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For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fool. Romans 1:21-22
Relationship is an interesting thing. The more one puts into it, the more they get out of it. First of all, we need to define ‘relationship.’ In a relationship, both parties benefit from being together. If only one person’s needs are being met it’s not a relationship. It’s an arrangement.
It’s sad to say, but many marriages never get to the ‘relationship’ stage. As a result one person feels like they give and give and give with nothing in return. Eventually the stress is too much and divorce (either emotional or physical) happens.
The same is true in our spiritual lives with God. Many people believe in God or a god of some sort. But knowing God or about God and being in relationship with God are completely different. Compare it to a physical love relationship.
What does a perfect love relationship look like to you? Don’t you think constantly about the other person? You go to work. You go about the mundane tasks of life. You hang with friends, deliver the kids to soccer practice and fold the laundry. But in the back of your mind there is always that thought of the person you love.
The same is true in our spiritual lives. The God of the universe earnestly desires a passionate love relationship with you. But relationship with God, like any relationship is a two-way street. Our Father God has given everything for us, even his only Son, Jesus. What does he want in return? Our love. Love shown through obedience to the things we know we should do. Love that is shown through avoiding the things we know are wrong.
When love is given and not returned we call it being ungrateful. When we are ungrateful to God for his blessings it makes our hearts insensitive to his desire to draw us to himself. We show ingratitude by compartmentalizing our lives. God is good on Sundays. God is looked to in the face of adversity or severe trial. As one pundit remarked, “When a jetliner is going down, there are no atheists on board!”
The longer we live lives that are ungrateful to God, the more our hearts grow insensitive to God and his leading. Will God still bless us? Sometimes, but those blessings may not satisfy. We can receive outward blessing and still harbor inner turmoil. Turmoil that we seek to fill with other gods like financial security, new ‘relationships’, social action, or religion.
Your Father God in heaven is real. He earnestly desires to have a relationship, not an arrangement with you. Part of that process is showing him living gratitude in your thoughts, words and actions.
PRAYER: Father God. I don’t want to be one of those who never shows my gratitude for all you’ve done for me. Forgive me for following my own way and expecting your blessing when I’m really being ungrateful. Empower me with your Spirit to enter into a passionate love relationship with you. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39
I saw a billboard once advertising a company that boasted that ‘We buy Ugly houses’. The company apparently bought up houses that weren’t in the best of shape and then either fixed them up or resold them.
In essence they took something that no one wanted and made it into something more presentable. They took the unusable and made it useable. They took something of little or no value and make it valuable. I think about that whenever I’m driving through the country side and see old, abandoned farm houses. Places that were once the pride and joy of the owners. Places that saw babies born and grandparents die. Places of celebration and sadness. But whatever the situation, those old ugly homes once had great value and sentiment.
This verse in Romans has always been one of my favorites for in it hold a promise that, at least in Jesus eyes, I’ll never become like one of those old, dilapidated eyesores that once were called ‘home’.
It’s easy to love a new home with fresh paint and warm carpet and shiny windows. It’s not so easy to love an old house that’s strewn with garbage and has holes in the walls, broken windows and signs of little four-legged inhabitants.
In the same way people are easy to love when they are kind, respectful, and show evidence of having had a shower sometime in the recent past. People who are talkative, intelligent and humble are a joy to be around. We all gravitate towards people who make feel comfortable and of great value.
But what about the ugly people? I’m not talking just about physical appearance. I’m talking about inner beauty as well. What about the person that cuts you off in traffic or the one that insists on driving 10 MPH below the posted speed limit? What about the wait-staff at the local restaurant who makes you feel like you are a huge disruption to their day? What about the foul-mouthed co-worker who knows how their language offends you and finds every opportunity to let you hear an earful whenever you are near.
Does Jesus love them? Yep. He does. Not only does he love them. He loves me too. He loves me when I’m angry. He loves me when I’m having a bad day and perfectly willing to share my disposition with all those around me. He loves me when I’m so sure that I’m right that I make you feel like an idiot for disagreeing.
A buyer of an ‘ugly house’ doesn’t see an eyesore, he sees an opportunity to make something useful out of something worthless; something charming out of something repulsive; of making a building into a home.
Jesus does the same for each of us. Jesus looks past our ugliness and sees a treasure, a diamond in the rough. He doesn’t care how you got into the situation you are in. He isn’t interested in your history as much as he is your future. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing you can do to change it.
PRAYER: Jesus, I thank you for your love. I thank you that even though I can be really ugly at times you love me and see me as a chosen vessel in your sight. You see me as a palace when everyone else sees me as an old, useless building. Forgive me for my ugliness. Empower me with your spirit to be one who shows your love through all I say and do. In your name I pray, Amen.
He remembered us in our weakness. His faithful love endures forever. Psalm 136:23 (NLT)
Most of us don’t remember weak people, we remember the strong, the victorious. We admire the athlete who overcomes all odds to cross the finish line first. We applaud the one who endures pain to finish the race or the one with determination that continues to try even when defeat is obvious.
The person who tries to overcome their weakness is sometimes looked on with favor as well. We look kindly on them as they scrape and clutch for every inch as they pull themselves up the rochy muddy walls of the hole they’ve fallen into. Tenacity and determination are qualities we can admire in a person if at least some progress is being made.
But we seldom remember the weak. If we do remember the weak person we remember them with disdain. We question how they got there. Why they don’t seek help? On a rare occasion we may give them some lame words of encouragement, but often those words are condescending and really meant to make us feel better for having tried.
The Psalmist reminds us that our Father remembers us while we are still in our weakness. He doesn’t ask how we got there or why we haven’t tried harder. How we got ourselves into the situations we are in isn’t as important to God as how we will find victory and he knows the only way we can find that victory is through his son Jesus.
Weakness can show itself in many ways. For some of us our weakness shows up in addictions to anger, drugs, sex. For others our weakness shows up on doubt, worry, and fear. Weakness can also show itself in how we feel about ourselves in our relationships. We put ourselves in ‘love’ relationships that are really demeaning because we don’t feel we are worthy of being treated well.
Weakness is seen as a flaw to us humans, but God sees weakness and an opportunity to make us strong. Anyone who has ever worked with wood knows that the strongest part of the wood is the knot. The knots in wood come from injuries that the tree has ‘healed’ and from branches that need the support of the trunk to grow.
Weaknesses in our lives are like knots in wood. They are places and situations in our lives that we can use to make ourselves stronger through faith in Christ and the grace he freely offers us. Don’t let your weaknesses leave you defeated. There is one who wants to take your weaknesses and use them to make you stronger, and that person is Jesus Christ. Jesus never looks down on us for being weak. Jesus welcomes the opportunity to uplift us in the midst of our weakness.
PRAYER: Father God, it seems like everyday I fail myself, you or others in some way. I say things I shouldn’t say. I do things that are hurtful or fail to do things to lift others up. I’m looked down upon and scoffed at for not being able to succeed. Some days I just give up because I don’t feel it’s worth trying anymore. Thank you for loving me in the midst of my failures. Thank you for wanting to help me overcome my weaknesses so I can be strong in you. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11
During the ‘drought-times’ of our lives it is sometimes hard to sense God’s presence. Those times of dryness, when we desperately seek some relief from the stress of life. A little shade would be nice to shield us from the harsh sunlight of the struggle we face. Some refreshing rain, the soft gentle kind that slowly nourishes the soil of our soul would be welcome.
The prophet Isaiah promises us that our God is always there. He promises to satisfy our needs, not our wants. He promises us strength to endure those wilderness times. We are likened to a well watered garden, a garden that gets its refreshment from deep inside our soul as a hidden spring softens the soil in the midst of the hardened wilderness.
So why is it that during those wilderness times we lose sight of God’s guidance? What is it that keeps us from experiencing the refreshment of that inner spring? Why do we seem to wander for days seeking some sign of comfort only to find more stress, more hardness?
First of all we need to remember that Isaiah says the Lord God will guide us always. That’s a statement of faith. He is there always, even when we can’t sense His presence. But His guidance is our choice. He doesn’t force us to follow his way. He doesn’t demand our obedience, He asks for it. The freedom to choose comes with a responsibility to choose according to the things we learn from His word.
Secondly, His promise is to satisfy our needs, not our wants. If we are brutally honest with ourselves we must admit that we are driven by want. What are the things we NEED? The answers will vary from place to place, but in reality we need clothing, shelter and physical nourishment. That’s it. No cell phones on the list. No new cars or fancy homes. No Christmas tree with gifts piled high under the tree. No TV. No video games.
Will God provide those things? Sometimes, but not always. God’s desire is more for our commitment to Him and our desire to show others the way to His Kingdom than He is our comfort. Our place on earth is to show love and forgiveness more than it is to have a healthy retirement account.
Lastly, Isaiah tells us we will go through the sun-scorched wilderness of life. It doesn’t appear that wilderness wanderings are an option. We will not be immune from those places of shade-less, sun-hardened soil. We will be refreshed in the midst of them. The refreshment doesn’t come from the outside (rain, shade, cooler temperatures). The refreshment comes from within. Jesus says He is the living water, water that refreshes, that wells up from deep within. Water that soothes, heals, strengthens us to press on when the going gets tough.
PRAYER: Father God. Right now I’m in a wilderness of stress, anger, and frustration. I confess to you that all too often I’m driven by the God of want and not enjoying the refreshing spring of your provision. Empower me by your Spirit to focus on the things that are truly important such as healthy relationships with you and those around me. Help me to desire you more than anything else. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 