The Lord's Prayer

One of the most beautiful things about becoming a Christian is that as the Holy Spirit transforms our lives, He begins to align our desires with those of the Father so that as we mature in our prayer life, we begin to pray not for the desires of our flesh, but for the desires of the Father.  Our desires become one and the same with His.

I love to look at the Lord’s Prayer in light of that truth.  Matthew 6: 9-13 says,

⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
¹⁰ your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us today our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’

Right before these verses, Jesus warns his followers not to babble on like the pagans when they pray.  The sad irony is that the words of the Lord’s Prayer have become so familiar to us that it is easy not to really think of what it is we are saying.  What I love about this prayer is that it’s active—it is a prayer we participate with the Spirit of God in answering as we align ourselves with Him.  What do I mean by that?  Look at this:  How is it that our Father’s name is hallowed?  We lift up his name!  It is our privilege and responsibility to lift up our Father’s holy name and proclaim it to those who are lost.  How is it that the Father’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven?  We do his will!  It is our privilege and responsibility to follow the Spirit’s leading, and to obey God in carrying out the Great Commission He has given to us in going and making disciples.  How is it that God provides us with our daily sustenance?  It is not through our slothfulness that God provides for us, but we can praise Him for giving us the ability and opportunity to be able to work hard in order to provide food for our tables.  We can thank Him that we live in a place where hard work can provide food.

A foolish man prays for God to open locked doors…and then never reaches out to turn the knob himself!  James 2:16-17 says,

¹⁶ If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷ In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

How important that our prayer life is accompanied by action.  After all, God is not our servant—we are His!  That we participate in answering our own prayers does not make the answers any less amazing—if anything, the answers are all the more amazing as they reveal our transformed hearts.

                There is one part of the Lord ’s Prayer we cannot participate in.  We cannot forgive our own debts.  Only the blood of Christ can forgive us our debts, and deliver us from evil.  We, however, are given the responsibility and the power to forgive the debts others have against us.  What a beautiful opportunity to mirror our heavenly Father—to live in his transforming power. 

                Matthew 6: 14-15 says,

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

                This is a verse that should cause each of us to pause.  Some pains are hard to let go.  It’s easy to cling to a grudge, massaging it in the palm of our hand.  But what this reveals is that we don’t truly recognize what it is that Christ did in forgiving us.  We become no less foolish than the servant who demanded his payment of a few coins when the king had released him his debt of thousands (Matt 18:21-35)!  When we refuse to forgive, we reveal the true heart within us.  Is yours a prayerful heart transformed by the King, or a demanding heart convinced that it is king?  Align your heart with the Fathers—let your prayers be active, and your forgiveness mirroring the likeness of Christ’s.

You are more like a pickle than you think

Yesterday, I was reading the book of James and eating a pickle.  Good combo.  I really love this book.  Written by Jesus' half brother, this book really gets down to the nitty gritty of what it looks like to be a Christian.  Sure, we know what we believe, but how do the things we believe transform who we are?  If there is a guy who can talk about a transformed life, James is it.  He spent all of his growing up years with Jesus, never believing his older brother's claims.  Yet, when James encountered the ressurected Jesus, Jesus wasn't just his half brother any more--Jesus was his Lord and Savior!  James' life showed this to be true.

James writes to encourage Jewish Christians who are facing persecution for their faith.  In the midst of persecution, it would be easy to take a couple steps back and shy away from boldly lived faith...it would be easy to neuter it down to a list of beliefs--head knowledge.  But what James shows us is that isn't true Christianity.

We can have all the right head knowledge, yet never live a transformed life.  We can know all the right stuff...and still look just like everyone else.

So, back to that pickle.  That pickle bcame a delicious, juicy, garlic-ladened epiphany in my mind.  Every pickle starts out as a cucumber (no, that is not the entire epiphany...read on).  Nothing against cucumbers, but they don't have a whole lot of flavor...at least not when you compare them to a pickle.  But when you pickle a cucumber it takes on the flavors of whatever you are saturating it in.  There are some really good pickles, and some really bad pickles...they may look the same, but what's their flavor?

You are more like a pickle than you think.

What things are you saturating your life in?  We naturally start taking on the flavor of the people, media, culture, and worldviews we surround ourselves with.  For many of us...that should make us a bit nervous...we may just be bad pickles.

But, if our lives are saturated by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, if we are being led by him in all the choices we make, if we are producing the fruit that naturally flows from a transformed life--love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control, and if we are fellowshiping with a body of believers that challenge us to live bold, transformed lives--well...thats one tasty pickle!

Here are a couple verses that I will now continually remember as the pickle verses:

 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. --Romans 12:1-2

Valentine's Day observation

On Valentine's day, Cupid running around with his arrows of love is considered quite romantic. During the other 364 days of the year, however, small naked children running around with deadly weapons is not very romantic at all.

Standing Out

Most of us don’t really like standing out…even when it is standing out for what is right.  I think of the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3.  Here are three guys who, along with all the leaders of Babylon, are asked to bow down to an idol.  King Nebuchadnezzar made it pretty clear that whoever didn’t bow down to the statue when the music started playing would be burned alive in the furnace.  These guys knew the consequences, but as everyone around them fell to their faces before the statue, they quite literally stood out!  I think it would have been easy to justify bowing down in my mind—everyone else is doing it…I don’t have to really mean it in my heart…what good am I for the kingdom of God if I’m dead!—but they didn’t.   Can you imagine saying this to anyone, much less the insane, self-absorbed King who holds your life in his hands?

 “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us.  He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.  But even if he doesn’t, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

                Now, there’s some boldness!  God rewarded them for standing out by sparing their lives, and raising them to even higher positions of prominence in the Kingdom.

Someone had this picture posted on Facebook today.

This picture was taken in Hamburg in 1936.  The guy’s name is August Landmesser.  When everyone else was giving the Nazi salute, he refused.  He was married to a Jewish woman.  How easy it would have been to fit in to the crowd.  Yet he chose to stand out.  It was the right thing to do.

Submission is not a dirty word.  All men submit.  We do have the opportunity to choose who we submit to though: will we submit to the negative influence of peers and corrupt leaders or to the authority of the Holy Spirit in our lives?  I pray that your life will be so aligned with the Holy Spirit’s leading that people won’t be able to help but wonder what makes you different!  I pray that when the temptations of peer pressure come along, you will think of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego…and August Landmesser.  Let God steer your ship, don’t hand the wheel over to anyone else!

picture and accompanying story are taken via senri no michi facebook page

Relationship Advice

I had a couple married friends who were trying to set me up with a girl they knew, thinking we would make a good match.  This was a beautiful, godly woman; so pretty, so talented, and so interesting, I was flattered that my friends would even consider her and I  together.  So, one night the four of us all went out to a local coffee shop.  Thats when I told this angelicly beautiful girl that I enjoy green tea lattes...because they look like pond scum.

Some things you shouldn't share until the second date.  

A father's blessing

I'm excited for the Courageous movie and bible study we will be beginning at our church Feb 12th. For those not familiar with the movie, the premise is a challenge to fathers to step into the role God has called them to in courageously leading their families.  It thrills me to think that this challenge will be raised to so many fathers in our community.  I am not yet a father myself, but one thing I am…is a statistic—a statistic that continues to become more and more rare.

I am a son that grew up in a home with a father who was present and active.  I have a father who loves me, and tells me he loves me.  I have a father who encourages me in my decisions, and is supportive of what I do.  I have a father who affirmed my talents, and provided for me opportunities to use them.  I have a father who loves the Lord, and raised me up in His truth.  I have a father who read to me God’s word EVERY night throughout my childhood!  My father walks by the leading of the Spirit so that he can lead by example.  I am an advocate for courageous fatherhood, because my life is a testimony of the impact of courageous fatherhood!  If it weren’t for my dad’s leadership and the leadership of other godly men in my life, I most likely wouldn’t be walking with the Lord the way I am today. 

I want to share with you one of the most valued gifts I’ve ever been given.  My dad and I went to Men’s retreat at Trout Lake camp one fall.  That year the speaker was sharing on the value of a father blessing his children.  The blessings of Fathers are prominent throughout scripture.  Isaac blessed his sons, Jacob and Esau, and his blessings were prophetic to the lives they lived (Genesis 27).  Jacob blessed all twelve of his sons (Genesis 49:28), and his grandsons (Genesis 48:9).  King David, on the day the Ark of the Covenant was restored to the tabernacle, blessed his entire household (2nd Samuel 6:18, 20).  The Heavenly Father himself, on the day Jesus was baptized into his ministry, spoke his own affirming blessing upon his son (Matthew 3:16-17).  My dad decided that he too would write for me a blessing.  For a day or so, he worked out what he wanted to say, and then one afternoon he handed me these thoughtful words written out on the back of an old bulletin he had in his bible.

“Heavenly Father, may Tyler become a man after your heart.  May he live out the values of creativity and integrity in boldness.  May he motivate others to Godliness through his gifts of art and proclamation.  May he never grow weary of serving you.  May he always reflect your glory.  May his life be a pleasing act of worship to you.  Amen.”

And then he left me with these words from  Jeremiah.

²³ This is what the LORD says:

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
or the strong man boast of his strength
or the rich man boast of his riches,
²⁴ but let him who boasts boast about this:
that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.

When I finished reading what my dad wrote for me, he said.  “You should give that back.  I’ll type it up at home; we can make it look nice and frame it for you.”  But already, that old bulletin scribbled upon with carefully planned out words had become precious to me, I didn’t want it any other way!  I took it and cherished it.

Fathers, your words are powerful.  They have the power to literally shape the future of your children.  As I look at the words my father wrote and my heavenly father inspired, there is nothing I desire more greatly than to honor both my fathers in developing into the man described in my blessing.

Be strong and courageous fathers!  Bless your children!  Here is a great place to begin. 

www.fathersblessing.com

This site pointed me to the scriptures I shared as well as many others.  It also has testimonies of the impact of blessings.  Be encouraged and inspired!

Meeting God's Glory

We all have those moments when gravity seems to pull a little stronger; when a weight presses down upon our shoulders and we are left weary.   Christ’s words in Matthew 11:28 bring us great peace.   “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. “  How comforting to know that our savior and creator desires for us to find rest in his arms!  If we want to experience the full joy of this promise, it is important to recognize the context in which these words were spoken.  In Matthew 11:20, Jesus denounces the cities in which he had performed his miracles—he revealed His glory—and yet they did not respond.  They saw the glory of Christ…and chose to continue sinning rather then follow him.  The burden Jesus has come to relieve us from…is our sin.

I desire to show this to be true: it‘s when we recognize the devastation of our sin in the light of Christ’s glory that Jesus relieves our burden…and invites us to participate in His mission.

As Jesus continues to speak in verses 21-24, he mentions the cities of Tyre, Sidon and Sodom—cities of intense wickedness.  Tyre was so wicked, the prophet Ezekiel used the king of Tyre as an analogy for Satan!  Sidon so evil, God refers to them as his enemy (Ezekiel 28).   Both these cities where destroyed by their enemies.  Sodom was such a corrupt city that God wiped it off the face of the earth with fire and brimstone from heaven!  And yet, he said these cities would be better off than Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum on the day of judgment.  Why?  The later had witnessed the works of Jesus…and didn’t respond.

In verses 25-27 Jesus prays.

^… “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

   ²⁷ “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

I wonder if these cities refused to lay down their sin, because they couldn’t see it as the burden it truly was.  Children willingly share their burdens…they have no choice—so much reliance and trust in their parents!  But as we grow older, we become a bit more independent; we like to try to handle things on our own.  We even try to handle our own sin; managing our burdens rather than releasing them.  Does this sound familiar?  “I know I shouldn’t do this….I know this is wrong…but no one has to know.  I can manage this.  I can keep this hidden.”  Or how about, “It’s not gossip if it’s true…my tongue is burning, I just have to share this!”  Or maybe, “She makes me SO ANGRY!  I refuse to talk to her…it’s her fault, not mine anyway!”

The burdens Christ invites us to lay at the cross, we instead hoist to our shoulders.  We have no comprehension of the burden we carry and the freedom we lack!  Who does Jesus choose to reveal himself to?  To childlike hearts willingly dropping their burdens at the foot of the cross.

           And so, verse 28: “Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”  No longer do we have to hold on to these weights that wear us down.  We can be free!

There are two lies I tend to buy into when it comes to my sin: either that it’s not that big of a deal, or that I’m damaged goods…God couldn’t possibly want or use someone like me.   God’s word addresses both these mindsets.

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah witnesses the glory of God in a fantastic way— He sees the Lord, the train of his robe filling the temple.  There are awesome heavenly creatures singing praise with such power the ground shakes.  Smoke fills the temple.  It is in this place Isaiah has a “Woe is me” moment! 

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Isaiah 6:5

Have you ever had a “Woe is me moment?”  It’s like a car accident that can’t be prevented.  Isaiah, clothed in sin, was on a crash course into the blazing glory of God.  He sees his sin in the light of God, and knows he’s a dead man.  And yet, Isaiah’s lips are touched with a coal from the altar—his guilt is taken away, and his sins are atoned for.  He is made right!  God says, “Whom shall I send?  Who will go?”  

It’s in this place that Isaiah says, “Here I am!  Send me.”

I have begun meeting with a few guys weekly for prayer, encouragement and accountability.  They have become a reminder of God’s glorious presence in my life.  He is watching me.   I may quickly forget God’s watching eye, but it’s much harder to forget that my brothers are going to ask me how my week has been.   Sin I brushed off before, I now see in the light of Christ’s glory.  I rejoice in the freedom of laying down those burdens so that I can respond to God, “Here I am!  Send me!”

Perhaps you are in a place where you recognize the seriousness of your sin.   Words like “fake” and “hypocrite” constantly ring in the back of your mind.  You wonder how God could ever use someone like you.  I think Peter may have wondered the same thing.

Jesus asked Peter to drop his nets on the other side of the boat one morning, but Peter was a bit hesitant.  He was a professional.  He’d been out all night and hadn’t caught a thing…what pointers could this rabbi give him?  But he did anyway—and so many fish filled the nets they began to break, and two boats were filled with enough fish that they were on the verge of sinking!

^“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Luke 5:8.  Peter saw his sin in light of the glory of Christ.  Maybe he remembered  a coarse joke he shared with the other fishermen the night before.  Perhaps he remembered the face of a person he had cheated in business.  Maybe he thought of the temper that sometimes got the best of him.  All we know, is Peter recognized that he was in the presence of overwhelming glory.  Jesus met Peter where he was at…and called him.  “Don’t be afraid!  From now on, you will be a fisher of men.”  Peter found the glory of God while sitting on his knees amongst a bunch of slimy, flopping fish.  Jesus will meet each  of us wherever we are at too.

I love that Jesus doesn’t end with, “Come to me all who are weary and carry burdens, and I will give you rest.”  He goes on to say, “Take my yoke upon you.”  That’s an instrument of work!  God has a duty for us to do.  But it’s not a burden…the burden has been taken away—it’s a joy! 

When we recognize our sin in the light of Christ’s glory, we see ourselves for who we are…and God for who he is.  We begin to see the depths Christ stooped to make us holy in the eyes of the Father, and our only natural response is to cry out, “Here I am! Send Me!”