Always Do What’s Right

“This is what [God] requires…to do what is right.”               Mic 6:8 NLT

Focusing solely on what you can do, without first deciding what kind of person you should be, is a mistake. Your talent may make your name known, but your character will determine what people associate with it. Your talent may dictate your potential, but your character will determine your legacy. What is character? It’s the will to do what’s right, even when it is not easy. It’s deciding ahead of time what’s truly non-negotiable. Count on it, the day will come when so-called “progress” calls for compromising your convictions. In that moment, what hangs in the balance is your moral authority. So you must be clear about your convictions. You’ll be tempted to believe that once you reach a certain level of success, these challenges disappear. No, success doesn’t make anything easier, it just raises the stakes. What was once applauded is now simply expected. It’s a lot easier to win the title than defend it. Furthermore, with success comes the inclination to see yourself as the final authority on right and wrong. Look around you and you’ll see that it’s not uncommon to find leaders playing by a different set of rules. Everything really does look different at the top! Once intoxicated by success you start to believe that the rules don’t apply to you. And that can be fatal. In the final analysis your reputation is how you’re known before men but your character is how you’re known before God. You say, “But why cling to something that’s outdated or has the potential to slow me down?” The Bible answers: “This is what [God] requires…to do what is right.”

http://theencouragingword.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/always-do-whats-right/

The Revival We Need (4)

“Love never fails.”                                                          1Co 13:8 NKJV

Fourth, a revival of love. The Bible says, “Love never fails.” Stop and think about that for a moment. Just about everything else in life fails, but love doesn’t. There’s a cute story about a lady who said to her husband, “Will you love me when I’m old?” He replied, “Yes, dear.” She said, “But will you love me when my hair is gray?” He replied, “Yes, dear, I’ve loved you through seven different shades already, why would I change my mind when you’re gray?” You can score points for having high morals and have all your theological ducks in a row, but if you don’t love people—in every circumstance of life—you’ve failed where it counts most. Paul writes: “If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing…Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (vv. 2-7 NLT). It took a lot of commitment to be a Pharisee. Living according to the law of Moses demanded incredible discipline and dedication. Why did Jesus condemn the Pharisees so often? Because they had light in their heads but no love in their hearts! When we, the church, experience a revival of love we won’t need to advertise; people will break down the doors to get in.

http://theencouragingword.wordpress.com/2012/02/09/the-revival-we-need-4/

The Revival We Need (3)

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”           2Co 3:17 NKJV

Third, a revival of liberty. Is the Holy Spirit welcome in your church? Are you responsive to His leadings? It’s okay to have a program as long as you’re willing to let God change it. Now that doesn’t mean somebody can just jump up and interrupt the pastor’s sermon. God is a God of order. You say, “But I felt led by the Spirit to do it.” Really? The Holy Spirit is a gentleman; He won’t speak through you when He is already speaking through God-ordained leadership. God works through structure. If you doubt that, look at how He planned the tabernacle in the wilderness and Solomon’s temple. There were times when God’s presence was so strong that the priests were unable to conduct the service as usual; all they could do was fall on their faces before Him. And we must pray for and welcome such times too. But liberty isn’t license to do as you please. Paul addresses the liberty/license argument in these words: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use your liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” The liberty Christ brings sets us free from the need to “show off,” and instead teaches us to “serve one another.” Paul bottom-lines it: “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” You say, “What does that mean?” It means that when you make Jesus “Lord,” He sets you free to enjoy His presence in church, at home, in business, and in every area of life.

http://theencouragingword.wordpress.com/2012/02/08/the-revival-we-need-3/

The Community of Christ as a Safe Place to Grieve by Mark D. Roberts

Romans 12:15

Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep.

Romans 12:15

In my first year as a pastor, a woman from the neighborhood came by to speak with me. “Celina” explained that her mother had died four months ago in Poland, in the town where Celina was raised. She attended the funeral and then returned to Southern California, where she had lived for five years. Celina came to talk with me, not because she was grieving over her mother’s death, which she was, but because she didn’t know how to respond to her friends’ reaction to her grief. They had supported her in her sorrow for the first month after her mother’s death, but couldn’t understand why she was still sad, four months later. They kept telling her that it was time to stop grieving, that she “should move on with her life.” Celina was deeply distressed by what her friends said. “In my town in Poland,” she explained, “everybody knew that we had a year to grieve. Everybody understood, and would feel sad with us. Then, after a year, we would be ready to stop grieving. We would start to feel better. But the people were with us for that year of sadness.”

Over twenty-five years later, I still remember that conversation vividly because it made such a strong impression on me. It was the first time I really thought about grief in the context of the Christian community. I reflected on a passage of Scripture that plainly calls us to “weep with those who weep” (Rom. 12:15). I wondered if the church might provide an oasis in our “get over it culture” for grieving people, a place where they could be safe and supported, a community of friends who joined them in their sorrow and helped them hold on to hope. Of course, I knew that the church was all too often exactly the opposite of a safe place for sorrow. Yet, I had hope that, as a pastor, I might be able to help my congregation learn to grieve and support each other in mourning even as we did in joy.

Throughout the last twenty-five years, I have witnessed this very thing in a variety of Christian communities. Not always; not perfectly. But I have seen Christian brothers and sisters weep together. I have seen mourning people given the freedom to grieve in an honest, healthy, Christian way.

Now, though I’m no longer a parish pastor, I see this kind of safety and freedom offered at Laity Lodge, the retreat center associated with my work. Even this last weekend, people whose children had died wept together, embraced each other, and prayed together. This should be standard fare in the body of Christ.

May I encourage you to be a safe, compassionate person for those around you who are grieving. Offer them your ears, your arms, your heart. Yes, when the time is right, you may remind them of the hope we have in Christ. But do this in the context of weeping with those who weep, sharing in their suffering so that you might also share with them in hope and joy.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Have you ever experienced Christian community as a safe place for grieving? When? What happened? How might you offer this kind of safety to people in your life, in church, at work, in your family, among your friends?

PRAYER: Gracious God, thank you for joining us to your body when we put our faith in you. Thank you for giving us fellow members…those who weep when we weep and rejoice when we rejoice.

I thank you, Lord, for those who have wept with me during my times of sorrow. Thank you for their tenderness, their sympathy, their embraces. Thank you for the ways they walked alongside me, not forcing me to go more quickly than I was able to go.

Help me, dear Lord, to extend your love to those who grieve. May I open my heart to them, to listen, to empathize, to comfort. Help me to know when to speak and when to be silent. Give me ways to help them hold on to hope without being insensitive, judgmental, or unkind.

May your church, Lord, be a safe place for people in pain. May our arms be open to all who hurt, all who grieve, all who need to experience your love and grace. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/community-christ-safe-place-grieve

Hopeful Grief: Personal Examples by Mark D. Roberts

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

I realize that the notion of hopeful grief might still seem odd to you. If you just joined us, you might want to check out Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s reflections, in which I explain that Christians are free to grieve, but with grief shaped by hope. This hope, which is confident expectation, is based on the bedrock of the resurrection. The fact that God raised Jesus from the dead gives us confidence in the resurrection of all who belong to the Lord. Thus, we grieve with hope.

I thought I might offer a couple of personal illustrations of hopeful grief, since I realize this concept might seem odd, even impossible. The first example comes from an experience I have had during the last five months. In early fall, my son, Nathan, began as a student at New York University. I was–and still am–excited for him and pleased that he is able to study what he loves (film, writing, psychology) in such a fine school and an amazing city. But there is a downside for me, a big downside. I miss Nathan’s friendship and company. I miss just being with him. Leaving him on Broadway in the middle of New York City was one of the most emotionally difficult things I have done in life. When I got into the cab and left him, I grieved mightily. But I had hope, hope that his experience at NYU would be wonderful, hope that I’d see him fairly soon, hope that we’d be able to stay connected electronically. So my grief was hopeful grief.

Yes, you might say. That makes sense. But what about when a loved one dies?

Of course, that can be much, much sadder. I have never experienced the loss of a child, which, as a pastor, I know to be excruciating. But I did lose my dad when he was only 54 and I was 29. I’ve mentioned his death a couple times in recent reflections. He died after a long, slow battle with liver cancer, one in which he lost almost half of his weight.

The actual occasion of his death was peculiarly hopeful. I was in the memorial service for the father of a dear friend. It was a beautiful service, which emphasized both the wonderful life of my friend’s father and his new life with the Lord. In the middle of that service, I was summoned by an usher, who led me to a telephone. There, I heard that my dad had died. How strange and fitting to hear this news when I had just been celebrating the eternal life we have with the Lord. I grieved then, and did so for many days thereafter. Even now, more than 25 years later, I can miss my dad terribly. But my grief has been molded and tempered by my confidence that my dad has stepped into an altogether new kind of life, one in which his body is not wrecked by cancer, one in which he is fully the person God created him to be.

Please understand, though, that when I speak of grief, I mean genuine sadness. When we lose someone we love, we feel sorrow, intense sorrow, sorrow that can last for a long time. But, as Christians, we don’t drink our sorrow straight up. The bitterness of loss is flavored and softened by the sweetness of hope.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Have you gone through something like I have related from my own life? What happened with you? How has hope been mixed with sorrow in your life?

PRAYER: Gracious God, thank you for being there with me in times of loss. Thank you for sharing in my sorrow, for understanding how I feel, for offering comfort.

Even more, thank you for the hope you give us, hope for life beyond this life, hope that you are working all things together for good, hope that your love will never let us go.

All praise be to you, God of hope. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/hopeful-grief-personal-examples

Hopeful Grief: Is It Possible? by Mark D. Roberts

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

In yesterday’s reflection, we saw that 1 Thessalonians 4:13 does not mean, as the old KJV translation used to imply, that Christians should never grieve. Rather, this verse calls us not to grieve in the way other grieve, namely, without hope. In particular, when we lose a loved one to death, we are not to grieve as if they were dead and gone for eternity. Yes, the first round of their life has ended, but there is much more life to come.

Our grief over the death of those we love should be shaped by the fact of the resurrection of Jesus and its implications. As Paul writes elsewhere, Christ was raised from the dead as “the first of a great harvest of all who have die” (1 Cor 15:20). We who belong to Christ will one day be raised into new life, much as Jesus was raised (1 Cor 15:23).

So, when a brother or sister in Christ dies, we naturally and appropriately feel sad. If the one who died is very close to us, a spouse or a child, for example, our sorrow might be overwhelming. Nothing in Scripture suggests it is wrong to grieve in this way, and plenty shows that it is a normal part of life in this fallen world. Yet, even as grieve, we are comforted by the fact that our loved one has entered into a new experience of life. We are encouraged by the promise that we will one day be with those we love, even as we will be with the Lord. Thus, our grief takes on a hopeful shape.

Christian hope is not wishful thinking. When you read the word “hope” in Scripture, think of it as “confident expectation.” Why can we be confident? Because of what God has done in the past, supremely in raising Jesus from the dead. If God could turn the crucifixion of Christ into something redemptive, then he can indeed work all things together for good (Rom 8:28). We may not understand his ways or his timing. In fact, often we don’t. But we remain hopeful because God is faithful, and he will fulfill his promises and complete his good work in us and in the world.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Have you ever experienced hopeful grief? When? What gave you hope? How did your hope shape your grief? If you have not had this experience, think about others you know who have experienced hopeful grief and answer as if you were in their shoes.

PRAYER: Almighty God, how I praise you for your majesty and strength, your mercy and grace. You broke the power of death when you raised Jesus from the grave. You opened up for us the hope of life beyond this life, not wishful thinking, but confidence expectation of the life of the future.

I pray today, Lord, for all who are grieving, especially for those of among my friends and colleagues at work who have lost loved ones. Help them by your Spirit to be reassured by the hope of the future. May the power and promise of the resurrection fill their hearts and refine their grief.

All praise be to you, O God, giver of life, victor over death. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/hopeful-grief-it-possible

Don’t Miss the Headline · Max Lucado

Don’t Miss the Headline · Max Lucado.

Oh Boy—My Favorite · Max Lucado

Oh Boy—My Favorite · Max Lucado.

Flawed

A well-known actor commented that he enjoyed playing “flawed” characters in movies because people could relate better to an imperfect character. Most of us would agree that it’s easier for us to understand people who aren’t perfect because we know that we are imperfect.

God included stories in the Bible of people who were deceitful, weak, unreliable, and angry. Take Jacob, for example, who deceived his father so that he would receive a blessing (Gen. 27:1-29). Then there was Gideon, who was so unsure of God that he asked Him twice for proof that He would be faithful to do what He said He would do (Judg. 6:39). And then there’s Peter, who for fear of his own safety, denied even knowing his friend and Lord (Mark 14:66-72).

But when we read the rest of their stories, we observe that these people were able, with God’s help, to overcome their shortcomings and ultimately be useful to Him. That happened when they depended not on themselves but on God.

Just like the people who lived thousands of years ago, each of us comes with flaws. But by God’s grace we can overcome those imperfections by embracing His “strength [which] is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

 

God’s strength is made perfect in weakness,
For when we are weak He is strong;
He gives us His grace and His power
To overcome in us what’s wrong. —Sper

http://odb.org/2012/02/10/flawed/

Glorifying God In Life And Death

It seems we most often think about how we can glorify God through our lives when we are active and strong. But I wonder if we should also consider how we might glorify God through our death.

After Peter denied Jesus three times (John 18:15-27), the Lord gave him an opportunity to reaffirm his love (21:15-17). Three times, Jesus asked, “Peter, do you love Me?” Then in a surprising change of subject, Jesus said: “‘When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.’ This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me’” (vv.18-19). Jesus told Peter that others would take him where he didn’t want to go, yet by that unchosen way of dying, he would glorify God.

http://odb.org/2012/02/09/glorifying-god-in-life-and-death/

Paul said that it was his “earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil. 1:20).

We can bring honor and glory to God as we live—and as we die.

 

Lord, I want to bring You and Your name praise
in my daily life till the end. May I glorify You
even in the valley of the shadow as I pass from
this life into the next. Amen.