His Joy - My Joy

John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

The idea of joy vs. happiness is a buzz topic these days in Christian circles. What does “blessed” mean in The Sermon On The Mount? Some would say “happy,” and this is not incorrect, perhaps just incomplete. It seems best to say that “blessed” means “to have received joy,” and genuine joy is not dependent on circumstances whereas happiness is. Christ’s joy came from surrendering His own agenda and picking up that of His Father. Yes, there was suffering, but there was also a persistent joy, even though He was known as “The Man of Sorrows.” I am the one that produced His sorrows; He is the One that produces my joy.

Laughing At God

...And speaking of prayer, and what makes us tick, I think this pretty well encapsulates the human condition:

The Purpose Of Prayer – Luke 11:1

Luke 11:1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

OK, this is SO golden, that I had to publish the entire Chambers commentary for the day:

Prayer is not a normal part of the life of the natural man. We hear it said that a person’s life will suffer if he doesn’t pray, but I question that. What will suffer is the life of the Son of God in him, which is nourished not by food, but by prayer. When a person is born again from above, the life of the Son of God is born in him, and he can either starve or nourish that life. Prayer is the way that the life of God in us is nourished. Our common ideas regarding prayer are not found in the New Testament. We look upon prayer simply as a means of getting things for ourselves, but the biblical purpose of prayer is that we may get to know God Himself.

"Ask, and you will receive . . ." ( John 16:24 ). We complain before God, and sometimes we are apologetic or indifferent to Him, but we actually ask Him for very few things. Yet a child exhibits a magnificent boldness to ask! Our Lord said, ". . . unless you . . . become as little children . . ." ( Matthew 18:3 ). Ask and God will do. Give Jesus Christ the opportunity and the room to work. The problem is that no one will ever do this until he is at his wits’ end. When a person is at his wits’ end, it no longer seems to be a cowardly thing to pray; in fact, it is the only way he can get in touch with the truth and the reality of God Himself. Be yourself before God and present Him with your problems— the very things that have brought you to your wits’ end. But as long as you think you are self-sufficient, you do not need to ask God for anything.

To say that "prayer changes things" is not as close to the truth as saying, "Prayer changes me and then I change things." God has established things so that prayer, on the basis of redemption, changes the way a person looks at things. Prayer is not a matter of changing things externally, but one of working miracles in a person’s inner nature.

This is such a profoundly different approach to prayer than is generally practiced by people…like me. As William Barclay has said, “Prayer must never be an attempt to bend the will of God to our desires; prayer ought always to be an attempt to submit our wills to the will of God.” So, prayer is about changing ME; not just getting God to do what I want. If that worked, then it would be pretty clear which one of the two of us was really God. Maybe that’s why it never works… Still, God is good, and He delights to give His children good gifts, and the joy is in the asking, just as my son asks me for things because he loves and trusts me. But at some point, my son must grow and not view me as merely the dispenser of treats, but as the person he most wants to emulate. Same with me in my view and pursuit of God.

Whoa dang; that changes things...namely me. 'Bout time.

Living My Theology – John 12:35

John 12:35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

Yeah, this is the whole book of James, so where do you start & end a reflection like this? Christ says that we are to walk in the light He has given us. Paul says to continue working out your salvation (we call that “sanctification”). Chambers says, “If you are sanctified, show it.” When we say, “I’m not really living what I believe right now,” that is a horrible self-deception. We ALWAYS live what we believe; we can’t help it. So, the REAL question is: What do I really believe? My life & actions evidence what I believe. Scary! But, a theology that is not lived out & practiced persistently is no theology at all, and is worthless. Christ, Paul, & Oswald Chambers all agree. I’d say that’s good enough to bank on. “Just do it!”

Troubled - John 14:27

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Christ offers us His peace. We frequently pray for it as if it was something we had to try & pry out of His stingy hand. Nope. He’s already offered & provided it, we just have to maintain our gaze on Him. Easier said than done. I always think of Peter experiencing the Risen Lord Jesus after His resurrection. Christ approached the disciples on the water, and Peter, in his customary fashion, jumps out of the boat with childlike faith. He walks on water…so long as he stares at the face of his savior. But when he considers the waves, their size, and number, his peace vanishes. Oh it’s actually still there in the Person of Christ, but when we consider our surroundings as more “real” than Him, we sink. Troubled? You betcha. But it’s a focus problem; mine.

Sacrifice & Friendship - John 15:13

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

The concept of “friendship with Jesus,” if I stop to really consider it is really bordering on unbelievable. I mean, here’s a “guy” who is very God became flesh. He created me deliberately and on purpose, and knew me from the edge of eternity past. He sees & knows every thought and motive, and died in my stead. He took all my black negativity and swapped it out for His full righteousness. He endured my punishment and shame and was beaten and humiliated. It should have been me. And now He wants to be MY friend!? Are you kidding me? Grace. If I did what Jesus did for someone else, I think I would have some resentment and some “you owe me BIG-time” attitude. Not Jesus. Of course, the real kicker is that He now expects me to be like Him and do the same for someone else. That’s what friends do, I guess.

My Utmost For His Highest

Oswald Chambers was the friggin' man. AND he had great sideburns. His little devotional book, My Utmost For His Highest, literally changed my appreciation for Scripture and set me on a path of Biblical absorption that I don't ever want to leave. I am going to be posting daily thoughts & reflections as I go through this again. This is more for me to discipline myself to journal. Living with the end in mind...

HomeWork - Serve Where You Are

When I was an impressionable youth, running around my world all decked out in OP beach wear from JC Penny, I was captivated by one name. The name that wasn’t really above all other names because even I knew that THAT name was “Jesus.” But there was another name…a name that captured the imagination and promised to unleash the titan of killing power that surely lived inside this 88-pound copper-topped frame. The name: Mr. Miyagi. That’s right, Mr. Miyagi held the secrets and wisdom necessary to catch flying insects with chopsticks and perform an epic beat-down on attractive bullies with perfect beach blonde hair. What more could a kid want!? All I had to do was listen to the ancient instruction of Mr. Miyagi, and like Daniel-san, I too could be a “karate kid.”

All I had to do was paint 47,000 linear feet of wooden fences and then wash & wax the automotive fleet of the Orkin Exterminators. WHAT!? No way! Surely not! Where’s the magic potion, the “bad-man-in-a-bottle?” Where’s the secret nerve-jamming move that promises to topple any adversary? Where’s the wrinkly scroll that’s written in some ancient far-eastern script by a guy with a shaky hand and a beard down to his shin? Instead, Mr. Miyagi prescribed latex semi-gloss & min-wax from turtles. Pssshhhh. Boring. No thanks. I guess that’s why I never mastered the infamous crane kick but instead became a 40^th-level Cleric in Dungeons & Dragons. Chicks always dig the guys who pretend to be medieval dragon-slayers. Some things never change…

…And then we grow up, and somewhere deep inside, each of us who is on a journey of faith secretly long for the “get-spiritual-quick” scheme. But the Name that really IS above all names, the Supreme and Preeminent Christ, inspires Paul to write these words to the church at Colossae:

Colossians 3:18-4:1 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25 Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism. 4:1 Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.

WHAT!? No way! Surely not! Where’s the neat-o shepherd’s rod that buds when you throw it down? Where’s the ability to turn water into wine? Where’s the ability to call down fire & brimstone on the Philadelphia Eagles and their fans? You mean, in light of Christ’s supremacy, in light of what He has accomplished, in light of my identity “in Christ” and as a result of my attitude and thinking being like that of Christ, the best way to project my instinct and identity is to submit? At home!? Precisely. In verse 17, Paul has just told us (last week) that we are to do every word and deed in the name of the Lord Jesus. How do we actually DO that, and what does that really mean in a practical sense? Paul has told us in very practical terms.

Many of us hear passages like these, and we grown inwardly. “Here we go again… Boring…. I get it, be a better person, blah blah blah; yadda yadda yadda…” But it’s so important that Paul makes special attention to write it to the Colossians and sends an almost identical message to the Ephesians. Imagine, a preacher that repeats himself to make a point… The reality is that this passage is where high Christology and theology meet the road of anthropology. In other words, this really punches us where we breathe.

Just like Daniel-san, this passage instructs us to do the things that are diametrically opposite of our natural impulses and reflexes. We instinctively act and react from the flesh, but Paul commands us to live by The Spirit so that we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16). Like we’ve been teaching our children, Paul exhorts us to “Stop; Think; and Do What’s Right.” Even at home. Especially at home.

In the ancient near east and early Christian churches, the home was the central institution of life. Everything revolved around the home. Roles and functions were clearly defined culturally and socially, and it was the place where people spent the majority of their time. So they interacted with one another on a consistent basis. Now, if you’ve ever spent a prolonged amount of time with any group of people, you know that after a while, they get under your nails, under your skin, and on your nerves. We get comfortable with them, and this leads us to believe that we can give them our “life left-overs.” We perform like pious saints everywhere else in society, places like our jobs, neighborhoods, and churches. But, when we get home, we say things and have attitudes that would horrify us if it were secretly broadcast on the internet with a covert webcam.

It’s an environment of “hiddenness and obscurity.” Richard Foster has said, “our flesh whines against service, but it screams against hidden service.” But remember, you have been hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:3). Nobody “out there” really sees what we’re like at home and with the ones we love, so that doesn’t motivate us to behave decently. What’s the old expression? “We always hurt the ones we love.” How come? Because deep down, we feel like we can and get away with it, and that it’s no big deal. Further, we secretly feel like our families merely accessorize us and that we are entitled to THEM serving US! Dr. Robert Lewis is a pastor of Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, AR and the author of the popular “Men’s Fraternity” study. He says that the FIRST evidence of a man’s depravity is his impulse to neglect his domestic responsibilities. He’s right.

Serve where you are. Not across the globe in China or India; not with some intensive spiritual conference; not just at church. Serve where you are. Home. So Paul admonishes each of us, in each of our roles at home, to submit. We’ve said this before, but most of us would rather eat a light bulb than submit. But it’s precisely what Christ did.

Wives, submit (uJpota¿ssesqe) to your husbands. This command has gotten a lot of play in recent decades with the rise of feminism. It’s not my intent to combat feminism OR defend the litany of domestic abuses that have been perpetrated because of a warped misinterpretation and misapplication of this verse. Instead, the command to submit (hupotasso) is a military term that connotes the idea of contributing to the structure, and participating in function as has been established by high command. In other words, a soldier that submits to his sergeant is actually and ultimately obeying his Commander-In-Chief. This does NOT mean that a husband has greater worth than a wife. Absolutely not! Like we learn in Genesis 1 & 2, a man and a woman have different roles and functions. They are different, and they are intended to complete one another (Adam said it WAY before Jerry Maguire!). 2 people in Scripture are referred to as “helper.” A woman (wife) and The Holy Spirit. That’s good company! A woman is to submit to her husband “as is fitting in the Lord.” She is not a slave, subordinate, or possession. So much more could be said, and there is MUCH Scripture on the topic. The role of the wife is celebrated in Proverbs 31 (and elsewhere). But here’s the take-away: Women: Do you really want to be Christ-like? Do you really? Then the first and best opportunity for you to do that is with your husband. And nobody but him and God will know. Is that enough for you? Is Christ supreme, preeminent, and first place?

Husbands, love your wives. How sad that we have to be reminded and commanded to do this! But we do. Paul, knowing the nature of man, issues this instruction: (mh\ pikrai÷nesqe). It’s an interesting grammatical expression (middle tense). Literally, “do not embitter yourself” against her. But we do. Our natural inclination, our bent, is to embitter ourselves against our wives when they do not serve us like we have seen women serve men in other unholy contexts. Instead, Paul says that we are to love our wives like Christ loves His Church. He died for His Church. Love, we’ve said, is “a well-reasoned concern for someone else.” Men: Do you really want to be Christ-like? Do you really? Then the first and best opportunity for you to do that is with your wife. And nobody but her and God will know. Is that enough for you? Is Christ supreme, preeminent, and first place?

So verses 18-19 address the “horizontal” relationships in the home, and now verses 20-21 deal with the “vertical” relationships between parents and children. Whew! Finally, the adults catch a break and we can trickle the mess down to the kids! Not quite. Children are commanded to obey their parents, and this really is critically and vitally important. If we can’t honor or obey our earthly parents that we can physically hear, see, and feel, then how will we ever obey our Heavenly Father? Yep, that’s right: Our expression and activity in the mundane (home) establishes whether or not we can perform in the Kingdom. In Romans 1, Paul descends down a hierarchy of worsening sins that are the result of our fallen natures, and near the very bottom of the list is the failure to obey our parents! It is open rebellion against the structure of God. In the Old Testament, it was a capital offense (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)!

Fathers, don’t provoke or exasperate your kids. Again, how sad that we have to be told this. Sometimes guys see their children as competitors in the home. This is a projection of insecurity and defensiveness. It’s natural, fallen, and depraved. Paul says, in essence, apply yourself to behavior that encourages them and raises them up; not attitudes of discouragement. Serve your children. Serve where you are. That’s where & when Christ’s life is projected through you. That’s where He writes His story on your life so that your family can be blessed by His presence in your life.

In verses 3:22-4:1, Paul addresses labor relations. No, not really. But, he identifies slaves and masters, and most of us have the knee-jerk tendency to slough off the passage because we are neither slaves NOR masters. “Clearly this passage is out of date and has no real relevance or bearing on my life today…” Except that Paul reminds us that to follow Christ is to become a slave willingly (Romans 6:18; 22). This is about integrity. Christlikeness is congruent and identical to integrity. Integrity is what we do when no one else is watching. It’s our actions in hiddenness and obscurity. THIS is the presentation of our true selves. Who are you? Paul says that we shouldn’t just perform “when their eye is on us to win their favor.” Dang it! Here’s that whole “shadow mission” again! Paul keeps outing me!!

And you too. Let’s be totally transparent, shall we? Most of us want our service to be on stage and under the lights, so that at least someone can give us the props we deserve. “Look at how wonderful I am for stooping down to help this poor pitiful soul in a poor country or circumstance.” Then we can take lots of pictures and make a killer Facebook album about our efforts and share it with every acquaintance we’ve ever had. Then we wait by our computers for the comments to come in about what a great thing we’ve done… Maybe I’m the only person that Paul is speaking to here…

I have never been compelled to make a Facebook album of the typical way I serve and encourage my family. I’m afraid that on most days, it would be a pretty short photo essay, and in fact it probably wouldn’t even be all that complete or accurate. If it was, it would record all the failings and shortcomings, and surely there’s no record of that, is there?

God’s got a killer Facebook album (3:24-25). Paul drops the sobering truth that God will reward and punish the things we do. Whether anyone else sees it or not, God does. And it matters. Do you believe that? Remember, “faith is taking God at His Word and doing what He says.” How strong is your faith? At home? Serve where you are. That’s faith. That’s Christlikeness. Are you clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14)? I don’t know about you, but I usually get dressed at home. So, are you being clothed there? Serve where you are. For this you were saved: Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Your home is your ministry; it is your mission field; it is the environment in which you have the greatest capacity to reflect Christ. You didn’t get a choice in the matter of who your family would be. God, in His sovereignty, divinely and providentially placed you in your family at precisely this time and place. He does NOTHING by chance. And, members of your family may be the people that irritate you the most in this world. Jesus would call them “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40,45). Serve where you are.

See, the genius of Mr. Miyagi…and The Apostle Paul, the Mr. Miyagi of Scripture, is this: It is the mundane everyday tasks of life, done faithfully and with a spirit of submission, that prepare us to act and react instinctively when we find ourselves in trying circumstances. Repetition builds muscle memory. Repetition builds spirit memory. We can’t expect to be seasoned warriors for the Kingdom of God if we can’t even serve faithfully where we are in our little outposts of the Kingdom. When we prove our faithfulness in “small” things, then will God use us in “large” things (Matthew 25:23).

Paint up; paint down. Wax on; wax off. Submit and encourage. Serve where you are.