I FAIL! God does not!

I talk a great game, and play well a lot of the time. Sometimes I get caught up in old ways, old schemes, old worldly places. Sometimes I forget that I am called to be a man of God, to live by faith, and love like He does. I FAIL! Sometimes God tells me who I am to him, and while I hear Him, I don't always listen. And I FAIL! God loves me even in my failure but does not like it when I continue to do so. Life is not often easy, but with faith in God to show you who you are, it is worth it.

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24                                                           

How BIG is your Savior?

Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 1Timothy 1:15

I fail daily, I screw up, I crash and I burn! I attempt to be the man that the bible tells me to be, but I often do not even live up to the man my dog, Tucker, thinks I am. It has been said and with great joy to my heart; Jesus did not come to save perfect people. I am a very good sinner, but I have a much BIGGER Savior. 

Faithful thanks to the unseen

Giving thanks to the unseen can be difficult but here we are reminded that we can have eternal life in doing so. A life lived with God and those we love in eternal glory. Look around you today and be thankful for God’s many creations, and then close your eyes and be thankful for the creation He made in you. A prince or princess so valuable he would die and rise again just so you may live. With God even the meek and poor inherit renewal. It is not about what you have but what you give thanks for.  

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Thanks-Giving

For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 2 Timothy 3:2

Sound familiar? In a few short days we as Americans will sit down with our families, a big cooked bird, and all the trimmings to discuss all the things we are grateful for. Many people will be grateful for that family, that meal, the many blessings such as new clothes, new computers, new cars, and new homes. Some will be thankful they are alive after fighting illness. A few will be thankful to God, and the sacrifice Jesus made for us. That is correct, I said a few.

I look at post on social media sites such as Facebook and everyone is posting their daily thanksgivings. This is really encouraging to see, especially since most of the people I choose to surround myself with have the same biblical values, values that in this country sadly have become a minority. Sadly even those of us who claim to be Christians have a hard time, sometimes being thankful for the things that truly matter.

I am thankful for the roof over my head, the shoes on my feet that took me several weeks to pick out because as Holly says, “he is just too darn picky.”  I am thankful for the new phones we just got, that our children are in school and I get time from them. I am thankful that we have freedom to do things like write blogs, speak our minds, and go where we want to go, but often times I take for granted how I got those freedoms.

So what is Thanksgiving and how do you show it? I think we have to look at the two words separately. First let’s look at thanks. Thanks by definition is; a feeling or expression of gratitude. We have so many things to be grateful for, many are listed above. I am fortunate enough to have many things that I want over a need, for that I am thankful. I am sure many of you reading this are in a similar situation, seeing as you at least need access to a computer to be getting this message. But even if you are not, say you are homeless, alone, and hungry can you or do you still have things to be thankful for?

Now let’s look at the second word, giving. The definition for giving is a long one but to paint the scene for you, giving is to make a present of, to bestow, to award as do, and to endure a loss or make a sacrifice, just to name a few. Nearly everyone has something they can give away, to sacrifice. My children have an abundance of stuff in their rooms, some of which has gone long times without being touched. Holly and I have decent jobs and make enough money to give to those who need it more. And speaking of those who need it more, what can they give? Well they have time, many have faith they can share, others have just a little more than the one next to them. We can all give and are commanded to do so. Acts 20:35 says, In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’

So to close out, what should Thanksgiving look like? Well, we should have an attitude of gratitude in everything we do, receive, or even lose. We should then follow by blessing others with our blessings and love. Jesus on the night he was betrayed broke the bread and thanked God. Not only thanking Him for the bread but for the sacrifice He knew He soon would make. We must give to show our thanks.

 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Breaking Bread

There was a knock on the door. He was relaxing in a comfy chair after wild partying the night before, he considered not even getting up. The knock became louder and he decided to get up and see what the big deal was about. When he opened the door he was pulled into the hallway of the apartment complex. The group of five men standing in front of him wanted to know where they could find the roommate. When he was unable to answer them, they beat him, bruising his body, bloodying his face and head, and leaving him alone in the hallway wondering how he had got to this point in his life…

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:21-26

She woke up early in the morning; again she was in a stranger’s bed and does not really know how nor does she really want to know. This is the 3^rd night this week and she is concerned. It has been a couple months since her last period, which is sometimes a usually occurrence, but this time she has been feeling weak, sick, and tired. She leaves the man’s bed and begins to walk, later finding a 24 hour drug store. The girl has no money; she has been on the street for the last two years. She steals the test and heads to the restroom. She is alone, she is lost, and she is in pain…

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Luke 7:36-39

He walks to school knowing what he is about to do is wrong. He stole the gun from his father’s night stand and he is ready to kill the boy who has been teasing him since he came out. He doesn’t understand why people won’t except that he is just different, he likes men. He has it all planned out, when he arrives he will go to the bathroom and check the gun to make sure he loaded it correctly. The bully always sits at the cool kid table in the morning, picking on, mocking, and torturing those who he believes is weak. No one will even care that this guy is gone, the kid tells himself. Gun drawn, head down, and scared because when the trigger is pulled the lives of a few people change really quick. Entering the cafeteria, he pulls the trigger and…

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:13-17

I could share these stories all day. A couple of them are fabricated but are reality to many people on this planet. The first is an actual account of events as I remember it, waking up with a concussion. Why tell these stories and share these verses? It is about meeting people where they are at, just as Jesus did. He did not come to heal those who are not sick. Sad part is we are all sick, even if we neglect to admit it. Jesus broke bread and invited the sinners, the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the murders, and the sick to come and eat with him. He built relationships that allowed him to share the Good News and people believed him.

How do we share the Good News today? Many Christians that I have seen today want to convert you, they want you to say the prayer and alleluia, you are saved. Jesus wants a relationship with you, with them. It has been said that the biggest cause of Atheism in the world today is Christians. Why? Because instead of building a relationship with the gay guy in class, we shun him, tell him he is going to hell and that he needs this guy named Jesus. Where is the love? Instead of holding the young girl, whose father beat her daily, and giving her hope, we tell her that her promiscuous ways are gross, she is not valuing herself and she needs Jesus or she is going to hell. Where is the love? We look at the party guy, doing and selling drugs, constantly in fights, living out a life that is full of worldly desires and breaking every commandment. He needs hope, a future, a father who loves him, a mother who accepts him, and a community that is willing to stand behind him. Instead he is told his ways are evil, if he doesn’t except Jesus and do all the things we tell him to he is going to hell, and for now we shun him. Where is the love?

Jesus did not discriminate. He let you come eat with him, He became your friend, He expressed His love, and then He explained how to inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. He met people where they were, in dirty apartment complexes full of drugs and sin. He met people in alleyways in the dark and showed them light. He met people on their way to school, in a bathroom, in cafeterias, in brothels, during wars, and anyplace he could find the sick. Jesus met them where they were and showed them love. People do not care how much you know about the bible until they know how much you care about them. We lose people for God when we attack them, but in moments of weakness our love, a love provided from God who is love, saves.   

God loves rebels?

To me there is no question; God does in fact love rebels. Now before my mom and wife get all in a huff I think we need to explore the difference between rebelling for God and rebelling from God. To explain rebellion from God I could throw most of my life story prior to a few years ago out there. I think I will keep it simple, as to not scare many of you away.

When I was 15, I regularly attended confirmation classes at St. Joseph’s church in Baraboo, Wisconsin. That is right I was raised Catholic and am very familiar with the term Holy Strobe Light. For those who do not know what that means message me later. As I was saying, I attended these classes. I received first communion in second grade, I did first reconciliation in fourth grade, and now all that was left was confirmation. I was an altar boy, different stories stem from that experience, ie; Holy Strobe Light. One evening my mom dropped me off for conformation classes, there were about 13 of us total and many of the guys in the class were my best friends. Prior to class starting that night, Father Walsh, kind of a scary man, pulled me and two others aside. Father Walsh then explained that he knew it was us who had stolen the sacramental wine and that he would no longer teach us. We were asked to leave. This story always gets a chuckle and parts of it my mom probably was not even aware of, but it was a definite rebellion from God. This is just one short story of the many times I was rebellious against Him.

So what does rebelling for God look like? Let’s take a look at God’s word and see what kind of examples he gives us. Moses, who both rebelled against and for God is a good place to start, Moses murdered as explained in Exodus 2:11-12, One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. But Moses learned to submit to God, becoming a rebel God could use. Being sent into Egypt to free God’s people, Moses was commanded to go to Pharaoh and say, ‘this is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.’ Exodus 9:13b

From Moses we can jump to Jesus, now this is skipping many of stories of people who both rebelled for God and from Him, so please, for more information open your bible. I bet now, some of you are asking, how did Jesus rebel? I thought Jesus was perfect? You are right and this is how we know that God loves rebels. Jesus never conformed to this world; he rebelled against it, even if it meant getting angry or going against what the law says. Breaking man’s law is not okay unless it conflicts with what God is telling you to do. So let’s find just a couple examples of Jesus teaching us this. Matthew 12:9-13 says, Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. This means that Jesus went against what man has set as a steadfast rule to prove that God wants us to worship him by doing His will. Jesus also fled from arrest on multiple occasions. If you or I were to do so we would be a fugitive in the eyes of men, Jesus did so not to preserve his life but to preserve ours. Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp, John 10:39.

So what does it all mean, how does it apply to your life, and is it okay for you to be a rebel? It means that everybody is a rebel. Do we rebel for or from God is what we must internally ask ourselves, or maybe those around us. God wants us to stand tall against the worldly, fight injustice, and love as He does. To love as He does is not always viewed as the nice way but it is always the right way. Romans 12:2 tells us, do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. If we rebel for God, we repel the evils of this world. It is definitely okay for you to be a rebel, as long as you rebel against sin and stand for truth.