My husband is a whiz at doing any kind of math in his head. His eyes light up like the keypads of a cell phone…I can just envision fiber optic lines just buzzing in his mind calculating the answer. He can calculate gross profit of anything in mere seconds. I, however, have developed brain paralysis! And it is all because of a love affair. Yes, it is true I have had an ongoing love affair with a machine ever since my senior year in high school. Prior to my love affair, I was pretty decent at calculating figures in my head. Now I cannot even do the simplest division without my lover! The object of my affair is…a calculator.
You are probably thinking, “What does a calculator have to do with how I perceive God’s view of me?” What is the purpose of a calculator (besides trying to increase our check book balance when clearly we should be subtracting!)? It helps find or place value or worth of something with the information given to it.
The past 24 months has been a roller coaster with investments in the stock market and real estate market. Values that were ballooned have burst and the hot air completely drained out of these markets. Investors are left holding worthless papers; retirees are left with empty accounts that they thought would provide for them in their later years; home owners’ struggling to make mortgage payments on homes that now are sometimes below the value of those mortgages. What changed? What calculator is being used that no longer adds or multiplies…but only divides and subtracts?
On a recent morning, I awoke to the thought, “banking and living off the investment.” I started thinking, “What am I placing value on, what am I “storing up” and will that to which I am spending time and energy hold its value in order to return a dividend?
Are we living off the interest of what someone else has invested in us? Are we placing our value, our worth in what others think and speak into our lives? And is what they are investing in us “bottoming out” or yielding a “high rate” of return? If we try to live off a “ballooned” interest others place on us, make no mistake we will eventually go bankrupt. However, if we are living off the interest of what God has said we are worth, the value God has placed on us then we will yield a high rate of return in investing in others.
Our value is not based on this world’s economic system, but on a heavenly banking system.
The value system the world uses to determine our worth is ever changing because it is based on the latest guru, religion, ideas or philosophies (Col 2:8-10)
These two systems are so far apart. The world system says, “I AM #1..it is all about me” and the heavenly system says, “He must increase, while I must decrease.”
Lies and deceit are behind the world’s value system, while truth and love are the standard for the heavenly value system.
In Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life” he says,
“God was there as an unseen witness, smiling at your birth. God did not need to create you, but he chose to create you for his own enjoyment. Bringing enjoyment to God, living for his pleasure, is the first purpose of your life. If you are that important to God, and he considers you valuable enough to keep with him for eternity, what greater significance could you have?
Eph 1:5, ‘Because of his love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children—this was his pleasure and purpose.’”
Our value and worth is not determined by how others view us but rather KNOWING how God views and values us:
· God chose us…BEFORE the creation of the world! (Jeremiah 1:5; Ephesians 1:4)
·God pursues me; He knows me; He protects me; He guides me; He holds onto me; He uniquely created me; He knows the number of hairs on my head and has established the number of days of my life (Psalm 139)
· God has a plan specifically designed just for me (Jeremiah 29:11)
· God determined to give His Son as a ransom to purchase my freedom from the chains of Satan’s death chambers before I was even born. (Romans 5:8)
· God takes great delight in me even to the point of singing over me! (Zephaniah 3:17)
· God doesn’t treat me according to my sins (1 John 1:9; Psalm 103:10)
· God is preparing a home for me so I will be with Him…FOREVER! (John 14:1-4)
· God gives me peace in the midst of my troubles (John 16:33)
· God has engraved me in the palm of His hand…He will NEVER forget me! (Isaiah 49:16)
· God has given me everything I need to live (Philippians 4:19; 2 Peter 1:3-11)
Nothing..ABSOLUTELY NOTHING will turn God’s love and affections away from us...NOTHING!! He has placed such high value in us that He gave His very best for us, His Son Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:31-39).
When we understand and accept the value God has placed in us, then we truly will be able to “re-invest” that value in others.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Opposites
I love to dig into the meaning of words and recently have been thinking about the word “opposite.” The English thesaurus lists, “conflicting, contradictory, reverse” as some of the adjectives defining this word. Easter Sunday is tomorrow and like a movie in my mind this word was playing out the events that lead to this significant day in our faith walk.
Without the manger we wouldn’t have the cross. And without the cross the manger meant nothing more than a sweet baby’s birth. The Manger and the Cross are two complete opposites of life.
Both represent hope…but only one would give eternal hope
Both represent life…but only one would give eternal life.
Both represent the sacrifice of surrender…the cross was the ultimate sacrifice of obedience.
Both represented a lamb…the cross demanded the only “pure and spotless lamb” ever to be born.
The manger was under the law…the cross brought fulfillment to that law.
A star gave direction to the manger…the cross gives direction to the Star.
The manger was surrounded by angelic hosts...the cross was surrounded by thieves.
The manger gave us a servant….the cross gave us our King.
It is easier to worship the manger than the cross.
It has been said, “the character of the worshiper will always be molded by the character of what he worships.”
The dictionary defines ‘character’ as:
1. A distinctive mark, trait, quality or nature
2. An engraving instrument
The cross became the engraving instrument by which the full character of God was displayed in and through Jesus Christ (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness...Galatians 5).
We bear His character today, OR do we?
Like Jesus, do we allow God’s character, His engraving instrument to carve His distinct mark, His distinct qualities deep within us? Troubles and pain come into our lives as an “engraving instrument” to produce God’s character within us. This will always require a surrender of self.
Romans 5:3-5 “We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.
Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter (completer) of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
As contradictory as the manger and cross are, without the Hope from the manger AND the Resurrection from the cross our Promise for the future would be futile.
Without the manger we wouldn’t have the cross. And without the cross the manger meant nothing more than a sweet baby’s birth. The Manger and the Cross are two complete opposites of life.
Both represent hope…but only one would give eternal hope
Both represent life…but only one would give eternal life.
Both represent the sacrifice of surrender…the cross was the ultimate sacrifice of obedience.
Both represented a lamb…the cross demanded the only “pure and spotless lamb” ever to be born.
The manger was under the law…the cross brought fulfillment to that law.
A star gave direction to the manger…the cross gives direction to the Star.
The manger was surrounded by angelic hosts...the cross was surrounded by thieves.
The manger gave us a servant….the cross gave us our King.
It is easier to worship the manger than the cross.
It has been said, “the character of the worshiper will always be molded by the character of what he worships.”
The dictionary defines ‘character’ as:
1. A distinctive mark, trait, quality or nature
2. An engraving instrument
The cross became the engraving instrument by which the full character of God was displayed in and through Jesus Christ (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness...Galatians 5).
We bear His character today, OR do we?
Like Jesus, do we allow God’s character, His engraving instrument to carve His distinct mark, His distinct qualities deep within us? Troubles and pain come into our lives as an “engraving instrument” to produce God’s character within us. This will always require a surrender of self.
Romans 5:3-5 “We also have joy with our troubles, because we know that these troubles produce patience. And patience produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will never disappoint us, because God has poured out his love to fill our hearts.
Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter (completer) of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
As contradictory as the manger and cross are, without the Hope from the manger AND the Resurrection from the cross our Promise for the future would be futile.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Dead man walking
DEAD MAN…WALKING
John 11
This is Easter week. For some that means bunnies, egg hunts, new outfits, spring flowers, ham or lamb dinners, family gatherings, suffering, resurrection, hope, winters end and springs glorious colors…life.
Martha and Mary didn’t have the luxury of reminiscing about THE resurrection like we do today when they laid Lazarus in the tomb. Oh, they knew a resurrection was coming, just not the one they were about to experience.
Lazarus was everything to them; brother, provider, friend, safety….and now he was gone. Jesus had been a good friend to them, why didn’t he come when they first sent word of Lazarus illness? If he had, they would not be staring at a tomb holding their beloved brother. The death wails were ear piercing and heard for miles, had Jesus heard them? Tradition held that the spirit of Lazarus would hover over his body for three days listening to all those wailing for him. Would Lazarus realize his friend Jesus had not come in time to rescue him?
John 11
This is Easter week. For some that means bunnies, egg hunts, new outfits, spring flowers, ham or lamb dinners, family gatherings, suffering, resurrection, hope, winters end and springs glorious colors…life.
Martha and Mary didn’t have the luxury of reminiscing about THE resurrection like we do today when they laid Lazarus in the tomb. Oh, they knew a resurrection was coming, just not the one they were about to experience.
Lazarus was everything to them; brother, provider, friend, safety….and now he was gone. Jesus had been a good friend to them, why didn’t he come when they first sent word of Lazarus illness? If he had, they would not be staring at a tomb holding their beloved brother. The death wails were ear piercing and heard for miles, had Jesus heard them? Tradition held that the spirit of Lazarus would hover over his body for three days listening to all those wailing for him. Would Lazarus realize his friend Jesus had not come in time to rescue him?
THOUGHTS TO PONDER:
1. And then he came…"Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb."
Jesus is deeply moved when He comes to the “tombs” we live in today. He came to bring life, not death; freedom, not entombment (slavery); hope not despair. When we invite Jesus to deliver us from our tombs, He stands at the very entrance to Hell and proclaims, “I HAVE COME TO REMOVE THE STONE FROM THEIR TOMB AND TO BREAK THE CHAINS OF BONDAGE YOU HAVE ON THEIR LIVES. I HAVE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR THEIR FREEDOM.”
2. “Lord, he will stink!”
What is our odor to those around us today? Is it the “fragrance of life” or the stench of death? Will others long and crave after our scent? Or do we blend in so well with the world’s fragrance they don’t even realize we are different?
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.
3. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Lazarus walked out of the tomb with his “death clothes” still on. Had it been me, I would have felt like I was suffocating and would have ripped the grave clothes off while running out of the tomb! Until the graves clothes come off, the things of our past that bind us will prohibit us from walking in and experiencing “new life.”
4. The grave cloths only covered the hands, feet and face:
With our HANDS we receive, we give, we touch.
We ARE Christ’s hands extended to all…no matter the smell, the disease, or the social order.
With our FEET we go.
“Go into all the world”…we are to take His message of love, mercy, grace, and hope EVERYWHERE we go.
With our FACE we see and express emotions.
Do others see Jesus in our eyes and expressions or do they see the Grinch?
May we be the very hands, feet and face of Jesus to all we encounter today
Let’s be people walking in the aroma of Life…not death.
Jesus is deeply moved when He comes to the “tombs” we live in today. He came to bring life, not death; freedom, not entombment (slavery); hope not despair. When we invite Jesus to deliver us from our tombs, He stands at the very entrance to Hell and proclaims, “I HAVE COME TO REMOVE THE STONE FROM THEIR TOMB AND TO BREAK THE CHAINS OF BONDAGE YOU HAVE ON THEIR LIVES. I HAVE BOUGHT AND PAID FOR THEIR FREEDOM.”
2. “Lord, he will stink!”
What is our odor to those around us today? Is it the “fragrance of life” or the stench of death? Will others long and crave after our scent? Or do we blend in so well with the world’s fragrance they don’t even realize we are different?
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.
3. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Lazarus walked out of the tomb with his “death clothes” still on. Had it been me, I would have felt like I was suffocating and would have ripped the grave clothes off while running out of the tomb! Until the graves clothes come off, the things of our past that bind us will prohibit us from walking in and experiencing “new life.”
4. The grave cloths only covered the hands, feet and face:
With our HANDS we receive, we give, we touch.
We ARE Christ’s hands extended to all…no matter the smell, the disease, or the social order.
With our FEET we go.
“Go into all the world”…we are to take His message of love, mercy, grace, and hope EVERYWHERE we go.
With our FACE we see and express emotions.
Do others see Jesus in our eyes and expressions or do they see the Grinch?
May we be the very hands, feet and face of Jesus to all we encounter today
Let’s be people walking in the aroma of Life…not death.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Devotion
Desire…is God really all that I want and need? 2Peter 1:3-9; Psalm 37:4
Encounter…do I expect to meet God or is this a religious act? Psalm 5:3; 1 Chronicles 28:9
Visceral…proceeding from instinct rather than from reasoned thinking. God put this “instinct” to connect with him into our very depths. Isaiah 33:2; 50:4-5; Acts 17:24-28
Object of worship….is God the recipient of my worship ALL THE TIME or is He just the afterthought during troubles? Deuteronomy 4:39; 13:4; Philippians 2:9-11
Thanksgiving…am I living a thankful life no matter the circumstances? Psalm 34:1
Philippians 4:4-6; Colossians 2:6-7
Invasion…do I welcome God to invade all of me and every part of my day? Jeremiah 10:23; Philippians 2:13; Proverbs 16:3,9
Ownership…whose label do I wear? Isaiah 43:1; 48:17; Ephesians 2:10
Nature of God…whose character (engraving instrument) is sculpting me? 1 Samuel 3:21;
2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 1:20; Ephesians 3:18-29
Devotion isn’t about a “time” period or a “quiet time”, but rather an encounter that deepens our relationship with God and continues to shape us throughout the day and night. It is when we box God into a specific method or time period we then become frustrated that “the” method does not produce results we expect or have been taught to expect.
So today, let’s resolve to OPEN our hearts and EXPERIENCE the amazing-life changing-awesome-power of God! Not just for ourselves but so others can see Him and experience Him through us (2 Corinthians 4:7)!
Encounter…do I expect to meet God or is this a religious act? Psalm 5:3; 1 Chronicles 28:9
Visceral…proceeding from instinct rather than from reasoned thinking. God put this “instinct” to connect with him into our very depths. Isaiah 33:2; 50:4-5; Acts 17:24-28
Object of worship….is God the recipient of my worship ALL THE TIME or is He just the afterthought during troubles? Deuteronomy 4:39; 13:4; Philippians 2:9-11
Thanksgiving…am I living a thankful life no matter the circumstances? Psalm 34:1
Philippians 4:4-6; Colossians 2:6-7
Invasion…do I welcome God to invade all of me and every part of my day? Jeremiah 10:23; Philippians 2:13; Proverbs 16:3,9
Ownership…whose label do I wear? Isaiah 43:1; 48:17; Ephesians 2:10
Nature of God…whose character (engraving instrument) is sculpting me? 1 Samuel 3:21;
2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 1:20; Ephesians 3:18-29
Devotion isn’t about a “time” period or a “quiet time”, but rather an encounter that deepens our relationship with God and continues to shape us throughout the day and night. It is when we box God into a specific method or time period we then become frustrated that “the” method does not produce results we expect or have been taught to expect.
So today, let’s resolve to OPEN our hearts and EXPERIENCE the amazing-life changing-awesome-power of God! Not just for ourselves but so others can see Him and experience Him through us (2 Corinthians 4:7)!
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