Can You See What I See?

You know when I sit down or stand up.
    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
    and when I rest at home.
    You know everything I do.
Psalm 139:2-3 (NLT)

I pulled up outside of her house and didn't have to wait long as she came racing out of the house. She got in the car and said "You know, you were only a minute away when you accepted the ride but then you didn't take the shortest route to get here." I explained to her that when I accept the ride on the app, I could be in the wrong lane or driving too quickly to make the proper turn and then I have to take a different route to get back on track.

I've had a few conversations like that with people. They think they can look at their phone and know how I should be driving. But they can't see the big picture. They can only see what is on the app - which in reality is nothing. They can't see traffic, speed of the cars, where exactly the driver's car is, an accident or emergency vehicles. But, just because they see something, they think they know the entire story. I just smile and nod knowing what I know. Sometimes I try to explain it but I get the impression they aren't really interested.

Made me wonder how often we do this with God. We see what we see in our lives yet we think we understand the big picture. We wonder why he isn't doing anything when in fact, he is. We wonder what is taking him so long but we can't see the entire path, the bumps ahead that may cause God to slow us down or the detours we need to take to get where he wants us to go safely. We don't trust him to drive. Probably because we forget that he sees the road more completely. He knows the end from the beginning and every pot hole in between.

Have you never heard?
    Have you never understood?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary.
    No one can measure the depths of his understanding.
Isaiah 40:28 (NLT)

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. Deuteronomy 7:9 (NIV)

Yes You Can!

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (NLT)

"We have to get them off the streets. They are exciting the people and talking about ridiculous things like the resurrection of the dead. Look at the crowds following them. Who do they think they are?"

The religious sect had had enough so they dispatched temple guards to arrest Peter and John and they were thrown in jail.

Annas and Caiaphas held council and they all discussed their predicament. 5,000 men (not including women and children) now believed in Jesus. It was a movement in its own right that they couldn't ignore. These folks obviously didn't understand what they were doing. They were being misled. They didn't know the doctrines or the scriptures. Peter and John had to be stopped. They were a nuisance .

So, they brought them from jail and questioned them. "Who do you think you are? Who said you could preach these things? What authority do you have?" Peter (who was filled with the Holy Spirit) said, "Let me get this straight. You arrested us because we did a good deed for someone? We didn't do this miraculous thing. Jesus did. He is our authority. The one you hung on the cross. He is alive and well. It is in his name and in his power that we do these things."

The members of the council took notice. Peter and John were uneducated, common men. They were fishermen! They lived paycheck to paycheck. They don't have special training. They were nobodies. How were they doing this? But somewhere in the back of their minds they knew. They knew but wouldn't dare let the thought express itself out loud. What was the thought they had buried? These men, these common, uneducated men were like this because they had been with Jesus.

It's the same with us today. We think we can't do things because we don't have the man-decreed qualifications. But God knows when we spend time with Jesus there is no stopping what we can do in his name. Why? Because it is not about us or our qualifications. It's about what God can do with a surrendered heart.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

Priceless In His Eyes

The Lord said to me, 2 “Go down to the potter's house, where I will give you my message.” 3 So I went there and saw the potter working at his wheel. 4 Whenever a piece of pottery turned out imperfect, he would take the clay and make it into something else. Jeremiah 18:1-4 (GNT)

Picture it. God is bending over the table and on it is you and me, going about our lives. As he scrupulously peers into our hearts and minds, he sees flaws. There is a lot of brokenness. We work to much for things that don't last. We yell at each other at home and smile at strangers. We buy things we can't afford so we look better on the outside. We spend a lot of time "taking care of me" and not others. We focus more on ourselves and less on God. Gosh, this list could go on and on. As God looks deep, he can see what we are doing and he even knows why. He knows what lies cause us to believe we will find wholeness in these things.

You might be tempted to think he looks and says "WOW! That is so messed up. There isn't anything I can do with that!" That thought doesn't even cross his mind. Much like the potter, he takes hold and he molds and he changes us so that we can become what he created us to be. He smooths the rough edges with his love. He fills in the cracks with his grace. He keeps strengthening us with his Word and he produces a shine that emanates from the inside out by walking with us through trials.

When he is finished with us, when we are complete, we will be more valuable than gold. We will be a masterpiece. He's always seen us that way, you know. We have always been priceless in his eyes.

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

What I Have I'll Give You

Peter and John went to the Temple one afternoon to take part in the three o’clock prayer service. As they approached the Temple, a man lame from birth was being carried in. Each day he was put beside the Temple gate, the one called the Beautiful Gate, so he could beg from the people going into the Temple. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for some money. Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up.  Acts 3:3-7 (NLT)

Which one are you? The lame man or the apostle? It's sort of a trick question. You see on the surface we see the lame man begging and the apostle delivering. But, there is another contrast that I want to look at more closely. The lame man was asking for money. He had done the same thing day in and day out. If he had a really good day, maybe he wouldn't have to come tomorrow because he would have collected enough for two days but probably most days he was getting just enough to get by. Those were his expectations. He was settling.

Along came Peter and John. Peter wants to give him more than just enough. He wants to give him more than he can even imagine. Peter wants to give him Jesus. So Peter says "Get up and walk!" Peter knows there is so much more out there than what this man is asking for. He knows that Jesus has more power to transform his life than this lame man even understands. And he has the faith to make it happen. Peter was prompted by the Holy Spirit to utter those words. And he did! He believed with all of his heart that Jesus would deliver.

As I was thinking about this story I wondered about the different place they were spiritually and why they were there. Peter and John had spent a lot of time with Jesus. They'd seen miraculous things and experienced his love toward people. Their walk with him the last few years had changed them. It had grown their faith. The lame man had not had those experiences. He was never exposed to that saving power.

Then, I wondered, "Where am I?" Maybe I am somewhere in the middle? I know God wants so much more for me than the bare minimum. But I am not Peter, yet. I can only pray that as I continue to walk with Jesus that he will grow my faith and one day I too will be prompted by the Spirit to boldly issue a God command and I'll do it. In the meantime, I can say “What I have I’ll give you." And I will share Jesus.

How about you? Who are you in this story?

A Minute In It

A little time in the Word every day changes you. Take a few minutes and ask yourself a few questions. Where do I think my help comes from? My strength? Do I trust that God is vigilant and faithful? What does God protect me from? What has he guarded me from in the past? Do I believe these promises?

I look up to the mountains;
    does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
    who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

He won’t let you stumble,
    your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
    Guardian will never doze or sleep.

God’s your Guardian,
    right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
    sheltering you from moonstroke.

God guards you from every evil,
    he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
    he guards you now, he guards you always.
Psalm 121 (MSG)

What Must I Do?

At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Mark 10:22 (NLT)

This text is taken from the story about the rich young ruler.  In summary, he came to Jesus and asked what he needed to do to have eternal life. Jesus said, "Keep the commandments." He replied, "I already do." So Jesus challenged him to go deeper and sell everything and follow him. The young man grew sad and walked away.

Often when we look at this story we focus on the fact that he was really rich and we don't apply it to ourselves. We say "Have you seen my bank account? I won't have that problem." And this is where we miss the point.

Our 'thing' may not be riches. It may be status. It may be the security of our stuff. (You can still be focused on your material possessions even if you are not rich.) It may be your job, your marriage, your healthy lifestyle or your image. We could have debt coming out of our ears and still try to keep up the facade that we are fine. We are fooling ourselves if we think this story isn't about us. We all have something that we cling to that makes us feel better about ourselves and puts Jesus in second place...or third....or fourth....

You see at the very heart of the story there is a man who is following God. He feels like he's doing all the right things and he very well may be, but then Jesus shows up and says "Let's take it to the next level." The next level can look like a lot of different things. You may lose that job that gives you security or be stripped of your health. You may have your image tattered by lies or have your marriage fall apart. The 'next level' is the place that you have come to the end of yourself and you have to rely on Jesus.

It's a scary place and if it was left up to us, we won't go there. We will, like the rich young ruler, walk away and choose not to dig deeper into a relationship with Jesus. That's why when we earnestly pray and ask God to take us deeper, he will allow the pain. He will allow the hard path. Because he knows that it is only when we hold on to him and him alone will our faith grow.

I feel sad for the rich young ruler. I feel sad because the only satisfaction he knew was what he could do on his own power. The experience of going deeper with God is so much more exhilarating. To see things happen that you can't explain, to know and trust in that relationship more than anything you can see with your own eyes, that is true power. I don't ever want to walk away from the invitation to be part of that.  How about you?

She Gets On My Last Nerve

The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:31 (NLT)

I don't like her.  Really. There aren't many people I can say that about. Most of the time, I like folks. And of course, if I don't, I steer clear. But in this case, I don't like her and I have no choice but to be around her. Do you know how stressful that is if you are a Christian? In order to maintain my Christian composure I need to be anywhere else but in the same vicinity. If we could be in the same vicinity but no one spoke, that would be fine but she talks incessantly. Here is this person getting on your last nerve and you can't distance yourself.

I wish I could say that every response out of my mouth was sweet as honey. Not. I wish I could say the thoughts of my heart were uplifting and full of love. But they weren't. What I was praying about was her leaving. Seriously. So, after staring at my unhappy, unkind self for a few days I went to my knees. Not jut to pray that she would leave but to ask God if there was growth in this for me.

Of course there was. God always wants our growth. I began to think about what it means to live your life reflecting God's love. And then, I began to wonder if Jesus ever disliked anyone. He disliked the Pharisees. He was always at odds with them. But why? Because their method was leading people away from God not towards him. They were causing the people harm for their own gain. But as he was confronting them, I believe his heart was for them. You see, even if Jesus didn't like what they were doing he always, always wanted them to turn and give their heart to God.

As I pondered this, I realized that I am not going to like everyone all the time. But, how I respond to them is something I can control. As I say that, let's get one thing clear. I can't control how I respond to them on my own. If left to my own humanness, I would still be a grumpy, sarcastic, unkind person. I have to keep looking at Jesus. I have to keep looking at the heart he has for everyone. I have to long for that kind of heart and pray that God will change mine to look like that.

One of the definitions of the Greek word love is to have a loyalty towards. I may not actually like this woman, but I can be loyal to her as a child of God. I can treat her with the same respect and kindness that God has shown me. I can pray to see her as God sees her so that eventually, my heart for her will reflect his.

Pray for me. I'm going to need it.

Different But Loved The Same

After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” Revelation 7:9-10 (NLT)

If you look at the news for even a brief minute, you don't have to wait long to hear about the different tensions felt in our world. There is news of racial tensions, religious tensions, news about the upper, middle and lower classes. No matter where you look, there is a lot of focus on our differences.

Recently, my nephew asked about this - not directly, the question was about something more specific - but it made me start to think about these things at a very subconscious level. You see, we are different races, my nephew and I. I am white and he is not so we see things differently. So while I may have noticed these things, I didn't really process it in the same way he does for obvious reasons. 

Suddenly, I came across this verse. And I could see the crowds of people standing together, worshiping God. Imagine it: all different faiths, nationalities, economic levels, and a rainbow of every color imaginable. Praising with our hearts and voices raised and what we see isn't the differences in the folks next to us but Jesus. All we see is Jesus. Because nothing else matters.

Heaven. That's what that sounds like to me. Jesus says we should be living out heaven here on earth. What kind of world would it be if we stopped looking at our differences and start looking at our similarities? More importantly, what if we stop focusing on the stuff that doesn't matter and focus on what does. Jesus.

What kind of world would it be if we all lived our life understanding that Jesus came and died for all of us, not just the folks who were like us?