Saturday Link: Understanding Biblical Covenants

One reason, I believe, we have so much confusion and disagreement in the Church about theology and doctrine is a lack of understanding about covenants. Our God has chosen to relate to us through covenants, and the Bible reveals Him to be a covenant-maker and a covenant-keeper, so it would be good for us to understand what covenants are and the part they played in the Bible.

My Basic Bible Doctrine professor from college, Mr. McCoy has written about this. He points out one of the dangers of failing to understand covenants:

Every term/promise/command/blessing-curse is limited to the Covenant of which it was a part. The three are a unit and stand/fall together (Hebrews 7:12). When a covenant ends, like writing a new "last will and testament," it all ends and any "new" covenant will define its own parties, terms, promises and curses, and form of oath-swearing! Mixing and matching elements from different covenants has created a great deal of confusion. Many in our time want to claim for themselves OT material promises and NT forgiveness while ignoring the distinct definitions and limitations of parties and oath-swearing! A good deal of the theological confusion that exists in Christendom arises from confusion over how to handle the Biblical covenants.

If you have time I would encourage you to read what Mr. McCoy wrote, Understanding Biblical Covenants, and think about how it applies to how we relate to God.

Lonely Days and Grace

It has been one of those lonely days for me today. A day when it seems nobody really cares about you and you wonder if you suddenly disappeared if anyone would really notice. This isn't about romance as much as it is about fellowship. More than anything I would like to be with a group of people who are doing life together.

As I have felt this way today a passage kept coming to mind. The passage is 2 Corinthians 12:7-9. This is what the apostle Paul wrote:

So to keep me from being too elated by the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (ESV)

"My grace is sufficient for you," God tells the Apostle. It is hard to trust on God's grace when life isn't what you planned it to be. That is what makes my current situation so difficult, is because I know this is where God wants me to be, but it isn't where I want to be. So I end up fighting God's grace, rather than relying on God's grace.

What is the answer? How do we rely on God's grace? I really wish I knew, but I have this thought that it probably begins with thanksgiving and praise, seeing the good rather than focusing on the bad.

How do you rely on God's grace in the thorny patches of life?

Challenged in our Thinking

On Thursday mornings I meet with a group of area ministers. We have no agenda, it is a time to hang out with other guys and talk about what is on our minds. Sometimes it is about ministry issues, other times it will be about sermons, and other times we talk about life.

This morning we had a doctrinal discussion about hell, specifically about the nature of hell. For those who have followed Paul’s Ponderings for awhile might remember that the semester I spent in seminary at Lincoln Christian Seminary I did a research paper for Turning Points in Systematic Theology on the debate on the nature of hell: the traditional view or conditional immortality.

The traditional view can be broken down into the literal fire and brimestone view and the metaphorical hell is a bad place view, but the the scope of the paper I dealt with both views under the heading of the traditional view. The view of conditional immortality is the view that people are not immortality, that we don’t have immortal souls, that immortality is conferred on us by Christ Jesus, and thus those who have not put their faith in Jesus cease to exist. That is the very brief summary of both views.

Anyway the question of hell came up today and I, along with one of the other guys, began to challenge the thinking of the other guys with the conditional immortality view. To be honest I don’t know what view I actually come down on. For the purpose of the paper I wrote in 2005, I supported the conditional immortality view (more to be different than any other reason), but I find valid Biblical and historical support for both views.

I bring this up because I think it is important for us to be challenged in our thinking every once in a while. It is facing these challenges that we are able to better discern and defend what we truly believe. I think part of the reason so many people are weak in their faith is because they hear one point of view, and then they never bother to check out whether that point of view is valid. Thinking through the difficulties of life and faith help make us stronger people.

Remember the Bereans? This is what Luke said of them: Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11; ESV). These people, Jews as the ESV points out, took the time to make sure what Paul and Silas said about how the Old Testament scriptures applied to Jesus was true. Their faith and doctrine was being challenged, and because they took the time to struggle to discover the truth they were commended. I believe God still desires His people to examine their doctrines in light of what the Scriptures say.

Don't Get Comfortable

It is a theory of mine that most of us just want a comfortable and secure life. Really we are not asking for much, just a life filled with love, relationships, and nice surroundings. We are not asking for mansions, popularity, and millions in the bank, just enough to be comfortable.

We might not be asking for much, but it is here is where we clash with God. It is in our comfort, when things are nice and easy, that we stop trusting God. Instead of worshipping the Provider we begin to worship what He has provided. We may not put it in those terms, but that is what we do. Every time we ignore God and pursue what we want is evidence that we are worshipping something other than our Creator and Savior. For this reason God doesn’t allow our lives to remain comfortable. Instead He calls us into the unknown and to follow Him.

God called to Abram. Abram was to leave his home land and everything he knew and follow God to a land Abram knew nothing about. Abram went, and in the process learned to trust God. Abram, later known as Abraham, had to leave the comfort of the life he had created and follow God into the great unknown.

Nicodemus came to Jesus to inquire whether or not Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to abandon what he had learned and trust in Jesus. Nicodemus didn’t understand what Jesus meant, but he decided to follow Jesus, and his life was changed. No longer did Nicodemus trust solely in the Law, but now he trusted in the Giver of the Law.

A rich young man came to Jesus with a question. “How do I get eternal life?” Jesus gave him an answer that the young man didn’t expect. The young man was looking for a discipline or a ritual to add to his collection of good works, but Jesus said, “Sell what you have and give it to the poor, and then come follow me.” The young man went away sad, because he was unwilling to give up what was comfortable. He missed out on God, because he insisted on worshipping his wealth.

When God calls us into the unknown, it is imperative that we follow. It might be a call to physically move, or it could be a call to change our doctrine, or it could be a call to action. Whatever it is, God is calling us for a reason. Only by leaving what is comfortable and following God can we experience God for who He is. Ultimately we worship God by following Him into the unknown.

Worship is more than singing songs, it is about trusting God. When we worship God only on Sunday mornings we don’t give Him the all honor He deserves. Worship is seen through our trust in God.

It is also through following God into the unknown that we learn the most about God. Study is very important. It is, in fact, essential, for the Bible provides us with the truth we need to learn about God. Yet it is experience which makes what we know about God move from our heads into our hearts, so that we know God, and not just information about Him. Only when we move with God into the unknown do we truly have a relationship with Him.

It Was His Choice

As I read Mark Moore’s devotional book, Encounters with Christ, I was hit with this thought: “Jesus died, not because of the treachery of Judas, the cowardice of the disciples, or the avarice of the leaders. He died because of a deliberate decision in the garden before any of these characters came on the scene” (p. 181). Obviously this isn’t a new thought, but it is one that is worth revisiting.

That God would make a decision to save people and that Jesus would make a decision to take on our sins and our death is a staggering thought. This thought leads us to another question: Why would God do this? This is where the above thought connects with a thought I have been pondering the last few days: to create a people for Himself.

Reflect on what the apostle Peter wrote in his first letter:

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for your sake, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. (1 Peter 1:17-21; ESV)

Now let’s jump to chapter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (ESV)

Here we see not only God’s desire to have a people who are holy and faithful, but it also shows us us our responsibility. If Jesus could chose to die in our place, so we may become a holy people, then we can choose to live lives worthy of that sacrifice. That is our responsibility.

Don't Be A Camel

{Matthew 19:23-26; ESV}

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Those of us who have the privilege of living in the United States live in the land of the rich. I realize that many of us wouldn’t consider ourselves rich, because we are surrounded by people who have much more than we have, but the reality is that we are very rich. We are rich because we are able to live away beyond the basic necessities of life.

I hope you can admit that even though you are not able to afford everything your heart desires, that you are rich. Now, the problem that we face isn’t our wealth, but it is our desire for stuff. It seems that for many of us the more we have the more we want. We can never have enough.

For example, I have a MacBook. It is a very good computer, and I am able to do everything that I want to do with it. Here is the catch. It is two years old, and now I find myself wanting a new one. One that has more memory, one that is faster, and has the newest programs. I don’t need a new computer, but in my heart I want one.

Because money and consumerism are such a part of our lives, I don’t know if we truly understand the radical truth Jesus gives us here. He tells us that it is hard for people who have money and stuff to be part of His kingdom. Why? It is hard because money and things tie us to the here and now, and prevents us from living our lives from the perspective of eternity. That was the issue of the rich young man, the event that prompted this discussion of money. The rich young man couldn’t leave sell his stuff and follow Jesus, he was tied to that moment in time, and he missed eternity. He was consumed with his little kingdom, and he missed becoming part of God’s kingdom.

Take a moment and consider what you would do if Jesus asked you to sell all your possessions, give the money to the poor, and follow Him. Would you sell your house? your car? or your television? Could you manage without your bed? your favorite food? your favorite jacket? or you favorite DVD? It is easy to skip over these teachings and tell ourselves that they don’t apply to us, but they do.

The truth of the matter is that we live in a nation full of camels, and there is not possible way we are going to make it through the eye of that needle that is in front of us (doesn’t this help explain why the Church has lost its influence in the United States?). Trusting God is our only hope of getting through. He alone has the ability of making a camel fit through the eye of a needle. The key word in this is trust. We must trust God, or there is no hope, and to trust God requires us to change the way we live.

I want to leave you with what Mark Moore wrote in connection to this passage in his book Encounters with Christ:

It would be easier if there was a single act or set standard for materialism. If we could just say a house of 80k or a car of 10k is the upper limit and leave it at that. Black and white rules and quick fixes, however, are obviously unsatisfactory. This battle will be long and arduous. We will likely fight perpetually against the onslaught of materialism to the end of our existence in this society. Our lack of precision, however, should not translate into lack of action. This passage calls for vigilance in incisively examining our prioritization of Jesus. It behooves believers to constantly increase their sacrificial giving to the Kingdom both in time and material resources. We must relentlessly push the boundaries of our budgets to attack excess and the false security of wealth in order to rapaciously and tenaciously grasp simplicity. As the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, it is nearly inevitable that we will underestimate how closely we resemble a camel. (pp. 146-147)

• Point to Ponder: Trusting God is our only hope of breaking free from the shackles of materialism and entering His Kingdom.
• Questions to Consider: Do you consider yourself wealthy? Are you able to part with your dearest possession? Why does materialism hold us back as we try to follow Jesus?
• Prayer to Pray: Lord, thank You for all the blessings that You have given me. I want to ask for the faith I need to trust You from my security, rather than my wealthy. Remind me that wealth is temporary, but Your kingdom is eternal...

Sunday Quote: God is a Romantic

"God is a romantic at heart, and he has his own bride to fight for. He is a jealous lover, and his jealousy is for the hearts of his people and for their freedom." ~ John Eldredge, Wild at Heart, p. 34

Saturday Link: Testimony of a Chaplain

Chaplain Craig Honbarger was deployed for 15-months, and since returning home his out look on life is different. This is part of what he writes:

"Since returning home after a 15-month deployment, I’m completely and perfectly ruined. Sure, I suppose I have changed—I’m not sure I would call it post-traumatic stress disorder, but still I’m ruined just the same.

I’m ruined in part because all of my old hobbies don’t matter much anymore. I used to strap on spandex and Styrofoam, jump on my bicycle, and ride sometimes a hundred miles a week. Those miles did not include the back-and-forth-to-work mileage and my normal physical training with the troops."

You can finish reading The Testimony of a Chaplain: Ruined here.

Sin Hurts People

This morning during my devotional time I read from Daniel 6, which is the story of Daniel and the Lions Den. If you are familiar with the story you realize that the account doesn't end where the Sunday School story normally ends. This is what happens to the men who tried to trick King Darius into killing Daniel:

And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces. (Daniel 6:24; ESV)

I realize that this is a gruesome ending, and it doesn't seem to be fair to punish the men's families as well, but what this does illustrate is that our sin never affects only us. Our sin always affects those around us, especially those that are closest to us.

Think about how your sin, even if it seems to be secret affects those around you. At the very least it builds a wall of deceit between you and your loved ones as you try to hide your sin and lie about what you are doing.

When I sin I hurt other people. I hurt those that are close to me. I hurt those that I am not able to effectively reach out to, and I hurt God. Sin always has consequences, and they are never just personal. Our sin hurts other people.

Fear and Focus

“It is fear,” writes John Eldredge, “that keeps a man at home where things are neat and orderly and under his control.” ~ Wild at Heart, p. 5

I have known all too well that fear is the biggest obstacle I face as I follow Jesus. It is what holds me back from developing my talents, investing my life in the life of other people, and living out my God given passions.

As I read through The Lord of the Rings this past week a longing for courage swelled in my heart. I want to have the courage to face the Orcs of life, to fight against the Dark Lord and his agenda, and to become the person God created me to be.

What is needed for courage? Perhaps part of the answer is found in Hebrews 12:1-2:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (ESV)

The author of Hebrews urges us to get rid of EVERYTHING, not just our sin, that holds us back (that includes our fear). He says that we find the strength and the courage to do this by fixing our eyes on Jesus.

I admit that too often I focus on myself and my circumstances, and thus lose heart. It is Jesus who is able to strengthen our hearts. So the question needs to be asked: How do we keep focused on Jesus in a world of distractions?

First, we need to be in the Scriptures so we can be reminded of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Second, we need to be encouraged by other Christians: from sermons and books to small groups and one on one conversations other Christians and spiritual conversations must be part of our lives. Third, we need to pray and ask God to open the eyes of our hearts so we can see Jesus at work in the world around us.

Fear will prevent us from living the life God created us to live. May we find the courage to live by focusing on Jesus.

Even the Bad

{James 1:2-4; NLT}

Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

Spiritual growth is not easy. It requires more than reading books, singing songs, listening to sermons, and giving a few dollars. Spiritual growth is the result of following Jesus. We follow Jesus by applying God’s truth to our lives.

We can be certain that along this path of spiritual growth Satan, our great enemy, will throw many different obstacles along the way to trip us up. He throws out fear, and we hold ourselves back from going into the unknown with Jesus. Satan sits the trap of temptation and we miss out of the experiences God has planned for us as we pursue the pleasures of sin. He digs the hole of guilt and we fall in overwhelmed with the evil we have committed, and forgetting to rely on God’s grace and forgiveness.

The good news is that God even uses Satan’s obstacles as opportunities to make us better people. Just as Joseph told his brothers; "As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil" (Genesis 50:20; NLT), we can recognize the good that can come out of our failures. God is so powerful that He can even turn evil into good!

If we are going to become productive citizens of God’s Kingdom it is going to require us to apply the truth we have been taught. God’s Word does us no good if all we do with it is listen to it. Ultimately we have to start applying it to how we live our lives. What many of us Christ Followers need is not another book to read or class to attend, but to simply do the good we have already been taught. Spiritual maturity is the process that happens as we live by faith, regardless of the consequences that we may have to face.

What makes trusting God difficult, is when bad things come our way. We have this belief that if we are living the way God wants us to, if we have applied His truth to our lives, then our lives should be filled with God. How can we trust God when we allows such bad things to happen to us? It is during these times that we have to remember that God is able to turn our pains into something that is beneficial to us. Goal of God is not to make us happy, but to make us holy, and be holy experience the life He wants us to live.

In the passage quoted above James says that we should approach trials with joy, because we know God uses them to produce in us the character He desires to have. Because God loves us He will not waste our painful experiences, our failures, or our troubles. He will use them to make us stronger, and in many cases, He will use them for the benefit of others as well.

When trials, troubles, and failures come our way shouldn’t get discouraged and wonder where God is in the tragedies of life. Rather we should respond with trust, knowing that even through the most horrible of circumstances God can bring about His will and create us to be a little more like Jesus.

• Point to Ponder: God uses even the bad in our lives to make us more like Jesus.
  
• Questions to Consider: How has God used your pain in the past to develop your character? Why do you think we question God when hardships come our way?
• Prayer to Pray: Lord, thank You for loving me and caring about the type of life I live. Give me eyes to see You at work in the world around me, and a heart of hope so that I will hold on when the storms of life come my way...

Fade Reluctantly

The last few days I have been re-reading The Fellowship of the Ring. If you are familiar with the story you know that a hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins has come into the Ring of Power and it is his responsibility to take the Ring to Rivendell, to the home of Elves, so the Ring’s fate could be decided. On that journey, poor Frodo, is stabbed with Morgul-knife which, if it is able to pierce the heart, able to turn a person into a wraith.

Fortunately for Frodo, he is pierced in the shoulder, and is able to hold out until he reaches Rivendell and help. A splinter of the knife is removed from the wound, before it was able to reach Frodo’s heart. This is what Gandalf the wizard says to the hobbit; “Don’t be alarmed! It is gone now. It has been melted. And it seems Hobbits fade very reluctantly. I have known strong warriors of the Big People who would quickly have been overcome by that splinter, which you bore for seventeen days.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, p. 248)

Why was Frodo able to hold out, when bigger and stronger people would have been overcome? I think that answer lies in the Shire, the home of the hobbits. The Shire is a good place and the hobbits are good people. Evil was not part of their existence. It also explains why the Ring had such little effect on Bilbo Baggins when he possessed it, and why Frodo was able to resist its evil so long as well. The goodness of their home acted as a shield against the assault of evil from the Enemy.

So what does this have to do with you and me? Remember, we too have an Enemy out to destroy us. We have all felt his assault of evil in our lives: divorce, tragedy, job loss, betrayal, and sickness are just a few weapons he uses to attack our hearts, to make us like he is: a God-hater.

What will get us through those tough times? The Church. It is the goodness and love we experience from other Christians that is able to give us the courage and the hope to hold out, no matter what evil may come our way.

If that is true there are two important things that we need to do. First, we need to be committed to a group of Christ-followers. We cannot benefit from the love, encouragement, and help of other Christians if we do not make the time to fellowship with them. Second, we need to do our part to love, encourage, and help other people when they are experiencing difficult times. It is the choice of individual Christ-followers to love and be good that make the Church a place of healing and hope. We have to make that choice to make sure it remains so.

When we are protected by the good of the Church, we will fade reluctantly when evil comes our way. Let us be committed to the Church, and being agents of good in this world.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. ~ Hebrews 10:23-25; ESV

Sunday Quote: The Function of Idols

"Don't be fooled by the apparent innocence of the object you've chosen. What is its function? Most of our idols also have a perfectly legitimate place in our lives. That's their cover. That's how we get away with our infidelity." ~ John Eldredge, The Journey of Desire, p. 80

Saturday Link: Saying No

Here is an older blog post written by John Eldredge that I think is important for us to remember. It is easy to get into the trap of finding our validation from other people, and then get worn out by our constant desire to please people. This is an excerpt of what John writes:

I mean, I realize there’s only so much of me to go around. I understand the need for “margin” in my life. And I try to walk with God, ask him where he’s leading as I make decisions. I’ve got a pretty strong sense of what I’m supposed to be about, and that helps me know what I’m not supposed to be about.

But even still, I find myself flinching, sometimes freezing inside when I have to come to a decision and the decision is “No.” No, I can’t help you. No, I can’t come. No, I don’t have time to hang out. No, I can’t take this call.

Why is it so hard to say no?

You read the entire post, Saying No, here.

Prayer Request

My puppy Barkley got hit by a car today. Things look optimistic right now, but he does have a concussion and a broken pelvis. If you could pray for Barkley and me I would appreciate it. Thanks.

--Update: Saturday, January 10--
Barkley made it through the night and I am able to bring him home this morning. Because of the broken pelvis he is going to have to be inactive for the next month (I don't know how that will happen), but it does look like he will make a recovery.

The Life Robber of Laziness

Change seems to come slowly. I want things to be different right now. I want to start living life right now. The problem is that I keep falling into the same traps I have always fallen into. Laziness is a big one. Laziness is a life robber.

In John 10:10 Jesus says there is a thief out to steal, kill, and destroy people's lives. While Jesus came to give people life, Satan is out to destroy that life, and one of the tools he uses to do that is laziness.

Laziness makes me to be a "life voyeur rather than a life voyager" (stealing a phrase from Erwin McManus). I watch people live life, whether it is movies or sports, and as a result I don't live my own life.

Laziness causes me to day dream. Dreaming isn't a bad thing. Dreams are the fuel that help people accomplish great things, but day dreaming is. Day dreaming is about not focusing on the now and focusing on the what will never be. I dream of a life that I want to live, but I never take the steps to make it a reality. Day dreaming is much easier than doing the actual work.

How do I stop being lazy? I need goals, steps to accomplishing those goals, and accountability (for accomplishing my current responsibilities as well as pushing me to accomplishing my goals). Perhaps the place to start is to write down the goals I have for life.

Lord, I know that You are at work in my life. Help me to join you in the work in transforming my life.

Evaluating Character

Ever since I preached through the first three chapters of Revelation I have contemplated writing an article about using Jesus’ words to evaluate our church families. Yesterday morning I sat down and jotted down a few notes about what I wanted the article to be about.

As I have continued to think about this idea a thought occurred to me: Jesus doesn’t evaluated doesn’t evaluate the seven churches’ performance related to the Great Commission. He doesn’t talk about attendance, baptisms, or the number of people in ministry. What Jesus does look at and evaluate are the churches character. Are they faithful? Are they living differently from the world around them? Are they compassionate and loving? Do they stand for the truth? Do they hate immorality?

The question that popped into my head was: why does Jesus focus on their character, rather than their performance? I believe it is because it doesn’t matter how many members a church has, because if that church doesn’t have the right character they are not making disciples. In other words having the right character comes before accomplishing the task. When we have the holy character God desires us to have then we will influence the world around us, because we will truly be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world”.

Lord God, help me to see my life and my church family through Your eyes, and show me the areas that I need to change...

Reading My Own Words

Earlier today I was pretty bummed. The sad reality is that I am not very happy with my life right now. There are so many things I wish I could change about my life, starting with where I live (I hate the cold, snow, and ice) and what I am doing (I am not cut out for pastoral ministry).

As I was allowing myself to thinking depressing thoughts this afternoon one of the thoughts that went through my mind was: I just don’t have joy in my life (actually this was a funny thing to think since I have been pondering a post about the small joys of life). At the time I just couldn’t think of anything that brought joy to my life.

Earlier this evening I began to clean up some files on my computer and I found a pondering I originally wrote in the summer of 2005 (believe I have reposted it here, just not sure when), which dealt with joy. As I read it I was reminded that I am not joyless, I just allowed my discontentment to rob me of the joy I do have.

This is what I wrote three and half years ago:

Discovering Joy

But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. ~ Galatians 5:22, 23; NLT

The Apostle Paul tells us that joy is one of the characteristics which make up the Christian’s life. The assumption we can make is that joy is something that God intends for us to experience in life. God does not desire that we go through life frustrated and grumpy. Joy should be one of the primary descriptions of our lives.

The pressures of this life often make joy one of the most elusive characteristics to have. We experience times of happiness and pleasure, but true joy eludes us. Part of the reason for that is because joy is not so much a feeling as it is a quality of life, and we have learned to settle for these momentary feelings rather than taking time to discover the joy God wants us to experience.

Joy, I believe, is discovered in our contentment of what we have in life. It flows from the knowledge that we are in exactly the right place. We can’t have joy when we allow ourselves to believe that the good life is just around the corner. When we are discontent with our lives we will not experience the joy we were designed to have. It is so easy to convince ourselves that the missing piece for joy in our lives will be found in the next relationship, with a new job, or having a nicer house. Rather than enjoying the blessings we have right now we focus on what seems to be missing from our lives which allows joy to elude us.

Joy is found in our contentment with life. It is the product of taking delight in our family and friends, as well as, any other blessings we have received. When we realize that the best of life is found in the love relationships we have, rather than in all the things we don’t have, joy will appear in our lives.

Not only does joy appear through our contentment, it is also found in our desire. Yes, that does sound contradictory, but it is not. Contentment is not the absence of desire, rather it is finding fulfillment in the way things are. Desire comes from the knowledge that things don’t stay the same. To stop desiring means a loss of joy in our lives.

Joy is found in the desire for things to come. It is the desire of the young lady content with her fiancé but who also longs for the wedding day. It is the desire of parents content with their baby but who also long to see her grow into a mature young woman. It is the desire of the Iowa Hawkeye fan content with the current state of the football program but who also longs for a National Championship. Hidden amongst our greatest desires is joy.

We were created to experience joy. It is one of the qualities God desires to see in our lives. As we learn to be content with our lives and to desire the right things joy will begin to show up and surprise us along this journey of life. There is joy in life and I hope you find it.

Who am I Honoring?

As I did my daily devotional reading this morning, there seemed to be a theme that ran through what I read. It began with the book of Malachi. God, speaking through Malachi, tells Israel: "A son naturally honors his father and a slave respects his master. If I am your father, where is my honor? If I am your master, where is my respect? The LORD who rules over all asks you this, you priests who make light of my name! But you reply, 'How have we made light of your name?' (Malachi 1:6; NET). Basically Israel was not honoring God because they were giving God less than their best. Do I give God my best?

The theme of honor continued as I read Mark Moore’s Encounters with Christ. In the reading that I read for today, Dr. Moore deals with Luke 14:7-11. Here we see that Jesus is invited to a banquet at a Pharisee’s house. Jesus watches as the invited guests vie for the more honored seats. Basically Jesus tells them that the thing to do is to set in the most humble seat and allow the host elevate them to a better seat. That is hard to do. We want to be noticed and have people pay attention to us. This is easily seen in this American Idol generation that desires fame more than anything else. “Honor me,” we shout.

I know that is a thorn in my side. One of my greatest disappointments in life is the fact that I am in a small, insignificant ministry position. I want people to talk about me, about my sermons, and about my writings the way I talk about Erwin McManus or Mark Driscoll. I want to be recognized as a superstar. Yet, what Jesus tells us that it isn’t about our position, but it is about serving. We shouldn’t be looking for other people to honor us, but we should wait for that time when God honors us. For that to happen we have to be faithful in the humble and difficult situations in life.

Father in Heaven, forgive me for seeking to honor myself ahead of You. I ask for the strength and wisdom to be faithful in the humble circumstances of life...

More Important than Dreams

{Genesis 37:5-11; NET}

Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more. He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had: There we were, binding sheaves of grain in the middle of the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose up and stood upright and your sheaves surrounded my sheaf and bowed down to it!" Then his brothers asked him, "Do you really think you will rule over us or have dominion over us?" They hated him even more because of his dream and because of what he said.

Then he had another dream, and told it to his brothers. "Look," he said. "I had another dream. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to me." When he told his father and his brothers, his father rebuked him, saying, "What is this dream that you had? Will I, your mother, and your brothers really come and bow down to you?" His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what Joseph said.

Joseph was a dreamer. God chose two dreams to reveal to the young man the destiny of his life. I suspect that when Joseph told his brothers and his parents about the dreams he was thinking more about the destiny rather than the process that would be required to achieve that destiny. Yet, the path to dream fulfillment that God planned for Joseph was beyond Joseph’s wildest dreams. The path wasn’t about working hard in school and developing good leadership skills, but it was about developing character and maturing faith. Joseph traveled the paths of rejection, slavery, temptation, and false imprisonment in order to live the life of his dreams.

God gave Joseph the dreams for his life. That is rarely the case for us. More often than not the dreams we have for our lives are of our own making, but that doesn’t make our dreams worthless. What gives our dreams value is whether or not we allow God’s Word to influence those dreams. I believe that God shapes the dreams for our lives when we allow Scripture to penetrate our hearts and minds. Psalm 119:105 says; Your word is a lamp to walk by, and a light to illumine my path (NET).

The problem with dreams isn’t with the dreaming, but with living them out. We may want to be the hero, the leader, the wonderful father, the loving mother, the generous giver, or the secret servant, but we don’t want to do what it takes to get there. We give up on our dreams because the journey is to hard.

Consider Joseph again. What ultimately mattered in Joseph’s life wasn’t his dream destiny, but his character. Being second-in-command in Egypt would mean nothing if Joseph didn’t remain faithful. What God desired from Joseph’s life was faith and obedience. Joseph’s dreams only had significance because he remained faithful to God when it was difficult.

What God desires from our lives, isn’t that we do something great for Him, but that we live faithful lives every day. God’s Kingdom isn’t about superstars, but it is about people with godly character. The way we will live out the dreams God has for our lives is by being people of faith. Those are the people God choses to use to make a difference.

At the start of a new year let us take a lesson from the life of Joseph. Instead of focusing on dreams and goals and becoming discouraged when we fail, let us focus on our character. In the long run our character will be far more valuable.

• Point to Ponder: Your character is more important than your dreams.
• Questions to Consider: What is a dream you have for your life? Has it been influenced by God’s Word? Why is character so important? What are some areas of your character that you need to work on?
• Prayer to Pray: Lord God, I ask that You will guide my dreams and help me see my life from Your perspective. Please provide me with the wisdom I need to make the right choices for my life...

Sunday Quote: The Victory is Won

"Scripture clearly teaches this perspective: Christ has already won the victory (1 Cor. 15:1ff.; Col. 2:15; and Heb. 2:14ff.). The crucial battle has been fought and won in the incarnation and the resurrection. The ceasefire is yet in the future. Jesus' followers continue to fight against the principalities and powers (Eph. 6:10ff.) until he comes again to bring about the final end of the war. We do not know how long the warfare will continue. As we battle the forces of evil, we also witness in the shadow of Christ's victory on the cross and his ultimate victory to be achieved at the final coming. We fight with the conviction that someday all weapons will be placed at the feet of Jesus. This concept should encourage all believers. It can also exhort all to be be faithful to Jesus and his cause." ~ Robert Lowery; Revelation's Rhapsody: Listening to the Lyrics of the Lamb; p. 43