Conviction vs. Convenience

Two words that begin quite similarly, but whose implications are starkly opposed, are conviction and convenience. Yeshua Hamashia's disciples must pursue a growing awareness of their Master's teachings, and a growing application of those teachings to their daily lives. In short, they must adopt and live by his convictions ... whether or not it is convenient. For the Christian, Jesus is all there is.         I have to thank Focus on the Family for broadcasting an interview with Mike Yankoski about his book, Under the Overpass, which recounts his experiences traveling with his friend Sam Purvis as indigent, homeless men. Here's a link to Yankoski's book web site, and go here for his personal web site.         Their goal was to discover how God's church responds to and cares for homeless people. In a nutshell, they found the church offering just about a nutshell's worth of proactive love to these two homeless men who may have appeared ragged and dirty, but were obviously sane and sober. Two possible explanation exist for the church's apathetic response to their obvious need: First, members of Christ's earthly body may assume that homeless people are down on their luck through their own fault; they are lazy, drunk, or stoned, and any help Christians give them will go toward perpetuating their irresponsible lifestyle. While that may be a valid concern, Christ's followers seem quite willing to assign the worst of motives to those who are less fortunate, perhaps even using their suspicions as grounds for dismissing those in need with a trite blessing and an promise of prayer. Or second, God has removed his Holy Spirit's lamp stand from far more congregations than anyone has suspected. Our blasé attitudes toward others' needs might be more forgivable, however, if we actually remembered to pray as promised.         Luke chapter ten paints a vivid picture of attitude problems among religious folks with the parable of the good Samaritan. A hapless traveler fell victim to bandits, who left him to die, bleeding in the ditch alongside the road. The first two travelers passing by the injured man were priests, who couldn't risk touching his blood and becoming ceremonially unclean; an attitude akin to today's church people who welcome into their fold only those who are suitably sanitary and affluent. But the third person to approach the bloody traveler, a despised Samaritan, demonstrated his compassion by going out of his way to attend to his need.         Then, as now, religious people abdicated their god-given responsibility to care for those in need. We know of their fear of contamination, but perhaps they also feared the bandits would lay hold of them if they paused to help, though God's commands to care for the needy allowed no such exception. Or, maybe helping the poor guy was simply inconvenient.

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Timescape
Thomas Nelson (July 14, 2009)
by
Robert Liparulo


BUT FIRST, A WORD FROM OUR BLOGGER:

Liparulo did it again, with four eminently readable youth novels already to his credit. But if he notched his computer for every adult to get hooked on The Dreamhouse Kings series he'd have to start writing longhand--or get another computer.
        TIMESCAPE takes a fresh approach to time travel; indeed, reading it is more of an escape from time, causing nonessential activities like eating and sleeping to take a back seat to consuming the artful narrative. Adjectives such as "gripping" just lack the needed descriptive punch when reviewing this novel. I'll just say, with one more installment of The Dreamhouse Kings scheduled for release come January, I'll have to get my eating and sleeping done in advance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Robert Liparulo is a former journalist, with over a thousand articles and multiple writing awards to his name. His first novel, Comes a Horseman, released to critical acclaim. Each of his subsequent thrillers—Germ, Deadfall, and Deadlock—secured his place as one of today’s most popular and daring thriller writers.

He is known for investing deep research and chillingly accurate predictions of near-future scenarios into his stories. In fact, his thorough, journalistic approach to research has resulted in his becoming an expert on the various topics he explores in his fiction, and he has appeared on such media outlets as CNN and ABC Radio.

Liparulo’s visual style of writing has caught the eye of Hollywood producers. Currently, three of his novels for adults are in various stages of development for the big screen: the film rights to Comes A Horseman. were purchased by the producer of Tom Clancy’s movies; and Liparulo is penning the screenplays for GERM and Deadfall
for two top producers. He is also working with the director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, Holes) on a political thriller. Novelist Michael Palmer calls Deadfall “a brilliantly crafted thriller.” March 31st marked the publication of Deadfall’s follow-up, Deadlock, which novelist Gayle Lynds calls, “best of high-octane suspense.”

Liparulo’s bestselling young adult series, Dreamhouse Kings, debuted last year with House of Dark Shadows and Watcher in the Woods. Book three, Gatekeepers, released in January, and number four, Timescape, in July. The series has garnered praise from readers, both young and old, as well as attracting famous fans who themselves know the genre inside and out. Of the series, Goosebumps creator R.L. Stine says, “I loved wandering around in these books. With a house of so many great, haunting stories, why would you ever want to go outside?”

With the next two Dreamhouse books “in the can,” he is currently working on his next thriller, which for the first time injects supernatural elements into his brand of gun-blazing storytelling. The story is so compelling, two Hollywood studios are already in talks to acquire it—despite its publication date being more than a year away. After that comes a trilogy of novels, based on his acclaimed short story, which appeared in James Patterson’s Thriller anthology. New York Times bestselling author Steve Berry calls Liparulo’s writing “Inventive, suspenseful, and highly entertaining . . . Robert Liparulo is a storyteller, pure and simple.” He lives with his family in Colorado.


ABOUT THE BOOK

David, Xander, Dad, and Keal have discovered a terrible secret. Now, finding Mom is only a small part of their mission. And time is running out. Using the portals to build an empire, Taksidian wants the house for himself, and there's nothing he won't do to get the family out. The consequences of his meddling reach far beyond the family--to the future of the world itself. The Kings know their survival depends on stopping the bloodthirsty assassin. If only they can find his weakness in time.

Most startling of all is their ability to change the path of history. But will their tinkering in time reunite the family and save the future . . . or set mankind on an irreversible course of destruction?




If you would like to read the first chapter of Timescape, go HERE


Enter the contest to win this book package by clicking on the image!!!

Flubbed the Dub

Today's Manna from the Net presented a most wonderful injunction for victorious, Christian living. But at one point, I had to swallow a bit hard. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly...(Colossians 3:16) didn't speak to me so much as it yelled at me. To me, memorizing Scripture is Mission (Virtually) Impossible. But the few Scripture passages I have memorized have provided uncountable blessings when I've needed a quick, God-breathed boost.
        And "God-breathed" is the operative term. A few words of Scripture at just the right moment is the most wonderful balm for life's inevitable scrapes and bruises.
        The rest of today's Scripture passage provides valuable instruction for any Christian community.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:15-17 NIV

        It's interesting to note how the author inserted the thought, And be thankful, in the midst of his instructions. But, thankful for what? The author failed to specify any conditions for thankfulness, which says a lot in itself. If God, through the Apostle Paul, refused to qualify his command for his people's thankfulness, far be it from us to limit it.
        The next instruction directs us to take an active role in discipling one another through God's word, which he's told us must dwell in us richly. "Richly" relates directly to the "wisdom" with which we are to teach and admonish one another.
        Then, of course, Paul directs us toward gratitude in our hearts to God, the attitude that should naturally accompany our psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. So, hopefully my flubbing the memory verses will hardly impede my ministry to the body of Christ. That, at least, is my prayer.

Share and Share Alike

Most everyone heard those words so often during their childhood that they could have puked. Kids naturally tend toward possessiveness. "Tend?" Right! ... they're possessed with possessiveness. Most rug-rats' first words are "No!" and "Mine!"
        Fortunately for us, God doesn't behave like a little kid. In fact, Romans 8:16-17 tells us just how much God is willing to share: Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
        Now two words make those verses remarkable: the "ifs" and the "shares." Both words are double-edged swords, holding both a promise and a condition. If God is our Father, he is more to us than the all-powerful, Creator God and Master of the Universe. If he is truly our Father he fulfills every role in our lives that a perfect human father would; he communicates with us, provides for us, nurtures us, disciplines us, strengthens us and shares with us.
        Sharing in his glory sounds pretty good. Who wouldn't want to share a little heavenly glory? But, as for Christ Jesus, heavenly glory doesn't come cheaply. The cost of admission is sharing in his suffering. Of course, that doesn't mean we have to submit to a brutal whipping, have a wreath of huge thorns pounded into our scalp or have our hands and feet pegged to a rough, wooden cross. As excruciating as that was, it wasn't the worst suffering Christ endured for us. Far worse than that was bearing the guilt of our sin and having his Father turn away from him at his time of need. What despair!
        The suffering we have to share with Christ is because of the punishment the world meets out to anyone who refuses to conform to its corrupt standards. No fun! But that's all part of inheriting the glory of truly being his.
        So, share and share alike, but be ready to suffer and suffer alike, because Jesus did, out of his infinite love for us.

Everyone's a Critic

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Philippians 4:6-8 NIV

Few statements are truer than, "Everyone's a critic," and its correlary, "He(or she) is his own worst critic." I believe every human being who has ever drawn breath has exhibited some degree of critical nature. Some folks seem bereft if they can find nothing to criticize in others. But that's only the half if it.
        Self-criticism, while seeming constructive at first, can easily spread within anyone like a wildfire, consuming confidence, motivation and competance as a spark or cigarette butt might consume a majestic forrest. Christ's apostle Paul concluded his letter to the church in Philippi with some of the best advice ever, Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. Typical church-going Christians pay little attention to those words, for one reason, because they come from one of the more pulpit-worn Scripture passages; in church, familiarity seems to breed apathy.
        That begs the question of why the passage attracted my attention strongly enough to motivate my writing about it. With your permission, just a moment of back story: I subscribe to an e-mailed feed called Daily Manna from the Net. Google it for some unexpected blessings. Anyway, sometimes the sage advice to prepare ones mind and spirit for Scripture reading doesn't seem to apply to the random, indiscriminate exposure to Scripture. When I open the Daily Manna e-mail, my eyes take in a surprise packet of God's mind, and occasionally, my mind offers a seed-sized tract of fertile ground for it. Such was the case for this verse.
        While Philippians 4:4-8 offers profound closing instructions for Paul's letter to the Philippian church, as it does for us, let's focus on verse eight for just a moment. Many respond to this "whatever" verse with a noncommittal, "whatever," assuming that only supersaints must concern themselves with such instruction, an attitude that couldn't be further from the truth. So, verse eight exhorts us to think about things that are excellent or praiseworthy. I nearly threw in the word "only," but since it isn't in the actual text, I'll work around that minor detail by mentioning the words that begin this clause: "if any." That is to say, wherever we find an inner strength or praiseworthy behavior in another person, we are to think about that; an attitude exactly opposite to what most people exhibit.
        So, why single this verse out from all the others? Because it encapsulates Christ's attitude toward those he served. If he had first sought out our reprehensible attitudes and behaviors, if he had exhibited the same critical spirit the world finds comfortably nestled within church pews, he would have shrunk back in repulsion before ever creating us.
        When, as Christians, we take his name and identify with him, we give up our right to an arbitrarily critical attitude, whether toward others or toward ourselves. Are we then not to discern and deal with deliberate wrongdoing? 1Peter 4:17 expresses God's perspective on our right to judge. Begining with verse fifteen, Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
        God's apostle Paul provided the perfect post script for this seemingly difficult assignment in Philippians 2:12,13: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Sound hard? God answered our reservations in 1 John 5:3-5: This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
        So, there's God's answer to our critical attitudes. Obedience is not optional, but goes right along with his word's love passages. If you belong to him, you will demonstrate it by obeying his commands.
        Yes, everyone's a critic, except Christians.

Comparing the Incomparable

2Co 4:15-18 ESVFor it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. (16) So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. (17) For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, (18) as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

WORKS! There's that word again. Can't we escape the necessity for works in the Christian life? Calvin dismissed their requirement entirely. Wesley insisted they should be done methodically. If anyone gives credence to God's word, we find a mixed, often confusing, bag of divine expectations.
        Verse seventeen tells us our relatively easy and temporary troubles accomplish for us an ever and ever more completely glorious, perpetual abundance of blessing. Does that mean that if we leave this temporary life having experienced no troubles, we have failed to earn the eternal blessing God has promised the faithful? More likely, it's a backward way of saying that living in faithful obedience to God will cause us trouble in this life, but a trouble that is momentary and trivial compared with the only alternative to eternal, blissful communion with God.
        While verse seventeen presents the conclusion of the thought begun in verse fifteen, that of our thankful victory being compounded by God's grace, to his glory, verse sixteen tells us that even though our flesh begins dying the moment we are conceived, our soul, spirit, or whatever name we assign to our intangible, inner selves, undergoes daily rejuvenation if we do not grow weary of living for God.
        Verse eighteen completes the thought by comparing that which is seen to that which is unseen. The promise of the previous three verses depends on which of the two realms holds our attention; a continuation of the if inferred in verse sixteen.
        This four-verse passage attempts to compare that which defies comparison, and does a rather good job of it.

Are You Ready?

Acts 2(NIV)

40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

How many would have come to faith, professing Yeshua's name in public, had they known what the near future held? First the Jews, then the Romans hunted them down to rid the world of the "curse" of Christianity. But the fact is they had no idea of the persecution they would suffer for Yeshua's name, and when that time came they stood tall, singing God's praises while facing imminent, grizzly death.

Acts 7(NIV)

54 When they heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 55 But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 "Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." 57 At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 58 dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 8(NIV)

1 And Saul was there, giving approval to his death. On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

Saul of Tarsus was a Pharisee, as zealous for God's law and temple as any Jew. He believed his righteous duty was to eradicate the plague called The Way, and he embarked upon his crusade with deadly efficiency.

Now, how many members of today's Christendom would follow in Stephen's and countless other martyrs' steps? Would church-borne professions of faith stand up to the threat of torture and death? Would a believing husband and father watch his wife and children raped and murdered rather than repudiate his, and their, Savior? Those questions will never be answered until, either we who claim to follow God's Son find ourselves in those awful circumstances, or we face Him in judgment.

The time will come when praise-chorus-singing evangelicals will stand beside stolid, liturgical church-members, and when the persecutor demands they recant their Christian faith, who among them will stand for Christ? Historically, many of the boldest, most vocal faith-professors crumple in persecution's ugly face while many other unassuming believers stand and take the enemy's worst, through a faith deeper than any human being can comprehend.

Acts 22(NIV)

4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

Each of us must one day answer that question for ourselves. Whether it comes when we face cruel persecution, or when we face Christ's judgment seat, we will discover our faith's true character. Now is the time to begin preparing for either eventuality. Now is the time to petition God's sanctifying Holy Spirit to complete our heart-cleansing. Now is the time to fall on our faces in humble confession and repentance for our life-style and attitudinal failures, for when the testing comes ... and it certainly will ... we will not have time to prepare.

Another "IF"

Deu 28:6-9 ESV Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. (7) "The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. (8) The LORD will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. (9) The LORD will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in his ways.

What a beautiful promise to God's holy people! In this context Moses referred only to Israel, God's original chosen race. The LORD(the Only Self-Existent One), however, included two conditions that must be met before receiving the full blessing of vss. 6-8. Moses could just as easily have written the if first, establishing the condition before the necessary result, but he chose to keep it positive, with the promised result first.
        When God utters an oath, we can take it to the bank. Since, however, his people Israel have modeled their corporate, stiff neck countless times throughout history, God had a "Plan C." If the nature of Plans A & B are a little obscure, we need only study Biblical history to observe his three attempts at fashioning a people for himself. "Plan A" was God's direct involvement with Man, the crown of his creation. Man entered into being as the wonderful artwork of the infinitely creative God, and since God can't do anything imperfectly, he made Man in his own image; the physical representation of the Creator. Part of that perfection was God's gift of personal volition, or choice ... we all know how that ended.
        "Plan B" was a new start, in the heights of the Mountains of Ararat. With Noah and his family the only survivors of a universal flood, Man had a second chance at obeying his Creator. But according to Genesis 6-9, this new beginning didn't last long.
        Millennia passed in cycles of gross disobedience and temporary repentance, before the time came for "Plan C," for Church. Man had suffered two strikeouts, with the game's, and Man's, eternal destiny depending on his response to God's Anointed. Would Man swing-and-miss, make a base hit, or finally put one over the fence. Strike One put Christ on Calvary's cross. Strike Two sent God's church into fearful hiding. But with the Holy Spirit's help, a base hit put the church on base.
        The next two millennia delivered too many errors, fouls and walks to count, and God's church is still playing lousy ball with God. Of course, right there the metaphor falls apart, for in baseball's actual rules the inning--and the game--would end after just a few tries. God's rules, however, are tempered by his love, his grace and his infinite patience.
        Only God knows when this game of life will end, but end it will. Personally, I don't want to be stuck on base when Umpire God calls for it to end.
        We, God's church, are "Plan C," the last chance for Man to live up to God's expectations in creating us. We--corporately and individually--had better not blow it.

Psalm 138:6

For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.(Psa 138:6 ESV) Matthew 10:29 quotes Jesus as saying, Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. So when Psalm 138 tells us, the LORD is high, we can rest assured that despite his lofty perspective, the humblest of human beings can't hide from him; he "regards" them closely and continually. Both Psalm 138 and Matthew 10 reveal a core principle from God's word; those who consider themselves of low estate have the most immediate access to their Savior and the most intimate relationship with him.
        Of course, that doesn't mean people on the other end of the pride spectrum manage to escape his notice. The God who pays attention to a falling sparrow also notices the prideful misadventures of the haughty, the arrogant, the self-righteous, the possessors of lofty self-esteem. Indeed, their sin is all he sees, because self-aggrandizement is the foundational motive for all their good works.
        For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:8 ESV) One of those ways is God's refusal to compete for his creation's affection. Though he could blast a hole in the landscape next to anyone, or through them, for that matter, he typically limits his overtures to a whisper. When we demand evidence of his attention to our needs, he speaks ever more softly. When we assert ourselves against his authority, he becomes silent.
        Standing on the receiving end of God's wrath would seem to be the worst possible situation for a human being, but it is not. The worst possible condition for one of God's creation is for God to ignore him. Often we hear complaints of, "But God seems so distant." Then a rhetorical question follows: "How can anyone have a relationship with the God of heaven?" To a true Christian, the answer is a no-brainer.
        We feel God is distant because we naturally invest far more time and effort getting to know ourselves than getting to know him. Self-help resources are filled with ways to achieve self-realization, self-actualization, self-esteem, positive self-concept and self-love. Even many Christians, in trying to ride on the "self-awareness" bandwagon, tell us, "We must love ourselves before we can love others." Does God agree with that analysis? Let's take a look at his word on the subject.
        The Apostle John knew something about love. In fact, his gospel and letters to the church dealt with love more than those of any other Bible writer. In his first letter to the church, he stated simply: We love because he(God) first loved us. (1Jn 4:19 ESV) This short Bible verse tells us that God freely gave us his love first. First before what? Before we could love ... Love what? The Bible leaves that answer wide open, and so must we. Our love for God, ourselves, and anyone or anything else is our acknowledgment of God's original love for us. But, to acknowledge something is to first experience it.
        God's unpopular truth is, we must love Him before we can truly love ourselves, or anyone else. How does the average, unspiritual Joe Bloe first experience God's love so he can love God as the Scripture says? Like an old fashioned pump over a country water well, it seems our first realization of God's love must be primed with some of kind of instinctual response to his love before we can hope to realize it's right there in front of us. No worries. The Apostle Paul anticipated this spiritual, Catch-22 in his letter to the Romans, chapter ten: How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? (Rom 10:14 ESV) There's the question. Now, how about the answer.
        Two more verses from Romans Chapter 10 sumarize God's wonderful answer: So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Rom 10:17 ESV) The key here is we must hear through the word of Christ, or by using his word as a filter through which we might recognize God's truth. No, that doesn't sound easy, but the proverb goes, "Anythin' worth doin's worth doin' right."
        The second part of that answer(Remember the question?) is: Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, "I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me." (Rom 10:20 ESV) Yes, in some way that makes perfect sense to God, and doesn't have to make sense to us, our believing the gospel is, first and foremost, "a God thing." To come to God in faith, we must choose to follow his prompts; he calls, we choose to follow, or not. And based on our choice, he will, or will not, give us the faith to carry it through.
        The next truth one must accept fully to realize God's love in his or her life takes us back to Psalm 138:6, and God's response to the lowly versus the haughty. Those who claim to follow Christ must listen to him rather than the popular culture, and he said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Mat 16:24) Debate has raged since Jesus said those words, as to what he meant by "deny himself" and "take up his cross." Did Jesus intend to confuse us? Certainly not! He looked into the distant future, to you and me, and to the worldly, self-centered lies that would assault us constantly. Even then, he recognized the "self-awareness" heresy for what it would be, that man has, is, and always will desperately grasp for self-affirmation. The simple fact is, when we assert ourselves, we elevate ourselves relative to those around us. And when we have succeeded in exalting ourselves, the natural line-of-sight when considering others is right along the ridge of our noses.
        So, what is this "cross" Jesus mentioned that we must take up to follow him? Some have said it is our sin, but that's already on the cross HE carried. Is it the burden of the Gospel that he laid on us? He answered that one with, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Mat 11:29-30 ESV) No, the answer is right in verse twenty-four, before our very eyes: Denying oneself continually, day-by-day, hour-by-hour, is the cross we must bear. In a way, it's the very same cross Jesus committed himself to when in the garden of Gethsemane. He said, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." (Mat 26:39 ESV)
        As usual, it all comes together at God's will. Rebel against it, and you take your miserable chances. Obey, and share his glory for eternity. Sounds like the ultimate no-brainer.

More On Motives

I'm sure I must have dealt with motives, and my inability to nail them down—or nail them to the cross. Thus, this post's title. Today's Daily Manna From The Net presented Matthew 6:19-23 from the NIV, and began with, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." Instantly, I began congratulating myself for an ancient victory that demonstrated just that disregard for worldly possessions: Terry Brown's boys were all over my nearly-new Honda Accord's hood one Sunday after church. When Terry realized what they were doing, his mortification made him reprimand them harshly. Terry was a full-time student, supporting a family, yet he humbly offered to pay for the paint's repair. I assured him, however, that he needn't worry about paying anything because, except for a few minor scratches to the hood's paint, the car was fine. It took some convincing, but eventually Terry accepted my forgiveness, praising my Christian attitude about possessions. Yes, I forgave Terry and his boys, but not without some inner mourning over my nearly-new car's defacing, and I accepted his praises for my external, selfless attitude. So, hindsight being as acute as it is, these many years later I've come to realize something else probably motivated my grandiose, forgiving gesture. And that something provides no reason for pride. Throughout my life I've wasted countless opportunities for true conflict-resolution because of my phobia of confrontation. When something needed to be said, whether defending myself or confronting wrong behavior, I passionately avoided the issue. And the dynamic always boiled down to stark fear of confrontation. Most folks would be amazed at how many jobs a fear-consumed worker can lose in a lifetime. Once, a friend responded to my confession of fear-controlled relationships with 1 John 4:18, There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. That passage served to change my attitude toward fear, but it didn't change the paralyzing emotion when facing confrontation. Whether it's some jerk flipping me off from behind his self-righteous steering wheel, or a telephone tech-support customer angrily declaring I'm useless, such barbs catch hold and tear away chunks of flesh despite all my knowledge of how I should respond. Since discovering 1 John 4:18 I've "rightly divided" it exhaustively(torn it apart six ways from Sunday and put it back together again) and found not even a lame excuse for dismissing it. Yes, I'm afraid God's not letting me off the hook on this one; as much as I try to love everyone I encounter, I huddle in stark terror when anyone disapproves of me. Solutions? None. Band-Aids? A whole case of them, though I have some consolation in knowing the great Apostle Paul suffered from an unresolved thorn in his flesh. Truth-be-told, the Lord Jesus Christ shed his holy blood to wash away my sins and thorns in the psyche, even those that seem unresolved in this life. Through Christ, I am completely reconciled with the eternal, self-existent One. Yet, it is not I who live, but Christ lives within me. What an encouragement to know victory is mine, despite my short-term failures. So what, if I quiver like a lump of Jello in the face of confrontation. If it really mattered a wit, Jesus' Holy Spirit would—and will—grant me the holy boldness I so desperately crave. How do I know? The Bible told me so!