Lie of the Enemy #1 of infinity

We were singing, ‘there is no one like our God’ and I couldn’t help but wonder if that was true. Not, was it true in the sense of fact, but was it true in our hearts?

How do we value God? Is He the most important thing in our lives? Be careful how you answer that… the enemy may be lying to you.

Is God more important than money? Yes, I give 10%

Is God more important than family? Yes, we vowed before Him and put Him first.

Is God more important than career? Yes, I take off on Sundays.

Is God more important than my social life? Yes, I go to church.

Maybe you answer those questions differently? Before we go any further, lets consider my baseball card collection from grade school. I was a big Dale Murphy fan.

My dad gave me his rookie card and it was by far, both, my favorite and the highest valued card of my collection. If I stood any other single card against it, Dale would win out every time. Not only was he my childhood hero, but the Beckett price guide also said the card was better. Priced higher than every single card. None could stand against.

Until one day, something I hadn’t expected happened. I was offered a trade. This trade was different. It wasn’t for another card. That was easy. No one card could beat out my Dale. This was for lots of cards.

In terms of dollars and cents, I had previously been comparing 1 dollar cards, 5 dollar cards, 10 dollar cards… one by one, individually against the mighty 50 dollar rookie card of my favorite ball player. It made sense mathematically and it made sense in my heart… I wasn’t going to part with the Murph!

But the game changed. Now I’m looking at a sea of cards offered up before me. Some are worth a few dollars… some are common cards worth very little. A couple are more coveted… but the grand total was concerning. All the cards together were worth far more than my one card. Even though my one card was more than each individual card, it couldn’t hold weight against the sum of ALL the other cards.

Now I’m at conflict with myself. Financially it’s smart to let go of my prized possession. But it made my heart hurt to think about losing such a gift from my dad. This card was special. Torn, I had to ponder the transaction. It wasn’t easy, but I passed on the offer.

You see, that card had two currencies. There was the going market rate, and then there was this weight in my heart. And that second value, even though it didn’t make sense to most, was more valuable to me than any one else could afford.

Today, while my entire baseball card collection has completely vanished over the years, Dale Murphy stills sits proudly on my shelf as a memory to good years gone by.

We can get lost in the numbers, can’t we? Is God more important than money? How do we answer that? Satan says if we give our 10%, we are good. He wants us to feel generous. Because when we feel generous, we can reason that we have done enough. We can stamp our name on the day and feel like we owned it. Worse, we can turn to ourselves and begin portioning out towards our own desires. After all, we did put God first… right?

But the lie is that we are lining up God against one thing at a time. Sure He is worth more than 10%. But are we even trying to make any other transactions? Is He worth more than 20%? 30%? 90%?

Let’s table money for a second. What about relationships? Careers? Pride? Status? Is God greater than ALL of those things… or just portions of them?

This is the lesson I learned form cardboard transactions so many years ago. At some point, when things stack up high enough, the value shifts. So it’s important to consider that just because no one thing is like God… could many things take His place?

Maybe we can walk away from a single promotion or a bad friend… or even a bunch of possessions. But can we do all of that? The amazing truth is that Jesus placed us higher than everything. All of everything all at once.

He left God, He left heaven. Once among His beloved on earth, He left family, He left career, He left friends, He left home or any potential for stability, He left status, He left pride, He left His own desires.

When Jesus weighed us against the mighty, overflowing, lopsided offer from the enemy… it made no logical sense to choose us. He could have had food after 40 days of starvation. He could have been given every worldly possession. He could have aborted His plan, gone home, and left us to fend for ourselves. At every turn, He simply said, It’s not a fair transaction.

The enemy asked for too much. Jesus was not willing to let go of His cherished people no matter what offer came His way. Jesus dealt with the second value that comes from the heart. Our face value is minuscule. Given our difficulties in obedience, it may even be quite low. One sinner on the open market may not carry any value at all.

But Jesus desires us with His heart. It’s not about the value we can bring, not even collectively… It’s about His love for us. When we were on the bartering table, Jesus traded in everything. He gave it all.

So the question has to be asked. What would we do for Him? Is there really no one like Him? That is important, because the more rare an item is, the more unique, and the more sought after… the more value it has. I.E. the more we must give up to receive it. Let that sink in for a second… To Jesus… we are extraordinarily valuable.

What is He valued at to us? 10%? Church each week? This isn’t intended to beat anyone up… the goal here is to open our eyes to the lies of the enemy. The enemy will whisper that you have done enough. You have given. You have sacrificed. You have loved… but in reality, we just keep choosing one card at a time and trying to compare them to our Savior. When what we should be doing, is holding God against the entire deck of cards.

The relationship changes when it costs everything. It’s one of many ways that I know God won’t leave me. He paid too much. He showed His hand. I am loved and cherished by the almighty God.

The lie is in the question. Is God worth more than money? Is He worth more than ego? Is He worth more than any one thing or ideal? It’s a deceptive question at best. It soothes us into small nibbles of victory that aren’t rightfully ours. Satan wants us to keep propping up inflated cards, one at a time, and measuring our deeds by worldly standards against our Savior. If we can love Jesus more than peanut butter and jelly, we can feel good about ourselves and ignore the more pressing questions listed below.

When Jesus called the disciples, they didn’t leave 10% of their fishing gear and lug the rest all over the earth following Him. No, they got up and walked away from EVERYTHING. Poles, worms, string, lures, jobs, family, friends,… they sort of did what Jesus did for them. That’s what a reciprocating relationship does. We may not be able to match the priceless gifts of Jesus… but our hearts can tell the whole story.

Does He own that second part of the equation linked to our hearts? Can we process that logical math and still turn down offers because we just love Him too much? Can we turn our backs to the full assault of the enemy and his lies because life would be too painful if we lost our prized possession? What is your treasure? What do you hold that nothing, not anything, not even everything can convince you to let go of?

Is there anyone or anything like our God?

Stop Tithing and Start Giving

All things belong to God. If we are intentionally giving 10%, we are effectively paying membership dues. Call it what you want, church tax, enrollment fees, registration, premium… none of those sound holy, do they? If we are setting aside for God, we aren’t being holy either. We aren’t called to give God what is left, or even to portion out a little bit. We are called to leave it all behind.

A simple Google search will compare the world we have become comfortable in against the word of God. “How much should I tithe” yielded for me today “10%” in many of the top searches. But, “How much should I tip” came back “15 – 20%”.

The problem is, while tithe typically means one tenth, the folks in the Old Testament did this more than once. It’s estimated that after their initial tithe of crops, the tithe to the Levites and all of the festivals, it was common that 20 – 30% was actually given.

Since tithing typically means 10%, I decided it was self defeating to look up “tithing” and expect another number. So I then did a search on “how much should I give God?”. Thankfully, there is a more diverse response, but it’s still haunting how many questions there are about giving.

Do I have to tithe? Do I have to tithe on inheritance? Do I have to tithe on gross or net? Is this still a command of the New Testament?

There are 2 verses in the New Testament that answer all of those questions and many more not listed. The first is how to give. And the second is how much to give and how often.

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9: 6-7

Let’s be blunt. Some of us are trying to figure out if we can get out of tithing. Some of us want to give the bare minimum. We have lots of reasons and justifications that make it so it doesn’t sound so bad. And if we pick the right scriptures and ignore others, we can rest safely on 10% or even less. That just doesn’t sound cheerful.

Giving cheerfully isn’t an expression that we say, it’s something that we feel. Deep down in our hearts we rejoice as we sacrifice. Sacrifice means we do without so that others can do with. Your child hitting a home run. Your spouse getting that new job. Your crush says, ‘yes!’. You hand over the money you needed. Do any of those seem out of place? Jesus says, they shouldn’t. All of them are meant to be expressions of joy and worship.

As Michael Scott proved, you can’t declare bankruptcy by just shouting it out. You Can’t be a cheerful giver by just claiming that you are. It’s a matter of the heart. You can fake out the church, you can fool the receiver of the gift, but God knows the heart. If you are not excited about giving. If, in private, you aren’t happy about the loss, something is wrong. This isn’t a shame-on-you judgement, it’s a red flag that needs to be addressed.

Mark 12 tells us how much we actually give.

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Mark 12: 41 – 44

How much did she give? “all that she had”. It was so moving that Jesus called over the disciples. It was a teaching moment. The disciples, who were learning to be like Jesus needed to see this. She could have put in 1 small coin. She could have put in less. But her heart was affected. It wasn’t about the money. It wasn’t about what others thought. It wasn’t about legalistic doctrine from the past. It was about putting her money where her heart was. How do we know for sure? Jesus said so. She gave more than anyone else who gave abundantly.

When we tithe 10% we are doing a good thing. When we give all that we have (be it flocks, produce, time, facilities, food, money, help, etc) we are being disciples. We are observing and learning from the example that Jesus pointed us to. We have to stop following a book of rules and start living like we have a Savior that loves us and wants the best for us. What is absolutely best for us, is to build up treasure in heaven.

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Photo by Michael Longmire on Unsplash

Let’s Make a Deal

The cost of discipleship.  Yes we are asked to give up everything to follow God.  But what is our, ‘everything’?  Money that crumbles over time.  Habits that when properly understood only actually make our lives worse while living them.  Passing acquaintances.  What value do our baubles and achievements have once we pass?  So, in exchange for our garbage… our leftover trash that has no true value, God gave His Son… and promised everything holy and eternal to follow.  Our ‘everything’ in exchange for God’s.

If that doesn’t seem quite right its because evil is in the middle of it all.  Satan whispers, in an attempt for you.  He doesn’t want your everything.  He knows its value and has no desire for it.  He doesn’t need your allegiance, he doesn’t want your respect.  You don’t even have to acknowledge him.  What he wants is you.  More importantly, he wants you to not take God’s deal.  There is a half truth here, he will even acknowledge you don’t really have anything to offer.  With Satan, you can keep your money, your friends, your status… for a time.  Like God, he doesn’t want your junk.  He wants you.  And all you have to do is to ignore God’s offer and take the mystery deal behind door number 2.

That’s it.  Just step away from God and the biggest zonk in eternity awaits.  It takes no effort.  Just speak the words, neigh, just think them.  Say, “I don’t want God’s deal” and you won’t be forced to take it at all.  Instead door number 2 and all it’s potential earthly (temporary) trinkets await.

When we don’t properly reflect on God’s sacrifice and promises to us, we allow room for all the theatrics the evil one can muster.  His stage is set with lights, music, smoke, and the promise of something greater… That lie is only appealing when we forget what we already have in a Savior.  In truth, God doesn’t really want our garbage either… He just wants us to approach Him without it.  That was His deal.  If we can come to Him without the world’s refuse surrounding us, then we were worth everything He gave up to get to us.  When we aren’t burdened by the world, we are free for the Savior’s embrace.

Warning: Do Not Duplicate

Jesus was unlike any other the world has ever seen.  If we fit in… if we look like everyone else… if we choose normalcy… then we aren’t showing the world Jesus.  We aren’t Christ like… We aren’t Christians.  To “put on” Jesus isn’t to attend church or learn a few rules. Rather, we are called to be consumed by Jesus, to partake of Him, to be Him.

People generally had two reactions when confronted with the complexity and humility of their Savior.  They would follow Him, or they would plot to dismantle Him and all He stood for.  Love or hate.  He either offered you freedom, love, salvation, and healing… or he threatened your earthly world and needed to be dealt with.

But true to form, He did something no one expected.  Something incomprehensible.  Who would have ever imagined that the feeble and selfish plans of a hateful and corrupt legalistic group would have actually worked against the God, maker of man?  Shouldn’t He have had a fail-safe?  Shouldn’t He have seen it coming?  Couldn’t He stop it?  Sure.  But He chose not to… for us.

Can you imagine having the ability to defend yourself against the scum of humanity and choosing not to… because you love the scum… all of them?

This goes against all logic.  That is not the thinking of earth dwelling humans.  And when some met this man, they followed.  They witnessed the difference first hand.  This man doesn’t serve himself, he serves God.  He doesn’t accumulate, He hands out.  He doesn’t demand, He assists.  When He could rightfully strike back, He hugs.  When He has been cheated, He prays.  It’s like the opposite of everything life teaches us.

And now, with Jesus having proven He was all and more than He promised, but also gone from this world, He left one thing to bring everyone to Him in the end and finish His great and wonderful plan…

Us.

We may be generations removed.  But we have a relationship anyway.  We may have never witnessed the pages of the Bible lived out before being recorded, but we do have that perfect hindsight where the entire story has played out save one part.  The return our ancestors spoke of is approaching us just as it was for them.

What were the commands?  Be ready.  No time for leaven bread.  Like a thief in the night… Go into the world and speak Jesus.  Pick up our cross and follow in His footsteps.  Be persecuted for His name.  Be the person unlike any other… except that one.  Be like Him.  Be the man who inspires strangers to change their lives.  Be the woman who looks past the setting sun and sees the coming Son.   Be the young adult that refuses to follow week minded and selfish ambitions.  Be the child that yearns for something more.

Be unlike any other.  If we can’t be like Him, we will be just like everyone else.  The world has seen that over and over and over.  The world doesn’t follow normalcy.  The world doesn’t reject status quo.  We are the gift left to finish the plan of God.  We are to be Jesus to the world.  Some of us have never shown Him because we don’t properly understand Him ourselves.  Or we are too scared.  Or being just like everyone else is too comfortable.  Or excuse number 7, or exception number 19, or reason number 312…  We know how to make anything sound acceptable.

If we conform to the world, if we follow in the social expectations, if we don’t stand firm and tether to Jesus… we will never show Him to the world.  And if we don’t, no one else will.  I can’t think of a more cruel punishment to the world (or anything more un-Christ-like… to deny them Jesus, when He allowed us to kill Him for just that very privilege).

While you are planning diets, new budgets, and other personality traits you want to alter in this new year, might I suggest the greatest goal you could ever imagine?  Would you consider something more life changing than good health, and more valuable than extra wealth?  Stop being like everyone else.  Be like Him.  Don’t judge your neighbor… Become a neighbor.  A good one.  A compassionate one.  One that lives in the hindsight of redemption, freedom, and salvation.  Be like Him.

Fake Grenades and Popsicles… do we behave like Christ?

I was wondering why Jesus spent 3 days in the tomb.  Jesus had to die to save us.  Jesus took on our sin during that process.  I understand it all the way up to the tomb.  Why even bother with a burial place?  Why be wrapped?  Why the guards?

Couldn’t Jesus have said, “It is finished”, and then 3 seconds later, “Tada!!!!” and then hop right off the cross?  Wouldn’t this have still effectively bought our sins?  He still sacrificed.  He still technically and actually died in our place.

I think He added that extra bit of drama for us.  Not that its a part of salvation, but that He did it for our benefit.  He spent 3 days in a guarded tomb to help clarify what actually happened.

For example.  Lets say Jesus did the bare minimum.  He cries “it is finished” and hangs his head to die.  Then, after breathing His last, he jumps off the cross a fully healed, living God and He whooshes back to heaven proclaiming that we should also carry our cross to follow Him.  In this example, I fear we would see Him as more God than man.  We may even question what pain He felt.

Sadly, we might possibly even question whether a true sacrifice was made.  If the real story of the crucifixion were a personal letter, this theoretical event would be more like a text message.  It’s less personal, less detailed, and the exact meaning is confusing.  We might even debate whether He actually died or not.

I’d like to offer that Jesus came, not only to sacrifice Himself for us, but also to teach us.  He taught by doing.  He only asked us to give as He gave Himself.  And in His final act, He taught us to sacrifice.  And one lesson that is painfully difficult to understand is what true sacrifice actually means.  And He showed us this, while being fully man.

Our foster child went to the ER and refused to take his medicine.  The Doctor told him that if he was good, she would let him pick any flavor Popsicle he wanted.  He screamed, flailed arms and legs, spit up medicine… he was not good.  An hour later when 4 people left the room exhausted and defeated, he asked… “where is my Popsicle?”.

And I know exactly what is going through his mind.  The nurse said, “if you are good”, and he is now on the other side of the event.  In his mind, he suffered.  It wasn’t fun.  But now its over and he is ready for the reward.  Through all the kicking, screaming, and agony he both suffered and caused, what he heard was plainly, “if you make it through, you can have this”.

Our minds haven’t changed much as adults.  Have you ever promised yourself rewards?  If I lose 10 pounds, I’ll get myself a new outfit.  And the weight never leaves, but you still feel like you accomplished a triumphant feat of strength because you drank Diet Coke that one time.  Oh, the sacrifices I made!!!!  We can justify the rewards quite easily.

I think a great many of us do the same thing with God.  He has effectively made the same promise the ER doctor made to my boy.  Roughly translated, ‘if you are good, I will reward you’.  And most of us mean well.  But our definition of “good” can’t in any way be linked to what God actually meant in the Bible.

But… because we went to church, and we sang, and we even tithed a bit, which was a HUGE sacrifice for us… we feel justifiably ready for this reward.  But just like that ER doc… that wasn’t the deal.  Being a faux Christian was not what God asked of us.  He drew very specific, tangible lines.  We are to sacrifice.  We are to give.  We are to suffer.  We are to pick up our cross and follow Him.  We are to stand apart from the world.

It’s because we don’t understand what sacrifice really is.  We think we can act up and still get the Popsicle.  This is why I think Jesus spent 3 days in the tomb.  So we would know that He gave up His actual life.  So we would know He actually suffered.  For sacrifice to have any meaning, a true price must be paid.

In the movie, Captain America: The First Avenger, there is a scene where the tiny Steve Rodgers dives onto a grenade carelessly thrown on the ground by his superior officer.  The officer’s point backfires as the overly qualified military men run for cover, while this unexpected hero jumps on the grenade to save the others around him.

His life… for theirs.  This is sacrifice.  If the grenade were real, he would have died a hero and all the others would have lived in debt to him.  But he did not know it was a fake grenade.  So even though he performed a heroe’s action, he got up, dusted himself off, and kept living life.  Only now with heroic accolades.  Many of us think that this is true sacrifice.  We are willing to dive on the grenade… but only if its a fake.  When the grenade did not blow, the sacrifice was removed.  He didn’t actually pay anything.

We don’t mind facing peril, but we expect Jesus to intervene and then flash back up to Heaven after we are rescued from potential discomfort.  The mere definition of sacrifice is to give something up. Jesus gave up position when He ate with the poor.  He gave up status when He cured the sick.  He lost empathy when He chose the ‘losers’.  And He finished His lesson by giving up, once and for all, His human life.  Not just temporarily, but eternally.  That is what I think those 3 days are for.

To remind us that the world is filled with sick kids, unpopular people, lonely individuals, and needy folks who will fully deviate us from our path down Team ME.  Most of us are up for some sacrifice so long as we are done and back to normal by 5 p.m.

The enemy is using live ammunition.  There are no fake grenades here.  The call to Christianity is the call to spend 3 days in the tomb.  It’s to fully and without any bartering, give up everything until Jesus comes back to call us out of the grave announcing the beginning of our eternity with Him.  It’s knowing that our lives are meant to be spent.

The great sacrifice isn’t figuring out that we can tithe 10% of our net rather than gross and still feel good about ourselves.  Suffering isn’t sitting through sermons on Sundays.  Mission work isn’t buying a stocking stuffer once a year for a card on a tree.  Jesus could have told us what sacrifice means.  But that doesn’t cut it.  It never will.  Words have no meaning.  He showed us.  And the way we show we learned the lesson is not to speak it back.  We show what we have learned.

The pharisees where a noisy bunch.  Always quoting scripture, always pointing out wrong, always blaming and judging.  Jesus spoke very little.  But His actions are what we are to be known by.  They will not hear it from us… they will see it in us and in our works.

The Lottery Wont Help

It’s fun to dream about winning the lottery.  Many of us already have our answers ready.  Some have even practiced the interview and mastered that impending question… “What will you do with the money?”.

I remember one such interview where the bewildered winner couldn’t decide between fixing his house or his truck.  He simply couldn’t comprehend what millions meant.  That isn’t a number we tread often in.  And that is exactly why it won’t help us.

In order to GIVE, we have to give of something.  We take something of ours and it becomes someone else’s.  At that point, we no longer have it anymore.  Consider how the library works.  If I go and check out a book, they no longer have it… I do!  So if you go searching for that same book, their answer is, “Sorry, someone else has it”.

With the lottery, We can give and still have.  While we may choose to do good things with the money, a key part of giving is absent… sacrifice.  We could discuss earning versus winning as well, but I’ll leave that for now.

Let’s compare this to something more important than money.  What if I see someone on the street and I wave at them and give a nice big smile?  What have I done?  I could argue I put on my Jesus face.  I was friendly, inviting, polite, and I even felt a little awkward waving at a stranger.

But what have I actually given?  Did it take any time?  ah, time!  something extremely valuable, and in limited resource.  And just like the library, if I’m giving my time to someone, I can’t be giving it to something else.  But the answer is, no, it took as much time to wave as it did effort.

I also didn’t speak.  I didn’t share my story.  I didn’t share God’s story.  I didn’t offer the truth of Jesus Christ, crucified and resurrected.  I didn’t show love or compassion.  I didn’t offer any fruits of the Spirit.  I waved.  Nothing more, no matter how we dress it up.  I gave pennies and kept millions for myself.

We know from the widow that gave two mites (Luke 21) that it isn’t about how much we give, but instead what percentage.  The woman who gave so little, gave more than the richest of men, because she gave all she had, where they gave small portions.  And thus the problem with so much money.  Much is expected of those that have much.

Consider your time.  We can’t win the ‘time’ lottery.  24 hours fill up a day no matter how lucky you are.  Time puts us all in the same category.  How much are you giving?  Truly giving?  Sacrificing?  Investing in God’s will for you and others?  God calls us to help each other out.  We tithe because He asks us to.  But money does not solve everything.  And that is why He also calls us to go into the world and disciple others.  How much time are we giving?

Sacrifice:

Whatever we are not willing to give up for God is a weakness that Satan will continue to exploit.  The best tools of the devil are the things we hold most dear.

Jesus Didn’t Come to Win

The world doesn’t understand how Jesus lost for us.

We understand victory.  Triumph.  Splendor.  The cross was a dirty mess and it’s not in our nature to know what to do with that.

If you were a movie producer, how would you tell the story?  Whether it includes explosions, great speeches, or slapstick comedy, most of us would put a happy ending on the matter.  Just before the whip was raised… right as the crown of barbed thorns was lifted up… before the first nail was struck…

Something would have happened.  This wouldn’t even constitute a plot twist, it’s only natural for things to work out in the end.  Killing an innocent man is not a generally accepted principal.  Soldiers would have rushed in.  Angels would have descended.  The earth would have shook.  Supernatural.  Massive.  Epic.  Awesome.  We would have easily accepted these things.  But this story isn’t a fairy tale.  It doesn’t compete with summer blockbusters.

In this story, the innocent is brutally murdered… but the target was us.  He didn’t sacrifice Himself and then pull off an amazing, out of no where, attack scheme that allowed Himself to live too.  This is where we break away from the movies.  We didn’t all meet up afterwards for celebration.  We all didn’t make it.

God’s triumphant plan was not to blow the enemy away.  He came to save the lost.  This was more of a search and rescue.  And as the dust settles, we learn that we are saved through Him.  We learn of His sacrifice  We learn of His love.  And then we realize, He wasn’t just tortured and killed… He took our place.

And so we are left in this moment of miserable joy.  So happy that we are saved, so devastated that our sin held such a cost.  So excited that we serve someone willing to pay this price and yet so mournful of the horrible events endured by the one so loving.  We cheer, we cry, we laugh, we surrender to our knees and tremble.  How could someone do this for me?  What value am I?  And this holy, loving, perfect, one-true-God, He says, ‘this is what I’m willing to do for you… to reach you… to get through to you… to have you near me’.

The world doesn’t understand it because although many have died at the hands of the enemy, the body count still remains at one.  Jesus’ death is the one that ‘counts’.  Our sins are on Him.  For everyone else the price has been paid.  Our death is where the victory occurs.  And we really struggle understanding that sometimes.  We are so used to the phrase, “and they all lived happily ever after…”.  That only works by ending the story before its all over.  For us… because of Jesus… our story starts to get really good in the ‘end’.

And so those that believe sing that God is a “good Father” and that we are “Loved by Him”… perfectly defining the relationship.  A protective Father that loves us and is willing to sacrifice greatly for us.  And we, those deserving of a horrible fate, bask in His love for us.  We are not any adjective.  We are not our professions.  We are not the sum of our status’.  We are defined by God’s love for us.  We are a character in a story told about this amazing triumphant victory.  But that victory has to be chosen by the recipients.

It’s difficult to explain this amazing story where the Savior came to lose.  It takes time to wrap our heads and hearts around the fact that He came to lose for us.  In our place.  Instead of us.  Because He is a good Father and He loves us.  And we are loved by Him.  For 3 days Satan celebrated a short lived and greatly misunderstood victory.  Every day since is a celebration for us.  I think the important take away is that we can’t simply explain this story to others and have them accept it.  We have to show it to them.

They need to see the Savior.  We need to live like Him.  It’s a love story.  For God so loved the world… It’s a story that doesn’t make sense and it greatly needs an interpreter.  We can live those words.  We can share that love.  We can choose to be thankful for God’s gift and respect him with our actions.  We can show love.  We can show sacrifice.  We can teach through our choices.  And when we look enough like our Savior, the world will rejoice in the gift they find in Him.  After all, Jesus didn’t win in the traditional sense.  He didn’t come to win.  He came to love.  He came to serve.  He came to sacrifice.  You could argue He won by defeating Satan, but technically we can still choose to side with either one.  Which means we still have work to do. And its imperative that we learn to love the way Christ taught us.

 

Don’t Throw it all out

Imagine you are a restaurant owner and you serve food on trays.  Guess what happens when people throw their trash away at the end of the meal?  The tray goes in.  Either accidentally or sometimes even on purpose… you just lost revenue because you have to buy another tray that should have been reusable.  Or worse, you get to go dumpster diving.

How do you solve this problem?  You can post signs.  “Please don’t throw away the trays!”.  That won’t work.  Both groups of aforementioned people will continue to do this as a sign won’t prevent mistakes or evil intentions.

You could keep buying trays, sift through trash, hire staff to bus tables, start buying disposable trays… all of this costs a lot of money and none of it solves the root problem.  The trash can is too accessible to the consumer.

Someone had a brilliant idea.  Make the hole to the trash can smaller than the tray.  Genius!  Now, even if you want to, you can’t dispose of the tray.

Think about how we deal with problems.

When something troublesome comes our way, we generally handle it in a few different ways based on the issue.  We dump everything in the trash and leave it all behind, running from the issue.  We react too quickly, making mistakes and leaving a mess.  Or we ignore it and let it all build up.  All of this was the trash before the small hole was added.  In other words, there was no filter, and trash piled up either in or outside of the can.

Jesus said, give me your trash!  OK, it wasn’t worded exactly like that, but it was close.  He installed Himself as our filter.  He not only takes our sins, but He takes our burdens and our everyday pains.  He listens, He cares, He comforts.  He provided a way to allow us to clean up our lives without getting lost in the process.  If you’ve ever encountered an honest, God loving, Christ following, Bible obeying Christian, you’ve most likely wondered what makes them so happy.  How can they smile during crisis mode?  Do they ever have bad days?

The answer to all of those questions and more is that they live under an umbrella of blessings that come from God.  He makes all things good and right.  It doesn’t mean bad things don’t happen.  Even in the can, the trash still stinks.  But, He provides peace, understanding, security, and most importantly, help during those times.  We could take the trash directly to the incinerator.  Hopefully, you clearly see the problem there.  We don’t need that kind of access.  We need boundaries.  We need guidance.  Otherwise, we would burn up with the trash.  Many people see the Bible as a book of rules.  If you read a little more carefully, there are few “rules” included.  I would say the majority of the book is either directly detailing, or referencing God’s love for us.  And because He loves us, He guides us.  He shapes us.  He makes us into useful, purposeful, joyful people.

Even some of that very ‘guiding’ can be painful.  Becoming a Christian is like a form of detox all on its own.  We sacrifice things, we leave things behind, we change habits.  Because they are rules?  No!  Let me answer that another way… NOOOO!!!!  We do it because its the best thing for us.  It brings us closer to God and our Savior.  It makes us complete.  Our eyes are opening to the trappings of the world and how certain things can hold us down and entangle us in unimportant issues, attach us to worthless trinkets, or bombard us in meaningless character attacks.  One by one, we crumple up the garbage that was never intended for man to carry with them… and we toss it out.  God speaks to us and we have learned, He knows best.  So we yearn to listen to Him and obey.

How does it feel?  Fantastic!  Weight lifted.  Sites narrowed.  Purpose defined.  And when you develop that relationship with Jesus, it feels so good to answer that age old question that parents and spouses love to ask… “Did you take the trash out?”  We can say, “yes”, but we know Jesus did it for us.

 

 

 

Don’t Call it a Comeback

I’m going to assume you know the outcome of the Superbowl this year (2017).  I won’t even try to recap as I’m sure its being covered by much more thorough analysts than I could ever claim to be.  And many if not all will somehow tie in the age old wisdom that we should never give up.  For years, this message will be recounted when teams are down late in the game.  And while that message has great value, I hope you will consider another angle.

As Christians, our lives with God aren’t back and forth struggles.  They may feel like it at times, but the reality is… God never moves.

We may choose to follow in His footsteps.  We may opt to go on our own for a little while.  We can come back and forth.  We may reject Him altogether.  We can always come back.  He never moves.  Along with His expectations, He never changes.

So it is with the life of Jesus.  He came to earth with a single task.  Save humanity by self sacrifice.  There was no back and forth.  Satan never scored a point.  That is the beauty of the plan.  By Satan ‘winning’ (killing Jesus), we truly win.  It’s why He came.  He was tempted but didn’t give in.  He was tortured, but never gave up.  He was discouraged, but never stopped loving.  The score never changed.  There was no down and out.  There was no 11th hour or 2 minute drill to try and come from behind.

What’s the point?  Comebacks are hope-fuled opportunities for disaster.  I’ve seen it before.  There is still time left.  The team starts to get everything together.  The game gets more intense.  It really looks like its about to happen… but then it doesn’t.  Even worse than losing was the final hope they wouldn’t.   The Christian story isn’t about score.  It’s not about each play or moment of the game.  The game… has already been won.  There is nothing to come from behind from.  Jesus wasn’t down by 35 points late in the game… There is a great Carmen song where Jesus and Satan are boxing.  When Satan knocks Jesus down the ref starts counting down from 10 instead of up from 1.  Only when he gets to 1, its spelled won.

That song cleverly illustrates the sacrifice Christ made.  He took our place.  We can’t lose, He lost for us.  So instead of drowning those sorrows, feeding that fear, or dusting off those bad habits, consider that Jesus actually won the game before He added all the players.   When we accept Christ, we aren’t gearing up for a winning team.  We are suiting up for a won team.  If Tom Brady showed up at your home today and offered you his super bowl ring, that wouldn’t make sense.  To Christians… that is kind of our story.  It wasn’t a comeback, we already won.

This is what Jesus did for us.  We pick our team by choosing how we live for Him.  There will be no hail marys.  No onside kicks.  No trick plays.  This one is in the history books.  The only thing not decided… is your response.  Do you accept Jesus’ gift?   Will you share the victory with others?