How are you praying?

So God gave us prayer for many reasons. To thank Him, to ask of Him, but mainly just to talk to Him. He wants to know our hearts. He wants to know what's going on. Can He simply read our minds and be done with us? Sure He can, but He wants us to talk to Him. If I could read my wife's thoughts, it might be kind of cool for a little while, but I will lose the interaction that forms an important part of our relationship. If I am just sitting there absorbing her thoughts it is just a one-way form of communication. She gets nothing in return. This is how it is with God. He wants to interact with us, and in that interaction miracles happen. That is where we know that we are not alone. That is where we know Christ is alive. That is where we know that we are not living by blind faith. This ultimately is the confirmation of our faith.

But maybe you pray all the time and you feel like you don't get a response. Maybe you are praying with selfish motives. Maybe it is all about you. What if someone you loved was always asking you for things and not once asking how you are doing or what they could do for you? That is what is called a high maintenance friend. Well that is true of a lot of Christ followers. They are high maintenance Christians. God wants to be your friend where the relationship is a two way street. He wants you to come to Him for things, but He also wants to come to you for things. He wants to know that you are willing to follow where He leads. When asking for things, it needs to be in line with His Kingdom and His will.

So next time that you offer up a prayer to God, think about how you are asking it and how would you feel if you were on the receiving end. This is not to say that you can't just cry out to Him when you need Him. Like any good friend He will be there for you to listen and care. He loves you and wants you to know that. I think that He just wants to have a relationship with you like any other person. He is not as distant as we make Him. He is as close as we let Him. So I guess it is kind of like the Golden Rule: Treat God like you would want to be treated. Talk to Him and he will talk to you!!!

Is the Law your God?

In 1 Timothy 1, Paul is writing to Timothy in Ephesus. The Ephesian church was becoming a place where people were getting too hung up on false doctrine and following the law to the tee rather then lifting each other up in love. Paul addresses this especially in regards to the "fantasy stories" and "fanciful family trees that digress into silliness". This of course is referring to the church getting caught up in the twisting of the Word and the useless genealogies that caused more division than unity. The letter then transitions to what needs to be focused on, taught, and lived. And that is love. So if you take a step back here, there is a battle between the doctrine, or law, of the Ephesian church and the loving nature of Christ.

I never really thought about it before, but sometimes I get too worried about following the "law" so perfectly that I always fall short. Instead of getting hung up on this I need to have love be the purpose. God is love, a message that the apostle John used as a theme in all of his writings. Now I am not saying that the law needs to be ignored but rather used as a guideline for those already seeking the Lord. Paul goes onto say that it is designed for those that are not yet living for Christ. For us that claim to follow Christ, we need to be more concerned with our personal relationships with Him than making sure that we stay with in the lines. It is the personal versus the impersonal. Jesus wants to know us because of how much we love Him, not because how well we keep the rules. I was listening to a sermon recently on this and how impossible it is to keep the law. There is no way on earth that we as humans can keep all the rules set before us. That is why we ALWAYS fall short, and for some people this is what keeps them down. They are looking more to the law then they are to the Lord. The law was given to us to help us not rule us. The law, in a sense, is more like road signs pointing us in the right direction. Once we have arrived it is on us to maintain the relationship so that we stay there, but if we get "lost" again we need to use the road signs to get us back there.

So instead of worshipping the thing that points us to the Lord, we need to worship Lord and us utilize the law to help us get there and remain there. So when it comes down to it, who or what is your God? If it is the law are you a happy Christ follower or a miserable failure? I would guess the latter. Take a step back and adjust what leads you. May it be the Lord in heaven who loves you and cares for you. May He be your God.

Bearded Compliments

Recently I have been the recipient of several compliments. All having to do with my appearance. More specifically, all having to do with my facial hair. At first I was getting great compliments about the way that it looked. But I should have suspected something when all of them came from youth, more specifically from male youth between the ages of 15-18. If you have been following me on Twitter or are one of my friends on Facebook you might have seen that I have been growing out what I like to call a "man-beard". A man beard is simply facial hair that is grown out with little to no grooming with the hopes of being mistaken for a lumberjack. But on Father's day it would all change. Upon completion of my Father's day meal I took a pic and posted it on Twitpic, and much to my horror the beard looked grotesque and unsightly. This sparked me to shave it. Which in turn led to more "compliments", one as recent as today. Normally I would accept them with open arms basking in the radiance of people showering me with greatness. But these compliments in particular have been somewhat......how do I say it......RUDE!!!! The first one was on Saturday night while at church. This one, might I add, is more forgivable because it came from an 11 year old boy. While in conversation with the boy's father he decided to compliment me on my recent shave. "I see you shaved," said the boy. "It looks like you shaved thirty years off of your life." I didn't know how to respond to that. Did he just give me a reverse compliment? The other one was so graciously bestowed upon me by the check-in worker at the YMCA. You know the place where people go to exercise and feel better about themselves? Well before I could even begin to think better about myself the trend of "compliments" continued. As I handed my key chain for her to scan she looked at me oddly for a second and then her eyes became bright and she asked me if I had a beard the previous week. I told her that I did but that it was uncomfortable because of the heat. A lie of course. Then she said it. She said the most unexpected form of a compliment that I have ever received. Instead of saying, "You look good", or "What an amazing jaw line". She said, "Well......keep shaving." Keep shaving!?! What was that supposed to mean? Was that even meant to be nice. I had nothing to say in response. I was in shock. So I looked like a freak with my beard and now I look like Brad Pitt to you lady? What the heck!?!

From there I went. On with my day. On with my life trying to comprehend what has been going on with these people. I have come to two conclusions from this whole experience. One is that no one I know knows how to give a genuine compliment, and two I need to stop looking for compliments. I am only going to let myself down. I need to find value from God, not from others around me. If I look for it from others I will be hugely disappointed as you all have seen from this blog entry. Only God has the real view of you and it is one of love, respect, loyalty, honesty, and I could go on and on. So look to Him and you will be fine.

Be Mentioned

For sixteen verses in Romans 16, Paul gives his TRL style shout-outs to his peeps. From Pheobe, to Priscilla and Aquilla, to Adronicus to Plegon. Those last two sound like they are from the planet Zorkon of the Nebulal Quadrant (seriously they do). And while mentioning their names, he gives reasons, indirectly, why. While I never noticed this before, there are some pretty amazing people recognized. Some are known for their hospitality, their love of God, being the first follower of Christ in Asia (dang, that is sweet), two are known for sharing a jail cell while also being believers longer than Paul. The list goes on and on. But they are mentioned by name. He then goes on to mention those that are up to no good. The thing is that he doesn't waste ink on their names. He just says to avoid them and what they do. They are out for selfish reasons and to lead others astray.
I don't want to be the ones mentioned for the negativity they were known for. Their names are not even acknowledged, but I rather be named. I want to live a life that is worthy of God. I say so in the most humble of means. I want to be known for sticking my neck out there (vs 4), laboring much for the kingdom (vs. 6,12), being a fellow worker in Christ (vs. 3, 9), and being a beloved in the Lord (vs. 8). All the things mentioned were done so not for how great they made Paul feel or how great it made him look, but rather how they were living for Christ. The latter were warned against, almost black-listed. Paul wanted people to know what others were doing in the name of Christ.
I have often joked about wanting to be listed in the Bible if it were to be continually added to, but in some seriousness I do. I want to be known for a life that has been lived for God. I know that I have a long way to go, but with the Lord's help I can become what He wants me to become.

"Lord bring me to a place where I am known for loving You, loving others, and serving the world. Let it be the the light that you are shining through me. May I be an agent for the Kingdom rather than a destroyer of it. If anyone were to mention my name, let it be you." Let this be your prayer. Let this be something that defines you. Let this be why you are mentioned.

Encouraging Evangelism

Romans 15:21 says: "Those who were never told of him—they’ll see him! Those who’ve never heard of him— they’ll get the message!"

I don't think that this scripture only refers to those that have never heard the name "Jesus", but rather those who have never heard or encountered His character, His peace, His love, His grace, etc. People can know the Bible and know the name Jesus, but never trully know. There are a lot of Christians that know Him but don't trully KNOW Him. This is where they have never had a true encounter with Him. They are just going through the motions. So many people will say that they are Christians, but their lack of relationship with Jesus will play out in their actions and deeds. What is their fruit? What is my fruit? This is where we must continually be pressing into God so that we might KNOW Him. He will then use us so that others might have an encounter with Jesus. It is like when Christ calls Phillip to follow Him. He first ran and told his friend Nathaniel. At first Nathan was skeptical of Jesus, because he had not yet encountered Him. He even questioned if anything good came out of Nazareth. He did this because he just heard of the things that come from there. He had not trully investigated for himself. But when Christ revealed Himself to Nathan, an encounter happened and Nathan was transformed.

So like Phillip we must go and tell our friends, family, and coworkers about Christ and not become discouraged by the backlash but rather have them have an encounter with Christ. Then they will see and they will understand.

The Teachings of a Two Year Old

Lately it has seemed that our son's case of the terrible twos has errupted into a scene from the Exorcist movies. Not cool. But through it all God has been able to show my wife and I a lot. We have had our patience tried through a lot of bad behavior. Talking back, straight-out defiance, and a destructive spirit. Bekah and I were at our wits end at what to do or even how to parent. It came to a breaking point last night and this morning. Nathan woke up several times and wouldn't go to sleep. That was just the beginning. When we finally woke up Bekah got his breakfast, some cereal and grape juice. I was still lying in bed when she said that Nathan had thrown his cereal on the floor. This was not the climax. He then proceeded to throw his juice onto the floor. He then had the nerve to tell Bekah to clean it up. Needless to say a barage of emotions were expressed amongst the mess and exhaustion from the previous night's lack of sleep. After the dust cloud had settled and the morning turned into the afternoon God decided to used this mornings events and the past couple of weeks to speak to me.

"That is how you have been acting and treating Me." Ouch. "You have made the mess and have demanded that I clean it up." Oh my. Is this true? Is this how I have been treating my Father? Through my sins and my arrogance I have been acting like a two year old with no remorse. But God has a way of getting a hold of us. I was listening to a podcast this morning while I was running and the pastor referenced the scripture in Revelation where God will vomit us out of His mouth if we are luke-warm. As the speaker mentioned didn't say that He wants us to be 100% "on fire" for Him or the complete opposite and be cold and useless, but rather be refreshing as a ice cold drink on a hot summer's day or a hot cup of cocoa on a frigid winter's night. The point is that to be luke-warm is to be useless. The way that I have been in my spiritual walk lately has been that comfortable, complacent, content Christian.......USELESS.

God used my two year old son to show me that. Through my lacking and disregard for who God really is, He used my flesh and blood to teach me what I should know at 27 years of age. Thank you Father for my son and through humbling me and teaching me that you want me in 100% not in the middle. Make me a ice cold refreshment that is utterly consumed by flames of refinement and grace.

Get out of the way!!!

Something that struck me powerfully this morning is where I was reading in Romans 9. It first speaks of Paul's sorrow because of his people not accepting the fact that Jesus was who he said he was. It then goes into addressing the spiritual aspect of the lineage of Abraham. I never caught it before, but there has always been a "one or the other" situation with this. In verse 7 he states that the Jews will be defined with Isaac, he then goes on to talk about Jacob and Esau and how "the older will serve the younger". So here there is a clear line of who God has chosen, but it is not based on the works performed by either Isaac or Jacob but by God who called them.

So why did this stick out to me do you ask? Simply for the fact that in both these situations there are God moments and then there are man moments. With Abraham, he took it on his own to have a son with Hagar in which Ishmael is born and the Palestinians are descended. The other is the plot to have Jacob receive the birthright from Isaac. In which he did receive so deceitfully. In both these situations, man got in the way. This is much like all of us in every way. We choose to do it our way or God's way. Nine time out of ten it is our way.

In Galatians 4:21-31 Paul addresses the slave woman versus the free woman and how we are either born to the slave woman or born to the free woman. This in a sense is a warning to us that we can either choose to live in bondage because we do it our way, or we can choose to live in freedom because we do it God's way. Initially we are all in bondage to sin, but because of what Christ did for us we are now free.

So why remain in bondage? I know that there are many reasons why one would, but maybe knowing that if we do things God's way it will bring us freedom then we will choose this more often.

I would like to start living with the moniker, "It's either God's way or the highway", rather then the other well too practiced one. May God bless you and may you not get in the way so much.