Blog in Your Eye

I wish I could get as passionately outraged and morally indignant at my own sins first as it's so easy to become at others'- and then learn to show more mercy and grace and let God handle the judging.
(Psalms 139:23-24, Matthew 7:1-6, Matthew 5:7, Romans 7, James 4:11-12, 1 Peter 4:8, James 2:12-13, Philippians 3:18-4:1, 1 Timothy 1:15-17)
(Note: Yes, there is a place for rebuke within the church and we should do that with love and humility. Titus 1:13-16, Ephesians 4:15, 1 Corinthians 5, Philemon- particularly verses 1:8-9) As two of my favourite songs say- "I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to make a change. And no message could have been any clearer- if you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change." ("Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson- his best song, in my opinion)
But we must do this by The Holy Spirit and His power in us, not by our own strength. (Galatians 5:16-26)
And before we look to judge other Christians and help them with that speck, let's remember the log in our own eyes.
"It's me, it's me, it's me, oh Lord- standing in the need of prayer! ....It's not my father, not my mother, my sister, not my brother- but it's me, oh Lord- standing in the need of prayer." (Classic Sunday School song)
Thankfully, Jesus is there to help us. His death and Resurrection paid for all sins for one time and He has forgiven me because I've put my faith in Him and His righteousness because I know I've got none of my own. And He's still working on me and sanctifying me more each day (Philippians 2:12-13, Ephesians 2:8-10) and in the end, He'll lead me Home to Heaven with Him. :-) (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
Thank You, Lord. Help me to love more, judge less and when I do make a judgment- to make a righteous one, never forgetting that we are all equally in need of Your grace.

Lord, Teach Us to Pray

       I recently saw "Raiders of the Lost Ark" again for the millionth time or so. (I love Indiana Jones! :-)) One line I always find interesting is the way Belloq describes the Ark of the Covenant. "Do you realize what the Ark is, Jones? It's a transmitter! It's a radio for speaking to God!" Of course, while it's true the Ark did house The Lord's presence in the Old Testament during Moses' time, it wasn't really how the Israelites prayed to God. They had to go through the High Priest to make sacrifices on their behalf and they would hear what God said to Moses. It was a much different process than the direct access we have today with God through Jesus Christ! As 1 Timothy 2:5 tells us, there's one God and one mediator between God and man- Christ Jesus.
         I heard a great sermon at church a few weeks back about the power of prayer and God's ability to do anything! In thinking on that, 1 Thessalonians 5:17 came to mind, wherein we are commanded to "pray without ceasing." 
Of course, the question often arises, "How do we practically obey this verse?" While we may not be able to devote 24 hours a day to praying and nothing else, we can devote every second we're alive to be in a continual mode of prayer. I think of it as an ongoing conversation with God- He's always listening and He's always speaking to us when we listen to His Word in The Bible. 
And while we're praying, we should remember that Jesus invites us to ask anything in His Name and He will do it. But there's a caveat to John 14:13- first, it's anything asked in Jesus' Name and also, it's so that The Father may be glorified in The Son. Thus, it must be something that will glorify God and in His Name. (It's not an invitation to bring your Christmas list to Santa Claus or put money into the vending machine to get whatever you desire.)
       And if we do what Jesus said in John 15:7, we'll find our desires matching up to God's desires. So what does a guy like me need to do? The dude abides.  :-)  (And no, I haven't seen the movie that line references- I just knew the line and threw it in for fun.)
"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." (John 15:7)       Probably the number one thing I'd say about prayer- be totally honest with God. Jesus already knows all your thoughts anyway. (Psalms 139). 
One of my favorite quotes on prayer from Jimmy Abegg-
"But what God wants most is honesty, for us to open our hearts and come to Him without pretense or posturing. Some of my most powerful prayers aren't even couched in 'proper' language. Many of them I wouldn't dare pray aloud in church. But they are honest cries from my heart. Sometimes the best prayers are something like this: 'Oh my God, Help.' "         
          So don't be afraid to pray big prayers- God is able to do abundantly more than we can think or imagine! (Like Ephesians 3:20 says) It's interesting that we particularly tend to discard modern day examples of healing. (Probably because of some phony faith healers out there who do run scams, sadly.) But this doesn't mean God can't do it and doesn't still do it as He so chooses. (Check 1 Corinthians 12:9-10 - The Spirit gives some the gifts of healing and some the working of miracles- among many others. The caveat with that is that these gifts are to be used for the glory of God alone, not man's glory- going back to John 14:13.) 
         Jesus told us that with faith the size of a mustard seed (which is quite tiny indeed), we can speak to a tree and tell it to plant itself in the sea and it would obey us. We can make mountains move- by faith in Jesus' power (not our own power). And it's always according to God's will. He reigns sovereign and supreme. (See Matthew 17:14-21, Luke 17:5-6 and Romans 9)
Psalms 103:3 says that The Lord heals all our diseases. God is plenty capable of bringing physical healing- if He chooses. But we must also remember 2 Corinthians 12:1-10, where Paul was tortured with a thorn in his side- three times he pleaded with The Lord to remove it, but God didn't do it. Instead, He said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (And, as we can see in 1 Corinthians 1 and numerous other places in the Bible- check out Gideon's Thermoplyae-style battle in Judges 7 where 300 Jews fought humanly-impossible odds and won with The Lord's help...plenty of other examples- basically, see the entire history of the Jewish people- God loves to take what the world loves to despise and hate and shame the strong and bring to nothing all the puffed up folks- so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.)
As Job reminded us, The Lord gives and He takes- blessed be the Name of The Lord. Ultimately, we trust His will and His eternal love for us above our own feelings and desires. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." (Job 13:15)
In Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-13, The Lord Jesus gives what we know as The Lord's Prayer. The disciples asked Him, "Lord, teach us to pray" and He demonstrated a structure for us to follow. In it, we see some important elements of prayer- adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication and intercession.

(As written in Matthew 6:9-13 ESV)
"Pray then like this:
 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.' "
     
         And of course, we have powerful pictures from The Lord Jesus about the way God answers our prayers. No good parent gives their son a snake when he asks for a fish or a scorpion when he wants an egg. If we who are evil know how to give good gifts to our kids, how much more will our good Father give good gifts- like the Holy Spirit- to those who ask Him? Be bold and persistent in prayer- knowing that we can be confident in God's goodness. Ask, seek and knock- it will be given, you will find and the door will be opened to you. Persistence pays off, whether it's a friend coming at midnight begging for a loaf of bread or a widow pleading with a wicked judge to grant her justice in a case. Seek the Lord in the prayer closet- not making a big show of it for a reward, so that someone thinks we're oh-so-holy- but in secret where God sees what's done in secret and meets us there. (See all of Matthew 6 and Luke 18.) We have an audience with the God of the universe who is eager to bless us with things we need and answer our prayers according to His will- we only need to come to Him!         
        So, how do we keep praying to Jesus and trusting Him without ceasing? Well, we do sometimes falter in trust and faith and obedience and God is willing to forgive us when we truly repent. (Luke 17:4, 1 John 1:9) But with every breath He lends, we breathe in and keep focusing our mindset on Him (Colossians 3:1-4, Romans 8:1-11 [particularly verses 5-8]. As Genesis 2:7 says, The Lord formed us and breathed the breath of life into us. We keep breathing that borrowed air and breathe in both life and New Life- physically and spiritually. (Also check Job 33:4 and Isaiah 42:5 and Acts 17:25) "As long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit." (Job 27:3-4) "In Him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28) 
"By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." (1 John 4:13) The Spirit of His power strengthens us in our inner being (see Ephesians 3:16) when we let Him. 
Our every breath is a prayer to God- we keep the phone line open and never hang up- we keep a running text message or instant message chain with Him going- we can even communicate telepathically because He knows all our thoughts- and His Spirit brings to mind His Scripture (when we know it and listen to His voice). (Psalms 139, Psalms 94:10-11, 1 Corinthians 2:11-16, John 16:13-15 and John 17:17 and John 14:6)
"It is The Spirit Who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." - Jesus Christ in John 6:63

Trending World-Wide: Jesus Christ is Lord of All

“The stuff of earth competes for the allegiance I owe only to the Giver of all good things.”- Rich Mullins

"And all of our hopes and our dreams of worldly pleasure won't amount to anything of any measure. And all the world will fall to its knees- His Name forever. All the world will fall to its knees...And He'll take me Home."- Kevin Ludwick

I was just thinking that I get so tired of seeing "news stories" online about trending topics of transient, banal things. (This is not to denigrate the concerns of anyone, as Philippians 2:3-4 commands me to think of others as better than myself and to be concerned about others' affairs and not just my own.) However, I am not overly concerned about the trivial fluff that seems to make up so many news stories. (I suppose I'm particularly thinking now about some dress with inconclusive color patterns apparently. But there have been plenty of other stupid things that have occupied quite a few bytes of memory on computer screens and phones- and more importantly, brain cells in people's minds and space in their hearts. The shark at the SuperBowl also comes to mind.) I am not against fun at all- some things are just funny and it's okay to laugh about them.
        And I can't say I'm always perfect about keeping my thoughts and mindset on things above and not just below. But Colossians 3:2-3 commands me to set my thoughts on things above and not on the stuff of earth. 'Cause I've died and my life is hidden with Christ in God. According to Romans 8:1-11, if we set our mind on the flesh- that's death. But to set our mind on the Spirit- well, that's life and peace- 'cause then we walk according to the Spirit and when we obey the Spirit of God, He makes peace out of our chaos as we know we are pleasing God and walking with Him. As 1 Timothy 6:20-21 says, "O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called 'knowledge', for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you."
Paul reiterated this in 2 Timothy 2:16-17 which tells us, we must "avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, and their talk will spread like gangrene." Ugh!
        Note that the concern in both cases is that such foolish talk can lead people to swerve from the faith and into ungodliness instead. And with the fickleness of our minds and particularly our sinful human nature, it's quite easy to take a detour on the straight and narrow road of life into the crooked, broad way of destruction. Those off-ramps always look so inviting though! But we have to remember that the road they take us to is a dead end. The only way of life is on that straight and narrow road Jesus told us about in Matthew 7.
        What should we do instead? "But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in His testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will display at the proper time- He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen." (1 Timothy 6:11-16)
          But wait a second! Aren't we called to be salt and light in this world? Certainly. Jesus Himself commanded us to do that in Matthew 5:13-16. He prayed for us in John 17 and asked The Father not to take us out of the world but that He would keep us from the evil one. He also clarified that we are not of the world, just as He is not of the world. (see verses 15 and 16). And then see the next verse. Jesus asked God to sanctify us in the Truth; His Word is Truth. And just keep reading while you're at it. Christ goes on to say that as God sent Him into the world, He has sent us into the world. And for our sake, Christ consecrated Himself that we may also may be sanctified in truth.
         That's our daily spiritual bath right there. Christ has already permanently cleansed us through His death and Resurrection and our faith in Him- but that is where the healing started. It is completed when we reach Heaven. (Philippians 1:6) All along the way, we undergo the sanctification Jesus talked about in His prayer. And part of this means unlearning all the old things we had learned. God has to redo our minds, hearts, bodies, spirits and souls- He's power-washing the whole system until we take on His likeness in completion. "As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your likeness." (Psalms 17:15) That's what I want to see; not only when I gaze upon the glory of The Lord in His creation and in His Word- but also when I look in the mirror. Genesis1:26-27 says that He made males and females in His image. We tainted that image in Genesis 3 with sin and the fall of man. Yet God is working to restore that image back to what it was meant to be all along. And it's a continual process working in us, which is ultimately the work of The Holy Spirit in the end. Yet God still calls us to submit to Him in this work and, as our spiritual act of worship, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices and thereby be no longer conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:1-2)
          How do we effectively do this? God does call us to be separate from the world in one sense. "Come out of them and be clean and separate." "'Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate,' saith the Lord, 'and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.'" (2 Corinthians 6:17)
But we can’t effectively run away and hide from the whole world. And I don’t think that’s what God has called us to do. However, there are some things of the world that we can separate ourselves from- we don’t have to keep up with every trend of the world. We don’t have to keep up with all the entertainment of the world (especially since so very little of it is worth watching. That is a separate matter for each believer, of course, as The Spirit leads them. I’ll just say to check Philippians 4:8 and seek to find entertainment that fits those guidelines. Of course, there are some things that pretty blatantly go against all those guidelines- thus, don’t take this quick summary to excuse things God expressly forbids, like say- looking lustfully at people. That alone might eliminate the vast majority of television shows today.) And we don’t have to be consumed with the same things the world consumes its time with, as we have weightier matters for our concern. We have the eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison that our light and momentary afflictions are preparing us for, as 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us. And again, verse 18 reminds us to look not to the things that are seen but rather to the things that are unseen. What’s seen is transient, but what’s unseen is eternal. As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry echoes in “The Little Prince”: “What’s essential is invisible to the eye.”
            We can’t avoid everything sinful in the world though. We still have to go to school and go to work and go to the grocery store and bank and post office and live life. We have to associate with some people- how else are we going to obey Jesus’ command to take The Gospel into all the world? (Matthew 28:18-20) As Paul instructs the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, we can’t get away from every sin and sinner in the world- we’d have to sign up for that mission to Mars and literally go out of this world to do that! (And of course, if human beings do one day colonize Mars, then we’ll just spread the sickness of sin there since we carry that death in our bodies anyway. Of course, when we’re saved through Christ, then we carry the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our bodies! [see 2 Corinthians 4:10]) Now if we go on to read 1 Corinthians 5:11-13, we will see that Paul is talking about addressing the sin that is within the church- confronting those who claim to follow Christ yet continue in sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, reviling, being a drunkard or swindling, etc. That is a place where we do need to lovingly confront such people and if they refuse to listen, then we need to purge the evil from among us.
            I suppose the thing that frustrates me so much in the labyrinth of distractions and delights that tempt and ensnare us is not the fact that there is so much of it. That is only to be expected in a fallen world that’s blinded by the god of this age because the God of the universe, who is the same from age to age, has allowed us to be free to make choices. (See 2 Corinthians 4:1-6). And that sinful choice in Genesis 3 is still playing out. And it has a final end that will be reached one day. One day the final count will be tallied, the tares and the wheat will be separated, the lambs and goats divided and sent to the right and left and Christ will reign over all. He and His people will enjoy eternal life in Heaven, where there is eternal fullness of joy in His presence and pleasures forevermore at His right hand. (Psalms 16:11) And all those who reject Christ will be in Hell for all eternity. That is the only two destinations. No, the thing that frustrates me is how quickly I and others of Christ’s flock trade those eternal joys for the fleeting pleasures of sin. And let’s be honest- there is some amount of pleasure that comes with sin. And sometimes we even still hide that longing for the forbidden, even as we seek to have our minds retrained and aligned with God’s Spirit- and desire what He desires above all. Indeed, if we delight ourselves in The Lord, then He will give us the desires of our heart. (Psalms 37:4) And we must continue in the struggle- it’s the paradox and balance of Christian life, as Paul described it in Romans 7. The old man of sin continues to battle the new man of the Spirit. And, in moments of Spirit-led clarity, we are reminded that there is no greater joy than The Lord Jesus Himself. May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth if I forget Him and if I make anything other than Him and His kingdom my highest joy! (To paraphrase Psalms 137:6) C.S. Lewis said it quite well in his classic “The Weight of Glory: "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” (emphasis added)
          Here is a scene I would love to see occur on all the online news sites, social media and on television news shows and the radio programs and newspapers.
 World-wide trending: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it.” (John 3:16-17)
I’d love to see people posting about how much today they have been enraptured and captured by God’s love. I’d love to see people talking about the majesty and wonder of the God of the universe, Who created everything, yet loves us so much out of all His creation! (Psalms 8). I’d love to see people marveling in amazement at the grace that God has bestowed upon us through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the salvation He has made freely available to all through faith in Him!  “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.  And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” (1 John 3:1-3)
     And praise God! This is a scene that we will see one day. Philippians 2:10-11 promises that there is coming a day when every knee will bow and every knee will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, to the glory of God the Father! Even those who deny this now on Earth will one day confess it in eternity- but it will be too late then and they will be taken into judgment in Hell. And knowing this truth and knowing that we serve The soon and coming King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16), then we should all the more seek to think about Him and His goodness and righteousness and praise Him and declare Him, His love, righteous judgment and salvation to all the world! We can enjoy the pleasures God gives us in this life- our family, friends and the beauty of creation and recreation that He gives us that is pleasing to Him. (As James 1:17 reminds us, every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights.) But let us not become so consumed with the temporary things of this world that we forget to keep our thoughts centered on the eternal- on Jesus and His kingdom. As Matthew 6:33 tells us, we must keep His kingdom and His righteousness first- and then He will add all the things we need unto us.  “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of The Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life- is not from The Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”(1 John 2:15-17)  Amen.
     
These two favorite Rich Mullins songs sum up some of what I'm trying to say in this post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jj0ZTzgmGM
("If I Stand" by Rich Mullins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiXrRmtDIk
("Land of my Sojourn" by Rich Mullins)

And this totally awesome song by my brother of the same descriptor also sums it all up very well (This may well be my favorite of his songs):
http://kevinludwick.bandcamp.com/track/come-home