Love is a Verb II

This pic has nothing to do with the study, but it does invite us all to take ourselves less seriously than we sometimes do. The towel art in our room for our 25th anniversary trip included a frog, a dog, an elephant, a monkey, and of course, this Hollywood rabbit.

Judges 14:1-20

The entire story of Samson is found in Judges 13-16 and I encourage you to read it. The passage for our reflection talks about his lengendary strength. Samson was a Nazarite, set apart for the Lord's service. His vow meant that he would live a holy life and never cut his hair. But like many gifted people (physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually), he lived his life at the edge of compromise and self-destruction. As we mourn the death of pop idol, Michael Jackson, the Samson story comes to mind. At Michael Jackson's peak in the 1980s and early 1990s, no one had the charismatic appeal he did. Yet, his life ended up taking one tragic turn after another as he cross boundaries that were not worthy. We have watched this with other entertainers, great athletes, politically powerful individuals and families, and yes, a few preachers, too.

We read the story and, because we know how it ends, we want to warn Samson about his flirtatious ways and his telling of riddles that set him up for the fall. The problem is that Samson has all this appeal and strength, but he does not love the LORD with it. He loves the feel of his strength, the gamesmanship between him and his opponents, and the lust relationship he can have with women. He loves himself with all his strength. King David would have done well to read Samson's story before he made some of the same mistakes with his appeal and power.

What giftedness do you possess and how do you show that giftedness in your actions? Do you use your gifts primarily for your own benefit or primarily for the glory of God? Are you living life on the edge, flirting with disaster just because you can, or you living at the edge of godly greatness offering yourself freely for the glory of God?

James 1:17-27

James tells us first to be quick to listen and slow to speak. You have heard the old adage, "God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason!" It is so tempting to be reactive - quick to speak and quick to act and speak in anger. I was reading not long ago that it takes only 90 seconds for an angry emotion to cycle through the systems of our brain and body. After that it must be fed and nurtured through remembering past events and feeding the adrenaline through imagination. So maybe we shouldn't just count to 10...and count to 90 instead. James will circle back to this issue later, but I do ask you to look at what your doing with anger. It is intoxicating and energizing in a way that can make us addicts if we are not careful.

Soren Kierkegaard remarked one time in reflection on the gospel and our daily lives, "There is no shortage of information..." If he lived in our time, he would amplify that many times over. For Jesus, the Word was only truly heard when it was obeyed. James teaches us not merely to be hearers of the Word, but to be doers. Norm Wahn, who led the church outreach program "The Phone's for You," taught us, "Don't be a dumb doer - someone who hears a bunch of great stuff and does nothing with it." I must confess that in my Christian life I have often been a dumb doer. James compares this to looking in the mirror and then forgetting what you look like. Rather than face the truth of God's Word and what it calls for, we fake others out along with ourselves. We are invited to not turn away when we see something that needs dealt with, but instead let God do his full work in our lives, which means not only changing our minds, but changing our behavior. In James' perspective, until behavioral change happens the Word has not truly been heard.

This change of behavior includes our speech, which will get a further treatment later. So my final question for today is, "What does your daily speech and behavior say about your walk with Christ?" Have a great and blessed day.

Love is A Verb I

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your strength." The theme for this weeks Bible study is loving God through our actions. You will be reading passages from both the Old and New Testament, including a study of the entire letter of James.

II Samuel 6:12-23

Love is not only something you feel or a spirit connection, it is also something you do. We love God physically. The story of David dancing before the LORD after returning the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem is classic. It is at a time of early success in David's reign. He dances to the LORD with all his might. Some of us have not been taught how to physically worship the LORD. We know to fold our hands or bow our heads, but Old Testament worship is much more active: playing instruments, dancing, clapping, shouting and raising of hands. Lately, I spend part of my time jogging and walking in worship to the LORD. It sure is better than counting steps! It is not easy for me to be physical with my worship. I was brought up in a setting where that was not taught or encouraged. Beside there will be those like David's wife who will not appreciate people making spectacles of themselves in worship. I invite you to consider how you might become more open in your worship. The word worship can literally be translated as "work"ship, a labor of love unto the LORD.

James 1:1-16

How is your faith when the heat is on? James says "Consider it pure joy when you face all kinds of difficulties." We really do have a choice when it comes to handling our problems. We can "spin" trials as unfair things that are undeserved punishments or we can see them as situations that can grow us in the Lord. For when we see our difficulties as opportunities for our faith to be tested and strengthened then we are open to the lessons and the growth that trials bring, mainly the development of endurance. The Christian life is not a sprint, but rather is a marathon. We often outlast our trials. But our own attitudes decide whether trials will make us bitter or better.

Verses 5-8 invite us to boldly ask God for wisdom. We are to do so with confidence and resolve, believing that God will do what we ask for. Here we have another discussion of doubt. This is different from the doubt earlier described. James is arguing against being double-minded and urging us to choose to be believe. Jesus did the same with Thomas in John 20 ("Stop your doubting and believe..."). We can ask God for what we need with confidence. When we ask without faith, we cut ourselves off from the very power of God we need. Faith chooses to trust the power and grace of God more than our questions.

Most of James' letter is intensely practical. He introduced a subject he will take up later, how people handle class differences in the church. There is always the tendency for the church to structure itself like the society around it, in the same old income groupings, same thinking, and same cultures. The gospel has problems with that and likely always will.

The last topic here is dealing with temptation. We already handled this in the Garden of Eden discussion. The thing to notice here is just how temptation works, more like a fishing expedition in which bait is used to entice the fish to bite to its own demise. Temptation lures us away and entices us and has us in its grasp often before we realize it. This temptation is different from the trials talked about in verses 2-4, for the goal is not our growth but our compromise and even destruction. These temptations must be resisted or avoided.

Trials and temptations are common for us all and they often are the place where our Christian faith shows itself to be genuine or not. The other thing is that it is in those testing and tempting times that others watch us closely to see if our faith stays strong. If it does, then it gives others hope that they to can make it through those times.

Extra: My Journey From Predestination

As promised, I wanted to take some extra time to write about Romans 8:28-30, and what is known as the doctrine of predestination. Here is the text from Romans 8,

"We know that in all things God works for good, for those who love Him and are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified."

Those who believe in predestination in its strongest form believe that God chooses who will be saved and who will not. Martin Luther was a strong proponent of predestination, writing,

"All things whatever arise from, and depend on, the divine appointment; whereby it was foreordained who should receive the word of life, and who should disbelieve it; who should be delivered from their sins, and who should be hardened in them; and who should be justified and who should be condemned."

When John Calvin founded the city of Geneva, it was to be a place only for the elect, those whom God had chosen to be saved.

There are many scriptures used to support this idea. There is the Old Testament concept of election in which God chooses Abel's gift over Cain's, chooses Jacob over Esau, Isaac over Ishmael, etc. In fact the Bible says in Malachi 1:2-3,

"Is not Esau Jacob's brother? says the LORD. Yet I have loved Jacob, but I have hated Esau; I have made his hill country a deslolation and his heritage a desert for jackals."

In the New Testament, Jesus says to his disciples, "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you..." (John 15:16). This stirs all kinds of questions. In Exodus, did God really harden Pharaoh's heart or did he choose to be hardened to the plans of God? Did God choose for Judas to betray Jesus, or did Judas have a choice in the matter? And what do we do with passages like II Peter 3:9, which says "The Lord is not slow about his promise...but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance."

Two main assumptions are behind the doctrine of predestination. The first is that God is omnipotent, all-powerful. I have no problem with the idea that all power begins and ends with God. But it seems abundantly clear that God has divested that power in nature and in human beings. I don't believe God sends or allows tornadoes or diseases to hit people, but those things are part of living and dying on planet earth. I don't believe God sends or allows evil and wickedness, or accidents and human error, but rather people choose them, the power of choice given them by God. For me, omnipotence does not negate the freedom of choice. The second assumption is that the initiative for our salvation is entirely with God. I couldn't agree more. John writes that "It's not that we love God, but that he first loved us." But we do have the freedom to respond with a yes or no, a power given us by God. This choice to say yes or no, as I have said in earlier blog, makes love a possibility, for love cannot be forced.

The United Methodist position on predestination comes from John Wesley, who wrote the following

,“With regard to…Unconditional Election, I believe, 1) That God, before the foundation of the world, did unconditionally elect certain persons to do certain works, as Paul to preach the gospel: 2) that He has unconditionally elected some nations to receive peculiar privileges, the Jewish nation in particular: 3)that He has unconditionally elected some nations to hear the gospel… 4)that He has unconditionally elected some persons to peculiar advantages, both with regard to temporal and spiritual things: and 5)And I do not deny (though I cannot prove that it is so), that He has unconditionally elected some persons [thence eminently styled ‘the Elect’] to eternal glory. But I cannot believe, That all those who are not thus elected to glory must perish everlastingly; or That there is one soul on earth who has not, [nor] ever had a possibility of escaping eternal damnation.”

Wesley does not deny that people experience God's love having chosen them first, but he does deny that any are excluded from the possibility of having the chance to believe and to be saved.

Here, having struggled with this issue for many years, is where I am for now. I do believe God has a plan, and that plan is for everyone to be conformed to the image of His Son. That is our God-given destiny, but we must choose to live in our chosenness by God. Hell was made for the devil and his angels, not for human beings. That's what make hell and separation from God such a tragedy. Except for the freedom of choice to reject God and be separate, hell would be void of human beings. God does not predetermine who goes to heaven or hell.

But I must go further. I believe God could have carried out the deliverance of Egypt without Pharaoh having his heart hardened. I believe Jesus could have saved the world without Judas being the betrayer. While there is much of our lives that is scripted by our abilities, our talents, the environment of our upbringing and many other factors, there is much that is dependent on our choices. The direction of my life is not determined and God can get His will done in my life in any number of ways. Furthermore, I think I have some choice about how long my life will be. Yes, David claims all his days have been numbered and written, but he is speaking in hyperboble to say how God's love and guidance has been ever present in his life. My lifestyle choices along with my genetics and a host of other things are factors in the length of my life. God knows the length of our lives, but that wasn't determined a long time ago. Bottom line for me is this: What God predestines and what God determines are two different things. What God knows and what God determines are also different things. Determinism compromises human freedom in a way that for me is unacceptable.

Here is what I do know and causes me to marvel. When I look back across the events of my life and those I know, I see the unmistakable hand of God at work. It is a crimson thread that can be seen amidst the many good and bad choices I have made, and the many events that have happened around me. He has done an amazing work and I am confident that God will continue to do so. While I do not believe in a determinist God, I do believe in an omni-present, omni-holy and just, omni-loving God who is at work to do his will on planet earth. You and I then have the opportunity to be part of his great work. As we love and follow the LORD with all our hearts, our souls, our strength and our minds and love our neighbor as ourselves, we indeed are transformed from glory to glory and become more and more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is our destiny, a destiny God has planned for you and me since the beginning of the world, a destiny he wants for every one he has created. And you and I get the awesome privilege of sharing with people how they can be part of that destiny. Wow! Have a great week, you child of destiny.

Loving God with Soul VI

I will apologize now for not putting in this day's study earlier. It's been quite a weekend. Today's readings now help us celebrate the meaning and joy of our Spirit-spirit relationship with God.

Isaiah 61

These first verses may sound very familiar. They are the words Jesus used in Luke's gospel when he presented himself and his ministry in the synagogue. When the Spirit is upon us and our soul relationship with God is growing, it will do as it did with Moses, Isaiah and even the disciples, take us to people and situations that are broken. We take to them a message of hope and the possibilities of a greater future.

One of the hazards of being religious is that we become "weary in well doing." We start doing godly and even noble things without nurturing our relationship with God. The power to give hope, liberate others, and be part of transforming our world is given when "the Spirit of the Lord is upon us." There is also a practical dimension to this. If there is no hope, liberation and salvation of others, or transformation of the world around us, is "the Spirit of the LORD upon us?" One of our cars was not running well last week. The battery cables had become a little loose and the connection resulted in sputtering and stalling. The explosive power of that vehicle was dependent on the connection to power being solid. So it is with the things we do for the LORD. The Spirit-spirit connection is critical.

The prophet finishes chapter 61 with a joyous season of praise, expressing his thanksgiving and confidence in God. When I hear Christians talk, there is often a lot of whining about what's going on around them. When we are Spirit-connected we are not afraid to bring up that which is sinful or negative, but we do so from a point of holy confidence. Has your Christian walk been kind of whiny lately? It may be time to reconnect with what is the true power of your life. "The Spirit of the LORD is upon you!"

Romans 8:18-39

There is so much in this passage, I could spend a week just talking about it. But I invite you to take note of just a few things. First, notice the life in the Spirit is not a bed of roses (unless you include the thorns!). There is a false notion out there that if you are spiritually right with God that everything will be successful, without controversy, conflict or pain. God always wins and so do Spirit-filled lovers of God. That is not what the Bible says at all. What it says is that God wins in the end (the message of the empty tomb and the book of Revelation), but along the way there are many losses and profound times of suffering. According to this passage, creation is suffering while God's children are learning to get it right. We as creatures also suffer.

But we never suffer alone, the good news of Romans 8:26-27. We come to God who understands and gives us His Spirit so that when the pain is beyond words, we can keep holding on. The Spirit understands and interprets to God our pain. Similarly the Spirit interprets God's pain to us so that we can do His work in our hurting world. This is another part of the intimacy of our relationship with God when we "love Him with all our soul" - shared pain.

In verses 28-30, we have one of the most controversial passages in the entire Bible. Verse 28 is often mistranslated (KJV and NRSV included). It should read, "In everything, God works things together for good," not "Everything works together for good." God works for good in everything, but some things are just bad and have no justifiable purpose. But just as David found God in the pit of Sheol in Psalm 103, so we find God making unbelievable good out of the worst of situations. Readers of this blog, could fill this site with comments of how God has done that in your own difficult and tragic situations. Verse 29 has been a source of division and disagreement in the church from the beginning. What do we do with predestination? I was raised in a more determinist faith in which my choice was diminished and God's choosing was nearly total. It is also the dominant way Protestants tend to talk about God. I must tell you that I no longer believe that way. I will do a separate article on this subject tomorrow evening, so that I can do the topic justice.

The finale of Romans 8 (verses 31-39) are full of the confidence that the Spirit creates in us as we grow in our spiritual love of God. "Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ through Jesus our Lord." God is absolutely reliable and in that we take great hope and joy.

Again, thanks for your patience. Hope to see you on Sunday.

Loving God with Soul V

To love the Lord spiritually involves sorting out what is the most important. We face the tyranny of the urgent as well as our own desires and often find that our spiritual life gets what is left over. Both of these passages talk about the struggle between the loud and visible demands of the seen world versus the more important yet unseen agenda of the Spirit.

Isaiah 55:1-13

The question raised by the prophet is even more powerful in our day than his:

"Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live."

Our whole economy is based on giving you and me something we can enjoy temporarily, so that we will be lifetime customers. The computers we buy are obsolete within six months. Our clothes are out of style in a year. Sometimes we spend money to make ourselves feel better, which produces guilt later, which produces the need to feel better and the cycle continues. What if our economy was built on things that really matter, like building education institutions that truly build leaders or creating food production that eliminate starvation from planet earth or provide the means to bring families into better communications and growing relationships? What if we solved our spiritual thirst with spiritual things instead of trying to solve it with material things (the temporary fixes)? It really means asking the LORD to recondition us according to the priorities of the Spirit.

In verses 55:3b-5, we have God's promise. Again, as with Moses, what do we do with the promises of God? The hymn sings "we're standing on the promises of God," and that those promises are reliable. By the time of Isaiah 55, King David is long gone, but God has not forgotten his promises. But the truth is, had the people stayed connected with the LORD, they would have experienced the promises sooner. In fact, in my own life, my times of waiting on God's promises usually are times when I am being made more open and hungry for the things of God.

Verses 6-12 are powerful in developing our soul love for God. We must be continual seekers of the Lord. We must call upon him often, for big and small things, for we are invited God to be part of it all. We do the negative work of turning away from wicked actions and unrighteous thoughts, so that our communication channels are open. And is there any feeling like knowing you are forgiven and free in a relationship - with a loved one, with God? I have to remind myself that God is more anxious to forgive me than I am anxious to be forgiven (which is a lot). As we seek the LORD, we are participating in something bigger than ourselves. Theologians talk about this as the transendance of God (the God beyond us). Loving God with our souls is about relating to God who is always infinitely greater than we can imagine, which lifts up our understanding of ourselves and God's greater purposes for our lives. The prophet then reminds us of just how reliable God is. To love God with all our soul is to trust that God does lead and guide us and will do just as he has planned. I don't believe that this is God micro-managing us. God can get his purposes done in a million different ways. Our job is to be open, available and usable.

Isaiah 55 ends with a joyous celebration in which all of creation joins in the provision and faithfulness of God. Romans 1:18 tells how all of creation is waiting as in the pains of childbirth for the revealing of the children of God, including you and me. When you and God are spiritually connected in a growing relationship, the whole cosmos benefits. I didn't say that, the Bible did.

Romans 8:1-17

The contrast in this passage is between life in the flesh and life in the Spirit. You may remember that Jesus in John 3 contrasted the flesh and the Spirit with Nicodemus. This understanding of "flesh," in the Greek, sarx, from Paul is a little different. Flesh is not just what is natural and physical, it is that which is selfish and sinful. Paul writes in 8:5,

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace."

To love the LORD with all our soul is to have a different mindset, one we choose each morning and rechoose moment by moment. It is a mindset shaped by the grace and love of God active in our daily lives.

Verses 9-11 describe the power of the Spirit within us: the Spirit that raised
Christ from the dead, the Spirit that will one day raise us up from death as well. The spiritual love of God does release a power for living that is found no other way. Because it is unseen, it is often ignored. So we have to remind ourselves on a regular basis what the real power of our lives is - the spirit/Spirit connection.

Paul finishes this discussion of flesh and Spirit with another benefit of a growing love relationship with God - spiritual intimacy. There is a song I used to sing called "Praise Him" that sings, "Sweet communion. I hardly know where He stops and I begin." This is the polar opposite of transendance, what theologians call immanence (God within, closer than our breath). Paul writes that life in the flesh is actually a form of slavery and the taskmaster never relents. Life in the Spirit provides a deep sense of belonging, a spirit of adoption, so we by the grace of God can call God "Abba" (the intimate term for father, papa or daddy). In that moment, Paul utters our scripture theme for the week,

"His Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God."

As his children then we are the inheritors of all that is His, which includes suffering and glory (cross and empty tomb).

So my question for the day is, "Have you opened your heart and mind to both the transendance and the immanence of God?" Have you allowed God's indescribable greatness to create in you holy awe and also lift your perspective in life to a new level? Have you allowed God to be up close and personal? I'm thinking of Michael W. Smith's chorus right now, "You are the air I breathe, you're holy presence living in me. And I, I'm desperate for you." May that be the cry of our hearts both today and always.

Loving God with Soul IV

Both of our passages for today describe arguments with God. We can understand why. Here we have the case for honest doubt, a key component I believe to developing a growing spiritual relationship with the Lord. We see it in Abraham, Moses, David, Mary, the woman at the well in John 4 and even with Jesus at Gethsemane. When passages in the bible tell us to not doubt, they are talking about a skepticism that doubts the power of God and interrupts our faith. But there is a form of doubt that seeks to understand and grow, and so we question ourselves and God on the way to clarity. This kind of doubt is both healthy and essential.

Exodus 3:18-4:17

The passage begins with a three-fold promise: 1) the elders of Israel will listen to him, 2)that Pharaoh will at first resist but eventually will let the people go and 3) the Egyptians would send the Israelites on their way with lots of fine gifts. It's interesting here that God is part of a ruse with the Egyptians, namely that they are just going out into the desert for a three day retreat!

The promise is not enough for Moses. His credibility question still stands. This is where the story needs to slow down a bit. Ken Medema, in his song-story "Moses", gives us a picture of what the dialogue could have really been. You can view/listen to it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC1W9rvqjvU. God gives Moses a symbol of his presence - the staff or rod (a most necessary tool of the shepherd that will now have a different purpose). This reminds of me of Jesus going to a bunch of fishermen and tell them that they would be fishing but not for fish anymore. Here Moses will be a shepherd but not for sheep anymore. God tells him to throw down his rod and it became a hissing poisonous snake. Then God tells him to pick it up by the tail. Medema's song captures this wonderfully. Once he picks it up, it becomes a rod again. The rod will be a miraculous symbol of God's presence in his life and of his new found leadership by the strength of the LORD. God does a similar move with Moses' hand (turning it leporous and restoring it). Moses is to do those demonstrations before Pharaoh to convince him, and if not, he can always turn the Nile to blood.

Moses has the promise and a miraculous symbol of the Lord's presence, but they are still not enough. Moses brings up his lack of oratorical skill. Ken Medema has him stuttering. God is not impressed with Moses' excuses. He knows Moses better than Moses knows himself and still chose him. But God relents and provides Moses' brother Aaron as his spokesperson. The Exodus story shows that Aaron was not always the best at the role.

Once we are Spirit-spirit connected and given holy fire within, then God gives us a task that will be impossible to pull off. Most of us have struggled with God's call on our lives. He gives us his promise that he will be with us always. He gives us signs all throughout our lives that he is with us. He gives us people around us to encourage our faith and help us do what God calls us to do. Yet, often we are prone to offer only our excuses and our inadequacies. The truth is that many of us get stuck right here, hearing God's call and giving our excuses, but never risking doing what we are called and created to do.

John 4:16-30, 39-42

The argument between Jesus and the woman at the well is first that he can't deliver what he claims, that he has nothing to offer. Then he confronts the painful truth about her life, five failed marriages and a sixth relationship in progress. She acknowledges that Jesus is right, but pushes him away by bringing up a religious conflict between the Samaritans and the Jews. It reminds me of our conflicts about worship now between contemporary and traditional. Jesus' answer speaks volumes. It's not about where you worship, it's about who and how you worship - worshipping the LORD and not our own preferences, and worshipping in Spirit and truth over style. That really allows us to enjoy the great variety of worship and musical styles, if we can just make room in our hearts for that variety. And I must admit, there are certain styles I find very uncomfortable. I don't like hard-rock worship, but it speaks to our children. I don't like country gospel, but it has touched and changed the lives of many. We worship the LORD and we worship in Spirit and truth. Anything else is extraneous.

The disciples come back and find Jesus talking to the woman and wonder what's up. She ends up leaving her water jar with Jesus and the disciples and testifies about Jesus back home. Verses 39-42 report that many became followers of Jesus because of the Samaritan woman's testimony. Then they met with Jesus and even more became followers. What is the relevance of this story for you and me? One is that the work of God's Spirit is to overcome the cultural, class, relational and historical barriers between people and create new unity through God's love. When I sang in Europe, there were services where I felt a greater oneness with the people than I did in many American churches in which we sang (even though in Europe we were not speaking the same language). I believe that one of the hidden messages of Pentecost in Acts 2 is of this kind of spiritual unity that goes across language and cultural barriers. This has much to say in our culturally, stylistically, politically, economically fractured society. When we learn to love the LORD our God with all our soul, then it will drive us to connect spiritually with those around us who live, speak, and think different than we do.

Loving God with Soul III

Exodus 3:1-17

Who is this LORD that we should love with all our soul, with whom we should make this Spirit-spirit connection? The best answer for that is found in Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush. Moses is a former child of the king (Pharaoh) who is now a fugitive on the run for his life (having murdered a taskmaster for abusing a Hebrew slave - Ex. 2:11-15). He is a shepherd in the land of Midian working for his uncle Jethro (also called Reuel). The story of Moses is true on at at least two levels. The bush before the fire was in it was an all too appropriate picture of his life. He was empty and without purpose. At the same time, his work as a shepherd, as lowly as it was compared to being a prince of Egypt, was ideal preparation for what would be the next 80 years of his life.

Throughout the Bible, God often uses attention-getters. The word for "miracle" in Greek is seismos, meaning "sign". The miracles were signs that pointed to someone greater (Jesus as Lord) and to a greater agenda (the demonstrating of the kingdom of God). The attention-getter in this passage is a desert bush (mesquite?) that catches fire (no big novelty) but the fire doesn't consume the bush (a major novelty). As Moses approaches the bush, he hears the voice of God calling him by name. Moses (spirit) is about to have an encounter with the LORD (Spirit). And wherever that occurs, there will be a fire. It was so at Pentecost in Acts 2. I see the burning bush as a metaphor of Moses once the LORD has hold of his life and ours. God puts within us a fire that burns within but does not consume us. Now ordinary desert dirt becomes holy ground.

Where there is the fire of God's Spirit, there is also a call to ministry. It's too bad that we associate the call to ministry primarily with preachers. The biblical picture is that everyone who experiences the love of God will catch holy fire and fulfill God's call on his or her life. Moses moves from being a chosen one of God by nationality to a chosen one of God by personal call and vocation. His call was two-fold: to liberate the children of Israel from the Egyptians and to lead them to a promised land full of milk and honey. Moses is not a man of faith when God appears to him. He would spend the rest of his life learning that one.

Immediately, Moses begins to question why he would be able to accomplish such a task, for he has no credibility. Then he asks what his name is. Moses has been born a Hebrew but raised an Egyptian. He is used to a polytheistic context with gods of different names. It is understandable that he should ask God which one He is. But God's answer is actually unutterable in literal Hebrew, YHWH. In the King James Version of the Bible it is rendered Jehovah. In more modern translations it is often designated as Yahweh. Regardless, Hebrews do not utter this name of God, but rather substitute the name adonai, which means "Lord." Whenever you read "LORD" (in all caps) you are reading the designation that is YHWH. The translation of the name is enigmatic. It can mean "I am who I am" or the one I like best, "I will be whoever and whatever I want to be." This is the unpredictable and uncontainable and ultimately undescribable God. Then God repeats his call to Moses and orders him to call the elders of Israel together to declare the news. We stop the passage here, but the story is far from over.

A few questions for reflection at this point: 1) How would you describe your encounter with God? It doesn't need to be as dramatic as Moses, but his story does tell of a God who comes to people in their lostness and need and changes their lives forever. 2) What is God's call on your life? Is it big enough that you will have to totally rely on God for it to happen? 3) God's naming of Himself shows that he will not be reduced to an idol, a function of nature, or be boxed in by what people think he should be. What experiences have helped you have a broader understanding of who God is in your life and in the world?

John 4:1-15

Alongside God's encounter with Moses, we look at the encounter with Jesus by the Samaritan woman. If Moses was an unlikely choice, the Samaritan woman is more so. Jesus travels through Samaria (a devoted Jew would rather take the long way around and avoid the half-breed people that lived there), and meets a woman who is drawing water. Proper Jewish etiquette would be for there to be no contact between Jesus and the woman. It was common for a Jewish man in those days to thank God that he was not a dog, a woman or a Samaritan. Jesus not only talks to her (a cultural taboo), he also invites her to give him a drink, which meant drinking from "unclean" vessels. The woman tells Jesus the impropriety of his request. Yet, the place where Jesus meets the woman is a holy place, near the land Jacob had purchased for his son, Joseph. For this woman, it would become a holy place for a different reason.

Jesus tells her that she should in turn ask him for living water. Her reaction is similar to that of Nicodemus in John 3, taking Jesus literally. She tells him that he has nothing to offer her, including not having a way to draw water out of the deep well. Jesus clarifies that the water he offers is different, one that provides true satisfaction and eternal life. She responds with another literal response, "I would love not to keep coming to this well." But I think she is saying something more. Her life is difficult and purposeless. She knows there should be more to life than this.

Later on in the story the brokenness and burdens of her life become clearer. She has clearly "hit bottom", just as Moses had, and that is where Christ meets her. Neither Moses nor this woman deserve to be encountered by God. They have sin and failed repeatedly. Yet, God does come to them and he sees the potential within them to be world changing people. Similarly, He comes to us and sees who we could become when we are in relationship with Him, spirit to Spirit.

Have a great day in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Loving God with Soul II

The account in Genesis 2 could easily have ended with, "And they lived happily ever after." But that is not how the story ends, nor is it the way life happens for you and me. We now proceed from the story of Paradise to the story of the Fall.

Genesis 3:1-24

To this point the account in the garden has involved only Adam, Eve and God. There has been very little spoken by the characters (God speaking in 2:15-18, and Adam in 2:24). Now enters the serpent. Tradition has often inserted a detail in the story that is not there. Nowhere in Genesis does it say that the snake is Satan. The book of Revelation looks back and sees the deceptive ways of the serpent in the works of Satan in Revelation. From that time, there has been in church tradition the idea that temptation comes from the devil. At it's worst, we have done a Flip Wilson-style interpretation about sin which is "the devil made me do it." James is more correct in his New Testament letter when he says,

"...but each one is tempted when, by his own desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived my dear brothers." (James 1:14-16)

Temptation to be self-ruled and self-directed is as much a part of being human as being God-breathed. We live in that kind of tension. To locate that temptation in anything other than our own willfulness keeps us from facing the truth about ourselves and finding our full redemption in Christ. Yes, Jesus was tempted by the devil, but it was more about his motivations for doing his ministry than it was dealing with his own inner bent toward selfishness and sin. This part of the blog may draw some comment, which is good.

The serpent is characterized as being "subtle" or "tricky." The serpent is loud and verbose. In early Christian art, it is also pictured as able to walk. Have you noticed how loud and bright the sounds and sights of temptation are and how still and quiet the voice of God often is? The trickiness of the serpent is in the use of half-truths. "Did God give you this beautiful, lush, garden and then let you not eat of the fruit in it?" Implied: God is acting unfairly and is being unnecessarily restrictive. The woman speaks for the first time in the story. "Oh, no. We can eat from any of the trees...except that one. If we eat that fruit, it's fatal." The serpent debates: "It's not FATAL. God just doesn't want you to eat it, because you will know too much. You'll be just as smart as God is, and he doesn't want that." Implied: God is protecting you from something and keeping you from fully experiencing life. As you can see, the dialogue between the serpent and Eve is as relevant as this morning's news programs. For those who want full license to do as they wish when they wish, religion sets unwelcome boundaries.

Now let's slow down the story. In verse 6, the woman hears the appeal of the serpent and ponders what life would be like without limitations. The fruit (probably a fig rather than an apple) glistens with the morning dew in the light of the sun. The forbidden never looked so good! We know the story, so we want to tell her, "Get out of there quick. It's not what it appears to be. It's the wicked witch with the poison apple, Snow White." But Eve is more like us than we want to admit. She eats it and then shares it with her husband. Sin is always more enjoyable in community, where at least you can share the blame as well as the fun of doing something forbidden together. The serpent was right. Their eyes were opened, but not to what they had hoped. They discover nakedness as a point of shame. Notice the difference between 3:7, "...and they realized they were naked; so they covered themselves in fig leaves," and 2:25, "The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." I am indebted to John Holbert, Old Testament preaching chair at SMU, at this point in the story. He asks, "Have you ever felt fig leaves? They have the consistent of #2 grade sand paper. The original hearers of this story would be howling with laughter. Of all the trees in the garden, these would make the worst clothing." Is that our human condition or what? They have discovered shame and self-betrayal and now are a scratched up, itchy mess.

God enters the picture. He walks through the garden (I think of the hymn that sings, "And he walks with me and talks with me and tells me I am his own. And the joy were share as we tarry there none other has ever known."), as if things were as they had always been. But God can't find them. He calls to Adam, "Where are you?" Don't you think God already knew? The question is for Adam's benefit. Often the Spirit of God asks us the same question when we are headed in the wrong direction. Adam says, "I heard you coming, so I hid. After all, I am naked." He can no longer be before God as he is. The Spirit-spirit relationship has been compromised. God knows that there is only one way that he could know such brokenness and shame. "Who told you that you were naked? You've eaten from the forbidden tree, haven't you?" In our mind's ear, we can hear the disappointment and broken heartedness in God's voice.

Verse 12 is so real to life. Speaking from his place of hiding from God, he blames his wife. The woman was deceived by the serpent, but there is no record that the serpent even talked to Adam. In fact, during the actual loss of innocence of Adam and Eve and their shame, the serpent is notably silent. Adam's brokeness in relationship with God now becomes a brokenness with his wife. She in turn blames the serpent and brokenness is now between humans and other creatures. In the judgment of God there will also be brokenness between farmer and the land. Each are blaming the other, not realizing that the primary brokenness is a spiritual one, between them and God. Had I more time and space, I would talk about the punishments and what they meant in that day and time. Instead, I simply state that there has been no generation that hasn't known pain in childbirth, the risk of storms and pestilence in farming, the problem of environmental damage by humans, and the biggest problem of the human blame game. Adam and Eve are hopelessly broken without a renewed relationship with God, so are we.

Verses 21-24 are powerful with a message that can be easily overlooked. What does God clothe Adam and Eve in? And how did God get them? God invites Adam and Eve to trade in those fig leaf clothes that didn't really cover up anything for those much more comfortable animal skins that would both ease their discomfort and cover them much better. The animal skins could not have been provided without the shedding of blood, and so even in Genesis 3 we see the picture of atonement, how sins and brokenness are covered through blood sacrifice. It is a picture of the sacrificial system for the forgiveness of sins to come and eventually a picture of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Genesis 3 leaves us with the truth that life isn't easy and life isn't forever, but there is the mercy and redemption of our loving Lord. And that's how the spirit-Spirit relationship is restored.

John 3:9-21

Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus takes us to yet another picture of how God restores our Spirit-spirit relationship with him. At first,in yesterday's reading he takes Jesus literally, that physicially, being born again is not possible. He then asks again, "How can this happen?" Jesus tells Nick that he is not opening his mind to the truth that he is being told. He then takes Nicodemus back to a scene from Numbers 21, when the people murmured in the desert, complaining about the lousy food and the lack of water, requesting that they go back to Egypt. Isn't it interesting how we will choose the bondage of what we have known and done over doing the hard work and taking risks of doing God's new thing in our lives? I'm one who thinks most churches get stuck in this kind of murmuring and some even go back to Egypt, not knowing they have traded away God's great promised future.

In punishment, God sends poisonous snakes among the people and many die. Moses goes to God on behalf of the people crying for mercy. God tells Moses to make a bronze snake and form it around a pole, so that those who get bitten by snakes can look at it and live. With that story in mind, Jesus says to Nicodemus

,"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life."

The lifting up that Jesus speaks of is crucifixion, and he becomes the one to whom we can look in our sin and brokenness and find life.

Many of us can quote John 3:16 by heart, but have we done what it calls for? My concern about this passage and yesterday's one is that we have turned this into a single experience rather than let it become a way of life. There are many who have a "born again experience" who have not allowed themselves to be born again in the many different areas of their sinfulness and brokenness. Thus we have born again bigots, abusers, liars, cheaters, idolaters, manipulators, gluttons, etc, etc. Being born again is not something we check off a list as something that we get done. I believe in being born again and making a personal commitment of your life to Jesus Christ, but it is being born again into a way of life, a way of the Spirit and a way in which we come out of our hiding in the dark and experience the light of forgiving love in Jesus Christ. There are still lots of areas in my life where such light needs to shine, where I still want to hide from the truth about myself. In Jesus' words, I choose darkness rather than the light. In that sense, there is much about me that still needs the miracle of new birth. I believe Jesus is inviting Nicodemus and us, like Adam in Genesis, to come out of our hiding (whether in the bushes of our guilt or behind pious self-righteousness and relying on what we already know) to experience the life changing grace of God.

My prayer is that today you will allow God to do that in a new way in your life. Trade in those fig leaves for those animal skins and look to the crucified Christ and live. Then together we will all know better what it is to love the LORD our God with all our soul.

Loving God with Soul I

In Romans 8:16, we read, "The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." Throughout the world in many different religious ways, people reach beyond themselves for the divine, or at least for a sense of ultimate meaning. George Barna says that despite the decline of the church in Western Europe and in North America, the market for spiritual things has never been higher. People still hunger to connect with God, spirit to Spirit. That is our topic for the week as we look at thinking, speaking and doing everything "for the Love of God."

Genesis 2:4-25

We start our study on "loving God with all our soul" in the second creation account. The first account is found in Genesis 1:1-2:3, which I call God's "New World Symphony" in seven movements,is poetic with repeated phrases like "on the first day" (second, third and so on), "And God said," and "it was good." It is a powerful presentation of the presence and power of our creative God. The second account, in Genesis 2-4 takes place in a beautiful garden and is done in the form of a intimate and playful narrative. We will spend two days here.

You know this is a second telling of creation by verse 4, "This is the account of the heavens and hte earth when they were created." The story starts with two missing elements. The first is rain, so while there is moisture coming from rivers, there are no plants or shrubs. We immediately think, "If there is a river, then theire is moisture and plant life." The story will solve that later. The second missing element is a human being to cultivate the ground. I am indebted to Phyllis Tribble for her fine work on this chapter of God's word. The Hebrew word for earth or ground is adamah. God fashions an "earth creature" (Adam) from the ground (adamah). We need to slow down our reading at this point. The creature is sand art at this point (picture it from your favorite times at the beach), a work to admire but lifeless. Then something powerful happens, "and [God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life."

Sidelight here: The Bible says in II Timothy 3:16, "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the child of God may be throroughtly eauipped for every good work." I like to think of studying God's word as God continuing to breathe life into me as I read, reflect, and apply it in my life.

The earth creature is no longer sand art but in Hebrew a nephesh, a living human being. The point of the story is clear here, "We are made alive by "the breath of God." There is an old hymn that sings, "Breathe on me, breath of God. Fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love and do what thou wouldst do." Take a moment to think about the miracle you are and what the source of your life really is. Open your mouth and take a deep breath of air and open spiritually and take a deep breath of the life-giving Spirit of God.

God has given the earth creature life and then gives him a vocation, a purpose. He is placed in a garden in Eden. Four rivers flow there that locate the garden in present day Iraq. He is also given the freedom of choice through the presentation of the forbidden tree, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Have you noticed that true love and intimate connection always requires the freedom of choice? No one can force you to love him or her. We might argue with God about the freedom of choice and the way human beings have used it, but, at least for me, it is clear that the power of choice was meant to set up a loving relationship between the creatures and their creator, a spirit to Spirit relationship.

The story is delightfully playful, and we need to again slow down our reading. God sees that the man is lonely and so he decides to create a helper. The Hebrew language here invites us to use our creative imagination as Adam, the earth creature made alive by the breath of God and given the job of taking care of creation now interviews and names the animals and birds but finds none of them as suitable helpers. I picture an episode of "Talk to the Animals" here, but you imagine it how you like.

Then God puts Adam to sleep and takes a rib and from it fashions another creature. When he presents the creature to Adam, the reaction of the man is ecstatic. She is a creature just like him, only marvelously different. It is here that for the first time the Hebrew words, ish (man) and ishah (woman) are used. Adam discovers his identity as a man in the creation of Eve and her identity is similarly discovered in him. Notice the mutuality and intimacy of creation and how far we have distorted what God has created (making it "the battle of the sexes"). The picture here is of human beings in relationship with each other as they are spirit related to God. When I reflect on this passage, I see a new holiness, beauty and significance in my wife, our children and the other people God has brought into our lives. How about you?

John 3:1-8

It seems only appropriate then to move to this famous passage from Jesus. It is a night-time dialogue between two rabbis, one that was official (Nicodemus, a Pharisee) and one that was not (Jesus). We don't know Nick's motivations, but it is quite possible that he was sent by the ruling council to check Jesus out. From what happened later, this meeting might have been something he volunteered for out of his own curiosity. Nicodemus is devoted and deeply religious.

Jesus abruptly takes the conversation in a different direction, telling Nicodemus that he "must be born again." His faith has been about being right and faithful, but Jesus points him to a dimension of faith that he is missing. He must be "born of the Spirit." The word in Hebrew for Spirit is ruach ("breath" or "wind") and in Greek is pneuma (again "breath" or "air"). To his experience, knowledge, devotion and good intentions, he needs his life to be "God-breathed." He is invited to a "soul love" relationship with God.

In order to experience and enjoy the fullness of that relationship, he is going to have to do one of the most difficult things, to embrace the freedom and unpredictability of God. He has opened his mind and become learned. He has opened his heart and become devoted. He must now open his spirit and becoming newly alive. But it will mean letting go of the controls and making room for God to more fully work in and through him. That was a challenge for Nick, as we shall see in tomorrow's reading. It's a challenge for us, too. But there really is a sense in which God is inviting Nicodemus and us to become more than sand art, to have all our giftedness, experience and desires made alive by the breath of God.

Have a great day in our LORD, the creative and life-giving Spirit.

Readings for Week 2

For the Love of God
Readings for Week 2
Theme: Loving God with Soul

Monday, June 22
Genesis 2:4-25; John 3:1-8

Tuesday, June 23
Genesis 3:1-24; John 3:9-21

Wednesday, June 24
Exodus 3:1-17; John 4:1-15

Thursday, June 25
Exodus 3:18-4:17; John 4:16-30, 39-42

Friday, June 26
Isaiah 55:1-13; Romans 8:1-17

Saturday, June 27
Isaiah 61:1-11; Romans 8:18-27

The readings for this week will center on our spiritual connection with God and the destiny we have as His followers. Continue the practice of reading each passage aloud. You may also want to read the passages in more than one translation, so that you learn from different angles.

Loving God from the Heart VI

Our walk through the Psalms as a way of opening our hearts to love God emotionally finishes with Psalm 96, my favorite Psalm and a major theme of my life. It won't take you long to read it, but I do hope you will read it repeatedly and out loud.

Psalm 96

No one knows who wrote the great Psalms of Praise in this part of the book. But they give us templates for creating our own Psalms that come from our own experience of God. David begins "Sing a new song to the Lord." In American society, we have not cultivated the art of singing with men. I know men who don't sing in church because they really think it is something women do. Men do sing at ball games and at bars, but not so much at church. Why? I think part of it is that singing can make you feel pretty vulnerable. Men are taught to be confident and in control. Every once in awhile, I will sing to Tina. But usually it will be a silly song, which really frustrates her. Singing a serious love song, while it means the world to Tina, makes me feel really vulnerable. What if I get emotional? What if I mess something up on something so personal? Tina will like it and won't care that I don't get it perfect (which is the way I think God regards our praise to Him). But being vulnerable with the one you love can be, well, scary. I fear that some of those same feelings affect us expressing our emotional love to the one who loves us most, God.

Singing a new song is not just about singing a song you haven't sung before. I definitely believe our walk with God should always have something new developing in it. The tendency for our faith to become the story of things that happened a long time ago is a real problem for most of us. But singing the song of love to God is one that keeps on renewing and energizing our walk with God, so it is a song that is perpetually new. There are certain songs I sing to the Lord that I have sung for decades now. They connect me to the roots of my relationship with God and continue to make me new and make me more aware of God's presence in my life, in my family, in my work, and in everything I am a part of. The Psalmist invites every one to sing the song with him. It's a song for the world to sing - a song of salvation, a song of the great things God has done, a song of the greatness of God.

You may be wondering, "What kind of love song are we supposed to be singing to the Lord?" This Psalm does something the great men and women of faith have done to develop their relationship with God - celebrating the attributes of God (the main characteristics of God). The Psalmist praises God for His reality (every other god is an idol, a fake), His honor and majesty, his glory, his power and strength, and his splendor. Other Psalms add His loving kindness, His grace, His patience, His faithfulness, and so much more. As we thank God and celebrate His characteristics, we become more aware of God's presence in our lives and in the world. In short, we become more open to Him.

The Psalm, in verses 10-13, finishes with a rowdy and expansive invitation for creation itself to join in the perpetually new song of praise to God. The Pslamist "gets it," that as he sings his new song to the Lord, he is participating with all of creation in a song that it can't help but sing. And as he sings with creation he anticipates that God the righteous judge will come afresh to him and his world.

Tomorrow you will be in a worship service, a public service of love offered to the Lord. My prayer is that you will bring your "new song" (that song that tells the story of God's love in your life that never grows old) and let it join with the new songs of the lives around you. May you offer it with your whole heart. It will be music to God's ears and we will find God especially present as we share together.


P.S. There will be no blog entry on Sundays. It's a day to rest or to catch up.

Loving God from the Heart V

In order for their to be growing and lasting intimacy in any relationship, we must deal with breaks and disagreements between each other. With God, it is dealing with our sins and asking forgiveness, so that the love relationship is restored. There is only one Psalm for today's study. Psalm 51 is written following David's most horrendous sin, actually a set of sins. Not only did David feed his lust for another woman, he used his power inappropriately to set up his sexual encounter, had an affair with her and worst of all, set up a contract murder on Uriah, the woman's husband. David is confronted by his sin in II Samuel 12 by the prophet Nathan. I recommend you read that passage. How could such a powerful, gifted and spiritual man be this blatant and vicious? One of the key ingredients in sin is self-deception. We are right to call for judgment on David, but are we willing to see ourselves in him?

Psalm 51

Sometimes what we need is someone to hold a moral and spiritual mirror in front of us so we can see our actions and our motivations for what they are. Once Nathan did that for David, he was free to come clean with God. He begins "Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me." He acknowledges that his sin against others is also a sin against God. He who in his power saw himself as above the law finds that, no matter how much he wants to ignore it, he is accountable, especially to God. He knows what he deserves - to be cut off from God entirely. So he desparately begs God not to cast him away or take the Holy Spirit from him.

This Psalm is a prayer of repentance. It is a good model for all of us: expressing his need, confessing his sin (not rationalizing a thing), realizing the seriousness of what he has done and the horrible consequences, and then determining to do better. In some ways, we could say that David is just being contrite because he was caught, like many people who participate in forms of abuse. But he seems very aware that he must have help from God. God will need to create a new heart, renew his Spirit, and give him forgiveness.

As you read this Psalm, has there been any issues raised between you and God about your actions, words or motivations? Perhaps there have and you wonder if God could forgive you. You have seen the dark side of yourself and you are embarrassed. But notice the roll call of those who have been forgiven by God in scripture: Adam and Eve, Cain (the murderer), Jacob (the swindler), Saul/Paul (the persecutor), and David (the harrasser, the adulterer, the contract murderer, and the hider of it all). There are others, but you get the message. God's grace is greater than our sin and our guilt. His light is greater than our darkness.

This Psalm is David's new beginning. There were still consequences for what he did, but he did find forgiveness and reconciliation with God. I may not have committed adultery or done a contract murder, but I have embarrassed myself and disappointed God with my actions and motivations. It wasn't pleasant to face the darkness in my life. And while there were consequences, I have found the grace of God to be astonishingly great. And it was the next step in a deeper love relationship with God. My prayer is that you will find the courage to come clean with God, to claim the grace that is offered, to determine to do better and let him give you a clean heart. There is nothing like it. And all of us need it more than we realize.

Have a great day.

Loving God from the Heart IV

When we read the Psalms, we are suprised at the honesty of his relationship with God. When he is glad and thankful, he makes it known. When he is mad, confused and full of doubt, he also sings how he feels in the Psalms. We, on the other hand, are often afraid to approach God just as we are, with our warts and all, our doubts and all, our anger and all. Yet, we know that no dishonest relationship can grow or deepen. Today's Psalms actually are two parts of a singular piece. They represent the Psalmist's attempt to hold on to his hope and his relationship with God during the times when God seems a million miles away. I have personally taken great strength and comfort from this reading at different times in my life.

Psalm 42-43

The book of Psalms is actually a set of five books, and Psalm 42-43 begins the second book. Part of what we read here is in the form of a lament and the authors of these Psalms are the the Korahites, sometimes called the sons of Korah. The repeated chorus (42:5,11 and 43:5) sings, "Why are you cast down O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my help and my God." It is both an expression of honest disappointment and honest faith at the same time.

The lament begins with the words that many of us learned from Marty Nystrom's chorus (he and I sang together at Oral Roberts University), "As the Deer Pants." These verses remind me of Jesus' beatitude, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." The only thing I would add to that is the word "eventually." We want God to act on our behalf instantly, but often God makes us wait and allow us to hunger and thirst. The beginning of another Korahite hymn, Psalm 84:2 sings, "My soul longs, indeed it faints for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God." But our developed love for God and even the experience of joy in difficult times often means learning to wait on God's time.

The Psalmist's honesty requires that he have his own pity party (what my friend Eddie Rivera calls a "pity fiesta"). In 42:4, he remembers happier days when he was leading the people in triumphant joy. In verse 9, he feels that God has forgotten him. His critics ask him, "Where is your God now?" But some of those critics are voices within himself. I really like this Psalm for its genuineness. There are times when you just can't positive think your way out of problems and where doubts are real. Rather than pretending things are different, God invites us to express the way things really seem to us. And I have yet to be struck by lightning for telling God my doubts or how disappointed I am that He has not acted sooner or differently. Christian hope is not putting our heads in the sand. It is choosing to hope even in the most difficult of circumstances because God is able to bring us through...eventually.

In 43:3-4, the Psalmist calls for God to send his light. Another chorus comes to mind with these verses, "Shine, Jesus, Shine." In the midst of our darkness and confusion, sometimes all we need is a little light, and the light of the world brings it our way...eventually. In the meantime, we wait and we hope and when we look back we see that God does come through in ways beyond what we ever dreamed.

Have a great day and always know there is a reason to hope in the LORD.

Loving God from the Heart III

Psalm 23

Is there any passage of scripture more familiar than this one? It's the one my grandmother was reciting as she passed on to the Church Triumphant. When I decided to write a musical version of the 23rd Psalm, I chose to repeat one of the phrases at each of the stanzas, "I shall not want." David was a shepherd boy himself and it's interesting that he compares himself to one of the sheep. Sheep are some of the dumbest animals on the planet, driven totally by their appetites and vulnerable to just about everything. This is love for God based upon our dependence, both our desperate need for God and his utter dependability.

The first theme of the Psalm is restoration. The Psalms builds from the comfort of green pastures to lie in, the provision of waters that are calm enough to drink from, to "he restoreth my soul." This part of the Psalm reminds me of the words of Jesus where in Matthew 11 he invites us to "Come, all you who are burdened down and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." When I am with people I truly love, I find myself finally able to relax and be comfortable with them, the situation I'm in, and with myself. When we express our love to God, that sense of comfort and rest often occurs. The biblical concept of Sabbath invites this same kind of relationship with God, where one day a week is to be work-free as a time of expressing our love to God (worship) and rest. We no longer have "blue laws" that enforce a Sabbath, but that doesn't mean we don't desperately need it. The
Methodists used to ask each other, "How is it with your soul?" Is your sense of yourself, your life and your relationship with God and others anxious, broken, fragemented, frustrated or just bored? Then restoration of soul is just what you need and it comes when you just get quiet and share the emotional love you have for God and open yourself to God who is already reaching out in love to you.

The next section of the Psalm is all about God's protection. The shepherd's crook is designed so that it can take hold of sheep from a distance, from a step or two away in the field or even over a cliff. The picture is of sheep that have their heads down devouring food,never seeing that they are getting ready to go into a ravine or something even more dangerous. Sound familiar to our experience? I encourage you to read Keller's A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm for more insight. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." The life of a sheep is always in peril from thieves, predators, and self-imposed accidents. As humans, we are in peril from enemies. It's always good to remember that there are many forms of death - physical, relational, spiritual, etc. In those times we count on the love of God and because of His faithfulness our emotional love for God deepens and grows.

The next theme is healing. "You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows." The wandering sheep were always getting into bushes and brambles or falling and becoming scraped or injured. In our imaginary ears, we can almost hear the bleating and see the bleeding. The shepherd would pour healing oil on the wounds and the sheep would experience relief from pain and healing from the wound.

The last theme is hope. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." Hope is always related in the bible to eschatology (the study of last things), in other words how you see things turning out in the end. Will our lives be shaped by disappointment, loss and distress or will it be shaped by the goodness and mercy of God? Hope always looks to that which is not yet and it gives energy and staying power in the present. David sees himself having a life that is characterized by God's goodness and mercy. Some translations do not use "forever," but instead us "my whole life long." That's because the concept of heaven does not belong to the Old Testament, but rather to the intertestamental period and the New Testament.
In light of Jesus Christ who gives us eternal life (both quality of life and length of life) we can use the word "forever" with absolute confidence.

With such peace and rest, protection, healing and hope, what more could we ask for? That's why I repeat, "Because of the grace of God expressed in my daily life, I shall not want." When you think of this Psalm and how God reaches out to you, don't you just want to tell God you love Him?

Psalm 139:1-18

If I were to name the most intimate passage in the Bible, this would be it. The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible entitles this Psalm, "The Inescapable God." It begins with the reality that God really knows us and cares about us. I remember a song that was on my first record album (I know, a CD for old people!) had Ed Ames singing a song entitled, "Who Will Answer?" The philosophers of the 19th century would say "no one, so deal with it." But the song suggests the answer as it finishes with Alleluia. You can pull up the song on www.youtube.com. Warning, it definitely has a 60s sound to it. Part of the secret to shared emotional love is that you know each other and care for each other. So it is with God. God who knows us best, loves us most and loves us first. We then return that love and intimacy becomes part of our walk with God.

In verses 7-12, we find that God keeps pursuing us no matter where we run to. As United Methodists we believe in "prevenient grace" that grace that comes before we put faith in Christ and that grace that keeps us from falling into total doubt (what John Wesley also called "preventing grace"). In the heights and the depths, in the light and the darkness, God just will not let us go. Adam and Eve thought they could hide from God among the figs in the garden and camoflogue themselves but they failed. There is no running or hiding from God. His love is too persistent for that. That's why one great sermon calls God the "Hound of Heaven."

Verses 13-18 are powerful words for our life-destroying and life-depreciating time. God is there at conception and his life has significance and value because God was there from before he could remember. Jeremiah similarly says, "Before you were born, I knew you." The language of Psalm 139 is strange because it has a pre-scientific understanding of the way the life is created ("in the depths of the earth"), but the point is well made. This passage is used strongly in the abortion debate, but it should be even more strongly used in our daily treatment of each other. In dealing with each other, we are dealing with the sacred. This passage is one we need to teach our children in helping them develop a healthy self-concept as well as a healthy concept of those around you.

Psalm 139 invites us to express our love as truly loved creatures who were loved before we ever recognized it. For those who may have not been raised in that kind of atmosphere this passage can become redemptive. Your true roots are not in being unwanted, or being abused or neglected. Your true roots are in the love of a heavenly Father who anticipated your birth and the person you could become, who will never abandon you or forsake you, and who still rejoices to call you his child. Our love for God is a natural response to a supernatural love. Have a great day loved child of God.

Loving God from the Heart II

As I was reflecting on yesterday's passage on creation, I was remembering some of the hymns I grew up with: "All Creatures of our God and King," "Morning Has Broken," "Praise to the Lord the Almighty", "When Morning Gilds the Skies", "This is My Father's World," as well as the aforementioned "How Great Thou Art." Truly the "awesome wonder" of creation calls forth our love as creature for our creator God. As great as creation is at stirring our love for God, our own experience of his presence and faithfulness does so even more.

Psalm 18

This longer hymn of David is exultant, as he celebrates how God has rescued him from the edge of defeat and despair and given him victory. At the base of emotional love for God is the sense that we can count on Him, especially when we have felt overwhelmed. Notice the pictures of God, our "rock" in his faithfulness: deliverer, rock and shield (vs. 2), a helper and rescuer from death (vs.6), the powerful force that gives him victory (vss. 7-19), the rewarder of his righteous behavior (vss. 20-26), the provider of light in the darkness and confidence in the time of battle (vss. 27-45), and a living hope in the real challenges of his life (vss. 46-50). My guess is that this Psalm had some force and rhythm to it.

It was a pleasure this morning to hear Tim Ebelthite share his witness with us at United Methodist Men. He did not quote large volumes of scripture, but instead shared with us his story of Christ. You could see his heartfelt love for the LORD on his face. What is your testimony? What roles has the LORD played in your life - healer, Savior, reconciler or any that would be part of your story? Why not take time to write some of those roles down and thank God for being there at just the time you needed Him? We each have our reasons for loving God with all our hearts!

Psalm 138

This is another Psalm of David. He begins, "I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart!" It is written in the form of a morning prayer, with a much calmer style than Psalm 18. The Psalm shows a developed quiet yet steady love for the LORD that has been cultivated on a regular basis (daily or even several times a day). As he expresses his love to God, his priorities for the day are aligned, with God's name above everything.

David then sings, "Great is God's glory." The concept of the glory of the Lord goes back to the days when the children of Israel were nomads in the Sinai peninsula. A cloud would descend on the Tent of Meeting at the center of the camp with a brightness that let the people know that God was in the camp. The word kavod also means "heaviness." It is awesome to be in the presence of God. When we express our love to God, we must never forget that God has expressed his love first. And there is something marvelous when love is shared from both sides. It brightens and lightens our lives. At the same time, it is beyond words, heavy beyond description.

There's a song that sings, "Lord, I praise you because of who you are, not for all the mighty things that you have done." How long has it been since you have told God you loved Him just because of the relationship you enjoy together! Have a great day in the love and joy of the LORD.

Loving God From the Heart I

How exciting it is to begin this journey as we explore together what it means to think, say and do everything "for the Love of God." If you have never read or participated in a blog before, welcome! It's a great way to learn together and even leave your comments. At the end of each day's post, there is a place for you to comment or raise a question. When you "click" your mouse on the comment spot another screen will pop up on which you can put your comments. After you have done that, then it will ask you to verify and identify yourself. One option is for you to become a member of blogspot (or blogger), but you actually can comment by signing your name in the content and then designating yourself as anonymous. That's the easiest way. If you have any problems don't hesitate to give me a call or to send me an e-mail at wcotton@stlukeslubbock.org.

This week, we are looking at what it means to "love the LORD your God" with all your heart. The truth is that in Hebrew, people don't compartmentalize between the emotional, spiritual, physical and intellectual dimensions of life. They are a unified whole. To love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind is to love God with all that we are. But Greco-Roman culture did make those divisions and we still do today. So we will be looking at each dimension of our love for God separately so that we can grow in each of these ways, but in the end we will be returning to what it means to love God totally.

Worship has often been called "a labor of love" to the LORD. When we sing, "Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee, 'How great Thou art," we are not just on a head trip or even a spiritual connection, we are sharing of ourselves emotionally. The same is true when we sing, "I could sing of your love forever." There is a song that is sung during "The Walk to Emmaus" that sings, "Jesus, Jesus. Let us tell you how we feel. You have given us your Spirit. We love you so." We need not be afraid to be emotional in expressing our love for God. Some do so loudly and some quietly, but a healthy relationship with God does have an emotional dimension. Love that is expressed always does.

The greatest emotional love expressions in the Bible are found in the Psalms, so that is where we will be reading together this week. They are not the only places. There are doxologies that thank God for His greatness and provision, as in some from Paul's writings or in Mary's "Magnificat" ("My soul magnifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior"). By the way, when you sing "the doxology" after the offering, that's supposed to be an emotional outpouring of gratitude - "Praise God from who all blessings flow!" It implies that we are thanking God that His blessings have flowed to us and when are thankful from the depth of our hearts. The book of Revelation has some of the most powerful expressions of worship in the whole Bible.

Our readings today express our love for God because of creation. While I do not advocating worshiping creation, I strongly advocate worshipping the creator and being good stewards of creation as an expression of our love for God. My approach to these readings will be more devotional than scholarly.

Psalm 8

This is one of my favorite Psalms. It begins with "O Lord, our God, how excellent is your name in all the earth." It is an expression of awe that God could make something this great, things in creation that are amazingly simple and profoundly complex, things that makes us marvel and make us wonder. David composes this song of worship and begins by talking about the praise of children. One of my most profound experiences of worship happened at the birth of our sons. Amidst the pain (for Tina), the anxiety (for both of us), the confusion and noise, there is a deep sense of the divine. The birth of a child is a holy wow! And then children start to develop ways to communicate - cries, laughter, syllables, words, sentences, and even begin to praise their maker with a profound simplicity that humbles us all. Can you see God in the face of a child - even with pureed carrots or dog food on his or her face? Sure you can.

Then David talks about the heavens, the moon and stars. How long has it been since you took a drive outside of town a ways and have seen the sky for the fabulous displays it offers. When I lived up north I saw different constellations than I see in Texas. And if I go to the mountains, I see stars and constellations I will never see in Lubbock. Telescopes have shown us that the 5,000 stars we can see with the naked eye are just a miniscule part of what God has created, that there are multiplied galaxies and even universes. There's another holy wow! In the presence of that vastness and stunning light in the darkness, you feel so small and so blessed at the same time. With the Psalmist we cry, "What is man that you are mindful of him?"

Tina and I had a marvelous time on our cruise, which included time in the ocean of the costs of the Cayman Islands, Belize and Honduras. While snorkeling (a venture in faith for us both), Tina came out of the water and said, "This is awesome. The coral is stunning and the fish are so big and beautiful." We held stingrays and experienced a little more of what it means to be part of a beautiful creation. As human beings, we have dominion and responsibility for the creatures of the land and sea. We were told to be careful not to step on or damage the coral as we snorkeled or to make the stingrays anxious. How long has it been since you were sensitized anew of the awesome gift creation is, and how long has it been since you expressed your love for God for such a gift? The Psalm finishes with a repeat of the beginning, as if to say, "I just have to say it again, how great is our God...how awesome You are, O God, and how blessed I am to be part of all this."

Why not go take a walk in the park either by yourself or with someone you love and take in the gift God has for you today?

Psalm 19:1-6

It is so hard to put into words the greatness of God and our love for Him. We end having to use word pictures (metaphors) to try and express that which is beyond words. In Genesis 1, creation happens by the word of God - "And God said..." David here describes creation as a voice of a different kind that tells a story without words. The sky itself is described as an act of God the artist. How long has it been since you tried to imagine the pictures being drawn in the clouds?

For David the daily experience of creation is like celebrating a wedding and the new relationship of marriage or like the satisfaction of completing a marathon. How we take for granted the daily experience of God's creation! Did you awaken, stretch and take a deep breath? Did you wake up beside someone or did you greet someone who lives in your house? Did you eat a tasty breakfast that gave you energy for the day? Did you get the chance to do meaningful work or enjoy the company of people who mean the world to you? The blessings of the day just continue from there. No doubt, our days also have challenges and things that disappoint and confuse us. But we often forget the blessings. There really is much to celebrate and part of the things we celebrate are the normal things of creation that cycle through our lives every day.

Before you go to sleep, why not take time to thank God for the ordinary and the repetitive things that you enjoy every day? As you do, you will notice that God seems closer and life seems a little more holy. Why not tell God how you feel?