Letting Go of Rule Keeping and Embracing the Kingdom of God

 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”  - Jesus in Matthew 13:44  NIV

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalm 51:12  NIV 

    Joy is normal for believers in Christ.  If joy is missing from our lives then we need to ask God to show us how His joy can be restored in us.

    The most common joy thief is reducing the Christian life to keeping a list of rules.  When  our focus is on keeping the rules, we are on a sure path to one of two joyless destinations.  If we are good at rule keeping, then we become prideful. Then, instead of finding joy in our relationships, we are often critical of others.  If we  are not so good at rule keeping, we become more and more frustrated with ourselves.  We will become discouraged or maybe even depressed.  Both of these paths lead to frustration and disappointment with the Christian life.  

    This does not mean that Christians don’t care about being good.  God is good and we want to be a reflection of Him.   What it does mean is that trying to be good by focusing on the rules does not work.

    So how do goodness and joy grow in our lives?  Both of them come from confidence in God.  We can have confidence that:

• We are fully accepted and loved by God.

• God’s ways are always the best ways.

• God will empower us to do his will and fill us with his goodness in this life.

• God will one day conquer all evil and restore everything with his goodness.

   This week, write down the above statements on an index card.  Read them several times a day.   Each time you read them, ask God to produce his goodness and joy in you and ask God to give you the daily bread you need to do his will.  After you ask, have confidence that God will give you your request.

Pursuing the Full Life of Jesus

And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.              2 Corinthians 5:15  NIV

    Jesus died for us so we can live for him.  Be careful that you don’t view this as some kind of contractual obligation.  If you view living for Jesus as something you “have” to do because he died for you, then living for Jesus will not produce joy.  It will feel like a burden and a daily grind.

    Jesus didn’t die for us so we could live a life in a tiresome daily grind.  Jesus came to give us life to the full (John 10:10).  He died for us to give us the opportunity to be renewed by and live in the goodness of God.  Our loving Heavenly Father wants us to understand that his commands are not a burden but a blessing.  The Holy Spirit wants to help us discover that the biggest blessing on earth is living in harmony with God and his will.

   The best way to discover the blessing of doing God’s will is to pray “The Lord’s Prayer” sincerely each day.  As you daily come to your Heavenly Father, seeking the daily bread you need to do his will, you will be surprised at how He changes your life.  Living for Jesus will move from being a “have to” to a “want to”.  Start each day this week by sincerely praying the Lord’s prayer.  Better yet, pray it each day for several weeks so it can grow into a lifetime habit.

The Greatest Gift God Has Given Us Is Himself

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.  

         Romans 1:25  NIV

   We know that gratitude is wonderful.  We enjoy being thanked for gifts we give and God enjoys it when we sincerely thank Him for the gifts He gives.  

   We also know that the gifts we find under the tree this Christmas will not make us permanently happy.  These gifts have limits.  They might break or wear out.  They may even be designed to bring us a one time experience of happiness.

   Acknowledging the limits of the gifts we receive is the prompt we need for a greater gratitude in our hearts: the gratitude that is thankful for the Giver of the gifts more than the gifts themselves.  The best way we can start the Christmas day is with praise to the almighty, all-knowing and faithfully loving God.  It’s good and right to thank Him for His amazing gift of salvation in Christ and the many other gifts He gives, but it's even better to to praise Him for being everything that we need for a full and good life.  This is the kind of praise that helps to detach us from our materialism and helps to strengthen our trust in the absolute goodness of God.  On Christmas day, set aside some time at the very beginning of the day to praise Him for his goodness, mercy and love.  Praise Him for His faithfulness.  Acknowledge that in revealing Himself  to us and in giving Himself to us, God has given us the greatest gift of all.  

God's Life Flowing Through Us to the Hurting and Discouraged

 A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. 

  Isaiah 42:3  NIV

    Jesus described the life that He gives through the Holy Spirit as "rivers of living water."   If we want to experience more of God’s goodness in our lives, we must understand that Jesus does not share His goodness just so we can consume it for ourselves.  He gives it so that we can enjoy it as it flows through us to others.   If your goal for wanting more of God’s love, joy and peace is to make your life easier or more comfortable, you will dry up.  If your desire is for God’s goodness to flow through you to bless others, you will experience God’s goodness more deeply than you expected or even imagined.

   Isaiah prophecies about Christ’s love for bruised people and people whose light is fading.  In other words, Jesus had compassion for hurting and discouraged people and He sought to bring them hope.  Authentic followers of Christ live with this same mission and compassion.  They step into the rivers of living waters and open their hearts to God's goodness knowing that God's life will give them joy as His life fills them and overflows to others for their encouragement and strength.

  Who are the people in your life with bruises or smoldering wicks?  How can you bring them encouragement and hope?  More specifically, how can you help them find encouragement  and hope in the message of Christ?  This week, ask God to lead you to a hurting or discouraged person and ask God to flow His goodness through you to them so they can find encouragement and hope in Him.

Enjoy Doing as Much Good as You Can!

 You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.    Acts 10:37-38   NIV

   When we think about living like Jesus, we often get sidetracked into thinking about what we should not do. We end up putting a whole lot of energy into not being mean or impatient or dishonest or other actions we know are wrong.  This is a sly trick of our enemy.  He knows that if we spend our time thinking about the bad we don’t want to do, we won’t accomplish much of the good we do want to do. If we spend  all of our energy  trying not to do evil, we won’t experience God’s power to do good.    

    If you want to be like Jesus, make it your simple goal to go “around  doing good”  as much as possible.  Ask God to flow his healing and life giving love through you to others as you go through your day.  This week, start each day with this simple, centering prayer.

           “Father in Heaven, I give you all of me today.  I want to do as much good as possible.  Please flow your goodness through every part of me today so that others can know your healing life.”

Seeking God's Face

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.                 Psalm 27:8 NIV

    We are all born with a hunger  to seek God’s face.  It’s what the early church father, St. Augustine was describing when he said, “Oh God, you have made our hearts and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”

    Everyone feels this hunger, but not everyone understands that only God can satisfy it.  Many try to satisfy this hunger by seeking the approval of others, some form of comfort or any of a multitude of other things.  Time spent seeking satisfaction from other sources only builds up our resistance to seeking God.

   It’s important to note that God calls us to seek his FACE.  Why his face?  It’s because knowing the face of someone is a description of a personal relationship.  We often spend time seeking God’s hand, which indicates we are more interested in what God can give us more than we are interested in having a relationship with him.

   How do we seek God’s face?  God gives us instructions for this, too, and it starts with praising him.  When we praise God, and do this not just as a means to butter him up so we can get what we really want, we are focusing on his goodness, greatness and love.  This week, set aside some time to praise God without asking for anything from him.  Don’t even expect a certain feeling or experience.  Simply praise him with a sincere heart.  As you pray, contemplate the meaning of what you are praying.  What does it mean that God is faithful, patient, good or kind?  Think as you pray.  As you do, you will be satisfying your deep hunger to know God.