Way to Go!

So many people, young people especially, wonder if they are going in the direction that the Lord would want them to walk in. They hope to receive word that the direction they are walking in is the right one and hearing no response from God is exasperating to Christians like this. However, during an evening prayer meeting a few weeks ago, my pastor, Mike Nichols, said “if you are walking in the right direction, you may not hear anything. So… carry on.” He backed up his point by sighting Isaiah 30:21, which says: “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." I have not found any biblical insight about what to do when you hear nothing from God. But in the meantime, I have learned to trust in the words I heard from Him and/or from others and trust that what I have heard is best.

Anxiety – The default emotion

Last week, I moved into a basement suite with a good friend of mine. Last night, I realized that the cheque I had written for the first month’s payment would bounce. Needless to say, last night’s sleep was restless and almost non-existent. Though it seems to be common place for today’s North American to live in debt, this was a new feeling for me and certainly not a good one.

While I tossed and turned, trying to find the proper position for my body and mind to relax again so I could sleep, I realized this was hopeless. I remembered that there was a reason why I had pulled only one all-nighter as a university student. So that Helplessness would not knock on the door of my mind. But this evening, he had found the door and was pounding. I was anxious.

Matthew 18 is the parable of the Unforgiving Debtor. It tells the story of two workers; Fred, who owed $1,000,000 and Bart who owed $10. After Fred realized he would not be able to pay his debt when it was due, he begged for patience from his boss. His boss didn’t just have patience with Fred, but cancelled the debt entirely. Later that day, as he was walking along, whistling to himself, overjoyed at the great news he had just received, Fred bumped into his colleague Bart, who didn’t owe anything to their boss, but owed him $10.

“So when am I going to receive a $10 bill from you?” Fred was cheerful bur direct. “I need it ASAP. In fact, because it was due last week, you now owe me $10.10.”

Bart, surprised at his friend’s jagged comment responded “Come on man, it’s ten bucks, you have hundreds, why are you so concerned about this? I’ll get it to you one way or another, just hold your horses!”

“That’s not an option. My horses are thirsty. You owe me, pay me now! What allowance money do you give your kids?”

“A dollar a week,” Bart replied.

“Not any more. At least not for the next few months. And what about that Big Mac meal back there?”

“Gee Fred, slow down; I’ll have the money by next week! But I need to eat to pay you.”

“That’s Sir Fred to you. I’ll be by your shack tomorrow to collect my first payment.”

While this conversation, which had been rising in volume, continued, the colleagues had stopped walking and a few passers-by were looking on.

One of them commented, “Hey, I know these guys. They work in the cubicles opposite me. They are usually pretty cool people. What’s up with this?” He went immediately to their boss and told the whole story. The boss was none too pleased and had Fred brought in for questioning.

“What’s this I hear about you and Bart? Bart owes you what, pennies, and you owe me what, thousands . . .”

“But I thought it had been forgiven and forgotten!” Fred stammered.

“Not anymore. If what Bart owes you matters to you, than what you owe me matters to me. Your forgiveness has been withdrawn!”

The day before my sleepless night, dad had told me that anxiety was something he experienced regularly, but I rarely had it. Instead of being worried or concerned, he says my character is more like mom’s, who is relaxed almost all the time. But as much as I hope that it would leave for good, anxiety would raise its ugly head periodically because of stupid mistakes like my bounced cheque.

If we want anxiety to flee so it is no longer our default emotion, we must make an active decision to replace it with something else. There are many options; happiness, being encouraging or helpful are just a few. Changing your habits is hard, and changing your emotions is just as difficult.

When does anxiety get the better of you? What would it look like if you practiced another emotion rather than your default emotion? Try it for a few days, and maybe you might want to change your default emotion for good.

"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Matthew 6:34

Luke 7 - Just say the Word

A Roman captain had a servant who was on his deathbed. He prized him highly, so when he heard that Jesus was in the area, he sent Jewish leaders who bragged about their boss and gave many reasons why Jesus should come to his house to heal his servant. Jesus went with him.
When He wasn’t quite there, the captain sent friends to tell Jesus his thoughts, "Master, don’t put yourself through all this trouble. I'm not that good a person, you know. I’m not worthy to welcome you to my house. I’m not even worthy to come to you in person.
But if you choose to give the order, my servant will get well. I'm a man under orders and I do what I’m told; I also give orders to my servants, and they do what they are told. Whatever you say, and whomever you say it to, they will do what they are told.
Amazed, Jesus addressed the crowd: ‘WOW! I've never seen this kind of simple trust in Israel before!’
When the messengers returned home, they found the servant up and well.”
Lord Jesus, we are not worthy to have you come to where we are, we are not even worthy to come to you and be blessed by your presence, but if you want to, just say the word and your will will happen here.

Luke 15 – The story of the Two Lost Sons and my role in it

In Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of the two lost sons. In this first century parable, the younger son asks, or rather demands that his father give him what he would be given when he kicked the bucket. The idea that someone would request this is insane because the inheritance was always given to the older son first, and the rudeness of the younger son is palpable.
I used to see this father as somewhat of a push over because he doesn’t rebuke or question him. He could have asked something like, “What do you mean, you want to leave? That isn’t an option! Where would you go? What would you do?” The father doesn’t ask for his son to exercise patience, or embarrass him by singing a Sunday school song like:

Have patience, Have patience, don’t be in such a hurry.
When you get impatient, you only start to worry.
Remember, remember that God is patient too,
And think of all the times when he has had to wait for you!

Instead, the Father’s patience is his strength. His persistence to look for his wayward son everyday would strengthen his love for him. This action only added to the sense of relief and joy he felt when he finally saw him stumbling over the distant hill.
When he finally does come home, the younger brother has probably had the time of his life, and he’s only there because all good things must come to an end. As the older brother angrily argues with his father, “Why are you welcoming this son of yours home? All he’s done is waist your money on hoers, parties and expensive luxuries. He’s made his bed; he deserves to lie in it.” (Luke 15:30) The younger son knows this, and seems to be willing to do just that. However, he wants to do it at home because even the worst job at home is better than what he is currently doing. (15:17)
I see myself as the older son in part because I am an older son. I am also just as self-righteous as Jesus fictional character and I tend to stay around the house more often then my dad would probably like, I am willing to help and get stuff done, and though they joke about me being a rebel, the family would probably think of me as a pretty ‘good boy,’ not getting into trouble, but doing what he was told.
I wish I had a little bit more of the younger son’s mentality, a little bit more of a rebellious spirit. But it only goes as far as drinking a bear (rather than a Coke) with the guys at the Tuesday pub night. I feel like I am found in every sense of the word, I know that “everything that is His is mine,” (Luke 15:31) and sometimes I feel a little bit too comfortable in that fact. Is it possible to be ‘found’ so much that you feel a little bit ‘lost’?

I Love You Lord

I love you Lord, and I lift my voice,
to worship you, oh my soul rejoice.
Take joy my King in what you hear,
May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.

I love you Lord, and I lift my hands,
to offer you everything I am.
take joy my King in what I do,
May it be a sweet sacrifice unto You.

Love Tap

1 Corinthians 13:7 says that: Love “always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Love is always active and never stops. If it did, God would also stop working. Jesus said that "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." (John 5:17) May you be encouraged that though you don’t work 24/7, as Jesus also didn’t, the love you show your kids, classmates, staff-members and families always will.

High Five

Lectio Divina is a Latin term meaning ‘holy reading.’ This centuries old practice of prayer and meditation involves reading passages of scripture several times. All the time listening to what God might be telling you through what you read or hear. Earlier this year, I was introduced to this spiritual practice and have recently begun practicing it with a close friend.
One of the passages Pete and I read recently was the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). While we read and reread it, we talked about what words or verses had impacted us. Pete wondered allowed why Jesus had asked for God’s “kingdom to come soon” (v10a). As God incarnate, couldn’t He have ordered God’s kingdom to arrive at any time? My query came a few verses later.
In verse twelve, Jesus prays for God to “forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.” As I read and listened to this passage, I realized how soul shaking this idea is. If I ask God to forgive me for my sins in the same way that I forgive those who sin against me, I’d better do a pretty thorough job of forgiving other people.
When he walked around town, Jesus knew how to forgive people thoroughly. Whether it involved someone being healed (Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26), caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), or dying for the people He was forgiving, (Luke 23:34, 23:43) Jesus was in the business of offering absolute forgiveness. Instead of offering absolute forgiveness however, we may offer partial forgiveness to others, but expect absolute forgiveness from God. An example of partial forgiveness versus God’s absolute forgiveness is found in Matthew 18:21-35 where Jesus tells the story of the unmerciful servant.
In the story, Jesus talked about a banker who came to collect his dues, but the debtor was unable to pay him. The debtor begged, “please have patience with me sir, and I will repay you everything.” Instead of charging interest, the banker forgave the man outright of his debt. The forgiven debtor must have been at least a little grateful. But instead of expressing joy at what had just happened, he pounced with rage upon a colleague of his who owed him a tiny percentage of what he had once owed.
The second debtor pleaded, “Please, please have patience with me sir, and I will repay you everything.”
Instead of forgiving the man, or simply adding interest to the man’s debt, he demanded that the man be tortured until he paid the measly amount he owed.
After hearing rumors of this, the banker then called the forgiven debtor into his office to set the record straight. “Didn’t I let you off the hook from paying me that huge debt? What is this I hear about you torturing a man who could not pay you? That’s it, your debt has been reinstated, and you must pay me every cent!”
The morel of Christ’s story is known as the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31) Or, as I heard recently from a colleague of mine: “Forgive me as I forgive.” Mr. Stevens calls this the “High Five” rule as each of the five fingers corresponds to a word in his paraphrase.
We often forgive people in light and flippant ways. And we believe that we must sugar coat our wrongs so that forgivers may consider forgiveness as an easy thing to do. But the forgiveness you offer should be based entirely upon the amount of forgiveness you need. As we live in whatever season we find ourselves in, may we forgive as the banker forgave. May we remember that forgiveness is something that everybody needs, and may we be generous to give it in full.