Dead Man's Check

Dead Man's Check This morning in the AJC there was a hilarious story about two free-wheeling retirees who tried to wheel their dead friend into a check-cashing story to cash his $355 Social Security check. The friend had to be present to cash his check and the clerk knew what he looked like since he always used this same establishment to cash his pension! Picture this: two stocking-headed men in their 60's rolling a rigid, pale-faced, stiff corpse down the streets of Manhattan in a red office chair. The corpse is wearing a faded T-shirt, pants only partially pulled up, and Velcro sneakers. When caught in their ruse by paramedics who proclaimed the stiff DOA, the "friends" faked astonishment: "Omg, he's gone?" As luck would have it, a detective spied the unusual antics from a restaurant window and apprehended the petty thieves on a busy Manhattan street, just as they attempted to wheel their cool, dead body into the check-cashing scheme. You gotta' know this made me laugh. Hope it brought some joy to your day. You also gotta' know I'm going to put my spin on it. Picture this: Two free-wheeling friends wheel a cold, lifeless shell into a bar, club, you fill in the blank. The dead man has no say in the matter. He's not even there...at least in spirit. When confronted, the thieves say, "Oh, what? You mean, he's gone?" Many times the enemy sneaks up like a thief in the night. We have died to our old way of life. Yet he tries to resurrect the dead. He wheels us into familiar haunts in full display of a watching world, trying to make us live our pasts. Not gonna' happen! We are dead to that way of life. We are gone from here. In Spirit we have life in Christ. We are dead to our sins and God puts them as far from us as the east is from the west, never the twain shall meet, as they say. Don't listen to the lies whispered in your ear in the dark. Don't be fooled when he tries to dig out your dirty clothes and prop you in the red rolling chair of death. You're outta' here...gone. Your past is stiff, lifeless and irrelevant. You've moved on. No use trying to cash a dead man's check. Check out the entire article: http://ww.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/Feature-stories/Dead_Mans_Check.html

My Stronghold in Time of Trouble

When I was a child, I used to quote a certain Bible verse when I had to go down a dark alley: "What time I am afraid I will trust in Thee." What time I am afraid......of failing....of being let down....of trusting....of trusting too much....of being angry....of being angry and sinning in it....of caring too much....of caring too much about the wrong things....of letting you down....of not lifting you up....of what You'll ask of me....of what You won't ask of me. What time I am afraid...I will trust in YOU......to lift me when I fall."The Lord delights in the way of the man whose steps he has made firm." Psalm 37:24...to lift me up when others let me down."Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes." Psalm 37:7...to place the right desires in my heart."Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4...to show me who is trustworthy; to provide discernment."The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster, they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty." Psalm 37:18-19...to calm my anger and appease my fretting with peace."Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil." Psalm 37:8...to focus my priorities on the main thing--YOU."Wait for the Lord and keep his way. He will exalt you to possess the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it." Psalm 37:34...to create a person of peace within me."Consider the blameless; observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace." Psalm 37:37...to be my refuge and strength."The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord. He is their STRONGHOLD IN TIME OF TROUBLE. The Lord helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him." Psalm 37:39-40"What time I am afraid I will trust in YOU," for you are my "Stronghold in time of trouble."Whenever I am afraid of what YOU might ask me to do, I can lean on You, my Stronghold, and ask YOU through me to be all that YOUR heart desires. You are my Stronghold, the hand to which I still cling in life's dark alleys.

Join Me in Hope-MORE!

Grief happens when things seem hopeless. I think we should start a hope-MORE club.Observe with me some of the things that make us grieve:*lost time.*broken promises.*hurtful words.*dead ends.*heavy hearts.*stress fractures.*ungrateful reactions.It strikes me that God grieves over the same things that hurt us. His heart breaks over the same things that break ours. Yet He brings healing when we grieve. He resurrects our buried dreams. He reunites families and friends. He takes the dead things and brings new life to them. He gives new meaning by His presence and His TOUCH on our lives.God shares our hurts. His heart breaks over:*Lost time and opportunities but, not being bound by time, He restores those moments.*Broken promises when He offers His new covenant full of the promise of first love.*Unfaithful followers when He regains trust with His unfailing kindness and mercy.*Hurtful words or gaping wounds by healing us through His goodness.*Dead ends become detours to the faithful who persevere.*Heavy hearts who turn to Him see that "joy comes in the morning." Wait for the Light after the night.*Stress fractures in our hearts receive His peace and restoration.*Ungrateful reactions are wooed to gratitude by His Spirit.In Nain Jesus raised the son of a widow (Luke 7:11-17). Eugene Peterson refers to Nain as "a place of holy mystery." What is your "place of holy mystery," the time in your life when God flipped your grief from hope-less to hope-MORE?Romans 5:3b-5 tells us that suffering becomes perseverance which builds character which breeds hope. Maybe we got stuck at Hope-Less Junction in the suffering mode. Shift gears into Perseverance and watch Him develop the character in your life that is fertile soil for hope. Join me in the Land of Hope-More:"And we rejoice in the HOPE of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, HOPE, and HOPE does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Suffering -> Perseverance -> Character -> HOPE = Overflowing LOVE!

Weigh In!

I'm struggling with what it means to "count the cost." In fact, "I don't think that word means what you think it means!" When I weigh in on what it means to follow Christ, it looks like I don't have what it takes. Surely He doesn't mean for me to take stock of what I bring to the Table, because it's not much. Check out the cost of following Christ in Luke 14:25-35. See if you can uncover where Christ describes His system of measuring. They don't even do physics like this at Purdue, do they, Darbs? Maybe He wants me to weigh in like this...? *Don't sign up if you're gonna' back down. Otherwise, the other team gets the points just as surely as if you stuffed the ball into the wrong basket. *Don't value your life when you're being asked to die. *Don't count your pennies if your pocket has a hole in it. Or, don't try to pay your buddy's way when He's got the golden token. *Don't lay down banana peels when you're starting a marathon. Or, don't plan an escape route when you can trace the road to success. *Don't sign a peace treaty with the enemy when you know your side's gonna win! *Don't store up when He says, "Put your hands up!" *Don't try to flavor someone else's life when your own life is tasteless. *Don't go with the flow when you can row to a Banquet upstream. *Don't give up everything you have unless you desire the bigger Prize.

I Stinketh, Therefore, I Am

Lately, I have been so unproductive. I am just realizing what an achievement junkie I am. Getting things accomplished energizes me. Sure, I can stew and contemplate with the best of them. Admittedly, it is in the quiet that God reveals Himself to me. But if I got to choose, then I would pick the fast lane of God's activity. I just want Him to let me do something for Him. Like a new puppy whose tail is wagging so hard against his frail ribs that he falls over from the needless exertion, I am anxious and spinning my wheels. I want to run out into the streets and yell and scream and make His name known, and He wants me to sit with Him a while. Sometimes, I just need to sit. Other times, all I want to do is sit and stare and "veg" out. Those are not the times when He is with me. Those are the times when I am so into myself that the puppy in me has given way to the lap dog, the one whose owners have to purchase organic food because he's too overweight to see his paws. The lapdog and the exuberant puppy in me need the same thing. They both crave a dose of Jesus. Most of the time, my heart is not a place where He wants to set up camp and hold a meetin'. There's no place to sit due to the clutter from an unconfessing nature. That's when "I stinketh." There's just one cure. Not just a dose of Jesus but a total Blood Transfusion. The name of Jesus on my lips and the promises in the Word of God through Jesus in my heart will fight those distractions off--for the lapdog and the eager pup. Focusing UP rather than INWARD. Saying JESUS' name over and over in my head rather than ME, MY, MINE. Last night a great friend encouraged me--a lot. When we first began to converse, things were awkward between us, tense, strained. I realized there was hurt in the voice in my ear. We started to laugh and to share what was in our hearts. Before long, my friend was encouraging me through a difficult patch. Having already conquered the boulders on that trail, my friend knew where all the good views were, the places to sit a while. Being able to encourage someone like that when you yourself are hurting is something only the Spirit of God can do in us. I saw Jesus in my friend. It struck me. That's exactly how it is with Jesus and me. When we first start to converse, things can be a bit strained. Remember: "I stinketh?" There is a pain in His voice that seeps through His obvious affection. Soon, we are laughing about the ridiculous way I have of chasing my tail, and I begin to be honest with Him about what's been keeping us apart. Remember: "I stinketh?" He knows where all of the great boulders in my life are placed, and He perches on one and sits with me a while. The hard places in my life are places to perch and sit a while with Him. A novel idea! He whispers to me: "I know you stinketh...Therefore, I AM!" Did I mention that He encourages me--a lot? Sometimes it is hard to stay focused. Often it's hard to stay faithful. But look back at the spiritual markers in your life, the times when you stationed one of those roadside Civil-War signs to recall what happened between you and the Father. Usually, the trail to the marker was not so pleasant when you were walking it. That's because something in us has to die for something perfect in Christ to be born in us there. Once I give into death ("I stinketh") and let Christ live in me, then I AM comes to reside in me. The stench of death and sin becomes the aroma of Heaven. He produces, and I abide. Suddenly, I'm no longer so unproductive any more! "Noah built an altar to the Lord and...he sacrificed...on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma..." Genesis 8:20-21. The smell of a sacrifice is the odor of something burning, of death, but out of the ashes God blesses.

A Garment of Praise

My friend is hurting. She is desperate for some relief from the pain she feels. It's so intense that she cannot sleep. When exhaustion finally drowns wakefulness, her dreams are restless and she wakes up disoriented and agonized. One day, the troubles of this life will be fleeting reality. In our ultimate reality, we will be fully loved, fully forgiven, fully free. The thing is: We are all of those things now as we abide in Christ. We just do not embrace the full love, forgiveness, and freedom of being IN Christ. You do know that it's all a lie that we are not completely forgiven, that no one could love us completely, that we will always be slaves to our sin. It's a thinly veiled disguise that the enemy is wearing. Look inside the sheep's head and see it for the dragon it is. Run from the lies! Isaiah 61 describes this favor of the Lord: "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me." Yes, that's a good thing. The Spirit of the Lord is peace. We need that! The Spirit of the Lord is joy. We crave happiness! The Spirit of the Lord is on us to do good to each other; to tell each other that we are loved; to remind each other of the bond of love we share in Christ. I think one of the wonderful perks of being on mission for God--going out of our comfort zone--is the way we are forced to lean on Him for everything. When we were in Arizona on mission, I could feel the Body being a cooperating, supporting system as she should be. Back inside our cocoons, we often retreat into our own resources to find solutions. We have a mission. Each of us has one. We get to put bandaids on each other's hurting hearts. We get to tell everyone, "This way to the Escape! No more bars and bland food for you. Come to the Table He's prepared for us!" We get to trade our black attire of sadness over sin for some new threads of undeserved and unmerited favor and kindness. You see, what waits for us is a "garment of praise" instead of the hand-me-down, ashen wardrobe of despair and mourning. Take the blinders off. See the glory. Wear the praise. Let His light shine through the holes in your life. Do not be ashamed of your past. None of us deserves it, and that's okay. That was His plan all along! Let Him heal your hurts. Trust me when I tell you that I understand the agony of wallowing in a lie. Too much of my life has been spent feeling unworthy, rather than embracing my status as daughter of the King. Do not listen to the creepy voice in your head or envelope yourself in the limp, wet blanket of oppression. It's familiar and seems more comfortable. For a brief instant, come out of the dark and into the blinding Light and let His warmth cover you. He has a glowing crown of beauty to put on your head. No more ashes and rags for His child! Wear His praise. "He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and to provide for those who grieve...--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair." Isaiah 61:1b-5a.

Dignity Torn to Shreds

Today I am reading about the widow woman who gave all she had "out of her poverty." And I am asking myself what it means to give all I have to live on. The woman in Jesus' story was a real person, not a parable told to make His point. In the Jewish culture of her day, this female without a husband was clinging to the bottom rung of society's ladder. In fact, she was so low that she was flying beneath her neighbors' radar. While it may be difficult to fathom performing some task out of my natural giftedness, this dear soul was not counting the cost. While I may be whining about the tension in my comfort zone or bragging about how it's growing, this woman was living with her eyes downcast to avoid creeping into someone else's imaginary comfort zone. When I balk at something God asks of me because it might inconvenience some beloved member of my family, this generous benefactor was subsisting without any guardian or patriarch. How am I guarding my precious dignity, when all around me, other people's dignity has been torn to shreds? How am I guarding my budget, when another has a desperate need that God can meet through me? How am I searching my ability to give, when the answer lies in my inability to give and His ability to provide? When do I measure my energy level to determine what I am willing to invest, when another person is caving under the burden of a load that I could help to shoulder? Do I limit what God can expect me to do for Him by bringing society's barriers to the Cross? When has my personal need to give been so desperate that I willingly let God take from me what was beyond my capacity to fathom giving under my own strength? Will I allow Him to tear my dignity to shreds in order to sew a garment of praise? "[All the others] gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything--all she had to live on." Mark 12:44

Brand Marks

Do you search for a certain brand when you are shopping? On what items does the label matter to you, and on what others do you just look for the bargains, the sale items, the discounted or freebies? It strikes me that we bear a brand mark on our lives. I wonder whose brand we are wearing. Are we looking for the quick fix, the discount, the quick way to a good deal in our lives? We live in a "take the easy way out" culture where the end cost seems to justify any means of reaching it. But is that the way of our Savior? The cool thing is that He has made this covenant, taken an oath with us as His children, and sealed those promises with His blood. He takes a heavenly blood-brother promise with us: "I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands"! (Isaiah 49:15-16). Jesus still bears those covenant marks today (John 20:24-27; Rev. 5:6), the Lamb that was slaughtered so that we could see glory. That Lamb is the lamp of heaven (Rev. 21:22-27). There are no substitutes there, no sale hawkers, no "get rich quick" schemers. There is no more night; nothing impure crosses the threshold; we will have no shame, nothing to hide. The glory of the Father is the light of heaven. He is no mere night light but a continuous beacon of blinding radiance. That's a little freaky to us. Check out these glory sightings:* The shepherds saw it before Jesus' birth while they tended their sheep outside of Bethlehem (Luke 2:9). They wore the glow of the brand of PROMISE.* That glory shines in us as we bear fruit for the Kingdom (John 15:8). Will you bear the brand of FRIEND (John 15:13)?* That same glory of heaven resides in our skin as the Spirit reveals Truth to us from God's Word (John 16:12-15). Will you wear the brand of TRUTH?* God ignites His glory when He shows us His plan. Check out Abraham's story in Genesis 12 and 15 and Exodus 3. When has the Father revealed His glory to you by asking you to join Him in His work? Abraham chose to wear the brand of GLORY.* God's glory is revealed when He exalts Himself (Acts 7:55-56). In New Testament days, slaves, soldiers, and servants in the temple received brand marks for their masters, much as Paul mentioned in Galatians 6:17. What marks are we willing to bear to bring the Glory? In Acts 7, Stephenpreached in front of man's high priest, and it did not go well. Then He saw Jesus, our High Priest, standing at the right hand of the Father. Stephen saw the glory of the Most High in the middle of being stoned by the anger of men. These men chose poorly and chose religion over a relationship; they took on the brand of Religion. Hey, there's no more night in heaven where Stephen preceded us to meet the Son; no more spite; no reason or possibility of hate. Stephen bore the mark of being CHOSEN. Christ still bears those wounds from the Cross, even as He radiates glory from the right hand of the Father, even as He prays for each of us to be vessels for that same glory. Because of Him, we are branded, "LOVED." Whose brand marks are you sporting today? Discount or death? "Just like every one else," or just like Redeemer? We have a great heritage in wearing the brand marks of the Cross. We have a great inheritance, too. Our hope is not in things that moths and rust can corrupt or that thieves can break in and steal. We have a treasure in heaven. Let's follow the Man whose Name is the Branch (Zechariah 6:12). Let's get branded by the Cross!