Tell Me More

I couldn’t help but laugh and cry a little bit the other night.  A friend of mine shared the following story with me.  

He was at dinner with his uncle and a few “younger” male friends.  His uncle is in his late sixties.  The conversation turned toward sports and each person's weekly exercise plan.  Talk of going to the gymn and doing weights segued to how far each person runs each week.  A remark about running a few miles was soon bested by someone who does “more miles”.  One guy had done a few 5 K’s.  Another one had done a couple of half marathons.  The uncle of 68 years listened intently.  Someone asked him, “You look physically fit.  What do you do to stay in such good shape?”  He humbly answered, “Oh…I run a little bit, bicycle, do a few weights each week and swim some.”  “Well, good for you,” replied one of the young bucks. “Have you ever competed in a 5 K?  You should try it some time.  I bet you would do well.”  The uncle remarked, “I started out doing those little runs several years ago.  Right now, I’m training for my seventh Iron Man competition (2.4 mile swim, followed by a 112 mile bike ride, and then a 26 mile run!).  The conversation quickly turned to ordering food!

Such is our world, isn’t it?  We live and die by comparisons.  Children learn “too early” how to compare themselves and others to the lauded higher standard whether real or fictionalized.  Reaching for excellence in any noble endeavor is admirable.  Our interest in excellence is often accompanied by a rooster we keep under our arm that crows on a regular basis.  Adults can get lost in “one upmanship”, too!  One story is bested by another story.  Trailing remarks are sometimes laced with enough information to let you know “been there done that….so glad you are finally in the club.”  Too often what someone is sharing or celebrating has a short shelf life; a bigger dog comes along and puts us under the table! 

All of this reveals our need to be perceived as “something special.”  I have a resume, too.  I went there, too.  I accomplished that, too. I built one about that size, too.  We grew about that fast, too.  My kids made high marks, too.  I was….too!  On and on it goes.  And, before we lay this at the feet of the pagan world, it should be stated unequivocally that Christians are just as “gifted” in this area! 

We need Paul’s self-perspective in our lives.  Heard any of these cliché verses?

• By the grace of God I am what I am (1 Corinthians 15:10)
• I am the chief of sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)
• What things were gain to me, those things I have counted loss for Christ.  (Philippians 3:7)
• Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working. (1 Corinthians 3:5-7)
• In no way am I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody. (12:11)
• Most gladly therefore I will boast in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  (2 Corinthians 12:9)

 

Getting up each day in a “servant’s” mentality equips us with the proper mind and heart for every conversation.  We can rejoice with those who rejoice.  We can “out –do” one another in showing honor.  Our eyes and thoughts are clear enough to look out for the needs of others.  Encouragement flows more naturally from our mouths.  And, all of this happens because we are settled in our hearts.  We do our best at whatever we put our hand to, but we live with others in the realization that “by the grace of God” we live and move and breathe in every situation.  

“If you want to claim credit, claim it for God.  What you say about yourself means nothing in God’s work. It’s what God says about you that makes the difference." (2 Corinthians 10:18 The Message)

Father, we are your servants.  May your mercy, grace and purposes in Christ and the joy that you give each day anchor us in a humility that allows us to be the person you need us to be in every situation.  Amen.

Randy Daugherty

Stephenville, Texas

Get in the Word!

Word of God speak
Would you pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your Majesty.

To be still and know
That You’re in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your Holiness.
Word of God speak. 

Mercy Me  “Word of God Speak”

The Bible is the #1 best seller of all time in the world with no other book even close.  In fact it continues to be the #1 best-seller each year of all books.   Estimates are that 2.5 billion to 6 billion copies of the Bible have been sold.   Why is this when it seems so many dismiss it as being irrelevant.   Read these combined passages from John 1 and Hebrews 4. 

In the beginning was the Word.  The Word was with God and the Word was God.   God’s Word is alive and working and is sharper than a double-edged sword.  It cuts all the way into us, where the soul and the spirit are joined, to the center of our joints and bones. And it judges the thoughts and feelings in our hearts. (John 1:1, Hebrews 4: 12).

The Bible is more than a book on the best seller list.  It’s alive, God breathed, knows us and reaches into our innermost being.  It is powerful, it is eternal, and it provides true life.  It is the Word.  No wonder it dwarfs any other book in sales, because we are not dealing with a book but the embodiment of God Himself.

When the Word is understood as being God, being alive, and being something that judges our thoughts and feelings a different view is revealed.  Instead of me examining the Word it is examining me.  How can I stay in tune and discern this awesome, amazing Book?  Instead of just reading the Word, approach it with reverence and see it as holy.  This is a spiritual experience to be taken in with all my senses.  Spiritual listening with the heart attuned to the Spirit’s leading.   Be open and aware expecting something will be revealed, inviting an encounter with the Word God and the Word Jesus Christ.  When I enter in this posture the Word speaks.  More than reading the words it is holding them, touching them with my senses, and feeling them while being led by the Spirit.  Take it as bread and drink hungering and thirsting for its righteousness.  Ingest it tasting its goodness and receiving its nourishment.  It is through this sensory experience of taking in the Word that we experience God.  It is so powerful and so personal that with His Spirit in us we cry out “Father”!  (Romans 8:15)  A deep yearning with deep feelings, a call of affection, of help, of submission, of assurance of the knowledge He is there and He is fully with me.  This is a new way of thinking of and seeing scripture.  It is God Himself.

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (Hebrews 5:13-14)

This approach and understanding of the Word does not come easily and requires effort, attention and practice.   After you have spent time reading scripture try to be quiet.  God Himself said through the Psalmist: “Be quiet and know that I am God.”  Not just being silent but quieting your mind.  Not thinking about yourself, others, work, play, school, kids, parents, nothing.  Your mind is quiet.  Open, listening, meditating on staying quiet yet alert to the revealing of God through His Word.  Being quiet is an acquired skill that requires practice and consistent attention.  Over time the fruit of this exercise is an amazing delicacy of revelation.

Discernment of the Word is like the Emmaus story where the two disciples’ eyes are opened to recognize Jesus and know the “resurrection” was in fact true.  He is in the flesh, and in front of them.   This is the journey to see the Word for what it is: Jesus Christ as God Himself and the realization of the kingdom.  As I read the Bible I want to make it about me, about my comfort, my success, my prayers being answered, and many times my glory.  My awakening and the true revealing of being in tune with Scripture is the realization that it is about God the Father, about His glory, and His promises of true life which is a perfect relationship with Him and His son Jesus Christ.  Until I look to Him, and view all from the perspective of seeking, asking, knocking, looking, listening, and longing so that I can know Him, I will miss the reality of life in Christ.  The disciples, apostles, and those who walked with Jesus spent days, months, and years with Him.  Yet they did not understand who He was or what He offered until after He was killed, raised, and then appeared to them. 

Lord open my servants eyes and let him see.  II Kings 6: 15-17
Teacher I want to see.  Mark 10:51

If His own disciples misunderstood who He was how do I find Him?  I must stop all that I am “doing” and be still, silent, fallen before my Father in heaven, completely submissive and say here I am.  I trust Him and allow Him to transform me and show me what the true life and abundant life is really about.  Communing with God, discerning His Word, following His Spirit’s leading allows me to know Him.  Being present in the Word, listening, seeing, hearing, and knowing His voice when it comes is from my Father.  I bow in worship, I thank Him and He is glorified.

Father, thank you for your Word that is beyond our comprehension.  Give us wisdom, discernment and understanding.

Scotty Elston
Shallowater, Texas

What Do You Smell Like?

An aroma is an odor.  We move in and out of aromas everyday. It’s one of the things we notice when we walk into a store, a home, or enter someone’s presence. It’s quite common to overhear someone say, “My, that’s a nice scent. What is that perfume or cologne called? Certain aromas are “part and parcel” of what goes on in certain businesses. Aromas get into our clothing simply because we lingered long enough in the presence of a strong aroma. Some aromas can be detected only in close proximity while others can be smelled a considerable distance away.

Paul describes his ministry as a fragrance of life and death (2 Corinthians 2:14-15). Strange language to say the least. But, it’s language that presents a picture of the gospel and of us as “carriers” of the gospel.

Teaching the gospel to people is compared to the fragrances that accompanied the triumphal procession when victorious armies returned home. To the victors the fragrances represented peace, joy and relaxation, but to the prisoners they were a prelude to death. Same aroma – different effects. 

Paul says,

“For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.” (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

Ever thought about your life as the “aroma of Christ?"  Most people want to smell…good. No one wants to give off a foul odor. As people who have the scent of the gospel on us, we bring a message – a smell! – of both life and death. I think Paul’s words remind us that we can’t afford to travel “without a scent”. We should bring an aroma into the conversations and encounters we have with other people that is responsible to the gospel. We can listen for opportunities to present the gospel to people – both its opportunity and its ultimatum. And, this is a challenge for us today especially in our politically correct – don’t offend anybody – culture. 

Everything has to smell good. Values are neutral ideas. There is no ultimate storyline to which humanity should pay attention. Just stories. Just perspectives.

Paul’s words serve us well. To live as servants of the gospel means that we carry the aroma of the gospel in its completeness. Our message should present the incredible opportunity that is hope in Jesus while also laying before people the truth about our accountability to God. 

Later in 2 Corinthians Paul says,

”For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men…We urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11; 6:1).

What do you smell like?

Randy Daugherty
Stephenville, Texas