Respect

As I have mentioned before, I take Taekwondo classes a few nights a week. 

One of the principles that is emphasized the most in class is respect.  At least once a week, the instructor will sit everyone down and talk about respect.  Often he will point out that a person who practices Taekwondo is special and should exhibit high moral behavior, especially with regard to respect. Essentially he is saying, "You have these skills, and with that comes an identity with Taekwondo and a responsibility to act a certain way.

In fact, respect is far more important than a high skill level.  Simply being able to perform the moves does not mean you represent Taekwondo. 

I can see this identity reflected in the young people who take the class.  They are kinder and more respectful.  The higher the rank, the more you see it.

How much more should we see this in the children of God? 

We are a special people, with a special responsibility to behave in a loving and respectful way toward everyone.  It has been said before, "You may be the only 'Jesus' someone sees."

 Peter tells us, 

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." 1 Peter 2:9-10 (NIV)

 

Let's be sure to live up to what is expected of us.

It's in the Relationship

I realized something interesting over the weekend.

I'm looking at purchasing a new helmet.  I've been eyeballing this one on an online website for some time now.

However I know of a store locally that sells this same helmet so I decided to go there and try it on.

Here's the interesting part, even though the price is the same in the store as it is online, I decided to purchase it online instead of at the local store.

Why is that?  It's the same price, and with the store purchase I could have brought it home that evening.  Buying it online means it will take several days before I have it.

The reason is this, one of the owners of the online store does YouTube video reviews of almost all of the products they sell.  He is informative and passionate about motorcycling.  Having watched many videos over the years, I feel like I have built up some trust in this person.  And with that trust comes a certain amount of loyalty.

The difference is the time spent and the relationship built.  The man I never met in person, yet spent time with, won my loyalty over a person I didn't knew at all.  I am actually willing to be inconvenienced and wait.

And that is the key to building a trusted relationship with the Lord.  Time spent in his word, time spent reading what he teaches about life, years of seeing that he can be trusted.  I know him.  Loyalty is formed there, the relationship is nurtured. 

"  'Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"

Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them." John 14:19-23 (NIV)

Times of Testing

Times of testing come, in many different ways.

They can come to us via hard times. Life gets difficult and the temptation comes to take matters into our own hands or find relief outside the Lord.

But how about when things are going well?  So well that we don't realize our need for the Lord?  The temptation is to simply coast... not do anything really bad, or anything really good.  That's when we need to take care not to leave Jesus permanently out of our lives.  As the gentleman he is, he will not force his way in,  it's up to us to always invite him back.

Reading Revelation today,

"These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.  I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!  So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.  Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Rev 3:14-20 (NIV)

Trails...

Last night my wife and I were having our usual time with our cockatiels.  They are a lot of fun and have very amusing little personalities.

On the table, where we let them walk around, we have this small food dish.  Tiggy, my wife's bird, noticed I cleaned the dish out but gave me a "look" when she saw I did not fill it.

I decided to fill the bowl, but then took about four pumpkin seeds and placed them in a little trail, one after the other leading up to the last one I placed in the dish.  Predictably Tiggy followed the trail, she ate one, then the next, then the next right up to the last. 

If I simply tried to take hold of her and place here in the bowl, it would have never worked.  She would have protested right away.

Knowing what she wanted and predicting her behavior, I simply had to wait until she arrived where I knew she eventually would.

That is also how Satan works with our sin nature.  He knows what little trail he can place in front of us, and how each nibble can lead us right to where he wants us to go.  Unlike Tiggy's experience, this can end in disaster.

"When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." James 1:13-15 (NIV)

It's best to be prepared, recognize the trail and avoid it all together.

GIve Me More

The Discovery Channel TV-series Vikings has a theme song that starts with the lyrics, 

This will never end

'Cause I want more

More, give me more

Give me more

This will never end

'Cause I want more

More, give me more

Give me more - Fever Ray - "If I Had A Heart"

This song was going through my mind while I was reading 1 Kings 11 today,

"King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.  They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.  He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.  As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.  He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.  So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done." 1 Kings 11:1-6 (NIV)

Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived.  He was wealthy beyond imagination and ruled a kingdom that was at peace.  God blessed him beyond what most of us will ever see. 

Yet it wasn't enough.  He wanted more.  And here we see with women, not just one wife, but seven hundred wives.  And even that was not enough,so he added 300 concubines to the count. 

At fist I marveled at that.  How?  How could he be so wise and still ignore God?  How could he just keep going like that, that kind of excess?

Yet we sometimes do the same on a lesser scale, don't we? 

The answer is in the sin nature.  It is never satisfied, it is never filled.  Here was see Solomon taking this to the extreme and beyond because he had the means.  And yet, it wasn't enough. 

The reason is that the sin nature can never be satisfied.  So feeding it becomes an endless cycle. 

Solomon learned from this experience and more, in Ecclesiastes he tells us, 

"I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;

    I refused my heart no pleasure.

My heart took delight in all my labor,

    and this was the reward for all my toil.

Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done

    and what I had toiled to achieve,

everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;

    nothing was gained under the sun." Eccl 2:10-11 (NIV)

Is there something in your life that you continue to allow?  Are you surprised that it never seems to end?

That is because it truly never does...

Darkness or Light?

Reading 1 Corinthians 13 today,

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." 1 Cor 13:1-3 (NIV)

Many years ago, St Francis wrote these words.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.

What do we bring to our own circle?  There is a lot going on these days, a loft of anger, a lot of fear, a lot of worry about our future.  People have always sought to use these things for personal gain.  Some just like to talk about them, feed these things or feed off of them.

It is always easier to destroy than create. 

Not many of us can do anything on a mass scale to bring love, light and hope, but how about our small circle of friends?  How about the people we are in contact with every day?

How about our posts in social media?

Are we spreading darkness? Are we bringing light? 

Let's continue with the words of St Francis' prayer, take a moment and think on them, then offer it to God.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love;

for it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

How do We Perform?

So much value is placed on how we perform.  From the time we are young, going to school or even what our parents praised, (or scolded us for) had to do with our performance.  This continues into our adult lives with our jobs and even some of our relationships.

We can get into the mindset that we need to work for everything even love. 

Life can easily start being seen as a series of tasks to be accomplished rather than something to be lived. 

We can even approach our relationship with God this way.  Like Martha (see Luke 10 ) we are so focused on doing for the Lord, that we can't just sit and enjoy his presence.  

Bask in that love relationship!

It can be as simple as enjoying a ride on our motorcycles and thanking the Lord for it, or seeing an amazing sunset and praising God for his handiwork.

Reading Revelations chapter 2 today, I find this rather convicting.  Jesus, speaking to the church of Ephesus, said, 

"I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.  You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.  Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first." Rev 2:2-5 (NIV)

Let's not get to where those are the words Jesus has for us.