REFLECTIONS

Love is a freaky word.  It represents a weird quirk of human language in that it occupies the status of both noun and verb. Love is both a thing, and an action. Consider the two following sentences:

She loved me immensely.

He blessed me immensely with his love.

In the first sentence, love is a verb, but in the second sentence it is a noun. In the first sentence it is an action of blessing, but in the second, it is the blessing. To love someone is to bless them. To be loved by someone is to receive a blessing from them. In either case, love is best measured by behavior and action.

In its noun form, it is a wonderful thing. Paul tells us that it is a kind thing, a patient thing; that it is a thing which doesn’t boast, or envy, or dishonor others. It isn’t marked by pride or selfishness, and it doesn’t become easily angered or keep track of mistakes (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). As a noun, it isn’t something that you can necessarily see with your eyes, or feel with your touch. Instead, you feel it in the bonds of relationships, and the melding of hearts and spirits when someone commits something about themselves to you.

As a verb, it means commitment. She loved me immensely, means that she was committed to my wellbeing in large and great ways. Commitment is always measured by action and steadfastness.  The person who truly loves you, loves you through trials, tribulations and celebrations. And it is this love that Peter tells us is a measure of – or a result of – our obedience to the truth. In fact, he tells us that our lives should be marked by a sincere and deep, earnest, or fervent love for one another (1 Peter 1:22). In other words, our commitment to one another should be intense.  How intense? John says that it should be so intense and sincere that we would be willing to lay down our lives for one another (1 John 3:16-18). In what ways can you daily lay down your life for your spouse, your child, or your Christian brother or sister?

Transformation is an important concept all throughout the bible. Most people think about the word inadequately, which can make for a lesser understanding of the miracles that are worked in their lives. For instance, people might think of someone transforming a hardtop sedan into a convertible.  Or they might think of a person transforming a room by painting it and covering up the flaws. But this is not usually what is meant by transformation in the bible. The nature of the sedan is still the same, and it is still recognizable as its earlier form. The painted room is still the same room with the same capacity and the same flaws. The flaws are just covered up with paint.  When the bible talks about transformation, it is talking about real change.  It means that something will change from one kind of thing into something entirely different. Transformation is all-encompassing and permanent.  Transformation is a caterpillar changing into a butterfly, which does not turn back into a caterpillar. I have a friend who changed his riding lawn mower into a log splitter. He re-worked everything on that mower’s chassis.  And when he was done, he had transformed the machine permanently and unmistakably. The new machine was barely discernible from the old. Just consider the word’s roots: “trans,” meaning across or beyond, and “form,” meaning visible shape or configuration. Transform means to change something across or beyond forms.

And it is transformative change that the bible presents when God touches a person’s life.  There are many examples of people so moved by God’s power that they become completely different.  Peter, Paul, and all of the apostles. But also a demon possessed common man (Mark 5:1-20), and a dying thief who was transformed into a saint (Luke 23:32-43).

This same power that transformed them can also transform you.  Paul instructs us to be transformed by changing the way we think about God (Romans 12:2).  If you do that, then God will make you into something totally different than what you were before, and he won’t stop until you are perfect (Philippians 1:6).

Purpose is important.  It’s the reason for something’s existence. For example, a hammer exists to drive nails. A glass exists to bring a drink to one’s lips. It’s so important that the great Helen Keller once argued that joy is not derived from self-gratification, but from fidelity to a worthy purpose. Think about that quote in light of your own frustrations.  If you’re like most of the world, you’ve probably huffed, “what’s the purpose?” during a moment of annoyance when you didn’t understand what you were doing or why you were doing it. Just imagine trying to bring a drink to one’s lips with a hammer, or trying to drive a nail with a glass. It doesn’t usually work very well when you try to use something outside of its intended purpose.

Many of the woes that we experience in life are precisely because we are trying to live our lives outside of God’s purposes for it. And it’s probably safe to say that at some level we’ve falsely interpreted our purpose through a lens of self-gratification.  When we do that, we’re trying to drive a nail with a glass, or to drink from a hammer. Instead of asking ourselves what did God intend for my gifts and blessings, we often ask, “how can I use this gift or blessing to benefit myself even more?” But the truth is that in most cases, one’s greatest joy will come from living out one’s life in the way that God intended for it to be lived out.

This realization, of course, leads many people to ask, “what is my purpose?” Everyone’s purpose is a bit different, but for the follower of Christ, all of those purposes should fit tidily within a few categories.   A true purpose glorifies God. A true purpose expresses the gospel. A true purpose benefits the body of Christ. Solomon sums it up by arguing that the whole duty of man is to fear God and keep his commandments (Ecclesiastes 12:13). If that is so, then your purpose is to love God with all of your heart, mind, and soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40).  To begin the journey of discovering your purpose, take an inventory of the roles that God has placed you in, then take an inventory of your talents, gifts, and blessings. Ask yourself how those roles, talents, gifts and blessings can be employed to meet the expectations of those scriptures.

When we are trying to determine if something is genuine, real, or true, we look for certain hallmarks that are unique to the thing we are testing. For instance, before I could get a passport, the government required that I prove that I was really me – the genuine, real, and true Mike Hosey.  I had to provide a birth certificate and a number of other identifiers that only I should possess. The birth certificate also had to have certain identifiers. It had to be original, or it had to be a copy with the raised and recognized seal of my birth state issued by an official authority.

Being able to tell when something is real and genuine is very important.  Consider an air travel hack I use. When I’m traveling by airplane, I always mark my bags in conspicuous ways so that when I’m in the baggage claim area, I know which ones are mine — even if they are the same brand, style, type and color as someone else’s.  Mine will have a unique duct taped pattern easily visible on prominent faces of the baggage. It’s unmistakable that they belong to me. In fact, it so unmistakable that I recognize them instantly. And so will just about anyone who knows me. Because we don’t live in some horrific dystopian science fiction world inhabited by both humans and uber-realistic humanoid robots that are indistinguishable from your neighbors, it’s not particularly difficult to determine who is a real person. A real person is any human being with flaws, problems, hurts, hang-ups and issues. Even “fake” people are real people. The only requirement for being a real person is to be a real human.

Identifying a real Christian can be a bit dicier, though. People, afterall, are very good at faking things.  But here are some duct taped traits that should apply to all real Christians so that they are easily identifiable from a variety of angles: If you are a true Christian, you should be working continually on your submission to Jesus as your Lord. This should be evident in how you strive to do those things that please him (Matthew 28:19-20), and avoid those things that sadden him (Matthew 23:23-28, Matthew 23:37-39). You should be committed to fellow Christians (John 13:35). And you should display the Fruits of the Spirit, while starving to death those desires that don’t come from God (Matthew 5:22-24). If you attend to these things genuinely, then others will see the genuine article in you, and you will confirm your growth toward Godliness (2 Peter 1:5-10).

We like for things in our life to be real.  When we buy a couch, we want it to be genuine leather not fake leather.  When we buy a diamond ring, we want the ring to be an actual diamond, and not cubic zirconia.   And when we are looking for friends, we want them to be real, honest, authentic people. Our desire for something to be real is so strong that it even extends to pain.  When we experience pain, we want it to be from a real source, and not an imaginary one. Afterall, it’s hard to treat “imaginary” pain. This is no different when we are looking for God. We want him to be real, genuine, and authentic.  But this is difficult because we usually test real things with multiple senses. If you’re thirsty in the desert, you might see water on the horizon. But that’s only one sense. Your sight may be a mirage. Until you can see it, taste it, feel it and hear it, it could be a simple perception issue.  So how do we know that God is real? We can’t see him, touch him, or feel him. Or can we?

Throughout the years, I’ve been astounded at how intricate the Bible is.  As a source outside of myself, it testified to something bigger and more honest than me. Major concepts in the Old Testament are exquisitely interlinked with truths in the New. The more I read the Bible, the more real I perceived God to be. I kept finding him among its pages over and over again. Then I began to find the God of those pages in the pages of my life.

Real evidence for his realness was in my very being. When I did something wrong, a pang told me so. If I lied, or lusted, or hated, or stole, the pang messed with my gut, and with my mind.  A standard was being applied inside of me that could have only been established from a source outside of me: a real God had written a code of conduct on my heart that applied to me and to everyone else.

As my relationship with him increased, I began to see him in my own history.  Things in life that I thought were bad, he had been using for my good. I understood why he made me live in one place instead of another, and why he directed my steps to one career instead of another. I began to see him in my marriage, and in my relationships, and in my failures, and in my victories. He was a real God who was active in the realities of my life.

The new year is almost here, and it’s that time when people begin to make resolutions. Well here’s a suggestion for 12 resolutions — one for each month. As a means of staying on track, perhaps you can refer back to this list as you move through the year.

JANUARY: Resolve to Celebrate a Real God. Recognize the evidence of him in your life (it’s everywhere) and praise him for it everywhere.

FEBRUARY: Resolve to Love a Real God more. Strengthen your relationship with him by removing sin from your life (we all have it – Romans 3:23, 1 Timothy 1:15). And love God more by loving the people that he loves.

MARCH: Resolve to Do the Will of a Real God. Loving God and celebrating him means that you will want to do those things that are important to him. Make an effort to find out what that is and compare it to your life choices.

APRIL: Resolve to Find Your Real Purpose. God has a purpose and a plan for you while you’re alive. Figure out what that is and make it happen. Hint: It will include making him known to others.

MAY: Resolve to Know Your Real Purpose at Home. Take an inventory of your home life. Is God a part of every aspect of it?

JUNE: Know Your Real Purpose in Community. God has many purposes for you. One of them will include serving his people at church on a regular basis. Make it happen.

JULY: Resolve to Be a Real Person. Embrace that you’re not perfect. Then embrace the fact that God is perfecting you (Romans 8:29).

AUGUST: Resolve to Be a Real Person in Christ. Are you authentic in your following of Christ? If you’re like the rest of us, probably not perfectly so. Are you even trying?

SEPTEMBER: Resolve to Be a Real Person Who Loves. Be genuine and passionate in your love for others. Make it visible in your actions and your words.

OCTOBER: Resolve to Embrace Real Change. God loves you. He doesn’t want you to stay the same, but to always be getting better. It’s going to hurt a bit, but let it happen.

NOVEMBER: Resolve to Affect Real Change in Others. Be a patient, kind, and loving model for others to emulate. Be in their lives — a lot — so that they can see the model.

DECEMBER: Resolve to Celebrate Real Changes. Take a look back at how much God did in your life, and because of you in the past year. Praise him for it, and enjoy the benefits!

Misconceptions about God permeate humanity’s thinking like the holes in swiss cheese. One of those mistaken beliefs is the notion that God is distant, that he does not care about us, and that he is difficult to please. Some of this belief may originate from the Old Testament stories of God where he seems to always speak to his people through prophets who have special access, or through Angels who visit special people, or by directly addressing them in dramatic or mysterious fashion.

This skewed view of God’s character is best balanced by a study of the New Testament’s portrayal of the life of Jesus. Consider how the the Old Testament prophet Isaiah said that he would be named “Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).  And how the Angel reinforces that idea to Mary when he tells her that Jesus will be called Immanuel — which means God with us (Matthew 1:23). When Jesus came to earth as a man, he was God with us — not in a distant, mysterious way, but in a real and close way.  In fact, he he was a real God, living as a real man, forging real relationships, who created the greatest and best real change the world has ever known.

Notice the raw, personal emotion of Jesus in the story of the death of Lazarus (John 11:1-44). In the story, Lazarus, a friend of Jesus, and the brother of Mary and Martha had been dead for some time.  When Jesus approaches Mary and Martha and the people that were part of that social circle, he finds them weeping. Jesus weeps, too. The bible says he was deeply moved, and that his spirit was greatly troubled.  He wasn’t troubled by the death of Lazarus. Jesus knew that he could be raised from the dead, and indeed, brought life back to Lazarus. He was moved and troubled by the pain in his friends.

Jesus is not distant.  He is close to you. He cares for you. And he can empathize with you (Psalm 34:18, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Hebrews 4:15 NIV).

There is something profound about shared experience. This is one reason why successful marriages have so much emotional or spiritual depth. Husband and wife are shaped in the crucible of shared moments – both good and bad.  It’s why soldiers bond. When a band of brothers (or sisters) have experienced together the horrors of war, or the elations of victory, they can’t help but to be welded to one another. When two people who have never met suddenly realize that they share a common history with common elements, they often become fast friends. It is far easier for one person to be counseled by another person if the counseling person shares something in his or her history with the person being counseled.  People respond well to empathy because they believe the person who has it can feel their hurts.

It is partly because of this that the angel told Mary, the mother of Jesus, that her son would be called Immanuel (Matthew 1:23).  The name means “God with us.” When Jesus took on a life of flesh and blood, he took on a life of temptation, and pain, and shared experience. He maintained his Godness, but also took on humanness (Hebrews 4:15 NIV). He can relate to us. But more importantly, we can see him as our living, breathing, and walking example (1 Peter 2:21-25).

But God with us is so much more than us being able to relate to him.  It is also about him fighting our battles. Consider how many times the phrase, “God with us,” or any of its variations occur within the context of God seizing victory or protection for his children (Joshua 1:9, Deuteronomy 31:6, Matthew 28:20, Psalm 23:4, just to name a few).

God is with us so that we can have relationship with him, and he is with us so that we can feel secure that our victory will be won.

Finances may produce more fear and anxiety than any other element of our world. Otherwise strong men and women awaken in the middle of the night drenched in a cold sweat worried about their money problems.  When they don’t awaken in middle of the night, it’s often because they haven’t yet fallen asleep from ruminating about their bank account. Finances will make people do crazy things, like sell their bodies, borrow money they can’t repay from people who will oppress them for their debt, or avoid fixing necessary things that must be fixed  – like their health, their house, or their car. This is really no surprise. Almost everything in human life intersects with money in some way. The truth is that if there’s no dough, there’s no show. Money is a necessity. But you don’t have to fear finances. Here are a number of reasons why you shouldn’t fear finances:

1) It’s a Matter of Discipline: Proverbs 22:7 spells it out nicely.  The borrower is slave to the lender. If you don’t want to be that slave, then avoid borrowing money.  Be disciplined so you know how much money you have, what you need to survive at a reasonable level, and how much work you need to do to acquire that level.  One of the keys to acquiring such discipline is found in Hebrews 13:5 – avoid a love of money (and shiny things) and be content with what you have, knowing that you have Jesus wherever you go. Keep a budget, stick to it, and know where your money goes. Save and invest whatever you can, whenever you can (Proverbs 13:11). Barring some tragedy or catastrophe, if you do all these things, you won’t have money troubles. If you already have money troubles, doing these things will go far to get you out of them.

2) It’s a Matter of Diligence: Proverbs 10:4 tells us that a slack hand causes poverty, and that a diligent one makes a person rich. If you want to see wealth, you’ll have to work for it. One of the ironies of life is that if you want to be comfortable, you’ll have to sweat and forego some comfort.  Proverbs 21:20 teaches us that a wise man’s house is full of nice things, but a foolish man consumes all of those things. The writer is telling us to be diligent in our savings and preparations, and disciplined in our consumption.

3) It’s a Matter of Faith: Faith and fear exist in an inverse relationship. The greater your faith, the less your fear. The greater your fear, the less your faith. Matthew 6:25-34 tells us that God will take care of us, even in regards to finances. Proverbs 3:9-10 and Malachi 3:10 tell us that when we are faithful, God is faithful.