Month: August 2022

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Seeing what cannot be seen.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.” Hebrews‬ ‭11:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​This crazy little thing called FAITH.

Seeing what cannot be seen.

Sure, that sounds ridiculous to the unbeliever of God and overly simple for followers of Jesus. It is neither ridiculous nor simple.

The author makes the case that dozens of men led a nation out of a “knowing” and a trust that God is real and knows what He’s doing. This theme of faith started with Abram on a substantial promise God made to him and all of his progeny. What is interesting is that this decision to believe was strong enough to be threaded throughout all the generational obstacles that would come.

God found an individual and that one person received the baton and kept running in spite of circumstances and zero prospect of hope. What if faith is just stubborn belief? “All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own.”

In the beginning they all talked big of a “land of their own.” Hebrews admits this looks a lot like “toxic positivity.” When you’re a “wanderer,” of course you’ll speak of such crazy things as a land of your own. They even died still believing!

I like this note about Joseph, “It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.” All of these patriarchs had this phrase attached to their legacy, “it was by faith.”

What am I seeing that can’t be seen? I am seeing a massive amount of people turning to God when all the crummy cultural promises of identity, love and happiness have failed. I see a future where this generation realizes they’ve been fed huge lies and have been used in these horrible social experiments that spread faster than a virus ever could. There is coming a wave of people coming to Christ, returning to God. Will we be ready? Will the Church be ready to receive them? Our buildings will not be able to hold them all. The body of Christ MUST be bigger than our buildings. We need to be like the father that walks out to the edge of his property everyday to look for his returning son. And when he sees him in the distance, runs to him, embraced him and kissed him, welcomed him home.

What are you seeing that can’t be seen?

Prayer

Dad,
Wow, that list of men and women who saw what could not be seen is impressive. The thing I love the most is that their faith was accounted to them as righteousness! I can’t even wrap my brain around that. Their faith in your ultimate plans for all humans was somehow seen, believed and credited to them long before Jesus paid for their sins. I want to live a life faith that sees above and beyond the circumstances and struggles that surround me. And if I don’t see it in my lifetime, I want to die still believing!

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Humanity, the epitome of humor in heaven.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“A cheerful look brings joy to the heart; good news makes for good health.” Proverbs‬ ‭15:30‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Are you happy? Please tell your face. I know the world doesn’t run on giggles and smiles, but I wish it did.

A smile, a cheerful look and countenance changes the environment of a room full of people. Of course the suspect types will wonder what you’re up to, but it’s still worth it.

Science says that a smile will trick your brain into thinking you’re happy! One of the most striking truths of a new series on the life of Christ (The Chosen) is that Jonathan Roumie, playing the role of Jesus smiles A LOT. He laughs, jokes and is playful around children. Most depictions of Jesus are ONLY of a man of sorrows – clearly dying for humanity’s sins will do that. But, to think for one moment that God isn’t joy-filled in the core of His character is a serious mistake.

Besides, humanity may be the epitome of humor in heaven! Wisdom writers got this one right. Jesus even spoke this truth in John’s gospel, “Be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.”

Prayer

Dad,
I have to force myself to remember how absolutely and totally lost and miserable I was before you found me! And, when I get bogged down with excessive minutiae about non-eternal things, I get cynical, grumpy and lose my joy. I hate swimming in muddy, mucky minutiae! I want to be a life-giving person and spend my life in life-giving ways. And, for heaven’s sake, your Church, your people should BE the most life-giving, cheerful, joyous place in this crazy chaos called humanity. It’s not that we have no sorrow or pain, it’s that we know that you hold our future and that you are good.

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Am I a fungus infected sin activist?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“Meanwhile, the crowds grew until thousands were milling about and stepping on each other. Jesus turned first to his disciples and warned them, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—their hypocrisy. The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear!” Luke‬ ‭12:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​Crowds as thick as a rock concert in Central Park. Did I ever notice that Jesus was looking over the throngs of people when he delivered this famous passage? No. He sees thousands out there and says, watch out for “leaven infection.” Sure, leaven is yeast as New Living Translation says, but I can’t use that word coupled with infection!

Yeasts are single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom! YIKES 🤢. Let’s just stick to its properties in food.

Yeast is used in baking as a leavening agent, where it converts the food/fermentable sugars present in dough into the gas carbon dioxide. This causes the dough to expand or rise as gas forms pockets or bubbles. When the dough is baked, the yeast dies and the air pockets “set”, giving the baked product a soft and spongy texture. Yeast also rapidly reproduces, effectively permeating every cell of the dough.

Why was yeast (leaven) associated with sin? First, on a practical level, the Israelites had to be ready to leave Egypt at a moment’s notice and thus they couldn’t wait for the dough to rise. Second, leaven in the Bible is symbolic of sin and deceit. Leaven, a picture of sin, makes the bread inflate. The visual is that sin makes one prideful and puffed-up. Plus, it only takes a very small amount of fermented dough to make new dough rise (Gal 5:9), thus the idea that fermentation implies a process of corruption. Yeast or leaven is NOT sin! It’s just an object lesson.

Jesus looks over this massive crowd and finds a few Pharisees among them. Effectively saying, “it only takes one” bad 🍎 to infect this entire crowd. The Pharisees message of weaponizing the Law of God to keep people from God is a deadly fungus that kills! Plus the fact that people that say they believe one thing but practice another are a hypocritical joke.

Yes, everyone at some point is a hypocrite, but no one should be an activist about it. Jesus warns – ALL SECRETS will be known! God will pull back the cover of darkness over all humankind and expose everything. I can’t, you can’t hide sin forever 😬. So what’s Jesus point? Well, the biggest one is don’t be a SIN ACTIVIST, publicly parading about proudly mocking God himself. You’d just be behaving like a fungus, socially infecting everyone around you. Two, the light of world, Jesus, will shine on every human heart and expose everything.

Prayer

Dad,
Whoa, I see what you did here with the Pharisees, religious leaders of the day. I understand that I could easily see you exposes their thoughts and deeds and just be happy for a bit of justice for all the misery they (and those like them today) have caused. But I know how this works. I also need to see myself. My heart. My deeds. And when I think of all the times I try to get away with sin by being sneaky, or covering up, leaving no bodies to be found – that I’ve “gotten away with it,” the Holy Spirit arrests me on the spot! I then confess, repent, and turn from my sin. I WANT my sin covered, not by darkness but by the blood of Jesus that cleans me and makes me whole!

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Praying with a woke mind and grateful heart.

Reading Time: 2 minutes 
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.” Colossians‬ ‭4:2-4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

If I don’t like the things happening all around me, I should PRAY. Paul’s admonition to the churches (and us) – PRAY! I’ve been practicing this evening and morning routine of giving everything to God just before I sleep and right after opening my eyes in the morning. No checking late night texts or early emails. And, to have an alert mind and thankful heart.

Paul uses this Greek word only used here in the New Testament, grēgoreúō – to be vigilantly woke. No kidding! Believers need to be woke in prayer. That coupled with a “eucharistos” heart – a well favored, grace-filled heart is a powerful way to approach any situation on any given day. Paul then not only encourages this prayer posture in tough times, he asks for MORE opportunities himself – while in prison! It’s as if Paul is wanting more woke gratitude to leverage it to even more effectiveness in his witness.

He asks for more ways to speak these mysteries, these secret, hidden without a Spirit initiated revelation moments with people. Paul, this giant of evangelism in the first century wants and prays to be even more clear about the gospel, speaking to the hearts of humans that God has already been working on.

With the Holy Spirit at work there is no such thing as a “cold call” when talking to someone! God has already been wooing and working on every possible way to reach them with His love, grace and forgiveness. These perceived serendipitous moments are divine appointments. Paul understood this and asked the churches to pray with him for more of those moments.

Do I pray that way? Mostly I am OVER concerned with my own agendas, frustrations and fears. My prayers have no room, even with woke gratefulness, to ask for more opportunities to share about Christ. I need to hear Paul’s humble admonishment and leave a little room for these supernatural moments of opportunity!

Prayer

Dad,
Wow, when reading Paul’s words, inspired of the Holy Spirit, I feel the embarrassment and challenge to not be so protectively selfish in my prayers. Of course, I am only thinking of what presses in on my mind. But I can leave a little bit, just the edges of my brain-field for these mysterious moments Paul wrote about. Help me not be completely consumed by my own agenda that I forget your BIG agenda for all of us who follow Jesus.

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Am I a one percenter?

Reading Time: 3 minutes 
“I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless.” Ecclesiastes‬ ‭2:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

​The heart searches, but does it find fulfillment? First of all Solomon was afforded something most humans never have access to – leisure.

I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard about this 99% of the world don’t have a lot. Does the majority of humanity even have the resources to enjoy leisure?

Solomon had a life that gave him the opportunity to even ask the question, “What do I really want?” Most work, sleep and eat very little and have no time to ask about dreams, wishes or even a moment to search for Solomon’s list.

Look at what he tries out for fulfillment. Pleasure. Laughter, enhanced by wine. Then he pauses and admits, “I tried to experience the only happiness most people find during their brief life in this world.” He knew he was entitled. He knew he had the access, money and opportunity to push every boundary possible to see what’s out there to fill the emptiness and/or cravings in his soul.

He tried more noble pursuits, like building. Oh, he didn’t build these things himself, he only dreamed the design and architecture of what he desired. Slaves built HIS dreams. Read the plurality of he “built,” big homes, vineyards, gardens, and man-made lakes (reservoirs). He bought slaves! He bought people to serve himself and his kingdom. And, he had the unashamed, zero self-awareness to couple those purchases with animals. He bought people like he did animals, and used them for his search for fulfillment! He acquired massive amounts of wealth, wealth upon wealth, money that makes more money, by ever increasing in value. He hired singers and had numerous sexual encounters with women and possibly men as well (concubines). He captured his plenty in this sentence, “Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure.” He even tried actual WORK. What did he go out an pull a weed? Did he play slave for the day?

What is the point of all this pursuit? And, why the excess? Solomon decided, since he was the wisest human to ever exist until Jesus came along, that he would find the answers and record them for anyone interested in knowing what’s out there.

You know what he found, exhausting every known pursuit – nothing! Nada! Zilch! He writes, “There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.” I question the wild, abandoned pursuit of any of these things Solomon thought would bring him fulfillment or satisfaction of life itself.

But, I do know this. One, he did it so that I don’t have to wonder, “what if.” Two, Jesus, being the wisest ever, lived a totally and completely opposite kind of life. He didn’t live for pleasure, humor, wine, buildings, vineyards or gardens. He didn’t buy people or animals to amass a popular image. Jesus was financially BROKE, not having any real money or real estate to his name. Every cool little luxury he had was borrowed! Yeah, donkeys, rooms, goblets, gardens and even his own tomb – all donated by others. He died naked and even wore someone else’s burial clothes!

Solomon lived a life of excess and ecstasy so we can see how worthless it really is. Jesus lived a simple life, even a poor life, to show us the perspective of God towards a truly generous and eternal life. Jesus owned NOTHING, but had EVERYTHING. And, in God and accomplishing his mission, found the fulfillment that Solomon searched for.

Prayer

Dad,
If I am living the 1% life, and I believe I am. Then I really need to pay attention to a couple things: To whom much is given, much is required and I need to live a far more grateful, thankful existence. I need to constantly tend to my generosity and gratitude!