Different and same

I just saw a video this morning that I must share.  It's about five and a half minutes long and it is about a young man named Ryan Pittman.

His story is so powerful that it stands alone.  A lot of people have tried to get across what everybody needs to know.  Ryan succeeded.  He has given hope and inspiration to so many people.



I know he inspired me.

Open Up

A friend of mine posted on his facebook wall a video he took of a rare sight: a nest of baby robins.  They felt the vibration of him coming closer - and it activated their "feed me" stance - mouths wide open, bobbing back and forth.  Their eyes weren't even open.  Less than a minute long, the video reminded me of something I had forgotten - not even thought about in a long time.  

Source:   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/
5213909/Animal-pictures-of-the-week-24-April-2009.html?image=6

"Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it."  (Psalm 81:10)

It's the mental picture of opening up to the source of love, grace, mercy and wisdom in expectation that those needs will be satisfied - that whatever I need will be provided when I need it, if I open myself to the provider of all of those things. And more.  It's a picture of complete trust.  Of vulnerability.  Of hunger.  Of longing.  Of desperation.

The robins instinctively open their mouths in the direction of where the food will come from.  It's just like human babies: when you stroke their cheek, they open their mouths wide and turn their heads in that direction - the "rooting reflex."  It's natural ... they are looking to be fed.  It's extremely linked to survival.  

So with the world of the spirit.  God responds to desperation, to desire, to honesty and trust, to spiritual hunger.  He is the source of fulfillment to those desires that sometimes we can't even name - we just know that we want "more." He put that there within us.  We can fill it with a whole lot of things that will not satisfy in the end, and leave us feeling empty and used. When we finally get to the point of desperation, the invitation is still there.  All we need to do is open up who we are to Him.

Without Him

Frustrated with another's spiritual struggle one night, a struggle to accept what I considered to be basic, foundational belief in a good and loving God, I turned to him and said, "Look.  You either believe... or you don't.  It's as simple as that."  God was good to me and allowed what I said to penetrate just the right spot in that person's life.  It could just as easily have been a detriment.  I wasn't acting in a very righteous way when I said it.  I was tired.  I wanted this person to just "get it."  To quit challenging my belief system by having beliefs that weren't like mine.  Yes, God was gracious - to both of us. 

My own words have come back to haunt me again and again, though.  For if I am brutally honest with myself, I face the same struggles in my everyday life.  I have a choice to believe or not believe that God is good.  And while my lips give assent to His goodness and His loving care for me, my actions sometimes say anything but that.  

I'm still faced with that same choice - to believe or not to believe in practical terms, not just in what I say or what the standard party line is.  It's the difference between saying that I know a chair will hold me and not break - and actually sitting in it.  

There's an old southern gospel song written in 1963 by the LeFevres ... and done by the Gaither Vocal Band, called "Without Him."  

The song says (in part), "Without Him, I could do nothing; without Him, I'd surely fail - without Him I would be drifting like a ship without a sail. Without Him, I would be dying; without Him I'd be enslaved - without Him life would be worthless, but with Jesus, thank God I'm saved!" 

A large part of me wants to believe that I have some sort of control over my own self-destructive tendencies.  But the truth is, I don't.  Every day I must make the same decision - to face this or that situation with Him or without Him, to believe that He is with me or not.  

When I decide to try to do things on my own, I end up adrift and at the mercy of the raging surf.  Every time.  When I (on the other hand) turn my life, my desires, my everything over to God even if I don't understand why, He takes those very same circumstances and allows me to see above them, to ride them, and He gets me where He wants me to go.  Sometimes that leads through paths I would never have chosen, circumstances that are decidedly uncomfortable, even painful for me.  But in the end, I come out into a better place spiritually, with connections and friendships made that I would never have dreamed possible.   

I don't know why He would be so very patient with my wanderings, with my compulsive need to test those same things (His goodness, and His love) over and over again.  But I am so very grateful.

Random Images of Love - or are they?

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.  

When I consider the heavens, the work of Your hands, the moon and the stars which You have ordained, what is man, that You are mindful of him?  or the son of man, that You visit him?  You set him a little lower than the angels, and crown him with glory and honour.... 

He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

And when she had given birth to her firstborn Son, she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, for there was no room for them at the inn.

Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace, goodwill toward men."

They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him.  And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand, and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!"  They spat on Him, and took the reed and beat Him on the head.  After they had mocked Him, they put a scarlet robe on Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to be crucified...    

For Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive through the Spirit... 

... and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the [angels] said to them, "Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?  He is not here, for He has risen, as He said."

When you were dead in your transgressions... He has made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, and has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to His cross.  When He had disarmed [spiritual] rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

In Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority.

... that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

He said to me, "Do not be afraid.  I am the First and the Last, and the living One.  I was dead, and see!  I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of hell and of death. 

... the Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy ...

I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne ... and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands upon thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing."  And every created thing ... I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and power forever and ever!"    

A Little Booklet

I first read this little story when I was 16 and at a little Bible camp outside Bouctouche NB.

I have gone back to its simple story again and again.  Today, I would like to share it with you.

My Heart Christ's Home ~ ~ by Robert Boyd Munger

One evening I invited Jesus Christ into my heart. What an entrance He made! It was not a spectacular, emotional thing, but very real. Something happened at the very center of my life. He came into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light.

He built a fire on the hearth and banished the chill. He started music where there had been stillness, and He filled the emptiness with His own loving, wonderful fellowship. I have never regretted opening the door to Christ and I never will.

In the joy of this new relationship I said to Jesus Christ, "Lord, I want this heart of mine to be Yours. I want to have You settle down here and be perfectly at home. Everything I have belongs to You. Let me show You around."

The Study
The first room was the study--the library. In my home this room of the mind is a very small room with very thick walls. But it is a very important room. In a sense, it is the control room of the house.

He entered with me and looked around at the books in the bookcase, the magazines upon the table, the pictures on the walls. As I followed His gaze I became uncomfortable. Strangely, I had not felt self-conscious about this before, but now that He was there looking at these things I was embarrassed.

Some books were there that His eyes were too pure to behold. On the table were a few magazines that a Christian had no business reading. As for the pictures on the walls--the imaginations and thoughts of the mind--some of these were shameful.

Red-faced, I turned to Him and said, "Master, I know that this room needs to be cleaned up and made over.  Will You help me make it what it ought to be?" 

"Certainly!" He said. "I'm glad to help you. First of all, take all the things that you are reading and looking at which are not helpful, pure, good and true, and throw them out!" Now put on the empty shelves the Books of the Bible. Fill the library with Scripture and meditate on it day and night. As for the pictures on the walls, you will have difficulty controlling these images, but I have something that will help."

He gave me a full-size portrait of Himself. "Hang this centrally," He said, "on the wall of the mind." I did, and I have discovered through the years that when my thoughts are centered upon Christ Himself, His purity and power cause impure thoughts to back away.

So He has helped me to bring my thoughts under His control.

The Dining Room

From the study we went into the dining room, the room of appetites and desires. I spent a lot of time and hard work here trying to satisfy my wants.

I said to Him, "This is a favorite room. I am quite sure You will be pleased with what we serve."

He seated Himself at the table with me and asked, "What is on the menu for dinner?"
 
"Well," I said, "my favorite dishes: money, academic degrees and stocks, with newspaper articles of fame and fortune as side dishes."  These were the things I liked--secular fare.

When the food was placed before Him, He said nothing, but I observed that He did not eat it.  I said to Him, "Master, don't You care for this food? What is the trouble?"

He answered, "I have food to eat that you do not know of.  If you want food that really satisfies you, do the will of the Father. Stop seeking your own pleasures, desires, and satisfaction.  Seek to please Him. That food will satisfy you."

There at the table He gave me a taste of the joy of doing God's will.   What flavor! There is no food like it in all the world.

The Living Room

From the dining room we walked into the living room. This room was intimate and comfortable. I liked it. It had a fireplace, overstuffed chairs, a sofa, and a quiet atmosphere.

He said, "This is indeed a delightful room.  Let us come here often. It is secluded and quiet, and we can fellowship together."

Well, as a young Christian I was thrilled. I couldn't think of anything I would rather do than have a few minutes with Christ in close companionship. He promised, "I will be here early every morning.  Meet me here, and we will start the day together."

So morning after morning, I would come downstairs to the living room.He would take a book of the Bible from the case. We would open it and read together. He would unfold to me the wonder of God's saving truths. My heart sang as He shared the love and the grace He had toward me. These were wonderful times.

However, little by little, under the pressure of many responsibilities, this time began to be shortened.  Why, I'm not sure. I thought I was too busy to spend regular time with Christ. This was not intentional, you understand. It just happened that way.

Finally, not only was the time shortened, but I began to miss days now and then.  Urgent matters would crowd out the quiet times of conversation with Jesus.

I remember one morning rushing downstairs, eager to be on my way.  I passed the living room and noticed that the door was open. Looking in, I saw a fire in the fireplace and Jesus was sitting there.  Suddenly in dismay I thought to myself, "He is my guest.   I invited Him into my heart! He has come as my Savior and Friend."  I stopped, turned and hesitantly went in. With downcast glance, I said, "Master, forgive me. Have You been here all these mornings?"

"Yes," He said, "I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you. Remember, I love you. I have redeemed you at great cost.I value your fellowship. Even if you cannot keep the quiet time for your own sake, do it for mine."

The truth that Christ desires my companionship, that He wants me to be with Him and waits for me, has done more to transform my quiet time with God than any other single fact.  Don't let Christ wait alone in the living room of your heart, but every day find time when, with your Bible and in prayer, you may be together with Him.

The Workroom

Before long, He asked, "Do you have a workroom in your home?" Out in the garage of the home of my heart I had a workbench and some equipment, but I was not doing much with it. Once in a while I would play around with a few little gadgets, but I wasn't producing anything substantial.

I led Him out there. He looked over the workbench and said, "Well, this is quite well furnished.  What are you producing with your life for the Kingdom of God?" He looked at one or two little toys that I had thrown together on the bench and held one up to me.  "Is this the sort of thing you are doing for others in your Christian life?"

"Well," I said, "Lord, I know it isn't much, and I really want to do more, but after all, I don't seem to have strength or skill to do more."

"Would you like to do better?" He asked. "Certainly," I replied.

"All right. Let me have your hands. Now relax in me and let my Spirit work through you. I know that you are unskilled, clumsy and awkward, but the Holy Spirit is the Master Workman, and if He controls your hands and your heart, He will work through you." Stepping around behind me and putting His great, strong hands under mine, He held the tools in His skilled fingers and began to work through me. The more I relaxed and trusted Him, the more He was able to do with my life.

The Rec Room

He asked me if I had a rec room where I went for fun and fellowship. I was hoping He would not ask about that. There were certain associations and activities that I wanted to keep for myself.

One evening when I was on my way out with some of my buddies,  He stopped me with a glance and asked, "Are you going out?"  I replied, "Yes." 

"Good," He said, "I would like to go with you."

"Oh," I answered rather awkwardly. "I don't think, Lord Jesus, that You would really enjoy where we are going. Let's go out together tomorrow night. Tomorrow night we will go to a Bible class at church,but tonight I have another appointment."

"I'm sorry," He said. "I thought that when I came into your home, we were going to do everything together, to be close companions. I just want you to know that I am willing to go with you."

"Well," I mumbled, slipping out the door, "We will go someplace together tomorrow night."

That evening I spent some miserable hours.... I felt rotten. What kind of friend was I to Jesus, deliberately leaving Him out of my life, doing things and going places that I knew very well He would not enjoy?

When I returned that evening, there was a light in His room, and I went up to talk it over with Him. I said, "Lord, I have learned my lesson. I know now that I can't have a good time without You. From now on, we will do everything together."

Then we went down into the rec room of the house. He transformed it. He brought new friends, new excitement, new joys. Laughter and music have been ringing through the house ever since.

The Hall Closet
One day I found Him waiting for me at the door. An arresting look was in His eye. As I entered, He said to me, "There is a peculiar odor in the house. Something must be dead around here. It's upstairs. I think it is in the hall closet."

As soon as He said this, I knew what He was talking about. There was a small closet up there on the hall landing, just a few feet square. In that closet, behind lock and key, I had one or two little personal things that I did not want anyone to know about. Certainly, I did not want Christ to see them.

I knew they were dead and rotting things left over from the old life. I wanted them so for myself that I was afraid to admit they were there. Reluctantly, I went up with Him, and as we mounted the stairs the odor became stronger and stronger. He pointed to the door.

I was angry. That's the only way I can put it. I had given Him access to the library, the dining room, the living room, the workroom, the rec room, and now He was asking me about a little two-by-four closet.I said to myself, "This is too much. I am not going to give Him the key."

"Well," He said, reading my thoughts, "If you think I'm going to stay up here on the second floor with this smell, you are mistaken. I will go out on the porch."  Then I saw Him start down the stairs.

When one comes to know and love Christ, the worst thing that can happen is to sense Him withdrawing His fellowship. I had to give in.  "I'll give You the key," I said sadly, "But You will have to open the closet and clean it out. I haven't the strength to do it." 

"Just give me the key," He said. "Authorize me to take care of that closet and I will."

With trembling fingers I passed the key to Him.  He took it, walked over to the door, opened it, entered, took out all the putrefying stuff that was rotting there, and threw it away. Then He cleaned the closet and painted it. It was done in a moment's time. Oh, what victory and release to have that dead thing out of my life!


Transferring the Title

A thought came to me. "Lord, is there any chance that You would take over the management of the whole house and operate it for me as You did that closet?  Would You take the responsibility to keep my life what it ought to be?"

His face lit up as He replied, "I'd love to! That is what I want to do. You cannot be a victorious Christian in your own strength. But you must give Me the authority to proceed, since the property is not mine."

Dropping to my knees, I said, "Lord, You have been a guest and I have been the host. From now on I am going to be the servant. You are going to be the Owner and Master."

Running as fast as I could to the strongbox, I took out the title deed to the house describing its assets and liabilities, location and situation. I eagerly signed the house over to Him alone for time and eternity.  "Here," I said. "Here it is, all that I am and have, forever. Now You run the house. I'll just remain with You as a servant and friend."

Things are different since Jesus Christ has settled down and made His home in my heart.




Blessings today!

Blown Away

I love to watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. There's something amazing to me about how someone can be in such a desperate situation and then they get something they never expected and could barely dream about. The first thing that happens after the family is safely away on vacation is that what is old has to come down. And come down it does. It seems they're always finding new ways to bring down the old house.

The old house represents stress, limitations, worry, fear, anger, and a whole host of other nasty things that the family experiences. In the following clip, those emotions are demolished in a moment of time and leave room for the above house to be built.
 
There's something though, about this type of show that sort of bothers me. I could never really put my finger on it until just recently, and then it all became clear as I heard our pastor talk about what Jesus did for us while we were still in our darkness, when we were still rejecting Him.

What about the person who ISN'T taking in handicapped kids and adopting them, but is just working faithfully to pay the bills for the spouse and kids he/she has? What about the one who ISN'T fund-raising for Multiple Sclerosis or the Heart Foundation, or who DOESN'T have terminal cancer and up to their eyeballs in medical debt, or who ISN'T making a huge impact on their community in some way, but just slogs away, day after day, dealing with all kinds of insults and ingratitude even from people in their families, and keeps on because it's the right thing to do? It appears that the TV show only has the budget to help those who "deserve" the help. I know that ABC only has so much money and that they are looking for a good story. It's good television. And I do like the show for a lot more reasons than just the family getting a new home.

What I'm trying to do is use this as a springboard to talk about something even more important than a nice home.

The Bible tells us that we might hesitate to die for a righteous man, and that some of us would even dare to die for a good man. But Jesus went way above and beyond.

He died for us when we were still spitting in His face.

In His great love, He did it anyway, without regard to how we would take it, whether we would accept it, or whether we even deserved it. He knew we didn't deserve it.

And yet the Great Carpenter offers a new life, a totally radical makeover - complete with demolition, design, construction ... and a final Reveal that's out of this world.

That's Extreme.

Grace upon Grace

It's mesmerizing, watching the waves come in at the shore. I remember a few times as a child on rare outings to the beach, losing myself in their hypnotic rhythm, allowing myself to be almost dizzy with the motion of a constantly moving landscape while I stood still, almost ankle deep as wave after wave lapped up nearly to my knees and back down. Then I'd feel the wave suck a little of the sand out from between my toes on its way back to the ocean - and within seconds it would all happen all over again. One after another - they never stopped. Rough, smooth, sunny, windy, rainy ... it never mattered. The speed and intensity might vary, but they never ceased rolling in. There was something comforting about the constancy and dependability of it all.

So when I first heard Gordon Jensen's song, Grace upon Grace, it touched something deep in the recesses of my spirit.

The concept of grace is not new to Christianity. But it is often sold short because all the preaching and the usual talk on grace talks about the forgiveness we have from the sins of the past. But let's think about it for a while. When Jesus died on the cross, you and I had not even been born yet. All our sins were in the future at that point in time - and so were all the sins of our children, and grandchildren, born or not even conceived yet!

In fact, when Jesus said, "It is finished!" He was talking about paying in full for every sin, past, present, and future - forever - for every person, past, present, and future. Nothing we have ever done and nothing we will ever do is too much for God, will not take Him by surprise, or cause Him to love us any less. Once we give Him our will and our lives to take care of, He will never leave us - never! His intense passion for relationship with us is faithful, persistent - even when we aren't. The deposit, the down-payment of His Spirit that He has placed in each of us will not let us go; He is faithful and persistent to complete what He has started and He has guaranteed that completion. That grace keeps on coming and coming, pouring over us, never-ending, above and beyond what we could ever imagine. Such lavish and loyal love - coming from the most pure heart in the universe - can only produce one reaction in the life of one so loved: a life lived from gratitude.

Consider these words:

Like the ocean in waves ever seeking the shore
To His children comes the grace of the Lord -
And like a mighty sea so deep and so wide
His grace to us is an endless supply....

Grace upon grace like the waves on the shore, always enough, always more -
Grace upon grace like the waves on the shore - all that we need is ours from the Lord.

In daylight or midnight the waves touch the shore,
One on another they faithfully pour!
Summer or winter they never subside
And so our gracious Father provides
Grace upon grace like the waves on the shore, always enough, always more -
Grace upon grace like the waves on the shore - all that we need is ours from the Lord.

Thank You SO much, Lord Jesus!!

It's all about Him

General William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, was a mountain of faith and dedication to the Master, yet he was so incredibly humble. He never lost the wonder in the fact that he had been rescued by God. His gratitude took up the rest of his life.

"Oh, God, what can I say? Souls! Souls! Souls! My heart hungers for souls!" he said passionately.

Here's a short biography. It boggles the mind the things that can be accomplished when a person is sold out for Jesus.
When asked for the secret of his success, William Booth said:

"I will tell you the secret. God has had all there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I, men with greater opportunities. But from the day I got the poor of London on my heart and caught a vision of all Jesus Christ could do with them, on that day I made up my mind that God would have all of William Booth there was. And if there is anything of power in the Salvation Army today, it is because God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will, and all the influence of my life."

What an amazing legacy. Yet I firmly believe that he would be the first to say, after he had done all he could possibly do, that he was "but an unprofitable servant." This wasn't false humility. It was recognition of the impossibility of repaying a debt paid for him in full, by the One who did not owe him anything.
The story is told of General Booth's final hours. He was visited frequently by many people as he lay on his death-bed. Of these, a couple of the Army's officers came to see him. Everyone knew his time was short as he grew more and more weak. One of them said to him, "Well, General Booth, soon you will be going to receive your reward."

The old gentleman raised himself up as much as he could and looked at the man with fire in his eyes. "I go to receive no such thing," he said sharply. "I go to receive ... mercy."

His was no spirit of entitlement. He knew there was only one God in the universe and that it wasn't him. He was continually amazed that Jesus could love him and would offer him eternal life. He was fully aware that it was entirely the opposite of what he deserved on his own merits. "I go to receive - mercy." His whole life was about the mercy and grace of God. It's the foundational principle of the Salvation Army - which has seen countless lives redeemed by God's mercy and grace, overflowing with gratitude in service to this same God.

I look forward to meeting him someday.

It's OK to get carried away

Have a listen to this song that's been on my mind for over a week now.

"When I Get Carried Away"

I love the play on words in the song - but the message is far deeper than just that. It's something that touched me in a place that needed reaching after my brother's death.

The subject of Heaven doesn't get much press anymore. "Pie in the sky bye and bye" (so heavenly minded we're no earthly good) has been one of the criticisms that the world has had regarding the church. But our hope and our expectation is that we will spend eternity with Jesus. It's a fact that brings us more and more comfort the older we get. Faced with our own mortality, perhaps by a diagnosis, perhaps by the illness or death of someone close to us, we can draw great comfort from the fact of "absent from the body, present with the Lord." Paul said, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all people."

That doesn't prevent us from enjoying life now. There is no hard and fast rule that we have to go through life as though it's all "our cross to bear" or "a vale of tears." Jesus said that the ones who believed in Him HAVE eternal life, HAVE passed from death to life. That means eternal life - the abundant life Jesus spoke about - begins the moment we ask Him into our hearts as our only hope of deliverance from the penalty of our sin. The more we realize this, the more we will overflow with gratitude to Him for doing for us what we couldn't possibly do for ourselves. We can feast on that; it's the meat and potatoes of the Christian life.

And Heaven .... becomes GRAVY. (For those who like sweets, it's the icing on the cake...) and we will truly let the glory roll when the roll is called in Glory.