One day I was having a pity party complaining to the Father about life and things that had been happening to me as I was being obedient to Him. (I am sure this doesn't sound very spiritual nor like I have much faith but I seek to have an honest and open relationship to my heavenly Father.) Anyhow, I was complaining about being publicly humiliated by church leadership, being jeered at by pastors, someone yelling at me at church, betrayal by a friend, lies being told about me, and in general just how hard life was at the time. Worst of all of these things happened because I had been obedient after fasting and prayer, being impressed by the Holy Spirit to do and say certain things. As I am complaining I thought about how bumper sticker theology says that being in the center of God's will is the safest place to be, not in human terms! Being obedient has led to more than one person's torture, humiliation, and death. At the height of my selfish rant I heard this small voice say, "I wanted you to know just a sliver of my Son's suffering." I fell to the floor weeping, repenting for selfishness and complaining. My present troubles were nothing compared to what Jesus went through for me. In my mind all of these things were terrible and not fair. In the mind of Christ these things were for my benefit causing me to understand the benefit of suffering for His sake in this life.
The Apostle Paul, who knew something about suffering, wrote these precious, encouraging words, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." NIV
Easter weekend we remember the Passion of Christ for us. As we reflect on the One without sin being made sin for our sake let us rejoice in our own sufferings since we will share in His resurrection. You and I will never suffer to the extent Jesus did carrying the burdens of humanity to the Cross but we will suffer as we serve Him. Our current troubles are but for a moment but the resurrection is for eternity. There is joy in knowing that Jesus has overcome sin, disease, death, and finally the grave as we await His return, or even the possibility of our own stepping into glory at our last heart beat.
Once I was with an elderly saint who served the LORD as a pastor's wife, mother, and servant to others as she was living her last few days in a worn out body. She kept repeating the same words over and over again and her daughter-in-law asked me if I could understand what she was saying. Leaning over the bed rail, getting as close to her as I could I heard as she was reciting Psalm 150, "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD!." Let us praise the LORD as we share in His sufferings and resurrection.
Have a blessed and wonderful resurrection Sunday.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
What Do People See In You?
One of my favorite images in the Bible is in Isaiah 6:3 where the seraphim are calling holy, holy, holy, to one another as they worship around the throne of God. The word holy means different. Since the beginning of time the seraphim have been crying different, different, different to one another as they look upon the character, personality,and glory of God since eternity. I have often visualized God as this exquisitely cut diamond, where as the light hits it you are seeing something you have never seen before, a different facet of this precious gem as you look intently upon it. This is what the seraphim experience each moment of each day. We as mere humans who have yet to view the Father in all of His glory. Our view and image of God is obstructed by our carnality thus obscuring the different facets of a holy God. In this life we have yet to see all of God's character, depth of His personality, or the fullness of His glory. This is a humbling realization yet we know aspects of God's character from the scripture. For example, we know that He is a jealous God, a just judge, a compassionate shepherd, and a God of love.
Paul wrote in 2Corinthians 3:18 that we reflect the glory of the LORD to the world. We are created in His image and we share a part of His personality and character. There are times I wonder what aspect of God's personality and character do we reflect? Based on my experience and my own sinful nature I am concerned how the world sees God through the church. Do they see the God of compassion or apathy? Do they see the God of love or hate? Do they see the God of mercy or a vengeful God? Do they see a God of grace or a God of judgement? You get the idea, how are we reflecting God's character?
As those that claim to be followers of Jesus we have to be on guard how we represent Him to the world. There was a time in my life that I walked away from the church because grace and love were not exhibited. While in college I would watch Christian television for a laugh because it was entertaining. Walking around campus the only "Christians" I saw were Bible thumpers spewing hate and condemnation. Going through a crisis moment in my life when life wasn't worth living anymore and searching for answers I found pastors more concerned about the law than grace and love. Being in church I have found pettiness, selfishness, sin upon sin, betrayal, liars, thieves, you name it I have experienced it and so have you. In fact, we probably have a name and a face we can match to this list.
If our view of God were only though the lens of some in the church we would never want to have anything to do with Him or His church. Yet, that is not the complete picture of God. There are many who are reflecting the character and personality of God in how they serve Him and others. When I see people being served and prayed with I am seeing God. When I see individuals and families sacrificing to serve others I see Him. When I am in a service and the congregation is engaged in worshipping in spirit and truth I see Him. I have been blessed more by watching God's personality being revealed by those that are truly following Jesus than I can possibly put into words. These followers will never receive fame or fortune, they will not have a TV ministry, nor will they write a best seller but one day Jesus will call out their name before the Father and proclaim this is my servant and I am well pleased. (I might be able to preach that one). So the question is this, which aspect of God's personality and character are you reflecting?
Paul wrote in 2Corinthians 3:18 that we reflect the glory of the LORD to the world. We are created in His image and we share a part of His personality and character. There are times I wonder what aspect of God's personality and character do we reflect? Based on my experience and my own sinful nature I am concerned how the world sees God through the church. Do they see the God of compassion or apathy? Do they see the God of love or hate? Do they see the God of mercy or a vengeful God? Do they see a God of grace or a God of judgement? You get the idea, how are we reflecting God's character?
As those that claim to be followers of Jesus we have to be on guard how we represent Him to the world. There was a time in my life that I walked away from the church because grace and love were not exhibited. While in college I would watch Christian television for a laugh because it was entertaining. Walking around campus the only "Christians" I saw were Bible thumpers spewing hate and condemnation. Going through a crisis moment in my life when life wasn't worth living anymore and searching for answers I found pastors more concerned about the law than grace and love. Being in church I have found pettiness, selfishness, sin upon sin, betrayal, liars, thieves, you name it I have experienced it and so have you. In fact, we probably have a name and a face we can match to this list.
If our view of God were only though the lens of some in the church we would never want to have anything to do with Him or His church. Yet, that is not the complete picture of God. There are many who are reflecting the character and personality of God in how they serve Him and others. When I see people being served and prayed with I am seeing God. When I see individuals and families sacrificing to serve others I see Him. When I am in a service and the congregation is engaged in worshipping in spirit and truth I see Him. I have been blessed more by watching God's personality being revealed by those that are truly following Jesus than I can possibly put into words. These followers will never receive fame or fortune, they will not have a TV ministry, nor will they write a best seller but one day Jesus will call out their name before the Father and proclaim this is my servant and I am well pleased. (I might be able to preach that one). So the question is this, which aspect of God's personality and character are you reflecting?
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