I'm Rubber, You're Glue!

Ever heard this one before: I'm rubber, you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you?" As poetry, maybe it's not the best, but there's an interesting truth to it. Just not the one we usually meant when we said it as children.

But first, let's back up a little. We are sinners. We are guilty of sinning against the God of the Universe, and failing to meet His standard of holiness. This is spoken of in Scripture, and evidenced in our daily lives. Children, for example, aren't taught how to lie, how to fight, how to misbehave. It comes naturally. Instead, they must be taught how to treat one another properly. How to put others before themselves. Welcome to human nature.

Thank God, then, that He sent Christ, His only Son, to lift that burden of our sinful natures, and offer Himself instead, not only as ransom, but as a means of escaping sin itself.

Yet, we still have an Accuser. Accusers, actually. Not only is the devil himself whispering in my ear, reminding me of my past, and present, failures. Not only is he telling me I can never be good enough for God, but the rest of the world, too, stands with fingers pointed in accusation.

Hypocrite! Liar! Bigot! Sinner! The wrath of the world fueled by the lies of Satan, the Accuser. But we have hope. We have confidence. Because we have Christ, who has paved the way. We have Christ who has loved us, even while we were yet sinners, as Romans 5:8 reminds us, and died for us to prove it.

The Devil says you're not good enough, and he's right. You're not. I'm not. Nobody is. But where he's wrong is in accusing you of sin for which you've already been forgiven. He's right that you're not good enough to stand in front of God. But he's wrong, because we have an intercessor to plead our case when we do.

We call this "projection." It is important to Satan that we believe we will never abide eternally with God, because he knows he once did, and never will again. So these arrows of accusation, though meant for you, bounce right off, and stick right back to the one who sent them. Because it is he who can never be made worthy. It is he who once had everything you and I will inherit, and threw it away in his arrogance. He stood face to face with God, and chose to walk away. But in Christ, his fate is not ours.

Happy Forgiveness Day!

Happy Forgiveness Day. No, really. Today is Forgiveness Day. This should be on every single Christian's calendar. A day to celebrate forgiveness! A day to remember that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)!

There we were, enemies of God (Romans 5:10), but reconciled to Him through the willing sacrifice of His son. If it hasn't struck you how amazing this idea is, consider: have you ever had an enemy? Somebody you just can't get along with, no matter how hard you try? You may not even call them an "enemy" (I mean, who even uses that word anymore?)... but they certainly aren't your friends. Sure, if they asked you to, you'd happily forgive them for however they wronged you... but would you go after them? Would you be the one to take that step at restoration? Would you be the first one to reach out and offer forgiveness -- and truly mean it? And, if they failed to see that they did anything wrong, if they persisted in denying you, if they still talked about you behind your back or undermined what you did with your life... would you still be willing to die to save their lives?

Would you do that? Because that's what Jesus did. That's what God still does! And, what's more, He chases after those who still deny Him by using those of us who are already beneficiaries of His grace to do so! And, He expects those who have been forgiven to also forgive. That person I mentioned earlier? That enemy? Forgiveness of that person isn't an option -- whether they ask for it or not.

Consider the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13):

Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. (Emphasis mine)

Did you catch that? Forgive us as we forgive! And lest we think that means something other than what it means, Jesus is sure to clarify: 

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Does that thought scare or comfort you? That when we ask God to forgive us as -- in the same way -- we forgive others, He just might? 

We are forgiven in our imperfection. Let's celebrate that today -- and every day -- by imitating our Savior and doing likewise!

Hey, Guess What?

Hey, guess what? God loves you.

The creator of the Universe, who set the stars and planets in motion; who set nine rocks around one star, chose one the perfect distance from that star so He could put people on it, and then made it habitable; who populated the waters of the planet with creatures we've only begun to discover, and the earth with creatures who move in such a relationship with each other as to keep the whole system moving and vibrant; who created man in His own image and breathed a living Spirit into him -- that God loves you.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
(Psalm 8: 3-5)

What, indeed, is man, that God is mindful of him? And yet, He loves you. He loves you so much, He sent His only Son -- indeed an aspect of Himself -- to become one of us, to be beaten, to be mocked, and to be murdered. He sent Jesus Christ to become a final sacrifice, a door and a bridge back to Himself, even while humanity reveled in its own sin and greed and pride, and walked further away. Even while we were born unable to shake the mire in which humanity is soaked, and so stuck that we couldn't walk to Him, He came to us (Romans 5:8).

Whatever you have going on; whatever other people think about you, or what you think others think; whatever you think about yourself -- God loves you. 

Irrational, Transcendental, Unending

March 14 is Pi Day! It is on 3/14 (or 3.14) that we celebrate the number which makes possible the calculation of a circle's radius based upon the diameter. Mathematically, pi has three characteristics which can help remind us of something even greater: the love of God.

Pi is a transcendental number: in simplest terms, it can't be constructed using a compass or a straightedge, or expressed using any combination of rational numbers or square roots (thanks, Wikipedia for the description). It transcends algebraic expression.

I've always liked the word "transcend." It means to surpass or to exist beyond natural or common experience. Jesus expresses the transcendence of God's love often, comparing it to what we know: the love earthly parents have for their own children.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13)

You know how much you love your child, Jesus tells us. God loves you that much, and more!

Pi is also described as an "irrational" number, meaning we can't write it out as a common fraction. In other words, it is indescribable in the simple arithmetical terms of a ratio of two integers. It is irrational because it defies the definition of a "rational" number.

Scripture tells us God also defies what man considers "rational."

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
    the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:18-21)

Romans 5:8 tells us God demonstrated His love for us in that "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The Message puts it this way: "while we were of no use whatever to him." Objectivist Ayn Rand would suggest this is the very definition of irrational. And yet, so great is God's love for us, it is beyond our understanding, and beyond our earthly wisdom. God's love is beyond our very comprehension. 

Because Pi is irrational -- that is, it can't be expressed as a simple fraction -- it is also unending. To date, mathematicians have calculated Pi to more than 10 trillion decimal places -- and it's still going.

1 John 4:8 tells us God is Love. Scripture also tells us God is eternal, and grants eternal life to those who believe.

Think of it! If God is love, and God is eternal, that means this God, who irrationally sent his son to die while we were still in our sin -- a sacrifice to cover our own mistakes -- whose love transcends even the greatest and most powerful love we can know in this world, loves you eternally!

Taste & See

Today is Holy Experiment Day: we celebrate giving faith a try. Whether it's praying, or studying the word of God, or even joining a group bible study, today is a day where you're encouraged to "try it out."

While days like today are certainly open for both abuse and interpretation, Scripture itself suggests the same thing. "Taste and see that the Lord is good," invites the Psalmist (Psalm 34:8). "Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him."

Of course, this is tricky. It's not as though God is a new car. You don't just hop into faith and take it for a spin to see how she handles. In fact, God has already proven Himself as trustworthy and good. Paul reminds us in Romans 5:8, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." What we need to do, then, is to accept this great gift of Love. To recognize ourselves for who and what we are -- wayward children of God -- and to trust in Him to bring us home.

This trust isn't always easy, but then, nothing worthwhile ever is. If faith was as simple as deciding what we liked or didn't like -- like going to one of those pizza buffets -- it would be worse than useless. It would be about us, instead of about Him. But Scripture says, when we put our Faith -- our true, real faith -- in God, that trust will be rewarded.

So if it's not just a matter of "taking God for a spin," how do we taste and see? Romans 4 tells us we are, like Abraham, justified -- that is, made right by God -- through our faith in Him. Romans 5 reminds us that though we -- man -- brought Sin into the world, Jesus Christ bring Grace and healing.  Recognize the sin in your life. Give it over to Christ, who died for that sin. Willingly submit your life to the One who breathed it into you. And you will see that He is good.