Lead or Feathers

Have you ever been asked the question: Which is heavier, a pound of lead or a pound of feathers?  And of course the intent of the question is to trick you into saying lead is heavier.  When in reality we all know, a pound of anything is still a pound.  Right?

This will be short I promise.

I ponder that question because pain, burden, loss, betrayal, or even entangling sin (Hebrews 12:1), tends to weigh upon a person.  And from a distance it’s easy to criticize one who is laboring under that kind of weight.  We would look upon their situation and say something like; “Well it’s only a bunch of feathers!”  Versus our shared (yet ignorant) recognition that lead is heavy and surely all of us would crumple under its burdensome weight.  But feathers?  Aren’t they lighter than lead?

Let me tell you.  A pound of feathers and a pound of lead; are still a pound.  They are still the same weight regardless of how they look from a distance.  One can only know the true gravity pull of a pound, by actually bearing such a weight.  And that is my point.

Christ alone is able to look at all the nuances of a burden borne by the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew 11:28) and not stand in judgment.  For each of us tends to make all things relative to our own experience, yet that allows for no understanding or empathy to the one who is close to that breaking point; regardless if the weight be Lead or Feathers.

Let me encourage you this hour.  Never look upon someone else’s burden and say that it doesn’t appear to be that heavy.  Because a pound is a pound; be it Lead or Feathers.  Pain is pain, burden is burden, loss or betrayal and even entangling sin are all part of the weight humanity tries to carry, all the while attempting to look like it’s an easy load.  Yet unless we come to Christ, who promises to take the crushing load off our backs, we live with nothing less than the equivalent weight of Lead or Feathers.  A pound is still a pound.

Keep that in mind the next time you mentally judge someone who is close to breaking under the weight of a pound of feathers.  All the while thinking; "It’s not that bad, it’s only feathers... right?"

Discipline VS Devotion

I barely recollect the first time I heard the word governor used outside of state politics.  It was an early on in life conversation with a friend about a go-cart motor we had bolted on a rusty old frame.  We wanted the thing to be fast (dangerous) but just couldn’t get much more out of it, until it was suggested that we take off the governor.  That would allow us to run that bad boy all the way to red line.

I can’t remember if we blew the engine, but we took some part off the motor and indeed it went much faster.  Curious and fun is how I remember those early years.

This morning I was considering my faith journey.  For many years I believed I was compelled to growth in the Lord because of my devout heart and understanding as to what God had done for me.  Yet in recent months and through various pains and trials, I’ve been awakened to the fact that I may have been fooling myself all along.

Let me add a disclaimer:  I believe discipline is critical, necessary, and actually the ninth Fruit of the Spirit.  Therefore in no way am I rejecting its importance to our lives.

But what I am considering these days is this.  I may have misinterpreted my own disciplines as true heart devotion, when in reality they weren’t.  I may have acted in a “discipleship” manner toward the things of God, with the intent of personal growth and availability for the Master’s use, all the while believing I did so out of devotion to God.  Yet in reality using those spiritual disciplines as though they were talismans that gave me favor with God and power over the enemy or obstacles I may face on my journey towards my own desires.

I’ve really been taking a deep look at my life and ministry motivations.  Not to say they’ve been sinful or misguided, but if my hypothesis is correct, my life has been governed by attempts at Discipline Versus Devotion.  All the while believing I was devoted, yet in reality I may have been trying to work my evangelical magic through a self-efforts mentality.

Please don’t miss what I’m saying.  I believe I have a measure of devotion to God.  But I further believe that I have unwittingly operated with the idea that if I “do” certain Christian or biblical things, then I should “get” certain results or rewards.  Never believing that my salvation was predicated upon my works, but ever living as if doing “gets” me more stuff and good feelings from God.  All of which is bearing out to be quite a painful fallacy.

I pray to learn this lesson: That my spiritual disciplines are not exercised because they “get” me something, but because I love the Lord and am devoted wholly to Him.  God forgive me for living my Christian life with a misplaced governor of spiritual disciplines upon all I do and say.  May I with His help; remove this governor of perceived good works, done without true devotion to Him and nothing less.

“Lord, please root-out my core motives that are based upon lies I believe to be true.  And free me by your truth that I may fulfill the rest of my days by devotion alone.  And as you work in me, remove and keep at bay that governor of false Discipline Versus Devotion.  For by that fallacy I’ve kept myself from being all you created me to be.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen.”

Chazown

When we read Proverbs 29:18 or hear a teaching or message on its content, we generally get a correct exegesis of the text.  A divine revelation or a revealing of something that can only come from or through God is what we would settle upon as proper meaning and interpretation.  Thus spurring us on to seek God, to pursue His ways, and thereby not run amuck or fall into fleshly chaos.  With that view I certainly agree.

But let me challenge you to go from the sublime to the almost ridiculous in concept.  From a non-biblical definition, the first and most often used meaning of the word vision is simply this: eyesight – the ability to see.  What if each of us began to understand that God wants us to “see” something or at least have the ability to “see” when the opportunity arises?

Here’s the cool yet tricky part of vision or seeing.  As we look or see ahead, we usually have nothing but a horizon line to focus upon.  Granted our surroundings and objects can and often do distract or obstruct the horizon line of our future, but nonetheless, if we keep walking and focusing our vision on the horizon line, our vision does not change, but the horizon line is ever changing.

Here is where we tend to fall short in the pursuit of His divine vision.  We do so by a misinterpretation of the ever changing horizon line – falsely believing a lie that tells us the vision has changed; when in fact it has not.  The only thing that has changed and will ALWAYS change if we are moving in a forward direction with God is the horizon line of circumstances, but the Vision never changes.  It is ever focused on His revelation and voice that propels us forward through the changing landscape of an ever changing horizon line, all couched in providence and promise of His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

Fear not my friends, we are not blind, nor has our vision dimmed.  But only the changing landscape as we move forward!  Let us celebrate the journey towards the ever changing horizon line.  Amen?

The Fragrance of an Emoticon

I never knew what that term meant until a few years ago.  Let me cite reference from Wikipedia:  “A smiley-face emoticon.  An emoticon is a meta-communicative pictorial representation of a facial expression which in the absence of the prosody serves to draw a receiver's attention to the tenor or temper of a sender's nominal verbal communication, changing and improving its interpretation.  It expresses - usually by means of punctuation marks - a person's feelings or mood and can include numbers and letters, as well.”

What if we never lived our lives with expression?  What if we never conjured up the idea of emoticons?  What if we were robots?  What if we had no muscular continuity connected to our souls?  My God we’d be wood.  That is not good!

As for me, I love the use of emoticons, but more than that, I love a real face with a real beautiful smile and twinkling eyes.  Yes sir, I’m all in for emoticons when it comes to writing and cyber expressions, but when it comes to flesh and blood and Imago Dei, nothing beats the real flesh and blood pathos of expressions from the human face.  Note it.  Take it.  Love it.  Leave it.  But it’s real.

Somewhere in the light of Over the Top ice cream and Holy Spirit denial, one can be lost in the power of a living emoticon.  Maybe I’m nuts, but I’d rather have the tender curve of a supple cheek, versus the digital structure of an unflinching emoticon.  Call me pathetically human.

You can’t smell an emoticon.  You can’t touch an emoticon.  You can’t hear an emoticon.  You can’t believe in an emoticon.  Thank God for the real Imago Dei found in the pulse of the human heart.

A soft cheek in the moon light is far better than a “winky face” on a digital page.  May the God of all emotion, love and humanity grant you more grace than any emoticon could ever deliver.

Sigh

My Way

A few weeks ago I found myself in the fetal position, poised on my right side tears spilling from my eyes, shuddering under the weight of my own condemnation and uncertainty.  And this picture’s not new to me.  I’ve always wrestled with the concept of God’s sovereignty and my responsibility.

Maybe you’ve never found yourself on the high-wire of God’s sovereignty and your responsibility?  But I have and I can tell you it’s a place where even the great Wallendas would find unnerving.  For at that place one faces the enigmatic juxtaposition of who is really in charge of any given destiny.  It’s a question that’s been argued from ages past and will be for ages to come.  And it’s never easily answered on a Sunday or Wednesday night.

Much like King David in the Bible, I’ve always had a deep fear of presuming upon God’s grace, let alone anyone else’s (Psalm 19:13 KJV).  So that’s the platform I’m working from.  I never want to presume that I can rest upon God or anyone else, to the exclusion of my own responsibility or fidelity.  I do desire as David did, not to be found guilty of the great sin of presumption.  For therein lays the challenge to the Cross.  How much of this is me, versus how much of Him?

For as I lay there on my side I whispered these words in prayer:  “Jesus I feel like I’ve lost My Way.”

Within minutes a holy response flooded my heart and mind.  I believe God said:  “You have… and that’s good my son.”  What?  Seriously, what did He say?  It’s good to lose My Way?

Like dough proofing becoming ready for the holy fire of His divine oven, something dawned on me that could only have come from His sovereignty heart.  My struggle is not, nor ever will it be with a particular vice or avarice, but with Isaiah’s prophetic declaration over all of humanity.  We all “like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:6 NASB).

There it is.  The problem: My Way.  You see, none of us will be found guilty and standing on the edge of hell because of any one particular vice or avarice, but we will be found guilty of doing things our own way.  Elvis was wrong.

Can you get your mind around this truth?  At any given moment there are only two ways to travel in life.  Two parallel lanes to travel, one lane is God’s and one is mine.  If I travel in God’s lane, regardless of my failings or my degree of humanity I will end up in Life eternal.  But if I travel in my lane, despite any presumption upon grace and religion, I will end up in death eternal.  Always keeping in mind, there is a way that seems right unto man, but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).

So there I lay; hearing my own words on losing my way, and then hearing the divine echo of His words telling me that my condition was good.  For as I found the due reality of my own way and loss; I found the true reality of His willful and deliberate gain – through His loss.  Unlike mine that was wrenched from my hand, He willingly gave it all.

If and when I finally come to the place of accepting that My Way is most often the worst way, it is then that I will tumble into the best way – His Way.  Get it?

I’m a real wussy when it comes to uncertainty and the vague unknowns of an emerging horizon line of life.  But one thing I am not: a man willing to lie about his heart and experience in Christ or life.  For my inner man cannot be calmed nor subdued with mere Christian cliché or bravado, but truth alone about myself and Him are the only waters to slake a thirsty and honest soul (Psalm 51:6).

My Way – losing it just may have been the BEST thing I’ve ever lost.  And you?

The Flip Side

I’m no musician nor do I play one on TV, but I do remember the days of 45 rpm records.  Forty-five’s (small 7 inch vinyl records with a big hole in the middle) usually had a popular “hit” on side (A) of the record, and another song (B) on “The Flip Side”.  Very often side B of the record wasn’t initially a pop hit, but sometimes they turned out to be something special.

For you audiophiles and old-school record collectors out there, I’m sure you can list many side B songs that went on to be popular hits.  Yet sometimes both songs were just plain good and it was hard to determine which one should have been on the B side or the A side.  Like Beth and Detroit Rock City by KISS in the summer of 1976.  Both were enormous hits, so who’s to say which one should have been The Flip Side song?

I was thinking about my life in the summer of 2013.  I was wondering about the release of my 45?  I mean my life song; the one being stamped into the vinyl of a 45 rpm record.  Will the song that I thought would be a “hit” on side A, actually be eclipsed by side B, The Flip Side?

It’s hard to say how many, but I’m sure there have been countless one-hit-wonder bands who banked on side A, not attending seriously to the content of side B.  It’s likely they lost their opportunities because they didn’t pay much attention to The Flip Side.  They just threw together something the record company required for side B.  Maybe like what some people do with side B of their lives?

I’m not really sure what my side A song is going to be, but I can tell you this I’m NOT going to ignore the potential of side B; The Flip Side of my life song.

About a year ago I sensed the Lord speaking to my heart.  The words that came were; “The epilog of book one is being written.  And the prolog of book two is already in the works.”  At the time it didn’t mean as much as it does right now (hindsight tends to be 20/20).  It didn’t sink in then like it has now. 

The idea of a two volume book (metaphorically) called my life had never entered my mind.  As a matter of fact, I had always looked at life in two stages.  Stage 1) the earthly physical existence of 70 plus years, and stage 2) after physical death or the Rapture - the heavenly portion couched in eternity and the spirit realm.  But never did I look at my earthly life as something that would be broken into two parts.

The Flip Side of my life, this side of death and eternity, just might be my way of saying “I’m more than a one-hit-wonder or a one-trick-pony.”

I don’t know yet what side A should be called, but I’m pretty sure side B will be called The Flip Side!  The song, the volume, the chance, the opportunity or even the last dance; all represent a possible 7 inch vinyl point of redemption – with a big hole in the middle (you’ll need a grace adapter to play my coming release).

The Flip Side!  It’s what I’m banking on, because God is all about The Flip Side!  God is all about second chances, resurrection, redemption and restoration to a better than expected latter kind of life.

What will The Flip Side of your life sound like?  Will it be penned or tuned with little attention to content or affect, ever believing that side A was enough sustain sales and a local fan base?

I ask that because God has plans for all our lives, especially The Flip Side – the side that reveals His greatest works yet!  It’s that hope I rest upon this very hour.

The Flip Side!  Don’t ignore the possibility.

To Silence a Voice

There are plenty of times that I simply need to shut up.  And everyone said “Amen”!  And likewise there are plenty of times that I simply need to speak up.  You know, speaking the truth in love.  So that settles the argument about speaking – wait no it doesn’t.  I digress.

Recently I was led to think once again about voices.  For years I’ve taught, preached or even wrote about our guest subject for the moment: the voice.  Be it mine, that of others, the enemy my soul, or even ultimately the still small and occasionally booming voice of God; they all seem to vie for my attention.

There comes a time when each of these voices must be heard and discerned.  Clearly we would agree that the best voice to hear and heed is that of God.  But can I tell you it is possible To Silence a Voice that is so critical, so needed, yet stoppable even before it reverberates from divine and holy lips in heaven.  Yes indeed, To Silence a Voice is possible, but what if the voice we silence is that of God?

Hear me out for a moment.  I cannot cause the mouth of others, the enemy, or even my own inner voice to cease.  A) Because I cannot control the will and impulse of others or even the devil; and B) that 8-track in my head can only be unplugged by God, no matter how hard I try it keeps playing.  Here’s where some may argue with me – that’s okay.  Call me and you can buy me coffee and we can hash it out.

But on the other hand, the Bible tells me that in a roundabout way, I can silence the eternal and awesome voice of God by one simple act.  Oh some would say, but God is always speaking, communicating, or simply through creation God speaks.  And I guess you would be right.  But, much like the philosophical argument of a tree falling in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?  The same applies to God’s voice.

If I have hardened my heart, by time and time again ignoring the reverb of His divine beck-and-call, be it for correction, guidance, or simply a love call, something inside me changes.

We’re admonished to NOT harden our hearts if and when we hear God’s voice.  But because we’re so bent upon selfish ambition and preservation, we struggle to trust that He knows best and guides best.  We tend to listen to or consult with all the other voices, before or even instead of His.  And by doing so, time and time again our hearts grow harder and harder.  Our spirit ear becomes more deaf to the only voice that can change ANYTHING.

Like cement that tends to cure harder and harder in the presence of water, so too does a heart that is washed in the Word or Voice of God, without obedient response, it grows harder and harder.  To the point where God, the God who spoke ex nihilo and all matter and life came into being, cannot by voice alone break through that hard heart shell.

Stop and think for a moment.  Consider why Jesus told the Seven Churches named in the early part of Revelation, to hear what the Spirit was saying (and still is) to the churches.  Consider that the most important thing any human can do, is hear and listen to the voice of God.  And then obey.

For it is not the random act of disobedience that silences God’s voice to our ears, but it is the chronic and self-inflating ignorance to a perpetual Spirit sound aimed at mankind in general and aimed at my very one and only heart.

Oh dear reader, please hear what the Spirit is saying to me; and maybe even to you.  Each time I ignore God’s voice, even in the little things, hardness sets in more and more.  It may not be noticeable at first, but that’s how deception works.  Understand that in these last days, the Great Falling Away mentioned in scripture will be rooted in self and collective deception – and we won’t even know it.  We will not be able to reverse the process of hardening without a cataclysmic and holy impact to our hard hearts.

I must stop waiting for a gentle wooing by the Spirit and be prepared for the hammer of His divine love that will shake and shatter everything that is hard within me.  Only then can His voice once again penetrate to the depths where needed most.

To Silence a Voice, the voice of God, seems impossible.  But it’s not.  His voice as we’ve ever known it since the creation of time and material has been and always will be echoing around the cosmos and the hearts of man.  But if no receptor exists, because of hardness, we have essentially silenced the voice of God; the only voice that can make a difference – to save and transform.

Sound waves, notably different than spirit must have something they hit or bounce off for them to be noted as anything whatsoever.  And so too with the Spirit voice, there must be a heart to connect with or nothing will be noted at all.  Like that tree falling in the forest, if my heart is hard beyond flexibility, I WILL NOT HEAR the voice of God.

To Silence a Voice, the voice of God seems implausible, veritably impossible.  But it’s not.

Today, right now at this reading and beyond, if you hear the faintest whisper of God’s voice – stop and listen.  Consider obedience, because To Silence a Voice, the voice of God, all one need do is disobey.

Listen.