Why I Need a Turtle

So I had one of those "I've-been-ripped-off" moments and I tried, really tried, to reign in my emotions and thoughts. There was a sense of injustice and inequality that needed (!) to be settled in my mind. Although I made an effort and prayed about how to respond instead of react, I will admit that my heart, thoughts, and words were not desiring servitude and humility and much as fairness and acknowledgement of a wrong against humanity (ahem, yes, you know whose humanity).

It's never happened to you, I'm sure, but it happens in our home, in my life, in the lives of those around me, and it's a moment of growth. In the aftermath, the question has changed from, "Did I get what I wanted/deserved?" to "Did I handle that correctly?" And this time around, the question was somewhere in the middle: "Did I do any better than last time? Am I making progress?"

Because the truth of the matter is, life isn't perfect. I won't be seen or treated the way I think I should. My expectations are way (way) off and the other person's are, too. I'm not going to respond perfectly. And that's okay. But am I growing and changing? In the moment, am I seeing my desires for what they really are? Am I sensing my sinful tendency and can I name it? Am I guarding against my natural reaction and tempering it with a better, more thoughtful, God-honoring response?

And as I struggled with my heart, God revealed a very different area of sin than the one I was contemplating. Go figure. I thought I had done things right, considering how I felt. I was not demanding, but I communicated disappointment and asked for reconsideration. And as I listened to the radio, the voice said, So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Oh, that. Well, yes, there is that slow to speak issue which I assume (i.e. overlook) often as my steam-roller passionate persona plows down the road of life with tearful sympathy, excited enthusiasm, or brief, but angry, outbursts.

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God said, "Gotcha!"

And I said, "Ouch. Yes, You did..." And now. Now begins the slow, hard work of living out repentance. Slow-ing-down and lis-ten-ing and think-ing and pray-ing before I speak so I can be swift to hear and slow. to. speak...and slow. to. wrath.

And maybe that's why God made turtles. So people like me have an example of God-glorifying intentional, determined direction. And how to take stock of when and where to cross the road--?

Turtles? Sorry. Brain noodling. It's all about Jesus. We're bound to fail. We hurt others. We don't please the Lord in all we say and do. But Jesus did. He stands in my place. He justifies me before God the Father and helps me work through and change here and now with His Word and by His Spirit. And as I slow down (or try to), I can trust Him to change me...and work the outcome to meet His purpose and plan--which He already has. Who could have orchestrated an I-got-ripped-off moment better than God?

And it's all good.

Use yesterday. Live today. Treasure tomorrow.

How often we fail to live well today because we're not using yesterday! Yesterday is a gift--its failures, successes, gifts and losses are meant to be used today. What kinds of things do I want to do differently? Avoid? Or seek after? How can I learn from them?

The greatest gift of the past, Jesus' life, death, burial and resurrection, is intended to be used and applied daily, not forgotten.  I can let go of past hurt and failure because Jesus died for that. I can live a new life because I'm dead to my old self and now I live for Christ, not me. For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Romans 15:4

If I am not relying on the Word of God and the past presented there, I am not living the way I should--or could. God wants me to remember and use the past to live today and push forward into the future.

And how often do we fail to live well today because we're not actually living today? We're living in the past or borrowing from the future--making today both wearisome and difficult.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

Live now. Experience the moment. Laugh. Cry. Hug. Be alive! I need God's Word, His people, and His Spirit right now, this very hour. I need to depend on Him, to lean hard on and rejoice in Him, praise Him, seek Him, rest in Him, delight in Him. All those commands happen now! I can't change yesterday's obedience. I can't live tomorrow. But I have this moment. Am I believing right now? Am I obeying right now? Am I loving, giving and serving right now? This is the only moment I have.

And finally, how often do we fail to live well today because we don't treasure tomorrow? We borrow its trouble. We procrastinate, worry, fume and try to live in tomorrow when we should be looking to, and living today based on, tomorrow's treasure.

...I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

What does the future hold? My future is Jesus. And because I am confident that, not only will I see Him, but I know He gives good rewards, I am living today with my all.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen. Jude 24-25

Use yesterday. Live today. Treasure tomorrow. And be blessed.

Faith, Feelings and Hypocrisy

"But if I do what I don't feel like doing, doesn't that make me a hypocrite?"

I've heard that question many times and didn't always know how to answer. Isn't a hypocrite someone who says one thing and does another, or tells me to do one thing when they do something else? Yes.

So if I do something and don't feel like it, how does that count? If I go to church and don't feel like it am I a hypocrite? What about going to work? Working out at the gym? Doing laundry? Feeding my family?

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Interestingly the question only seems to apply to spiritual issues. We brush our teeth, clean the car, mow the yard, and prepare meals when we don't feel like it. Does that make us hypocrites? Dr. Bob Smith (M.D, Faith Church, Lafayette, IN) says the "natural" man (unbeliever) lives by nature; the supernatural man (believer) lives by faith. That helped me tremendously.

Before Christ was part of our lives, we made decisions and lived based on sensuous criteria. We did what we wanted--within reason--based on what we could see, feel, hear, smell, taste or based on our emotions and desires. You're familiar with the underlying message: "Follow your heart," "You deserve a break today," "Just do it," "I'm lovin' it," "Betcha can't eat just one...." The world  appeals to our sensual nature. We are driven and pulled by what we want and think will make us fulfilled.

But once we are bought by Jesus we have new, spiritual life. We are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) with a different nature, created in holiness and righteousness for good works (Ephesians 4:24; 2:10).  To live and walk is this new nature is to live by faith instead of sight (senses). Think of faith as "believing God will do what He says He will do." (Hebrews 11:6)

Because I have been born again by faith, I live and make decisions based what God says in His Word. After all, I believe He will do what He says He will do, regardless of how I feel or what my senses tell me. As I pray and ask for God's help, reading the Bible becomes more clear. I see how He's working to make me more like Jesus and I trust Him to help me be kind, forgive others, speak the truth, treat everyone the same, be respectful of authorities, etc. I may not "feel" like doing any of those things at a given time, but I choose to, with the help of the Holy Spirit. I obey because I'm a new person. I no longer have to give in to what I want or what I'll get out of it or what makes sense based on what I see, hear, touch, smell, taste. That means I'm not a hypocrite. I'm living by faith just the way God intended in His original design.

Does that send emotions out the window? A life of gritting my teeth sounds miserable. You and I tend to think it's all one or the other, but God's plan is all-inclusive. He redeems not only our behavior, but our emotions and attitudes as well. He wants me to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice. The difference is that when I live by faith, my emotions are under my control--under the Holy Spirit's control--instead of controlling me. Sinful emotions can be confessed, forgiven and forsaken. I don't have to be ruled by them, leading to a life of regret or remorse. Instead, I have access to hope, peace, joy, contentment, freedom from guilt and shame, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Living by faith doesn't mean a life of always eating vegetables and never getting dessert. Living by faith is more like eating such a balanced diet that I'm rarely hungry, my taste buds are satisfied, my body is healthy, and I have adequate energy to complete the day's tasks. It's a fulfilled, rare, rich life of purpose and identity. Am I sad sometimes? Yes. Do I fail? Yes. Do I give in to overeating, oversleeping, being critical, or snapping at others? Frequently. But Jesus doesn't love me more. He doesn't love me less. He picks me up, dusts off my bottom, and sets me on my feet... so "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus..." by faith!

[Jesus said,] “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” John 14:18-21

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.


Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:7-14