Thursday, December 23, 2010

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains — where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth." - Psalm 121:1-2
This verse was the reading for the day in a Bible calendar I have. What a wonderful reminder of where our strength and power really comes from.

It is easy to think it comes from power, prestige, wealth or fame. That is what we can see and what our world thinks really matters, but that is not where our help really comes from.

As people of faith we know our help comes from the Lord.

To add one more thing: our help from the Lord does not come as a result of OUR great faith. No, it comes as a result of the GREAT ONE we place our faith in.

May that be a wonderful reminder to you of God's blessing and faithfulness.

Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Religion vs. Gospel

Tim Keller writes in The Reason for God (186):
Religion operates on the principle "I obey - therefore I am accepted by God." But the operating principle of the gospel is "I am accepted by God through what Christ has done - therefore I obey."
I love this simple explanation of the gospel.

It is so easy for me to get into the mindset that God ought to accept me and be pleased with me because of all the good things I have done. This mindset only expands if I compare myself with other people (always the worst kind of people of course), thinking how much better and more deserving I am than them. I would never say this out loud, of course. I may not even think it consciously, but the attitude can sure be there. Even my sense of self worth or value before God can be based on an image others have of me or that I have for myself. Again, this means everything is about my performance or how I look. It has everything to do with what I do and nothing to do with what God has done. Does this ever happen to you?

Yet when I am reminded of the truth of the gospel again, I get my mind and heart squared away. The truth is that I was so full of sin and darkness that JESUS HAD TO DIE FOR ME. There simply was no other way. This humbles me and makes me thankful. But then I am reminded that JESUS WAS GLAD TO DIE FOR ME. This gives me the assurance of God's loving acceptance.

That is the gospel and I have to be reminded of that regularly so I don't forget the measure of God's love and mercy for me or His acceptance of me as His son.

What do you think? Any reactions . . .

Friday, December 10, 2010

Why is reconciliation so hard?

I have been spending a fair amount of time thinking on the subject of reconciliation lately. If I had to total up the hours each year that I spend helping others work through issues related to reconciliation I think I would be stunned. It's simply one of THE most important and time-consuming things I do.

This subject is not something trivial or optional and its certainly not something that the Bible is quiet on. Here are just a few of the scriptures related to the subject:

Matthew 5:21-26, 18:15-17; Romans 12:9-21; 1 John 2:9-11, 3:11-16

Maybe the most telling to me is 1 John 1:7:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

The implication is that if we don’t have true fellowship with each other we will be in darkness and sin and separated from God. That is a big deal. Since this subject clearly is such a big deal to God, shouldn’t it be an equally big deal to us? If so, why don’t we all take it more seriously? Why do we settle to for the status quo even though it hurts our relationship with God and with others.

Richard Rohr wrote, “If the pain of your story is not transformed, it will be transmitted.”

I know so many people who transmit their pain and anger and sour disposition onto others, both intentionally and unintentionally, rather than allow God to transform their conflict so they can be at peace again.

I know reconciliation is not always easy or quick, but I also know that when it occurs no one ever regrets the work done to achieve it. Maybe we need to tell those stories more so others are encouraged to take important reconciliation steps.

When you have found it, true reconciliation and peace, what does that look and feel like? How were you effected? Please share some stories.