Listen

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
                                                                                              James 1:19

We don't listen. We don't listen to God, we don't listen to each other, we don't even listen to ourselves. We do things we know aren't good for us. We do things we know the Lord doesn't want for us. We do things we don't even want to do. All because we aren't listening. Even when we're not talking, we're still talking to ourselves, trying to tell ourselves what we want and what we need and how we can have it all if we'll just get strong enough or bold enough to go after it. But the truth is we don't know what we want or what we need. We'll never know until we stop talking and start listening; first to the Lord, then to one another, and finally to ourselves. For all that we need and most of what we want can be achieved though our relationships with each each other if we'll put God first and listen.

Vulnerability

     Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.
                                  1Samuel 18:4


Relationships call for vulnerability. Jonathan gave over to David his weapons. These were the things he used to defend himself and attack his enemies. He left himself vulnerable to David because he trusted him. In our relationships we're to give up our weapons of defense and trust the other person to look out for our well-being. This is God's calling for us, the only way to find peace and joy in those relationships.

Blessed

Blessed is the man
   who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
    nor stands in the way of sinners,
     nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
      but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
       and on his law he meditates day and night.
                                                          Psalm 1:1-2

     What does it mean to be blessed? Some of you may read various translations that translate the word here as happy instead of blessed. But I want to explain why blessed is the better word to use. This is not a technical issue, so much as it is a cultural one. The word used here can be properly translated happy, just as well as blessed. But that is because the ancient Israelite did not have the same idea of happiness that we have in 21st Century America. The idea of happiness for the ancient Israelite had to do with the scope of the entire life, not just a few moments in that life. In America today, we think in terms of immediate feelings and situations. If we say I'm happy, we mean right now, in this moment I feel happy. To the ancient Israelite to be happy was to have an entire life that was full of happiness and God's blessings. There are certainly moments of struggle and hardship and difficulty. Moments even of sadness and/or anger. But taken as a whole, one's life is happy because they have all the good things God provides for a happy life. And here's what's really important. The blessed person recognizes his blessedness, his happiness, because he delights in God's law and meditates upon it day and night. I hope we'll all spend our energies getting to know the Lord. I know we will then have truly blessed lives. God Bless You.

Get Rich??

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

observe carefully what is before you,

     and put a knife to your throat

if you have a big appetite.

     Do not desire the ruler’s delicacies,

for they are deceptive food.

     Do not wear yourself out to get rich;

be wise enough to desist.

                          

                       Proverbs 23:1-4

When I first read this passage last evening I thought this had to do with making a fool of oneself in the presence of the "ruler," the one who displays power and wealth.  I see now something totally different at work. The issue is not how you're going to look but what you're going to become.  Am I going to become one enticed by the fineries of this world, the delicacies of this world's banqueting tables?  Am I going to wear myself our to get rich and acquire the friendship of those who profess power and prestige but can add little, if anything, to my eternal destiny?  Or am I going to learn to be content with what I have and invest my time and energy in eternal matters which support and build the only kingdom that counts, that please the only One who can add anything to my life?  I want to be one whose life counts for more than climbing the social ladder.  I want to drop below the radar of this world and be seen only by the One who sees what is done in secret.  

God Works

"The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of
   understanding draws them out."
            "A man's steps are directed by the Lord.
               How then can anyone understand his own way?"

                                                                                    Proverbs 20:5,24




I thought on these words last night.  I thought how truthful they are in my own life.  I do not understand my way.  I do not know where I am going most days, much less do I understand the shape my life is taking.  


For a man my age that can be pretty difficult to swallow.  I'm 36, with no family of my own, no real prospects of seeing that take shape any time soon, and a list of could have beens and might have beens.  You will notice I don't say failures and regrets.  It is not because I'm unwilling to admit that I have acted selfishly and with a fair amount of self-centeredness.  I've even come to realize with time that I may have hurt several people along the way, when for a long time I thought I was the only one to get hurt.  But I don't speak of failure because I believe the above proverb to be true. I believe that my steps, no matter how selfish the decisions of my heart may have been, have ultimately been ordered by the Lord.  So I can't speak of failure, or shouldn't speak of failure, unless I'm speaking merely of my failure to recognize truth and share love along this path my life has taken.  It is no failure to not be married if God didn't mean for you to be so, even if you were selfish in your own determination not to marry.  


Really I'm talking about more than marrying and not marrying.  I still hope to marry one day.  But what I'm really talking about here is trusting that God is at work in my life.  He is at work to direct the course of my life, and he's also at work to draw out of me the love and faith that I tend to hide and forsake.  What are the purposes of my heart?  I do not fully know.  It takes one who knows my heart to draw them out.  It is my job this evening and every day to trust that God is at work doing this very thing.  Though I may look at my heart and see only selfishness and self-centeredness, I do believe God looks and sees more.  He looks beyond the dry outer layer that must be daily be cut and pulled away like the peeling of some fruit.  He's after what's inside, that sweet, sometimes aromatic center which brings delight to the senses.    


Today, I'm trusting him not only to direct my steps, but to get what he's after.  God Bless!