Strength beyond June 24

Unquestionably, since Jesus remains an everlasting reality and a stable companion in all things, we need to pay close attention and recognize the workings of the Holy Spirit he sent us.

        Scripture tells us the human Jesus had to go away but he would leave us a comforter [John 14:16;26]. The comforter is our guide and counselor. Jesus is the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is Jesus. He is not only with us, among us, but within us as a welcome guest. He does not just mess up the guest room and leave either. He always treats it better than we have designed it. Pictures are always straight. The bed is always made. The carpet stays swept and clean. He does not overeat, burn too much electricity or interrupt with obnoxious motivations. His stay remains perfect.

        The challenge is: Do we let him roam the rest of our internal house? Do we just keep him in the guest room and only recognize or let him out when we need him? Ironically, while the Holy Spirit can do anything he wants, he will stay in the guest room until invited out. See, he is polite but wants desperately to intermingle with every part of our house. Is there a way to sustain him more actively in our lives?

        In a sense, our task is to allow His presence throughout our lives increasingly by feeding him, not leftovers but meals of the self. The more we choose other-centered opportunities, the more the Holy Spirit gets invited into life. Systematically, we ease out self-indulgence, self-benefit, self-goals. We design a primary practice of searching ways to fellowship with His plan for others. God’s word becomes the blueprint for constructing the accurate rooms of our house for God’s kingdom growth.

        What do the blueprints show us? Scripture, prayer, praise, and worship can thrive to allow the Holy Spirit access through our own house-body. A daily result can become the peace that truly passes all understanding because we can relax from anxiety and fear, be honest, knowing One greater than us is in control. I want the best carpenter building my house. Don’t you?

        Of course, we fail every day. We leave the wrong doors open. We bump into furniture we’ve moved to the wrong place. We burn the food we prepare for our guest. We stumble, we forget, we get distracted with daily problems by trying to solve issues with our natural resources and skills. But the wonderful good news is we can begin again. Our story does not end when we grant the wrong motivation to crowd out time spent with Holy Spirit. No matter what emotions we may feel, we can choose to give the Holy Spirit daily attention. We can just work hard at behaving as if Jesus is always with us. Take Him with you wherever and whenever you go. Put him in the front seat of the car, instead of the back. When you go to the grocery store, when you go for gasoline, when you go on vacation, look over and ask, “How are we doing Jesus?” He will actively ride along. [more]

The Release Factor June 23

When we accept Christ as the center of our lives the release motivation becomes real. Any Christ committed person yields the inner self, allows personal self-will to grow toward God’s kingdom ideas. What happens next since Jesus is no trickster? We enter a journey of finding out who and what we really are and what action to do about it. The friendship release removes the need for sham, pretense or faking as tools for survival. With a sigh of acceptance, the release action can replace lies, false impressions, and wasted false energy that try to impress or build status.

        This time of freedom allows you to walk in a new kind of love and love a new walk. You may become authentic self and like it, instead of always trying to surprise or please someone or reinvent the self, every day.

An amazing result happens that you often become more naturally and supernaturally attractive to others who want reality in life as well. People will be drawn to you like a magnet because they may see this release, this honesty in you. Remember, this was exactly what happened with the disciples of the New Testament. They spent time with Jesus, absorbed his characteristics and became winsome and attractive in a new way. Christ was not only mentor but partner in every situation.

        Of course, the Cross experience of Jesus is never undervalued, but that remains half the story. His resurrection completed the story and created a whole new opportunity for all humanity. The Cross experience was God the Father’s allowing man to break the back of His Son. The resurrection triumph was God saying He would now break our hearts. A new and magnificent process began. We can journey with the Holy Spirit in this earthly dimension, become authentic human beings after the image of Christ and live at peace with ourselves and others.

        None of the personal adventure happens all at once. We stay in this earthly realm however long we are supposed to stay. I think since we are made in God’s image, we have a built-in pattern to keep creative growth alive. I personally do not think we quit learning when we die. A kind of growth and maturity must exist since we will spend a long time in eternity.

        So, Jesus becomes our permanent savior, brother, teacher, friend, and ally. We find the growth quality to be a release to be authentic, a guide for honesty that helps complete the journey. [more]

A Release June 22

You will discover in Christ that we are more than just our self-interests. See 2 Peter1:4 “. . . through these promises, you will share in the divine nature . . .” This privileged encounter and shared friendship/partnership with Jesus will start a release motivation.

        Remember from your early up-bringing, your self-talk often pushed your thoughts by saying you needed to go out into the world and show everyone you were worth something. The inner voice demanded you become successful, achieve things in the world values, become known as a doer of magnificence. The inner conversation kept repeating you would not be loved if not recognized for your good works. Within this pull was the idea that true love can only be earned; it was never free.

        Inch by inch, the misdirected truth-voice tries to chip away at the real voice that affirms I am loved by God, undeniably and free of merit. Even today, if you let the voice, you will hear it coming from friends, family, or church. The thoughts come: Why am I not given any attention? Why am I not as good as so in so? Why would they hurt me? If you are not careful, you will start to daydream riches and fame. All the tempting thoughts remind you of the moments you have allowed your faith only to weaken. Yet, in your better moments, you know God has truly made you one of His heirs.

        You may wonder if you will ever be free of the misconceptions? You may have to battle misdirection all your life, but so far, you can say with Jesus, “man does not live by bread alone.”

You may wonder if you were released when the salvation experience occurred?  Yes, you were given the power to be released from loneliness, from the feeling of belonging nowhere, from sins you could not solve yourself. Salvation remains a wonderful, supernatural experience. But at the time of any lack of clarification and personal church experience, conversion may have seemed too other worldly, like a whole different dimension, unreachable by any physical effort. The spiritual and physical appeared too divided. Perhaps once, you could not harmonize the two or feel good about the separation of physical and spiritual.

        But when you realize Jesus as friend, a release happens that settles the tension between physical and spiritual. A genuine friend doesn’t play “Gotcha”, point out every mistake you make. I true friend helps create new options or directions of travel. Jesus becomes what I call a synergistic bridge, a meshing to understand the spiritual and physical can cooperate and become more than the sum of each individual parts. It happens when we understand the sharing of the divine nature of Jesus. Your spiritual and physical [S & P] does not have to war all the time because Jesus becomes an ally, a genuine reality that is permanent. He is no longer some unreachable idea of goodness. In the form of the Holy Spirit, He walks, talks, guides daily when you take in his words and pay attention. The Matthew 5 guidelines become the correct road to travel in any generation.

        The whole process of release is not some vague, mysterious ritual that only a few can possess. Any Christ committed person can yield by offering the inner self, allowing one’s personal self-will to grow toward God’s kingdom ideas, and truly trust Jesus everyday as a partner, permanent reality, no trickster, and friend. You don’t have to beg, barter, or promise. Trust becomes a two-way street. You are free from game playing. Remember, you can’t out-think the Holy Spirit anyway. [more]

The Real friend June 20

Please stay patient with my personal experiences. They are just examples I know I can trust. This work is still about honesty as I am trying to be just that.

Sometime after the passing of my Dad, my mother passed as well. Mother had been more in touch with me over the years, so we had said most everything to each other. The only drama with her was I had to give the main speech at her funeral and that came out as naturally as speaking for a friend. After their deaths, the Holy Spirit seemed to say,” Trust me. I’m the friend that never goes away or dies no matter what.”

 Well, many times before, you may have heard that Jesus was your friend but you still felt there was a part of Him from God the Father that might be out to get you because of your shortcomings; you are not sure. Of course, you may have believed Jesus was God and he died for you, although you didn’t understand [still don’t] why he would, but the dying sacrifice is much higher in definition than your feeling any earthbound friendship. So now, the Holy Spirit says to make Him friend. The process often starts after you experience any gut-wrenching pain of loss.

The closest earth friend I ever had was killed by a negligent auto driver. I spent days lambasting God, sending him “why” thunder bolts, almost drowning in my misery. Why did He let this happen? Why did He let the one person I let into my very soul, die? Especially why when there were so many others around not worthy to live. For a long time, I got no answer. He seemed to answer with silence. You see, asking God why is asking Him to explain the whole universe system. Our minds are too small. Only the eternity of heaven will allow such explanation.

        Then one day, I quit asking why and started asking, “What am I to do now? Who am I to be?” Suddenly, it was as if God spoke one word: Friend. My initial response was, “Yes, I know I just lost a friend, So?” Several times, He just impressed upon me, “Friend.”

        Slowly some light began to seep through my warped perception. God was not answering me about my next earthly friendship as to what I was going to do. He was trying to get me to see He was my true friend already.

When I realized this, my whole self, made an about face, turned around, as dramatic as when you switch sides in bed. You turn, reposition, usually wake up some and settle into a new place. The truth of His being my friend changed my overall viewpoint. Looking at life experiences through the eyes of knowing you have an eternal friend, no matter what, releases the acceptance quality to full measure. No longer was I cared for because I earned something or with a temporary love you could lose by death, but I knew I had an eternal, live friend and was totally accepted just for being me. You see, a real friend is forever.

        In your present situation, it may not matter as much what you are doing but try to filter it through the idea that Jesus is your best friend and he joins you in any endeavor. Whether working on some project for the house, figuring finances, going to church, writing, doing something for friends or family, ask your friend to hang out with you just because you like him. By doing this, your whole prayer life can change. You can still do traditional kinds of praying, but now you can do a lot more conversational talk with your friend. And believe it or not, He does talk back in many ways. [more]

A Surprise Change June 19

Any change you consider moving closer to what Jesus wants, you will still experience some fear and trembling. You will sense the fact that you have not full arrived in some kind of perfection. But when you finally take seriously other-centered approaches to a Christian journey, the idea of prayer takes on new meaning. No longer do you need feel you have to beg God for anything. You do not have to spend hours and hours pleading your case.  You will find God is already doing things you want. Now, you just need to pay attention and see His work. Your prayers take more the form of “please remember_______.” And it is not that you think God could forget, but the remembrance is for your benefit for growth. While you no longer live in the past, you can still discuss an issue and talk the idea with friend Jesus. A new process and perspective have begun.

        The Holy Spirit will become more of a person and friend by letting you know that Jesus is not just some historical figure of the past but a very present reality. You can place Him in a chair next to you and just talk to a friend. You can also place him in the car with you as you go to a store and get frustrated looking for that difficult parking spot.

        I’m afraid you are like me in that you don’t have more than two to three genuine friends through a lifetime. I tended to go through life picking only one person as a close friend [safer I thought]. Of course, over time, something controversial happens, you may lose that individual and you will have to start all over in forming another friendship which still appears a painful exercise. The whole process is how you may tend to shelter and guard your self-vulnerability.

        But then, a different kind of losing can happen and death becomes a kind of wake-up call. Death comes to many living things of course. But death of close people in your life becomes such a disrupter and makes us stop and think. Both my parents died, not at the same time, thankfully.

        Again, the Holy Spirit showed me something and I feel it was pure grace coming from God. When my father became ill and in hospital, much prayer occurred, but there was an issue of two things I personally wanted to see before he went. Because I never had a close relationship with my Dad, I always wanted to hear him call me “son” and tell me he loved me.

So, while I was the only one in the room one night, he had gotten so nauseated he turned to me and said, “Son. . . would you get another nurse for me.” He didn’t like the nurse he had and wanted another. Still, he called me SON.

 Later, I could see he was losing perception, so I went to his bedside. I clamped both my hands on his face and turned him to look at me. I said, Dad, I love you.” He looked bewildered and I don’t know if it was because what I said or his physical state of the moment. After a pause, he said, “Son, I love you too.” God still does gracious things.  [more]

Self-Interest June 18

An astonishing fact remains to me that Jesus, the very Son of God, never sought praise. Praise never seemed to be His goal for himself. He lived consistently for others. Perhaps the only time a concept of self-centeredness crept into His life was at the Garden of Gethsemane with one of his biggest temptations, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” [Mark 13:36, NKJV]. He kept a low profile every time he could until his death. And that certainly was not any definition of praise except to a mysterious God the Father.

Personally, I believe there is a difference between self-centered action and self-interest action. Self-centered behavior always results in favoring the Self core and receiving something in return. You are motivated to get return for your action.

On the other hand, you CAN perform self-interest for the benefit of others. For instance, sometimes people love to give stuff [self-interest], like tools, money, things they may have made just for the joy of seeing others receive. The receivers may not appreciate or give any credit to those who gave. That’s ok. The givers do not need any bragging rights.

It seems at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus just responded with normal self-interest when he asked for the cup to pass, but He ended with surrendering to the Father’s will, other centered.

Increasingly, as I discovered the plight of self-centered behavior, another shock occurred in my life. [more]

Ambition June 17

Another surprise that shook my foundation of beliefs was the idea of ambition. For years, I carried a boatload of “need to get ahead” because of my personal upbringing. I am sure there are other reasons for other people. But for me, being from a broken home left me with the belief my broken family achieved little. I know I am wrong about that now. However, in my thinking back then, I was the only one from a family of five and an extended family of five that had finished a college degree. I valued education as a way to move out of bad circumstances. Whoopee!

        Well, part of me still believes that some children from broken homes are left with an ambitious energy that says, “I’m going to amount to something, whether anyone else thinks I’m any good or not.” I realize the pull can help you accomplish stuff, but it may not always be honest. Although pulled by an ambition to achieve, I discovered that any reward of “doingness” did not always guarantee a peaceful “beingness.” Building a successful reputation did not always reduce my anxieties and fears. And of course, I’m not implying that all ambition is bad.

The true change came when I admitted that with many issues, I acted cowardly or at least, with hidden truths. Of course, no one dared call me coward. If someone met me head-on with something, I would fight. But I was not choosing the more subtle and better issues of mercy, kindness, gratitude through the right kind of peace. I felt pulled constantly. When you feel pulled, you push back. And I often wondered, because I lacked a positive relationship with an earthly father, did a heavenly father even like me? On the one hand, I wanted to please my heavenly father, but on the other hand I would rebel at His word because I feared Him. It was not the fear, God might send a thunder bolt and zap me. It was more the anxiety He would ask me to give up my true buried self.

        Also, what kept me perplexed was that the very problems of self-centered motives and burying stuff to avoid [which now seems cowardly to me] were the actual success strategies in the world of competition. The world says, “Do anything to maintain a good self-image. Take care of number one. Don’t be too humble; come out strong.”

The world thinking continues with “avoid issues that will corrupt number one. Don’t show too much mercy. You’ll be viewed as weak. Hang on to certain prejudices to keep on top of the ladder of importance. Don’t humble yourself to any because then, you might have to be grateful. Stay focused with your ambition goals so you get what you want and will be thought of as an achiever. Stay aloof so you won’t be too vulnerable.”

Nothing is more seductive than a misdirected ambition, one that strives for praise and power in whatever form it can pursue. Those who waste life in various forms [life or death] are traveling the path of misinterpreted ambition. So many of us Christians get caught up in misunderstanding acceptable ambition [ the need to go beyond ourselves] such that determining who is Christian today and who is not becomes clouded. Christians and non-Christians alike follow too many self-motivated, dishonest goals and those goals tend to achieve the same. [more to follow]