keeping our footing

One of Deb and my favorite pastimes together is to hike on trails in scenic areas. Even simply walking down our sidewalks is something we enjoy.

Scripture likens the Christian life to a walk. There are a numerous settings for this.

We learn early on that we can easily lose our footing, and stumble and fall. And that sometimes it's hard to get up and get going again.

It is interesting that the Christian life is likened to a walk; it's something we do. But it's done with our eyes on God's revelation given to us from Scripture and in Jesus, and with an ongoing, interactive dependence on God: Father, Son and Spirit.

It's also a walk with others in Jesus. We are not meant to do it alone, even though there are those lonely places. We need each other, part of God's design, and will continue to be true though in a different way, someday, when God is "all in all."

A walk.

How do you picture your life as a walk? What would you like to share here?

sin's problem

Isn't sin essentially self-centered, and idolatrous- at its core? Sin is turning all of God's gifts, and life in on one's self. It's all about me and what I want. Sounds idolatrous, doesn't it?

But God is in charge and God is the One to be worshiped and in Whose Love we are to live. And we are poor gods. Besides we can't order the world as God can. So sin ends up being self-destructive, at least God's image in us is further defaced.

If we refuse this Life God offers to us in Christ, a life that begins to turn us right side out, and ends up rescuing the world from its being upside down, beginning now in Jesus- then we simply end up not being a part of God's good kingdom that eventually is to take over the earth, setting all things right, and making all things new- in Jesus.

A helpful book on this is C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce. The divorce is between heaven and hell, but really the book has more to do with this life than the life to come. Another "must read" from him: Mere Christianity.

Any thoughts on this you'd like to share?

Jesus the way, the truth and the life

I'm rereading the new, excellent book, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. I will review it in the near future.

This book reminds me that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. Our salvation is found in a person: Jesus. Because of his unique person, the God-Human, and because of his unique work in his life, death and resurrection.

This book reminds us well that it's not just truth about Jesus, but that Jesus himself is the truth. We are mistaken if we think that knowing certain true things about Jesus is enough. We need to come to know Jesus himself. And we need to see him as our Rabbi, which means Master and Teacher. So that the truth in Jesus is becoming a part of who we are, not only something we "know" or believe.

Jesus is also the way. Yes, he provided the way in his death for us. A way not just to get to heaven someday, although our resurrection hope is not only beyond the grave, but actually beyond heaven, to the new heaven and earth in the new creation. But Jesus is himself the way for us, the way to live here and now. Given to us by the Spirit and in community with his people in God's mission of love to the world.

And in all of this Jesus is our life. Both in giving us new life, so as to partake in his very life. And in helping us live out that new life day by day by the Spirit in the world. Something we do dependent on Christ and interdependent on each other in Christ, as we live it out in our daily existence.

I love the emphasis in this book- it certainly lives up to its title- on the Jewishness of Jesus and why that's important for us. It has well been said that truth is more caught than taught. We tend to see learning as gathering information from a lecturing teacher. But the kind of learning that God has for us in Jesus is more like an apprentice living with the one who is teaching them a trade. Like the disciples did with Jesus as their Rabbi. In our case we're living with Jesus by the Spirit, day after day. A life lived in community with other Jesus followers, and before the world in all our God-given unique expressions of it.

This is challenging yet uplifting to me. To think that I'm not on my own. It's a God-thing, a Jesus-thing, and not just he and I, but he- I and- others in him. The way he lived, but this way given to us to live out in him in a fresh dynamic way, by the Spirit.

Great teaching and stories in the book. And suggestions in helping us begin to see our faith transformed in Jesus. More to come on it. And an encouragement to me that I face life, the problems and challenges, not by myself, but as one among others learning life from the greatest Rabbi of all- Jesus.

What thoughts would you like to add here?

repentance

Repentance is another subject not popular in our culture. It is important, actually vital to our lives in God now. Without repentance there is no salvation. Of course one might push back at me with the truth that we are saved by grace through faith. And I agree. Only, this faith is a submissive faith, one that is obedient in receiving the message and then continuing on in a new life of obedience to God through faith.

Essentially I see repentance as a change of life. The word from the Greek in the New Testament means a change of mind, and that's important for starters. But unless that becomes a change of life, it really doesn't matter, because true repentance is about the whole person, and it involves a 180 degree change. And a change that is ongoing. 

This has come alive in my life. In regard to a troubling relationship in which I harbored attitudes which I felt were justified, yet were not right. I struggled. But finally I acknowledged my sin to God and to the brother, and then I kept my mouth shut, seeking God's help in a number of ways. It's amazing, the new relationship I have now with this brother. And this entire scenario has impacted my life, I hope for good. So that I'll never be the same again. While realizing that God's work in me is ongoing, and a long way to go toward the goal of becoming more and more conformed to the image of Jesus.

Am I talking about sinless perfection here? Of course not! What I am getting at is that while being sorry for the right reason is good, it's not enough. While believing I'm wrong, that's not enough. What is needed is no less than a change of life. I must be quiet, pray, wait on God, and seek by the Spirit, to live in the new way in Jesus. I may have to get other Christians to pray for me, the first for me being my loving, faithful wife. And we may need counsel from some brother or sister.

And when we somehow get off track from the way in Jesus, we simply need to repent and ocnfess our sin sometimes to our pastor, or a good brother or sister, who can then tell us that we are forgiven in Jesus ("the power of the keys"- Luther, but more importantly, Jesus, here and here). We go in assurance of those words that our sins are indeed forgiven upon confession through the blood of Christ. And we pray "the Lord's prayer", or the "Our Father" prayer for the forgiveness of all sins we are not aware of.

So repentance is ongoing. And at the heart of it is change. Change for a new life! The life God has for us now, in Jesus. 

What might you like to add to this?

finding one's life

Over and over again Jesus told his disciples and he tells us that those who hold on to their lives, and hoard their lives will lose them. But those who lose their lives for Jesus' sake, who give up their lives to God through Christ, will end up finding them, finding their true life. Something that begins in this life.

True life is in Jesus. This is where we find the (good) kingdom of God. And where we really begin to lose the false selves we hang on to for dear life. Even as we know that deep down inside something is wrong. Are we willing to let God do his death dealing of us so that we can end up living, truly living? Finding the life that God intends for us, the life he made us for, of the new creation in Christ? Or does this just seem like empty fiction to us? So that we hold on to what is real to us, while wondering what we're missing in Jesus?

These are the kind of questions I'm asking myself. And maybe they are more the kind of questions we should be asking (among others). Questions either voiced in Scripture, or which arise from Scripture; questions that indicate God's word at work in our lives to show us our real selves and God's death and life dealing for us in Christ, and by the Spirit.

I have been thinking about this through some of my reading, and of course we know it well through the gospels. And I have found myself rather numb and just sensing that God is at work in me, lately. I don't live on feelings, but I do pay attention to them, especially anything out of the ordinary, to see if I can understand what they might indicate.

How can we who have trusted in Jesus miss out on this kind of life? Why do we? (a multitude of answers to these questions, seems to me) Or anything you'd like to add here.

life in God

Life in God moves on; it's a living, dynamic, transforming reality. Of course this life is meant for all: from the Father, in Jesus, by the Spirit. We must first come to God through Jesus. And then we are swept up into this life, this torrent of love. It's a dynamic that won't let us go, if we will only keep ourselves in its life-giving flow. Maybe that's poetic, especially for me, but it is true in Jesus.

Even in the midst of the daily doldrums of life, in the midst of trial and error, in the midst of even failure, God's love in Jesus is present for us. This love, by grace through faith brings us into a new life, life in God. It's a life to be lived out forever, but it begins in this life, even in this present condition of sin and death. Ultimately to overcome all of that, as death is swallowed up through Jesus' resurrection life.

For me this is so very important. I'm as dependent on God through Jesus, as when I first came to God through Jesus by faith, that October day so long ago in 1973 (the 22nd). By the way, Deb came to Jesus just the day before, of course we would not meet until several years later, or marry until 1985. So 1973 has special meaning for us.

It really doesn't matter if we know the day we crossed from death to life. What does matter is whether we are living by faith in that life in God now. If we are, that can make all the difference in the world. We must continue in this grace, by faith, but as we do, God will see us through, and this life is of such a nature, that it will sweep others up with us, as we live it out, in Jesus.

What would you like to add to this?

joy found in Jesus

It's natural for us to want to find joy in circumstances or in the good things God has created. Indeed, Scripture tells us that God fills people's hearts with joy over the blessings he pours on both the righteous and the unrighteous. And that God's goodness is meant to lead people to repentance.

But real, lasting joy, which is not dependent on circumstances- good in a fallen world- can only be found in God through Jesus Christ. Joy is found in the Lord Jesus.

Of course joy itself is not strictly speaking just being happy over circumstances. Though it includes happiness. But it's a joy that is happy because it participates in something more wonderful than anything this good, old creation has to offer. Not to denigrate or put down this old creation, because it is good, God made it, it is never to be despised, as it points us to God, and God gives us richly all things of his creation to enjoy. But we look forward to something even greater in Christ. We look forward to the redemption of the old creation into the new creation in Jesus.

This begins now, in this life, in this old creation, in Jesus. If anyone is in Christ, there is already a new creation. Here, the old creation has gone, and the new in Jesus has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). A joy which goes on, even when we are not happy and sorrowing, is found in Jesus. We need to approach life in this way, that we will find our deepest and lasting joy in the Lord. This spills over so that we more appreciate the good things of this life God has given. But it is never dependent on them, or even on good circumstances.

Yesterday at work, as I sought to slowly go over Scripture with formation and transformation as my goal, not information gathering, and as I sought by grace to live in accord with the Jesus Creed and the "Our Father" prayer, I experienced a joy which became more evident and I expressed it in song as well as in just being crazy me, while seeking to serve the Lord and others, in Jesus.

In the end in Jesus, we will be living in a glorious outpouring of love and joy, righteousness and peace. But this new life in Jesus begins now, in this old world, in the midst of our old existence with its problems, including our shortcomings and sins. Encouraging, and not dependent on how we feel or our circumstances. Easier for me to say than for many others, and only by God's grace can we experience this, but we must remember that nothing at all in this life can separate us from the love of God we find in Jesus our Lord.

What might you like to add to this?

life in the Son

Life in the Son is an important part of John's first letter. And "in Jesus" is key in understanding our life in God as God's people in this world and beyond. It is "in Christ" that we have this new life, by grace through faith, of course.

Deb and I enjoy walking together, and we've noted lately just what a huge difference it can be when the sun is hidden behind the clouds. It feels much cooler and especially so with a wind or breeze. Then it comes out in the open again, and what a difference!

Life in the Son seems similar. And indeed God is likened to the sun, arising "with healing in its rays." A wonderful picture for us all. And one we need, much.

What a difference it makes for me, when God is either obscured behind the cloud of my sin, as compared to when I confess and receive God's forgiveness in Jesus! Yet there are also times when God is hidden behind a "cloud of unknowing" purposefully, it seems. This was true even in Jesus' life here on earth. He, being called the Pioneer and Perfecter of the faith, whom by his work for us, we're to follow. This means we can expect seasons like that as well, I take it. It seems part of our calling in Christ to drink something of the cup he drank, and that necessarily means we will experience some darkness in this world, even though we are "light in the Lord."

But life is in the Son, in Jesus. The life that goes on and on and is really true life. A life which is in God as opposed to the false life we make for ourselves, like even Solomon did, with all our idols- idols of the heart. That mercifully brings us trouble, as it did for Solomon. So that we might turn away from those things, and back to God in Jesus.

What thoughts would you like to add here? How is life in the Son like our need for the sun on earth? What does that mean for our life and walk now, in a dark world?