At Oakhaven’s recent married couples retreat, Deb and I made presentations on the theme:  “Once Upon A Marriage”. The idea is that our life as a couple is a story being written under the direction of God.  When challenging things happen to us as a couple, we accept God’s role as our Chief Editor and Script Writer.  Even in the time of stress and difficulty, God demonstrates His power and His faithfulness.  We used James 1 as one of the texts as our underpinning of ideas.

I have often found that writing my own paraphrase of a scripture with a slant toward my present experience is helpful.  Let me be clear…. a paraphrase is not an attempt to say something to replace what the original inspired writer said.  This is an attempt to apply biblical truths to one’s own present situation.  With that in mind, read first the NIV translation and then my paraphrase.  I hope it has some value to you and that God’s word increasingly becomes a lamp unto your path and  a light unto your path.  (Psalm 119: 105)

 

James 1: 2-12 NIV

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.  6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord;  8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

9 The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position.  10 But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower.  11 For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

12 Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

 

Gary’s  Paraphrase for Married Couples

There is real joy in the story of a marriage where trials are faced and overcome.

For we realize that as our faith is challenged and our marriages confront hardship we are actually made stronger.  This blessing comes as an outcome of our not giving up…..our refusing to give in.  As a result, we become mature as a couple, learning that overcoming our difficulties makes us stronger and better equipped to meet future challenges.

When we are hard pressed for answers, we have learned to ask God for help.  And God responds by giving us wisdom and insight just because we asked Him.   As a couple, we have accepted that God wants us to believe in His adequacy to overcome anything we encounter.  We are to resist negativity and pessimism.  God’s blessings are limited severely by couples who refuse to put full trust in Him.  If we doubt Him, we are like a wave of the ocean which gets swept to and fro by the wind.  Couples whose faith in God is weak, will find themselves unsteady in all they attempt to do.

As couples who embrace our own inadequacies, we are actually elevated in God’s eyes as being reverently confident in His power and not deceived into thinking it is all up to our own effort.  We heed the warning to avoid being overconfident in our own power.  For if we do so, we just wind up being like a bouquet of pretty flowers which comes to wilt over time. The beauty of an enduring marriage only comes when couples refuse to act independently of God and resist the tendency to live according to their own selfish standards.

A marriage is blessed when the couple holds fast to one another and God even through the tough times.  The crowning achievement comes in the form of being blessed of God, both as an individual and as a couple.  These blessings are manifested both now and in eternity.

Because of these things, we know that when we love one another it is just one more way of expressing our love for Him.

Our love, our commitment and perseverance as couples, go up to Him as honor and praise.

I have to admit that I’m a little more at home speaking words than writing them. ( I have delivered far more words in my life in speeches and sermons than in my writing.)

But I see the advantage in writing as a way of organizing my thinking and forcing my ideas into more coherent phrasings.   (Even though I find it a struggle, I find that writing helps me critique my ideas as I go and therefore helps me work toward clarity and focus in communicating my ideas.)

I also like writing because I can use brackets as I communicate.  (Was that already obvious?)

The reason I like brackets is that they (brackets) let me improvise on what I’ve just said.  (For instance, I can insert something else on the tailwind of my previous bloviating.)  How handy is that?  (I’ve just written twice as much without adding anything substantially different from the ideas I had already shared.)

In case you didn’t notice how clever I am, I just bracketed a bracket statement.

OK…..      I know you are growing tired of this rather overdone satire on the benefits of bracket statements.

And …..

…….as I’m confident you think there is no point whatsoever to these paragraphs,  let me hasten to make an observation or two.  (or three)  (or maybe four)

Life comes at us fast.

Sometimes we don’t understand what God is seeking to convey to us through our Bible study, our spiritual struggles and our life experiences.

But if we seek God’s will and keep our hearts and minds fixed on Him, He will often follow up with something to clarify and expand on His message to us.

In other words, be alert to what God says at first hearing.   And then pay attention to what He offers in His bracketed elaboration statements which follow His initial words.

One of the most striking examples I think of is the intent of God in the Old Testament.  God had some powerful things to say through the Law and the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible.

But read again,  Matthew 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  Jesus is the bracket elaboration of what God is saying in the Law and Prophets.

When you think about it, the parables of Jesus are groupings of teachings set alongside what He had already said in other words.  The very meaning of the word parable is to state one thing alongside another.  The narratives of Jesus in parable form are clarifications and elaboration of His previous teaching on the same theme.

So keep a keen eye out for God’s after statements.  (His bracketed elaborations.)

For often, this is where the real understanding of God and His agenda can be discerned.

If only Zacchaeus were taller.

I’m sure he had wished it many times over.  Although Luke is diplomatic in his wording…..he says Zacchaeus was a short man….

…..He resists the popular wording, “wee little man”.

I hate to break it you, but the term, “wee little man”  is only to be found in the children’s song.  No translation…..not even Eugene Peterson’s  popular Message transliteration uses the term “wee little man”.

How disappointing.

The long and short of it is this:  Zacchaeus was short.   And this makes the story of Luke 19 all the more interesting.  Because of his stature, the little tax collector faced a predicament.  He wanted to see this Jesus he had heard about.  He wasn’t sure about how this day would turn out but he would never forgive himself if he missed an opportunity to see Jesus first hand.  He couldn’t bear to miss seeing one who loomed so large in the minds of the multitudes.  He had heard people refer to Him as the Kingdom talker.  The proclaimer of peace.  The purveyor of hope.  The person of God.

Zacchaeus had to see him.  And he had to see him first hand.

He knew from experience that when crowds gathered he was disadvantaged.  He had learned that the crowds took sick satisfaction in putting this little tax collector in his place.  They resented him.  They would push and shove and crush him if they could, using the anonymity of the crowd as a way to shield themselves from possible repercussions from the tax man.

He was, after all, most likely, a Jew like they.   But he had become a turncoat in their eyes.  It seemed to them that he was serving the Roman regime by collecting taxes from his own brothers…whether they could afford it or not.  They also knew that the arrangement between tax collectors and Roman officials is that the tax collector could assess any amount possible as long as Caesar got his cut.  Any excess amounts could go into the pockets of the tax collector.  Zacchaeus had accumulated a fair amount of money.  He was a short man….but he had deep pockets.

The people resented him.

The crowds would take joy in blocking his view.

So Zacchaeus came up short.  He wouldn’t be seeing Jesus today unless he came up with a way to overcome his inadequacies.  Since his childhood days he had experienced harsh treatment for his size.  When the bullies came his way, he found that a tree would provide a way of escape.  He had spent many an afternoon finding protection and refuge in a tree.  So on that day he looked to a tree.  It would be his way of seeing Jesus.  A tree would bring him close to the Messiah.

Climbing up, he saw the crowd part and the cloud of dust told him that the Kingdom talker was coming his way.  He had heard courtyard discussions about this man and his talk of a new kingdom at hand.  By all accounts, the Kingdom talker was saying that a new domain was emerging. To Zacchaeus this meant that his arrangement with the Romans might possibly come to an end and that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.  He had done his job and done it well but he didn’t sleep well at night knowing that he benefited personally from Caesar’s kingdom all the while seeing the ill effects of his work on his fellowman.

On a tree, he would see Jesus coming.  He would see his face.  He would behold his eyes and behold the seriousness of his facial expression.  But he also hoped he might see forgiveness and experience the grace of God he so yearned for.

As Jesus drew close, Zacchaeus sensed an awareness that he was being observed by the Kingdom talker.  At the very moment when Jesus approached, Jesus looked up to Zacchaeus, called him by name and informed him that he intended to come to his house.  In his own home, he would visit with this Kingdom talker and hear in more detail about the new reign of God ever so close at hand.

Just the thought of Jesus initiating such acceptance, came upon Zacchaeus as a renovation of his heart.

“Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”   The bondage he had felt by his association with the Romans seemed in that moment to drop away like chains turned to dust.

On that day, a “wee little man” stood taller.  Only now at that vantage point could he finally see the world as even the tallest of men long to see.

In days to come, in post resurrection days…..as Zaccheus would tell and retell his story, he would perhaps exclaim, “only by way of a tree was I able to see Him that day and only by the tree of Calvary has He come to be seen by all men today and everyday since”.

Come to Him.  See Him.  Let Him come into your house.  He will lift you up.

If only Zacchaeus were taller…..but then….

….I’m glad he wasn’t.

Over the last several years I have pondered over themes relative to spiritual growth and faith development.

These ponderings brought me to ask about the influences which foster spiritual growth.  In my experience, I have noted that spiritual growth occurs along the axis of information and transformation. I define information as being comprised of thinking, reasoning, reading and intellectualizing.  I think these are indispensable disciplines but I also have witnessed their inadequacy to produce spiritual growth unless they are paired with transformation.  I define transformation as the experiential part of our development.  If information is the “talk the talk”, then transformation is the “walk the walk”.    It is the praxis of knowledge.

A few years back when I was asked to teach a class at the Pepperdine University lectures, I developed the following Jo-Hari window.  It is a fairly common way to display two intersecting ideas with comparisons and observations to be made regarding how certain blends of the two approaches are manifested in faith development.

The informational component is displayed in the vertical line with the numbers one through ten.  One being the least and ten being the greatest.  The transformational component is along the horizontal line.   I have inserted a brief description of each quadrant and the result of that particular blend of information/transformation.

Give it a look and I’ll make a few more observations below.

Quadrant one is at the bottom left side of the grid.  It is lowest on the scale for both information and transformation.  It is a place we all find ourselves in at times.  We become lethargic, and feel stuck in our faith.  We are especially vulnerable to shallow thinking and quick solutions to faith development when we are in this quad.  We feel the discontent and can become open to anything that promises change.  In my opinion, this where a lot of America finds themselves today.  They are seeking spirituality out of a void of information and without a willingness to transform and submit their lives to behavioral changes.

Quadrant two is the bottom right side of the grid.  Low on  information but high on transformation, this group is in motion as opposed those in quadrant one who are stuck.   Quad two people are usually frequent attendees of rallies and concerts and highly charged events.  They like lots of music, they buy the T-shirts and the key-chains.   (Nothing wrong with this, I might add….it’s just that these are not adequate in and of themselves to bring about sustained spiritual growth.)

Quadrant three is the top left side of the grid.  High on information but low on transformation.  They have book, chapter and verse….and that’s not a bad thing per se, but they might not be personally a person who necessarily possesses the fruit of the Spirit….Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control.  They lean toward legalism, have low tolerance of those who hold different views and are generally on edge as protectors of the faith and set others on edge accordingly.

Quadrant four in the top right hand side is high on information and high on transformation as well.   This group approaches Bible study with anticipation that God is continuing to sculpt and shape their life.  They enjoy engaging the texts of the Bible and discussing their views with others.  They also understand that information is verified and substantiated by application.  They are anxious to know the way of Christ but are equally anxious to go the way of Christ.

Faith development does not seem to permanently reside in any one of the four quadrants exclusively.  There are times when I find myself residing in each of the quadrants.  An important exercise for me is to look at the chart occasionally and ask, “where am I right now?”. The next step is to explore what it will take to move to a healthier place.

My advice:

Be intentional and be continual in your faith development.

Seek a variety of ways to increase your potential for growth.

Consider the effect of prayer, meditation, fasting, sacrificial giving, service to others, spiritual journaling etc. as ways to open the way to increased spiritual growth.

The world awaits the coming of a transformed & informed people who follow the God who shows the Way.

I’ve always had the idea that integrity was about being honest.

Something about being a straight-shooter.  Being trustworthy.

It turns out that Webster’s definition points to similar ideas.  Integrity \    1 :  an unimpaired condition: soundness 2 : adherence to a code of moral, artistic or other values  3 : the quality or state of being complete or undivided: completeness

Recently I noted the other words that are related to the word integrity.  One such word with a related origin is the word,  integrate.  This word means “to form into a whole….to unite with something else…to incorporate into a larger unit….

Observing the two words together allowed me to see something I had not pondered before.  Being a person of integrity means that there should be a continuity of character between who I am/ how I act from one context to another.  In other words,  what I am in one context should be integrated seamlessly into what I am in any other context.

A life of integrity then, should be one in which all the dots connect.  There cannot be a “disconnect” between what I am in one context and what I am in another. People spot a phony from a mile away.   An integrated lifestyle is one which exhibits the same virtues in one context as in the next.

My dad used to exhort me to avoid just being a “Sunday” Christian.  By that he meant that it does no good to go to church on Sunday if I’m not determined to live my life by that standard during the rest of the week.  When I got a part-time job at the age of 15 dad took me aside and instructed me to work just as hard when the boss wasn’t around than when he was close by.  That was good advice.  It nudged me in the direction of integrity and I’ve never forgotten it.

Jesus was once approached by an expert in the law (Luke 10:25ff) who asked about how to inherit eternal life.  Jesus asked the man what is written in the law?  The lawyer gave a good answer.  He replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and Love your neighbor as yourself.”  The lawyer’s good answer was followed up by a hint that he might very well have been looking for a legal loophole.  He follows with the question, “And who is my neighbor?”

With that prompt, Jesus tells a story of a man beaten and robbed who is ignored and devalued by some who were especially known for talking a good talk.  Bad thing is, they didn’t walk the walk.  They walked instead to the other side of the road rather than “integrating” their behavior with their law.   No doubt, they knew the law….they just didn’t do the law. 

No integration =  no integrity.

The pivot point of this story involves a Samaritan.  The Samaritans as a people did not have a good track record of being consistent.  Samaritans as a race were a mixture of some Jewish and other ethnicities.  When it was to their favor, they played up their Jewish connections.  When it was to their advantage to do otherwise, they would distance themselves from the Jews.  But this is a generality, not to be applied to every individual who is a Samaritan.  Jesus’ use of a Samaritan as the hero and the Jewish leaders as the slackers gives his story the twist that is so much of a hallmark of his other parables.

Who is a person of integrity?

I propose that the true mark of integrity is to integrate into all phases of ones’ life, the character of God.  If there is a disconnect between what we practice and what we preach, the world will be deafened to our speaking of the gospel.   Without the integration of word and action, there will be no traction for the words of life.  There will be no forward progress toward a transformed society.   We will only spin our wheels.   God calls us to be people of integrity…..and integration.

This has not been one of my finer weeks.

I prayed to Yahweh, Elohim and El Shaddai (Hebrew names for God) all in the same prayer.

I always thought I was a bit of a tough guy. Bite one ear lobe off and I will keep coming at you…as long as it’s a heavenly cause, that is. But I got humbled real good this time. Something they are saying is a ruptured ear drum caused from back pressure from some kind of “super bug”. Well OK. At least it took a ‘super bug’ to bring me down.  Truth is….most of this stuff about a “super bug” is internet fear mongering in my opinion.  I think I have …….big tank that I am…. I have been brought low by what usually makes infants cranky and whiney.  In my case, the pain and discomfort has reached apocalyptic proportions.  Honest to God, this has been a stretch of “nail gun” pain in my inner ear.  I don’t wish it on anyone.

So here I am calling on my God in as many dialects and mantras as I can muster up. It’s not a pretty thing to see me in that kind of pain. Kinda funny but not pretty. Well over a week ago, I was put on a steroid to chase away some mysterious infection affecting bronchial passages and such. I got dehydrated and they brought me in to give me an I.V. to get the fluids up. A few days later I get a horrible pressure in my left ear.

Tough guy that I am, I taught my class on Hebrews and for all that I could tell, the comments were about Shebrews or Phlebrews or Night Priests and the Carbunkle. Those who have hearing loss will instantly identify these as High Priests and the Tabernacle. ( Those of us with hearing losses are smarter because we have to decode. )

The class showed a lot of patience and we gotter’dun. Now isn’t that a fine way to get through a Sunday morning Bible class? By Monday night I was waving a white flag. My dear wife Deb took me to Aurora Emergency. The young doc takes one look and says, “that’s ugly”. Now I really don’t think that is what he said, but to me it meant the same thing. He could have said, “look out…..she’s gonna blow!” and then I would have known for sure what was going to happen next. He was actually quite medical as he explained that, “yes”, I have considerable inflammation and bulging of the ear drum and it will likely rupture and I’ll be stone deaf for a few days and they will put me on even more antibiotics and pain relievers strong enough to make a tatoo artist swoon.

He left the room and said he would return with the pain killers. I watch the clock tick…..ing….ever…..so….slow. And then I says to Deb, “hey hon, is there a water pipe dripping overhead? Something about the weight and color of WD-40 is leaking from my ear. So begins my week.

Memorial day and I will never forget this one.

They send me home with instructions about how this is temporary. I will be uncomfortable and probably cannot stand up straight, but to persevere and this too will pass. So over the next 4 days I have been on an adventure of sorts. Those of you who know me know that I have a hearing loss as it is. I wear these little things some folks call hearing aids. I refer to them as “highly sophisticated surveillance instruments”. A nifty little feature of my hearing loss is something called “tinnitus”. It is a constant “white noise” or “ringing in the ear”. Well, this ear drum thingy I have is fifty times over what it usually is. Voices seem to mysteriously come from directions other than what is true. I have a cacophony of sounds inside my head.

At times I would swear that I am in a rain forest with monkeys chirping and water dripping off palm leaves. At other times I hear children giggling, dogs barking out words and phrases even performing old 60’s tunes. I tell you that I hear these things in the vacuum of my ear canals. I don’t have the science for this, it just is. Last night Deb was in Madison helping our kids move into their new house, and she was 80 miles away, I thought I heard her say, plain as day, “are you dressed and ready to leave”? Now, granted that one may be a hallucination from the pain killers….but it’s not like she was saying “Helter Skelter”….she was asking if I was dressed, for crying out loud. Today is Friday. I’m feeling a bit better. The fever is not so hot and the pain is not so white hot. But I’m not a well man yet.

So I’m sitting here blogging and one of my church elders is out mowing my lawn. Duey is the kind of guy who will do that for you in a pinch. And he’s going to preach for me on Sunday. “On Malachi”….at least that’s our running joke. If ever I can’t preach and he does it, it has to be on “Malachi”. Of course, He pronounces it “Malachy” kind of like its some sort of mexican musical instrument. But we both know that he can speak on whatever he wants because anything he says will be of God and from the heart and people will be blessed. I don’t know how long this ear-ringing folk festival is going to be going on in my head. I see a specialist on Wednesday. But until then I’ll just take my little meds and enjoy the monkeys playing their little rain forest tricks in my head.

Matt and Sarah now have twin daughters to add to their tribe.  They named the girls, Kasia James and Isamae Dawn.  Kasia is pronounced like “Asia” with a “K” and Isamae is pronounced like “is” as in “is” with a “ah-may”.  James is Sarah’s dad’s name and “Dawn” is Sarah’s middle name.

Okay…enough on names but if you are like me, I needed some help on pronouncing them.  They are cute as a button.  Kasia was born first but is smallest  and weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz.  and Isamae was born shortly after but is the bigger of the two and weighed in at 6 lbs.13 oz.

Big sisters, Paisly and Zella are already on alert as mom-support team.  God has once again been abundant in His blessings!

Kasia James and Isamae Dawn Cleveland

Big Sisters, Zella and Paisly are ready for action.

For more photos go to Matt’s facebook display.

I first read the book, South Moon Under, back in 1997.

The book is a novel by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. Most people recognize Rawlings as the author of her better known book, The Yearling. This book, made into a movie starring Gregory Peck, is the coming of age story of a young boy and his pet deer.  The Yearling , is still a popular choice among young readers.

Others might recognize her name from still, another book, Cross Creek, which was also made into a movie back in 1983.  It starred Mary Steenburgen as Marjorie Rawlings and tells of the region of Florida, known as Cross Creek.

My favorite Rawling’s title is South Moon Under. It was her first published novel in 1933. It is a story of an impoverished family trying to get by in the scrub pine wilderness of northern Florida. The book takes its title from an expression used by the hunters in the region to describe a particularly good time to hunt game. The book’s title is explained by way of a young teenage boy, Lantry, named after his grandfather. Young Lant, as he is called, is on his way back to the cabin after a night of hunting deer. His world consists of observing how nature acts and reacts. There are forces, observable and unobservable, which elicit a response from all who live in the scrub of North Florida. And Lant continues his musing along the trail back home…

“On the way home he considered the deer and the moon. He considered the fish and the owls. The deer and the rabbits, the fish and the owls stirred at moon-rise and at moon-down; at south-moon-over and at south-moon-under. The moon swung around the earth, or the earth swung around the moon, he was not sure. the moon rose in the east and that was moon-rise. Six hours later it hung at its zenith between east and west, and that was south-moon-over. It set in the west and that was moon-down. Then it passed from sight and swung under the earth, between west and east. And when it was directly under the earth, that was south-moon-under.

He could understand that the creatures, the fish and the owls, should feed and frolic at moon-rise, at moon-down and at south-moon-over, for these were all plain marks to go by, direct and visible. He marveled, padding on bare feet past the slat-fence of the clearing, that the moon was so strong that when it lay the other side of the earth, the creatures felt it and stirred by the hour it struck. The moon was far away, unseen, and it had power to move them. “ p. 109-110

I find in this simple term, south-moon-under, a metaphor for God’s unseen ways in reaching into our lives even when we are unaware of His presence. How often I have felt this prompting, this directing of God. Even when the glow of God’s presence has become hidden underneath the clutter of my world, I know He is there. I accept His consistent presence even when I’m oblivious to Him. I go about my life not being altogether conscious of Him but somehow I know He is there all the same. I feed and I frolic and I flounder, but I accept His call to holiness and purpose, even in my oblivion. Even though I can’t explain it, I think it all about His grace. The order to my universe is not about what I’m doing but what He is doing.

I’m reminded of Paul, who said,

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5: 8

Which is to say…..that even when I had God tucked under the darkest part of my sin, he was there, compelling me to respond to His call…to respond to His love…to respond to His movement in my life.

The term, “personal effects” is usually connected with the rather unpleasant task of recovering the items which a deceased person has in their possession at the time of their death. According to the cop shows I watch, these items are returned in a zip lock bag and usually includes a wallet, car keys, pocket change, a wrist watch, jewelry etc.

At the risk of being morbid, I’d like to ponder with you another kind of personal effects or maybe it should be spelled “personal AFFECTS”. That is to say, “what will we be found as having in our possession at the end of our life journey?

I’m not talking about the aforementioned wallet, keys, change etc. I’m talking metaphorically about what we have taken on as possessions in a more spiritual sense.

Do we now possess a spirit of forgiveness?

Do we possess a faith and confidence in the grace of God?

Do we possess a willingness to help others?

Do we possess a love for the unlovable?

Do we possess a willingness to be unselfish?

I could expand this list but I’ll leave that up to each of us to personally think of what things we seek to possess…..to have on our person….at any given time. How sad it would be if at our time of death, it would be said that we had in our possession no “personal effects/affects”. Tragic indeed if it would be said, “he didn’t seem to have anything on him at the time he died”. “We searched, but there was nothing there”. A clear zip lock bag sitting empty on the counter, giving testimony that we were found not to be in possession of anything enduring, or valuable enough that someone would want to claim it.

I guess this little wake up call came to me because I’ve recently been thinking about my life, its meaning and what I’m coming to possess as I seek to grow in God and His purposes. As a part of this reflection I sense that I am becoming more intentional in seeking spiritual growth.

I have just returned from The Annual Theological Conference at Wheaton College. The theme this year was “Life in the Spirit” – Spiritual Formation in Theological Perspective. It was a tremendous program with stimulating and provocative presentations. Dallas Willard gave a presentation on “Spiritual Formation as a Natural Part of Salvation” that was especially insightful and challenging.

I came away with several personal insights. Among them are these:

I must be open and welcoming to God’s continuing forming and shaping of my spiritual life.

I must spend more time in reading God’s word as a source of transformation not just information.

I pledge to myself to be more open to the Holy Spirit as a comforter, guide and prompter of my actions.

I resign myself to heed the connection between body and spirit.

I accept that God’s redemption is an on-going process in me. I was washed in the blood of Christ a long time ago but I accept His continuing work in my life to shape, sculpt and form me into His likeness.

I invite the deepening of my faith through contemplation of God’s divine purposes for me.

Finally, I summarize by heeding the exhortation of Peter to….

“make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

“You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3- – - Commandment number one.

I need a God that transcends.

I need a God that out-trumps everything else.

I need a God that instructs me that nothing matters more than where I stand with Him.

I need a God that holds me accountable.

I need a God that offers what I could never have on my own.

I need no other God.

Our culture….our age…has lost faith that religion can make a difference. This seems especially true for those who examine and evaluate the Christian faith. To many of those outside Christianity, we appear not to be worshiping God but a system of thought. A construct of morality and ethics. For many of those observers, they see the form but not the Force.

We proudly display who we are as God’s people but need to do a more adequate job of revealing to the world the God who is at the center of it all. I’m not altogether sure how we go about doing this in a more adequate way but I believe it is a worthwhile pursuit. We don’t have a cloud by day or pillar of fire by night to show the evidence of God’s presence. We don’t have a gold overlaid ark or richly appointed tabernacle to put on display. What we do have is our lives offered on His altar as living sacrifices…holy and acceptable.

But all this has to point to Him.

We can’t stop at: “Look at us…Look at us…We’re the Church….We’re the Church. “ Once we get their attention by our transformed lives, we’ve got to say…. “hold on….we are not the focus….HE IS THE FOCUS…” “Look at Him. Seek Him. “ “He is the Lord Your God.” Let us take care that in our well-intentioned efforts as church-going Christians, we don’t make ourselves and it (the church) to be the focus. Let us not make ourselves into a substitute for the living God. Let us be aware that we, ourselves can become just one more idol…one more false-god…one more inadequate substitute for the living God.

Consider this final quote by Joy Davidman in her book, Smoke on the Mountain. (Joy is sometimes known as Joy Gresham…her first husband’s last name….but more than likely you will be more familiar with her as she is best known…as Mrs. C.S. Lewis) Her thoughts, first penned in the 1950’s, are nevertheless just as poignant today as then.

We live in an age of lost faith and lost hope and empty hearts. Today the commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” must include, “Thou shalt have me.”

For the beast gods have come creeping back. If we will not have the One, we must in the end accept the many after all. A man with nothing to worship is a man in a vacuum, and the false gods will rush in.

They are not idols nowadays—not Dagon of the Philistines or “the brutish gods of the Nile.” They are worse things. The ancient image worshippers were, at least, worshipping something not themselves, a Power greater than themselves; they were trying in their limited way to make an image of God, and when the image proved faulty they could break it and make a better one, until the day came when they needed no image at all.

But the false gods of today are things of the spirit, and as hard to pluck forth as it is hard for a man to pluck out his right eye.

The beast in the heart is always the self.

From Smoke on the Mountain – An Interpretation of the Ten Commandments, p. 23.