Encourage

1 Thessalonians 5: 11    GW

Therefore, encourage each other and strengthen one another as you are doing.

I received an email last week from a dear soul who receives the Word of the Day and it reminded me of this verse. There are others like this one, teaching us to be encouragers to one another. I have written on this call to encourage before, but it struck me a little differently last week. I thought about how much the notes you send bless me and how they keep me going when the task of writing a daily devotional gets wearisome. So, I want to thank you for your part in keeping the Word of the Day going and encourage you to be an encourager to the leaders in your life.

We have written 3119 Words of the Day. That’s a lot of devotion. I say “we” because I definitely could not do this on my own. Your encouragement is like fuel in the gas tank. I certainly would not keep this up, but for you. Of course, our Father is helping us both. He nudges you to write a note and He nudges me with an idea for the Word of the Day. It really is a team effort. As I enjoyed the refreshing I received through that email I wondered how many other pastors need a booster shot. That led me to thinking about other leaders and their need for support. I coined a phrase years ago, “Leadership comes from below.” It has multi-level meaning but one of the nuances is that those who rank below the leader need to show their own leadership by encouraging and supporting the leader. The old saying, “It’s lonely at the top,” is true but shouldn’t be.

Each one of us has the opportunity to encourage someone daily. I want to motivate you to be purposeful about encouraging others. After a period of intentionally encouraging others, it will become part of our nature to do so. While we are being intentional about encouraging folks, let’s remember our leaders. This may be your pastor, your boss or even the leader of a civic organization. You know what, it could even be a parent or spouse.

We all need encouragement. Like I said, it is like fuel. When the gas tank is empty, it is hard to keep going. I encourage you, in the name of Jesus, to find someone you can give a boost to. They will appreciate it and so will your Dad.

There is a Log in My Eye

Matthew 7: 1

Do not judge.

I was reading a little book of quotes the other day. It is fun little book because it has quotes from people aged 5 to 95. This one jumped out at me, “I’ve learned that when you judge others, you are revealing your own fears and prejudices.”

One of the things that bothers me about the modern church is how judgmental and exclusionary we are. Sometimes it feels like the Christian church is a club where membership is limited to those few we deem acceptable. The rest of the folks are just going to hell. I really don’t like that about us. I hate the way some of the non-saved look at us, like just a bunch of holier than thou hypocrites. Just once I would like the church to lead the way of acceptance and tolerance and leave our judgments out of it.

This quote makes one think that it is our own damage that causes us to be judgmental. When I think of some of the most judgmental people I have known this thought gains traction. I remember one person who judged everyone and found none to be worthy. She was friendless and definitely broken but she cleaned up well on the outside. It was sad.

I don’t know where we get the idea that we are supposed to judge others or even allowed to. Jesus said of himself, “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him,” (John 3: 17). If Jesus wasn’t judging, what makes us think we were appointed the role? Maybe he couldn’t handle it so God appointed us.

I guess what makes me saddest about this reality is that we judge and condemn others out of our own brokenness. The Church of our God is supposed to be a place where we can heal. I fear few of us spend enough quiet, quality time with the Father for that healing to take place.

Here is what I will take away from today’s Word of the Day, when I catch myself judging others, I will look inwardly to see the source of that criticism. Then I can take that to the Father and be healed. Criticism and judgments are pointers to our own stuff and we need to spend our time on getting our stuff right. We need to let the Father heal us. Maybe, if we let the Father touch us and improve our attitudes others will find it easier to join our club.

God Ideas

John 16: 13

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

God has promised that the Holy Spirit will guide us but how do you know something is a God idea? How do you know that He is guiding you with that thought? Well, recently I got a good taste of a God idea and thought I would share the revelation of it while it is fresh in my mind.

One of the clearest signs that the idea that popped into my head was God’s thinking rather than mine was that it made me uncomfortable. I wanted to argue with the idea. The idea may be bigger than your level of comfort so of course, you would instantly experience discomfort.

Here is another good sign. In this case, Father wanted me to give something away. If the thought is about giving, it is likely your Dad. Maybe you are a giver. In this case I had already decided to make a donation but the idea that came to me was, literally, a hundred times what I was thinking. That has to be God because: a) I don’t think that big, and b) it was quite generous. When Father wants us to make a gift, it is often out of our comfort zone. And, since He is a giver, God ideas routinely involve giving.

Another way you can know that you are having a God idea is that the thought is different from the way you think. It may be an idea that you would say about, “I would never have thought of that.” It’s just a different pattern of thought or way of thinking.

When I had this idea, whether it was because I recognized God’s hand or because it was bigger than my thoughts, I had a physiological reaction. I knew this was God in so many ways, but my pounding heart and quickened respiration told me something was happening too.

God ideas are often challenging but always fun and rewarding. I hope you have one today.

Trees and Grass

Psalm 1: 3

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.

Psalm 37: 1 – 2

Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.

One of my neighbors cut down all of his trees because, he said, “They are killing my grass.” I thought, what a metaphor for life this is.

My neighbors are Christians, so I thought, “What does God say about trees and what does He say about grass?” The righteous person God compares to a tree. God takes that person and plants him where he will be nourished and have all the water he needs. Unlike grass, he will not wither but rather he will bear good fruit. In all he does, God causes him to prosper. But of course, he prospers because the Lord plants him beside the precious water.

What of the grass? God uses grass to represent evil people. They do not have strong roots going down into the rich soil. They are superficial and temporary. Trees are strong and steady yielding fruit year after year. The grass is gathered up and burned. Do you know how long it takes God to grow a tree? Years! Grass comes up quickly but has not root and so dies in the first trial by fire (See Mark 4).

There is a tree of life, while grass is associated with short, withering life. Trees are strong, grass is here today, gone tomorrow. Trees and grass are used in the Bible in contrast. We want to be God’s trees, not grass and in this way, I thought my neighbor’s value on grass over trees spoke, metaphorically, to our values compared with God’s.

I think that although we read the Bible and go to church we don’t always learn. Who among us has not read a book and failed to grasp the deeper meaning? Do we remember college English class? Still, the purpose in reading the Bible, reading devotionals and studying is not so that we can say we have read the Bible cover to cover. It is not so that we can fulfill a duty we feel towards God. Reading the Word is supposed to change us. We are supposed to begin to understand God’s values and absorb them into our bones.

This isn’t really about my neighbor’s trees, but you can see how it represents his value for the immediate versus long term gratification. The grass comes up quickly and is a pretty green. We can derive pleasure from it. However, six months of the year it is just brown and ugly. We will sacrifice the long-term pleasure of the tree for that quick hit of satisfaction. It is how we conduct our lives. How can a person take a chainsaw to something that took God twenty years to grow just so it doesn’t cast a shadow on the grass that sprouts quickly but just as quickly dies? That which God plants should cast a shadow and we should rest in that shadow because it symbolizes God’s outstretched arms shading us and keeping us from harm.

The Bible says God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55: 9) nor are our thoughts His thoughts but isn’t the point of Christianity that we should be becoming like Him? Isn’t that the point of transformation? 2 Corinthians 3: 18 reads, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” We learned in the book of Genesis that we were made in His image. Presumptively transformation is the process through which we reflect His image. If that is true, we should reflect His value system too.

The point is, we can sit in a church until Jesus comes back and never see this “from glory to glory” change. We can listen to a preacher and never let the Words penetrate our inner person and therefore, never come in synchronization with God’s thoughts, values and ways. We need to let the Word change us and that can only happen when we are serious about its transformative power and allow it to impact us.
Don’t be grass people. They wither and die. Be tree of life people firmly planted by the stream. Grow your roots deep in the rich loam of God’s Word. Be transformed through the renewal of your mind, by the renewal of your thinking. Think new thoughts. Think differently. Find out how the Father thinks and follow Him. Determine what He values and align your value system with His. This is not only the way of Christianity and faith. It is the way of love, success and peace. Shalom.

Meditative Transformation

Romans 12: 2

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

I heard an interesting comment recently. Dr. James Richards said, “Renewing the mind, if you don’t mix meditation with it, is nothing but an exercise in ego and intellectualism.” Whoa!!! That is a big statement. The Apostle Paul tasked us with renewing our minds. The problem is, most of us don’t know how. So, we begin to try to “change” our minds and thinking patterns and rarely do we enjoy any degree of success. There is an entirely different paradigm available to us which is effective and that is what we need to know. It’s imbedded in this “Partnership with God” that I speak of frequently.

There is a difference between “change” and transformation even though they are in the same family. The biggest functional difference is that transformation only occurs through the power of the Holy Spirit by the grace of the Father. When we try to “change” that is a self-effort and it is always doomed to failure.

The second big difference between change and transformation is that transformation does not involve who you are. Truthfully, transformation is about bringing out the beautiful person who is hidden inside you. Inside, you are Christ-like beautiful, but there are likely areas of your life where you are not fully capable of letting that glory shine. The world has trained you in certain ways and those ways are not the way God does things. For example, the world says, “Every man for himself.” God says to put other people’s needs before yours. The world teaches us to be antagonistic and defensive. God leads us to continual peace. So, when someone cuts you off on the highway, you might react as you’ve been taught or you may be able to let God’s thoughts show.

The only way we can be transformed in the inner parts of our soul is to let the Lord work in us and ultimately, through us. Transformation doesn’t actually take place in the mind. It occurs through the renewing of our mind, but the transformation takes place in our spirits. The key is in allowing God to speak to our minds, yes, but also to our spirits. That is when He is able to make transformative changes in us which releases our glorious selves.

Meditation is the slow, deliberate time of connection with God. It isn’t the conversation you have with Him on your way to work. That isn’t a bad practice, it just isn’t what I am discussing here. Meditation is when you allow yourself to slow down and commune with the Father. I am always reminded of Psalm 46: 10, “Be still, and know that I am God.” It is in the quite pensiveness that we most easily find God. Then He is able to minister to our inner selves to work out our salvation through the transformation process. To try to change ourselves or to attempt to “renew” our own minds is an ego trip on the failure express. We cannot change ourselves in any meaningful way. We certainly cannot transform ourselves from the caterpillar to the lovely butterfly. That is a God process and only by surrendering our will to Him can we experience and manifest the beautiful creature He has created us to be. He is the author of transformation. To think that we can make ourselves into a silk purse from the sow’s ear that we are is to elevate ourselves to the throne. How can we initiate such a transformation if we are, in fact, in need of transformation? Doesn’t the mere fact that we need to be transformed by the renewing of our mind suggest that we are not complete and therefore incapable of completing this transformation in our own strength? If we knew how to let our inner butterfly out, wouldn’t we have done it long ago.

Transformation and the renewal of the mind are grace processes. Father God is the author of grace. It is His touch within us which is going to effect the transformation. Slow down and take time with God. Enter into a time of quiet and stillness. Meet God beside the calm waters and let Him guide your growth. Let Him lead you and guide the process. To do otherwise is merely “an exercise in ego and intellectualism.”

Gloom, Despair, Agony

Psalm 88: 13 – 18

I cry out to you for help, O Lord, and in the morning my prayer will come into your presence. Why do you reject my soul, O Lord? Why do you hide your face from me? Ever since I was young, I have been suffering and near death. I have endured your terrors, and now I am in despair. Your burning anger has swept over me. Your terrors have destroyed me. They swirl around me all day long like water. They surround me on all sides. You have taken my loved ones and friends far away from me. Darkness is my only friend!

Woe is me!! This is the cry of desperation. And yet . . .?

The writer cries out to the Lord which I find interesting, perhaps even amusing because it is the Lord whom he blames for his troubles. Why then, complain to the Lord? Why importune Him for relief? It is because in our heart of hearts, we know that the Lord, our God, did not send us down to the pit. We know He is our salvation, not our tormentor.

The author, for all his despair, has not lost hope and in that we, too, draw encouragement. There has never been a moment in all of history which was without hope, nor shall there ever be, because we have a benevolent God and we know that He is always within reach. His ear is always listening for our prayer.

The heart of human beings knows, instinctively, that God is our hope and our salvation. Our very DNA cries out to Him because our DNA is made of Him. Though we accuse God and cry out against Him; though we blame Him for the ills of the world, in the darkest hour, when it seems darkness is our only friend, our spirits cry out and yearn for the one we know can and will save us from the pain. We have a deep and abiding knowledge coursing through our cells, that our God is our breath and that He is saving grace. He is the hope that is that one little speck of light when darkness threatens to overwhelm us. God is good. He loves us and He is listening for the call of all of His children.

Cleansing Waters

Genesis 6: 17

I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish.

Was the flood an act of grace? Does that sound like a ridiculous question? I received a comment mixed in with the prayer requests this week. The author was perplexed at how God could “kill” so many people especially since murder is a sin. It set me to thinking and hence the question I first posed.

How would you analyze this problem? Well, I began by knowing that God is love. If you believe the story of the great flood is true, then do you also believe 1 John 4: 8, “God is love”? I do believe God is love, that His very essence is this thing called love. I also believe that He can do nothing apart from His essential self, love. How, then, can this loving Father have been responsible for the great flood?

I believe it was an act of grace and as you study the Bible, I think you will see more of this. The earth was in bad shape. In fact, it was on the brink of catastrophic destruction. When Satan rebelled and was cast from heaven a host of angels went with him. Later, these spiritual beasts decided that human women were beautiful and so visited earth and fornicated with human women. The result was a race of people who were violent and evil. They killed off many of God’s people and rained havoc in the earth. They would have destroyed everything God created, including humanity, had God not intervened. Only by destroying life on earth could He save it. Therefore, it was because God loved human beings that He sent the flood.

What do you think? Can you see how grace, love and mercy forced God to act in a dramatic fashion? Had He not acted, none of us would be here today as the entire human race would have been wiped out.

When you try to figure out God and the events in the Bible, look for love. The love signature will always reveal the truth of these events.