I covered the four categories of lies in the last entry, and it made me think about our enemy, the Liar. Whole books cover the topic, and I know this isn’t the place to expound to that degree (though, I bet I get a thousand words out of it, since that’s my norm’). Let’s take a look.

Genesis introduces us to the enemy of God and His creation: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made” (3:1). The word “crafty” here is the Hebrew word “`aruwm” (sort of sounds like “ah-r-room”). In this usage, biblos.com suggests the definition would be “3. (a.) Skillful at deceiving others; characterized by craft; cunning; wily” (Noah Webster’s Dictionary). That’s not normally how I do a word study, but I’m satisfied with the basics of it. The blueletterbible.org site lists the biblical usage of the word as “subtle, shrewd, crafty, sly, sensible” in its definition of crafty.

The enemy of all God made began his tactical assault in the garden with a simple question: “And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden ‘?”"(Genesis 3:1). With so many directions to go with this one question alone, I have to narrow it down to something simple. The Liar opens the door to doubt, pride, and defiance with one question. He’s effective in his offensive, and his little victory in that moment has far-reaching effects.

We have a real enemy. Scriptures warn us: “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The powers of darkness can have real, observable effects on the people in our world, too. Acts 19 speaks to that.

13 Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the LORD Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 [One day] the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. (Acts 19: 13-16)

As tempting as it is to be filled with fear of our enemy after reading something like this, we are not left to our own devices (thankfully) at any time! I think this is my favorite part of this whole entry, honestly.

7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:7-11)

What I love about this passage is the honesty of it. Being truthful, each of us might identify a bundle of anxiety we carry around with us every day. What are we to do with that? Throw it to the Lord–literally, to “throw upon or place upon” (blueletterbible.org). He really genuinely cares for us. There isn’t any skirting the fact that we have an enemy, or that he is real. This passage calls it: we have an enemy with a destructive agenda. Then, as if the Lord intends to lead us through this bitter warfare, there is a command given to us. “Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (verse 9). This isn’t about standing against the enemy in our own feebleness, as you might notice, but in the faith. We are reminded each of us faces this very same enemy, the same pain and suffering. The hope is in the promise that “the God of all grace” will eventually change everything (verse 10). Restoration, strength, and a steadfast position will come (verse 10). He has that power, and we understand, submit to, and praise Him for that (verse 11).

So how do we resist our enemy? We’ve been told to do it. We’ve been told it’s related to standing firm in our faith. Are there any other clues or cues? It’s mentioned in a couple of passages beside 1 Peter 5.

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. (James 4: 7, 8a)

Note that the above verses contain command verbs in specific order. Submit. Resist. Come. We submit ourselves to God (verse 7). This is our first submission at the point of conversion…and thereafter as we continue to follow His leadership in our lives. Only after we bring ourselves under the leadership and protection of God do we consider resistance to the enemy (verse 7b). Based on what we’ve seen in Acts 19:13-16, I think this is particularly important to our battle plan. It is only when we come as children under the protection and leadership of our heavenly Father that we can resist the enemy and he flees (verse 7c). Verse 8a is a command with a promise: if we come near to Him, He will be near to us. Standing firm in the faith takes on new meaning here. We are standing firm with Him!

Is there more? Yes! When we face our enemy, who is not flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), we need to prepare for battle.

10 Finally, be strong in the LORD and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:10-11).

See, our strength is not our own. This isn’t new to most of us. Even the larger context (verses 10-18) is probably very familiar to many disciples of Christ. But, do we suit up? I vaguely remember a teaching recording that I listened to a dozen years ago or more. The image the teacher used was of Christians walking around with Satan’s flaming arrows sticking out of their spiritual behinds. His point, I believe, was that none of the armor pieces listed in Ephesians 6 is designed for retreat. Therefore, turning around isn’t really an option, though we take it, and the end result is, well, not surprising that it’s in the end. That’s a bit more opinion than biblical exploration, but I’ll bring it back around. Our strength against the enemy is, plain and simple, in the Lord!

There’s one last thing I felt drawn to mention in this entry: while our enemy will always be the loser in the battle with the Lord, there is something clearly mentioned about how we speak to and about him. I’ve noticed it’s become common in some arenas to speak boldly and directly to the enemy. I’m not sure that’s entirely a problem, but I did find the following passage that brought something to my attention.

8 In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The LORD rebuke you!” 10 Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals–these are the very things that destroy them. 11 Woe to them! (Jude 1:8-11a)

I love Michael’s example to us! “The LORD rebuke you!” he said (verse 9).

From verse 8, we know these “dreamers” are not in submission to the Lord. I don’t want to miss that. As believers in the Lord, we wouldn’t want to be like the “dreamers”. We may tend to want to trash talk with the enemy at times, but it seems that’s out of ignorance. Men who do this are “speaking abusively against whatever they don’t understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals” (verse 10). Friends, I don’t ever want to be considered in the same class as “unreasoning animals” (verse 10)! We are encouraged not to trash talk what we don’t know. That leads to our undoing or destruction (verse 10, 11). Maybe this doubles back to Acts 19 in the end? Clearly, Michael’s example demonstrates submission to the Lord’s power, trusting in His ability and strength to end the dispute. Michael has no scrappy words for the devil. It is simply “The LORD rebuke you!”

These are my thoughts on the enemy. This has taken me much longer to write than I imagined, but I think I feel okay with it for now. Feel free to comment. Let me know if you’ve heard that sermon about arrows in the spiritual butts, too!  ;)

I had a moment. Please forgive the visual, but it’s all I could think of as I considered Truth Splashes and evil lies. Maybe you’ve read the book, seen the movie, or watched the play, but in The Wizard of Oz, a bucket of water splashed on the Wicked Witch of the West reduced her to a mere puddle. I can still hear the screechy “I’m mel-l-l-l-l-l-l-ting!” (Am I the only one?)

When I think of the lies our enemy tries to feed us, I imagine truth droplets overwhelming them with a powerful splash. At least, that’s my hope. Maybe you share that with me. The truth is, we have an enemy, and he is a liar feeding us lies.

He [the devil] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44b)

If we become aware of the lies we’re hearing, we’ve got a shot at evaluating them for truth and eliminating them from our repertoire of beliefs about God, ourselves, or others. My current favorite read by Robert S. McGee breaks the lies into four basic categories. Most of this entry comes from a succinct table on page 40 of The Search for Significance Book and Workbook when I refer to McGee’s writing. The rest is my wrestling with it.

• I must meet certain standards in order to feel good about myself. (The Performance Trap)
• I must be approved (accepted) by certain others to feel good about myself. (Approval Addict)
• Those who fail are unworthy of love and deserve to be punished. (The Blame Game)
• I am what I am. I cannot change. I am hopeless. (Shame)

The Search for Significance Book and Workbook, p. 40.

I wrote a bit on the performance lie in “The Performing Arts” entry, but what I’d like to emphasize here is that we receive God’s grace at the cross. The grace we receive is no more or less than anyone else’s share; we equally receive a full measure. “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). McGee suggests the answer to perfectionism and performance is justification. All our sins removed, when we stand completely clean before our perfectly holy, just God, what can we add to that? (See Titus 3:4-7; Colossians 2:13-14; John 3:16.)

When I think about acceptance and approval, I get a little weak-kneed. Don’t we all just want to be loved and accepted without worrying about hoops to jump through or rejection? The treadmill to win the stamp of approval from the people around us qualifies as graceless, I think. (I’ve been waiting to say graceless for several entries!) Our most important, complete acceptance and approval comes from one person–our heavenly Father. McGee proposes that the antidote to our approval problem is reconciliation. At the cross we become reconciled to God; therefore, we are completely acceptable and receive His full approval. What can we add to that reconciliation? Why would we take away from it by minimizing the work on the cross and degrading ourselves with unkind and untrue thoughts, words, or actions supporting the lie of how unacceptable we are?  (See Romans 15:7; Colossians 1:21-23a.)

McGee’s Blame Game is something I am familiar with. I’ve been on both sides of this one, and it’s painful to all the players. Blaming, we find fault in everyone else’s actions, and they become responsible for ours. If you are on the receiving end, it can be a crushing blow. The root of this lie is the fear that nasty punishment is coming if someone finds out about our thoughts, words, actions, etc. When you’re afraid your head will roll, don’t you want to shift the blame elsewhere as fast as possible? (I’m raising my hand now.) McGee takes it back to the cross with propitiation. The work on the cross satisfies the wrath God would have regarding the punishment we should receive. Any time we think our Father is angry with us and fear his punishment, we paint a picture of the character of God that is inaccurate. We minimize the grace on the cross. (See John 3:36; Romans 5:9; 1 John 4:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9.)

Shame. I have battled this, and still do. This is hopelessness. Under the circumstances, we feel helpless and withdraw from God and people. When a standard isn’t met, we want to curl up in a fetal position and don’t feel strong enough to uncurl any time soon. It’s when we believe everyone else would have succeeded, and can’t believe we messed it up that badly! It’s when we just can’t think of a solution to the problem, and start to become the problem. Shame can rear its ugly head occasionally or often, in little ways or big. Identifying the lie is important to move into the truth. McGee suggests the antidote for shame is regeneration, which is all about becoming a completely new creation at the cross. Think about this for a moment. When we moved from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light, when we were given the gift of the Person of the Holy Spirit, we couldn’t be anything but a completely new, different creation! (See John 3:3-6; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Peter 1:3.)

So, that’s the four general lie categories outlined by Robert S. McGee. I think he did a wonderful job in The Search for Significance Book and Workbook, and highly recommend it, if you can find it. There’s no way to really do it justice in a blog, but this blog helps me process some of the larger concepts, so I do that here.

The one thing I keep coming back to as I work through the concept of grace is: the cross. That’s where the real stuff begins. We don’t get a small portion at the moment of decision, to be increased at a later date. We get all of His grace–all of it!

“My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

As I’ve moved through the journey, I’ve been introduced to new things. A friend shared her most personal story with me through her autobiography. As touching as that was for me to read, it touched on ever so much more. Her very difficult story had elements of my own woven through the fabric. I guess I could identify with a main theme: contempt.

By now you’re asking “What is the connection between grace and contempt? That just doesn’t make sense!” (Don’t change your url site just yet.) This entry isn’t really focused on God’s emotions or actions, but we do know our Father feels contempt. God is specific about the things He hates. He hates idolatry (Deuteronomy 12:31). He hates wickedness and violence (Psalm 11:5). There is even a list offered in Proverbs 6 detailing what the Lord hates:

There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

Though the Lord does have contempt for these things, there is one non-option: He never hates His children! Old Testament or New, our heavenly Father offers the deepest and most sincere love for those who come to Him, desire to humble themselves before their holy God, and establish relationship with Him on his gracious terms! Best, worst, or ugliest moments, God’s love for His kids is unchanged! Even King David (who had best, worst, and ugliest moments for sure) was known as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Let’s agree that the Bible speaks to God’s discipline, but that does not equate to contempt for His people (Proverbs 3:12; Hebrews 12:6, 10).

The contempt I want to focus on can be found in our response to Him. I thought from the moment I committed my life to Christ that I loved Him–always. I’m beginning to look more closely at things I haven’t thought about too frequently. It was brought to my attention some time ago by a wonderful woman who led our worship team. She mentioned I might be in contempt then, but I’m only seeing it more clearly now. For me, this is based in self-worth.

Some say the goal of self-worth is simply feeling good about ourselves. A more biblical goal goes far beyond that limited perspective. We want an accurate view of ourselves, God, and others, based on the truth of God’s Word…An accurate, biblical self-concept contains both strength and humility, both sorrow over sin and joy about forgiveness, a deep sense of our need for God’s grace, and a deep sense of the reality of Gods’s grace. (The Search for Significance Workbook, p. 14-15)

I just want to park on the last part of that quote: “a deep sense of our need for God’s grace.” Knowing the need for God’s grace is rooted in a sound biblical perspective on the identity and character of God and our own identity and character. Oddly enough, this isn’t framed from what we think is true, but from the real truth in Scripture. The Bible is clear about the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man, hence, the need for God’s grace. Identifying our rogue thoughts, words, and actions is a key part of finding our desperate need for His grace.

The “deep sense of the reality of God’s grace” seems more elusive. There are times when I can read passages from Scripture, study them, and even memorize them, but I can’t get the truth of what I’ve read to travel from my head to my heart. The grace I’ve received is something I know to be true cognitively, but there is a missing piece. I sense this might be a root of a contempt problem. I believe starting with the knowledge of grace is proper, but this second part can’t be ignored, in my opinion.

In a scenario where I’ve done something I know is wrong, I know the truth of 1 John 1:9. The crux of the matter is not whether I know that confession leads to forgiveness. I have identified my need for God’s grace, and I can point to the very passage that tells me I may have it. My heavenly Father has given me instruction so that I can have a restored relationship. When my understanding of the reality of God’s grace is warped, all kinds of things happen, none good.

As a response to the grace I receive, I offer self-degrading statements (What an idiot I am!), untrue statements about the character of God (He loves me when I do right, but when I do wrong, He doesn’t.), or maybe I can’t even put the whole thing in perspective (I can’t do anything right!). The truth of God’s Word says I am clean when I confess to Him, but I utter statements that contradict the truth of Scripture and degrade who I am.

Contradicting Scripture is a problem. I, as a follower of Christ, can’t be doing that. Degrading who I am says a lot about how I frame God’s character, doesn’t it? God’s truth, love, and power is (thankfully) never defined by what I think; it’s defined by who He says He is! And that’s framed in the truth of the Bible.

So, there are questions that ramble around in my mind at the moment. Maybe we could try them on for size.

Am I clear on my need for God’s grace?

Is the reality of God’s grace penetrating deeply into my heart, or do I need to pursue it?

I am forgiven and “cleansed from all unrighteousness” when I confess (1 John 1:9). Do I believe that? Do my thoughts, words, and actions reflect that I believe that?

Are my thoughts, words, and actions in keeping with what my heavenly Father says is true about me?

Am I in contempt?

Some days I admit I can’t see the reality of His grace. Those are the days I seem to be in contempt regularly. Guilty as charged. Those are the days I need refreshing in this area, and it would be a very good idea to think on the amazing grace at the cross and the truth of Scripture. The real work, though, will be done by the power of the Holy Spirit (a topic for another entry).

A heart of grace.

In my earlier entry, I explored the simple fact that grace is undeserved favor. It’s basically receiving love and then some, while we’ve done nothing to earn it. Truthfully, if we could earn it, we could no longer call it grace.  We would have to term it something like “wages” at that point, wouldn’t we? That term is covered in Scripture, and the context certainly applies to where I feel led to go. The Bible clearly states our imperfection (sin) has its wages: death (Romans 6:23, NASB). Comparing our actions to the holy and perfectly just God in heaven, we’ve no shot at earning anything! Our holy God cannot mingle with unholiness, or He could not be holy. Our just God cannot leave offenses against Him unpunished, or He could not be just.

This isn’t new if you’ve read along. The repeated theme has been John 3:16–”God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son.” God’s repair of our relationship with Him was at the cross. The law clarified our infractions, and the response to the law was Jesus. “Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness, for although the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16-17). I love that God doesn’t turn a blind eye to the truth. The truth is, best behavior or not, we don’t deserve this loving response. The grace is–Jesus at the cross.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

So, cut to the chase. Why, God, would our rebellious attitudes and behaviors be met with complete payment in full by your own Son on the cross? Romans 3:24 says “They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.” Freely. Justified. Why?

Because He is madly in love with us. A little review might be a good idea for all of us.

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies (Psalm 36:5).

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness (Psalm 86:15).

Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever (Psalm 136:26).

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ”I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness” (Jeremiah 31:3).

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love (John 15:9).

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39).

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions–it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5).

Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Ephesians 5:2).

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:4-5).

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:9-10).

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19).

Yep. He flat-out loves us. Our God sees his kids in trouble with a debt they can’t begin to pay, and He doesn’t expect us to make the first move. He doesn’t even expect us to know how to begin to get out of the trouble we’re in. He, with a grace-filled-to-overflowing heart, took the whole tab and paid it. Yeah, He’s pretty much madly in love with li’l old us.

“We love because He loved us first” (I John 4:19). (Emphasis is mine; feel free to read it that way yourself.)

Our perfect, holy, just God has an incredible heart of love without limits, but with one simple condition–that we come to Him and trade in all that we are and have for all that He has and is.  ”He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” (Jim Elliot).

Grace?

As I thought more deeply on grace, I came to a simplistic conclusion. Perhaps a main (and possibly common) problem we face in grasping the width, depth, and height of it lies in our own identity crisis. I can move through my ordered little world for years without thinking too deeply about who I really am at the core of my being. To some degree, our society ponders identity in small, insignificant doses: a profile for a blog or Facebook(R) page, the brief verbal introduction at a company picnic or in the church lobby, maybe an unexpected spotlight moment on an unusual day. Today our lives are becoming more “out there” in social networking sites, but more private at the same time. Odd. Unless we are part of unique type of deep, interpersonal community by choice, we are more and more private, even with all the technological accessibility we have.

I’m of the mind that one of our greatest human desires is to know and be known. Social networking sites sure scratch that itch! In just minutes, the transparency of others is mine…all mine. The hundreds of statuses available to me give a window into the world of my friends–emotions and events, excitement and boredom, whatever they are going through–immediately! It’s a false sense of knowledge and close friendship, I think. As soon as I realize I have the peek to their world that they allow me to have, the lightbulb goes on. Don’t I do the same thing? But, I’m not here to dismantle the new-fangled technological advances in this world. Truthfully, it has benefit to it when used wisely, so it’s not a “baby with the bath water” issue for me either.

Let’s take the social networking site scenario and think about what might happen if it showed everything. What if the window into our world went beyond the façade and included a window into the depths of the soul? Maybe the new name would be Activitiesbook, Mindbook, or Heartbook. Everything you’d ever done would be laid bare for all to see. I wonder if we’d have a market for something like that. Revealing everything is a whole different ballgame than the careful selection we might make to reveal our sweetest, funniest, most-appropriate self. What if the word choices didn’t allow for spin doctoring of some of our thoughts, actions, and choices? What if…we had to be completely honest? No masks. No hiding.

See, this is what our Abba Father knows about us. “Nothing in all creation is hidden in God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account” (Hebrews 4:13, NIV). We might cognitively know that God knows everything–the good, the bad, and the ugly. We might be willing to admit nothing we’ve ever done is unknown to Him. I, personally, perceive my own disconnect that tends toward an out of sight and out of mind perspective. Or, I might swing to something else that’s just as unhealthy: if God (or anyone) really knew what I was really like….

Do not be fooled. At the cross, Jesus knew who He was dying for, and He still did it. Wholeheartedly. Sacrificially. Lovingly. Without regret. ”God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8, NIV).

There is no pretending necessary. We come to Him as we are. He makes everything right.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2: 13-14, NIV)

He knew everything. Your good that’s not all that good, your bad that might be pretty bad to you or others, and your ugly that you never speak about–He was willing to take it all, to take all of each one of us! I have to sit with this for a minute. Do you?

I think a missing piece of knowing grace may be gripping the reality of who I am. I’m not all that impressive, really. My deepest thoughts can be found in a puddle I like to think has some depth, but that’s not much to bring to the table with the One who created, say, a universe. On a good day, I extend love to those good friends who love me unconditionally. On a really good day, I may manage love for someone who can’t stand me. On a bad day, I’m not all that real. On an ugly day, I hide.

And then there’s grace. He meets all of me (good, bad, and ugly) with grace. Really? Why?

In John 3:16 in God’s love for the world, my Father’s eyes come in for a close-up on li’l old me. Say it with me. My Father’s eyes come in for a close-up on li’l old me! He does that for each of us.

When I feel distant from my loving God, I think I need to take a visit to the cross. Eyes wide open to who I am and who He is, I bet I get a clearer picture of grace.

P.S. I didn’t mention anything specific from The Search for Significance. Trust me; this fits.

I’ve enjoyed the little puddle I’ve played in for the last few weeks, even if it’s been a little too reflective at times to the point of revealing some sensitive areas. Who of us wants to ponder grace, only to find that the “garden variety” definition you’ve always known doesn’t fit? It’s like returning to the elementary school that seemed huge and adequate at the age of 7 to find it’s nothing you perceived it to be. What once felt too far to run from end to end with a too-fat-to-grasp climbing rope reaching forever to the ceiling now equates to a miniature gymnasium with a tired interior.

Grace.

But when the goodness and love for man appeared from God our Savior, He saved us–not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that having been justified by His grace we may become heirs with the hope of eternal life.  (Titus 3:4-7, HCSB)

I’ve heard people say that mercy is not receiving the punishment we deserve, and grace is receiving love and then some, which we do not deserve.

I wonder if, once upon a time, a more thorough understanding of the word coursed through the veins of the followers of God. In a day and age where we justify nearly every action as some reaction to someone else’s careless or malicious action, we just might not grasp it. We are thankful, even excited, that those “really bad sinners” in our churches found forgiveness in Christ. But, we can’t relate to their lives, and often choose not to. If we’re gut-level honest, is there a “two class system operative in the churches” these days (Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel)? In the First, Second, and Third Splash entries, I explored some of the complications of our self-centered, haphazard, imperfect heart tendencies. (See the right hand margin for those reads if you’d like.) The truth of it is, the congregation stands on more level ground than we may know, or care to admit.

We live in a performance-driven societal system. It’s been given wonderful names by the spin doctors of the age. Sometimes we call it “positive reinforcement” or use cute gold star charts for our kids. Sometimes the flip side of it is called “natural consequences” or “consequential discipline” with our kids. We can use part of this system to introduce something biblical in the lives of children. (No, I’m not knocking the entire system in a “baby with the bath water” way.) I do believe there is danger in it when the whole thing manipulates behavior and transforms self image.

Truthfully, our heavenly Father uses rewards (Matthew 16:27; Mark 9:41; Luke 6:35). Paul wrote about his reward (1 Corinthians 9:17,18). Whatever we don’t know about rewards, we at least know they are covered in the scriptures. The Lord rewards (Ephesians 6:8; Colossians 3:24; Revelation 22:12).

The real problem is something of a snake that sneaks into our grace garden and attaches something that doesn’t belong. In response to the amazing grace, we want to show love through deeds. Pure love is often shown through loving actions, so that can be the purest form of love. After all, the Father sent his Son to do for us what we could not possibly do for ourselves (John 3:16). Here’s the “warp factor” in the thing: somehow our self-esteem can become entwined with the good deeds. (Honestly, this may or may not be a problem for a follower of Christ.)

Again and again we’ve tried to measure up, thinking that if we could meet certain standards, we would feel good about ourselves. But again and again, we’ve failed and have felt miserable. Even if we succeed on a fairly regular basis, occasional failure may be so devastating that it dominates how we see ourselves. (McGee, The Search for Significance Workbook, p. 24)

Knowingly or not, we may begin to associate good deeds with good in us, and that’s not entirely wrong. It’s a dangerous road when our scheduled devotional activities focus less on sweet relationship with our Abba Father out of love for the grace we’ve received at the cross through the power we’ve received from the Holy Spirit, and they focus more on measurable target numbers and check lists. We can ever so slowly begin to embrace we’ve become more acceptable to God by doing certain activities: 7 out of 7 weekly devotionals, growth from 5 minutes of prayer to a full hour, 52 weeks a year in the same seat at the same time each week in the sanctuary. (It’s even better if we attend the same sanctuary in those 52 weeks, right?)

It’s not about performance. And, our performance has little to do with the way that our Father sees us…or why He embraces us so tenderly and lovingly.

The world’s system:

Self-worth = Performance (what you do) + others’ opinions (what others think or say about you).

God’s system:

Self-worth = God’s truth about you. (McGee, The Search for Significance Workbook, p. 20)

So, if we come to our Abba Father thinking our performance brings us closer, makes us more acceptable, or cleans us up in His eyes, we need to know that’s all an act (Isaiah 64:6). There is no doubt. We all fall short of perfection. We all, on our best days and our worst, are loved by our God, are precious in His sight, and are His treasured possession!

I do not have a college degree in the performing arts, but on some days, I most definitely qualify for an honorary one. More than anything, I hope for a deep, heart-drenching understanding of this grace which has loved me anyway…even though…even if…no matter what!

This isn’t the end, but it’s my personal sweet beginning on this topic. Remember the cartoon character that catches an oversized whale out of a bucket? Yeah, my puddles are a little like that.

My first posts here are still sweet to me. These things are the working out of my faith, in a way. I’ll just warn you that the next posts could be challenging. I would offer a disclaimer, but that doesn’t fit where I am. I’m on a journey which you are welcome to join; but I’ll offer fair warning, it could get messy–for both of us.  You see, I’ve been walking a road which begs to be followed, yet it leads to unfamiliar places. If you can imagine something a bit like Christian on his way in The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, you’re probably close. (That’s a fabulous read, by the way!) I seem to need to examine things which I have known with my head for years, but have had difficulty knowing with my heart. I’m sure I’m not the only one to find things along the way which seem to come up for examination every so often. Well, this is my season. Feel free to walk along. I much prefer company on long journeys. I can’t tell you where the road ends, but I can give a little background on the beginning of it and how I began walking it.

Some time ago a word in a conversation with a friend caught my attention (actually, it raised my dander at the time): graceless. What does a person do with that word? It immediately paints a dichotomy: grace and completely lacking grace. Certainly, I could not be graceless. After all, I’ve offered forgiveness probably hundreds of thousands of times in my just-shy-of-two-decades-long comprehension of the word “grace.” I licked my wounds for a while, but was still very sure I wasn’t exactly “graceless” in my actions. Eventually, there was resolution with the friend involved, but the incident was not without its impression on me.

As I was pleasantly moving along in my ordered world, I attended a meeting regarding women’s bible studies at our church. A particular planned resource caught my attention, but I wasn’t entirely sure why. I just knew I should pick it up and test drive it for myself. The resource was The Search for Significance by Robert S. McGee. This book has revealed so much about myself to me that I can’t put it into words. It has not been without its (hopefully) indelible mark.

The next dot on the timeline shows up a few months later when another friend quoted a fantastic read that made an impression on him, The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. I’ve picked that up and listened to it in audio book format. Wow. That’s about all I can say. Manning’s words on grace at the beginning caught me off guard, brought the “graceless conversation” back to my mind, touched on my search for significance, and challenged everything I had neatly established and filed in my gray matter about grace.

You may already know these resources inside and out. Or, you may know none of them particularly well. I can only tell you that, if this is the plan my Abba Father has for my life in this season, then this is fuel for a fire–a big fire! I can tell you, as far as I can see (which isn’t all that far), this could be dangerous. If some of the previous gentle droplets have been making cute little ripples, this may look far more like a downpour.

Warning given.

Let it rain, I say! Let it rain!

Who knew a couple of Latin words could really expand my understanding of relationship with God and others? At first the words seemed fairly inconsequential on the page. I read lectio divina and thought little of it.  Then I realized this was something the author suggested Jesus might have used as a method of “reading people”.  In fact, the original sentence that caught my attention said “it was though he was practicing lectio divina on them: reading them, reflecting on them, responding to them, even resting in who they were” (Johnson, 47). I knew I didn’t understand those Latin words, so I thought I might try to get a handle on this one.

When I did a little research, I found something that really turned out to be a blessing. For those of you who are familiar with this practice which includes four parts, please check my information. I’m thankful to have found a written work translated out of Middle English into our modern English. I hope you find this blesses you as well.

The written work is by Guigo II, and its original title is A Ladder of Foure Ronges by the Which Men Mowe Clyme to Heven. Here is an excerpt from the work as published at this link.

When I was at hard at work one day, thinking on the spiritual work needful for God’s servants, four such spiritual works came to my mind, these being: reading; meditation; prayer; contemplation. This is the ladder for those in cloisters, and for others in the world who are God’s Lovers, by means of which they can climb from earth to heaven. It is a marvellously tall ladder, but with just four rungs, the one end standing on the ground, the other thrilling into the clouds and showing the climber heavenly secrets.

This is the ladder Jacob saw, in Genesis, that stood on the earth and reached into heaven, on which he saw heavenly angels ascending and descending, with God leaning upon the ladder. From the ascending and descending of the angels is understood that the heavenly angels delight us with much spiritual comforting and carry our prayers up to our Lord in heaven, where he sits on high, and bring back down from him the desire of our hearts, as is proved by Daniel. By God’s supporting the ladder is understood that he is always ready to help all who by these four rungs of this ladder will climb wisely, not fearing nor doubting that such a ladder will really help us.

Understand now what the four staves of this ladder are, each in turn. Reading, Lesson, is busily looking on Holy Scripture with all one’s will and wit. Meditation is a studious insearching with the mind to know what was before concealed through desiring proper skill. Prayer is a devout desiring of the heart to get what is good and avoid what is evil. Contemplation is the lifting up of the heart to God tasting somewhat of the heavenly sweetness and savour. Reading seeks, meditation finds, prayer asks, contemplation feels. Vnde querite & accipietis: pulsate et aperietur vobis. That is to say ‘Seek and you shall find: knock and the door will be opened for you’. That means also, seek through reading, and you will find holy meditation in your thinking; and knock through praying, and the doors shall be opened to you to enter through heavenly contemplation to feel what you desire. Reading puts as it were whole food into your mouth; meditation chews it and breaks it down; prayer finds its savour; contemplation is the sweetness that so delights and strengthens. Reading is like the bark, the shell; meditation like the pith, the nut; prayer is in the desiring asking; and contemplation is in the delight of the great sweetness. Reading is the first ground that that precedes and leads one into meditation; meditation seeks busily, and also with deep thought digs and delves deeply to find that treasure; and because it cannot be attained by itself alone, then he sends us into prayer that is mighty and strong.  And so prayer rises to God, and there one finds the treasure one so fervently desires, that is the sweetness and delight of contemplation. And then contemplation comes and yields the harvest of the labour of the other three through a sweet heavenly dew, that the soul drinks in delight and joy.

Having read this, I better understand the life flowing out of the practice of lectio divina. Johnson’s chapter emphasizes the blessing of “servant listening” (Johnson, 49). If one were to engage others in conversation with this practice in mind, I can only imagine the love that would be almost tangibly felt by the other person in that moment. I’ve read that we are a “time-poor culture” these days and that the most costly gift we can give another is our time! What if we really gave them our whole selves, our time, and our ears…

I can’t really touch on this subject without considering one other thing: our relationship with our God. Since lectio divina is intended to begin with Scripture, move through meditation, become active prayer, especially contemplative prayer, we cannot overlook our relationship with Jesus, with the Father, with the Holy Spirit. Oh, my! Our relationship with the Lord would be changed if we slowed down enough to touch on these four steps. Reading Scripture would certainly begin to show us who our triune God really is. Meditating on that Scripture and His character would infuse the truth, love, and power of our God into our heart, soul, and mind. Responding with prayer would add action, depth of relationship, even reality to our faith. Contemplation feels to me like the seal of our hearts. For some reason Psalm 119:11 comes to mind.

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  ~ Psalm 119:11

I immediately tend to imagine a physical strength kind of thing. Maybe I’ve read a few of Paul’s illustrations and analogies. I wonder what it would look like to love God with all my strength? Maybe it would look a little like someone training for the Olympics. Corinth being located in ancient Greece where the Games began, Paul is speaking their language.

Don’t you know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one wins the prize? So then, run to win! Now every athlete in training submits himself to strict discipline, and he does it just to win a laurel wreath that will soon wither away. But we do it to win a crown that will last forever. Accordingly, I don’t run aimlessly but straight for the finish line; I don’t shadow-box but try to make every punch count. I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that, I myself will not be disqualified. (1 Cor. 9:24-27, JNT)

I thoroughly enjoy getting outside my “usual translation”; I think it provides a unique opportunity to look at Scripture from a fresh perspective. Sometimes I get a bit more information from comparing translations, so I recommend it. As you can see in the Jewish New Testament, the terms are not entirely different from what we would recognize, and it even lends itself to a slightly clearer understanding of the passage from a cultural perspective. It’s a little “laurel wreath” they trained for in the Games. Paul doesn’t meander, but runs “straight for the finish line”.  His boxing is for real, with intent to connect! Those were my first observations.

You know I had to take a look at this passage a little more closely, right? When I peeked at David H. Stern’s Jewish New Testament Commentary (a companion volume to the JNT) I was pleasantly surprised. He writes, “One can never rest in one’s laurels; on the contrary, having invited others to enter the competition, one must oneself continue to fight temptation and run the harder” (Stern, p. 467). Regarding how the athlete in training “submits himself to strict discipline,” Stern suggests he “exercises self-control in everything” (Stern, p. 468). For some reason I grinned when I read a literal translation for “I treat my body hard” in verse 27: “I give my body a black eye” (Stern, p. 468).

As we start looking into loving God with all of our strength, we have to notice the body is part of this focus. We’ve explored the mind, and critical to that part is loving the Lord with all your heart and soul. But, the body, our strength, can’t be ignored. How will we use our strength to love God?

The questions that come to mind for me are about my physical health and strength. Does this mean considering  the things put into the body that will either strengthen or weaken it? Does diet and exercise play into this? I think it does. Our physical well-being allows for us to be used in ways we might not otherwise have potential if we were ignoring our health and well-being. But, don’t forget that “physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things” (1 Tim. 4:8). Also important to address is that sometimes we’ve been given a period of time (or a whole life) inside a body that isn’t healthy for whatever reason. Praying through something like this might be more difficult, even heart-wrenching. Whatever we have (even with what little we have), can we agree we could dialogue with God about how to love him with it?

Some of loving God this way is about loving God’s people that way. Should strength intimidate…or appropriately show love? Is strength lending a helping hand to someone? If someone needed help to move, and it was in your physical power, would you do it? Would you literally walk with someone across a street, into a tough situation, a “bad news” doctor’s appointment, a court room? Would you recognize that you’ve been given strength…and you can lovingly give it away?

The last thing I want to wrap up with is a favorite Scripture:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Gal. 6:9, 10, NIV)

Let’s pray for clear understanding of how we can love the Lord with all our strength…and the Lord’s people, too!

As I’ve explored the “greatest commandment” in Mark 12:29-30, I’d like to think about how we might take some ground in the area of our wandering mind and our thought life. Where do we start? I’d like to follow the example of Jesus. When talking about the great commandments, he began with God. Let’s start there.

Let’s spend some time with David, known for being “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14b; Acts 13:22). I think understanding an example of the thoughts of our God (those we can grasp, anyway) would be a great start. Psalm 139 reminds us of who we are in the eyes of our Almighty God, our heavenly Father.

Lord, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I stand up;
You understand my thoughts from far away.
You observe my travels and my rest;
You are aware of all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue,
You know all about it, Lord.
You have encircled me;
You have placed Your hand on me. (Ps. 139:1-5, HCS)

Our very big God, our Abba, is thinking about us. All the time! He knows everything about us from the smallest details to the most important moments in our lives (Matt. 10:30). David continues:

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. (Ps. 139:17-18a, NIV)

Our God knows all and is thinking of us all the time. When David wrote about God’s thoughts for him, he wasn’t writing as if he was unique. I believe our Father is thinking of each of us in the same manner. He is preoccupied with each of us that much! How does that make you feel? How do you respond to that kind of love and care and affection and attention to detail?

When I think of how precious I am in the eyes of my Father and realize I am at the forefront of his mind (not the back), I’m overwhelmed. The only response I want to have is reciprocation! I don’t want to forget my God, only to think of him when I’m in a pinch! Honestly, with an infinite God, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t run out of thoughts to think.

How can I intentionally, strategically, boldly set myself up for becoming preoccupied with my God Almighty, my heavenly Father, my Abba, my Shield and Strength, my All in All? Let’s think about that for a moment.

My first step in entering into deep relationship or conversation with my God is to remember who he is! He is H-O-L-Y, holy! With that in mind, I want to dwell on the Person of God and all of his attributes and character traits and anything I can find in Scripture that defines Almighty God in any way I might be able to grasp! Try thinking through the very personal names of God. They are all over Scripture. There have been books written about the names of God. Let your Father introduce himself to you in fresh ways with the names that speak more clearly of who he is and find out what the names mean:

• Adonai (LORD)
  
• Sha-di (Almighty)
  
• The Amen
• Ancient of Days
• The Angel of His Presence
• Bread of Life
  

These are just a few from Intimate Moments with the Hebrew Names of God by Mallin and Wolkenfeld. This book has been a blessing to me as I’ve explored the names of God. When we read our “distilled” English bibles, we are missing so many of the nuances of Scripture, and this is one of those things. What a blessing to see that we have been introduced to facets of our very big God’s personality and character through these names. It reminds us of who he is, and who we are not. It’s possible that an experiment of this nature just might lead to confession and repentance. You can’t beat that!

When we are reminded of how very holy (set apart) God really is, we could (Dare I say, should?) be reminded of who we are. Our eyes being opened to the absolute standard of perfection just might reveal our shortcomings. That’s not always a bad thing. When I was contemplating contempt in its many forms, I was devastated by the amount of “experience” I had in that area. In fact, I saw that I had quite an arsenal of behaviors that “oozed” contempt and spilled it all over anyone who might be near me. When I saw the standard of perfection, I was tempted to “clean up my act” first…even institute a few New Year’s resolutions. Then I came to my senses and considered what God might really want: godly sorrow leading to repentance and action (2 Cor. 7:10, 11)! This is how I want to use my mind to love God!

I’m going to take a bit of a breather here. I want to sit and reflect on the splash. I want to start with God’s example of preoccupation, move into the names of my God, remember the standard of perfection, and fall on my face before the cross of Christ. That moment at the cross is everything! That’s where I received “the helmet of salvation” to protect my wee little head (Eph. 6:17; 1 Thess. 5:8).