A Better Life

It seems like we are always looking for something better than what we have.

I got a smart phone a while back... 16 months ago or so.  I loved it and now it is slow and takes forever to do what I "need" it to do. I want something better. 

I had a great vehicle - it was totaled in an accident and so I had to go looking for a different vehicle and knew that I could not do a "new" car so I looked for something comparable.  Instead, I spent more than I had to get something that I convinced myself was better and needed.  It was better than what I had. Truly, I like it and it really is better but I question how necessary it was.

I had a Starbucks gift card that I found out I could register and then track the drinks I bought and eventually get something better with which to purchase my Starbucks - a GOLD CARD.  What is better?  I can get a free drink every 15 drinks I buy. I get all kinds of little perks that make my Starbucks status better than other average non-Gold Card holders.  (problem: I have to keep it loaded with money - it does not load itself!)

We always want something better.  So, I was reading Hebrews yesterday (yes, I read the whole book at one sitting - I like to do that sometimes because it helps me see the broader perspective of the writer) and I began to notice the word "better" time and time again.  (this is in the NIV 1984 version)
The writer is challenging the readers (the Hebrews) to avoid "settling" for what they had, what they used to treasure, what they used to measure themselves by, and how they lived.  He continually compares what was to what will be and notes that what will be is always better!

• Better things - fruit of our salvation (Heb. 6:9)
• Better hope than the hope that was in the works of the law (Heb. 7:19)
• Better covenant - the covenant of grace through Christ's work (Heb. 7:22 )
• Better promises - resulting from the ministry of Jesus (Heb. 8:6)
• Better sacrifices - to accomplish the purification of the heavenly elements of the temple (Heb. 9:23)
• Better possessions  - the treasures in heaven awaiting you compared to what you have lost or have given up on earth (Heb. 10:34)
• Better sacrifice  - Abel's sacrifice was better than Cain's - due to faith and heart condition (Heb. 11:4)
• Better country - the "promised land" of Israel vs. the "promised land" of the presence of God (Heb. 11:16)
• Better resurrection -  result of torture and suffering on behalf of their faith (Heb. 11:35)
• Something better - as a part of the reward which is a part of God's plan for a faithful life (Heb. 11:40)
• Better word -  The truth of the value of Christ's blood over the blood of Abel (Heb. 12:24)

 All of these comparisons to what we value here on earth to what we receive as the hope of heaven really do not compare.  The troubles of this life are all worth it when compared to the glory of heaven and living in the presence of our Savior. It brings home these words of Jesus in the book of Matthew.

Matthew 6:19-21 - Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 13:44  - "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
Matthew 19:21 -  Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 

 Never settle for what is here... the earthly "better" things.  Never let your heart get attached to them.  Guard your heart because it is the spring of life! Only settle for the "better" life of eternity!

Out with the Old

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV) "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 

I was reminded yesterday of how far God has brought me in my transformation from the old me to the new me. It was sobering. 
I received an unsolicited message from someone that I had deeply wounded by my words almost 35 years ago.  
WHAT? 
35 years ago?  "Whose problem is THAT?", you may be asking.
Well, it was not mine until it came to my attention... and then I had a decision.  Do I "own" it or just ignore it and leave it lie?
I read this message several times and even thought back to so many things: 

• who I was then
• where I was in Christ then
• how young and impetuous I was
• all that was going on in my life as a 12 and 13 year old
• what my heart must have been feeling

So many thought rushed through my mind and then I realized - I HAVE to own this.  I have to address THIS injustice from my youth!

For those of you who know me now and maybe did not know me then - I was a self-centered, angry, arrogant and prideful kid who was watching his "family" fall apart for a second time in under five years. 

My responses to all of that were not the right responses but at the time I did not really know how to express what I was feeling so i was mean to those that I decided were "less important" than me.  I was meanly sarcastic, I looked for people to make fun of, I embarrassed people to make myself look better than them. I had said the "prayer of salvation" but as of that point I do not think that the love of God had pierced my heart like it has today. 

In fact, I can point back to several events from that time through the end of my college years where I knew God was drawing me in to His chest and breaking my heart to reshape it in a new way!

However, that certainly does not mean that I am excused from my past behaviors or that there are no consequences from them.  I do know that I am forgiven (both by God and even by many of the individuals whom I have scarred) but forgiveness does not remove consequences.

So when I read and re-read this message, it broke my heart. It reminded me of the journey upon which I find myself and know that as I look toward the goal of the prize for which I have been called, I also look back and see some of the carnage that I have left in my wake.  I am NOT who I was.  I am NOT who I want to be.  But, I am on a journey of living each moment in the presence of the Almighty God and if He chooses to wreck me.. then so be it...it will be for His glory.  If He chooses to bless me... then so be it... but let me be blessed for His glory alone. I am confident of this - He is still at work in me and I can take comfort in knowing that there is NO BETTER PLACE to be than in the HAND of the ONLY FEARSOME and ALL-POWERFUL God of the UNIVERSE!

 So... what did I do?
The only thing that I knew to do - 

(what do I always say? "The right thing to do is often the hardest thing to do, but in the end, God blesses") 

- I apologized for my actions and words that scarred someone deeply almost 35 years ago that I just now discovered I had done. It was the only right thing to do.  

God is not finished with me yet - nor is He finished with YOU 

(you're still breathing right? cuz if you are still breathing than God is not finished with you yet).

Keep the faith, press on, do not let past actions, words, sins and behaviors wrap you up, define you or discourage you!  Face them, welcome them so that you can lay them at the feet of the only One that can make you whole again.  Ask God to give you strength to trust Him each day with all that comes your way.
I am so glad that the New Management in my life is having a "clearance event" to get rid of the old and transform it into something new and beautiful. Be glad, also!

I am Totally Self-Sufficient!

You know the one thing that we want seems to be self-sufficiency.  We do not want to have to depend upon anyone else.  We seem to hate the idea of needing someone or something.  As I watch TV or a movie I so often see people striving for this goal of financial independence because the will make life so much easier.  As I talk to people it seems like that "raise" or "a few more hours" will be all I need to "get ahead".

• No one LIKES the idea of being forced to depend upon another person.  
• No one LIKES the fact that we need something that we cannot provide for ourselves.  
• No one LIKES the truth that even when someone feels like they reach that point -

(you know, the point where I have all the money I need, a large savings account for a buffer, the cars I WANT, the vacation dreams coming true, the house paid off, the investments for the future, the technology I desire, the food on the table and now worries about where anything comes from) - that point...

 NO ONE WANTS TO FACE THE TRUTH THAT IF THEY REACH THAT POINT - THEY ARE STILL NOT SATISFIED!

Why?  Because we are chasing the wrong thing!  No one can ever be self-sufficient.  It is not possible.
Oops... one exception:

Today's Name of God... El Shaddai.

• El - "The one who comes before", "to be strong" (this Hebrew word describes One who is The Strong One)  That is a great start to a name!  
• Shaddai - this comes from the root words "sha" and "dai".   "Sha" meaning "the one who" and "dai" meaning "is sufficient"

Put it together - God is El Shaddai - He is the One who comes before all else and is the Strong One that is sufficient.  

I love that we can just say the phrase and realize that maybe something is missing on the end... sufficient for what.  

Truthfully, it is open-ended.  Sufficient FOR everything! Sufficient IN everything!  

• El Shaddai needs NO ONE!  
• El Shaddai wants for nothing!
• El Shaddai is self-sufficient!
• El Shaddai has no NEED that He cannot meet on His own!

As I read in the book of Job this morning, I was struck by the strength of Job's trust in God and the admission that God is in control.  He is the one who "gives and takes away" but regardless of the condition he was in Job says "Blessed be the name of the Lord."  

Here is a man that saw God in the right way and KNEW that if his trust was in the self-sufficient strong God of the universe then his current condition could be endured since his trust was not in himself, his own sufficiency or his own power and possessions (which were all stripped away).  

Job had every opportunity to say that he was self-sufficient and yet he was considered a righteous man that feared God and avoided evil in every area of his life.  He never placed his trust in what he had or who he was but rather he gave it all to The Strong One Who Is Sufficient!

 I know people at Osceola Grace that know God in this way.  They depend upon Him each minute of every day to make it through.  They do not place their trust in people, family, possession, wealth, position or religion but only in Jesus Christ!

Colossians 1:16-17 (NIV) For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Stop depending upon your own ability to be sufficient and admit that you are not!  Only God.  El Shaddai!