A treason at sea

There's this wonderful poem that I love by the band dcTalk, called "There is a treason at sea."  It speaks of a man all alone, in the middle of the ocean, with nothing around him but himself.  He thinks that he is all he needs, that in his solidarity he has found freedom.

But slowly, he realizes that he is not really alone.  There are spiritual forces all around him that he cannot control, cannot evade, cannot escape.  And eventually, he gives up, and slips into the arms of God.  He lets God chart His course, because he has realized that he cannot.  That's what I want to be like.  Not desperately fighting the wind and the waves of life, but fully submerged in the care and love of the Lord.

There is a treason at sea

By dcTalk

I am solo in this world of water  

Only the tip of a sunrise visible  

Like the morning light in a little girl's eyes  

I crave this freedom  I find it only in this little ship  

Just my soul and this bread and butter  

I am comfortable  

But there is a treason at sea.  Is it me?  

It is a wonder, supernatural cover of war  

The dark ones who eternal in damnation grow set about me now  

How they whine and crow  

I am solo in this world of wet  

And bitter is my temperament  

I close the door to sentiment  

And I relish all my youth  

I realize that I am doomed  

Fear of love and fear of you  

But you give me the keys to paradise  

It is you who sympathize  

You and your perfection grow  

I am cradled in your ocean's throw  

I crave your freedom in this little ship  

For you alone can chart my trip  

And like these waves I lose my grip  

And I sink into your arms

Psalm 18:16-19

He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.  He rescued me from my powerful enemy,from my foes, who were too strong for me.  They confronted me in the day of my disaster,but the Lord was my support.  He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.

The crux of the matter

I am consumed these days with figuring out how to be a "real" Christian.  Not one who just goes to church every Sunday, and doesn't swear, and runs the church fundraisers every now and then, and goes to youth camps in the summer.  I mean a real, legitimate Christian.


But how do you do that?  How do you know what to do, in order to best serve Christ?  How do you obey Jesus when you can't hear Him?  Maybe there just seem to be no opportunities to serve Him.  Or maybe you've got many great opportunities - how do you decide which one is best?

The crux of the matter....is that I can't tell you.  That's not something that anyone can tell you other than yourself.  Christianity is many things, but a cookie-cutter religion it most certainly is not.  Oswals Chambers writes, "Never make a principle out of your own experience; let God be as original with other people as He is with you."  To that, Francis Chan has added, "Be careful not to turn others' lives into the mold for your own.  Allow God to be as creative with you as He is with each of us."

God has called us each to a life of serving Him - but we have all been called to different types of service.  Maybe you should sell all your things and move to the other side of the world.  Maybe you should stay exactly where you are.  Maybe you should quietly work behind the scenes of your local soup kitchen or other similar institution.  The point is, that I cannot tell you.  It is something that you must discern for yourself.

I know for some of you that may be disappointing to hear.  So many of us - myself included - want to be told exactly what to do to be a "good" Christian.  So then we go and do that checklist, content in the knowledge that we have done our duty, and are safe.  But God wants us to be sold out for Him.  Passionate obsession and dry checklists have no place with each other.

The only thing that I can tell you is this: live your life in the light of eternity.  Love others and love God in everything that you do.  Ask yourself, "Will this benefit those around me?  Will this glorify God?"  All of us, even Christians, will be called to give an account of our lives to the Most High God after we die.  Are you doing things that you will be proud to tell God about?  Or do they fill you with shame?  Live your life in the light of eternity, and all of the confusing little incidentals will naturally fall into place.

Romans 14:10-19

You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 

It is written:“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” 

So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 

I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 

If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 

Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 

because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

False impressions

Have you ever been in love?  Have you ever had someone in your life who was so important to you, that they colored everything that touched you?  Was there ever a person who could literally brighten a grey day of yours simply by walking into the room?

That's how I feel with Jesus.  When I am close to Him, the flowers are brighter, the sky is bluer, and the grass is greener.  Food is tastier, people are friendlier, and I am kinder.  The cultural idiosyncrasies that frustrate me to point of tears when I am not close to the Lord, become endearing and adorable when we are communing with each other.  By and large, to put it simply, everything is more interesting when Jesus is in the picture.

I don't know how non-Christians survive without the Lord.  There are days when I simply have nothing else to hold onto, when He is my only lifeline, my only grip on sanity.  How do they make it through those days?  What is their lifeline when nothing is going their way?  Even on the good days...why would you want to settle for a good day, when a relationship with the Lord can make it great?

Perhaps it's because they don't know what they're missing.  And what they think they're missing is nothing like the reality.  Most non-Christians think of God as a distant, disinterested deity at best, and as an overbearing, domineering, or even cruel control-freak at worst.

Where have they gotten this impression of the Most High God from??  Certainly not from Him.  God's word says that He is kind, that He is loving, that He is forgiving, and that He is caring.  How did his reputation get so unbelievably warped?  The only explanation that I can think of, is that it's been warped by us, by Christians, by the people who are supposed to reflect His very own image.

My friends, I hope I don't have to tell you how much this should not be.  Interactions with Christians should never be a justification for someone to shy away from God.  We are supposed to be the salt of the earth, we are supposed to be the light of the world - we are supposed to draw people to God, not away from Him.  So the next time you come across someone who hates Christianity and Christianity's God, I urge you to check your heart and examine your actions, and see if you are in any way the cause of that hate.

1 Peter 5:6-7

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

A new perspective

Last week was horrible.  One thing after piled up after another, and by the end of the week I found myself completely exhausted and emotionally spent.  The final straw was when one of my co-workers called me in the middle of the night to yell at me about something that I had no control over.  Although I certainly said words in anger while on the phone with her, my anger did not abate after we hung up.

In fact, on more than one occasion I caught myself scripting a tirade against her in my head.  I would tell her everything that I hadn't thought of while on the phone with her; every possible comment had a retort prepared, any comeback was already primed with a counter-response.  In this debate that I was creating in my head, I emerged undoubtedly the winner - victorious, purged from all my frustrations, and completely vindicated of any wrong-doing.

But while I was in the middle of one of these fantasy arguments of mine, I was suddenly struck with a thought: I wonder if Jesus ever did a similar thing to the Pharisees and numerous other people who persecuted Him?  Considering that one of His last words uttered on earth was a prayer for them, I'm inclined to think that He didn't.  If Jesus didn't accuse His persecutors, how on earth can I justify doing that to mine?  It doesn't matter if I didn't actually say those horrid things to her - the point is that I wanted to, and according to God, sin starts in the heart.

And it's no use trying to justify your anger, telling yourself that they deserve your anger.  If you are living and breathing, your injuries are nothing compared to the injuries that were inflicted on Jesus Christ.  He was beaten, abused, tortured, and eventually killed, and yet He still loved the people who killed Him.  If Jesus is supposed to be our model for living, how do we then justify to ourselves that erupting in anger against a co-worker who slights us, or a boss who overworks us, or a friend who gossips about us, or a family member who breaks our trust?  That's nothing compared to what was done to Jesus; and yet He still chose to forgive and love.

So the next time that you find yourself on the verge on the eruption, the next time you catch yourself mentally composing a verbal tirade against someone who has wronged you, take a step back and get a new perspective.  Remember what Jesus did for you.  Remember the sacrifice that He made, and that even after everything He suffered, He still chose to love.  Hopefully remembering that will make it a bit easier for you to turn the other cheek.

Isaiah 53:4-7

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, 

yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; 

and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  7 He was oppressed and afflicted,

    yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, 

 and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

Hidden talents

I love people.  I love getting to know them, hearing their stories, finding out what makes them tick.  I love comparing their interests, languages, and cultures with those of people who grew up with different backgrounds or in different places.  I love learning about their families, their hopes, their sorrows, and their dreams.  And I love discovering their hidden talents.

We all know people like that - people with largely unknown or unusual talents, who always end up surprising everyone around them whenever their gifts come to light.  In fact, all of us have our own little personal party tricks up our sleeve, things that we can occasionally bring out and show people and cause a "wow factor."

These talents are wonderful.  They open up avenues of conversation, and give us an access to people that we would not have otherwise had.  Sometimes they create great opportunities for us, to perform, or volunteer, or serve in some way that would not have been possible without those specific gifts.  Our gifts, in short, are a large part of who we are.

So why is it that we so easily forget about our talents?  Instead of rejoicing in the gifts that God has given us, we find ourselves wishing that we had someone else's gift.  Or, perhaps we compare our talents to those with a similar, but greater talent, downplaying our own giftedness.  I can't tell you how many times I've scoffed at the comments of others who say that I am a talented dancer.  "But there are so many people better that I am," I reason, "and so that must mean that I'm no good, right?"

We do ourselves - and everyone around us - a disservice when we insist that we have nothing to give the world.  We have all been given gifts - something with which God wants up to bless others.  It may not be obvious to you what your gift is.  But you have one, I promise you.  Find it.  Use it.  It may be something obvious, like art; it may be something more subtle, like the ability to listen to others.  But don't convince yourself that you have nothing of worth, nothing to give.  Find your hidden talents, and use them to allow God to bless your world.  

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

1 Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.

An exercise in the overwhelming

There's this quote I ran across the other day that I just loved.  It said, "I like to do daring things.  Not necessarily because I am brave, I just want to see God answer me, by doing the impossible.  It's my favorite thing.  Ever.  I want to see God here, now, on this earth, turning beauty from ashes."

Has God ever asked you to do something overwhelming, something which you had no idea how on earth you would get it done?  He's certainly done that with me.  My whole life has been an exercise in the overwhelming.  Whether it was starting college when I was 15, or  living in Costa Rica on my own when I was 17, or moving to the other side of the world to teach English in South Korea at the age of 21, most of the big experiences in my life have been marked by sheer terror of the unknown, and ultimate dependency on God to get me through.

I wonder if that's how Jesus felt when He went into the wilderness to be tested.  Did He know He would be tested?  Did He know how long it would last?  Did He know that He would win?  I get the feeling that He probably didn't know all of the answers.  But He took the leap of faith anyway, and went where the Spirit led Him.  He went being led by the Holy Spirit; He left being empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Do you feel weak and un-empowered?  Maybe it's time you went where the Spirit is leading you.  He's not going to give you the strength to do something contrary to His plan.  You have to follow His leading first, and then He will give you the strength to do it.  So if you're feeling dry and helpless, try taking a leap of faith.  Do an exercise in the overwhelming.  Follow God's lead, and then just watch as He empowers you to do the impossible.

Matthew 4:1-11 
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:“‘He will command his angels concerning you,and they will lift you up in their hands,so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[d]”8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Better is one day...

It's been a few days since I've read my Bible.  Between being sick, and sleep deprivation, and having to work lots of extra hours at work, I have had neither the energy nor the time.  But this morning I woke up and realized just how much I missed spending time with the Lord.

I can give you testimonies of times in my life when I have been really close to God.  We talked every day, He was moving in my life, I was trusting in Him in everything....man, we were tight.  I can also, however, give you plenty of other examples of times when we were not so close.  I ignored Him, I put other things ahead of spending time with Him, I made every excuse I could think of to not read the Bible and pray and talk to Him.

And there really is such a huge, stark difference between those two times, between days that I spend time with Lord and the days that I don't.  Take this morning, for instance.  After I woke up and realized how much I missed God, I made a point to sit down and really read His word, really talk to Him, something I hadn't done in nearly a week.  And it's amazing the difference that just a little bit of time with the Lord can have on your day.

Last week I was stressed, exhausted, grumpy, and short with everyone around me.  But today, everything seems so much easier.  Students struggling make me want to help them, not fuss at them.  Teachers not communicating with cause smiles of resignation, rather than endless frustration.  And today, even my most difficult classes seem to be behaving so much better than usual.

I wonder if the Psalmist had had a similar experience to mine, when he said that a day in the house of the Lord is better than a thousand days without Him.  Because it seems to me, that spending time with the Lord not only makes your time with Him better - it even makes the time that you are away from Him better.  Indeed, especially after the week I've had without God, I'd take a day with Him over a thousand without Him in a second.

Psalm 84:10-12

10 Better is one day in your courts

    than a thousand elsewhere;

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

    than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield; 

    the Lord bestows favor and honor;

no good thing does he withhold 

    from those whose walk is blameless.

12 Lord Almighty blessed is the one who trusts in you.

Look for the blessings

This journey that we call life is so unpredictable.  I find myself constantly surprised by unexpected twists, unforeseen snags, and unanticipated blessings.  It can get overwhelming at times – oftentimes, in fact.  Sure, the extra blessings are a nice surprise…but what do you do with the not-so-nice surprises, with the things that you would much rather do without?

I’m learning to look at everything that happens to me as a blessing.  This is not an attitude that comes naturally to me.  How do you turn news that your job will now expect 12 hours a days from you – with no pay increase – into a blessing?  How do you smile when you’re expected to do things that are far and above beyond your capacity to do?  How do you rejoice when you are overworked and under-appreciated, and stressed to boot?  No, this is definitely not a natural attitude for me, but it is one that God has been carefully cultivating and growing in my heart for a while now.  

If the apostles could rejoice when they were tortured and killed, I think that we should be able to rejoice when we’re stressed out.  Rejoicing in bad situations has nothing to do with how many yoga classes a week you take, or what sort of aromatherapy you use, or how good your acupuncturist is.  Rejoicing in bad situations has everything to do with Who you have in your corner.  The disciples knew that, when the rubber hit the road, in the end they couldn’t lose.  And so they went at life full throttle – they never worried about the outcome, because they knew that God was looking out for them and would take care of everything in His due time. 

And so, as I am learning how to look for His blessings, my 12-hour work days become an opportunity to disconnect from South Korea some, so that it is not so painful to me when I have to leave it in 2 months.  My inability to juggle work and studying and 4 weddings within the span of a single month becomes a chance to watch God to move in my life and smooth my path for me.  Impossibly frustrating people become an exercise in patience.  A lack of funds to pay for living expenses in graduate school becomes an opportunity for God to show off His mighty hand of provision. 

When you focus on God, the rest of these things just really…stop mattering.  And when you stop stressing about them and trying to fix them all yourself, that’s when you give God the chance to show you exactly how big He is!  So stop worrying about all of the bad things happening in your life…and start looking for the blessings in them.  They’re there.  I promise you.  You just have to be willing to look for them. 

1 Corinthians 4:6-12

⁶ Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. ⁷ For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! ¹¹ To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. ¹² We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer kindly. 

A lesson from the frogs

There's an old story about frogs that seems to mirror an important character trait of humans.  It is said that, if frogs are put into a pot of boiling water, they will jump out immediately.  But if they are put into a pot of lukewarm water, which is then gradually heated, they will stay in the pot until they boil to death.

In that way, humans are very much like frogs.  I'm always amazed at how quickly we can adapt to situations.  I was reminded of that principle anew when I came to Korea, and in a matter of a mere few weeks I went from borderline hating this country, to loving everything about it.  Often amphibian-like adaptation is a survival skill, a tool that God has given us to get along well in this world.  Just look at my case.  I'm fairly confident that God would not have sent me to South Korea, and then wanted me to be miserable for over a year.  He wants us to be happy in the situations that He puts us in, which often means adapting to things that may not be quite comfortable in the beginning.

But this skill for adaptation also has its downfalls.  It leads us wide-open and susceptible to complacency. We get adapt to our surroundings, we get comfortable and happy, and we are loathe to change anything, to do anything that might possibly "rock the boat."  But what we don't realize is that we just might be on our way to boiling to death.  There's a reason that the old saying says that someone is in "hot water."  They are not in "warm water that is slowly being boiled."  If that were the case, they would be dead before they ever realized that they were in trouble.  No, they're in trouble and they know it.

Do you know it when things aren't right in your life?  Have you stayed alert enough to notice slight, subtle changes in your life, changes that indicate that you might be going down a path that you don't want to go down?  Or are you too comfortable in your lukewarm water, in your well-known rut, in your personal little bubble, too notice anything outside of it?

Take a lesson from the frogs.  God doesn't want you to be miserable in your surroundings.  But neither does He want you to get so comfortable that you forget that this is not your home, that you are just passing through on your way to much greater things.  Stay tune to Him, stay alert to what He (and satan!) is trying to do in your life.  Don't get caught in boiling water when you didn't even realize that it was getting warm.

2 Timothy 4:1-5

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Heal our land

This world of ours is in sorry shape.  When your ears are filled with radio broadcasts about thieves and murders and saboteurs, and your eyes are filled with newspaper and television reports detailing the facts about the latest suicide bomber kidnapper, corrupt politician or dirty cop, it's hard not to despair.  How do you find hope in such a world?  How do you trust in such a God who allows such things to happen?

But what if we've been placing the blame on the wrong person?  What if, instead of accusing everyone around us, and even God Himself, for the evils in our world, it's time to look inside of ourselves?  In second Chronicles, God says that "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

I've often heard of evil described as nothing more than the absence of God.  We live in a society in which the vast majority of its citizens profess Christianity.  Why is it, then, that there is such a proliferation of evil in a supposedly "Christian" nation?  The Bible says that we are temples of the holy spirit, that God inhabits the hearts and souls of those who claim His lordship.  If that is the case, I ask again, why is there so much evil in our land?  In a Christian nation, a nation whose citizens are supposed to be filled with God, why is there such a lack of Him?

God is a holy God, He is a just God, but He is not a vindictive God.  He does not delight in needlessly tormenting the masses of squirming little humans that He can trap underneath His thumb.  He must punish evil that occurs....but evil that is covered by the blood of Jesus, He will wash away and never think of it again.

So, could it be, that the reason our country is in such a sorry mess is because we as Christians have failed to call upon His name?  We have failed to humble ourselves, failed to pray and seek His face, failed to turn from our wicked ways, and because of that our world has become sick.  Desperately sick. But it's not too late!  God is the Great Physician, He can heal all wounds, whether they be physical, spiritual, or something else.  Imagine what would happen if we, as a nation of Christians, began to stand up and actually take hold of the promises that He has made to us!  It would be revolutionary, world-changing, history-making.  But here's the best part.  We don't have to imagine it.  We can see it, with our own eyes.  Start today.  Start with you.  Humble yourself and call on His name - don't just call on it for your salvation, but call on it for you life, here on earth.  Call on Him for your friends, your family, and everything that you hold dear.  Because He can - and desperately wants - to heal our land.  All He's waiting on is for us to ask Him.

2 Chronicles 7:13-16

¹³ “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. ¹⁵ Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. ¹⁶ I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

Identity crisis

Do you ever have an identity crisis?  I know that I do.  I get so many comments from so many people all the time about the kind of person I am (or sometimes it's about the kind of person that I should be).  There are so many voices in my head - not to mention the constant barrage of media and social commentary - that sometimes it just gets confusing and overwhelming.

Take this week, for instance.  In just the past 7 days, I have had people call me a wonderful teacher, outgoing, fun, kind, a strong Christian, balanced, silly...the list goes on.  But, just to make sure that you don't get the wrong impression, I have also been called the full range of opposite characteristics - rude, lazy, mean, boring, lukewarm, a bad teacher.....you get the idea.

I am a Christian.  I am a dancer.  I am a hopeless romantic.  I am athletic and outgoing.  I am a caring friend.  I adore learning languages and meeting new people.  The list goes on, of course, but these are some of the labels that I can attach to myself.  But the world can and does attach other, very different labels to me.  So many different definitions of who you are can be confusing and disorienting.  That's probably why crises of identities seem to be such a common trend in our world these days.  How do you burn through the dross and get down to what really matters?

It's so difficult to filter out all of the trash that you hear about yourself.  Should you listen to the angels or the devils?  The good stuff or the bad?  The media or your family?  Yourself or your friends?  What if you want to believe the good stuff, but know in your heart that the bad angles are really closer to the truth?  Do you ever feel like, intentionally or not, you're just deceiving everyone in your life?

Try this.  Turn off all of the external noise, and just sit down with the Lord and talk to Him.  Read His word.  Found out who He says that you are.  He knows you better than anyone in the world - including yourself.  Find your identity in Jesus, stay rooted in Jesus, become alive in Jesus, and the "hollow and deceptive philosophy" of the world will have no opportunity to steal away your heart.

Colossians 2:6-15

⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

⁹ For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, ¹⁰ and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. ¹¹ In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, ¹² having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³ When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴ having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Pursue

I don't think that I will ever forget last night.  I went to a Korean home church service with some friends of mine.  We had dinner together, we talked and conversed as much as the language barriers would allow (there were six languages represented), and then we read some from the Bible and worshipped the Lord.  It was a great time of fellowship and love.

But what really struck me, didn't happen until we were leaving.  The couple's 11-year-old son all of a sudden just started bawling his eyes out.  He seemed utterly inconsolable.  I asked him what was wrong, and he said simply, "I want to pursue."  His mother then explained to me that he was upset because she had told him that he must put his Bible away and go to sleep, as it was getting very late and he needed his rest.

I was flabbergasted.  What kind of 11-year-old kid gets that upset because he can't read the Bible?  Heck, what kind of adult gets that upset over not reading the Bible??  The majority of our Bibles spend most of their time on the shelves, collecting dust and getting musty.  We only bring it out for church on Sunday mornings, Wednesday night, or maybe special occasions like Easter or Christmas.

It was an incredibly unusual scene that I witnessed last night.  But that just made it all the more memorable.  What a picture of Jesus' love that little boy showed to me that night.  His delight, like the Psalmist's, truly was in the law of the Lord.  He meditated on God's word day and night.  He found joy and solace and guidance in it.  His whole being yearned for the Lord, and he rejoiced when he was able to spend time with Him.

How badly do you want to spend time with God?  How desperately are you pursuing Him?  Would you find yourself upset if your time with the Lord was cut short?  I think that most of us could learn something from this little boy.  Take his example to heart, and pursue God with all of your heart.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the the law of the LORD, 

and he meditates on His law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not whither - 

whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!  

They are like chaff

that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD watches over the ways of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

When you're in love

My brother just got engaged yesterday.  This makes a grand total of seven of my dearest friends (and now relatives, too!) that will be getting married within 4 months of my return to Korea.  I also happened to watch Julia Stiles' "The Prince and Me," in which an American college student meets and fall in love with the prince of Denmark, and drops her entire life in America and moves to Denmark so that they can be together.

That got me thinking....what would people who are in love be willing to do for each other?  I can't really comment on it, as I honestly don't think I've ever been in love.  But judging from the evidence that I've seen from other people, I imagine that love must be a powerful force, indeed.  Love is what causes women to run in front of barreling semi trucks to save their children, or men to willing choose to die in order to save their wives; or, in Julia Stiles' case, to give up an entire lifetime and all of your dreams and move to the other side of the world, just to be with the one you love.

King David was in love, too.  I love the story of the ark returning to Jerusalem during his reign.  The ark of the Lord had been gone for many years, and it was finally returning home.  In his joy, David couldn't help from dancing.  But he didn't just dance.  He, the king of Israel, basically danced in his underwear in front of the entire nation of Israel.  And he felt no shame.

I can understand why Michal, his wife, was ashamed of him.  That is not "normal," "acceptable" behavior - especially for a king.  But David didn't care what other people thought of him.  He had other priorities, other people he wanted to please more.

Love causes you to do crazy things.  I often think about football games in the deep south when I think of love.  If you've never been to one of these games, you won't get it.  It's impossible to adequately explain with mere words.  But let's just say that football fans....can be somewhat rabid.  They paint their faces, and make signs, and yell their lungs out....in a word, true football fans love football.  They do really crazy things, unconventional things, because they want everyone to know what they love.

When you're in love you do stupid things.  You do ridiculous things.  You do things that make everyone else look at you as if you had three heads.  And you don't give a flip, because....you're in love!  Nothing else matters.  What sort of crazy things has your love for the Lord caused you to do lately?

2 Samuel 6:12-22

¹² Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. ¹³ When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.¹⁴ Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵ while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

¹⁷ They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord.¹⁸ After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessedthe people in the name of the Lord Almighty. ¹⁹ Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.

²⁰ When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

²¹ David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”