I Got Nothin' Left...(of my own)

The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength - 1 Samuel 2:4

There is an oxymoron throughout the Bible. It says that brokenness is strength. Virtually every great name or significant life eschewed in the scriptures was an individual who was first beaten down. The lessons of leadership often were not learning how to lead in small things and then bigger and bigger things. The lessons of leadership were often, prison, beatings, running, poverty, servanthood, slavery and mocking.

How can this be? The Strength of Brokenness. How can brokenness be strength? This week in my life would be a lousy one to ask me the question so I write this in faith.

If you read the Bible at all you realize a methodology that is in action. God takes our sin and our weakness and turns it into strength. If Satan and his minions (the demons) are attempting to destroy our lives God will often let the destruction go and go and go.

There does however seem to be a dividing line past which they can't act and, if we are His people; a man or woman who has committed our life to Jesus Christ beyond which our brokenness is received.

In order to use men and women to their fullest extent, the Lord has to break His servants so that they might have a new kind of strength that is not human in origin. It is strength in spirit that is born only through brokenness. This is the place where we discover our birthright DNA and His rulership in our life is not just available (after all it was always there) but it is a point at which we most readily receive it.

Saul was a self righteous Pharisee heading off on a mission to beat down Christians when he was broken on the Damascus road. Peter was broken after Jesus was taken prisoner just before He would also go to the cross. The Old Testament Jewish saint Jacob was broken at a place called Peniel. King David was broken many times. One of the last of which (apparently most of us are more stubborn over our sinful desires than we care to admit) after his many sins relating to nothing more than simple lust over a woman named Bathsheba. (This begs the question when you can have anything, how far will you go to have what you shouldn't have? Ask Adam and Eve when you get to heaven.)

The list could go on of those the Lord had to break in different ways before they could be used in the Kingdom. And before he could pour out abundance to or through them. It also apparently includes me; over and over again.

What should become obvious to us through this constant snapping and cracking and popping of our spiritual framework? Here's one...when we are broken, we should see the frailty of human strength and come to grips with the reality that we can do nothing in our own strength. I've experienced this part. What follows, as memory serves, is that new supernatural/eternal strength emerges that God uses mightily.

Oh ya...there is that whole thing about God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

As type this I am broken once again. Here is what I am telling myself right now, "Do not fear brokenness, for it may be the missing ingredient to a life that emerges with a new kind of strength and experience not known before."

Pray for a broken and contrite heart that God can bless. Pray that you get the lesson quickly.

I remain...(it's all I have left)

InHISgrip,
~J~

The Devotion of Listening

Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. – Proverbs 8:34,35

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me – John 10:27

In the classic Christian book by Oswald Chambers, “My Utmost for His Highest,” Dr. Chambers talks about a subject that is not comfortable for many Christians. I know this because it is not always comfortable for me (and if nothing else is true on this earth that I am “everyman” is most obvious). Nonetheless, this week, the week that on the calendar many Christians call “holy”, I have decided to deeply concern myself with the God I serve. I have realized a few things about my faith that I rededicated myself to this week. One of those was one purpose of the cross we often avoid; that Jesus died so we may have communication with God, our Father, now and forevermore. Oswald Chambers called this the devotion of hearing.

Here are some things I want to convey about resurrection power of Jesus Christ and the way we interpret it that affect this privilege that we have gained through faith in Jesus. These are things I have learned:

1. Just because I have listened carefully and intently to one thing from God does not mean that I will listen to everything He says.

2. I show God my lack of love for Him and lack of respect for the work that Jesus has done by the insensitivity of my heart and mind toward what He says. The analogy is this, “If I love my friend, I will instinctively understand what he wants. And Jesus said, "You are My friends . . ." (John 15:14).”

3. I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week. If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not have deliberately disobeyed it (would I?). Jesus sensitized my heart and mind by filling me with the Holy Spirit. I need to respect this and my peace, joy and ability to serve Him rightly depends on it!

4. The devotion of hearing gives me hearing in my ears as God hears and in my heart to fulfill the promise of Jesus to his followers when He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father” - John 14:11-13

5. Having Jesus restore us to our full ranks as sons and daughters of the Utmost it appears that most of us show incredible disrespect to God because we don’t even hear Him. He might as well never have restored us. Or, having done so, re-established lines of communication with us and spoken to us at all.

Certainly a goal of my spiritual life is to embrace such close identification with Jesus Christ that I will always hear God and know that God always hears me. Jesus gratefully had this expectation (see John 11:41) and so should I.

Friends and loved ones, if I am united with Jesus Christ, I need to know God is speaking to me – all the time. I need to hear God all the time through the devotion of hearing. A flower, a tree, or a servant of God may convey God’s message to me. It may come from a devotional, a book, a touch, and an act of kindness or a distinct and severe wrap on the fingers.

What hinders me from hearing is my inability to see as He sees. Perhaps it is not that I don’t want to hear God, but I am not devoted to viewing life from the perspective of a crucified life; a life where I identify with Jesus and what He has done for me. Instead I am devoted to things and even to service and my own convictions from the thesaurus of my history. If that is true then God may say whatever He wants, but I just don’t hear Him. I must change this.

The attitude of a child of God should always be, "Speak, for Your servant hears." If I have not developed and nurtured this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times. At other times I am deaf to Him because my attention is to old ears and my old ways of hearing.

My ears, my way are not living a full and eternal life of a child of God. Does this ring true to you today? Join me. Commit with me in this festive joyous time to the devotion of hearing. Jesus gave it all that I could have that which I do not deserve and that is, in part, my Father’s undivided attention and His desire to talk to me. May you hear His voice today! I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~

Good Friday - What It Is - What It Is

In just a few days the day known as "Good Friday" will be upon us. This is significant in a week that is called "Holy" to those of us who are Christians.

For those that are not Christians, Good Friday is the day Christians commemorate (like an anniversary) the death of Christ; the crucifixion of Jesus at a hill called Calvary (latin calvaria: skull). Some people recognize it by the name of Golgotha, the Aramaic version. Because there were so many crucifixions done there it was named Golgotha which means, "the place of the skull." That is how the Bible interprets it.

There are no specific rituals that are followed, except many Christians observe this day with prayer, fastings, and specific Bible readings that explain the events that led up to Jesus’ being hung on a cross. So why is it called good if it is the day that Jesus was killed? There are two ways to answer this question: from a theological perspective and from a translation-cultural perspective.

From a theological perspective, one can say Good Friday is called “good” because Jesus willingly gave up his life so humanity could have a relationship with God, commonly known as vicarious atonement. Vicarious atonement is the theological term. It means Jesus’ death satisfied the legal requirement from God to pay for the sins of mankind so we could once again have a relationship with Him. Jesus form of death took the penalty of sin for every human when He died on the cross. His death was a substitution for those who decide to accept it. Jesus hung in our place as He bore our sin in his body on the cross. In The Bible we get this meaning from a number of reading passages:

Mark 10:45 - For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many

Romans 5:6-9 - For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Galatians 1:3-5 - Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen

1 Peter 2:24 - He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree (vernacular for a cross during that day - a gentler term), that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

From a translation-cultural perspective, interestingly, only in the English and Dutch language is Good Friday called “good”. In German, Good Friday is called Mourning Friday. It is called Karfreitag, (the kar part is no longer used) but it means mourning. Perhaps this is the right view from an earthly perspective. After all mourning is exactly what the disciples did on that Friday on Calvary – they mourned the death of their leader, teacher, friend and Messiah. In Israel, Good Friday is known as Big Friday probably because of how profitable it has become as Christian Pilgrims invade the land. In Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria and several other countries and most of the Eastern Orthodox Church the day is called Great Friday. Finally, in Latin America, Spain, Italy and Spain the day is called Holy Friday and in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland it is called Long Friday.

Wherever you find yourself this coming Friday, I send you well wishes as we commemorate the death of Jesus and the life and relationship with God His death provides to those of us who believe. May you know that Jesus’ death was for all, there are no qualifiers, all means all!

And, only this can be said of Jesus, "whom to know mans life eternal!"

I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

Easters First Skeptic

As much as I personally love Easter, I know first-hand what it's like to a skeptic who is torn by its claims. I have one or two of these "infidels" in my life. One is my poorly aging brother. A part of him wishes to believe but another part simply can't imagine believing what He hasn't witnessed firsthand.

When we hearken back to the time of Christ we realize that Jesus' death had paralyzed and polarized even those closest to Him. The last week of his life starts with an amazing victory and shockingly ends in His gruesome demise before the end of the day on Friday. My guess it was all that the disciples, however many there were left, could do to gather in one place at the end of it all.

Jesus, the King, is dead. Long live the king?

As if that wasn't awful enough the next circumstance was just weird. Mary Magdalene see's Him alive! Now, prior to this the body of Christ disappears and with all the hoopla to ensure it went nowhere that was already weird.

Next it's Peter proclaiming he had seen Jesus upright. This, in a more vernacular term, freaked Thomas out! My guess internally he felt he could cut Peter some slack. The guilt Peter felt after denying the Lord; well, who could blame Peter for hoping it was all "OK".

Ya, Ol' Pete - he just needs some time to regather himself.

But then Cleopas burst into the house they are hidden in on Sunday night. What does he do? Oh, not much just claim he had walked—walked!—with Jesus to Emmaus that afternoon. Holy Schnikey! What got to Thomas was that Cleopas and his bud hadn't recognized Jesus the entire trip and then, at dinner, after which Jesus disappears into thin air they have a Homer Simpson, "DOH!" moment. THAT was Jesus!!!

All of these things excited the group. But Thomas only felt peeved. He missed Jesus too, but he wasn't going to let grief make him believe bizarre things. Jesus was dead and that is the stories end...or, was it?

So in all of this Thomas gets some time apart to think and rethink I imagine and, after whispering a discreet excuse to Nathaniel, he managed to slip out, perhaps to recompose himself.

Now, I am sure the quiet was refreshing. What Thomas did in the midst of a kind of spiritual/emotional chaos is very familiar to me. It is what I would do. I would just separate myself. However, in this instance, with those who you had grown closest to over the course of 2 or 3 years having had these experiences, I am just guessing that this walk wasn't as helpful as he had hoped. The Jesus sightings were beyond wild and yet, especially because the witnesses were credible, presented hope. But was the hope based on faith or fiction based on emotionalism?

You and I could only imagine what this walk brought out...the thoughts...the memories...the mustard seed of Thomas' own faith. As he thought this through I am sure he came to a place where the "facts," in fact, were now ambiguous. He was disillusioned. A part of him wished to believe Jesus was alive. This frustrated the skeptic in him who took pride in being a pragmatic man. There was that whole resurrection of Lazarus thing but Jesus did that. So, who was there to do Jesus?

Can you imagine the dilemma? Can you imagine those of your loved ones and friends today who are now over two thousand years removed?

Show me the body! his skeptic side shouted (as does theirs). At least Lazarus could be seen and touched in Bethany by any doubter. So if Jesus really was alive, why this hide-and-seek game? Wouldn't he just show himself to them all? And so it goes today as well doesn't it?

Thomas would believe if...if...if what?

When Thomas returned to the house four of his friends pounced on him, "We have seen the Lord, Thomas! It's all true! He was just with us! Where were you?"

Now what is going through Thomas' mind? How about shock, unbelief, isolation, regret for having left, and self-pity over feeling left out? Does that sound right?

In his heightened state of emotional and spiritual trauma he does what I would only imagine I would have done...he barked at them... "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe."

Most of his friends were dismayed. Peter smiled wryly.

The following eight days were long and lonely for Thomas. His friends were gracious. As far as we know, no one debated him. It was, their calm confidence in Jesus' resurrection that aggravated Thomas' growing conviction that he might have overstated his position.

Note: When you are faced with a great cloud of witnesses it tests your skeptics' faith. It should!

I am sure externally Thomas attempted to maintain an air of resolute intellectual skepticism, but inside he was at war. He was losing the war. You cannot have met Jesus and have been satisfied to believe that is all there was; that one encounter. He leaves you hungry for more of Him.

More than anything he wanted Jesus too!

And then it happened.

Thomas was pondering again the possibility that his unbelief had disqualified him and he had missed Jesus. Did God's Son reject him? If so, he knew he deserved it. Then, in this place, together with others and from the group came a gasp! He looked up and his heart leaped into his throat! Jesus was standing across the room looking back at him. "Peace be with you."

Thomas could hardly breathe. Jesus spoke to him, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe."

All objections and resistance in Thomas evaporated. And in tears of repentance, relief, and worship Thomas dropped on his knees before Jesus and exclaimed, "My Lord and my God."

Thomas, became the first Trinitarian by virtue of this statement. The others may have believed it but Thomas made it a fact! He made it biblical.

This is long isn't it? What's my point? Simply this: be patient and gracious with the skeptics in your life. We shouldn't assume their outward confidence accurately reflects their inward condition. Keep praying for them and share what seems helpful. Keep confidently and humbly following Jesus. Trust Jesus' timing. He knows best how and when to reveal himself to them.
After all, He caught you and I didn't He?

I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~