A Battered Warrior

.... Fear Itself

Psalm 27:1-2  “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid? “

 

                Today God used my daughter to teach me a valuable lesson. We were on the second floor of a building; there was an overlook near where I was standing in line. My daughter suddenly developed a fear of heights – the same little girl that rides roller coasters was suddenly afraid to stand near me. She backed up against the wall on the opposite side of the hall and refused to come to me. I because extremely frustrated and I tried to explain why her fear was irrational. I failed. She stayed put. I was frustrated because I wanted to talk to her, but could not do so if she stayed that far from me. Eventually we were able to move on in line and we all walked together, but for a while she refused to move.

                During worship God broke my heart. I thought about how many times I have let my fears keep me from coming to God. God is calling us to join Him in His work and to have a relationship with Him – our fear, or lack of faith robs us of these experiences. Today God taught me a lesson about my walk with Him by letting me see my daughter’s fear. Why did I get so frustrated with her? I took her fear as rejection, that she did not trust me to keep her safe. Even though I know she trusts me, in this incident to her it was safer to stay there because of something might happen.

                How must God feel? We have the creator of the universe calling us to come near Him and we freeze. We come up with excuses to ignore our callings and they are all because of a lack of faith. We have God calling us and we are afraid of what might happen…

                My daughter and I talked about my frustrations and her feelings… I told her that I just wanted to talk to her and the she knew I would never let anything happen to her – she said “I was just scared.” We ended our talk with pinkie promises – the most special promises between a father and child – I promised to try to understand and I renewed my promise to always take care of her, she promised to try.  Later I had a similar conversation with God…

 

How Deep Do You Want to Look?

Proverbs 25:28 "Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control."

 

    A city's walls are its source of protection and strength. The walls were not only a good defense but they were also a strong deterrent to any attackers as well. It is much easier to destroy or conquer a city without walls than a city that is well fortified.

    Is it simply enough to "know" God's word, His laws, and His ways? No! Granted we are saved by God's grace and He enbles us to repent for our sins - lately I have heard so many people claim that "God knows me, He made me and He understands. Besides He knows I am trying and He forgives me." Take a few minutes and think about that statement. Think about the society we live in and the attitudes society celebrates.

    Yes, God does forgive. Though he also says"...love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37) and "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me..." (John 14:21). 

    Obeying all starts with self-control... This simple little proverb should be a warning to most of our society and the attitude of "if it makes me happy..." or "I have to do what is right for me, I know the rules but..." Are your walls broken or crumbling? - Guess that depends on how deep you want to look.
    

 

Through Whose Eyes?

Mark 12:41-44  " Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, " I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They gave out of wealth; but she, out of poverty, put in everything- all she had to live on."

                                            

 

   How many times do we only view the surface of an issue?  Imagine winning the lottery, say $100 million cash - after taxes. In you mind you start to think about helping others, maybe a charity or the church, so you give them a million dollars. People might be impressed with your generosity, heck they might even name a scholarship or put a plaque on the wall for you - but what did you really do? You gave one percent! You gave a penny for every dollar you won.

   In our society we are caught up in flashy and new things - the bigger the better. We forget that God views the heart - that is what matters. As a parent we sometimes receive some "unique" gifts - but no matter what their physical appearance is, they are precious. Until I had my own children I never truly understood how my mom could be content with a construction paper card for a present. How could she not care that I did not spend hundreds of dollars on a new gadget, she liked the card - she actually preferred the card. Why? - It came from the heart.

    God wants us to give from a joyful heart and to trust His words that He will provide. We must learn a lesson that is totally against our modern society - we must learn to be content. We can not compare ourselves, our situations, or anything to others. We must understand that one person's blessing is another person's curse. It is very easy to feel sorry for someone or blame God for a circumstance, but we have to stop and ask ourselves this question - "Through whose eyes am I seeing things?" - if you answer your own, then you are most likely missing the big picture.  God's plans and His ways are not bound by the rules we live by, do not try to understand everything - we were not meant to. Faith is what allows us to accept that God is God and we are not.

    
 

A Matter of Perspective....

Proverbs 16:2  "All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord"

    How often do we catch ourselves justifying things we know are wrong? Look at the simple things, speeding on the freeways, texting while driving, and even lying. We speed because it is safer, "Everyone else is doing 75, so if I only drive 65 I will be holding up traffic and they will run me over." Texting - "I am a good driver and I know my phone, so I do not even have to look down. It is not a big deal, besides what a dumb law."  Lying - "I only did it to protect your feelings, if I told you the truth it would have made things worse." We are told to speak the truth in love - would the truth really hurt the person if we tell them out of love, or is it just easier to lie and avoid an uncomfortable situation?

    We justify our actions constantly and we use the world around us to prove we are right. The fatal flaw is that this is a fallen and corrupt world, the world is not just. It is even more dangerous when we try to play this game with God. "I know that the Bible says it is wrong, but God made me and He knows where I am at." Maybe a better way to approach things is with a humble and broken heart.

    The second we have to start justifying things, why should just admit we are wrong and ask for forgiveness.

My Only Hope

 

My Only Hope

 

I hear the warnings, still I go,

Pain awaits me, it’s wrong I know.

Instant regret – hopeless I feel,

Destined to repeat  ‘less I kneel.

 

Two steps forward, then four more back,

Alone and broken, faith I lack.

Freely falling without a net,

My enemies circle, place your bet.

 

To you I scream “What should I do?”

Low reply says to trust in you.

How to trust when I can’t see?

Pain is real – it is killing me!

 

Evil seems to win and succeed,

Shift my focus it’s you I need.

So alone and feel no love,

True love was shown – came from above.

 

Not of this world, we claim to be,

Forgiven, chosen, and set free.

Chaos abounds – though eyes on you,

My only hope to get me through.

                               

                                                -TG

 

Who Made Whom?

 

Genesis 1:27   "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him..."

 

     
            “God created man in His image, unfortunately we returned the favor.” I heard this quote a couple weeks ago at church, it is unfortunately too true. We tend to limit God based on our own capabilities, understanding, perceptions, and perspective of time and the world in general.

            Since God created us, we have limits – therefore it is impossible for us to comprehend someone that is limitless, someone that is not bound by our limitations, and someone that can defy our own logic. We reside in a fallen world, things are not as they were intended to be, since we only know a fallen world we are forced to see things through fallen eyes.

Think about a pair of cheap sunglasses covered in scratches, smudges, and ill fitting. Everything you see is distorted, nothing as crisp or sharp as it is intended to be seen. If you had never known that there was something better or a way to clean the film off the lenses, you would be come content with this view. More damaging you would begin to explain your world by these inaccurate visions; after all you have never seen things any differently.

The message of the Gospel is a message of Hope. We have the opportunity to have a personal relationship with the creator of the universe – the giver of life; a God with limitless power and more importantly limitless love. People tend to develop their own ideal of God and what He can or can not do, what He will or will not do, and even define his character according to our twisted perceptions of justice and “fair”.

Take sometime this week to really read the Bible both Old and New Testament and see what you can learn about God’s true nature, His character, and His power. Compare your perceptions and feelings about God to the Biblical truths you learn… dare to let God out of the box and let Him reveal Himself to you in a new and powerful way.

 

A Matter of Perspective...

Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is living an active. Sharper than any double -edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing the soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

 

When we hear the word story, we tend to think of something make believe - a happily-ever-after fairy tale of some sort. We tell children bedtime stories and people sit around the camp fire and tell ghost stories. The word story seems to have some sort of fantasy element to them, even if they pass on a moral lesson.

Today as I was reading my Bible, I started thinking about how we view the contents of the Bible. We refer to most things as "Bible stories." I understand the limits of our language and the way we have been conditioned to refer to things... but have our personal biases dulled our senses to certain messages from the Bible?

Yes, Sunday school has a purpose and we need to teach our children but at some point we need to make sure we understand that those "stories" are significant events. It is very easy to allow ourselves to continue viewing the Bible as a collection of stories - if we do we are limiting the Bible to being simply a book. Unfortunately many people that claim to be a Christian never get past the Sunday school level and most never read the Bible for themselves. When we allow others to tell us what things say and what they mean - never taking the initiative to read and learn for ourselves, never becoming educated enough to ask questions, we risk becoming a group of deceived people. History is full of mindless masses simply following a pied piper to slaughter...

Challenge yourself to pray and to read your Bible daily. Dare to see what it really says. You just might learn something. Just because someone claims something is in the Bible does not make them right - if you never learn what it actually says and in what context it was said, you are standing on shaky ground. Adam and Eve were deceived by someone misquoting God, taking a little creative license and well we know what happened.

Emotional?

Psalm 4:4-5   "In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord." 

 

    We all tend to have restless nights, lying in bed worrying about things we can not control or replaying that last arguement to figure out the perfect clever comeback.  How many times do we let our emotions, particularly anger, cause us to sin? If we do not keep or feelings in perspective, a Biblical perspective, we put ourselves at risk for all kinds of sin - lust, envy, pride...  

    How would you answer the following question, "If you were standing before God, could you describe your relationship with Him by saying, 'I love You with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind and all my strength?'"  - before you answer look at this verse - John 14:21 "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

   Maybe we need to reflect a bit... I would love to answer that question with a loud "Yes," but when I consider my actions my answer has to change. I can answer that question with, "I want to say Yes but I realize I am a work in progress and will grow each day."  As Christians we know that we still fall short, it is how we allow God to change our hearts that is key. When God convicts us of sin in our lives, how we react reveals the condition of our hearts and that reaction is ultimately what supports our answer to the question. 

   Take some time to think about that answer....