I was the 14th caller to AM 1420 this afternoon, and I won some Edy’s Ice Cream certificates! I had just gotten in the car, and they said be the 14th or 20th caller and you’ll win some ice cream. Never being one to turn down Ice Cream… I did it. Three times I tried and it was busy, but the 4th time it rang, and the guy on the other end said, “You’re 14! You won!”
Ha! I can’t believe I won!
I do like ice cream….
🙂
“Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
but those who trust in the LORD will never lack any good thing.”
I am a strong young lion. Well, I used to be. 🙂 And I continue to act like I am. Working hard to provide for myself and my family. Striving to ensure that there is enough, relying on my strength and stamina to get me through.
And then last night I read that verse. It was from my “verse of the day” Widget (a cool feature of the new OS X Tiger!). Ps. 34:10. It was short and pithy, but made sense to me. As hard as I might try, I still can’t do it on my own. In my own strength, I will fail. Whether it’s providing for my stomach, or my soul. But as I relinquish control and trust in the provision of my Father – for my stomach, and my soul – then I will find what I am looking for. I will never lack any good thing.
I don’t believe the writer is promising abundance if I just “get it right” and do some good trusting. I think that’s still relying on my own ability. I think as I learn to rely on God, it may still appear as though I am lacking (I was just talking with him about that this morning…) but the deeper reality in my life will be the confidence that I lack no good thing. Sure of what I hope for and certain of what I do not see. Truth that goes beyond the empirical to a fuller, more foundational reality.
In all my strength, I will still go hungry. I will still come up short. But his strength – and his love – never fail.
I have been listening most of today to the music of some friends of ours (whom we have never met in person, actually!). They are a husband/wife duo (hmm… sounds familiar…) and I really like their stuff! Just wanted to share.
Click the link below to visit their website and hear their stuff and learn about what God is doing in them.
www.turnbullmusic.com
| Galatians 1-2 |
Just a quick reference for those of you following along. Links to my comments on Galatians so far:
Chapter 1
Galatians 1:1-5
Galatians 1:6-10
Galatians 1:11-12
Galatians 1:13-24
| Galatians 2:11-21 |
But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him publicly, speaking strongly against what he was doing, for it was very wrong.
This is definitely something I struggle with. Paul seems to have no problem taking his brother to task about an area that at least in his own mind is clearly wrong. I think before Jen & I were married, and I was a bit younger and perhaps less wise, I would have charged in the same way Paul does. I knew what was right, and everyone else needed to know it too! I think that is Jen’s picture of me still. She is quite the opposite, detesting all forms of conflict, and avoiding them at all costs. I think she has softened me a bit, which is good. I have learned restraint from her. My struggle though, is when should we step in, and when should we show restraint. When is enough enough?
In other words, when should I allow events to play out and let God work in my brother’s heart, and when should I step up and stop the injustice or wrong thinking or sinful behavior for the good of the perpetrator and the church and everyone around him? When is it time to put an end to the bad?
Paul says, “I had to oppose him publicly” meaning to me that it was not his first choice, but that the wrong was so bad, it needed to stop then and there. I admit, I don’t know what offense is so evil that it must be halted publicly and immediately – short of someone beating or threatening the life of another perhaps. If someone’s name is being dragged through the mud, do I step in? If I know someone is involved in a behavior that is contrary to God’s best for them, do I step in? At what level of offense or wrongness do we need to take action? What was it that Paul saw that was so destructive it had to stop then and there?
Let’s find out…
When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians, who don’t bother with circumcision. But afterward, when some Jewish friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore because he was afraid of what these legalists would say. Then the other Jewish Christians followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was influenced to join them in their hypocrisy.
When I saw that they were not following the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you trying to make these Gentiles obey the Jewish laws you abandoned? You and I are Jews by birth, not `sinners’ like the Gentiles. And yet we Jewish Christians know that we become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ–and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be saved by obeying the law.”
Whoa. Stinging words to a keeper of rules. Even though we know it… some of us really like rules. We like to have the boundaries. A clear-cut path to follow to a right standing with God. But Paul blasted that out of the water with his last statements. “We become right with God, not by doing what the law commands… No one will ever be saved by obeying the law.”
Did he say ever? This is the same man who “beats his body” into submission to Christ, who talks of working out our salvation in fear and trembling, and other such references to a very work-oriented righteousness. How can Paul understand this dichotomy he seems to espouse? How can he say things that seem to be so opposed?
First, they are not opposed. Jesus definitely showed us that it’s not about how clean we can get, or anything we can do to make ourselves presentable before God. That all comes from him. Before we meet him, and forever after. He also made it clear that so many things can bring us down. That there is a right way and a wrong way. That there are things that are good for us, and things that are bad for us. That his laws and his truth will stand forever as a testament to what is right, not as a set of iron shackles to forever imprison us to a performance-based righteousness.
Paul saw Peter, who knew the freedom Jesus’ taught and lived it out everyday, not only reverting to rule-keeping behaviors, but imposing that on those around him. Legalism. Take the standard presented by God, and the personal conviction in your heart and slap it on everyone else, requiring from them more strict adherence to this standard than even you are willing to give. It is performance-driven, guilt-laden, burden-bearing drudgery. Not a joy-filled, freedom-living adventure with a loving Father, the reality I believe Jesus tried to demonstrate. Peter was trying to restrict the freedom of the non-jewish believers with already fulfilled laws that existed not to bring about righteousness of themselves, but to point a people to the Giver of Righteousness. He already knew and had experienced that truth, but was now afraid, in Paul’s words, to live it out.
Again Paul mentions “the Truth” of the Good News. Do you recall from chapter one, where Paul said he wanted to preserve the truth of the Good News. To me, that means doctrine, dogma… legalism even. Passing down a set of rules that must be strictly obeyed. But to Paul, the truth was the freedom. He wanted to preserve the freedom of the life we have in Jesus. Now he says it again. Peter and his gang, including Paul’s friend Barnabas, were separating themselves from the other believers because of an “act of righteousness” that gave them claim to some sort of superior righteousness. (Odd, in that it was nothing that they did. Boys were circumcised on the 8th day after birth. They can’t rightly claim such an “act”, now can they?)
Paul strongly refutes such wrong thinking by saying, “we… know that we become right with God … by faith in Jesus Christ.” He is not teaching them, but reminding them. He wants them to remember the truth they have already heard. Their freedom is not because they are circumcised or specially chosen or have kept any set of laws. (Paul even reminds Peter that he discarded the Jewish laws. Another interesting aside in that there are many today who get ruffled a bit when talk of the old testament laws not being applicable today…) Freedom has come from a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Not by anything we have done, or will do. Not by cleaning up our act and hanging out with the right people. It is the free gift of God, so that no one can boast.
No one will ever be saved by obeying the law. We can’t dress well enough, speak well enough, act well enough, think well enough, do enough community service, or other acts of worship. We are justified by our faith in Jesus, in what HE did for us. Done. Over. It is finished. Now, we get to live it. In freedom. Together.
But what if we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then find out that we are still sinners? Has Christ led us into sin? Of course not! Rather, I make myself guilty if I rebuild the old system I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, I realized I could never earn God’s approval. So I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ. I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die.
Some might say that to live devoid of any responsibility to the law, just lavishing in God’s grace, that we are in some way despising God. His laws are forever true, so he must mean for us to submit to them. Yes, his law is forever true, but what does it mean to submit to it? Do it, or else? Or, follow this truth, and you will experience the life I intended for you? I see God’s laws as warnings, or even like those video game secrets where you can find the hidden cool parts of the game by knowing certain tricks or moves. God has given us clues as to how life works best. He has already said, as Paul found out, that we can’t earn righteousness by keeping those rules. If so, Jesus would not have had to die. Some of us who were diligent enough, and who tried the hardest and were perhaps even predisposed toward more righteous behavior would reach the finish line, with our A+ papers in hand, and pass on to life forever in God’s eternal kingdom. The rest who couldn’t keep up with the demands of his laws would be doomed to rot forever in hell. That’s how a performance-based system would work. And there would be no need for a savior. If even one person could do it without him, Jesus would not have needed to die.
But he did. Cause we can’t. Ever. No matter how hard we try. Paul said, “What if… after you stop trying to do it yourself, and realize it’s only from God… what if you’ve been down that path and you are still sinning??? That’s a great question. One I still do not completely understand. What I see Paul saying here this time is that we actually become more guilty as we revert to the old way of striving to keep the rules. To do the right. In doing that, we only condemn ourselves all over again. We might feel like we are somehow making up for the fact that we are still sinners… but in fact we are only making it worse by living under the same laws that condemned us before.
The answer is the new wineskin. The complete renewing of our minds. The new paradigm. Where no longer are we made righteous by our performance (since we never were in the first place) but we live in the reality that God truly accepts us as we are. We don’t have to prove to him that we can do it, because the truth is we can not. If we try to, we will only experience the condemnation that the law brings. The Truth of the Good News that Paul keeps trying to get us to see is the freedom of knowing that Jesus is the Righteous One, and in fact he is our Righteousness.
That’s so weird. But really, really cool.
For further study: Visit StudyLight.org
I am not certain if he still is, but at one point my father-in-law was on a diet. His cholesterol was higher than his doctor wanted and so he was directed to make changes to his diet. I remember lots of funny stories of the stuff he was eating then instead of what he used to enjoy, but the one thing I remember most was that the new items did not measure up. There was the light mayo, not even a close facsimile according to his frequent comments on what it reminded him of. And the reports of what the light salad dressing felt like in his mouth were not exactly ringing endorsements. There was not much about the substitutes that my father-in-law could recommend.
Substitutes are just that. They are a second-rate, fill-in, use-’em-if-ya-hafta replacements for the real deal. They do not measure up, though they may purport to do so. They are only a copy of the genuine artifact.
Yet so often, we are captivated by them.
Generally, we can steer clear of the diet colas, and the sugar-free ice cream, and the generic brands of everything under the sun that offer us the slogan, “Compares to…” but often does not come through on its claim. But there are many other substitutes that would have our attention diverted from the real thing.
Sin, in its simplest form perhaps, is a substitute. We can see that. Lust, adultery, pornography, and other sexual deviancy are a substitute for the intimacy God intended between a husband and a wife. It is even symbolic of our intimate relationship with him. We are the bride, he the groom. So any substitute for that diminishes the reality of his closeness and relationship with us. Stealing is a substitute for trusting God’s provision. You can sure load up on the good stuff just by taking what you want – especially since God won’t give it to you.
On down the line we see many others. Lying is a substitute for truthfulness, damaging the openness and trust in relationships. Slander is a substitute for perhaps even feelings of inadequacy in our own life, our own worth. Slander tears down others to where we feel we are. If you look at any “obvious” sin, we can see that it is a substitute for something far greater that God intended for us.
But how about the good stuff? Can the good things God has given us be a substitute for the better? How about the good things we do for him? I once heard a phrase that was reminding the listener to not settle for “good”, when there’s “better”. But we do.
We love the blessings he has given. We love the house, the toys, the money, the friends, the family, the job, the skills. We love all of those things, and each of them or even all of them together can end up stealing the “better” from us.
Love of our stuff can get us so focused on its ability to please and protect and provide for us that we miss the reality of God’s care and provision for us. Jesus said don’t store up treasure where it rots, but store it up in the eternal things. Things that can’t be taken away. Things that matter. Things that are “better”.
I love food! I love to make it, I love to eat it, I love to share it. If I had endless resources, I believe food would become a substitute for at least my relationship with people and even with God… but maybe even a substitute for life?! I do like food….
Sometimes you can get so wrapped up in your job that you have no time for family, or for God. Sometimes you can swing the other way and pour yourself into your family, only to find that they will fail you. In some way, they will fail you.
I love my wife. She is the person I adore the most. We have been friends for more than half of my life now. I have always respected her and loved to hear what she has to say. I am not always good at living that out… or showing that to her…. 🙂 But, I do. I have seen in her that she feels the same way about me. I know she loves me, and has shown me over the years that this is true. But sometimes there are rocky moments in our relationship. At times I find myself craving her love and approval even more than I do from my Father. I work hard to restore our relationship, perhaps partly motivated by a desire to have a substitute in place of the real thing. My true value is not in what another Creation thinks of me, but what my Creator has already proven he thinks of me. Sometimes even my relationship with my wife can be a substitute for a deep relationship with the One who formed me.
You see, even the greatest of gifts from our Father – the ones that we should cherish and enjoy – can become substitutes for what he truly created us to be. Everything was made through him and by him and for him (Colossians 1:16). That includes me. I was made for him. Scripture also says that I am not my own, that I was bought at a price. That does not imply slavery, as some think. God also assures us that we are no longer servants, but friends. (John 15:15, Rom 5:1-10). But it does imply that I have a purpose. God made me for a reason. And I should accept no substitutes.
Sometimes our substitutes can even take the form of a “relationship” with Him. Such a nebulous, indefinable thing… a relationship with an invisible God. How do you live that out except to begin a pattern of things that act as a “substitute” for a relationship… in a good way? Doesn’t prayer and quiet time foster a relationship with Father? Doesn’t serving him in my church, and spending time with other believers – serving him by serving them – doesn’t that strengthen my relationship with Him? Yes! Of course it does! He wants us to spend time with him, and to know him, and to serve him by serving others. Those things can of course take on a variety of forms, but all are very good things that draw us closer to him.
For a while. And then, the things that drew us close, begin to draw us apart. Not noticeably, or intentionally. Not at all. But ever so slowly, the form which led to the end of a relationship with our Father begins to become the end in itself. It changes from being a means to the end, to being the end. The routine sets in, and we end up serving, and reading, and praying and even sitting quietly “with him” just to do all of those things instead of in order to be with him. Unknowingly a slight adjustment happens and the form becomes a substitute for the real thing.
Sometimes it seems to me that we have made what we call church to be that. We have worship times and service projects and this group and that group and retreats and weekend events and social gatherings and classes and series of lessons and training seminars and this ministry and that. We have programs and plans and goals and visions and all kinds of things that cleverly and skillfully draw us closer to the heart of God. We hire the best people. We build large buildings that are perfectly tailored to usher people straight to the Throne of God. We seek his blessing on our endeavors and put him at the focus of all we do.
And, I truly believe that is our motivation. We love him! We so want to give back to him and to share him with everyone we possibly can! But what I have seen happen too often is that we are not bringing people to a full and open one-to-one relationship with their loving Father. Rather, we are bringing them to a structure whereby they may know more about that relationship, and tell others as well. Perhaps, by all of our great effort to know Him and to help others to do the same… we have created the ultimate substitute?
A substitute is no more than that. It is an inferior replacement for the intended reality. I have metal in my mouth where teeth were supposed to be. My wife wears glasses to correct for what her eyes are supposed to do. Sometimes I even watch Arena Football, when I was clearly meant to watch only the REAL stuff… 🙂
It’s easy when it’s diet cola, or light mayo. We know those aren’t real, and they aren’t the “better”. My father-in-law will certainly attest to that! Sometimes we do begrudgingly have to accept those. But it’s much harder when we lapse unknowingly into a substitute that by all appearances seems like the real thing. But, over time has become a substitute for the true fullness of life as the one whom God has chosen to direct all of his love toward. The one whom he has invited to walk alongside for eternity. The one for whom he laid down his life.
There is definitely no substitute for reality.
All I can say is wow. I just read two stories today on a news website that just horrified me. Not a “how could someone be so evil, cause I’m not” sort of horrified…. just horrified.
I read a book recently that sought to reveal the hidden world of demons and spiritual battles. There were a couple instances in the work of fiction where a person was literally taken over, and did not even recall the ghastly deeds they had just perpetrated. To the outside observer, it looked like the young woman had killed her own baby. From her perspective, it was the demon. Not in a blame shifting sort of way… just in the reality the author was painting of behavior so foreign that it had to be induced by an insidious creature, bent on destruction.
That’s all I am hoping for tonight. I hope that it is the Enemy who wants only to steal and kill and destroy. How can a father punch and then stab his own 8-year-old daughter in the neck and eyes, and then her 9-year-old friend as well? Reportedly, in what started as an act of discipline? How can another father shoot his wife, his mother and all three of his kids in their sleep before killing himself, leaving only a note saying “see you in the next life”?
How incredibly, horribly sad. My stomach is twisted in knots even as I write this. Horrific. Awful.
Only to steal, and kill, and destroy.
It is so sad that we can actually stoop so far. That we would be able to kill our own children. Our own family. Our own spouse. To blow ourselves up, taking others with us for the “good of the cause”. To fly a plane full of people into a building full of people, and bring it crashing to the ground in flames.
My heart aches tonight at our depravity. I think we have assistance, but we are ultimately responsible. But tonight I am not concerned with the responsiblity, just appalled at the depth of evil that is even possible.
Continuing on a familiar theme… Ian handed me this earlier this week. This time he has a guitar! 🙂 (Notice, the dime is still in his x-ray head…)
One more quickie…
We live next to some great friends, and the coolest neighbors you could hope for. It’s not easy to live with other people, whether they are in the same house with you or on the property adjacent to yours, or part of your circle of influence – whether friends, family, co-workers, etc. We are all unique, and each have our own way of looking at and doing life. SO… trying to mesh those with anyone else’s unique take on life, well… can be interesting.
And while we are definitely each unique, somehow, we have a great relationship with our cool neighbors! Our interests are not always the same, our schedules are DEFINITELY not the same, but we do connect on many points, and beyond that, we just share life together. We share the ups and downs, the day to day, and even our food. 🙂
So, yesterday, Amy IMs me and asks if I wanted a shrub. I said, “Who doesn’t?” and she informed me that she would be doing a little landscaping out front, just cause we’re such awesome neighbors. And she did! She put in shrubs, flowers, plants, all sorts of stuff I know nothing about.
Because we’re good neighbors? THEY seem to be farther up the cool scale to me… 🙂 They snowblow the drive way in the winter. We borrow their mower to cut our grass in the summer. They take care of our house when we are gone. Often, they will help with our kids in some way. Matt has repaired or installed MANY things in our house, and if we ever need [Fill In The Blank]… he has one! Seems like a good deal for us…. 🙂
So, just wanted to publicly state how cool our neighbors are. I think it’s so funny they say the same about us. 🙂 Guess that’s how it should be.
Thanks, Neighbors! 🙂
Oh… believe it or not, we did not have skyline even ONCE on this past weekend trip to Ohio! Crazy…
The course is a series of 18 videos, with workbooks. Gary and AnneMarie Ezzo are the authors/presenters. It’s now officially called Let The Children Come Along The Virtuous Way. But… that’s too long. So, w stick with the old title as it is not as offensive to us as to some folks out there. Why must people get so uptight about such things? One popular notion is that the title suggests that any other parenting thoughts outside of those taught in the course are NOT “God’s Way“… but that’s just not how the stuff is presented. They are a cool Christian couple who wanted to help other Christians instill in their kids a love for God and for his ways and for people around them. Sounds good to us… so we do it.
Is anybody else hungry?
OH… one more.
Some friends of ours just released a new CD under a new name. You may know them as Dividing The Plunder, but henceforth they shall be known as Ellery. Their new CD, Make Your Troubles Mine is more of the same great stuff. We very much appreciate their music and their hearts. Check out their stuff when you get a chance. We also highly recommend The Ordinary, their previous project. Great stuff.
