I Was Thirsty

Have you ever noticed that the vast majority of Christ's miracles involved helping people?

Had Jesus wanted to simply prove His godhood, He could have done any number of neat tricks. Transported somebody from one spot to another. Caused it to rain out of a blue sky. Made the Sun go dark. Instead, He chose simple, humble compassion. He healed the sick and fed the hungry. He cast out demons.

In short, He loved. And then, He told us to love, too.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

He expanded on this point, in Matthew 25, describing those who would sit at His right hand: 

‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (vs34b-40)

Today is World Water Day. Water isn't a political issue, but an issue of compassion. We can help bring water to those who need it. We see Jesus thirsty, and have it in our power to give Him drink. 

Below are two of my favorite charities, both working to bring water to impoverished nations. Hit a link and see how you can help. 

Compassion International's Water of Life

Ryan's Well -- building wells, teaching hygiene and health, and more!

How Do You Smell?

For Fragrance Day, I thought I'd go back to a post from September...

Flowering Cadaver*

Bunga Bangkai. It is an Indonesian name for a particular plant. The first word is translated as "flower," and the second, as "corpse." The plant in question is large -- larger in many cases than a person -- and appears to be a kind of giant flower. In its own way, it is even beautiful, a red interior splashing color against the outer petal.

Unfortunately for anyone near enough to inspect it, however, it also smells a great deal similar to an animal carcass sitting out in the sun.

Similarly, somebody who is religious, but lacks the love of Christ, appears Holy,  but is in reality dead inside -- a truth all too evident for anyone who gets close enough to examine him.

"Woe to you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees," said Jesus. "You Hypocrites!"

You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (Matthew 23:27-28)

How do you smell? Do you appear religious on the outside, but have an inside full of death and uncleanliness? Have you forsaken the Love of Christ and replaced it with rigid religiosity? Or do you have the fragrance of Grace, a Spirit made clean by the blood of Jesus, and made generous by His love?

*The title and inspiration for this post came from the song of the same name, by Tourniquet, off their excellent recent album, "Antiseptic Bloodbath."

Dominion And Stewardship

Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)

When God created the Heavens and the Earth, He spent three of the six days of Creation on our environment.  He crafted carefully the earth and the waters, and the separation between the two. He spent time on the forestation of the land. After the planet, the solar system, and indeed the Universe were right, He spent another day on the creatures who lived in the water. And another on the creatures who would dwell upon the land. On the sixth day, He created Man, and put him in charge of everything else He'd spent so much time building.

In particular, God charged man to subdue -- that is, to cultivate (defined as, among other things, to work to encourage growth) -- and to have dominion, meaning to be in authority over the land and everything in it.

Now imagine building a house for your children. You hand-select the wood and brick, the flooring and fixtures. You preside over the digging of the basement and the laying of the foundation. With your own hands, you raise the walls, lay the floor, install the lighting and the cabinetry. You, yourself, choose the best paint for the interior and highest quality siding for outside. You tell your children, "you and my grandchildren, stay in my house, which I have hand-crafted to best suit your needs. The kitchen appliances are of the highest quality, and I have spared no expense for safety or comfort. I ask only that you use it, love it, and maintain it so generations of my children and grandchildren may also have use of it."

Imagine your despair, your disappointment, in returning a year later to find the high-quality storm windows broken, the floors unswept and the walls full of unpatched holes. The unbroken windows are so filthy, the lights is barely filtered through into the dust-filled living space. The stairs are falling apart from abuse and lack of maintenance. The shingles are, somehow, falling off the building, and there is a scorching in the kitchen from an apparent fire. The drapes are torn, the wood flooring scuffed. The high-efficiency washer and dryer have been sold and replaced with cheap junk. It is, in short, as if your children had no concern for the work of your hands -- let alone for the fact that you did it all for them!

So what's my point?

The fact is, we're living in a planet uniquely -- you might say purposely -- suited for our use and enjoyment. As Christians -- as a people who recognize that we are children of God, and living in a home He created -- we ought to all be concerned about our environment. I'm not suggesting every Christian in the world become a tree-hugging hippie, protesting global warming and chaining ourselves to sequoias. I am saying we ought to be at the forefront of those who care what happens to this planet, and the creatures -- all the creatures -- living on it.

We needn't idolize our environment to be grateful for what we've been given, and to desire to take care of it. We need only understand it is a gift from our Creator, given for our use, and requiring our good stewardship. God worked hard to create this world for His children. His children ought to be, perhaps, a little more grateful than we have been.

The Spirit of God: The Cultivator of Perfection

"Fruit of the Spirit," by Amber Hadden
Available thru Fine Art America.

I talk a lot about the Fruit of the Spirit. Even though Scripture only lists these attributes in this manner once, their importance is undeniable.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
 
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:18-23)

  
Part of the reason these things are, I believe, so important is because they are the attributes of God.  Right before Paul lists the forbidden acts of the flesh, Paul reminds us we are now under Grace, and living in the Spirit of God -- and are therefore not under the law. However, these two ideas are inseparable. You can't live outside the law -- that is you are still subject to punishment under it -- unless the Spirit dwells within you. How do you know the Spirit dwells within you? Because, through Him, you exhibit love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

These things are, if you like, the fruits of the seed the Holy Spirit plants in your life. God is a great farmer: if your soil -- your heart -- is prepared, He will cultivate His attitudes and attributes in your life. We have freedom in Christ -- that is, we are no longer penalized under the Law -- because these fleshly acts are no longer a part of who we are. The soil of our hearts has been stripped and churned and replanted with the Spirit. 

We are called, then, to "Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)." God not only saves us from the penalty of sin, he calls us out of our sinful lives, and gives His spirit to live and work within us to make us more like Him. To love as He loves; to be joyful as He is joyful and peaceful as He is peaceful. We are called to be kind, good, and faithful -- just as the God who holds back nothing good from His children, and who indeed gave even His own son as a sacrifice. To be as gentle as the Shepherd who leads us beside still waters and restores our souls (Psalm 23), and as self-controlled as the God who stays His hand and gives grace instead of wrath. 

I love reading about the fruits of the Spirit, not only because they remind me who I ought to be, but because they are a picture of who our God already is!

Dumbstruck

I confess, one thing I rarely am is speechless. Even from a young age, my inability to simply hold my tongue would often get me in trouble. If it popped into my head, I had to say it. This was especially true when somebody said something. I was often accused of "having an answer for everything." Teachers and parents referred to it as "talking back."

Of course, that's part of the reason I do what I do for a living.

But you know, there is something to be said for silence. Something more to being rendered speechless.

Yesterday's devotion was on the irrational, transcendent, unending love of God. Romans 5:7-8 says,

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Think of it! I don't have an answer to this sort of grace. No smart comeback or witty aside. For my deeds, I deserve Hell. For my rebellion against the laws of God, I should be separated from His presence forever. But, because He loves me, Jesus willingly died as a way to bridge the gap I created between myself and the Father. What can I do, but follow the path of David and tremble before His mercy?

Tremble and do not sin;
    when you are on your beds,
    search your hearts and be silent.
Offer the sacrifices of the righteous
    and trust in the Lord. (Psalm 4:4-5)

In today's culture, where we have an outlet for literally everything that pops in our heads, silence can be hard. We feel this need to fill the quiet moments with speech, no matter how inane. The truth is, there simply aren't any words. God Himself offered the sacrifice. I have nothing left but to search my heart in silent gratitude, realize I can't say or do anything to deserve what He has done, and trust in Him. 

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!

Superstistians

I read an article yesterday about a church that paid an extra dollar for its building permit fees, in order to avoid having to pay $666. The reasons, according to the church, were obvious. Of course, it is easily recognizable as the "number of the beast" in Revelation 13:18. But, does the designation of this number as the mark of the beast, and its association with the Anti-Christ, give it some sort of mystical power? Is the number, itself, to be avoided at all costs?

Or has this number, like much of our theology, and many of our symbols, been turned instead to a form of superstition, a Christianized black cat?

See, Christians have long been guilty of idolizing the trappings of religion, in essence behaving as pagans, with our own rituals and forms of magic (though we never call it that!). We'll kiss a cross necklace for luck, as though this piece of metal -- as significant a symbol as it is -- is also a talisman to ward off evil and misfortune.

I got a letter a few months back, a page colored like a "prayer rug," with the note attached that if I prayed for the names on the list, I could also add my own name and then be a party to the "wonderful things" God evidently has in store for credulous recipients of chain mail. Of course, they also offered to send me (for a fee) my very own prayer rug. "It works!" the letter declared.

Works? Works to do what? Bend the will of the creator of the Universe?

There is an historical explanation for this phenomena, of course. As Christianity spread, it was often co-mingled with the pagan religion of the day, or the superstitions in the region. Voodoo is a great example of what can happen with Christianity is allowed to mix with regional occult practices. But that's an extreme example.

Less extreme examples may include Christians who "pray" to their guardian angels, or who say "knock on wood," or engage in other acts of superstition. Even saying "God bless you" after a friend sneezes has its roots in superstition rather than the reality of faith in Christ.

Let's go back, for a minute, to 666.

The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.
This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666. (Rev. 13:15-18)

The number of man. It's not mystical or magical. It is significant, but it has no power over you. It is the number of man -- of us. It's the mark of the beast, because it's the mark of our own sin natures. We can avoid paying $6.66 all we like, but it's only through Christ that we can escape what the number actually means.  And it is Christ, by the way, who has the power. Not some number, or sign. 

We can walk under ladders all day long, while holding a black cat, and then go inside and open an umbrella. We can spill salt without having to toss a bit over our shoulders. Superstition is just that, and Christians need to understand our power is not in magic or ritual, but in Jesus Christ. 

More importantly, it's time to understand, you and I have no power over the angels. We cannot bend the will of almighty God. Not even if our lucky rabbit's foot happens to be a tiny, metal cross.