Life in Community: The Place of Holiness

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
1 Peter 1:13-16 (NIV)

There is an assumption that to be holy, one must be alone or at least surrounded by other people who like to be alone.  When we think of titles like “Holy man” or “Holy one,” images of quiet men in robes living on a mountain top come to mind.  While I would never dismiss the discipline and dedication that is shown by that lifestyle, I am not sure that it is the pinnacle of holiness.

Jesus, The Holy One, was engaged and connected to those around Him.  His moments of solitude and prayer are notable, but they were not where He stayed.  His ministry is marked by movements from isolation to intervention; from stillness to action; from quietness to proclamation.  It is obvious that Jesus did not need His time intervening, acting and proclaiming to spend time alone, but used His time of isolation, stillness and quietness to prepare for moments of engagement.

Our movements should follow the same pattern.  Our solitude, silence and prayers with God inform and transform us to then move into the world.  Holiness may be forged in the disciplines that set us apart to God, but it is expressed in the activities of community and fellowship.  My daughter has been learning to pray regularly, read her devotions, seek God in quiet moments and learn what it is to be His child, but I want her to know that these are just doors to living a holy life with and among others.  She needs to understand that to “Be still and know that I am God” needs to lead her to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19 NRSV)

Holiness matters to God, but life in community helps make holiness matter to others.  We can be holy in isolation, but it is hard to be salt and light in isolation.  God’s holiness does not stay in heaven, but invades this present life through His kingdom and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  When we are holy as He is holy, our holiness does not stay somewhere inaccessible to those around us.  It is engaged in the lives of others through a mind prepared for action.  It is empowered by the fullness of hope we have through grace.  It is the cure for the sin in our lives.  Holiness together for each other and the glory of God.

Paint on Us

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 (NIV)

We are the canvasses

You are the artist

But we keep trying

To take the brush from Your hand

 

We have come with nothing

You give us fullness

Why is it so hard

To be still where You need us to stand

 

Paint on us

Brush us with Your love and grace

Paint on us

While we stand in this Holy place

Cover us with the image of Your Son

Color us until Your will is done

 

Empty us of everything

Then fill us with the truth

Lead us to the rest

That stills our hearts for Your work

 

Create us in Your image

Holy Spirit, make us new

Pictures of God’s grace

On display for all the world

 

Paint on us

Brush us with Your love and grace

Paint on us

While we stand in this Holy place

Cover us with the image of Your Son

Color us until Your will is done

Cure

Your Word is the medicine for my malady

It is the cure for the pestilence of my past.

Your truth lights the darkness of my heart

Filling me with a love that will last.

 

You are the cure

The healer of my soul

You make me pure

Refined like gold

Remove my impurity

Restore my infirmity

Redeem my destiny

Make me pure

 

Your Will is the motive for my mission

It is the way to vanquish all that’s vain.

Your strength heals the weakness of my heart

Filling me with courage once again

 

You are the cure

The healer of my heart

You make me pure

A brand new start

Reclaim my affection

Sustain my direction

Reframe my attention

Make me pure

 

Your Way is the method to my movement

It is the path to holiness and heaven

Your Son walks with us lest we stray

And gives us something to believe in

 

You are the cure

The healer of our souls

You make us pure

Refined like gold

Remove our impurities

Restore our infirmities

Redeem our destinies

Make us pure 

Gardening Tips: Fallow Ground

For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield; but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the wild animals may eat. You shall do the same with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. – Exodus 23:10-11 (NRSV)

In the years before chemical fertilizers and horticultural sciences, it was common practice to let fields rest so that the soil could replenish and recover.  There are still many places that rotate their crops from field to field so that each crop is getting the nutrients needed for a good harvest.  This is something God has wired into us; a need for rest to replenish and restore. For the people of Israel it was a necessary and vital part of their culture; for us it is a necessary and vital part of our spiritual growth and health.

We used planters this year for growing most of our garden.  We used some of the same soil we did the last two years and thought it would be enough to mix in some compost, but we had to use far more fertilizer than normal to keep our garden going.  The soil we used was tired.  It knew it, but we did not.  As believers we need to be attentive to the soil of our hearts to know when it needs to rest, replenish and restore.

One of the most important ways to practice this is holding to a weekly Sabbath.  This is certainly any area of improvement needed for me, but I believe it is endemic to our current American culture.  We have sleep aids, technology that keeps us constantly connected and entertainment that draws us away from rest to busyness.  We need to overcome our culture and claim the rest that God has prepared for us.  We need to make holy for ourselves what God has said is holy.

Rest is not easy for most of us.  It is a discipline because we can always think of something we could or “should” be doing.  This is the handiwork of the enemy and a broken world.  There is never anything more important than doing the will of God and the Sabbath sits firmly in the center of His will.  It is the practice of the Sabbath that prepares our hearts for the fresh crop, for new seed, for the tiller in the hand of God preparing our hearts for the next season.

Lord, help us be a people of the Sabbath, resting in Your presence and power.  Let us cast aside every care and worry, trusting wholly in You to provide all we need.  You are the Lord of the harvest, but also the Lord of the Sabbath and we want to be Your subjects on that day.  Amen.

Read the Directions: This is Not a Step

My steps have held to your paths;
my feet have not stumbled. – Psalm 17:5

Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways. – Proverbs 4:26

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6

Setting boundaries can be a tough job.  We are wanderers by default when it comes to doing what we are told.  We struggle to have our own way from the moment we are born. (Some moms I know think the struggle begins in the womb).  As we grow older, we learn about the boundaries and that there are consequences when we push at them or cross over them.  No matter what area of our lives we may discuss, there are always issues on boundaries.  They are a fact of life, but that doesn’t mean we do well with them.

It is clear from the passages above that God knows our propensity for boundary busting.  He has given us clear boundaries, spelled out in the lives of His people, in His decrees, in the life of His Son.  We need to watch our step.

If you search the internet with the phrase “died after falling off a ladder” you may be surprised how many results you get.  Sadly it is a common enough occurrence that it has its own line in the report on accidental death statistics.  I don’t know how many of those are caused by people ignoring clearly defined boundaries: THIS IS NOT A STEP.  There are clear signs on many things in this life that God has put there for good reason – God wants to keep us safe.

I have been foolish enough to use the non-step on a ladder before, but was never injured.  I could take that as a reason to keep on doing it, or I could take it as God’s grace and mercy sparing me and giving me another chance. I choose the latter (pun intended). I need to pay attention to those signs that God has posted.  They are there for my protection and every time I push the limits, I am closer to a fall.

Lord, help me to see, read and obey the signs You have given to us to live holy lives.  Give me the discipline to live within the boundaries You have set.  May I have ears to hear, eyes to see and a heart and mind to obey.  Amen.

Read the Directions: Please Wash Your Hands

Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. – Psalms 24:3-5 (NIV)

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” – 1 Peter 1:13-16 (NIV)

There is a Seinfeld episode where Jerry is on a date at a restaurant when he runs into the chef in the bathroom.  When the chef, Papi, leaves the bathroom, he does so without washing his hands.  Given Jerry’s phobic tendencies about germs, hilarity ensues when Papi brings their food to the table.  I have to admit my own unease with that kind of situation.  There are appropriate times and places for cleanliness, and preparing food for others certainly fits the bill.

When discussing salvation, I have heard the phrase, “You don’t have to clean up for a bath.”   The idea is that since God will clean you up in the work of salvation that you don’t need to clean up your sin first.  This is a true and correct perspective because we cannot clean up our own sin.  But once saved, we can maintain cleanliness.  It is one thing to ask someone to wash their hands before preparing food at a restaurant, but can you imagine if they had to take a shower every time they came back into the kitchen?

We need to be clean.  It is healthy, makes us feel better and certainly is considerate for those around us with sensitive noses.  In the same way, purity of spirit is healthy, makes us feel better and gives us the ability to “consider others as more important than ourselves.”  There is a cleansing we are given and there is a cleanliness we maintain.  One we receive that removes the stain of sin and one helps keep us from sin.

Too often we wait for the bath.  We wait until the dirt and grime of un-confessed sin has built up and the Spirit convicts us to seek cleansing.  Been there, done that (more than once).  By the grace and mercy of God, we are forgiven and made new, but maturity and purity ask us to grow strong and true so that we remain clean.  We all fall.  We all come short, but in the pursuit of holiness, we can find ourselves falling less and coming closer to the mark.  A daily discipline of cleanliness can help us in this pursuit.

Confession and repentance are the cleansing steps we take toward purity.  When we make them a daily discipline, we set ourselves apart for something better than a cycle of deprivation and redemption.  This is the life I want and hope for and struggle after.  This is the life God’s holiness calls me to.  This is the life God gently reminds me of in the moments I need a bath.  Lord, help me to be holy as you are holy.  Give me clean hands and a pure heart.  Amen.

The Shepherd and the Sheep: Minding Our Manners

“As for you, my flock, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will judge between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats. Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?” – Ezekiel 34:17-19

Many of you may have heard the name Harold Camping of late, and the repeated predictions of the rapture.  You might have also taken note that the rapture did not occur this past weekend and will not occur on his newly predicted date.  Harold Camping fits squarely into the false prophet category; one that tramples the pasture and muddies the waters.  His hopscotch approach to interpreting scripture has damaged scores of believers, and brings ridicule from those who disdain Christianity.

It is easy to look at someone like this and blame him for the negativity that people we know have toward Christianity.   We may even find ourselves saying something like, “He’s the kind of guy that makes Christians look bad.”  The problem is that your non-Christian friends probably felt ambivalence toward Christianity before they had ever heard of Harold Camping.  The real problem is the sheep in the mirror.

I know that there have been plenty of times, through action or word, that I have trampled the pasture and muddied the waters.  My life did not reflect the shepherd or the life of the pasture He had provided.  I could blame Harold Camping for people not having a favorable view of Christianity, but I’m pretty sure I have done my fair share of making God’s pasture look less appealing.

Do I think that having a bad day in representing Christ is remotely comparable to false prophecy?  No.  But it never helps when we focus on our frustrations with the behavior of others.  God will take care of Mr. Camping, but my life in Christ is my responsibility.  Every day is an opportunity to live life in the pasture better than the day before.  Every day holds the promise of God’s mercy and grace for me to overcome the failures of yesterday.

Lord I pray that I would have eyes to watch my step, ears to hear you directing them and a will submitted to yours that I might walk them for your glory and honor.  Help me live a life in your pasture that draws others to your flock and doesn’t drive them away. Amen.

The Discipline of Presence: Forgiveness

Matthew 6:9-15 (NIV)
“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

It is interesting that the only part of the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus clarifies is the section on forgiveness.  Not God’s will, not daily bread, not temptation – just forgiveness.  It is the only prayer that is answered based on our success in doing the same for others.  Jesus is clearly speaking to the human propensity for holding a grudge that keeps us in our little kingdom-of-me instead of the Kingdom of God.

We have been doing some gardening behind the house the last few years and one thing is abundantly clear: you must tend the garden every day.  We learned this by watching horn worms devastate our tomato plants.  We took this to heart when weeds became so entangled with cucumber plants it was hard to tell them apart.  If we wanted our garden to bear fruit in season, we had to be disciplined everyday in its care and maintenance.

Condemnation, anger, arrogance and even hate can take root in our hearts if we do not tend the soil each day.  God wants fertile ground for the seeds of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (and) self-control.”  If we allow offenses to go unforgiven, our hearts are full of weeds that will not allow the fruitfulness God desires.  The ill-will we hold toward those we think have hurt us is like a worm eating at the vine that keeps us abiding in God.

Forgiveness is a daily discipline like weeding the garden. With God’s help, we can pull out the bitter roots and free up our hearts for the work of the Spirit. Forgiveness breaks the chains of judgment, pride and hate that can choke our growth in the Lord.  Forgiveness gives us eyes to see the wormy thoughts that eat away at the work of the Holy Spirit.  This is one of the ways we remain present in our walk with God.  It allows us to have an attitude toward others that reflects the attitude our heavenly Father has toward us:

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. – Lamentations 3:22-23

Is your compassion renewed each morning?  Do you begin each day by wiping the slate clean for others?  Maybe it is time to weed the soil of a heart that is broken and weary from the fruitless toil of anger and pain.  Maybe it is the season to prepare for new seeds to be planted, nurtured and watered with the work of the Holy Spirit.  Maybe today you can pull up one of those especially deep-rooted weeds that is keeping you from moving forward.  Maybe today is the day to move from being forgiven to being forgiving.

Reconciliation: There Are No Untouchables

When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.  – Matthew 8:1-3

I am not sure if many people realize what a sanitized society we have here in the US.  Filtered water, hand cleanser and stores dedicated to bathroom supplies make being clean a commodity.  We use air fresheners and deodorizers to eliminate the evidence of atmospheric unpleasantness.  Our laundry detergents get out the stains, our dishwashers break down cooked on food and our restaurants have grades on their sanitary conditions.  It is our meager way of trying to control our environment and maintain the appearance of cleanliness, but it has been tried before.

The Israelites had gone down that same road when Jesus walked among them.  The Pharisees and Sadducees were so intent on the appearance of cleanliness that they missed opportunities for a deeper cleansing from the Messiah.  He was among them – the prince of peace, the wonderful counselor, the Son of God – and he wanted them to understand and be reconciled to his heavenly Father.

Jesus does two amazing things in this story.  He heals a leper and he touches a leper and it is important to remember in what order.  In His day, touching a leper was against the law and would make Him unclean in the sight of the religious leaders.  This didn’t stop Jesus.  Instead of requiring the leper to be clean before he can come to God, God comes to the leper to make Him clean.  This is an astonishing and revolutionary change for the religious leaders watching this encounter.  It is no less astonishing and revolutionary for us today.

Maybe you are the leper and need that touch from Jesus, but you feel as if you are unclean and don’t deserve His touch.  You haven’t stepped forward in faith and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”   There is no other way to be reconciled to God but by Him entering into our mess and cleansing us from within.  It is only by the work of His Holy Spirit that we become whole and holy people, so ask for His cleansing touch on your life.

Some may find themselves relating to the Pharisees and Sadducees (picture me raising my hand), having been told the rules and regulations of a proper Christian life and working hard to maintain a manmade standard.  It is an unforgiving system that requires much, and produces little. Legalism is a leprosy of the mind and heart and Christ can reach the deepest parts of both and make them clean.

For now, the job of reaching out to the unclean and unwanted of the world is ours.  We are the hands of Jesus reaching out to touch the unsavory of the world and that isn’t always easy for us. If you are like me, there is a group of people you have a hard time relating to or accepting.  They make us uncomfortable and so we avoid them.  We may not even know why we react like we do.  Regardless of what group you are thinking of, we all need to ask the same question: Is there anyone that Jesus wouldn’t have touched if they had been in the leper’s place?”  I say the answer is “No.”  If we want to be like Jesus, we have to learn how “perfect love casts out fear” so we can reach out to whomever He brings our way.

Pray that God will give you the opportunity to reach out to someone who needs a touch from Jesus.  Ask Him to work in and through you to reconcile to Him those who have slipped through the cracks of our sanitized world.  Be the hand of Jesus reaching out with love because He is willing.

Provision: A Faith Like Abraham’s

Our church just finished a season of prayer on breakthrough, asking that God’s kingdom would break through into our lives in real and powerful ways.  I was privileged to be a part of putting some of the devotions together and have used some of them in expanded form for the blog.  I pray that they will be a blessing to you and your life with God.

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?” “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied. “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together. – Genesis 22:6-8

I have to ask myself from time to time, “What are you afraid to let go of?” It can be a scary question, the possibility of giving up something you really value or love, but that fear has to be overcome or it is a prison.  God can only take us as far as we are willing to go.  The world becomes a bigger, better place when we learn to not only trust God for our daily bread, but understand that our daily bread is enough.

When we face those moments of decision that test our trust and faith in God, we need to remember the life of Abraham.  He became a symbol of faithfulness to all generations through his obedience.  He experienced innumerable blessings from his heavenly Father through unswerving trust in His providence.  And in one of the greatest tests of his life, Abraham weighed all that he knew about God against the request to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, and he chose to have faith in what he knew about God.

The problem with our fallen nature is that we get things backwards more often than not.  Instead of our need for what God provides defining our actions and faith, we allow our wants for just about anything else to define our actions and our faith in God.  If we don’t get what we want, we wonder if God really loves us or if prayer really works.  If we want a better life, whether that is through more money or a better relationship, we pray for what we think will make us happy.  But we need to trust that God loves us and wants what is best for us; we need to believe that true happiness can only be found in God and follow where He leads.

Granted, none of this is easy.  When we trust in God, we are overcoming our culture, our brokenness and our world.  The level that we need something determines the level of influence it has on our lives, so the life of Christ is a rejection of worldly needs and an acceptance of what God wants for us.    In Abraham’s case, he needed to be right with God and therefore believed that God would provide all that was necessary to fulfill His promises.

I want to be like Abraham.  I want to need God more than I want anything else.  I want my faith to be defined by God’s provision and not my situation or circumstances.  I want to trust Him enough to head up the mountain with nothing more or less than He has asked, knowing He will provide all that is necessary.  And so I pray, Lord, help me be like Abraham, a man of great faith. Amen.