Limits of our Joy

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:7-9 NIV

To push themselves to these limits these athletes must have an incredible amount of discipline. Do you think they look for all of the little flaws in their performance that will spell disaster?  I have never thought that I would be a pastor that placed much emphasis on sin. I have always been attracted to the love that is offered so prominently in the Gospels. Perhaps this is because I am blinded by the wondrous freedom and joy that accompanies a life filled with God’s love. I look back and see my life without God with the attendant loneliness, heartache, suffering and egotism. I compare that to a life filled with God and wonder how anyone would not accept what God offers. During this Lenten season I have been reflecting more and more on my brokenness. As I look deep within myself to find those things that stop me from loving my fellow man I find more and more that I am missing. I am confronted with the fact that, even though I am trying to live close to God, I am still pushing away that love that I crave. Deep down in all of us we reach a point in which we say “I do not need you God!” That becomes the limit of love that we allow into our life. That becomes the limit of our joy.

What Path?

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  1 Corinthians 13:6-7  NIV

Trust God! That is easy to say, but sometimes it is very difficult to do. When we are faced with a problem is our first reaction to trust God? Many things come into our mind. Perhaps some of them follow:

How can we fix the situation?
How can we keep out of trouble?
How can we stop anymore damage?
How can we get people to do what I need?
Where can we get the things we need?

The common thread in all of these is that we are looking for what we can do and not what God can do. Why do we continually look to ourselves for the answers to our problems when we have a Love living in our hearts that will guide us on the best course? Will God really lead us astray? Should we really fear the path the Jesus leads us on? Is that the Jesus we know? Really? Really?

How is it with your soul?

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you - Psalm 116:7 NIV

I was in a meeting the other day with our senior pastor and he started it out by asking “How is it with your soul?” I have been thinking about the song It is Well With My Soul ever since then. The song keeps blasting into my brain at the most unlikely times. I find that I will begin to hum the melody at the strangest of times. I also have begun to ask, “How is it with my soul?” I would like to ask you the same question. Many times as Christians living our life we begin to loose sight of what is important. We can look back at our lives and see when and where God has touched our lives in remarkable ways. Yet in the great rat race of our lives these things get forgotten about. They lose prominence. We forget all that Christ has done for us. Take some time and think about the love of Christ and what He has done for you. When we can see clearly the depth of that Love it is remarkable how well our soul becomes.

What I Know

Tim Keller on suffering

The question of suffering brings so many of us to doubt about God’s role in our lives. We get faced with problems, difficulties and burdens and we wonder “why is this happening?” If God loved me then why doesn’t he take away these things that cause me such pain? Can I say that I don’t know. I have heard all of the arguments of why we have evil and suffering. I have wondered myself why has God not stepped in and fixed situations. Many times when I am faced with problems and they work out for the good I thank God for answering my prayers. What about when it doesn’t work out so well? When I am successful and my neighbor is not, does that mean that God loves me more? No it doesn’t. For a long time I thought that the opposite of love was hate. There is an old saying that there is a thin line between love and hate. I think this is true. There is a great chasm between love and indifference. As Keller points out, what Jesus did for us means that there is no way He is indifferent to us. So I can honestly say that I do not have many of the answers, but one thing I do know. God really does have the greatest of love for us.

Never Alone

5 year old telling the story of David and Goliath

“The Lord saved me from the paw of the lion. He saved me from the paw of the bear. And he’ll save me from the powerful hand of this Philistine too.” 1 Samuel 17:37 NIV

How do we know that God will stand by us in our time of need? What gives us the idea or the hope that God will be there to strengthen us? Our assurance of our relationship with God is a result of our past. When we look back, can we see where God was with us? From looking back into the past we can see how our life is not a coincidence. We can see God’s hand was working in our lives. But too often our eyes become blinded by our pride. We look back and proclaim “Look at what I have accomplished!” Our faith grows out of our experience of what God has done in our lives. How did David have the faith that he could slay the giant? He knew because God saved him from the lion and the bear. Our lack of faith grows out of our experience of what we have done in our lives. It is all a matter of where we are looking. When we see God in all we do, we are never alone. When we see ourselves in all we do, we are never comforted.

Sunday's Pastoral Prayer

God, it seems like everywhere we look the world is broken. The poor continue to be with us. The hungry remain unfed. Our jails are still full. The sick remain un-healed. All we have to do is open our eyes and we can find those in need. Your word tells us that with you all things are possible and with your love we have done so much good in the world. We have worked tirelessly to bring your grace to those in need. There is so much more to do. We cannot rest until your work is accomplished. Give us the spirit to continue the fight.  Remove from us all of our sins. Our sin puts us in conflict with our neighbors. It is erodes the foundation of our world. It is through you that sin becomes dead in our life. It is through the love and sacrifice of your son that we are made right with you. When we are right with you we are right with your people. Help us to forgive others in our lives that have harmed us, just as you have forgiven us of our sins. How can we hold such hard hearts when your heart is so gracious? Lord, you saved us for a reason, to continue to do your good works. You transform our hearts so that we can continue to share the Good News. You fill our lives so that we can fill the lives of others.

Stay Thristy My Friend - NOT

Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:10 NIV

One of the first things in this clip that strikes me as I watch it is the desperation of the slaves as they clamor for water. It becomes the most important thing to them. This type of need arises out of deep suffering. They are thirsty and the only thing that will quench their thirst is water. We thirst in our spirit. The life of our soul is missing the vital item to keep us alive. Without it we become dead.  The only thing that gives our soul life is Christ. So as we meet the world we also run to the thing that will keep us alive. Many times though we drink of the wrong thing and we don't find fulfillment. I hope that we can drink of the water of life and no longer thirst!