Posts Tagged ‘love’

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Return of “Bearing the Burden”

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

A while back, I wrote a post called “Bearing the Burden.”

It addressed the commandment that we bear one another’s burdens, found in Galatians 6:2.

Lately in more than one conversation, I have heard comments concerning how this is often not the case.  One of the things I have heard repeatedly is that people are often “busy” and don’t take time to involve themselves with the struggles of others in the family of God.  They have their own families, their own struggles, their own things to deal with.  On the surface, this seems to be a justifiable reason.  The time is just not there to get overly involved with others.  So folks do what they can; however, sometimes hurting people need more than a Facebook comment or a quickie email.  If that is the best we can do, we are falling short.

In the parable of the sower (Mark 4:1-20) Jesus talked about the cares of this world choking out the word of God (Mark 4:19).  We are commanded to bear one another’s burdens in order to fulfill the “law of Christ.”  What is the simplest and purest description of the “law of Christ?”  Jesus said in John 15:12, “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  The way that He loved (and loves) us was with the ultimate expession of love, giving His life as a ransom for us.  Sometimes we have to do what is not convenient, not pleasant, or not easy.  We may have to sacrifice something.  In fulfilling this commandment of Christ we are told to bear one another’s burdens.  If we fail to do this, to hold to this conviction, we are failing to love.

Another thing I have heard is that people sometimes don’t reach out.  This one sometimes comes from the fear of offending someone, not wanting to violate someone’s privacy, or even uncertainty about whether or not it is the right thing to do.  In most cases, it is best to reach out.  Sharing the love of God is never a mistake, even if someone has trouble receiving it.  If we make a mistake trying to do what is right, God will forgive.  Probably the offended party will as well.  It reminds me of the old saying, “Do something, even if it’s wrong.”  Fear of failure or making a mistake should never stop us from trying to be obedient to God.  If He gave us the commandment, He is able to give us the grace to obey it properly, and He is able to make things work out if we miss the mark.

Whether we realize it or not, we are connected.  We are also created for relationship with God and with others.  Let’s get involved and loft one another up.

Be blessed and have a great day.

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Edification

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

I really want to start this off with some scripture to lay a foundation for what I am going to say.  Romans 14:19 (NIV)  states,  “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.”  1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV) states, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

We all need and desire encouagement.  It blesses us when someone speaks something or does something that lifts our spirit, brings us hope, or simply makes us feel better.  We all like the feeling of a “pat on the back” or any other form of encouragement, especially when we are feeling down or discouraged.

This is the more upbeat side of being edified, or built up, nad we have no problem with it.  But there is also another type of edification.  The words that challenge us, bring us to a point of humility, or point out something to us that we would rather not think about.

I am not saying that we should seek out the criticism of others,  or even heed all of it,  but there are time that the very things we do not want to hear are the exact things we need to hear.  Sometimes that slap in the face is the very thing God wants to use to build us up in the proper way.

I will use this illustration.  My grandfather was not a carpenter by trade, however he could have been.  He was quite good at it and did everything to an incredibly high standard.  I remember one project that I was working on with him when he found something wasn’t up to that standard.  It was something unseen, something he could have covered up, but he chose to tear it out and redo it.  He didn’t wat to settle for “good enough” just because no one else would know.  He wanted it to be right.  And that required tearing down the “good enough” so he could build “the best.”

Likewise, God wants us to be built up in a way that is not just “good enough”, but He wants us built up to be “the best.”  Sometimes this requires tearing something out that is “good enough.”

God uses the gifts of the ministry, and even sometimes our friends, to speak things to us so He can do that in our lives.  Sometimes it humbles us, maybe even hurts our feelings a little bit for a moment,  but if we react properly and submit to God,  He will use it to make us the best we can be.

Proverbs 27:6 (NIV) says, “Wounds from a friend can be trusted,  but an enemy multiplies kisses.”  Sometimes the kind words come from people with the wrong motives, looking to gain something for themselves.  Other times they may come from a friend or acquaintance with good intentions, but the words are really not what we need.  Maybe that well intentioned soul is not really a follower of Christ, someone who gives no thought to your spiritual life.  And sometimes the truth that a God-fearing friend tells you hurts a little, but if their motives are right, they want to you be built up to reach your highest and best potential in Christ.

In the end, we need people of God to do both in our lives, to encourage us and to challenge us.  And we need to respond to both by allowing God to work in our lives and submitting to Him.

Be blessed and have a great day.

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Seeking

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009

“But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.” - Deuteronomy 4:29 (NIV)

The Bible reminds us in many places of the importance of seeking God. Likewise, it promises that we will find Him when we seek. Throughout the scripture there is promise of reward to those who seek Him.

In our modern society, many people call themselves “seekers”, and churches advertise services that are “seeker-friendly.”  It would seem that with all the “seeking” going on, there would be a lot more “finding” than seems to be evident.

This is not intended to be a rant against society or the church, but rather an encouragement.  Although I am sure that there are people who fit the description of 2 Timothy 3:7 - “always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth” - there are also many who are sincere, desperately wanting to know God.

We live in an era of mass communication and commercialization of everything in society.  It is also an era of high speed, quick-fix, ready-made, and instant everything.  Even relationships are increasingly disposable when the time investment and effort become too much for us.  We can become quickly discouraged when everything isn’t on the “fast-track” and we can’t see results at the speed of light.

Seeking God is not of that nature.  God asks us to invest our time and ourselves in pursuit of Him, in the deepening of that relationship.

Think about this as an example: the longer we know someone, the more time we invest with that person, the more we get to know who they really are.  Think about the people whom you have met that did not impress you at first.  Then when you got to know them, you really liked them.  Then think of the people that you met who made a killer first impression, but later on were found out to be people with distasteful qualities.  In both cases, it took time to discover the person. Likewise, it takes time to discover God.  The more time we invest, the more we know Him, and the closer the relationship with Him becomes for us.

It takes time and effort to grow, it takes time and effort on our part to have a truly deep realtionship with God.  But it is not impossible. The first part of James 4:8 states, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (NIV)

God desires us to seek Him, to pursue Him with our whole heart.  He promises that we will find Him, and that as we come near Him, He will come closer to us.  God is not playing hard-to-get, He is accessible and desires us to be near to Him.  Keep seeking, keep moving forward, and keep growing and deepening that relationship that exceeds all others.

Be blessed, and have a great day.

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Hello, Young Lovers! (And the rest of you single folks. And the not single, too.)

Friday, July 10th, 2009

I recently was reading an article in a well known magazine dealing with relationships between the genders (romantic relationships primarily, but to a degree others as well.)  You can check out the article here.

It brought the point up that there seemed to be e sense of extremes in the Christian community, especially among the twentysomethings.  The writer spoke of the guys who dated their way through every single girl in the church, and also of those who were focused so strongly on the “courtship-not-dating” paradigm that they really could not develop friendships with the opposite sex, thinking that for some reason or another it might lead to something “wrong”.

I find that over the years hearing many of the opinions concerning dating and relationships among Christians that the consensus is that there is no consensus.  The opinions are as diverse as the people.

So that would mean that there is no “one-size-fits-all”.  Let’s face it, dating and relationships for a teenager are different than dating and relationships for a twentysomething and it becomes even more different for a thirtysomething, especially if that person has been previously married, etc.

Some people do well living a single and unfettered life within the church (not everyone is meant for this Matthew 19:12 lifestyle) for either the short or long term.  And this is fine, there is not one thing wrong with it.

For everyone else, there is one question of self-examination that needs to be asked: Am I seeking a mate ahead of seeking God?

God must be put first.  Everyone says that God has first place, and that God governs their relationships.  Wonderful, no one ever makes a mistake in their relationships, gets into a bad relationship, or gets involved with someone who is not right for them.  Everyone is super-spiritual, right? (I know, I don’t usually employ sarcasm.  I think sarcasm is justified when it drives home a valid point.)

Of course, even if we do put God first, and try our level best, it doesn’t guarantee success.  There are two people involved, and they must be on the same page in order for that to happen.  What putting God first guarantees us is that God will be there for us, that when things do go wrong we can have a clean conscience before Him, and that He will give us the strength to face those issues.

The main point I am trying to make is that each person needs to have a pure heart before God, and let His Spirit and His word guide our decisions.  That is not just true concerning relationships, but everything.  Following God is not that complicated.  All we have to do is to let Him lead. (Check out Proverbs 3:6 before you go.)

Be blessed and have a great day.

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Love

Wednesday, July 1st, 2009

I’m not always pleased with the way I act.

My own behavior sometimes upsets me (after the fact) and I am not always so pleased with myself.

Often I have wondered how God could “put up with me.”  Over the course of time I have been inconsistent, rebellious, and angry at times.  I have been impatient, selfish, and prideful as well. (See Romans 8:8 to see where I am coming from on this. But don’t stop here, please!)

Sometimes when discussing my shortcomings and some of the behaviors and events produced by them, people have said these things were “not really so bad.”  To me it did not feel that way.  I was disappointed with myself, frustrated with myself, and was really torn inside at my failures.

It is very difficult to feel approval and validation when one doesn’t even approve of one’s self.

However, we can also understand that there is an infinite and unconditional love that comes from God.  It is why He is merciful and patient with us when we fail.   When my heart is broken over my failures, it is because I feel like I have betrayed that great love.  And it is that great love that does not let go of me, and leads me straight to Him.

Romans 5:8 tells us that this great love is demonstrated by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners.  God’s love is of a type that makes the first move. In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-31) the image of the father who runs to meet his returning son (verse 20) show us that the love of God is a love that runs toward us when we turn toward Him.

Wrong behavior, wrong attitudes, and wrong thinking can all be fixed.  Our nature can be changed by the loving hand of God.  I am in no way excusing or endorsing bad behavior. (See Romans 6:1-2)  I am saying that there is love, grace, and mercy available to us, for forgiveness and to change our lives. (Roman 5:20-21, Romans 9:14-16, 1John 2:1-2, and concerning transformation Romans 12:2, which is accomplished by His grace, 2Corinthians 9:8 - which promises grace to do all things.)

I am quite thankful for the promises and love of God, not only when I fail, but every day of my life.

Be blessed, and have a great day.

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Spiritual Disengagement

Wednesday, June 24th, 2009

I don’t have a snappy intro here. This is a topic of such seriousness that no tagline could address it properly.

It happens to a lot of us.  We find ourselves in a rut, going through the motions, and getting nowhere.

Jesus himself spoke of spiriual disengagement in Matthew 15:8 (he was referencing Isaiah 29:13), saying the people “honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.”

This would be the most extreme case, one of willful disengagement.  However, it provides us with a good point of reference for self evaluation.  Are we offering lip service to God while our heart is elsewhere?

If the answer to that question is even “occasionally”, then we have work to do.  Is our worship, our prayer, and our service to God not wholehearted?  We may be seeing warnings of spiritual disengagement.

What I am referring to does not even have to be intentional.  To the contrary, we may be doing everything right, abstaining from evil, yet still not have the heart totally in what we are doing.

It is possible that one of the greatest causes is simply the distraction of life.  In the parable of the sower and its exposition in Matthew 13, some of the seed fell among thorns, and was choked out by the cares of this world.  We sometimes find ourselves distracted by life, family, career, or whatever, and if the distractions are not overcome, they lead to a choking out of what God has placed in our lives, and we can become disengaged.

I look at this disengagement like a car that has the engine running, but is not in gear.  It can sit there and idle until it overheats and the engine blows up but it will not go anywhere.  Everything is ready to go, but until the transmission is engaged, it does nothing but make noise and pollute the atmosphere.

I believe that is important to state here that I am not saying that we will necessarily always feel or exhibit a deep emotional response in prayer or worship or even in acts of  service to God.  There are times when we continue to go forward on faith when feelings are not there, as long as the heart is right.  It is when the heart is drawn away from God that we begin to become disengaged.  Our relationship to God and with God begins to lessen in importance, and we begin to leave our first love.

The things we do start being more out of obligation and duty rather than out of a loving heart.  Maybe prayer becomes more of a ritual (see Matthew 6:5-7) or worship becomes more of a routine (Matthew 15:8, again).

One cause might be that we have left our first love (Revelation 2:4).  In this case we need to get back to basics (first works, Revelation 2:5) and renew and rekindle that relationship we had at the beginning.  Or possibly we have grown lukewarm (Revelation 3:15-18), allowing time and distractions to get the best of us, and we need to be challenged (verse 18 from the previous reference) to return and rekindle our passion for God.

No matter what the case, we have to make a move.  Disengagement is about us not moving.  We need to be active, and quite possible desparate, to get this change in us.

Although there are quiet times when God seems distant, that is when we need to pursue Him, not settle back and go through the motions, but earnestly open up the heart to Him.  We need to continue in what we are doing, but remember to keep focused on God, not to become distracted or disengaged.  It is much easier to keep going forward than to stop and then try to get started again.  Momentum is much more easily maintained than regained.

Be blessed and have a great day.

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Bearing The Burden

Friday, June 19th, 2009

I usually don’t start with a scripture in the first line of a post, but I will today: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

As followers of Christ, it is important that we look out for one another.  It is important that we invest the time it takes to address the needs of our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Speaking for myself, I think I miss the mark sometimes.  It’s not that I don’t take concern when I know someone is carrying a load that seems unbearable.  It’s that I don’t believe I go far enough.

It is a good thing to encourage someone who is straining and strugglilng to make it through.  It is great to have a cheerleader telling you not to give up, that you can make it.  It’s just that sometimes more is required.

It is also a good thing to pray for those in need of help.  God is the greatest help to anyone, and petitioning Him for the assistance of someone else is both correct and necessary.

But all to often we stop there.  Then we go on with our lives, thinking we have done what it takes.  And, yes, there are times when this is all we can do for someone.

Then there are times we need to go the extra mile.  Once we have encouraged and prayed, then what?  What do we do to help this person to carry the load?

Whatever it takes.

It may take sacrifice, it may take work and effort, it may take patience, it may take whatever we have to give.  If we truly love our brothers and sisters, and if we truly love God, we must be willing to do whatever it takes to help them to make it through difficulties, struggles, trials, and troubles.  We can’t do this from afar, we have to get in there with them.  It requires more than sympathy, to suffer the experience with them and share it, but empathy, truly feeling their pain as though it were your own and going through it right alongside them.

I think personally this is where I sometimes fail.  Although I can sympathize with their situation, I really don’t feel, hurt, and suffer with them.

My prayer is that God will teach me, and all of us, to truly be willing and able to do whatever it takes, to not only to feel sorry for the burdens of others, but to feel the pain of others with them, to share that burden in such a way that their struggle is lessened, and not let up until the load is lifted by God’s grace from their shoulders.

Do all that you can would be the best way to sum it up.  As one business man put it many years ago, “All you can do is all you can do; but all you can do is enough.”

Have a blessed day.

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We Do What We Do. But Why?

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

What is it that motivates our behavior?

A clue to one of the prime motivators is found in Matthew 22:36-40.  When the Pharisees and Sadducees  asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was, He answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”  He then added that the secondary was “love thy neighbor as thyself.”

When we do the right thing, either in what is pleasing to God or for the sake of another person, we are to do so out of love.  Not for any self-serving motive, just the motive of love.  The love we have for God makes us want to do what is pleasing to Him, and abstain from what is not pleasing to Him.

Love for others causes us to be more concerned for their welfare than our own.  It will cause us to behave properly toward others out of an overflowing heart.

We do not need to exhibit proper behavior because it is a “rule” that makes us “bad” if we misbehave.  We don’t do it to score “points” with God, or to seek reward.  When we love God and love others, that is all the motivation that we really need.

So, then, what about the other side of the coin?  What about when we fail?  Does that mean we really don’t love God, or really don’t love others?

In my opinion the problem is not that we don’t love God, it is that we love ourselves more than we love God.  In that sense, we are not loving God with our whole heart, we are keeping a little bit back to ourselves.  Then we seek to please ourselves above pleasing God.  Likewise, when we are more concerned for ourselves than the needs and lives of others, we are exhibiting a self-love that exceeds our love for others.

Following God means that sometimes we are going to face situations that require us to deny ourselves.  In the broader sense, we are to do this from day one in our relationship with God, but the problems spring up when we get down to the specific moments when we have to “put up or shut up.”  That is when our love is tested.

When we fail, it is not necessarily the end of the world.  What it is though is a sign that we need more of God and less of ourselves.  More of His love in our hearts, both for Him and other people.  By His grace, we can truly be successful in these things.

Have a blessed day!

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Hanging By A Moment

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Well, maybe it isn’t fair to use a song title as a title for my post. However, it is quite catchy, and it seems appropriate for the subject matter.

Matthew 6:34 records Jesus as saying, “Take no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”

He had been speaking about worry, concern for daily needs and provisions, admonishing the disciples to seek God first.  Another way of saying it might be to have your priorities in proper order and perspective.

The very phrase He spoke brings to mind a few thoughts about how we behave at times (and how I have sometimes behaved.)

Sometimes we are not living in the current moment, we are too much living in the memories of the past, or in the concerns of the future.

While it is important to remember the past things, it is not good to avoid the present and what is going on around us by remembering the past.  While past victories can encourage us, they do not fight today’s battles.  We have to face each day with faith in God and a readiness to deal with the things that need dealt with on that day.  Likewise, failures and hurts of the past need to be left there.  We can learn from them, and even draw encouragement that we made it past them, but we need to live in the present and not dwell on those things.

Then sometimes we are too concerned with the future.  We fret about what will happen, what might happen, and what the challenges of the future will be.  In the same chapter I mentioned, Jesus addressed the issue of worry at length, and one of my favorite verses sums it up perfectly (Matthew 6:27).  No one ever altered his height through worry is basically what it tells us.  The point is, worry changes nothing.  And, while it is good to be excited about the hope of the future, it is important to keep in mind what the future is dependent upon.  Of course, it is dependent upon the actions we take in the present.

So where does that leave us? In the moment. This moment.

We can only live one day, one moment, at a time.  The past is gone, and the future is yet to come.  We have today to deal with, good or bad, and we need to trust God to give us the grace to handle whatever today brings, good or bad.

Enjoy the day you have, thank God for it, and be blessed.

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What Do You Love More?

Friday, May 15th, 2009

I have been thinking about the question Jesus posed to Peter in John 21:15, “Do you love me more than these?”

Peter had just dined with Jesus, after he had spent the day fishing.  I was thinking about the depth of that question.  Imagine Jesus asking us a question like that.  Imagine him asking us if we loved Him more than other things.  Think about Him saying, “Do you love me more than your career?  Do you love me more than your posessions?  Do you love me more than the people I have given to your life? Do you love me more than your lifestyle?  Do you love me more than yourself?”

Sometimes when we answer honestly, it would be very difficult to say yes.  I know I have failedin this at times.  Sometimes I loved myself a little too much. Did I love God?  Of course, but it seemed I was loving myself just a little bit more.  I was wrapped up in myself, the things I wanted, the relationships I wanted, and not really paying any attention at all to what God wanted.  In addition to love, if I truly trusted Him I would submit all things and know that He has my best interests at heart.

However, God does work with us in His infinite mercy.  He shows us where we go wrong.  He is not afraid to ask the challenging questions that lead us back to Him for the answers, and bring about the necessary changes in us.

The truth is, we really don’t know how to love Him in ourselves.  Fortunately, He knows everything about love, He is the embodiment of love.  And He is a wonderful teacher.  My prayer is that He will teach me to love Him more than myself.

Have a blessed day!

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