A Static Cling Relationship with God

"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him."~Deuteronomy 13:4

Have you ever had the embarrassing experience of walking out in public with a dryer sheet hanging to your nicely pleated pants? Ever pulled your favorite shirt out of the dryer only to discover that one of your kid's socks was adhered to the back? Such is the joy of static cling.

Crazy as it sounds, God desires for our relationship with Him to be something akin to static cling. He desires for us to "stick" close to Him...so close that we hear His voice as we stay in step with Him throughout the journey of life. He desires for us to "cling" to His Word, for it will be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. (Psalm 119:105) If we will "cling" to the Lord, our God, we will surely come to reverence Him for who He is and hide His word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him. (Psalm 119:11)

Our passage from Deuteronomy is only one of many Scriptures that share this idea of "clinging" to God. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 63:8, "My soul clings to You;Your right hand upholds me." This passage brings up images of my children clinging to me when they're scared, insecure or just needing some loving. I believe God has this in mind for us as well.

The roads we travel in life can sometimes be scarry. They can be uncertain. Sometimes they can be immensely gratifying and at other times quite mundane. Sometimes God seems so close that we can feel the strength of His presence next to us. Sometimes we wonder if we're holding on to anything at all! But in all situations we can take comfort that God is closer than we think. In the words of Paul, "The Lord is near," and He desires for us to "cling" to Him that we might find that our source of life and living truly is found in relationship with Him.

In the good times it will keep us from becoming boastful and arrogant of our own abilities to manufacture the "good life." In the bad times it will keep us from despair, knowing that our Father in heaven knows how to care for His own. In the mundane times it will keep us from straying from the path of God onto rabbit trails that will lead us away from God. At all times, it will provide our lives with purpose and our hearts with the assurance that we're not alone.

Be encouraged friend. God is near. And don't be afraid to be "clingy" with Him.

Shalom,

Pastor Jeremy

Ministers of Reconciliation

"Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." (2 Cor. 5:18-19 NASB)

I truly believe in these two verses we find the heart of the gospel and the heart of God's identity and character. The word reconcile or reconciliation essentially means "re-establishing relationship." Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, the relationship between God and man was reconciled. The sin that had started in the garden was anulled and now we have not only forgiveness in Christ, but full access to God. As Paul writes elsewhere in the New Testament, "The Lord is near." This is the word of reconciliation that began in Jesus' proclamation: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." (Matt. 3:2 NASB) A way has been made for the re-establishment of the relationship between God and man. "This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes." (Psalm 118:23 NASB)

However, the work of reconciliation did not end at the cross, or even at the empty tomb. It continues today through the work of everyday, ordinary people. The Kingdom of God advances in the world today through the Church of Jesus Christ as it has for the last 2000 years since Christ was walking the earth physically. We have gone forth into all nations, yet there remains a people group to which the "keys of the Kingdom of God" have been withheld. They, for the most part, have had the "key of knowledge" withdrawn so that they might not enter in the gates of the Good Shepherd's fold.

The people group to which I am referring is that of the community of men and women with physical or mental handicaps. Their numbers are growing at an alarming rate, yet the Church of Jesus Christ as a whole has not opened our doors to them. The percentage of children born with Autism has grown to 1 in 150 children and truly has reached epidemic status, yet if one were to survey the number of churches who had a special needs ministry and/or class we would likely find the number to be more like 1 in 150,000. Couple this with the general prevailing attitude towards families with special needs children and you find that they are not only isolated from Christian community, but they are isolated from Christ.

We must do better. We as ministers of reconciliation must take initiative to elliminate those barriers which Christ has destroyed by His death, resurrection and ascension, "for you are all one in Christ." We must take the news that "God was in Christ" reconciling the world to Himself. We must bind up their hearts with the earth shattering news that God did not cause their children to be born with disabilities, but He can cause good to come out of it. We must share that the character of Jesus Christ and His ministry contained in the words of Luke 4:18-19:

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord."

This is a word of reconciliation that must be worked out in the lives of those to whom the Kingdom of God must go...

Shalom my friends,

Pastor Jeremy

What Jesus Couldn't Do

"Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed...And the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick." Luke 5:15-17

Here we find an amazing look at the pattern of renewal in the life of Jesus. This pattern is essential for us to comprehend and apply in our lives if we desire to be of use in the Kingdom of God both individually and corporately as the Bride of Christ. In the example of Jesus we find His ability to strike an amazing blend between being with the crowds and being alone.

And in many ways we see a fluid connection between major events in Jesus' life and time spent apart from the pressing demands of His ministry. We're told in the gospels that before Jesus chose His twelve disciples He spent the night alone in prayer. In our passage in Luke we find that the crowds had pressed in upon Him to hear Him teach and to be healed of their sicknesses. His popularity was such that news was spreading all over the region. The words of Mark 1:45 confirm this when they state:

"As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in the lonely places. Yet the people still came to Him from everywhere."

What is interesting here for me is that our text from Luke does not share that Jesus responded to His popularity by increasing His activity. He didn't take the mindset of "If I'm gaining this by working 50 hours a week, imagine what will happen if I work 70 hours a week!" Quite the opposite really. Luke 5:16 tells us,

"Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed."

Time alone before God was a spiritual discipline so important to Jesus that He purposefully chose to leave the crowds of His life. He couldn't neglect it and neither can we. In fact, I'm convinced that it was essential for His effectiveness in ministry. Luke 5:17 tells us that:

"...the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick."

This is an amazing passage for me. For Luke to comment that the power of the Lord was present makes me wonder if there were times when the power of the Lord wasn't present for Jesus to heal the sick. And if so, what were the conditions? We know from Scripture that Jesus could not do many miracles in Nazareth because of their lack of faith, but:

I think we can reason from personal experience that there are times when we are ineffective spiritually because of over-exertion and lack of time spent alone with God.

I think Jesus understood this to be true and I think if we're honest, we know this to be true as well. For those who are serious about living the holy life, the practice of "solitude" is essential for spiritual health and well-being. If we can't find time to do so, we must subtract something from our lives in order to do so. To ignore this is to do so at our own risk.

If we don't get away from the crowds and get alone with God we will find our joy for living and spiritual things going away. Service in the Kingdom will seem as a duty instead of an overflow of thanksgiving. And ultimately, your passion for God will burn out.

Friends, lets learn a lesson from Jesus' example, let's make it a practice to get away and pray.

Shalom my friends,

Pastor Jeremy

Getting more out of life without living to get more...

"Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don't have." (Ecclesiastes 6:9 NLT)

"...godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment." (1 Tim. 6:21 NASB)

Contentment. Enjoying what we have without comparison to neighbors, friends, co-workers, or family. It would seem that that this disposition of the heart and mind would allow a person to truly experience rest and peace in the midst of daily living.

There are many people today who are weary and heavy burdened simply because enough is never enough. I once heard someone say that its not the having that drives them, but the pursuit of the possibilities of what they don't have. Much of today's marketing employs something similar to this testimony. Businesses today work tirelessly to make you dissatisfied with what you have in order for you to lust after their new and improved products.

Oh how Jesus longs to give us rest and peace if only we would forsake our envy, lust and pride. I believe that much of the fracturing of social institutions like the family and marriage would cease if we would merely learn to be content.

Solomon continually drives this point home. In fact, in chapter 5, verses 19-20 of Ecclesiastes Solomon has this to say:

"To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life--this is indeed a gift from God. People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reasons for joy." (NLT)

Solomon approaches this from many different angles throughout this book of wisdom--health, family, stress, but ultimately the message boils down to this:

Be Content

Enjoy the life that God has given you. Eat, drink, enjoy the company of good friends. Put your all into the work your hands find to do and in your effort, find enjoyment. The Apostle Paul even instructs his apprentice Timothy that apart from contentment, even a life of godliness won't seem to be enough. Yet when accompanied by a satisfied heart and mind, a life of holiness truly brings life to our spirits.

So I guess if we truly want to find satisfaction in life we don't have to look anywhere else than to what God has already blessed us with. In the end, this is the only way to get more out of life without living to get more...

Shalom my friends,

Pastor Jeremy

What really counts in life...

I have found in life that there are so many options, so many opinions, so many theories & postulations that we oftentimes find ourselves adrift in the sea of diversity. One only has to look down the cereal aisle at the grocery store to become overwhelmed by variety and variance. While I can choose with expediency and lack of concern in terms of breakfast cereals, I dare not practice such reckless relativity in terms of my spiritual convictions.

Ours is a world that thrives on buzz words and catch phrases. Many of them are indicative of our time: relativism, diversity, situational ethics, tolerance. All fit nicely into the package of postmodern thought. And while each brand of moral/spiritual cereal may offer a "new and improved" slogan, as well as a fancy toy, what we oftentimes experience in taste tends to lack flavor and leaves us hungering for something else to fill our emptiness.

I must confess that the only thing that has filled that emptiness is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Yes, I am a Christian. I am a Christ-follower. I am a follower of the Way...His way, His truth and the life I experience is nothing short of the by-product of living His way and living by His truth.

Yet I must confess that the more I walk with the Lord, the more I truly see that Christianity is not merely a set of beliefs to which I give intellectual or even affectual assent. It is a life-style in which I'm called upon to put my faith into practice. It is a challenge issued for me to live out what I truly say I believe in. If I say I want to be like Christ I must by very nature of that decision, make certain that I make every effort to love as He loved and live as He lived.

The Apostle Paul put it this way in the concluding section of Galatians 5:6. He said:

"...the only thing that counts is faith working through love." (NRSV)

The only thing...not many things, not one of innumerable options. The only thing. Ahh. The sound of certainty and experiential objectivity. It would seem to me that what Paul was trying to get across is this:

"If you're truly a Christian others will recognize it by the way you live in love."

It would seem that our faith in Jesus Christ is not real until it's united with how we live out our day to day lives. And therein is the challenge, but perhaps that's part of the grace. If it comes too easy then its too good to be true. We know life isn't easy, but if we express our faith through loving action towards others it can be good.

Shalom my friends,

Pastor Jeremy