My source of Joy

The other night I was watching an interview on Lary King with Winona Judd. She was talking about her current victory over depression which led her to alcoholism. She said something that I may never forget: "Now days when I start to reach for a drink, instead I reach for relationships." She went on to explain that healthy, loving relationships was what she always needed and did not have. Now her happiness is found in love with other key people that she allows into her life.

I have found this to be true as well. Joy for me is found in relationship to others who I am exploring what it means to give and recieve true love. Nothing matters more than relationships. Those who devalue relationships lose out on much of life's joy. Paul recognized this in his letter to some of his friends. They had a "special place in his heart" and were a constant source of joy in his memory bank. He could simply think of them and experience joy. Listen to the message paraphrase:

"It's not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you. My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. You have, after all, stuck with me all the way from the time I was thrown in jail, put on trial, and came out of it in one piece. All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. 8 He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!" Phil. 1:7-8 (MSG)

Jesus taught us that the secret to joy was loving each other the way that He loved us. To lay down our lives for each other and serve one another in love.

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:11-14 (NIV)

My joy is ultimately found when I listen to Jesus who leads me to live an others-centered life giving myself away in loving relationships with those He loves. I am glad that Jesus is showing me this again. My joy is expanding as I obey Him in this. Like Winona, I too am reaching for relationships.

May the Joy of Jesus be in you today and may your joy be full!

Do Justice...

Today is a great opportunity to make this world a better place. No matter where we go today as we walk with Jesus, we can humble ourselves under His mighty hand and He will grace us with strength to make a difference in other's lives.

Look around yourself. Do you see them? Do you see those who are hurting? Do you see the ugly, unpopular, under priveledged who suffer. Go to them, encourage them, pray for them. Be the life of Jesus and spead justice in an unjust world.

To love mercy is a major driving force in bringing heaven to earth. Mercy means to see people from two vantage points: 1. You must see through God's eyes. What do He see when He looks at a person? What does He feel? What insight does He have about the why and how of thier suffering? 2. You must see through the other person's eyes. How do they feel? What is it like to be them?

To walk humbly with Jesus is to realize that I am no better than anyone, and deserve no better (I don't want what I deserve) than those who may be suffering around me. To wash the feet of those in need is at the heart of what it means to walk humbly with God. Prideful people do not understand God's heart for the injustice in our world. In humility God lifts us up and shows us His perspective and empowers us with His grace to change things for good.

Isaiah 42:1-4 (NIV) 1 "Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations. 2 He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 4 he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope."

Do you really love me?

Once a woman went to her husband and said, “Honey, do you love me”? He said, “Of course I do.” She walked away with the same lack of assurance as she came. Why do you think she asked?

Probably because the love was only verbalized not actualized.

If I ask you, “Do you love God?” What will you say? If you are like me you will say, “of course I do”. Let’s examine what the Bible says about true love for God:

We show our love for Jesus and God by obedience.

If you love me, you will obey what I command. (John 14:15)

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. (John 14:21)

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

Love or non-love for Jesus is reflected in our obedience to Jesus' teachings.

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (John 14:23, 24)

Love for God is reflected by our actions, not our words or emotions (which both can be a lie). Our actions do not lie. When we obey, we say, “I love You” according to God. Also when we obey, God reveals more of Himself to us. He “comes to us” and “makes His home with us”. What a priveledge for the one who obeys. What an honor to know and be close to God!

Some might say what does that mean-to be close to God? I know what that has meant for me but I cannot know what that means for you. Obey Him and find out for yourself.

God is slow

When I was a little boy I was one of the fastest kids in my school. I loved racing other kids on the playground. Often, I could outrun them. When we try to "outrun" from God it is comforting to know that he is slow. Jonah discovered the God was slow.

Ex 34:6
6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

Nu 14:18
18 'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.

Ne 9:17
17 They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them,

Ps 86:15
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Ps 103:8
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Ps 145:8
8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.

Joel 2:13
13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.

Jnh 4:2
2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.

Na 1:3
3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.

When I try to run from obedience to God, He will always catch me but thankfully he is slow to be angry with me. I love You Father!

First Time Obedience?

The other day I went to pick up my little boy from preschool and I asked his teacher how he was doing. She said, “Sam needs to work on first time obedience”. I told her that we would help him in that area immediately. As I drove away from the school firmly telling Sam about the error of his ways a gentle nudge came my way. “You need to work on your first time obedience too Chris”.

“Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:” Jonah 3:1 (NIV)

How many times does it take for you to obey God’s voice? Are you a first timer? 2nd? 3rd? 4th? 5th?

I am fascinated by God’s parenting approach. I can get pretty hot after asking my son several times to respond and does not. But isn’t it interesting that when God comes to Jonah a second time He does not remind him of his previous failure, He make no mention of being rescued from death, nor does He make sure Jonah remembers his vow. In fact, there is no hint of anything but grace as God reinstates Jonah to his mission. He does not even warn him of the consequences if he tries to run again. It would be a gross understatement to say that God is patient and gracious.

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. 9 He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; Psalms 103:8-13 (NIV)

Does this make me more passionate about God or less? Does seeing God like this inspire reverence and loving obedience? OR do I despise the riches of His goodness?

4 Don't you realize how kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Or don't you care? Can't you see how kind he has been in giving you time to turn from your sin? 5 But no, you won't listen. So you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself because of your stubbornness in refusing to turn from your sin. For there is going to come a day of judgment when God, the just judge of all the world, 6 will judge all people according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who persist in doing what is good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and practice evil deeds. 9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on sinning—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism. Romans 2:4-11 (NLT)


I am thankful that God does not always spank when I don’t obey the first time. I need grace not to take Him for granted. Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments”. May we love Him with our obedience. May we have grace to even obey the first time!

Does God hear your prayers?

“2 He said: "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.” Jonah 2:2 (NIV)

Do you ever wonder if God is listening to you? Are there times when He listens and times when He doesn’t? If so, why?

“14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.” 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV)

Alright, so “if” we pray according to His will He hears, so how do I know His will? Without getting into all the ways different people discern God’s voice or will in their lives, I just want to say that if anyone sincerely desires to know God’s will, God can and will show them. And He will show us in a way we can be clear about it. Someone might say I have been asking God about this or that and He has not replied. It could be that Jesus’ brother has counsel for us:

“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives…” James 4:3

Sometimes we are not really seeking His will but trying to get Him in on ours. Instead of thy kingdom come, thy will be done, it is my kingdom, my will. If we really want to know what He wants, we will know because He will show us. How He does that is always up to Him. But make no mistake, He can get that done.

Jonah, in the depths of God’s loving discipline, cried out to God and God heard him. What happened? Could it be that Jonah had a change of heart? Of course, you might say, who wouldn’t? This is exactly what I mean though. The other day I was talking to a friend as he confessed that it seemed like when he really hears from God is when he gets desperate. I have come to believe that my heart condition is a major key to an audience with God. Another one of God’s prophets wrote:

11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV)

These words are written to people who were anything but wholehearted. So God designed a season of captivity to get their hearts recalibrated. God knows when we are serious. He also knows when we are half-hearted and distracted by the world and its desires. Jonah had the pull of the idolatrous city of Tarshish and all its trappings on his heart. He turned away from God to his own way. It happens to all of us from time to time.

Could it be that only the heart that is pure or sincere in a matter gets God’s attention? Could it be that God sometimes lovingly creates those conditions for us if we will not? Maybe to get an audience with God, you have to be somewhat passionate about it. Maybe He has to be first in our lives after all. It is no coincidence that as soon as Jonah starts talking about making sacrifices and repaying vows the fish spits him up on the beach with a whole new course setting.

Resistance is Futile!

"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile." -- The Borg, Star Trek, The First Contact

I grew up loving Star Trek (The original one of course). In the Next Generation the Borg were introduced. No one escaped the Borg. They assimilated everything into their “collective”. Resistance was futile.

Jonah 1:17-2:1 (NIV) 17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. 1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God.

After Jonah’s stubborn disobedience he finally learns that resistance is futile. God has chosen Jonah for a specific mission. He had designed Jonah’s destiny and was not going to be thwarted by his disobedient heart. He causes a great storm and prepares a great fish to bring Jonah to his knees in submission to His will.

I take great comfort in this story. There is a little Jonah in me. I thank God for His determined purpose in our lives. He begins a good work in us, pursues us, and disciplines us until he completes us. He knows how to get us back on track no matter what. He brings correction and fulfills his divine plan to use Jonah to show compassion on the wicked city of Nineveh. I believe that this story is replayed again and again in the lives of God’s children.

Tell me, what should we fear most, God’s loving discipline, or him just moving on and using someone else? I don’t want to be left to my rebellious ways. I want to be thrown into the violent ocean of God’s loving discipline. I am thankful that there is no place to run from Him as His child. I am praying for a listening ear and an obedient heart.

8 The LORD says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. 9 Do not be like a senseless horse or mule that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control." 10 Many sorrows come to the wicked, but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the LORD. 11 So rejoice in the LORD and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure! Ps. 32:8-11 (NLT)

Obey His will with joy today or get ready for a deep sea adventure with God! Resistance is futile!
Chris