Real Change – Pressing On In His Footsteps

On Departing Hollow Pathways

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 Phillips For, if a man is in Christ, he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for He has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ; and He has made us agents of the reconciliation. God was in Christ personally reconciling the world to Himself—not counting their sins against them—and has commissioned us with the message of reconciliation. We are now Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were appealing direct to you through us. As His personal representatives we say, “Make your peace with God.” For God caused Christ, who Himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God.

“Environment, nurture, wounds, relationships, choices, and experience—all of these leave their mark on us. Over time, our responses become habits, habits become patterns, and patterns begin to feel less like something we do and more like simply who we are. The deeper these “hollow pathways,” the less we even notice we are walking in them. That may be the most dangerous thing about the old self: from the inside, these “hollow pathways” can feel perfectly normal. We need a life other than our own to expose them—a different Spirit, a different standard, a different way of being human. And this is precisely what Christ gives us: not merely a better pattern to imitate, but His own life within us.” Mark Slomka, my pastor for life, from his Merely Human Blog

Observation

We humans are a messy bunch. We are imprinted with the experiences of our pasts – good and bad. Our families can be nurturing or wounding or both. The struggles – emotional, physical, spiritual – that mark our lives can establish strong character or undermine us. “Over time, our responses become habits, habits become patterns, and patterns begin to feel less like something we do and more like simply who we are… That may be the most dangerous thing about the old self: from the inside, these “hollow pathways” can feel perfectly normal.”

This is our legacy from Adam and Eve choosing to make themselves the gods of the knowledge of good and evil. Humans are much to swayed by pride, inconsistent and wobbly in sense, perspective and understanding, to be any good at it. In Christ, we have an opportunity to reconcile their mistake. We can bypass the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and, through reconciliation provided by the Cross and continued submission to the work of the Holy Spirit in us, reestablish and sustain the relationship our God intended at the beginning. “For, if a man is in Christ, he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new. All this is God’s doing, for He has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ…” What an extraordinary price to pay for relationship with us!

Impact on Me

The quote above is from a very wise pastor that God gifted into my life. One of the gifts he exercised so well was challenging me to examine and evaluate the “hollow pathways” of my life. He challenged me to be made new in Christ, to live above the circumstances of my past (temporary and temporal) by pursuing and embracing the eternal and holy. He was an example to me of a merely human person in active pursuit of the fullness of the relationship Christ died to provide. I provided a link to his blog above.

“For God caused Christ, who Himself knew nothing of sin, actually to be sin for our sakes, so that in Christ we might be made good with the goodness of God.” This is my goal. To allow this mere human (emotionally wobbly and flawed) to be overcome, overwhelmed and overflow with the goodness of God, with the mercy and grace of Christ, with the anointing of His Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus died for me (and us) to be. It is up to me to allow Holy Spirit to do the work to make it happen.

Devotion

Father God, Creator, Redeemer, Lover of My Soul, You are worthy of all worship and praise. I stand in awe of Your love for us, the value You place upon a relationship with us, the lengths to which You are willing to go to pursue and woo us. I want to be surrendered to Your Holy Spirit so completely that You can dwell in me and I will be completely at rest in You. I know that this will require sacrifice – forgiving/letting go of my past wounds, laying down my rights and expectations, being willing to be a fool for Your purposes and so much more. Help me to remember when the choice comes that this is departing my hollow pathways to journey with You. Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

On Being Part of the Permanent

1 John 2:15-17 MSGDon’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

1 John 2:15-17 Phillips Never give your hearts to this world or to any of the things in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. For the whole world-system, based as it is on men’s primitive desires, their greedy ambitions and the glamour of all that they think splendid, is not derived from the Father at all, but from the world itself. The world and all its passionate desires will one day disappear. But the man who is following God’s will is part of the permanent and cannot die.

Observation

So, here we are again standing by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. John is telling us that “Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important…” is eating that same fruit. If we do so, we are choosing to value (want) everything that is temporal, passing away, of no eternal value. God has not said through John that we cannot have and enjoy things, or be good leaders, or attain high positions. However, He is saying that we must watch the motives – is it to serve Him, His purposes, and His reward system or all about me, me, me and what I get out of it here and now.

I love this phrase – “The man who is following God’s will is part of the permanent and cannot die.” This is not speaking about physical death of the body but, rather, about the permanence of the rewards of eternal life guaranteed by placing our full trust in the Father and choosing obedience over our reputation, possessions and praise for our accomplishments. To follow God’s will be hard on all that is acclaimed and held dear by the world’s system (“men’s primitive desires, their greedy ambitions and the glamour of all that they think splendid” – KJV “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”).

Impact on Me

I am guaranteed eternal life by the salvation provided in Christ. John is speaking here to those who have done the bare minimum without any further investment in bringing the Kingdom. John is speaking of the necessary equipping and the map for the journey of sanctification, becoming more like Christ. Jesus tells me in Scripture to be lightly attached to the things of this world even though I must have things to live in it. The Father knows what I need and will provide it. He also tells me to overcome through love all that is evil in this world (driven by lust and pride). Here John says it again. “Never give your hearts to this world or to any of the things in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time.” I must not value temporal things above eternal ones.

In this chapter, John reminds me that loving the Father and loving my neighbor (really anyone including my family) are interconnected. He is warning me that the love of me and what I have at the expense of others is not moving me along the road to sanctification (becoming more like Jesus). Being generous with what I have, content in where He places me, loving my enemy, praying for those who spitefully use me, freely extending forgiveness to those who mock and abuse me, trusting God to avenge in His time and way – these are footsteps forward on the journey. These kinds of reactions to the world’s system may be slightly wounding to my soul (my pride, my reputation, my social status), but they are milestones on my path and please my Father in Heaven.

Devotion

Eternal Father, Redeemer, Comforter, Teacher, Almighty God, You are everything true Love embodies. I want to do more than just the minimum. I want to demonstrate my gratitude for all You have done for me by loving and serving all you bring my way so they may be changed by Your Love as I was. I want to be one who is recognized as Yours in all I do. Keep me watchful so I can always be following Your will and living/walking in the “permanent” (eternal) every day. I ask this in Jesus’ name.

On Disreputable Characters

Matthew 9:9-13 MSG Passing along, Jesus saw a man at his work collecting taxes. His name was Matthew. Jesus said, “Come along with me.” Matthew stood up and followed him.

^10-11Later when Jesus was eating supper at Matthew’s house with his close followers, a lot of disreputable characters came and joined them. When the Pharisees saw him keeping this kind of company, they had a fit, and lit into Jesus’ followers. “What kind of example is this from your Teacher, acting cozy with crooks and misfits?”

^12-13Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”

Matthew 23:13-14 Phillips “But alas for you, you scribes and Pharisees, play-actors that you are! You lock the door of the kingdom of Heaven in men’s faces; you will not go in yourselves neither will you allow those at the door to go inside.

Observation

Tax collectors, especially Jewish ones, were anathema and traitors to the Jews because they served the Romans by agreeing to extract (and profit from) exorbitant taxes imposed on their fellows. Anyone who associated with a tax collector would be a “disreputable character” in the sight of both Pharisees and fishermen. Jesus regularly engaged in this kind of shock therapy with His disciples to break down their strongholds of prejudice and judgment created by tradition and teaching of the religious leaders.

Jesus also purposely challenged the man-made rules of the Pharisees, but never broke Mosaic Law. Jesus accused the Pharisees of being so obsessed with duty and form that they missed the heart of God – grace, mercy and redemption. He accused them of misinterpreting God’s intended relationship with His creation. In Matthew 23 Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites who played the role of true spiritual men but were really only playacting rather than serving God with a pure heart. Above He accused them of foolishly and jealously (and unnecessarily) guarding the door of Heaven to keep out disreputable characters and missing the blessing of entering in themselves. Jesus came to throw the doors open wide.

Impact on Me

So, I have to ask myself – who do I consider disreputable characters, traitors, unworthy of heaven? Who do I mark as unredeemable, untouchable, crooks and misfits? Where am I playing the role of a spiritual woman to look good when my actions don’t represent what is in my heart? Where are the places in me that I don’t want Jesus to challenge and the Holy Spirit to touch? Hard questions that must be answered if I want to avoid playing a role and start living a holy life.

When I was first saved, my husband and I had a charter sportfishing boat. We spent many hours a day at the docks. The docks harbor many people who lead a rough and raw life – most of us would label them disreputable characters. On our way home one day I was thinking about (and judging negatively) a man on the docks who was coarse, hedonistic and disrespectful to women. In that Pharisee moment, I saw him as filthy and unredeemable. The Holy Spirit in His grace and mercy hit me with the baseball bat of His insight and I heard, “Yes, that is what your soul looked like before you received Jesus.” I wept because I realized that I had so easily forgotten the undeserved and overwhelming grace and mercy I received from the God Who gave His only Son for me and for Whom all is possible. This is why I need to ask myself again and again the questions above, allowing Jesus to examine my heart and the Holy Spirit to change me for the better.

Prayer

O Lord, God of the Impossible, Father of Mercy and Grace, how quickly I tend to judge other’s worth when I need to be judging my response to the grace and mercy I have received. I want to be a Pharisee in diligence, in studying Your Word, but keep me from falling into the trap of thinking that You are performance-based and give more worth by my achievements. Keep my heart soft toward the disreputable characters, the crooks and misfits that I might be an instrument of redemption in Your Hand. May I be one hugging and welcoming those who enter Your gates. Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

On Location, Location, Location

Ephesians 1:3-8 NIV All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. ⁴Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. ⁵God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. ⁶So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. ⁷He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. ⁸He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

Observation

Many of my relatives worked in real estate. They always said it was better to buy a fixer upper in a good location than to buy a beautifully remodeled house in a rundown or troubled area. The location ultimately controlled the value, not the quality, size or appearance of the house. Money, skill and time invested wisely in the fixer upper in a good neighborhood would bring a good return. However, those same things spent on the home in the undesirable area were probably not going to generate the desired return.

I can see the same principle at work in the verses above. The premium location is in Christ, where we, as the fixer upper, gain value as we allow the Holy Spirit to remodel us to God’s standards. We are made whole and holy by His love from foundation to roof top. We are made free from fault and, as we allow, fully restored in Him by the Holy Spirit.

No matter what we invest in self-improvement, no matter what we accomplish, no matter how much wealth we gather to ourselves, outside of Christ we reside in a location that on its own merits will generate no positive eternal return on investment. While we may look beautiful on the outside, the cracks in the foundation and all the other hidden faults remain. However, when we are relocated into Jesus’ neighborhood and give Him freedom to fix us, He can find and repair all those hidden faults (false religion, deceptions, sins, habits) until we are completely new – “God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.”

Impact on Me

When I came to Christ, I was a definite fixer upper. I accepted that there was a God and went to church but did not understand that He wanted to be personally involved in my life. I was probably considered a good person, but I, like us all, had many hidden faults and a few cracks in my foundation that needed fixing. In the beginning, I confess that I was ashamed for Him to see some of my hidden faults but came to understand that He was not ashamed of me or anything He found in me. He was there to set me right, to make me whole and holy in His love. I learned through trial and error that He would do all that I allowed Him the freedom to do – evidence that His grace also came with increasing “wisdom and understanding.”

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.” This is an astounding realization! Not only did He begin to remodel me from bottom to top, but also to lift me up and move me into His own household, one I could never afford on my own. I love these verses because they so reflect my joy and gratitude for the richness of His grace toward me in making me family, in giving His son so I could be His.

“So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”

Prayer

Lord God, You are unbelievably gracious and merciful, loving and forgiving. I do joyfully and gratefully praise and worship You, so rich in kindness and grace that You paid the price I could never pay so that I might be free, so that I might be redeemed and transformed through life in Christ. You planned it all long before I was born and patiently drew me for 30 years before I repented for my sin and accepted all the grace and redemption You were offering. Help me to give You freedom to remodel me so, in all I say or do, others will praise Your handiwork and give glory to You for all You have done. May I be a home for all the family and even strangers to experience Your hospitality as You express it through me. Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

On Handicaps

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (MSG) Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, “My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.” Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

Observation

Paul considers his “thorn in the flesh” to be a gift because it reminds him that no healing or miracle is done in his own strength. He is reminding us all that no matter what we bring to God’s work (talent, ability, education or ??) or accomplish in His name, we need to humbly give all the praise to Him, recognizing that it all arises from what we allow Him to do and be in and through us. Paul knows that God can give any power, authority, talent, wisdom, strength, ability, words and any other resource to any one at any time to accomplish His will and purpose. We should not consider ourselves special because He chose to give us a few that impress people. Look at the artisans who constructed the Temple – no one is humanly talented enough to beat that elaborate candlestick out of one lump of gold. God must have had His hand in it.

We see God in Scripture reminding us of Who He is (“the Lord High and Mighty) and who we are if we remain meek and humble, allowing Him to be our strength. One of my go-to stories is always Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into the fiery furnace and coming out alive without smelling like smoke! When I feel completely overwhelmed and insufficient, I am reminded the four lepers of 1 Kings 7, considered worthless by the city and yet the ones who brought salvation from desperate famine. And then there is Jesus, Who drove sickness, disease and demons out with a word or a touch.

Paul is saying that his “gift of a handicap” rescues him from becoming prideful and accepting praise for God’s works. Paul’s handicap is a constant reminder that when he allows God to be strong in his weakness, God comes in like a flood and accomplishes all He has planned.

Impact on Me

I am a person who does not like to be the center of attention. Please don’t hand me the microphone! This does not mean that I do not struggle at times with being unrecognized (which pride translates as unappreciated). I have to burn calories to change the devil’s recording – “That was really bad! No one thinks you are doing a good job! You said what!? You are hopeless!” and so on. I have to replace that recording with what Jesus says about me – “You are a child of God and a temple of the Holy Spirit. I am with you and will never leave you. I love and appreciate you and that will never change. I have called you and will give you all you need to accomplish My will and purpose.”

“I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness.” Pride always exposes weaknesses to condemn and accuse, but Paul is telling me (and you) that God exposes weaknesses so, when I surrender, I can flow in His strength. This is a new perspective for me. I am being asked to ignore the judgment, criticism and culture of my world to accept and see my life, my thoughts, my doings from God’s perspective. As with Paul, my handicaps are meant to expose those hidden pockets of pride, my weaknesses, my “high and mighty” thoughts so I can take my limitations in stride and let Jesus take over.

Prayer

Lord, I want to take my limitations in stride and with good cheer, as Paul did. I want to be surrounded by others who understand and accept limitations as opportunities for You to be strong and mighty. I want to trust You enough to wait until You are ready to do a thing, even if I am getting really nervous or anxious from what I see as urgent. Give me the gift of always being aware of my limitations and how they can be an opportunity for You to be strong. I want to live a life surrendered to You, dependent upon You, listening to You, guided by You, awash in You. Draw me into the garden with You more and more. I love You, Lord. In Jesus’ Name, make it so.