Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:17-19
Yesterday was a day of remembrance for me. About a year ago, my devotion discussed when it was good to be ‘that guy’ who was a humble servant of God. Yesterday, I found myself being excited to be a member of ‘that church’. Let me give you a picture of what it looks like. We had a service where all we did was hear testimonies both by baptism and stories of transformation. There were stories as short as a young child who was getting a baptized because his parents said so and as long as a man whose life went from being incarcerated to finding peace with Christ. There were people whose families followed God and influenced them all of their life. And there were others who just picked up the Bible and found salvation just through reading. Some people built closer relationships with God through their small groups, and others through deep prayer and reflection by themselves. It was a full range of emotions and experiences, and all spoke of God’s awesome power.
It was a reminder of a couple of fundamental truths about God. First, there is no one right path to God. There are many paths, and none are better than the other. No matter what your path was, know it was that way for a reason, and God will use that very path to not only guide you in your journey of faith but also help someone else. It is how God is able to reach so many. People who are lost can always find a story that is tailor made to fit them at a time that is optimal for their hearing. It is part of God’s perfection; being able to find the right message at the right time for that person. Second, God truly is the great and holy redeemer. No matter whom we are and how closely we have lived our lives in accordance to God’s law, all of us fall short of His glory. There is no way that we can fix or reconcile it on our own. However through Jesus Christ, we are given the gift of grace, which reconciles our level of sin and gets rid of our greatest barrier between us and God; guilt.
Our God truly transforms lives. No one or nothing is more personal in their relationship with us, and there is no greater influence of big change than God. If you question it, just ask a Christian you know “why.” Why did they choose Jesus? Why do they believe in Him? Make sure you ask for the long version. As you hear the stories of transformation and truth, you will soon begin to understand why our God is truly all knowing, and if you would allow yourself, be humbled by the sheer awesome experience of how one becomes God’s child and transformed. It can be a story of love, redemption, change, confirmation, dedication, verification, and a bunch of other things because God is everything. My prayer is that we embrace the true symbolism of God’s redemptive story of change. Amen.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Too Good to Be True
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32
One of the most frustrating to me is ‘reading the fine print.’ A prime example of that was when I was in Best Buy purchasing a DVD player, and they asked me if I wanted to get 3 free issues of Sports Illustrated. “Sure! It’s an offer too good to be true,” I thought to myself. All I had to do was cancel it after the 3 issues were received. Or so I thought. Apparently, I had to cancel before my 3rd issue had arrived. It was of great surprise to me when I saw the $59.99 charge on my credit card just before I had received my final issue. Needless to say they did cancel it, but of course if I had read the fine print, I would have cancelled it as soon as I got home. Of course, the Best Buy employee had simply omitted this fact from the conversation we had. The bottom line was if she had told me the whole story, I probably would not have agreed to the offer in the first place.
In scripture, we will often hear of specific verses in the Bible only to find in reading them in context, it has an entirely different meaning. In looking at John 8:31-32, many of us know the 32nd verse (Then you will know the truth . . . ), which is what most people will recite when confronted by someone who they believe is not being above board. An individual will speak of the so called ‘truth’, and therefore they are soon to be liberated. However in studying this closer, ‘the ‘truth’ spoken of here is not about being truthful at all. ‘The Truth’ here speaks of God’s glory, and once revealed, it has ultimate power. Jesus is the light of the world, which He spoke of earlier in this same chapter (verse 12), and as is stated in today’s verse, He speaks of “the truth.” His truth is that of being God’s only son; the Son of Man, and to believe in this is to set us free from all sin. This is much more powerful than discussing whether we gain favor by being truthful or not. Thus by using this verse in reference to general truth, we are like that Best Buy employee not telling the full story. Again, the truth that sets us free is that Jesus Christ is God the Son, and that only through Him are we free from God’s condemnation of our sins. This is not to say that being untruthful is not sinful as stated in the ninth commandment. However by acknowledging what God’s true intent is here, we gain something greater (salvation) than what we will sometimes try to fit it into (freedom from the guilt of untruths).
God wants us to fully understand what His truth is. There is no greater truth than that this; through Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, we are indeed saved if we acknowledge Him as the savior and salvation in our lives. We must be dependent on reading the word fully to understand what God is truly saying and not fall into the traps of half truths or incomplete stories. My prayer is that we are always willing to dive into the full word of God for its truths and not be subject to an offer too good to be true. Amen.
One of the most frustrating to me is ‘reading the fine print.’ A prime example of that was when I was in Best Buy purchasing a DVD player, and they asked me if I wanted to get 3 free issues of Sports Illustrated. “Sure! It’s an offer too good to be true,” I thought to myself. All I had to do was cancel it after the 3 issues were received. Or so I thought. Apparently, I had to cancel before my 3rd issue had arrived. It was of great surprise to me when I saw the $59.99 charge on my credit card just before I had received my final issue. Needless to say they did cancel it, but of course if I had read the fine print, I would have cancelled it as soon as I got home. Of course, the Best Buy employee had simply omitted this fact from the conversation we had. The bottom line was if she had told me the whole story, I probably would not have agreed to the offer in the first place.
In scripture, we will often hear of specific verses in the Bible only to find in reading them in context, it has an entirely different meaning. In looking at John 8:31-32, many of us know the 32nd verse (Then you will know the truth . . . ), which is what most people will recite when confronted by someone who they believe is not being above board. An individual will speak of the so called ‘truth’, and therefore they are soon to be liberated. However in studying this closer, ‘the ‘truth’ spoken of here is not about being truthful at all. ‘The Truth’ here speaks of God’s glory, and once revealed, it has ultimate power. Jesus is the light of the world, which He spoke of earlier in this same chapter (verse 12), and as is stated in today’s verse, He speaks of “the truth.” His truth is that of being God’s only son; the Son of Man, and to believe in this is to set us free from all sin. This is much more powerful than discussing whether we gain favor by being truthful or not. Thus by using this verse in reference to general truth, we are like that Best Buy employee not telling the full story. Again, the truth that sets us free is that Jesus Christ is God the Son, and that only through Him are we free from God’s condemnation of our sins. This is not to say that being untruthful is not sinful as stated in the ninth commandment. However by acknowledging what God’s true intent is here, we gain something greater (salvation) than what we will sometimes try to fit it into (freedom from the guilt of untruths).
God wants us to fully understand what His truth is. There is no greater truth than that this; through Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, we are indeed saved if we acknowledge Him as the savior and salvation in our lives. We must be dependent on reading the word fully to understand what God is truly saying and not fall into the traps of half truths or incomplete stories. My prayer is that we are always willing to dive into the full word of God for its truths and not be subject to an offer too good to be true. Amen.
Debt Free & Indebted
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:8-10
One of the most wonderful joys of my life is that I have always been surrounded by people who are wonderful role models for how to love. My father had a huge heart and was always loving of others. My mother was someone who taught me at a very early age of how to be loving and respectful toward others particularly women. Then my wife has been a wonderful loving person who is fully driven by the adage that love truly does not fail, and has loved me both because and in spite of the person I am. Each of them has greatly helped me to show more love toward others.
However, I have to be constantly reminded that I need to watch my love for something else; Best Buy. I have learned to be more disciplined as I have grown older, but I use to always buy the latest technology not having a care for how much it costs and if I could afford it. This of course would lead to debt, which if I was not careful would cause greater harm than good.
Today’s verse has a dual purpose, and is a prime example of what we are to do as fellow Christians. It first discusses debt. Many of you know who Dave Ramsey is (Christian Financial advisor), and he constantly talks about how Christian it is for us to be responsible for our debt and live a debt free life. Being in debt is sometimes inevitable, but it is something not to be carried and leveraged against forever. God made us to be a free people both spiritually and financially. We are given freedom from our sins and guilt through Jesus Christ. We are thus entrusted to be debt free financially as well and manage ours debts accordingly.
This leads us to the one thing God does want us to be indebted to; love. If we are to live debt free, why would He ask that we are indebted to love? I once wrote that the lesson of Dr. Martin Luther King’s life is that no matter what your situation is, you can love your way out of it. Perhaps God intended love to be a symbol to others that we are Christians. Or maybe God knew that if everyone were indebted to love, fear or darkness would never exist. Another thought is that the only thing in life that is limitless is love. After all, the best things in life are free, and of these, the greatest is love (see 1 Corinthians 13:13). All of these statements are true, but Paul points out yet something more profound. Love for others is the fulfillment of the law, and it does so by both being the foundation for many of the commandments (Romans 13:9) and causing no harm to others (Romans 13:10).
The life of Jesus summarizes what today’s verses really mean to us and what we as Christians are to always remember. He paid our debt for our sins, and gave His life freely because He loved us so. As always, Jesus is our truth and light. As we continue to grow in our walk of faith, those things become clearer to us. My prayer is that we live both a debt free life and abundantly indebted one to love.
One of the most wonderful joys of my life is that I have always been surrounded by people who are wonderful role models for how to love. My father had a huge heart and was always loving of others. My mother was someone who taught me at a very early age of how to be loving and respectful toward others particularly women. Then my wife has been a wonderful loving person who is fully driven by the adage that love truly does not fail, and has loved me both because and in spite of the person I am. Each of them has greatly helped me to show more love toward others.
However, I have to be constantly reminded that I need to watch my love for something else; Best Buy. I have learned to be more disciplined as I have grown older, but I use to always buy the latest technology not having a care for how much it costs and if I could afford it. This of course would lead to debt, which if I was not careful would cause greater harm than good.
Today’s verse has a dual purpose, and is a prime example of what we are to do as fellow Christians. It first discusses debt. Many of you know who Dave Ramsey is (Christian Financial advisor), and he constantly talks about how Christian it is for us to be responsible for our debt and live a debt free life. Being in debt is sometimes inevitable, but it is something not to be carried and leveraged against forever. God made us to be a free people both spiritually and financially. We are given freedom from our sins and guilt through Jesus Christ. We are thus entrusted to be debt free financially as well and manage ours debts accordingly.
This leads us to the one thing God does want us to be indebted to; love. If we are to live debt free, why would He ask that we are indebted to love? I once wrote that the lesson of Dr. Martin Luther King’s life is that no matter what your situation is, you can love your way out of it. Perhaps God intended love to be a symbol to others that we are Christians. Or maybe God knew that if everyone were indebted to love, fear or darkness would never exist. Another thought is that the only thing in life that is limitless is love. After all, the best things in life are free, and of these, the greatest is love (see 1 Corinthians 13:13). All of these statements are true, but Paul points out yet something more profound. Love for others is the fulfillment of the law, and it does so by both being the foundation for many of the commandments (Romans 13:9) and causing no harm to others (Romans 13:10).
The life of Jesus summarizes what today’s verses really mean to us and what we as Christians are to always remember. He paid our debt for our sins, and gave His life freely because He loved us so. As always, Jesus is our truth and light. As we continue to grow in our walk of faith, those things become clearer to us. My prayer is that we live both a debt free life and abundantly indebted one to love.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Who Trespass Against Us
If anyone has caused grief, he has not so much grieved me as he has grieved all of you, to some extent—not to put it too severely. The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him. Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. 2 Corinthians 2:5-7
(If you know the story about Armando Gallaraga, feel free to skip to paragraph 2)
Here is a story for the ages. If you had not heard, the world of baseball was about to have one of its most historic moments as Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Gallaraga was completing something that had only happened twenty times in the 111 years and over hundred thousands of games in the history of baseball by throwing a perfect game, which means to not let anyone reach base for the entire game (27 straight people to be exact). To put it in perspective, you and your family almost have a better chance of winning the lottery than you would of seeing a perfect game. However, as he caught the ball and stepped on first base to record the final and historic out, the first base umpire, Jim Joyce, erroneously called the runner safe, which thus ended Armando’s dream and disappointing the many who were watching sports history. Or at least we would think. On one side, a childhood dream was wrongfully shattered. On the other, one’s nightmare (the umpire’s) was about to begin. A soon to be hometown hero was robbed of baseball immortality. A once favored and respected professional umpire was soon to be robbed of his credible reputation. And then the unexpected happened.
In the midst of something tragic, something noble and good was discovered. The nation and many in the world were about to witness one of the greatest modern day examples of both humility and grace we have ever seen. In a world as competitive as ever and where tolerance for mistakes are unmercifully punished, Gallaraga said to the press of the call made by Joyce with a smile on his face, “Everyone makes mistakes.” Who does that? Who is willing to show that level of mercy when they could have been put on a pedestal that few have ever reached? Gallaraga did, and as a result, he not only gained even greater accolades, but he may have saved someone else in the process; Jim Joyce. A man who humbly felt remorse was given a reprieve and an opportunity to continue on doing something he dearly loved. To me as a Christian, there can be no better lesson learned than that.
We can look at this story and see in it our relationship with God as clear as day. The only difference is we do not just make a mistake once or twice. We do it at times daily, weekly, and/or monthly. We are that umpire who blew the call, and yet like that pitcher, our God shows us grace and forgiveness. As today’s verses illustrate, we too as Christians are called on to be the forgiving and comforting person to one who the world persecutes and punishes. That is what walking the Christian walk is all about; showing love to others because God through Jesus Christ first showed love for us. As the umpire and pitcher met at home plate the following day, we knew that is how the picture of forgiveness looks like. My prayer is that we can remember ask to forgive us of our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us. Amen.
(If you know the story about Armando Gallaraga, feel free to skip to paragraph 2)
Here is a story for the ages. If you had not heard, the world of baseball was about to have one of its most historic moments as Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Gallaraga was completing something that had only happened twenty times in the 111 years and over hundred thousands of games in the history of baseball by throwing a perfect game, which means to not let anyone reach base for the entire game (27 straight people to be exact). To put it in perspective, you and your family almost have a better chance of winning the lottery than you would of seeing a perfect game. However, as he caught the ball and stepped on first base to record the final and historic out, the first base umpire, Jim Joyce, erroneously called the runner safe, which thus ended Armando’s dream and disappointing the many who were watching sports history. Or at least we would think. On one side, a childhood dream was wrongfully shattered. On the other, one’s nightmare (the umpire’s) was about to begin. A soon to be hometown hero was robbed of baseball immortality. A once favored and respected professional umpire was soon to be robbed of his credible reputation. And then the unexpected happened.
In the midst of something tragic, something noble and good was discovered. The nation and many in the world were about to witness one of the greatest modern day examples of both humility and grace we have ever seen. In a world as competitive as ever and where tolerance for mistakes are unmercifully punished, Gallaraga said to the press of the call made by Joyce with a smile on his face, “Everyone makes mistakes.” Who does that? Who is willing to show that level of mercy when they could have been put on a pedestal that few have ever reached? Gallaraga did, and as a result, he not only gained even greater accolades, but he may have saved someone else in the process; Jim Joyce. A man who humbly felt remorse was given a reprieve and an opportunity to continue on doing something he dearly loved. To me as a Christian, there can be no better lesson learned than that.
We can look at this story and see in it our relationship with God as clear as day. The only difference is we do not just make a mistake once or twice. We do it at times daily, weekly, and/or monthly. We are that umpire who blew the call, and yet like that pitcher, our God shows us grace and forgiveness. As today’s verses illustrate, we too as Christians are called on to be the forgiving and comforting person to one who the world persecutes and punishes. That is what walking the Christian walk is all about; showing love to others because God through Jesus Christ first showed love for us. As the umpire and pitcher met at home plate the following day, we knew that is how the picture of forgiveness looks like. My prayer is that we can remember ask to forgive us of our trespasses and we forgive those who trespass against us. Amen.
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