13 Thoughts for 2013: Part 11 Being Changed Inwardly

Romans 14:10-14

So where does that leave you when you criticize a brother? And where does that leave you when you condescend to a sister? I’d say it leaves you looking pretty silly—or worse. Eventually, we’re all going to end up kneeling side by side in the place of judgment, facing God. Your critical and condescending ways aren’t going to improve your position there one bit. Read it for yourself in Scripture:

“As I live and breathe,” God says,
    “every knee will bow before me;
Every tongue will tell the honest truth
    that I and only I am God.”

So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God.

Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is. I’m convinced—Jesus convinced me!—that everything as it is in itself is holy. We, of course, by the way we treat it or talk about it, can contaminate it.

I think all these words are very powerful and can hit us all differently depending upon where we are at but for this post I want to focus on how it challenges us to look inward.

As always, these verses do not stand alone and they are written in the context of what we've already been looking at in the previous 10 posts: That God is challenging us to wake up and join Him on His mission to spread His love to all - even the nobodies.  In the verses above God clearly establishes and reminds us once again that yes, He is God and He has everything in control; that in the end every knee will bow and acknowledge that truth.  I think sometimes as Christians we forget this and we look at places where we see evil reigning and all we want to do it squelch it. 

But these verses state that our hands are full taking care of our own lives.  As we sit before God's word allowing the author and perfecter of our faith full access to our hearts He will bring that change that is needed a change of a heart that can do what God has invited us to do:

Romans 12:17-21

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. ¹⁹ Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ ²⁰ No, ‘if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads.’ ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Let us take time to sit before His presence looking inward so we can receive the grace we need to love outward. 

In Christ,

13 Thoughts for 2013: Part 10 Seeing the Individual

Romans 14:1

Welcome with open arms fellow believers who don’t see things the way you do. And don’t jump all over them every time they do or say something you don’t agree with—even when it seems that they are strong on opinions but weak in the faith department. Remember, they have their own history to deal with. Treat them gently.

I have lived on both sides of this verse and the end results have been very different.  In my younger years, I thought Christianity was all about being right.  I could argue with people about theological issues for hours and I know that in the process, I hurt people.  In particular, I remember, having a discussion with my younger sister where a group of us were discussing the role psychology and medication played in a Christian's life.  At times, the discussion got heated and for me it was about winning and being right.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, she had been a victim of rape and she was suffering under keeping this a secret from our family.  In hindsight, it is quite obvious to me why she felt she had to carry this burden on her own. My heart has grieved many times over the last 8 years for the ways the spirit of religion  closed the door for her to immediately come to her Christian family and receive love, acceptance and help in her time of need.

Her story has been one of the ways the Lord has slowed my tongue and opened my ears to hear, love and accept other believers.  Unfortunately, it is not the only incidence of missing someone's heart in my passion to be right, but as always, I am thankful that the Lord is a teacher and a Redeemer and as we stop to listen and walk in His ways we are changed by His grace.

As I stop to look back over my past and see what has changed in me, I realize that one of the main things is understanding my security in Christ.  Before, when I'd argue with people, I was arguing from a place of position that was secured in "my truth."  I was sure that I was on God's side about a particular issue and for anyone to rock that boat for me caused panic.  But as God settled my heart in Himself, over and over again, freaking out has become less frequent, though my husband can attest to the fact that I can still get flustered.  But these moments of flustering usually come when I take my eyes off of people and I am just trying to be right.  

The understanding that I am secure in Christ because of He first loved me, has opened the door for me to minister to many different women.  As a result, they have taken the time to be vulnerable with me and to tell their story.  With each new story I hear, an increasing ferocity for protection of these precious hearts rises up in me.  They don't need to be brought to the truth through argument rather they need to be treated with love, honor and respect as precious children of God.  I will gladly admit that it is a whole lot harder to love than it is to argue about being right.  But the most "life-change" I've ever seen has come out of the arena of love not the arena of argument.

Once again a quote from Henri Nouwen puts the words I am fighting for in this post into beautiful succinctness:

In solitude we can listen to the voice of Him who spoke to us  before we could speak a word, who healed us before we could make any gesture to help, who set us free long before we could free others, and who loved us long before we could give love to anyone.  It is in this solitude that we discover that being is more important than having, and that we are worth more than the results of our efforts.  In solitude we discover that our life is not a possession to be defended, but a gift to be shared.  It's there we recognize that the healing words we speak are not just our own but are given to us; that the love we can express is part of a greater love; and that the new life we bring forth is not a property to cling to, but a gift to be received. (from Mornings with Henri Nouwen).

So remember:

In Christ,

P.S. If you have been a victim of rape, first of all I am truly sorry.  If you have never spoken out, please find a trusted friend to open up to.  You can read and listen to my sister's story at that link.  While she never received justice from her perpetrators, she has opened and continues to open wide the door in the political realm for victims.

13 Thoughts for 2013: Part 9 Awaken to what God is doing

Romans 13:12-13 
The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!

"Be up and awake to what God is doing!"

After a week like this week in the news media (Boston Marathon, Kermit Gosnell), it is easy to be discouraged thinking that the evilness of man is somehow winning in this world.  That is what I initially think when I look at the news, but then I stop and I'm once again reminded that God moves in the smalls of this world and in His infinite wisdom He remains patient and confident that His ways will continue to turn this world right-side up.

Psalm 11 asks: "When the foundations are being destroyed, what are the righteous supposed to do?" (Psalm 11:3 NIV).  This Psalm used to frustrate me because I felt like it left a direct question unanswered in a direct way.  However, when I look at it again I see that it calls us to fix our eyes on Him and what He is up to:

Psalm 11 (MSG)

I’ve already run for dear life

    straight to the arms of God.

So why would I run away now

    when you say,

“Run to the mountains; the evil

    bows are bent, the wicked arrows

Aimed to shoot under cover of darkness

    at every heart open to God.

The bottom’s dropped out of the country;

    good people don’t have a chance”?

4-6 But God hasn’t moved to the mountains;

    his holy address hasn’t changed.

He’s in charge, as always, his eyes

    taking everything in, his eyelids

Unblinking, examining Adam’s unruly brood

    inside and out, not missing a thing.

He tests the good and the bad alike;

    if anyone cheats, God’s outraged.

Fail the test and you’re out,

    out in a hail of firestones,

Drinking from a canteen

    filled with hot desert wind.

7 God’s business is putting things right;

    he loves getting the lines straight,

Setting us straight. Once we’re standing tall,

    we can look him straight in the eye.

This Psalm solidifies that God is firmly established on His throne and He is well aware of what is happening in the world.  The question when we see the evil in the world is not what is God doing about it but rather the question is do we believe that God knows what He is doing when He asks us to love, to pray for our enemies,and to do good even when evil is what we get in return?  Does His way really work?

If we answer yes to those questions, it leaves us with one more question - How do we walk this out? The answer circles us back to the end of the first verses Romans 13:14: "Dress yourself in Christ!"  Scripture after scripture tell us how to dress in Christ (if you would like a list of 11 of them click on my post called Spiritual Wardrobe).  These small choices we make everyday are those investments that yield great returns in the spiritual realm.

I will leave you with a final thought from Henri Nouwen from Mornings with Henri J.M. Nouwen:

The mystery of life is that the Lord of life cannot be known except in and through the act of living.  Without the concrete and specific involvements of daily life we cannot come to know the loving presence of him who holds us in the palm of his hand.  Our limited acts of love reveal to us his unlimited love.  Our small gestures of care reveal his boundless care.  Our fearful and hesitant words reveal his fearless and guiding Word.  It is indeed through our broken, vulnerable, mortal ways of being that the healing power of the eternal God becomes visible to us.  Therefore, we are called each day to present to our Lord the whole of our lives - our joys as well as our sorrows, our successes as well as failures, our hopes as well as fears.

In Christ,


This is part 9 in a 13 part series: 13 Inspirational Thoughts for 2013.

13 Thoughts for 2013: Part 8 What is love?

You can’t go wrong when you love others.

When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.

(Romans 13:10 MSG)

This verse is the most simple and straight-forward verse of all the verses we've looked at thus far.  As I view this verse in light of all that came before it - I see it as a response to what has come before rather than "a requirement" that we conjure up inside of us.

We have seen:

• the heart of the Father for us
• we are His beloved children 
• that we exist in Him and Him alone
• that our daily actions, the simplicity of life is lived in Him

So from this place we are asked to love.  Christianity has gotten a bad rap that it is people trying to live out a list of rules that they wish to impose on themselves and on others.  In light of the cross, we reflected on last week, we should lift our heads with pride while kneeling in humility before all of our neighbors and ask - how can I show you love today?

So what is love?

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Doesn’t force itself on others,

Isn’t always “me first,”

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end.

Love never dies.

(I Corinthians 13:3-8 MSG)

Living & loving like this comes as a response to the love we first received from Him.

In Christ, 

13 Thoughts for 2013: Part 7 More Practical Application

Today's verses remind me of a G.K. Chesterton quote:

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting;

it has been found difficult and not tried.



Below are some of those verses of Christianity that have been found difficult and perhaps have been left untried.  Before you read them I encourage you to remember the 6 parts that have come before these verses because they provide the foundation for what comes next.  We remembered that we have a God who is on a mission to rescue the nobodies and He knows us and them intimately by name.  As a result of His love & His action in our lives we can daily move forward.  If God asked us to do the following things based on our own ability we would fail.  But the beauty of it is that He hasn't asked us to pull this off on our own.  He is leading us, guiding us, walking beside us, yoked with us, and following behind.  So being buckled into those truths you may proceed:

Romans 12:16-21

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

11-13 Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

14-16 Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

17-19 Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

20-21 Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

These verses remind me of why I love Christianity. 

• First of all because it is impossible to do these things long-term and consistently without God. 
• Secondly, it is not something that is able to walked out from a high and lofty place.  You cannot sit in a place of judgement or "I'm better than you" and do these things. 
• Third, it strips us to the core of who we are.  I had to laugh as I read, "Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath." There are no facades in walking this out. 
• Rather, it requires humility and self-sacrifice and often times the way of Christ makes no earthly sense.  So these verses land us back at the foot of the cross; fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).  Only from that vantage point does any of this make sense.

In Christ,