But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.                                             Hebrews 11:6

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.          I Timothy 2:3-4

One of the tenets of the Christian faith is that Jesus is the “way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Recognizing that Jesus is the way to come to an understanding of the love of God, and that we cannot save ourselves, well, that sounds to me like good theology. Jesus did things that pave the way for a relationship with his Father.

Yet, those who are outside of the Christian tradition will surely struggle with such a statement. How do we reconcile a relationship with God for those who do not know Jesus in the way that Christians seem to understand? Is there some formula for knowing God that we do not understand?

I do not have answers for these deep theological questions. I do know that God would have all people be reconciled to him, no matter what their tradition. Leaning on the work of Jesus as the atonement for our fallen nature and sin is pretty easy for me to understand. I cannot reach God by my own works and righteousness. I don’t have any.

I have come to understand, in my own way of thinking, that Jesus is the way to God, but there are a lot of ways to Jesus. What do I mean by that? Each of us has a history, a story, a journey, where we are seeking God. Recognition of our own inadequacy in that attempt allows us to see the need for Jesus. I don’t think there is a specific formula for finding Jesus. He is the one who loved people enough to come to earth and become a sacrifice. Jesus is the one who gave the example of what love looks like. As Jesus essentially said, if you want to see the Father, just look at me.    

So, how do people come to know Jesus? I am convinced that people can come to know Jesus in ways that are far beyond our concrete, narrow thinking. People will understand Jesus in ways that I do not understand. And that is comforting to me. People of different faith orientations can find Jesus in ways that I cannot predict or prescribe.

But I trust that Jesus can be found by those who seek…  

Prayer: Lord, your ways are higher than our ways- and I am glad of that! Amen

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, most gladly I will boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.                                                II Corinthians 12:9

I was recently speaking with a client about grace, and he talked about his feelings of unworthiness regarding God’ s gracious acceptance of him. He had hurt people in his life, and he felt shame for his actions. I reminded the client about the definition of grace, being “unmerited favor”. I suggested that it is common for us to keep trying to put our own merit (or lack of it) into the equation, and that by doing so, it no longer remains grace- it then becomes the wages of our work.

It is, I think, a pretty natural tendency for us to expect compensation for our work. We expect that we get paid for our work, and conversely, we do not get paid if we do not work. Perfectly sensible and right in our economy.  

Yet God’s economy is different. The grace that we receive- his love, forgiveness, even favor in circumstances where we deserve failure, but end up with success- all are examples of grace. We may struggle with these things because we “don’t deserve them”. The answer is, it is true, we do not deserve grace. We don’t earn it, we receive it.

Perhaps it challenges our sense of justice. Maybe it is an indicator of our pride. We just have a hard time receiving grace, and we make a narrative that we are unworthy.

The concept of grace is contrary to our nature oftentimes. Yet, God’s economy is just that. He loves us and he extends extravagant grace that we may not understand, grace that we feel that we do not deserve, and have trouble accepting.

I suggest that we try not to understand, but just receive it gratefully.  

Prayer: Lord, your grace is sufficient, even if we do not completely understand it, Amen

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

 Matthew 7:7-8

Our pastor has started a new series on prayer, and I think it will be a very good one. It got me thinking about a piece I had written some years ago about prayer being like asking for directions. It is based upon the verse above, Matthew 7:7-8. I began to think about what it’s like when we ask for directions.

The seeker humbly asks for help knowing that she/he is lost. Indeed, it takes quite a bit for me to ask for directions! Once I ask for those directions, I listen attentively, trying to figure out if I have the directions exactly right. After all, at this point I am hopelessly lost, and I need help!

Having received what I believe is proper guidance, I trust that it is a true direction. I need to trust the person who directed me since they presumably know the way, and I clearly do not. I then go on to seek my destination. If I have done a good job of following the directions, I arrive at the destination. But my job is not quite finished. I need to take a step of faith. I need to knock on the door.

I do the action step, knock on the door, and I am rewarded with the connection to the person or place that I intended to see.

So, the steps are: humility to recognize that I am indeed lost; trust that the direction giver is honest and competent; courage and faith to complete the task to the end.  

This sounds to me like a formula for prayer- humility, trust, and courage/faith

Prayer: Lord, help me to have the humility, trust and faith that I need in prayer, Amen

Are there things that you are putting off doing? I would bet that there are. Just like everybody, there are some things that you have avoided doing, or been “putting them off” for one reason or another. I have found that doing just one of those things- that phone call, that appointment- whatever it is, will give you the momentum to do more of those nagging tasks that are just waiting out there that you have said you were going to do someday.

Those little things that you are putting off are probably causing a low level of stress that you may have been carrying for a long time. By doing just one of those little tasks, you open the door to change your whole attitude and outlook.

Remember one of my sayings- “change one thing, change everything”. By overcoming the inertia of completing just one simple task, you open up the door for a relief of an underlying stress. You can change your whole outlook.

That’s it. That’s the whole message today. Do one thing, one little thing, that you have been putting off, and see how relieved you will feel!

Prayer: Lord, help us to do that one little thing today, Amen

To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:3

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’                                                                                                              Matthew 25:40

The wisdom literature in the Bible is fascinating to me. One can find practical instruction that is good for how to live among other people. One can find the heart of God in literature such as Proverbs. You also can find some arcane sayings that are baffling to modern readers. Yet, we can learn much from this literature, and the Proverb above is one that I like. I like it because it speaks to how God sees his children living out their lives with one another.

The Proverbs, and other Bible passages, speak about the need for us to treat one another well, for as we do that, we treat God well. God wants us to do well toward others more than he wants some sacrifice to him. God was speaking to the Hebrew nation that valued sacrifices of goats and lambs. Yet God essentially said, “I would rather that you take care of one another than to sacrifice more sheep to me” (my feeble translation of the Proverb…). Jesus expounded on this when he explained that “whatever you do for the poorest person among you, you did for me…”

I mean, how can you not love a God that has that kind of a plan?

Prayer: What a powerful message of who God is! Amen

 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.                                               I John 4:18

I recently spoke with a client about his motivations as he digs deep into himself to determine the things that drive him. I suggested, by the things I heard from him, that fear is a strong driver for him. He identified some family of origin issues as having an outsized affect on his relationship with his wife. He now sees that fear is at the root of some of those marriage issues.

It got me thinking about the verse from John- “Perfect love casts out fear”. I am reminded that if we are not motivated primarily by love, we will likely be driven by fear. Fears of all sorts can play in our head. I also know that as humans, fear is a primary emotion- one we do not like to acknowledge, but it is ever present.

John’s quote is both prophetic as well as a great mental health principle. “Perfect love casts out fear.” If we are more reliant on love as the basis of our standing with God and others, we are less likely to be fearful of losing those relationships.

So, perfect love casts out fear. Tomorrow I will look at what is “perfect love.”   

Prayer: Lord, your love is perfect, but ours…is not, Amen

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand                                                                                                          John 10:27-28   

There are times that my clients struggle with the idea of being “good enough” to hold on to their relationship with God. When they fail or sin, or come short in some area of life, they begin to question how anyone can love them sometimes.

I have a visual about how we can characterize our relationship with God. Picture a strong arm coming down from above with a big hand ready to envelop a much smaller, weaker hand. We may tend to envision ourselves as that weaker hand trying to grasp on to the large hand, but not having the strength to hold on when times get hard. We get tired.

Now imagine that large, strong arm and hand firmly gripping that weaker hand. That is how God relates to us. We are not strong enough to keep the grip on God. His grip never fails. Sometimes, I will actually demonstrate that with my own arms and hands- kinda awkward, but you get the idea, and the clients usually do too.   

Simple truths and simple illustrations to explain a mighty promise. We can count on God to keep his promises (and his grip) on us.

Prayer: Thank you for your strong hand and strong promises, Amen

He set the moon to mark the appointed seasons; the sun knows its time for going down  Psalm 104:19

Yes, today is August 1. Yes, it is technically still summer, and the coming heat will remind us of that, I’m sure. Yet, August is the month that schools resume. Some schools will start again in about two weeks. I wonder where the summer went.

Summer is the best season in the world, right? OK, not all would agree with that, but it is for me. Days are getting just a bit shorter now, and very soon, high school football players will be suiting up and working out in the withering heat. I do remember sweltering in that heat in football pads, running and wondering if I could make it around the required laps. I did make it, even if I came in last, or close to it.

But I digress. Summer is starting its inevitable trip toward Autumn. As for me, I will sit outside in the evenings as long as I can. I will offer thanks for the incredible gift of late sunlight, and birds, frogs and fish in my pond. I will hang onto this wonderful season until nature takes it away into another.

Then I will be grateful for the opportunity to see in another season.  

Prayer: Lord, you have created the marvel of seasons. Help us to enjoy each one to its fullest, Amen

You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.                                                          Titus 2:1-2

I have talked in the past about the need to periodically reinvent ourselves. Life stages are one of those natural opportunities to do just that- reinvent ourselves. Adjustment to different life stages can be quite challenging. The stage of becoming a “senior”, and retirement are perfect examples of this.

I remember our pastor years ago talked about turning 60 and he reframed that well saying that this makes us “tribal elders”. I liked that. Being a tribal elder brings on certain freedoms and certain responsibilities. 

I think it is all about how we view our advancing years. The idea of becoming a tribal elder is appealing. We are now at the stage of some wisdom and experience which we can share with our younger members. We worry less at this stage about our career, and more about pouring into the careers of others. We now revel in the success of those whom we have mentored, and are less concerned about increasing personal achievements.

There is real freedom in this, as long as we can truly embrace our new status. We can get real satisfaction out of the achievements of others, and we celebrate the fact that the future is increasingly becoming theirs. 

The plan for this life is the need to give it away in order to have it truly become a blessing for us.

Prayer: Lord, help us to finish our race well, Amen

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful. I know that full well                                         Psalm 139:14

Funny thing how we take healing for granted. Yes, we really do. How often have you had some malady- a cold, a sore muscle, a cut, a broken bone? Yes, most of us have had all of them at one time or another. Some people have had much more significant ailments- heart attacks, strokes, cancers- and have, with some treatment, recovered nicely.

Some of the maladies I mentioned above “heal on their own”. That cold, flu, sore muscle, cut, etc. healed without much, if any, medical intervention. Why is that? Because our bodies were made to be self-healing. Our immune system and our system of cell repair has been baked into our bodies by the Creator. He made a wonderful healing machine that we may often take for granted.

Yes, it is absolutely true that such healing will not take place forever. There will be a time when that body breaks down and ages to a point where the system can no longer operate as it was intended.

In the meantime, let us celebrate the everyday miracles of our “healing machine” bodies.

Prayer: Lord, what an amazing plan for your creation! Amen…