Extremes

Tough Mudder, Spartan Beast, Iron Warrior, Gut Check… the list goes on. Marathons, triathlons, sprints, 10K, 5K… and for the very extreme, Ultra Marathons  (100 miles) and Iron Man (if you don’t know, look it up… it’s extreme!) Get off your feet and on to a bike – if you can select one: all mountain, cross country, trail, enduro, downhill, or freeride… Put a motor on it, it can get faster, farther, higher… You can jump off a cliff, a bridge, or out of an airplane. You can fly Ultralights, para-sails, hang gliders… And I haven’t even started on team sports…

There are so many opportunities to engage in the extreme, push yourself to the limit, and put yourself at risk, in the hospital, or in the grave, it makes you start to wonder what is going on… Not to mention the incredible amount of commerce surrounding these activities: literally billions of dollars each year spent to see how far one can push themself… I need to ask: Why? What is it that makes us so restless, so anxious to get out there on the very edge and get our heart rate racing?

For me, as one who has participated in much of the above, and who has spent his fair share of billions, I have come to the conclusion that I do these things to be fully alive. This isn’t to say that those who sit on the couch and watch sports, or cooking shows are not alive, or that they have a life any less valid than my own, but when I am sitting on a couch even for a few minutes, I feel the need to jump on my XC bike and hit the trails. I see a beautiful cliff over water and I long to jump off of it. I see the ocean and I want to go scuba diving. I wake up and I want to go run, go to the gym, or whatever I can to get my heart racing again. I can’t explain it, and when I try  to, I get funny looks from those who do not share my affinity for the fast. But, when I meet a compatriot, we smile at each other knowingly, each of us dreaming of that perfect push, that edge-of-the-cliff experience that connects us to each other, to the earth, and to the Maker of the Universe.

Think about creation for a moment. If you want to believe all of this was an accident, and somehow it all just happened, well go for it… I have contemplated Darwinism, Naturalism, and the Big bang, and honestly I think it takes more faith to believe that all of this started from nothing without some kind of outside initiative. Or Initiator… But I digress. Creation: mountains, valleys, streams, rivers, oceans, lakes, oxygen, water, earth, space, stars… dogs, cats (not my favorite) elephants, lions, tigers, and bears, octopuses and platypuses… All this variety, conflict, and cooperation. Why would a creator make so many incredible things, outwardly disassociated, but in reality completely interconnected and codependent. And then there is us… humans: wonderful, horrible, beautiful, demented, destructive, creative, boring, intense.

I look at all of this, and one word comes to mind: passion. Passion. Our Creator is a passionate God. If you look around, and accept this view that the Creator is a passionate God, things make much more sense. “Why did He make this?” Because He is a passionate Creator who loves the edge, the heights, the depths… the outer fringe.  And since we were made in His image, we are passionate creatures.

When you think of “passion” in its most obvious sense, you might think of two lovers embracing “passionately.” I do understand that passion, as I am married to an amazing woman who after 28 years of marriage still makes my heart race. I also understand the side of passion that can look like rage – as I just mentioned, I have been married for 28 years. When I say I love my kids, I cannot even begin to describe the passion I have for them, for what their lives can be, and how I long for them to live fully engaged lives as well. I think this, too, is an image of our Creator – why He created us.

When I say I love to run, many people, perhaps you, just think I am crazy. I have had one guy boldly say to me that I was stupid to run so much. Then he started talking about computers and technology and passionately describing the Bluetooth capabilities…. Or some other stuff I had no idea what he was talking about… but he was passionate!! What about you? What are you passionate about? What makes your heart race?

Bottom line: We are passionate people, created by a passionate God, who still loves us passionately. In fact, some refer to the week of Easter as Passion Week, and call the act of God laying down His life for us, “The Passion.”  As you explore what it is that ignites your passion, I hope to encourage you to consider how it connects you to Him… the ONE who made you to be passionate. Pursuing your passion is a holy pursuit… Go for it!

DannyT

Giving is getting

If you know me at all, you know I love music, and I love lyrics. I find it interesting that Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull fame wrote a song "Wondering aloud" which declared, "It's only the giving that makes you who you are." It's a short beautiful song of introspection, ending with that declaration of selflessness. I interpreted it this way, "We are at our best when we are giving it all away."

If you think about it long enough, I think you'd agree that giving something away and expecting nothing at all in return is, well, beautiful. I personally think that is the deepest reflection of God. He gave us so much without asking for payment. Yes, He hopes to illicit a response of love... but we remain free to respond or not. In fact, as He is all-knowing, He knew many of us would ignore Him completely, yet He gave any way. In some sense, we know God best because He gave.

When we think of extraordinary people throughout history, we know many of them because they gave their time, or talents, or treasures in some remarkable manner. I'm not talking about tabloid fame, but real admiration type notariety. These selfless people have inspired us, and the giving-ness is even perpetuated by their great acts of giving.

That said, I think that when we give in this truly altruistic manner, expecting nothing at all in return, we feel really good about ourselves. I personally do not think that is a horrible thing - to give and feel good about it. Why not? It is good. I guess that could be abused and someone could give big just to be noticed, but in the grand scheme of things, there are worse acts to be accused of... ;-)

Curiously, Ian Anderson wrote years later a song called, "Wondering Again" where he relates a bitterness, frustration, and even disgust at the world phoniness and disharmony. The music is somewhat dissonant as he states decidedly, "It's only the taking that makes you what you are." He almost seems to regret that he has to say it is so.

I guess when all things are considered, it is actually both. What we give, and what we take, makes us who we are. I just think it's the giving that makes us the better us.

The Joy of Set Before Us

In Hebrews 12:2, we read "For the Joy set before Him He endured the cross." I think about this a lot. It speaks to me in so many different ways. I met Jesus in 1991, and not long after that read this verse. I am still not done thinking about it. At first, it just stood out and made no sense at all. Over the years, it has only grown in depth. Think about it: Jesus looked at the joy to come, and chose to endure the cross.

It seems to me we need to really understand the joy he was contemplating ... because at least to some degree, we know the cross. After I was saved, I started reading everything. First, the Bible over and over.. I couldn't get enough. Then, commentaries and anything else I could get my hands on. I can say with a certainty, the cross, and how bad it was, has been dissected and examined to the "nth" degree. The cross was ugly, shameful, painful, and horrible beyond our understanding. It was purposefully that way, to scare people into submission. Let's just say, it was very effective.

But, let's take the verse into complete context: Jesus chose to, in some supernatural way I don't understand, leave the Father's presence, enter into the world He created as a helpless baby, in extremely poor conditions, grow up poor, endure the mocking only a bastard child knows, experience the death of a parent, hang out with a bunch of losers, and then for absolutely no good reason, be beaten viciously, tortured, forced to carry the wood that He would soon be nailed to up a long hill, and crucified mercilessly.

What kind of Joy did He consider so great that He willingly surrendered to such insanity? He became human to suffer the most inhumane act of punishment. It's more than ironic.

I know some suffering. I have had a son, a brother, and a parent die. I thought I grew up poor, until I went to the Philippines on a Mission trip and saw real poverty. Even the homelessness of America is nothing compared to the slums of Cebu. It is a funny thing... perspective is... I guess I really haven't known that much suffering. Much of my sadness and "suffering" over the years has been a result of my own doings. So, when I look at Jesus, and what He went through, when compared to what I know about suffering, it is unimaginable that He would choose to enter into that deal. What kind of Joy was it that He considered it a deal worth taking? I want to know... don't you?

Let's try to work through it... What would Jesus get for going through all of that and dying this horrible, ridiculous death? The text reveals the prize: "...sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Wait... that's it? Admittedly, that has got to be one awesome throne, since God owns everything He could spare no expense. Can we infer that this location, this position, is so incredibly fantastic that the unimaginable suffering Jesus experienced was worth it? But, wait... this is where it started, so it can't be just sitting here that was the joy He considered... right? If Jesus was with God from the beginning (John 1:1-2) why would He leave at all? Couldn't He have simply said, "no thanks." and just stayed where He was? So it couldn't have been just to sit at the throne He was actually already sitting at when He heard the deal. (Note: I am putting this into a time continuum that actually doesn't exist, as God exists outside of time.. but that is another blog.)

Consider Philippians 2:6-8, which declares "(Jesus) Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death - even death on a cross." The implication here is that He did in fact have the option to say "No!" My point is that it can't be considered obedience if there isn't a choice involved. If you are arrested and put in handcuffs and led to a cell, it isn't obedience if you don't fight... you don't really have a choice. I would call that force. Or submission to coercion.  Again, that's another blog...

So, the question remains - what was so Joyful that the decision to endure the cross made sense?  The text in Philippians illuminates it a bit more: "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Okay, we may be getting somewhere. This is some good stuff here: "highest place, above every name, every knee bows, every tongue..." It appears that, if I am reading this correctly, Jesus obeyed to get the highest place and be in total control. We call Him King of Kings for a reason...

The sidebar here is that if this is true (which I contend it is) then Jesus IS in fact, The King of all Kings. How then should we act? How then should we consider Him, and His words? I am going to let that simmer on the backburner for a while, but, we will come back to this. There is just too much here to leave behind.

But, for this blog, let's stay on track. Did Jesus just do all of that suffering so He could be in charge? In the first part of that text, it said, "...being in very nature God..." So, same argument as the first - He gave up what He had already to gain only what He gave up? That makes no sense. That's like me giving you a thousand dollars so you can give me a thousand dollars. There is something else here. What was this Joy He saw but we are not seeing?

I am still thinking about all of this, but what I believe is that Jesus obeyed because it is joyful to obey. All of the above is true, and the other hundred or so verses I could show you support various nuances of why He may have seen joy in the obedience. But the bottom line is that the obedience is Joyful. Why? Because God's will is good. Romans 8 states that all things work together for good in God's plan, and if you search the Bible for the word "good" in connection to God being good, there are over 400 instances of God's goodness. Even Jesus God obeyed Father God, and obeyed knowing that the obedience would be good long term. In the midst of the act of obedience, maybe not so much... but ultimately, because of Father's plan and Jesus' obedience, Romans 5 says "... so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." That's a good plan. Because Jesus obeyed once, we all who believe benefit. Big time.

Application time: Obey. Even when it makes no sense. Even when you are giving something up, and it isn't fair. Obey. God has plan and it is very, very good. Don't just trust me. Trust Him. Jesus did.

To Do Business...

Psalm 107:23-32
Some of you set sail in big ships;
you put to sea to do business in faraway ports.
Out at sea you saw God in action,
saw his breathtaking ways with the ocean:
With a word he called up the wind—
an ocean storm, towering waves!
You shot high in the sky, then the bottom dropped out;
your hearts were stuck in your throats.
You were spun like a top, you reeled like a drunk,
you didn't know which end was up.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
he got you out in the nick of time.
He quieted the wind down to a whisper,
put a muzzle on all the big waves.
And you were so glad when the storm died down,
and he led you safely back to harbor.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
Lift high your praises when the people assemble,
shout Hallelujah when the elders meet!

I was reading through the Psalms the other day and this passage stood out to me... I have read it many times before, but for some reason, it has be echoing in my heart for the last three days since I read it. When I read the first verse of this section, "...to do business...", I thought, "that's me." I mean, I make plans to do business, and set goals, prepare, and then set out "to sea". My guess is that most of us do this is some fashion. Whether it is making plans to buy something (like a large building and 100 acres) or to sell something, (another building) or to effect something in our lives.. to achieve something... to gain something... We all do these things. I am not saying that is bad - don't get me wrong. We need to set goals, make plans, and move forward. If we don't, I think they call that a "couch potato", or a "slacker"... That's certainly not good.
So, are we all in agreement? We all make plans - good, bad, indifferent - we "set out to sea." And then... God!
All kinds of crazy happens. Storms, waves, rain, ad nauseam (literally).
So, what do we do? In this text, the "sailors" cried out to God. And God met them, and saved them. What kind of sailor are you? I imagine it could go another direction, and have experienced this on more than one occassion - the "sailors" (us) complain about the situation, moan and regret how their plans have gone awry. They can cast judgment and blame on others. They can even complain directly to God, because He did not bless their plans. "Woe is me... Why God, why me?" Yeah... I've heard it before. Truth be told, I might have been one of these forelorn sailors a time or two. What about you?
The sailors in this text realized something either sooner or later, but ultimately, they cried out to God. They realized their position as "passengers" on a boat that they really had no control over. Rudderless in a storm, they needed something.. some ONE more powerful. The Surrendered Sails caught no wind as they bowed low in submission. The only strong act of men was to cry out to a Holy, Powerful God, and ask for salvation. In that act, they gave up all sense of control, real or imagined. And God answered. "In the nick of time" God quieted the wind, muzzled the waves, and led the crying ones back to safe harbor. And they responded in praise.
The last few verses of this text show clearly that these "planners" saw the great mercies of God, and were grateful. Their plans were changed, the outcome was not what they planned, and they may have even lost their cargo (their down payment on the above referenced property?) and yet they had a new perspective... that God saved them, and they were overjoyed by His goodness and love.
It is amazing what a little storm can do to our perspective. I think the two paths of response are pretty universal at all crossroads following a "storm". We can choose to complain, or we can acknowledge that our plans just aren't as important as our relationship with Father. If He chose a storm for us, rather than our well thought out schemes, we must have needed that storm to gain correction in our perspective. God is not fickle or wishy-washy -- He desires for us a deep, intimate relationship with Himself, and He is jealous when we place anything in front of Him.. especially a PLAN. We must, if we truly belong to Him, state clearly and with commitment at every crossroad, "not my will but Yours Father." That is the only realistic perspective.

All is Yours God. I am Yours. My plans are Yours God... It's all Yours.

.

Go Away From Me, Lord...

The scene is evocative.  A small boat, rocking abruptly out of sync with the calm lake.  A few men working feverishly to haul in a very full net of fish.  Contrasting that activity, in the same boat, one man on his knees before another, his heart breaking with the sudden realization of who he was, and who he was kneeling before.  The words forcing themselves out of his throat, "Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man."  I can almost see the agony in his face, and I feel the pain as if it were my own... it is uncomfortably familiar...

So, why these words?  What prompted this seasoned fishing professional to be overcome with such seemingly contrary emotion upon receiving this gift of the largest haul of fish he had ever seen, much less, hauled in himself.  The overflowing nets would have made any fisherman cry, but not with such sorrow.  And why beg the Man who gave such a gift to go away?  A little context could help.

Peter and the guys had been fishing all night.  That's just what they did almost every night... they were professional fishermen.  In that society, it was a relatively respectable career path.  Truly, every faithful young man wanted to be a student, chosen by one of the famous Pharisees to be taught in the Law and the Prophets, the Bible of that day, or what Christians know as the Old Testament. The life of a scholar would be much easier and have more opportunity than that of any tradesman.  Teaching, preaching, and sitting around, discussing theological things all day... much more gratifying than casting nets and gutting fish all night and day.  These men, having not been chosen by one of the schools of religious training, followed in their fathers' footsteps into the trade of fishing, and were likely resolved that their destinies were pretty much set.

That morning, after an unsuccessful night of fishing, they were there on the banks of the Lake of Gennesaret (also know as the Sea of Galilee, or the Sea of Tiberias) cleaning their nets.  A teacher, not yet famous, but certainly becoming known for his contrariness, was teaching from the banks.  Apparently, the fishermen had a front row seat, as they continued to finish their work for the day.  Whatever Jesus was talking about must have been impressive, because when He was done speaking to the crowd, He turned to Peter and said, "Let's go catch some fish!" (loose translation by me!)  Peter, tired, in the middle of cleaning his nets, started to put up an argument, "Master, we have worked hard all night and haven't caught anything..."  Notice the term "Master."  (Luke 5:5)  That's a term we simply won't use today.  We would never even feign such a submissive position to anyone... much less someone we did not know.  I have heard various explanations of this: 1. That Peter had heard Jesus before;  2. That Peter had actually already established a relationship with Jesus at this point;  3.  That Peter had wanted to be a teacher himself, recognized the power in this Teacher who spoke to him now, and simply had an immediate sense of deep respect for Jesus... a view I particularly prefer as most reasonable.  Not that it matters that much, but it just seems to me that anything else would have been mentioned.

So, back to the context: we see that Peter, at least, recognized this Teacher as Master.  And despite the fact that Peter and the others were experienced, professional fishermen who had already called it a day, Peter capitulated his argument and offered, "...but because You say so, I will let down the nets."  The text goes immediately to the catching of fish, skipping past the description of how the men had to gather the nets and whatever tools they use, get back into the boats, and row out into the waters. The text simply states: "When they had done so, they caught such a large number the nets began to break."  That's crazy!  I am going out on a limb here, but I don't think they had ever seen anything like this.  During the warmth of the day, when the fish were normally nearest the bottom and fishing just isn't done, they caught the biggest catch of their lives... maybe the biggest catch ever on that lake.  The boat was starting to sink, and they had to call out to another boat to come over and help... we are talking, HUGE!  You can only imagine the excitement of all of those involved!  The yelling and laughing, whooping and hollering!  This was the catch of their lives.

In the midst of the chaos, I can see Peter... slowly standing, countenance fading from outright exuberance to solemn stupor.  The realization that this Man, who gave this gift, who said these words, who had commanded such submissiveness from him without any verbal demands, was more than a man.  Who else could direct the fish themselves to jump into the net?  These fish were usually out of reach at this time of day, not to mention this catch literally defied all realities known to Peter and the others.  Fish don't do this.  Peter then realized, "Jesus did this... Jesus is sent from God."  We know this because of the next word out of Peter's mouth was "Lord".  There is a dramatic shift from Master, which is pretty powerful, to Lord, which is Master times a hundred.  In our day, that could be something like the difference between "dude" and "Mr. President"...  We can only conclude something happened in the time from the shore to the hauling in of fish... Jesus didn't change... Peter did. And in that place, Peter could only ask - no, beg -  this Man, "Lord", to go away.  "Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man."

This is worth exploring: Why would you ask God to go away?  To give you a hint of where I am going, I am just going to say that I suspect we all ask God to go away a lot more than we care to admit.  This peek into Peter's soul, that he now knows his sinfulness in a more full way and at the same time, he sees the holiness of God... it breaks his heart.  I think we can all say these things: "I am sinful.  God is Holy."  We can probably even say it in the same sentence: "I am sinful and God is perfectly holy."  There.  I said it.  I don't think Peter was just saying it... maybe that is the point.  Peter experienced something in a profound truth that he had not  experienced before.  An utter humbling that rocked his world so deep that his only response was to ask God to go away, lest God get stained by Peter's filthiness, or lest Peter burst into flames from proximity to God's perfection.  Peter, with his religious background; his past hopes of being one of the elite teachers in the order of the Pharisees or maybe the Sadducees... Peter got it...maybe for the first time.  "God is good.  God is Holy.  I am nothing.  I do not deserve anything except condemnation."  He stared up into the eyes of God expecting to see that condemnation he deserved.  But, that is not what he saw.

Before we move on to what he saw in Jesus' eyes, let's just agree to agree: All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  (Romans 3:23)  I don;'t have a clue about what specific sins Peter was thinking of, but I can come up with plenty of my own.  I suspect you can, too.  Personally, I have a few doozies that I simply can't even talk about.  It is quite possible that you feel the same way.  The problem at times is that we compare our sins to the sins of others, and then, we aren't so bad after all.  In fact, if we could maybe find someone who sins more than us, we start to look pretty good.  As if the blackness of sin was relative.  That way, we feel better and it sure is easier to get through the day.  I have this feeling that many people do exactly that... Justify their own fallen-ness by pointing to the faults of others - then, all is well in the world.  The problem is, Truth doesn't work that way.

The Truth is, sin is relative - but relative to God's perfect standard, which is sinless-ness, personified by the Man Jesus.  Jesus, set aside his God-ness, became man, and lived a sinless life.  He showed us the Way.  And at once, became the Way (or, really always was the Way.)  He is the standard by which we are measured.  And, since that is the Truth, my sinfulness looks very, very bad.  The Light of Jesus, shined on my sin, reveals me to be wholly unholy, deeply depraved, and, on my own energies, without hope. Condemned by my own doing.

But, Jesus.  "Therefore, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)  That's what Peter saw in the eyes of this Teacher, who had just given him the gift of fish.  I imagine that Jesus had this look of love, maybe even a hint of joy/sorrow as He watched Peter "get it."  You know, that Joy that makes you cry because you know someone you love is at that place where the pain of Truth makes them run to God and ask for Salvation?  You hurt, because you know they hurt, but you are so happy because they have entered eternal life...  Just thinking about the times I watched friends and family at that place makes me heart leap! 

And then, not satisfied to leave it there, Jesus told Peter, "From now on, you will fish for people..."  Jesus told Peter, essentially, "I am so happy you see the Truth.  But, it doesn't stop there.  Living in this Truth, you will lead others to this Truth.  Your life will have meaning, and purpose, and Hope.  I am NOT going away.  I will be with you forever.  We will do great things together!"  Peter and the rest of the guys left everything - including the fish they had just caught - and followed Jesus till the end.  And the world has never been the same.

Jesus says the same thing to you, and to me:  "I love you.  I want you to know me fully.  I have amazing things planned for you.  We can change the world together.  Come, follow me."  The only question now is, "What do I do with that?"  Have you had your "boat" experience?  That moment where you realized the sinfulness of you, and the holiness of God, so much so that you cried out, "Go away from me Lord!"?  Have you accepted the Truth of salvation found only in Jesus Christ?  Can you say, right now, without doubt, that you are a sinner whose only hope is Jesus?

If you have already been to the cross, and heard the words of Jesus, "I love you and I died to pay for your sins." Are you changed?  Have you left everything to follow Him?  Have you listened for His voice and longed to be as close to Him as possible?  I want to challenge you, seek Him.  Seek His will in your life.  In similar manner, as He told Peter, "I will take who you are, and make you all you were intended to be for the glory of God." He is telling you, too.  God is saving you for good reason.  Seek Him.

Even Jesus Had Bad Days...

My wife said it, so don't look at me... I would never say such a sacreligious thing! Or is it....?


When I saw the post from my youngest daughter, quoting my amazing wife, I immediately pictured the conversation they probably had when the sentence entered into existence: my wife was driving my daughter crazy and Rebecca was pushing back, and Kat was giving a reason why she was acting irritated. But, my wife enlightened me... I was totally wrong about the scenario. Not even close.

This is how it went: I was not home at the time, and the two of them were laying in bed talking about life and stuff - Before I move on, you gotta admit.. that's just awesome! My wife and my 16 year old daughter, just talking about life... real life. Not a lecture from a parent, or a tirade from a teenager. No, a deep, passionate digging in of life, love, and just stuff. I hear a lot of people complain about teenagers, but I'm here to tell you, they are not all bad. I've seen some remarkable, godly young men and women at my church, and most fortunately, in my home.

Okay, back to the conversation. Rebecca was explaining her frustrations to my wife about relationships, and friends, and school, and work... pretty much the things we all struggle with day to day. My wife, with poignant precision, states what I now have realized to be a deep truth, "Jesus had bad days, too, Baby." (We call our beautiful, amazing daughter, Baby... a very loaded term of endearment.) The conversation continued and they eventually went to sleep knowing Whose hands they were in. Again, that's just beautiful.

My immediate and irreverent response was to say, "Yeah, but Jesus can turn water into wine... that always helps." But, since I saw that post on Facebook, I have bounced that phrase around and around in my head. Jesus did, in fact, have His fair share of bad days. Let's enumerate a few.

Have you ever heard the catch phrase, "What, were you born in a barn?", usually declared loudly after leaving an exterior door wide open on a very hot, or very cold day. (As the fifth child of seven, I am pretty sure I heard that quite a bit growing up.) Well, Jesus was... born in a barn, that is. Not a great start for the King of the Universe. Since He literally owns everything that exists, you would think that He might go for something a little more extravagant. His earthly parents were pretty poor, so He was born into, and grew up with very little creature comfort. Now, the wise men did give some substantial gifts, but I'm of the mind that those gifts funded the flight to Egypt. That's not "flight" as in Southwest Airlines, but "flight" as in, "Wake up!! We have to leave our home right now and go to a different country or our child will be killed" flight. That was likely a seriously bad day, or two...

There is no mention of Joseph after the story of Jesus at the Temple when He was twelve, so most interpret that to mean that Joseph likely died prior to Jesus' public ministry. Even though Jesus knew His Perfect Father better than any of us, that still had to be a pretty bad day, when He had to bury His dad, and comfort His mom and family. I remember vividly when my dad died... that was a bad day, even though it was a peaceful departure, when compared to most.

In the Gospels, we can see many bad days, and I can only imagine the days that aren't described within the Scriptures. He was a carpenter, so I am sure He smashed a finger or two... I bet He didn't swear, like I do when I smash my finger, but it still swelled up, bled, and hurt. I'm sure He could have healed Himself if He wanted, but somehow, I think He didn't. I think He chose to experience life the way we do... the pain, the hurt, the love, everything. Good days, and bad...

Ultimately, there was THE Bad Day. The arrest. The beating. The crown of thorns. The betrayal. The abandonment. The nails. The Spear. The mockery. The shame. The heartache. The weight of the sin of the world. I really do not think, in as many bad days that I have had - and I have experienced a few very bad days... I am confident not one of my days ever even remotely compared to this very bad day. The most amazing thing is this: He knew ahead of time about this bad day. He even told Peter about it... He mentioned it a few times along the way. He knew. He knew and He went through it anyway. Because He decided, somehow, that I was worth it... that you were worth it. That my wife, and my daughters, were worth it.

Hebrews 12:2 explains this with precision: “...For the joy set before Him He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” The perspective of Jesus, His reasons to endure, the “why” behind the willingness... ours should and can be the same. There is a JOY to be had in the knowing that when we are done here, we will go into an eternity so amazing we have no words to describe it. No more pain, no more fear, no more tears... only good days. Jesus saw this. He also saw that every encounter while He was here was filled with purpose and meaning. It can be, and actually is, with us too. Romans 8:28-29 essentially says, “All things work together for God’s glory...” and continues to speak on His perfect plan to conform us into the image of His Son. To make us become just like Him. If that isn’t “Joy set before” me and you, I don’t know what is!!

Amazing.

So, if we see this Joy set before us, we, like Jesus, choose to endure. We trust that Father is working it all out. We look forward to the conforming of us into Him.

I sit here in wonderment of this Savior of mine. Words from a Casting Crowns song come to mind:

"Living He loved me,

Dying He saved me,

Buried He carried my sins far away.

Rising, He justified, freely forever.

One Day He's coming, Oh Glorious Day.

O Glorious Day."

Jesus, fully God and fully man, lived a sinless life... a life littered with bad days, that ended on a bad day, now lives in this Glorious Day. This Glorious Day where He lives, and loves His own.. all those who would turn to Him and call Him their own. He chose to endure the most un-endurable day, and now, He lives to justify us with God so that we can enter into eternity to never have another bad day.

For His Glory...

I am reading through Jeremiah... man, that dude had it tough!  He was chosen to tell a stubborn and obstinate people that they had better start paying attention or they were going to be destroyed, and they were stubborn and obstinate, so they didn't listen.  Ever.  So they were destroyed.  Jeremiah also wrote Lamentations - basically, "The Weepings".  He was known as the weeping prophet.  I don't think I will ever complain about my circumstances ever again. 

Before I get on to the topic, I do want to a little side trip to address the concept of reading the scriptures continuously.  It is closing in on the end of 2010, and I am reading Jeremiah for the second time.  I started in Genesis in January, reading the Amplified version and read through the entire Bible.  Then, I bought the English Standard Version (large print ;-) and started back in Genesis... And I intend to continue to read it through, then again, and again.  I honestly have lost count on how many versions I have read, and how many times I have read through the Bible from cover to cover.  I have also spent periods of time studying a particular book, and have memorized many scriptures.  At one time, I had the book of James and Ephesians memorized.  I am not saying this to shame you, but hopefully to help you see that it just isn't that hard to commit to reading God's Word.  All you need to do is do it... And I guarantee that diving into God's Word with reward you beyond your expectations.  Studying what God has already said is absolutely essential to knowing Him and growing closer to Him.  If you are not spending some concerted effort reading His Word, I really do not see how you could be growing.  I could be wrong, but I don't really think so.

Okay - back to the point: For His Glory.  In Jeremiah 13, God said, "'For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the LORD, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’"  I have read this many times, but for some reason today, it struck me: God chose us for the express purpose of bringing renown (notoriety) praise and honor to Himself.  I know He loves me; I know He has the hairs of my head numbered; I know I am forgiven because of the work Jesus did on the cross... and I know I cannot earn anything from God.  He did it all.  So I guess that it never occurred to me that He did have a reason that He saved me beyond His inexplicable love; to bring glory and honor and praise to Himself.  Wow.  That sheds a lot of light on what my life should look like.

As Christians, we always wonder, "what does God want me to do?"  We even have bracelets, "WWJD"... We talk about straining to understand God's will in a particular situation, and we often wonder what the heck is going on and what could God possibly be thinking, especially when so much stuff looks messed up and just wrong.  The way to deal with these strivings is strikingly clear to me now: "What can I do in this situation that would bring glory, and/or honor, and/or praise to my Father?"  If we can answer that, we have our answer even to the toughest of questions.

For instance: Let's say I have a job that is very difficult, and my direct supervisor is a horrible person who treats me inappropriately.  I know that my reaction would be to quit... I know this from experience.  But, since I know without any doubt that every single thing in my life is to bring honor and glory and praise to God, I need to evaluate the situation a bit more.  As I pray, I would ask for clarity and direction: "What would bring You, God, the most honor, glory  and praise in this situation?"  If the answer is to quit, so be it... But, what if standing up to the boss in a respectful manner is more appropriate, because maybe God wants this man to witness how a follower of Jesus handles conflict?  Maybe he had negative interactions with Christians in the past, and my willingness to look him in the eye with love and be honest about what God is doing in my life might surprise him enough to consider that maybe God is real.  Maybe he has some bad things going on in his life and he is just lashing out because he doesn't know how to handle it.  Maybe the door will open for real ministry if I look him in the eye and love him through the hurt...  What if just being submissive is more appropriate?  Maybe the silence will catch him off guard and he will observe my godliness in the face of oppression.  The point is, maybe God is doing something to bring glory to Himself, and my rash reaction to the situation would cause me to miss on an opportunity for God to be glorified.  Yes, that is a heck of a lot of "maybe"s but if we use the lens of "bringing God glory and honor and praise", perhaps our answers might be easier to find. 

I am still trying to process all of this, because even though I have read through the Scriptures many times, this is the first time I have really considered this idea.  It seems basic, in some sense, and yet to me, today, it is profound.  Which brings me back to another reason we are to continue seeking God in His Word: He is so deep, so complex, so amazing... we can spend our entire earthly life reaching for Him, straining for Him, and we will never get to the end of Him.  This, too, brings Him glory, and honor, and praise.