Guest Post - Re: The Power of Proper Identity: Ministers of Reconciliation

A dear friend of mine responded to my latest blog post titled, "The Power of Proper Identity: Ministers of Reconciliation" with some very insightful and edifying assertions. With this friend's permission, I cannot help but share, as I enjoy and value the perspectives offered in this reply:

"I agree that the calling is to Christ Himself, because the relationship is more important than the roles we play. So often we seek to establish ourselves in a business relationship with God, instead of a personal one. We strive hard to be servants when God has called us to be sons.

In being sons, the ultimate thing is the love and intimacy we share with Christ. Since we share in His kingdom, we share in His kingdom's work. The scripture seems to discourage segregating this work into higher vs. lower within the kingdom because, after all, the highest is the least servant in God's kingdom. Philippians does talk about the high calling, but never the higher calling.

The term "higher calling" has been used to distinguish those who are following a specific calling with the organized church or full time mission effort. When I say full time mission, not to be stuck on semantics, I mean one whose life activities are not fungible in the securlar market place. His economic needs must be subsidized by others of the "lower" calling (so to speak in keeping with the topic). So, in this sense, I would agree we would be off-base to say one Christian has a "higher calling" because he does not have a day job.

But the status of being supported by the Christian community is Biblical, and is a specific calling, albeit not higher. Those in that role tend to be held to a "higher" standard, which is also Biblical. Of course we are all held to the same standard which is the Word, but Biblicially speaking leaders of the church throughought the Bible have been expected to demonstrate exceptional holiness as they naturally become leaders. In being in this office it can be said that we "follow them" as they follow Christ. It is in this sense that the "higher" terminology would gain some historical basis - but I would agree that it still is inaccurate.

The secular perspective says jobs are to produce products, and the "better" we are, by worldy standards, the more products we produce. In that lifestyle, if I were to "do my best," I would always be trying to maximize my competitiveness and success would be measured in magnitude.

The Word says, the kingdom of God is like a treasure someone found in a field, burried it, went and sold all he had, and bought the field. If I won the lottery, my paycheck would diminish as an important factor to me. In the secular sense, my paycheck is my master - because its presence commands my obedience (speaking in worldly perspective). If I were to become a millionaire, it would no longer have any meaning for me. My paycheck would decrease, and the need to enjoy my work would increase. Similarly, when we are saved, we are set free from the shackles of status, the need to produce. We now do those things because we enjoy them.

Some may try to correct me there and say "because we serve Jesus." But serving Jesus is joy. We continue to do what we are good at because of joy, nothing else. God knows who he gave a good voice to, a quick body, a bright mind...we use those gifts out of joy. When your future is secure, your present takes on a new identity. The law, no longer our master, fades as the love and joy of Jesus fills our lives. God lacks nothing, yet he intervenes to save the needy. Why? Because he is so full of joy, it is overflowing. He is so full of love, it is overflowing. His actions are a result of His love and joy.

When you are full of fear and hate and bitterness, you seek to share it. When you are full of love, joy, and peace,you share that too. And when you get grafted into the vine that is love, joy, and peace.....you can't help it. That becomes who you are.

Being a Christian is being free from status. What would it matter if I exchanged one activity I enjoyed for one I will enjoy even more? This would be the case for a Christian transitioning from engineering to full time missions. I believe a man I greatly respect once said, missions exist because worship doesn't. Worship is the goal of the church, not missions. Paraphrasing alot but, he goes on to say: because God is ultimate, not man. Whether I'm a slave, free, engineer, nurse, ditch digger, or whatever else - it is for worship. For joy. For the life I have in Christ. Missions is just one more role - but a temporary one like all the others. Preacher is temporary, because Jesus is our true shepherd. Engineer is temporary, because by Christ all things were made. Whatever role He puts us in, He is highest, not our role. He has called us to only one thing, to worship Him forever. The rest is just the details."

Obedience – A Well-Balanced Meal of Service

“…Obedience is better than sacrifice...” – 1 Sam 15:22 (NLT)

I find that a struggle exists within me between healthy sacrifice and healthy enjoyment in that which God commands. It seems easy to fall away from the proper balance and toward either experience-seeking (doing something because it benefits us or we get enjoyment from it) or begrudging obedience, when we set our faces as flint for pure obedience at full sacrifice of ourselves, but with a sense of self-righteousness and the absence of the joy of the Lord. Honestly, I see most of us erring to the side of the former, following that which we enjoy instead of having obedience as our starting point and guide; however, I believe that God has designed us and His commands to have a good balance of both flavors: sacrifice and joy. This is of course a paradox to the human mind because it is the work of the Holy Spirit who is higher, greater, and not limited by human imperfection.

As I have been recently considering decisions before me, in which I feel called by the Lord to service, I have recognized that it is going to cost me something. And as I wrestle with it all, recognizing that in some ways I look forward to the service because I love it, but in other ways would rather run away like Jonah because of what it could cost me, I feel that the Lord has spoken some truth to me about obedient service of our Lord.

To me, following God in joyful obedience can be illustrated by a well-balanced meal. A well-balanced meal typically consists of a main course (meat or protein), vegetables or other healthy additions as side-dishes, and even some sweet dessert (You might astutely comment that dessert means that the meal is no longer “well-balanced,” but I have included it in the analogy for a reason.). When it comes to decision making and living out our lives for Christ, being poured out as an offering for Him and our fellow man, obedience is the main course…it drives the meal, it is the center-piece for the meal, and it is the impetus for action. God will’s it; therefore, we do it. Let’s not forget who God is and who we are, created in His image for His purposes and His pleasure. Now, when God wills something, He wills it in all love, He wills it in all goodness and righteousness, He wills it in all wisdom and sovereignty, and He wills it in perfection. And because He is God and we are His servants, what He wills, we obey. This is the main course of our meal of service to our Lord.

Even the main course in itself can be analyzed before moving to the side-dishes and dessert. God’s main course of obedience for His will is always seasoned with Himself, a pleasing spice to life. We may have to do some effort, working with our hands to cut through the main course, chewing on it such that we can stomach it, but there is a flavor from God that is joy in the midst of our labors.

And the meal of obedient service to our Lord goes beyond the main course of strict obedience, for there are further joys and further difficulties along the way. First, the difficulties, including repercussions:

As someone who has struggled to find the slightest pleasure in eating many of the vegetables that God has placed on this earth for our nutritious benefit, I relate the consequences of following God and the “grin and bear it” portion of obedience to the vegetable side-dish. You may chuckle here, as I do…and I do enjoy many vegetables (rest easy, Mom, I am eating my vegetables…at least sometimes), but think of that one vegetable that you absolutely can’t stand…the one you wouldn’t eat unless you were forced to. Well, sometimes that vegetable shows up on our plate of obedient service to our Lord. But I have already hinted at the dichotomy of eating such an unpleasant item: God uses it to strengthen and nourish us in a unique way that our main course and certainly our dessert could not do. We must have the spiritual vitamins that are contained within sacrificial obedience to our Lord. It will not always be easy, and in fact, many times it will be hard to obey the Lord. This is because it will cost us something. This is because our circumstances may be less favorable. But God has placed it in front of us as we noted before with all love, goodness, righteousness, wisdom, sovereignty, and perfection…will we not accept what God has handed directly to us? We will, and we must willingly consume that which is nearly unpalatable, such that our souls receive perfectly balanced spiritual nutrition from God Himself.

And finally, our favorite part: dessert. Yes, obedient service to our Lord always comes with dessert. There is a time that is coming, after we have finished our full courses of obedience—the main course, the side dishes and everything else—that we will receive the joyous perspective of God and marvel at such a well prepared meal of service as we delight in all that God has done, is doing, and will do. The joy that flows naturally from the Spirit will be a sweet, sweet dessert to our souls. This sounds like a reference to Heaven, and it is, but it is a reference to the “here and now” on earth, as well.

Psalm 27:13: - “I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see
the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (NKJV)

You see, God provides us the sweetest of joys as we grow closer to Him through obedient service, and He does so not only in Heaven, but in the land of the living.

In view of this, it is easy to see how we often get unbalanced in our service. We frequently try to supplant obedience with dessert as the main course. If we live for dessert, we will eat more of it and less of our healthy balanced-meal. Likewise, if we live for experience, driven by our affinities alone, we will become self-seeking, forsaking God’s call. At the same time, we sometimes become so committed to sacrifice that we eat meals of side-dishes alone, and although this can sustain us for a time, we will need some core nourishment of a well-seasoned main course to sustain us. Furthermore, if we have come to a place where obedience has no joy, then we are susceptible to refraining from partaking any longer, starving ourselves of God’s leading because we are wearied in our unbalanced approach to obedience without joy. And so it is important that we remember that obedient service to our Lord is a well-balanced grand feast, in which obedience to His will is central, sacrifice is essential, and the sweetness of joy is our reward and promise. Through the Holy Spirit, obedience and sacrifice are not without joy.

Heb 12:2 - “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (NIV)

I write these things only because I have experienced them and continue to experience them, and every saint that has ever lived has experienced them, as well. Even more significantly, Jesus Himself experienced it, as revealed in Hebrews 12:2, and therefore we must experience it alongside Him as we are sanctified to be one with Christ. Take heart in your present circumstances, accept the main course of obedience, willingly digest the unpleasant sacrifices in side-dishes of nourishment, and anticipate with certain hope the joy of the Lord that will be manifested to you by His Spirit. We could never conceive of this truth, for it goes well beyond human ability, and we could never acquire such a glorious truth, for it goes well beyond human utility. But is a gift of God, and one that He wishes to pour out on you.

“…The joy of the Lord is your strength.” – Neh 8:10

I pray that you take your place at His table, embrace the meal set before you, and offer your life in obedient service to our Lord. May the joy of the Lord be made full in you, and may it be your strength today and forever. Amen.

What Is Your Response to “Bad News?”

Recently I’ve been reading through the book of Acts. It’s almost peculiar how I’ve had a desire to study the book recently, yet I have missed the opportunity to study it in a group setting twice recently. I arrived in a new Sunday school class shortly after they concluded a long study of Acts; and another Bible study group that I was a part of last year, but cannot be part this year, is about to do a 9-month study of Acts. So apparently, God desires that I study it on my own for the time being.

Reading through Acts, there is no shortage of amazing stories…stories of faith, stories of persecution, and stories of God moving supernaturally and decisively in order to establish and grow the church body. Additionally, Acts is a study on communication between God and His servants. There is so much there—ways that God spoke to different people or the same people in different ways at different times. Ways that different people responded to God or the same people responded differently in different situations (Peter is a good example). There are a lot of circumstances to consider…insurmountable circumstances from which God saved Paul and others countless times…and other times when circumstances were fully avoidable, yet God willed Paul and others to go through them and the saints obeyed at their own physical expense (even to death). The lattermost example is the one that caught my eye today. It is the story of Paul willingly and knowingly walking towards His death, first by shear faith in a sovereign God and secondly to achieve a purpose that would be later revealed to Him. This is an uncommon faith that I’m afraid I don’t yet possess and is therefore worth examining in great detail.

Starting in chapter 19, we see Paul’s sensitivity to the Holy Spirit to know that he would go to Rome to preach the Gospel at some point:

Acts 19:21 – “Afterward Paul felt compelled by the Spirit to go over to Macedonia and Achaia before going to Jerusalem." And after that," he said, "I must go on to Rome!”

At this point, Paul was receiving direction. His direction from the Lord was clear: 1. Go to Jerusalem. 2. On the way there, go to Macedonia and Achaia. 3. After Jerusalem, go to Rome. To say much more is speculation, because I do not find much more specific detail in the book of Acts. One could hypothesize that Paul knew where he was to go and in what order only, knowing that his purpose was to continually spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, yet not knowing many other specifics or purposes, as well as not fully knowing the timing—knowing order only—nor knowing his final fate in each place, especially Rome. On the entire opposite end of the spectrum, one could hypothesize that Paul, through the Spirit, knew all of these things, including his fate in Rome at this time. I tend to lean towards the first hypothesis, but I think the degree to which Paul knew God’s specific, detailed will for him, ranging from one end of the spectrum to the other, as noted above, is less important. I say this because if it was of utmost importance, it would certainly be contained in the Bible.

Nevertheless, Paul certainly had received direction from God and was obeying to the fullest, regardless of any other foreknowledge. We can take one of many lessons right here. It is a luxury to know what God might have you do two steps ahead, but obedience only requires direction for the next immediate step—we must discipline ourselves to have the kind of faith and obedience that stops asking for an entire roadmap, but can instead trust our Creator, Counselor, Savior, and God with one direction at a time.

Part of the reason I lean towards the hypothesis that Paul’s foreknowledge of God’s will to go to Asia, Jerusalem, then Rome was limited…though with clear direction…is that it appears that more and more is revealed to Paul as we progress through Acts. This wouldn’t be noteworthy if it had already been revealed to him sooner. And in fact, in chapter 20 Paul confesses that he goes to Jerusalem “not knowing the things that will happen to me there.” The use of the phrase “happen to me there” indicates to me at least a consideration of personal harm, for otherwise he might have said “happen there” instead of “happen to me there.” Furthermore, Paul senses danger in Jerusalem, yet look at his attitude (speaking to the elders of the church in Ephesus):

Acts 20:22-25 – “And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. 24 But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 “And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more.”

In response, the elders wept, signifying a sincere belief that they would never see Paul again.

In chapter 21, we see an even clearer proclamation of what awaits Paul. It turns out that the Holy Spirit had been preparing his heart all along, and Paul was so sensitive to the Spirit to discern it so early, as seen in chapter 19. This time in chapter 21, the message was much clearer:

Acts 21:10-15 – “And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”
12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”

15 And after those days we packed and went up to Jerusalem.”

Think about the news that Paul had just received. I’m afraid that my response would in all likelihood be as Luke and the other apostles and saints who accompanied Paul—“Don’t go!” I would probably cite the prophecy as a providential warning from God and justify a change in plans, saying, “we’ll go another time when this threat is dissolved.” But this wasn’t Paul’s response at all. Why?

“Why?” is a very loaded question because it speaks to the very character of Paul and the extent of his relationship with God. In that situation, faced with that “bad news,” only two kinds of men would continue towards Jerusalem: those who are complete and utter fools, and those who are completely abandoned to God’s purpose, such that Paul’s words are true: “But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Those of worldly mindset cannot discern between those two types of men, the fool vs. the servant of God, but the Spirit of God testifies to truth such that we can discern godly submission and abandonment. Additionally, such a man would have to be more than abandoned to God’s purpose—he would have to hear from the Lord and be absolutely in tune with the Spirit to know and follow God’s will. Abandonment without communication is haphazard, directionless wondering. Communication without abandonment is stubbornness and heard-heartedness that “quenches the Spirit,” leading to no fruitful work. We must have both, and I hope that we can draw on Paul’s example and at least set our faces towards God with that goal…regardless of how far we are from it in this moment…knowing that we desire such utter abandonment for God’s glory, purpose, and pleasure with such sensitivity and intimate relationship with our beautiful, perfect, powerful, loving Father that we would know and discern His good and pleasing will in every such situation. What an amazing richness of life for Paul and for us with such faith.

Finally, we see in chapters 21-24 that the prophecy comes true and Paul is bound in chains, arrested, and even beaten. How merciful that God allowed him to have a warning. But God trusted Paul with that warning because he was trustworthy. A man such as myself may not show themselves to be so trustworthy…any man who would respond by avoiding Jerusalem when hearing the “bad news” would not be allowed to know such information. Make no mistake, God’s will gets accomplished every single time in all things. We get to choose 1. Which side we’re on, and 2. How willingly we will cooperate and obey the Lord. Consider Jonah. He was to go to Ninevah. He didn’t want to go and fled from God. God captured him in the stomach of a whale for 3 days! Jonah repented and went to Ninevah afterall. Now, he could have just gone there when God told him to. Either way, he was going (though he didn’t realize that yet). Things are much easier in life if we’ll just obey the Lord. In Paul’s example, I think it was merciful for God to give him such foreknowledge, such that he would not be utterly surprised and could have such sweet goodbyes with the Ephesians. And those blessings were only available through obedience in the face of such "bad news."

Notice the first time we see God actually speaking to Paul and revealing his will for Paul to go to Rome happens only AFTER Paul was already captured and had to obey in faith through the Spirit, not before:

Acts 23:11 (while captive) – “But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.’”

If you have a “red-letter” edition of the Bible, you will see these words in red, as they are the spoken words of Jesus. This direct communication could have taken place back in chapter 19, but I find it very instructional that God waited until chapter 24 (these chapters are written in chronological order, so keeping track of time by chapter is appropriate). You see, sometimes we seek the Lord with ears that are only tuned into His voice to the extent that an audible voice alone would be discernable. However, it can be clearly seen that Paul was receiving communication from God the entire time prior to Jesus' words to him, through the Holy Spirit. We can take a lesson here. How is God communicating to you this very day? And if you heard Him, how would you respond? Would you respond in self-interest and preservation? Or would you present yourself as a living sacrifice?

Rom 12:1-2 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer 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.”

We marvel at how Paul discerned God’s will so early on, but Rom 12:1-2 ties these concepts together. You see, by presenting himself as a living sacrifice, he was “transformed by the renewing of [his] mind,” such that he was granted the discernment of God’s good and pleasing will through the Holy Spirit. We usually get it backwards: “If I could discern His will, I would know how and where and with what extent to sacrifice. If I knew details, I could obey them.” Ah, but the converse actually is true: only when we present ourselves as living sacrifices, in worship to our God, then we begin to be transformed by the renewing of our minds such that we receive knowledge of His will.

It’s also interesting that such a verse is contained in the book of Romans. Do you know that it is one of the most influential books of the Bible, a roadmap of pure theology, and is the fruit of an obedient servant of the Lord in the face of “bad news?” Paul went to Rome to die, as most scholars agree he died there in captivity. And in preparation for going there—part of the “clear direction” discussed previously—he wrote the book of Romans…glorious fruit of the obedience and faith described in Acts 19-28.

A close friend of mine recently conveyed the following astute observation to me, after considering 1 Peter 4:12ff, which addresses “fiery trials” experienced by Christians, their necessity and normality, and their great purpose: “You know, we don’t tell Christians what the Bible says often. We try to be sympathetic, which is Biblical too, but how often do we follow it with reminding each other to rejoice to the extent that we partake in His suffering? If my ability to rejoice is based upon the extent to which I have shared in His suffering, then I’m not a very joyful person.” Wow, that convicts me. Being robbed of suffering is to be robbed of the joy of God that manifests itself in obedient, abandoned souls with an intimate relationship with God such that His will is in our hearts and we see as He sees…we see and feel as God sees and feels! What joy as a pure fruit of the Spirit when we partake in such trials for the sake of God’s name. Are you so willing to follow God anywhere? If so, what might God do with your smallest of sacrifices? He has brought billions of souls to Heaven through Paul, and He can and desires to do the same with your life. I pray that we would both accept the challenge and responsibility of presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to God, and may the full pleasure of living God’s will in a beautiful, intimate faith in our Creator and Savior be ours forever. Amen.

The Power of Redemption - Part 1

When is the last time that you looked at your life and were overwhelmed by the following attribute of God: Redeemer.

Redemption is the reclaiming as good, something that was bad. It is a reversal in esteem. We watch an athlete make a mistake that might cost the team the game, then later we see the same athlete make a play that wins the game for the team and we say, “He redeemed himself!” Yes he did. But what about the times when we just can’t redeem ourselves? What if the game was already over…the deal sealed…helpless to change the outcome ourselves? This is our plight as sinners, for our sinfulness, no matter how infrequent or distant past, has sealed our fates to be eternally separated from God (likely, it is more frequent and not-so distant past). That is, until God made a way through His Son Jesus Christ. Therefore, redemption is in the center of our relationship as sinners with a holy God.

Redemption is more than just forgiveness of sins. It’s more than being saved. It starts there but doesn’t finish there—what follows salvation and forgiveness of sins makes redemption doubly powerful. Think of it—the very same human, the same life, even the very consequences of sin—being made the very things that glorify God and bring joy to the one who was once downtrodden and separated from God by that sin. Not that sin is to be glorified as the cause to the observed effect: glory to God and joy in the heart of the sinner in a life-path once guided by the consequence of sin. No, if it stopped with sin as the only cause to the observed effect, then the end result would be Hell and it would feel as though the life that followed sin’s consequences was Hell creeping into the sinner’s earthly life. This is the life of the unrepentant sinner apart from God.

Upon sinning, our lives immediately change. We fall out of God’s preferred will, which was such splendid intimate relationship with Him, free from the smallest spot of sin. If upon sinning we were to fall to a lesser path and live the life of consequences without the element of redemption entering in, our lives would be an ever-increasing fall into despair and departure from God’s good plans for our lives. But when the same sinner confesses Jesus Christ as their Savior, a truly remarkable thing happens.

Christ is our Savior first, and also our Redeemer. This means that once we have sinned and departed from His path, He not only saves us from Hell, but He restores us to right relationship with Him. The paths our lives take from that moment onward suddenly have purpose that they didn’t have without Him. And remarkably, the consequences that flow from our now blotted out sins become the very things that glorify God.

Here is a personal example. I was once involved in a long-term relationship that we expected to result in marriage. Somewhere in the middle we strayed and the poison of sin in its various forms choked righteous pursuit of God out. The relationship ended with two emotionally shaken people, left in the wake of sinful, self-centered attitudes of children of God who forgot what it was to be set apart for His purpose. If you’ve ever been a part of a relationship that ended because of the mistreatment of each other, you know the feeling of guilt. And if you are a child of God, then the Holy Spirit will convict you of your sin and you will begin to see that you are suffering the consequences in your emotionally shaken state. At this point you may despair of “what could have been, if I’d only followed God!” Indeed. But here is where God’s redemption casts a new hue on the entire portrait of our lives.

(Note on relationships: if you have stopped pursuing God together as #1, there is a serious problem in your relationship. Regardless of what wonderful thing is your focus, even if it is perceived as godly--missions, leadership, family, etc--if pursuit of God falls from your #1 purpose in and of itself, a rift is forming between you and God. I encourage you to recognize it and stop it. For the sake of your earthly relationships, sure, but even more for your relationship with Christ.)

In this example, I expected to be married some years ago. The relationship ended as we lost focus on God, and I later saw the error of my ways. I thought, “now I’m on the plan B path…the aftermath…the life of consequences of sin.” I knew that Jesus was my Savior and that was a comfort. But what about the specifics of my life to come? How could I live, knowing that because of my sin, I forfeited God’s first chosen plan for my life? Well, first of all, I can’t actually make that claim—what God’s chosen plan for my life was or is specifically—but in that moment, this was my feeling (and you may have felt the same way before).

Fast forward 3 years. As a single adult, several opportunities have come my way that could have only happened in the life of singleness. I was introduced to a church small group for singles, of which I later became the leader for 1.5 years—a time of amazing relationship building with both my group members and my Savior. Through one member, I was introduced to another church and their singles ministry, where I was introduced to a mission organization that I went to India with. Through this organization, I have found a new passion and role in God’s kingdom to help rescue, protect, and empower vulnerable children exposed to human trafficking. Additionally, I was given the opportunity to continue to help this organization that brings Christ to a nation that is only 3% Christian (As Our Own, see also blog label "As Our Own"). Furthermore, I now have an amazing network of single men and women that I love, and God continues to use me right where I am…in this “plan B life”…a life that I love and wouldn’t trade for my once perceived “plan A life.” In fact, if these events hadn’t happened, this entire blog probably wouldn’t exist and you wouldn't be reading this—or at least the posts would be very much different. When I trace it all back, every cause and effect as seen by the human eye, I marvel at the power of an amazing attribute of our God—Redeemer. Only by His redeeming power could my life be this rich, this joyous. Only by His redeeming power could my relationship with Him be stronger and fuller. Only by His redeeming power do I now call this my “plan A life!” Not that sin was the right approach—it caused years of pain!—but God is both sovereign and redeeming for those who love Him. Through Christ and Christ alone do I look back with thankfulness, live in present joy, and look forward with eagerness to a life held in the power of redemption. So can you. I pray that you call on Jesus, embrace Him, and experience Him in the same way. Amen.

(continued in "The Power of Redemption - Part 2 - Rejecting Complacency")

Experiencing God - Dying to Self

Recently, I was reading "My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers, a daily devotional. In the Apr 21 devotional, titled "Don't Hurt the Lord," a few lines really jumped out and convicted me... (http://myutmost.org/04/0421.html)

In talking about our expectations of how God will move in our lives and reveal Himself to us and others, he says, "Other people see the manifestation, the child of God does not. We want to be conscious of God; we cannot be conscious of our consciousness and remain sane."

That is a very deep statement, but after reading it several times and thinking about it, I thought that it might be easiest to relate to the statement with the concept of humility. I've been known to offer the following as a joke: "I am the most humble person I know." I hope you can laugh with me as you realize how contradictory that statement is! But in context of O.C.'s statement above, we need to be conscious of humility, yet not conscious of our consciousness. What I mean is this: the thought should be “I want to be humble in this situation,” not “I know I am being humble in this situation.” Or better yet, just being humble without calling it humble ourselves…doing it naturally without humility being the goal. When you take the thought to the point of calling yourself humble, you are praising yourself and being less humble than you first intended. I wonder if that is the difference between being conscious of something and being conscious of our consciousness of something?

The most convicting statement in that devotional, though, was the following: "If we are asking God to give us experiences, or if conscious experience is in the road, we hurt the Lord."

I often want God to use me, and I ask Him to do so. But how often do we ask with the expectation that we might be used and be ok with never even knowing it? Don’t we usually conceptualize being used by God as some great and wonderful thing—not only for God and for others, but that we might experience it ourselves as we do His work? This may be the way God rewards us most of the time, but how utterly selfless is the request that we might be used by God, while being fully receptive to never even getting to experience it or even knowing it? Think about it: even in my most selfless requests to God for Him to use me in any way that He sees fit, with no regard to my own circumstances or personal desires, even then I almost always have at least a hint of selfishness…because I expect to see the work I am doing for Him, and I expect to be fulfilled by that. Now, it is true that in almost every circumstance those who have utterly sold-out to God and serving Him have had the greatest sense of fulfillment of any men…but that is inconsequential for our requests—it cannot be the motivation, or even the “kicker” that we perceive as good because of personal gain. What if we could place ourselves in such a selfless place that we would be willing to serve God in anything and everything that we do, trusting that He is doing His great things through our work, yet having absolutely no awareness to the good that is coming of it? What if we learned to become so selfless that we would commit to being a tool for God even if we never saw an ounce of fulfillment and success in our work for Him—if our only solace was our trust that He was doing things unseen to us, according to His promises? Wow, I can tell you that I don’t yet know how to make myself that selfless…but I sure would like to work toward it. It sounds grim, it sounds absolutely hard…but I know it is an attitude pleasing to God. And I do know that He loves me so much that He will allow me to share His joy and the fruits of the Spirit He places inside of me—but the struggle is to rid myself of those things as motivation and commit to Him because it is right, simple as that.

For those of us who are young in our faith, dying to self is extremely hard to do, or to even fully comprehend what it means. Jesus says in John 12:24-26, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me." Furthermore, Paul says in Galations 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (More in Luke 9:23-25, Mark 8:34-36, Matt 16:24-26)

After you have started dying to worldly desires and sins, then begin to die to your own expectations of the future, then begin to die to what you might do any given day, then begin to die to everything else—there is often something that remains that should die. Even if we have died to self in all other ways and given our lives as service and sacrifice to God (which is a big if, in of itself), for many of us, including myself, there is an expectation of fulfillment through that. That somehow the experience will be fulfilling in of itself. But the very last part of us that we can give up is the expectation that through all of it, every good thing, we might not require such an experience, such a fulfillment…that we might be content to obey God in pure servanthood—that although God doesn’t usually deprive us of the rich joy that comes in serving Him and sharing in His sufferings, we would be willing to commit to Him even if it did require that depravation of joy—wouldn’t that be ultimately dying to self completely? That is what I am trying to communicate, what I know I will likely never comprehend or fully realize as a human on this earth, but what I would like to work toward. There is some comfort here: we know as we serve God and commit our lives to Him, He sends the Holy Spirit and the fruits of that Spirit are a wonderful experience: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galations 5:22-23). And the best news of all: Heaven awaits! Until then, I would like to learn how to embrace this attitude a little bit more every day.

Relationship with God: Courtship

As part of the singles demographic, I often get asked about dating or finding that special someone, especially by those in the married demographic. For those of us still single and out of college, this is a frequently raised subject, sometimes by ourselves, but often by others—and many of us get frustrated and wearied by the constant attention that we often feel is negative or annoying. Tonight I was out with several married couples…inevitably, my singleness became the topic of conversation. Sometimes it can be annoying, and sometimes it is actually flattering because they consider you approved for their friends. I realized that I hadn’t been seriously dating for quite a while and that I didn’t feel the familiar longing for dating that I had in the past. Singles, you know what I’m talking about…each of us has a fuse, some of us 1 week, some of us 1 year, but a timespan for which we haven’t been dating where we become alerted to our desire to be dating—without even thinking of a specific individual, we just desire to be dating someone we find appealing. But that feeling was more absent in me than expected, given the time that I have been single. And after some thought, I realize it is because God’s Word has taken that place in my life as of late.

Courtship is a concept that I am very fond of. I feel that courtship is really the only best approach to dating. Why are we dating, except to find someone that we should spend our lives with?—if you had the choice of dating your future wife or husband right now or dating several other people before finally dating your spouse—wouldn’t you choose just to do away with the other distractions, bad experiences, and destructive temptations that the others can bring? I think most would agree that it would be better to give ourselves to our spouses only and sooner rather than later. In a perfect world, each of us would court, marry, and even date only our one life-long spouse. Having never dated anyone but our spouse is impractical for most, including myself, because…well, it isn’t a perfect world and we don’t have perfect foresight and knowledge! The point is that when we enter our next relationship, I think courtship is the proper approach.

Courtship is the pursuit of another with the exploration and intent of life-long relationship. In most cases, this refers to dating and marriage. However, I think the broader definition has another application: our relationships with God. Think about it: what do you do if you are dating someone? You spend time with them, you share experiences, you share your most intimate thoughts and questions, you talk with them several times a week (or even daily), you give them your time and attention when you feel emotionally uplifted in doing so, and you give them time and attention at times when you don’t feel as emotionally driven…ultimately, you spend time and effort getting to know them better, and they are a priority. And you do so because you have a genuine interest in them, and they in you. I think this is a beautiful picture of our relationship with God, certainly as it should be. Perhaps we should look at our relationships with God and start courting Him—He is already pursuing us full-time and forever (Rom 8:35-39, 2 Chron 16:9).

If you’re single, perhaps focusing on your courtship with God will help ease your anxieties of singleness. You may one day look back at those brief single years (they may not feel brief at the time, but in the context of a lifetime, it may very well be brief) and cherish the growth of your relationship with God because you had more time and focus on Him (1 Cor 7:32-35). As we begin to lose focus on our current circumstances (i.e. singleness), we will find ourselves focused on God, our relationship with Him, and living out His purpose for us. Guess what? It’s at those times that we will have peace instead of anxiety, joy instead of depression, patience instead of frustration, and love instead of selfishness. And guess what else? In those times we will be more in line with God’s preferred will for our lives, His perfect plan, and if we are to be married, we are more on track to finding that special someone than ever. For those of us who have longer to wait, then we have still found God’s best for our lives in this very moment—relationship with Him lived out in our daily lives.

For those who are dating or even those who are married: Courtship of God is just as valid as ever. There is no limit to the courtship and relationship we can have with God. The paragraphs above may allude to a spiritual advantage, due to more time to focus on God during singleness—this is not the main point. The single person has an opportunity to channel that “loneliness” and find purpose through it. But courtship of God is never ending—it is by the definition given here “the pursuit of another with the exploration and intent of life-long relationship.” Lifelong. That means that the relationship never stops growing and deepening with time. There is no limit to it, it is boundless—our relationship with God as tall, wide, and deep as His love for us—perfect, unquantifiable, and eternal (Eph 3:17-19). And marriage does offer a unique perspective that can deepen our relationship with God in a new dimension.

So this week (and every week thereafter) let’s commit to renewed courtship of God. Let’s apply what we know about loving other humans, especially that special one that we love or will love more than any other, to our relationship with God. Let’s commit to:

- Spend time with Him
- Share your daily experiences with Him
- Share your most intimate thoughts and questions with Him
- Talk with Him several times a week (even daily, even constantly – 1 Thess 5:17, Eph 6:18)
- Give Him your time and attention when you are emotionally moved
- Give Him your time and attention when you are not emotionally driven
- Make the effort to get to know Him better
- Make Him a priority

Through this I believe you will find a genuine interest in Him, especially as you begin to realize His genuine interest in you. He loves you more than any other—more than you’ve ever loved someone and more than anyone ever has or will love you. You and our fellow Christians are His bride (Eph 5:2-32, 2 Cor 11:2, Rev 21:1-4)—courtship is not just appropriate, it is essential.