our focus

Years back I did a high ropes course. Some 30 feet high, the first year when I got to the top I was terrified when I looked down. Went across one rope and fell at least once doing so. And got down after that first crossing, as soon as possible!

Next year I determined NOT to look down. I did the whole ropes course without falling (falling would have been a good test, and not sure I would have passed it!) because I refused to look down, but instead concentrated all of my focus on the ropes and their trajectories, etc.

An analogy, and imperfect as all analogies are, but this reminds me of our walk of faith now. In this part of the new covenant, being God's resurrection, new covenant people, in the days of our humiliation (prior to our glorification) in following Jesus, as we see through a glass darkly and know in part, we need to make all the more effort to keep our focus on Christ in this life, just as Hebrews 11 and the first part of 12 points out to us.

There are umpteen things that break my focus on God through Christ. I probably couldn't name them all, or if I did I'd be in danger of losing my focus by being distracted by any one of them! But that's where what we do by faith matters. What do I do when I lose my focus? Hopefully I pray, and get into God's word. And begin to ponder as I slowly work my way through a passage. Then most assuredly in time as I am hearing God's voice in some way to me through Scripture, I will pray. And will be regaining anew the focus I need in this life which is darkness apart from the object of that focus which is God's word to us in Scripture and in Jesus.

What might you like to share from your own life on this which can help us, or any other thoughts on this?

faith and feelings

In the near future (or not too distant) we will be looking at Matthew Elliott's book, Feel: The Power of Listening to Your Heart. I have found it an interesting book and I'm not really sure if it contradicts, or refines what I believe on the subject of feelings, or not.

Feelings certainly are important. We're humans and feelings are a big part of what makes us human. Our emotions are surely a reflection of being made in God's image. God while in essence not human- though having become fully human in the Son, Jesus- still is said to have emotions. Some think that is only an accommodation by God to us. But surely it is more. God's love and anger is more than just decrees that come from a passive, unemotional being. Of course God's emotions are untainted, without sin, and God is unlimited unlike us.

I can't live on emotions and feelings. Often, being a morning person, I'm naturally more into things and "psyched" in the mornings, and especially more so than in the afternoons, during which I'd do well to take a nap. I live by faith, in spite of feelings many times. But feelings do come and we need them. I should feel love toward my wife. I should feel love toward God and toward others.

I see feelings as an important byproduct of faith. Normally they should be present in some measure, but if they're not that doesn't mean our faith is empty and void, or unreal. There is "the dark night of the soul." We need to press on in faith, and press through to the reality of God in Christ by the Spirit, and in community with others in Jesus, for the world. And we need to live this faith life out, with all that accompanies it, through everything.

Much more to explore on this, and if you're interested check out the book I refer to above.

What thought might you have on this?

keep walking

This is a recurrent theme on my blog. It may have to do with finally settling in to a walk in God that is accepting of both where I'm at and however God is working in my life. Of course that all requires God's grace and help, as we most certainly can't do it on our own.

The Christian life is a walk with many turns and pitfalls. Of course it's likened to a race, as well. And a sojourn as strangers in the world, and as citizens of heaven. I like the metaphor of walk when thinking of the Christian life because it speaks so truly to life as it is.

God's word is called a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. And Jesus is the light of the world, in whose light we're to walk so that in Jesus we become, especially together, the light of the world. It is a walk in and through Jesus, following in the way of Jesus. In this world we are like him.

God's hand in Jesus is there to help us onto our feet when we stumble and fall. And then with a renewed dependence on God to keep on walking.

What would you like to add to this? What have you learned about this walk? Or anything you'd like to add.

moving through life

It's good to get a little taste of heaven. I did yesterday in what turned out to be preparation for me in receiving bad news, but news we'll work through. It was one of those unusual (I wish I didn't have to say that) days for me, when God's Presence was persistent and clear.

Now to live in that Presence all the time, and be changed by God more and more into the image of Jesus. That is what I want. And in that changing is a calling that is challenging. It involves faith, hope and love to the end. And it's marked by following the way of Jesus in this life as God's resurrection people, the way of the cross. And really caring about not just our own lives with God, but for our neighbors and beyond.

I'm grateful that confession to God means forgiveness and that we can go on, cleansed with a new start. And that God will be with us in Jesus by the Spirit to the end. That we can bear witness by our lives and words of all God's faithfulness to us through Jesus.

What might you like to add to this?

accepting difficulty

I have found that accepting difficulty is part and parcel of being human in a responsible way, and especially of being a Christian. A big part of walking by faith is to walk through the most difficult places, looking to God prayerfully in the midst of it. There is no doubt that life is full of difficulties and challenges. Obstacles which can make the strongest heart faint, if we let it.

Though we must remember that in our weakness we can find God's strength. And we must also remember that we're not in this life alone. No, we are part of a community of faith, faith growing mutually, by that communion with each other. And we're called to be in mission in this world.

Perhaps the biggest problem with difficulties is not the difficulties themselves, but our attitude toward them. We need to learn to accept them, knowing that in such acceptance we will find the God of peace, as we persevere through these difficulties by faith. We place our faith in God's word, and praying- we await God's good work in everything.

And we do this seeking to keep in mind, Jesus' Creed: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor- including our enemies- as ourselves. Knowing that this is at the heart of what God is seeking to work in and out of us to the world through Christ.

How do you accept difficulty? What might you like to add here?

continuing on by faith

The story of Balaam is one which has to be read in the light of all that is said about him. Including the account in the Old Testament/Jewish Bible, as well as in the New Testament. The story itself (the donkey God makes speak, one children for sure remember, true of myself as a child), including a prophecy we Christians traditionally like to remember, is an interesting one indeed. Though his story has a tragic ending.

Our walk in Jesus is to be a walk of faith and obedience. The importance of obedience to his commands has stood out to me, in my recent reading of 1 John. And we need to proceed as those who are walking with God, in a relationship with him. As Jesus teaches us, this involves both loving God and loving our neighbor.

On the one hand we must avoid being on a reckless path, true in the case of Balaam. Can we Christians be on a reckless path in our lives? I don't think I have to answer that.

We must continue on by faith. And this requires an ongoing walk, and ongoing movement in the will of God as we understand it, by the Spirit and the word. This walk will be both in general terms: God's prescribed moral will found in Scripture, and in specific direction as to what we should or should not do in relation to our daily lives and circumstances. The two though separate are interwoven.

For me this is important. Sometimes because I don't have all the answers, or I have conflicting thoughts, I'm afraid to proceed in a certain way when all in all, having weighed everything, such a move seems good. In all of this we have to recognize our fallibility always, the need for us to be open to correction (we may be deceived!) and better understanding, and how in everything we need to become more and more like Jesus.

What have you found about this in your own life? Or what thought would you like to add here?

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?

when lost

When unsettled for any reason at all, what do we do? What we do is important, because becoming unsettled in some way can result in a downward spiral which can have some undesirable or even disastrous results.

Yes, what we do I say, not what we believe, though it is true that what we really have faith in should determine what we do.

Why do I say that? Because often we can't see our way out of the fog and darkness we're in. Yes, sometimes believers do get lost (as a recent Michael Card song tells us), and we can find ourselves groping with the sense that what we've relied on before seems to be gone. Maybe akin to Jesus on the cross crying out, "My God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?"

For me it means I need to pray to God, beginning with the prayer Jesus taught us to pray. And then I get into God's word. Maybe a passage will come to mind, or a book to work through. And I always ask my wife, Deb to pray for me during such times.

Usually in time, and in time is important by the way, that takes care of it. But if not, I may want to get together with my pastor or a good friend to share my struggle. Usually for me in recent years that has involved Deb, and sometimes friends by email.

Again it's important that when unsettled for any reason we both act, and that what we do is turned toward God in faith. Through prayer, the word, the fellowship of believers- all through Jesus by the Spirit. God will help us through, as we endeavor to walk through those dark times with him.

What would you like to share on this?

time

An important and necessary element to consider in the walk of faith is simply time. Time is essential for many reasons, but that doesn't go together well with our push button, instant everything society and culture in which we live. We want what we want now, and we can get it. But the walk of faith is different.

It is a walk no less, and requires an ongoing faith which in itself requires patience. It's an ongoing faith in God and in the promises of God given to us in Jesus. It's a faith in which the process might be more important than the answers that faith await. A mature faith will keep looking to God no matter what else is going on around us.

I'm glad faith is what is needed and not perfection. I must keep trusting God and looking to God both in my heart, and by what I keep doing, even when I know I don't have it together inside. Faith is not about moving on because of circumstances, but is more about moving on in spite of them in this life.

So time can bring about the answers we look for. Or move us toward them. The answers we're looking for being the ones God has made plain are his will for his people from Scripture in and through Jesus.

So for me this means in a true sense, slow down. Though I can't slow down in some of my work, slow down in my attitudes toward God and others, and even toward myself. God in time will make all things beautiful in the end in Christ. And that's a process in the new creation in Jesus, which begins now.

What thoughts would you like to share on this?

faith trusts

An important part of faith is to be willing to move into a situation when we know in ourselves that we aren't ready. There are times when I have a sense of readiness from God, or assurance that this next step we're taking is going to meet with God's blessing. But often the walk of faith involves doing what we believe we're called to do, even when we know that in ourselves we are not up to that calling and duty, or doing.

Yesterday was a busy day for us. Doing a number of things that needed to be done, and then in the afternoon, heading out to the nursing home to sing some songs together, and give a message from God's word. Deb and I prayed, and she had prayed before we left the house, as well. When the time came we got out of the car, and at that moment I did so as a, "Here I go, to do what is before me here," with the sense that so doing was a step of faith apart from any sense of me being ready for it.

Oddly enough I have found that God's blessing has more often come when I have stepped out in that way. Not to minimize preparation beforehand, at all; that has its place. But if I think I'm completely prepared- having everything down pat, chances are there may be some trusting in myself which is not true faith in God, of course.

I think an important part of becoming more established or steady in our walk in God is the realization that it is a walk that is ever dependent on God for all that we need from him. It's a walk that presses us into a posture toward God, relational as God wants it to be with him. And also dependent on him to do the works in Jesus by the Spirit God has for us to do.

We did have an uplifting time in the word- one that spoke to me, as well as in song.

What would you like to share from your own life, or thoughts on this?

managing life

How easy it is to want to be in control of our lives, at least to some extent. If we wrote the story of our own lives, we might put in a few twist and turns for effect, but we'd want it to be out of harm's way. It would be different than the way life often works out. Of course it would be vanilla and quite predictable, maybe with plenty of charm, if we could write it out while we are living (gas prices might go down instead of up, right now). We could then solve all the world's problems, or at least our own!

But we have little control over the outcome of our lives, or what happens around us. Though through the Spirit's work in us, self-control in love can make a big difference. But a part of that self-control will put us at odds with the world, as we endeavor to take up our cross and follow Christ, being a witness of Jesus as we seek to live out this new life out of death, in him.

Having the sense that little is in our control, and that the best we can do is to do our part by the Spirit as part of Christ's Body, we can then focus on God anew, placing our lives again and again in his hands. In that we will find a moving in us to move us out of our own safe places and into the adventure and challenge of the unfolding will of God.

I'm groping my way in this, but I want to learn to walk in it.

Any insights or thoughts on this?

walking by faith

Walking by faith and not by sight in the context of that Scripture passage, means that we anticipate the promise of being present with the Lord in our present condition apart from him, and the new home we will have. Perhaps the passage speaks of the intermediate state between death and final resurrection, but it certainly speaks of an existence after death. And as N.T. Wright expresses it, we as Christians are destined for a new "life after life after death." Meaning resurrection of our bodies.

Too often I live as though I want to hold on with all my might to this present life, almost as if that is all there is. Of course it is faith to say it is not, because one can go only on promises allegedly received from God through Christ. Though there are evidences both external and internal for believers of the validity of faith in Jesus.

It's not as though we shouldn't see death as an enemy. It is not God's intention for humanity, and indeed Jesus by his death destroyed death. While we don't want to fear death, since we know it doesn't have the final word because of Jesus, we most certainly don't welcome it, either. Except for those who long to pass on, experiencing disease or the end of life.

To have new covenant faith as given to us from the New Testament, we need to learn to live with a future orientation. We need to see that already the future in the new creation has broken in, even into this world in Christ, its completion in fullness to be known in the resurrection of our bodies and of all creation through Christ.

I need to do this by continuing to focus not on this old world which is passing away, but on the new world, evident to us by the indwelling Spirit, with the promise that that Spirit will give life to and raise up our bodies, just as Christ was raised from the dead. What has begun now will be perfectly fulfilled in an even more dynamic existence. This old, decaying creation will paricipate with God's children in a new creation which we both live in now and await.

Of course those who insist that all reality is only what meets the eye, are not going to receive any of this. Such include atheistic science and a rigid naturalism which actually rules out any god and whose hope and practical belief is that science eventually will explain everything. And maybe indeed science will end up with some explanation of everything, though one should never imagine that any knowledge in such endeavor can be complete and final. And even if it could be, we Christians believe there's more to life than meets the eye.

This is important for us all, and in my case it is good in fighting against recurring anxiety bouts. While we want to live responsibly in this life, yet we want our existence here to be lived out in view of the life promised to us in Jesus, begun now by faith and through the Spirit.

Both in my thinking and most certainly in my walk, I am especially in process on this as you might gather from this post.

Would any you have something to share from your own thoughts and reflections on this? Or anything related?