Following the directions

(Originally written November 7)

Today: 2 John – Jude

Today I put together something I’d never put together before. I’m attending a conference where my company is a sponsor with a booth…a booth with a large display I had never set up before. At first it was a HUGE overwhelming struggle. One of the boxes I needed was locked…and I didn’t have a key (luckily I realized it would open with the flathead screwdriver in another box!). There were about 12 metal plates that seemed to have no purpose whatsoever. It was like a giant Erector set gone wrong (and I never even played with those!).

Luckily, after struggling for 15 minutes or so, I found a piece of paper that saved the day…the directions. :) Once I had them, putting the display together was pretty simple.

The Bible has a lot of instructions (as we’ve already seen) and today’s passage is no exception. The section that stood out to me today included directions for dealing with sin, people who haven’t yet accepted Christ and people who have turned away from God. Take a look:

Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith.
Go after those who take the wrong way.
Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin.

These seem like relatively simple instructions. But I think the hardest to wrap my mind around is the idea of being tender with sinners, but not soft on sin—it’s not exactly easy to practice.
I may not be a master at it, but I think this is one direction that works. Let people know how much you care about them…really. Take an interest in them as people. Be there for them as a friend. When sin issues come up, let them know what you think and why in a kind, unpreachy way. And continue to care about them, even when you learn about sin issues in their lives. We all have sin issues—but accepting the love and forgiveness of Christ is probably the best direction we could ever follow.

Tomorrow: Revelation 1-3

Get real...really

(Originally written Nov. 6)

Today: 1 John

“Real” is a favorite word of my generation—but does it really mean?

In today’s passage, the writer talks about “living in God’s reality”—the reality of love. Let’s read it here:

My dear children,
let’s not just talk about love;
let’s practice real love.
This is the only way we’ll know we’re living truly,
living in God’s reality.
It’s also the way to shut down debilitating self criticism,
even when there is something to it.
For God is greater than our worried hearts
and knows more about us than we do ourselves.

I thought it was interesting to see love and fear discussed throughout this passage. God and His love “shut down” things like self criticism. However, that only happens when love is practiced, not just discussed. It’s good to know that real love is much greater than fear—and that a real God is greater than anything we might worry about.

So let’s get real: Let’s not just hear it or read it; let’s believe it and live it. Love God, love people—and allow God to love you. Really.

Tomorrow: 2 John - Jude

The wonder of growth

Today: 2 Peter

I've been up since 4:00 AM this morning...and now it's 11:20 PM (in my current timezone). It's been a long day of traveling in airports and on airplanes. I really don't travel a lot, but today I realized just how used to it I'm getting...and maybe not in a good way.

I had this realization while sitting on my last flight, across the aisle from a young boy who was about five years old. When the airline safety video played, I was reading a magazine, while he sat mesmerized. When the plane took off, I was still reading the magazine while he strained his head to peek out the window. And when we landed at our destination, I was waking up from a nap while he exclaimed, "WHOA! That was AWESOME! How did it do that? I've never seen that before!"

The little boy was filled with the wonder of flying, while I was just wondering when I'd finally reach my hotel, grab dinner and check my office e-mail.

I think sometimes our relationships with God can be like our relationships with flying. In today's passage, Peter talked about the importance of continually growing:

So don't lose a minute

in building on what you've been given,

complementing your basic faith

with good character,

spiritual understanding,

alert discipline,

passionate patience,

reverent wonder,

warm friendliness,

and generous love,

each dimension fitting into and developing the others.

With these qualities active and growing in your lives,

no grass will grow under your feet,

no day will pass without its reward

as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.

Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you,

oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

Peter's message here rings so true today in light of my experience today with a little boy on an airplane (who was even wearing the plastic "wings" pin!). God deserves my reverent wonder...if I lose it and stop growing, I begin to take Him for granted. I'll miss the blessings in front of my face and become oblivious to the sheer gift that is salvation. I never want that to happen.

And on my next flight, I may strain to peek out the window, clap when the plane lands or ask for some plastic wings. Why not?

P.S. Dear blog followers--I'm on the road this week and may have unreliable Internet access. However, I promise I'll write daily and eventually get everything on the site...just know that the postings may be a little delayed.

Pride and prejudice

Today: 1 Peter

"Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen is my all-time favorite book. I've read it at least once every year, since high school English class when I read it for the first time. I love the characters and the dynamics. Unlike many women, I don't really love Mr. Darcy (or Colin Firth, for that matter). What I love most is the story...and how something written hundreds of years can still ring true today.

Pride and prejudice are dynamics we all face. Have you ever thought about their impact on your life as a Christian? Their impact on your relationships with people who don't share your faith? Take a look at a portion of today's passage:

Friends, this world is not your home,

so don't make yourselves cozy in it.

Don't indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.

Live an exemplary life

among the natives

so that your actions

will refute their prejudices.

Then they'll be won over to God's side

and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

Hmm...it's interesting that the ego of the Christian is mentioned in a passage that also talks about prejudice from people who don't believe in God. Why?

When we let go of our egos, our souls--and Jesus at work in them--can shine through our "exemplary lives." If our egos are in the way, people see our pride instead of Christ--it's a big turn-off that may make them prejudiced against Him. Ouch. Let's win them over by living lives of love, letting God shine through our everyday actions, attitudes and hearts.

The gift of...challenge

Today: James

"Dear God - I really didn't pray for patience..."

If you're like me, maybe you've thought or actually prayed this at some point or another. :) I honestly don't love dealing with difficult people or situations. I don't love waiting for an answer to prayer. I don't love seeing people I love sick or hurting.

But maybe I should learn to love these moments...as weird as that sounds. Here's what today's passage said:

Consider it a sheer gift, friends,

when tests and challenges

come at you from all sides.

You know that under pressure,

your faith-life is forced into the open

and shows its true colors.

So don't try to get out of anything prematurely.

Let it do its work so

you become mature and well-developed,

not deficient in any way.

If you don't know what you're doing,

pray to the Father.

He loves to help.

You'll get his help,

and won't be condescended to when you ask for it.

Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.

Challenges themselves can be awful. BUT it is an AMAZING feeling to know that God is with you in the midst of your challenge. He LOVES to help you and offer direction.

And it's pretty incredible to overcome a challenge--to see what, with God's help, can happen. That's a total adrenaline rush! But it's only a gift we receive because of...you guessed it...a challenge.

Tomorrow: 1 Peter

Heroes

Today: Hebrews 11-13

I've only seen a few episodes of the TV show "Heroes," but I know that each of the lead characters in the show has some sort of supernatural power. That's cool, I guess...but I think the most incredible heroes are sometimes just real people...people who may seem otherwise ordinary, but who have lived extraordinary lives.

Today's passage talks about some of the heroes of the Bible--ordinary people who may have seemed a little...well, crazy...at moments. Like Noah, a guy who built a Titanic without any water around at all. Or Sarah--a woman WAY past normal child-bearing years--who became the mother of a nation. These people were heroes, not necessarily because of who they were or what they accomplished, but because of what they believed.

I love this verse at the start of the passage:

The fundamental fact of existence is that

this trust in God,

this faith,

is the firm foundation under everything

that makes life worth living.

It's our handle on what we can't see.

I don't know about you, but I for one, have sometimes struggled with having faith and trusting God. In America today, being "self-made" is in--it's part of being "independent," "realistic" or "in control." We work and we try and we do and we push...toward whatever we think possible. The problem? We sometimes forget to ask for God's help. We forget to exercise even a little bit of faith.

But in my life (and yours, too), faith is required. Sometimes I'm reminded just how much I don't know...and how much I don't control. I may not think I need God to provide direction for my life...but I definitely want Him to! Anything I face is much better when He's involved.

Just because heroes of the past paved the way for us to learn about God and faith does not mean we don't need to live in faith ourselves. On the contrary--how much more faith should we have knowing what God did before us?

Here's what Paul said in today's passage:

Do you see what this means—

all these pioneers who blazed the way,

all these veterans cheering us on?

It means we'd better get on with it.

Strip down, start running—and never quit!

No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.

Keep your eyes on Jesus,

who both began and finished this race we're in.

Study how he did it.

Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—

that exhilarating finish in and with God—

he could put up with anything along the way:

Cross, shame, whatever.

And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.

When you find yourselves flagging in your faith,

go over that story again, item by item,

that long litany of hostility he plowed through.

That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

The Goo Lady...and the Great God

Today: Hebrews 7-10

"I'll be the Goo Lady!" I said this morning in a meeting with my team members in the preschool class.

As the designated Goo Lady, my role involved cleaning out the goo, gunk and seeds of a pumpkin--a pumpkin that represented our hearts full of sin or bad things like "kicking," "lying," and "punching" (according to the four-year olds).

In our lesson today, we talked about how when we ask Him, Jesus can clean out the "goo" of our hearts and make us clean inside and out...like the pumpkin appeared after my stint as the Goo Lady. It was pretty amazing to watch the kids' wide eyes light up when they saw the goo and thought about the way Jesus can clean their hearts.

When I read today's passage, it reminded me of that lesson. Take a look:

If that animal blood and the other rituals of purification

were effective in cleaning up certain matters of our religion and behavior,

think how much more the blood of Christ

cleans up our whole lives,

inside and out.

Through the Spirit,

Christ offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice,

freeing us from all those dead-end efforts to make ourselves respectable,

so that we can live all out for God.

This morning with the preschoolers, the teacher asked, "How do we clean out the bad stuff or goo in our lives?"

"We reach in and take it out!" one child suggested.

"How could we do that?" the teacher replied. "I can't reach inside my heart and grab anything out, can I?"

She was right. You and I can't make our hearts goo or sin-free. That's a dead-end effort. No--we need a Great God to do that...not just a Goo Lady.

Tomorrow: Hebrews 11-13