The Hope We Have in Jesus Christ

There was a shooting in our town yesterday, three blocks from my son's school. They were in lockdown for an hour until the shooter was confirmed down. We live in a sleepy suburban town that does not see violence like this. Only six people have died from violence in our town since 1986. The man entered a medical testing facility and began shooting, killing his estranged wife, wounding two others and then killing himself. He leaves behind two children, now orphans. When I picked up my son from school we talked about the lockdown and I was honest with him about what happened. When I told him the man shot himself, he asked me why he would do that. My response: Perhaps he did not have the hope we have in Jesus. Then that got me thinking about what exactly that means. What exactly is the hope we have in Jesus. 

The Bible defines hope as: the expectation of something good...specifically, the joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When we live confident that not only is this life not all there is, but that God works in all things for His glory and that one day we will be with Him in paradise, we can see past the disappointments and hurts of this world. We may also be less prone to putting our hope in the things of this world...even each other. Here is a biblical outline of how hope works. I'll let God speak. 

Hope that gives us peace. 

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (that done in the body by the hands of men)– remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace...Ephesians 2:11-15

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:1-8  

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8

Hope for change today. 

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:14-17

At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. Titus 3:3-7

Hope for change in the future. 

For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don't need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:22-25, 28 (NLT)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith--the salvation of your souls. 1 Peter 1:3-9

Hope that gives us strength to overcome.

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3: 20-26

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. 1 John 5:5. 

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." John 16:33

Hope of eternal life, that this world is not all there is. 

Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:10-13

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. Revelation 21:1-7

These are the truths that we, as Christians abiding in faith, keep us grounded while in this world and give us hope. If this world was all there is and if your life as you know it blew apart and left you with nothing...what would you do? I've been there. And because of God's great mercy and provision, I found my way to a life in Him. My challenge to him 10 years ago was, I want to see what you can do with my life. All I can say is this: He does great work. Would you like to give your heart to Jesus Christ if you haven't already and live in the joy and hope that only faith can bring? If so, it is just a prayer away. 

Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?

In the last week there have been two high profile, mass shootings in the U.S.: Ft. Hood and the office building in Orlando. I was privy to a conversation where the question was posed after much expression of shock and angst: So, When is the next school shooting/campus shooting...What is the matter with this world? This is how I replied.

We live in a dark, fallen and broken world. That is the answer to your question. Now let us ask: how do we stop it? What or who will be the change, bring the hope, garner the peace? What or who can take away the anger? What or who can heal the rage and stop the impulsive drive to hurt others? Psychiatry, prescription drugs, self help books, Dr. Phil, Oprah, financial security, reformed healthcare, herbal cleansing or yoga? Who or what can change the hearts of men? 

Before any of those questions can be answered, there is one that must proceed them all. The question: Will we be made whole? If the answer is before us, will we receive it no matter what it costs us? 

We want out of the darkness but rather than turn on the light, we'd rather grope around looking for a flashlight so we don't see more than we want to see. We want help getting up but we'd rather not take the hand if it appears attached to obligations or changes that extend beyond our immediate need. We want healing for our brokenness, but not if it requires turning away from what broke us in the first place. 

So we sit in our homes and ask, what will happen next? I think the greatest question is are we willing to do what is required to change things so there won't be a "next"?

Of course if you know my heart at all, you already know the greater answer to this question is Jesus Christ, but to this person, I can not share such outright truth yet because her heart is hardened. But should she ever make it here, I pray for ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart ready to receive. 

Jesus is the answer to every question, every need, every desire. In John Chapter 6, we find the story of the man at the pool Bethesda. The man was waiting by the water for it to stir. Legend had it, the first to enter the pool after the stirring of the water, would be healed of his infirmity. Jesus came on the scene and seeing the man there, where he'd been for 38 years, He asked: Wilt thou be made whole?" (John 5:6 KJV) This question seems to have an obvious answer...afterall, he'd been sitting at the same pool of water for 38 years. In fact his answer to Jesus in Verse 7 is: “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” (NIV) Isn't it curious that he didn't say "yes" but rather, I don't have anyone to help me, for he was waiting for an answer from this world...he was waiting for a man to help him even though he was just outside the Temple of God. But Jesus, full of mercy and grace, didn't condemn him for his lack of faith or the reason for his infirmity which is later indicated as a result of sin, rather He healed him there saying: "Take up thy bed and walk" (v11 KJV). And the man, after lying there for 38 years, did just that. Later when Jesus came across him in the temple, He said to the man: "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." (v 14 NASB) This indicates that perhaps the man would end up right where Jesus found him if he didn't make some changes in his life and his wholeness would return to brokenness. 

Such is the way with our own lives. We can come to Jesus and ask for forgiveness but if we turn back to the same sins, we will not be whole. We will still be saved, but we will not be whole. And our lives will lack joy, good fruit and spiritual growth. Our witness to the world will be that of a hypocrite, or of no real value seen only in the change of a truly repentant sinner...repent means to turn and walk in the opposite direction. If we simply return to our sin, our testimony is corrupted. Sure we can have remorse and be forgiven, but by returning to our sin, we are putting back on the chains from which we were freed. Where is the joy in that?

Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 (NIV): Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.  

When we are made whole by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as payment for our sins, we are no longer bound by the power of sin in this world. We are free to walk in newness and should be compelled to share this wonderful news of freedom and wholeness with others. But if we return to our sins, we are ineffective no matter how hard we try. Be transformed by the word of God and walk it it. Take up your bed and carry it away from this world and onward toward the abundant joy of eternal life. Finally, let these words encourage you in newness and let these words be the heart behind my message:

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 (NIV)

Peace Prize

Peace is not something you can force. Real peace has to begin in each person. We all have the potential to create peace where we live and have it ripple affect around us. But that's easier said than done. One man's peace is another man's frustration. Peace is a heart issue, not a political issue. I've been studying this very thing over the last few weeks. Trying to wrap my brain around why anyone would hate anyone because of the color of their skin or the place where they come from or the way that they talk or the shape of their eyes or their religious, political or parenting points of view. It is all about one's heart. 

I've been down a winding path studying this from many different angles...Darwin (yes a Christian studying Darwin) was motivated by slavery to prove that all men were equal and from the same species through science, thinking that this would make people not hate or enslave another because of race. Science does not change a man's heart. William Wilberforce, a Christian called by God to fight slavery and a contemporary of Darwin's grandfathers and known personally to Darwin, set out to change Slavery through politics. He helped end the practice. Politics do not change a man's heart. John Newton (a mentor of Wilberforce) was a slave trader whose heart was changed and he penned "Amazing Grace" that became a call to a movement (inspiring the likes of Wilberforce)...he was actively involved in the slave trade, God changed his heart and he wrote about it. And the song is loved to this day. But it still hasn't changed men's hearts, though it might for a moment. If any of these single men or single acts could have ended racism or hatred of men, wouldn't it be gone by now? And the list goes on Booker T. Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., etc. If only any of these men could have ended racism. But racism or any kind of "ism" that dehumanizes a person's innate value is simply based on hatred and hatred is not peaceful.  

The human slave trade is alive today. Peace is not just about politics and who is at war with whom...peace is the absence of hate, oppression and enslavement. Darwin may have traced all men back to being one species biologically (apart from the inference of apes who quite frankly are more peaceful than we are and is a bigger stretch than than one link in my opinion), but he could not explain hate or enslavement because it is a heart issue...and the heart is beyond science. 

I went back to the roots of man in the Bible and found that with just the first two brothers, there was jealousy and hate enough to take the life of another. And it was because of pride or self interest. Going back further in Genesis, you see God create man not once, but twice. The Hebrew word used in the first reference is bara...to create out of nothing. The second reference is yatsar...to form as a potter with clay. The first reference is of making man in His image, the second is forming man from the dust of the earth. This is where I see the difference in how we address peace and isms, we keep addressing the formed man which is divisive while ignoring the created soul or heart of man which can unify when forgiven and made free from the power of sin.  

The truth is: we have all been blinded, we have all hated, we have all done evil, awful things...every one of us. It is only in a position of humility, and in the absence of pride, where we can consider others equal if not better than ourselves. Seeing ourselves from another perspective (even God's perspective), as flawed people who fail to love each other. It is our pride or need for self worth or self importance or self rightness that drives us to think evil thoughts of our fellow men be it based on race, politics or religion. It's always something. There will not be total peace in our world if it is not first in our hearts. Any hate or ill will, no matter how it is dressed up, is still void of peace.  

We might think we are good because we are not racist and want peace. But as long as we have hatred or ill will toward ANYONE in our hearts for whatever reason, we are not right or blameless or teaching peace. Some of you may hate me or at least think ill of me for even posting all of this. And trust me...I know. I do it too. I'm told to love my brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm told to love those who love me. I'm also told to love those who hate me. I'm told to love the little boy down the street that treats my son so badly or the guy who cuts me off and then gives me the finger. Why? Because I need a heart adjustment. I need to let go of having to have the last word or to be right or always feel good, important, appreciated, understood or loved. 

I have found that this is the heart of the message of Jesus...pick up your cross daily and die to self...He did. Because He loves everyone. He loved those who killed Him. He loves those who reject Him. He just loves. And it's this message of love that is often very confused and often contradicted by those who are trying so hard to follow Him because they keep putting on chains. I know...I've been there and I'm not perfect and all I can do is keep reminding myself that it isn't about me or being right or even understood, but it is about love. And I pick up my cross and try again. I think Obama has as much potential to garner peace as does Ahmadinejad, Jong or Jiabao. He could have chosen not to accept the award citing any number of reasons respectfully. Frankly, I would have more respect for him than I already do if he had.

Marathon Themes and Theme Songs

For the last few years, God has a way of meeting me and teaching me in and through my marathons. The Theme of Pacific Crest in 06 was all about perseverance, enduring and waiting...the Lord prepared me for the rest of our adoption wait through this lesson. It was painful, but I was aware of Him every step of the way and I did not quit...the race or the wait for Zoey. 

In Portland 07, my theme song was "Wait upon the Lord" by Lincoln Brewster which is not on my ordinary play list. But I kept running into it the week before and it played continuously through my head during the entire race and I had the kind of race that leaves you scratching your head at the finish line because it was so easy and painless. It was the perfect object lesson to how, as a Christian, when I wait upon the Lord and run within HIs will and by the strength He provides, my way is easy and my burden is light. 

Eugene 08 was about following the Lord. I have never followed a pace leader and for some reason I found myself behind the 3:45 guy and feeling great...as long as I kept my eyes on him. This was a Hebrews 12:1-2 object lesson..."Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. [fn] He was willing to die a shameful death on the cross because of the joy he knew would be his afterward." (NLT) I pictured the pace leader as Jesus, fixed my eyes on him, and at the finished, he turned around, ran the 10 yards or so back to me and ran me in saying "you are finishing strong." I get teary just thinking of that one! If that guy had only known what I just learned...and Who he had just represented to me.

So this last week, I was inundated with the song "The Motions" by Matthew West. He has a page dedicated to this very song where people can post their desire to forgo complacency in their Christian walks and live for Jesus. I pictured myself running with Jesus...leaving all of me on the course...giving it all I had. I just didn't picture it with cramping legs, throbbing feet, an upset stomach, three port-a-potty breaks and almost throwing up on my way back to the Hotel. I didn't hear from God, didn't ever feel Him with me and I was most disappointed in that...not my painful yet mediocre finish time. But then, when we left the hotel and got in the car to leave, what song came on the radio at that moment? Yup, The Motions. I listed again to the words carefully and it hit me and I began to cry. It wasn't about giving the race all I had and running blissfully with Jesus...that would have been nice, but it also had a very personal and worldly goal in it. It was about how my life would be if I just go through the motions of living for and with the Lord, but having my own ideas of how that is done and no Him. God called me to run...but it wasn't for my glory (which He has taught me before)...it was and still is for His. Needless to say this song was very certainly the theme song for this marathon. It was from the Lord. And it was an object lesson. It just wasn't what I envisioned and I'm so glad. For it is truly so much sweeter this way! Thank you Jesus, for my painful and mediocre finish today. 

Here are the lyrics below. You can also listen on line at:http://www.matthewwest.com/motions/.

This might hurt 
It’s not safe 
But I know that I’ve gotta make a change 
I don’t care If I break 

At least I’ll be feeling something 
‘Cause just ok 
Is not enough 
Help me fight through the nothingness of life 

Chorus
I don’t wanna go through the motions 
I don’t wanna go one more day 
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me 
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking 
What if I had given everything? 
Instead of going through the motions 

No regrets 
Not this time 
I’m gonna let my heart defeat my mind 
Let Your love 
Make me whole 
I think I’m finally feeling something 

Take me all the way 
Take me all the way 
Take me all the way

The Washing of Feet

Yesterday I was searching the gospels for a specific "story" and ended up in a whole different place. I was drawn to that account of the Last Supper when Jesus washed His disciple's feet in John Chapter 13. Several things struck me. 

First, the Creator of the Earth and the Most High God, clothed in the flesh of a man, removed his outer garments, got on His hands and knees and washed His disciples feet. This brought tears to my eyes. That God, who created all things and is worthy of all glory and praise, did not think it too lowly to wash the feet of those He created. And if that were not enough, the next day He was beaten, mocked, spat upon and hung on a cross to die by those who should have known Him. And He did it of His own free will. 

Second, he washed the feet of the one who said he loved Him, but who loved money more than Him and ultimately betrayed Him for silver. Yes, Judas was at that dinner, for Jesus repeatedly said that there was one among them that was not clean and would betray Him. I wonder what Judas was thinking as he sat there and allowed Jesus to wash his feet knowing what he had already agreed to do. And yet I am reminded that each time I seek the things of this world over the things of God, I am guilty of the same. But because He has purchased me with His blood and I am His, He calls me out of darkness and into light where I lay sweetly broken in remembrance of all He has done for me. I've found that through the process of brokenness I am made more whole. Judas never knew this for overcome with guilt, he hung himself from a tree; for he let Jesus clean him on the outside but not on the inside. 

Lastly, He did this as an example of how I am to love others. I am not to think so highly of myself that I don't just consider humility as something I do but also as something that I should desire more to be. That is one of the reasons I enjoy working at a running shoe store. Each time I sit at the feet of a customer and place shoes on their feet, I am reminded of this act. And yet in comparison to what God did when He washed the feet of His disciples, it is not enough. 

I do not wish to remain ignorant of my lowly stature in the light of the Most High God. I am but dust and yet, He loves me. He loves me so much He died for me and He calls me His bride. His beloved. His. And He feels the same about you.

An Age Old Debate

I have a friend who is a very intelligent, well spoken and compassionate person who also happens to be an atheist. She was not always an atheist, she actually spent a few years as an evangelical Christian. But something happened and since then, she has been on a quest to disprove God. She and I have some pretty intense, yet respectful conversations. This is the result of a statement she made to me regarding the Bible and my response. 

I appreciate your point of view, I really do. But the way I see it, we choose what to believe be it through our human intellects or through a divine Creator. Once we make that choice, what we see, what we hear and how we react to those around us is all filtered through that choice. And maybe I’m wrong. Or maybe you are wrong. Or maybe, we are both wrong. It’s that old line of reason...if you are right not to believe in God or eternity, we are both in the same boat. If I’m right, then my boat is the ark of salvation and yours is a sinking ship. But that’s the thing, Love always provides a choice.

I don’t read the Bible the way you do. You said people should find the Bible the way you do, as: “a historically bloody, savage, unkind, cold, contradictory book that does absolutely no good in promoting the concept the ALL human life is good, valuable and worthy of respect in its own right.” I agree and I disagree. 

I agree that it is a historically accurate book that details bloody, savage, unkind, and cold acts of men and contains seemingly contradictory concepts (i.e., love and war, killing and healing, judgement and mercy, revenge and compassion) from a Loving yet Punishing God. 

But I disagree that it does no good in promoting the concept that all human life is good, valuable and worthy of respect. I find the contrary. In Genesis, after God created the world AND man, He said that it was good. I firmly believe that God does not create anything that has no value...it is man that devalues God and His creation (which includes men). But there is a sin element that you can not deny...and that did come after God created man. So God still creates what is good, but because sin reigns here and now, we are subject to the pull towards “bad” for lack of a better word. 

Even when a person is “born again” in the spirit, as long as the flesh is alive, there will be a continual battle within that person between good and evil (the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak)...but at least there is an awareness and a battle. Sometimes that battle can be difficult for someone and in their desire to appear “good” they hide behind a veil of legalism and point their finger at others to take attention from their own faults. But that’s a whole other story. 

When we deny that there is bad in us, or when we think we can be good in our own efforts or obtain status as a basically a good person, we fail to see that we are subject to this world as long as we live in it. And this world has forces that are contrary to goodness...like men in Africa who refuse to wear a condom or stay faithful and do what pleases them despite who it hurts. Are these men good because ALL human life is good? Are these men evil because ALL human life is subject to evil? I’d say they are ruled by their flesh which is being directed by evil, but that they have the capacity in their souls to do good because that is how they were made. But it would not be acceptable for me to correct their “cultural” atrocities with my “religious views”.

But everything I just wrote swings on the hinge that you believe Genesis Chapters 1 and 2. Why do you think people so desperately want the big band theory and evolution to be true? So they don’t have to believe that we were made perfectly by a loving God and yet were corrupted by the first man and are on a personal journey back to good. 

We could argue those points ad nauseum and we’d never get anywhere. But I want to say one thing about the part that nowhere do you see the bible promoting the concept that human life is valuable. I just don’t see that. If human life was not seen as valuable to God, why the cross? The whole Old Testament is a long account that shows us the evil that entered into the world through Adam and the result: all of the Old Testament accounts of wars, slavery, and the basic darkness that is present on earth and in men’s hearts. And then, through all of that, you keep seeing God’s love, His anger at sin consequences (not men, but men ruled by sin), His mercy, His warnings, His desires for relationship and reconciliation. If you can’t see this, then why the books of Hosea, Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs) or Ruth in the Old Testament...all three are stories of redemption and perfect love. And why the promises to Abraham and Jacob and David in the midst of all that darkness? Why wouldn’t God just start over? Because of Love.

God made man good and He enjoyed a relationship with him. All creation was in harmony. And then, sin entered in and changed all that...and separated God and man. The bait was to know good and evil like God in and of their own minds. A friend of mine shared something with me recently and it totally made sense to me. When God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden...was He mad? You might say yes...shoot, before my conversation with this friend I would have said yes...but she made a very good point. The reason they were cast out of the garden was so that they would not eat of the fruit of the tree of life...and be eternally separated from Him...not because God was mad. It is only through their death that there could be opportunity for resurrection and eternal life with God. Because the wages of sin is death. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the sin debt of all men who believe (past, present and future). In Matthew 27:50-53 we read of the saints that rose from their graves and after His resurrection, they appeared unto people throughout Jerusalem. Those saints were those who believed God by faith and it was counted to them as righteousness...this is Hebrews Chapter 11 and most poignantly found in verse 6. 

So what is the point...the point is, if we deny our creator, this life is all we’ve got. Apart from God, the point of life is birth, life, death. Apart from God, my life is a by chance with no future but death in nothingness. I can’t look at myself in the mirror or my kids, or the person on the side of the road holding a sign asking for food without feeling we were made for a reason and that this is all there is. Apart from love, nothing else matters. Love is what makes the life of the man on the street with no job and sign as “valuable” as mine. And yet to retailers, he is worth nothing compared to me because I have money I can spend at their store. It’s men who devalue men. 

Why did Mother Theresa spend all those years caring for the sick and destitute? Out of love. Why did she not promote condoms to protect their physical bodies during sex? Because perhaps she knew that while a condom might protect their flesh, it does nothing to feed or protect their souls. At the core, the Catholic church may have good reasons not to promote condoms, but it comes out as legalistic rules because so much of what they do causes separation. It is so much like the Jews of Jesus’ day. If a jew were to walk through the market and even brush up against a gentile, they would go home, burn their clothes and wash themselves. Why? Because of the 70 years of captivity in Babylon. The Jews were God’s chosen people to deliver His message of love to the world. But rather than influencing people toward God, they were influenced away from God. So God would correct them, they’d repent, come back and the cycle would start all over again. Did this anger God? Yes...or more perhaps more accurately it grieved Him because it hurt people. At various points the Jews worshipped man made gods like Baal, Mammon and Ashtaroth. I believe it was the Mammon idols that were made of metal and they would heat the arms of the idol to incandescent heat and place their babies on the arms, sacrificing them to their god for prosperity. So God, in love, warned His Chosen people through the prophets, but no one wanted to listen because it didn’t “feel” good and frankly, it was something they could control. One can’t “control” the true and living God because He does not change. So He sent them to Babylon for 70 years, when they came back, they never strayed again. So that is where they were in Jesus’ day, afraid of even touching a gentile lest they be lead astray. And they added rules to the law so they would always remember to keep the law...but then it became what they could do to earn God’s favor which is rooted in pride and self sufficiency and not love. And God is about Love...about relationship. So He sent His Son. And that is where God is different than any other god. 

God values ALL men so much He died for them. John 3:16 doesn’t say God so love a few people, it says the WORLD. In John 3:17 it says He sent His Son into the world NOT to condemn it, but to save it. I think God is about valuing people. I think giving people condoms and saying you are protected so “go do what feels good” rather than investing in their person, in their lives, in their need for love and understanding, devalues them. It reduces them to a sexual animal, not a human worthy of time, effort and relationship. 

I could go on...you of all people know that. And I’m sure all I have written hasn’t made a lick of difference if you’ve even made it this far. But know that I’ve heard what you said. I could spend time studying the psychology of religion...but it would be a waste of time. I spent enough time seeing psychology play out in my life...it wasn’t until I was broken with nothing left in this world that mattered to make me feel good about myself that Jesus picked me up and filled me with His spirit and gave me new life. And the person I am today is a far cry from the person I was then. Am I good...no, on the contrary I realize that the best part of me is not of me. I strive to do what is right and I get it right some of the time. But I’m a work in progress. And by knowing that I’m not inherently good and others are not inherently good, gives me a whole lot of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self control when dealing with my failures and the failures of others. I am now at a place where I share my faith not to be right, prove a point or correct someone...but purely to give an answer for my joy. 

I accept that you do not approve of ANY religion. I can see why and frankly, that’s why I go to a church that is independent of a convention and operates simply to love others and study God’s Word in its entirety. I find you to be a very caring, thoughtful, articulate and intelligent person. I feel the connection we share is because we both care deeply for people and each other. As steeped as you are in all your books about psychology and anti religions sentiments and as satisfying as you find that, I’m steeped in one book...the Bible, and I find it to be a lively word, that satisfies completely. Like I said before, I appreciate your perspective because it makes me dig deeper in the Word of God because so much of what your are about is to question Him and to find fault with Him by way of the people that so sadly misrepresent Him. And I find that so contrary to your heart that in many ways is so much like Him, which makes sense because He made you. Or at least that’s what I think. ;) 

Who We Are When We Are His

I had a very special conversation with a friend via e-mail recently and I couldn’t think of a better way to express the very ideas the Lord has been teaching me in the last two weeks as I study 1 Peter. Her words are in red, mine are in blue. The few edits I’ve made are to secure her identity and to fix grammatical errors. I submit this here with her blessing. 

We're wrapping up the Bible study on the life of David, and it has been so good. God knew it was EXACTLY what I needed. We've dealt head-on with so many of my issues with God - the legalism, the harshness, etc.... 

One thing that God has been doing in my life is showing me that by trying to hide what I've been through, I'm robbing myself of being able to share the wonderful work He's doing in my life. 

The other day, I was praying for a "so far" experience with God (when David just fell back on his knees and asked God, who am I and who is my family that you've brought us this far?). And, suddenly, He opened my eyes and I realized that He has given me a 'so far' experience already. I've just been spending the last several years trying to make sure no one ever knew that I was divorced, had been in an adulterous relationship, etc. And, by doing that, I haven't been able to see or admit how far God has brought me. I have a wonderful husband who loves me and God with all his heart, I have incredible children, etc etc etc. 

If you look at who I was toying at an affair with and what my life would have been like with him, it's INCREDIBLE to see what my life is now. God's mercy and grace were poured out on me lavishly all along the way, and I never even recognized it. 

I am still struggling to believe in my heart that God has forgiven me and loves me, but I'm so much closer to believing that than ever before. 

My friend, have I got some words for you. I've been learning the same thing over the last few weeks and most profoundly in the life of Peter. I have to walk you through this...this is the product of two different teachings/studies I've been part of in the last two weeks.

Let's start with Peter denying Christ. Mark Chapter 14 is the account we studied in Church. In Verse 31 it says: "But he spake the more vehemently, If I should die with thee, I will not deny thee in any wise. Likewise also said they all." In verse 31, Jesus predicted he would deny him before the cock crew 3 times. But Peter strongly denied that. And sure enough, 20 or so verses later, Peter denies Him 3 times each followed by a cock’s crow. 

Luke 22:32 says: But I have prayed for thee (Simon/Peter), that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. This is additional information from the same denying conversation and it will make sense in just a second why I put it here. 

Then we went to John 21 and saw Peter in his boat, fishing after Jesus died...and catching nothing. Then Jesus shows up, they pull in the big catch and Peter joins Jesus at the fire where there is already fish roasting on the fire. This is the conversation where Jesus asks Peter 3 times if he loves Him and Peter answer 3 times that He does. 

The picture of conversion (Greek word for Convert in Luke 22:32 is epistrephō which is a picture of turning back). In Jewish teaching, Rabbi's are skilled at teaching in a circular way. They start at a point and then kind of walk in a circle seeming to stray until it all comes "full circle" and the point is seen. The same picture is seen of repentance. Not just a turning back, but a returning to the start and doing it over. So in Luke 22:32 we see that Jesus has prayed for Peter very specifically. And then in John's fish supper account, you see Jesus turn Peter back around so he may begin a new as a disciple again. We never see Peter the same again. In fact in Acts Chapter 2, 4 and 5, we see a very different Peter. A Peter who is bold and who stands in front of the very men that killed Jesus and says "I will not stop preaching Jesus...we will obey God, not men". 

And I'm sure you know that Peter's name was Simon, which means rock or stone and Jesus named him Peter which also means rock but the picture is of a HUGE CLIFF sized rock...not just a stone.  Jesus called Peter Big Rock long before he became one. Because God sees us from our future, not our present or our past. He knows what we will become and speaks of us as if we are already there. 

So now, here is the coolest part. In my Bible study, we are studying 1 Peter. We began last week in Chapter 1 verse one and that is as far as we got. Because it reads: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 

What’s the big deal? It’s how Peter introduces himself. He does not identify himself as Simon. Or Simon Peter. Or Peter the son of Jonas.  Or any of the many ways people could and did qualify themselves in that day. He was just Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. That is a bold, strong and honest statement. But more importantly, Peter only identified himself with who he was in Christ presently...but he no longer identified himself by his past. He was not Simon Peter, Son of Jonas, denier of Christ three times and a fisherman. He was Peter, big cliff rock, and not only a friend of Jesus, but His disciple. A leader. A teacher. A fisher of men. 

So here is my point. We don't have to hold on to our past identifiers...we are new creations in Christ. We can pull on past experiences to give comfort and counsel, but they no longer define who we are. We do not have to feel the sting of our past sins. We can walk in freedom. 

"So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:16-17

Guess what? I am divorced, but now I am married. I have been an adulterer, but I now I am faithful. I was a liar, but now I walk in truth. I once spoke only words of death, but now I speak the Words of life. I've done so many horrible things and yet, I have been made new. I don't have to identify myself with those sins because they have been confessed, forgiven and covered in the blood of Jesus. They are things I once did, but they are not who I am. I don’t do all things perfectly, but by God’s spirit inside me I am constantly being made new. When I fall, Jesus is always there to pick me up. I am free from the bounds of sin.

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:34-36

You have a choice, we all have a choice...to accept the Words of Christ that tell you that you are free from your sins...or to listen to the accuser and the enemy of our souls who continually strives to remind you of what has already been washed away. 

Me too.

Thank you for sharing the very, very good study on Peter. A lot of what you said hit home. 

For me, I was so dead set at the time it all happened that I was not going to let anyone find out that for a long time, I rejected repentance - b/c I feared God would require of me for it to be brought into the open. Ridiculous, I know, but that's where I was at the time. And, since my ex-husband certainly had done more than his fair share of destroying the marriage, I could easily lay all the blame with him and walk away.....or so I thought. 

Through the last 13 years or so, I've walked through repentance, but hanging on to the secret for so long has really hindered my life in so many ways. It's very sad how self-destructive we can be. I haven't been able to walk away from that sin, b/c I was hiding it, protecting it, carrying it everywhere with me in a little veil of secrecy. 

Well, no more. I don't plan to sit my parents down and tell them everything or anything like that. But, I'm done carrying the responsibility of trying to hide it. I've laid it down. Funny though, when you carry something for so long, you find yourself looking for it when the load feels lighter......... 

Thank you for sharing with me. The things you've brought back to my memory about Peter and his life will be very helpful to me as I walk for the first time in years without my sin! 

It's so COOL that you included this: Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:34-36 

Because I was just, 5 MINUTES AGO, reading this: Hebrews 12:7,8 .....God deals with you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 

For YEARS, I've equated discipline to punishment and punishment to the fact that God doesn't love me. This morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks that God disciplines me BECAUSE He loves me not because He hates me. Easy truth, right? First grade Christianity, but it's something that doesn't come naturally to me....believing God loves me.........believing love can be given to imperfect people. 

But, by His spirit and His word, He is changing my views. So, not only am I a son of God, a permanent member of the family and free, but I am also loved enough to be disciplined when necessary. If I reject that discipline (which I have done in the past), then I am relegating myself to the life of an illegitimate child........missing out on all the blessings of being a true son of God. 

Just before I opened your mail, I told God that I am finally ready after all these years to learn the lessons of the discipline He has been handing out as a result of my sin. I'm taking hold of full sonship, not settling for being anything other! It's not going to be an instant change, I'm sure, but it's coming. So, pray for me that God will keep this all fresh in my spirit as He heals and restores me. 

Oh, and one other really cool thing about being a son of God. Notice I didn't say 'child of God.' I was reading somewhere a while back about the Jewish culture and how sons were the only ones who received an inheritance from their fathers and how when Christ died for us, He provided a way for us all to be adopted into God's family in the position of sonship............fully eligible to receive the FULL blessing and inheritance of God. I'm a SON of God!!!!! 

____________

I don't have much time but first things first...I'm so excited for you. God's timing is perfect. Much of Beth Moore's ministry is because she walked in chains similar to yours for so long. But God used that as part of her testimony to call others to freedom. And He'll do the same for you. Because He works good in all things for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose...to make us more like Him. Someday you will share this truth with someone who needs freedom from a sin as much as you did/do and you will share it and the sting will not be there. It will just be a fact. 

The other thing is when you were talking about sons and men. It dawned on me. Israel is always called God's wife and He their Husband. For the Christian, He is our Bridegroom and we are the Bride. Think of this...we have no eternal inheritance without our spouse or espoused. We are all women in need our man's covering for life. And if we choose to reject that relationship, we are in a sense, walking out in the desert without a covering and we are food for the enemy of our souls that moves to and fro through the earth in search of whom he might devour.