Tag: Walk With God

Gulliver’s Travels

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It has been my observation while reading Ecclesiastics that Solomon struggled to find something new that had not been done. He really struggled with this idea. Permit me to fast forward and talk about things that are new today. Consider the lowly cell phone, our ability to talk to computers, and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Were we not introduced to these things in the mid 60’s by the Star Trek Communicator? Gene Roddenberry created the prototype Star Trek show in 1964, you may recall that most historians believe that Gene was influenced by the thought ‘engine’ in Gulliver’s Travels, a 17th century novel. In the mid 60’s Captain Kirk used a flip-phone and talked to his computer all the time, just like we do now. So, do we really have ‘new stuff’ or just clever remakes and embellishments 60 years later? New Stuff? In 1956 the initial ideas for AI were explored at Dartmouth – I took a few classes on AI software development at the University of Nebraska in 1985. Now, 70 years later, Google uses AI for routine searches. Yep, I think Solomon got it right, nothing much is new under the sun.

We read in Ecclesiastes 2: 12-17 — I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king’s successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. … Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.”  For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten. Like the fool, the wise too must die. So, I hated life, the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, chasing after the wind [NIV].

At the beginning of chapter 2, Solomon builds and creates everything he can imagine, his world is opulent. Yet, when he completes the work, he felt no satisfaction. Just more angst. He learned that ‘doing stuff’ without a goal outside of himself leads to the blahs. When he did things that included God, he felt settled, content. With out God in the formula, any pleasure derived from the action was short lived, the pleasure wore off and he drifted deeper into despair and self-hate.

He wonders if things would have been different without God’s wisdom. Perhaps being a simpleton, oblivious to the endgame, was best. In time, he reasoned that enjoying God’s company was a better plan. God’s wisdom prevailed.

Ecclesiastes 2:22-26 says — What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days the work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness; but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God [NIV].

Solomon was bright enough and wise enough to know the proper response, but he was a bit stubborn and not able to wrap his mind around the solution initially. He gradually learned that we do better when we learn to accept the simple pleasures of work and taking care of our families as an offering to God. “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence” (Psalms 16:11). “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress — I will never be shaken” (Psalms 62:1-2).

When we find contentment in these things, we start losing the angst and moving towards God’s peace. Solomon knows the truth about work is simple – there is no enjoyment without God’s involvement. If we do our tasks and projects with him at the helm, cognizant of his presence, we can find joy and peace in our life. When you walk with God, the angst will ebb away.

 I choose Jesus.

Find your Deliberate Dance

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It has been my observation when searching for how the Holy Spirit empowers us (as defined in scripture) that we owe everything to the superior strategy and planning of God the Father, including the amazing purchase of our soul by the Son (redemption), and the transformative power and implementation of God’s Plan in us by the Holy Spirit (infilling).

We read in Romans 8:9 — Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. All believers have the Holy Spirit. Continuing, we read in Ephesians 5:18 — Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. This suggests we are not continually filled, but we are filled for a purpose, a season, then there is rest. Consider the plight of a Gas engine with a nitro injection system. We do not always use the nitro system, just when power is required. We are told to seek the infilling; seek all the fullness we can garner; and, at the same, we are cautioned to avoid quenching the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19) and to avoid grieving the Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). This is a deliberate dance.

Let us look at four overlapping ideas that lead to the infilling of the Spirit. First, we are told to meditate on Scripture. There is a life-giving connection between the Spirit of God and his Word. Jesus said — It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. (John 6:63). Paul says — Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. (Ephesians 5:18–19). Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16).

Second, we are told to believe what we read in the Word. Paul asked (Galatians 3:5), “Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?” I think it is clear the Holy Spirit is supplied to us and works powerfully in us as we hear the word with faith — as we believe it – as we put it into practice. Stephen and Barnabas were men of faith and full of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5, Acts 11:24). I think we are wise to not trivialize the relationship between faith and the infilling of the Spirit. It is by meditation and faith we experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. This leads to belief in what we read in scripture.

Third, we to be obedient to scripture. One of the disciples asked Jesus — Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world (John 14:22)? Jesus answered — “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). When you keep his word, he draws close – really close.

Fourth is the thirst, the desire to know God. The glue that brings together meditation, belief, and obedience is desire. We are told to thirst for Him. Our dance with God is to be Deliberate. Jesus says — If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink … Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive (John 7:37-39). The Psalms says — Drink from the river of [his] delights” (Psalms 36:8). As a deer pants for flowing streams, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God for the living God. (Psalms 42:1–2). O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalms 63:1).

Embrace meditation on scripture, believe what you read in scripture, become obedient to the guidelines in scripture, and thirst for God. You do this and the Spirit of glory will rest upon you (1 Peter 4:14). Do not hold back. Implement the plan. Seek his presence. Seek the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Find the ‘deliberate dance’ in your life.

I choose Jesus.

A Basket of Fruit

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It was my observation in Galatians 5:22–23, Paul points us to help, he says — But the fruit of the Spirit is…  What follows that initial statement are nine characteristics of the Holy Spirit’s work in the life of a believer. The nine characteristics are part of a unified package. A believer does not have some and not others, though their relative strength may vary based upon our yielding to the Holy Spirit. What is the package of fruit comprised of?

Love is poured into our hearts (Romans 5:5). The Greek word is agape. This is a responsive love that evokes in us a love for God and a desire to please Him, guard our family, help our neighbor – always putting their needs in front of our needs (Galatians 5:13). Worship, serious surrender, and obedience are the core of pleasing Him. I think that the other eight fruits are focused expressions of agape.

Joy emerges from of God’s mercy and kindness to us. It cements an anchor in our life that keeps us from being swayed by the winds of change and trouble. We rise above drama, hard times, and circumstances that stand in front of us beckoning our attention. Unlike happiness, its ‘wanna be’ equivalent from human logic, joy does not depend on favorable circumstances. Joy just is.

Peace is resting on the one true living God’s lap, not just the absence of combat. Tranquility abounds in our heart, even if we are standing in a Hurricane, pushed to our limits to stand tall. The firm grounding, no matter the situation is rooted in God’s power, mercy, and the absolute iron clad awareness he will keep his word. He is the center post of peace. We are blessed to be sheltered by his peace.

Patience comes when we can see life through God’s eye. His eye sees beyond the ‘here and now’, to the cause and effects of actions (or reactions). Patient people are not easily offended or riled by drama or circumstances. They see God in everything, action, reaction. Kindness is our response to everything. We love the unlovable and treat them with kindness no matter what drama they bring to our life. Kindness is persistent, it resists harshness and unpleasant behavior by seeing God in the moment.

Goodness helps form the outcome from cumulated effort of joy, peace, patience, and kindness. Goodness in our actions is an expression of moral excellence. We do things with no expectation of any return. Faithfulness is all about being a person who can be trusted. We stand on the truth, speak the truth, defend the truth. We are dependable, reliable, and live a quiet life. Gentleness is not the absence of strength, it is not arrogance, it is not bullying, it is measured, controlled actions to achieve desired outcomes; it is considerate and measured in when enthralled in drama.

Self-control speaks to both the mind and the body. It centers observing, assessing, and thinking first and then doing second. It applies to all things we think, speak, and do. It represents exercising control over our passions – no matter what they may be.

Oh my. That is a very tall list of behavioral management tools. Who can do this? How? The answer is – more of God less of us. The more we give the Holy Spirit control, the easier it becomes for God to work his gentle control in our life. To be sure, we need to want the Fruit. But we have the helper, the Spirit of God to bring the fruit to the foreground of our daily thoughts, speech, and actions.

The fruit is a spiritual event, it happens over and over, every day of our life; it grows gently in our heart, maturing over time. The fruit has both a personal impact and a community impact. God brings these tools into the community life so we can find ways to get along, no matter what is happening around us.

I choose Jesus.

Water For The Desert

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It was my observation, in the mid 70’s I have a recollection of being taught the downside of meditation. Yoga instructors were barely permitted in church because of the strong eastern influence in their thinking and articulating, the Davidic discussions on meditation was not part of the common teaching and conversations of the mid 70’s Christian scene. For reasons that are unclear to me, none of us noticed the recurring concept of meditation in scripture. Goodness, how things have changed.

Somewhere along the way in the last few years I noted that word ‘meditation’ in the bible and wondered how did that term sneak into God’s vocabulary. Of course, the concept has been there always, just not talked about because of the extreme struggles of the late 60’s when musicians fully abandoned western thought and embraced the eastern thought processes.

To be clear — we all know that scripture provides a formidable discussion of meditation in the Psalms, it explains how we use meditation to embed the teachings of scripture in our heart and influence our actions. We should know that prayer becomes deeper and more personal when we move from prayer to meditation. This is not to say we abandon prayer. Not at all. Each format has its place. Prayer is the tool of choice to bring requests and supplications into his throne room. Prayer is the tool of choice to communicate with God, to learn of his will for our life. But within the context of walking with God, meditation goes much further by transforming our gait into something that brings us closer to him and his plan. We do not do the transforming, HE does, but transformation does gradually occur. Lest we think that meditation is just another trendy notion, please consider the thoughts of Thomas Brooks, a seventeenth-century church leader.

Thomas Brooks said — Remember that it is not hasty reading but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths, that makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul. It is not the mere touching of the flower by the bee that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time on the flower that draws out the sweet. It is not he that reads most but he that meditates most that will prove to be the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian. Selah.

In Psalms, we see David meditated on God’s law, His righteousness, His word, His deeds and works, His precepts, His ways, His testimonies, and God Himself. Review Psalms 19, 39, 48, 77, 104, 119, and 143. Read slowly and breathe in the message. God is speaking. Meditate on his word.

Paul says — Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—MEDITATE on these things (Philippians 4:6-8).

Paul tells Timothy to meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all (paraphrased from I Timothy 4:15) — note again that meditation is expected to produce something in us. Eastern meditation empties us so we can see ourselves as God. This is not what David is doing, Biblical meditation is about infusing our mind with the pure virtuous message of scripture. We become very aware of the one true living ‘God who is there’, Jehovah-Shammah.

I think — meditation is deep focused contemplation by a renewed mind on the amazing wisdom of God. David tells us in Psalms 1 to delight in the Lord’s Law. David “meditates (Hebrew – hâgâh) day and night” (Psalms 1:2). This term means to murmur, ponder, to mull over carefully. The word translated meditate in Psalm 119:15 (Hebrew – śı̂yach) talks of a preoccupied mind, often murmuring audible words. This term can be translated as pray (Psalms 55:17) or talk (Psalms 119:27). Psalms 143:5 includes both words, showing their relationship. David says — I remember the days of old; I meditate (hâgâh) on all Your works; I muse (śı̂yach) on the work of Your hands (Psalms 143:5). You want to know what he is thinking? Meditate on His Word.

Meditation is to our heart as water is to the desert. I live in the desert. Most of the year the desert is a dry and dusty place. Shade from a tall mesquite tree is a gift from God. Then comes the monsoon. Oh my.

The desert leaps to life overnight. The brilliance of the morning sun on the fresh green leaves is glorious to the eyes. The entire land looks different after the rain, it really is different. This is the impact of meditation focused on the Word for our soul. Our soul is refreshed.

Our dry and dusty life is filled with power. God moves in us. God is unleased by his tools and his Word. For meditation to be effective – the wall clock is not our friend. We cannot rush God, he will infuse himself and his word into us as he deems proper, at his pace. We are not in control, He is. But rest assured – he will infuse us with His life. Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord who Is there (see Ezekiel 48:35) will arrive.

Therefore, I focus on the Word, meditate on his precepts and….

I choose Jesus.

Moving Back To The City

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It has been my observation that the Hebrew captives in Babylon had reconciled with God, yet they were still captives, content to wait for God’s timing. Then, they heard the message from Isaiah, and they knew they had not waited in vain. As time for their emancipation drew close, they asked questions concerning the things to come. They wondered how much longer they would wait.

Isaiah 45:11-14 says — Concerning things to come; do you question me … or give me orders about the work of my hands? It is I who made the earth and created mankind on it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts. I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty … The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, and those tall Sabeans— they will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you, coming over to you in chains. They will bow down before you and plead with you, saying, Surely God is with you, and there is no other; there is no other god. (NIV)

Some of the senior Hebrew men who heard messages from Isaiah and Daniel had spent most of their life in captivity, they could remember the promised land, but it was a distant memory. Their children and grandchildren were born and raised in Babylon. For the children and grandchildren, God’s promised land was only an idea, they had no practical experience.

Now the children hear from this God they have learned about in their homes; they are told of his role in creation. God directs them to submit to the message, the will of their creator, not by way of defiance towards Babylon, but by submission. They are encouraged to avoid complaining and center on faithfulness and focused prayer. God implies in Isaiah 45:9-10 they have nothing of substance to offer him, they are not positioned to impart knowledge to God or give the law to him, they have no authority over God to change the emancipation plan. God requests they yield to the emancipation plan – Cyrus.

I would imagine they were truly perplexed. After two generations of captivity, they had made a new life in Babylon. They were slaves, but part of one of the most powerful cities on the face of the earth. They were safe, free from strife and war. They were not able to choose their life, but they did have a sense of security. Now, their God was saying – change is coming. You are going back to the place your forefathers came from. Scarry? I would guess it was. They start whining. God says to them – be still. I am God. You are not! We are leaving Babylon. That is all there is to say. Get prepared now! We are going.

God encourages them to depend upon him, he is in control. Besides, Cyrus is coming, their security blanket is on the job. It is best to stay close to God where they have protection. Even Cyrus had a sense of his role in this story. Some even say that Daniel meets and greets Cyrus (according to Josephus the historian). Isaiah’s message is not living in a vacuum. Cyrus is aware of the message from God.

The deeper truth– our life is in the hands of God, the God of Israel, the God of Creation, our protector. Our help comes from Jehovah-Jira, who moves to protect his people and restores us to the promised land. We are encouraged to yield to his plan. He exudes authority, he displays the wisdom and power sufficient to govern our life, he demonstrates he can do what is required to bring glory to his plan. The Lord remembers us. He blessed his people Israel in spite of their rebellion, he blessed the house of Aaron, he blessed those who fear (respected) the Lord’s plan—small and great alike (implied in Psalm 115:12-13). We only have one path – submission. We are told – you are going home. Get ready.

I choose Jesus.

Communion with God

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It was my observation in the Old Testament, two Hebrew words are translated “meditate.” One of the words hints about a quiet muttering sound; the other suggests an idea to be taken up or absorbed. Taken together, we get the idea of someone pondering a biblical text, quietly vocalizing the meaning.

David writes — I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways (Psalms 119:15)

JI Packer said — Meditation is the activity of calling to mind, and thinking over, and dwelling on, and applying to oneself, the various things that one knows about the works and ways and purposes and promises of God… It is an activity of holy thought, consciously performed in the presence of God, under the eye of God, by the help of God, as a means of communion with God.

If our focus of meditation is on God, his word, his holiness, his ways, his creation, then we are moving in the right direction. We are putting the makers mark on our heart. We are infusing scripture into the very place where it can do the most good to shape our inner life and outer actions…

CS Lewis says — meditation is a devotional practice that we engage in with God’s help to know Him better, love Him more, experience closer communion with Him, and live for His glory.

Read this slowly — But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night (Psalms 1:1-2); I meditate on You in the night watches (Psalms 63:6); My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long (Psalms 71:24); Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight (Psalms 19:14); My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall give understanding (Psalms 49:3); I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways (Psalms 119:15); My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes (Psalms 119:48); Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation (Psalms 119:97, 99). Are you feeling it?? If not read it again.

When God asked Joshua to lead the Hebrew nation into the promised land, He said — This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success (Joshua 1:8). To accomplish this task, the thing that God called him to accomplish, Joshua needed to infuse himself with God’s message, breathe it into the other people around him, and move the nation forward.

When you start to crawl into the life of Paul you get the feeling that he was far beyond just carrying a box of scripture around, with file tabs and handy little bookmarks to make it easy to find stuff. They were so closely tied (meditation) to the message he simply allowed streaming thought to prevail. Paul walked and talked about this stuff all the time.

Yet, Paul was the first to say – I struggle with this thing. I know what is right, but fail, I want to do right and I fail, I could just sit in the road and pout. But thanks be to the Jesus I serve — He knows my weaknesses and lifts me up. Not by me, but by the grace of Jesus I live (paraphrased from Romans 7). This infusion of the Word on his heart was amazing. He moves back and forth between the old covenant and the new, using the old to explain the new — never missing a beat, he hears from God, he understands, and he moves forward. No fear.

This solid grasp of God’s intent, empowered by the Spirit of God infusing us with the Word, is what we need. All of us. How else can we successfully navigate the daily drama of a fallen world? This is how God whoops Lucifer. Jesus scores. Lucifer is down.

I choose Jesus.

Finding Your Voice

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It has been my observation that scripture has more to say about studying and learning than first meets the eye. The classic statement on reading scripture appears in 2 Timothy 2:15; we learn from Paul that we should study scripture and be able to express our thoughts to others who do not understand the truth.

If we invest the time, we will benefit from reading the ancients wisdom.  How does this notion of ‘studying’ emerge in our life? It starts with the occasional emission of pithy observations in our favorite bible study (as we gradually find our voice). We sometimes surprise ourselves with the things that come from our heart. We wonder where they came from. Then God reminds us of the source.

The pithy stuff morphs into decisions about how we are to live our life (scripture gradually seeps into our heart, overrides our earthly thoughts). We could say that acquisition morphs to transformation. Acquiring information leads to a changed (transformed) heart. As a man thinks – a man is. You have heard me say this proverb many times in my essays. Take a minute and review Proverbs 23:7…

All who manage their thoughts and control that noise come out of the mouth will keep his soul from troubles (implied in Psalms 21:23). The righteous man consumes the wisdom of God to satisfy and feed his soul: but the belly of the wicked craves earthly prater (implied in Proverbs 13:25).

Decide to learn. Knowing God’s word helps us to see trouble coming and tiptoe around the landmines of false teachings and philosophies. Knowing God’s word helps us to see goodness when we are staring at it. When a man takes the time to press into the Word, amazing things start to happen. The journey starts when we decide we want to enrich our relationship with God. Success begets success. But, during the growth process it is not uncommon to compare ourselves with others. I suggest you refrain from comparing your learning pace to others.

Learning is an extremely personal process, detailed cookie cutter methods do not usually yield much fruit, we all grow at different paces, with different interests in the variety of topics discussed in scriptures. Proverbs tells us — The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out (Proverbs 18:15). Decide that now is the time to start. Now is the time to grow. Now is the time to crawl into God’s word.

Identify your initial learning targets.I think it is wise to develop a simple list of things in which you are interested. You probably have a vague idea of things you are interested in, but I suggest you make it more specific; with a list you can monitor your progress. A little success, documented, leads to more success.

Daniel tells us — To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds (Daniel 1:17).

In addition to the list, I suggest you declare a clear ‘why’ I want to know the stuff on the list. Having a clear goal defined will help you know when you have achieved the learning objective. Proverbs tell us — Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn from them (Proverbs 4:5).

You might have noted that I did not recommend building a formal, detailed learning plan. While this can be helpful for some efforts, I think in this case the level of effort would not bear much fruit. Planning everything out at the front does not leave much space for spontaneous pursuit of interesting stuff you did not know you wanted to explore. I can say for sure – you are learning goals will shift over time.

I noted in 1 Kings 3:5-10 an interesting exchange between God and Solomon — That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”   Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne. Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who does not know his way around. And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For whom, by himself, is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom (NIV).

I think it might be helpful to approach learning with Solomons willing heart. The first two objectives of learning are (1) Decide to learn and (2) Focus on your learning targets. There is more. In the next essay I will continue this line of reasoning. If you are interested, find the essay titled – Infusing the Mind.

I choose Jesus.