The Tepid Waters of Peace

"Then [David] called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the LORD, the God of Israel. David said to Solomon, 'My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quite to Israel in his days..." ' "

David was a man of bloodshed, running from enemies, entering into battles, defending himself and the people entrusted to him. Because of that God wouldn't let him build the temple; instead that honor was given to Solomon, along with a promise of peace during his entire reign. You would think that peace matched with Solomon's eventual unmatched wisdom would set the stage for him to become one of the best kings ever. And he did start out well... but the end of his life was a different story. He had all the wisdom in the world, and no enemies to boot, yet he screwed up in worse ways than his father (murder, adulter

y, pride, etc.).

It is a wonder how often the blessing of peace in our lives can lead us from swimming in the cool refreshment of the Lord, to the tepid, stagnant pools of self-reliance and pride. It doesn't have to. We can enjoy the peace of the Lord to its fullest because it is a beautiful gift from Him. He longs to pour out His favor on His kids. But sometimes we can royally screw up and think we have everything figured out and that is why we have peace. Solomon didn't have too many roadblocks in his life or leadership experience. I wonder if that is why he didn't turn out like his dad who was called a man after God's own heart even though he had his own vices to deal with. David was constantly turning back to the Lord when trouble came across his path. Pain was a sheep dog that herded David back into the fold of the Good Shepherd time and time again. But Solomon didn't have enemies, or wars, or famine to deal with. Yet look how he turned out--a overbearing and idolatrous leader of his people, taxing and working them to death, while he indulged in countless women and unimaginable wealth. He started out so well! And he finished a loser, letting his heart be turned from the One True God.

Solomon didn't treat God's peace as a gift. Rather he let the lack of trouble lead him to spiritual atrophy and his life ended with God's anger and judgment upon him.

So is unrest sometimes a good thing? Unfortunately I have to say yes. Sometimes I wander away from my Shepherd because things are easy, and I need one of those annoying sheep dogs to come bite me in the butt until I turn around and head back to the One who takes care of me. Trouble or pain isn't always a punishment though. Sometimes it is just the result of a busted world. Sometimes it is merely the result of my twisted perspective on life that doesn't fully take into account the goodness and provision of a God who promises to never leave my side. Whatever the reason for the pain, I have found (mainly through hindsight) that my trouble or anxiety can be embraced if it pushes me back into the arms of the Unshakeable God. Sometimes I just need a smack in the face to snap me out of my own spiritual atrophy. And even though I won't pray for troubles to heaped upon me and my family, I have found that there are blessings to be discovered through the process. I never want to turn out to be like Solomon at the end of his life. He had so much and threw it away... and maybe that would have changed if there were a few more potholes he had to deal with.

Me be the sheep, Thou be the Shepherd

I find the Psalms to be a place of refuge for me both in times of struggle and in times of excitement. The psalmists, whether David, the Sons of Korah, or Xavier the lesser known Psalm dude, often found themselves unable to contain their joys, exultations, sorrows, and anxieties within their hearts. So they proceeded to pry themselves open and dump raw emotion and thought upon a page. They were the original troubled rock stars... Dashboard Confessional had to come from somewhere right? Anyway... they learned that God's presence was a safe place to open their hearts without shame. I believe the Holy Spirit led them to be honest and real before the Lord so we would learn to do the same. One of the best ways to do this is to place yourself into a specific Psalm and find where it takes you. It is an intimate and often unhindered atmosphere of communication with the Creator.

So here is a little bit of me putting myself into Psalm 23 and seeing what the immediate applications would be of me being a dumb sheep and God being the Good Shepherd (Read the Psalm first to put it into proper perspective):

Lord, you are my shepherd. When I am with you there is no need that goes unmet. You are the one who leads me to seasons of rest in fields of abundant life and you lead me to places of refreshment. You are the on true source of life for my soul. Apart from you my heart becomes fractured, discontent, and aimless. When I remain in and near you my soul finds comfort, fulfillment, and courage for the adventure you make life to be. When I stay focused on you I know you will guide me in the ways of right-standing before you--when your purpose is my purpose nothing can shake me.

Even in the times of darkness question, pain, or discomfort I can remain secure because you are my front and rear guard. When I am with you fear must leave, for you are greater than anything I may face. You will always faithfully bring me through those dark valleys into fields of life and peace. Even in discipline you are a comfort because through it you shape me to look like your Son.

In the presence of my fears, insecurities and doubts you prepare for me a feast of joy, passion, and confidence in who you are and who you created me to be. In you I find my calling and the mantle of anointing and authority with which I am meant to traverse life's paths. My life in your hands leaves behind an aroma of blessing and favor, never a wake of destruction. For when I dwell in with my foundation firmly rooted in you I am eternally joyful, expectant, secure, hopeful, courageous, peaceful, passionate, and powerful.

The Almighty vs. the Egg Roll

"The LORD had said to Abram, 'Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you'.... So Abram left, as the LORD had told him"

(Genesis 12:1, 4a)

Sometimes it would be nice if the Bible gave us some more of the story. Abram lived among pagans who served other gods. He most likely served those same gods. Yet when the one true God decides to speak to him, it looks like he obeys without a word. How weird would that be for him? He didn't have

past examples to look at on how to respond when the God of all Creation summons you. He didn't even serve that God. His family didn't serve that God. He hadn't ever interacted with a holy being before because he served mute idols. There was no handbook for this .... because he was in the process of living out the handbook for us! So where did Abram get the faith to step out there and leave everything behind!? All we see is that God said Get up and go! and Abram got up and went. He didn't have it all figured out, he just figured out that he should respond somehow.

What example does this set for me? How many times have I lacked the initiative to respond to God's summons because of my need for more proof that it was Him that spoke and not just that whacked out egg roll I had for dinner? Maybe I could argue with a heavy dose of Christianese that "my spiritual ears are not in tune enough with his voice." But doesn't that argument fall flat on its face when it encounters Abram the Pagan's example here? The dude had no precedent set for him! He had no conceivable way of gathering "more confirmation." He had never heard from God before. Yet he responded with obedience!

I think I have even less excuse than Abram, because I live on this side of the Cross. Christ died to open up relationship with God for me. Then He sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in me, to guide me, to comfort me, to speak to me. There is nothing that separates me from God and His voice except that which I choose to place between us.

I do believe there are times to hold back on action for wisdom's sake (a Biblical truth for sure). But I think I use that and logic too often as excuses to cover up my fear to act.

So there's the challenge... if God summons, do I respond quickly and willingly? Or do I wait until I have everything figured out (which will never happen)?

Biblical Advocacy for Depends

What would your first thoughts be if God said this to you?

"Brace yourself like a man; I will question you and you will answer me."

(Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the fact that you had just spent a while monologuing about the many injustices

you had suffered under His hand.)

I'd like to say I would strike a pose of confidence and say "Do your worst!" .... Okay that isn't true at all. Truthfully my "bracing myself like a man" before the Almighty would look more like me needing a change of pants and a really good hiding spot.

Thankfully I don't think I can remember a time when I heard God say this to me. Job did. (Really... look it up in Job 38). And that was only the beginning of the response God unleashed verbally on Job. God goes onto to basically say Who do you think you are? Did you put the heavens in place? Can you make it rain, snow, thunder or lightning? No! (At this point I think I would have once again lost all control of bodily functions, including consciousness.) I am the One who put the stars in place! I am the One who causes day to become night and night become day! (And so on... I think you get the point)

This passage does several things to me:

• Makes me laugh (mainly because it wasn't me sitting there)
• Scares the dadgum bodiddly out of me (those are real terms I promise)
• Humbles me before the amazing power and grace of the Creator

Whoa, whoa, whoa!! Back up the train bro! The GRACE of God!!?? How in the name of all that is good in Switzerland do you see God's grace in that!?

(Haha... okay maybe your reaction wasn't as intense as that, but I like think in theatrics.)

I see God's grace in His response because of how the book of Job doesn't end. God didn't end the story right there for Job because he chose to speak up against what in all honesty was a pretty poopy situation. God heard Job out (along with all of Job's wonderfully insensitive friends). Maybe God's response here seems like a verbal butt kicking, but it wasn't an existence squishing one. Though the story of Job makes many people (myself included) theologically uncomfortable, it does show how God is all powerful and yet all gracious and compassionate at the same time. God could have easily just let Job die or flicked him like a booger after Job goes all whiny--but He didn't. God doesn't back down, but He also doesn't say "Game Over" either. That is how I see grace in this story.

So anyway... let's just be glad we don't have daily moments with God like Job had here. And let's be thankful that God doesn't tire of us easily.

Dirty Yet Clean

Today I once again experienced the amazing phenomena of truly seeing something in scripture that I had never seen before--though I knew it was a truth we should live by, I didn't know that it was explicitly stated in the Word. I am constantly amazed at this Living Word that can illuminate itself indefinitely to our minds even though we may have read and studied it for years! So here is the passage that brought upon one of those heavens-open-up-with-slightly-but-not-overly-dramatic-music moments (1 Cor. 5:9-13):

^"9I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—¹⁰not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. ¹¹But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

"¹²What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? ¹³God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked man from among you."

What stood out to me today was not necessarily the main point of this passage, but rather one of Paul's side notes. I have read these verses many times over the years and I always understood what it said about Paul's righteous anger and rebuke towards the Corinthians for the sexual immorality in their midst. Today was the first time that I have seen the distinction made between the sinful people within the Church and those outside of the Church--and more specifically what our attitudes and actions should be towards each.

Paul tells the Corinthians that they are to hand over the unrepentant brothers (a.k.a. Christians) to the devil for a while so they will come back to Jesus when they realize their error (that's a fun doctrine to deal with!) But what does he say about how we should see sinful people outside of the Church? (Notice the capital C--meaning I am talking about all Christians as the Body of Christ, not local congregations or denominations.) Paul told the Corinthians that it would be ridiculous if they tried to avoid the greedy, immoral, underhanded folks who don't have Jesus because they might as well go live in a cave or a tree for as well as that would work. He said it is not only unavoidable, but also unnecessary (and wrong I would venture) to avoid being around those without Christ. He actually says, "Who am I to judge them?" !!!!

If Paul couldn't and wouldn't judge them, then maybe I should take note. This is the thing people of the Church (myself included) need to really understand. We are called to be dirty yet clean... like Jesus was. He got His hands dirty by reaching out to the unloved, the greedy, the broken, the outright evil of the world. But He was clean in spirit. He never sinned and he didn't avoid those who did. He saw those people as opportunities to share the Father's love! But at the same time He opened up a can on the pharisees and teachers of the law for being hypocrites. He didn't have a personal vendetta against them--He just knew what the house of God should look like.

This is what I come away with. I am to be dirty yet clean. I cannot avoid or judge those without Jesus. Nor should I. However, in my own life and in the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ I am called to uphold a standard of righteousness. The Body of Christ should have a clean heart yet have dirty hands.

Shelter

This past Sunday our Foursquare Interim President Glen Burris spoke a short message on hope. There were several great nuggets of truth I walked away chewing on, but today I am holding onto one in particular. He said, "When your life is absent of peace, you should know that you are in a spiritual battle."

I deal with anxiety quite a bit in my life, though I wish I didn't. It is usually sporadic in nature and quite unfocused. Why am I worried at any given time? More often than not I couldn't tell you the source issue... I'm just wigging out. But thinking about what Glen said this morning woke me up to the fact that often I find myself settling with existence as usual in the midst of these waves of anxiety. The real truth of the matter is that I need to wake up and realize that those anxious thoughts are not accurate reflections of the God I serve, or His Spirit dwelling within me. Thus it must be some sort of spiritual battle (either against myself or the enemy). And what does one do in a battle? Well, I don't think "sitting on one's butt oblivious to the nature of events occurring in the immediate vicinity" would be in the list of things to do on a battlefield. Yet nine times out of ten this is what I do when I come under attack by anxiety. I just sit there and try to exist my way through it until this wave disappears and another one shows up.

I think my better option would be to fight back. And when it comes to the God I serve, my best offense is a good defense--and God is the greatest defense I could ask for. Nothing can reach me when I dwell in his sheltering presence.

Psalm 91 is my favorite Psalm to read in times like this:

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.'
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and a buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place--the Most High who is my refuge--
no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
'Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Now, as I realize I am in an active battlefield I need to shake off the shell-shock, regroup, and run for cover. Only from God's sheltering presence can I advance with any advantage against my enemies.

Infinite Dividends

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." (1 Peter 1:3-5)

Today I was struck by the immensity of eternity and my place within it because of Christ's gift of salvation (my "inheritance"). In a world that is obsessed with investing, or maybe more accurately obsessed with receiving dividends from investments, I have been given the only lasting investment with the ultimate payoff. It is unaffected by age, war, rust, depreciation, disease, weather, disaster, exposure, or financial crisis. It can never be outdated or outmoded by new technology. I have been promised eternity free from pain, death, disease, violence, heartache, depression and poverty. And the best thing is that I don't merely cease existing and therefore cease experiencing these negative things. The end of this life for me is a promised beginning--not an unavoidable termination. I have guaranteed life--and life beyond anything I could ever imagine alongside the infinitely mind-blowing Creator of all matter, space, and time!

It cannot be lost unless I willingly turn my back on it. It cannot be stolen. I have living hope residing within me, not merely a semi-comforting hope of it all ending one day. This is what sustains me. This is what energizes me. And let me be the first to tell you that I hate emotionalism. I don't buy into hype. I actively seek to find holes and weaknesses within any concept I come across. I am a rational and (if I may say so) intelligent person -- ask anyone who knows me. I say that not to pump myself up, but to reinforce the idea of the solid faith I have in my Savior. If it had weaknesses and flaws that other worldviews could better explain I would turn my back on it. But it has not and will not be destroyed by anything this world can throw at it. I have experienced personal pain and frustration that would shake this apart if it were only a frail crutch to lean on. That is why I can confidently say along with the Apostle Paul:

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)