A Life Worthy

One-a-Day Friday 5/2/14

Posted on May 2, 2014 by michaelMay 2, 2014

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14).

This little light of mine, I’m gonna…

Sorry.

You know, sometimes I don’t want to let my light shine. It just seems so little, so dull—I can’t imagine anyone glorifying God because of it.

I’m sure you never feel that way. Just humor me.

I am writing this from atop Zanja Peak, a wannabe mountain a few miles from my home. It’s 11:00 at night, and I’m in the middle of a night hike. As I worked my way up here, I remembered something important. Nature gets dark at night. Really dark. So dark that if Mandibles of Death, the fluffy yet vicious golden retriever, weren’t with me, I might be a tad trepidatious.

I have a head lamp, and yes I do look silly wearing it. That’s not the point. The point is, at home the light from the head lamp looks pretty mild. I sometimes have to double check to make sure it’s on. Out here, in the ohsovery darkness, it’s a different story. As I hike along, if I hear something go bump/slither/growl/snarl in the night, I click my trusty headlamp and the world is ablaze with light. It’s so bright that my night vision is ruined for several minutes, which can be an adventure all its own, but that is also not the point.

This world is pretty dark, spiritually speaking. That little light of yours may not be much to you. To a lost soul, it may seem like the very glory of God.

Which, in a way, it is.

Shine for him today, Beloved.

Happy Friday.

One-a-Day Thursday 5/1/14

Posted on May 1, 2014 by michaelApril 30, 2014

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot (Matthew 5:13).

Salt is a funny thing. Too much of it will make you gag. Too too much of it will kill you outright. And yet it is essential to life.

Salt is easy to overlook, easy to forget about. When you’re cooking, it’s fun to focus on the interesting spices—cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom. Who notices salt? But just leave that pinch of salt out of your recipe and see how bland your meal becomes.

Salt is preserving.

Salt is healing.

Salt brings out the flavor of food.

People are funny.

God can use us to bring out the best in others.

To heal

To preserve

We are sometimes overlooked, but we are an essential component of God’s plan for the lives around us.

And yet, when we put too much of ourselves into the mix—when we try too hard to be noticed—we mess up the recipe.

Look, I know this is an awkward analogy, but I’m sticking with it.

You are the salt of the earth. Your saltiness—that which makes you useful to God—is the Holy Spirit working in you. When you try to work in your own power, you lose your saltiness. There’s too much you. And you mess things up.

And your work is pretty much worthless.

Don’t try to work for God today, Beloved. Instead, let him work through you. Let him sprinkle you where he will, and let the Holy Spirit do his job in the lives around you, using you to bring out the best that is in them.

It’s a lot easier, and it won’t make people gag.

One-a-Day Wednesday 4/30/14

Posted on April 30, 2014 by michaelApril 29, 2014

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:10).

Did you ever read Foxe’s Book of Christian Martyrs? It tells the stories of men and women who suffered death—in various gruesome forms—rather than deny the name of Christ.

Intense.

And humbling.

I have never been threatened with death for following Jesus. Chances are, neither have you. Throughout history there has been persecution. Even today, there are many in the world that risk imprisonment or worse for following Christ. But not here. Not now. For better or for worse, we live in a society that allows us to worship God openly, without fear of reprisals.

For the moment, anyway.

I’d like to think that, if real persecution came, I would stand firm, braving whatever might come with a song of praise on my lips.

I’d like to think that.

But I just don’t know, do I? Frankly, I sometimes crumble in the face of the micropersecution that does come my way.

The odd look. The occasional raised eyebrow. A little mocking because I don’t speak or act in the way that the world does. It’s amazing how little it sometimes takes to send me packing.

Today, as we head out into our respective Wednesdays, let’s act in such a way that we stand out for Christ. If that results in persecution, let us embrace it and rejoice.

Stand out.

Stand up.

Stand firm, Beloved.

One-a-Day Tuesday 4/29/14

Posted on April 29, 2014 by michaelApril 28, 2014

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).

Jesus is a peacemaker.

Peace between God and Man.

Peace between Man and Man.

Peace that passes all understanding, yet guards our hearts and minds.

The Son of God is calling you to follow in his footsteps today. So, take a good look at the day ahead of you. What potential conflicts are waiting? What person will likely push your buttons and make you twitch? What raging interpersonal storms do you get to sail into?

These are all opportunities.

Oh, I know they don’t feel like opportunities, Beloved. Except perhaps opportunities to practice your stress management and work on finding your Happy Place. But they are, in fact, opportunities to walk as Jesus did—to be a peacemaker.

Will you take the opportunity today, Beloved? Will you be a child of God? Will you stuff your pride and walk in grace and humility?

Oh, I know it’s hard.

Will you do it anyway?

One-a-Day Monday 4/28/14

Posted on April 28, 2014 by michaelApril 27, 2014

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matthew 5:8).

Your heart is not pure.

You will not see God.

Happy Monday.

Well, aren’t we glad that there’s more to the story than that. Of course your heart is not pure; you know good and well what goes on in there. I’m in the same boat, and so is everyone you know. And everyone you don’t.

Praise God that he doesn’t leave us in that boat.

God wants us to see him. He wants us to have fellowship with him. And he knows that’s not going to happen if we are left to ourselves. So he cleanses us, he renews us, he gives us that pure heart that allows us to see him.

If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Before you go out into your Monday, do us both a favor—get your heart right before God. Confess what needs confessing, address what needs addressing, let him purify your heart, so that you will see God.

Because, how are you supposed to walk with him if you can’t see him?

Happy Monday, Beloved.

Bubble

Posted on April 26, 2014 by michaelApril 26, 2014

bubble I have decided to create a bubble around myself.

Hold on a moment…there, it’s done.

My new bubble is a sphere approximately four-feet-seven-inches in diameter, centered on my xiphoid process. (That’s the little cartilage thingie at the bottom of your sternum. I could have centered it on my belly button, but then you might not have taken me seriously. I find that we rarely take the belly button seriously, but that is another topic for another time.) My bubble is invisible, which is why I’m pointing it out. I wouldn’t want you to stumble into it by mistake.

I call my new creation Michael’s-no-deception-no-pretense-no-mystery-no-posing-no-evasion-no guilt-no-condemnation-straight-up-straight-forward-I’m-a-big-boy-bubble-of-grace. For discussion purposes, we’ll just call it “The Bubble.” Continue reading →

One-a-Day Friday 4/25/14

Posted on April 25, 2014 by michaelApril 24, 2014

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7).

I need mercy like you wouldn’t believe.

Well, maybe you would.

I mean, I’m not an axe murderer or anything. It’s just that I know what God requires, I know my heart, and I know that without the mercy of God I wouldn’t make it to my next breath. So when I read this verse, I get really practical. Actually, I get a little mercenary. Or mercy-enary. I figure, I give and I get.

As self-serving as that sounds, I think it makes me more merciful. When I see a need, I think of all the times I have needed mercy. And all the times I will. And I’m more likely to give. I guess you could call it making a deposit in the mercy bank.

That is one account I never want to see overdrawn.

Think you might need mercy one of these days?

Then walk in mercy today, Beloved.

One-a-Day Thursday 4/24/14

Posted on April 24, 2014 by michaelApril 23, 2014

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled (Matthew 5:6).

Father, grant me the hunger that only you can satisfy,

the thirst that only you can quench.

Create in me an emptiness that you alone can fill

because sometimes I think I’m complete

but I’m not;

I’m just crowded.

Father of all desire

let me crave

You.

One-a-Day Wednesday 4/23/14

Posted on April 23, 2014 by michaelApril 23, 2014

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

Let’s not read too much into this one, shall we?

I doubt that Jesus was literally promising you the world. Really—what would you do with it if you had it? A town, certainly, maybe even a small state—but the entire world? Come now. And what about that woman down the street, or the guy at work; do they also inherit the earth? How do we do the sharesies on that one? Jesus is teaching that those who walk with God will have all their needs completely met. The earth and all that is in it are the Lord’s, and he gives joyfully to those who are his.

On another note, “Meek” is not the same as “Weak.” When we read this verse, it’s easy to get the picture of these mousey, quiet, timid little people running the world someday. It makes you wonder how anything would ever get done. “Meek,” in the biblical sense, means to be humble and gentle before God and man. A meek person trusts God to provide for him, and doesn’t feel the need to push and shove in order to get what is his. One who trusts God, fully and completely, isn’t worried about the other guy. He has nothing to prove and no one to beat. He can afford to be gentle.

So, Beloved, will you walk in meekness today? There may be a small county in it for you.

One-a-Day Tuesday 4/22/14

Posted on April 22, 2014 by michaelApril 22, 2014

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4).

It’s good to mourn.

Oh maybe not good in the sense of, “Woohooo, my heart is breaking, I’ve lost everything I love—let’s get ice cream and cheesy puffs!”

Not good in that sense.

Good in the sense that it’s a natural part of who we are. It’s healthy; it shows that we love. After all, we don’t mourn that which we did not love.

God mourns. Jesus mourned Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37). He wept at the grave of Lazarus. I believe that the Father mourns those who choose to live and die apart from him. When we mourn, we show that we are made in his image. We reveal the stamp of our Creator.

And when we mourn, we are comforted.

There’s the promise. The God of all peace, all healing, all love, stands ready to comfort us in our loss. And that comfort outweighs our pain.

Eventually.

So, once again God invites us to be vulnerable and rest in his protection, to be weak and draw on his strength, to be empty and let him fill us, to be broken and allow him to restore.

When we are weak, he is strong—in us and through us.

What have you lost, Beloved? What do you mourn?

Walk in his comfort today.