I'm tired of shaping my life around what is cool or popular.
Tired of being defined by what I have or who I'm friends with.
Tired of how people focus on themselves. Tired of how I focus on myself.
Tired of the way we treat each other.
Tired of being content with mediocrity.
Tired of worrying about money, school, relationships, the future.
Tired of seeing people leaving the church because of the church.
Tired of the way the church loses focus of what really matters.
Tired of gossip. Tired of rumors. Tired of the pain I see because of those things.
Tired of people being fake because they're afraid other people will think they are weak.
I'm tired.
But what am I doing to change the things that I'm tired of?
How do I stop shaping my life around what is cool or popular? Maybe I need to realize that Jesus cared less about the latest trends. Maybe it's time I realized that Jesus knew what was cool. Jesus knew people were cool because they were created in the image of God. That's reason enough to love people like Jesus did, whether or not I think they're cool.
Jesus once said "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." (Luke 12:15) That's reason enough to stop letting what I have (or don't have) define me. Jesus defines my reason for living. End of story.
How do I stop focusing on me? Maybe it's time I took Jesus' words to heart and stopped just listening to them: "Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage." (Matt. 20:24) Jesus served. That's reason enough for me to serve.
I think once we begin to serve others, we'll realize that their needs are way more important than ours and we'll stop treating them like party-poopers who we seem to think are always raining on our little parades. "You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor." (James 3:17) Yeah it's hard work, but I think the end result is reason enough to treat people with honor and dignity. Throw some confetti for someone else's parade.
I often find myself settling for a life of mediocrity. Some days I follow God wholeheartedly, other days I don't. I don't like that. I know it's time I started following the Spirit inside me. "The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along." (1 Corinthians 2:10) Diving into the depths of God is definitely reason enough for me to stop being content with my lukewarm faith. God spits lukewarm people out of his mouth. I'd rather not be spit out of God's mouth...
Birds live in nests. Not exactly the safest home. Not really what I would consider 'home sweet home.' But then again, they don't really seem to worry about much. They have a home. They have food to eat. They have their little birdy families and birdy friends. Jesus loves birds, but: "...you count far more to him than birds." (Matt. 6:25) I have a home. I have food to eat. I have my little people family and people friends. Jesus loves birds, but I mean more to him than birds. I think that's reason enough to stop worrying.
Church isn't a building. Don't argue. Change your thinking. Church is people. Church is relationships. Instead of caring so much about the buildings, we should start caring about the people inside (and outside of) the building; the REAL church. Paul has some excellent advice on this topic: "The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing." (1 Corinth. 12:25) People don't function too well when they are missing their eyes, or legs, or stomachs. I might be a great eye, but without you and your legs, I'm not going to be able to get to that hurting person I see....That's reason enough to become the BODY OF CHRIST; the church we're called to be. No need for stained glass windows and the newest projector...
"Did you hear about how so and so is dating that person?" "Don't tell anyone, but I heard from someone that so and so is really mean to people who shop at that store you like." Do we seriously have nothing better to talk about than the lives of the people around us? Do we really feel better about ourselves when we spread rumors and gossip? Here's a better idea: "Though some tongues just love the taste of gossip, those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don't talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn't fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect." (Ephesians 5:3) 'It doesn't fit our style.' I like the sound of that. Jesus has style. He likes to say good things about people and help them realize that they really do matter. That's reason enough for me to change my style. Jesus' style > my style.
Let's be real. Let's be honest. Let's be really honest. We're all human and we all make mistakes. We all trip and fall on our faces and look around to make sure no one saw us fall. But here's what I'm thinking. Maybe if we all started being honest with each other, we'd start to realize that we're tripping over the same things. And maybe once we realize we have this common problem of tripping over the same things, we'd start to talk about what we can do to stop tripping and bruising our faces. "Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived." (Galatians 6:1) Stoop down, reach out, share each other's burdens. Reason enough to be real and honest. Really? Honestly? Really honestly. Honestly real. I like the sound of that.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Aware
What are you aware of right now? It could be many different things. It could be things around you; things like people talking, cars honking, music, light bouncing off the objects around you. It could be things about yourself; things like your stomach growling, the uncomfortable feeling in your leg because it is falling asleep, those annoying hiccups that you've had for the past ten minutes...
There's a good chance that there are endlessly more things going on than you are aware of. You're breathing aren't you? But until just now when I mentioned it, you probably weren't really aware of it. Your heart is beating. But there's a good chance you weren't aware of it until I said something about it.
"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. " - Psalm 139:7-10
God is present. You probably weren't aware of that until I mentioned it. There's a good chance most of you have heard that verse before and you know that God is always present, but how often are you aware of it? There's quite a big difference between knowing something is true and being aware of it. You know you're always breathing, but as soon as you become aware of it you start to focus on it. You know that your heart is beating, but there's a good chance you're not always aware of it until something makes you focus on it. After a long run it's almost impossible for you to be unaware of the fact that your heart is beating and that you are breathing.
Moses was going through the motions of life when one day he became very aware of the presence of God. He was out tending his flock when he discovered a bush that was on fire, but not burning up. I'm pretty sure we would all be drawn to something like that. As Moses approached the bush, God called out to him from within the bush.
"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." - Exodus 3:5
The place where you are standing is holy ground. Holy dirt? Holy sand? How is ground holy?
"I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy."
- Leviticus 11:44
God is holy. And in Psalm 139 we realize that God's presence is everywhere. If God is holy, his presence must be holy, and since God's holy presence is everywhere, the ground Moses was standing on had to be holy. Now think about this for a second. If God is present everywhere, all the time, I think it only makes sense to come to the conclusion that any ground we stand on is holy ground. It took God telling Moses that the ground was holy for him to realize it. Moses had probably walked on that same patch of ground multiple times, never once having an awareness of how holy it was.
We can't escape the presence of God. Depth can't keep him away, height can't distance us, we could sail across the sea but we still won't be able to escape his presence. Even in the brilliance of the dawn, he is there, shining and declaring his holiness. The problem is that we are rarely aware of it.
It's kind of like a sunrise. Most of us are hardly ever up early enough to see the sunrise, but it's always there. By the time you get up, the sun has already made it's grand entrance and all you notice is that it's there in the sky like it is every other day. But think back to a time when you were awake to see the sunrise. When you first look out at the sky it's dark, but as you watch you can see colors begin to appear over the horizon. They get brighter and clearer as you watch. Then there is that awe inspiring moment where the sun breaks the horizon line and the earth is drenched in it's brilliant golden light.
I want to be aware of God's presence. I want to make an effort to open my eyes and see past the mundane things in life and realize that God's holy presence really is everywhere. I want to be so aware of his holiness that I change the way I live. I want to be holy because he is holy and I want nothing more than to be like him. I want people to be aware of God's presence when they are around me because I live with such an awareness of his presence that it radiates from me.
And I want desperately for you to want the same thing. I want you to open your eyes and realize that you were created for so much more than going through the motions of life. I want you to live with an awareness that God is holy and that he is present in even the most mundane times of your life.
"God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive..." - Genesis 2:7 (The Message)
Allow God to fill you with his breath; the breath of life. We were formed from the dirt, but God's holy breath of life fills our lungs. It makes us come alive. Are you aware of it?
There's a good chance that there are endlessly more things going on than you are aware of. You're breathing aren't you? But until just now when I mentioned it, you probably weren't really aware of it. Your heart is beating. But there's a good chance you weren't aware of it until I said something about it.
"Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. " - Psalm 139:7-10
God is present. You probably weren't aware of that until I mentioned it. There's a good chance most of you have heard that verse before and you know that God is always present, but how often are you aware of it? There's quite a big difference between knowing something is true and being aware of it. You know you're always breathing, but as soon as you become aware of it you start to focus on it. You know that your heart is beating, but there's a good chance you're not always aware of it until something makes you focus on it. After a long run it's almost impossible for you to be unaware of the fact that your heart is beating and that you are breathing.
Moses was going through the motions of life when one day he became very aware of the presence of God. He was out tending his flock when he discovered a bush that was on fire, but not burning up. I'm pretty sure we would all be drawn to something like that. As Moses approached the bush, God called out to him from within the bush.
"Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." - Exodus 3:5
The place where you are standing is holy ground. Holy dirt? Holy sand? How is ground holy?
"I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy."
- Leviticus 11:44
God is holy. And in Psalm 139 we realize that God's presence is everywhere. If God is holy, his presence must be holy, and since God's holy presence is everywhere, the ground Moses was standing on had to be holy. Now think about this for a second. If God is present everywhere, all the time, I think it only makes sense to come to the conclusion that any ground we stand on is holy ground. It took God telling Moses that the ground was holy for him to realize it. Moses had probably walked on that same patch of ground multiple times, never once having an awareness of how holy it was.
We can't escape the presence of God. Depth can't keep him away, height can't distance us, we could sail across the sea but we still won't be able to escape his presence. Even in the brilliance of the dawn, he is there, shining and declaring his holiness. The problem is that we are rarely aware of it.
It's kind of like a sunrise. Most of us are hardly ever up early enough to see the sunrise, but it's always there. By the time you get up, the sun has already made it's grand entrance and all you notice is that it's there in the sky like it is every other day. But think back to a time when you were awake to see the sunrise. When you first look out at the sky it's dark, but as you watch you can see colors begin to appear over the horizon. They get brighter and clearer as you watch. Then there is that awe inspiring moment where the sun breaks the horizon line and the earth is drenched in it's brilliant golden light.
I want to be aware of God's presence. I want to make an effort to open my eyes and see past the mundane things in life and realize that God's holy presence really is everywhere. I want to be so aware of his holiness that I change the way I live. I want to be holy because he is holy and I want nothing more than to be like him. I want people to be aware of God's presence when they are around me because I live with such an awareness of his presence that it radiates from me.
And I want desperately for you to want the same thing. I want you to open your eyes and realize that you were created for so much more than going through the motions of life. I want you to live with an awareness that God is holy and that he is present in even the most mundane times of your life.
"God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive..." - Genesis 2:7 (The Message)
Allow God to fill you with his breath; the breath of life. We were formed from the dirt, but God's holy breath of life fills our lungs. It makes us come alive. Are you aware of it?
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