For some time now I’ve been an observer in a legal situation. I watch as it works its way through the courts. Of course there are many players involved, but the two who have caught my eye the most are the defense attorney and the judge.
The lawyer works diligently on the accused’s behalf. He presents witnesses, experts, character references, and evidence of all kinds. He spends hours researching, argues statutory law and case law, presents documents, and finds ways to refute whatever the other side brings up.
The judge listens, and everyone knows that he holds the power to make the final decision, which will affect the defendant’s life forever.
How wonderful it would be for a person charged with a crime if his lawyer and the judge were one and the same person. He would be guaranteed a favorable outcome.
This is exactly the situation we enjoy as children of God. The apostle John wrote that we have an advocate with the Father… Jesus Christ, who is God Himself.
There is one with the authority to sentence me to death or let me go free. He is also the one who pleads my case, takes my punishment upon Himself, calls for mercy, and declares me not guilty.
My judge is also my advocate. Pretty good arrangement.
A couple years ago the man who will most likely be the final father figure in my life died. (I lost my biological father long ago.) Shortly thereafter, I stumbled across the following paragraph in a book by Henri Nouwen. I’ve shared Nouwen’s words with several people since that time who have found resonance and comfort in them.
To many of you, these words will not apply. That’s fine as well. Either way, happy Father’s Day.
Stop Being A Pleaser
You have to let your father and father figures go. You must stop seeing yourself through their eyes and trying to make them proud of you. For as long as you can remember, you have been a pleaser, depending on others to give you an identity. You need not look at that only in a negative way. You wanted to give your heart to others, and you did so quickly and easily. But now you are being asked to let go of all these self-made props and trust that God is enough for you. You must stop being a pleaser and reclaim your identity as a free self.
– Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Inner Voice of Love
The book of Jeremiah begins like this: These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests from Anathoth, a town in the land of Benjamin.
God knows His children in great detail. He doesn’t refer simply to Jeremiah, but to Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, etc. etc.
God knows every one of our particulars. He’s privvy to our likes and dislikes; victories and failures; hidden strengths and secret sins. His love goes deeper than all of them, so that when we’re told God welcomes us into His family just as we are, we can be assured that He realizes what He’s saying.
To God I’m not just Steve. I’m Steve, son of Ruel, one of the maintenance crew of the city of Attleboro, a small town in the state of Massachusetts. He won’t mistake me, therefore, for some other Steve. Instead, He loves me right down to the details.
No doubt, we humans should seek God. Sometimes, however, our circumstances overwhelm us. Our bodies are tired and weak. Our minds are fatigued, our emotions become frazzled, and our willpower is gone.
It is good at those times to remember that God has also created us with a spirit. In fact, His Spirit lives within our spirits.
Scripture tells us that “[God’s] Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God.” How comforting to know that even when my body and soul can not find strength to seek God, my spirit – His Spirit within me – seeks God for me, and continues to reveal God to me all the time.
You and I are always seeking God – even when we don’t realize that we are. His Spirit living in us does the searching when our own strength can not.
(Thank you, Theophan, for providing the insight for this message a couple decades ago.)
Jesus had a sad heart that night, as he shared what he knew would be his last meal with his closest friends. Soon he would be betrayed by one of them, turned over to the authorities, falsely accused, convicted, tortured and executed. Knowing that he would not be present at any more gatherings like this, he asked these men for one simple favor… “In the future when you eat bread and drink wine together, remember me.”
Is it possible that followers of Jesus would actually forget Jesus? If so, for what other reasons would they gather? Maybe to discuss their Bible knowledge, show off their prayer techniques, engage in religious programs, debate the latest theological book, etc.
The center of true spirituality is not an institution, an organization, a person with a vision, or religion of any kind. It’s God Himself, who became a man, came to Earth, died, and rose again as an act of love for His creation. My purpose is simply to honor Him by reflecting that love. Everything else can be tossed on the garbage heap. And that’s something I need to remember.
Elijah prayed and a dead boy came back to life. That must have been quite a prayer. The Bible in fact records exactly what Elijah said to God. Here it is: “My Lord God, please let this boy’s life return to him!” That’s it.
For decades I’ve been told the secret formulas of prayer. There was the 12 elements for 5 minutes each model… the A.C.T.S. technique… and the put on the armor of God and then rebuke the devil and then claim God’s promises in faith and then invoke the name of Jesus system to name a few. Of course there was the just pray harder and longer method. And crafting the request in just the right way seemed critical.
When my prayers did not achieve the results I’d hoped for, the only logical conclusion (so I thought) was that I had done or said something wrong. Perhaps a new book or a new teaching would reveal a better formula.
Elijah somehow sidestepped all of that. He simply asked God to do something, and a resurrection occurred.
The explanation is not in the prayer, but in the pray-er. God didn’t respond to Elijah’s words, God responded to Elijah. Even more astoundingly, the Bible says “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.” Deep down in his core, he was nobody special.
It’s time to stop trying to find the perfect way to address God, and just rest in the truth that it’s me he hears – my heart, not my words. No doubt God still won’t always respond the way I want Him to. (He’s funny about that.) But becoming a pray-er instead of worrying about my prayers is a much more liberating way to live.
The Bible gives this account of Jesus selecting His disciples: “These are the names of the twelve he chose: Simon (he renamed him Peter)…” Why did Jesus rename Simon?
“Peter” comes from the word “petra”, which means “rock.” But at that time, Simon was anything but a rock. A rock is stable, solid, unmoving. While Jesus was on Earth, Simon was spineless, impulsive and timid. Only after the resurrection did Simon display more rock-like qualities.
Jesus saw in Simon something that no one else could see. Jesus saw the greatness that Simon would someday exhibit. In order to stress that point to everyone – and most importantly to Simon himself – Jesus gave the timid one a new name: Peter. In effect, Jesus was saying “I see you as the rock of a man you will be.”
When I evaluate my own life, I see questions, doubts, and one who struggles to live the life of faith. Yet Jesus sees me as a true follower of His. Though the record may show that I’m impatient, Jesus sees me as the forbearing person I will become. Though my harsher qualities are apparent today, He sees me as the gentle soul toward which I am growing. Though I see myself as one who wavers, Jesus sees me as rock solid.
Jesus has already changed my name, and that’s encouraging.
My mother died when I was 19. That was a long time ago, but it’s still vivid in my mind. It was a sad period in my life, of course, but also a strange one.
After her death, I remember thinking that I wasn’t feeling as horrible as I thought I should. There was a certain peace inside me. For awhile I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I told a friend, “I feel peace and I don’t understand why.” Hearing my own words, the explanation became clear, as I recalled the scripture that says God gives us “peace that passes all understanding.”
If I understood it, I realized, it wouldn’t be the peace that passes understanding.
Today there are many things I don’t understand. Sometimes it’s better to just accept them as from the hand of God, rather than try to analyze. Un-understanding can be a divine gift.
Someone recently posed a question as part of a research project: “What, if anything, bothers you about the Bible?,” he asked. My reply: “Verses.”
OK, I understand that it’s helpful to organize a huge book in such a way that certain passages can be found easily. But I think we humans, with our natural love for formulas and equations, have taken it too far. Somehow chapter and verse references have become as sacred as the words themselves. Of course they’ve been a staple of sermons, books, debates and such for decades. And now they show up on everything from t-shirts to high profile athletic face paint. Is that a good thing?
Here’s something that Bible scholars and teachers know: Taken by itself, there’s a chapter / verse combination to support just about any position a person can conceive. Some of those positions – even the spiritual sounding ones – are unbiblical. More importantly, they’re often diametrically opposed to the nature of the God who wrote the very book. Nevertheless we’re expected to accept whatever can be backed up with a reference.
The Christian journey is all about a relationship with God. And yet it’s seemingly OK to take something God said completely out of the context in which He said it, isolate that statement from everything else He said, and use it as the basis for life’s deepest convictions. Sorry… I wouldn’t treat even a casual acquaintance like that, so it certainly doesn’t work for the most important relationship in of all.
Instead of chapter and verse, I want to know the One who made those statements. I want to become so intimate with Him that I understand His intent, His nuances… indeed His heart. Sure, I’ll keep my Bible with the verse references in it. (I have no choice.) But for the most part I’ll ignore them, and treat the Word of God like a living, breathing Friend.
For decades, I’ve been told how to live the spiritual life. Unfortunately, most of the advice I’ve received is about the physical realm, not the spiritual realm at all. Teachings, books, conversations, and – sadly – my own self-talk for years center(ed) around doing more of this or that in order to attain spirituality. But spirituality has little to do with “doing.” Instead, it’s about “being.”
Imagine a man. He reads ten chapters of the Bible a day. He prays for an hour each morning, using his prayer journal. He attends a solid church, is involved in ministry several nights a week, and shares his faith in his workplace. Many would say that I just described a very spiritual, true Christian man. And yet, I’ve said nothing about the type of man this is. I’ve only talked about what he does.
The true Christian is one whose life produces the fruit of the Spirit, as defined in scripture. It is a life that displays the qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. God Himself builds these traits into a person’s character, using every situation and circumstance that occurs in his or her life.
As the apostle Paul wrote, “It is God who works in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” God does the doing, to make me into a being… the kind of spiritual being He wants me to be.
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