In The Exact Manner in Which We Forgive Others...Part I

Trying to come to grips with negative events in your life is hard enough but when they continually haunt you – what is our course of action?

At first we spend time in defense mode – we cry about the injustice and we jump up and down claiming how victimized we are.  We get mad!

Then we mourn the loss of our reputation in the eyes of those who bought in to the negative events that occurred.

Then we forgive those who caused it.

Then we repeat the cycle over and over again. 

We’re human –we have this thing called the ego that continually needs affirming.  We spend so much time worrying about how we are seen in the eyes of one another that we quickly forget that what matters is how we see ourselves and how God sees us (not in that order, of course). 

How we see ourselves is important in the healing process when we have been wronged.  I know this from personal experience having not only dealt with this but still dealing with it and probably always will.  No matter how often we try to put it behind us it always has a way of showing its ugly face.  And that hurts our feelings.

Let me ask you what someone recently asked me.  Do you think anyone really cares about what happened to you X number of years ago?  Something horrible happened to me over ten years ago and still to this day I’m haunted by the lies and deceit and, let’s be honest, by how much my name was dragged through the mud.  Yeah, it hurts and I trust that similar situations still bring you a certain amount of pain and emotional discomfort as well.  But do we really think we are so significant that people actually spend time, still today, talking about it?  I had someone come right out and tell me that chances are a very limited number of people probably remember and even those would need prompting.  She was right – perhaps I was hanging on to something that simply didn’t exist and did not matter to anyone else except my ego – my “public” image.  No one really cared about it anymore truth or not…they moved forward and lived their lives.  While I continually looked back and wanted to repeat it all but this time to change the outcome.  It wasn’t going to happen – it was done.  I couldn’t change it and all I was doing was hurting myself AND being totally focused on my own ego.

Oh Lord in your infinite mercy you have poured forth justice.  You have poured forth forgiveness and you have shown abundant grace.  When we refuse to recognize that during our journey, when we continually pull back that scab to grab some kind of attention – remind us that it is finished.  Help us to move on and move up and move forward.  Help us to put aside this human characteristic of wanting to be seen in this light or the other – help us that even when we are wronged – the only right that matters is our life with you.  Help us to show people that by overcoming these obstacles and by claiming YOUR victory in our lives, we can truly be “over it” and see our life moving forward and ever closer to You.  Help us, today, to really mean the words of the prayer taught to us by Your Son, when we say 

“…forgive us our wrong doings in the exact manner in which we forgive those who do wrong against us”…

In the name of the risen Christ we pray.  Amen.

New Year's Eve

I want to wish you safe celebrations tonight.  It is natural for us to look back on this year and to set resolutions for the coming year.  My prayer is that you do not dwell on the negative events of the past for they are the stepping stones on which you firmly planted your feet to get to the next level.  For those who have endured tough times, remember that for each cry of, “I don’t know how I’ll get through this”…your prayer was heard and answered.  For here you are – in this space and in this time – you are here and you are loved by a God that is greater than our biggest, creative imagination. 

As we enter the New Year may we cross the threshold knowing our living Lord just a little bit more than we did this time one year ago.  May we look forward to all that our Lord has in store for us and may we even now marvel at the miraculous escape routes He has planned for us when things get frustrating, tiring, and scary. 

May you feel in your heart and mind and, yes, even in every step of your feet, that Jesus is indeed your great advocate to the Father. When we turn our eyes from Him with our thoughts, words, or deeds, may we take comfort in knowing that Jesus is the one saying to His Father, “extend your mercy upon this dear one…I know him and he knows me and I can vouch for his heart”.

It is my joy and my pleasure and a blessing to my spirit that you and I are companions on this journey.  Let us all grab hands and step in to 2014 and always remember we are in this together.  God Bless you.

Arise and Go

The prophet Elijah was told by God to prophesy that a famine was coming on the land. That is not a ministry that will make you very popular but Elijah was obedient to the Lord. The Lord protected him and sent him to a place beside a brook called Cherith. This is a beautiful name for a brook, although we do not know if it was as beautiful as it sounds. But nevertheless, after a while the brook dried up (see 1 Kings 17:3-7). Everyone can go a considerable amount of time without eating but after a few short days without water, life cannot be sustained. So I imagine Elijah became concerned when his water supply dried up.

The word of the LORD came to him, “Arise, go to Zarephath . . . I have commanded a widow there to feed you” (verses 8-9). Elijah, who seemed to have very little provision, trusted and obeyed God but yet he was being sent to a poor widow. “So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks” (verse 10).

Elijah asked her for a jar of water and a morsel of bread and she responded, “As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug” (verse 12).

This widow was responding to him out of her hurt. She and her son were starving and Elijah had come and said, “God sent me here to have you feed me.” She is looking at her resources and thinking, “This is impossible!” And then she said to him, “Now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die” (verse 12). 

Elijah’s response was rather strange: “Do not fear; go and do as you have said” (verse 13).

Why would he say that? Because he knew that God was not going to abandon this woman and her child. He knew that as she obeyed God and blessed others through the little bit that she had, she would become blessed herself. The more she gave away, the more God increased what she had (see verses 14-16).

Obey God and you will see the windows of heaven open. God will not withhold His hand from you. He longs to pour out His blessings on you, to show you His favor.

--Thanks to by Gary W. for sharing this

When The World Says, "You Can't"

I refuse to live in a world of I cant’s.  This world is completely full of people and organizations and company’s telling us we cannot do this or that.   There are people who believe that the Bible is full of ‘shall not’ and ‘cannot do this’.  But actually the Bible is where we should be getting the courage and strength every single day to say I CAN and I WILL. Take a look at the famous John 14 chapter. 

The word ‘will’ shows up 26 times (New Revised Standard Version) and seven of those are Jesus saying, “I will”.  The very first verse in chapter 14 does, actually, give us a directive to not do something:  “Do NOT let your hearts be troubled.”  In The Message version of the Bible is simply says, “Don’t let this throw you.”

Tonight I had to stop, rather abruptly, the rapidly rising river of I cannot.  I had to say to my heart and to my spirit and, of course, my brain, “don’t let this throw you”.  All of my current troubles should only force me to do one thing: pray.

When praying through the flood of “can not’s”, we must thank God for all that He has done to lead us to this place.  All those past times when we cried out about how we cannot possibly get through this ordeal or that one; He has come through in His promise to sustain us. Then we ask God to hold us through this particular time of turmoil and to show us what He would have us to do.  We thank Him, in advance, for the miraculous ways in which he is already seeing us through this ordeal.

When we face a trial in our life we absolutely must, without reservation and without lack of faith, get on our knees and pray to God.  Forgive us our sins, cleanse us from all wrong, help us to see the error of our ways, and bring us through this fire.  He WILL be faithful to all who call Him Lord. 

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”…John 14:27

"Whether you say you can, or you think you can't...you're right"...Henry Ford

These Things Are Fun and Fun is Good

A big part of the human experience is our ability to experience joy.  Experiencing joy has been proven to increase blood oxygen levels, ease anxiety, boost the immune system, and trigger endorphins.  In the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, the word “joy” appears 155 times.  The word ‘joy’ and the word ‘happy’ are inter-changeable when it comes to translation of Scripture.  One of the Hebrew words that can be translated as ‘happy’ is ‘ashrie’ or ‘praiseworthy’ or ‘fortunate’.

Take a look at this photo and tell me you don’t feel some sense of joy.  In Buddhist teachings happiness forms one of the central themes and describes the ultimate freedom from suffering.

This is Pastor Trey Hall of Urban Village Church in Chicago.  He is skipping with his niece at the labyrinth at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago.  I don’t know the story behind it and I didn’t bother asking him because the image spoke volumes to me by itself.  I figured I didn’t need to ask the artist to define the drawing – I would simply allow the piece to speak to me, to reach out to my heart and write upon it what it may. Regardless of the actual event the photo brings a smile to my heart – it makes me feel joy.  I cannot help but to smile and not because I see a grown man skipping – that is the least most interesting thing about this photo.  What touches my heart, what speaks to my soul and what nourishes my spirit about this image is the existence of pure joy. 

Do you like to dance when no one is watching?  Do you like to sing in the shower because of the solitude it brings?  Have you ever skipped just for the fun of skipping?  I like to think that God is dancing with us.  That when we sing alone, God is quietly harmonizing alongside us.  And when we are skipping down the pathway, child-like regardless of our physical age – God is skipping with us. 

Aristotle, in the writings Nicomachean Ethics, states that the only true thing that humanity desires is happiness for its own sake.  We pursue money, fame and riches in order to acquire happiness but Aristotle says that true happiness is something we desire, we yearn for, for its stand-alone merits. 

The finding of joy-filled moments without the influence of power or wealth or status, seems to me to be a treasure worth saving.  There are many forces in this life fighting to remove joy from us and fill it with other contents such as exhaustion, depression, sadness, anger, and pity.  We spend so much of our energy, at times, trying to make joy happen.   It’s when we find a joy-moment completely void of any outside influence that we experience a taste of purity of the human spirit and therefore the God-spirit within all of us. 

I recently met with someone who told me that he believed he would not have joy until he suffered enough to appreciate it.  My heart wrinkled.  In his book, The Fault in Our Stars, writer John Green says this is “an old argument”.  He goes on to say that “…the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.” Jon Krakauer states in his book, Into the Wild, that joy is everywhere and all around us, placed there by God.  “We just have to have the courage to turn against our habitual lifestyle and engage in unconventional living”. 

Experiencing joy means pushing aside all that you expect of yourself and all that you think is expected of you and to dance like no one is watching – to sing in the shower loudly – and to skip down the path if just for a few steps.

 “If you never did you should. These things are fun and fun is good.”…Dr Seuss

THE LEAST OF THESE

A young boy was walking through the park. He had just gotten out of his Sunday school class, where his teacher had told the class that you never can tell when you’ll meet Jesus.

As he was walking through the park, he noticed an old woman sitting on a bench. She looked very lonely, so he sat down next to her. He said "Hi" and then offered her a piece of his candy bar, which he had been saving.

She accepted the piece of chocolate with a smile. They talked for a while about nothing in particular and then the boy offered her another piece, which she also gladly accepted.

They talked a little while longer and then the boy got up to leave.

As he began to walk away, he turned around, ran back to the bench and gave the woman a big hug. And, she gave him her very biggest smile.

When he arrived home, his mother saw a big smile on his face and asked, "What made you so happy today"?

The boy said, "I shared my chocolate bar with Jesus. And, guess what, Mom? She has a great smile".

Meanwhile, the old woman returned to her little apartment which she shared with her sister. The sister said "You’re all smiles today, what made you so happy"?

She said, "Well", "I was sitting in the park sharing a chocolate bar with Jesus. And, you know what? He looks a lot younger than I expected"!

Matthew 25:40 reminds us that Christ WILL separate those of us who help the afflicted and those of us who turn the other cheek.  Christ WILL separate those of us who feed the hungry, through whatever means, and those who have an ideal that everyone has the ability to feed themselves.  Christ WILL separate those of us who do whatever we can to give clothing to the one without, and those of us who believe they should just get a job and do it themselves.

If you won’t do anything, then at least be satisfied with the idea that some of your tax dollars are feeding those who are unable to acquire the resources to feed themselves and their children for today. 

Christ isn’t arguing about food stamps, welfare, and charity.  What a hot button topic today!   All I want to tell you is this:  what are WE doing to feed the hungry today? When was the last time WE gave to someone who went without?  You know that box in the hallway of the church that WE stick a few clothes in to every November?  How would WE like it if WE weren’t allowed to buy anything new except once a year?  That annual donation WE make to our local charity – how far do we think that is going and more importantly could WE survive off of that amount for a year?  What makes US so extra special and important in the kingdom of God that we now decide who gets charity and who doesn't?  Oh sure – there ARE people taking advantage of the situation but that’s not for our concern.  Our concern is to see someone who needs something and to respond in love. 

For EVERY time we do something to those who are less fortunate, the ‘least of these’ that Christ talks about; we do it as if that person were Christ.  Likewise, EVERY time we deny someone the basics of human life and dignity; food, water, clothing, shelter, health…we are denying Christ the same.

At a red light today I waited for what felt like 20 minutes go by.  During that time I watched a man on the road – holding a sign that simply said, “Hungry. Need help. God bless”.  Did I give him something to eat? Nope.  Now if I did something for everyone standing on the corner I would be empty – but isn’t that the idea?  Isn’t the idea to throw away our nets and follow Christ? 

"But where do you draw the line, pastor?"...there IS NO LINE.

"I can't help them all"....but have you even started?

"They just abuse the system"...lucky we have you to weed out the users and abusers.

"I have my family to feed"...So does Christ...through YOU.

"I give at Christmas, isn't that enough?"...Did you REALLY just ask that question?

I’m not there yet.  But I will pray for every single one I see – and I will pray that the Holy Spirit will disturb the calm waters of my heart a little bit more often and grant me the courage and strength to do something for ‘the least of these’.

Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of my life - a kind of destiny. Whoever is in distress can call on me. I will come running wherever they are…Princess Diana

Mean People

I have already met some really nice people here in Florida.  It is the Southern Hospitality that I have missed so much since leaving here in 1995.  I'm so happy to be back in Florida - it feels like home again.

The move down here was not easy, logistically.  Many issues with the moving company caused me stress and anxiety.  At one point I began to loose my confidence in mankind.  But I was quickly reminder of the following quote form Mahatma Gandhi:  "You must not lose faith in humanity.  Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."

I am on a quest now to renew my ability to ignore the negative, mean people in this world and focus on the tremendously large number of wonderful, caring, loving human beings.  I'm glad to be a member of humanity - are you?