Thursday Thoughts (8/25/16)

 If you are younger you may not be able to relate to this, but if you are older you might relate whole heartedly. In either case the point will hit us all. This morning as I got out of bed and hobbled across the floor to start my day, I thought to myself, “Look at you, you’re out of shape and you’ve put on the pounds you lost over a year ago”. In response I sat down on the edge of the bed thinking of how much I really needed to exercise, and how much I’d rather get my morning coffee and have a seat.

Then James came to mind (the biblical letter). James gave a warning against being like those who look in the mirror to see themselves as they are, and then turn and forget what they have just seen. James was speaking about spiritual things, but I was looking at the temple of God, that is my body. There is a connection, I believe, between out physical and spiritual well-being.

In the last few months I find that I am tired all the time. I can’t catch my breath when I bend over to tie my shoes. I realize that I am out of shape and I need to do something about it. However, as I walk through the grocery store I wonder, “how did that carton of ice cream get in my cart”. Every morning I complain how much pain I’m in and how I need to do something. But I am simply looking in the mirror and then forgetting what I’ve seen.

If my life is to be a glimpse of the goodness of God, shouldn’t my body be a symbol of a disciplined life. A life that is in balance. The Gnostics would not care because they saw the body as inherently evil. The bible on the other hand refers to is as a temple. My temple needs some work. Then I am reminded that the temple needs work because my soul needs some work too. If I cannot discipling myself with the temporal how much more am I not disciplined in my spirit.

So, this morning instead of my cup of coffee I decided to take one step closer to feeling better. I got on the treadmill for 30 mins. Then I realized, the first step to achieving a goal is stepping one step closer to it. (I know, brilliant, right.) I hear people all the time talk about how bad they feel, how they would like to do something different. Well if we just talk about it we are nothing more than a fool and his mirror.

Today, whether it is spiritual or physical take one step to achieve the goal. Take one step to make the change that God wants you to make. He does not want us physically broken, just as he doesn’t want us spiritually broken. Today, I used the treadmill for 30 mins. That’s a good thing I have added. Tomorrow I might remove the ice cream. Hmm, that’s tough, well I will try. After all discipline in small things will help with discipline in big things. If it was anything but ice cream.

Just a thought

Thursday Thoughts 8/18/16

As I sit in my office preparing for my second funeral of the week, with one more tomorrow. I could not help but wonder how we make it through this life. I am convinced that God’s grace so fills the earth that even those who do not know his name receive comfort from his great love. God’s grace does not seem to keep us from struggle, death, or pain, but it does give us enough to bear the load.

I have always loved the words of the poem Footprints. However, I cannot help but think they are at the least not always accurate. The image that forms in my mind of God carrying us, is that his grace will rescue us so we do not have to walk through the tough times; rather, he will carry us. When the Apostle Paul prayed for the thorn in his flesh to be removed God told him that his grace was sufficient. Hmm! Sufficient?

Is God’s grace sufficient for me? Would I not rather that his grace would cure me, rescue me, take away all adversity? What I find interesting is that God, rather than remove us from all the threats of suffering in this world, stepped alongside us. He did not lift us out of our struggle, he stepped into our struggle. He did not take physical death from us, he died physically with us. Instead of God removing us from adversity he holds our hand and leads us through it.

I am not speaking of sin. That he has removed, he has destroyed. We cannot, of our own ability, defeat sin. I am speaking of life. God’s grace is sufficient to get us through life. Jesus wept, just as we weep. Jesus prayed for answers, just as we pray for answers. Jesus got tough answers, just as we get tough answers. Paul prayed three times and then that was it. Trust God’s grace Paul! Jesus prayed three times for the cup to be removed. Trust God’s grace Jesus!

How do we make it through this life with so much calamity, so much suffering, and so much pain? God’s grace is sufficient. Trust God’s Grace! That is it, trust. I am not always very good at trusting. I sure hope to get progressively better. Sometimes, I lament to God and complain that I am not strong enough to make it through the difficulty. That is when I am reminded that I cannot trust my own ability, I must trust his grace.

His grace is sufficient. Whatever you are facing today, whatever difficulty that has presented itself. God may not pick you up and carry you over it; instead, I think, he will step right down beside you and face it with you. He will provide all you need to bear the load. In the end our victory will depend on his grace not our ability to overcome.

Just a Thought.

Thursday Thoughts (8/4/16)

My thoughts today were moved toward Jesus and how he turned things upside down, or did he turn the upside right. It came to mind that there was a woman who was caught in the act of committing adultery (that is, she was having a sexual affair). The Pharisees grabbed the woman and brought her to Jesus (John 8:3-11). Jesus was busy teaching people. The Pharisees seize this opportunity to try and prove Jesus to be a false teacher. They are not overly concerned with the woman, and they are willing to sacrifice her to get to Jesus. They even invoke the law of Moses that demands she be stoned for such a crime. One might ask the question as to why they had not already done so. Well, as I mentioned, it seems clear that they are not concerned with the woman’s life or death. They are after Jesus.

Jesus does the unthinkable. He kneels down and begins writing something in the sand. We don’t know what it was, but it must have been something that caught those gathered by the heart. For Jesus simply says, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (v.7 NRSV). When Jesus looks up they are all gone. He then tells the woman he does not condemn her either, and sends her away, with the command not to sin again.

In the midst of all my sin, Jesus forgave me and told me to go and sin no more. I can’t say I have always lived up my end of the story, but I am grateful for the merciful grace of God. Yet, that is not what stood out to me today. It seems as though there are some “Christians” who are busy dragging those who have sinned before the world to make a spectacle of them. They rail about the sin of abortion, and demand legislation, yet one wonders if they truly care about the women who suffer from the abuses that lead to the choice being made.

Are we so bold as to believe that every one of these situations is the result of a poor choice to have sexual relations. Even if they were (which I do not believe), how might the Pharisees respond to the situation. They would drag the issue before Jesus and challenge him to execute their brand of justice. You see the Pharisees were busy trying to prove Jesus was a phony. They wanted to get him to free her, so that they could accuse him of not following the law. Because law never stops anyone of sinning, it just sentences them to death (at least in the story of the woman).

Jesus does not fall prey to their evil desire to kill the woman or him. He simply asks a question, “Are you without sin?” Instead of messing around with the law Jesus does something the law cannot do, he forgives and releases her from her debt. Jesus was more concerned with the woman than the sin. What can we learn from this as Christians? What if we loved the person more than the sin? In fact, what does it matter what the sin is? What if we would spend more time with young girls who so desperately want someone to show them love, that they fall into the arms of boy who only wants to feel he is a man. What if we spent time with young men and taught them how to respect and love women? What if we fought poverty which we know increases these situations?

Law has never kept a nation in a right relationship with God. The only message for the Church is Christ and him crucified. For it is the greatest message of love ever written. That does not mean law does not have a place, but Jesus came to do what the law could not. Whether there is a law on the books or not, Jesus will transform lives by the renewing of our minds. Perhaps, we would do well to make disciples of Christ, rather than laws for humanity. Laws make people guilty, Jesus sets people free.

Just a thought.