Bitterness

"I can do it better myself."  How many times have we thought those words.  Perhaps they are the thoughts of youthful exuberance.  Maybe they are simply a stage in our learning where the student really does surpass the teacher.  More often than not, though, those thoughts are expressed out of frustration, even bitterness, because we think we are being held back from something we know we can do but someone "in charge" won't let us do it.  These are the kinds of thoughts that could have driven the younger son in Jesus' parable.

What kind of pride would drive a son to say to his father, "I don't want you.  I don't need you.  I wish you were dead."  Pride alone would not take him there.  Pride turned to anger and festering into bitterness would.  The reality, though, is that none of us is that good.  None of us is completely self-sufficient.  None of us has what it takes to navigate life on our own.  That's why God gives us God's Spirit.  We can not, and don't need to, go through life alone.

If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever-- the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17 NIV)

How about you?  Do you get frustrated or angry because the Father is looking over your shoulder too much?  Does it become bitterness because the Father tells you what to do and how to do it?  Do you believe you can do it better on your own?  Why do you leave the Father?

Entitlement

The class I'm taking this week is entitled, "Theology and Practice of Biblical Reconciliation."  It's an excellent course.  In it, we are taking the time to explore what it means to be first reconciled with God and then, through the power of God, reconciled with people.  The reconciliation with God is the easiest and best place to start.  Reconciliation, we are learning, has to do with rebuilding broken relationships.  God has already demonstrated that God is willing to rebuild a broken relationship with us.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11 NIV)

God does God's part of the reconciliation process.  In order to be reconciled with God, we only need to return home to the Father through the Son and receive the gift of God's Spirit.  God already paved the path, opened the door, and provided the way.

Reconciling with others, however, is much more difficult.  We never know what we will encounter when attempting to reconcile with another person.  They may not be open to a relationship of any kind.  Reconciling with people can be difficult.

One of the barriers to relationship with God and people is our own pride.  Sometimes the pride seeps in so deep that it permeates the very fiber of our being.  We stop feeling blessed and privileged and start thinking we deserve what we have.  We start experiencing the feelings of entitlement

Entitlement is a dangerous place to be. Its much worse than just thinking we're "all that plus a bag of potato chips." We start thinking we deserve a the privileges we've been given. We start believing the blessings are the "bare minimum" expected from God and from others. We start thinking we deserve not only what we have, but we deserve better and more. We forget the real picture...

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10 NIV)

Being reconciled with God...it's a gift.  Good relationships with people...it is to be treasured.  God forgives us, empowers us, and equips us to become ministers of reconciliation.  When we feel entitled, we walk away from the Father and the good works He has prepared in advance for us to do.  He wants us to be His representatives, His ambassadors, to the world around us.

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 5:20-21 NIV)

How about you?  Do you feel entitled?  Does it get in the way of God's desire for your life?  Do you represent the Father or are you leaving the Father?  Are you God's ambassador of reconciliation?

Instant Gratification

The first thing I did this morning was start a pot of coffee and boot up my laptop to write these thoughts.  I tried to connect to the internet, but I don't have the correct access code for the hotel WiFi.  It changes every day and I will need to call the front desk to get it.  Rather than being "bothered" to make a simple phone call, I grabbed my phone, hit a couple buttons, and set up my own personal WiFi through my phone.  Here I am.  I am online.

It causes me to pause, sometimes, when I think about how much instant gratification we have in our world today.  I want it my way and in my time.  Drive through windows give me the food I want, when I want it.  Cars take us where we want, when we want.  (When we couldn't get there as fast as we wanted, we made bigger roads with faster speed limits.)  Cell phones, tablets, computers, and televisions connect us to an internet with a seemingly endless stream of what we want, when we want it.  We are a society filled with instant gratification.

So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking Him, "Lord, has the time come for You to free Israel and restore our kingdom?" He replied, "The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After saying this, He was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see Him. (Acts 1:6-9 NLT)

We're not alone in this.  Even in Jesus' day, his own closest followers and friends wanted instant gratification.  They knew that God worked all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).  They knew that Jesus was the Messiah who would restore God's Kingdom and bring peace to all nations.  We know that won't happen until he returns.  They wanted it to happen now.  They kept asking him when it was going to happen.  That was the last question they asked Jesus before he ascended into heaven.  Jesus' answer: wait and get to work.  We won't get all the blessings of the Father right away.  Some of them are available to us now, but the whole package won't be available until he comes again.  Peter wrote about this later in his life to encourage Christ-followers not to lose faith.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9 NIV)

How about you?  Do you get sucked in by the desire for instant gratification?  Do you want what you want, when you want it?  Do you try to demand the same thing of our Father through your prayers and expectations?  Does God's response frustrate you enough to leave "home?"

In The Beginning

The beginning of a story makes such a difference, doesn't it?  It sets the stage, if you will, for the rest of the narrative.  We all can remember stories by their opening lines, even.  Try these examples...

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
“The Marleys were dead to begin with…”
"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”

Do they stretch your memory?  Even if you don't remember A Tale of Two Cities, A Christmas Carol, and Star Wars, perhaps you will remember this famous story opener...

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 NIV)

This is the most important story-opener of all time.  It is the opening book, chapter, and verse of the Bible.  Within the Biblical narrative, we have many, many sub-stories that take place.  In one of them, Jesus tells a story about a father and two sons.  The opening to that story goes like this:

"There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them." (Luke 15:11-12 NIV)

This opening line tells us a lot about the story right away.  It tells us the story is about a man who had two sons.  We learn that the man has enough wealth that the sons would get a "share of the estate" when he died.  We also learn that the younger son is selfish and arrogant enough to say, essentially, "I don't need you.  I don't want you.  I wish you were dead."  This last line may sound a bit harsh at first, but that's what the son is saying when he asks for his share of the estate.  People don't receive an inheritance until the inheritance owner dies.  This opening line tells us the tension that exists between the father and the son, and the conflict that will need to be resolved before the story ends.

Scripture is the same way.  The opening line of the Bible tells us that the story is about God.  The next sub-story (Genesis 2) tells us about our relationship with God and one another - designed and created to be perfect.  The story right after that (Genesis 3) introduces an enemy-deceiver who creates tension between human beings and God.  This conflict will need to be resolved before the story ends.

How about you?  Do you like a good story?  Does the beginning of the story set the stage for you?  Do you look forward to the day when the conflict is resolved and the tension ends?  Do you look forward to perfectly walking together with God?

AHA Moments

I'm in Anderson, Indiana today for my first day of class.  I checked into the hotel last night and asked them to schedule me for a wake up call at 6 am,, then put my luggage in the room and unpacked.  Next, I went to the local store to get water bottles and sinus medicine, came back, and then settled into my room for the night.  The rest of the night, when I wasn't texting people back home, was spent curled up with book after book preparing for my class this morning.  I finally fell asleep around 1 a.m. and woke up to my morning phone call.

It wasn't until I made my hotel room cup of coffee, went through my morning routine, and attempted to connect to the internet (it took three tries this morning), that it hit me:  I've done this before.  I've had a sense of deja vu this whole trip, but all the memories didn't come flooding back until this morning.  This is just like any number of the business trips I took over 12 years ago.  I also realized something else.  This trip, unlike the others, I am at total peace.  That is because I know I am in the will of God today.  The peace of Christ is filling my mind and my heart.  This is a great feeling.

Kyle Idleman states that AHA can be defined as "a sudden understanding, recognition, or resolution."  I had an AHA moment this morning.  Many days I have AHA moments.  Sometimes they happen at inopportune times, like when I'm having a conversation with someone, driving the car, or in the bathroom (hopefully not all at the same time).  Many times, though, the AHA moments happen at expected times, like when I'm praying, thinking about "church stuff," or reading Scripture.  These AHA moments are even better because they not only provide an Awakening, where I recognize something I had not recognized before, but they drive me to a place of brutal Honesty and immediate Action.  AHA moments like these change me for the better.  They help be become more like Christ.

How about you?  Do you have AHA moments?  Are they simple moments where you remember something like where you put your car keys?  Are any of them spiritual moments that God uses you to conform you into His image?  I'm praying for God to take you through many AHA moments this series.  I'm asking God to do that for me as well.