Power & Self-Control - Num 20

I had a 7th grade math teacher that made the connection for me. Math was math back then and, at my middle school, “applied math” was simply the name of a remedial class offered for those that weren’t testing well with the conventional class structure. Simply practicing the countless computations being worked out on the board in from of the class was not enough. I needed to know how to use what I was learning. I find I’m like that with most things. Buying a camera that’s a bit more than a simple point & click doesn’t make me more than amateur photographer. I have to dig into the 500 year relationship between aperture and shutter speed if I want to be looking at pictures better than the ones on my old Nokia flip phone with it’s impressive 2 megapixel camera. So it is with power. Any power. From leadership and the power of influence to the power of the human body found in mastering the martial arts, simply acquiring power is not enough. It is essential, whether one receives power by way of title or strenuous work, that the ability to use power properly is developed to match the sum of the power that has been given. This is where this talk about power begins to sound a bit like a Marvel super hero movie. When you possess significant power of any type, a seemingly insignificant slip-up or mis-use of that power will find you on your knees begging, “teach me how to control this power of mine.” And rightfully so because most powers, unbridled, will control you instead. Like Spiderman turned Venom, you’ll find the power you once possessed now possesses you or that you become so obsessed with being powerful that the level to which you abuse your power reaches new heights moment by moment.

Before you renounce your desire for power of any type, take comfort that there is a power above all powers. His name is Jesus. And He’s faithful to give us what we need to fulfill His purposes for the powers He provides. The Bible tells us clearly what it takes and likewise God gives it freely. In Acts 1:8 Jesus advised His disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit comes. Galatians 5:23 informs us also that one of the fruits of the Spirit is self control. And it is this relationship between power and self-control that is either exemplified or disregarded in every story, Biblical or historic, in which power is either used for good or abused to man’s detriment. Moses himself had the power to summon gushing water from dry rocks in the desert. He abused this power with a show of anger when He struck the rock God had told him to speak to. Though water gushed, it was this abuse of power that prevented Moses from entering the promise Land. You see, it’s not the power that we need to learn to control. It’s us. If a leader practices self-control, their power of influence will be maximized in those they lead. If a black belt martial artist practices self control, he will defeat his opponent with strategically precise blows. We’ve all watched as a powerful kid in the school yard lost all self control in a tussle, and received an embarrassing beating in front of his peers or as an influential leader, failed to control themselves personally, humiliated their organization and brought corporate demise. Self-control is a subtle power at the helm of a great ship, capable of steering the whole vessel. This is “Applied Self Control 101”. Welcome to class. We’ve all been taught that we should have self-control but, without specific application, teachings on the subject can feel more like someone telling you to turn down a really great song. But apply self-control to any sort power, big or small, and you’ve got the secret sauce. So lets pray and work to this end: that this vital fruit of the Spirit, self-control, would be developed in us. An And that this discipline would unlock the powers availed to us through the Holy Spirit, influence, and otherwise.

Teach Me To Do... Psalm 143

I’ve always had this nagging suspicion that God, being the Good Father that He is, isn’t entertained by a cruel school-yard game of keep away from Brian and thus hasn’t encrypted His will for my life with complicated mind-games and nearly impossible challenges. I tend to believe that my struggle to know the will of God has been more of a seeing the trees for the forest kind of issue. That is, that the Creator who breathed into existence all the vast complexities of this universe, has bestowed upon each us such a simple purpose, which in our rigorous efforts to discover, we often dismiss like a candy wrapper for the candy within. Though we deeply desire it, and once held it in our very own hands, it now lies waiting patiently in a rubbish bin while we obliviously search near and far for something much more fantastic. It’s not vanity or selfishness on our part, which determines that God’s will for our lives must be somehow glorious. It’s more like a young baseball player convinced he’s ready for the fast-balls of the major league. We’re engaging the wrong struggle. Discovering the will of God shouldn’t be an epic challenge like finding some hidden ancient treasure. So don’t focus on the search for so much as the fulfilling of God purpose as this is where you should feel stretched the most and subsequently where you’ll experience the growth. I think that’s why the Psalmist uses language like “Make me know…” and “Teach me to do your will…” rather than “Let me know and I will do your will.” God’s good and perfect plan isn’t elusive. Although we often need him to tune our focus to see it in it’s simplicity, it’s more the doing, which requires discipline and perseverance, that we’ll need some help with. So pray this day, like the Psalmist, Lord, make me know and teach me to do your will. Amen 

Vibrant & Overflowing - Mark 4

I have mixed emotions as I look at the beds of Vinca we planted earlier this year. The one bed, vibrant and overflowing with colorful blossoms is within the flow of our everyday lives and, as such, has been weeded faithfully while the other bed some fifty feet away, is lush with weeds and boasts no more than a puny blossom or two. I can imagine if Jesus we're walking by, he might gather up a crowd and give His Mark 4 talk, motioning to each of my flower beds as he describes the four soils, charging each of us to maintain good soil and produce fruit thirty, sixty and a hundredfold. Pretty clear cut, but the problem is that we often apply the parable to the planting alone rather than to the constant gardening required to yield this sort of outcome. So let's weed the soil of our hearts regularly, tearing from it, roots and all, the "cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and desires" so that our lives may be vibrant and overflowing. 

Stop Fighting The Current – Proverbs 3

So there’s this sign posted at like every public beach access. If you’re caught in a rip current, knowing this simple plan can save your life and get you back to the beach. I love how so many patterns and principals in nature present Gods way with such clear perspective. But of course, He designed it that way. Doesn’t it sometimes feel like you’re swimming against a strong current and making no headway. While on the surface, the waves appear to be lapping the shoreline like normal and up and down the beach you see folks paddling in with ease, but paddle as you may, you’re no closer to dry sand, increasingly exhausted and barely keeping your head above the water as the, once beautiful surf, now gnarls it’s teeth at you’re bobbing head. If you’ve ever been trapped in a nasty current in life or at sea, you know this dramatic description is an understatement. But, if in the water, you’ve every tried the straightforward strategy described on this sign, you’ve likely become confident  enough not to panic in a common rip current situation. Chances are you even paddle back out for more waves, experiencing several effortless rip current escapes in a single day. This is not because you’ve become some super swimmer, but instead because you’ve tapped in to the power of employing the right strategy. We try so hard to wrap our minds around a winning strategy for life, a worthy endeavor. Proverbs 3 is like the rip current sign for life. It exhorts us not to trust our own understanding too much but instead to always look to God and He’ll provide the straight way to where we need to be going. So good news! We can stop depleting ourselves  physically, mentally and emotionally battling the rip currents of our lives and just trust it all to the one who founded the earth and established the heavens, who broke open the deep and dropped down dew from the clouds. In Him we can find life for our souls, security in our walk and  freedom from fear and confidently inherit the favor and honor that comes with trusting Him.

Freedom In Surrender - Matthew 19

I find, in the paradoxical teachings and actions of Christ, a sort of intellectual hook. Teachings like the first shall be last, losing your life to save it and so forth hit me much like the edgy questions brilliant professors will often pose in order to challenge students to think beyond their current understanding. So it makes sense that Jesus would use some of this seemingly self contradictory rhetoric in answering this rich young ruler with his moral swagger and rabbinical intellect. He'd lived well by the law, a ruler of religion and was extremely wealthy to boot, yet he himself sensed there was still something missing if he was to obtain eternal life. Jesus gave him a quick look in the mirror by suggesting the impossible. Keep all the commandments. Jesus acknowledged in the same breath that only He is good enough to do that. Still the young man couldn't or wouldn't look deep enough within to see his own folly so Jesus, welling up with love for the young man and the sincerity of his quest, give's it to him as an action step. Surrender your possessions. That's clear enough but turns out to be the one thing the young man could not bring himself to do. While it's great to own many things, it's to your destruction if those many things own you. And so it was with this rich young ruler who had wealth of possessions and so much going for him, yet would not fully surrender. He could have walked away that day richer than ever, full of joy, free and heaven bound but instead he left destitute, with a dark sadness, captive to his countless possessions and still not possessing eternal life.  Let that be a lesson to us, that in Christ, the answer to all of life's problems, the discovery of the missing pieces, the power to overcome the most daunting obstacles and the freedom to live the life we were created to live will always be found in surrender. Remember always that when we surrender our will, we discover how infinitely better His will is and how perfect His plans and his timing. When we surrender our pride and our superficial shortcomings, we experience His power and ultimately the assurance of who we are in Him, so far superior to our meager ideals. And when we surrender whatever dominates our time, our attention and treasures, we find true freedom to live!

Diet & Exercise - Psalm 119

Drilling down on Psalm 119:11, I have to ask the question, “How can ‘hiding God’s word in our heart’ keep us from sinning?” I threw this one out for discussion last night at the dinner table and my 9 year old quickly guided the conversation through the three temptations of Christ in the wilderness and his scriptural response to each. First was the temptation, in his immense hunger, to turn a stone into bread, to which he quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 “…man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Then, [mis]quoting scripture himself, Satan  tempted Jesus to throw Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple and command His angels to rescue Him. Jesus retorted, again from Deuteronomy, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” The final of the recorded temptation here was to fall down and worship Satan with the promise that all the kingdoms of the world would be His. “They already were His!” my kid points out. Again, responding with God breathed words straight out the Deuteronomy, “Worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.” And Satan took his worthless toys and went home crying. Now we have the same arsenal of scripture and same powerful Spirit within us to battle just the same. John 14:26 tells us that the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, the Helper will remind us of what we’ve been taught. If we’re faithful to a diet of God’s word, which He promises will never return void but will always do what He meant for it to do, then right when we need it, and every time we need it, the Spirit of God within us will reference what we’ve hidden in our hearts and use it to keep us from sinning, to rebuke, teach and edify. And like exercise, the more we listen to these spiritual nudges of scripture from within, the more readily available they’ll become and the better we’ll hear them.

Consider His Love - Psalm 107

Just take a second today to consider His love. No matter how far we've gone or for how long, God's steadfast love transcends our capacity for sin and suffering. Whether we're wandering through wastelands, sitting in darkness or, just because of pure foolishness, have found ourselves staggering at wits end, we ARE the redeemed! And His redemptive power in our lives knows no bounds! We just need to speak up: "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so..." And sure enough, He's faithful to hear our cry, lead us who are wandering,  deliver us from darkness and heal us from the affliction of sin. Let's choose to be wiser than wicked and consider His love so resolute.