Walking With Jesus

The Pride Factor

“And if, in spite of all this, you still disobey Me, I will punish you seven times over for your sins. I will break your proud spirit by making the skies as unyielding as iron and the earth as hard as bronze. All your work will be for nothing, for your land will yield no crops, and your trees will bear no fruit.” (Leviticus 26:18-20 NLT)

Pride is a very serious issue when it comes to God’s view of things. This isn’t telling your child you’re very proud of the way they handled a difficult situation with grace and kindness. This is shaking your fist in God’s face and telling Him you don’t need Him, that you’ll do life your way. What it boils down to is being so enamored with yourself you can’t give attention to anyone else. David Platt wrote: “My biggest regret is my pride — my seemingly relentless focus on myself.”

Unfortunately, Brother Platt isn’t alone. Solomon, often believed to be the wisest man who ever lived, besides Jesus, said in Proverbs 8:13: “All who fear the Lord will hate evil. Therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption and perverse speech.”

The irony of pride is that it rears it’s ugly head in the most innocent environments – like families, work, and even church. And, honestly, there’s sometimes a thin line. To me, my wife is the most beautiful, most desirable women in the world. I’m very proud of her, not only because of how she looks, but how she orders her life around her love of Jesus. But because of how I feel about my wife, I’m not going to insult someone else’s wife because, in my mind and heart, she’s not nearly as desirable as my wife.

Pride holds others in contempt; it’s defined by the Merrium-Webster dictionary as: “the act of despising; the state of mind of one who despises.” It’s thinking of oneself as better than others; exalting oneself to the point of grandeur. But the demonic aspect of pride is, we have a very difficult time seeing it in ourselves.

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

We can see it in others, which is common. It’s not unusual to see our faults in others much more easily than we can see them in ourselves, but the plot thickens when we begin to put ourselves in a place of honor that only God deserves.

In one of the churches I served as pastor, there was a retired pastor who led worship for us. He and his wife were two of the godliest people I’d ever had the privilege of knowing. In my darkest time, when my teenaged son was battling leukemia, I would often knock on their door. They would invite me in, hug me, love me, pray for me, give me hope.

One Sunday when I was away another pastor in my same church group was asked to step in. But when he arrived and found that our worship leader was retired from another denomination, he refused to be on the platform at the same time as him. That’s spiritual pride at its “finest,” and breaks the heart of God. It was good I wasn’t there that Sunday, or I might have done and/or said some things with which the Lord wouldn’t have been pleased.

It’s an evil that each of us has to continually be guarding against. We love Jesus “our” way because that’s the way we’ve learned to love Him. But we can easily allow spiritual pride in “our” way to rear its ugly head and cause us to do and say unloving things in unloving ways to someone who doesn’t share our view. Which results in God being dishonored and our witness for Him damaged.

As a result, we sometimes conclude that we just need more of Jesus, but I believe Burk Parsons hit the nail on the proverbial head when he wrote: “We don’t need more of Jesus, just less of self. We already have all of Jesus.”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Paths of Righteousness

“And when He comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. (John 16:8 NLT)

Just so we’re all on the same page, at least for purposes of this post, “righteousness” according to Strong’s is: “the doctrine concerning the way in which man may attain a state approved of God; integrity, virtue, purity of life, rightness, correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting” My understanding of all of that is simply: live in a manner that is consistent with Scripture and that honors Jesus.

Psalm 23:3 says: “He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name.” As a believer in Jesus, we are given the Holy Spirit to take up residence in our heart and life. He is the One who will renew our strength on a moment-by-moment basis. He is the One who guides us along right paths, and He is the One who will enable us to bring honor to our Savior’s name.

A Broad Path “Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com”

“But” you may be thinking, “how do I know which ‘path’ is the right one?” Satan is subtle, but predictable. He will always lead you down a path that will be the most alluring to you, in the sense that it will likely be the most appealing and emotionally or physically satisfying. Is that to imply that following Jesus is “a drag, unsatisfying, and unappealing?”

Honestly, when you’re a new believer, it may not be all that appealing. For example. If you’re an alcoholic or drug addict when you come to the Lord, short term it’s going to be a lot more appealing to continue to drink and take drugs than to get sober/clean. If you’re unmarried, it’s likely going to be a lot more appealing to be involved in immoral sexual relations than to pursue purity. There are many others, but hopefully you get the point.

When I was a lot younger my thought life was crude and offensive to God. My heart and mind burned with jealousy, possessiveness, and lust, which resulted in mountains of failure, shame, and guilt. It was hard for me to imagine I could ever be free of those satanic addictions, but, by God’s grace and with the Spirit’s strong presence, over time, as I drew ever closer to the Lord, He delivered me from all of that.

“But how?” Pastor Robert Schuller was fond of saying: “Inch by inch anything’s a cinch!” You can’t follow the right path for a day, a week, a month, or a year, you can only follow it in this moment! Then the next. Then the next. And on and on until one day you wake up and all you want to think about is Jesus. All you want to do is follow Him closely. Your whole life’s ambition is to glorify and honor Him.

You can’t gather all the strength you possess and try to convince yourself “to buckle down and do the right thing.” All you can do is open your heart and mind to the Holy Spirit’s leading in this moment and take the first step in the direction of healing and wholeness. Will you fail? Probably. Will you find forgiveness and grace to get up and take another step? Without a doubt.

F. B. Meyer wrote: “The oriental shepherd always walked ahead of his sheep. He was always out in front. Any attack upon the sheep had to take him into account first. Now God is out in front. He is in our tomorrows, and it is tomorrow that fills people with fear. Yet God is already there. All the tomorrows of our life have to pass through Him before they can get to us.”

The Holy Spirit guides us in the paths of righteousness one step at a time. Follow Him and when you fail, His hand will be there to pick you up.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Show Up! Blow Up! Throw Up! Grow Up!

“Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of His body, the church.” (Ephesians 4:14-15 NLT)

What is your goal as a person of God? Are you delving into the Scriptures daily? Are you bathing your soul and mind in the truths that can only be found in the Bible? Are you spending time with the Lord throughout your day, seeking His wisdom, insight, ideas as to how you should allow Him to live His life in and through you most effectively?

Or do you find yourself more interested in what’s new? What new twist has someone put on a “truth” of Scripture? What new insight is someone promoting that will forward your walk with Jesus? What new idea has your mind wondering WHAT you should believe?

As I age, I’ve discovered there’s rarely anything new under the sun, in terms of theological advancements. Most proponents of “new ideas” are just rehashing old ideas that were heresies then and are heresies now. John Maxwell wrote: “The goal of the pastor is not to get people to show up but to get people to grow up.”

While I believe I understand what Maxwell is saying, and wholeheartedly agree, there’s a part of me that believes 90% of the battle is getting people to show up. As a pastor I could plan all the training and growth opportunities I wanted, with great material and excellent outlines, but they didn’t help a single person who didn’t attend.

That’s why I believe so strongly in personal discipleship. If 2 or even 3+ believers commit to getting together on a regular basis and are willing to make the effort to grow in the Lord, there’s no limit to the good that can come of it.

Here’s the process as I understand it. “Show up!” Commit to a time and place and don’t let anything stop you from meeting, short of an emergency. Then, “Blow up!” What does that mean? Paul, in the verses above, refers to believers who were “blown about by every wind of new teaching.” Get grounded in the truth of the basic tenets of the Christian Faith. Know what you know, so that you’re not confused and misled be some new teaching that comes along. Allow the Holy Spirit to blow up those wrong and unhealthy ideas.

Next, Throw up! One of the most helpful lessons the Lord has taught me over the years is to be willing to regurgitate old ideas that weren’t consistent with what the Bible teaches. There are things I was “taught” in school and in other settings that I’ve come to understand were simply the biases of the persons teaching them. But once, by the leadership of the Holy Spirit, I was able to search the Scriptures on my own, I came to a different conclusion, that presented the need to “Throw up” my old ideas about what a verse or verses was saying.

At least for me, that’s how I’ve been able to “Grow up!” I’ve found that great persons of God are rarely dogmatic, except about the basic tenets of the Faith. No one, in history or today, is 100% knowledgeable about what the Bible teaches except Jesus. We have to do our best to find the truth upon which we can build our lives in Christ, believing there’s always room for error, in us and in others.

That’s why I rarely argue about what someone believes, unless it’s clearly heretical, but even then I remember what someone told me years ago: “No one’s ever argued into the Kingdom.” As for me, I’m still showing up, blowing up, throwing up, and in a desperate pursuit of growing up! How about you?

Food for thought!

Blessings, Ed 😊

A Dryer That Folds Laundry?

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” (James 5:16 NLT)

When you get married, “morning breath” takes on a whole new meaning. All the lovey-dovey slobber-swappin’ that you did the night before pales quickly in light of the new odors that present themselves with the morning light. You’d think by now someone would have invented something you could put under your tongue or hang around your neck that would absorb all the foul odors our mouth and bodies create. Aren’t you grateful for toothpaste, mouthwash, soap, and shampoo?

Then, of course, our bodies love to share their “delightful” smells with whatever clothes we put on them, thus, the heightened value of washers and dryers. But our work doesn’t end with simply washing and drying our dirty laundry, we need to fold them and put them away. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone would invent a dryer that would fold your clothes?

“Okay, Ed, thanks for the “BO” and stinky laundry lesson, but what does any of this have to do with walking with Jesus?” Actually, quite a lot. Have you ever spent an extended period around anyone with a “smelly,” negative attitude? What if it’s a spouse, parent, child, or close friend? Unfortunately, most of us are reluctant to share what’s really bothering us, even with those we love the most.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that there are times when we genuinely don’t know what’s bothering us. My wife is great about sharing her feelings, but me, not so good. By God’s grace I’m getting better, but it’s typically hard for me to pinpoint why I feel the way I do sometimes.

I’ve learned that feelings can be cyclical. What does that mean? It means that I’ll often feel bad emotionally on the anniversaries of certain events. For years around the end of July I would get moody and out of sorts. Then it would dawn on me, it was the anniversary of my divorce. The same kind of thing can happen on the anniversary of the passing of a loved one or close friend. Even the remembrance of our failures and sins can put us in a downward spiral.

It’s in those times the words of James (above) can give us guidance. Do you have someone you can trust enough to tell your darkest secrets? Yeh, I get it – they’re few and far between, but ask the Lord to give you insight into a person like that in your life. Hopefully, if you’re married, your spouse can be that kind of person for you, but if not, look for a believing friend who loves Jesus and loves you with whom you can be totally transparent.

Because “the devil is in the details,” please be careful that, if you’re a man you’re talking with another man and if you’re a woman, choose another woman. Sharing intimate things about ourselves with someone of the opposite sex can be an invitation for intimacy in other ways that would be damaging to your marriage and dishonoring to your Savior.

Ideally, a small group of like-minded men or women, or even couples, can be a blessing from heaven. The point is, we need people in our lives with whom we can air our “dirty laundry.” The longer our sins remain hidden and private, the smellier they become, often leaving us in a state of discontent that results in us repelling the very people whom we need the most.

Yes, of course, it’s vital that we confess our sins to the Lord, but often the break-through we need doesn’t come until we’re honest with someone else about our sin, shame, and guilt. And many times this can happen when we reach out to someone we’ve hurt or who has hurt us.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Spiritual Warfare

“Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil.” (Ephesians 6:13 NLT)

In yesterday’s post we looked at an early chapter in the lives of the children of Israel as they began their conquest of the land the Lord had promised them. Sometimes I’m tempted to believe that we view physical warfare as more hazardous and difficult than spiritual warfare, but we do that to our peril.

Demons are no joke and the evil that is often disguised by expensive clothes and nice cars is setting the stage for a war the likes of which no one currently living has ever experienced. And please understand, I have nothing but respect and appreciation for our military and police who go to literal battle for the freedoms we enjoy and too often take for granted. But the stakes in physical battle are physical deaths.

What’s on the line when dealing with the enemy of our soul is eternal damnation. When we pray for the souls of our loved ones and friends who are lost, if we fail to take that battle seriously, there could be eternal consequences, not for us, but for them. We must not be lax when it comes to the battles we wage in prayer.

The Lord spoke clearly to Joshua and when he shared God’s plan there’s no indication in Scripture that anyone did anything but fully and completely carry out His plan. That’s got to be our response to His directives when we pray. Looking at the “walls” of resistance you’re facing in your life, how should you proceed?

First, listen carefully. But how? The Holy Spirit speaks in many ways, but usually in a way that He knows we will recognize. For me, He speaks through His Word, the Bible; through authors of books that I read; through other believers I trust and know they live closely to the Lord; through my wife; through circumstances of my life; through nature; through meditation and thoughtful consideration of an issue with which I’m dealing; through pain and suffering. I sometimes do my most serious praying when I don’t feel good physically. But one of the ways He speaks to me most powerfully is through the still, quiet voice of my own spirit. The point is – God speaks! So, our first response must be to take the time and make the effort to listen. We can’t hear when we’re not listening.

Second, believe what He tells you. The army of Israel did exactly what the Lord instructed them to do. If you think about it, no reputable military strategist in the world would have come up with a plan like God’s, yet, when carried out it worked like no other plan could have.

Third, take God at His word and obey what He tells you to do. A word of caution. God will NEVER tell you to do anything that contradicts His written words in Scripture. Verify whatever you think you’re hearing with God’s written word.

Fourth, they watched God do what only He could do, then they did what only they could do. Without believing, persistent prayer we’ll not see the victories God has for us. The most critical issues with which I deal in prayer pertain to the souls of my lost loved ones, friends, and neighbors. I can’t save anyone, but I can share words of life that are ignited and empowered by God’s Spirit, and so can you, my beloved friend, so can you!

God will do what only He can do when we commit to seriously doing what only we can do.

Blessings, Ed 😊

What Walls Are You Marching Around?

“It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.” (Hebrews 11:30 NLT)

What is it that you’re desperate for God to do for you? Is it financial? Health related? A relationship? A job or career issue? A lost loved one or friend? Whatever it is, on some levels it’s like the Israelites when they faced their first battle after finally crossing the Jordan river into what they hoped would soon become their promised land.

Sometimes when I read the Bible, I don’t stop to ask questions, but when I do that, I often miss the blessing of seeing something of real value and hearing from the Lord. The Bible isn’t simply comprised of words on a page, it’s an alive and breathing portrayal of life and death, faith and hope, victory and defeat. It’s a chronicle of our lives from which we can gain valuable insight if we’ll take the time and make the effort.

Think of the children of Israel as they stood on the shoreline of what it meant to be free. For the most part this is the 2^nd generation of free Israelites. They are the children of the slaves who had served the Egyptians their whole lives. These men and women had never known slavery, but neither had they ever had an opportunity to live a life that approximated any sense of being normal. They’d been camping in the wilderness trying to eek out an existence their whole lives.

The men had been well trained, but most had never seen battle and were far from being the seasoned warriors with whom they would soon square off. And to compound the problem, the first city they have to conquer has huge walls that surround the whole city. So, what’s their strategy? They do the only reasonable thing they can – they pray!

And what does God tell them to do? Joshua 6:3-5 says: “You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.”

Okay, sounds reasonable. Get a little exercise (the town of Jericho was estimated to be about 1.24 miles around), play a little music, but it doesn’t seem like a very effective military strategy. Yet, when they obeyed God’s directives to the letter, the walls came down and Israel won the victory. Okay, that’s all well and good, but what does it have to do with the “walls” I’m facing? That’s a great question, I’m so glad you asked!

Here’s my takeaway. We must do as the children of Israel: they prayed, they listened, they believed, they exercised their faith by obeying exactly what the Lord told them to do, then they watched God work. Remember, prayer is the work, then God works. What’s my point? For the most part, for us as believers in Jesus, our battles aren’t physical, they’re spiritual.

Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12: “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Then he goes into the necessity of being well equipped by putting on the whole armor only God can provide.

This is too rich to leave it hang, let’s look at this a little more closely in tomorrow’s post.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Are You Clinging to the Cross?

“Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.’” (Mark 10:21 NKJV)

There’s a story that Mark shares in chapter 10 about a man who came running up to Jesus, knelt before Him and asked: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” That’s a question a lot of people are asking today: “What must I do?” The question behind the question is essentially: “How can I earn or deserve my place in heaven?”

Today the question is framed a little differently, but it’s the same message: “How can I live in a way that will reward me with all the riches of this world, all the pleasures, all the advantages, all the excesses, and still give me my rightful place in heaven.” And the premise behind the question is: “Because I’m a good person and I deserve the best of everything!”

Let’s notice some things about the Biblical account (Mark 10:17-21) First, the young man knew who Jesus was. Second, the man who came to Jesus was Biblically literate – he knew the Commandments. Third, he was disciplined – he’d kept the Commandments, at least in his mind. Fourth, he was, from all outward appearances, a genuinely good human being. Fifth, Jesus loved Him. Sixth, he was very wealthy. Seventh, he ultimately decided to love his wealth more than Jesus. What’s my point?

He’s the average church-going American. A lot of folks today want Jesus, they just don’t want to change the way they’re living. In short, they don’t want to pick up their cross and follow Him. What does it mean to “take up the cross?” What did it mean for Jesus?

It meant utter denial of all He wanted in favor of all God, His Heavenly Father, wanted. A few chapters later, in Mark 14:36 Jesus prayed: “’Abba, Father,’ He cried out, ‘everything is possible for You. Please take this cup of suffering away from Me.’” What “cup of suffering?” His betrayal, mocking, beating, torture that would have killed the average man before they ever made it to the Cross. He was human and in the shadow of the Cross even Jesus wanted a way out. But, unlike the rich young man, Jesus didn’t turn and walk away.

John MacArthur wrote: “The cross is proof of both the immense love of God and the profound wickedness of sin.”

Jesus boldly confessed His desire to please His Father above Himself, praying: “Yet I want Your will to be done, not Mine.” Self-denial and sacrifice are the ways of the cross. We may not be commanded to sell all we have, but we, nonetheless, are directed to treat it as if it’s garbage compared with the all-encompassing majesty and glory of our Savior.

The “cross” to us is choosing Jesus – His will, His way, His glory, His honor – above and before – our will, our way, our glory, our honor! In light of the privilege of being called a child of God we reckon all things in comparison worthless.

Paul wrote in Philippians 3:8-9: “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith.”

So, by God’s grace and with His help, I’m clinging to that old rugged Cross. How about you?

Blessings, Ed 😊

Self-Worth and Net-Worth

“Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you. See, I have tattooed your name upon my palm”(Isaiah 49:15-16 TLB)

One of the reasons a lot of people miss Jesus is because they’re too busy trying to make a name for themselves. They’re so consumed with the drive to make more so they can get more so they, at least in their own eyes, can be more, they bypass their need of the only One whose opinion of them matters.

Somewhere along the way we’ve gotten our significance mixed up with our net-worth, believing if we have wealth and prestige we can impress others and feel good about ourselves. Our value becomes tied to our bottom line. How differently the Lord sees us.

One of my favorite Christmas movies is “It’s a Wonderful Life” with James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore. James Stewart plays the part of a young man with big dreams. All he can think about is getting an education so he can shake the dust of Bedford Falls off his shoes and never look back. He wants to travel the world and build sky-scrapers and bridges so he can have a sense of accomplishment so he can feel his life matters.

As it turns out, he marries a local girl and takes over the Building and Loan that his father had started. He stays in Bedford Falls, has children, and builds a good life. At one point, due to no fault of his own, his Building and Loan comes up short a lot of money, so he decides his life is worth more dead than alive, but he’s given a gift from God of the ability to see what life in Bedford Falls would have been like if he’d never been born. His eyes are opened to the reality of how “rich” he really was.

That’s what needs to happen in a lot of our hearts, minds, and eyes today. God doesn’t make mistakes and every person who is born has value and infinite worth in the eyes of God. If we’re alive we have purpose, which gives value, not only to our lives, but the lives of those we love and whose lives ours touches.

In my life, though I’ve never made very much money, by God’s grace I’ve had a very “rich” life. I’ve seen poverty and experienced the joy that comes despite how much money I have or the worldly possessions I’ve accumulated. At the end of life on earth all the money in the world won’t help anyone miss hell, only Jesus can do that.

Rick Warren wrote: “One of the reasons people can’t relax is that they confuse their work and their worth. They confuse their net worth with their self-worth. They think, ‘If I work really hard and succeed at work, then I am valuable. If I’m not productive, then I’m not valuable.’ That’s a lie! But in Western culture, our identity often revolves around our work, so we overwork in an attempt to prove ourselves. We believe that if we achieve a lot, then we must be worth a lot. But your significance has nothing to do with your job, your career, or your achievements.”

In an effort to feel validated we often seek to make ourselves look better than we are, somehow hoping to gain glory and honor for ourselves. We crave the praise of men, ignoring our need to give honor and glory to God. But as Andy Stanley said: “Your glory is too small a thing to live for.”

If you’re seeking to find value and worth in the things of this world, whether material, relational, or otherwise, hoping they will make you feel better about yourself, it’s like becoming an alcoholic hoping to dull the pain of life, it’s only going to lead to self-destruction.

The only way to realize our worth is to contemplate the beauty, majesty, and riches of the One who designed and created us. He knows us best and loves us most. His plans are to give us a future and a hope, not to have us work ourselves to death for the trinkets of this world.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Are You Leaving a Hole?

“Owe nothing to anyone – except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law.” (Romans 13:8 NLT)

As followers of the Lord Jesus, when we die it’s expected that we should leave an emptiness in the hearts and lives of those whom we love and who love us. But what about our neighbors and friends? “Love your neighbor as yourself” is a commandment which, according to Jesus, is equally important to loving the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. What’s my point?

Loving God, for all intent and purpose, is valueless unless and until our love for Him translates into love for others. Years ago I heard someone ask a question that haunted me as a pastor, and haunts me today as it relates to those in my spheres of influence. They asked: “If your church was to close it’s doors, would anyone in the neighborhood of your church miss it?”

If the church I attend now would close it would be devastating to not only the surrounding neighborhoods, but to Las Vegas, the West, and on many levels, the world. But I’m not so sure about some of the churches I pastored and which I have attended.

It causes me to think about my life and the people whose lives I am touching. There are at least two aspects of this issue of leaving a “hole.” First, as it relates to your family and loved ones, don’t leave a hole of doubt as to whether you loved them. Say it every day, often. But do more than say it – live it! Be available, not just physically present, but emotionally attentive. As my precious wife will sometimes say: “Listen to me with your whole face!”

Related to that, be fiscally responsible. Don’t leave your family with a mountain of debt, but not the means to pay it. If you can’t afford to buy something and have enough investments and/or life insurance to cover your debt in the event of your death, you probably shouldn’t buy whatever it is.

But secondly, loving your family is a given, but your neighbors and friends are another story. I want my neighbors to miss me when I move away, whether to another location on earth or to heaven. And please hear my heart. I don’t expect to endear myself to every neighbor as I do to my family, but I do want them to miss the fact that I pray for them every day; that they have someone to turn to in a crisis; that I’ve been helpful to them in practical ways; but most importantly, I want my absence to bring to their mind the presence of the One I loved and about whom I talked with them and sought to reflect His image.

A lot of folks are concerned about their legacy, in terms of what they’re going to leave their family and others. But to me, money or material things pale in comparison to the fact that people know you loved and cared for them. You can leave a legacy, but not a “hole,” at least not in the way I’m thinking about it.

You’ve likely heard the expression: “When they left (either by death or separation) it was like my heart was torn out.” That’s the way I felt when my first wife left. There was definitely a “hole” in my heart and life without her. But it was a hole of regret for all I could have done and been but wasn’t.

The “hole” I want to leave is a vacuum only Jesus can fill. On a much smaller scale, it’s similar to when Jesus was preparing to leave and He comforted His disciples with the assurance that His place with them would be filled by His Holy Spirit.

I’m not suggesting that I’m Jesus, but I would love it if when I die, the Holy Spirit would comfort, encourage, empower, and enable my loved ones and friends to recognize that the “hole” that my absence leaves is being filled by God’s Spirit. And as they remember me, His presence with them reminds them of how dependent they need to be on the Holy Spirit. And how full of joy, peace, kindness, and love they are, reflected in their love for others because of the example I lived before them.

I’m not there yet, but I believe that’s what my sister’s homegoing brings to my mind, and, by God’s grace, I’m hopeful I make a lot more headway in that direction before He calls me home.

Blessings, Ed 😊

When Clarity is Called for

“There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me.” (1 Corinthians 14:10-11 NLT)

Having been on 3 mission’s trips to other countries, I know first-hand the frustration caused by not knowing the native language of the person with whom I’m trying to speak. I remember sitting with three little girls trying to communicate. I had my English/Spanish dictionary, but every time I tried to say a word in Spanish all these little girls could do was laugh. Laughter became our “common” language.

But I’ve also been engaged in conversations with people who speak fluent English but have trouble understanding my “Christianeze.” (“refers to the contained terms and jargon used within many of the branches and denominations of Christianity as a functional system of religious terminology.” Wikipedia).

It doesn’t take long to learn the particular lingo of a given group of Jesus followers. We get so accustomed to speaking about “Jesus, the Father, grace, fellowship, salvation, sin, the Word, sanctification, the Holy Spirit, the Trinity” and on and on that we wrongly assume the average unchurched person on the street will know what we’re talking about. But many of those words are lost on them. They don’t have a clue how they apply to their life.

Dr. Eric Mason rightly noted: “Just because you explained something to someone one time, doesn’t mean they got it! Clarity demands patience and relationship!” That’s why the most effective evangelism (yep, there’s one of those words 😊) grows out of relationship. When we take the time to nurture a friendship, people are more likely to let you know what they’re “hearing” and what they understand and what they don’t.

Sometimes in our zeal we can come across as confrontational, almost angry, which can lead to arguments. Someone told me a long time ago that no one is ever argued into heaven. I agree. But the fact remains that when we’re trying to help someone understand that they’re a sinner, separated from God and headed to a Christless eternity, it may not set well with them.

Keith Green, whom I learned to love and appreciate when I was a teenager in the 60’s said: “I’ve never tried to be controversial. The truth is controversial enough.” Keith was a young man on fire for Jesus who died much too soon. But his point is well taken. The Truth (Jesus) can be controversial, thus the reason for time and patience, to give rise to other opportunities to bring clarity.

There’s a young man I met when my wife and I were looking to buy something for our house. He was personable, knowledgeable, and just the kind of person I’d enjoy getting to know. So, I offered him a proposition: “If I buy this item from you, will you go to dinner with me so I can speak with you about Jesus?” He said “yes,” and that has led to multiple lunches and dinners together.

It’s been almost two years since we met and he’s still not a believer, but I continue to pray for him and reach out to him in order to bring more clarity to his understanding of who Jesus is and why it’s so critical that he understand who He is and why He came. Obviously, insight and true understanding of Jesus is a ministry of the Holy Spirit. Our words are simply conduits for the Holy Spirit to speak into a person’s life.

So, clarity, in it’s deepest and best sense, will only come to us and flow through us as we continually seek it in prayer. Prayer is the language of heaven and is the only avenue anyone gains enough clarity to say “yes” to Jesus and open their heart, mind, soul, and strength to Him.

Blessings, Ed 😊