So Close And Yet So Far Away

Have you ever tried to climb into a book and physically interact with the characters on the page?  Of course you haven't.  That would be silly.   Have you ever mentally involved yourself in a story and imagined you were interacting with the characters?  I am sure I have, if not consciously then sub consciously.  Some people like to read choose your own adventure books.  The ending of the story is already written with several different outcomes, but the reader controls which way they go.  Others like to begin with a blank page and write their own story, create their own characters, and design their own plots.  That is the way to really be a part of the story.  A story doesn't write itself; it has to have an author.

Though many don't want to acknowledge it, God is the author of the universe.  His story is a little different.  He designed the characters specifically to be able to interact with Him. He gave them a mind of their own.  He allows them to go where they may and do as they will within the world He created for them.  Though the characters may do what they will, He has defined what is right and wrong.  This is a place where so many people seem to be confused.  They think that because they have a mind of their own that they can define right and wrong for themselves, but what God calls wrong is wrong even if it seems right to one of His characters.  

Part of the author's plot design is to redeem His characters who go astray, and they all go astray at some point as they make their own choices.  They were born with the inclination to do so because their parents did and so did their grandparents.  The inborn inclination to act against what the author defined as right goes all the way back to the first two people that He created with a mind of their own.  When they chose to try to define their own right and wrong they went contrary to the author and have passed down that characteristic of defiance to all generations.  God, however, would not walk away and allow His characters all to self destruct, instead He stepped into the story and made His Son one of the characters.  His Son had a mind of His own, but He diligently chose to always be true to His divine nature rather than succumbing to the nature of the character from whom he was descended in the story.  He showed the other characters what it looks like to follow the author's definition of doing what is right without straying, and He sacrificed his life to pay for all the wrong choices of every other man, woman, boy and girl in the story who would trust in Him.  After the price for sin was paid by the shedding of His life blood, He rose victorious on the third day!   

So many people are so close and yet so far away from the truth.  They want everyone to be accepted, but on their own merit, and for their choices rather than in spite of them.  Instead of admitting that God's definition of right and wrong is true and believing we can be forgiven for doing wrong, they want to make a new standard of right and wrong.  God wants to accept everyone, but He only does that based on the perfectly lived life, sacrificial death and triumphant resurrection of His Son.  He will not accept us for our wrong choices, but He will accept us in spite of them because of Jesus.  The place so many get stuck is that they refuse to admit that they have failed to uphold God's standard of right and wrong and therefore they don't ask to be forgiven for their wrong based on the merit of His Son.  

Rather than reaching out to the author and asking Him to intervene in their part of they story gone awry, some people are now calling out to the story itself and the setting they've been placed in.  They will ask the universe to guide them or provide for them, but the universe has no power.  Only The Creator of the universe has the power to help them.  He made it possible for the wayward characters He created to come to Him through His Son.  Jesus left The Author's side and stepped into the storybook to provide salvation and a connection to God despite our condition.  With salvation He provides new character for His characters.  He gives them the Holy Spirit to help them see things His way so that they can overcome that inherited inclination to make up their own definitions that conflict with His Truth.  

A person does not ask an oven for a loaf of bread, they ask the baker.  One wouldn't get far by asking a ship to take them across the ocean, they must ask the captain.  When a person realizes that they need help they had better ask The Creator, not the creation.  Imagine for a minute if the baker relabeled all of his ingredients.  What if he called the salt sugar, the sugar flour and the flour salt?  Try to bake a cake  with those substitutions.  It's not going to be a cake.  Salt is salt and sugar is sugar, just like wrong is wrong and right is right.  You can't change what it is just by changing the label.  If you substitute wrong for right the recipe is going to fail.  

My prayer is for people to turn to Jesus "the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1-2)  Lord, please use these words to minister to someone today.  There are so many in the world who are confused because they haven't met Your Son.  Maybe they have heard of Him, but He is still a great mystery to them.  Please open the eyes of someone today so that they can see Jesus.  In His precious, awesome and glorious name I make this request.  Amen.  

"Delight yourself in The Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Who Cares?

The things I think about when I am out running sound so right in my head, but trying to remember them and get them down in writing can be a challenge.  The other day while I was running, and praying, and contemplating, I was thinking about a friend who recently denied the existence of God. While I find it hard to comprehend that someone could stop believing in God, without saving faith in Christ they are lost whether they believe God exists or not.  James 2:19 says, "You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that - and shudder."   James is making a case that true faith manifests itself in action, believing there is a God is not enough. Trusting in Christ as the one who paid the penalty for your sin and asking Him to clean your heart opens the door to the Holy Spirit in your life, and the Holy Spirit teaches you to act on your faith.  Jesus won't barge into your life, instead He waits for you to welcome Him in.  I would rather have an honest discussion with someone who is having doubts than to assume that they have trusted in Christ just because they say they believe God exists. 

So, what does it matter if you believe in God or not?  Who cares?  If you believe that there is a God who  created everything but then just left it all to self destruct, it doesn't make much difference.  However, if you believe in the God of forgiveness and love who sent His own Son to die in your place, then it makes ALL the difference.  Jesus endured being beaten nearly to death, having nails driven into His hands, wearing a crown of thorns, and suffocation on the cross because we deserved it.  It was painful and he suffered like we cannot imagine, but I don't think the physical pain was His greatest agony.  He is God the Son.  Sin is against the very nature of God, and God is immortal.  The reason He could die is that He clothed Himself in a human body for our sake and accepted the guilt for all of our sin.  It was sin that killed Him.  It was the sin that you and I and every other human being possess in our nature and have willfully committed.  He gave up His life for each one of those wrongs to save us. 

So, who cares?  God does!  God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit care.  Jesus cares enough to bear our sin.  The awesome news is that because He wasn't the one who committed sin, death couldn't contain Him.  He overcame death.  Those who truly believe on Him as their Savior from sin are pardoned.  That pardon comes with a guarantee which is the Holy Spirit coming to live within them.  The Holy Spirit guides and guards a person marking them for eternal life with God in heaven.  Once a person has received the Holy Spirit they cannot turn back, and it will be evident by the way they live.  Too many people are tricked into thinking that believing in God's existence is enough, but they must receive forgiveness through His Son Jesus to be saved.  Remember, even the demons believe in the existence of God.  The first step to receiving forgiveness is coming to terms with your status as a sinner.  The second is believing that Jesus paid the price and admitting that only He can save you. 

If you believe He exists, why not ask for forgiveness from your sin because Jesus acted as your substitute and endured your punishment though He Himself never disobeyed God or rebelled in any way?  If you don't believe in God, you can't believe in His Son, but maybe you are denying His existence because you don't understand how much He loves you.  Maybe you have experienced hurt in your life, and you would rather ignore God because you don't understand how He could have let it happen.  Remember that the hurt was caused by a person's sin. God gave people the freedom to chose His way or their own.  The hurt comes when people choose to do things their own way instead of God's.  He doesn't desire us to chose that course, but He does allow it.  He didn't make us to be puppets with no choice, and since people chose to go their own way they can hurt themselves and others.  Even illness, which is often is NOT a direct result of an individual's specific sin, came into the world due to the presence of sin and we are now susceptible to it. That is the way of things here on earth.  Because God cares, though, He provided a way for us to be forgiven for choices that cause pain, to grow to be more like Jesus, and to be eternally healed. 

Someday those who have received forgiveness through Jesus will live where "He will wipe every tear from their eyes," and "there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain."  (Revelation 21:4)  How can those things be absent in heaven?  Sin causes those things.  There is no sin there because only the forgiven may enter, and God promises to make them perfect before they do.  "Listen, I tell you a mystery:  We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed."  (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)  "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.  Then we will be with the Lord forever."  (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)  God wants us to be with Him forever.  He made a way for us.  He cares!

*Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.

Happy Harmonizing

I love to sing. It's one of my favorite things to do, but it's often more fun when there are others to sing with.  The sound of many voices singing together in unison is very nice, but harmonies are one of my favorite aspects of music.  Blending notes in such a way to create depth and emotion in a song is very powerful.  Not everyone is able to pick out a harmony part and sing it alone.  It is something that is learned through much practice, by following someone else who has more experience, or it's a rare gift.  Whether harmony is created by rote or intuition, whether it is practiced or improvised, it is well worth the effort to produce.

When two people sing in harmony, they are not singing the same note.  Normally there is a more dominate part, the melody, and the harmony is added by producing notes above or below it that intentionally blend well and compliment it.  Sometimes, though, harmonies blend so well that it is difficult to distinguish a melody, you just hear the whole chord.  Occasionally one of my children will be singing a song and another will join in, but the key is not comfortable for the second child.  Instead of singing a harmony, sometimes they will begin to sing the melody in a different key causing discord, confusion and conflict.  If they would be willing to take the trouble of finding a harmony they could sing in a comfortable range while adding a pleasing new dimension to the song.  

Unfortunately many people live like the second child in this example.  If something isn't going their way they try to dominate the situation and do things the way they want them done, regardless of how it conflicts with those around them.  They throw the song that was being sung into chaos in an attempt to have things their way.  They cause conflict and discord, and rather than contributing to the beauty of the song they discourage the rest of the singers.  The better option would be to figure out how they can fit into the song in a way that blends?

What can be done when someone tries to dominate off key literally or metaphorically speaking?  When you are in close proximity to them it becomes tempting to stop singing altogether.  When the people involved are brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important for them to remember that their Father is conducting the symphony.  He has a part for each voice in the choir as well as each instrument in the orchestra, and He is the master composer. Each person will play an integral part in the performance of His work.  Sometimes it will be a lead and at other times it will be supporting. There are even measures of rest which often transition into something new.  Whatever the part is, it is crucial that each member of the ensemble take their directions from the conductor and keep their instrument in tune.  

Sometimes brothers and sisters have a fight for dominance that causes awful discord.  They forget that God is the conductor and also the composer of the song.  He is writing a beautiful piece, and all we need to do is play the part He has chosen for us.  We are not the writers.  We can't take our eyes off of Him.  If we are too concerned with someone else's part we are going to make mistakes with the one He has given us.  We need to listen to what those around us are playing and blend our parts together, all the while following the conductor.  We need to keep our eyes on Him and let Him lead. Sometimes He will have us right up front on the melody, other times He will move us more to the background on a harmony, and there will be times when He gives us measures of rests.  That doesn't mean we have been removed from the song; it's just our time to take a few deep breaths and prepare to come in harmonizing well with those around us in a beautiful song.