Legacy

 I've had to attend way too many funerals/memorial services/celebrations of life lately. Rightfully, the central theme of all of them is what that person meant to other people; family, friends, acquaintances. Everyone sharing memories, sharing positive attributes of that person. Of course, we all realize that no one is perfect but everyone focuses on the positive things about the person who has passed. I've never been to a funeral where someone got up and declared what a dirty, rotten scoundrel the individual was. Obviously I'm not suggesting that we should do that but it made me start thinking about what I will leave behind when I'm gone; my legacy.

Legacy is an interesting word. I was somewhat surprised by the variety of definitions which included wills, membership to organizations and outdated computer systems. The only one that really meant what I thought it would was "something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past." 

My curiosity made me wonder what the Bible had to say about legacy. I found nothing. Zip, Zilch, Nada. However, it has a lot to say about heritage. And the main idea of heritage in the Bible is what is stored up for us in Heaven. 

"According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading." 1 Peter1:3-4

Okay, so instead of sitting around here wondering what kind of a legacy I will leave behind, I need to be focusing on the heritage that awaits me. And not surprisingly, if I concentrate on the eternal and not the physical, my legacy will take care of itself. I won't have to work at it. I won't have to worry about whether I am going to be remembered well. My legacy will be obvious because my heritage is guaranteed when I live my life walking in God's will. 

Thank you for the reminder, Lord. 

Whatever We Ask

 Imagine that Johnny Morris handed you a credit card and said to buy whatever you want. Johnny is worth something like $5.7 billion so money is no object. Even if you spent $1 million a day, that's still only a drop in the bucket to his billions. Think of all the things you could do with that kind of money!

Of course, there's a catch. Isn't there always? 

The money you spend must further the success of his business. Okay, that dampens the excitement a bit, right?

Jesus tells us in John 15:7 that we can "...ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!" Sounds great, doesn't it? And He makes this promise over and over again. 

"...so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for..." John 15:16

"...I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request..." John 16:23

"...Ask,...and you will receive..." John 16:24

Over and over again, Jesus says, ask, ask, ask. But just as in our scenario with Johnny Morris, there is a catch. There's more to this asking command. Here's the catch:

"using my name."  "because you use my name."  "so that the Son may bring glory to the Father." "in order to bear much fruit and therefore glorify the Father."  "so that our joy may be complete." (John 15:16, 16:23, 16:24, 14:13, 15:8 respectively) 

This should change the focus of our requests. When I ask, am I asking in the context of how this can further God's kingdom? When I frame my prayers, am I framing them around what will glorify God? When I ask for a specific answer, will that answer add to the success of His kingdom? 

Are my prayers for financial provisions so that I can help more people hear about Him? Are my prayers for healing so God can be glorified? What if I pray for the removal of a struggle but God is using these struggles to grow my faith? When I don't get the answer I want, do I accept that God may have a higher purpose? 

These are questions that should change the focus of our prayers.

The CEO of the Kingdom of God has handed us a credit card with an unlimited limit. He tells us to ask and we will receive. The only catch is that it must advance His interests. What will we do with it?

A Christmas Perspective

 "Open presents." "Santa comin' town." Simple words with a simple perspective on Christmas. Laurie may be 43 in chronological terms but from the time the first Christmas light appears, her anticipation level rivals any 3 year old's. 

Does she understand that Christmas isn't all about presents and Santa? Probably not but what impresses me every year is how pure her excitement is. She is not concerned about commercialism. She is not stressed over whether plans made are sufficient. She is not worried about paying off credit card bills because she overspent on gifts. 

Her wonderment is innocent. Her delight is simple. 

Every year I have to remind myself that Laurie's perspective is something to be admired. Something to be inspired by. Something to emulate. 

Jesus' entrance into this world was simple and pure, just like Laurie's perspective. Even though my focus may be on His birth, His sacrifice for my sins and His role as my Savior, being able to enjoy the season with pure joy and awe like she does is truly a gift. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given..." Isaiah 9:6

Comfort

 When someone is going through a hard time, it is common for us to pray that the Lord will comfort them. But what does that really mean? 

The word comfort means "to give strength and hope to." It seems like a big task to be able to give strength and hope when one is dealing with something so devastating. And if it were up to just us, it would be an impossible task. Thankfully, it isn't up to us. The comfort we request is the supernatural-beyond- understanding-impossibly-possible kind that can come from only one place: God's Word. 

In Greek, the word "parakletos" is used to identify the Comforter and means "to plead another's cause to one, an intecessor." It is used multiple times in the Bible in reference to the Holy Spirit. 

So go with me here on the brain train. When we pray for God to comfort someone in their trials, we are essentially calling for the Holy Spirit to intercede for them. Does this not seem appropriate when we don't know how to help the person? When there seems to be no words? 

So as much as we would love to give comfort in words or actions, the only true comfort has to come from the Holy Spirit. It must come from the only one who understands our suffering and intercedes for us. It comes from the one who is all powerful and not from our own strength and hope. Thank you Jesus!

Isaiah 49:13 "... For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on them in their suffering."

Believers versus Followers

 If I asked you if you believe in Jesus, most of you would respond with a yes. It's the question most often asked when someone accepts Christ as their Savior. "Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God?"

The definition of belief is to accept as true. Belief is easy.

But let's take this illustration a bit farther. Imagine a chair. It looks like it's a pretty sturdy chair. It seems to be made by a reputable company. You might even see other people sitting in one just like it. But you've never sat in this chair before so how do you know it will hold you? You can deduce the reliability of the chair from what you can see. 

However, to really test this reliability, you have to DO something. You have to actually sit in the chair. Only then will your belief become justified.

Belief is important. It's the beginning of trust. Jesus talked about it multiple times. But listen to what Jesus said when he started rounding up His disciples:

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Matt 4:19

Notice He didn't say, "Come believe in me." In fact, the disciples' belief actually came later, after they had been following Him for a while and had seen His miracles.

The definition of follow is to engage in as a way of life. Following requires action. It requires engagement. It requires a life style change. I can believe in that chair all day long but until I take some action, I can not show my full trust.  

Repeatedly Jesus indicates that following is what He requires Matthew 8:22 "But Jesus told him, 'Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead.'" Matthew 9:9 "...'Follow me,' he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him." Matthew 10:38 "and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me." Matthew 16:24 "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'" It's pretty clear that He expected action.

So how do we know if our belief has manifested into following? We have to know Jesus, trust Him, and show by our actions that we believe. Without a close intimate relationship with Jesus, we cannot be an effective "follower."

Following doesn't mean we have to be perfect. Jesus' disciples certainly weren't but when their belief caught up with their following, nothing could stop them from telling the world about Jesus.

The questions I've been forced to ask myself then is "What do my actions say about me? Am I just a believer or am I truly a follower? It takes courage to ask these questions and even more to listen to the answers.  

Choose Carefully

 I hate the Proverbs 31 woman. Okay, maybe hate is a strong word but most days she just makes me feel like a failure. Verse 10 does sort of give us an out though.

"A wife of noble character who can find?"

Apparently she's hard to find. 

But that's not what I want to talk about today. Let's take a look at verse 16.

"She considers a field and buys it..."

Consider means "to think about carefully." So why did she "consider" this field before she bought it? I can think of three possible questions she might have asked herself.

1. Can I effectively cultivate this field with my present resources?
2. Will I have the time and energy to manage more acreage?
3. Will this field allow me to bless more people?

Women are notorious for overextending ourselves. We try to be everything to everybody and wind up burning out and being no good to anyone.

I think the Proverbs 31 woman is trying to tell us that we need to carefully consider what adding more things to our plate will accomplish. We need to ask ourselves who or what might suffer by adding these extra responsibilities. 

There have been many times in my life where I really wanted to get involved in something but I had to weigh how taking up more of my time would affect my family. How much time away from home would this require? Would I have the energy needed to care for my kids? What would be the cost financially or emotionally? 

Often I had to wait years before being able to participate in some of the things I desired. There are still a few things on my bucket list and I am hopeful that I can accomplish some of them now that I have retired from the job that demanded much of my time and energy. God knows the desires of my heart. If I can wait until such time as these things can be excellent, instead of just good, God will be able to use it for His glory so much better. 

I'm still not ready to be best friends with the Proverbs 31 woman but I might take a closer look at her lifestyle now. Except maybe for that part about getting up while it's still dark to provide food for her family. I don't do breakfast...

Underrowers

Did this title peak your curiousity? Never heard of an underrower? Now you're really curious? Read on...

 In 1 Corinthians 4:1, Paul refers to himself and Apollos as "mere servants of Christ." The Greek word for servant used here is "huperetes." No, I don't know how to pronounce it but broken down it looks like this:

hupo means "under" and eretes means "rower." Huperetes literally means "underrower." 

Being the "word nerd" that I am, I wanted to know where this word came from and why Paul was using it to describe himself and his colleague. Here's what I found out:

It goes back to the warships of their time and referred to the men who were in the bowels of the boat, chained to one of several benches, rowing as though their life depended on it, In fact, their lives usually did depend on it. There are a number of things to note about the position these men held.

The lowest deck of the ship was not a pleasant place to be. It was dark, dirty and hot. They couldn't see where they were going and had to completely rely on the captain for direction. They had to row together and be perfectly in sync with the other rowers or they weren't going anywhere. 

Real world application? I believe Paul had a really good reason to use this particular word to describe our job as Christians. Whether it be our family, our job and especially our church, we are called to be "underrowers." I see three definite applications for us.

1. Rowers don't build up muscle by rowing downstream.
• Having to row upstream creates the strength needed to be an effective rower. There's going to be difficult times in our lives but this is how God builds our spiritual muscles. 
2. Rowers must be in sync with each other and that takes concentrated effort. 
• The "rowing master" shouted the instructions to the "bow officer" who relayed instructions further down the ship and the "piper" kept time by playing an instrument like a flute. If any of these positions failed in their duties, the ship was going nowhere. So it is with Christians. If we fail to do our part, the Kingdom of God goes nowhere. 
3. Rowers had each other's backs.
• There were usually 3-7 men to each oar. If anyone got sick or was weaker, the others could pick up the slack and keep going. As Christians, we are to be encouragers to each other so in times of weakness, our strength can come from "rowing" together for the cause. 

Being an underrower may not be pretty or easy but God never guaranteed us pretty and easy. Like Paul and Apollos; we are to be "mere servants of Christ." Underrowers. Grab that oar and let's start rowing!