Our life (and death) isn't about us

The verse for today is Romans 14:8.

⁸ If we live, it’s to honor the Lord. And if we die, it’s to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

I think sometimes Christians get the idea that if we live to see another day, that just means we have permission to live however we want to live. It’s easy to think that because our vision is so narrow. Oftentimes we can only see our own life or the lives of the people close to us.

But according to Romans 14:8, if we get the opportunity to live another day, that means our purpose for that day is to honor God.

Once we decided to follow Christ, that means our lives are no longer our own. We don’t belong to ourselves. Granted, we didn’t belong to ourselves to begin with, as God is the Creator of all. But if you proclaim to be a Christian, that means you have given your life Christ. And that means, you live for Him.

So where do we get off thinking that we get to live for ourselves?

As Christians, our lives need to be about following Christ. My life needs to be about doing what Christ did, saying what Christ said, loving how Christ did. That’s what Christian means. We follow Christ.  We live for Christ.

But so many Christians never get there. They decide to believe that Christ died for them, which is great. That’s awesome, really. But they never take it any further than that. They believe that Christ died for them, but they never get to the point where they understand that He lived for us too. Christ didn’t just die to save us from our sins. He lived for us to give us an example of how to honor God with our lives.

Being a Christian isn’t just about fire insurance. It’s about living a life that brings honor and glory to God with our words, actions and thoughts. Is it easy? No. But as a Christian, it’s what we’re supposed to do.

Once we decide to follow Christ, we need to follow Him. Otherwise, we shouldn’t say we are Christ followers. What’s the point? If you’re not going to follow Christ, why call yourself a Christian? Does that make sense to anyone because it confuses the heck out of me.

But once we get the living for Christ thing down, there’s a flip side we have to consider. Because of course, if we live for Christ, you have to know we also need to be ready to die for Him too.

American Christians don’t really grasp this concept. So a couple of kids get picked on because they wore a Jesus t-shirt to school. Maybe some teenagers have a hard time about holding a Bible study on their campus. We think we’re persecuted? American Christians haven’t got a clue.

More people are killed for their faith in Christ today than in the days of Rome. In China. In the Middle East. In Indonesia. Killed just because they have chosen to believe in Christ. Christians have acid thrown on them. They are stripped away from their families and imprisoned or exiled. They are executed.

But those people understand that if they live, they live to honor God. And if they die, they die to honor God.

So how does this apply to us in America where we are free to believe whatever we want?

Well, you don’t have to be martyred to die for God. I’m thinking right now of one of the dearest people I ever had the privilege to know. If there are any readers of this blog who aren’t from Kansas, I don’t know if you’ll know of Judge Paul Clark. But he was a pretty big deal around here.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t quit calling him Judge Clark even after he retired. He is the coolest person I have ever had the honor to know. And he loved God with all his heart. He lived for God every day. He is the kindest person I think I’ve ever met. He always made me smile because even though he couldn’t keep a rhythm to save his life, he still clapped at all the songs during the worship service.

Judge Clark died last Friday. He’d been ill for a long time, and so many of us had been praying that God would heal him. But God chose to bring him home. And I’m so thankful. Because Judge Clark is finally able to get that new body he’d been wanting for so long.

But if you want an example of how to die for God in America, you should look at Judge Clark. He never lost faith. He never got angry. And he used the time he had left to encourage others, to bless other people, and to keep telling people about what Christ had done for him.

You see, Christians get so caught up in living their lives that they think it’s all about them. Well, life isn’t about us. Our lives don’t belong to us. Our lives belong to Christ. So our lives should be about Christ, just like our deaths should be. And whether that means quitting your job and being a missionary . . . or leaving everything you know and love to go to school far away . . . or maybe it means plugging away at a job you don’t necessarily love but believe it’s where God wants you . . . whatever it is and wherever you are in life, your life belongs to God.

Whether you live or die, you belong to God. So whether you’re at the beginning of it or the end, make it about Him, and you won’t regret it.

Paying rent on a broken-down tent

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

¹⁹ Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, ²⁰ for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

It’s really easy for me to forget that my body doesn’t belong to me. Does anybody else struggle with that? You know, I just forget sometimes because I live in it. I know I take it for granted. And I know it frustrates me intensely.

One thing I don’t understand at all is why the Holy Spirit would want to make my body His temple? I mean, my body doesn’t really work very well. I need a new set of lungs to replace these beaten-up asthmatic ones, and my metabolism is slower than a rock. I’ve been blinder than a bat since high school, and I’m allergic to just about everything on the planet that walks and talks and creeps and crawls. And my blood sugar can’t regulate itself correctly.

And the Holy Spirit still wants to live in me? Sometimes I wonder if He is a glutton for punishment. It’s like a Bill Gates moving to Oaklawn.

But whether I understand it or not isn’t the issue. The fact is, the Bible says that once we accept Christ and decide to follow Him, the Holy Spirit does come to live in us. Our bodies belong to God to begin with, though, whether we choose to follow Him or not. God created everything, so everything belongs to Him. But those of us who have chosen to follow Christ know that our bodies belong to God.

So why do we continue to use them in ways that aren’t pleasing to Him?

Many Christians worship their own bodies, I think. And I can understand how it happens. After all, our bodies are our homes. So it’s easy to get into a rut thinking that our bodies are going to last forever–at least, it’s easy until you get older. When I was 18, I could stay up till Midnight and help a friend move into their house the next day, moving heavy furniture and everything. Well, 11 years later, I can try to do that and for the most part I can succeed, but it takes me longer to recover . . . Lol . . . like a week.

And I know I’m not old, but my body will get there eventually. The older we get, the more we realize that our bodies will begin to fail us. So I think it’s more normal for “older” folks to realize that there’s something more to life than how we look. But how awesome would it be for a young person to grasp that concept? Imagine what a young person can accomplish for God while they’re still young.

Today’s verse says that we don’t belong to ourselves. Christians, if we really believe that, we need to get our eyes off what our bodies look like and start focusing on what really matters. Serving God. Loving others.

It’s so easy to spend money and time making our bodies look nice. And there’s nothing wrong with that at all as long as the motivation stays God-centered. But spending hours and hours primping and grooming in front of a mirror for the sole purpose of attracting attention? I don’t think that honors God. . . . But I’ve been wrong before. And as I’ve said on many occasions, I can’t see peoples’ hearts. So I can’t (and won’t) judge because that’s not my job.

Either way, our bodies are just temporary. And not only are they temporary, they’re a gift from God. God gave us the bodies He wanted us to have. Now, it escapes me why He gave me a body with asthmatic lungs and blood sugar issues. But it’s not up to me to understand why. It’s my job to be thankful for what He’s given me and use it to bring glory to Him.

I gave my life to Christ when I was seven years old. But before I knew who He was, He knew me. And He had already bought and paid for me, a ridiculous sum that I could never pay back. This body belongs to Him, and He is gracious enough to let me live here for a little while.

So I have no right to criticize my body, how it looks or how it functions. And I need to use it in a way that honors Him. It should bring glory to Him and not me. It should work to accomplish things for God’s purpose on earth and not for my own crazy schemes. And I need to take care of it but not to the point where it becomes the most important thing in my life.

There’s a reason for everything God does. So there’s a reason He chose to allow me to have worn out lungs and blood sugar problems. Maybe it’s to teach me patience. Maybe it’s to teach me to rely on Him. Maybe it’s to help me remember not to be so proud all the time and to ask for help once in a while.

In any case, my body belongs to Him. But it’s up to me how I use it.

Living Scripture in a world that is searching

We live in a pretty wicked world. This crazy planet is falling apart at the seams, tearing itself up, destroying itself from the inside out. And I’m not talking about the natural disasters we’ve had recently. I’m talking about people.

People are destroying each other, and they’re destroying themselves. Political leaders are taxing people to death or forcing wars on people or making foolish financial decisions. And the people of the world’s country are too ignorant, too lazy or too selfish to do anything about it.

It’s enough to get you down if you focus on it. I come from a patriotic family with many relatives in the military, and I still believe America is the best country in the world. But we’re having a real struggle right now. And I honestly believe the majority of our problems as a country are our own fault. As a country, we are reaping the seeds the generation before us sewed. And the generation before us made a real mess of things.

I don’t think you can blame our current financial situation on one person. I don’t think you can blame the state of the country’s politics on one person either. I don’t think we can honestly blame the politicians for the state our country is in becuase when you get right down to it, America is still a republic. We’re a democratic republic, the strangest form of government ever conceived, and as such we get the political leaders we deserve. No one has political authority in this country until someone gives it to them.

If America is in ruins, it’s the fault of the people. Yes, the political leaders may share some responsibility, but the lion’s share falls on the shoulders of the citizens who either keep themselves blind to the truth or who are too lazy and self-absorbed to care.

I believe a lot of the responsibility for the state the U.S. is in now also falls on the Christians. Christians who cared too much about themselves to reach out to their neighbors. Christians who insisted on keeping up appearances and convinced everyone around them that they were perfect. Christians who carried thick Bibles everywhere but had no idea what the Bible actually says about life. So obsessed with making sure that people got their lives right before they came to Christ that they chased everyone away from the Truth and made faith in Christ something boring and pedantic and stereotypical. Christians have a responsibility to the country they live in, and I believe we let our country down.

But I see something stirring in America. I see a generation of young people who have grown up in divided homes. I see a generation of young people who are tired of church as usual, tired of religion, tired of false faces. I see a generation of young people who want to make a real difference in the world. And these young people are getting old enough now to start taking responsibility in the way this country is run.

Kids getting married now are determined to stay together, no matter what. They’re saving their money, being careful about what they buy and how they buy it. They’re asking questions about faith. And they honestly care about what happens to their neighbors, to their families, to their friends, to the world.

But as excited as I am about the possibilities stirring in this country, I can only be responsible for me. I can love people. And I can pray for people. And I can share what I believe in both words and actions. But when it comes right down to it, the only person I need to keep in check is myself, and I think Christians forget that sometimes. We can get so busy trying to correct other peoples’ mistakes and forget that we’re just as broken as they are.

So how does a Christian be a Christian in a world like this? How can we be a light in a world full of darkness? Yes, I think people are searching but just because people are searching for truth doesn’t mean they’re going to find it. And if we are to be lights to people, we need to know the truth. We need to know the answers for when they ask. We need to live it.

How do we do that?

Today’s verse is Psalm 119:14. But I’m putting the whole section of verses in for context.

Psalm 119:9-16

⁹ How can a young person stay pure?
      By obeying your word.
 ¹⁰ I have tried hard to find you—
      don’t let me wander from your commands.
 ¹¹ I have hidden your word in my heart,
      that I might not sin against you.
 ¹² I praise you, O Lord;
      teach me your decrees.
 ¹³ I have recited aloud
      all the regulations you have given us.
 ¹⁴ I have rejoiced in your laws
      as much as in riches.
 ¹⁵ I will study your commandments
      and reflect on your ways.
 ¹⁶ I will delight in your decrees
      and not forget your word.

You want to know how to be a real Christian in a world that is desperately seeing something genuine?

Obey the Bible.

Read it. Know it. Live it. It will revitalize your life and your relationship with God. And it will make you shine. And in a world this dark, a little bit of light is all you need to truly stand out. And when the day comes that the people around you really open their eyes and honestly start searching, you’ll be able to give an answer for the hope you have.

God has given us His commandments for a reason. They are the key to life, abundant life full of blessings and joy. We don’t have to keep His commandments to be saved. To be saved, you just have to trust in Jesus. But His commandments are opportunities for us to receive blessings so numerous we can’t contain them all.

In a world that is searching for truth, it’s our responsibility as followers of Christ to be light. And the only way we can be light is to let God’s light shine through us. The only way to do that is to know what He says about life and living. The only way to do that is living by Scripture.

Very present and well-proved

I am a stubborn person. I like doing things myself, and I don’t ever want to ask for help, even if I need it. I don’t think this was ever more aptly demonstrated than my trip to Guatemala, most notably the situation with the horse.

It’s not that I’m afraid of horses per se; I just haven’t had much experience with them. Looking back now, I should have started out on the horse instead of trying to walk the whole way to that first village, but I really thought I could make it. I just didn’t expect to dehydrate so quickly. And then, of course, once I figured out that I was in trouble, the rational part of my brain was telling me that I needed to ask for help. But the rest of me–the stronger, louder, obstinate side of me–told me I would just cause more trouble for everyone if I wimped out. So I didn’t say anything and kept going. And that was pretty stupid. I’m really glad the Colonel was along to keep me honest. =) As he stated, I was going to cause more trouble if I passed out and he had to carry me out . . .

I’m not good at asking for help. It doesn’t matter if I’m in the middle of the jungle running out of water or if I’m at work drowning in projects. I don’t like to ask for help because I have this issue of not wanting people to think I’m weak. It’s all pride. I know that, and I’m working on it.

Being independent is good in some cases, but no one is self-sufficient except God. And that’s a lesson I think I have to relearn every day.

God wants to help us. That’s what I have to remind myself. God wants to be involved in my life, actively working alongside me and helping me through difficult situations. But God is a gentleman and won’t force me to accept His help. He wants me to ask.

The verse today is Psalm 46:1.

¹ God is our refuge and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.

That’s the New Living Translation, but I also want to list what the Amplified Version says too.

¹GOD IS our Refuge and Strength [mighty and impenetrable to temptation], a very present and well-proved help in trouble.

I love that. God’s not just always read to help us . . . . His help is “very present and well-proved” help. How many people can you say are willing to offer help like that? Most of the time, the help people offer is according to their availability or their schedules. But not God. If we ask Him for help, He will help us.

He wants to help us. But we pitiful humans are so proud that we don’t ask, at least we don’t ask as much as we should. I know I don’t.

So instead of battling through life alone, I’m trying to do better about recognizing when I need God’s help . . . . which is every moment of every day. It’s not about being weak. It’s about realizing the power that is available to me through Christ. There’s no situation I can’t handle without His help. And there’s nothing I can’t accomplish without God working through me.

If I try to get through life on my own, I’m not going to make it. Phsycially, emotionally, financially–I’ll be a wreck. But if I let God lead me, and if I trust Him to help me make the right choices, I can’t go wrong.

I’ve asked for God’s help today. I will probably have to ask for God’s help a dozen more times before the day is over. Mainly, I’m probably just going to have to ask Him to help me ask Him for help . . . if that makes any sense. But I have no doubt that He will actually give me help.

That’s what He does.

He’s my refuge. He’s my strength. He’s my help. My very present and well-proved help. And I have access to Him freely because He’s my Father. And trying to get through life on my own is childish and prideful, especially when He has offered over and over again to help me.

We just have to ask.

The price of sparrows

What would you pay for five sparrows? Would you even buy five sparrows? Probably not. We have no use for sparrows in our modern world. But sparrows were the sacrifices of the poor, and as such they didn’t cost much. According to today’s verse, they cost two assaria, and my NLT version says that an assaria equals 1/16 of a denarius. So I did some digging on the Roman coin system and remembered why I got out of numismatics. Studying coins isn’t my forte.

In either case, assaria were first made out of bronze and then they were made out of copper. Other translations refer to them as pennies, so they can’t have been worth much during the time. Granted, if they were pure copper, they’d be worth a pretty penny now. But that’s beside the point.

Today’s verse is Luke 12:6-7. This is Jesus speaking, warning people against hypocrisy, reminding them not to fear men and to fear God because men can only hurt the body but God has the power to hurt the body and the soul. And then he follows that statement with this one:

 ⁶ “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins^[a]? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. ⁷ And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

First of all, I find it interesting that God will accept a sparrow as a sacrifice. Blood sacrifices were part of the faith system He set up for the people of Israel, but how much blood does a sparrow have? Not much, I’d think. But it was important that everyone be able to sacrifice. And God was willing to accept the sacrifice of a sparrow, just as He was willing to accept the sacrifice of a lamb or a goat or a cow. It was the heart behind the sacrifice that mattered to Him, which is a good reminder that God has never changed what is important to Him. People have always been His focus. Relationships have always been the key. Granted, there was a list of acceptable animals and unacceptable animals (and I can’t tell you the significance off the top of my head), but the main importance of a sacrifice was the heart behind it.

But I think it’s interesting that Jesus follows His statement on hypocrisy with this bit about sparrows and value. He tells the people that sparrows are cheap but even then God doesn’t forget a single one of them–and that people are more valuable to God than sparrows.

And He also tells people not to be afraid.

I’m not a scholar. Anyone who reads this blog knows that my knowledge of the Bible is limited. And anything I say on here is my opinion of what the Scripture says, based on my experiences with God and the teaching I have had in church. I don’t know Greek. I’m not experienced with ancient cultures. And while I try to compare as many translations as I can, I’m still working with translations.

But to me, fearing God and being afraid of God are two separate things.

To fear is an active verb. It’s a choice. Like you choose what you wear in the morning when you get up, you can choose to fear God or take Him lightly.

To be afraid is a state of existence. Afraid is an adjective describing a state of being verb. There’s no action there. It’s indicating a life lived in terror, constant fear.

Jesus is telling people to beware of hypocrisy. The root of hypocrisy is pride, believing yourself better than the people around you, believing yourself better than you really are. Jesus had no patience for hypocrites (the Pharisees), and God won’t bless them. So He’s saying that if we fear God we’ll remember that we are the creation and He is the Creator. That we are broken and flawed and empty without Him, and that without Him we can’t accomplish anything.

But on the flip side, Jesus is also saying not to be afraid of God. God made us. He loves us. Other Scriptures tell us that we can call Him our Father. God wants to be close to us. He wants to have a relationship with us. And you can’t have a relationship with someone if you are afraid of them. You can have a healthy fear of a friend or a father. Healthy fear is a good idea. But being constantly afraid? No.

God is worthy of fear, yes. But healthy fear. Remembering Who He Is and what He can do. Realizing that He could snuff us out if He so chose . . . but understanding how much He loves us and what He sacrificed so that we could talk to Him.

God knows when sparrow dies. He keeps track of them apparently. He cares about His creation so much that the death of even something as trivial and insignificant as a sparrow brings Him sorrow. And He cares about us so much more than sparrow. We’re worth so much more to Him than that.

The price of sparrows was sufficient to temporarily forgive the sins of the poor of Israel. And that’s why God gave Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice, because His blood was priceless. And that’s what we were worth to God.

Promise of victory for a Monday morning

Today’s verse is Psalm 149:4.

⁴ For the Lord delights in his people;
      he crowns the humble with victory.

This is a good reminder for a Monday morning. I love the Psalms. They’re always so encouraging.

Knowing that the Lord takes delight in me is something that boggles my mind. Because I don’t think I’m really that delightful, personally. But God thinks on a different level than I do, and for that I’m thankful.

But I guess what I’m really drawn to this morning is the statement that God gives victory to the humble. It’s something that the Bible says over and over again so it’s not a new thought. And it’s something that I already know. I mean, if the Bible says it over and over again (which it does), then it’s not surprising.

But just think about it. And when today gets overwhelming, remember it. And when life seems to be circling the drain and everything seems to be going wrong, remember that God gives victory to the humble.

So be humble.

That’s my goal today. To be humble about work. To be humble about life. Because I want to be victorious. And maybe I can win a few battles on my own strength. But winning a battle isn’t the same as being victorious. Winning a battle makes you a good warrior, but being victorious in a war means you had help.

I want to be victorious today, so I’m going to be humble. Being humble means thinking more about the people around me than I do of myself. Being humble means promoting other peoples’ accomplishments instead of my own. But I think, more than anything, being humble means thanking God for everything in my life, whether I think it’s positive or negative.

My view of my life is broken. I see something I think is a negative circumstance, and I am tempted to be discouraged. And I am tempted to feel despair and wonder what God is thinking or why He would allow difficulty into my life. I mean, after all, haven’t I done everything He’s asked me to do?

That’s not a humble response.

Being humble means recognizing that God is in control. That means obeying Him. That means being thankful for whatever He brings into our lives, whether it’s good or bad in our perspective. Because nothing happens without a reason. And if we can gratefully accept the people or things or experiences that God brings our way, God will use our humility to accomplish something incredible.

Can God not use proud people? Of course, He can. God can (and does) use everyone. But the difference is that a humble person recognizes that God is using Him and works alongside God willingly to make a difference.

God gives victory to the humble. I don’t know about you, but that’s a message I need for a Monday morning.

The Bible is simple, but people make it complicated

Today’s verse is Psalm 119:130.

     The teaching of your word gives light,
      so even the simple can understand.

Why do we think we can find wisdom or truth from other sources than Scripture? Is it because our culture has convinced us that the Bible is just a book of stories that don’t matter?

I am always shocked at how people who claim to be Christians treat the Bible. If we say we’re believers, we need to be reading Scripture. If we have a question about life, we don’t need to ask Oprah or Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz or the news agencies. We need to look in the Bible. Because if it’s something we need to know about life, it’s in there.

I think the majority of confusion in a Christian’s life can be eliminated if he or she will just make a habit of reading and learning the Word of God. If we are daily — shoot, hourly — comparing events in our life to the truth of Scripture, we’ll know for sure whether what we’re thinking about doing is wise or unwise. We’ll know what God says about the future. We’ll know what God says about right now. We’ll know because everything we need to know is in the Bible.

And it doesn’t matter who you are or what your background is, the Bible is easy to understand. Granted, if the Scripture isn’t written in your language, there might be some confusion. So you modern English speakers need to get a hold of a New Living Translation version of the Bible, and anyone out there who still speaks Shakespearean English, you should get a King James Version. All of the Bibles we have here are translations anyway, so unless you speak Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, you’ll have to read a translation. So you might as well pick one that’s in your language.

But when you read Scripture, God gives you light. He gives you truth. He gives you understanding. That’s what this verse says. God grants His light to people who read His word, and it’s not complicated. The truth in the Bible is very very simple. Profound, of course. But oftentimes I’ve discovered that the most profound truths in life are inherently simple. So easy to understand that even a child can grasp the concept.

So it doesn’t matter if you have a doctorate or if you’re some indigenous tribal person in a village in the middle of Guatemala, God’s Word is for you.

Don’t buy into the lies our culture tells that Scripture is just a bunch of made up stories about morality. What is written in the Scripture is alive. You can read the same passage over and over again for a week, and it will mean something different to you every day. Because as we grow in our walk with God, the Bible broadens and deepens for us . . . or maybe it’s better said that our understanding of Scripture broadens and deepens. The Bible grows with us.

And don’t believe it when people tell you that the Bible is hard to understand. Don’t think that only pastors and scholars can make sense of the Bible. Don’t read more into it than you think is there. The Bible is literal. Trying to make a figurative story out of a literal truth is confusing.

When the Bible says God created the world, it means that He created the world. When the Bible says that God destroyed the world with a flood, it means that He destroyed the world with a flood. When the Bible says that Jonah survived three days and three nights in the belly of a giant fish, it means that really happened. It means David really killed Goliath. It means Elijah really called down fire on Mt. Caramel. It means Jesus really did miracles. Now, are there figurative stories in Scripture? Yes, but you can usually tell those because the characters aren’t named. A good example is the parable of the Prodigal Son. Now, it might have really happened, but that is one of the stories Jesus told that was figurative–but He used it to explain a literal truth.

The Bible is easy to understand. It’s just us who make things complicated. And if you’ve had trouble understanding Scripture before, try reading it again. And if you simply can’t understand it, come find someone who you know does and ask for their help. If they’re any sort of mature believer, they will be eager to help you dig deeper into Scripture because they are still learning about it too.