Mike Fisk & Built with Grace

Remembering the Cube

August 27, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: accepting others weaknesses, forgiveness, Hebrews 2:18, Jesus Christ, patience, remembering the cube, temptation, trust | 3 comments

And now he can help those who are tempted, because he himself suffered and was tempted. Hebrews 2:18 (NCV)

In his book “From Values to Action” author Harry M. Jansen Kraemer Jr. states it is important for each of us to ‘remember the cube.’ His statement is in reference to the importance of leaders to remember what it was like in their career journey. To be reminded of the long days working in the small 4’ X 6’ cubicle where there was little room and no privacy.

A leader who ‘remembers the cube’ will be more likely to understand the struggles of those who they work with. They will be more sensitive to the mistakes, the failures, and the insecurity of the new people on staff.

One of the blessings of our walk with Jesus is that he ‘remembers the cube’ in relation to our own spiritual journey. We are told in several places in the Bible that Jesus was tempted ‘just as we are’. Does that mean that Jesus was tempted to visit inappropriate websites? Of course not, but he was fully God and fully man. That means that, although we don’t like to think of it, he was tempted with feelings of lust. Those temptations didn’t lead to sin, but because he was tempted in that way, he knows our struggle.

It’s easy for those of us that have experienced victory in certain areas of our lives to look down our noses at those who still struggle with the walk. “They’ve been to church; I had a Bible Study with them once. They should know better” isn’t a statement of understanding but of judgment. Jesus didn’t come to judge the world, but to set us free.

While Jansen’s remarks are directed mainly towards those in leadership positions, his words have spiritual merit as well. If we remember our own weaknesses it will be far easier to extend God’s grace to those who continue to fail, continue to struggle and continue to make harmful choices for themselves and others. Does that mean we agree, condone or enable them to continue down their destructive path? Certainly not. But basing our attitude towards their failure on our own weaknesses does much to direct our approach in a more merciful direction.

Jesus Christ was tempted to sin. His temptation wasn’t confined to the wilderness. It was a daily occurrence for him, just as it is for us. Even though he never gave into that temptation, he knows its power and its pull.

Because of that, he understands your struggle, and how easy it could be to fail. He understands mine as well. Temptation isn’t failure, it’s an opportunity for us to grow our character. Every time we resist temptation in our lives our character grows stronger. We can help others grow a stronger, deeper character when we ‘remember the cube.’

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I thank you that you endured the same types of temptation I do so you can better understand my struggle. Empower me to resist the temptations I face through the power of your Holy Spirit. When others harm me, help me to ‘remember the cube.’ In your name, Amen.

Our Prayer for Strength and Peace

August 26, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: abuse, anger, comfort, fear, frustration, Hope, Psalm 29:11, security, storms of life | 9 comments

Pray that our Lord will make us strong and give us peace. Psalm 29:11 (CEV)

Psalm 29 speaks to us, to remind us that storms will come into our lives. Sometimes those storms are the result of our own sin and rebellion. Sometimes the winds of the hurricanes that block our paths are the evil actions of abusive people. Whatever their cause we are assured that it’s not a question of ‘if’ storms come, but ‘when’ and how often.

Storms can be physical such as illness, financial ruin, and destruction of our homes, careers or relationships. Perhaps the toughest, scariest storms are the storms within. Those flashes of lightning that remind us of our failures. Those life-shaking claps of thunder that make us question our ability to go on; that make us question our faith. These are the storms that can make us suffer in silence, or force us away from those who love us most.

Read back through Psalm 29 once more. Take time to reflect on the words of power seen in the words of the Psalmist. Your heavenly Father is pictured as being the most powerful storm ‘nature’ can muster. He shakes the foundation of the world; no one can escape or deny his mighty works.

Then, remember his great love for you today. There will be storms. Ask him to give you strength and courage to weather them. There will be times when life seems to jostle you about like a small boat on a great and windy see. Pray that in the very midst of the storm he will give you peace.

The great preacher/author Charles Spurgeon writes: Dear reader, is not this a noble Psalm to be sung in stormy weather? Can you sing amid the thunder? Will you be able to sing when the last thunders are let loose, and Jesus judges quick and dead? If you are a believer, the last verse is your heritage, and surely that will set you singing.

You oftentimes have no choice as to the storms that will enter your life, but because of Jesus you can choose how they will affect who you are and how you come out on the other side. Jesus Christ came, not only to give you forgiveness and eternal life; he came so that when the storms come you can rely on him to see you through.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I thank you for your grace. I praise you for your forgiveness. But most of all, right now I pray for us as your children. I ask that during this present stormy time of our lives you would grant us the strength and peace we need to endure. In your name, Amen.

True Beauty; True Worship

August 25, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: beauty to God, contemporary worship, dressing for church, Jehovah God, praise and worship, Psalm 29:2, what does God find beautiful, worship | 4 comments

Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Psalm 29:2 (NKJV)

To the preacher/speaker it’s the accolades of those who have heard his/her latest presentation. To the author it’s seeing your work in print, or better yet on the best sellers list. To the builder it’s seeing the superstructure rise to the sky as planned. To the parent it’s watching your child receive that diploma (whether it be for a doctorate or kindergarten graduation). To the young bride it’s coming home to flowers and chocolate from her husband for no apparent reason. To some, it’s the beauty of wildlife living free in the wild, for others it’s the euphoria of the successful hunt.

Each of us, in whatever role of life, has those things that bring us joy. Those things that say “all that hard work was worth it.” It’s paid off.” They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that’s true in so many areas of life. I have friends who love to knit and find beauty and fulfillment in a new scarf or handbag or whatever else you can knit. While I admire their work and ability, to be honest I have a hard time finding the beauty in fancy string (sorry knitters).

On the other hand, the things I find beauty in may not be the things you find beauty in. That’s a part of human nature. We each find beauty in those things we have a special connection to.

So what does God find beauty in? Generally, beauty is found in those things closest to our character. God, Jehovah God, by the very nature of his name tells us what he finds beauty in. The name Jehovah, a name so beautiful, so powerful that the Hebrews dare not even say his name, brings us a picture of mercy, love, power, and wisdom. These are the things that make up our heavenly Father, and they are the things that are beauty to him.

The priests in the OT/NT times wore robes. Beautiful, elegant robes to approach Jehovah. Growing up in the church, I saw certain standards that were to be met to approach God. Men wore suits and ties, women wore dresses. Some pastors wore robes.

Today we have moved beyond that in some circles. Shorts and T-shirts are perfectly appropriate for church goers, although some still hold pastors to a different standard of ties/suits or robes. But does God see beauty in those things? I think not. Our Father is far less concerned about how we adorn the exterior than he is how we dress up our hearts.

We come before him this weekend to worship him for his mercy, love, power and wisdom. Does he see those things in us? Let me vent just a little here. Over the years we’ve fought for position over what kind of ‘worship’ we do. Do we follow a lectionary or experience ‘free worship’? Do we hold to traditional worship or move towards contemporary worship. Do we allow pastors to wear shorts and T-shirts in the pulpit or require they dress more ‘suitably’?

The question isn’t how our worship looks to each other. The question is, is our worship beautiful to God. Worship isn’t one day a week, or a segment of our weekly club meetings. Worship is wearing the character of God in such a way that there is no question of who we belong to. That’s true beauty to God. That’s true worship.

PRAYER: Father, here I am to worship you. I confess my worship has been shallow and surface based. Empower me with your spirit to show the world your beauty. In Jesus name, Amen.

Words that Build

August 24, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: angry, bullying, criticism, Ephesians 4:29, gossip, grace, Jesus, put downs, sarcasm | 5 comments

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Ephesians 4:29

When my son was in High School he loved sports. His favorite sport was basketball. He started playing in 5^th grade and looked forward to basketball season all year long. What he lacked in ability, he made up for in passion. The unfortunate thing in our society is that we place far more emphasis on ability and don’t recognize passion enough.

During his junior year he was fighting for the final spot on the varsity team. He talked with me the night before he was to play a one on one contest with another guy. My son said how every time he went up against this guy he ‘knew he could beat him’ but always seemed to find a way to lose. He was very nervous.

I’m by no means a perfect father or parent. I’ve made plenty of mistakes and overlooked many opportunities to mentor and guide my kids. I’ll admit that what I said next wasn’t thought out well, or planned. We were in the car, driving home in the dark.

“You know,” I said, “Whether you win or lose won’t affect who you are as a person. I love you for who you are, not for your ability. Give it your best shot, but don’t base your self-worth on the points you score or don’t score.”

My son told me that my words would give him even more incentive the next day. He entered the contest with renewed confidence in his ability. The nervousness was gone.

My son lost the contest that day and the chance at a position on varsity. But he won something far greater; he won the assurance that his worth wasn’t based on the scoreboard or the win/loss column. His worth was based on who he was as a person. My words gave him the confidence he needed to enter the battle and the assurance that win or lose, he was valued in the sight of his father.

The same is true for each of us. Society tells us value is measured by ability and success is measured by money, status and power. God’s kingdom tells us otherwise, and our responsibility as Christ-followers is to build value in a person even if their actions are contrary to our comfort level.

Paul reminds the Ephesian believers that every word that comes out of our mouths should have the purpose of building each other up. Anything less is contrary to God’s calling in our lives. At the beginning of this section in his letter, Paul admonishes his readers to ‘live worthy of the calling’ each of us has. Part of that calling is to build one another up by what we say.

Guard your words carefully because everything you say will either build someone up and draw them closer to Jesus, or tear them down and push them away from the only true source of forgiveness and grace. Criticism, sarcasm, angry outbursts, swearing and bullying (adults and children) have no place in the life of a believer and are contrary to our calling.

PRAYER: Father, forgive me for the times my words have attacked your loved ones. May the words of my mouth encourage others and draw them to you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Don’t Leave Me

August 22, 2012 in Uncategorized | Tags: 1 Kings 6:13, abandonment, fear, God, Hope, loneliness, Solomon's temple, trust | 2 comments

I will live among my people Israel in this Temple that you are building, and I will never abandon them. 1 Kings 6:13 (GNT)

There was a story on the news some time back about a man who witnessed a horrific accident. He went to assist the victims. The two passengers were able to be helped from the wreckage, but the driver was trapped and bleeding badly. It was obvious he wasn’t going to make it, but he was conscious. The ‘rescuer’ knelt beside him.

The driver told him he wasn’t going to make it but asked the ‘rescuer’ to stay with him. Over the next several minutes, as sirens grew louder the two had a short conversation. The driver asked him to say good bye to his family and the two talked briefly about life until the driver breathed his last breath.

There are times when people isolate themselves from others because the pain people have inflicted on them cause them to withdraw, but in reality none of us want ever to be alone. This is especially true during the crisis times of our lives.

Bearing the pain of divorce is much easier if we have just one of two friends who will help us through the battle. Health concerns, financial setbacks, career changes and a plethora of other events in life can drag us down, but having someone we can count on to sit with us through it all makes all the difference in the world.

The sad fact is, it’s hard to find someone who will always be there when we face crisis. Friends may give us some relief, but they have their own lives, or they move away. Perhaps the most painful wound is when family rejects us. A friend of mine recently went through a messy divorce. He was the first one in his family to be divorced and in the midst of his pain, shame and guilt he turned to his family for support to get through the pain, but he got none. His family was to embarrassed by his failure to see the pain. When family members leave you and friends abandon you, what’s left? Who will pick up the pieces and help you put them back together?

When Solomon was building the temple, the Lord God of Israel made a promise. This temple would be his dwelling place. The people of God would know two things. They would know where God lived, and they would know he was there for them.

Thousands of years later the Apostle Paul writes “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? (1 Corinthians 3:16) What a great reminder to us during those times when crisis faces us and we’ve nowhere else to turn. Our creator God lives with us. He will never leave us, never let us down, never be too busy to hear us, and never overlook our pain.

That’s a promise each of us can cling to when life gets harsh; when we want to give up; when we aren’t sure we can go on. Invite him in to those darkest hallways of your existence. He will never ever leave you or judge you. He only wants to show you his love, comfort and forgiveness.

PRAYER: Father, it seems like during the darkest times of my life, when I’ve needed someone the most, no one is there. Some have tried, but they don’t really understand me. I thank you for loving me, understanding me and living with me through all of life. Amen.