A Poem for God

Some people like to distance You with words
like "Thee" and "Thou."

Some prefer to question You

with What? and Why? and How?

Still others feel more

comfortable with a list of rights and wrongs.

But I just want to climb up in Your lap,

Stroke Your face,

And sing You love songs.

What Was it Like?

You can't believe your good fortune!

The richest man in the world, benefactor to thousands, wealthy beyond your comprehension, has invited you to his next dinner party!

You show up, nervous, invitation in hand, leaving behind a gaggle of wide-eyed friends awaiting reports.

You lift the heavy brass knocker and a maid opens the door.

She looks quizzically at you and you thrust the invitation toward her.

Her face relaxes and she steps back. "Come in. You're invited."

You swallow the wad of cotton in your throat and step over the threshold.

Tantalizing scents swirl around your face and gentle laughter ripples from somewhere just out of sight. Your eyes try to take it all in at once. Yep, there's the winding gold staircase you've heard rumors about. And the hallway that seems to go on forever. How many rooms were reported to be on the first floor?

You quiet your thudding heart and look around for the lord of the manor. Is he as amazing as his reputation says he is? On those rare occasions when he's been sighted, he is always impeccably dressed, unnervingly polite, and kind beyond anyone's comprehension. One story had him kneeling in the rain beside the road in his tuxedo helping a lone woman change a flat. Surely all the stories were exaggerations, but you're dying to find out for yourself.

It is nearly midnight when you tumble into bed.

The phone rings.

"We-e-ell?" your friend asks. "I've been waiting for you to call. What was it like?"

"It was incredible, all right," you answer. "I--"

"Are there really twenty-three bedrooms on the first floor? Is the food as great as they say? What about the music? I hear he imports musicians from all over the world! What about--"

You give a nervous laugh. "I don't know about that. I never heard them."

"What? No musicians? Well, what about the guy himself? Is he really like they say? Tell me about him!"

You swallow. "Well...I never...I mean...I didn't actually see him..."

"Whaddya mean? Weren't you there? I thought you went?"

"Oh, I did. I went."

"Well, tell me what it's like! Is the guy as great as everyone says? Did you talk to him? Did you get a gift like people say he gives out?"

You force a nervous cough. "I-um...well, see...I did go, but I just stayed inside the doorway. I, uh, I never went all the way in. It was too overwhelming and I, well, I saw a lot of good things right where I was."

A dead silence. "You're kidding, right? You get invited to the party of the century and you didn't go all the way in? You just stood in the doorway?"

Shame heats your face. "Yeah...sounds kinda dumb, now. I was just...I dunno, I thought that was good enough, just getting invited, you know? I mean, I was inside his house. I met his maid. I smelled the great food and heard a few strains of the orchestra. I just...well, I didn't know what was expected of me so I stayed where it was comfortable."

Would you have gone all the way in?
Are you sure?

Many people hear the call of God. They respond and accept His gift of salvation, delighted that they are now going to Heaven.

But they stay right there.

All their lives, they stay just inside the safety zone. Never growing in their faith. Never truly experiencing everything God has for them. They view salvation as their Get-Out-Of-Hell Free card to be cashed in upon death. They stick it in their back pockets and go on about their lives, completely missing the whole meaning of a relationship with God.

That choice is as ridiculous as spending the whole evening on the threshold of a wonderful event. The Lord of the Manor is as wonderful as the reports say, and he wants to know you. His gifts and presence are highly desirable and only a fool would not take every opportunity to spend as much time at the mansion as possible.

You may have an invitation, but it won't do you much good unless you trade it for all the benefits it represents.

Go ahead.
Walk on in and close the door behind you.
You won't want to leave anytime soon, anyway.

Now, Why...?

This photo doesn't even need a caption. We've all felt this way.

• Two seconds after the comment slips through your lips...
• That moment when you realize you've locked your keys in the car...with the baby...
• Your ATM card has just sailed across the floor and down through the grate...
• You've already blown your character-trait-for-the-day practice and it's not even breakfast

Why did I say that!
Why did I do that?
Why didn't I listen?
Why...?
How could I?

Most of us are very good at berating ourselves. We are our own worst critics. Our expectations for ourselves can be much higher than anyone else's expectations of us and when we fail to reach that impossible standard, we feel shame.

People who live under an umbrella of shame tend to take it out on the world around them. I may feel shame that I did something stupid, but you'd better look out! The next move you make will be my chance to make myself feel better.

What if we learned to forgive ourselves the same way we know we are to forgive others?

Does that sound like feel-good psychology?

It's not.

It's the truth.

I John 3:20 encourages us with these words: If your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart and knows all things.

In other words, stop being so hard on yourself. God isn't. Your willful sin has to go. Your selfish choices, addictions, and evil behavior are non-negotiables. God hates it more than you do.

But the millions of little foibles that plague every member of the human race don't count against you. The "uh-oh's" and "oopses" that make up our lives don't have to go on our Low Self-Worth list. You won't find them on God's list anywhere.

OK, so you went through the drivethru backward,
so your skirt was tucked into your pantyhose all afternoon,
so you're overdrawn at the bank,
and you accidentally texted your pastor a steamy message meant for your spouse.

It happens.

But when the barrage of self-berating words bubble to your lips, stop. Ask yourself: Would I say this to someone else? Would I call my friend a stupid idiotic loser because she straightened her boss's tie before realizing what she was doing?
Would I call my co-worker a no-good jerk because he led a meeting with spinach between his front teeth?

Why do we believe it's acceptable to treat ourselves with less respect than we treat everyone else? Each of us is a valuable person, created by God just the way He wanted us.

That's why he reminds us that our hearts can't always be trusted, but He can. Maybe it will help to remember this week that even if your heart condemns you, God is greater than your heart.

My baby girl, Susie, is in Europe for a month with our friend, Ruth Lovin, a talented photographer who took this shot on the northern coast of Ireland. They are working with a mission organization, Operation Mobilization, taking photos for publicity materials and recording video documentaries to promote the work OM has all over the world.

Ruth's caption on this photo reminded me of something. Everywhere we look, nature displays the glory of God. The skies are filled with color, the forests with sounds and scents. The animal kingdom exemplifies God's creativity and proves that He is the only giver of life.

Just as the sky is filled with God's glory, the earth is filled with His story, as His people scatter over every nation, tribe, and tongue proclaiming it.

He paints the sky with color and expects those who've sampled his palette to bring beauty and color to the lives of those who've known only darkness.

He infuses creativity into every object of nature. He has passed some of that creativity on to us and expects us to use those creative skills to echo His truth.

Are you using all He's given you for His glory?

Is some of His brilliance hidden away in some dark closet of your soul
because you are afraid of failure?
Of rejection?
Of what others will think?

Take another long look at this photo. Is some of that beauty tucked away in your arsenal of unused skills? Is it fair to deny access to the God who gave it to you?

Take it out today. Dust it off.

Is His glory filling your world?
Are you using what He gave you to spread His glory to others?
No?
This would be a great day to start.

Is Your Glass Half Full?

Polly lifted the mud-filled bowl so that her mother could see the problem. "I wanna put water in here. It won't go."

Mom took the bowl gingerly between two fingers. "It's full of mud, honey. See?"

She handed it back to her daughter. "You can't put anything else in there when it's already full. Empty out all the mud and then you can fill it with water."

Seems simple, doesn't it?

So why do we have such a hard time with it?

Many Christians wonder why they feel so far from God most of the time. They want to be closer. They want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, as we are commanded to be. They pray, they try. But nothing happens.

The problem?
They are like the muddy bowl. They are already full.

Philippians 2 shows us to the starting gate. "Let this be your attitude, the same one Jesus had. He was God, yet he voluntarily set that aside and emptied himself, took on human flesh, and became one of us." (my paraphrase)

Notice the first thing He did. He emptied himself of all rights and privileges that made Him the "darling of Heaven." (Darlene Zscheche, Worthy is the Lamb) Before he could become like us in our weakness and frailty, he had to first empty himself of everything that separated him from us.

And we are to do the same.

Before the Holy Spirit can completely fill and empower us, we have to empty ourselves of everything that keeps us separate from God: our will, our opinion, our rights, our agenda. Just as Jesus did.

Jesus had to empty himself before He could step down to dwell with us. We have to empty ourselves before we can be lifted up to dwell in the "secret place of the Most High." (Psalm 91) We cannot soar on wings of eagles while anchored firmly to earth. If we are still captivated by this world's goodies, still living with tunnel vision as though our little lives were the center of the universe, we are too full. We force the Holy Spirit to ride in the overcrowded luggage compartment.

To empty yourself means you voluntarily set aside everything that makes you YOU, just as Jesus did. Not that everything about you is wrong. It's just in the way.

The Holy Spirit cannot fill a vessel that is already filled with YOU. Until your will is lost in His, until you are "hidden with Christ" (Col. 3:3), until God is your delight and single-minded focus, you are a glass half-filled with mud.

There are many areas of life that you don't get to choose, but you get to choose what fills you.

So how's your bowl? Is it ready for water?

Maybe you need to empty it first.

What the World Needs Now

Notice anything odd about this photo?

What makes it odd?

Do you find it strange that a bear would snuggle up with another species? Doesn't seem normal, does it?

The sad thing is that we feel the same way about people.

We automatically choose to love those who are like us, sentencing those we consider different to a lower level of relationship. It can be outside our comfort zone to embrace people who are not in our social, economic, spiritual, or racial realm.

We may give lip service to "loving everyone, regardless" but how often do we really practice it?

• When was the last time you went out of your way to show true love to someone very different from you?

• When was the last time you learned something valuable from someone you initially thought inferior to yourself?

• What about your speech. Do you use derogatory terms for other races or cultures? What about seemingly harmless phrases like "those people?"

The first thing we notice about the above photo is the obvious difference. Our eyes quickly scan the two animals and our brains sound a warning: Incompatible! Separate species! Not right!

But notice how much more the two have in common than they differ: fur, color, region, appetite, and the fact that they are both cold.

We are all human beings. We are all created by God for his purpose and pleasure. We have the same basic needs for love, security, self-worth, and significance. Let's learn to snuggle up a little closer and love each other.

If they can do it in the animal kingdom, then surely we can too.

Atheism Defined

What if I were to swear to you that this is an untouched photo!
That I took this picture while at the beach
and I am as amazed as you are?

Would you believe me?

No? You sure? Why not?

Think about your answer for a minute.

You may have thought something like, "That's impossible because cows don't swim in the ocean and they certainly don't leap like dolphins. They never have. Never will."

Yet that is exactly what atheists and Darwinists expect us to believe. Their theories insist that we suspend logic and reality and accept pictures like the one above as undisputed fact. Any reasonable question is met with the same unprovable answer: If you don't understand it, just add a few billion years. That will explain it all.

Every time I watch a baby calf run to his mother in a field of identical cows...

Every time I look at my own hand and consider the thousands of things it can do...

Every time I see a wild flower, perfectly painted in imaginative color...

Every time I hear a debate of abstract ideas and consider human thought...

Every time I am thankful for the gift of sight and how amazing it is...

Every time I consider the vastness and complexity of the universe
and how impossible the idea
that it spontaneously erupted all by itself...

I think: Atheism is really stupid.