The Release is found in Rest

The concept of living in the state of rest for the Christian may be the most challenging discipline of all.  Our natural man is a working man, a self sufficient man.  He rises to every challenge with a plan of action to bring a solution to every situation.  When you add the gift of leadership to the picture you have created a person for whom the demeanor of rest seems nigh impossible.  With a hunting dog like a retriever, when the bird falls every fiber of his being wants to run and do what his instincts and training have prepared him to do.  Yet, the hunter sees from a different vantage point, one which the retriever can't see.  The dog's very existence could be dependent upon his obedience when the gun is fired.  If he simply runs on instinct he could run into danger.  He must put his instinct and training under the command of the master who must give the command to retrieve.  He must sit and rest at his master's side even if it means the command to retrieve never comes.  It is an unnatural thing.  When the gun powder is in the air and the bird falls back to earth everyone agrees with the instinct of the dog to rush and retrieve.  The other hunters agree, the other dogs agree but the retriever has been trained to only move when his master has given the command.  While his sitting may be painful and though every muscle may quiver, he must sit in rest.  If the command doesn't come then he must learn to find his peace and fulfillment, not in the accolades of peers but in the approval of his master.  

There are puzzling examples in the Scripture that appears to be contradictory at first glance.  Jesus is asleep on the boat in the middle of a great storm and his disciples awake him and question his concern for their lives.  Jesus rebukes the storm and then the disciples for their lack of faith.  Then, in the garden the night before Jesus was arrested he finds his disciples sleeping and he rebukes them for resting!  What is the difference?  On the boat when Jesus was sleeping, he was asleep and at rest in faith and doing so in the will of God.  When the disciples were asleep they were doing so in disobedience to His Word and in a state of depression and anxiety.  The difference is found in the will and Word of God.  While there is a place of rest where we can learn to abide, we must remain alert even in our rest.  We must rest in faith and be ready to obey, not the crying out of our natural man, not the demands of men, but the voice of our Master.  There may be times when the order doesn't come and the crowds are stunned because Lazarus dies.  Yet, in the timing of the Lord he will rise.  The release is always found in rest.  

Laughing With Jesus

Relationships go through a number of steps as we get to know each other better. We first meet people and we are usually friendly but not too warm.  We are a little reserved at first.  We evaluate the other person in an effort to get to know them and decide at what level our relation finds itself.  We walk away from an encounter processing and we usually make a decision if there will be any future reaching out to the person.  Are they similar to us in attitudes or beliefs?  Did we find them interesting or intimidating?  Often we will get in our cars and we may say to our mate, "I really liked them, maybe we should get together."  Or we might say, "don't even think about it!"  However, when relationships grow they evolve through relational processes.  We move from the first meeting to a second meeting where to get to know them at a deeper level.  If it all goes well true friendships follow.  One of the signs for me of real friendship is the comfort level of the friendship.  Am I comfortable with the person or is it just tolerable?  I think one of the deeper levels of friendship is humor.  How much do we laugh together?  I don't mean social or party laughter, I mean real enjoying each other's company laughter.  The better the friend, the more the laughter!  Oh, I know true friends also share pain and disappointment.  That is a part of real relationships too.  But I'm talking about healthy laughing and joy!  Who do you laugh with?  Certainly your personality has a lot to do with it.  It seems to me that the freer and happier a person is with their own identity, the freer and happier they are with others.  Those kinds of folks are fun to be around.  I have found in the last decade or so that Jesus is much more like that than I first thought.  He is my Savior, my Lord, my Healer and my Deliverer.  Yes, I'm not taking away from that but He is also my Friend.  My relationship with Him has come to a place of great joy and laughter!  Yes, I laugh with Jesus!  If you think I need to see a Doctor after hearing that, just leave me alone and let me enjoy! :) Why did it take me so long to learn to laugh with Jesus?  I think it was because I didn't know Him that well.  I knew Him within the religious confines of knowing "God".  He certainly is God!  He is also a joy to be with.  At times I weep in His presence and at times I laugh and rejoice in His presence.  I think one of the reason we enjoy the company of some more than others is that we believe certain people like us more than others.  I have found that Jesus likes me quite a lot!  Oh, yes, he loved me so sacrificially that He gave his life on the cross for me but...He also likes me a lot too!
He likes you a lot too!  The next time you pray or worship, just go ahead and drop the religious walls that keeps you from intimacy with Him and dare to enter into a special place of friendship with him.  As the relationship deepens, before long,  you will find that you too will be laughing with Jesus!

Barking At The Moon!

So much energy is expended complaining about the deterioration of our society.  Oh, don't get me wrong, it bothers me greatly.  I am angered by the Supreme Court striking down laws that citizens have voted into place in various States.  I am bothered greatly when people are penalized for making statements and ordered to take sensitivity training when others can say about anything about a Christian or the Church and it seems it's just fine.  Why, I even remember Jane Fonda in an enemy camp speaking against our Armed Forces and it was legitimized as freedom of speech.  What about us?  What about our freedom of speech?  Truthfully, we are never going to bring much change ranting from our position.  We are a minority and it seems to be shrinking.  The more we become angry and the more we cry out, it seems it only works against us.  What are we to do?  How do we make a difference?  There can be only one answer, "live the Gospel!"

I heard just today that as many as 250,000 people are becoming Christian each week in China.  It seems that the government there is softening a little and it is not because of public outcry or marches in the streets.  Why?  Because society there is seeing that these Believers are better workers and citizens.  That speaks loudly!  I'm not saying that we shouldn't be involved and thank God our system here in the U.S. allows us to be involved, vote and bring influence to bear through our process of government.  However, living the Gospel is much more powerful than demonstrations and outcries.  We must train our people that it is not enough to act like Christians, we must actually live and be what we say we believe out there in the workplace.  When everything seems to be against us we must stop barking at the moon and make a difference through living the Gospel and follow the example Jesus set for us.  

Feelings Are Real

Heb. 4:15 "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin."  

When we read this verse in the King James version it says that our High Priest (Jesus)  is touched by the "feelings of our infirmities".  He is touched or He feels what we feel.  He feels the feelings of our infirmities.  that word "infirmities" or "weaknesses" literally means in the body or the MIND.  As a matter of fact most of our weaknesses originate in the mind or our thought life.  While we strive for perfection in our walk with Jesus, "we hold this treasure in earthen vessels."  While we don't want to give ourselves excuses for not improving, we still need to walk in grace toward others and ourselves. Too many people seem to extend grace and forgiveness externally more than internally.  I believe that the time it takes to forgive oneself says a lot about our level of maturity in Christ.  I'm not talking about cheap grace here.  Grace was terribly expensive, but it was paid in full by Jesus and His efforts, not by ours.  The quicker we forgive ourselves the more we understand the forgiveness of God.  How quickly should we forgive others?  Instantaneously!  How quickly should we forgive ourselves?  Instantaneously!  The "feelings" that we need to take some time to forgive so that the person being forgiven learns their lesson are not feelings of God.  We are playing God trying to "teach them a lesson."  When we delay forgiving ourselves we are in the same way denying the forgiving power of Jesus.  Jesus paid it all!  Certainly, "Godly sorrow brings repentance" but that doesn't have to be a protracted process and certainly not a process brought about by human works.  Forgiveness is a miraculous act of great Grace that comes from Jesus in and through us externally toward others and internally toward ourselves.  While we are talking about feelings, feelings have nothing to do with forgiveness.  Forgiveness is an act on our part, an act of obedience that releases the supernatural power of forgiveness.  Feelings follow obedience and not the other way around.