I want more

Imagine this: the very first conscious memory you have is a picture of your dad's face being less than six inches away from your own. He is smiling, holding your head in his hands. He is talking to you, and the best word to describe how you feel is safe. There is no place on earth that compares to the feeling you have when you are in your father's arms.

Follow Me

When was the last time you had an "Aha!" moment? You know, one of those moments when something you've seen or read a thousand times you suddenly see and understand in an entirely new light for the first time.

I had one of those recently when I was reading in Matthew:

The Lord is my Shepherd

"The Lord is my Shepherd."

Anyone who has ever heard the Scripture passage above can usually tell you how comforted they are when they think of the portion from which it is quoted. And it is a comfort and solace to many. The whole Psalm speaks of being cared for, guided, guarded, commended, elevated in front of enemies. It speaks of being in God's favor, having a position of particular identity with Him, and of having an intimate relationship with the God of the Universe. What a wonderful place to be.

One might think that God had bestowed special status on the writer to the extent that He will carry out the writer's requests at a moment's notice.

The supposition is that God is passively involved with His creation. His presence is required only for answering prayers favorable to the petitioners so that life can continue pleasantly. When not needed, God can be off somewhere doing something else for anyone else. As such, God has been portrayed as being a distant parent - uncaring, uncommunicative, whimsical - anything but engaged with His creation. Since being cast out into the world, man is left to fend for himself, making progress by his own efforts. God has abandoned His creation.

His Cross, Our Cross

And He said to them all, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

Anytime we consider Jesus, in either conversation, prayer, or any other pursuit, invariably the cross can become part of the issue. It is difficult to be involved in any aspect of Christian life without the cross being somewhere in the picture. It is a defining icon of our identification with Christ.

What do you think of when you see a cross? A group of Christians was asked this question recently. Some of their answers are listed below:

When God changes a heart

I just watched the movie, The Cinderella Man, with Russell Crowe as the lead character. At first it was encouraging to root for the underdog, knowing he would win against his adversary Max Baer. What I discovered unsettling was a paradigm shift within me.

Great endings

A friend of mine recently passed along some wise counsel that is well worth repeating:

1. Live without pretending.  We are not who we think we are. We are, however, who Christ says we are. 2 Cor. 5: 17 tells us, "If any man be in Christ, he is a(n entirely) new creation; the old has passed away, behold, new things have come." We do not have to live beneath our station in Christ, because, in Him, we are more than conquerors.
2. Love without depending. In the love chapter of the Bible, 1 Cor. 13: 4, 5, we hear "Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own." The kind of love God has for us - and wants us to have - is other centered.
3. Listen without defending.  1 Cor. 13: 5 goes on to say that "love is not provoked." It listens patiently, hoping to give a reason for the hope within us. It values both speaker and listener.
4. Speak without offending. Our aim in Christ is to build up, stir up, and cheer up so that the Church - the body of Christ - is neatly fitted and joined together by that which every joint supplies (Eph. 4:16). It grows, it works and produces work fit for the kingdom of God.

As we move through our days, let us determine to be "other centered" and so demonstrate the heart of God.

About the Future

A 20th century Christian sage said, "We are made for eternity as surely as we are made for time. Everything we do, therefore, is about the future."

Looking at that far distant country - the future - I find there is much I am only beginning to understand about God's denouement for history.

The kingdom of God has, for the most part, been relegated by some scholars to a future undetermined time and having little immediate importance. Jesus said quite a bit to His disciples (and by extension, to us) about the kingdom. There is much for us to heed as well.

In future posts I hope to take a closer look at God's kingdom and what it means for His creation and His people. Please join me in this discussion, as we are fellow travelers.

JH