What Really Matters

Philippians 1:9,10 NLT: 9 I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.

Isn't that what we are all looking for in every situation that we face in our lives? We want to know what really matters and how we can best serve that fact. Here Paul mentions three things that are intertwined and that I believe must be lived through together for them to be completely effective: love, knowledge and understanding. If we have those three things together working in our lives then we will truly understand what really matters. First is love because it is the greatest commandment that Jesus ever gave to us. The love we have for people needs to be tempered with the knowledge we have about people, our nature and our world that we all live in. That knowledge in turn needs to be tempered with understanding of how those things exist and affect the way that we live. The Message version of this passage says that Paul's prayer is this: "that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush."

I think that is an awesome statement: "use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not just sentimental gush." I think oftentimes when we are told to love our neighbor the first thing that comes to our minds is the sentimental gush that Paul is talking about. Loving someone as ourselves needs to be understood before it can truly be lived. It is a hard undertaking to complete if you really think about it. By the shear definition of our innate survival intuition we are not capable of loving anymore than ourselves; once we begin thinking about the people that mean the most in our lives (spouse, children, parents, etc.) the propensity to talk about the love that we feel for them seemingly becomes mired with the sentimental gush we are talking about. If that is the case with the people we love how is it then that we can believed when we say we feel that way about our neighbors and those we do not even know?

I think that as our discipleship walk deepens with Jesus, we begin to see the people in our world like He does. We begin to feel for their souls and for their basic need to be led and to be genuinely loved unconditionally. Therein lies the key to the knowledge of our love. We begin to know why we love the way we do, because it is how we are taught to love. As the knowledge of our love grows our understanding of the people and their situations needs to increase as well. Simply knowing why we love (or why we should love) isn't enough to love, we need to understand the conditions of the people around require love regardless of their position or situation. Understanding the conditions of people doesn't equate to condoning sin or actions, it makes the sin or action understandable and thus highlights the need for an unconditional love. Jesus never passed judgement on someone who was sinful but rather He had compassion on them and ministered to their basic need for love.

It is my prayer today for me as well as for you, "that (our) love will flourish and that (we) will not only love much but well. (That we) learn to love appropriately. (That we) use (our) head(s) and test (our) feelings so that (our) love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush."

My Friends In Philippi

I am reading through the book of Philippians tonight. I have read through this book times before, but tonight there is just so much that is jumping out at. I love how faithful God is. It always seems that I am in a spot in my life where I am crying out for a good word of comfort or direction and He always takes me to His word and gives it to me. I mean I can have read the passage over and over and over again a hundred times before and then read it when He leads me and it is like I am reading it for the first time thinking "I didn't know this is what it said!" He really is faithful to meet me right where I am at.

One of my favorite verses is in the first chapter of Philippians. 1:6 (NLT) "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns." I like it in The Message version as well: "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. "



I like the verse in the NLT because it uses the word "finally." The word finally, to me, represents the fact there was a process involved in the undertaking of some task that had to be completed. To me it gives justice to the fact that most processes involve work that sometimes includes struggle. I know that the work that Jesus has begun in me has been a struggle at times, especially when it involved me changing. Change is not an easy thing for me, especially when I had to learn to redo things in my life after I had been decades doing them the wrong way. I had to learn to trust my destiny and life to someone else that I couldn't see. If that doesn't involve struggle then I am not sure what would.


I like the verse in The Message because it has a more celebratory feel to it. It tells of a "flourishing finish" to the work that Jesus has begun in us. When we have accomplished all that we have been called to accomplish, or we have been found faithfully working to accomplish what we have been called to accomplish when Jesus returns we will be greeted with a "flourishing finish" to our work--a celebration for a life time of work that has been successfully completed. I also like this version because it is more definitive in the words it uses to describe the author's certainty of the fact of Jesus' faithfulness to watch over His work in us. "There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind..." sounds more secure in the knowledge of a fact than simply "I am certain..." To me the first method of explaining certainty is more emphatic than the second.


Beyond the wording of the verse in the two different versions, it is one of my favorite verses simply for what it says. It says that Jesus has made an investment in our lives, and just like any good investor, He is going to diligently watch the investment to make sure it accomplishes what it is supposed to. His investment is going to achieve the purpose He had planned for it. It is exciting to me to think that Jesus believes in me that much and that He cares about my success in His kingdom enough to personally watch over what I have been called to do. When I stumble He doesn't sell all the shares He has invested in me, but rather He redirects them to get me back on track to make me profitable again.

Childish

I have been accused of being childish on more than one occasion. It was probably well deserved as I have often wished I had some of my childhood and childlike instincts back. It was good to be a kid. I didn't have to deal with all this yucky adult stuff that I am facing right now. Paying bills, finding the faith to hold on to the dreams and calling God has given. Finding the faith to believe that what seems impossible is indeed possible. At least when I was a kid I knew what I was going to be when I grew up. I find myself now at 31 asking myself what I am going to do with the rest of my life. Rather I find myself asking God what He is going to do with the rest of my life. When He speaks is usually when I need that childlike faith to believe that it will all come to pass. Being a kid was great. I knew I was going to eat but didn't have to worry about where the groceries were going to come from. I knew I had a place to sleep but didn't have to worry about the mortgage that had to be paid to make sure I could have that place to sleep. I flipped on the light switch and the lights came on, I didn't think about the light bill being paid. I had new clothes to wear but didn't have to wonder what was going to be sacrificed in the budget that month to be able to have the money to buy the clothes. I want that kind of faith and trust again. In a way this is a testament to my mother, the single woman that raised three kids alone in a middle class neighborhood and kept us in the lifestyle we were always accustomed to. We knew money was tight at times but I don't think we ever really knew just how tight it was or the sacrifices she made for us to have what we had. I want to be a child again. I need that faith. I know it will all be OK because it always is. But this time I want to feel it.

"Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven."
Matthew 18:3

How To Start a Conversation

I am reading through some of Paul's letters in the bible lately. It just finally hit me today as I began reading Colossians that he starts every letter by saying who he is in Christ and by saying that he is thankful for the people he is writing to. He also says that he is praying for them and for the work they have been called to do. I think that is awesome. I am not one that needs constant affirmation, but wouldn't it be great to know that someone is thankful for you and constantly prays for you and the work that you have been called to complete. I have learned from being a manager responsible for hundreds of people that encouragement is one of the best tools someone can use to get something accomplished. In a way Paul was like a manager to some of these brand new churches. He was reaffirming the good that they had accomplished and that they were continuing to do. He also let them know he was constantly supporting them with prayer. Amazing! Some of the best business principles and interpersonal relations techniques can be seen in the bible.

Just a random thought.
Mike

Ignored and Overlooked

Ignored and overlooked. As a kid on the playground none of us wanted to be the last kid picked for the team. None of us wanted to be passed over or passed by. We wanted to be a part of the action that was going on around us. We wanted to be a part of the group--to have something to belong to. We had a need for association. As we have grown up, has this need changed or diminished? Maybe to a degree it has, as we are more selective of the groups that we look to associate ourselves with. Thinking in terms of society, I still can't imagine one of us that wants to belong to a group that either of those two labels applies to. Overlooked for a promotion because of our gender. No that's not good. Ignored in political realms because we don't have a high voter turnout percentage. That's not a good feeling either. How about ignored because we are in prison for committing crime or worse yet crimes. What if I was in prison because I committed the same crime over and over and over and got caught each time--should I be ignored or overlooked? I don't have a job right now because I am sick. What if my life was reduced to holding a sign on the corner because I have exhausted all my other means of support? Would you ignore me because it was my fault? Ignore me because you have your own problems? Overlook me because I am overweight so I must be eating somewhere? One of the things I have heard most from people who have AIDS is that the thing they miss most is being touched. Would you let someone who is sick with AIDS die without being hugged simply because their disease carries a stigma just as big as its death sentence? Overlook them because of what they did to contract the disease? Pretty tough questions. These are roaring through my mind right now. Especially now. I don't have a job. I am not made of nor was I born into money. Yet I have so much more than I need. I have the luxury of deciding what, when and where I will eat. I hear God calling again. I know He is going to move again in my life soon. I feel it.

Matthew 25:37-40 (The Message)
"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.'

Brokenness

I was going through my files to see if I had a picture to help me describe brokenness. I did. It is a picture of me. I am learning more and more about myself lately. I am learning all the masks I had to wear and chose to wear. I am learning to take them off. I am learning that underneath it all I am broken. What I am learning even faster is that it is ok to be broken; in fact we are called to be broken in our discipleship walk with Christ. Like the fish and the loaves. Blessed. Broken. Given. That is my quest, my highest goal each day.

Be Blessed. Be Broken. Then be Given.

Mike

The Gift That Keeps on Giving

1Corinthians 12:7
NKJV
7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all

NLT
7A spiritual gift is given to each of us as a means of helping the entire church.

MSG
7Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people!

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I think that God is trying to say something to me! This is the verse that popped out on the page today in my study time. Yesterday I read that it was okay to explore to see who I was and what I was called for. Today it is reaffirmed that we all have a calling; that God has given each of us a gift that would not only benefit us but that would also benefit His entire church. Each translation says it a little different and makes it a little more clear and easier to understand. I love the Message version where it says "each person is given something to do that shows who God is." That is great! When we move in the gift that we have been called to operate in we are given the opportunity to show the world who God is. That also means though it could be something that we are not that comfortable doing; it might be something that requires us to step out of our comfort zone and trust God to move in the gift through us. I say this because if we are demonstrating who God is then we have
to be at our weakest so that He can be at His strongest. We will have had to resign our lives to His control to move the way He wants us to move to benefit His church the most. That's a lot to take in!

The Spiritual Indiana Jones

Galatians 6:4-5 MSG
4Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. 5Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.
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I read this verse this morning in my study time. It hit me so hard that I had to read it a few times. This verse is telling us to make a careful exploration of who I am. Just this first part of the verse speaks volumes and answers a question I know some people struggle with constantly--you know the big question, "Who am I?" Well it may not be that dramatic, it is something some people wonder. What this verse says to me is that it is okay to not know who we are deep down, it is okay to not know what we have been called to. That is the purpose of the exploration--to find the answers to those questions. In the search for who we are along the way we will encounter what we are here for. We have all been called each according to our gifts it says in the bible. But its okay not to just naturally know what those gifts are straight away. When we were growing up we were asked what we wanted to be when we grew up. We most likely had an answer depending on whatever we were currently
infatuated with. When we were in high school we were told it was okay to not know what career path we wanted to pursue when we graduated because that was what the first two years of college were for--to find out what what we were good at and had an affinity for. We were sent out to college in essence to find ourselves.

I know just the first part of this verse could do so much good for a lot of people who struggle to find their place in the kingdom of God and His body. It is okay to not know where and in what capacity you should be serving. It is okay to explore and to see where you fit best, where you can do and be your best. We are told that once we find that place we are to sink ourself in to that work. It will be easy to do so because it will feel like we are at home.

What it is not okay to do is to do nothing. We can't just sit idly by and wait for the big banner in the sky to tell us what we were created for and what our purpose in the world is. That doesn't take any exploration at all.

If you haven't already go make a careful exploration of yourself and what work you have been called to.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing

If I am Me...?

Rick Burgess and Bill "Bubba" Bussey host the wildly popular Rick and Bubba Show, a drive-time radio broadcast that originates in Birmingham, Alabama. Animators once made a cartoon out of their two characters and invited Rick and Bubba to provide the voices. Rick was the voice of Rick, and Bubba, the voice of Bubba. Bubba, however, couldn't seem to please his producer. He suggested that Bubba change inflections, volume, and other details. Bubba grew understandably impatient. After all, he was voicing himself. He turned to the producer and objected, "If I am me, how can I mess me up?"--as told in The Cure for the Common Life, by Max Lucado

Take away point:

Be yourself. So many times we are faced with people and circumstances that try and fit us into the molds they want us to be shaped like. We have been called to be who God wants us to be. No one knows us better than us, except for God. As long as we are walking in His direction and following His voice we will be all we ever need to be.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!

Mike