Do- Overs

The mistakes I've made- The things I have said that I wish I could have back- The times I have dissappointed people close to me and not so close to me- The pain I have caused myself and others. What do I do with those things? There are few opportunities for Do- Overs in life. In fact I am not sure there are any. Things done can not be erased.

Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him- even those called according to His purpose.

Is it true?

Is God at work even in the depths of my mistakes- my failures-

Even my sin and selfish acts?

Does God's sovereignty extend even to cover my free choices that are wrong?

Is He able to take my inadequacy and use it to accomplish His Good Purposes?

I believe it is true- I hope it is true- In many ways, because of the vastness of my brokeness- my sinfulness and my screw-ups- God's Loving Sovereignty is my only Hope. Have mercy on us Lord Jesus- Have Mercy,

So what am I to do with all this- this reality of my own inability to make things right?

Two scriptures come to mind.

Matthew 11:28 Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in Heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden light.

I hear God say in all this to let go of all these things-

let them go and break their hold-

Trust Me Charles -

Trust Me to swallow even these things up and use them for My Good Purposes.

Phillipians 3:12-14 (Excerpts) Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead- I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me- I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me Heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Press On Charles- Press On.

Lord God Almighty, by Your Great Power and Infinite Love and Mercy move in me- in all of us who read this and struggle with our mistakes of the past- with our weakness and sin and inadequacy- with those things that haunt us-

those things that could have been-

Move in us to rest in You and to Press on in Your Grace.

Amen

Just Some Clouds

I was driving down the road yesterday evening- taking my son Matthew to his Mixed Martial Arts class-when I could not help but notice the horizon off to my right. As we came to a stop light I was captured by the beauty of the picture God had painted-

The sky- The clouds- The sun's reflection.

I wish I had words to describe what I saw.

I will try.

The clouds were majestic as they seemed to rise from out of the ground. Those closer to the horizon were an ominous but shimmering steel gray. They looked to be impregnated with Anger- Anger and Power- The power of some impending thunder god A god that might send forth hail and bolts of lightening in an unbridled expression of wrath. But as I lifted my gaze just a bit higher, these very same clouds changed- They subtly shifted in color from that ominous steel gray to the whitest of whites- Bright beyond anything I can ever remember seeing before. The power was still there- the majesty was still there- But in this higher place, instead of being filled with wrath- These very same clouds seemed to be bursting forth with Joy and Hope and Goodness- Power, but a different display. Now all of this was worthy in and of itself to spend a moment taking in- But there was one other piece to this picture God had painted for me- A clear message that captured me there at that stop light at that moment in time.......

Rising up out of the ground and positioned so that it's top was set directly against the backdrop of these magnificent clouds was a red and white triangular street sign with the word YIELD spelled out directly in it's center.

Oh, the messages of God- they come in the most unexpected places as I go about this business of life.

Yield- Yield to My Power Charles- Yield to My Joy and Goodness and Hope and yes even to My Wrath. Be as amazed with Me as you are with this cloud I have sent you today.

Exodus 34:5 -6 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with Moses and proclaimed His name-The Lord. He passed in front of Moses proclaiming, The Lord, The Lord- The Compassionate and Gracious God- Slow to Anger and abounding in Love and Faithfulness.

Lord God Almighty- show me where I need to yield to You today. By Your Holy Spirit move in me to be still and know that You are God. Empower me and let me feel Your Power and Courage and Love and Faithfulness so that I may take hold of who You are and yield.

Amen

Pain in this World

Christianity does not innoculate me against pain in this world- Christianity does not insulate me from dissappointment. I wish I could say that giving my life to Christ meant that my suffering was over-That everything from that moment forward would go my way- that there would be nothing but bliss all day every day, but........................

We are not in Heaven yet- The Kingdom of God is still dealing with opposition in this world and tragically even opposition in me- a Christian.

As long as that opposition exist, there will be pain and dissappointment. God will not spare me, but instead will heal me in the midst of it.

John 16:33 Jesus said," In this world you will have trouble. But take Heart, I have overcome the world."

Right about now I am- I suspect we all are- experiencing some trouble- some pain- some dissapointment. Mine is of my own doing- in that there are things I clearly want that are not in God's plan or timing for me at this point- maybe never. The words resound-

Take Heart- Take Heart- Be strong and Courageous, for I am with you- I will never leave or forsake you. I know the plans I have for you- plans for good- I have come to give you life.

I know in all this God is inviting us (me) to trust Him in a more real way- to let go of lesser things and take hold of Him for Life.

Holy Spirit rise up in me to do this- to take Heart and really trust You for my Life. Help me to say along with Your servant David, " The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." and again, "Create a pure heart in me and renew a right spirit in me...........Restore unto me the joy of Thy Salvation." All Praise be to You Lord for all You are doing to unite my Heart to Your own Great Heart.

Amen

What do you want? (Part 2)

I heard the story of a man-

He was a good man-

A hard working man-

A man who had dreams and aspirations of greatness.

He had a vision for his life- for success and acclaim and power and wealth.

And so this man set about the business of climbing the ladder of success.

He was indeed a clever and industrious man who after much toil and skill and manipulation was able to reach the top of the ladder.

He had arrived- He had achieved all he set out to do-

He was at the pinnacle of his life- The master of his domain.

As he surveyed all he had accomplished- all he had given life and energy for-

He was surprised at his own sense of discontentment and began to wonder........

Did I have my ladder against the wrong wall? This is not what I thought it would be. I have done all that I set out to do- Now What?

Oswald Chambers- My Utmost for His Highest- July 13- Paraphrase

Over and over again God has to remove our lesser desires to bring Himself into their place.

Is there some other thing I desire more than God Himself?

Is there some lesser desire I am focused on that I think will bring me the life I long for?

Do I really believe God is all of Who He says He is?

John 10:10 Jesus said, "I have come that you may have life and have it in abundance"

Father in Heaven, Give me a desire for You that is the defining desire of my life. Purify all the other lesser things- Even removing them where they need to be removed so that my life may be completely hidden within Your own. Lord, You know there are things I want- things that I believe will make me happy- Grant me those things only as they lead me deeper into Your Heart of Love and Goodness.

Matthew 6 (Excerpt) Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven......for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Lord Jesus, let my heart be consumed with You.

Holy Spirit, lead me and comfort me in all these things.

Amen

What do you want?

It usually starts with an innocent enough statement- "Hey lets go out to eat!" my wife might say. To which I reply," Sure, what do you want?" To which Julie will reply, "I don't care- you pick". Now is where the fun begins- You all know- You have been there. "What about Chinese?" "No, I had that yesterday." "Well what about Mexican?" "You know My stomach can't handle that right now." "Okay then well what do you want?" "I don't know- I guess what I was really thinking was........"

I am not sure we will ever really be able to hear God or unite to His heart and purposes as long as we have our own ends in mind.

Isn't this how we are with God so often. He comes and invite us into His enterprises and even give us some options about how we might fit into what He has going.

It' s like He is saying, Hey Charles, let's get together and do this (Whatever this is) and I come back and say Great, Lord I would love to spend some time with You, but I was thinking we might do this (Something else) instead.

Lord, why don't You join me in what I want to do?

In fact, here are my plans, would You just please bless them-

You know they are good-

You know lots of people will be helped-

Lord, why don't You just join me in what I want-

You could be a big help.

I believe what God wants for us more than anything else is that we unite to His Heart in such a way that our greatest desire become simply.............Him.

When will I reach a point in my life where all of who I am revolves around Him- Where He is my great desire?

Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord

Matthew 6:33 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God

Oh, I know these verses have second parts- Promises even- but can we just forget those for a while and say along with our Lord Jesus to the Father, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done"?

Father in Heaven, work out Your ways in my life today and tomorrow and every day. Holy Spirit, cultivate in me a desire for being united to the Great Heart of God- For being united to my Lord Jesus in all His Love and Grace and Mercy and Goodness. All Praise be to You Father in Heaven for how You are working all these things out.

Amen

What's the hurry?

Slow Down.

These are the words that God gave me this morning as I awoke from some dream or other.

I wish I could remember it.

Driveness has plagued me as long as I can remember. One of my all time favorite quotes is from Vince Lombardi- The iconic coach of the Green Bay Packer dynasty of the 60's. Lombardi said,

"The Quality of a man's life is in direct proportion to his pursuit of excellence"

I love the quote- I think it is spot on............... Except for my own over emphasis of one word-

Pursuit

Is there ever a time to set aside the pursuit and rest? In my mind I say yes-

My heart and actions tell a different story-

I am driven- Relentlessly in pursuit of.................... Something-

Sometimes I get so busy I am not even sure what.

Mary, Martha and Lazarus loved Jesus- Jesus really seemed to enjoy spending time with them as well. On one occasion when Jesus was over for a visit it seems the family decided to have some folks over. Martha was a worker. Give the woman a task and get out of the way as she became a whirling dervish of motion and effeciency. A woman after my own heart- On a mission- Driven for everything to come together- just so. It was a good thing. It is a good thing for all of us to be able to rise to the occasion and "Get 'er Done". Maybe sometimes though it is not the best thing.

Mary on the other hand seemed a little more laid back- maybe even a little flighty- not so practical as her sister. It seems on this particular occasion as Martha was busy preparing for the guests and Jesus- Mary had decided to simply take some time and sit with Jesus- Visiting- Listening- Enjoying the time with Him.

Now as you can imagine as Martha was working her hind end off to make the preparations for a nice little party while her sister was just sort of chilling out with Jesus- Martha began to get a little resentful- a little angry even- not only at her sister, but at Jesus as well for not telling Mary to get up and get busy.

It's really odd that as I write these very words I am trying to hurry up and get ready to go out of town to relax a bit- Yet my very driveness will not allow me to stop until I'm done. What did I say about my actions a minute ago? Lord help me!

Anyway as Martha Complains to Jesus- His reply is recorded in Luke 10:41 as He said,

"Martha, Martha-You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better- and it will not be taken away from her."

Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, "Come to Me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Lord Jesus help me- help me to slow down and come to You- Today, this weekend and all the time to come. Help me to live the better way.

Amen

Changing my heart (Part 3)

I can not change my heart alone. I do not want anyone to get the wrong idea from parts 1 and 2. No amount of disciplined living- Directing my eyes and feeding on what is good- will ultimately be successful when it comes to finding the Life God made me for-

If I try to do it in isolation.

God works out my heart changes in the context of Community- Through relationships- Honest real relationships with my brothers and sisters in Christ as I discipline my eyes and my appetites.

I need help. Yes- I need help from the Holy Spirit to become what God made me to be, and I find His help most often in the context of Authentic Relationships with others who have committed their lives to Jesus.

A friend recently said to me-

"Charles, I don't believe I have to go to church to be a good person."

At the time I nodded in agreement- and in some sense I still agree.

Going into a church does not make you good any more than sitting in a garage makes you a car.

I get that- I think I understand where my friend is coming from, yet..........................

I am not sure when people say this kind of thing- if what they really mean is........

I don't need a community of believers to be good- I can do it myself.

What a lie- from the father of lies.

If I am ever going to find the Life God has made me for- The Life He sent Jesus to win back for me- I am convinced it will only be found as I pursue vital living relationships with others in His Body.

These others are not my salvation, but they can be an incredible expression of God's Love for me- To lead me to Life.

John 17:21 Jesus prayed, "that they all may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe"

Father in Heaven- Lead me to others who love you today. Bring us together in You for the Life You have for us all- Together.

Amen