How many mouths are you trying to feed?

The end of the year has finally arrived. Later today the staff of BRWC will gather together and share ministry stories that occurred this year. As we prepare for a new year, we want to begin it in the spirit of gratitude and thanksgiving. Before Jesus fed the 5000 with those five loaves and two fish, he lifted them up to Father and gave thanks. I don’t know about your specific situation today but I am pretty confident that many of you are facing some pretty overwhelming situations as we launch into a new year. Think about it for a minute. Jesus was facing an overwhelming situation: thousands of hungry mouths and only one lunch to feed them with. You know how the story goes, though. Jesus knew that Father wanted to feed them…and if Father wants it to happen, it happens.

We face impossible situations every day and I am finally to the point where I welcome that. I have finally concluded that I would rather be in a situation that is impossible without God than in a situation that is possible because of my own abilities and strength. I find both in my life regularly (you probably do as well) and I love it when God shows up—especially when the situation is impossible if he doesn’t.

As we budget and plan for 2010 I tend to focus on what we need and what we don’t have rather than on the heart of Father. Will we have enough volunteers? Will we have enough money? Will we have a favorable political climate? Will there be enough to go around? My tendency is to look at all the hungry mouths that need to be fed. Is that your tendency as well?

Would you join with me this New Year as I change my view from the hungry mouths to the Father who loves us beyond measure? Let’s lift up all that we have today and ask Him to bless it and use it as he sees fit. I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts on this subject

Father doesn’t need to punish his child for being disobedient

Father doesn’t need to punish his child for being disobedient; the real time result of being disobedient is punishment enough.

If I were to climb to the top of the office roof and jump off, I would experience the consequences of my decision almost immediately. The roof is 3 stories up, about 25 feet from the ground. Ouch! I am fully aware of the principle of gravity. I also know that Jesus is the author and sustainer of that principle. Scripture tells me that he created all things and he holds all things together. I could have prayed that God would suspend gravity for a couple minutes while I jumped off so I could float to the ground gently and avoid pain and injury. I could have prayed all the way down as well. Father, through the Spirit was reminding me of the effects of gravity while I stood on the edge of the roof. He reminded me of them on the way down. He will remind me of them as we spend some time together in the E.R. Upon landing, Father does not say, “I’m going to send him to the woodshed for this.” Instead, he tells me that he loves me and that he is pained by my pain. He lets me know that he will put me back together and in time, he will encourage others not to jump off buildings with my story. Father uses our recovery times to draw us closer to him…closer so that we can hear him more clearly and learn that he desires to lead us along a narrow path…the narrow path. People who disobey Father’s instruction is nothing new to him; it has been happening since the first ones were created. All of us are disobedient regularly and some of us daily. Knowing Father’s heart helps me to understand that the outcomes of my actions provide an opportunity for me to draw closer to him.

"I will make you as white (clean) as the snow"

"Four women......Three with their husbands and one with her mother and father, sat quietly and nervously as the service began. It was supposed to be a celebration...a time to rejoice over the lives of their children. Their journey,begun some eight weeks earlier,was one filled with ups and downs, laughter and tears, fear and courage, loneliness and the amazing discovery of “never-aloneness.” The hurt, loss, they had hidden in their souls years earlier had been revealed...The secret had been surrendered. I watched them all cry, some with a depth of emotion that caused them to tremble. They all spoke of their journey and the way that Father had revealed himself to them along the way. Each one of them had heard Father speak directly to their hearts…they heard him say,“I love you, I always have and I always will.” As I anointed them with the oil of gladness I looked deeply into their eyes. They were full of joy and glimmered through the tears. As I prayed, I heard Father say, “do you see how clean snow really is?” I do know something about snow. Living in Michigan, snow was a major part of my life for over 12 years. But I had never seen snow that white, that clean before. As we ended our time of celebration I charged their men to find the same forgiveness and healing for the secrets in their souls......so that they too could know that Father’s heart is turned absolutely to his children. That is, after all, the Father’s heart."

Father doesn’t reject me because I am disobedient to him.

He looks at my disobedience as an opportunity to build me up. After all, he knew I would be disobedient before I was.

Many of you have fathers that turn their back to you whenever you disappoint them or are disobedient to them. We seem to learn early on that acceptance in the “real world” requires compliance and living up to someone else’s expectations. It continues in marriage and then we model it to our children and the cycle starts all over. Fortunately that isn’t the way of the Father regardless of what you have been taught in Sunday school, church, or bible study. Our Father knows when you are going to be disobedient before you ever are. He offered Jesus for forgiveness of that disobedience before you ever lived it out. Father is the one who is with us always and never leaves us…no matter what. When we are disobedient to him, he knows that the good to come from it will be our change…our conforming to the image of Jesus; if we will allow it.

Obedience to Father simply keeps you on the pathway that he has set before you; it is a momentary decision.

Obedience to Father simply keeps you on the pathway that he has set before you; it is a momentary decision that keeps you close to the one who loves you.

I tend to think of obedience in terms of the long run. If I can be moving in the general direction of obedience to Father, over time I should come out alright. Wrong thinking! Obedience is about the now…the immediate. As I walk with Father he is constantly showing me the pace and direction he is traveling. I must learn to move with him in obedience to the moment. I cannot do that if I think that my relationship with him is dependent upon the few minutes I spend with him at the start of the day. I must learn to walk with him attentively all 1440 minutes of every day. Doing so allows him to adjust my pace and direction. Throw out the books on prayer that tell you to spend more time at the beginning of the day. Grasp the concept of being in constant communication with Father.

Thinking that by being more obedient will give me better standing with the Father is wrong thinking. I am already in right standing with the Father.

Everywhere we turn in life we are being measured. In school our performance is graded and those who perform better are rewarded and recognized. Being the teacher’s pet can be a good thing at times. In the work place those who perform better than the rest are expected to be rewarded for that extra effort. In our homes we treat our children better when they do their chores or give that little extra effort. Likewise, when we perform poorly in any of those environments we learn to expect a little less notoriety. Before too long the average or mediocre learn to accept the fact that they will seldom if ever get any recognition. Those who can’t keep up or fail altogether eventually quit out of hopelessness and they are branded as “losers.” It is the way of the world. Unfortunately, we bring this worldly concept into our relationship with Father. If we can somehow perform better, do more, or be the teacher’s pet we will make him love us more. Heaven forbid we be labeled “losers” by not performing up to standards. Yet today that is exactly how many Christians see themselves. At best they are average and mediocre; stuck in a place where Father will never recognize them. Or at worst, they have a big “L” tattooed on their forehead. Well, I’ve got news for the “successful”, “mediocre”, and “loser”, Wake Up!!!! You’ve got it all wrong. Because of what Jesus has done, the door to Father’s love is open to all of his children. All of us are precious, valuable, and loved. Your performance has nothing to do with how much Father loves you. He has always loved you completely but it took Jesus to open the door so that love could flow to you. As a child of the Father you have all of his love available to you; you are already highly favored.

My relationship with God does not rely on my obedience to him. Jesus is the one who is perfectly obedient.

For 25 years I have struggled with my own disobedience to God’s word. I taught and preached about the need for us to be obedient to God or else… Yet it doesn’t take me long to slip back into disobedience, to screw up once again. I know in my mind that Jesus was perfectly obedient to Father but I have mistakenly thought that he requires nothing less than that from me. When I was chosen for this team, I was given a position to play; a destiny to fulfill. It’s kind of like being drafted to play football in the NFL. I can study the play book for months but during practice I learn how to apply what I have been reading. A good coach will help me recognize that I also have to work on my strength and speed. But the real test isn’t in the classroom or on the practice field. The real test comes in the game. But games are won and lost as we learn the how to’s. Listening to and doing what the coach says isn’t always easy but as we do more of it we play the game better. Obedience is really about listening to Father in the classroom, on the practice field, and in the game. If playing in the NFL required perfect execution by every player on every play or else… it wouldn’t be long before all of the players were sent packing.