Staying Connected to God

As Christians we don't get to live "normal" live. -- John Eldredge

I would think that the most obvious question at this point is: "what is normal?" And the most obvious answer would most likely be: "like everyone else." How are Christians not like everyone else? They walk with Jesus.

There are several ways we could explore this.

• The drive for happiness.
• Personal ambition vs. God's mission.
• Sacrificial love.

However, we will look at the context that the above quote was in. Which was the daily abiding in Christ, the moment by moment conversational relationship with God. One metaphor of this connection is a branch on a vine. It is this connection that provides life and the power to bear fruit. Another metaphor of this connection is a shepherd and his sheep. The sheep listen to the voice of the shepherd, following him and his directions.

There are several passages of Scripture (don't stop praying; walk in the Spirit; abide in Christ) that give many people the feeling that walking with God is a continuous, stream of consciousness, moment by moment conversation with God, where his children get instructions for everything.

In my small group last week, we discussed this some. How is it supposed to look? How are we supposed to engage in it? (Caution! Facetious example ahead! "Good morning, Father. What a wonderful day you have given us. Please, I need to hear your voice this morning. Should I shower today? Should I go to work? Should I wear black socks or white socks? One of each! On my ears!")

Followers of Jesus live connected to the Father of All. He is trying to speak to us far more often than we realize. And we ought to be seeking him far more often than we do. And if we seek him, we ought to seriously obey what we hear. (Maybe that's why his family does not seek him more? What I don't know, I don't have to obey.)

In the context of the above quote, Eldredge cites someone saying that he wanted to just go to Hawaii for vacation, and he did not want to ask God about it.

• What do we understand about how God views our heart ... and our happiness?
• What do we understand about how God views growth, maturity and personal decision making? Does God trust us and expect us to grow to the point where we can make our own decisions about what color of socks to wear?
• Suppose you did ask God about your vacation, and he said "Don't go to Hawaii. Go camping at Shenandoah." Maybe you go to Hawaii anyway ...
• and you get to enjoy the lovely Class-5 cyclone.
• or you miss the inner healing from trauma you suffered as a child.
• or you miss the family from Lima, Peru, and God will need to find someone else to be a catalyst of revival through out South America.

We can play "what-if" games until the cows come home. But we do need to come to some type of understanding of when and how to seek God, to hear his voice, for direction. If someone cuts us off in traffic, we don't need to seek him as to whether we should be patient, or whether we should lose our temper.

Drawing Lines

I mentioned a while ago, about an actor who had gotten in trouble for some things he said. There is still a lot of noise going on about this incident. (And I am a little concerned about posting this, because I might get viewed as practicing what I am writing about … as in “practice what you preach.”)

I was looking at a blog aggregator, trying to see if there was a writer I would like to check out. It was a list of popular Christian bloggers and recent posts they had written. And one writer had a post about this particular person and incident. So, I took a peek.

The post was not so much a discussion of the incident, as it was a discussion about the reaction of a large part of the “Christian community.” These people felt the actor was being treated unfairly. The rationale goes like:

“Many others espouse an opinion that is unpopular, and it does not create such big waves. This person espouses an unpopular view, and an uproar ensues, because his view is based on his allegiance to Jesus, and what he believes pleases him.”

The writer’s point was (1) the actor did not understand nor characterize the people he was talking about in a way that Jesus would have talked about; and (2) since the “Christian community” seemed to be defending his actions, then the writer felt alienated from (not part of) the “Christian community.”

Moreover, the writer posted the thoughts of several other writers who said similar things. “Because they defended what this person did, I don’t feel like I am part of the Christian community, because …”

Now, I confess I did not read what these people were saying very closely. Mostly, it was because of the emotional impression I was getting. The feeling I got was that there was an us/them mind-set being created. (And, of course, I could be totally wrong about what went on these people’s hearts.)

Christians seem to be very good at drawing us/them lines. Protestants/Catholics. Evangelicals/Pentecostal-Charismatic/Mainline. Conservative/Liberal. Some of the line-drawing involves “Because you don’t believe/do this (or do believe/do this) you’re not really a follower of Jesus, or a member of his family. You have not really made Jesus your first allegiance.”

My concern here is the line-drawing. Some line-drawing is inevitable. Even Jesus drew some lines. Of course, his earnest desire was that everyone would be on his side of the line. But I don’t think people realize the seriousness God gives this. Most people realize that Jesus said that one of the ways people will know who the Jesus-followers are is that they have a genuine love for one another. What is less known is that Jesus said the unity of his family demonstrates that God truly sent Jesus. Francis Schaeffer, 30 years ago, took this one step further. He said when Jesus said this, he almost gave permission to people, who had no allegiance to him, to conclude that if there is no unity among Jesus’ family, then Jesus’ claims about his mission, about his work, and about God’s purposes are a pack of lies. Suddenly, drawing lines takes on a whole new significance.

There are going to be disagreements. Every family, every couple, has them. But we need to find a way to disagree, but not draw lines. We need to find a way where there is only an “us”.

Confidence of David

David composed songs. In some of the songs, he seems to review his life. He remembers his humble origins, the defeat of Goliath, hiding from Saul, being protected by God in those years, as well as being protected in the multiple wars and battles. He remembers his failures and sins. And he remembers his relationship with God.

There is one song that many have thought was a prophetic description of Jesus. He will be king, and rule over creation. But how did David interpret this song? He might agree with the scholars. But what if he goes through the past in his mind, and then, reflects on where God has placed him. He is King of Israel. And he has the favor of the King of Kings. The Lord of Creation stands like a shield, like an unassailable wall, between him and any opponent. God’s favor seems to mean that no other person, no other nation, can stand before him. He has a “I’m on top of the world! I’m better than the best, because God stands with me” attitude.

He seems to conclude that as long as he stands for God, and with God, that he will stand above anything that occurs. And as long as the other kingdoms ignore God, or do not submit to him, they are perched on very thin ice. Ready to slip at any moment. Ready to crash at any time.

As David was a man after God’s heart, perhaps he understood God’s heart better than most. And, as we seek to understand God’s heart, maybe we can develop the same confidence in God’s nature, favor, intentions and responses as David had.

The Spirit's Presence (Fruit)

God sent Jesus into the world (1) to reconcile us to him, and (2) to model how we are intended and designed to live. I have said in a couple of places that Scripture paints some pictures of what Jesus is like

.

Since, God is love, then the description of love, the traits of love, paint a picture of what Jesus is like. (Jesus is patient; Jesus is kind; etc.)

Since, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are both part of the God-head, then the description of what results occur when the Spirit is present, also occur when Jesus is present. (Jesus is love, joy, peace, etc.)

And since, Jesus is the model, the picture, of how people were designed to live, then people should follow Jesus' pattern. People should follow the the description of the traits of love and people should bring the results of the Spirit.

So, if our heart-focus is true, if we are connecting with God, and the grace and Spirit of God are flowing into our hearts, and therefore, into our lives, then the traits of love and the results of the Spirit ought to be flowing into the world, and be apparent in our lives. Yes, they will still be imperfect, but they will be real, authentic and -- as we persist and God's work continues -- growing.

What if the traits and results are blocked? What if, for example, we are not experiencing joy and peace? The obvious answer would seem to be that something is interfering with the flow from God. We have lost connection with the Spirit. Grace and love have been choked off.

A loss of patience, joy or peace ought to be a warning to us. (As well as a loss of any of the traits or results. A strong urge to go on a "bender" -- "bender" being defined as uncontrolled indulging in any addictive behavior --  ought to be an obvious example.) Spiritual warfare is, in large part, the enemy convincing us to break our connection with God.

Breaking our heart-focus, our connection, with God is the enemy's basic step in disrupting God's purposes in the world. There are obviously other more cognitive, more strategic types of disruptions. (For example, I am sure the enemy wanted to, and tried to, negate Billy Graham's influence. What if the enemy managed to convince Billy to engage in an adulterous relationship? And it went public?) But the disruption leads to a smaller flow from God, less grace moving from the hearts of Jesus' followers into the world,  and a weaker impact of God's family in the world. It is like there is an emotional, psychological and spiritual atmosphere built from what flows out of each person's heart. And a loss of connection with God means that this atmosphere becomes more what the enemy wants and less what God wants.

Not only should it be a warning that the enemy is attempting to disrupt God's purposes in the world, but he is also attempting to disrupt God's purposes for us. The world is broken; we are broken. It is the effects of sin that lead to this brokenness. It is the connection, the heart-focus, with God that allows the life of God to flow to us and to move our hearts and our lives towards being like Christ, and like our original design.

A loss of patience, joy, peace or other traits and\or results ought to cause a warning message to flash on in our brains: "Warning! Warning! Power source connection has failed! Take steps to re-establish the connection!"  And we might need to talk to an expert -- our Father, for example -- or consult a manual. And maybe, we already know the correct procedure.

The Spirit's Presence (Release)

First of all, notice the illustration at the bottom. Many use this diagram to represent the nature of a human being. Human beings are comprised of three parts: body, soul and spirit. The illustration does a pretty good job of showing the basic areas of a human being, and how they can be independent of one another. For example, the term "muscle memory" refers to a response so ingrained into a human body that it seems to by-pass human thinking. It also illustrates how people work from the inside out. Everything a person does is birthed in the spirit, moves into the soul and, then, out through the body.

It does not do a well-enough job with the inter-dependence of the main areas. For example, when a body is fatigued, the soul often gets grouchy. But, even if it is not entirely accurate, it is helpful.

Without Christ, the body and the soul are alive. The spirit, in one sense, is alive, because it is the animating force for the body and soul. But, in another sense, it is dead, because it is not connected to Christ.

Without Christ, a wall of sin grows at the division of soul and spirit. (There is no basis for this really. I am trying to build a picture that I hope is helpful in understanding the relationship between the Spirit, our spirits and the prevalence of sin still in God's family.) Without the influence of the Spirit, sin strengthens, grows, and reinforces this sin-wall. Whatever actions, words or impulses are birthed in our spirits need to filter through the sin-wall, and are polluted by it. Like a duck, that gets trapped in an oil spill, its body gets coated with the oil. It can't swim correctly; it can't fly correctly; it can't live as it was designed to live.

Now, the person receives Christ. God sends the Holy Spirit to mark the person, give the person life, connect the person to God and add the person into God's family. Connected to God, the person has life. As the person focuses his/her heart on God, God reciprocates the focus. Love, grace and life flow into the person's spirit and naturally begins to flow through the division of soul and spirit, into the soul ... and right through the sin-wall that's still there.

The person's God-filled life-essense flowing out into the world has just gotten dragged through the oil slick. It has been polluted and spoiled. The effect of God's life in his children has gotten messed up, so it can't have the same impact in the world, as if it flowed out pure and clean.

So, what does God do? He cleans up the oil slick. He smashes down the wall. As we walk with God, focus our hearts on God, grace, love and the Spirit flow into our hearts and begin an attack on this sin-wall. Sometimes it is an acetylene torch; sometimes it is a sledge hammer; sometimes it is a wrecking ball.

As these work, the wall gets thinner, less dense and more porous. What comes out of our spirits is less polluted. Sometimes, there is a crack or a hole, and what emerges is pure, unadulterated God. Of course, the reverse is true. We focus elsewhere, break God's word, and the sin-wall begins to grow and strengthen again.

All sorts of experiences and practices weaken the wall: prayer, reading and meditation, worship, service and using a special ability God gives individually and personally to each of his children. There are other experiences that can have an effect too: special meetings, conferences or God breaking through, meeting a need in a special way. The daily activities are similar to the torch, or hammer and chisel. The special events can sometimes act like dynamite or the wrecking ball.

The people I mentioned in the last post, who focused on particular actions and results, often (not always) emphasized these special experiences. As if only dynamite can break down a wall. But someone, with a spoon, patience, perseverance and diligence, can still dig through a wall. And maybe the spoon can weaken a strategic point and give the special event more impact.

• The man in the previous post seemed to say people did not have enough of the Spirit. Maybe all of the Spirit is in our spirit, but not enough of him is getting out.
• God works through all of life. Multiple experiences work to release God's Spirit in and thorugh our lives. The special and the every day. The main catalyst of this release is our heart-focus.
• To quote John Eldredge, "It's not what God is not giving, but what he is giving." He is always giving and always speaking to us. Quite often, we expect something else, and so we miss what he is doing. Pay attention. Focus your heart and receive what he sends, whether it is an earthquake or a whisper.

The Spirit's Presence

There was a man who connected God's Spirit, correctly, with God's power; and he connected God's power with signs and miracles. Since, A=B and B=C, then A=C. So, he concluded that the lack of signs and miracles meant that most people who called on God did not have the Spirit of God.

And he concluded that since people in the first church received the Spirit, and it was desireable to have the Spirit, there must be some way that people got it. After all, God did command his children to be filled with the Spirit. So, this resulted in a search for some means to invite the Holy Spirit to take up residence in a person's life with a good likelihood of success. Which, in turn, caused a large number of Christians to focus on a particular type of action, and a particular type of result, which became the main demonstration that the Spirit now filled the heart of a person.

I am not arguing against either the action or the result. I do have some concerns with the basic assumptions. (Maybe A != C. Maybe A+D = C.)

(1) It is written that the Spirit is the source of our power in God. We connect with God and his Spirit flows into our hearts; his presence brings power. But it is also written that God gives his Spirit to mark us as belonging to his family.

(2) If the Spirit is the mark of being in God's family, and in order to demonstrate the presence of God's Spirit in a person's life requires the "miraculous," then we are forced to exclude from God's family many people who have set their hearts, faith, hopes and allegiance -- as well as time, energy and resources -- on Jesus, his family and his purposes.

But Scripture testifies that if we give our hearts and allegiance to Jesus, he accepts us, justifies us and receives us into his family. He also marks us as part of his family by putting the Spirit into our hearts. By adding the "miraculous," we seem to be adding a condition that God does not add.

(3) By focusing on the "miraculous," we ignore other results that Scripture says should be obvious if the Spirit is in our lives. There is a reason they are called "the fruit of the Spirit."

(4) By focusing on the "miraculous," we scramble God's priorities. Love is God's first command. Love is the first fruit of the Spirit, or the first demonstration of God's Spirit in a person's life. Scripture says that the "miraculous" is temporary, but that love is eternal. Scripture says that without love, the "miraculous" is vanity and chasing after the wind. 

• So, A != C, there is a D somewhere that needs to be factored in.
• We are foolish if we overlook or attach too little importance to the "miraculous." But we are equally foolish if we attach too much importance to it.
• We need to have God's priorities, and give most of our time and energy to what he regards as important. (Maybe we are experiencing little of the mirculous, because we are expressing little love.)
• I have some ideas about the D factor that I hope to shared very soon.

Open, Available and Expectant

We have been discussing the heart-focus recently. We have described how important it is. How it is the basis for our connection to God. How it is the foundation for our relationship, for our enablement for love, service and evangelism. We have discussed disruptions, challenges and distractions. We have discussed prayer and blockages.

I belong to a small group of people, who try to meet regularly and consistently for prayer, for mutual encouragement, and, of course, for eating. We met recently, and the spiritual portion of the evening was: sharing what God was teaching each one, (there were eight of us, that night) and what was a spiritual goal for the upcoming year. What each one was learning was different, coming from different experiences and sources. But whatever we were learning, all of us were motivated to pursue greater intimacy, more abiding, or, to use the terms we have been using here, a stronger heart-focus toward and with God.

We found it remarkable that 100% of a group of people felt compelled to pursue the same goal.

I decided on a course of action, with several activities, that are intended to enable me to gain more understanding of my heart-focus, which should lead to practices resulting in a greater heart-focus.

I am also experiencing some difficulty connecting with God at this time. I am experiencing less heart-focus.

Since, heart-focus is the basis for spiritual power, this could be an attack from the enemy, seek to disrupt my relationship, my heart-focus, and, therefore, any fruit that may result.

Or, since it is Christmas, and there are a lot of distractions, this could be just me not handling the distractions well.

In the "Admin" part of this blog, there is a list of the most recently read posts. I noticed that someone had recently read a post called "Seeking God." In it, I described God's desire to communicate with us -- frequently, regularly, and consistently -- and how important it is for us to be open, available and expectant (OAE). If we are not OAE, it is like trying to listen to the radio without being tuned to a station. The "signal" just doesn't get through. Like with Christmas distractions, there might be interference.

Distractions can work in another way too. Sometimes, life can get too busy and we won't take the time to "tune" into the "signal" well enough. Even, important things -- or the desire to accomplish the important things -- can interfere with OAE. Time is required to temporarily release all other concerns and move into a place of OAE. We aim our hearts to God, and give him an opportunity to speak to us.

Then, I had a thought. What if I had got focused on accomplishing the activities that I was doing to strengthen my heart-focus, that I neglected to cultivate any OAE. In other words, while trying to strengthen my heart-focus, I was failing to exercize my heart-focus.

Hear-Focus (Prayer)

God knows our hearts, our intentions and our plans. He knows our circumstances. He knows our intentions for us.

So, why pray? A large part of prayer seems to be beseeching God to do things he already knows about, convincing him of the wisdom and benefit of doing these things, and -- if you are really spiritual -- how good he will look in the eyes of the world. Doesn't this seem a little bit like putting the cart before the horse? Isn't God aware of all this long before we are? Prayer seems, in some ways, like a waste of time. Yet, it is God who recommends this practice. Doesn't the Bible say to ALWAYS pray?

Prayer is NOT for God's benefit. He is completely self-sustaining, completely independent. He does not need convincing to act in love, because he is love. He does not need convincing to right wrongs, to demonstrate his glory, or to advance his kingdom. All of these things agree with his purposes, and agree with his work of redemption and restoration.

Prayer is for us, his children, his kingdom, and his family. Prayer is focusing our hearts on God, receiving grace and receiving transformation. We are put into a new place, so we agree with God's heart, accept God's purposes, work toward God's ends, and complete our purpose in his kingdom. Prayer gets our heart in sync with God's heart.

Spiritual Fads

It seems like there is always something "hot" that the Christian community is engaged with. Currently, there is a large amount of noise about something a particular actor, who is a follower of Jesus, said about the gay community. Now, he is in trouble with the people who sponsor him, and the Christian community is yelling "Terrible! Terrible! Terrible!" (Read: He expresses what he believes in, and he is a terrible person; other people express what they believe in, and that's OK. Can you say "double standard?")

I obviously have some thoughts of my own ... or else, why would I be bringing it up.

(1) I have not read the gentlemen's comments. But, if you read the Bible, you know that God has certain standards about how we are supposed to speak about others. Did he step over the line?

(2) Also, if you read the Bible, you know God does not exactly approve of the gay lifestyle. And, as followers of Jesus, we ought to think what Jesus thinks, feel what Jesus feels, approve what Jesus approves, and do what Jesus does.

(3) There is an awful lot of breath expended in the Christian community about gay issues. Given the amount of breath and energy given, one would think this is the most vital issue of the age. What did Jesus say was the greatest command. It was NOT "thou shalt not engage in gay activities." The greatest command is to love God, and the second is to love people. Yes, it is sin to engage in gay activitiy. It is also sin not to love. Which means it is sin to be impatient, unkind, envious and to hold grudges.

Does it not seem wiser, better and more effective to put first things first? Maybe we ought to focus on first things -- the things Jesus said were most important -- until we get them right, and then go onto lesser matters. Or can we, at least, give equal breath to the first things as we do the lesser things?

Heart Focus (Challenges)

The result of a life in relationship with God is a life with a heart growing in focus on God. When your heart is focused on God, God reciprocates and focuses his heart on you. The result is his love, grace and Spirit flow into you heart. Your heart is purified. Your character is refined. You are empowered. And all of it happens from the inside out.

But God continues to test and challenge us. The point of his work in our lives is to refine our focus, to convince us of our need for him in relationship, and to build in us a heart for him.

Many people tend to think of challenges as adverse circumstances. And they can be. But positive or good things can be as well.

If we are in the midst of good things and god times, we can have elevated and incorrect thoughts about ourselves. We can say to ourselves, "I'm doing all right. I am being rewarded for all my work." And the result is -- your heart-focus is on you, your position, your work, and your heart-focus is not on God.

Success or fame can break your relationship with God. It can sever the connection between your heart and God's heart, stopping the work going on.

Failure, bad things and bad times can equally test our connection and heart-focus. In this case, we say "I'm a failure. A jerk. I'm not work anything." We doubt God's love. We doubt God's intentions. We focus on ourselves.

Failure or guilt can break your relationship with God. It can sever the connection between your heart and God's heart, stopping the work going on.

At the center of our lives as followers of Jesus is a relationship with God, and maintaining our heart-focus on him. All of life's circumstances are opportunities to enhance our heart-focus or to damage our heart-focus. Each circumstance has a different effect, and therefore, a different lesson on how to maintain our relationship and heart-focus with God.

Heart Focus (Distractions)

We often have foreign students living with us. They are either attending the local university or studying English in preparation for attending the local university. 

Currently, we have a student from China. And his father recently decided to visit the US. He has friends in San Francisco, relatives in Boston, and a son elsewhere on the east coast. They will return to China next week. (After the son will return to the US after winter break.) 

The father will be staying with us for a couple of weeks. He speaks little English, and the son attends classes Monday through Friday. Because communication is difficult, the normal means of expressing hospitality are very limited. His son translates and there are apps on the internet. But TV, normal conversation and asking questions are pretty much out of the question. And there are some transportation issues. Realizing this is not an earth shaking predicament, it does add up to a slight increase in stress. 

I believe people live from their heart, from their inner core, from the inside out. Jesus said that what they put in their heart automatically comes out of their mouth and in their actions. This is the normal way people work. But what happens on the outside does affect the heart. 

I have noticed that the ability to focus my heart -- to reflect, pray and meditate -- has been blocked somewhat. It could be the visit, the season, (the effects of too much turkey) or one of those bio-rhythm things. With a diminishing of my heart-focus, one would expect a diminishing of God's reciprocating heart-focus, an therefore, a lessening of grace, and the flow of God's Spirit getting blocked somewhat. 

One would also expect a decrease in appropriate behavior. Now, I haven't lost my temper. I haven't gone on a "bender" of one sort or another. But I have noticed a "tremor in the Force." A small loss of peace. (Or a small gain in anxiety. A stranger in the house? Too much turkey? The BCS standings?) But there is a definite sense that I am not functioning at 100%. And there is a definite sense that, at least in part, it is a result of a heart-focus that is not optimal. 

If what we have been discussing lately, the heart-focus being the conduit of God's grace, and the flow of the Spirit into our lives, and if, as followers of Jesus, we live by that flow of grace and the Spirit, then disruptions of that flow are serious. Then, anything that causes a distraction to that heart-focus is serious. 

One could say that our primary weapon is achieving God's purposes, growth or restoring God's kingdom is our heart-focus. It connects us to God, to grace and to God's Spirit, which are our primary resources in achieving the things mentioned above. Then, it would not be too much of a stretch to conclude that Satan's primary objective in spiritual warfare is to disrupt our heart-focus, and to cut us off from our primary resources. Anything that disrupts our heart-focus can be an attack from the enemy. (I would not get too hyper about this. All he needs to do in many cases is just let life work. Living is distracting all on its own.) Areas of sin, areas of every day life (politics, school, work) and even areas associated with righteousness (family, church) can become an artillery barrage to our heart-focus. 

NOTE: I am beginning to wonder if what we are calling our heart-focus is what Jesus meant by "abide in me." 

NOTE: I just finished a historical novel about the battle of Vicksburg during the Civil War. The deciding factors in the battle were (a) the Confederate army was cut off from their resources (food, ammunition and clean water) and (b) the Union army was well-supplied in all of the above. Demonstrating how vital maintaining connections to resources in war is.

Something New

Jesus was talking about following religious practices with some people. He told them that at different times, we need to adjust our practices. Like when God reveals something new to us.

He used two metaphors to illustrate this. The first was patching a hole in an old piece of clothing with new material. If one sews a patch on an old item of clothing, when it is washed, the patch will shrink, pull on the old fabric, weaken it, and, eventually, create a bigger hole.

The second was putting new wine into old leather skins. Fermentation causes gas to form. The gas will stretch the leather skin. New skins will stretch; old skins will not. Stretching the old skins will cause them to burst. Ruining the skins and the wine.

Pretty often, I read, hear or see some Christian announce that God is going to do something new. He will reveal himself differently. He will reveal his purposes in a new way. If these proclamations are true, then, according to Jesus, should we not be making adjustments in our practices? Should we not be acting differently?

(I have heard that old leather can be treated in a way that it will regain its suppleness and elasticity. But doesn't that mean someone has to do something different?)

The basic form of doing church has been set for hundreds of years. There have been some changes. The music is different. Many churches no longer use special robes. People still meet in special buildings. They are still led by professionals. The focus still is on the weekly meeting. Most people are still spectators. There is a fixed time of singing and prayer. Then, someone gives a speech. 

I do not mean to suggest that any of these things are bad or evil somehow. But, if God is doing something new, then we need to do something new.

God's Heart (David)

Throughout the songs of David, he urges God to bring his judgment. There is almost of feeling of excitement and anticipation. Imagine: “Yeah! Bring it, God! Smash the wicked! Restore the righteous!”

The only way David can assert this with such conviction and enthusiasm is that he regards himself as not one of the wicked. But David’s hands are not entirely clean. Adulterer. Murderer. But his is not afraid of God’s judgment. He understands God’s heart toward him. Even in failure, he is a man after God’s heart.

It is in failure that God’s heart (God’s grace) is most proven … most evident. It is in failure that our hearts – toward others, toward ourselves – are most proven and most evident. Some failures are because we are not big enough. Some failures are chosen. And those who choose moral failure need to repent. But there was a way that Jesus behaved with people that gave grace, even when someone had not repented. And we need to learn how to behave that way also.

God's Presence

When many people speak about being in God's presence, and its effect on people, they point to the Isaiah story.

When he was in the temple one day, he had a vision of God and an army of angels. Isaiah's reaction was fear and dread, because he realized his heart was not right with God. He realized this, because he knew his words were not right. (Since, people live from their hearts, their speech and their actions are indications of what is in their hearts. Everyone's heart is unclean. So, everyone will speak and act wrongly. That's why we need Jesus. And that's why God's Spirit fills out hearts -- to purify our hearts, so we speak and act in love.) It was then that an angel touched his mouth with a burning coal, acting as an instrument of purification, and he received his forgiveness.

People seem to associate God's presence with this holy dread, guilt and fear. People seem to forget about other areas that talk about about God's presence. David says that he is assured of experiencing joy and pleasures in God's presence. It is the presence that produces the joy and pleasure.

Scripture describes the results of God's Spirit moving in and through people's hearts. People "walk out" these results because they are a natural out-flow of God's Spirit in them. This is God's nature, so these are the result of God's nature. The first outflow of God's nature is love. The second outflow is joy.

I am not sure that the natural outcome of being in God's presence is fear, dread and guilt. I don't deny that people feel these things. (Eg. Isaiah.) But I wonder if it is God's intention that people experience joy and peace in his presence. Joy and peace is who he is. Joy and peace is what surrounds him.

Heart Focus - V

As we focus our hearts on God, we begin to see our devotions differently. Devotions meaning our personal time of reading in the Bible, prayer and meditation.

Devotions are a very important method of focusing our heart on the Father’s heart. It is in a number of ways more important than meetings as a family.

First, family meetings happen once or twice a week. Devotions usually happen more often. They should happen every day. They probably do not, but the frequency give God more opportunity to pour his grace and love into our hearts. Human beings improve in anything with greater practice. Only this is not more practice, this is more exposure. Like diamonds, the human heart gleams more when it is exposed to more to the polishing of the jeweler.

Second, devotions allow for more specific targeting. Meetings generally are broadcasts to the whole family. Families need to act and live in a united and coherent manner. Having a united hear-focus builds that unity and one-ness. But it is difficult – difficult, but not impossible – for individuals to receive in an individual way in such a setting. If God is speaking to the whole family about evangelism, but wishes to speak to person A about love, and person B about how to make a wise choice in a particular area, to receive the individual message, the persons need to focus their hearts on God, but in a different way than each other, and in a different way that the whole. Personal devotions are personal. God can deal with the heart of each individual as he sees fit.

(As we set our hearts toward God, there is most likely some way that God deals with our hearts in a non-cognitive way. But, just as likely, God pours into our hearts in a cognitive way. With cognition, we can cooperate and agree with God’s work.)

I have a third point that seems to be related to the second. A person’s devotions are when we invite God to speak to us personally. And people get into the habit of reading the Bible for insight on how the can live better, more fully, more happily, with greater impact, etc.

Now, we have stated here before that people live from their hearts. So, understanding the nature of the heart is important. And if people live from their hearts, and heart-ology is an important area of understanding, how much more important is it to understand God’s heart. So, in our devotions, we should include what people normally focus on reading the Scriptures, but also indicators of what goes on in God’s heart. We will learn how to focus our hearts, what we should expect to receive, and, most importantly, what is God’s heart focus.

Heart Focus - IV

As we focus our hearts on God, we begin to see obedience differently, we begin to see our relationship with God differently, and we begin to see our relationship with people differently.

We have said here that as we set our heart-focus on God, he sets his heart-focus on us. And God's heart flows back into our hearts and into our lives. God changes  our hearts to become like his heart. So, the things that characterize God will characterize us.

What is God's primary character trait? What has he told us is the most important thing? It is love. God's heart overflows with love for people. If God's heart flows into our heart, we will incorporate God's character. Which means we will love like God loves. Love, service and generosity will become part of our nature. We should expect life patterns to change as God changes our hearts.

I can see how there would be a tendency for people to get down on themselves ... or others in Jesus' family. It is easy to see a lack of love in the lives of so many who say they follow Jesus.

We fail. We will continue to fail. Scripture says God gave the Law, not for people to keep -- because that is impossible -- but so our failure would show us our need for Jesus, and drive us to seek him. Our failure to love should reveal our need to keep seeking Jesus.

Sin and failure should always bring us back to Jesus. People always follow their heart-focus. And they always become what their heart is focused on. Transformation will always be the result of failure, if we turn and seek Jesus' face. 

Heart Focus - III

If this heart-focus is as important as it seems to be, then a person’s view of how God views them is very important too. (In other words, how does God view each person, especially in failure?)

Many people feel that if they fail, God is angry with them. He seriously considers revoking their salvation and sending them to hell. An individual’s response, if they believe that God feels that way, is: self-condemnation, and often, depressed, small, ineffectual and powerless. The main tendency seems to be hiding from God.

If a heart-focus toward God is (at least, one of) the main methods of receiving grace from God, and therefore, (at least, one of) the main means of promoting growth and transformation, hiding from God is the worst thing a person can do. And God wants our growth. Growth of his children brings him glory. Growth of his children advances his purposes. Growth of his children brings him joy. So, the last thing God wants for his children is to be overwhelmed with shame and hide from him. God wishes to promote a heart-focus toward him.

Jesus died to justify sinners. And when we choose as our first allegiance, he sends his spirit to our hearts to begin the process of restoration and activate the process of relationship. God’s purpose is to reclaim his lost children, restore his kingdom, and demonstrate his glory. One person at a time, he persuades people to come to him. One person at a time, he brings his purposes into reality. (Of course, being infinite, “one person at a time” really has no meaning for him.) To motivate one child to hide from him disrupts his purposes. To motivate his children to seek his face, even when they fail, pushes his purposes to completion.

What does God do to motivate his children to focus their heart toward him, especially at a time when their minds, hearts and spirits scream for them to flee? He affirms his love for them.

It is always his love that draws us to him. It is his love that keeps us there. It is his love that persuades us to follow him, to undergo the process of transformation and to partner with him in fulfilling his purposes.

A major hindrance to God’s kingdom and purposes is our limited and incomplete understanding of God’s heart … and specifically of his love and grace.

NOTE: God is never hindered. But he desires to work out his purposes through his family. That desire will not bear full fruit, as long as we are in the dark about how big his love is.

Heart Focus - II

If this heart focus becomes as important as it sounds, then obedience takes on a new dimension.

Obedience is important, because it pleases God. It is important, because we are living as we were designed to live. And it is important, because obeying God will always demonstrates God’s love to people.

It becomes more important, because failure will stop God’s focus on us and the flow of grace to our hearts. Guilt tends to cause people to move their heart focus away from God and back to themselves. It is the heart focus that initiates the flow of grace, the filling of our hearts, the restoration of our hearts, and an out-flow from our lives. Sin short-circuits this whole process.

We recently discussed sin here, focusing on how we need to respond and how God injects his DNA into our hearts to re-create our hearts and our lives. It is our relationship, our heart focus, that is the catalyst to this restoration. As this restoration is not going to be completed in this life time, our primary concern should be keeping the “reaction” going as continuously as possible. And when we fail, to get it going again as soon as possible.

Maybe our response to sin should not be moans and groans, dust and ashes, and self-flagellation. Maybe it should be worship. Not a celebration of our failure, but a celebration of God’s grace, patience and perseverance in maintaining and deepening our relationship with him and our growth in grace. Worship sets our eyes and our hearts back to where they are supposed to be.

Heart Focus

Victor Frankl was a Jewish psychologist, who was thrown into a Nazi death camp during World War II. During his internment, like everyone else, he spent most of his time trying to stay alive. But, almost on reflex, he observed others captive in that environment and later, used his observations to try and explain people's hearts.

He observed people, who were physically fit and healthy, weaken and die. Or they would commit suicide by throwing themselves on the electrified fence. On the other hand, a puny, sickly person with asthma, anemia, and a heart condition would survive well past the end of the war. Physically, the first person was much more capable of survival than the second. He decided that the reason the first person died, and the second person lived, must lie somewhere in their inner life. So, he investigated. What he discovered was that those who survived had something to focus on in the future after all that they had experienced in the present was over. The survivors set their hearts on seeing family, finishing a project or visiting somewhere. And those who died had nothing to set their hearts on.

There seems to be a law -- almost -- that what a person focuses his heart on is drawn to that person. Those who focused on doing and being in the future, drew it to them. Those who had no focus drew the end to them.

I don't really know if I could explain how this law works fully. There does seem to be people who focus their hearts on gaining money or success, and those things seem drawn to them like a magnet. Of course, the focus compels them to act in a particular way ... and maybe that's the secret. Sitting down, closing your eyes and intoning like a mantra, "Money! Money! Money!" -- all the while visualizing small pictures of Washington, Lincoln and Jackson floating toward you, forming nice neat piles in from of you -- seems like a silly way to provide for your family.

All of this, of course, is an introduction to a passage of Scripture I have been thinking about.

Paul was addressing a group of God's family. He begins by telling them that he is confident that the Holy Spirit is flowing through him into their lives, because he can see the transformation occurring in them. He is confident that God is glorified, not because of his work, but because of the Spirit's work. It demonstrates the superiority of the new covenant of grace over the old covenant of law. The old temporary and it resulted in death; the new is eternal and results in life. In the old, we really could not fully understand God's nature and character, because there was a hindrance in our lives. In the new, we can see him more fully, because the hindrance was removed.

Now, here is the part I am concentrating on. I confess I don't feel like I completely understand ... indeed, I may be totally wrong. I feel like Paul uses more poetic language here, which may be part of the problem. But here is what it seems to me he is saying:

Since, we are not hindered from seeing the nature and character of God more fully. And as we see him, as we focus our hearts on him, we draw the focus of God to us. God reciprocates. So, like the "law" Victor Frankl seemed to propose, we draw God and God's nature to us, as we focus on him. His grace fills our hearts and transforms our hearts, which in turn transforms our thoughts, words and deeds. If I understand this correctly, one tool for transformation is our heart focus, Worship, prayer and meditation become means of growth, not just means of relationship.

Maybe steps of relationship are steps of growth. 

Love

A month or so ago, I was thinking about love and the list of its traits. I went through the list and described each of its traits. Now, I find myself reading through the same passage of Scripture. (Don’t worry, I am not going to describe each trait again.) This section about love is situated in the middle of a passage about the special abilities God gives his children.

One of the most commonly used metaphors to describe God’s family is that of the human body. The human body is one unit, one whole, but it is made up of many different parts. And each part has a different function. In the metaphor, each person is like a different part of the body. And the different function of the part is like the special ability God gives.

In the beginning of this section, the writer describes:
• The cohesion of God’s family;
• How God gives these abilities;
• How each person is strategic in God’s family;
• And how the abilities enable his children to meet needs, provide mutual service and interdependence.
 

But, as the writer transitions to his discussion of love, he explains how if the special ability is not accompanied by, supported by, empowered by or run through the filter of love, it is worthless!!

Which says to me, in God’s kingdom, these abilities are important, but love is more important. It would be better if a person acted in love, without the special abilities, than if he acted with the ability and no love.

Calling - X

We conclude with three attitudes\practices that are intended to put our call into effect.

The first attitudes\practices is “surrender.” The term has the connotation of defeat and giving up. But in a spiritual sense, it is a voluntary laying down of rights, goals and privileges, leaving one’s hands empty to pick up something else more important. When we choose to follow Jesus, we laid down our original allegiance in order to take up our new allegiance to Jesus. We surrendered our first allegiance to take up another.

Here is something similar. We choose to lay down our vision of our life, in order to take up God’s vision of our life. It becomes our vision, our way to love God and people. It becomes God’s personal command to us.

The second attitudes\practices is “focus.” There is a story of a CEO of some company who said that the bottom line dealing with any issue is – giving it attention. Living one’s call requires daily practice. Each person has to focus consistently and regularly on actions that will build the necessary skills, character and habits. There are tools that help filter out distractions (which could be activities that are harmful or activities that are good, but detract from the end we are aiming at) and activities that build. This doesn’t give anyone an excuse to avoid their responsibilities. They still need to be spouses, parents, bosses\employees and citizens. Still, if it is God personal command to us, it is something that requires daily attention.

The last attitudes\practices is “renewal.” Essentially, it is actions that helps one maintain momentum toward walking out the calling fully, achieving one’s potential. There are two aspects to this. One is renewing a person’s energy and enthusiasm towards the call. This can encompass all phases of a person: physical, spiritual, emotional and intellectual. Each person has a rhythm of rest, exercise, nutrition and spiritual input needed to perform the best.

The other is a renewal of perspective. Are there changes needed? Should some activities be discontinued? Some new ones be started? The whole process ought to be reviewed, evaluated and adjustments made.

Community also becomes important as people are supported, loved and served – both giving and receiving. Special relationships are formed. Not only friendships, but also people will need guides to help fulfill the calling. There will be both short-term (for specific areas) as well as long-term.

As we choose to embrace our calling, we practice it, giving proper attention and review it wisely, we walk in God’s purpose for us, we receive God’s “fuel” and we live as we are designed.

Calling - IX

At this point, walking out one’s calling lies entirely in the imagination. We have an idea about where our energies should be focused. The next suggested step is to imagine life in the future. Imagine if one’s call works out ideally, what would one’s life look like? How would one’s relationship with God be like? Marriage? Family? Church? Neighbors? What fruit would be borne? What self-image?

If a person can see where he is supposed to wind up, then he can begin to plan how he is supposed to get there. He can develop a strategy. Does he need to alter his approach to God? His family? Work? Does he need further education? Does he need to stop certain activities? Start certain activities?

As you can see, this all sits inside one’s imagination. Having a big picture of who you are and what you should become is not a bad thing. A person’s imagination is a powerful tool. Everything, good or bad, big or small, began in someone’s imagination.  The real trick is getting the contents of one’s imagination and making it real.

This is usually where living out one’s calling fails. It would be nice if we could jump straight to that idealistic future. But we can’t. We need to walk the first baby steps. We need to work through the intermediate steps. There is much praying and much planning. And there is too much expectation in many people for quick results.

Walking out God’s call on our lives at this point begins to become work. But without the work, we will never reach that future, and never experience the joy of being in the optimal place of God’s will.

Diversity

Taking a brief hiatus from the “Calling” series …

I attended a seminar about diversity at work recently. Rather than focusing on “race” or “disability,” like others I have attended did, this seminar focused on “difference.” The point of the seminar was to make us aware that there are dozens of ways people can be different from one another. (Height, weight, age, race, gender, religion, politics, handed-ness, economic status, work ethic, cleanliness habits, punctuality, etc. In the seminar, during one of the group activities, we compiled a list of 58 unique things.)

Each set of “this\that” represents different perspectives, values and experiences. Each set can produce different expectations, actions and reactions.

There is a lot of debate currently about one particular subset of the general population choosing a particular lifestyle. The family of God believes this lifestyle is wrong. A lot of the general society believe the lifestyle is OK. Part of the debate is how God’s family should respond.

A part of God’s family believes this lifestyle should be condemned loudly and frequently. Another part of God’s family highlights God’s love and acceptance, and maintains that we should behave the same way towards these people.

I would like to share a few points  that seem to me to be pertinent to this discussion.

(1) God is holy. He does say we should expose sin. So, why is part of God’s family busy exposing “this” sin, and ignoring stealing, lying, gluttony, and greed? God commands us to live a life of thankfulness. Anyone rememb4er hearing sermons condemning negativity? Scripture says be holy and expose sin. It does not give us the right to pick and choose.

(2) God is love. He commands us to walk in love. The family of God is commanded to love everybody … including sinners.

(3) Jesus condemned sin and he loved and accepted sinners. What God commands seems to be in tension. Jesus was able to obey both commands perfectly; but we probably will not be able to do so. But we are called to work through the tension and obey the whole counsel of God. We don’t have the right to choose what command we obey. If we are part of God’s family, we are required to submit to the Father and obey him … in whatever he says.

(4) It was probably the diversity seminar, but I was reminded of a passage of Scripture, where the writer condemns “favoritism” or “partiality.” The example given was giving the rich favorable treatment over the poor. But given multiple passages of Scripture that demonstrate that God accepts all cultures, classes, and all types of sinners, maybe we need to make sure we are not giving favoritism to one group against another group. In that passage, God says that favoritism is sin

Calling - VIII

A third vista is our heart focus. This is a difficult thing to discover. We have discussed here in the past that God desires us to live from our hearts. He puts his spirit into our hearts and generates life moving from inside out. This is why Satan attacks our hearts. God wants our lives to be controlled by love – of God and of people. As God gives different gifts, he gives different ways to express this love.

Satan wants our hearts to be controlled by anything else: guilt, fear, hate, lust, pride, etc. So, he attacks our hearts to smother love, if he can; and to generate some other counterfeit. So, people build protections over their hearts. And Satan confounds, confuses and distorts. So, we either cut through the barriers to uncover our heart focus; or we peel back all the layers. All of which God seeks to do.

It is not totally possible to shut down the expression of our heart focus. It peeks out from underneath the pile in a number of ways. To get a glimpse of your heart focus, ask yourself questions like these:

• What are your dreams? 
• Who are your heroes?
• What are your favorite stories? (Bible, movies, books.)
• What do you hope your future becomes?
• If guaranteed success, what would you do?
• What do you want written in your obituary?

This obviously requires using our imagination and a lot of quiet reflection. We need to remember that God’s desire is his glory and the advancement of his kingdom. God’s route for this is through his family – controlled by love, and attaining their potential. Scripture says that God has put eternity in people’s hearts, so the people are moved to seek him. Moreover, he puts a passion into people’s hearts, so we are driven to actualize our potential, give him glory, and love and serve people.

Calling - VII

Another tool set God has given to view our lives (another vista to make sense of our personal landscape) is our talents and gifts.

If God has given us a special niche to impact the world from, he will certainly equip and enable us to complete the work by providing us with skills. (Either natural skills given at birth, or spiritual skills given at re-birth. Or both.)

There are many abilities that can compile our skill-set. Some abilities are given at birth, eg. a musical ear or good hand-eye coordination. Scripture speaks of abilities given when we become part of God's family. Special skills that God empowers and works through, because his Spirit dwells in us.

Part of a skill-set involves a particular perspective (a set of lenses) to view the world through. For example, some people have a skill-set involving the maintenance of the physical environment. So, they see needs that should be attended to. They hear a noise in a car, and know how to fix it. They see "signs" in a house or yard, and know how to correct it.

Needs, concerns and areas for improvement occur in every area of life. So, an important part of this vista is an understanding of a person's heart, as well as their successes and achievements. 

Are there areas we are practiced and successful in? We probably have skills in that area.

Are there areas we have longings or strong desires about? We may have skills in that area, that we have not tapped into. God instills desires in our hearts to give us direction.

Calling -VI

There are several tools God has given to help determine the calling God has given us. The first is our life history, our life story. 

Let's pretend for a moment that there is an infinite, personal God, who made man-kind, designed them to have a relationship with him, and designed everything about individual people ... including what will enable them to live to their greatest potential. And since he is an infinite, personal God, he can give each of his children moment by moment attention. He can tailor a detailed program of training for each child, so they fill that spot that we have given the term "calling:" fulfilling their potential, acting in the most effective and efficient way to complete God's purpose and mission, maximizing joy and giving love in an individual and unique way. 

If there was such a God, and he had such a purpose for his children, we should be able to see his hand in their lives. There should be lessons, themes and patterns. There should be experiences that unlock doors to unseen, unknown vistas. There should be principles that are etched indelibly on hearts. 

Now let's pretend there is an enemy. One who want to detract from God's glory, thwart his purposes, disrupt his mission and generate as much misery as possible. And since God's glory, purposes and mission are bound up in people, (people choosing to align themselves with God in a new allegiance, to live in a new life that points others to God and to partner with God in restoring his kingdom) the place the enemy will attack is people ... especially his children. He will try to disrupt their training, distract them filling their place, confuse their identity, and interfere with their relationship with the Father.

If a person charted his life, there would be a number of ups and downs. And a number of these ups and downs would affect decisions, changing the direction of life. Some decisions would be based on fear. Some on faith, love or any of a number of practical considerations. By charting these transitions, a person could begin (repeat: begin) to see themes and patterns. One might also see places of disruption. To see the place of calling, one needs a panoramic view. There are motivations, and contexts. So, a person's life story is a view from one mountain top.

Calling - V

We discussed how each Jesus follower has a common core identity or common primary fuel. There is also a common purpose. This is simply to live a life that honors God. How do we do that? What does that look like?

• We love, obey, serve and follow God.
• We are serious about knowing and understanding what he says.
• We make his purposes, our purposes.
• We make his heart, our heart.
• We make his values, our values.
• We make his priorities, our priorities.
• We live a life of love.

Or, to quote David Putnam, "We live like Jesus. We love like Jesus. We leave what Jesus left behind."

The first one is vital. It is what our heart should be focused on. It is the bull's eye of our life. The second is very important, because too many do not understand the rest of the list. For example, for many Christians (sincere, serious, genuine followers of Jesus), it is essential the the life of God's family is centered in a special building. (Please understand me. A special building is NOT evil. I am NOT advocating the all-out abandonment and destruction of special buildings.) However, if one looked at the family of God in the US, one would assume that one cannot follow God if one did not have a special building.

If one looked at the practices of certain subsets of God's family, one would assume that God considers certain cultural practices to be evil. And that might not necessarily be so. That does NOT mean that if something is accepted by the culture, it ought to be accepted by the family of God. More ... because something is right and proper in God's eyes to practice in one city, it does NOT mean it is right and proper to practice in another city. We need to understand what God says. Walk in understanding, wisdom and love, so he gains glory in ALL settings. That is our purpose.