Be Patient, Chew, Savor...... Fulfilled

Human beings are curious creatures.  There is an intense desire to understand the human condition, but we have a problem understanding ourselves.  What is it that makes me want to go for a jog one minute and then take a nap the next?  What is it that causes us to be so bad at diets?  All of us, if we are attentive, frequently have thoughts that leave us questioning where that came from.  It is for these reasons that I have a very limited appetite for studies that try to reduce the human condition to percentages and survey results.  These have their place, but numbers can be manipulated to portray many things, especially in an inexact science as human behavior.
My dissatisfaction for scientific study of human thought and emotion is more pronounced because I know there is a better way.  It becomes much harder to return to falsehood when you have tasted truth.  Let's assume that there is a being that knows the every hair on my head currently, George Washington's in 1776, and Jesus' in 25 AD.  It seems this being would be the only one with thorough knowledge of the human condition.  Many know where I am heading here, because Jesus is quoted in Luke 12:7, "Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows".  So there we have it, if you believe the Bible is correct, there is great comfort in knowing that there is a God that fully understands this web of statistical improbabilities.  This is inconceivable, we can't even fully understand the motivations of ourselves, and we have lived with and as ourselves for many years.  The thought of us understanding another and our connection with them is unfathomable without God.
If becomes even more encouraging when we analyze John 16:13.  In this passage, Jesus is describing how the apostles will be better off without Him.  He is sending them something even better, the Holy Spirit to live within them, who is fully divine.  Verse 13 says, "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come".  This is rather intense.  God has sent the Holy Spirit, fully divine, all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever present to live within us.  As we learn in John 14:16-17: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you".  Pretty remarkable.
I do not want to claim that we should discard all survey results and all psychological and sociological research, but this should be significantly secondary to scripture and prayer.  Prayer is powerful, Jesus retreated to do it often.  Scripture is powerful, Jesus and the apostles knew it well, quoting it often to rebuke, and to present Jesus' fulfillment of the messianic prophecies.  Yet the Pharisees knew the Scriptures well also, and Jesus' words for them were harsh.  Scripture alone cannot do it, approach the Scriptures with a humble heart, an open mind, and a prayerful disposition.  This process will not be instant; it isn't coffee, a google search, or an iPhone.  Be patient, get somewhere quiet, chew on the Scriptures, and savor them.  The gratification may not be immediate; sometimes it will, but many aspects of Christianity cannot be embraced without deferring gratification until later.  Be patient, and watch your time with God's Word become the best part of your day.

Sickness

I am incredibly, incredibly, incredibly sick. Not an on my death bed, coughing, wheezing, running a fever sick. Although my feeble body succombs to these maladies as well, there is a much deeper illness that plagues me. From my knowledge of others, I know I am not alone in my disease, this disease does not afflict a portion of the population, its affliction rate is 100%. This gruesome disease is a disease of the heart. We all have it. We all want to do good, but we have a pervasive inclination towards bad. I want to think of others ahead of myself at all times, but I can't. I do not want to lust anymore, but it doesn't happen. I want to serve others with the majority of my time, but I get cranky, tired, and simply selfish. This disease is bad news.

Throughout time, man, to some degree, has recognized this disease. We realize our meager existence as beings that are extremely complex yet o' so small. We realize there are things we ought to do yet can't do all the time no matter how hard we try. We realize we long for something beyond this world. We realize we long to worship something greater than ourselves.

In response, religions spring forth. Belief systems that seek to address the big questions. Where did we come from? Where are we going? What is good? What deserves my worship? Our mere knowledge that we need to ask and answer these questions is fascinating. The questions themselves are evidence that there are answers. If I evolved from a few chemicals, why in the world would I develop a longing to answers questions about something that does not exist? I long for food and there is food. I long for sleep and there is sleep. I long for a God, I think there must be a God.

If we are going to reach truth, I believe this is where we must start. We have to wrestle with the realities that we like to hide under the bed. This universe had an origin, and the odds, through scientific discovery, are becoming increasingly greater that it wasn't a coincidence. There must, in my opinion, be a higher being. This is not something simple to say. If there is truly a being that created this world, pitiful me if I do not treat the seeking of the truth about this being with great importance.

I encourage all to engage in a thorough search of the answers to these big questions. But be certain to not put any rules in place. One cannot say, "I will not consider Islam because I cannot adhere to a religion through which murderers justify their actions," or, "I will not consider Christianity because I had a bad experience when I was young." The adherents cannot speak completely for the god. If there is truly a being that exists that is big enough to create this world, this being cannot be properly represented by human beings like you and me. No stone can be left unturned. Only one set of beliefs can be right. There cannot be one God and 300 million gods. Engage in a proper search, nothing is more important.

I will throw in my two cents. I believe that the true God is the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He sent His only son to die on a cross for our sins. Yes, the God of Christianity.

There are many reasons. First among them: no religion properly deals with the sickness we all have like Christianity does. Let's take a bird's eye view of our existence. Here's what I think we can know. We know that we live in a ridiculously complex world. This world is in an even more unbelievable, vast universe. More incredibly, in this vast universe, on the planet earth, are these extremely complex beings. Not just humans-- birds, fish, trees, bushes, grass, vegetables, livestock, lions. It's really all incredible. I know for a fact, I didn't create this place, neither did anyone with all the same attributes as me. It had to be someone with incredible power, someone far beyond humans. If this being exists, it deserves ALL of our worship. Lebron James doesn't deserve it, neither does Brad Pitt, or President Obama.

Once we realize that there is a being that created this place and is inconceivably vast and powerful, we begin to look like scum real quick. This is where the work of Jesus Christ becomes key. There is no way we should be able to interact with this being or please this being on our own accord. Judging by this creation, this being must be all that is good. Which means, it should not accept anything that is bad. There is something like a debt that is owed to this being. If all of this is true, humankind has been stockpiling I-owe-yous to this being since the beginning of time. This is where we have to wrestle with the person of Jesus Christ.

There are both Jewish and Roman historic accounts of the person of Jesus. He certainly existed. Many try to write Him off as a great teacher or prophet. Get into a study of religion to test this out. It gets real dangerous, however, when we try to do this. Jesus gave us no room to hold Him as simply a great teacher or prophet--He said things such as:

Mark 14:60-62 (ESV)

⁶⁰And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, "Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?" ⁶¹But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" ⁶²And Jesus said, "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."
Matthew 26:63-64 (ESV)
⁶³ But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, "I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God." ⁶⁴Jesus said to him, "You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven."
Luke 22:67-70 (ESV)
⁶⁷ "If you are the Christ, tell us." But he said to them, "If I tell you, you will not believe, ⁶⁸and if I ask you, you will not answer. ⁶⁹But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God." ⁷⁰So they all said, "Are you the Son of God, then?" And he said to them, "You say that I am."


These are the three accounts of Jesus before His accusers prior to heading to the cross. If you asked me if I were the Son of God, and I told you I am and that you will see me sitting by God in heaven, I would not be a man to be held as a great teacher or prophet. I would either then be a liar, a lunatic, or the actual Son of God; as C.S. Lewis so wisely points out in Mere Christianity. Jesus did not want to give us room to hold him as a mere teacher, so we must make a decision. Either hate Him or love Him, there must not be any in between.  


It is this that is so compelling about Christianity. First, it is the only religion that properly points out that we have a massive debt to the Creator and the only religion that provides a remedy, and o' what a beautiful remedy it is. 


God orchestrates His story in a way that we may verify the facts. It is all historical, a person's quest to discover the truth about Jesus is the most monumental of all journeys. Do not read one source and think you have found out all you need to know. 


Learning of the person of Jesus is a lifelong task, there is a lot of trash out there about Him; an author that doesn't regard Him as either Lord, a liar, or a lunatic, should not be considered. I believe you will find author's calling Him a liar or a lunatic are appalling, which will leave you with only one choice. Do not fall for any of the soft talk about Jesus. Do not read the works of men that have piggybacked Him and like to take bits and pieces of Jesus in hopes of broadening their audience. Either take all of Him or none of Him, just taking a nibble is insulting.

Send Me

Make me Yours, o LORD.
Purely Yours.

My heart must pant for Your brooks.
My skin must long for Your touch.

Leave me satisfied with nothing else.
You must do it.
My heart will betray me.
I am only a man.
You have equipped me to do much,
But how desperately I need Your touch.
Your gentle direction.
The divine roapmap.
I don't need the map.
I simply must know You are reading it to me.
Make me quick to thank;
Quick to repent;
Quick to acknowledge that You guide it all.

The world is thirsty for You LORD.
They are ignorant but thirsty.
Transform my heart, so that I may show them the refreshing brook.
I can't do it without You.
I wouldn't want to.

Easy to write but painfully difficult to live.
My heart does want the glory of doing it myself.
Heal this brokenness like only You can LORD.
Send me out,
With basins of Your refreshing love.

Simplicity

It is the simple that I seek.
The simplicity that is unmistakeably You.

Not simple whatsoever,
But simple on the surface, to our eyes.

There is certainly nothing simple about a human body.
Nor anything else that inhabitants this planet.
But it is Your talent to make the complex simple.
So simple that we can forget.
Forget that You are the foundation of it all.
Forget that we are only tenants.
Only extras in the movie titled, "I AM".

Empower me to seek this simplicity.
The simplicity of resting in Your complexity.
Not the complexity of my own simplicity.
Life is not complicated until we try to take the reins.
People are hard to please,
Houses are hard to heat,
Cars are difficult to pay for,
And mouths are difficult to feed,
Only when the reins are in our hands.

It is all in the skill of the one at the helm.

Through You

You can make it happen Lord.
Whatever is Your will.
Do not let the feebleness of me get in the way.
I am weak but You are strong.
Whatever You have me do is great.
Whatever I do on my own is worthless.

Whether it is sport, study, or service,
Shine through.
Do not let me try painting on my own.
I think I can hold the brush and be elegant,
Do not let me forget that You want to create a masterpiece.

The world does not need any more human effort.
Our history books are littered with such.

In the same vein,
Do not allow me to aspire to the etching of my name in those pages.
The Book of Life is where I want the ink spent.
Let it be so.

Lead me down Your path.
Let me find no pleasure in the path carved by human effort.

The touch of the Divine is so sweet.
Have me pant for Your caress.
It is only through You that I desire any rest.

Wherever

O Lord I pant.
I pant for Your Touch
Your undeniable presence in my life.

O how robbed are those who have not felt it.
Lead me along Your Path,
So that I may lead others to the origin of their's in You.

Take me wherever You must.
Geographically, intellectually, or financially.
Do not let the "me" get in the way of You.

Lead me wherever.
Wherever the harvest is plentiful and my sickle is effective.

You have instructed us to go.
May I go where You have prepared.

As I do, may I be strengthened in You.
Becoming the vessel You have created me to be.

The path must lead directly to Your throne room.
It must pull many from the muck,
Dragging them against the will of Satan into the glory of Your presence.

Take me wherever it must be.

Seek Him, Bring Multitudes

Seek Him at all times and to the greatest degree. Bring multitudes to His eternal kingdom.

Most successful organizations (businesses, non-profits, government agencies, religious groups) possess a mission statement. By having a strong and relevant mission statement, all within that organization can pass each decision through the filter that lies within the statement. This is very important for an organization of many people that all seek to pursue one goal harmoniously, it can also be very beneficial for smaller organizations or even individuals. Selecting a mission statement can be delicate because it must be specific enough to clearly define the purpose but also broad enough to be relevant to every decision. Above is the mission statement for my life that was revealed to me by God yesterday. The statement does not redefine my beliefs in any way, but rather gives me a clear and concise filter to pass every decision and action through. Trying to align one's will with God's word and His will can be a gargantuan task, and it is my hope that through this statement I can more easily evaluate my every decision and likewise explain the reasons for my actions and decisions to others with greater ease. By no means do I believe that living by this statement is going to make following Christ easy, learning how to seek God and therefore resultingly leading many to Him should be the lifelong task of any Christian; however, it is comforting to possess a way to quickly test every action or thought.

Everything I have written here during the last two months in some form defines how to pursue the satisfaction of: Seek Him at all times and to the greatest degree. Bring multitudes to His eternal kingdom; therefore, seeking Him and bringing multitudes is clearly complicated. However, there is another way that I have learned to evaluate everything I do: moderate every thought, action, desire, or activity that is not specifically God.

Theory of Moderation

As I move through life and take on new endeavors the more I become convinced that moderation is imperative in all earthly activities. When one thinks of moderation being important he may think of moderating one's alcohol use or moderating one's eating, but I truly believe it is critical to any endeavor. Not exempt from the law of moderation is athletics. In athletics it is very easy to overemphasize a good piece of advice. Tips and advice are great until one begins to focus on them so much that other desired technique is sacrificed. Anyone who has played a sport seriously can probably cite numerous examples when they felt that they had figured the entire game out through emphasizing one aspect of the technique, a heavy dose of humility often follows such thoughts.

An example can be found in golf, the key to golf is repeating the same act over and over again. If one wants to be good, he must turn his body and mind into a machine that is able to consistently repeat the same action. It is beneficial to hit it long and high, but if one can simply hit the same shot consistently he or she will be relatively good at golf. In order to become consistent, it helps to have solid technique. Technique is achieved through drills and tips, but it is very easy to focus on these drills and tips too long and they then become counterproductive. For example, if a teacher instructs one to take the club more inside, this tip may work wonders for him in the short term and one may falsely believe that he has found the secret to golf. Typically, just at the moment one believes that he has found the secret to the game is when he begins to overemphasize this tip and is taking the club too far inside. In order to combat this, one must have other swing thoughts, feelings, or indicators that will reveal when one is beginning to focus too much on one aspect of technique. The key is learning how to use beneficial practices in moderation, because if one were to focus too long on a particular tip he will soon have a host of other problems. This is why golf and many other technique driven sports can be so frustrating, much like life.

As most have probably learned, no one piece of advice is key to making one successful by itself. Analysis of one's self is critical but only beneficial if the goal of such analysis is moderation in every activity and action. It doesn't matter if one is doing a good thing, such as practicing a presently beneficial golf tip, if he does a good thing too much the result will be overemphasis and the encroachment of this thing into other areas of his life. In life, there are certain tightropes one must walk in order to live successfully. On each side of these tightropes lies areas in which one would either be focusing or trying too hard and on the other side an area where one would not be trying hard enough. As I have written before, one can easily fall off the tightrope of love. Without God's template for loving others, it is easy to either tie too much of one's emotions to the love of others, or evoke too little love for others in fear of either getting hurt or simply as a result of indifference and selfishness. Through heightened awareness of God's love for us, we begin to more easily love others as God wishes; this will not happen over night but through the aid of God we are given a steadying hand and a lamp to guide our feet along the tightrope. We are no longer learning to love others in darkness through trial and error or through mimicking the example media provides, but we are following the path of the Understander of All.

This Understander of All is also the outlier in my theory of moderation. I am sure others have theorized extensively on the benefits of moderation, but my awareness of the imperative nature of moderation has come through observing my own desires and actions. As I move through these endeavors, it is amazing to use life as a laboratory for testing this theory. No matter what the area of my earthly life, I always find that it is beneficial to act in moderation, this never fails. There is only one point of focus that is worth focusing upon with all of our being, this point of focus is God. One can never have too much God in their life; I know this sounds very cliche, but if one is to examine their own life, I believe they would agree that nothing earthly is ever beneficial in large quantities. Expensive and exquisite vacations are fun in the short term, but when the fun is over it is very easy to feel more empty afterwards than before. Water, the most plentiful and necessary resource on earth, can even be harmful in excess. However, God is the creator of all that is good, one can never have too much God, one can have too much studying, too much work, too much leisure time (all good things in moderation), but one cannot have too much God. I can not fully explain it, my only explanation is that God desired to wire us this way. He indwelt us with this sense of longing that is only fulfilled by Him and made it so that nothing other than pursuing Him would bring eternal satisfaction.

I know many are sceptical of the statements such as the previous, but as I move through life I become more adamantly convinced of it: it is impossible to focus too much on God. If we focus all our attention consistently on Him, He is going to bring unspeakable freedom and peace, and is going to speak through us and to us. I am not saying that we will be consistently happy while in pursuit of Him, because happiness is temporary and God desires to do purifying work in us that will not result in happiness in the present but happiness in the future and eternity.

As a culture we must constantly look upon our lives and be sure too much of our energy is not devoted to one particular earthly activity or desire. If we dedicate the majority of our energy to one activity, it becomes very easy to wrap too much of our pride and self-worth up in this activity. For instance, referencing back to golf--since I spend so much time playing it and the law of moderation works well within it, if I were to practice golf for 8-10 hours a day I would certainly become better technically but I could still be doing harm in regards to my preparation for a competitive round. Mental stability is critical to success in golf and if I were to devote the majority of my waking hours to practicing golf, not leading a balanced life, it would become very easy to try too hard while playing competitively and therefore become easily angered and not play to my potential.

Contrarily, drawing close to God always brings us closer to our potential. If any of us wants to be successful in any endeavor then we must draw close to God. He is the Creator of All, therefore He is the Understander of All. He sees all the angles and can thus lead us down the most direct and unobstructed path to our full potential. If we are going to have our most positive impact in anything we do then we must be led by the hand and Spirit of God. Once again, I can't fully explain it; I can only advise everyone to observe how this theory of moderation works in their own lives and whole heartily pursue God in every endeavor and witness how much more fulfillment He brings to every activity. By turning our every action and thought over to Him, we will be walking down the path He destined for us before we were conceived, we will be exuding the fruits of the Spirit, and will be moving closer to our potential every moment.