How you remember them matters

Have you ever reconnected with someone from your past after many years, only to discover that they are nothing like the person you last knew them as?

Maybe he was the most annoying kid in school, constantly irritating everyone with outbursts of immaturity.  Or she was one to run with the wrong crowd, rebelling against her parents and schoolteachers any chance she had.  Perhaps you remember them for their arrogance or massive ego. 

When describing them to others, we always qualify their name with whatever bad thing they did, saying things like “she was the one who…” or “he always treated others like…”.  We all have stories and memories like this.

The truth is, you and I are remembered like this in other people’s stories and memories.  There are plenty of acts and choices from my youth that I don’t want to be remembered for, because that’s not who I am anymore.  I don’t want to be forever-labeled by the times I messed up.

David brought these same concerns to God:

Psalm 25:4-7
Make Your ways known to me, Lord;
teach me Your paths.
Guide me in Your truth and teach me,
for You are the God of my salvation;
I wait for You all day long.

Remember, Lord, Your compassion and faithful love,
for they have existed from antiquity.
Do not remember the sins of my youth or my acts of rebellion;
in keeping with Your faithful love, remember me
because of Your goodness, Lord.

David knows that if God based their relationship on His remembering of David’s sins of his youth or acts of rebellion, then he has no chance of knowing God’s ways or walking God’s paths.  David can’t earn access to God or God’s truth or God’s teaching – because David has already disqualified himself from those good things, based upon how he acted before.

Notice that David doesn’t petition God with “Look how much better I am now!” or try to bargain with God, saying “I’ll pay you back with more sacrifices!”.  David doesn’t seek a relationship with God based upon his own merits or actions; instead, he wants God to remember him according to God’s faithful love and God’s goodness.

God’s compassion is what gives David, and us, access to God.  We can only approach Him because of the way He chooses to see us.  And we’re all grateful that when He thinks of us, His thoughts are based upon His character, not on our actions.

We can make the same choice with others.  Will we always remember people for the flaws and mistakes of their youth, or will we extend compassion to them?  If someone from your past approached you now, seeking forgiveness like David sought from God, how would you respond?

I know, that’s tough.  All the important things in life are hard.  But that doesn’t change how important our choices are. 

Jesus considered this relationship dynamic to be so important that He included it in His model prayer:

Matthew 6:12
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

They may have wronged you in the past, but you don’t have to remember them for their actions.  I encourage you to extend the same compassion and forgiveness that God remembers us by.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Dear Jesus, just do what I want.

Answered prayer can be a tricky situation.

On the one hand, we’ve prayed and asked God to intervene – perhaps with a physical healing, or a job opportunity, or a financial rescue – and the situation has changed in the way we prayed that God would resolve it.  “God came through” is what we often say.  And we should absolutely continue to bring our requests for help to God.  He invites us to do so (Philippians 4:6), and He’s happy to say yes to us (Matthew 7:7-11).

But what if He says “no”?

How do we respond to not getting the “good thing” we want?  What should we do when God doesn’t immediately bless our plans? 

Early on in Jesus’ ministry, there were those who had specific requests for Him, but Jesus didn’t go along with their plans.  While preaching and ministering in the town of Capernaum, which is in the northern region of Galilee, Jesus performed two healing miracles.  When word got out about the miracles, the whole town showed up for more:

Luke 4:40-42
When the sun was setting, all those who had anyone sick with various diseases brought them to Him.  As He laid His hands on each one of them, He healed them.  Also, demons were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “ You are the Son of God!”  But He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew He was the Messiah.

When it was day, He went out and made His way to a deserted place.  But the crowds were searching for Him.  They came to Him and tried to keep Him from leaving them.

Here’s what the people of Capernaum missed: The miracles weren’t performed just so they could have an easier life.  If that was all there was to Jesus’ ministry, then He could have set up shop in town, and everyone with a broken arm, demon affliction, or even a case of the sniffles could stop in for a quick healing.  He would have been immensely popular (and profitable for the town) had He done so. 

The crowds in Capernaum wanted to keep Jesus in town so they knew where He was and what He was doing at all times.  In case of an emergency, they knew exactly where to go.  They didn’t want to let Jesus go beyond how they have experienced Him to this point.  They wanted to keep Him stashed away for themselves and have Him do His work on their terms.

However, Jesus had a larger purpose for the miracles He was doing:

Luke 4:43-44
But He said to them, “It is necessary for Me to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.”  And He was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.

Jesus’ miracles authenticated that His message was from God, but the miracles were not the focus of Jesus’ ministry…even if other people wanted them to be.  Jesus had no intention of being their “in-case-of-emergency-break-glass” healer.  Instead, His mission was much, much bigger.  The other towns needed to hear the message that the kingdom of God was at hand, that their Messiah had arrived, that their spiritual condition needed healing even more than their physical diseases did.

It’s easy to scoff at their near-sighted, selfish attempt to control Jesus…but the truth is, we’re just as guilty of doing the same thing.  We struggle when we don’t see God move in our lives like He did before.  We pine away for how close we felt to Jesus in the beginning or at a certain moment when He rescued us…and we’re confused as to why we don’t see Him like that now.  We ask Him…even beg Him…to bring healing to our physical body or our mental illness or our relationships…and we despise the silent “no” that comes in the moment.

We want Jesus to stay in one place and fix all our problems.  But, deep down, we want those things for selfish reasons…mainly that we want life to be easier.

There were lots of blind, broken, demon-possessed, hungry, and hurting people in Judea during Jesus’ time there.  Only a small fraction of them received any sort of healing.  Because healing wasn’t the mission.  Being the Messiah they needed was more important than being the Healer they wanted.

When Jesus firmly told the people of Capernaum that He was leaving, against their wishes, they were left with a choice: Would they shrink back from Jesus because they didn’t get what they wanted, or would they support Him in His larger, kingdom-sized purpose?

The same question hangs in the air for us, too.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

No more Flashback Favorites

About a year ago, I learned a hard truth.  It has rattled around in my brain, gone away, and then boomeranged back to the front of my thoughts at some rather interesting times since it was first presented to me:

Contempt is often a cover for shame.

But let me back up a little further…I first picked up this blog from Joe in 2013.  By 2017, after writing and posting at least once per week…I needed a break.  So I scheduled what I called a “Flashback Favorite” – using republished posts from previous years.  Doing so gave me two weeks off from the pressure of writing, and fulfilled my concern that I didn’t want to “go dark” and leave people hanging.

In the years since 2017, I have published various numbers of “Flashback Favorite” posts – whether it was time for a break or the other responsibilities of life had crowded out my ability to write for the week.  However, every time I posted one…I felt a twinge of guilt.  I felt like I was letting you down.  And labeling a post “Flashback Favorite” was my admittance of defeat.

I felt contempt toward myself – thoroughly convinced that if I had just worked hard enough, to get far enough ahead that I didn’t need to rely on “old stuff” to cover for me.  But the contempt really was a cover for shame…that I let you down, let myself down, and (most importantly) let God down.  That my efforts weren’t good enough.  Or that I had been too lazy or undisciplined.  Nobody would have said it out loud, and they wouldn’t have needed to…because I said it enough internally for the both of us.

Up until the last couple of weeks, I was really proud of myself for only having one Flashback Favorite this year – the week my wife was in a car accident (she’s ok now, thank you God!).  But much like 2017, for the past two weeks, I needed a break.  So, I reluctantly scheduled some previous posts to go out while I have worked on the next new series.

But God brought this passage to mind…and this one little verse has reshaped my thinking, dissipating my contempt and its shameful root:

Matthew 13:52
“Therefore,” He said to them, “every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.”

Through several parables, Jesus had just taught His disciples about the Kingdom of God.  It was clear from these stories that Jesus was taking the old and familiar lessons from the law and expounding upon them with His new teachings.  The old wasn’t being tossed aside…instead, a disciple would be able to see how the old foreshadows the new, and how the new fulfills the intended purpose of the old.

The observation that stands out the most to me is that both the old and the new are treasures.  The owner of the house knows when it’s time to redecorate, but also when it’s time to look at the pictures of yester-year.  The new does not replace the old, but instead both have value.  Both have their time and place, and the wisdom of the house owner dictates when each should be brought to light.

That’s how it is, too, with our growth and maturity, right?  We don’t always learn something new from God.  There are times we have to relearn a lesson from before.  Sometimes, it’s applying the same learning in a new context.  Other times, it’s healthy for us to remember how far God has brought us.

So, going forward, I’m not going to label any posts as a “Flashback Favorite”.  If I need to bring back an “old” learning, then I will do so without shame or contempt.  There is value in the treasure which God has brought to me through writing this blog for the last 13+ years…and I don’t want to diminish that gift in any way.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Flashback Favorite: The greatest reward possible

When a new US President takes office, he gets to pick who will be in his cabinet and inner circle. Those opportunities aren’t afforded to just anyone. The person who voted for him is certainly on the “winning team”, but simply casting a vote would not qualify an individual to be a cabinet member. Those inner circle positions are only available to those the President knows the best and trusts the most - men and women who have worked with him and for him all along the campaign trail.

The same will be true when Jesus takes His rightful place in the Millennial Kingdom and Eternity Future. Those who have believed in Jesus for eternal life will be part of the Kingdom, but those who have followed Him now will have even greater opportunity to serve and have access to Jesus in the future.

The greatest reward possible
Originally posted on September 26, 2019

Assuming you had the necessary skills and the opportunity, what is the biggest earthly prize you would aspire to?

Maybe it’s directing the highest grossing movie of all time…or Quarterbacking your favorite team to a Super Bowl victory…or building a business up from your garage into a global empire…or perhaps you are content to win the lottery and retire to a private island.  What would be “the ultimate prize” for you?

How does thinking about this feel?  Scary?  Overwhelming?  Unrealistic?

As those who believe in Jesus for eternal life, we know this present life will continue on with Him into Eternity Future.  While there are big dreams and opportunities to be had here and now…we should also wonder if there are eternal opportunities that God has made available to us.  In God’s revelation to John, He reveals a big one:

Revelation 22:3-5
The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His servants will worship Him.  They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads.  Night will be no more; people will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign forever and ever.

They will reign.

Those words carry a weight to them, and they should.  To reign means that a person has obtained or has been given the authority to rule, to lead, and to preside over the lives of others.  While we fully expect Jesus to reign in Heaven and over all creation…John tells us that in addition to Jesus, His servants will reign.

Servant Kings.

Those words don’t seem to go together, but it is exactly what Christ taught to His disciples.

At one point, Peter struggled with comparing the life he left behind with his choice to follow Jesus as a disciple.  He could have believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah, continued to work the family business as a fisherman, and still gone to Heaven.  What Peter struggled with was seeing the tangible benefits to accepting Christ’s invitation to intimately follow Him in Discipleship, to living his earthly life learning how to imitate Christ.  Let’s drop into their conversation:

Matthew 19:27-28
Then Peter responded to Him, “See, we have left everything and followed You.  So what will there be for us?”  Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, in the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Notice that Jesus does not rebuke Peter for asking this kind of “What’s the reward?” question.  Jesus replies that there is a reward – a reward of authority – to those who have followed him.  Jesus didn’t say that this magnitude of a reward was available to everyone who believes…rather those who will be great at the renewal of all things are those who, after believing, have spent their earthly lives learning how to imitate Christ.

Learning to imitate Christ, the greatest example of a Servant King, is what will qualify His servants to reign forever and ever.

You and I have the necessary skills and the opportunity to do the same.  Will we follow Christ now so that we, too, can become Servant Kings in eternity future?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Flashback Favorite: Good FOMO

As I continue to think about the eternal rewards available to us, I came across a previous post that covers another reward - two rewards, in fact! - that we are already familiar with. The rewards are being praised and receiving new opportunities. We enjoy receiving them now…can you imagine what it would be like to receive them from the God of the Universe?!?!

Good FOMO
Originally posted on May 25, 2023

The term FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out, was first coined in a 1996 economic research paper; however, the feelings associated with FOMO have been around much longer.  FOMO is an internal concern that your day-to-day life doesn’t match up with the external lives you see other people experiencing.  It is an insecurity that you are missing out on something – and because you are left out, it means that your value is less than whomever is having the experience you are not.

It's pretty apparent how FOMO can be intensified by social media.  The daily highlight reels of seeing other people’s fancy meals, vacations, kids’ achievements, perfect couple selfie poses, and witty comments can leave us thinking that others don’t have the stressors and issues that we experience and struggle with. 

A little self-analysis on this topic goes a long way.  So, let’s jump in:

The things we experience FOMO over reveal what we value the most – but more than just at the surface level.  When we see someone post about having a great meal, or a great experience, or a great relationship, we often respond with “Must be nice…”  All those things would be wonderful to have, but – and here’s where we have to be brutally honest with ourselves – don’t we also have a secret desire to have other people see us have that great thing, too?  At a very core level (one we don’t like to acknowledge)…it’s as if we want to induce FOMO in other people, as a way of propping ourselves up or establishing our own value.

We want the thing, but we also want other people to revere us for having the thing.

And that, my friends, is called pride.  It’s so sneaky, isn’t it? 

If you ate the gourmet meal, took the romantic trip, or got the promotion – and never posted on social media about it – would you still be satisfied with the experience?  Well Ken, of course I would!

Or do you find even more satisfaction with the event when sharing it on the socials, in the hopes that others will admire you for what you have?  Ok Ken, maybe I don’t want to answer that…

We like to achieve, and we like to impress our audience.  But it’s too easy to slip into a prideful mindset about achievements or good experiences, especially when we’re focused on how others will evaluate our life.  It would be easy to rant against pride here, but I think there’s a better way to deal with prideful FOMO: change our audience.

Jesus told His disciples about a man who left part of his fortune in the hands of his servants.  In today’s wages, he gave the first servant $5,000,000, the second servant $2,000,000, and the third servant $1,000,000.  After a long time, the man came back to settle accounts.  Both the first and second servants had doubled his money, but the third had done nothing.  Interestingly, the first and second servants received the exact same response:

Matthew 25:21 and 25:23
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!  You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Share your master’s joy.”

We would probably expect the one who earned another $5,000,000 to receive a higher praise or reward than the one who earned another $2,000,000 – but that’s not what happened.  The master congratulated and praised both equally.  He granted them new opportunity, both in responsibility and in a joyful relationship with him.  The one who did nothing with the master’s investment ended up giving back the money, but he also lost out on all that the others gained.

The first and second servant worked with what they had been given, with the goal of impressing their master.  They were looking forward to hearing him say ‘Well done!’.  I think it’s accurate to say that they feared missing out on their master’s approval, otherwise they wouldn’t have worked so hard or been so eager to show him what they had accomplished.

FOMO can be a good thing, but it depends on who it is that we’re trying to impress.  If we’re trying to impress other people, or even make them jealous, then we’re going to end up like the third servant and waste the talent God has given us.  We’ll also miss out on the rewards God has instore for believers who are intentionally working with and developing the gifts He’s given us.

So I encourage you to take what you have – your time, your talents, and your treasure – and invest it well.  Intentionally develop these gifts and invest them in other people, doing it so that you can point others to God.  That is what earns the ‘Well done!’ from God and leads to even greater opportunity and relationship in Eternity Future.  We certainly don’t want to miss out on that!

Keep Pressing,
Ken

My unexpected reward

I have been “guest preaching” for my church for a couple of years now.  Usually four or five times a year, just enough to give our pastor an occasional break.  However, this summer I did something new – I wrote and delivered an entire message series.

The three-week series was titled, “Don’t be a Cretan”.  Each week, we walked through Paul’s letter to his protégé, Titus, and the directions he gave for the churches on the island of Crete.  Cretan society was more than a little rough, so Titus had his hands full as he taught these new believers what it means to follow Jesus in a difficult culture.  If you are interested in hearing these messages, you can find them on YouTube: Week 1, Week 2, and Week 3.

Handling an entire series was a new experience for me, and I now have even more empathy for pastors who shepherd a church while also holding down a full-time job to pay the bills.  As I concluded the series, I was very happy to not have to be planning out, writing, and getting ready to deliver the next sermon series.  Preaching is both a blessing and a burden, and I was ready for a break.

I received several heartfelt “thank yous” and had many great conversations based on the messages I delivered.  However, I was not expecting the shout-out our pastor gave me this past week at the beginning of his message.  He publicly said “Thank you” from the stage and led the church in a round of applause.  That in itself was more than I would have expected, but he continued – telling our church how me teaching the series gave him the largest speaking break he’s had in 6 years and how he was freed up to be fully present for some significant moments within both his family and God’s family.

He didn’t have to do that.  He had already expressed his gratitude to me privately several times, so I knew where his heart was.  However, he still wanted to publicly reward my efforts. 

I think a lot of Christians live their lives that way, too.  We know the tasks God has given us to do, and we know His heart towards us when we make the wise choice or do the thing He has asked us to do.  What we don’t expect is that God plans to publicly reward us for our efforts.

Does that sound odd to you?  Then let me remind you of something Jesus said during His Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 6:19-21
Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If we are told to store up…treasures in heaven, then that must mean (logically) that there are actual treasures in heaven.  Jesus’ words make it clear that being in heaven isn’t “the treasure” we’re to be aiming for.  Getting into heaven is guaranteed when we believe in Jesus for eternal life.  These treasures in heaven must be something more…and if they can be stored up or not, then we all will have different amounts.

The topic of “Eternal rewards” is not talked about much in our modern-day churches.  But Jesus talked about them quite a bit and so did the other New Testament writers. 

You might have heard someone say, “I don’t need any rewards.  I’ll just be happy to be in heaven”.  While a statement like that sounds quite humble and spiritual…it’s actually pretty arrogant and selfish to think that way.  Jesus wasn’t giving a suggestion or an optional side-quest in His Sermon on the Mount.  He told us to store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.  That’s a pretty clear direction.

Imagine getting to heaven, standing before Jesus, and realizing that all your treasures were stored on earth.  I don’t think the “I’m just happy to be here” defense is going to feel all that comforting.

So what are the treasures in heaven and how do we store them up?  We’ll take a look at those in the coming weeks.  But for now, stop and ask Jesus to reveal where your heart is at, what do you find valuable?  It’s just like He said: for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Is your heart focused on earthly things or heavenly things?  Being honest with that question is the best place to start.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

What's in the New Testament?

We commonly refer to the Bible as a “book” – in fact, it is the best-selling book of all-time.  However, the Bible itself is a collection of 66 individual books.  These books were written over approximately 1500 years, by 40 different authors, and in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).

Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the authors to write His words and His message to humanity.  Each author brought their own experiences, concerns, and writing style…and as such, we have a variety of literature types within the Scriptures.  The major division of the Bible’s books is between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  For this blog post, we’ll look at what God has said in the New Testament:

New Testament – This is a collection of 27 books which details Jesus’ birth, ministry, death on the cross, His resurrection, and the world-wide impact of these events.  They are divided into 5 different categories:

The Gospels – These 4 accounts tell of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection.  The only other historical contemporary to Jesus who had four biographical accounts of their life at that time was the Emperor Tiberius.  The gospels show a remarkable consistency for having been written by four different authors writing for four different audiences.  The gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

History – Just one book, Acts.  It begins with Jesus giving the disciples their mission to tell the world about Him, and then He ascends into the heavens.  The rest of the book tells how this mission was fulfilled through the early church.  It also reveals Paul’s incredible conversion to Christianity and his role as a missionary.

Paul’s letters – Not only did Paul take multiple missionary trips, bringing the gospel to several nations around the Mediterranean, but he also wrote letters to the churches he established and specific people he partnered with in ministry.  These books contain a mixture of Christian doctrine/teachings and practical advice on how to live like Jesus in a messed-up world.  Paul’s letters include: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

General letters – These are smaller letters written to larger Christian audiences.  They contain additional teachings and practical applications.  These letters include: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.

Prophecy – The book of Revelation is God’s foretelling of the end of earth’s history and the beginning of Jesus reign into Eternity Future.  You’ll find lots of symbolism and references back to many Old Testament people and situations.  Whereas Genesis begins with the story of Paradise Lost, Revelation ends with Paradise Restored.

A few things to keep in mind:

The Bible isn’t a science text – but it does contain some science references.  The Bible isn’t a history book, but there’s never been an archeological find that has contradicted a historical statement in the Bible.  The Bible never claimed to be “the book of every explanation”, but it does contain everything we need to understand God’s love and design for humanity.  The Bible tells us of God’s original partnership with us, how we fouled it up, and God’s plan to rescue us from the mess we’ve made.

I hope and pray that this brief description is helpful to you…perhaps even spurred some questions or curiosity about a book of the Bible you haven’t read in a while.  I’ll end with Paul’s encouragement to his protégé, Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

We must grieve

Jesus begins His “Sermon on the Mount” with a series of blessings referred to as ‘The Beatitudes’.  Even if you’re not familiar with the name, I’m certain that you’ll recognize several of them:

Matthew 5:3-10
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

This is an easy list to breeze through…at least for me it always has been.  I was recently challenged with a speaker’s focus on the second blessing:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Which side do you see yourself on…the person who mourns or the one who brings comfort?

Honestly, I have always pictured myself as the one who brings comfort – which breaks down to com-fort and means to “bring-strength”.  I can see myself as one who brings strength to those who are struggling…but I didn’t see myself as someone who would need to receive comfort.

The acts of mourning and grieving are necessary to our lives, but we generally don’t like them very much.  So what do we do?  We tend to stuff our feelings and avoid any opportunity to evaluate or process them.  We use a variety of terms to describe how we expect it to feel: messy, sticky, uncomfortable, out of control, never ending, lonely, depressing…I’m sure you could add a few of your own.

Most of all, deep down we fear two things: that if we start to mourn, it will never end…and that if we really grieve, no one will come to comfort us.  Just the thought of being forever alone in our grief is enough to scare us into avoiding it at all costs.  We’d rather spend a massive amount of energy and time pretending that we’re fine instead of facing both our fears and our grief.

But that’s not what Jesus promised, is it?

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Look also to what David wrote about God:

Psalm 56:8
You Yourself have recorded my wanderings.
Put my tears in Your bottle.  Are they not in Your book?

God knows where we have been.  He knows the heartache we’ve experienced.  He’s not only seen every tear we’ve cried, but He’s carefully collected them as well.

God offers another promise – this one is announced at the opening of New Jerusalem in Eternity Future:

Revelation 21:3-4
Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them.  They will be His peoples, and God Himself will be with them and will be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.  Death will be no more, grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.

Did you see that?  God Himself will wipe away the tears from your eyes.  But how can He wipe away tears we refuse to cry?  How will we find comfort if we refuse to mourn?

We must grieve.  Not just when a loved one dies, but any loss we experience – the loss of a friendship, a job, our innocence, our dreams, a season of life.  Even when we let go of good things so we can focus on better things, we still need to grieve.

When grief comes, don’t avoid it – lean into it.  Your mourning won’t last forever.  In fact, leaning into it will bring it to conclusion, even if we don’t feel that way right now.  Avoiding it will guarantee that the unresolved grief will linger with you for the rest of your life.

God promises blessing and comfort to those who mourn.  Will you trust Him with your tears?

Keep Pressing,
Ken

At His lowest moment, they needed Him

How close are you with your cousins?

I wasn’t all that close to mine, mainly because we lived so far apart that it was unlikely we’d see each other more than once a year.  However, I have met other people that tell me they are so close to their cousin, they may as well had been raised as siblings…even to the point that their cousin knew and understood them better than their actual siblings did.

Did you know Jesus had a similar family situation?

Growing up, and even into His ministry, Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in Him (John 7:1-9).  Can you imagine having a literally perfect older brother?  Yeah, I wouldn’t be too thrilled with him, either.  But Jesus did have a cousin whom He was close with.  His name was John.

John was born six months earlier than Jesus, but even in the womb, he recognized who Jesus really was (Luke 1:44).  John’s mission was to announce to the nation of Judah that the Messiah was coming (Luke 3:1-6).  He was even given the honor of baptizing Jesus (Luke 3:21-22), signifying that a new era in God’s relationship with mankind had begun.  John was the last of the Old Testament prophets, those chosen by God to point the people toward the coming Messiah and King.  But John was the only prophet to actually know the One he was pointing people to.  John knew better than anyone on the planet what Jesus had come to earth for, giving up his own opportunity for fame and fortune among the Jewish people.  His understanding is wholly encapsulated in his statement:

John 3:28-30
You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah, but I’ve been sent ahead of Him.’ He who has the bride is the groom.  But the groom’s friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom’s voice.  So this joy of mine is complete.  He must increase, but I must decrease.

John’s mission as a prophet wasn’t just to announce the Messiah, but to also bring the people to recognize their need for the coming Messiah.  His teaching routinely convicted people of their sin – some wanted to know how to deal with their sinful state, but others wanted to hide from it.  And John wouldn’t just call out the average citizens…he had no issue calling out the religious leaders for their hypocrisy and political leaders for their selfishness.

As you can imagine, this caused John some trouble.  At one point, King Herod arrested John and had him thrown in prison.  Then through some shrewd political maneuvering, others manipulated the King into beheading John (Matthew 14:1-12).  This act shocked the people and word spread quickly to Jesus.

Matthew 14:13
When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone.

I don’t blame Him one bit.  You find out that your closest friend – your cousin that’s practically your brother – has been murdered on the King’s orders.  The person who understood your life’s mission the best has been violently taken away…and all Jesus wanted was some time to Himself, some time with just Him and the Father.  But that’s not what He got:

Matthew 14:13-14
When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns.  When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd

How deflating that must have felt.  Jesus wants to grieve, but even in His lowest moment, the people still needed Him.  They were still drawn to Him.  So much so they ran around a body of water to chase down His boat, in the hopes of meeting Him on the other side.

I admit that if I were Jesus, I would have been mad at that scene as I brought the boat into shore.  Too emotionally tired to explode with anger, I likely would have shut down in depression.  Every instinct in my body would have been to turn the boat around and go drop anchor in the middle of the lake…and I’m pretty sure I would have given in to doing so.  My internal dialogue would have been screaming, “Don’t they know how broken I feel right now?  Can’t they see I need to get away!”

Instead, this is how Jesus saw them:

Matthew 14:14
When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick.

Jesus had compassion on them because He still saw them as they were, instead of viewing them as hinderances to His own desires.  They were sheep without a shepherd.  They were listless and leaderless.  They were drawn to Jesus, even if they couldn’t fully explain why.  They just knew He had what they needed.  Jesus did get His time alone with the Father a little while later (Matthew 14:23), so He could properly grieve and process the loss of John.

Therein lies the challenge for us.  When life punches hard – and it will happen – are we going to see people through the lens of our suffering or through the lens of compassion?  When you’re ready to leave and your classmates or coworkers ask you to help them out again…or that little hand reaches under the bathroom door when you just wanted a minute to breathe…or you’re in a rush at the store and down the aisle comes an elderly lady with a lost and confused look on her face…how will we see them?

I hope we choose compassion.  We cannot go wrong when we see people through that lens.  Even when we’re low, we can still compassionately connect and even meet some needs.  When we do, I’m convinced God will grant us the time we need to rest and process.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

Fulfilling our need to be reconciled

I was sitting in church recently, when the pastor included a familiar passage in his message.  When this situation happens, it’s an easy trap for believers (especially if they have been taught from the Scriptures for a few years) to think, “Oh that passage.  Yeah, I’ve heard this one before.  I know what that means.”

And while it is 100% true that God’s meaning of His word does not change, the depth of our understanding and ways in which we apply the truth of God’s word most certainly can change.  Often these two arrive hand-in-hand – when we understand better, we can become better at applying.

That’s what happened as I sat there listening.  Our pastor was discussing what we share as believers by being a part of God’s family, and he took us to the familiar passage in Paul’s second letter to the believers in Corinth.  This is where Paul says that we share a mission to be Christ’s ambassadors to the world, specifically reaching out to others with the message of reconciliation:

2 Corinthians 5:18-20
Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.  That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. 

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us.  We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.”

Now, I’ve heard a number of sermons cite this passage, and they typically emphasize each believer doing their part in getting the good news about Jesus out into the world.  Those sermons focus on Paul’s use of the word ambassador and the ambassador’s job to represent God and His interests, purpose, and design for human life.

However…my mind went somewhere else.  I made a connection that I hadn’t thought of before…one that left me both stunned and (honestly) a little agitated.  It wasn’t about the job of an ambassador; I understand that part.  Instead, it was realizing exactly how God expects us to do the job of an ambassador. 

Let me take you through my thought process:

C.S. Lewis famously said in Mere Christianity that “Every Christian is to become a little Christ.  The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.”  God’s plan for our lives is to make us more and more like Jesus, such that when the world encounters us, they have the opportunity to see Jesus.  And if, according to Paul, Jesus reconciled the world to God the Father THROUGH HIS DEATH ON THE CROSS…and I, as a Christ-follower, am to become more like Jesus…who has given the message of reconciliation to us…

THEN…for me to be an ambassador that clearly and correctly represents God…I have to be willing to die, just like Jesus was…and whatever God asks me to let die, for the sake of others being reconciled to Him, I need to give up – just like Jesus did.

As this conclusion dawned on me, sitting in church…my immediate, raw, and unfiltered thought was “Oh, come on!  Really?” 

I mean, I get that we need to be “good ambassadors”, play nice, and be good neighbors in the world…but that’s not what we’re called to do, is it?  No, after becoming the new creation through Jesus’ free gift of eternal life (John 3:16), He then calls us to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24-25).  The cross is an instrument of death.  We’re not supposed to just carry the cross, we’re meant to use it.

So, ever since this realization, the question I’ve been pondering is “What in me has to die so others can be reconciled to God?”  I’ve grappled with a few ideas…several of them are hard to let go of.

That’s a tough question, isn’t it?  What about you?  What in you has to die so others can be reconciled to God?  What has to die so you can become more like Christ?  Here are a few options:

Our need for validation from others.
Our self-centeredness.
Our shame.
Our suspicions of people not like us.
Our desire to appear like we have it all together.
Only seeing people as tasks or obstacles.

I’m sure you could add something of your own, too.  I suggest picking one and taking it to God.  Tell Him you want to be a better ambassador, and that you’re willing to give up what He asks of you so that others will be able to hear the good news – Jesus sets us free and gives us eternal life, all we have to do is believe in Him for it.

The question still stings a bit, but we can trust that God’s answer is for our good and His glory:

What in me has to die so others can be reconciled to God?

Keep Pressing,
Ken