Selah

Psalm 4: 2-4 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false Gods? Selah Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him. In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah

Luke 11: 13 "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

Luke 11: 35 "See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness."

In the passage from Psalms, the psalmist is urging his audience to thoughtfully search their hearts and give up the pursuit of vain and worthless things. He is prompting them to let themselves be struck by the reality of God. Christ begins the eleventh chapter of Luke instructing his disciples about prayer. He goes on to teach them to ask boldly and to reveals that the good gift that God wants to give his children is his Holy Spirit. Jesus later talks about the lamp of the body and charges us to "see to it" that our inmost condition is light instead of darkness.

I've often wondered when reading the psalms what was up with that word selah that gets thrown in every once in a while. I have recently learned that most scholars agree that it was an instruction for the reader or musicians to pause and allow the listeners to reflect on what had just been said. It becomes very meaningful in that context. Selah is very powerful in the presence of the God of all truth and love. The psalmist in the above scripture plants the seed in his listeners minds that we are given to deluding ourselves and chasing things that are not God's truth and then invites us to think about it. He then says that instead of acting rashly in anger that we should instead search our hearts in times of silence and once again invites us to consider what he has said. Christ taught the value of boldly asking our heavenly Father for what we need in prayer and added that certainly God could give good gifts much better than can we. He later said that we are to see to it that the light inside of us is not darkness. That brings up the possibility that things just might not be as they should within our inmost self. It's the same thing the psalmist wanted us to take a look at. Jesus often sought times of quiet and solitude in which to expose his inmost self to the light of his Fathers presence (Luke 4: 42, 5: 16) just as the psalmist had suggested. The most valuable thing we will ever get from prayer is the time we spend in His presence, being transformed by His truth and love. Christ knew this and told us so when he said that the good gift his Father wanted to give us was His Holy Spirit. Selah.

Graciously Heavenly Father, Please lead me to seek more of You than simply the things I think I need. Christ told us that You would certainly give us those things that we require. Instead, may our time together be about me being in Your holy presence and being changed by what You show me. Burn off my dross and shine Your light into the darkness within me. Even when it hurts, Thy will be done! Amen.

"I Am Willing. Be Clean!"

Luke 5: 12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

Jesus responded to the lepers request by telling him, "I am willing. Be clean!"

How very often have I called on the Lord to fix me and discovered in the end that I was the one who wasn't willing to be clean. I have always had a desire for God to strike me righteous. To be made pure and clean by the hand of God with no effort on my part. I want it fast, cheap and now! In my experience however, He doesn't deal with me that way. God seems to want me to come to Him with my problems and to return to Him often for direction. He leads me to places where I have to choose between His higher way and a lesser route. Unfortunately the lesser route often seems quicker, easier and more attractive. I wish I could say I always chose what I knew to be His way but that simply wouldn't be true. Wanting to be well isn't enough. Our Lord offered the leper grace and healing and He offers us this same gift each day. We must be willing to follow Him in the way of freedom however. He promised us that it would cost us much. The reward, I find more and more, is His unspeakable joy.

Father God, Please give me the courage and will to follow where you lead me. Amen.

Always Waiting

Luke 4:13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Satan tempted Jesus three times after he had fasted forty days and nights in the wilderness. When he was unable to convince Jesus to worship him, the devil withdrew, not in defeat but to look for an opportune time to renew his efforts.

That Satan, knowing exactly who Jesus was, was looking for vulnerable moments during which to tempt him speaks volumes about his tenacity and subtlety. I can remember early in my sobriety feeling as though I was locked in a struggle with a demon myself. I held it by the collar (it was wearing a shirt I suppose) in the middle of a circle of light surrounded by complete darkness. It was struggling to get free, not to attack me but to slip away into the darkness. I knew if it got free I would loose it in the blackness and it would come at me again from out of nowhere when I wasn't expecting him and the ism would once again have the upper hand. For me, keeping hold of this demon is attending AA meetings, remaining grateful for God's gift of sobriety and trying to be of help to other alcoholics. There are lots of other demons out there trying to get the upper hand on each of us. They use fear and ego to gain footholds in our being. Without our knowing they use our reasonable desires to lead us to places where we are weak. It is a very subtle game that is played out all around us every day. Each decision we make is a step toward freedom or into peril. Talk of demons makes many people very uncomfortable. Although they are mentioned many times in scripture they are an awkward topic in this enlightened, modern day. Regardless of our thoughts on this subject we all know people who have made decisions that have had adverse effects on their lives. The fact that so many continue in destructive patterns even after they would like to change indicates that we can lose our freedom of choice. Sometimes our decisions trap us. How do you view temptation, demons and sin? Is this a hypothetical struggle? A theological one? One that we will recognize when it's really important but don't have to worry about on a daily basis? Do we get lots of do overs? Can we count on these? Will things all work out in the end? Won't God's love and grace conquer all? My thoughts on the matter aren't nearly as important as yours so please, for your own sake give it some thought. In this world where things certainly aren't always what they seem, to proceed with some caution seems wise. Even committed Christians have more than one voice calling to their spirit. We must take the time to learn to recognize our shepherds voice. (John 10: 1-5) Satan never gave up on getting a foothold in Jesus' spirit. He is certainly also lurking in our dreams, waiting to give us the deal of a lifetime. Give it some thought.

Gracious Heavenly Father, Please lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil. It is in your love and freedom that I trust. Train me to recognize your voice and lead me where you will. Amen.

Service In Who We Are

1 Timothy 5: 1-2 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.

Paul is advising Timothy as to how to deal with various people within the church.

The message of this passage was almost lost on me. It is such a straight forward admonishment to "be nice" that I almost didn't see how far it draws us out of ourselves and into the Kingdom of God. In each of his examples Paul tells Timothy to treat these people as if they were his family members; his father, mother, brother or sister. He is urging him to treat the people around him as if they are people who he loves and is deeply concerned with. That is far different from the way we tend to relate to the general population. Far to often we approach people with the attitude of "What can they do for me?" We use others to build up our self esteem, status or to advance our agenda. Sometimes we foster friendships with people because they are the right kind of people to know or because of their influence. Oh, and by the way, when I say we, I mean me. Most of the people around me serve some sort of purpose and when they aren't serving their purpose, my attitude towards then changes. Paul was pointing to a different way of doing things though, one he had been taught by the Holy Spirit. In the truth that Jesus draws us into, we trust in the Father and don't have a need to manipulate people to get what we need. We trust Him for our needs. The grace and love that we are given can't be contained within us and flows out in a new attitude toward those around us. Free from the fear of not having enough or not being enough we are free to share what He has given us with others. We are free to love and care for others even if there is nothing in it for us. Acting in the best interest of our neighbor becomes our best option. It really is a rebirth and amounts to a whole new life. We have to be willing to let go of the things of the old life to take hold of the new however. It's all a matter of trust.

Father God, Lead me to let go of my control and to trust You. Amen.

All You Need is Love

1 Corinthians 13: 1-3 And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I posses to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Paul is stating that love must be the foundation of all our actions. His words refocus our attention to the teachings of our Lord in Matthew 5: 43-48, 22:37-40 and John 15: 9-17. It was and is a radical message that draws us completely out of ourselves.

It's hard to love someone when they aren't doing what I want. Often in this situation, my actions are much more about putting them in their place or letting them know how much trouble they are being than about loving them. Sometimes the glorification of Hugh takes precedent over love. People need to know what an impressive guy I am, right? There are also times when others have chosen a path that is destructive to themselves and others and they have no intention of changing what they are doing. I can't just do nothing, but is my action based in love of God and the people involved? Some problems can just be ignored. Is that love? Christ called me to love...period. Love God and love my neighbor. Every thought and response I have should be born of this love. Wow, I am so not there! I so want to be though. Life would be an entirely different experience if I loved enough to trust in the provision God has made for me and spend my efforts looking out for the welfare of others. I would be God's provision for them! He would give me whatever I asked in Christ name, not because I wanted it but because love required it. Until I have that trust and love, my actions are going to be tainted to some degree by self interest. That leaves my self interest competing with everyone else's and that's pretty much the world we live in now. Am I willing to do the hard work of trust in God and self forgetting? Will I call on Christ to get me through the pain of strangling out my old self to make way for a new creation? Am I willing to walk through fear and into the Kingdom of God? The task is colossal, nothing short of a death struggle really. The reward is untold joy. This is Christ's call to each of us.

Father God, Grant that I might love and trust You enough to truly love my neighbor. Lead me through the death of my will that stands in the way of Your Kingdom. Amen.

Who's Big?

Job 38: 12-13 Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn it's place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it?

The Lord is addressing Job and asking him if he can do the things that God can do.

To catch a glimpse of God's greatness causes a crushing realization of our own meager existence. This sounds like a horrible, depressing thing but it isn't. It is our existence viewed in proper perspective. The point isn't that we are unworthy worms, it is that God is unthinkably, unspeakably, unfathomably great. He is all love, all power, all beauty, all justice, all things. It also clears up who is and isn't God, who knows best and who knows little. When confronted with the glory of the Lord, Job had no argument left in him. His question instantly became, "Who am I to question God?" To defend his situation no longer seemed applicable, the only thing to do was to humbly trust the Lord. It is always the only thing to do. Many of us have had experiences with His glory. My life was changed forever when He chose to reveal Himself to me. I haven't had a similar experience since but He does maintain contact through His gift of the Holy Spirit. It is up to me to follow His leading and continuously seek Him if I am to maintain conscious contact with my Lord. That makes it sound like maintaining our relationship is all up to me now, but it really isn't. He revealed Himself to me because He loves me and wants me to be part of the family. In reality I'm probably something like a toddler now; getting around on my own but never out of my loving mothers sight; trying to be a big boy but needing a lot of guidance from bigger hands. That's alright though. In a reality where the only applicable thing to do is to humbly walk with our Lord, it's good to know who's big and who's little.

Father God, grant that I might always remember how great You are, how dependant I am, and how very much love You have shown me. Amen.

Ascetic Inclinations

1 Corinthians 9:25-27, 10:12-13 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified from the prize... So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

In this scripture, Paul speaks of rigorous self denial and self discipline. He indicates that these free us from slavery to our own appetites and urges and allow us to hold a righteous line under the strongest of temptations.

Those who lead an ascetic lifestyle have always intrigued me. I remember reading that Gen. Stonewall Jackson once ate bread with butter on it. He liked it so well that he never had it again. A very deeply religious man, he didn't want to take too much pleasure from things of this world. This is something of a lost sentiment among Christians in this generation. I am wondering if I am being pulled in this direction though. My appetite for pleasure, comfort and ego fulfillment have dominated most of my adult life. (probably my childhood too) The call to break free of these false gods has whispered in my ear for a while now. The discipline of fasting has interested me. I have done it, with some success, but to say that I understand it would be a lie. Recently I said to Kristy that I might like to try to make fasting part of my routine. It seems likely that if I give up something (food) in a search for God, He will place something before me. Jesus fasted. It's probably a good idea. There are those characters too, like John of Antioch, who made sheer misery a way of life. He ruined his health by years of constant standing and fasting. He also castrated himself. While this seems pretty extreme, he didn't do it because there was no reward in his discipline. It got results. John was among the most powerful preachers of the early church. His devotion intrigues me. The call to follow Christ has led scores of Christians to reject material society and the norm through the years. Maybe I am simply being called to be more self disciplined but it feels like there might be more. Does my answering Gods call in my life mean that my values should be visibly different from those of my past and society's in general? Is that where He is leading me? Perhaps....

Father God, please develop in me the faith to follow your call. Shape me into a vessel that is pleasing to you. Crush all my false gods. By all means, use me to reach those who need you. Amen