6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” 9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” (John 13:6-10, ESV)
Approaching the time that He would be crucified, Jesus chose to wash His disciples feet at the last meal He was sharing with them. Peter, as usual, did not mind speaking up on how he felt and refused for Jesus to wash his feet. Once Jesus told him of the importance of being washed, Peter wanted much more than just his feet washed. However, Jesus further explained that Peter was already clean, except for his feet.
Trusting in Jesus is much more than just acknowledging that He has "paid for my sins". Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the Father is something that I personally identify with and enter into myself. Following Christ, the old me has been killed off and buried. The man God created me to be has been made fully alive. God has made me His son and a citizen of heaven. This was a permanent adoption, and I can rest in the fact that He will never turn away from me.
Walking through this life I will need my feet washed frequently due to the filth I get myself into. This will not always be a fun process but a necessary one. My behaviors will not always be in accordance to who I am in Christ because I often lose sight of this new identity. However, the overall ugliness that once separated me from God has been purged in a one-time washing that never needs to be repeated. In Christ, I am forgiven, a saint, a son of God, blessed, and loved unconditionally.
During this time of year that we have chosen to focus on gratitude, I am very thankful for the truth that the washing that God provided through Jesus is eternal. I am thankful that I do not have to worry about slipping out of His hand at any point. I pray that I, as well as my readers, can rest in this truth despite the temptation to think we are too messed up at times for Him to love and accept us.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Friday, November 15, 2013
Just Like Dad
Good friends of ours were visiting us recently at our home. They had their little boy with them, who was entertaining us all. I watched him as he was interacting with his mother and father, which, for some reason, really caught my attention more than usual that evening. Then, all of a sudden, something bad happened in the football game we were watching on TV. "Dang it!" exclaimed the father. I believe I yelled out something as well. Then, without hesitation, "Dang it!", exclaimed the son.
Now, before anyone gets carried away, this is not a post designed to guilt us parents into "being better role models", so if that's where your mind just went...please, reboot and then continue reading. Rather, this post is a simple appreciation of how our children tend to copy us and how this relates to us and our relationship with God.
Where does this come from? I know it's a natural tendency...pretty much everyone knows that. Our kids want to be like us, and this is clearly seen when they are young. When our children came into this world, we, the parents, were the first and biggest thing in their lives. In a healthy parent-child relationship, that child learns that he or she is loved, accepted, and protected. In a not-so-healthy environment, a child may not learn those things, but he or she still yearns for those things to be true. A child almost intuitively wants to trust the ones in the parenting role. This inevitably leads to a desire to imitate those parents, even if it is something they do subconsciously.
Created in the image of God, this must have some relevance to our identity as children of His, but have we gotten this thing backwards? I have heard many times how I need to imitate Christ. I need to "do what Jesus would do". This often times leaves me more frustrated than when I started. It should come as no surprise that I fail miserably time and time again. I am trying to imitate perfection, you know.
In watching the young man at my home a few nights ago, I noticed that no one had to ask him to repeat what his father had said. And this young man's copying of his father's behavior is not limited to comments about a football game. I have seen him copy both of his parents in awesome ways that any parent would be happy about. No one has to ask him to do those things either. He just does them, as I stated earlier, intuitively. A deep, and personal, relationship has been formed between this young one and his father (and his mother, too, of course). He trusts them, fully. He knows who they are and what they are willing to do for him. He has seen it. He has experienced it first-hand. Yes, he rebels, at times, as all children do, but he looks up to his parents and, deep down (even when he is being difficult), has a desire to please them.
I believe this to be the same with us and our Heavenly Father. We can never imitate the good behavior Jesus exemplified without first following in His footsteps regarding the trust He had in His Father in Heaven. Jesus was perfect, but by His image being displayed through that young man in the story above, I am seeing just how perfect He was in the role of a Son. He trusted His Father fully. He had an intimate relationship with God, and this led to Him doing the things His Father would do. No one had to remind Him to love others. No one had to tell Him to speak the truth. It came as a natural by-product of being God's Son.
And so it goes with me. As I fall deeper and deeper into this relationship God initiated with me and know Him as a true Father-figure, I find myself doing the good things He plans for me. This is not to say that there is no effort behind the works. I have said it before, and I will say it again: walking by faith is difficult. There is a concerted effort, but the most effort goes into my trusting Him as that perfect Father that loves, accepts, and protects me no matter what.
And for those of us that are feeling guilty after reading the story I shared above about the father and son, remember this: we don't become great parents by guilting ourselves over silly things like an angry comment at a ballgame, striving to do better, or putting on a good act. It's foolish to think we can be perfect or even fool our kids into thinking we are. The best thing we can do as parents is to be honest about and pursue our own relationship with God. Our kids ARE watching, and it's important for them to see a parent being a child in an authentic relationship with our Father.
I encourage you to follow the link below and either read the letter or watch the video:
http://www.fathersloveletter.com/
Now, before anyone gets carried away, this is not a post designed to guilt us parents into "being better role models", so if that's where your mind just went...please, reboot and then continue reading. Rather, this post is a simple appreciation of how our children tend to copy us and how this relates to us and our relationship with God.
Where does this come from? I know it's a natural tendency...pretty much everyone knows that. Our kids want to be like us, and this is clearly seen when they are young. When our children came into this world, we, the parents, were the first and biggest thing in their lives. In a healthy parent-child relationship, that child learns that he or she is loved, accepted, and protected. In a not-so-healthy environment, a child may not learn those things, but he or she still yearns for those things to be true. A child almost intuitively wants to trust the ones in the parenting role. This inevitably leads to a desire to imitate those parents, even if it is something they do subconsciously.
Created in the image of God, this must have some relevance to our identity as children of His, but have we gotten this thing backwards? I have heard many times how I need to imitate Christ. I need to "do what Jesus would do". This often times leaves me more frustrated than when I started. It should come as no surprise that I fail miserably time and time again. I am trying to imitate perfection, you know.
In watching the young man at my home a few nights ago, I noticed that no one had to ask him to repeat what his father had said. And this young man's copying of his father's behavior is not limited to comments about a football game. I have seen him copy both of his parents in awesome ways that any parent would be happy about. No one has to ask him to do those things either. He just does them, as I stated earlier, intuitively. A deep, and personal, relationship has been formed between this young one and his father (and his mother, too, of course). He trusts them, fully. He knows who they are and what they are willing to do for him. He has seen it. He has experienced it first-hand. Yes, he rebels, at times, as all children do, but he looks up to his parents and, deep down (even when he is being difficult), has a desire to please them.
I believe this to be the same with us and our Heavenly Father. We can never imitate the good behavior Jesus exemplified without first following in His footsteps regarding the trust He had in His Father in Heaven. Jesus was perfect, but by His image being displayed through that young man in the story above, I am seeing just how perfect He was in the role of a Son. He trusted His Father fully. He had an intimate relationship with God, and this led to Him doing the things His Father would do. No one had to remind Him to love others. No one had to tell Him to speak the truth. It came as a natural by-product of being God's Son.
And so it goes with me. As I fall deeper and deeper into this relationship God initiated with me and know Him as a true Father-figure, I find myself doing the good things He plans for me. This is not to say that there is no effort behind the works. I have said it before, and I will say it again: walking by faith is difficult. There is a concerted effort, but the most effort goes into my trusting Him as that perfect Father that loves, accepts, and protects me no matter what.
And for those of us that are feeling guilty after reading the story I shared above about the father and son, remember this: we don't become great parents by guilting ourselves over silly things like an angry comment at a ballgame, striving to do better, or putting on a good act. It's foolish to think we can be perfect or even fool our kids into thinking we are. The best thing we can do as parents is to be honest about and pursue our own relationship with God. Our kids ARE watching, and it's important for them to see a parent being a child in an authentic relationship with our Father.
I encourage you to follow the link below and either read the letter or watch the video:
http://www.fathersloveletter.com/
Friday, November 08, 2013
The Devil Did NOT Make Me Do It
One morning, a couple of weeks ago, I woke up from a not-so-great night's sleep. I went to bed a little later than I really needed to, and then I woke up a little earlier than I really wanted to. Oh well, no big deal, except for those that I live with. My patience runs thin and my filter is almost non-existent when I go without enough sleep. And if you think that's bad, you should see me when I'm hungry!
It would be quite easy for me to blame my irritability (and the behavior that goes along with it) on lack of quality sleep. If that's not enough, I could blame it on the fact that I had a stressful week at work. And if that doesn't prove the point that it's not really my fault, I will throw in that the weather has been less than ideal for me.
We often blame others for our own issues, but I know I often blame other things as well. Blaming others, circumstances, inanimate objects, or anything else prevents change. Blame gives me an excuse to act any way I want.
The fact is, insomnia did not make me snap at my wife that morning. On another day, being hungry and not being able to eat when I wanted did not make me act like a total jerk to the ones I was waiting on to go get something to eat. And, NO, the devil did NOT make me do any of that stuff, either.
Although it's painful to admit this, my behavior always comes from what's inside of me already. Many things in this world cause stress, but stress, at it's worst, does not cause my behavior to be bad. The very worst it can do is reveal things I am trying my best to hide. Nothing removes a mask quicker than stress. For example, it becomes a lot harder to act nice to people when we are at our wit's end. We lose the ability to hide our true feelings when we just don't have any energy left to keep our masks on tight so nobody sees what's underneath. And our true feelings, like behaviors, are evidence of something going on in our hearts, so it's important to actually take a look at them.
Instead of making excuses, no matter how good they can seem sometimes, we are much better off to own our behavior and emotions. They are always evidence of something deep inside of us. For example, my anger (that's really what it was) became apparent when lack of sleep brought it to a head. Acknowledging that it is coming from me, not lack of sleep or stress, helps me to take a look at why I am really angry. The answer to that question is usually surprising and completely unrelated to what I was blaming it on.
Taking personal responsibility for our actions allows us to acknowledge our own sin. This is part of repentance. It opens the door for God's Grace to wash over us, revealing and healing the things in our hearts that need addressing. We take hold of this through faith, because it requires trust in the Lord to be responsible with our behavior. It's scary to humble ourselves and let others see that we have messed up. It may lead to others making fun of us or pointing the finger of blame at us. It may lead to others being angry or upset at us. It could really set us back on our personal goals at the moment. Faith takes courage. It is scary, even terrifying at times, to exercise faith. It's much easier to keep on hiding and blaming everything else. But it is more rewarding to be real. Blame is bondage, whether we blame people, places, or things.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV)
In the long run, the freedom we experience when we are ourselves, good or bad, is awesome. Even when what's revealed is bad, it forces us to actually deal with things we've been sweeping under the rug. Often times the path is rough before it gets better. However, it's through this type of living that we are able to be who God created us to be.
It would be quite easy for me to blame my irritability (and the behavior that goes along with it) on lack of quality sleep. If that's not enough, I could blame it on the fact that I had a stressful week at work. And if that doesn't prove the point that it's not really my fault, I will throw in that the weather has been less than ideal for me.
We often blame others for our own issues, but I know I often blame other things as well. Blaming others, circumstances, inanimate objects, or anything else prevents change. Blame gives me an excuse to act any way I want.
The fact is, insomnia did not make me snap at my wife that morning. On another day, being hungry and not being able to eat when I wanted did not make me act like a total jerk to the ones I was waiting on to go get something to eat. And, NO, the devil did NOT make me do any of that stuff, either.
Although it's painful to admit this, my behavior always comes from what's inside of me already. Many things in this world cause stress, but stress, at it's worst, does not cause my behavior to be bad. The very worst it can do is reveal things I am trying my best to hide. Nothing removes a mask quicker than stress. For example, it becomes a lot harder to act nice to people when we are at our wit's end. We lose the ability to hide our true feelings when we just don't have any energy left to keep our masks on tight so nobody sees what's underneath. And our true feelings, like behaviors, are evidence of something going on in our hearts, so it's important to actually take a look at them.
Instead of making excuses, no matter how good they can seem sometimes, we are much better off to own our behavior and emotions. They are always evidence of something deep inside of us. For example, my anger (that's really what it was) became apparent when lack of sleep brought it to a head. Acknowledging that it is coming from me, not lack of sleep or stress, helps me to take a look at why I am really angry. The answer to that question is usually surprising and completely unrelated to what I was blaming it on.
Taking personal responsibility for our actions allows us to acknowledge our own sin. This is part of repentance. It opens the door for God's Grace to wash over us, revealing and healing the things in our hearts that need addressing. We take hold of this through faith, because it requires trust in the Lord to be responsible with our behavior. It's scary to humble ourselves and let others see that we have messed up. It may lead to others making fun of us or pointing the finger of blame at us. It may lead to others being angry or upset at us. It could really set us back on our personal goals at the moment. Faith takes courage. It is scary, even terrifying at times, to exercise faith. It's much easier to keep on hiding and blaming everything else. But it is more rewarding to be real. Blame is bondage, whether we blame people, places, or things.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10, ESV)
In the long run, the freedom we experience when we are ourselves, good or bad, is awesome. Even when what's revealed is bad, it forces us to actually deal with things we've been sweeping under the rug. Often times the path is rough before it gets better. However, it's through this type of living that we are able to be who God created us to be.
Friday, November 01, 2013
When Rules Aren't Enough
We live in a world full of rules. At times, when we struggle with authority, this can be aggravating. At other times, rules can be comforting because they protect us. In a recent experience, I noticed myself hating the rules that were blocking my goal: I wanted my son to be allowed, with his teammates, to compete at the State 2A Cross-Country Championship. A rule, unfortunately misrepresented by officials, stood in the way. This angered me a great deal, and to be honest, I find myself still struggling at times as I work through the process of accepting that things did not turn out the way I planned.
We use rules for order, and they are necessary for that purpose. However, sometimes the rules become downright excessive. It's almost ridiculous (perhaps it is at times) how many rules we have in society. We sometimes make rules on top of rules in an effort to cover all of our bases. It becomes a control issue. We try to prevent anything "bad" from happening with well-meaning rules, but they often wind up not working as we planned. More often than not, an increase in rules spurs more of a likelihood that people will try to break the rules. We are perpetual loop-hole seekers, or line-steppers (as Charlie Murphy once said).
Church-life is no different. Over time, just as the Pharisees did years ago, we have accumulated more and more rules. Do this, don't do that. We fall for the misguided notion, like the rest of society that we live in, that more rules will lead to morality, making people behave. It just doesn't work out that way. The harder we try to follow the rules, the more we miss the mark.
Our rules, of course, are just a faint, blurry reflection of God's Law. God revealed His Law a long time ago to His people. Since then, we have attempted to add to it (and take away from it at times) in order to make it into something we can follow. The truth is, we can't follow God's Law, and we certainly can't follow all the rules we've piled on top of it. The rules simply are not enough. They are not the answer. No matter how hard we try, we find over and over that we are incapable of keeping the Law. And our rules, although they are necessary to an extent and helpful, just don't provide the protection and morality that we often hope they will.
What is missing with our rules? What is missing when we strive to follow God's Law? Grace. When we are so stuck in our position regarding a rule, things that only Grace can grow in us (things like love, patience, and mercy) fall to the wayside. Jesus once said, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on the Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?" Although the obsessive rule-follower might say, we can't break the rule of resting on the Sabbath, Grace screams out of love, "You're son needs you! Help him out of the jam he is in!".
Obviously, God's Law regarding rest is important to follow, but there are times when other things become the priority. We only realize this when we are comfortably residing in His Grace. The Law is good, and rules can be good...but when Grace is absent, they are all a curse. When we are pushing ourselves to be good by "doing all the right things" and "not doing the wrong things", we are missing Grace, which is the one thing that gifts us with what we really need. Relying on Christ's fulfillment of the Law is the only way to fulfill it, not attempting to keep it ourselves. And mysteriously, when we truly follow Him, we are more apt to fall right in line with what the Law states. When we trust Him, we also love, forgive, work, rest, and worship the One who has freely given us His Grace.
And for me and my recent bad experience with rules and those enforcing them, Grace is the answer here as well for my anger and hurt. I must continue the fight to trust the One who is Sovereign. I must remind myself of the truth that He is greater than any decisions made by a human governing body. Not only that, but He is able to work far greater things out of a situation than any plan I could come up with, even when I felt so strongly that mine was the only way things could be made right. Fighting for my son and his teammates was an honor and a blessing, and I don't regret it one bit. Now I must trust that One who is infinitely mightier than me has been, and is currently, fighting for them as they move forward after this difficult time in their lives.
We use rules for order, and they are necessary for that purpose. However, sometimes the rules become downright excessive. It's almost ridiculous (perhaps it is at times) how many rules we have in society. We sometimes make rules on top of rules in an effort to cover all of our bases. It becomes a control issue. We try to prevent anything "bad" from happening with well-meaning rules, but they often wind up not working as we planned. More often than not, an increase in rules spurs more of a likelihood that people will try to break the rules. We are perpetual loop-hole seekers, or line-steppers (as Charlie Murphy once said).
Church-life is no different. Over time, just as the Pharisees did years ago, we have accumulated more and more rules. Do this, don't do that. We fall for the misguided notion, like the rest of society that we live in, that more rules will lead to morality, making people behave. It just doesn't work out that way. The harder we try to follow the rules, the more we miss the mark.
Our rules, of course, are just a faint, blurry reflection of God's Law. God revealed His Law a long time ago to His people. Since then, we have attempted to add to it (and take away from it at times) in order to make it into something we can follow. The truth is, we can't follow God's Law, and we certainly can't follow all the rules we've piled on top of it. The rules simply are not enough. They are not the answer. No matter how hard we try, we find over and over that we are incapable of keeping the Law. And our rules, although they are necessary to an extent and helpful, just don't provide the protection and morality that we often hope they will.
What is missing with our rules? What is missing when we strive to follow God's Law? Grace. When we are so stuck in our position regarding a rule, things that only Grace can grow in us (things like love, patience, and mercy) fall to the wayside. Jesus once said, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on the Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?" Although the obsessive rule-follower might say, we can't break the rule of resting on the Sabbath, Grace screams out of love, "You're son needs you! Help him out of the jam he is in!".
Obviously, God's Law regarding rest is important to follow, but there are times when other things become the priority. We only realize this when we are comfortably residing in His Grace. The Law is good, and rules can be good...but when Grace is absent, they are all a curse. When we are pushing ourselves to be good by "doing all the right things" and "not doing the wrong things", we are missing Grace, which is the one thing that gifts us with what we really need. Relying on Christ's fulfillment of the Law is the only way to fulfill it, not attempting to keep it ourselves. And mysteriously, when we truly follow Him, we are more apt to fall right in line with what the Law states. When we trust Him, we also love, forgive, work, rest, and worship the One who has freely given us His Grace.
And for me and my recent bad experience with rules and those enforcing them, Grace is the answer here as well for my anger and hurt. I must continue the fight to trust the One who is Sovereign. I must remind myself of the truth that He is greater than any decisions made by a human governing body. Not only that, but He is able to work far greater things out of a situation than any plan I could come up with, even when I felt so strongly that mine was the only way things could be made right. Fighting for my son and his teammates was an honor and a blessing, and I don't regret it one bit. Now I must trust that One who is infinitely mightier than me has been, and is currently, fighting for them as they move forward after this difficult time in their lives.
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