We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God's people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God's wonderful grace. Colossians 1:4-6 NLT
I love it when I read scripture and the Holy Spirit asks me a question to something that I can’t answer right away. If I have been following Jesus for 30 years, I think I should have a pretty good handle on what it means to follow after Him. The Holy Spirit has a wonderful way of humbling me without crushing me. This passage is a good case in point.
Paul is writing to the Colossians and commends them for their faith and love. Would that Paul could write a letter to us and do the same thing. But here’s the humbling part. Their faith in Christ and love for God’s people came from something. It was based on something. Paul alludes to it but never really names, at least in this part of the letter, what it is. “For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God's people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven.” They where bound together by faith, love and hope. A confident hope at that. Of what? Of what God had reserved for them in heaven.
So here’s my question. What is it God has reserved for you in heaven? Do you know? How hard do you have to think about it? For me I had to pause and think. How humbling. I think that after 30 years I should be able to recount what God has reserved for me in heaven. But I had to pause and think about it. What is it God has reserved for me? Not having this answer in the forefront of my mind leads me to ask the next one. Is this confident hope of what Goad has reserved for me in heaven the reason I follow Jesus? It would seem that if I fully understand what is reserved for me in heaven, then following Jesus in my day to day life might be put into a different perspective. Challenges would take on a different meaning. Those difficult people in my life might look a little different through the lens of what is reserved for me in heaven.
And the REALLY humbling question for me is this. If I have to pause and think about what God has reserved for me in heaven, what am I REALLY basing my confident hope on? What lens am I using to looking at the stuff in my life? What REALLY motivates me to follow Jesus?
So how about it? Why are you following Jesus?
As for me, I’m going to spend the next little while answering that question.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Friday, July 3, 2009
Understanding, Wisdom and God's Will.
So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light. For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom [with His blood] and forgave our sins. Colossians 1:9-14 NLT
In this prayer, Paul prayed for all who believe. That includes us. I’m too often frustrated by my lack of progress or my lack of seeing fruit in my sphere of influence. And yes, I understand that I’m too often forcing my definition of what I want to happen on God’s process. I find that when I let God define it, I can find peace. But this too can lead to frustration for me because I wish to have this view as my default and not have to “arrive” at God’s view. Seems I spend a great deal of my life’s energy trying to “arrive” at God’s point of view. So I often find myself asking, “Jesus how do I keep following Your way?”
I’m encouraged that Paul, as he so often does, gives us an overview of how to “keep following Your way” in our daily reality, while not defining what that looks like for every individual. (Can you imagine having to write a specific life script for the life of every person alive? Makes my head hurt.) I’m struck, first of all, that Paul spent a great deal of time and energy on those who were truly following after Jesus. “We have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you.” Those who were followers of the way consumed much of Paul’s physical, emotional and spiritual energy. When you read the beginning of this letter to the Colossian believers, Paul talks about loving those who love Jesus as a mark of true life change. (Check out Colossians 1:1-9 noting where Paul talks about loving people.)
So what’s Paul’s heart desire for those who are following after Jesus? What drives him to the point where he would spend emotional time and energy in prayer for someone? What does he want us to “get”? We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Paul wants us to “get” knowledge of God’s will, spiritual wisdom and understanding. Perhaps we can look at Paul’s heart desire, his prayer, as a means by which we follow after Jesus. It’s interesting that his first request is for a complete understanding what God wants us to do: God’s will. Interesting. I grew up often wondering what God’s will was. Was it something I could step in and out of? Was it something like a rail, where if I was “in” God’s will I was running on the rail, if I was “out” of God’s will I was willy-nilly all over the place getting myself into trouble until I could get back to the rail.
If you study scripture where it talks about God’s will, you won’t come away with an idea where God’s will is a path where every action you take and every decision you make is “perfectly” aligned with what God set up before the world was created. I don’t find that anyway. What I do find are statements like “It is God’s will that you be holy.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3) “Be thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.” (Hebrews 10:10) “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) So we’re back to our thinking about life from the standpoint of “being” and not “doing”. God’s will is not what I do, but who I am in Jesus. Conversely, how I conduct my life will reflect what I understand of God’s will. That challenges me.
So how do we find God’s will? We ask for it. And now we’re back to relationship. I can’t hear and know something from someone who I don’t spend time with and listen to. I must spend intentional and consistent time with Jesus if I want to begin to understand the complete knowledge of God’s will. The cool thing about God is that we don’t have to earn it; He wants to give it to us. He doesn’t hold back; He gives us completely and totally what we’re ready for. And He graciously and lovingly prepares us to receive the things we’re not ready for.
So if we are to truly understand God’s will and how it works in our lives, and if it’s really not what I do, but who I am, I need the second thing Paul prayed for. “…and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.” I truly need to see my world through the eyes of Jesus if I’m going to understand God’s will. I have learned that wisdom is a combination of knowledge plus experience. Knowledge plus experience equals wisdom. Walking in wisdom brings understanding. Understanding is the entering into the complete knowledge of the will of God.
Knowledge plus experience equals wisdom. For example, I know Jesus loves me. It is a simple thing for me to give mental assent to the fact that I’m loved by Jesus. I can even pass that knowledge on. Hey! Did you know Jesus loves you? But that knowledge by itself doesn’t grant me wisdom and understanding. Now when I experience Jesus’ love, then I begin to understand it. When I am tempted and I have that moment where I am at that point of decision, do I engage in this temptation or do I say, “No, I desire to follow God’s will to be holy.” Does Jesus love me at this point of decision? Of course. His love doesn’t change. Now when I look at the temptation and look at Jesus and choose the temptation over Jesus, it proves that I really believe what is tempting me will meet whatever need I’m pursuing, even though I have the knowledge that Jesus supplies all my needs. Does Jesus love me in the middle of my decision choosing sin over His provision for me? Yes. His love never changes.
Now here’s the hard part for me. If knowledge plus experience equals wisdom and walking in wisdom brings understanding, can I experience Jesus’ love in the middle of my wrong choice? My woundedness says no. The Holy Spirit tells me yes. And when I’m sitting in the middle of my sin, in the guilt and shame, when I understand and see my rebellion I ask Jesus, “Do you love me in the middle of this?” I would suggest that we must experience Jesus’ love in the middle of our wrong choices if we are ever to change. Understanding Jesus’ love in the middle of my sin is to experience being loved in the middle of my rebellion, my guilt and my shame.
When we begin to engage God on this level our lives change. We begin to understand God’s complete will. We begin to walk in wisdom and live our lives in understanding. Paul goes on to say, “Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better”. I read Paul’s words and I’m encouraged. I desire that the way I live honors and pleases the Lord, always. I desire to produce every kind of good fruit. I want my life to look like I’m following after Jesus. And Paul separates the growth and learning part from the honor and fruit part. How encouraging that we can produce every kind of good fruit and honor God from the first time we say yes to Jesus until the day we see Him face to face. But I am more and more convinced that I must experience Jesus’ love in the deepest part of my wound to begin to understand the complete will of God.
Whew. But Paul’s not done with his prayer. And I’m glad he’s not. If you’ve ever walked in the depth of this kind of relationship with Jesus, you know it takes effort. It’s a committed life. It’s not something you do on a leisurely Sunday afternoon. It takes effort and determination. It requires much attention and commitment. Paul walked this path so he understood what it would take. So he prayed: We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. Strength, endurance and patience. Something tells me that this wisdom/understanding/God’s will thing isn’t going to happen overnight and something tells me I’m going to have to give it some effort.
Paul understood, and so should we, that our salvation includes being strengthened with the power of Jesus. The same power that the Father exhibited in Jesus when He rose from the dead, this is the same power available to work in our lives. But the thing is, we’re going to need that power. It’s going to take nothing less than the glorious power of God to finish this course.
We must also understand that this is a marathon. This is the long haul. We need to be prepared to endure. And as always, patience will be required. I will be frustrated by my lack of growth, or my stumbling over my “pet sin”. Or my feeling like I’m the only one who’s in this. Whatever requires patience in my life, I’m going to need it.
I’m pretty convinced that we have it so easy in our culture that we are clueless when it comes to patience and endurance. At least I am. I’ll ask Jesus for an answer and if it doesn’t come in the next hour, I’m offended. If it doesn’t come in the next day, I forget and I’m on to the next thing.
My prayer for us as a family is that we begin to ask questions like, “Jesus, what is your will?” “Open my eyes to see where you are.” “Open my mind to the knowledge You have for me.” “Grant that I might experience Your love in the middle of my life so I may gain understanding.” “Fill me with your power so that I might endure with patience the path You’ve asked me to walk.”
We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to His people, who live in the light. For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom [with His blood] and forgave our sins. Colossians 1:9-14 NLT
In this prayer, Paul prayed for all who believe. That includes us. I’m too often frustrated by my lack of progress or my lack of seeing fruit in my sphere of influence. And yes, I understand that I’m too often forcing my definition of what I want to happen on God’s process. I find that when I let God define it, I can find peace. But this too can lead to frustration for me because I wish to have this view as my default and not have to “arrive” at God’s view. Seems I spend a great deal of my life’s energy trying to “arrive” at God’s point of view. So I often find myself asking, “Jesus how do I keep following Your way?”
I’m encouraged that Paul, as he so often does, gives us an overview of how to “keep following Your way” in our daily reality, while not defining what that looks like for every individual. (Can you imagine having to write a specific life script for the life of every person alive? Makes my head hurt.) I’m struck, first of all, that Paul spent a great deal of time and energy on those who were truly following after Jesus. “We have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you.” Those who were followers of the way consumed much of Paul’s physical, emotional and spiritual energy. When you read the beginning of this letter to the Colossian believers, Paul talks about loving those who love Jesus as a mark of true life change. (Check out Colossians 1:1-9 noting where Paul talks about loving people.)
So what’s Paul’s heart desire for those who are following after Jesus? What drives him to the point where he would spend emotional time and energy in prayer for someone? What does he want us to “get”? We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Paul wants us to “get” knowledge of God’s will, spiritual wisdom and understanding. Perhaps we can look at Paul’s heart desire, his prayer, as a means by which we follow after Jesus. It’s interesting that his first request is for a complete understanding what God wants us to do: God’s will. Interesting. I grew up often wondering what God’s will was. Was it something I could step in and out of? Was it something like a rail, where if I was “in” God’s will I was running on the rail, if I was “out” of God’s will I was willy-nilly all over the place getting myself into trouble until I could get back to the rail.
If you study scripture where it talks about God’s will, you won’t come away with an idea where God’s will is a path where every action you take and every decision you make is “perfectly” aligned with what God set up before the world was created. I don’t find that anyway. What I do find are statements like “It is God’s will that you be holy.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3) “Be thankful in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) “For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.” (Hebrews 10:10) “Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:2) So we’re back to our thinking about life from the standpoint of “being” and not “doing”. God’s will is not what I do, but who I am in Jesus. Conversely, how I conduct my life will reflect what I understand of God’s will. That challenges me.
So how do we find God’s will? We ask for it. And now we’re back to relationship. I can’t hear and know something from someone who I don’t spend time with and listen to. I must spend intentional and consistent time with Jesus if I want to begin to understand the complete knowledge of God’s will. The cool thing about God is that we don’t have to earn it; He wants to give it to us. He doesn’t hold back; He gives us completely and totally what we’re ready for. And He graciously and lovingly prepares us to receive the things we’re not ready for.
So if we are to truly understand God’s will and how it works in our lives, and if it’s really not what I do, but who I am, I need the second thing Paul prayed for. “…and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding.” I truly need to see my world through the eyes of Jesus if I’m going to understand God’s will. I have learned that wisdom is a combination of knowledge plus experience. Knowledge plus experience equals wisdom. Walking in wisdom brings understanding. Understanding is the entering into the complete knowledge of the will of God.
Knowledge plus experience equals wisdom. For example, I know Jesus loves me. It is a simple thing for me to give mental assent to the fact that I’m loved by Jesus. I can even pass that knowledge on. Hey! Did you know Jesus loves you? But that knowledge by itself doesn’t grant me wisdom and understanding. Now when I experience Jesus’ love, then I begin to understand it. When I am tempted and I have that moment where I am at that point of decision, do I engage in this temptation or do I say, “No, I desire to follow God’s will to be holy.” Does Jesus love me at this point of decision? Of course. His love doesn’t change. Now when I look at the temptation and look at Jesus and choose the temptation over Jesus, it proves that I really believe what is tempting me will meet whatever need I’m pursuing, even though I have the knowledge that Jesus supplies all my needs. Does Jesus love me in the middle of my decision choosing sin over His provision for me? Yes. His love never changes.
Now here’s the hard part for me. If knowledge plus experience equals wisdom and walking in wisdom brings understanding, can I experience Jesus’ love in the middle of my wrong choice? My woundedness says no. The Holy Spirit tells me yes. And when I’m sitting in the middle of my sin, in the guilt and shame, when I understand and see my rebellion I ask Jesus, “Do you love me in the middle of this?” I would suggest that we must experience Jesus’ love in the middle of our wrong choices if we are ever to change. Understanding Jesus’ love in the middle of my sin is to experience being loved in the middle of my rebellion, my guilt and my shame.
When we begin to engage God on this level our lives change. We begin to understand God’s complete will. We begin to walk in wisdom and live our lives in understanding. Paul goes on to say, “Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better”. I read Paul’s words and I’m encouraged. I desire that the way I live honors and pleases the Lord, always. I desire to produce every kind of good fruit. I want my life to look like I’m following after Jesus. And Paul separates the growth and learning part from the honor and fruit part. How encouraging that we can produce every kind of good fruit and honor God from the first time we say yes to Jesus until the day we see Him face to face. But I am more and more convinced that I must experience Jesus’ love in the deepest part of my wound to begin to understand the complete will of God.
Whew. But Paul’s not done with his prayer. And I’m glad he’s not. If you’ve ever walked in the depth of this kind of relationship with Jesus, you know it takes effort. It’s a committed life. It’s not something you do on a leisurely Sunday afternoon. It takes effort and determination. It requires much attention and commitment. Paul walked this path so he understood what it would take. So he prayed: We also pray that you will be strengthened with all His glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. Strength, endurance and patience. Something tells me that this wisdom/understanding/God’s will thing isn’t going to happen overnight and something tells me I’m going to have to give it some effort.
Paul understood, and so should we, that our salvation includes being strengthened with the power of Jesus. The same power that the Father exhibited in Jesus when He rose from the dead, this is the same power available to work in our lives. But the thing is, we’re going to need that power. It’s going to take nothing less than the glorious power of God to finish this course.
We must also understand that this is a marathon. This is the long haul. We need to be prepared to endure. And as always, patience will be required. I will be frustrated by my lack of growth, or my stumbling over my “pet sin”. Or my feeling like I’m the only one who’s in this. Whatever requires patience in my life, I’m going to need it.
I’m pretty convinced that we have it so easy in our culture that we are clueless when it comes to patience and endurance. At least I am. I’ll ask Jesus for an answer and if it doesn’t come in the next hour, I’m offended. If it doesn’t come in the next day, I forget and I’m on to the next thing.
My prayer for us as a family is that we begin to ask questions like, “Jesus, what is your will?” “Open my eyes to see where you are.” “Open my mind to the knowledge You have for me.” “Grant that I might experience Your love in the middle of my life so I may gain understanding.” “Fill me with your power so that I might endure with patience the path You’ve asked me to walk.”
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Perfectly As One
I do not pray only for them. I pray also for those who will believe in me because of their message. Father, I pray that all of them will be one, just as you are in me and I am in you. I want them also to be in us. Then the world will believe that you have sent me.
I have given them the glory you gave me. I did this so they would be one, just as we are one. I will be in them, just as you are in me. I want them to be brought together perfectly as one. This will let the world know that you sent me. It will also show the world that you have loved those you gave me, just as you have loved me. -Taken from John 17:20-23
Jesus, right before he walks through the passion, leaves his disciples with these words. These words are found recorded by John near the end of his final prayer. These words are spoken right before he was going to complete the work the Father had sent him to do. These are important words. I like to think that these are the deepest part of his heart. What are the last words you would tell those you loved right before you left to die?
Jesus prayed that we would be one. Then he defined what that looked like. That we would be one with each other just as Jesus and the Father are one. Not only that, but it is Jesus’ deep desire that we be one with the Father and himself. Why? Because it is then that the world will believe that the Father sent Jesus to save the world.
Jesus goes on to say, I have given them the glory you gave me. Why? So we could be one, just like Jesus and the Father. The world will know that the Father sent Jesus, the world will be able to see the gospel, to hear the good news, to understand the kingdom of heaven, when we are one.
I think we understand what it means to be one outside of each other. I know what it means to be alone. To be one among many. That’s what sin does. It separates us. My own sin makes me feel guilty, causes shame, separates me from people and I become one, alone. Conversely, other’s sin against me hurts me, makes me angry, causes me to mistrust and again it separates me from people and I become one, alone.
Jesus gave us the glory that was given to Him by the Father. When we enter into relationship with Jesus we receive this glory. I like to think of glory as weight. Jesus carried the full weight of the Father and those who Jesus entered into relationship with felt that weight. Those who accepted Jesus’ words were given that weight to carry. We carry the glory of the Father, we carry his weight, his influence, so that we might be one with each other. When we live together as one, I believe the collective weight we carry is compelling and convinces the world that Jesus is who he said he is and came to do what he said he came to do. This to me is what it means to live the gospel.
I am convicted by this prayer. I’m convicted by these words. Does the world look at our lives, or relationships, our church and feel compelled to say, “I now believe that Jesus came from the Father because of what I see in these people. Has anyone ever looked at our community of followers of Christ and said, “I now know that the Father loves them just like he loves Jesus.” Yes? No? I read these words and it cuts me deeply. I’m not sure I know how to live in such oneness with those God has called me to live with that the world looks at us this way. What did Jesus call it? Being brought together perfectly as one? Wow.
I think I know what it doesn’t look like. But what does it look like to fulfill Jesus prayer and to be brought together perfectly as one?
I have given them the glory you gave me. I did this so they would be one, just as we are one. I will be in them, just as you are in me. I want them to be brought together perfectly as one. This will let the world know that you sent me. It will also show the world that you have loved those you gave me, just as you have loved me. -Taken from John 17:20-23
Jesus, right before he walks through the passion, leaves his disciples with these words. These words are found recorded by John near the end of his final prayer. These words are spoken right before he was going to complete the work the Father had sent him to do. These are important words. I like to think that these are the deepest part of his heart. What are the last words you would tell those you loved right before you left to die?
Jesus prayed that we would be one. Then he defined what that looked like. That we would be one with each other just as Jesus and the Father are one. Not only that, but it is Jesus’ deep desire that we be one with the Father and himself. Why? Because it is then that the world will believe that the Father sent Jesus to save the world.
Jesus goes on to say, I have given them the glory you gave me. Why? So we could be one, just like Jesus and the Father. The world will know that the Father sent Jesus, the world will be able to see the gospel, to hear the good news, to understand the kingdom of heaven, when we are one.
I think we understand what it means to be one outside of each other. I know what it means to be alone. To be one among many. That’s what sin does. It separates us. My own sin makes me feel guilty, causes shame, separates me from people and I become one, alone. Conversely, other’s sin against me hurts me, makes me angry, causes me to mistrust and again it separates me from people and I become one, alone.
Jesus gave us the glory that was given to Him by the Father. When we enter into relationship with Jesus we receive this glory. I like to think of glory as weight. Jesus carried the full weight of the Father and those who Jesus entered into relationship with felt that weight. Those who accepted Jesus’ words were given that weight to carry. We carry the glory of the Father, we carry his weight, his influence, so that we might be one with each other. When we live together as one, I believe the collective weight we carry is compelling and convinces the world that Jesus is who he said he is and came to do what he said he came to do. This to me is what it means to live the gospel.
I am convicted by this prayer. I’m convicted by these words. Does the world look at our lives, or relationships, our church and feel compelled to say, “I now believe that Jesus came from the Father because of what I see in these people. Has anyone ever looked at our community of followers of Christ and said, “I now know that the Father loves them just like he loves Jesus.” Yes? No? I read these words and it cuts me deeply. I’m not sure I know how to live in such oneness with those God has called me to live with that the world looks at us this way. What did Jesus call it? Being brought together perfectly as one? Wow.
I think I know what it doesn’t look like. But what does it look like to fulfill Jesus prayer and to be brought together perfectly as one?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Do You Know Your Father?
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed. He said, “Father, the time has come. Bring glory to your Son. Then your Son will bring glory to you. You gave him authority over all people. He gives eternal life to all those you have given him.
“And what is eternal life? It is knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth. I have finished the work you gave me to do. So now, Father, give glory to me in heaven where your throne is. Give me the glory I had with you before the world began."
What is eternal life? It is knowing God the Father and Jesus. Eternal life is not a destination. It’s not a set of facts to be believed. It’s not a state of being. Eternal life is a relationship. Specifically, eternal life is knowing God the Father and knowing Jesus. Jesus’ purpose in ministry was to show us the Father. His work was to make it possible for us to be in relationship with, to be connected to, the Father.
So if relationship is Jesus’ goal. How much does that translate into our lives? What’s the purpose of our gathering together? I believe our purpose in ministry is to show “the world” God the Father. We do this through relationship: relationship with each other, relationship with Jesus and relationship with the Father. I cannot directly bring glory to someone I don’t know.
If we desire to be fully alive, if we want to be fully free, if it’s our goal to become everything we were created to become, we will find all of these things in a relationship with God the Father.
“And what is eternal life? It is knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth. I have finished the work you gave me to do. So now, Father, give glory to me in heaven where your throne is. Give me the glory I had with you before the world began."
What is eternal life? It is knowing God the Father and Jesus. Eternal life is not a destination. It’s not a set of facts to be believed. It’s not a state of being. Eternal life is a relationship. Specifically, eternal life is knowing God the Father and knowing Jesus. Jesus’ purpose in ministry was to show us the Father. His work was to make it possible for us to be in relationship with, to be connected to, the Father.
So if relationship is Jesus’ goal. How much does that translate into our lives? What’s the purpose of our gathering together? I believe our purpose in ministry is to show “the world” God the Father. We do this through relationship: relationship with each other, relationship with Jesus and relationship with the Father. I cannot directly bring glory to someone I don’t know.
If we desire to be fully alive, if we want to be fully free, if it’s our goal to become everything we were created to become, we will find all of these things in a relationship with God the Father.
Carrying Full Weight
And what is eternal life? It is knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth. I have finished the work you gave me to do. So now, Father, give glory to me in heaven where your throne is. Give me the glory I had with you before the world began. (John 17:3-5)
I like to think of the concept of “glory” in terms of weight. The glory of God in my mind is easily transferable to “the weight of God”. When I “feel” God I’m really feeling the weight of His presence. The weight of who He is. When I experience God, the more intense that experience, the greater the weight I have carried. The more I live in who Jesus created me to be, the greater the weight I carry. The greater the weight I carry, the more “glory” I bring to Jesus.
I think in relationship we bring our “weight” to bear in each other’s lives. I bring weight to my relationship with you. You “feel” the weight of who I am when we spend time together. I feel the weight of who you are when I choose to engage with you. When I experience your personality, I feel your weight. When I laugh with you, cry with you, wonder with you, I experience the weight of who you are. The more of myself I share with you the greater you feel my weight. Or better said, the more of myself I share with you, the greater the portion of my weight you carry. Our ability to carry each other's weight is determined by how mature we are.
Jesus carried the full portion of the glory of the Father. When you look at Jesus in the gospels, you are looking at the full revelation of the Father. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one”. He also said, “I share with you only the words I hear from my Father.” To look at Jesus was to see the Glory of the Father. Jesus carried the full weight of the Father and I believe it was Jesus’ desire for us to feel the full weight of the Father.
If I “weighted” this passage it would look like this:
And what is eternal life? It is knowing You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have carried the weight of who You are here on earth. I have finished letting these, Your chosen children, experience the full weight of who You are, just as You desired for me to do. So now, Father, let my weight be felt in heaven where your throne is. Give me the weight I had with You before the world began.
Jesus lived with the end in mind. From this passage it would seem that one of his core motivators was to attain the glory, the “weight” that He had before the world began. I surmise from his words that he was looking forward to sharing in that glory. He desired, after he had completed what his Father asked him to do, to engage in the weight of his eternal existence.
Jesus’ desire to be brought into this glory holds significance for me. Glory, or as we’ve been inferring, “weight”, originates from the Father. Since weight originates from the Father, there is only one place where having weight matters. Weight only has value in the Father's presence. The weight of being that I carry only has value in the presence of the Father.
I like to think of the concept of “glory” in terms of weight. The glory of God in my mind is easily transferable to “the weight of God”. When I “feel” God I’m really feeling the weight of His presence. The weight of who He is. When I experience God, the more intense that experience, the greater the weight I have carried. The more I live in who Jesus created me to be, the greater the weight I carry. The greater the weight I carry, the more “glory” I bring to Jesus.
I think in relationship we bring our “weight” to bear in each other’s lives. I bring weight to my relationship with you. You “feel” the weight of who I am when we spend time together. I feel the weight of who you are when I choose to engage with you. When I experience your personality, I feel your weight. When I laugh with you, cry with you, wonder with you, I experience the weight of who you are. The more of myself I share with you the greater you feel my weight. Or better said, the more of myself I share with you, the greater the portion of my weight you carry. Our ability to carry each other's weight is determined by how mature we are.
Jesus carried the full portion of the glory of the Father. When you look at Jesus in the gospels, you are looking at the full revelation of the Father. Jesus said, “I and the Father are one”. He also said, “I share with you only the words I hear from my Father.” To look at Jesus was to see the Glory of the Father. Jesus carried the full weight of the Father and I believe it was Jesus’ desire for us to feel the full weight of the Father.
If I “weighted” this passage it would look like this:
And what is eternal life? It is knowing You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have carried the weight of who You are here on earth. I have finished letting these, Your chosen children, experience the full weight of who You are, just as You desired for me to do. So now, Father, let my weight be felt in heaven where your throne is. Give me the weight I had with You before the world began.
Jesus lived with the end in mind. From this passage it would seem that one of his core motivators was to attain the glory, the “weight” that He had before the world began. I surmise from his words that he was looking forward to sharing in that glory. He desired, after he had completed what his Father asked him to do, to engage in the weight of his eternal existence.
Jesus’ desire to be brought into this glory holds significance for me. Glory, or as we’ve been inferring, “weight”, originates from the Father. Since weight originates from the Father, there is only one place where having weight matters. Weight only has value in the Father's presence. The weight of being that I carry only has value in the presence of the Father.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
World Peace
I have spoken all these things while I am still with you. But the Father will send the Friend in my name to help you. The Friend is the Holy Spirit. He will teach you all things. He will remind you of everything I have said to you.
I leave my peace with you. I give my peace to you. I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And do not be afraid. (taken from John 14)
There is a peace to be found in this world. It is a counterfeit peace. One that does not deliver as promised. One that cannot be trusted. But it can be defined as “peace”. I suppose our reliance on pharmacology is a good example of that type of peace. Our voracious appetite for pleasure and entertainment is another example of what we seek peace in. Money is certainly offered as “peace”. These things offer us a “peace”. A temporary diversion from the pain in our lives. I suppose what strikes me this morning is the fact that there IS a peace that the world offers, a peace with enough substance to it that we might confuse it as a permanent answer to our problems. No wonder we’re so often confused about our lives pain. No wonder it’s so hard to give up the “peace” that we’ve placed our hope in.
Having spent time embracing the peace that the world offers I have found that the world’s peace doesn’t last long enough, isn’t deep enough and doesn’t really address the real issue. But it still floors me that I pulled to chase after it. To underestimate the attraction of what the world offers is foolish at best. I have made the mistake of thinking that the peace that this world offers is something that is so inferior to what God offers that there would be no other choice but to embrace God’s peace. The truth is that what the world offers scratches the itch enough to keep me coming back. There is an unspoken exchange that happens when we seek peace. When we seek peace as the world defines it there is an understanding that if we embrace this peace, if we take it to heart and let it into our soul, it’s understood that we will then serve the thing that brings our peace. We will serve what we give ourselves too. What we seek to rest in will become what drives us. Our driver becomes a hard task master. We must give more and more of ourselves until there is nothing left to give. We exchange temporary peace for death.
Jesus is different. His peace isn’t transactional. He said first of all that he leaves His peace with us. It’s an open opportunity to enter into His peace, no strings attached. Not only is it possible to experience Jesus’ peace because He’s left it here for us. Jesus is proactive in our struggle with peace. Jesus gives us His peace. We don’t have to chase it. Amazing. The peace offered by the world must be sought out, pursued, hunted down. Jesus, in His eternal love, provides for our peace by leaving it here and then freely offers to pour out His peace on us. It’s a gift to be received. To be embraced with a simple and humble “yes”.
Are we seeking peace? Are we finding it?
I leave my peace with you. I give my peace to you. I do not give it to you as the world does. Do not let your hearts be troubled. And do not be afraid. (taken from John 14)
There is a peace to be found in this world. It is a counterfeit peace. One that does not deliver as promised. One that cannot be trusted. But it can be defined as “peace”. I suppose our reliance on pharmacology is a good example of that type of peace. Our voracious appetite for pleasure and entertainment is another example of what we seek peace in. Money is certainly offered as “peace”. These things offer us a “peace”. A temporary diversion from the pain in our lives. I suppose what strikes me this morning is the fact that there IS a peace that the world offers, a peace with enough substance to it that we might confuse it as a permanent answer to our problems. No wonder we’re so often confused about our lives pain. No wonder it’s so hard to give up the “peace” that we’ve placed our hope in.
Having spent time embracing the peace that the world offers I have found that the world’s peace doesn’t last long enough, isn’t deep enough and doesn’t really address the real issue. But it still floors me that I pulled to chase after it. To underestimate the attraction of what the world offers is foolish at best. I have made the mistake of thinking that the peace that this world offers is something that is so inferior to what God offers that there would be no other choice but to embrace God’s peace. The truth is that what the world offers scratches the itch enough to keep me coming back. There is an unspoken exchange that happens when we seek peace. When we seek peace as the world defines it there is an understanding that if we embrace this peace, if we take it to heart and let it into our soul, it’s understood that we will then serve the thing that brings our peace. We will serve what we give ourselves too. What we seek to rest in will become what drives us. Our driver becomes a hard task master. We must give more and more of ourselves until there is nothing left to give. We exchange temporary peace for death.
Jesus is different. His peace isn’t transactional. He said first of all that he leaves His peace with us. It’s an open opportunity to enter into His peace, no strings attached. Not only is it possible to experience Jesus’ peace because He’s left it here for us. Jesus is proactive in our struggle with peace. Jesus gives us His peace. We don’t have to chase it. Amazing. The peace offered by the world must be sought out, pursued, hunted down. Jesus, in His eternal love, provides for our peace by leaving it here and then freely offers to pour out His peace on us. It’s a gift to be received. To be embraced with a simple and humble “yes”.
Are we seeking peace? Are we finding it?
Friday, March 27, 2009
Unloveable
When the hour came, Jesus and His apostles took their places at the table. He said to them, “I have really looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you. I wanted to do this before I suffer. I tell you, I will not eat the Passover meal again until it is celebrated in God’s kingdom.”
After Jesus took the cup, He gave thanks. He said, “Take this cup and share it among yourselves. I tell you, I will not drink wine with you again until God’s kingdom comes.”
Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world. It was time for Him to go to the Father. Jesus loved His disciples who were in the world. So He now showed them how much He really loved them.
The evening meal was being served. The devil had already tempted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon.
He had told Judas to hand Jesus over to His enemies.
They also started to argue. They disagreed about which of them was thought to be the most important person. (taken from Luke 22)
What an intimate portrayal of the heart of Jesus. This was the beginning of the end. The hour had come, it was time to finish the work His Father had sent Him to do. He had "set his heart on it" (epithemeo) -really looked forward to. His sharing of the cup was His giving fully of Himself to them. I like to believe that He was fully emotionally investing in them. Sharing with them His emotional well being. Letting them into the deepest part of Himself. Freely opening up and inviting them into deepest relationship. One would think that it would be a wonderful experience. That His disciples might begin to understand or at least be drawn into the fact that something eternal was going on. This should have been like the mount of transfiguration for the entire 12. Instead of the pinnacle of following Jesus up to that point, it seems to be the pinnacle of the revelation of their self-centered, sin-twisted soul.
Judas fully gives into the temptation to betray Jesus. The rest begin to argue as to who was thought as the most important person.
In my limited view of how I follow Jesus, I would think that if Jesus was this intimate with me then I would hope to see it for what it is, to embrace what it is He is trying to share and grow from it and for it. I would like to think that it would be a positive, pleasant experience. Yet I've walked enough with Jesus to come to this realization. All too often Jesus' best and most precious gifts reveal the worst of my sin-twisted heart.
I used to stop here and beat myself up for being so "bad" when Jesus is so "good". But if I look at the totality of the lives that Jesus invested Himself in, they did honor Him. They did follow after Him. They did great things to advance the Kingdom and bring glory to the Father. So I have to stop and wonder out loud: is it possible that we're supposed to go through a time where God's love reveals the depth of our ugliness? Is there a time where Jesus say, "I have set my heart on sharing this time with you because I want to show you how much I love you" and to have that time do nothing but bring to light the depths of our self-centered , self-glorifying, self-preserving, self-promoting self?
And if Jesus' expression of love to me shines the light of truth on my soul and reveals that I'm unworthy of that love, does that make His love for me invalid? Or does that disqualify me from embracing as my own this expression of love? Am I supposed to keep Jesus' love at arms length until I no longer have expressed in my life what the light of that love reveals?
I have come to this: If my life is to truly change, I must allow Jesus' love to reveal in me my "unloveliness". I must come to terms with the truth that Jesus' love will first reveal who I really am. I must come to terms with the fact that this is okay. I must come to terms with the fact that Jesus' love does not depend on my "lovable-ness". In truth, when Jesus expresses love to me, one of the purposes of this type of love is to root out of me that which is not lovable. That's why Jesus expresses love the way He does. And if that is truth, then when this love is expressed, not only is it okay to embrace it, to experience it, to claim it as our own and live in it, not only is it okay, it is necessary to do so if we are to grow up into mature Jesus followers. If we want to mature beyond what that love is revealing, it is necessary to experience Jesus' love at our deepest point of "unlovable-ness". Instead of rejecting love until I can "get myself cleaned up". It's the embracing of that love that does the cleaning.
After Jesus took the cup, He gave thanks. He said, “Take this cup and share it among yourselves. I tell you, I will not drink wine with you again until God’s kingdom comes.”
Jesus knew that the time had come for Him to leave this world. It was time for Him to go to the Father. Jesus loved His disciples who were in the world. So He now showed them how much He really loved them.
The evening meal was being served. The devil had already tempted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon.
He had told Judas to hand Jesus over to His enemies.
They also started to argue. They disagreed about which of them was thought to be the most important person. (taken from Luke 22)
What an intimate portrayal of the heart of Jesus. This was the beginning of the end. The hour had come, it was time to finish the work His Father had sent Him to do. He had "set his heart on it" (epithemeo) -really looked forward to. His sharing of the cup was His giving fully of Himself to them. I like to believe that He was fully emotionally investing in them. Sharing with them His emotional well being. Letting them into the deepest part of Himself. Freely opening up and inviting them into deepest relationship. One would think that it would be a wonderful experience. That His disciples might begin to understand or at least be drawn into the fact that something eternal was going on. This should have been like the mount of transfiguration for the entire 12. Instead of the pinnacle of following Jesus up to that point, it seems to be the pinnacle of the revelation of their self-centered, sin-twisted soul.
Judas fully gives into the temptation to betray Jesus. The rest begin to argue as to who was thought as the most important person.
In my limited view of how I follow Jesus, I would think that if Jesus was this intimate with me then I would hope to see it for what it is, to embrace what it is He is trying to share and grow from it and for it. I would like to think that it would be a positive, pleasant experience. Yet I've walked enough with Jesus to come to this realization. All too often Jesus' best and most precious gifts reveal the worst of my sin-twisted heart.
I used to stop here and beat myself up for being so "bad" when Jesus is so "good". But if I look at the totality of the lives that Jesus invested Himself in, they did honor Him. They did follow after Him. They did great things to advance the Kingdom and bring glory to the Father. So I have to stop and wonder out loud: is it possible that we're supposed to go through a time where God's love reveals the depth of our ugliness? Is there a time where Jesus say, "I have set my heart on sharing this time with you because I want to show you how much I love you" and to have that time do nothing but bring to light the depths of our self-centered , self-glorifying, self-preserving, self-promoting self?
And if Jesus' expression of love to me shines the light of truth on my soul and reveals that I'm unworthy of that love, does that make His love for me invalid? Or does that disqualify me from embracing as my own this expression of love? Am I supposed to keep Jesus' love at arms length until I no longer have expressed in my life what the light of that love reveals?
I have come to this: If my life is to truly change, I must allow Jesus' love to reveal in me my "unloveliness". I must come to terms with the truth that Jesus' love will first reveal who I really am. I must come to terms with the fact that this is okay. I must come to terms with the fact that Jesus' love does not depend on my "lovable-ness". In truth, when Jesus expresses love to me, one of the purposes of this type of love is to root out of me that which is not lovable. That's why Jesus expresses love the way He does. And if that is truth, then when this love is expressed, not only is it okay to embrace it, to experience it, to claim it as our own and live in it, not only is it okay, it is necessary to do so if we are to grow up into mature Jesus followers. If we want to mature beyond what that love is revealing, it is necessary to experience Jesus' love at our deepest point of "unlovable-ness". Instead of rejecting love until I can "get myself cleaned up". It's the embracing of that love that does the cleaning.
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