Building the Man

The basics.  It's what we  start with.  It's what we build upon.  It's what we often take for granted.  Whether it be walking, riding a bike, typing, or driving there is something in our lives that we do every day automatically without thought because we've mastered the basics.  Whether employed or a stay-at-home parent, a student in school, or a retiree at the breakfast counter, we rely upon these basics as essentials even when we don't give them a second thought.  These are the things we learned early in life and built additional skills upon.  Then we built additional skills upon those skills and so on.  They are the essentials.


Here is a problem many, including myself, often face with "the basics":  We tend to apply this physical/external/natural rule of law to the spiritual/relational side of our lives.  The basics of salvation, the basics of relationship, the basics of communion with a being of indescribable awe inspiring splendor who is all knowing and all present and yet chooses to personalize Himself to each of us in the daily moments of our lives.  I am guilty of "mastering" these basics and looking to move on.


Yet, constantly I am reminded that just when I think I've got it together, I don't.  I fail.  I fall short.  "All have sinned..."  Yep.  That's me.  I've been professing Christ since I was a child and at mid-life I still shame myself, miss the mark, roll in the mud.  Lately I've been fairly frustrated with this truth.  Why at my stage in life do I not have it more together?  Why can't I claim to be a spiritual upperclassman?  I'm active in my church, I volunteer with organizations, I'm busy, busy, busy.  Why do I still come back to the basics in my personal walk?  The problem is there are no basics, only the truth of the Living Word and a continual pursuit of relationship that will not end this side of eternity.


I was recently reading through Galatians and this passage hit me:


But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.


Galatians 5:22-23


Why did these verses grab my attention?  Because, for me, these are the essentials, the basics.  Sort of like when Jesus shocked the pharisees and scholars by telling them all of law and prophets and the ridiculously long list of add-ons that had been tacked on by men were essentially summed up with "Love God with everything in you" and "Love your neighbor as yourself".  Basic.

These are the markers of our walk, the evidence of the effectiveness of the indwelling of God's Spirit in our lives.  But here's what they are not.  They are not stagnant building blocks of the faith or items to be checked off a list.  "Got patience down, next!"  These are fruit that we must continuously be producing, that's why they are called fruit.  When an apple tree gives apples in the fall it isn't ready to move onto something else - you expect continuous similar and regular results from it.  Such is it with these.


This is a bit of an epiphany for me as I've never really viewed these verses in this manner.  They previously just listed some really good attributes that all Christ followers should be trying to incorporate into their lives. 


I'll be doing some additional study into each of these and maybe even write on some of them, but for now, I'm thankful that it's more than just back to basics.  It's continual living, breathing relationship with Him and His Word.  These are what build the man.

Long Distance Love Affair

Monday.  A word evoking varied emotions.  For many, it is a word of opportunity.  Time to get going, get to work, get a move on.  We've rested, we've had a break, back to it!  For many, it is a dreadful word.  Respite has been terminated.  Forced labor renews.  Forced time with like minded people creating an instant pall.  Where's the coffee?  Ugh!


Wherever you reside between these two extremes, Monday usually equals change.  Most notably for me, it is the up shift in gears.  Saturdays are about home and family.  Sundays are relational and uplifting at church.  Mondays are about results.  More to do, more to get done, more complex schedules, more people clamoring for my attention, clamoring for more people's time., etc. 


In the midst of this, an effort arises to hold onto the heart truths that were so moving just a day earlier where God revealed himself in some new and profound way through the teaching or worship or even through the simple act of "being" in the midst of those whose intent focus was the Creator.  But these life altering truths can quickly become the whispered "still small voice" and so often the brash noise of life is intentionally deafening when application of those truths is attempted.  We get this "locker-room" analogy of church where we are going out into the world most of the week and returning to our churches, worn out and beat up, to be refreshed and uplifted one or two of those days.  And by all means, the Church should be a shelter, a safe place, an emergency room when needed.  But I don't like needing regular visits to the emergency room.


We've all experienced that loss or twinge of sadness when something really good or enjoyable comes to an end, thrusting us back into the "normal" of our daily lives.  It could be that mountain top experience, it could be that truly enjoyable evening with friends, it could even be that 10-minute mini-date my bride and I took to enjoy coffee in a serene park with cool breezes blowing, just being together.  Regardless, we'd rather be there than in the present mundane.  Or we'd like for it to happen again and soon.  I've found that I can treat my relationship with my Father in this manner. 


Sundays are ripe for the entrance of his presence.  The music is fantastic.  We are blessed to have talented and anointed worship staff ushering us into the throne room.  The teaching hits us where we live as if God were speaking to each of directly.  It is given by men who have cast themselves aside committing their lives and those of their families to reaching the broken, bringing His truths forward to us weekly.  In this, we experience the greatest love affair of eternity as Creator touches created and confirms through His Word and His presence as He has time and time again "I AM LOVE" and "I LOVE YOU".


Then we leave.


The week begins and we want to remember so we open Bible, we open devotional, we quickly gaze over life affirming words of encouragement and truth and we are back in the remembrance of His presence.  We may even hear that still small voice speaking into our lives. Yet we view this as the "get by" experience.  I am guilty of seeking out the morning devotional so that I'll have the "spiritual fortitude" to get through the day as if this were the only life line I had to a deeper power.  "You'll have to excuse my rudeness, it's 5:30 pm and I've worked all day" as if being 10 hours removed from my bible were an excuse for a lack of living it.

And in those moments when we are truly frustrated or need to cry out, how often do we wish we felt as empowered as we did during the gathering of a Sunday morning worship service?  If we could just carry that presence with us all of the time!

"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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Matthew 28:19-20  ESV


"But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you."
John 14:26


"Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."
John 16:7 ESV

"Keep your life free from love of money and be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Hebrews 13:5  ESV

For too long I've been treating my prayer times, my devotional times, my scriptural readings as a spiritual check-in.  I know He loves me but I'm in the muck and mire of my work week so I'll check in through these and we'll reunite again on  Wednesday night or Sunday morning!  In a way, its like opening a lost message from a bottle that has washed up on shore, hoping for some lifeline to keep going.  Ever play pin the tail on the scripture where you blindly try to figure out what part of the Bible you should read next?

But we are not strangers to the message of His overwhelming love, His inexhaustible mercy, His amazing grace.  We are very much aware of the oceans of sin that had to be traversed to bring us into His courts, because we are still committing them and they are still being forgiven.  So why, being so acutely knowledgeable of the love affair of this One who called the stars forth from nothing, are we willing to leave him in a building with our songs and offerings or in a 15 minute daily devotional and not invite him to participate with us in our conversations, struggles, and joys throughout the entirety of our day every day? 

This morning, a picture came to me of this type of relationship.  Long distance love affair.  We meet, we part, we check in between meetings.  I cannot imagine how difficult it is for those who are actively involved in such relationships.  I am blessed to daily see my bride, daily kiss her when I enter our home and share my day with her.  On those rare occasions when I cannot, my world is off, I don't like it.  If I had to live that way, I would have to re-evaluate my priorities.  What is causing this distance between us?  Is it necessary?  What can I do to eliminate it and how quickly?   

God wants us to have the same thoughts towards Him.  He desires intimate and close relationship with us.  Regardless of our state or relationship with Him, on His end it is a proven love affair.  And by the verses above, I think it is evident that He desires no separation between Himself and us.  The only thing making it "long-distance" then, is us.  Are you content with a long-distance love affair?

Without Honor

Have you ever been caught in a lie?  Certainly many have memories of those childhood fibs and falsehoods that they were caught in that ultimately led to punishments of varying degrees; from being caught justifying why your hand was in the cookie jar to being somewhere you were not supposed to be after curfew.  Chastisement was just and we can now look back upon those corrective life lessons as necessary if not with a bit of amusement.

 

But as an adult, have you ever been exposed in a falsehood or in deceit?  Most would say no, or be unwilling to admit it.  Many would justify levels of falsehood.  Telling the children there are no more snacks left when the jar is empty isn't wrong.  They're the ones who emptied it.  It doesn't matter that you stashed a package for yourself in the bedroom so you could have a few also.  You're entitled to it, after all.  You bought them.  There's nothing wrong with this ... until said children walk in on you with wrappers rustling and Oreo crumbs on the bed sheets.

 

Or less humorously, the one many eventually deal with - Santa.  He's real kids!  He leaves the presents!  He sneaks in and you better behave or you won't get any.  "Mom and dad - why are you still up and who do those belong to?"  Really?  You're going to harp on Santa?

 

Take it further, the half-truth to the boss.  "Yes I have the report ready for Thursday."  (Well, I have the rough draft done, but I'll have plenty of time to finish it before then.)  The half-intent to the friend.  "Sure I can meet you."  "Oh, sorry I can't make it, _____ came up."  The half-promise to the spouse.  "Sure, I'll take care of that."  "I couldn't get to it because ______."  The full blown lie to the child "No, I don't have time for that because_____."  "Well, Daddy had to do this instead." 

 

Like the erosion of a seaside land mass, these and many similar scenarios that many of us are regularly engaged in erode our integrity daily.  Tiny bits at a time, our honor slowly dissipates from us, imperceptible through the fog of our legitimate excuses.  Until one day we find ourselves shame-facedly trying to defend indefensible actions.  Scrambling for footing on shifting sand, we are confronted with the crushing weight of the toppling of our perceptions of the acceptable and the permissible.  

 

Truth's honesty is the most marvelous of sanctuaries to build and uphold the worth and well being of the individual and of relationships.  But it is also a punishing weight bearing down upon the heads of those who have walked away from it, whether blatantly or little by little.  To lose honesty is to lose integrity and to be without integrity is to be without honor.  In this state, one must either bitterly come to terms with the state of their loss, or callously choose to abandon honor and integrity altogether for self at the cost of others.  It is not difficult to conjure images of the latter in today's society. In fact, I don't think it would be inaccurate to state that we live in the days were society actually encourages embracing the latter. 

 

Honor, therefore stands out juxtapositioned against the white noise of those without it.  This is why we are repeatedly called to it in scripture.  To walk with honor is not to seek a spotlight to walk in; it is quite the opposite as shown in Proverbs 18:12 .  It is to walk with such integrity that honor follows as a shadow in its brilliance.  This honor has weight to it, it is perceptible.  It affects the actions of those around it.

 

Conversely, regaining lost honor is difficult.  To have lied and been found out, wounding hearts; to have spoken badly of others to their knowledge; to make promises with no regard of whether they are kept.   Honor's trust can only be rebuilt when joined with humility and the searching of the one to whom all honor belongs. 

 

And this one, he knows the pain of having lost all honor.  He knows the crushing weight of despair  in becoming not only dishonorable, but of becoming so shameful in his very being that the One who shaped the stars and called the oceans forth was forced to turn from him as He could not bear the sin and shame that was on him.  This one knows the burning pain of a broken heart heavy within the chest as no one being in existence.  For this reason, this Eternal King can say to us

 

"Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.  When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.  With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Psalm 91:14-16 ESV

Because of a cross without honor

Upon which hung a King without honor

Who became my Savior

 

I don't have to live

Without Honor

 

 

 

 

 

My Lighthouse

"My Lighthouse"

In my wrestling and in my doubts

In my failures You won't walk out

Your great love will lead me through

You are the peace in my troubled sea

You are the peace in my troubled sea

In the silence, You won't let go

In my questions, Your truth will hold

Your great love will lead me through

You are the peace in my troubled sea

You are the peace in my troubled sea

My Lighthouse, my lighthouse

Shining in the darkness, I will follow You

My Lighthouse, my Lighthouse

I will trust the promise,

You will carry me safe to shore (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Safe to shore (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Safe to shore (Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh)

Safe to shore

I won't fear what tomorrow brings

With each morning I'll rise and sing

My God's love will lead me through

You are the peace in my troubled sea

You are the peace in my troubled sea

Fire before us, You're the brightest

You will lead us through the storms

 

by Rend Collective

O God of our salvation,the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas; 

the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might;
 who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples, so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.

Psalm 65:5-8 ESV