Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Masquerade
You are a hypocrite and a liar. Your days are spent dancing around in life, wearing whatever mask fits for the occasion. To your Christian friends, your a bible reading, in depth praying, Christ following, believer. To your unchristian friends you are whatever they want you to be. Maybe you have a foul mouth or you drink, or smoke too much. Maybe you like dirty movies and things with lots of violence and gore.
When no one is looking you maybe sneak a little look at porn, after all ... its not that bad, and everyone does. Your bible lies unused gathering dust, and dirt, and possibly bugs. You have a million reasons not to read it, and they are all good ones, and the only real prayer you do is the ones before meals, in public where everyone can see, and possibly the "now I lay me down to sleep..." one that you fall asleep saying at night after you have tucked your kids into bed. Secretly you long to abandon your life, or you dream up another one, one where you are rich, have a nice house, and nice cars and where God has no say so over what you do and how you live.
But the reality you face day after day, as you switch from mask to mask, doing whatever dance comes next is that you are loaded with guilt, fear, sadness and possibly anger. You get angry at God because he doesn't change your situation, but really this is all you and the choices you have made. You get angry at God when he does change your situation, because he didn't do things exactly the way you planned them.
On the inside you know something is very, very, very wrong, but you can't place your finger on it. Maybe it's your past coming to haunt you, maybe its your dissatisfaction with your marriage, your house, your life, or maybe its something deeper. But we don't want to go there.... we don't want to go deeper. We don't want to actually take one little finger and point it at our self and admit for once " I am what is wrong with my life and myself."
"I am everyday becoming the person I hate in everyone else, everyday slipping farther and farther from the reality that God is, and was and always will be and his love which encompasses everything is not enough. I reject that love because I don't understand it, or him or his stupid laws which were really put in place to protect me."
"I whine about the lack of good I see in the world, all the while realizing that I have something to do with the lack of it, and everything that is wrong with me is someone else's fault. Surely not mine. Surely it has to do with the abuse I suffered as a child, the father who was never home, the lack of money i have now, or the husband/wife who doesn't pay enough attention to me. Surely... surely.... there is someone who can take the blame for all of this bad instead of me?"
Perhaps you do the things you do because you want to.
Genesis 6:5
The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Perhaps you blame everyone who hurt you in your life because you dont want to take accountability that even though those things happened, God could allow that pain to do some very wonderful things in this world. A world that is full of pain and sadness and needs to see that we are all broken, we are all trying to find our way to wholeness.
Psalm 34:18
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Perhaps you are content with your broken state, and making the right decisions means acknowledging that there is a right decision that can be made. Even if you are the victim of an evil thing that was done.
Jeremiah 3:13
Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the LORD.
So we live like this day after day, given over to our desire, our own lack of action to do what is right and good, and we cater to our desires and wounds. Making excuses for everything we do, whether there is an excuse to be made or not. We strike God from our life, our living, and our homes and even our churches so that we can do what makes us feel right, and better about ourselves. The only thing wrong with that, is that he is the only one that can make everything right, and if we keep pushing him out, and ignoring him....
Romans 1:28
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
He will let us do whatever we want, and there will be no healing for brokenness, no relief for guilt, and no clarity for trouble. We will live in a constant spin cycle of lies, anguish and guilt. Only in acknowledging our shortcomings, and the choices we have made, and handing that over to God can there be freedom from this cycle.
Romans 8:21
that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
I know that God does not want us to live in sadness, every day feeling like we have failed worst than the one before. That would be the enemy...
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
They meaning us... so how many dances will I do, how many masks will I wear and how many times will I change my costume before this becomes a reality?
Thursday, December 20, 2012
But what if we don't get what we deserve!! NOT FAIR!
We tend to think along the lines that only when we are good is God good. Or that when we are good he will reward us for being good. We condition ourselves to think that way, and also for the opposite, When we are bad, than God is bad or doing the bad thing to us, or he is going to punish us for being bad.
However the one absolute truth about God that we fail to grasp with our humanistic mind, is that he is good all the time, and cannot contradict himself. He is the absolute epitome of good, all his ways are pure. Though we may question what is allowed to happen in our lives to us and we can misconstrue it for evil, often times the bad things that happen to us, or that occur are a result of our own actions or the direct bad choices of others.
God in his infinite ungraspable wisdom allows the repercussions of those things to shape us, and if we choose to trust him, he can makes something incredible out of any brokenness or hardship that we suffer. If we choose to do things our own way, we can end up in a downward spiral where things eventually get so bad we end up with nothing, flat on our faces.
These are the times where we are backed into a corner, where we see no way out that the real choice of escape becomes evident. God and God alone can rescue us from our depravity, mess and self-destruction, no matter how many times you get backed into this corner and make your way out, the cycle will never end until your life is given over to God. It is in this moment where we are given a choice as to realizing our absolute nakedness before God, and how much we need him. It is this moment, that God longs to pick you up face from the ground, heal, restore and then exhort. All because he loves you, like a good father loves his child.
It is true that "good father" falls tragically short of describing who God really is and what he desires for our life, particularly in a day and age when "good father" is nothing short of difficult to find. None the less, we have a God who is planning for our future, and wants to help. He is the ideal father. No he doesn't give us what we deserve, thank goodness for that. Instead he gives us what will help us, though it may not look like help all the time. Often in hindsight is when we see how good he is and what he was doing.
"I know the plans I have for you, " Declares the Lord. "Plans to help you not harm you, plans to give you a HOPE and a FUTURE." Jeremiah 29:11
This is to encourage those who feel entitled to more, to understand that though you may feel you deserve better, God is going to use whatever you are going through to help someone else, particularly if you can drop the entitlement and trust him.
This is to encourage those who feel hopeless, perhaps even abandoned. God did not cause this suffering, even though he may have allowed it. Trust him, and his timing to help you through and know that God does not waste pain.
This is to encourage those who never had a father who could be trusted. Our God is to be trusted, he does not lie, and he does not make a promise he cannot keep. You can trust him, even when things look bleak.
And last of all, with all of this in mind, we must remember that we are not entitled to good things because we do good things. We must also remember too that there are times we are going to screw up and God will cover us and other times he wont. This doesn't mean he is any less good, or loves us any less, it simply means that like any good father there are times we must learn from our trials, and our mistakes. These times will build character, faith and maturity as a believer and also as an adult.
However the one absolute truth about God that we fail to grasp with our humanistic mind, is that he is good all the time, and cannot contradict himself. He is the absolute epitome of good, all his ways are pure. Though we may question what is allowed to happen in our lives to us and we can misconstrue it for evil, often times the bad things that happen to us, or that occur are a result of our own actions or the direct bad choices of others.
God in his infinite ungraspable wisdom allows the repercussions of those things to shape us, and if we choose to trust him, he can makes something incredible out of any brokenness or hardship that we suffer. If we choose to do things our own way, we can end up in a downward spiral where things eventually get so bad we end up with nothing, flat on our faces.
These are the times where we are backed into a corner, where we see no way out that the real choice of escape becomes evident. God and God alone can rescue us from our depravity, mess and self-destruction, no matter how many times you get backed into this corner and make your way out, the cycle will never end until your life is given over to God. It is in this moment where we are given a choice as to realizing our absolute nakedness before God, and how much we need him. It is this moment, that God longs to pick you up face from the ground, heal, restore and then exhort. All because he loves you, like a good father loves his child.
It is true that "good father" falls tragically short of describing who God really is and what he desires for our life, particularly in a day and age when "good father" is nothing short of difficult to find. None the less, we have a God who is planning for our future, and wants to help. He is the ideal father. No he doesn't give us what we deserve, thank goodness for that. Instead he gives us what will help us, though it may not look like help all the time. Often in hindsight is when we see how good he is and what he was doing.
"I know the plans I have for you, " Declares the Lord. "Plans to help you not harm you, plans to give you a HOPE and a FUTURE." Jeremiah 29:11
This is to encourage those who feel entitled to more, to understand that though you may feel you deserve better, God is going to use whatever you are going through to help someone else, particularly if you can drop the entitlement and trust him.
This is to encourage those who feel hopeless, perhaps even abandoned. God did not cause this suffering, even though he may have allowed it. Trust him, and his timing to help you through and know that God does not waste pain.
This is to encourage those who never had a father who could be trusted. Our God is to be trusted, he does not lie, and he does not make a promise he cannot keep. You can trust him, even when things look bleak.
And last of all, with all of this in mind, we must remember that we are not entitled to good things because we do good things. We must also remember too that there are times we are going to screw up and God will cover us and other times he wont. This doesn't mean he is any less good, or loves us any less, it simply means that like any good father there are times we must learn from our trials, and our mistakes. These times will build character, faith and maturity as a believer and also as an adult.
Romans 5:3-6
English Standard Version (ESV)
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
Friday, December 14, 2012
In the aftermath of Tragedy
So many of you have posted your thoughts and concerns on the devastation that has rocked the little city of Newton, showing care and concern outside of your normal functioning life and taking time to pray. There was a unity today that existed between all of us. A unity that surpassed religious backgrounds and ideals, political opinions, and generational gaps. The tragedy that rocked our nation today destroyed the world of more than just the families who lost little ones and other family members, it destroyed the lives of those who lived through it as well.
We have to stop to think about the real tragedy here.... The real tragedy is that it took so much to get us to stop thinking about our own agendas for a brief moment, and care for more than a moment for a fellow human... a parent, a friend, a brother, a sister. Why friends, does it take so much to get our attention? Why did innocent lives have to be taken in order for us to sit up and take notice that something is truly wrong, and whatever direction we are headed, its the wrong direction?
Perhaps after every tragedy... Columbine, 9/11 and the countless others we have asked ourselves the same thing, and yet within a day, a week a month, we all go back to the same old thing except for those who lost someone. Except for those who will never get to take that day back and just get back to routine. Except for those whose entire world was changed in the split second that they found out they would never see their loved one alive again, and today that involved mothers and fathers who waited at a fire house to see their babies, only to discover their child was on the list of bodies recovered at the scene.
When is it enough? What more will it take to get you to care?
To my Christian friends I say, we are among the worst as we turn our backs and our heads to the devastation being caused time and time again. To them and myself I say, above anyone else we are accountable for the actions we take before these events in how we treat one another, man, woman, child, gay, straight, gun-toting, republican or whatever. WE are accountable to the actions we take after these events as well...the bible tells us that people will know we are Christ's disciples by the love we have for each other, and we are failing in that miserably! Do you think if there was a true Christian in this young mans life who had taken time to get to know him and have a relationship with him that we would still be seeing the outcome of today's events? I don't. But we are all so afraid of stepping outside of our bubble.... we are all so afraid of relationships, and getting hurt, and .... WHAT OTHER EXCUSES DO WE HAVE AS THE CHILDREN OF GOD?
To my other friends who do not believe in God, these are still your fellow men and women. Are we so wrapped up in our lives we cannot invest in others? What is humanity if we have come down to ignoring of fellow humans? We reduce ourselves to less than animals in the wild, as we build our homes, our packs, and gather our food, and necessities and attack anything that threatens our territory. We will destroy ourselves if we do not take right now, this moment to change what we are doing.
This doesn't mean taking our anger and grief and putting the blame on guns, religious groups or political groups, it means taking the grief and anger, and for once..... dropping our sense of entitlement, indeed sacrificing our own selfish wants of things that wont last and instead channeling that energy into something productive and positive. How long do we really think we will last, if it's every man for himself? How far do we really think selfishness will get us in these tragedy ridden times that threaten everything we love, including our innocent beautiful children????
Please if you are reading this.... I AM BEGGING you... one HUMAN being to another... OPEN your EYES and make yourself, if you have to, do something positive for the benefit of one another. We do not have eternity... we dont even know if we have tomorrow......
For those who would like to pick this apart, I do not blame religious groups, the parents, or politics... I blame myself... for not being the difference we so desperately need.... but I will not waste this tragedy.
Please do not waste this tragedy.
For all those lost in Newton, Ct... 12/14/12 ...
I love you and I will dedicate what time I have left, to impacting our world for the better. All my prayers and thoughts to you as you grieve the extensive losses you have suffered on this day.
We have to stop to think about the real tragedy here.... The real tragedy is that it took so much to get us to stop thinking about our own agendas for a brief moment, and care for more than a moment for a fellow human... a parent, a friend, a brother, a sister. Why friends, does it take so much to get our attention? Why did innocent lives have to be taken in order for us to sit up and take notice that something is truly wrong, and whatever direction we are headed, its the wrong direction?
Perhaps after every tragedy... Columbine, 9/11 and the countless others we have asked ourselves the same thing, and yet within a day, a week a month, we all go back to the same old thing except for those who lost someone. Except for those who will never get to take that day back and just get back to routine. Except for those whose entire world was changed in the split second that they found out they would never see their loved one alive again, and today that involved mothers and fathers who waited at a fire house to see their babies, only to discover their child was on the list of bodies recovered at the scene.
When is it enough? What more will it take to get you to care?
To my Christian friends I say, we are among the worst as we turn our backs and our heads to the devastation being caused time and time again. To them and myself I say, above anyone else we are accountable for the actions we take before these events in how we treat one another, man, woman, child, gay, straight, gun-toting, republican or whatever. WE are accountable to the actions we take after these events as well...the bible tells us that people will know we are Christ's disciples by the love we have for each other, and we are failing in that miserably! Do you think if there was a true Christian in this young mans life who had taken time to get to know him and have a relationship with him that we would still be seeing the outcome of today's events? I don't. But we are all so afraid of stepping outside of our bubble.... we are all so afraid of relationships, and getting hurt, and .... WHAT OTHER EXCUSES DO WE HAVE AS THE CHILDREN OF GOD?
To my other friends who do not believe in God, these are still your fellow men and women. Are we so wrapped up in our lives we cannot invest in others? What is humanity if we have come down to ignoring of fellow humans? We reduce ourselves to less than animals in the wild, as we build our homes, our packs, and gather our food, and necessities and attack anything that threatens our territory. We will destroy ourselves if we do not take right now, this moment to change what we are doing.
This doesn't mean taking our anger and grief and putting the blame on guns, religious groups or political groups, it means taking the grief and anger, and for once..... dropping our sense of entitlement, indeed sacrificing our own selfish wants of things that wont last and instead channeling that energy into something productive and positive. How long do we really think we will last, if it's every man for himself? How far do we really think selfishness will get us in these tragedy ridden times that threaten everything we love, including our innocent beautiful children????
Please if you are reading this.... I AM BEGGING you... one HUMAN being to another... OPEN your EYES and make yourself, if you have to, do something positive for the benefit of one another. We do not have eternity... we dont even know if we have tomorrow......
For those who would like to pick this apart, I do not blame religious groups, the parents, or politics... I blame myself... for not being the difference we so desperately need.... but I will not waste this tragedy.
Please do not waste this tragedy.
For all those lost in Newton, Ct... 12/14/12 ...
I love you and I will dedicate what time I have left, to impacting our world for the better. All my prayers and thoughts to you as you grieve the extensive losses you have suffered on this day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)