians be more energized if we thought of ourselves as people bringing something to the world that is positive, a blessing?

Much of the message that we have followed in the church has been, as my seminary professor was fond of saying, “do” commands. While we seem to be fond of telling people what to do, many in the church are uncomfortable being in the position of the proverbial Catholic school nun (I apologize if any of you reading this are Catholic school nuns).  When the world does something wrong it is our job to whack them on the knuckles with our spiritual ruler.  A lot of us don’t like the thought of hitting people with a ruler… well there are some people….

The difference is that instead of playing moral police with the world, we bring the blessings of the Kingdom to the world. I like that approach much better. It seems more the way Jesus approached the lost and the hurting. Yes He preached righteousness, but that righteousness was not supposed to make us mean, miserable and overbearing.

As I read the gospels, Jesus uses the righteousness of the Kingdom to beat back evil rather than beating people. Jesus was aggressive when it came to battling evil and replacing it with the fullness of the Kingdom. I John 3:8 says…

⁸ For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

Jesus, as He brought the Kingdom to the world, overcame evil. The verse says that He came to destroy the works of the devil. Don’t tell me your picture of Jesus is of this mild, effeminate 98-lb weakling.  Far from it. He conquered evil. He cured disease. He cast out demons. He rose from the grave. Listen, He kicked the Devil in the teeth, looked at Him and said, “want some more, come get it”.

If we are to bring the Kingdom to earth, to our day, we have to be about the business of beating back the evils of our world. The Bible tells us not to be overcome with evil, but to overcome evil with good (Rom 12:21). In many ways the church seems to be hiding from evil. We insulate ourselves from “others” and we isolate our work within the walls of the church. How can you bring the Kingdom to earth if we never touch those who are outside of our family and outside our walls?

I am excited about something the church I attend, Burnt Hickory Baptist Church, is doing called Inside Out. It is simply planning and giving people opportunities to go out into the community and serve- at schools, on the street, to the homeless, to the hurting.  The testimonies of those who have been served and among the people who have served really has been inspirational.  You don’t have to have a seminary degree to figure out that God has placed the Kingdom within us (Luke 17:20-21) so that we can pour it out into our world. That is bringing the Kingdom to earth.

But there are many evils in this world that Christians can play a larger role in…

* There are hundreds of thousands of kids that are in need of foster homes and to be adopted. Many of these kids have suffered from all kinds of evils, and need the love of God to overcome them. God is particularly interested in “being a father to the fatherless” and “placing the lonely in families” (Read Exodus 22:22-24, Psalm 68:5-6 or search “fatherless” in your favorite Bible software).
* Serve at your local domestic violence shelter. One of the most impactful times of ministry I have ever had was sharing a meal at a domestic violence shelter, sitting with a woman who’s face was swollen black and blue while she fed her little girl. I could not help but think, if Jesus were in this city, He would be here.

The list could go on and on. The point is, the church is not meant to soak in the blessings of God, but to pour them out on those in need. You don’t have to look long or hard to find needs… just don’t leave them the way you found them. Bring the Kingdom to them. Yes there will be opposition and rejection, but that is why we have to overcome evil.   Overcome evil with good.  You can, because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Revelation 12
⁹ So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. ¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. ¹¹ And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

Complicating Christianity to Death

There has been a run lately on simplification. Companies are simplifying their business and streamlining their organizations to get a grip on costs. People are simplifying their time and finances to get a handle on the pace of their lives. Even churches are simplifying. One of the recent popular books in the Christian world is called Simple Church by Thom Rainer. A good friend has recently published a book called Simple Discipleship (a recommended read).

There is good reason for this…our world has gotten more complicated. Even while our world has desperately tried to make our lives more comfortable, more appealing, more satisfying, it has made it harder to live a happier life. The world has afforded us many more choices, in everything, to supposedly be able to get what we want, yet we seem to be more unhappy.

We have cell phones with gobs of minutes, yet who of us is happy with having to listen to voice mail six times a day and then get buzzed in the middle of a movie because someone is texting us about the latest video they posted. Not to mention the stress that occurs if we lose our phone or if the phone doesn’t work.  That does not make my life simpler, easier or more enjoyable.

We have cable with hundreds of channels, many of which are targeted for all our tastes.  We have movie channels, food channels, home channels, game channels, sports channels, sci-fi channels, fashion channels, even Christian channels… Yet it seems two things inevitably happen- either there in nothing on to watch between the 259 channels we have or all of the shows we want to watch are scheduled for the same time.  That does not make my life simpler, easier or more enjoyable.

Think of your local grocery store. At our house, we buy food to feed 6 people for two weeks. We cannot just walk into the grocery store and buy food. We need a battle plan. We have to plan meals, search out coupons, look at sales, as well as read labels and compare prices. Have you ever looked at how many different cereals there are?  You could spend a day just shopping for cereal. While I don’t mind saving the money, this does not make my life simpler, easier or more enjoyable.

Unfortunately, this same idea has crept over into our Christianity.  Our Christian walk has become very complicated and cumbersome.

But listen to what Jesus said…

Mark 12 (NKJV)
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” 29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Now, don’t over think this. Jesus said there are two commandments which are the greatest of all. So yes there are commandments that are more important than others. The two greatest things that we are to do are:

1) Love God with everything that is within us

2) Love people

If you have been around church much you would believe that the greatest commandments might be….

* Attend church

* Help in the nursery

* Participate in church activities

* Give to the offering

* Don’t drink, dance, chew, smoke, listen to certain music, watch certain movies, or associate with those who do

* Dress right for church

* Don’t run in church

* Be dignified

* Don’t change anything

You can mix and match these to fit your situation. Maybe in your church the greatest commandments are: Thou shalt know how to act in church and the second is like it, don’t change anything. (you can even make up your own if you like!)

It is interesting to hear what the scribe says in verse 33, that these two commandments are more than the sum of all the burnt offerings and sacrifices, all the ceremony and stuff that at that time comprised worship. The same is true today, love for God is more than the sum of all the do’s and don’t of a Christian lifestyle.  Yet you would not think so in today’s churches.

Now some of this may sound a little harsh, particularly for those who grew up in church, having heard these things from the time you could hear. I want you to think of those who have no relationship with Christ. Do they see a Christian faith alive with love and joy and power? When they come into the church, what do they see or hear are the most important things. Now hold on tight… is the greatest commandment to read our Bibles?  Is it to have a quiet time?  Is it to go to church? Is it to pray? Is it to evangelize? For those just coming into the church, these are the things we are told to do repeatedly- have a quiet time, pray, don’t miss church, participate, give….but you know, I believe we have missed a level, and in doing so have drained the life out of modern Christianity.

We have complicated our Christian walk with too many do’s and don’ts and have left out why we are to do them. Why do we spend time reading the Bible?  For information about God? No. So we can, as we read about God, fall deeper in love with Him.  The way we often present it, we are to read the Bible as a command, for the sake of reading the Bible and gaining Bible knowledge. I have met plenty of people who know the Bible, but have no real deep love of God. In fact there are a lot of lost people who can quote the Scriptures, but they have no relationship with God at all. So they have done something Christian, but have they obeyed the very first thing that Christ told us?

What I am getting at is that in our modern version of Christianity, we have said that loving God is doing and not doing a bunch of things, and all of these things make our Christian life complicated… but love is not things. Love is a choice I make to give myself to another for their greater good.  I love God, therefore I want to read the Bible, so that I know God better and serve Him better and can better share Him with the world around me. I love God, so I pray, to talk with Him and hear from Him and to lay myself out before Him so He can mold and shape me. I love God, so I worship, to express to Him how great, awesome and wonderful I know He is.

This is what Jesus said, “if you love me, you will obey my commands” (John 14:15). Love first, obey second. We have gotten it mixed up. In many cases our whole focus is on obedience. The greatest command is not to obey, but to love. Loving God will lead to obedience. Yet we have made obeying commands, whether they are God’s commands or our own man made commands, the first order of business in Christianity. And that is complicated and puts burdens upon us.

Listen to it this way. I love my wife. Because I love my wife I have no problem doing things for her. If she needs help getting something out of her car, or needing me to run an errand for her, or after a long day rubbing her shoulders- no problem. Why? Because I love her. Now if I did not have love for her, yet I did those things, it would be work, it would be a burden, chores to do for her. I may complete them, but I would not draw much joy or happiness from them. But because I love her, I derive joy out of making her happy. Listen to the words from I John 5:3…

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

Our love for God is never meant to be a burden, but a joy. Ask yourself this, “Is my Christian walk feeling more like a joy or a burden?”

When we get it backwards we create a walk with God that is full of the burden of guilt and stress. We focus so much on the activity of Christianity that we leave out why we do these things. The do’s and don’t become the goal of being a Christian, which heaps burdens on us that we cannot carry. When carry out this train of thought so far, you get… “If you don’t read the Bible, I don’t know how you can love God”, I heard a pastor on the radio say.  It made me want to, well, let’s just say disagree. Could you say that to a group of persecuted believers in China? No. Many of them have no access to Bibles, so would we say that they can’t love God?  They love God, Bible or no Bible. Many of them have refused to recant their faith in Jesus Christ and have been sent to prison or killed. Why? Because they loved Jesus Christ even unto their death.

What we have done is taken our local expression of Christianity and made universal truth out of it.   It is no wonder then that many people walk through their entire Christian walk and feel nothing. We agree with the Christian lifestyle, we do the Christian things, but we don’t feel any love for God. We sense no passion for God, just duty, just chores we do so we can feel better about being a Christian. We may have obeyed the letter, but we have killed the spirit. We have complicated the uncomplicated message of Christ- greatest commandment= Love God with all you got.

Imagine for a moment a group of people that were simply in love with God– not their church, not their denomination, not their version of what people should or should not do, just deeply in love with the Lord. Wipe away all the church stuff you have experienced, and let your mind wonder about that group of people, purely in love with God and who He is and what He has done for us….

Now think about that group of people…

How would they worship?   If you began your answer with a type of music… you have missed the point. They would love God, sing aloud and give God glory. Worship would be about God, because we love God.

How would they pray? If you thought of words, especially praying in a way that you do not normally speak, then you have missed the point. They would pray as if they were talking to a God they loved. They would tell God they loved Him, they would say they were sorry for their sin, just like you would with someone you love.

How would they minister? If you started with certain programs, then you missed the point. They would minister, whether to one another or to the community, with deep love for the people that they are around. It is easy to hate people, dismiss people, talk trash about people, but the greater walk with God would love people. Why? Because we would see people through our love for God, and love them as well.

I long for this. With this new perspective God has given me over these months, certain things about the church these days just does not make sense. We are so tied up in stuff, things, attitudes, preferences, wants, power… trying to do  things “right”…that we have missed the very first thing Jesus Christ said we should do- love God with all your heart… and I see a church that is not alive with love for God, but dying because of a lack of passion.

Strip away all the stuff and challenge yourself with this question- Am I loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength?….

If I am not obeying the first and greatest of all the commandments, is all the stuff  I am doing really pleasing to God?