In Pursuit Of What?

        As summer dawns and school lets out, what will you find yourself pursuing in the coming weeks? A great tan? More relaxation time? Tasks marked off a list? Being kind to others ALL. DAY. LONG? More time in prayer? The best bargains online? Catching up on the real lives of others on social media? Eating right? Exercising more? Getting the junk drawer organized? Sticking to a Daily Devotional til the end? Being a good parent or spouse? Chances are, you are like me and that list of things I’d like to accomplish before I say goodbye to this world is very lengthy. It seems that human nature bids us to chase after something a little bit better than where we are currently… in a variety of areas… because we have come to understand that fulfillment is not a destination, but a journey.

        Last Sunday Ed Haines shared a great message regarding our pursuit of Jesus. He isn’t running from us or hiding from us. He is laying a path before us every moment of every day, but our “LIST” of what we should be pursuing is usually based on our family of origin issues or our mental and emotional health or whatever this world tells us we should have or become and has nothing to do with what God has planned for us. I would encourage you to listen to his message here: https://thecreekonline.net/media

       Paul reminds the first century church in Ephesus about the need for us to get rid of the way we are living, which may be fine according to the world, but not according to the plan created for each of us.

“Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – righteous and holy.”

At my house, there is a hamper full of dress-up clothes that my granddaughters love to wear. They don’t just put on one bedazzled outfit and wear it to play for a bit. They put it on, come upstairs and parade it in front of us and then go down and hop out of it and into another one for their next walk down the runway. At the end of the day, there is evidence of the speed with which the change took place. The carpet is littered with their glamorous sequined garb from one end of the basement to the other. As I read this portion of scripture, I picture the quick change operation, and their delight as they rip off the old one, anxious to try out the next. If only we could do that with our worldly attire – cast it off in a hurry, in pursuit of what God has for us because we know that what He offers is so much better!

The places we go and the people we spend time with may be the very things that are keeping us from the renewal that God’s Spirit wants to refresh us with. Perhaps it is the things we are watching or reading. Maybe it is the way we spend our down time. Or the hobbies and recreation that we have chosen to fill our calendar. Whatever it is that is keeping you from full out pursuing a stronger relationship with God, it isn’t worth it. It will keep you empty and feeling cheated by the deception and lust that drags you down. Sin of some sort is a temptation to all of us, but it never pay the reward it promises. It simply leaves you experiencing a void in your life that can only be filled by the One who gave you life and purpose.

As summer begins and our schedules get crazy, I suggest that you put away those winter clothes rather than putting your summer clothes on over them. That would be ridiculous, right? Well, no more ridiculous than leaving the old sinful nature on when God is giving you new clean garments to wear that fit this season of your life. As you pursue Him, may you find Him transforming your attitudes and actions. May you discover this new nature that makes you righteous and holy and draws you closer and closer to Him and His plan for you.

Guilty!

I have asked this question plenty of times, but here I go again…lf you were put on trial for being a follower or Jesus, would there be enough evidence to convict you? And who do you hope would be on the jury?

How about your co-workers? Do they see that you actually KNOW the One you claim to serve? Would they be surprised to hear that you profess to be a follower of Jesus? Do you words and actions prove to your clients or customers or co-workers that God is guiding you daily? Do they see an integrity and value system that would pronounce you guilty or not guilty of being a God follower?

What about that person in other car experiencing your road rage? What if they were on the jury? Would they automatically claim the verdict of not guilty because if you were following God in that moment, you would certainly not have reacted as you did.

Would your parents and siblings do better as your defense attorney or the prosecutor?  They need your love and acceptance, but often get your brutal honesty, judgment or cold shoulder as you avoid them because they are so difficult and annoying. Do they see and feel loved by you as if the love of Jesus was flowing through you to them?

Do your children know that you are growing closer to God every single day? Do they see you in the Word, hear you speak to Him? Watch you meditated in silence listening for His guidance? Do the kids know that your values spring from your relationship with Jesus? Do you talk about Him at home and teach them about His love and the abundant life He has to offer? If they sat on the jury, would they determine that you are guilty of following Jesus or not guilty?

Here is a really tough one… Your husband. What does he see every single day? Does he hear you praising and thanking God for guiding and protecting you, or does he witness worry and fretfulness? Do your attitudes and words and moods reflect a connection with the One who promised to never leave you or forsake you? Does your language ooze love? Are you carrying blessings into your home with words of endearment and encouragement? Can he tell by the honor you show him that you are yoked with and learning from God daily?

And gentlemen… would your wife submit a guilty verdict… knowing beyond a shadow of doubt that you are a disciple of Jesus Christ by the way you love and honor her above yourself? Would she say that the way you make Jesus the priority in your life and in your leadership at home makes it apparent that Jesus is LORD of your life?

You and I and everyone I have ever known are broken. We are human and tend to be selfish and arrogant enough to believe that we can do this life pretty well, follow the rules, be better than most other people and come out pretty close to what pleases God and then someday find ourselves in heaven. But that is NOT what Jesus taught. It is not taught by any of the New Testament writers. Jesus taught that we can be convicted of being His follower by the LOVE we demonstrate to Him and others (Matthew 22:37-39). Everything is hinged on our ability to love and, frankly, we don’t do that well on our own. It’s just a human problem. Plain and simple. That’s why we have to take His yoke every single day and learn from Him. Connect with Him. Walk with Him. Listen to Him.

Letting go of our will and drive to be the best by our own definition and emptying our minds of the lies we believe about earning our way to heaven, and replacing what is false with the wholeness and purity of His love, is transformational. His love in us, overflowing to others will get us convicted of being a follower of Christ better than the best sounding prayer or the most scripture memorized or the most incredible adherence to a code of ethics.

Court is now in session. All rise! And may the JUDGE and the jury find us all guilty of following Jesus by His lavish love overflowing to our spouse, our kids, our neighbors, our community, our co-workers and even to perfect strangers who cross our path.

Heaven Now

In the past 2 years I have lost both of my parents. Their earthly bodies wore out and they left us here missing them. As much as I miss them, I know they are in a better place. Heaven is real, but it isn’t just a place to long for when we leave this earth. Here’s how I know...

Dad loved deeply with the kind of love that impacted so many people in so many ways. He put his heart on the line, vulnerably risking everything to love without limits. He learned to empty himself of his own thoughts and be filled with the thoughts of Jesus. Because he allowed himself to be vulnerable, he could live for others, rather than himself. And because he trusted Jesus to place His yoke upon him, he was constantly learning from Jesus how to love a little bit better and live a little bit richer life. Every time we were out in public and someone told him, “Have a good day,” he would always, ALWAYS respond with, “Every day you get is a good day.” And he meant every word of it. In the last month of his life, his body was too weak to take care of himself and he hated the thought of be a burden, but he graciously accepted what he couldn’t change and still found joy and shared it with others, with every ounce of strength he had left. Dad enjoyed heaven in the midst of his struggles, every day that I knew him.

Mom was different. Life was always a struggle for her and she would never claim to have found heaven on earth. Because of the scars in her childhood that never healed, she struggled to be vulnerable enough to love freely. She feared wearing the yoke that Jesus offered to help her synchronize her life with His, because she didn’t trust fully that He had a better plan. She liked to play it safe and not take the risk of loving and being hurt. She was a very good person, but she was never truly at peace until she knew that she only had days to live. She would tell everyone that the adage, “Old age is a privilege denied to many,” is a lie because her mind and body were so tormented with pain that life on earth was not a privilege to her. She read constantly trying to find the answers and discover the peace that God promises, but it always seemed to elude her. She read her Bible, memorized scripture, wrote in her journal, went to church faithfully and physically did the same things that Dad did as a follower of Jesus, but those things didn’t change her the way they changed Dad, and she didn’t experience heaven until she left us.

I feel very privileged to have the parents I had. Neither were perfect, but I learned so much about following Jesus from watching them. They taught me that our history has an impact on who we become. Dad’s childhood was scary. His family struggled with extreme poverty through the Great Depression.  He was no stranger to hunger and the ridicule of classmates because of his old and tattered clothing. His 3 older brothers all left to fight in WW2 leaving him behind as a youngster running from the war that was under his roof, a dangerous and mentally ill mother. Fearing her, he took to the streets finding anyone willing to play basketball with him. He became a talented athlete, but  didn’t make the basketball team, because his family was too poor to buy the uniform and his mother too unstable to risk having her at the games. His history impacted who he became. But it didn’t take heaven from him.

Mom was raised in a more affluent family, never wanting for anything. Except love. Her father wanted a son and she was the third daughter. Her memories of him were littered with angry outbursts and severe punishments. Her vague memories of her mother, who died when mom was 12, were tear brimmed eyes filled with sorrow. She had a step mother who was kind and gracious and cared deeply for her, but she missed her mom and Neva could never replace her so she unleashed her anger and resentment on the woman who tried so hard to give her a better life. Her history impacted who she became. She didn’t find heaven on earth, though she longed for it continually.

Watching Dad, I discovered that he was celebrating the joy of heaven and walking with Jesus while he was still living. Watching Mom, I witnessed the “hell on earth” that she often used to describe her life.

Why were they so different? Why did the struggles of their childhood impact them in such different ways? Why did one see glory while the other saw gloom? I’m not a psychologist, but it seems apparent to me that Dad learned to define himself by who God said he was, not what the classmates said or the coach said or his mother said. Whereas Mom defined herself as the failure her dad said she was. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,” Jesus said. Connect with Me so that I can show you where to step and who you will become. Dad took that yoke. He allowed God to transform him into the man he was meant to be. Consequently, Dad began to experience heaven before he left this earth.

This may be a lot of babbling. Mother’s Day causes me to reflect… and cry a bit. I am sad that life was so difficult for my mother. No matter what she read or what we did or said, her joy was never sustained because her thoughts always centered on what she lacked. She lacked the yoke that would direct her steps into the peace of knowing who she was in God’s eyes. She had to leave this earth to escape the pain of life.

One thing I believe with all my heart is that we must allow God to transform the way we think (Romans 12:2) if we are to begin to experience heaven and the presence of God in our lives here and now. If we are to discover victory over the mess of our past, we must think differently and then we will begin to feel a transformation take place inside of us. As those feelings change, so do our behaviors and our words and our lives. We begin to let go of the person we have been defined as and embrace the person we were created to be. And when that happens, people begin to see heaven in us and gravitate toward us rather than running the other direction.

If we want to experience heaven inside us now, three things must happen.

First, we must see that doing life on our own is futile because we are all a hot mess.

Second, we must trust that His yoke is not a burden, but when placed upon our shoulders our steps become easier and our footing more secure as we learn His ways.

Third, we must learn to see ourselves and others through the lens of the Creator so that we can freely love as He loves, give as He gives and draw others to Him.

Anything less than that leaves us longing continually for a life we cannot find on this planet. I long to be the follower, the disciple of Jesus, that is daily learning and growing closer to Him, allowing Him to transform me by changing the way I think and feel and behave. I want others to see a glimpse of heaven in me. May it be so!