For my Atheist friend

Imagine that you are out for a walk in nature, and happen upon a large warehouse.

The doors are open, and the place is obviously abandoned. You go inside and find a perfectly functioning model of our galaxy. You are able to witness the natural law and systems that govern everything. You are able to get close and study the components. You are able to see that life is unfolding within this microcosm.

One of the first questions that most of us would ask is, “who made this?”

That is, of course, not the same as asking oneself who made our universe.

At no time in history, that I am aware of, has anyone happened upon a perfectly functioning – even life giving – model of our galaxy that just was. Spontaneous creations like this do not just occur, and so the question of “who created this?” is merited.

Our universe, on the other hand, has been governed by natural law far beyond our recorded history. There is little reason to ask who made what has always been.

There is little contention that there was a point where nothing gave birth to everything, or, at the least, that a tiny, condensed ball of potential exploded into the systems, laws and life that we see as mundane.

It is not just the systems and laws that we are surrounded by with little regard. Newborn babies, when in a pinch, can, will and do find their mother’s breast and begin suckling.

A person experiencing the loss of someone close to them can hardly get their mind to accept it, and really can deal with it only by encapsulating that loss in emotional scar tissue and moving on a little different than before.

Love, compassion, sacrifices – even hate – are so common place in our world that we lose sight of how amazing their existence is.

The creation of the universe, or big bang, or whatever you prefer, is not a natural occurrence. It happened once, we assume, and we see nothing like it in our natural world. The beginning is not part of our natural law. It is supernatural.
If one could go back and be an observer, we would see order emerge from chaos. We would see everything come from nothing. We would see light literally come from darkness. We would see systems, law, and life come from a void.

I believe that it takes far more faith to walk into that warehouse look around and believe that everything around me resulted from nothing but chance and matter than to believe absolutely that this was the work of an amazing creator.

Pride, Judgment and Chains

1 Corinthians 10:12 ESV Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

Prior to being saved, I can recall hearing Christians say things like this: “Mmm mmm, so sad; they are living wrong, but I’m not going to judge.”

Having often been on the receiving end of such sentiment, hearing those final five words always made my blood boil, and my natural reaction would be to size said person up; I could typically find some glaring sin, and it made me feel a bit better to point it out — if only to myself.

Having come under the sanctifying power of the Spirit I can become mired by the sin I see in my own heart. I am beginning to find that the subtle offenses of pride and idolatry are, in fact, the parents of these more notorious sins with which we wrestle.

It is my experience, that when we surrender our lives to God through Christ, we begin a transformational process. At some point in that early process our hunger for distraction, need for validation and drive to hide are greatly diminished; our chains, as they say, are broken.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John 3:16-17

We have been purchased and are the apple of His eye; we are Christ’s treasure. And that feels so good — so good until we begin confusing His accomplishment with our abilities or His grace with our adherence to His law. When we begin to believe that our “new self” is the product of our obedience to God, our commitment to living right, our strength, our abstinence from sin or our efforts in general, we can begin seeing our salvation as an accomplishment, and our joy as a reward for a life well-lived.

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18

Pride is subtle and dangerous. It doesn’t necessarily look the way we would expect; pride often walks hand-in-hand with self-loathing and anxiety. If our joy and freedom are based upon our capabilities – especially our own righteousness, holiness or strength, then we are doomed to despair and chains.

Christ’s sacrifice was necessary as we are incapable of being holy. We cannot maintain a pure thought life; I consistently find sin woven into my most selfless endeavors. What can I do apart from God? Nothing with intentionality that is good. Pride is deceptive, and its ability to skew the truth of our salvation leads immediately to confusion, despair and spiritual attack.

This skewed perspective of our salvation which prompts us to diagnose the spiritual needs of someone who is living in the flesh with the practices one born into the spirit leans on God to maintain, is the same perspective that will cause us to turn from the Lord in confusion and look for redemption in our own capabilities — only to find our own physical nature glaring us in the eye with lawful condemnation; the result is shame and separation from God. Having abandoned truth, we can no longer turn to Him in all of our newly discovered shame, so we may begin turning every which way we can for validation … or distraction.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10

I pray to remember that we are broken vessels, lovingly chosen and mended; continually held together by the power, might, love, grace and mercy of God. Our sole responsibility is to surrender to His power and compelling, It is the only thing that we can effectively do for ourselves and others. It is not our job, thankfully, to fix ourselves; it is our responsibility to trust that He is.

Though this lesson was brought to me in the dark and among tears, I woke this morning refreshed with a joyful heart, and a passionate love for my God and His word. I pray to remain this way for eternity.

In Him.

What Joy

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

I have been thinking the last few days about joy.

I notice a tendency – both in myself and in others – to spend our time examining circumstances in our life that are painful.

I think to myself, “Of course I can’t stop turning it over in my mind; this is a matter of basic well-being; this is a vital component of my life and until it is set straight, there is no way I can have peace.”

Then I feed this thing my peace of mind at home, at work and often even my peace of mind in my sleep.

For so many of us, we are investing large amounts of our time into a vain and anxious examination of what is wrong in our lives.

This continues on until something big happens; something so big that in its’ light everything else – even the darkness of terribly painful considerations – are dispelled.

Too often, these “big” things are sources of temporary happiness: a new car, a big check, a new position … some new development that brightens up our entire life.

However, the happiness we feel in response to most things has a shelf life. Before long the newness wears off, and our mind shifts once again to those things that we wish were different.

There are, and always will be, situations in my life — truly painful circumstances — that I have to walk through.

This is true for everyone. There will always be something vitally tied to our sense of self and/or well-being that is demanding our focus in a disturbing way.

To reiterate this point: there will ALWAYS be something trying to steal our joy.

Whether it is a sickness, a broken heart, a debt, a toxic relationship, a loss or any of the other myriad of circumstances and situations that we all encounter daily in this broken world, there will ALWAYS be something incredibly painful in our lives that draws our attention repeatedly to it, and away from those things that bring us peace.

The good news is there will also always be incredible sources of joy.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-10

For myself, the love of my children, the passion I have for writing, the relationship I have with Christ, the peace I feel when I meditate on scripture, the wonder I feel when God resurrects something I thought was hopelessly lost, these joys are very powerful; they are a refuge from the anxieties that will always be seeking my attention.

We have a choice. Every minute of every day we have the choice to abide in our joy, or to meditate on our anxieties.

I realize that this does not mean I can live in a bubble of happiness giving no consideration to those situations that cause me pain.

But I can choose to address them without fear or anxiety, under the guidance of the Spirit, knowing that the outcome cannot disturb the deep and abiding joy within me, and that whatever the fall out may be, it is nothing compared to living one’s entire life with a furrowed brow and sad heart while beauty, love, wisdom and transformation exist all around them.

^“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

In Him.