Staying Focused

Squirrel

In the 2009 movie “Up” there is a character by the name of Dug.  Dug is a loveable dog.  And he is loyal, friendly and SQUIRREL!  And he is…ummm.  For Dug squirrels got his attention.  It was hard staying focused.  Anyone else have any difficulty staying SQUIRREL!  focused? 

Spirit Empowered

In a world of many shiny things and SQUIRRELS staying focused can be challenging. God thought that might be the case and sent help by way of the Holy Spirit.  In an amazing list in Galatians 5 that begins with love there are characteristics or fruit that result from a relationship with God and the last in the list is self-control.  In a world of distractions and battling priorities there is the Spirit empowered self-control.  

Remember Jesus’ words “Seek first His kingdom and His” SQUIRREL! “righteousness?”  For God’s people walking in God’s way with God’s Spirit staying focused can really happen.  Keeping the main thing the main thing is possible. 

Supreme

Among the great SQUIRRELS of our lives are health and wealth and home and work and comfort and affirmation and success.  We can be on a spiritual high and something comes along to rock our world and SQUIRREL! We are off in a tirade or a meltdown or a flare up or a letdown or a…you know.  

Look at these words from an Old Testament prophet:

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!  Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NLT) 

At a time when the people had turned away from God and the invaders were coming threatening economic collapse and life threatening hardships and possibly even captivity or death the prophet took a look at it all and came to the conclusion you just read.  

What about my life today though?  The doctor just came back with a bad report.  The pressure from the job I am working keeps me up at night.  The car won’t start.  The government is taking away and not giving much back.  The people in my family just don’t understand me.  The guy in the Red Ford truck just cut me off in traffic.  SQUIRREL! SQUIRREL! SQUIRREL!

As the Prophet Habakkuk declares it is in God that real life exists and will continue to exist.  Even when the worst of the worst happens the prophet stays focused.  Habakkuk refers to God as “the God of my salvation.”  Salvation?  The bottom is about to fall out in his life and all around him and he thinks God has saved him.  How deluded Habakkuk must be.  Unless he knows something we need to know.  That salvation is more than deliverance from awful times or even just from hell.  Salvation is so grand it carries a person above the pain and suffering of the tough times of life.  It is wrapped up in a vivid and viable life with God right now right here undistracted by the SQUIRREL! things that would keep us down.   Catapulted to the heights no matter the depths of darkness around the man or woman of God can be joyful and enjoy God’s salvation day in and day out.  

Again, from the prophet:

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!

5 for Mom

For all those mothers who have loved God, and out of that love been there for their children here are 5 Scriptural considerations.  For their children (of any age) to consider.  

Number 1: Cheering

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, Philippians 1:3 (NASB)

Mothers are imperfect humans given a noble task.  They are sometimes carrying a 36 hour job in a 24 hour day, but every minute of the 24 there is a place in their heart for their children.  Give thanks.  Let mom know you appreciate her with your prayers, your attitudes, your words, your kindnesses.

Number 2: Affirming

And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Philippians 4:8 (NLT)

Think about your mother for a moment.  Do positive or negative images come to mind?  If you took a little while you would find both exist, and that is how real women are.  So, given your mom was real and you know it and she knows it focus on what is true without bending reality too far one way or the other.  Look at her honorable traits.  Think about the things she did and said that were right and pure.  See her loveliness, and admire her good qualities.  Think about those things in her that are excellent and worthy of praise. 

Number 3: Rewarding

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3 (NLT) 

Having children (blood, borrowed, adopted, etc.) is necessary for a mom to be a mom.  The children are a gift and a reward.  Think about gifts and rewards.  Those are mostly pleasant, positive, surprising, unearned, special things that come to a person.  How have you been a gift and reward from God to your mother?  Or better, how can you be a gift or reward to your mother? 

Number 4: Real Gifting

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:3 (NLT) 

Certain times bring along the idea that gifts, cards, flowers and various sentiments are necessary, but unfortunately they may not always carry the one ingredient that would really make the difference…love.  Not everyone is good at love.  To fully develop love must rest on the love of God and the love God has bestowed and empowered in His people.  To love mom takes more than an emotional moment.  True love toward mom emerges from the deepest inward part of the soul and cannot be disguised no matter what the gift. 

Number 5: Loving

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NLT) 

Mother’s Day cards often include a statement of love in them.  Here is a quote from a card:  

Dear Mom,

Thanks for always being there for me, loving me, caring for me.

 No one can ever replace you in my heart.

Love, Me

As nice as such sentiments are I propose a more fully developed approach.  Like Paul suggests in 1 Corinthians 13.  Practicing love with mom.  When she is frustrating be patient and kind.  Love her without jealousy of something she has or boastful of something you have.  As a child demands its own way and keeps wanting mom’s applause and constant attention the adult child has to move on and not be proud or rude or demand his or her own way.  Loving mom is not about giving in to every whim mom has or every opinion she voices, but it does require not being irritable and not keeping a list of when she did or didn’t do something that offended you.  Being on her team, having her back and supporting those things that are right and good before God are important.  Love her and never give up.  If she is struggling be hopeful.  Endure.  Love…lasts.  Be loving. 

GETTING PAST THE "ME THING"

A huge obstacle on my way to the relationship with God He has prepared for me is “me.”  Have you noticed that? 

God wants to reveal more, but I am busy with me.  God wants to show me His love, but I am filling my heart my way.  Look at this in Galatians 5 for a tool to test when too much of “me” is running things.  Ready? Check off any which show up in your life.

• Reacting to self-control with an emphasis on sensuality which shows up as: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, drunkenness, wild parties
• Replacing the true God and His ways with me and my ways:  idolatry, sorcery
• Rejecting God’s way of relating to others in love and instead making relationships about “me”: hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy  Galatians 5:19-21 (NLT)

This test is incredibly helpful.  Often in the church Christians are strongly opposed to drunkenness and wild parties and, of course, would not consider idolatry or sorcery, but getting hot under the collar is supposed to be acceptable.  The list in Galatians 5 has all of these as being operated by the flesh the evil “me” centered flesh. 

Imagine getting together with family, friends, folks at church.  People you really care about.  As you are talking someone tells about a book they have written that is getting published soon.  A bit of envy develops.  Another talks about a wonderful new job or relationship and your insides start to tighten up.  It’s all about “me.”  The “me” has a need to be envied and will react to others having more or better or getting attention or…  You know. 

What if you are helping someone with something, but they are doing it different than the way you want to do it.  Maybe they say something to you about doing it different.  What is your reaction?  Grateful or angry?  Do you get angry if someone corrects or directs you?  If you get hot, then don’t blame.  It isn’t someone else’s fault.  It is a “me thing.”  The hot reaction is just like a warning light on your car’s dashboard.  It is telling you something is broken and out of whack.  You can blame the light or other drivers or other passengers, but none of that does any good.  The right fix is in order.  Do you know Galatians 5 gets to that? 

For the follower of Jesus who turns from the “me thing” to God’s thing and allows the Holy Spirit to work in them something transformational happens.  A different kind of attitude arises.  A wildly wonderful approach to relationships emerges.  

From Galatians 5 there is a list of fruit which is produced by the Holy Spirit.  You can test whether you are walking in the Spirit by the fruit that appears in and through you.  Look at it: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

If you are with another person at church, at work or at a family function would you rather be with one who is angry, hostile, self centered, envious or one who enjoys being there with the people acting in love with kindness and patience?  Being that kind of person means walking in the power of Holy Spirit and not making everything a “me thing.”

 

Walking in the Holy Spirit takes practice just like learning to walk physically.  Sometimes you fall, but get back up and keep on going.

 

After using a test like the one in Galatians 5 you may see there are some things that are off and some that are working.  Good.  Admit areas that are still operating in the flesh.  Ask God to help you find those habits of thought, attitudes, speech and actions that need to be crushed so that He can produce in you something so much better.

 

If a red light on the dash of your life is flashing then something is wrong.  You are mad. You are lashing out at others.  You are hurt and looking for comfort in all the wrong places.  Whatever it is that hits you recognize the process.  Now practice self-control and turn to the Spirit allowing Him to disarm the bomb that is about to go off and produce a new kind of life-giving fruit within you.  If you have struggled with an issue for a few years you may find sudden and miraculous change which is great.  But it may be a long-term no less miraculous work of God that brings things about.  Don’t give up.  Allow God time to work His way. And let the "me thing" go.  

Getting past the “me thing” is not for wimps, but how the person shines who does. 

Life and Love in the Book of Revelation

Usually the discussions on the book of Revelation tend toward end of the world themes.  You may have noticed.  This is a look at the church at Ephesus which is one of the seven churches Jesus addresses in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation.  Can it be that there is something wonderful for the followers of Jesus tucked away in this address?  Indeed there is.  Come along, if you would like, and see. 

 Jesus promises the one who overcomes, conquers or achieves victory that they will get to “eat of the tree of life.”  I am of the opinion that eating of the tree of life is a big deal and will do something huge in a person’s life.  Here is Revelation 2:7 (NASB) to see how this is written:

'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'

To eat of the tree of life is a privilege Jesus is making available.  I want to taste it just because He makes it so, but maybe the illustration of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God is worth exploring to find out more about what I am going to taste.  In the book of Genesis Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden and they had an awesome relationship with God.  The relationship and all the remarkable things that went with it were thrown under the bus by their rejecting God.  Believing the lie they decided God wasn’t trustworthy, went their own way, and the result was a broken relationship and distance from all they had enjoyed before.  Banished from the garden paradise they were kept from the tree of life which was in there. 

The tree of life is explained in all sorts of ways in various cultures and among Jewish and Christian groups.  You can check it out for some interesting viewpoints.  One of the views is about the perpetuity of life.  The length of life or the quantity of years is a common view which seems appropriate since Adam didn’t live forever.  But we have more information than just Genesis available to us.  

We are looking at Revelation with its perspective on the end and of life beyond.  So, what do we discover?  People, all people live forever.  They will live with God or away from God, but they will live.  Then, I ask, what is the deal with “everlasting life?”  That expression has something to do with quality of life rather than quantity of life.  The quality is also connected to a close and dynamic relationship with God.  We can see a difference in people who are alive biologically, but dead in the head and everywhere else.  Is receiving that kind of “everlasting life” a good thing?  No.  There is much more and much better.  It is the higher quality…correction…the highest quality of life God is promising with the tree of life.  It is life with God. 

When will this taste of the tree of life take place?  Again, many views abound.  I add this one.  It is available to the one who overcomes right here, right now.  No way.  Way.  The tree of life which is in the Paradise of God is often taken as a reference to the afterlife in heaven.   Of course, it is available then, but the promise Jesus makes is to folks living on earth.  The Garden of Eden was on earth.  Angels were set as guards on the east side to keep Adam and Eve from access to the tree of life.  Paradise (another word for garden or the king’s garden) is on earth and available to whomever God chooses to make it available.    Jesus says He makes it available to those who overcome.  Real intimacy with Him in a relationship that is unmatched. 

There is something important about the person who overcomes.  What is it that a person is overcoming?  A variety of opinions like the colors of the rainbow emerge.  Many see the overcoming as the lifelong moral battle of a Christian.  As I look at Revelation 2 and the church at Ephesus I see one thing that was cause of great concern to Jesus about them.  It wasn’t theology because he notes they were protecting truth.  It wasn’t lax morals which apparently they were trying to correct in the Nicolaitans.  The one thing was that they had lost their first love.  Jesus says it this way,   “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” Revelation 2:4 (NASB)  Love.  You may remember what Jesus said about the importance of loving God. 

 ³⁷ And He said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' ³⁸ "This is the great and foremost commandment.  Matthew 22:37-38 (NASB)

Everything rises and falls on loving God.  Everything.  Jesus after His death and resurrection is keeping an eye on His people in the church and recognizes they are doing churchy things well, but the love of God is diminished.  Back to the topic of overcomers.  What is it Jesus wants His people in Ephesus and everywhere to do?  Love God with all you are.  Get over yourself.  Stop loving the world, the flesh and other things and love God.  When they love Him full on they overcome and Jesus says they get a bite of the fruit of the tree of life in Paradise.  Bam! They experience more of God, more of Jesus, more of the Holy Spirit.  They get the rush of His loving presence in ways beyond what they had experienced so far.  

In Revelation 22 God and the Lamb (Jesus) are central.  The river with the water of life flow from the throne of God and the Lamb.  On each side of the river there is a tree of life.  The leaves of the tree is used from medicine to heal the nations.  The nations are the different peoples of the earth gathered to God.  They aren’t physically suffering at this point.  What is it they need more than anything?  Closeness to their God.  The old curse of separation from God illustrated by the guarded tree of life changes at this point.  They are healed and there is no more curse.  The throne of God and of the Lamb will be there and God’s people will worship.  Let us be overcomers, and love God with all our heart, soul and mind. 

¹ Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. ² It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. ³ No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. ⁴ And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. ⁵ And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5 (NLT)

6 Decades

Upon reflection on the occasion of my 60th birthday

·         I have lived about 2/3rds of 60 years in Oklahoma

·         About 1/3^rd growing up with a great family

·         I spent 1/3^rd of 60 years in school

·         Over half of my years I have had with the bride of my youth

·         Half of my life as a father

·         About 10% of my life as a grandfather

·         About 10% of my 60 connected with the US Army

·         About 25% as pastor of Grace Bible Church

·         And 100% blessed by God

Regrets, I got them:

I would like do-overs...

• I regret spending too much time worried, not listening to God, pursuing stupid stuff, being envious or mad or self-absorbed.
• I regret not being better at communicating how much someone means to me
• Not being able to express appreciation and gratitude well
• I regret not trusting God more and enjoying the embrace of His love fully each day
• I regret ugly places in my heart that kept God’s light out
• I regret not saying “no” to my inflated self, the ways of the world and the devil
• I regret not loving people better by loving God’s way

I Do Not Regret:

• I Do Not Regret Time spent with family and friends
• I Do Not Regret wasting time watching the river pass by, ocean waves roll in, the sun setting, the stars shining
• I Do Not regret praying even though God brought things about in some way different than I had in mind
• I Do Not Regret having a variety of people in my life.  Some close and some as enemies.  (Can’t go with Will Rogers and his “never met a man I didn’t like” cause I have)But both those for me and those against me have brought something into my life that I needed and showed my something I needed to change. 
• I Do Not Regret having worked jobs that were hard, jobs that I didn’t like, jobs that diminished my ego.  Because it was on those jobs God showed me the dignity and value of every job and every person who does those jobs. 
• I Do Not Regret not being the wealthiest or most famous of people.  That requires character of a type I do not possess.
• I Do Not Regret not having a large church or well known ministry to boast about.  Things of that sort may have led me to think so well of myself and my methods that I would have stopped pursuing God and His ways while promoting and selling my own.  It may have been a distraction from what God wanted to say and do.  It may have kept me from the people God in His wisdom planned for me to share life with. 
• I Do Not Regret limited abilities, skills and talents which remind me to appreciate the abilities, skills and talents of others.

I Have Been Surprised By:

• I Have Been Surprised By God’s grace and mercy
• I Have Been Surprised By God’s presence and guidance
• I Have Been Surprised By The depth of people’s commitment to dark things, selfish ambitions and injustice.
• I Have Been Surprised By The determination people have to ignore or reject God.
• I Have Been Surprised By The beauty of people caring for another: husbands and wives, moms and dads, the hurting, learning, coaching, training, leading, healing, helping…
• I Have Been Surprised By God’s way over the ways of man.
• I Have Been Surprised By Ear hair
• I Have Been Surprised By The Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
• I Have Been Surprised By Cass, who still loves me though I drive her crazy at times.
• I Have Been Surprised By Family who put up with me and keeping coming back for more.
• I Have Been Surprised By Church folk who allow me to take them on a journey with God that doesn’t fit tradition or the text book, but is seeking God and seeing God in action
• I Have Been Surprised By Friends new and old who make room for me
• I Have Been Surprised By Seasons of life-it ought not be a surprise, but when seasons change I am often surprised
• I Have Been Surprised By Expectations of life-I have pictured things in my head going one way and then I am ticked off or disappointed about things not going that way.  Later to discover my plan would have missed God’s plan and His plan is better.
• I Have Been Surprised By My lack of growth and not getting it by this age
• I Have also Been Surprised By My growth and getting it at this age

Overall

6 decades is not so much

I feel inside like there is much to learn, to experience, to figure out, to do.  I feel as if I am at the starting line of something great. 

My body doesn’t bend, jump, keep up or recover as it once did.  The color is gone from my hair. 

Discovering more of God has opened more insights and understanding and spiritual doors than ever before. 

Enjoying life in God’s kingdom is new every morning and full of surprises every day. 

Life is but a vapor and this one has been a grand vapor.  I thank God for 60 years.  I am grateful that He has taken me on such a journey and thankful for the people He has allowed me to journey with.