I don't get excited about New Year's Day. I don't make New Year's resolutions. That's because, with the Lord, every day is a "New Day." Every New Day offers a fresh start.
We read in Lamentations 3:22-23: "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."
We read in 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Every day holds new opportunities to choose against sin and choose for God. Every day is a New Day.
* If I didn't spend enough time with my kids yesterday - today is a New Day!
* If I didn't love my wife very well yesterday - today is a New Day!
* If I blew my chance to share the gospel with someone yesterday - today is a New Day!
* If I trashed my diet and ate a bunch of junk yesterday - today is a New Day!
"One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:12-13).
Happy New Day!
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Making Peace with our Fears
Fear can be a very negative thing. One can read any of a number of books or articles about various phobias that hurt people's lives. We have all probably experienced some level of irrational, even limiting, fear from time to time. Indeed, this kind of fear is not good, and we should work to overcome it.
In partial contrast, I want to focus a moment on the positive side of fear. I'm not a psychologist, but as a pastor, a husband, a father, and a man who's lived with his own fears a long time, I have a few thoughts I'd like to suggest about why I embrace some of my fears.
I have a fear of letting people down. This leads me to fulfill my obligations, follow through with my promises, and persevere even when I don't feel like completing the task to which I have committed.
I have a fear of hurting my family. This leads me to guard my marriage and not let any other relationship surpass the relationships I have with my wife and my kids. This keeps me from pursuing any of a number of titillating explorations that would cause irreparable damage to my family.
I have a fear of emotionally scarring my children. This leads me to temper my moments of anger and measure my words carefully. This leads me to apologize when I've blown it, and to admit to them that I am not perfect, but I too am growing and learning.
I have a fear of portraying the Lord as anything other than Who He is. This leads me to carefully read the Scriptures and learn all He has revealed about Himself. This guides me to choose carefully the authors I read so I am constantly filling my mind with thoughts that are Scripturally accurate. This causes me to be very careful in how I speak of the Lord to others - to represent Him well. It's not that He needs good P.R., but I absolutely don't want to be guilty of causing anyone to think about Him incorrectly.
Fears can be a good thing. When we make peace with our fears, and see the good side of them, we can accept the good and God-honoring boundaries they provide, then move forward with confidence and joy.
If our fears turn to something dark, we go back to God, and remember many passages like Psalm 56:3-4: "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. ...In God I trust; I shall not be afraid."
In partial contrast, I want to focus a moment on the positive side of fear. I'm not a psychologist, but as a pastor, a husband, a father, and a man who's lived with his own fears a long time, I have a few thoughts I'd like to suggest about why I embrace some of my fears.
My fears balance my impulsive tendencies. Fear of financial damage curbs the tendency toward impulsive spending. Fear of getting a ticket helps keep my driving under control. Fear of "getting caught" weakens the enticing power of many daily temptations.
I have a fear of letting people down. This leads me to fulfill my obligations, follow through with my promises, and persevere even when I don't feel like completing the task to which I have committed.
I have a fear of hurting my family. This leads me to guard my marriage and not let any other relationship surpass the relationships I have with my wife and my kids. This keeps me from pursuing any of a number of titillating explorations that would cause irreparable damage to my family.
I have a fear of emotionally scarring my children. This leads me to temper my moments of anger and measure my words carefully. This leads me to apologize when I've blown it, and to admit to them that I am not perfect, but I too am growing and learning.
I have a fear of portraying the Lord as anything other than Who He is. This leads me to carefully read the Scriptures and learn all He has revealed about Himself. This guides me to choose carefully the authors I read so I am constantly filling my mind with thoughts that are Scripturally accurate. This causes me to be very careful in how I speak of the Lord to others - to represent Him well. It's not that He needs good P.R., but I absolutely don't want to be guilty of causing anyone to think about Him incorrectly.
Fears can be a good thing. When we make peace with our fears, and see the good side of them, we can accept the good and God-honoring boundaries they provide, then move forward with confidence and joy.
If our fears turn to something dark, we go back to God, and remember many passages like Psalm 56:3-4: "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. ...In God I trust; I shall not be afraid."
Monday, January 16, 2012
Laws of Love
God has given us His Word, filled with glimpses of His love and His character. The Bible is a treasure chest filled with endless gems more valuable than anything this world can offer.
Sometimes I hear (or read) people's ideas that the Bible is just a bunch of antiquated lists of things to do or not do. Most of those people express - either explicitly or implicitly - that God is just some kind of cosmic killjoy with rules that don't apply to today's society.
This idea is prevalent outside the church, but I have found shadows of this kind of thinking even inside the church. Sometimes it seems the boundaries God has set for our lives are - well - inconvenient. Sometimes they seem too hard to follow. We may (consciously or subconsciously) even try to pick and choose the things we want to follow and then ignore the rest. Rules feel restrictive, and by nature we tend to want to rebel against them.
Perhaps we need to think a little differently about this altogether. Please allow me illustrate.
I love my children more than I can possibly express. My exuberant four-year-old is obsessed with jumping on furniture, or jumping from the sofa to the floor, or other kinds of daredevil activities. She is unaware of the dangers; she just wants to play. She thinks I am unfair when I tell her not to jump on the furniture or jump down from a high place. Even when she has gotten hurt while doing these things, she still desires them, and pursues them again and again. Because I love her, I keep enforcing the rules - to protect her and to help her grow up to be healthy and strong. We have even purchased her a little exercise trampoline that she can jump on at any time - in hopes she will enjoy jumping on that instead of on the furniture.
We keep these boundaries out of our love for her. The same is true of the boundaries we keep on all three of our children: limits for internet usage, time limits when playing video games, limits on eating sweets, etc. These boundaries are expressions of our love for them and our desire to help them be healthy emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually.
The same is true of the boundaries the Lord sets on our lives. These are expressions of His love for us. If I stay within the boundaries, I will find much joy, safety, and blessing. These are laws of love from my Heavenly Father, and I will do well to follow them with obedience and gratitude.
Within those boundaries there is still much freedom. I take much joy in my time with my wife and children. I enjoy many material blessings (probably too many) He has graciously provided. I have wonderful friendships with many people. I am so blessed! When I spend time enjoying these blessings, I temporarily forget about some of the enticing things that are outside the boundaries.
Adam and Eve were given access to every tree in the Garden of Eden except one. Yet it was the one that drew their attention, and their first step outside of God's boundaries began thousands of years of sin and pain in our world. Likewise, when we step outside God's boundaries, venturing into sin, there will be inevitable pain. Let's stay within God's laws of love and find great joy in all He has given us.
Sometimes I hear (or read) people's ideas that the Bible is just a bunch of antiquated lists of things to do or not do. Most of those people express - either explicitly or implicitly - that God is just some kind of cosmic killjoy with rules that don't apply to today's society.
This idea is prevalent outside the church, but I have found shadows of this kind of thinking even inside the church. Sometimes it seems the boundaries God has set for our lives are - well - inconvenient. Sometimes they seem too hard to follow. We may (consciously or subconsciously) even try to pick and choose the things we want to follow and then ignore the rest. Rules feel restrictive, and by nature we tend to want to rebel against them.
Perhaps we need to think a little differently about this altogether. Please allow me illustrate.
I love my children more than I can possibly express. My exuberant four-year-old is obsessed with jumping on furniture, or jumping from the sofa to the floor, or other kinds of daredevil activities. She is unaware of the dangers; she just wants to play. She thinks I am unfair when I tell her not to jump on the furniture or jump down from a high place. Even when she has gotten hurt while doing these things, she still desires them, and pursues them again and again. Because I love her, I keep enforcing the rules - to protect her and to help her grow up to be healthy and strong. We have even purchased her a little exercise trampoline that she can jump on at any time - in hopes she will enjoy jumping on that instead of on the furniture.
We keep these boundaries out of our love for her. The same is true of the boundaries we keep on all three of our children: limits for internet usage, time limits when playing video games, limits on eating sweets, etc. These boundaries are expressions of our love for them and our desire to help them be healthy emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually.
The same is true of the boundaries the Lord sets on our lives. These are expressions of His love for us. If I stay within the boundaries, I will find much joy, safety, and blessing. These are laws of love from my Heavenly Father, and I will do well to follow them with obedience and gratitude.
Within those boundaries there is still much freedom. I take much joy in my time with my wife and children. I enjoy many material blessings (probably too many) He has graciously provided. I have wonderful friendships with many people. I am so blessed! When I spend time enjoying these blessings, I temporarily forget about some of the enticing things that are outside the boundaries.
Adam and Eve were given access to every tree in the Garden of Eden except one. Yet it was the one that drew their attention, and their first step outside of God's boundaries began thousands of years of sin and pain in our world. Likewise, when we step outside God's boundaries, venturing into sin, there will be inevitable pain. Let's stay within God's laws of love and find great joy in all He has given us.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Free Speech
Today we witnessed a historic ruling by the Supreme Court. It has a very negative side, and a very positive side.
The Court ruled 8-1 that the Westboro Baptist Church is able to say hateful things, put hateful words on signs, and set up demonstrations wherever they want. These actions, the court said, are within their protected rights under our Constitution.
Let me be clear here: I utterly despise what this Westboro group is doing. They should not be using the name "Baptist" or "Church," for by their actions they show that they have no idea about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They live by hatred, and they say and do things that are--frankly--abominable.
But, as we learned today, they have the right to do this, and nobody can stop them.
While this is bad news--I really wish they'd stop their horrible campaigns--there is a very good side to this Court ruling. Please allow me to explain.
For the last fifteen years or more, our society has moved in a direction that has worried me as a pastor and as a believer in Jesus Christ. Our country has drifted toward a viewpoint that it is "wrong" or "intolerant" to tell anyone they're wrong, or that their choices are wrong (or sinful). Segments of our workforce mandate "sensitivity training" so their employees learn not to say anything that might offend a coworker or client.
Frankly, this trend has scared me, as I have envisioned a day when pastors might be pulled out of their pulpits--or even imprisoned--for declaring, loving and biblically, the truths of God. I imagined a time when maybe even the Bible would be banned in this country as "hateful," because it clearly enunciates right and wrong behaviors.
With today's definitive Supreme Court ruling, the pendulum has now swung the other way. We can boldly--though not offensively!--proclaim truth with the same clarity that God's Word declares truth.
While I cringe over the fact that one group of hateful people has been exonerated, and I deeply wish Westboro would cease all of their awful picketing activities, I find that I rest under the same freedoms they enjoy. For these freedoms, I am grateful.
The Court ruled 8-1 that the Westboro Baptist Church is able to say hateful things, put hateful words on signs, and set up demonstrations wherever they want. These actions, the court said, are within their protected rights under our Constitution.
Let me be clear here: I utterly despise what this Westboro group is doing. They should not be using the name "Baptist" or "Church," for by their actions they show that they have no idea about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They live by hatred, and they say and do things that are--frankly--abominable.
But, as we learned today, they have the right to do this, and nobody can stop them.
While this is bad news--I really wish they'd stop their horrible campaigns--there is a very good side to this Court ruling. Please allow me to explain.
For the last fifteen years or more, our society has moved in a direction that has worried me as a pastor and as a believer in Jesus Christ. Our country has drifted toward a viewpoint that it is "wrong" or "intolerant" to tell anyone they're wrong, or that their choices are wrong (or sinful). Segments of our workforce mandate "sensitivity training" so their employees learn not to say anything that might offend a coworker or client.
Frankly, this trend has scared me, as I have envisioned a day when pastors might be pulled out of their pulpits--or even imprisoned--for declaring, loving and biblically, the truths of God. I imagined a time when maybe even the Bible would be banned in this country as "hateful," because it clearly enunciates right and wrong behaviors.
With today's definitive Supreme Court ruling, the pendulum has now swung the other way. We can boldly--though not offensively!--proclaim truth with the same clarity that God's Word declares truth.
While I cringe over the fact that one group of hateful people has been exonerated, and I deeply wish Westboro would cease all of their awful picketing activities, I find that I rest under the same freedoms they enjoy. For these freedoms, I am grateful.
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